Ready for November?

November...a time for pumpkin spice everything, beards of all shapes and sizes and red, white and blue "I voted" stickers. But for readers in the know, November is for nonfiction books. Personally I love November because I love celebrating nonfiction books (and by nonfiction I mostly mean history). If you're out there yawning at the thought of a book about the tea trade in the 1800s or battle plans of the Civil War, remember that nonfiction encompasses so much more than just history. What else can you read?

Memoirs/Biographies - There's a newly released 900+ page book about Mark Twain on the shelves but so many more (shorter) books about random people who have led interesting lives.

Hobbies - Whatever your hobby (or wanna-be hobby), you can find a book out there. Recently,  I've read about growing dahlias, writing mystery novels, building birdhouses. What do you want to know more about? My son (a fabulous chef) has a cookbook with meals based on meals from Star Wars. See, something for everyone.

Humor - These books can range from biographies of comedians to collections of essays on specific topics to your basic joke books popular with grandfathers of elementary school children. Because every kid loves a Poppy who can tell a good knock-knock joke.

Travel - Imagine my surprise at fellow WOW blogger Renee Roberson's post about a recent trip to Greece when I'm halfway through a book about Greece that is my favorite division - 75% stunning photos and 25% text.

Sports - With cold (and rainy) weather setting in, it may be too nippy for your favored sport. But you can read playing tips, biographies, rehashes of notable games and so may "underdog wins" books.

Self-Help - What do you want to improve? Your diet? Your parenting skills? Your memory? Your home organization? You general outlook on life? Definitely a book for that!

As writers, I think we should all stray away from our favorite genres and topics. Different types of books are written in different styles and exposure to many styles can only improve our own writing. Kristin Hannah and Stephen Ambrose write about the same time period but in vastly different ways. We can learn from both authors.

Plus, nonfiction books give us so many new ideas.You never know where a book will prod you. A World War II history book held the kernel that led to my novel in progress. A quiz book about the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" led to my writing being included in a military trivia book. A Polish cookbook led me pen a listicle about stuffed pasta around the world.

Can you commit to just one book for #NonfictionNovember? I'm busy finishing up my book on Greece.

Jodi M. Webb writes from her home in the Pennsylvania mountains about everything from DIY projects to tea to butterflies.  She's also a blog tour manager for WOW-Women on Writing. In November, she's blogging about her nonfiction reads at Words by Webb. 

Thanks to She Reads Nonfiction for the fun graphics as well as hosting a weekly catch up for participants of #NonfictionNovember on Mondays. You can just read the host's thoughts or answer the writing prompt.

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