Picking Up Momentum

I can read! and I've been trying to pick up momentum in my reading so that I can start AND finish the non-fiction books I want to read. Here are the books.

Top 5 Books I Started and Finished This Summer*:
5. Brian's Winter - Gary Paulsen
What if Brian wasn't rescued before winter in Hatchet? This book answers that decently. Major Problem: Like Gibson's Passion, this book was so over researched that it creates unrealistic scenarios by including all extreme possibilities. (When buying this book, we also bought Paulsen's Nightjohn for $.50 only to find out later it has a research note and signature by Paulsen!) Major Strength: I like survival books (oops, spoiler)!
4. The Lost Kingdom - Chester Bryant
This 1960's paperback follows the adventures of Rodmika, an adolescent Indian boy confidently exploring the uncharted jungle and his royal heritage. Major Problem: Combine The Jungle Book, Swiss Family Robinson, and the King James Bible and you've got this book. Major Strength: His tutor raises fun Socratic ponderings for Rodmika.
3. The Way of the Heart: Desert Spirituality and Contemporary Ministry - Henri J.M. Nouwen
Nouwen draws on the Desert Fathers/Mothers to exhort the modern Christian towards solitude, silence, and unceasing prayer. Major Problem: The explanation of stories about the Fathers is pretty cryptic, even for those who enjoy the Fathers. Major Strength: Unlike some later Nouwen writings, this one is basic enough in application that it actually inspires change instead of standoffish awe of those who can. (Also, there is a possible reference to one of my professors in the acknowledgments.)
2. Holes - Louis Sachar
Stanley Yelnats redeems his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather in a selfless turn of events. Major Problem: The character development of some side characters is lacking, especially considering the sudden action changes of some. Major Strength: Even while dealing with some serious issues, Sachar is witty and amusingly complicated. I read this right after finishing ...
1. There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom - Louis Sachar
Everyone loves to hate Bradley Chaulkers, including himself, but this hilarious book choked me up in its heart-wrenching perspective on the Sisyphusian coming-of-age of a loser. Major Problem: The transition of the good-guy into the bad-guy is well-written while the transition back towards a good-guy is lacking (much like the clarity of my sentence). Major Strength: The childlike humor with the intelligent wit of Sachar combined with the biting reality of childhood awkwardness kept me reading chapter after chapter (It also helps that most chapters are 3-5 pages long).

*Prison to Praise - Merlin Carothers
Started before summer break but finished during summer.
*The Genessee Diary - Henri Nouwen
Started but did not finish.

Can I keep the momentum even with more non-fiction? Even with more business?