NonFiction November Week Three: The Expert

Week 3: (November 16-20) – Be The Expert/Ask the Expert/Become the Expert is hosted by Rennie @ What’s Nonfiction : Three ways to join in this week! You can either share 3 or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend (be the expert), you can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic that you have been dying to read (ask the expert), or you can create your own list of books on a topic that you’d like to read (become the expert). 

Every year this prompt that brings me to my knees in awe of other nonfiction readers. In past years it was clear to me that participants in Nonfiction November were far more organized than I was with their reading. I just read a nonfiction book based on availability and mood. I envied those organized bloggers both the depth and breath of their reading and vowed to do better. But, every year I am stymied! I start with an idea (Sherlock Holmes, Palm Reading) and fizzle.

Finally, this year I think I found one. In March, I saw a quote that made me wonder. Everyone was bemoaning the loneliness of quarantine. Someone said something like, “At least during WWII they were all in it together, everyone knew the struggles and worked together.” I was curious – I mean, that couldn’t possibly be true. There are innumerable things we don’t know about the services people performed during the war. I had watched The Bletchley Circle and knew that code makers and breakers were sworn to secrecy for years after their service. Their own husbands didn’t even know what they had done! I was determined to learn more about women in WWII, especially related to codes and spying. Their stories have inspired me during this pandemic and their courage and fortitude stand as a lesson to everyone of the power of an individual person.

FEMALE SPY BOOKS I HAVE READ

FEMALE SPY BOOKS I HAVE ON MY TBR

I am actually in the middle of D-Day Girls and A Woman of No Importance right now. I started to read Code Name: Lise as an audiobook but struggled to keep the names, aliases, and code names separate and found I needed to switch to a physical copy.

---

A CALL FOR HELP

This certainly looks like a lot of books on the subject but I know I will want to read more. I want to hit that point of research where there is nothing new out there. I would, especially, like more books about diverse women. If you know of any books that I haven’t already included I would appreciate your help!

---

Tell me, please! What nonfiction subject is your area of expertise?

---