Two years ago, my blogging friend Leslie (Regular Rumination) and I decided we wanted to focus our reading in November on nonfiction. As we talked about it, we decided to invite other bloggers to join us in celebrating nonfiction all month. Hence, Nonfiction November.

Last year, Leslie and I were lucky enough to be joined by two additional cohosts, Katie (Doing Dewey) and Rebecca (I’m Lost In Books). I’m excited to say that we’re all back to co-host Nonfiction November yet again this year. Yay!

The structure this year will be largely the same. On the Monday of each week in November, one of us will put up a post with the weekly discussion topic. The post will have a place to share links with responses to the topic OR reviews of nonfiction books that are posted during the week. On the Friday of each week, the weekly host will do a roundup of submissions to peruse. Please also share your posts and recommendations throughout the week on Twitter with the hashtag #NonficNov.

This year, we’ve decided to incorporate a readalong more fully into the weekly post topics. During the fourth week of November we plan to focus on our readalong of I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb — more details on that below. 

Without further ado, here are the topics we’ve selected:

Week 1: November 2 to 6 (Hosted by Kim)

Your Year in Nonfiction: Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following questions – What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year? What nonfiction book have you recommended the most? What is one topic or type of nonfiction you haven’t read enough of yet? What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?

Week 2: November 9 to 13 (Hosted by Leslie)

Book Pairing: Match a fiction book with a nonfiction book that you would recommend.

Week 3: November 16 to 20 (Hosted by Becca)

Nontraditional Nonfiction: This week we will be focusing on the nontraditional side of reading nonfiction. Nonfiction comes in many forms. There are the traditional hardcover or paperback print books, of course, but then you also have e-books, audiobooks, illustrated and graphic nonfiction, oversized folios, miniatures, internet publishing, and enhanced books complete with artifacts. So many choices! Do you find yourself drawn to or away from nontraditional nonfiction? Do you enjoy some nontraditional formats, but not others? Perhaps you have recommendations for readers who want to dive into nontraditional formats.  We want to hear all about it this week!  

Week 4: November 23 to 27 (Hosted by Katie)

Readalong Discussion: This week we’ll be wrapping up Nonfiction November with a discussion of our read-along book, I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb. Discussion questions will be posted at the beginning of the week on November 23. In your post, you can answer these questions and/or write about your own response to the book. As you read throughout the month, you can share your thoughts on Twitter using the hashtag #NonficNov.

It should be pretty simple. A post to accept links will go up on Monday. Share your discussion topic or review of a nonfiction book any time during the week. Check out all of the great nonfiction posts throughout the week or in a roundup on Friday. (If you’re a blogger, feel free to grab the image above for use in all of your Nonfiction November posts).

Nonfiction Book Swap

Again this year, Bex (An Armchair By the Sea) is hosting a Nonfiction Book Swap to go along with Nonfiction November. The book swap is open internationally and participants should make a nonfiction only wish list. Sign ups are open until November 8, but head over to her blog for all the details. 

Whew! I feel like that got a little long. Also, apologies for getting this out so late this year — with all my travel we didn’t get organized quite as promptly. But anyway, enough jabbering. I hope you’ll join us for an awesome month of exploring and celebrating nonfiction! See you back here on November 2 for the first link up.

My sister Jenny and I continued our European adventure with a two day trip out to Bath, famous for the Romans, Jane Austen, and Georgian architecture.

Here’s my embarrassing secret — I’ve never actually read a Jane Austen novel. But Jenny is a huge fan and I love Austen adaptations, so of course we were going to head out of London for a few days in the country before we jumped off to Greece.

We took the Metro then a train from London — luggage and all — then hiked from the train station to our bed and breakfast. Because we only had two days, we got going right away with a visit to the Museum of Bath Architecture.

Bath was a popular place to holiday during the Georgian Period (about 1714 to 1830), so there are a lot of homes and buildings that feature Georgian design. Of course, Jenny enjoyed the architecture museum.

I actually enjoyed the museum too. It was one of those little strange ones that doesn’t seem to get a lot of visitors, but those are some of my favorites I think.

After the museum we continued our Bath architecture tour with a trip up to the Royal Crescent, a famous set of Georgian buildings that also has a Georgian mansion to tour. It was a beautiful day, so of course we just spent some time outside in this beautiful green space. Bath is full of awesome parks.

Our first full day in Bath started out at the Roman Baths — basically, the reason Bath exists in the first place. It’s amazing to see buildings and artifacts that are so old and have such a history. Jenny and I flew through this tour just a little bit because we were trying to get to a walking tour of Bath that started later in the morning. But I think we got our money’s worth.

Again, Bath is just a beautiful city. And I really needed some small town life after London. After a long day of walking, Jenny and I decided to experience the thermal springs of Bath ourselves with a trip to the Thermae Bath Spa. It was pretty indulgent, but also one of those things that you feel like you should do if you’re vacationing someplace that it’s known for.

We also ate Sally Lunn buns for dinner. Yum.

Unfortunately, all the traveling and close proximity caught up with me — I woke up the next morning with a pretty miserable cold. So much for healing waters! But, our last day in Bath was Jane Austen day — so exciting!

If you are a Jane Austen fan and have a chance to get to the Jane Austen Museum in Bath, definitely check it out. I learned a ton, and we had a fun time talking with some of the staff members there about Jane. It’s delightful. And you can get a delicious tea afterwards — we were feeling a little too under the weather to truly enjoy it, but Jane Austen and tea go together. Oh, and I bought a Jane Austen book set in Bath, Persuasion. 

Finally, one of my favorite little details about Bath — they love pigs! According to legend, a disgraced prince turned pig-herder was cured of his leprosy after swimming in the thermal waters of Bath. These pigs are from a 2008 public art project and you could still see a few around.

We left Bath late in the day, catching a bus back to London so we could get on an airplane the next day to head to Greece. Greek island photos to come soon!

Previous Posts | Book Nerd Tourism: Book Loot of London | Adventures in Europe: Highlights of London

Briefly | It’s been the laziest of lazy weekend. I feel a little bad about the fact that I spent the entire afternoon finishing up season six of The Good Wife on Amazon Prime… but sometimes that’s what you need.

Eating and Drinking | What I would really love today is a Bloody Mary, but I don’t think that’ll be happening.

Reading | This week’s reading was all about young adult books. I flew through Leigh Bardugo’s newest book, Six of Crows, a heist story set in the same universe as The Grisha Trilogy. I loved being back in that universe, but with new characters and a new type of story. I kept scratching the YA itch with a book that’s been popular over at Book Riot — Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy. It was really sweet and also, I think, important and honest in the way it portrays a fat main character who doesn’t care that she’s overweight. I’m not sure what is up next today, maybe jumping back into Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho.

Making | I finished up “Katniss Cowl” for a friend of mine. No photos yet, but as soon as I give it to her I’ll take some pictures to share.

Cooking | I was planning to make Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup from Iowa Girl Eats today, but it’s supposed to be like 90 degrees this afternoon… not soup weather.

Blogging | I went to a book sale earlier this month and finally got around to sharing some of my finds. I love a good book sale.

Promoting | I like this piece from Linda Holmes at NPR talking about Slaughterhouse 90210, a Tumblr turned book that I am also really excited about.

Hating | I didn’t take any interesting pictures this week. I don’t normally take a ton of pictures, except of Hannah, but normally I have at least a couple fun things to share. I think I spent a lot of the week feeling grumpy and inside my own head… not great.

Loving | BANG! is my current favorite card game — “The card game BANG! recreates an old-fashioned spaghetti western shoot-out, with each player randomly receiving a Character card to determine special abilities, and a secret Role card to determine their goal.” It’s not that complicated, but really fun when you get a good group together.

Avoiding | I was avoiding doing the dishes, but I broke down and cleaned my entire kitchen earlier this morning. So now I guess I’m avoiding answering emails and going to the grocery store. Being a grown up is hard.

Anticipating | I’m hoping to get outside later today to take a walk. It’s important to get some Vitamin D on this unseasonably warm day (especially since I missed most of it yesterday).

Happy Sunday, everyone! What are you reading today?

Oh, book sales. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

My sister and I stumbled across Half Price Books’ annual clearance sale two years ago while we were driving around the Twin Cities. Even though I was going to be in town for it this year, we had planned to skip it since we just got back from buying all the books in London… but like true book nerds, we couldn’t stay away.

All seven of Half Price Books’ shops in the Twin Cities area contribute to the sale, housed in the Grandstand at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. It’s sort of incredible to walk in and just see tables and tables and tables covered with books. You just have to pick and table and start browsing (while avoiding the people pushing carts down every row).

Initially, I felt like the selection wasn’t a strong as two years ago — the fiction seemed really picked over and I wasn’t seeing much that caught my attention. But as we made our way to the inner rows, it definitely improved. Of course I ended up walking out with my Penguin tote bag filled to the brim with new books.

Here’s what made it’s way into my house from the sale:

• In the Pond by Ha Jin (fiction)
• Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (short stories)
• The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris (fiction)
• Paula by Isabel Allende (memoir)
• Vanity Fair’s Tales of Hollywood, edited by Graydon Carter (nonfiction — the stories behind 13 iconic movies)
• Pilgrims by Elizabeth Gilbert (short stories)
• Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan (fiction)
• The Men Who Would Be King by Josephine Ross (nonfiction — the courtships of Queen Elizabeth I)
• Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama (memoir)
• Wild Swans by Jung Chang (memoir/history)
• The Junior Officers Reading Club by Patrick Hennessey (memoir)
• Hope Diamond by Richard Kurin (nonfiction — history of the Hope Diamond)
• Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga (fiction)
• Booknotes: Stories from American History, edited by Brian Lamb (nonfiction)
• Late for Tea at the Deer Palace by Tam Chalabi (memoir)

So there you have it, 15 more books to add to my overflowing bookshelves. Being a book addict is awesome!