Read and Repeat: nonfiction reading challenge

Waaayy back in the snowy month of January, I decided to try something crazy.

No, I didn't pack up and move to Florida even though I DESPERATELY wanted to because: snow. ice. temperatures that can cause frostbite in 15 minutes. ew.

No, instead I started a challenge to read a type of book that up till then I had avoided like the plague.

Nonfiction. Say that word to January-me and I would have shuddered and pictured page after page of boring dry information trying to force itself into my brain. But, for some reason, I decided that I needed to stop avoiding nonfiction and fully embrace it. Around Christmas I had randomly read my first NF book in ages and-- to my eternel surprise-- it wasn't dull or boring or horrible but rather it was amazing and riveting and who knew NF books could be like that??

I made a commitment to trying to read one NF book a month. To some that may not sound like anything arduous but to me it seemed like a hefty challenge.

Here we are, more than halfway through 2018 (?!) and I thought I would comment on how the challenge is going!

First off to the surprise of few I discovered that NF books can be utterly AMAZING and wildly interesting and not dull at all? This was a shock but to be honest I have yet to start a NF book that puts me to sleep. Back in January I made a quick list of NF books I might try this year: I can safely say I have read only two of those twelve, which brings me to my next point.

What have I read thus far?

Abundant Beauty by Marianne North

The Lost City of Z by David Grann || My Review

52 Loaves by William Alexander

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn || My Review + Recipe Test

My Life in France by Julia Child || My Review

As you can see I am a couple of books behind my goal-- but considering how crazy my summer went I'm not surprised and nor am I discouraged. This challenge has been amazing, opening up an entirely new genre for me. I can't wait to see what NF books I discover between now and December!

What about you? Are you a NF lover? Have you read any of these books??

I don't read nonfiction. I can count the number of times that I have eagerly sat down with a nonfiction book on one hand and have fingers to spare.

I'm not sure why, but I often find nonfiction too dry to capture my interest. Maybe it's because I love plot-driven books and nonfiction tend to be more introspective or tells the story of many people, as opposed to focusing on a central character.

What I do know is that I want this to change-- I want to read more nonfiction but since I don't normally gravitate towards them, I knew I needed a challenge. And when I stumbled upon Doing Dewey's nonfiction reading challenge I knew it was exactly what I needed.

Doing Dewey's nonfiction reading challenge is a very open ended challenge-- letting me choose my pace and my goal. After some brief introspection I settled on the possibly-ambitious, possibly-too-easy goal of 12 nonfiction books in 12 months.

One book a month seemed a great way to dip my toe in the nonfiction waters and making a post about it almost guarantees that I'll stay on track.

As I don't read nonfiction, I assumed I would have no nonfiction titles on my TBR list but lo and behold I had ten! Like do I know myself. I guess not. These titles have languished on my list for far too long-- it's time to crack down and read them. Here are some of the titles I might read this coming year: