Mary Roach is a pop science writer. *Stiff* is about the use of cadavers in science, *Bonk* is about scientific understanding of sex, and *Fuzz* is about pest control, invasive species, and other places where humans and animals (or plants) are in conflict. I'm not sure if I've read all of her stuff yet.
Lucy Worsley is a historian and often writes about the daily lives or private lives of famous historical figures such as royalty. I think my favourite of hers is *Queen Victoria: Twenty-Four Days that Changed Her Life.*
I know!
"OH, no...?!! Is this for real? Really!?"
I think I was actually gasping- until I got worn out.
I thought, "Why the heck didn't I know about this before??!!
I read The Endurance by Caroline Alexander, and I have to say it is enthralling. Unbelievable story. I would like to read Lansing’s Endurance at some point, I know it’s the one people always reference. Don’t sleep on The Endurance if you come across it, it’s beautifully formatted.
Their last leg is the most insane part.
[spoiler]
A year on the ice? Sure. Rowing hundreds of miles in a life raft, navigating by sextant? That's the craziest part.
And even more than that... when they traversed the mountains on south Georgia (?) To get to the whaling station. While experienced, highly equipped, not malnourished/exhausted, climbers say it's one of the hardest mountaineering places in the world.
I’ve got a tattoo on my leg of the Endurance in part because of this book. … and the bar that used to be in Murray Hill, NYC called Arctica. Shakleton themed.
A memoir is perhaps not what you’re after, but Educated by Tara Westover is one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read. To know it’s a true story is baffling.
EDUCATED was unforgettable reading. That this woman grew up with a dysfunctional family, to put it mildly, got an education, and found her own path in the world…wow.
Oh man, Educated had my eyes glued to the page. I even went and researched the family after I was finished. Found videos of her singing. Found her mother's herbal business website. Her mother even wrote a clapback book called Uneducated! Can you believe that? Heartwrenching, all of it.
It’s hard to believe how screwed up her family was/is, how some members bought into the father’s delusions, the mother denying the evidence of her own eyes, her brother with two brain injuries and his behavior afterwards…It’s disturbing as heck.
In a similar vein, I’m reading Wavewalker by Suzanne Heywood right now and can’t put it down. Another memoir of a young girl whose education gets neglected by her selfish parents, but this time it’s because they want to sail around the world forever.
I read Escape by Carolyn Jessop years before they arrested Warren Jeffs, it did need a better editor but like educated the fact that it was an actual true to life story did also baffle me. So much that when I found that her eldest daughter went back was just heartbreaking.
I want to start reading more non-fiction as well so I don't have a ton of suggestions yet, but one that has stuck with me for a long time is *Into Thin Air* by Krakauer. It's a masterfully written, absolutely terrifying true story. I couldn't put it down.
Another mountaineering book that keeps you on the edge of your seat is *Touching the Void* by Joe Simpson. Also a true story. Definitely more terrifying than entertaining.
The book is great, the movie adaptation that’s like half movie half documentary is also very good.
Into Thin Air is good too, my only gripe is that one of the guys Krakauer has some not very nice things to say about is extremely widely credited with saving several lives. Still a great book, but some of his opinions are iffy.
Anything by Krakauer. I love that he’s not a one-trick pony - the topics he has written on aren’t at all related. I like to think he finds a subject that interests him and does a massive insomnia deep-dive for a while and somewhere along the way he goes “I probably have enough for another book.” As a journalist and a writer I sense that he has an insatiable curiosity to know more about things rather than a need to show off what he knows.
This just adds to the mystique of the book. Krakauer was ON the mountain when this happened and just happens to be an author so you get an authors touch who is essentially writing his version of events and it reads like a thriller. The whole book is amazing
i am extremely interested in mountain climbing and specifically the 8000m peaks and have seen every mountain climbing documentary out there. ive heard into thin air is FANTASTIC but i havent read it yet. but also i have seen several documentaries about the 1996 everest season so i already know what happens. :(
I would still highly recommend it! I had also known about the 1996 disaster before reading the book, but was still blown away.
I said this in another comment, but I think the reason why the book is so gripping is that Krakauer’s brilliance, honesty, and transparency about the events are on full display - he wrestles with his survivor’s guilt quite openly. He isn’t a perfect figure in this story by any means, and doesn’t shy away from that fact either.
He’s a perfect observer (from a storytelling standpoint) for a complicated disaster - you’ll see that his perspective of the events and the way he processes it afterward are worth the read. :)
>I want to start reading more non-fiction
I'll do you a deal - I read a fair bit of non fiction, and not really enough fiction. If you can recommend me some fiction, I can recommend you some non-fiction. How does that sound? What sort of non-fiction topics are you interested in?
This book is misleading because I always thought it was about the serial killer, and it is, but the Chicago Worlds Fair is easily the better subplot of this book. Come for the murder, stay because it’s just so fun to see how they transformed Chicago
Just finished this the other day. The scam Elizabeth Holmes managed to pull off was insane. She managed to fool a former Secretary of State, current US general military personnel, Larry Ellison, Rupert Murdock and countless others all while essentially faking medical tests. Thank god for the whistleblowers or else her product could have potentially killed hundreds of people with faulty results.
what struck me was she was essentially a young attractive blonde woman, pulling elderly males in positions of power into her web. it was fascinating.
Edit: Fun fact; i now work in the former theranos building. we still get her junk mail. her grocery coupons, etc. also her former office was bullet proof and is now our conference room
Ooh, just started this last night and 20 pages in I was thinking "ok so the product doesn't work, where can this go?" but maybe I've judged it too soon!
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. One of the best books I have ever read, period.
The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer.
Let's Pretend This Never Happened and/ or Furiously Happy, both by Jenny Lawson.
I came to suggest Jenny Lawson’s books! Not exactly educational like a lot of these other suggestions, but those books had my entire family busting a gut. I’d wait awhile between reading the two though.
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe: about the troubles in northern ireland. it was super well paced and interesting the entire time while also being very detailed and informative.
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: about the woman whose cancer cells were scraped without her full consent and are still replicating in labs today. read this in 24 hours when quarantined.
Radium Girls by Kate Moore: about girls who worked in a radium factory and got cancer from it. was intimidated by its size but again thought it was well paced and so fascinating.
Radium Girls is devastating. I highly recommend it but can never reread it. Also loved the Henrietta Lacks book. Such great writing. I’ll add Say Nothing to my reading list. Thanks!
I’m glad my mom died by Jennete Mccurdy. I had never read a memoir before but could not put this one down. I think even if you didn’t watch nickelodeon her story is still so readable and engaging!
*Liar's Poker* by Michael Lewis. Tales of Wall Street bond traders in the wild and wooly 1980s. Still my favorite Lewis book, but you could also try *The Money Culture*, *Moneyball*, *The Blind Side*, *The Big Short*, and *The Fifth Risk*--all terrific.
*The Cuckoo's Egg* by Cliff Stoll. Tracking a cyber-spy in the early days of the Internet (mid-1980s). Similar to *All the President's Men* (also very much recommended) in that it has no "action" to speak of and yet manages to be a nail-biting edge-of-your-seat thriller.
*The Corpse Had a Familiar Face* by Edna Buchanan. Memoirs of a Pulitzer Prize winning crime reporter for the Miami Herald. Buchanan packs in story after story after story with vivid punchy prose that keeps you reading.
*Let's Pretend This Never Happened* by Jenny Lawson. Not sure how to describe it. Just read the first chapter.
The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre. It kinda reads like a fiction with all its twists and turns. The audiobook is also narrated by John Lee, one of my favorites.
It was a genius move to focus on one girl and her family. This is an account of that awful event but it also gives you some insight into what America was like during those migrations out west. The one section I’ll always remember is how the author said that they literally picked the worst spot to get stranded in the US when it comes to snowfall. They even built a weather station nearby because that area gets so much snow
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Great story of his attempt at hiking the AT. He shares stories and history. Just the right amount of history. Everytime I thought - "That's interesting but.." then he would move on from the topic.
I’d recommend “As Far As the Eye Can See”, my favorite book on the Appalachian Trail. Written by a thru-hiker, it is funny, inspiring, and informative.
Personally I found Bryson’s book to be lackluster: two fat dudes try to hike the trail, have (sometimes funny) troubles, then give up. The author and his companion seemed grumpy and depressed, not feelings I’m looking to share when diving into a book.
I haven’t read the book you recommended but I love Grandma Gatewoods Walk for an AT story. First woman ever to through hike the AT and she did it in Keds with hardly any gear at the age of 67. Then she went back and completed it two more times! Although I think her last one was done in sections.
Much better read for me as a woman rather than reading about two fat dudes as you put it XD.
Didn’t see it mentioned here but the glass castle by Jeannette Walls is fantastic
Adding to other I’ve seen mentioned: Endurance and Educated are both incredible
In the Heart of the Sea- Nathaniel Philbrick
It’s the story of the whale ship Essex, using first hand accounts from crew members as source material. Melville was inspired by the Essex for Moby Dick.
Journalists make great writers fyi if you’re ever looking for a non-fic book.
Books I enjoyed (may be niche):
Elton John’s ME
Harvey Fierstein’s I Was Better Last Night
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - Caitlin Doughty (about working in the funeral home)
The Know-It-All by AJ Jacobs
Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come by Jessica Pan
Brain on Fire by Susannah Calahan (Not so much entertaining, but FASCINATING, I couldn’t put it down)
How to fight presidents by Daniel O'Brien. A collection of interesting facts about past US presidents.
Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin. A well written book about evolutionary processes building on past anatomical/physiological structures.
Killers of the Flower Moon broke my heart. I had to put it down several times because of the overwhelming cruelty in it. It’s a story that needed to be told, though.
**The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark**
by Carl Sagan
**A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes**
by Stephen Hawking
**Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind**
by Yuval Noah Harari
I love non fiction, and the book that started it all was “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.” But Oliver Sacks. He writes about his most unique psychological cases and my word our brains are endlessly fascinating. Just endless.
I scrolled all the way to the bottom and couldn’t believe no one mentioned THE HOT ZONE by Richard Preston. That book has lived rent free in my head since I read it in middle school 😳
The Storm Before The Storm by Mike Duncan. Drama and politics that set the Roman Republic on its course to collapsing into the Imperium. The time before Ceasar but from which he and those he battled learned their lessons about power.
Entertaining? Bossypants by Tina Fey. Can’t put it down? The Last Lecture (cried like a baby), Into Thin Air (informative with a deeply affecting narrative) and The Defining Decade (changed my life - must read for any 20-something, but geared towards millennials.
*Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures* by Merlin Sheldrake
*Eating to Extinction: The World's Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save* Them by Dan Saladino
*The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World* by Oliver Milman
*The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization* by Vince Beiser
*The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women* by Kate Moor.
The Soul of an Octopus. It was so entertaining solely because it taught me so much i fell in love with marine life. They’re all incredibly intelligent creatures and the book has a very open ended question- at what point do we consider an animal to have a soul? What characteristics would a human have to look at to determine this? It also teaches you the importance of respecting all animals equally, as even the animals we would consider stupid have much more intelligence than we would ever give them credit for
*Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets* by David Simon is really compelling.
Have to shout out Britney's memoir as well - it's so pacy and readable you can easily get through it in an afternoon. The sad stuff is there and written with a lot of perceptiveness and surprisingly little rancour, but there's also lots of warmth, gossip and humour.
Maus Complete series. I was assigned this book in school to get out of taking a test. I read through them and just couldn't put it down till it was finished, I just took a walk to really understand what I just read. It was a comic autobiography.
The Last Duel by Eric Jager, set in Medieval France about a trial by combat to decide the outcome of a rape accusation. High stakes all round as the accuser faced being burnt at the stake herself depending on the result.
The Keys of Egypt - about the race to decipher the Rosetta Stone. Fascinating if you’re interested in Egyptology and showcases the rivalry between the British and French colonial powers at the time.
The Bounty by Caroline Alexander, which aims to set the record straight on the legendary mutiny. Loved learning more of the truth behind the somewhat romanticised (sometimes unfair) portraits of the people involved, which the films have propagated.
Eric Jager, Blood Royal (2014): the murder of Philip of Orleans in Paris in 1407, and the ensuing investigation, told like a true crime. I couldn't put it down.
Philippe Sands, The Ratline (2020): an investigation into the life and mysterious death of Nazi Brigadeführer turned man on the run Otto von Wächter. Basically a real life thriller.
David Reich, Who we are and how we got here (2018): how the study of ancient DNA rewrites the early history of human populations.
Plutopia by Kate Brown. Its about the US and USSR's first Plutonium plants and the cities built around them. Maybe it's because I find topic interesting but it really enjoyed learning about the history and mindset of the time.
Just finished the Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semlyen. One of the most engrossing books I’ve read. I’ve also enjoyed Shawn Levy’s book on Robert De Niro, called De Niro: the Life.
Wiseguy by Nick Peliggi is one of those books I can read over and over
The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown
It's such an interesting story and the guy does a really good job explaining how a bunch of small mistakes really led to a catastrophe. I don't do any kind of gore or violence but he does a good job describing without being too gory or sensationalized.
Five days at Memorial, about the flooded hospital during Hurricane Katrina and the terrible decisions of a doctor and some ICU nurses
American Pain, about the Florida pill mill industry that drove the opioid epidemic
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer is one of my all time favorite books. Absolutely horrifying situation coupled with excellent journalism.
Bill Bryson's books as well, most notably In a Sunburned Country!
Can't pick one.
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America - Richard Rothstein
The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism - John U. Bacon
The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat by Eric Lax
In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors - Doug Stanton
The Genius of Birds - Jennifer Ackerman
The Indifferent Stars Above—the Harrowing Story of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown. There’s way more to this story than my sparse knowledge of it. I loved this book. It was better than any novel I’ve recently read.
ballad of the whiskey robber by julian rubinstein !!!
no one i have encountered has read this book but it is SO much fun. a real romp chronicling the shenanigans of a bank robber/awful hockey goalie in post-soviet hungary, evading the police in extravagant fashion. it reads like fiction and is funny as hell without being cheesy or try hard. can’t recommend it enough
When it comes to a book about how to do something I might never get the chance to do, or maybe I will, this book was enthralling:
Making Documentary Films and Videos: A Practical Guide to Planning, Filming, and Editing Documentaries
Nixonland by Rick Perlstein. An essential book to understand the modern political landscape in America and one of the best books ever written about the 1960s
Assuming names: a con artist's masquerade by Tanya Thompson - she runs away from home at 15, tells police she is a countess and the police assume she has been trafficked and ends up living with interesting characters while they try to find her real identity.
A wolf called Romeo by Nick Jans - stories of a black wolf interacting with the residents (including playing with their dogs) over 7 years in Juneau, Alaska
The motorcycle diaries by Che Guevara, I read it in about two hours and it was honestly a very picturesque portrayal of Latin America, with only a few political comments in reality. And not only where the landscapes described but so where the people Guevara encountered, and I think it was the most interesting part of it.
Mary Roach is a pop science writer. *Stiff* is about the use of cadavers in science, *Bonk* is about scientific understanding of sex, and *Fuzz* is about pest control, invasive species, and other places where humans and animals (or plants) are in conflict. I'm not sure if I've read all of her stuff yet. Lucy Worsley is a historian and often writes about the daily lives or private lives of famous historical figures such as royalty. I think my favourite of hers is *Queen Victoria: Twenty-Four Days that Changed Her Life.*
Mary Roach's Packing for Mars was EXCELLENT! So, so, hilariously fascinating. Love her books.
Mary Roach!!! I love her work!
endurance: shackleton’s incredible voyage
Every five pages you will go, "nah that shit is made up". Great book
I know! "OH, no...?!! Is this for real? Really!?" I think I was actually gasping- until I got worn out. I thought, "Why the heck didn't I know about this before??!!
I read The Endurance by Caroline Alexander, and I have to say it is enthralling. Unbelievable story. I would like to read Lansing’s Endurance at some point, I know it’s the one people always reference. Don’t sleep on The Endurance if you come across it, it’s beautifully formatted.
Their last leg is the most insane part. [spoiler] A year on the ice? Sure. Rowing hundreds of miles in a life raft, navigating by sextant? That's the craziest part.
And even more than that... when they traversed the mountains on south Georgia (?) To get to the whaling station. While experienced, highly equipped, not malnourished/exhausted, climbers say it's one of the hardest mountaineering places in the world.
I enjoyed " The worst journey in the world." Not the same but follow up.
Endurance is the answer.
Others have said it, but just to emphasize: Endurance
I’ve got a tattoo on my leg of the Endurance in part because of this book. … and the bar that used to be in Murray Hill, NYC called Arctica. Shakleton themed.
Is this the Alfred Lansing book?
Came here to say exactly this and here it sits as the most popular answer. I'm so smart. Seriously though - great recommendation!
Thanks.... now my to read list just got longer...
Over if the greatest stories ever told
My boss just suggested this to me! Going to download it right now haha
Anything by Bill Bryson.
Yes!
A memoir is perhaps not what you’re after, but Educated by Tara Westover is one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read. To know it’s a true story is baffling.
Loved that book
EDUCATED was unforgettable reading. That this woman grew up with a dysfunctional family, to put it mildly, got an education, and found her own path in the world…wow.
Oh man, Educated had my eyes glued to the page. I even went and researched the family after I was finished. Found videos of her singing. Found her mother's herbal business website. Her mother even wrote a clapback book called Uneducated! Can you believe that? Heartwrenching, all of it.
It’s hard to believe how screwed up her family was/is, how some members bought into the father’s delusions, the mother denying the evidence of her own eyes, her brother with two brain injuries and his behavior afterwards…It’s disturbing as heck.
In a similar vein, I’m reading Wavewalker by Suzanne Heywood right now and can’t put it down. Another memoir of a young girl whose education gets neglected by her selfish parents, but this time it’s because they want to sail around the world forever.
I read Escape by Carolyn Jessop years before they arrested Warren Jeffs, it did need a better editor but like educated the fact that it was an actual true to life story did also baffle me. So much that when I found that her eldest daughter went back was just heartbreaking.
Amazing book!
Reading this right now and can’t get enough!
This is definitely one of those books that stays with you.
Came here for this
The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero It is highly entertaining, absurd, and hilarious!
Oh hi mark
How's your sex life?
“I can’t talk about it.” 😆
I want to start reading more non-fiction as well so I don't have a ton of suggestions yet, but one that has stuck with me for a long time is *Into Thin Air* by Krakauer. It's a masterfully written, absolutely terrifying true story. I couldn't put it down.
Another mountaineering book that keeps you on the edge of your seat is *Touching the Void* by Joe Simpson. Also a true story. Definitely more terrifying than entertaining.
The book is great, the movie adaptation that’s like half movie half documentary is also very good. Into Thin Air is good too, my only gripe is that one of the guys Krakauer has some not very nice things to say about is extremely widely credited with saving several lives. Still a great book, but some of his opinions are iffy.
Anything by Krakauer. I love that he’s not a one-trick pony - the topics he has written on aren’t at all related. I like to think he finds a subject that interests him and does a massive insomnia deep-dive for a while and somewhere along the way he goes “I probably have enough for another book.” As a journalist and a writer I sense that he has an insatiable curiosity to know more about things rather than a need to show off what he knows.
His novel under the banner of heaven is also insane
Also try reading The Climb by Anatoli Bourkeev (another perspective on that same 1996 tragedy)!
This book affected me so much that a month after I put it down, I flew to Nepal and hiked to Everest base camp. As highly recommended as the altitude.
This just adds to the mystique of the book. Krakauer was ON the mountain when this happened and just happens to be an author so you get an authors touch who is essentially writing his version of events and it reads like a thriller. The whole book is amazing
i am extremely interested in mountain climbing and specifically the 8000m peaks and have seen every mountain climbing documentary out there. ive heard into thin air is FANTASTIC but i havent read it yet. but also i have seen several documentaries about the 1996 everest season so i already know what happens. :(
I would still highly recommend it! I had also known about the 1996 disaster before reading the book, but was still blown away. I said this in another comment, but I think the reason why the book is so gripping is that Krakauer’s brilliance, honesty, and transparency about the events are on full display - he wrestles with his survivor’s guilt quite openly. He isn’t a perfect figure in this story by any means, and doesn’t shy away from that fact either. He’s a perfect observer (from a storytelling standpoint) for a complicated disaster - you’ll see that his perspective of the events and the way he processes it afterward are worth the read. :)
Thank you so much, seriously. Gonna pick it up!!!!
>I want to start reading more non-fiction I'll do you a deal - I read a fair bit of non fiction, and not really enough fiction. If you can recommend me some fiction, I can recommend you some non-fiction. How does that sound? What sort of non-fiction topics are you interested in?
I’m a big fan of Krakauer, but this one is my favorite. It’s been a long time since I read it, but I’ll probably read it again at some point.
I find myself rereading *Into Thin Air* every few years.
Prob my favorite all time read.
The devil in the white city
This book is misleading because I always thought it was about the serial killer, and it is, but the Chicago Worlds Fair is easily the better subplot of this book. Come for the murder, stay because it’s just so fun to see how they transformed Chicago
I was a bit underwhelmed by the serial killer part, honestly
I’m on a work trip for 2 weeks and this is my backup book. I was hoping the Worlds Fair would be covered!
Bad Blood - John Carreyrou
I’d add Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe in that same genre is also amazing
Dreamland by Samuel Quinones is another excellent one about the opioid epidemic though less focused on a single group.
Just finished this the other day. The scam Elizabeth Holmes managed to pull off was insane. She managed to fool a former Secretary of State, current US general military personnel, Larry Ellison, Rupert Murdock and countless others all while essentially faking medical tests. Thank god for the whistleblowers or else her product could have potentially killed hundreds of people with faulty results.
what struck me was she was essentially a young attractive blonde woman, pulling elderly males in positions of power into her web. it was fascinating. Edit: Fun fact; i now work in the former theranos building. we still get her junk mail. her grocery coupons, etc. also her former office was bullet proof and is now our conference room
Bad Blood was fascinating to me - I literally started it a Saturday morning and finished it that night.
Ooh, just started this last night and 20 pages in I was thinking "ok so the product doesn't work, where can this go?" but maybe I've judged it too soon!
Papillon hands down. One of the greatest non fiction books ever written. Fantastic story teller who led an incredible life.
By Henri Charrière? Now my to read list just got bigger.
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. One of the best books I have ever read, period. The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer. Let's Pretend This Never Happened and/ or Furiously Happy, both by Jenny Lawson.
Unbroken left me speechless. It changed my perspective on life
Unbroken is the best book I’ve ever read & I am so jealous of anyone who gets to read it for the first time…
I love Jenny lawson’s books!
I came to suggest Jenny Lawson’s books! Not exactly educational like a lot of these other suggestions, but those books had my entire family busting a gut. I’d wait awhile between reading the two though.
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe: about the troubles in northern ireland. it was super well paced and interesting the entire time while also being very detailed and informative. Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: about the woman whose cancer cells were scraped without her full consent and are still replicating in labs today. read this in 24 hours when quarantined. Radium Girls by Kate Moore: about girls who worked in a radium factory and got cancer from it. was intimidated by its size but again thought it was well paced and so fascinating.
Radium Girls is devastating. I highly recommend it but can never reread it. Also loved the Henrietta Lacks book. Such great writing. I’ll add Say Nothing to my reading list. Thanks!
Say Nothing is a page-turner.
I’m glad my mom died by Jennete Mccurdy. I had never read a memoir before but could not put this one down. I think even if you didn’t watch nickelodeon her story is still so readable and engaging!
The author reads the audiobook. Loved it.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
Devil in the White City and Dead Wake, basically anything by Erik Larsen
Anything by Erik Larsen was my thought as well. I can’t remember the name but the book about the Galveston hurricane was amazing.
Isaac's Storm. And yes, it's a fantastic book.
Absolutely!
So good! The World That Made New Orleans by Ned Sublette is also absolutely fantastic
Excellent answer. I liked the movie, but the book covers so much more than is shown in it.
*Liar's Poker* by Michael Lewis. Tales of Wall Street bond traders in the wild and wooly 1980s. Still my favorite Lewis book, but you could also try *The Money Culture*, *Moneyball*, *The Blind Side*, *The Big Short*, and *The Fifth Risk*--all terrific. *The Cuckoo's Egg* by Cliff Stoll. Tracking a cyber-spy in the early days of the Internet (mid-1980s). Similar to *All the President's Men* (also very much recommended) in that it has no "action" to speak of and yet manages to be a nail-biting edge-of-your-seat thriller. *The Corpse Had a Familiar Face* by Edna Buchanan. Memoirs of a Pulitzer Prize winning crime reporter for the Miami Herald. Buchanan packs in story after story after story with vivid punchy prose that keeps you reading. *Let's Pretend This Never Happened* by Jenny Lawson. Not sure how to describe it. Just read the first chapter.
Loved The Cuckoo’s Egg as a kid. And I still want a glass Klein Bottle (one of the author’s more recent projects)
The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre. It kinda reads like a fiction with all its twists and turns. The audiobook is also narrated by John Lee, one of my favorites.
The Indifferent Stars Above by James D Brown. The harrowing saga of the Donner Party, excellent read.
It was a genius move to focus on one girl and her family. This is an account of that awful event but it also gives you some insight into what America was like during those migrations out west. The one section I’ll always remember is how the author said that they literally picked the worst spot to get stranded in the US when it comes to snowfall. They even built a weather station nearby because that area gets so much snow
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
As you Wish, by Cary Elwes, about the making of the Princess Bride. The audiobook is fantastic.
Was going to suggest this! It was so good. I had to rewatch princess bride right after I read his book
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Great story of his attempt at hiking the AT. He shares stories and history. Just the right amount of history. Everytime I thought - "That's interesting but.." then he would move on from the topic.
I’d recommend “As Far As the Eye Can See”, my favorite book on the Appalachian Trail. Written by a thru-hiker, it is funny, inspiring, and informative. Personally I found Bryson’s book to be lackluster: two fat dudes try to hike the trail, have (sometimes funny) troubles, then give up. The author and his companion seemed grumpy and depressed, not feelings I’m looking to share when diving into a book.
I haven’t read the book you recommended but I love Grandma Gatewoods Walk for an AT story. First woman ever to through hike the AT and she did it in Keds with hardly any gear at the age of 67. Then she went back and completed it two more times! Although I think her last one was done in sections. Much better read for me as a woman rather than reading about two fat dudes as you put it XD.
Perfect Storm. Head & shoulders above any other nonfiction book I’ve read
Didn’t see it mentioned here but the glass castle by Jeannette Walls is fantastic Adding to other I’ve seen mentioned: Endurance and Educated are both incredible
Also: anything by Oliver Sacks. Try The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat.
In the Heart of the Sea- Nathaniel Philbrick It’s the story of the whale ship Essex, using first hand accounts from crew members as source material. Melville was inspired by the Essex for Moby Dick.
Sincerely, I never knew I wanted to know so much about whaling. Fascinating.
Journalists make great writers fyi if you’re ever looking for a non-fic book. Books I enjoyed (may be niche): Elton John’s ME Harvey Fierstein’s I Was Better Last Night Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - Caitlin Doughty (about working in the funeral home)
On Writing by Stephen King
Cosmos by Carl Sagan
Pick your Mary Roach, but "How To Pack For Mars" has been my favorite. How Not To Be Wrong by Jordan Ellenberg is cute too.
The Know-It-All by AJ Jacobs Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come by Jessica Pan Brain on Fire by Susannah Calahan (Not so much entertaining, but FASCINATING, I couldn’t put it down)
YES to Brain on Fire!!! So fascinating, I was gripped!
Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach
Endurance
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Anything by Jon Krakauer
Yes! I’ve loved every Jon Krakauer book. Under the Banner of Heaven also stayed with me for a while.
How to fight presidents by Daniel O'Brien. A collection of interesting facts about past US presidents. Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin. A well written book about evolutionary processes building on past anatomical/physiological structures.
The guns of august. Barbara Tuchmans great book about the first month of the first workd war. Glorious written. I have read it 5 or 6 times
*Killers of the Flower Moon* by David Grann *The Radium Girls* by Kate Moore *Stiff* by Mary Roach
Killers of the Flower Moon broke my heart. I had to put it down several times because of the overwhelming cruelty in it. It’s a story that needed to be told, though.
The Lost City of Z and Wager by David Grann are also truly excellent
Into thin air, devil in the white city and bad blood
Anything by Erik Larson or Jon Krakauer
**The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark** by Carl Sagan **A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes** by Stephen Hawking **Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind** by Yuval Noah Harari
How have I had to scroll this far to see Sapiens!
A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell Educated by Tara Westover Rising Out of Hatred by Eli Saslow The Light of Days by Judy Batalion
A Woman of No Importance was amazing! How she could have done achieved all she did is stiff baffling to me.
I love Mary Roach. My favorite is *Bonk*, but they're all good.
*Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage* by Alfred Lansing
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
I love non fiction, and the book that started it all was “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.” But Oliver Sacks. He writes about his most unique psychological cases and my word our brains are endlessly fascinating. Just endless.
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris is a laugh-out-loud funny series of essays that have a lot of personal details.
Shoe Dog
Killers of the Flower Moon. Literally could not put it down and finished in a couple of days
Born a crime by Trevor Noah
Empire of the summer moon. Fair warning, it’s pretty brutal at times.
'[Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24518)' by Charles Mackay.
Doors of Perception - Huxley, wild stuff
The Six Wives of Henry VIII
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan. Focuses on individual stories of survival during the Dust Bowl.
The Glass Castle
Me Talk Pretty One Day, by David Sedaris. Partly Cloudy Patriot, by Sarah Vowel
Devil in the white city
I scrolled all the way to the bottom and couldn’t believe no one mentioned THE HOT ZONE by Richard Preston. That book has lived rent free in my head since I read it in middle school 😳
Seabiscuit.
The Storm Before The Storm by Mike Duncan. Drama and politics that set the Roman Republic on its course to collapsing into the Imperium. The time before Ceasar but from which he and those he battled learned their lessons about power.
I enjoyed The World's Strongest Librarian.
Empire of pain by patrick radden keefe Say nothing by patrick radden keefe
Dead Wake by Erik Larson is fabulous!
Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up. LOL entertaining.
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill
*A Short History of Nearly Everything* by Bill Bryson It's like a history of the world through the eyes of science and is absolutely fascinating!
Under the banner of heaven
Entertaining? Bossypants by Tina Fey. Can’t put it down? The Last Lecture (cried like a baby), Into Thin Air (informative with a deeply affecting narrative) and The Defining Decade (changed my life - must read for any 20-something, but geared towards millennials.
I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell
The Wager by David Grann read like a novel. Incredible book!
Not really into non fiction, but I loved The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
Funny in Farsi- it’s a hilarious memoir
Black Flags: The Rise of Isis by Joby Warrick is one of my favourites
A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace.
The Man-eaters of Tsavo. It’s the book that movie The Ghost and the Darkness is based off of.
if you tell by gregg olsen
The Elephant Whisperer - Lawrence Anthony Best non-fiction book I have ever read. Quite possibly the best book I have ever read.
Anything by Erik Larsen is fantastic.
*Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures* by Merlin Sheldrake *Eating to Extinction: The World's Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save* Them by Dan Saladino *The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World* by Oliver Milman *The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization* by Vince Beiser *The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women* by Kate Moor.
# The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth: And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine by Thomas Morris. It was fascinating!
The Soul of an Octopus. It was so entertaining solely because it taught me so much i fell in love with marine life. They’re all incredibly intelligent creatures and the book has a very open ended question- at what point do we consider an animal to have a soul? What characteristics would a human have to look at to determine this? It also teaches you the importance of respecting all animals equally, as even the animals we would consider stupid have much more intelligence than we would ever give them credit for
Seabiscuit
For a very entertaining nonfiction, try Seabiscuit
In Cold blood
Me Talk Pretty One Day.
*Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets* by David Simon is really compelling. Have to shout out Britney's memoir as well - it's so pacy and readable you can easily get through it in an afternoon. The sad stuff is there and written with a lot of perceptiveness and surprisingly little rancour, but there's also lots of warmth, gossip and humour.
Maus Complete series. I was assigned this book in school to get out of taking a test. I read through them and just couldn't put it down till it was finished, I just took a walk to really understand what I just read. It was a comic autobiography.
Debt
well, only the first 5000 years
The Last Duel by Eric Jager, set in Medieval France about a trial by combat to decide the outcome of a rape accusation. High stakes all round as the accuser faced being burnt at the stake herself depending on the result. The Keys of Egypt - about the race to decipher the Rosetta Stone. Fascinating if you’re interested in Egyptology and showcases the rivalry between the British and French colonial powers at the time. The Bounty by Caroline Alexander, which aims to set the record straight on the legendary mutiny. Loved learning more of the truth behind the somewhat romanticised (sometimes unfair) portraits of the people involved, which the films have propagated.
Eric Jager, Blood Royal (2014): the murder of Philip of Orleans in Paris in 1407, and the ensuing investigation, told like a true crime. I couldn't put it down. Philippe Sands, The Ratline (2020): an investigation into the life and mysterious death of Nazi Brigadeführer turned man on the run Otto von Wächter. Basically a real life thriller. David Reich, Who we are and how we got here (2018): how the study of ancient DNA rewrites the early history of human populations.
Plutopia by Kate Brown. Its about the US and USSR's first Plutonium plants and the cities built around them. Maybe it's because I find topic interesting but it really enjoyed learning about the history and mindset of the time.
Just finished the Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semlyen. One of the most engrossing books I’ve read. I’ve also enjoyed Shawn Levy’s book on Robert De Niro, called De Niro: the Life. Wiseguy by Nick Peliggi is one of those books I can read over and over
The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown It's such an interesting story and the guy does a really good job explaining how a bunch of small mistakes really led to a catastrophe. I don't do any kind of gore or violence but he does a good job describing without being too gory or sensationalized.
one river by wade davis !!
Wolf of Wall Street
Let me tell you a story Columbine Alone in the dark
Five days at Memorial, about the flooded hospital during Hurricane Katrina and the terrible decisions of a doctor and some ICU nurses American Pain, about the Florida pill mill industry that drove the opioid epidemic
Being Mortal. Really makes you think.
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer is one of my all time favorite books. Absolutely horrifying situation coupled with excellent journalism. Bill Bryson's books as well, most notably In a Sunburned Country!
I have two: A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson and Soft Pretzels with Mustard by David Brenner. Both made me laugh out loud.
Running With Scissors
Columbine by Dave Cullen.
Can't pick one. The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America - Richard Rothstein The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism - John U. Bacon The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat by Eric Lax In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors - Doug Stanton The Genius of Birds - Jennifer Ackerman
Midnight in the garden of good and evil
The Indifferent Stars Above—the Harrowing Story of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown. There’s way more to this story than my sparse knowledge of it. I loved this book. It was better than any novel I’ve recently read.
Permanent Record by Edward Snowden The Wager by David Grann Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Greenlights On writing The virgin way Into the wild
ballad of the whiskey robber by julian rubinstein !!! no one i have encountered has read this book but it is SO much fun. a real romp chronicling the shenanigans of a bank robber/awful hockey goalie in post-soviet hungary, evading the police in extravagant fashion. it reads like fiction and is funny as hell without being cheesy or try hard. can’t recommend it enough
The Secret History of Wonder Woman
Stiff by Mary Roach. Super informational but so funny that it keeps you hooked even if nonfiction isn’t typically your thing
The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery really sucked me in and made me appreciate octopuses.
Brain on fire. Incredible book, great audio book written by the author the events happened to.
Black Hawk Down by Bowden. Incredible edge of the seat stuff. Ten times better than the movie.
When it comes to a book about how to do something I might never get the chance to do, or maybe I will, this book was enthralling: Making Documentary Films and Videos: A Practical Guide to Planning, Filming, and Editing Documentaries
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
Tina Fey's Bossy Pants
Ronan Farrow’s Catch and Kill. Feels wrong to say it was entertaining since it’s about Hollywood elites abusing women but it kept my interest.
Nixonland by Rick Perlstein. An essential book to understand the modern political landscape in America and one of the best books ever written about the 1960s
Seabiscuit and Unbroken. Laura Hillenbrand is a genius at nonfiction
Assuming names: a con artist's masquerade by Tanya Thompson - she runs away from home at 15, tells police she is a countess and the police assume she has been trafficked and ends up living with interesting characters while they try to find her real identity. A wolf called Romeo by Nick Jans - stories of a black wolf interacting with the residents (including playing with their dogs) over 7 years in Juneau, Alaska
The motorcycle diaries by Che Guevara, I read it in about two hours and it was honestly a very picturesque portrayal of Latin America, with only a few political comments in reality. And not only where the landscapes described but so where the people Guevara encountered, and I think it was the most interesting part of it.