Recommend me some non-fiction not biography interesting reads.
Recommend me some non-fiction interesting reads please not biography.
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Recommend me some non-fiction interesting reads please not biography.
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
by Daniel James Brown
American fire and the lost girls
American fire is about a couple who committed arson all over their hometown/county and lost girls is about the long Island serial killer
Ed Yong “I Contain Multitudes”
Devil in The white City and anything by the same
Yep. Just finished In the Garden of Beasts a few weeks ago. 10/10
Both a true story/murder mystery and s story of the 1893 Colombian Exposition/World’s Fair in Chicago.
Nathaniel Philbrick Sea of Glory
yep, thanks. I’ll try this one
His book, In the Heart of the Sea, is excellent too.
@Kelly I ageee!
Yeah, it is, and I think it’s his most famous. My favorite of his is Mayflower. I just had Sea of Glory on my mind since someone posted about books about Hawaii. I didn’t recc it there cause the Hawaii part is pretty short.
I like all of his books: I especially enjoyed the one about Bunker Hill.
Whoa! Can I have a little info on what each is about please!
Death’s Acre by Jon Jefferson and William M. Bass
Awesome book! Dr. Bass was one of my professors.
OO I fancy this – have you read ‘Stiff’ by Mary Roach? That was a fabulous interesting read
@Nancy ? you lucky person
@Jacqueline I haven’t but it’s now going on my tbr list.
Dr. Bass also wrote Beyond the Body Farm. He’s a great professor, and his field is so fascinating!
Lost City of the Monkey God, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Sixth Extinction, The Warmth o Other Suns…
@Mary http://www.warmthofothersuns.com/ is an incredible book
Anything by Erik Larson
Outlander
@Brooke not nonfiction
oh sorry i misread it haha
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt.
I’ve read that I liked it
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is historical fiction. Nonfiction claim by author was fraud. Some of the interviews he claimed to conduct could not have happened as person was dead. Quotes conversations that would be impossible to know about as there were no witnesses to the conversations and both parties were dead.
Yeah, I read that too…book was interesting though ?
@Beverly I had not heard that. Thanks for the information.
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs.
not biographies, thanks
@Jacqueline not a biography to my understanding.
Oh I guess it technically is sorry
Memoirs? Prize Tw*t: Who goes to Colombia to give up cocaine? https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1983161314/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_e.YXBb8FST7E8
Anything by Mary Roach
ha ha I’ve just recommended her to another poster ?
J Maarten Troost is a very funny ‘travel-ish’ author
An Intimate Portrait- Barack Obama. Picture book with side stories. Amazing.
biography…
ok
Anything by Mary Roach
yeah I know!
Radium Girls
I’ve read that, it was good
Loved this book
The Hemings of Monticello
The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara
Chronicles the battle of Gettysburg… sounds dry, but it reads like a novel! An excellent read! Won Pulitzer in mid 70s…
OK I will try this one too
Agreed! Killer Angels is excellent!
Bill bryson – a brief history of everything
I’ve read everything he’s ever written I think
@Jacqueline this is the only book i re read every so often because its just so fascinating ❤❤ i can see why you’ve read all his work
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
All of his books!! Dead Wake was amazing, as were In The Garden Of Beasts, and Thunderstruck.
Blue Latitudes
1066: The Hidden History in the Bayeaux Tapestry
Citizens of London by Lynn Olsen
Rage. Soraya Chemaly. Must read. Will change your life.
And the Band Played On
Great book!
Behind the Beautiful Forevers
The New Kings of Nonfiction edited by Ira Glass…The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim DeFede …Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finley…The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiff, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries by Marilyn Johnson…The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean…Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell…The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued their Bosses and Changed the Workplace by Lynn Povich…Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation by John Carlin…Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History by Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio…The Search For God at Harvard by Ari L Goldman…Shakespeare in Kabul by Stephen Landrigan and Qais Akbar Omar…The Prince of the Marshes by Rory Stewart…Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education by Michael Pollan…The Serpent and the Rainbow: A Harvard Scientist’s Astonishing Journey into the Secret Societies of Haitian Voodoo, Zombi, and Magic by Wade Davis…
The Warmth of Other Suns is fascinating and unforgettable. Won just about every award a nonfiction book can win. TV mini-series is in the works. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8171378-the-warmth-of-other-suns
Unbroken
I’ve just started a new one, that has me already: The Silk Roads. The Rise and Fall of The Dinosaurs was also very good.
Also: anything by Oliver Sacks.
Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt
Women and Power by Mary Beard.
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
ooh yeah got to get this one my mom is elderly thanks
@Jacqueline Then you might also like The Good Doctor: A Father, a Son, and the Evolution of Medicine by Barron H Lerner [heard the author interviewed on NPR and had to immediately read it since it deals with end of life issues. I was going through that with my mother and aunt at the time. It was good to have a physician’s perspective as I know from personal experience and from many physician and pharmacist friends that the way medical personnel deal with end of life in their own families is different than what many patients and their families want or expect or demand].
@Dana Excellent book. Have you read his Checklist Manifesto?
@Barbara No, I haven’t. Do you recommend it?
@Jacqueline I couldn’t put it down. I read it 2 times this past summer. The second time with my book club, and almost everyone from the book club recommended it to multiple people. If you read it, I’d love to know your thoughts!
@Dana Yes, absolutely.
“The Monster of Florence” by Douglas Preston. It tells about a serial killer in Florence, Italy, but also about how the Italian investigators began suspecting and accusing Douglas Preston himself of working with the Monster as he was writing the book!
I just read that one!!!
The Female Brain ?
If you want pure entertainment and quick fascinating articles, Atlas Obscura is great. 600 hundred of the weirdest, most mysterious and coolest places. Range from creepy to breathtaking. Could be a travel guide too. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28110891-atlas-obscura?from_search=true
no I don’t think I’m looking for either of those thanks
Damnation Island.
The Quiet Room by Lori Schiller.
Biography
Jacqueline Stagg
Oops, I seem to have missed that part. Apologies.
Then, I would recommend:
1. The Reason for Flowers by Stephen Buchmann.
2. The Lonely City by Olivia Laing.
3. Sapiens by Noah Yuval Harari.
4. In Search of Schrödinger’s Cat by John Gribbin.
5. The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman.
6. Neurotribes by Steve Silberman.
7. Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely.
8. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins.
9. Malignant Sadness by Lewis Wolpert.
10. Feathers by Thor Hanson.
@Syed well I’ve read and enjoyed 4 of those already so thanks, I will try the rest of your list
Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
In the Garden of Beasts.
Boys in the Boat
Your’e the second to recommend that it’s not normally my sort of thing but I will try it
It was not normally mine either, but I loved it and so did all the women in my book group.
Not normally mine either but I “third” the recommendation!
Serpentine.
Behind closed door by B.A.Paris
I thought that was fiction.
Lost City of the Monkey God
“Decisive”, “Thinking in Bets”, “Nudge”, “Happy Money”, “Stumbling on Happiness”
Salt: a world history by Mark Kurlansky
Seabiscuit – Laura Hillenbrand
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
Without You There is no Us
Educated by Tara Westover. It’s a memoir, not a biography. It’s an outstanding book. Killers of the Flower Moon is quite good as well.
Erik Larson has written Devil in the White City, and many other books.
The Good Nurse by Charlie Graeber
I heard Endurance is good. Don’t know the author. Sorry.
Reading it now… so far it’s great.
There are multiple books, and I’ve read a few, with this title but the one written by Alfred Lansing is the standout.
That’s the one I’m reading… very good!
Quiet
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Very interesting Non fiction!!
There are already a lot of good suggestions… I’ll add Dreamland by Sam Quinones it’s very good…not my usual read but I would recommend it. I like books authored by David McCullough also.
ghost wars by Steve coll. Won the Pulitzer. About Afghanistan and al Qaeda from Soviet invasion to September 10, 2001.
It’s incredible
Right in my wheelhouse. Thx for the recommendation!
@Jed there’s a “sequel” that came out earlier this year called Directorate S which picks up in September 2001
@Robert Appreciate the tip! Have you read The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal by David E. Hoffman? Excellent book.
@Jed i have not but the title reminded me of The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre (which I also have not yet read)
Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS by Joby Warrick.
Also won Pulitzer
Dead Wake and The Devil in the White City, both by Erik Larson
Neurotribes by S Silberman
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer
Empty Mansions
Could everyone please include the author’s name??
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Moonglow
No time to read all the comments, so I’m sure someone has already mentioned Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. This will transform your view of our criminal justice system. Also recommend Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann. This book opens your eyes to a previously ignored piece of our US history. Finally, The Radium Girls by Kate Moore – another shocking revelation of corporate greed favored over worker safety during the early 20th century. Good nonfiction challenges our view of the world and these three books read like fiction, but are all shockingly true! You may not “enjoy” reading them because the topics are so hard to accept, but they are important and you will be forever changed.
Stiff
Most anything by Mary Roach is a winner!
Stiff is one of my mostest favouritist books I often buy it to give as Christmas presents!
The Fatal Shore (Australian history) by Robert Hughes.
Twelve Years a Slave (I recommend the audiobook version) by Solomon Northrup
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. Dead Wake by Erik Larson.
Seven habits of Effective People.
Half the Sky
(1) The Film Club by David Gilmour
(2) 31 Songs by Nick Hornby
(3) Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman
(4) What Sport Can Tell Us About Life by Ed Smith
(5) River Town by Peter Hessler
(6) Changing My Mind by Zadie Smith
(7) The River at the Center of the World by Simon Winchester
The Sixth Extinction
Murder in Music City by Michael Bishop. A true story that goes so far as corruption in local government. It is a page turner.
Highly recommend anything by Mary Roach. Stiff, Bonk, Gulp etc. She totally engrosses herself in a topic. It’s pretty cool to read
Animal Wise.
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
The Greater Journey by David McCullough
Educated, by Tara Westover. It’s the memoir of a woman who was “home schooled” in an abusiva family and her struggles to earn a PhD.
Anything by Malcolm Gladwell.
I just finished The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson and really enjoyed it.
Books by Brene Brown, Bill Bryson, Malcom Gladwell.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
I agree
Any of Erik Larson’s books.
Brene Brown, Gretchen Rubin.
Killers of the Flower Moon.
I agree!
The Lost City of Z
Shooting Victoria was excellent – about several assassination attempts and how it impacted the relationship of the monarchy to the people.
‘The Boys in the Boat’
Radium girls
Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Born Survivors by Wendy Holden
Boys in the Boat.
Rick Bragg’s books about his family. Currently reading The Best Cook in the World which is about recording family recipes and the stories/history behind them with his mother. Sooo good!
Incendiary
“In the Garden of Beasts”, “Devil in the White City”, “Thunderstruck”… all by Eric Larson. His non-fiction reads like fiction; brilliant writer.
@Abby Dead Wake was the last one, about the Lusitania in WW1.
Ghost Solders, On Desperate Ground, both by Hampton Sides.
Midnight in the garden of good and evil by John Berendt
Journey Into Darkness by John Douglas, if you like true-crime type books
The Boys in the Boat, The Radium Girls or Unbroken. I also love everything by Eric Larsen!
Hellhound on His Trail
Red Notice by Bill Browder
Killers of the flower moon
Boys in the Boat..
Unbroken..
I recommend all of Simon Winchester and Erik Larson. I also love Doris Kearns Goodwin.
Great list. Thx!
Five Days at Memorial. Fierce story of a hospital during and after Katrina, and the physician who was charged with murder. If you have ever gone through a bad hurricane …
The Soul of an Octopus
Lab Girl (memoir)
Books by Mary Roach
I’ve read all the books about octopus they fascinate me
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou. It’s highly relatable to those who’ve worked in a similar organizational setting.
Devil and the White City. Almost a novel!
Sapiens
Non fiction books about art fraud, art theft, and financial fraud are always interesting. For example: No One Would Listen by Harry Markopolous, which is about the Bernie Madoff financial scandal. Or Thieves of Baghdad by Matthew Bogdanos, which is about the recovery of treasures that were stolen from Baghdad’s Museum after the recent war.
The Feather Thief was a quick read because it was so fascinating. It’s about a young man who got so obsessed with perfecting his fly fishing ties that he stole valuable feathers from a natural history museum.
The Momuments Men about recovering art items stolen by the Nazis.
Countdown to Zero Day
I could NOT put down Manic Kingdom by Dr. Erin Stair. Not for the faint of heart, based on a true story. Oh,wait, it might still be fiction, but it’s a true story!! On Amazon- 🙂
This true crime non-fiction book from Australia has won awards.
https://www.aworldadventurebybook.com/reading-list/last-woman-hanged
Dead wake
Check out Book Row by Marvin Mondlin.
Kristie
Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazi
The Johnstown Flood is wonderful, reads like a novel.
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Neil Degrasse Tyson. Loved it!
OK I’m off to the library right now with a HUGE list!
If you like true crime I suggest. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara and Mindhunter by John Douglas.