Nonfiction Month: Week 3 – Stranger Than Fiction

Welcome to Week #3 of Nonfiction November 2022:

This week it is looking at non-fiction that is stranger than fiction. This week’s host is Christopher from “Plucked from the Stacks“

Two books I will focus on are books that my writing partner Linda and I have been reading and both definitely have strange elements.

The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs was a hunorous read at times and definitely had me shaking my head.

“Raised in a secular family but increasingly interested in the relevance of faith in our modern world, A.J. Jacobs decides to dive in headfirst and attempt to obey the hundreds of less-publicised rules. The resulting spiritual journey is at once funny and profound, reverent and irreverent, personal and universal, and will make you see history’s most influential book with new eyes. ” (from Goodreads)

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. A memoir that is unbelievable at times, but shocking as well, at times.

“A tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that, despite its profound flaws, gave the author the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.

Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn’t stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an “excitement addict.” Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.” (from Goodreads)