Hello! So I was watching Jen Campbell’s video the other day about her Non-Fiction November Recommendations and TBR and apparently the whole idea of Non-Fiction November skipped by me last year as this year is the 2nd year it’ll be running. It’s run by Olive at A Book Olive and Gemma at Non Fic Books. The idea is to get people reading one more non-fiction book than they usually would in a month. So if you don’t read any, to read one. If you usually pick up one, try for two. And so on. Now I’m usually quite good at reading non-fiction, on average 30% of what I read each year is usually non-fiction. But I have been slacking big time this year and I don’t know why. I just haven’t felt like picking up non-fiction all that much. I don’t want to force myself to read something I’m not feeling but I’m hoping to be inspired!
There’s 4 categories Olive and Gemma have picked and you can pick one, you can try all four, you can double or triple them up to complete them, it’s up to you! I’m going to list each category and a few books I have on my big TBR that I might pick up next month to read.
1. NEW
So the New category can be interpreted as a brand new release, a newly hauled book or a topic that is new to you that you don’t know much about. Above I have Hygge: A Celebration of Simple Pleasures. Living the Danish Way by Charlotte Abrahams and Dear Lupin: Letters to a Wayward Son by Roger Mortimer and Charlie Mortimer, two books I showed in my recent haul post. I also have H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald, a book I’ve had for a while now but it’s about Helen trying to train a goshawk and I know nothing about that! (it also deals with Helen grieving after her died). But seeing as it’s my birthday this week I might pick up another book too!
2. Controversial
So the Controversial category is anything that has a difficult or controversial topic (something that might spark a big debate or split a room), it can be about a controversial historical figure or it can have a weird eye catching title or cover. I have Julie and Julia by Julie Powell, a book that I’ve seen a lot of bad reviews for and seems to really split people (and I need to read a food memoir for my Book Riot Read Harder Challenge). Severed by Frances Larson is about the ‘history of heads lost and heads found’. If I was reading this in public I can imagine it would turn some heads (yeah I couldn’t resist that pun!). Speaking of eye catching titles Sex on the Moon by Ben Mezrich is definitely ones that makes you wonder what the book is about! It’s about a guy who convinces his girlfriend, an intern at NASA, to steal moon rocks. This also fits this category because I’ve seen mixed reviews for it as well.
3. Important
The Important category is something that you think will help you enhance your life, whether that’s your work, your health or something you’ve wanted to work more on (being more organised/losing weight/being more spiritual etc). It can also be on a topic that you think needs to be discussed more or something that will make you a more educated citizen. I’m currently reading The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley and if I don’t finish it this month I hope I will in November. Reading more about feminism is something that’s really interested me this year and I’ve been enjoying reading about feminism from different viewpoints and intersectionalities. The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer is something I’ve seen discussed on BookTube a lot and I really think it could be helpful to me. Finally another topic I like reading and learning more about is mental health and how other people cope with depression and axiety. Cheer Up Love by Susan Calman is supposed to be funny and interesting and the idea of calling your depression your Crab of Hate has intrigued me!
4. Fascinating
The final category is Fascinating. Of course all the books above sound interesting to me but this is for any books, authors or topics you find really engaging and interesting. The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell is something I’m currently listening to at the moment so if it’s not finished this month I will finish it next month. I’ve read Stevyn Colgan’s book Joined-Up Thinking before and bought Constable Colgan’s Connect-O-Scope on Kindle ages ago so I might finally get around to it! And The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale is another book I’ve had for ages (October 2013 to be precise!) and it’s about a family who wake up one morning to find one member has been murdered and Mr Whicher from Scotland Yard has been sent to investigate.
Those are my picks! I don’t know how many of them I’ll get around to but going through my big TBR and chosing these books has made me excited again to pick up non-fiction! I have a mix above that are physical books I own, e-books, audiobooks and books from the library too. I know next year I’ll be trying to read more of my own books in an attempt to get through them so this has been helpful at sparking my interest that way too.
If you’re interested in doing the Non-Fiction November in any shape or form let me know what you plan on reading! Or if you’ve read any of the books below tell me, I’d love to know what you thought of them.
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