April Reading List: Nonfiction

I've decided to focus on nonfiction novels during the month of April.  I have no problems reading nonfiction books, but I am naturally drawn more to fiction when I'm choosing what I want to read next.  In order to try out something new, everything I read in April will be informational.

When pulling selections from my shelves for this month, I quickly discovered that while I don't tend to read a whole lot of nonfiction, I certainly have no trouble buying nonfiction.  I have a stack of books by my nightstand so tall that I could never hope to finish them all in one month.  I decided to prioritize and choose six that I definitely want to read, and added the rest onto my list as bonus reads.  I'll see how many I can get to before my time runs out.

Here are my nonfiction "must-reads" for the month:

Stiff, The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach - This book talks about the various ways science and medicine use our dead bodies.  This one is supposed to be interesting as well as funny, and it's the one I'm looking forward to the most, oddly enough.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Spark Joy by Marie Kondo - These two novels, which became intensely popular last year, focus on giving people advice on how to organize their homes.  I'm hoping that these will inspire me to clean out some of the not-so-tidy areas of my own house.

Columbine by Dave Cullen - The novel discusses the details of the Columbine school shooting.  As a teacher, this is a topic that lurks in the back of my mind from time to time.  I'm interested to read the complete story.

I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had by Tony Danza - Actor Tony Danza decided to become a high school English teacher.  This is his account of his first year teaching.  I briefly watched the reality show of his experience, and it was surprisingly good, so I thought I'd give the book a try.

Dirty Old London, The Victorian Fight Against Filth by Lee Jackson - This novel explores how people from the Victorian time period dealt with sanitation issues.  This promises to be a weird and interesting read.
 

Bonus Round Books:

True Notebooks, A Writer's Year at Juvenile Hall by Mark Salzman
Popular, Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek by Maya Van Wagenen
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides
Beyond Words, What Animals Think and Feel by Carl Safina


Okay, time to get learning...