Monday, October 30, 2017

Nonfiction November 2017: Introduction Post

 
When I saw Sarah at Sarah's Book Shelves promoting the upcoming Nonfiction November back at the beginning of October, I was really excited.  I hadn't heard of this blogging event before, but nonfiction is a genre I enjoy and never seem to read enough of, so I wanted to participate!

This week of introductions and a look back at our personal year in nonfiction is hosted by JulzReads.  My nonfiction reading this year has been pretty sparse, unfortunately!  I've read four memoirs (even though I'm not normally crazy about this particular sub-genre).

 

 

I chose these particular memoirs mostly because of the person behind the book, either they personally or their story interested me in some way.  I've had mixed reactions to them, but if I had to recommend one, it would be Anna Kendrick's book.  She's funny and relatable, and I enjoyed this one even more than I expected.
 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20764282-food
 
I also listened to my first audiobook, comedian Jim Gaffigan's Food: A Love Story.  If you've never heard Gaffigan's bits on Hot Pockets, go listen and I dare you not to bust out laughing.
 
I wanted to participate in Nonfiction November to broaden my horizons a bit when it comes to this genre.  I gravitate towards celebrity memoirs or certain historical events, and I want to get some recommendations from the book blog community!  I'm not even totally sure what I'm looking for, I just know there's so much out there that I'm missing!  I also want to use this month to commit myself to reading at least two nonfiction books in the coming weeks.  High priorities for me are:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34219897-death-in-the-air?ac=1&from_search=true# https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25899336-when-breath-becomes-air?ac=1&from_search=true
 

What are some of your favorite nonfiction reads?  Are you into memoirs, history, true crime?
 


38 comments:

  1. I'll confess that I don't read much non-fiction, but I actually just started one yesterday, so I can say that I'm honorarily participating. :-)

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  2. I love memoirs! I liked listening to the Anna Kendrick book. I listened to a different Jim Gaffigan book and didn't love it. I like him so maybe I'll try that one. When Breath Becomes Air was a powerful read. Enjoy!

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    1. I just finished Gaffigan's Dad is Fat, and I think I liked the food one better.

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  3. Oh, man, When Breath Becomes Air is SOOO good; it was one of my all-around favorite reads last year. I have to admit that I work in a hospital, as a chaplain, so I may be a little biased; having said that, I have heard great things about this book from those outside of my professional circles and I recommend it a lot. I LOVE Jim Gaffigan on audio! I've listened to two of his books while training for running events and just laugh out loud on the street; he is hilarious! Hope your week is off to a good start!

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    1. I've heard lots of good things about When Breath Becomes Air, so looking forward to it! Gaffigan's books have been really good for a laugh during my commute!

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  4. Good luck! I love nonfiction and try to read a lot of it. I wanted to do Nonfiction November, but all the books on my TBR shelf right now are fiction, and I don’t want to buy more books. I’m trying to be responsible. :)

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. Yay for being responsible adults! I use my library a ton so I can save money!

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  5. When Breath Becomes Air was a full-cry-worthy book, wasn't it? It think of it often and how we need to cherish the time with loved ones NOW! One never knows. Nonfiction November

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    1. I'm sure this book is going to make me sob and keep me up at night thinking about things!

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  6. Great post! Looking forward to seeing what you read during the month!

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    1. I'll hopefully have some new recommendations for you!

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  7. When Breath Becomes Air is so good, but SO sad...keep those tissues handy! Jim Gaffigan's book must be great on audio. I'm sure you'll get plenty of recommendations this month - reading them all is the hard part!! ;-)

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    1. I'm ready for it!

      Oh, my TBR is already exploding!

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  8. Death in the Air sounds intriguing & like JoAnn I can HIGHLY recommend When Breath Becomes Air.

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    1. It seems like everyone loves When Breath Becomes Air - I can't wait to get to it!

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  9. I've got to get around to reading Gaffigan. His brother works for my company for pete sake!

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    1. Ha, that's so cool! His book on food was pretty funny.

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  10. I'm a medical nonfiction type so When Breath Becomes Air has been on my TBR for a while now - here's hoping you like it!

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  11. The only Nonfiction I read this year was Yes Please and MAN! WAS IT A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. ���� If you haven't already, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND adding it to your TBR especially since you liked Anna Kendrick's book, which, by the way, HAS BEEN ON MY TBR FOR EVERRRR and I GITTA READ IT like RIGHT NOWWW!! ����

    Oh, I have heard A LOT about When Breath Becomes Air. People rave about it but....I don't know...I am just not interested in Medical things...��

    Anyway, I hooe you have a good time reading Nonfiction books. I, myself, have been trying to widen my genres so I guess I will read some too...maybe in December. ☺☺

    HAPPY READING, Angela. ☺☺❤

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    1. Thank you! I will definitely look into Yes Please!

      Anna Kendrick's book was good - some fun stuff in there!

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  12. I've also been wanting to read Death in the Air. Let's hope we both get to it!

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    1. I actually just started it - so far so good!

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  13. When Breath becomes Air has been on my to read list this year too! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Same with Anna Kendrick's book. I will probably listen to that one at some point. I like Memoirs best when the author reads them to me! I'm happy to be a part of NonFiction November too!

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    1. I'm starting to get into audiobooks, and I'm finding it's fun to listen to memoirs and comedy books.

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  14. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Anna Kendrick's memoir. I like her and I've kind of stayed away from it because I saw at least one review that found it off-putting--but I'm guessing they may not like her brand of humor anyway :) Definitely one for an audiobook, I think.
    www.mindjoggle.com

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    1. I like Anna Kendrick, and I didn't have super high expectations going in, but I liked it! It probably would have been better in audio.

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  15. I'm not usually a big reader of memoirs either, but I think of the 7 nonfiction books I read this year, 3 were memoirs!

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    1. I know! I don't always like them, but they seem to be the ones I go for - I guess maybe because there are so many of them?

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  16. I definitely want to read When Breath Becomes Air although I feel I will need to be in the mood for it.

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    1. I know, I just started reading it, and it's already hitting all the feels because of some other things that randomly popped up in my life this week.

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  17. I am terrible when it comes to nonfiction because reading is an escape for me so I'm using this month to try and get some nf reading in! When I do read it, it is usually either instructional or memoirs. I read Bruce Springsteen's earlier this year and it was wonderful.

    I'm also hoping to get good recommendations from other bloggers.

    I hear you on Jim Gaffigan and Hot Pockets! In fact, I'm going to go and try and find the clip on Youtube- I could use the laughs.

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    1. I don't normally read a lot of nonfiction, either, so I'm using this month to try to change that! I tend to read a lot of memoirs, too.

      Haha, that Hot Pockets bit just kills me.

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  18. Oh yay, I'm excited you're picking up Death in the Air. I thought it was such an engaging story!

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    1. I recently finished it, and I really loved it!

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I'm so glad you stopped by, and I would love to hear your thoughts! Comments are always greatly appreciated!