Nonfiction November: A Fun Challenge and a Fantastic Resource All Year Long

You probably noticed other bookish people posting about Nonfiction November recently. Not only is it a fun reading challenge with weekly prompts, it is also great resource, and one you don't have to only use in November.

First let me post all of the info about the month and give you the links, then we can discuss how to use them.

Here is a great explanation on the purpose and prompts for the month from the adult services perspective via What's Nonfiction? [also a great resource for NF RA in general]:

Nonfiction November is taking place again this year! What began as a challenge to read nonfiction for a whole month has become a month-long celebration of reading, writing about and discussing nonfiction, with a different themed discussion prompt to take part in every week. 

It’s such a fun way to expand your nonfiction horizons, and it’s definitely the perfect time to challenge yourself and tackle some nonfiction titles on your reading list.I can’t tell you how excited I am to be one of the hosts this year, alongside Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness), Sarah (Sarah’s Book Shelves), Julie (JulzReads), and Katie (Doing Dewey). Each Monday, a link-up for that week’s topic will be posted at the host’s blog, which you can link your posts back to throughout the week. There’s also going to be a challenge with more prompts running on Instagram. 

Here’s the full schedule and topics for this year: 

Week 1: (Oct. 29 to Nov. 2) – Your Year in Nonfiction (Kim @ 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? 

Week 2: (Nov. 5 to 9) – Fiction / Nonfiction Book Pairing (Sarah’s Book Shelves): This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. It can be a “If you loved this book, read this!” or just two titles that you think would go well together. Maybe it’s a historical novel and you’d like to get the real history by reading a nonfiction version of the story. 

Week 3: (Nov. 12 to 16) – Be The Expert/Ask the Expert/Become the Expert (Julie @ JulzReads): Three ways to join in this week! You can either share three or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend (be the expert), you can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic that you have been dying to read (ask the expert), or you can create your own list of books on a topic that you’d like to read (become the expert). 

Week 4: (Nov. 19 to 23) – Reads Like Fiction (Rennie @ What’s Nonfiction): Nonfiction books often get praised for how they stack up to fiction. Does it matter to you whether nonfiction reads like a novel? If it does, what gives it that fiction-like feeling? Does it depend on the topic, the writing, the use of certain literary elements and techniques? What are your favorite nonfiction recommendations that read like fiction? And if your nonfiction picks could never be mistaken for novels, what do you love about the differences? 

Week 5: (Nov. 26 to 30) – New to My TBR (Katie @ Doing Dewey): It’s been a month full of amazing nonfiction books! Which ones have made it onto your TBR? Be sure to link back to the original blogger who posted about that book! 

Instagram Challenge: This year we’ll also be bringing back an Instagram photo challenge for Nonfiction November, co-hosted by Kim (@kimthedork) and Leann (@Shelf_Aware_). We’re still working out the prompts, and will announce them on Instagram closer to the kickoff. If you’re interested in participating in Nonfiction November but don’t have a blog, feel free to join us on Instagram and Litsy using the hashtag #NonficNov.

You can follow this link to see What's Nonfiction? and its partners' posts for each week.

So that's what Nonfiction November is and I know your next question to me, "But Becky the month is almost over why are you telling us now?" Well, one, I was too busy to post it sooner. And, two, you don't have to participate to use this month to your RA Service advantage.

The five themes are all excellent display ideas. You can do them in the building, anytime of year, or online. I especially love the idea of doing a TBR type display. This idea is brilliant because you could do it as a staff display or even ask patrons to contribute. The best part is, these are all books you want to read and I know we all have way more on our TBR lists than we have read [or will ever read].

A "Books We Want to Read" display can include anything: any genre, any format, any age level, ANYTHING. And they can all be backlist titles, of which we have tons. Patrons will love to see the books we are excited about, especially older ones that they would never know about otherwise. Just the fact that someone wants to read it, can be enough to encourage someone to take it home and give it a try.

Making this display is also therapeutic and can help you battle your own TBR anxiety. [I have a longer post about how to handle TBR anxiety here.] Think about it, putting a bunch of the titles you want to read, but know that realistically you will probably never get to them, on display is a way to get those titles in the hands of others. And getting them in the hands of others who you know will read them lowers TBR anxiety. Trust me, I know, I have been doing it for years. Heck, I did it last week.

Finally, Nonfiction November is a great reminder that we need to display nonfiction more. People love it to read for fun, myself included. We can mix fiction and nonfiction, or just have more fun, small nonfiction displays, more often. For more prompts and ideas on nonfiction displays, I highly suggest using Book Riot's Nonfiction section where they post multiple lists a day, on a variety of topics and lengths from 50 books, to 5, for all sized displays.

Remember to let the resources work for you. You don't need the ideas for all the displays or nonfiction reading suggestions, you just need to know where to look for them.