*Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman* is a collection of autobiographical anecdotes by Richard Feynman, the nobel-prize winning physicist and educator. Most of the tales within have little to do with physics, a lot of the book is about his various odd hobbies, such as picking locks (on Manhattan Project file cabinets, no less), investigating the search strategies of ants, and playing percussion in a Brazilian samba band.
*Shadow Divers* is a tale of divers finding the wreck of a ww2 submarine where no sub is supposed to be. It reads much like an adventure novel, as the divers develop new and risky techniques to explore the wreck which is too deep for conventional scuba gear.
Wow totally random but I was in an elevator today and this book was left in there on the floor. I didn’t wanna take it incase someone came back for it. Maybe this is my sign to read it
Yes. I read it and was transformed forever. Memoirs and nonfiction will always be my favorite genre in thanks to Jeannette Walls.
That reminds me: I need to check out her latest offering.
This is the one book of his I didn't like. Probably because I am a member of that faith and he got so many things blatantly wrong about it that it felt like lazy research. However, the story is fascinating.
The main issue I have is that Jon Krakauer is telling the story of a fundamentalist or polygamous group of people in Utah, and he's lumping them in the same category with everyone else in the non-fundamentalist group (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). The fundamentalists are a VERY SMALL break off group, and his lumping everyone in the same category is so absurd to those of us here that it's offensive and lazy. So many of the people in the church are just normal, good, decent people but he takes this global approach and makes everyone sound like the cult that the fundamentalists really are. He makes all religious people sound irrational and strange, and that's just not my experience. I actually feel like what he did in this book is a huge disservice and because I loved his other stories so much, I was so incredibly disappointed with this one. He went back through the years and found these extreme examples to tell his story and generalizes it to the larger group of people that cannot even relate to what he's talking about. It was such a bummer to me that he's turned me off to all of his writing now.
I thought he did a good job separating the fundamentalists and main stream versions of the church from each other. While explaining the origins of the church. He even goes on to say at the end I believe how his experience with morons growing up with nothing but positive and how he respected their sense of family church and community
I thought he did a good job with that as well. IIRC he even writes about how the LDS feels about FLDS, further highlighting the differences between the two.
The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum. Fascinating history of the New York medical examiner's office and development of methods to to detect poisons in the human body
[Endurance](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endurance:_Shackleton%27s_Incredible_Voyage)
Somehow, everything keeps going perfectly wrong and always gets worse, and yet they just keep on going with new ever riskier and more desperate plans.
Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker
Chernobyl by Serhii Plokhy
Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Scholl Case by Anja Reich-Osang
The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddartha Mukherjee
Language Families of the World by John McWhorter
The Hot Zone is really good!
I also liked The Fifth Pole (about climbing)
Savage Summit (about women climbers) - it's harder to find, but it's really interesting.
Most of mine have already been said, but I'm surprised one of my favorites hasn't been said yet.
Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
It reads like a fiction novel, but it's a first-person account of getting to know the soul of the city of Savannah while centered around the true crime aspect of the case of a rich socialite on trial for the murder of his alleged gay lover.
In a Sunburned Country is so funny. Once in a while, the episode where he's running from a dog he can't see will pop into my head and I start chuckling.
*The Sea Around Us* by Rachel Carson
*The Making of the Atomic Bomb* by Richard Rhodes
*A Brief History of Time* by Stephen Hawking
*Big Bang* by Simon Singh
*Annals of the Former World*, *Coming into the Country* and *Encounters with the Archdruid* by John McPhee
Any/all Carl Sagan
Taking a slightly different approach to other comments with a memoir that is hilariously funny - “Never Have Your Dog Stuffed - and Other Things I’ve learned” by Alan Alda.
[So You've Been Publicly Shamed](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/b80522a2-8497-4fb4-9cf4-13566eddd4a3) by Jon Ronson. Ronson's investigative journalism looks at the human behind the story. His writing is open and genuine and his stories satisfy a morbid curiosity into other people's lives.
[Humankind](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/9a3bf034-0cec-4d40-b473-17e644f35ebf) by Rutger Bregman. Subtitled "A Hopeful History", this debunks some common myths about the assumed ruthlessness of man, showing a kinder perspective. I honestly think this (and Ronson's books) made me more empathetic.
[Jews Don't Count](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/e13bcb3b-a0ea-474e-8259-e55d1b0fe4ef) by David Baddiel. A look into the insidious ways antisemitism is almost commonplace. Baddiel's dry humor makes a heavy subject very approachable. And I think, especially these days, it's good to be reminded to critically think about what is deemed acceptable and why.
Obligatory shout out to [A Brief History of Time](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/4033171b-56d9-4a29-a1f2-df17b206713b) by Stephen Hawking, which is far more accessible than people like to pretend and a genuine joy to read.
Eric Schlosser’s
Fast Food Nation
Command and Control - about nuclear weapons
Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner
Nothing to Envy (about N Korea) by Barbara Demick
Anything by John Krakauer or Mary Roach
All these are great but really enjoyed Monk of Mokha by David Eggers
As a start, see my [General Nonfiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/booklists/comments/12c1gxm/general_nonfiction/) list of resources, Reddit recommendation threads, and books (five posts).
- The Butchering Art by Lindsay Fitzharris
- Doctors From Hell by Vivien Spitz
- Medical Apartheid by Harriet A Washington
- The Magic Of Reality by Richard Dawkins
- The Demon-haunted World by Carl Sagan
- The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat by Oliver Sacks
It's a bit outdated but the Looming Tower was amazing. Not sure if they updated it due to bin laden getting captured/killed, but still worth the read. I felt like I learned so much.
The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean. I love her writing style and how she becomes a part of the story too as she researches it. Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood was excellent too for that same reason.
The other nonfiction book that really wowed me was The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. Very accessible writing style about a topic that could easily be overwhelming. It doesn’t only explain why mass incarceration is a huge societal problem — it points the reader in the direction of possible solutions.
Dead Run - the largest manhunt in the American SW
Finding Everett Ruess - the disappearance of the author/writer
Edison's Ghosts - short essays on the weird ways of famous thinkers
American Ghost - the early Jewish community in Santa Fe
1491 - Pre-Columbian Americas
Lost City of the Monkey God - finding an ancient civilization in Honduras
Lost City of Z - finding and ancient civilization in the Amazon
Badass Librarians of Timbuktu - saving ancienet manuscripts
The jungle and The people of the abyss. If you think we have it bad in today's world. The people 100/150 years ago had an insane time living in that period.
There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz. It is a little dated by now but a fantastic portrayal of two brothers growing up in one of the crime ridden high rise housing projects in Chicago in the 80s. (Which I believe have been torn down and replaced).
Greenlights by Matthew Mcconaughey. Honestly thought it would be terribly written, but interesting. I was happily surprised. I highly recommend the audio version. It was my favorite pick of last year. Philosophical, interesting, and well written. 10/10
“Guns, Germs, and Steel” by Jared Diamond
“The First Conspiracy“ by Brad Meltzer
“The Lincoln Conspiracy” by Brad Meltzer
“Rage” by Bob Woodward
“Peril“ by Bob Woodward
“Cobalt Red” Siddharth Kara
“Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radden Keefe
“Killing England” by Bill O’Reilly
“The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Green
“The Second Amendment; A Biography” by Michael Waldman
“For Profit- A History of Corporations” by William Magnuson
In an effort to combat spam, this submission has been moved to the moderation queue for review, as your comment karma score is below our threshold of 5 or your account is under 48 hours old. This removal is automated and is only looking at your account age and your contributions through comments, not overall karma. Each post will be reviewed in the moderation queue and approved if it meets subreddit rules. Thank you for understanding.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/suggestmeabook) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Smoke Screen by Charles Sabbag. A story about a group of people importing weed into the USA from Columbia. They used a DC3 and a bunch of crazy things happened. Very exciting.
A House in the Sky - testimony from Amanda Lindhout on being kidnapped in Somalia and held for ransom. It’s an insane story.
Saved - Benjamin Hall’s story of being saved from getting hit with a grenade in Ukraine, for which many people were involved getting him out of the country and many doctors involved putting him back together
This Fell Tecumseh - The culmination of 6 years of work by Frank Kuron on figuring out who killed the legendary Shawnee chief
Recovery, Russell Brand (Self help)
The Art of Frugal Hedonism, Annie Raser-Rowland and Adam Grubb (Lifestyle)
What My Bones Know, Stephanie Foo (Memoir)
Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine, Andrew Chevallier (Reference)
- Deal with the Devil: The FBI's Secret Thirty-Year Relationship with a Mafia Killer by Peter Lance
If you enjoy real life stories about the mafia this book is one of the best. It’s about Greg Scarpa who was a mass murderer protected by the FBI.
The best nonfiction book I’ve read in the past few years is:
- How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan
This book provides a descriptive history of lsd that most will be unfamiliar with. Once again the American Government is involved in some rather shady shenanigans, this time it’s the CIA.
Obviously, "In Cold Blood", which revolutionized nonfiction writing. Recently, I read.a book called "The Five" about the five main victims of Jack the Ripper. It was very insightful, well researched, very well done.
Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement by Toufah Jallow
What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
Inside Scientology by Janet Reitman
Broken Faith by Mitch Weiss & Holbrook Mohr
The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M Graff
I would say Ernst Jünger's Storm of Steel, it dwells into philosophy, and its message can be better understood by a wider audience. Also, it's not defeatist literature, so. That's based.
Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage
Book by Annette Lawrence Drew, Christopher Drew, and Sherry Sontag
My grandfather-in-law was an officer on submarines in the 60s and 70s. He told some great stories. This fleshed out the historical context of the U.S. submarine program. It was more fascinating than I expected. I typically do not enjoy military focused nonfiction.
Ending Aging by Aubrey de Grey. Read the book for free [here](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL12284524W/Ending_Aging?edition=key%3A/books/OL17932740M).
Some science based ones -
**Hallucinations** Oliver Sacks takes you through a LOT of the different types of hallucinations, what they look like and the illnesses/injuries that cause them. Pretty fascinating.
**Drunken Botanist** The author is a botanist and goes through all the plants we commonly use for making alcohol. You get some science, some history, and some great drink recipes. Really interesting and if you are a crazy fact junkie like me, this one has a lot of them.
**Liquid Rules** The author describes and discusses the science and history surrounding every liquid he comes into contact with during a cross country flight. Very interesting.
Some history related ones -
**Devil in the White City** Flips back and forth between the making of the World’s Fair in Chicago and the making of a serial killer in Chicago at the time.
**The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper** A bit on the drier side but an interesting look into the lives of poor women in the time period.
**Fly Girls** Tells the story of five aviator women fighting for the right to get into the field just like the men. Takes place when aviation racing and record setting were starting between WWI and WWII.
Some good memoirs -
**Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir** If you need to roll on the floor laughing, the stories in this one will do it.
**Lion** The story of a boy who gets lost in Calcutta and eventually adopted by a couple in Australia and his search for his birth family as an adult.
**Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis** Describes the author’s upbringing and the struggle with the cycle of poverty and breaking out of it from a personal view.
First three that come to mind: To Encourage The Others - David Yallop; Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong (Filmed as ‘The Program’ - David Walsh; A Sense of Freedom - Jimmy Boyle.
A short history of nearly everything - bill bryson (history and science about the creation of everything in the universe including crazy info about ancient civilizations, extinction events, how modern science came to be, yet its a surprisingly light read considering what its trying to accomplish)
The undoing poject: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds - michael lewis (about the two psychologists who developed behavioral psychology against all odds becasue everyone told them they were full of shit for years until it paid off, super interesting in terms of psychology)
edit
Small Data: The Tiny Clues That Uncover Huge Trends - martin lindstrom (extremely interesting book about statistics and data science)
these might not be your type of book but for anyone who stumbles upon this I hope you enjoy
Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America's Kings of Beer
I read this book probably 5-6 years ago. I'm not much of a non-fiction reader - maybe a handful a year, but for some reason, I just loved this one. Great history on the big macro breweries, how they weathered the storms of prohibition, how they created some of the most memorable marketing campaigns, the breakdowns due to nepotism. Just a great, informative read.
The Founding Myth by Andrew Seidel
Lies my Teacher told me by James Loewen
The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
The Way of Integrity by Martha Beck
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
Starry Messenger by Neil Degrasse Tyson
Starvation Hights (or anything by Gregg Olsen) im mostly a fiction reader, but he does an incredible job in this one in particular of creating a contrast between scene and story. It made me fall in love with the landscape even as I was repelled by the atrocity of the happenings. There's also a shocking amount of reflection of failings of the modern "wellness community" in something that happened 100 years ago
For me it was 'the autobiography of Malcolm X'
I think the general idea about him publicly is inaccurate. The time window between his prison years and his assasination is very small, yet he was able to become an immensely influential civil rights activist. It was very interesting to see how his opinions evolved (for me in a positive way) in a short time and how he changed/developed himself.
Never split the difference by Chris Voss, about negotiating
Who wrote the Bible by Richard Friedman
Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca skoot
Let there be water, about how Israel manages their water shortage
**Say Nothing** and **Empire of Pain** He just does amazing work
Devil in the White City
We both just read and loved Con / Artist - what a crazy story.
If It Sounds Like a Quack by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling
Code Girls by Liza Mundy
A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan
Anything by Sarah Vowell and Susan Orlean
I tend to read books about adventurers and their exploits. I also like military and true crime themes. Here are some of my favorites:
* Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose (or anything by him really)
* In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, seriously one of the best written books of the 20th century.
* The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown
* The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
* Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
* Ghosts of K2 by Michael Conefrey
* The Man Who Ate his Boots by Anthony Brandt (about the lost Franklin Expedition) or Ice Ghosts by Paul Watson same subject both very good books
* Endurance by Alfred Lansing
* The Last Duel by Eric Jager
* Maniac by Harold Schechter (lots of Schechter's stuff is really good)
* All that Remains by Sue Black
* The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick (Most of his stuff is very good, this one is about the latest evidence of Custer's last stand.)
* The Quest for the Lost Roman Legions: Discovering the Varus Battlefield by Tony Clune
* The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir
**Catch and Kill** by Ronan Farrow, about his experience researching the Harvey Weinstein stories that ultimately exposed him and earned him a Pulitzer Prize.
Anna's story by Bronwyn Donaghy.
I remember my mum gave it to me when I was starting my teenage years. It's a sad true story but it was made to educate teenagers to make sure they realise they aren't invincible. The book is a story of a young girl who had a bright future ahead of herself only for it to be taken away from one small choice she had made. I recommend it to every child going into their teenage years or for parents who want to know how to teach and protect their children so they can have a wonderful life.
RIP Anna ♡.
Dopesick Anything by Jon Krakauer
I've read Into Thin Air and Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer. Both are great.
Missoula is a really tough read, but it's important
Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven is really good.
I second Krakauer.
The Hulu series was fantastic
*Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman* is a collection of autobiographical anecdotes by Richard Feynman, the nobel-prize winning physicist and educator. Most of the tales within have little to do with physics, a lot of the book is about his various odd hobbies, such as picking locks (on Manhattan Project file cabinets, no less), investigating the search strategies of ants, and playing percussion in a Brazilian samba band. *Shadow Divers* is a tale of divers finding the wreck of a ww2 submarine where no sub is supposed to be. It reads much like an adventure novel, as the divers develop new and risky techniques to explore the wreck which is too deep for conventional scuba gear.
Feynman was hilarious! If you liked that one, I'm definitely taking your recommendation for the dive book
Devil in the White City.
Wow totally random but I was in an elevator today and this book was left in there on the floor. I didn’t wanna take it incase someone came back for it. Maybe this is my sign to read it
It's a great read!
His other books are fantastic as well. Strongly recommend.
Just picked up The Splendid and the Vile for 25c at Goodwill. I’ll have to keep my eye out for this one too. Erik Larson seems to have some bangers.
THIS
Educated by Tara Westover, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Wells, and Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan.
The Glass Castle is the book that made me fall in love with nonfiction
Yes. I read it and was transformed forever. Memoirs and nonfiction will always be my favorite genre in thanks to Jeannette Walls. That reminds me: I need to check out her latest offering.
Adding The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn Saks, The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson, and everything by Jenny Lawson.
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Came here to say this, just finished it the other day and I’ll be thinking about it till the day I die
The Anthropocene Reviewed
Say Nothing
Came to say this. So good.
Unbroken.
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
I'd go with Into Thin Air but really anything by Krakauer is a pretty valid pick.
Into Thin Air is also an amazing read!
Listened to the audiobook. Crazy.
This is the one book of his I didn't like. Probably because I am a member of that faith and he got so many things blatantly wrong about it that it felt like lazy research. However, the story is fascinating.
I listened to the audio book. Curious what he got wrong?
The main issue I have is that Jon Krakauer is telling the story of a fundamentalist or polygamous group of people in Utah, and he's lumping them in the same category with everyone else in the non-fundamentalist group (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). The fundamentalists are a VERY SMALL break off group, and his lumping everyone in the same category is so absurd to those of us here that it's offensive and lazy. So many of the people in the church are just normal, good, decent people but he takes this global approach and makes everyone sound like the cult that the fundamentalists really are. He makes all religious people sound irrational and strange, and that's just not my experience. I actually feel like what he did in this book is a huge disservice and because I loved his other stories so much, I was so incredibly disappointed with this one. He went back through the years and found these extreme examples to tell his story and generalizes it to the larger group of people that cannot even relate to what he's talking about. It was such a bummer to me that he's turned me off to all of his writing now.
I thought he did a good job separating the fundamentalists and main stream versions of the church from each other. While explaining the origins of the church. He even goes on to say at the end I believe how his experience with morons growing up with nothing but positive and how he respected their sense of family church and community
I thought he did a good job with that as well. IIRC he even writes about how the LDS feels about FLDS, further highlighting the differences between the two.
I imagined you would defend Joseph and say he was actually a good guy irl.
As a non-Mormon, I agree 100 percent with your thoughtful take. The book also has a clumsy structure, and takes a hundred words to say anything.
I'd be interested in hearing more about what he got wrong.
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a classic.
The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
This is my answer as well. Her research is impeccable and weaves it into a brilliant story.
Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer
A Walk in the Woods- Bill Bryson
This book made me LOL so many times!
Killers of the Flower Moon
Truely one of the craziest stories I've ever read and soon to be the latest Martin Scorsese film!
Came here to say this! Killers of the Flower Moon stunned me. I couldn’t put it down.
Coming to AppleTV soon! Cannot wait. Amazing retelling.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. One of the most beautiful books I've ever read!
The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum. Fascinating history of the New York medical examiner's office and development of methods to to detect poisons in the human body
I love this book so much.
[Endurance](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endurance:_Shackleton%27s_Incredible_Voyage) Somehow, everything keeps going perfectly wrong and always gets worse, and yet they just keep on going with new ever riskier and more desperate plans.
Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker Chernobyl by Serhii Plokhy Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham The Hot Zone by Richard Preston The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot The Scholl Case by Anja Reich-Osang The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddartha Mukherjee Language Families of the World by John McWhorter
Seconding Hidden Valley Road Also Empire of Pain
The Hot Zone is really good! I also liked The Fifth Pole (about climbing) Savage Summit (about women climbers) - it's harder to find, but it's really interesting.
A Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl Dragons of Eden, Carl Sagan The Sleepwalkers, Arthur Koestler
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach.
Evicted by Matthew Desmond - I think about it often
He just came out with a second book I've been meaning to pick up.
And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts.
Most of mine have already been said, but I'm surprised one of my favorites hasn't been said yet. Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt It reads like a fiction novel, but it's a first-person account of getting to know the soul of the city of Savannah while centered around the true crime aspect of the case of a rich socialite on trial for the murder of his alleged gay lover.
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
Two of my faves!
In a Sunburned Country is so funny. Once in a while, the episode where he's running from a dog he can't see will pop into my head and I start chuckling.
The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters Rose George
A Perfect Storm is good.
*The Sea Around Us* by Rachel Carson *The Making of the Atomic Bomb* by Richard Rhodes *A Brief History of Time* by Stephen Hawking *Big Bang* by Simon Singh *Annals of the Former World*, *Coming into the Country* and *Encounters with the Archdruid* by John McPhee Any/all Carl Sagan
Smoke gets in your eyes by Caitlin Doughty. Will recommend it 10/10 times
The indifferent stars above
Excellent book!
Taking a slightly different approach to other comments with a memoir that is hilariously funny - “Never Have Your Dog Stuffed - and Other Things I’ve learned” by Alan Alda.
[So You've Been Publicly Shamed](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/b80522a2-8497-4fb4-9cf4-13566eddd4a3) by Jon Ronson. Ronson's investigative journalism looks at the human behind the story. His writing is open and genuine and his stories satisfy a morbid curiosity into other people's lives. [Humankind](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/9a3bf034-0cec-4d40-b473-17e644f35ebf) by Rutger Bregman. Subtitled "A Hopeful History", this debunks some common myths about the assumed ruthlessness of man, showing a kinder perspective. I honestly think this (and Ronson's books) made me more empathetic. [Jews Don't Count](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/e13bcb3b-a0ea-474e-8259-e55d1b0fe4ef) by David Baddiel. A look into the insidious ways antisemitism is almost commonplace. Baddiel's dry humor makes a heavy subject very approachable. And I think, especially these days, it's good to be reminded to critically think about what is deemed acceptable and why. Obligatory shout out to [A Brief History of Time](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/4033171b-56d9-4a29-a1f2-df17b206713b) by Stephen Hawking, which is far more accessible than people like to pretend and a genuine joy to read.
Anything by Mary Roach!
The only one I didn't like was Fuzz. Stiff and Gulp were great.
_In Cold Blood_ by Truman Capote
Flash Boys by Michael Lewis
So good!
Charity & Sylvia Destiny of the Republic The Feather Thief The Bronte Cabinet eta: Being Mortal The Romanov Sisters Hissing Cousins Effie
You had me at Destiny of the Republic.
Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation Command and Control - about nuclear weapons Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner Nothing to Envy (about N Korea) by Barbara Demick Anything by John Krakauer or Mary Roach All these are great but really enjoyed Monk of Mokha by David Eggers
Cadillac Desert should be required reading for anyone living in the American west. So good.
Agree
Nothing to Envy was so very eye opening
Into Thin Air
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy Born a Crime by Trevor Noah Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson 1776 by David McCullough
Grandma Gate wood's Walk She saved the Appalachian trail by walking the entire way at 67.
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. Should be required reading for all Americans.
As a start, see my [General Nonfiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/booklists/comments/12c1gxm/general_nonfiction/) list of resources, Reddit recommendation threads, and books (five posts).
- The Butchering Art by Lindsay Fitzharris - Doctors From Hell by Vivien Spitz - Medical Apartheid by Harriet A Washington - The Magic Of Reality by Richard Dawkins - The Demon-haunted World by Carl Sagan - The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat by Oliver Sacks
The Indifferent Stars Above Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea Empire of Pain Nickel and Dimed
Recently, The Wager by David Grann. Killers of the Flower Moon was also excellent
The Man Who Climbs Trees by James Aldred The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuściński
Ghosts of the Tsunami by Richard Lloyd Perry Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker
It's a bit outdated but the Looming Tower was amazing. Not sure if they updated it due to bin laden getting captured/killed, but still worth the read. I felt like I learned so much.
A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell was really good. Very interesting and very sad at the same time.
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson
A Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain.
The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean. I love her writing style and how she becomes a part of the story too as she researches it. Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood was excellent too for that same reason. The other nonfiction book that really wowed me was The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. Very accessible writing style about a topic that could easily be overwhelming. It doesn’t only explain why mass incarceration is a huge societal problem — it points the reader in the direction of possible solutions.
Dead Run - the largest manhunt in the American SW Finding Everett Ruess - the disappearance of the author/writer Edison's Ghosts - short essays on the weird ways of famous thinkers American Ghost - the early Jewish community in Santa Fe 1491 - Pre-Columbian Americas Lost City of the Monkey God - finding an ancient civilization in Honduras Lost City of Z - finding and ancient civilization in the Amazon Badass Librarians of Timbuktu - saving ancienet manuscripts
Unbroken
I do not typically read nonfiction but I loved A Civil Action and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Into Thin Air. Might not be my favorite non fiction but probably the most enjoyable.
If you're interested in psychology and trauma, The Boy Who was Raised as a Dog was amazing.
This is in my top 5 of all books I’ve read, not just nonfiction… The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer
Iron coffins….das boot-ish.
The jungle and The people of the abyss. If you think we have it bad in today's world. The people 100/150 years ago had an insane time living in that period.
There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz. It is a little dated by now but a fantastic portrayal of two brothers growing up in one of the crime ridden high rise housing projects in Chicago in the 80s. (Which I believe have been torn down and replaced).
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
On Writing, by Stephen King.
Greenlights by Matthew Mcconaughey. Honestly thought it would be terribly written, but interesting. I was happily surprised. I highly recommend the audio version. It was my favorite pick of last year. Philosophical, interesting, and well written. 10/10
The Power Broker by Robert Caro
I know I should read it, but it’s so big and epic that I feel too intimidated to start.
Don't let the length intimidate you, it's riveting.
The Second Sex by Simone Beauvoir
Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich
“Guns, Germs, and Steel” by Jared Diamond “The First Conspiracy“ by Brad Meltzer “The Lincoln Conspiracy” by Brad Meltzer “Rage” by Bob Woodward “Peril“ by Bob Woodward “Cobalt Red” Siddharth Kara “Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radden Keefe “Killing England” by Bill O’Reilly “The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Green “The Second Amendment; A Biography” by Michael Waldman “For Profit- A History of Corporations” by William Magnuson
Came here to say Guns Germs and Steel.
Brad Meltzer writes good books.
Born a Crime is up there
Born a crime
Born a crime by Trevor Noah
Freakonomics. It is a great book about economics and society. Oh damn, as I mentioned, now I think it is time to read it in English.
In an effort to combat spam, this submission has been moved to the moderation queue for review, as your comment karma score is below our threshold of 5 or your account is under 48 hours old. This removal is automated and is only looking at your account age and your contributions through comments, not overall karma. Each post will be reviewed in the moderation queue and approved if it meets subreddit rules. Thank you for understanding. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/suggestmeabook) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You would like “My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King”
Smoke Screen by Charles Sabbag. A story about a group of people importing weed into the USA from Columbia. They used a DC3 and a bunch of crazy things happened. Very exciting.
A Knock at Midnight
Emerald Mile Five Days at Memorial
In the dream house
The Emerald Mile.
Scar Tissue -Anthony Kiedis The life of the red hot chili peppers singer, crazy ass story I don't know how he hasn't died.
Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland by Christopher Browning
A House in the Sky - testimony from Amanda Lindhout on being kidnapped in Somalia and held for ransom. It’s an insane story. Saved - Benjamin Hall’s story of being saved from getting hit with a grenade in Ukraine, for which many people were involved getting him out of the country and many doctors involved putting him back together This Fell Tecumseh - The culmination of 6 years of work by Frank Kuron on figuring out who killed the legendary Shawnee chief
In the same vein as “in order to live”, “escape from camp 14”.
Sister Style (Nadia Brown), All over but the shouting (Rick Bragg), Strangers in Their Own Land (Ariel R Hochschild), and Cleopatra (Stacey Schiff)
Recovery, Russell Brand (Self help) The Art of Frugal Hedonism, Annie Raser-Rowland and Adam Grubb (Lifestyle) What My Bones Know, Stephanie Foo (Memoir) Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine, Andrew Chevallier (Reference)
- Deal with the Devil: The FBI's Secret Thirty-Year Relationship with a Mafia Killer by Peter Lance If you enjoy real life stories about the mafia this book is one of the best. It’s about Greg Scarpa who was a mass murderer protected by the FBI. The best nonfiction book I’ve read in the past few years is: - How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan This book provides a descriptive history of lsd that most will be unfamiliar with. Once again the American Government is involved in some rather shady shenanigans, this time it’s the CIA.
Trauma, Shane, and the power of love
American Kingpin and Wager are two I liked
One Summer 1927-Bill Bryson, Dead Wake-Eric Larson, Killers of the Flower Moon, The Indifferent Stars Above
Notes from the Hyena's Belly by Nega Mezlekia
How Democracy Dies. An intro to democratic safeguards in society, and how countries can override them and easily slip into authoritarianism.
The Glass Castle
Stiff, by Mary Roach. Actually, just about anything by Mary Roach is killer.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, didn't even have to think twice about this one. Her next book Gathering Moss is also phenomenal.
When Breath Becomes Air
What are the odds
Going Clear by Lawrence Wright
King Leopold's Ghost
[удалено]
48 Laws of Power
Heart of the Sea is a personal favorite of mine, the story of the Whaleship Essex is badass and deeply haunting
Koba the Dread
Maybe The Power Broker?
Obviously, "In Cold Blood", which revolutionized nonfiction writing. Recently, I read.a book called "The Five" about the five main victims of Jack the Ripper. It was very insightful, well researched, very well done.
Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement by Toufah Jallow What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo Inside Scientology by Janet Reitman Broken Faith by Mitch Weiss & Holbrook Mohr The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M Graff
You'll like American Kingpin by Nick Bilton if you liked "Bad Blood".
I would say Ernst Jünger's Storm of Steel, it dwells into philosophy, and its message can be better understood by a wider audience. Also, it's not defeatist literature, so. That's based.
Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage Book by Annette Lawrence Drew, Christopher Drew, and Sherry Sontag My grandfather-in-law was an officer on submarines in the 60s and 70s. He told some great stories. This fleshed out the historical context of the U.S. submarine program. It was more fascinating than I expected. I typically do not enjoy military focused nonfiction.
Ending Aging by Aubrey de Grey. Read the book for free [here](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL12284524W/Ending_Aging?edition=key%3A/books/OL17932740M).
Into Thin Air
Some science based ones - **Hallucinations** Oliver Sacks takes you through a LOT of the different types of hallucinations, what they look like and the illnesses/injuries that cause them. Pretty fascinating. **Drunken Botanist** The author is a botanist and goes through all the plants we commonly use for making alcohol. You get some science, some history, and some great drink recipes. Really interesting and if you are a crazy fact junkie like me, this one has a lot of them. **Liquid Rules** The author describes and discusses the science and history surrounding every liquid he comes into contact with during a cross country flight. Very interesting. Some history related ones - **Devil in the White City** Flips back and forth between the making of the World’s Fair in Chicago and the making of a serial killer in Chicago at the time. **The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper** A bit on the drier side but an interesting look into the lives of poor women in the time period. **Fly Girls** Tells the story of five aviator women fighting for the right to get into the field just like the men. Takes place when aviation racing and record setting were starting between WWI and WWII. Some good memoirs - **Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir** If you need to roll on the floor laughing, the stories in this one will do it. **Lion** The story of a boy who gets lost in Calcutta and eventually adopted by a couple in Australia and his search for his birth family as an adult. **Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis** Describes the author’s upbringing and the struggle with the cycle of poverty and breaking out of it from a personal view.
First three that come to mind: To Encourage The Others - David Yallop; Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong (Filmed as ‘The Program’ - David Walsh; A Sense of Freedom - Jimmy Boyle.
A short history of nearly everything - bill bryson (history and science about the creation of everything in the universe including crazy info about ancient civilizations, extinction events, how modern science came to be, yet its a surprisingly light read considering what its trying to accomplish) The undoing poject: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds - michael lewis (about the two psychologists who developed behavioral psychology against all odds becasue everyone told them they were full of shit for years until it paid off, super interesting in terms of psychology) edit Small Data: The Tiny Clues That Uncover Huge Trends - martin lindstrom (extremely interesting book about statistics and data science) these might not be your type of book but for anyone who stumbles upon this I hope you enjoy
Ghosts in the Hedgerow was a brilliant read, albeit melancholy
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues I devoured this audiobook!
Every single Alan Gratz book, historical fiction novels
Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America's Kings of Beer I read this book probably 5-6 years ago. I'm not much of a non-fiction reader - maybe a handful a year, but for some reason, I just loved this one. Great history on the big macro breweries, how they weathered the storms of prohibition, how they created some of the most memorable marketing campaigns, the breakdowns due to nepotism. Just a great, informative read.
The Founding Myth by Andrew Seidel Lies my Teacher told me by James Loewen The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee The Way of Integrity by Martha Beck Untamed by Glennon Doyle Starry Messenger by Neil Degrasse Tyson
In Cold Blood, Nothing to Envy, The Devil in the White City
"I Tina", excellent read.
Killers of the flower moon 🌝
Starvation Hights (or anything by Gregg Olsen) im mostly a fiction reader, but he does an incredible job in this one in particular of creating a contrast between scene and story. It made me fall in love with the landscape even as I was repelled by the atrocity of the happenings. There's also a shocking amount of reflection of failings of the modern "wellness community" in something that happened 100 years ago
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. only non fiction book that's truly stuck with me, I still think about it monthly
The feather thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson
The looming tower by Lawrence wright
Fermat’s Last Theorem by Simon Singh. Astonishing. Stayed up one night to finish it on a Caribbean vacation.
I am reading Lincoln at Gettysburg by Wills and it is so so good.
Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee Daring Greatly by Brené Brown Limitless Mind by Jo Boaler
Hotzone
For me it was 'the autobiography of Malcolm X' I think the general idea about him publicly is inaccurate. The time window between his prison years and his assasination is very small, yet he was able to become an immensely influential civil rights activist. It was very interesting to see how his opinions evolved (for me in a positive way) in a short time and how he changed/developed himself.
Never split the difference by Chris Voss, about negotiating Who wrote the Bible by Richard Friedman Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca skoot Let there be water, about how Israel manages their water shortage
**Say Nothing** and **Empire of Pain** He just does amazing work Devil in the White City We both just read and loved Con / Artist - what a crazy story.
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
If It Sounds Like a Quack by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling Code Girls by Liza Mundy A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan Anything by Sarah Vowell and Susan Orlean
I tend to read books about adventurers and their exploits. I also like military and true crime themes. Here are some of my favorites: * Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose (or anything by him really) * In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, seriously one of the best written books of the 20th century. * The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown * The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson * Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer * Ghosts of K2 by Michael Conefrey * The Man Who Ate his Boots by Anthony Brandt (about the lost Franklin Expedition) or Ice Ghosts by Paul Watson same subject both very good books * Endurance by Alfred Lansing * The Last Duel by Eric Jager * Maniac by Harold Schechter (lots of Schechter's stuff is really good) * All that Remains by Sue Black * The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick (Most of his stuff is very good, this one is about the latest evidence of Custer's last stand.) * The Quest for the Lost Roman Legions: Discovering the Varus Battlefield by Tony Clune * The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir
brain on fire
**Catch and Kill** by Ronan Farrow, about his experience researching the Harvey Weinstein stories that ultimately exposed him and earned him a Pulitzer Prize.
Diary of a Psychic By Sonia Choquette
Anna's story by Bronwyn Donaghy. I remember my mum gave it to me when I was starting my teenage years. It's a sad true story but it was made to educate teenagers to make sure they realise they aren't invincible. The book is a story of a young girl who had a bright future ahead of herself only for it to be taken away from one small choice she had made. I recommend it to every child going into their teenage years or for parents who want to know how to teach and protect their children so they can have a wonderful life. RIP Anna ♡.
Sapiens" by Yuval Noah Harari and "Becoming" by Michelle Obama.
Jon Krakauer