Hooray, Nonfiction November is here! Nonfiction November is a month-long celebration of everything nonfiction. Each week, we’ll have a different prompt and a different host looking at different ideas about reading and loving nonfiction.
Week 1 (Oct. 29 to Nov. 2)
Your Year in Nonfiction So Far (Hosted by Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness)
Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following questions – What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year? Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year? What nonfiction book have you recommended the most? What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?
Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following questions – What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year? Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year? What nonfiction book have you recommended the most? What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?
What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year?
Easy question. Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson was my favorite nonfiction read of the year.
Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year?
I read, once again, more nonfiction (82 books) than fiction (49 books) this year (omitting books for the Cybils). I read lots of books on happiness (6), travel (11), cooking (3), writing (4), and books-about-books (4). I also read, oddly, books about Montaigne (3), Jane Austen (3), and Henry David Thoreau (3).
What nonfiction book have you recommended the most?
I've shared Tribe of Mentors and The Sufi Book of Life with several people.
What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?
It will be fun to reflect back on my nonfiction reads of the year. I also love to look for new nonfiction reads from suggestions on others' blogs.
How about you?
Did you read more nonfiction than fiction?
What topics did you read about this year?
I've got Leonardo da Vinci on audio but, it's so long, I've been avoiding it. It sounds like I need to dust it off and give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I could listen to a book that long, but it was a fantastic read.
DeleteAh you've read so much non-fiction! I have a super long wishlist of NF books but I just don't seem to pick them up as much as novels.
ReplyDeleteI'm the opposite.
DeleteWow, that's an amazing number of titles! My nonfiction reading has been down a bit this year, but I've gotten through mostly good ones. That da Vinci biography is huge -- I'm glad you enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteI hope I'll come across more good nonfiction in November.
DeleteYea Montaigne! After reading Bakewell's biography about him I picked up his essays and have been going through them ever so slowly. My nonfiction usually clocks in as one third of my total reading but I'm a little behind this year, so Nonfiction November came along at the perfect time!
ReplyDeleteIt was the Bakewell bio that inspired my Montaigne binge reading spree, too.
DeleteThat's an IMPRESSIVE amount of non-fiction in one year Deb!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised to see the Da Vinci book at the top of your list after your recent visit to Italy :-)
The trip to Italy may have influenced my decision a bit.
DeleteI didn't realise that your Nonfiction to Fiction ratio was so high! I'd like to think that I'd take on that Da Vinci book, but I know I probably won't.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! I haven’t checked my spreadsheet lately, but I think nonfiction is my second-highest category for read books. (Adult fiction is usually the highest.) I read a lot of nonfiction, and I always feel like I should be reading more.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
Good for you for reading more nonfiction than fiction! I don't think I could ever make that happen. And I really liked Tim Ferris' Tools of Titans, which I read over like 6 months this year!
ReplyDeleteAh yes, Isaacson. I'm tempted, but this is a massive and super heavy book... My post is here: https://wordsandpeace.com/2018/10/29/nonfiction-november-my-year-2018-in-nonfiction/
ReplyDeleteYour post has encouraged me to participate, so thank you!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I made a goal to read more nonfiction this year, I definitely don't read as much of it as I do fiction. But I've still gotten lots of good reads in! That's awesome that you read so many different nonfiction topics.
ReplyDeleteI read a lot more fiction, which is part of why I signed up to judge nonfiction for Cybils again this year. I really LIKE nonfiction, I just get distracted by all the lovely fiction out there. I've only read 11 nonfiction books so far this year, out of 150 total--and several of those were graphic novels. I really, really liked In Cold Blood, The 57 Bus, and Textbook Amy Krause Rosenthal. Adrift at Sea is a picture book that I found very affecting and timely as well. Educated was good, but I think was over-hyped, so I was a bit let down.I'm all about the narrative nonfiction as you can see.
ReplyDeleteWow, 82 nonfiction books! My goal is to finish 75 books by the end of the year, and I have to throw in a bunch of graphic novels just to get that high. I try to keep my number of fiction and nonfiction fairly even (besides the graphic novels), and I'm doing a pretty good job of that this year.
ReplyDelete82 nonfiction books is AMAZING! Nonfiction books about happiness and travel are always interesting, and I like the sound of the Tribe of Mentors. Happy reading this November!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you see'll on my week 5 post that I've added Leonardo Da Vinci to my TBR list because of your post! :-)
ReplyDeleteThe Da Vinci biography would be a huge time commitment... glad to hear it was so good! I enjoy reading about food, travel, and books, too :-)
ReplyDeleteI feel like I've heard good things about Isaacson's biographies. And I also love reading nonfiction about happiness. I like to constantly be improving my life and I'm fascinated by research into what makes people happy.
ReplyDelete