Annualism

Article in Adult Nonfiction and Themes categories.

One Whole Year – Annualist Titles to Motivate, Enlighten or Entertain

The BBC coined the term “annualist” to describe “a journalistic work where protagonist endures ordeal, usually for year, then writes book about it”. Annualism would seem to be a combination of “annual” and “journalism.” Whatever you call it, it’s certainly an identifiable and popular trend, covering a gamut of topics, ranging from trendy issues (e.g., global vs. local, economics, religious fundamentalism) to perennial interests (professional sports, travel, naturalism). Check out the range of annualist (or annualist-in-spirit) titles available from JMRL, and learn from someone else’s year.

Traveling or Staying Still - a year by location

• A Year By the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman, by Joan Anderson
• Outermost House: a Year in the Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod, by Henry Beston
• A Year in the Merde, by Stephen Clarke
• One Year Off: Leaving It All Behind For a Round-The-World Journey With Our Children, by David Cohen
• Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia, by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Granny D: Walking Across America in My Ninetieth Year, by Doris Haddock
• A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveller, by Frances Mayes
• A Year in Provence, by Peter Mayle
• The Prince of the Marshes: And Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq, by Rory Stewart

Feathers or Fur - a year with animals

• A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and Me, by Jon Katz
• The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession, by Mark Obmascik
• A Year at the Races: Reflections on Horses, Humans, Love, Money & Luck, by Jane Smiley

Consumption and Capitalism - a year in consumerism, going off the grid, or pursuing simplicity

• No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process, by Colin Beavan
• A Year Without "Made in China”: One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy, by Sarah Bongiorni
• Give It Up: My Year of Learning to Live Better With Less, by Mary Carlomagno
• A Country Year: Living the Questions, by Sue Hubbell
• Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping, by Judith Levine
• See You in a Hundred Years, by Logan Ward

Religious or Sacreligious - a year of spirituality

• Romancing the Ordinary: A Year of Simple Splendor, by Sarah Ban Breathnach
• Living a Year of Kaddish, by Ari Goldman
• The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, by A. J. Jacobs
• The Wishing Year: A House, A Man, My Soul: A Memoir of Fulfilled Desire, by Noelle Oxenhandler
• The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University, by Kevin Roose
• Sundays in America: a Yearlong Road Trip in search of Christian Faith, by Suzanne Strempek Shea

Literature or Knowledge - a year of words

• The Know It All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, by A. J. Jacobs
• So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading, by Sara Nelson
• The Year of Reading Proust, by Phyllis Rose
• Reading the OED: One man, One Year, 21,730 Pages, by Ammon Shea

All the Ingredients - a year of food

• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver
• Julie and Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, by Julie Powell
• Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Ruacous Year of Eating Locally, by Alisa Smith and J. B. MacKinnon

Hit or Miss - a year in sports

• Next Man Up: A Year Behind the Lines in Today's NFL, by John Feinstein
• Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound With a Minor League Misfit, by Matt McCarthy
• Halfway to Heaven: My White-Knuckled and Knuckle-Headed Quest for the Rocky Mountain High, by Mark Obmascik

Medical or Mental - a year of personal changes or family challenges

• The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion
• The Slippery Year: A Meditation On Happily Ever After, by Melanie Gideon
• The Year of Yes: A Memoir, by Maria Headley
• The Year of Living Virtuously: Weekends Off, by Teresa Jordon
• Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year, by Anne Lamott
• Helping Me Help Myself: One Skeptic, Twelve Self-Help Programs, One Whirlwind Year of Improvement, by Beth Lisick
• 365 Nights, by Charla Muller and Betsy Thorpe
• Living Oprah: My One-Year Experiment to the Walk the Walk of the Queen of Talk, by Robyn Okrant
• The Addict: One Doctor, One Patient, One Year, by Michael Stein
• Self Made Man: One Woman's Journey Into Manhood and Back Again, by Norah Vincent
• Voluntary Madness: My Year Lost and Found in the Loony Bin, by Norah Vincent