I’m not sure what it is, but lately I’ve been drawn to all kinds of nonfiction and memoir. It’s a genre I previously didn’t read much, and it’s been surprising with how quickly I’ve fallen into it. Maybe it’s the time of my life, things I’m going through, or maybe it’s just I didn’t give the genre a fair chance until now. Whatever it is, I’m excited to share the books I’ve been so enthusiastic about with you, dear readers. I’ve already mentioned a couple in previous reviews (A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota edited by Sun Yung Shin and It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool Too) by Nora McInerny Purmort). But here are some more that I either have read and loved, or are on my short-list to read this summer.

The Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father by Kao Kalia Yang
You’ll likely see a full review of this soon. (If you haven’t read her first book, The Latehomecomer, pick that up, too.) I heard Yang read from this book at her book launch, which was a packed house, and where there were at least ten people in my immediate vicinity crying at one point or another. Yang’s gentle but unflinching honesty, and the way she sees love in unexpected places is enough to crack the hardest nut. This memoir follows the life of her father, Bee Yang. Bee was a traditional Hmong song poet who became a refugee in Minnesota, with many sacrifices made to support his family. Through her writing, Yang gives her father his song poet voice back. Please do pick this up, and I dare you to not be moved.

The World Is On Fire: Scrap, Treasure, and Songs of Apocalypse by Joni Tevis
This is one of the books that launched me from poetry (my main genre) into nonfiction, mostly because Tevis writes both, in my opinion. This series of essays reads like poetry in many ways. Visions of apocalypse are at the center of this collection’s focus, as Tevis draws from sermons from her  childhood. These visions change locations and subjects, from faith to contemporary culture, to nature and the complexity of human beings. It’s a rich landscape that you can’t look away from.

Leaving Orbit: Notes from the Last Days of American Spaceflight by Margaret Lazarus Dean
Who knew the space program could be so interesting?? I didn’t. The author witnessed the last three NASA space shuttle launches in 2011, and therefore witnessed the end of an era. She chronicles the history of the space program, the monumental steps taken in spaceflight, and reckons with the end of this part of history. Dean takes on the role of journalist, eulogist, and spellbinder. It’s a fascinating exploration, and fully immersive, thanks to Dean’s deft writing.

What memoirs or nonfiction have you been reading lately?