Book tips fall 2023
The best non-fiction books
© Sebastian / Adobe Stock
Anyone who loves books never goes to bed alone! So that there is no rude awakening, we have found the best new books of the season for you. Have fun with our favorite non-fiction books for fall 2023!
Annie Proulx – Moorland
Can one look at peat-forming wetlands in an inspiring and moving way? Non-fiction make? Annie Proulx can. This is due to the wise thoughts of the 88-year-old writer, who tells of trips to bogs in England, Canada and the USA and thus makes their rescue urgent in a stirring way. A small book that does not have the pull of her larger novels, but is a special voice in the heated climate discussion. (T: Thomas Gunkel, 256 pages, 24 euros, Luchterhand, from October 11th)
Lea Bonasera – The time for courage is now!
Speaking of the heated climate dispute: The “Last Generation” stands for resistance that hurts – those who are stuck in traffic jams because of it and the activists who accept punishments, anger and beatings. Co-founder Lea Bonasera tells us what it feels like. And explains why she deeply believes in the idea of civil resistance. A deep dive into protest theory – Bonasera’s doctoral topic – and a plea for persevering, which also helps to become clear about one’s own attitude. (224 pages, 18 euros, S. Fischer)
Homeira Qaderi – Losing you or me
For Homeira Qaderi, the hardest decision of her life was probably between self-determination and her son. An unheard of dualism, and yet not uncommon in a patriarchy like Afghanistan, which has no tolerance for women who question it. But Qaderi did that as a child; she read, she wrote stories, educated other girls, circumvented the Taliban’s laws; and when her husband wants to take a second wife, she doesn’t just accept it. She leaves – at the price of perhaps never seeing her little son again, whom the father’s family claims as their own. She writes him moving letters and explains to him in a powerful, dramatic way what biographically led to this decision. In the original you wear Book the beautiful title “Dancing in the Mosque” because Qaderi, who moved to the city after the fall of Kabul in 2021 USA emigrated, repeatedly daring to do forbidden things in her life – including dancing in the mosque. (T: Eva Kemper, 240 pages, 22 euros, Arche)
Reinhold Beckmann – Aenne and her brothers
The presenter and musician Reinhold Beckmann tells the story Story his mother Aenne, who lost all of her brothers in the Second World War. The four young men were always present in Beckmann’s family; not only the sister, but also her children mourned them. Beckmann succeeds in making the fate of Franz, Hans, Alfons and Willi visible in a touching way – and in doing so opens our eyes to how much unlived life every war means. (352 pages, 26 euros, Propylaea)
Evelyn Roll – Pericallosa
Is it good to know a lot about neuronal processes if you have to undergo brain surgery? In the case of SZ journalist Evelyn Roll, it’s even a blessing. Because her obsession with what she calls the “adorable gelatinous goo” in her head causes her to reflect on her memories of her family history anew. Result: a thoughtful, well worth reading book Generational history, which draws the line all the way to Nazi involvement in Roll’s family. (432 pages, 26 euros, Droemer)