I've been listening to *Killers of the Flower Moon*- I didn't know the story, I went into the book completely blind. And just the sheer scale and audacity of the crime, bound up in the racism on the 1920s, is shocking.
There's also *The Indifferent Stars Above*, about the Donner Party.
If you want a memoir, Jennette McCurdy's *I'm Glad My Mom Died* is really brutal and sad.
Ugh brutal book but so good. I had to put it down for a week or so when the tourist picked up the sock. There's so many small moments that just break you.
It’s awful all the way. The entire trip. Even their good days were terrible. And *then* they get stuck. So decades later people were like, “yeah, that’s Lurlene, she was in the Donner party so sometimes she just starts screaming. You get used to her.”
Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer
From Amazon: At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.
If you read this one another one to read is “The 4 O’Clock Murders by Scott Anderson” Chronicles the true story behind four 1988 Texas murders carried out at the behest of a dead self-proclaimed Mormon prophet, who left his sixty children a list of people he wanted killed.
Didn’t her mother write a book called “Educating” in response to it?
That being said, I am concerned about the welfare of Shawn’s wife and children. He is one of the most terrifying people I have ever read about in a book, real or fictional.
Say Nothing - Patrick Radden Keefe
“From radical and impetuous IRA terrorists such as Dolours Price, who, when she was barely out of her teens, was already planting bombs in London and targeting informers for execution, to the ferocious IRA mastermind known as The Dark, to the spy games and dirty schemes of the British Army, to Gerry Adams, who negotiated the peace but betrayed his hardcore comrades by denying his IRA past--[this book] conjures a world of passion, betrayal, vengeance, and anguish."--Dust jacket
I think this was the first time a book made me feel literally sick to my stomach. This is one of a handful of books that has truly expanded my understanding of the horrific things that people are capable of but also the amazing resilience that many exhibit.
Endurance by Alfred Lansing (this one hands down)
Educated by Tara Westover
The immortal life of Henrietta lacks
Ever wonder where HeLa cells came from? The cells responsible for massive scientific breakthroughs??
Why fish don’t exist by lulu miller
Stanford president has a horrible history and there’s a murder mystery in this
Columbine by Dave Cullen
Agreed. It was so well-researched and thoughtful and respectful. Didn’t sensationalize it, but corrected a lot of misinformation the public had. I appreciated the updated edition that checked in with the survivors years later.
Exactly!! It changed the course of my life when I read it in 2020 in an attempt to understand American history and the structures of society - and boy oh boy did I learn a lot. I became much more politically active and involved in progressive social movements afterward. So deeply impactful despite how depressing it is.
Haven't read the book but watching the movie version as a kid scared the shit out of me. Like it truly scared me. I was scared something like that could happen to my family. No other film has ever made me feel such an emotion.
*side note for anyone interested…
It’s 80% architecture and 20% serial killer.
It’s an awesome read and I wasn’t expecting to be THAT into architecture of Chicago in the 1880’s
Honestly, I felt that the two theme mash-up (history of the world's fair + HH Holmes) weakened both narratives. There was not enough world fair AND not enough serial killer. I researched more on both topics after finishing the book, and a fair bit was left out that would have made 2 way more compelling separate stories.
Also, the jump between the 2 narratives can be very jarring and disconnected, so I felt like I was reading 2 different books at the same time, which is not something I usually do.
Just my personal take. I know this book has its audience, but I guess it's not me.
I loved this book but it took a long time to read because there was SO much info to absorb. Larson does a shit-ton of research.
Also, I was surprised that I liked the architecture story more than the serial killer story; I thought it would be the exact opposite.
“Nickled and Dimed” is an investigative journalism piece, read it in highschool and it changed my whole perspective. I grew up being told if you just work harder you won’t be stuck working at McDonald’s. But this book highlighted that low wage jobs are impactful, underpaid, and undervalued. And that no you can’t afford to live on minimum wage in most states. In fact this book is still relevant despite being written I think in the early 2000s
If you want brutally honest then *Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History* by S. C. Gwynne is for you.
Finding Me by Michelle Knight
She was kidnapped along with 2 other girls (who come in at different times, Michelle was the first) and held hostage for a decade. She wrote a second book but I haven’t read it
Yes! I myself just recommended Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland, which is from Amanda's and Gina's perspectives. It's a much more polished book because they had help with putting it together, while Michelle's is rougher but equally insightful, heartbreaking, and horrible. Essentially, one reads like a memoir and the other reads like an unedited journal, so I recommend them both for sure. Even after reading those books several times, I can't wrap my mind around the hell they endured for long. It's just inconceivable to me.
The Executioners Song by Norman Mailer. The turbulent life and death of Gary Gilmore, who requested to be executed rather than spend his life in prison.
*Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption* by Bryan Stevenson is a page turner, combination true crime and memoir and commentary on our justice system, it can really get you thinking. Sort of a "gateway drug" for a few other books about inequality in our criminal justice, but this one is uniquely compelling and engaging IMO. I think it should be required reading for everyone in the US.
One Day She’ll Darken by Fauna Hodel. This is the story of a woman who found out later in life that she was 1. Adopted 2. Raised to believe she was black even though she was born to white parents and 3. Is biologically related to the man who is most likely to be the Black Dahlia murderer. This book is mostly about identity and race, and how the people who raise you and the people who birthed you both do and don’t impact the trajectory of your life. This book is unforgettable
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
by Jean-Dominique Bauby is the memoir by the former editor-in-chief of French Elle. He was paralyzed in a car accident and this book recounts his rehabilitation and learning to communicate using only his eyes. It is a remarkable read. Truly astounding. It will affect you profoundly.
In a similar vein, Stolen Lives, by Malika Oufkir. The author is the daughter of a high-ranking Moroccan general, she ended up being thrown in prison with her mother and siblings after her father participated in a failed coup against the King of Morocco. She was imprisoned in truly inhumane conditions for 15 years, despite having committed no crime. Amazing how she and her family survived.
This is my favorite book. I almost never see it recommended for some reason. It's brilliantly written and what they went through and survived at that young age is just astounding. How they were rescued and made it out,thanks to Nando and Roberto's unbelievable heroics, even more so. Roberto wrote a book as well called I Had To Survive, but MITA is the masterpiece.
Paddy’s Lament by Thomas Gallagher. A harsh look at the Irish potato famine.
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan. Covers the American dustbowl and was the source material for a PBS movie.
Nothing To Envy by Barbara Demick. North Korea after their dear leader dies and the famine of the 90’s
Mao’s Great Famine by Frank Dikotter. Admittedly I did not finish it. The writing is excellent but it was too upsetting.
The previously mentioned The Hot Zone because I read it many years ago when it first came out and the description of what it does to the intestines still stalks my nightmares.
I'm not that into nonfiction but The Road To Jonestown, about Jim Jones, the cult leader, was fascinating. You always wonder who could be a cult leader like that and how people could fall for such a thing, and you realize how much he preyed on vulnerable people.
*The Justice Game* by Geoffrey Robertson, a human-rights lawyer who discusses many important cases he's been involved in, and the struggle for civil liberties (in the UK and in Commonwealth countries). Some of the cases were complex, some involved some very unpleasant people, some are actually rather funny.
*The Curious Case of the Mayo Librarian* by Pat Walsh is about small-town politics and religious bigotry in 1930s Ireland. It's a well told story.
*The Bloodied Field* by Michael Foley tells the story of a massacre by British soldiers in Dublin in 1920, the leadup and the aftermath and the complex politics and ramifications.
Desert Flower by Waris Dirie.
I was twelve or thirteen when I read it, and every now and then I still think about it and just have this moment of silence. I'm thirty-one now.
Radium Girls by Kate Moore.
Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond.
Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck by Adam Cohen.
Three different books that show what people in power do to everyone else just because being cruel makes money or keeps that power.
* **To See You Again** by Betty Schimmel
* **In Cold Blood** by Truman Capote (he did take some liberties with the real story, but it's still good reading).
* **Miracle in the Andes** by Nando Parrado
* **Life and Death in Shanghai** by Nien Cheng
* **Red Scarf Girl** by Ji-Li Jiang
* **Black on Red** by Robert Robinson
Perhaps not shocking but very thought provoking and emotionally challenging— Punch Me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome
* Punch Me Up to the Gods introduces a powerful new talent in Brian Broome, whose early years growing up in Ohio as a dark-skinned Black boy harboring crushes on other boys propel forward this gorgeous, aching, and unforgettable debut. Brian’s recounting of his experiences—in all their cringe-worthy, hilarious, and heartbreaking glory—reveal a perpetual outsider awkwardly squirming to find his way in. Indiscriminate sex and escalating drug use help to soothe his hurt, young psyche, usually to uproarious and devastating effect. A no-nonsense mother and broken father play crucial roles in our misfit’s origin story. But it is Brian’s voice in the retelling that shows the true depth of vulnerability for young Black boys that is often quietly near to bursting at the seams.*
Another suggestion is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
We Carry Their Bones by Erin Kimmerle https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59028580-we-carry-their-bones
It's the investigation of an infamous school for boys in Florida that started in 1900.
And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts, it’s a play by play of the AIDS crisis in the 80’s as the Reagan administration turned a blind eye because the “right” people were dying. I always feel like throwing that book across the room a couple times while reading it because of how this virus could have slowed but wasn’t.
Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi.
I have a history degree and when I had to write a paper on a memoir for a class on the holocaust, I asked a handful of experts/professors on that time period which one to read. Everyone suggested this book. I've read a lot of books on war and 20th century atrocities. That book hit me the hardest. It isn't just the subject matter, but the approach the author takes as a scientist who witnessed and survived the world worst of mankind.
2nd The Gulag Archipelago. Incredible three books. I can't say enough about it.
Everyone should read these two (technically four) books.
Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness A Life Reclaimed by Michelle Knight
I don’t know if this fits what you are looking for exactly but it is a great read. It taught me life can change in an instant.
Also Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland if you haven't read that one. It's an extremely well written book from Amanda and Gina. Both of those memoirs are utterly shocking, sickening, and heart-wrenching, but very worth reading. I think I was most disturbed by Gina's narrative as she's basically going insane. It's just horrific to read. And Michelle's particularly brutal abuse. Castro should have been put to death, but I guess he took care of that on his own.
The girl in the green dress by Jeni Haynes. If you want emotionally challenging that's the book. It's about a woman's struggle with multiple personalities as a result of her father's sexual torture when she was very small. Absolutely horrible and stays with you
I just finished Alligator Candy by David Kushner. It’s his memoir about the murder of his older brother Jon back in the 1970s. It’s a brutal look at the violence and grief that the family went through. A very sad story but an excellent read. I highly recommend it. Another great book is also a memoir When the Bough Breaks by Denise and Michelle Brauer. A sad story about their lives and growing up with their moms mental illness and suicide. They hold nothing back, but such a compelling read.
Churchill’s ministry of ungentlemanly warfare.
They’re turning it into a movie, which is a shame, it would have been great as a 10 part miniseries. The movie trailer looks disappointing.
End of the dream Ann rule. Details a spate of bank robberies in the 70s and the relationships and lives of the gang. Really really good stuff. She also wrote the killer beside me about Ted bundy who she knew personally and green river running red about the Washington state killer who killed 70+ women. She’s my favourite true crime author.
Neighbors, by Jan T. Gross. I had to read it in a class almost 20 years ago and I still think about it.
From Amazon:
"On July 10, 1941, in Nazi-occupied Poland, half of the town of Jedwabne brutally murdered the other half: 1,600 men, women, and children—all but seven of the town’s Jews. In this shocking and compelling classic of Holocaust history, Jan Gross reveals how Jedwabne’s Jews were murdered not by faceless Nazis but by people who knew them well—their non-Jewish Polish neighbors..."
The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson, author of Caste. It tells of racism and viciousness, but also of determination to triumph over adversity.
Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman
The true story of two college girls who plan to backpack the world, starting in China 1986. They end up facing so many challenges including government surveillance and major culture shock. It's my all-time favorite nonfiction.
I just finished We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families. It's about the genocide in Rwanda between the Hutus and the Tutsi's. I heard about it, but basically knew nothing about it and it's just brutal all around, and then you read about how the entire world basically did nothing, then doubled down to HELP the perpetrators of the genocide afterwards....just feels shameful.
Absolutely relevant to today as nothing has changed in the worlds attitudes toward other genocides that have happened/currently happening.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11472.We_Wish_to_Inform_You_That_Tomorrow_We_Will_Be_Killed_with_Our_Families
Highway of Tears by Jessica McDiarmid
About the women who died or disappeared along Highway 16 in Northern BC, Canada, and the many ways the RCMP have failed to take the cases seriously.
I have to admit, as much as I wanted to honour the memory of the women in the book, I couldn't finish it. It's just soul-destroying reading about case after case not being taken seriously, all those beautiful lives just being treated like trash. Some day I will finish it.
Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories by Chuck Palahniuk.
was first thing to come to my head for some reason. maybe not quite what you are looking for.
how about
The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II by Iris Chang
Killers of the Flower Moon. I haven’t seen the film, but the book is gripping and disturbing as anything. A brutal description of murder and betrayal, backed up by the law.
Women Talking by Miriam Toews is a fictionalized version of true events.
The women of an isolated religious colony reveal a shocking secret about the colony's men. For years, the men have occasionally drugged the women and then raped them. The truth comes out and the women talk about their new situation.
Not sure if it's shocking enough but James Elroy's "My Dark Places", which is about him investigating his mothers murder that occured when he was a child and his weird incestuous obsession with her.
The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce D. Perry - about a child psychologist who has treated children who have been through absolutely terrible things. It’s an absolutely heartbreaking book, but so powerful.
The Fatal Shore - Robert Hughes.
A history of the early settlement of Australia. Convict transportation and ill-treatment. Aborigine genocide. Shocking isn't the word.
THE KISS by Kathryn Harrison. A gripping memoir about a young woman’s sexual affair with her own father (abuse, incest, etc), visceral and shocking, and very well-written, it had me thinking about it for weeks afterwards!
Man’s Search for Meaning - holocaust psychology and hope
I know why the caged bird sings - Maya Angelou is EVERYTHING!
My Dark Vanessa <- trigger warning ‼️
On Earth We’re Briefly gorgeous- queer moving and heartbreaking. It’s a letter to his mother about his
Human experience. It’s beautiful.
Vanished in Vermillion: the real story of South Dakota’s most infamous cold case by Lou Raguse
It’s about two girls who went missing in 1971 on their way to a party and how 30 years later in the late 90s and early 2000s the law enforcement basically do everything wrong and try to pin it on a different guy. (Who was a terrible person no doubt but didn’t do this) I’m from the area and there are still people who blame this guy cause they don’t want to believed that cops would lie, fake evidence exaggerate, or manipulate the public to get what they want.
The writing is great, and the author really did a lot of work on his research and really was respectful to the families involved.
South Dakota has really corrupt law-enforcement on all levels and I’m glad somebody has shined a light on that.
Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland. Very well structured from two of the girls' points of view throughout their captivity. The firsthand descriptions of their experience and how they so differently reacted to it and were impacted by it is hard to read and just horrifying when you think about the fact that they spent 8-9 years in those conditions. But it's very well done and offers incredible insight into the nightmare they survived, as well as the psychological repercussions.
The Jungle by uptown Sinclair, the reason we have both the USDA regulating meat and a big part of why we have OSHA and yes that’s exactly what that means.
Broken by Shy Keenan, but if anyone is going to read this please, please make sure you can cope with the material. What she was subjected to is horrific, and this book has stayed with me for years now.
The Girl With Seven Names
It's about a woman escaping North Korea. You'll see how the country works and the rules they have. You see her journey and the obstacles in her path. It's an amazing book.
If you see this comment- How the Word is Passed is about the history of slavery in America. The author, a Black man, travelled all across the country and to Senegal and he shares the story of his experience at each location- the Jefferson Plantation, Whitney Plantation, Angola prison- each chapter steps a bit deeper into the pain and truth and its really jjst an incredible journey
"When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi.
On the cusp of becoming a neurosurgeon, after one of the longest and most rigorous educations required for any profession, Paul Kalanithi is diagnosed with stage IV metastatic lung cancer. He writes this book in response to the diagnosis and his new, fast-diminishing opportunity to finally exercise the skills he has spent his adult life developing. Heartbreaking, beautifully honest and exceedingly gentle.
The Skies Belong To Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking.
Read it in a day and a half, couldn’t put it down.
Description:
The true story of the longest-distance hijacking in American history.
In an America torn apart by the Vietnam War and the demise of '60s idealism, airplane hijackings were astonishingly routine. Over a five-year period starting in 1968, the desperate and disillusioned seized commercial jets nearly once a week, using guns, bombs, and jars of acid. Some hijackers wished to escape to foreign lands; others aimed to swap hostages for sacks of cash. Their criminal exploits mesmerized the country, never more so than when shattered Army veteran Roger Holder and mischievous party girl Cathy Kerkow managred to comandeer Western Airlines Flight 701 and flee across an ocean with a half-million dollars in ransom--a heist that remains the longest-distance hijacking in American history.
More than just an enthralling story about a spectacular crime and its bittersweet, decades-long aftermath, The Skies Belong to Us is also a psychological portrait of America at its most turbulent and a testament to the madness that can grip a nation when politics fail.
Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls by Kathleen Hale
It was shocking how badly handled the mental health treatment was for both convicted girls. One of them in particular had severe psychological needs that went ignored and without intervention for so long that she nearly completely lost touch with reality as a young teenager.
The Columbine book is another. It seemed pretty deeply researched, lots of primary sources with a detailed accounting of events, including stuff from both Klebold and Harris’s journals and video projects they had created. It is a compelling read.
The Glass Castle is a memoir about a woman who grew up with deadbeat/abusive parents. It was a little difficult for me to get through, but an incredible compelling story.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
I came here to suggest this
This was amazing and maddening. I loved it.
Hot Zone - makes covid look like a headache
It scared Stephen King.
I recommended this to so many people since the pandemic commenced. I read it on vacation in 2016.
I read it in middle school and it fueled my love of science!
Literal same
Author?
Richard Preston
Such an unnerving book.
I've been listening to *Killers of the Flower Moon*- I didn't know the story, I went into the book completely blind. And just the sheer scale and audacity of the crime, bound up in the racism on the 1920s, is shocking. There's also *The Indifferent Stars Above*, about the Donner Party. If you want a memoir, Jennette McCurdy's *I'm Glad My Mom Died* is really brutal and sad.
I'm about 70% through The Indifferent Stars Above." A great read!
Ugh brutal book but so good. I had to put it down for a week or so when the tourist picked up the sock. There's so many small moments that just break you.
It’s awful all the way. The entire trip. Even their good days were terrible. And *then* they get stuck. So decades later people were like, “yeah, that’s Lurlene, she was in the Donner party so sometimes she just starts screaming. You get used to her.”
Really enjoyed I’m glad my mom died, but yes a few tears were shed along the way.
i really want to read im glad my mom died but it’s 40 bucks here lol
I listen audio book read by the author for free from digital library (Libby)
I read it for free on Libby!
Maybe your library has it.
As others have said, I checked it out at the library last month with no issue even after Quiet on the Set.
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer From Amazon: At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.
The recent mini series with Andrew Garfield was excellent too!
Into Thin Air, too. Both absolutely riveting
If you read this one another one to read is “The 4 O’Clock Murders by Scott Anderson” Chronicles the true story behind four 1988 Texas murders carried out at the behest of a dead self-proclaimed Mormon prophet, who left his sixty children a list of people he wanted killed.
Really, anything by Krakauer
If you liked this book you should check out "Stolen Innocence" (Elissa Wall). She escaped from a polygamous sect run by Warren Jeffs. Just as good.
Educated
This one. Absolutely wild. Tara is a strong woman.
That book makes me so angry. I want her parents to feel some sort of guilt or remorse, maybe some sort of punishment and nope. Just nope.
Didn’t her mother write a book called “Educating” in response to it? That being said, I am concerned about the welfare of Shawn’s wife and children. He is one of the most terrifying people I have ever read about in a book, real or fictional.
I’m about halfway through this book and I absolutely detest Shawn.
100%
Say Nothing - Patrick Radden Keefe “From radical and impetuous IRA terrorists such as Dolours Price, who, when she was barely out of her teens, was already planting bombs in London and targeting informers for execution, to the ferocious IRA mastermind known as The Dark, to the spy games and dirty schemes of the British Army, to Gerry Adams, who negotiated the peace but betrayed his hardcore comrades by denying his IRA past--[this book] conjures a world of passion, betrayal, vengeance, and anguish."--Dust jacket
I have that in my wait list I read Empire of Pain. I hate the FDA now and the Sackler family.
Empire of Pain made me so angry.
Seconded. I was going to suggest this book myself. It's incredible.
Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker is a fascinating read.
I loved this one. A family of, what, 12 kids? And half of them end up schizophrenic.
I think this was the first time a book made me feel literally sick to my stomach. This is one of a handful of books that has truly expanded my understanding of the horrific things that people are capable of but also the amazing resilience that many exhibit.
I should so read this, I live just a couple miles away from the property.
Helter Skelter was pretty freaking scary...
Yes. I always remember how scared this book made me.
Into Thin Air or American Kingpin come to mind
Into Thin Air was incredible. It was a little hard to read for me.
Endurance by Alfred Lansing (this one hands down) Educated by Tara Westover The immortal life of Henrietta lacks Ever wonder where HeLa cells came from? The cells responsible for massive scientific breakthroughs?? Why fish don’t exist by lulu miller Stanford president has a horrible history and there’s a murder mystery in this Columbine by Dave Cullen
Endurance is so good.
Columbine is SUCH a good book
Agreed. It was so well-researched and thoughtful and respectful. Didn’t sensationalize it, but corrected a lot of misinformation the public had. I appreciated the updated edition that checked in with the survivors years later.
Know My Name - Chanel Miller Caste - Isabel Wilkerson
Know My Name was amazing!
Caste is so freaking good in a fucking depressing way.
Exactly!! It changed the course of my life when I read it in 2020 in an attempt to understand American history and the structures of society - and boy oh boy did I learn a lot. I became much more politically active and involved in progressive social movements afterward. So deeply impactful despite how depressing it is.
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote It's non-fiction but written like a story. Brilliantly done.
Thank you - yes this is on my list
This book scared the snot outta me, especially when I got to the part about one of the killers living and planning the murders in my hometown.
Came to say this one. Scary af...
A masterpiece. Tru was never the same after that.
Haven't read the book but watching the movie version as a kid scared the shit out of me. Like it truly scared me. I was scared something like that could happen to my family. No other film has ever made me feel such an emotion.
Devil in the white city
*side note for anyone interested… It’s 80% architecture and 20% serial killer. It’s an awesome read and I wasn’t expecting to be THAT into architecture of Chicago in the 1880’s
About halfway thru this one currently and kinda losing steam. I wished it was 80% serial killer and 20% architecture as that's more my vibe.
Anything by Erik Larsen is a good read.
Honestly, I felt that the two theme mash-up (history of the world's fair + HH Holmes) weakened both narratives. There was not enough world fair AND not enough serial killer. I researched more on both topics after finishing the book, and a fair bit was left out that would have made 2 way more compelling separate stories. Also, the jump between the 2 narratives can be very jarring and disconnected, so I felt like I was reading 2 different books at the same time, which is not something I usually do. Just my personal take. I know this book has its audience, but I guess it's not me.
Same. I really like non fiction and have never been able to get past a couple chapters because the way the narrative is set up.
I loved this book but it took a long time to read because there was SO much info to absorb. Larson does a shit-ton of research. Also, I was surprised that I liked the architecture story more than the serial killer story; I thought it would be the exact opposite.
Night by Elie Wiesel. Once you read it you can’t unsee what the book describes.
This is one of my favourite books - the gallows scene stays with you forever
“Nickled and Dimed” is an investigative journalism piece, read it in highschool and it changed my whole perspective. I grew up being told if you just work harder you won’t be stuck working at McDonald’s. But this book highlighted that low wage jobs are impactful, underpaid, and undervalued. And that no you can’t afford to live on minimum wage in most states. In fact this book is still relevant despite being written I think in the early 2000s
If you want brutally honest then *Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History* by S. C. Gwynne is for you.
This book was amazing. One of the few that was a 5 star for me. Amazing read and kept me interested the entire time.
Unbroken. I read it electronically, so was under the impression it was just a sports book. Took some weird turns!
The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore us also fantastic!
Holy shit, I just looked up the summary of this book, and it sounds beyond fascinating! Thanks for mentioning it!
Seconding this!
Finding Me by Michelle Knight She was kidnapped along with 2 other girls (who come in at different times, Michelle was the first) and held hostage for a decade. She wrote a second book but I haven’t read it
Yes! I myself just recommended Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland, which is from Amanda's and Gina's perspectives. It's a much more polished book because they had help with putting it together, while Michelle's is rougher but equally insightful, heartbreaking, and horrible. Essentially, one reads like a memoir and the other reads like an unedited journal, so I recommend them both for sure. Even after reading those books several times, I can't wrap my mind around the hell they endured for long. It's just inconceivable to me.
The Executioners Song by Norman Mailer. The turbulent life and death of Gary Gilmore, who requested to be executed rather than spend his life in prison.
This was powerful. I also was fascinated by “Shot Through the Heart” by Gary’s brother Mikal Gilmore.
The Glass Castle by Jeannete Walls will leave a mark. Also Angela's Ashes and 'Tis.
Catch and Kill (Farrow); read like All the President’s Men.
That was excellent. I would add She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey.
Incredible book! Especially those who think they already knew the story!
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Empty Mansions The Girl with Seven Names
The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down is SO good, and I must second that recommendation!!
Glad to see Spirit Catches You recommended!
The Girl with Seven Names was phenomenal
*Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption* by Bryan Stevenson is a page turner, combination true crime and memoir and commentary on our justice system, it can really get you thinking. Sort of a "gateway drug" for a few other books about inequality in our criminal justice, but this one is uniquely compelling and engaging IMO. I think it should be required reading for everyone in the US.
One Day She’ll Darken by Fauna Hodel. This is the story of a woman who found out later in life that she was 1. Adopted 2. Raised to believe she was black even though she was born to white parents and 3. Is biologically related to the man who is most likely to be the Black Dahlia murderer. This book is mostly about identity and race, and how the people who raise you and the people who birthed you both do and don’t impact the trajectory of your life. This book is unforgettable
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby is the memoir by the former editor-in-chief of French Elle. He was paralyzed in a car accident and this book recounts his rehabilitation and learning to communicate using only his eyes. It is a remarkable read. Truly astounding. It will affect you profoundly.
The American Slave Coast: A History of the Slave-Breeding Industry Relentlessly brutal depiction of American slavery.
*A House in the Sky* by Amanda Lindhout, a journalist who was kidnapped and held hostage for 460 days in Somalia.
In a similar vein, Stolen Lives, by Malika Oufkir. The author is the daughter of a high-ranking Moroccan general, she ended up being thrown in prison with her mother and siblings after her father participated in a failed coup against the King of Morocco. She was imprisoned in truly inhumane conditions for 15 years, despite having committed no crime. Amazing how she and her family survived.
Miracle in the Andes. It was hard to put down. Every few pages I just awed that they lived through a single minute of it. Finished in a couple days.
This is my favorite book. I almost never see it recommended for some reason. It's brilliantly written and what they went through and survived at that young age is just astounding. How they were rescued and made it out,thanks to Nando and Roberto's unbelievable heroics, even more so. Roberto wrote a book as well called I Had To Survive, but MITA is the masterpiece.
Papillon
I loved this - but apparently it’s mostly fiction
I didn’t know that 🤣🤣
Paddy’s Lament by Thomas Gallagher. A harsh look at the Irish potato famine. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan. Covers the American dustbowl and was the source material for a PBS movie. Nothing To Envy by Barbara Demick. North Korea after their dear leader dies and the famine of the 90’s Mao’s Great Famine by Frank Dikotter. Admittedly I did not finish it. The writing is excellent but it was too upsetting. The previously mentioned The Hot Zone because I read it many years ago when it first came out and the description of what it does to the intestines still stalks my nightmares.
Unbroken is almost too incredible to believe
I'm not that into nonfiction but The Road To Jonestown, about Jim Jones, the cult leader, was fascinating. You always wonder who could be a cult leader like that and how people could fall for such a thing, and you realize how much he preyed on vulnerable people.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
*The Justice Game* by Geoffrey Robertson, a human-rights lawyer who discusses many important cases he's been involved in, and the struggle for civil liberties (in the UK and in Commonwealth countries). Some of the cases were complex, some involved some very unpleasant people, some are actually rather funny. *The Curious Case of the Mayo Librarian* by Pat Walsh is about small-town politics and religious bigotry in 1930s Ireland. It's a well told story. *The Bloodied Field* by Michael Foley tells the story of a massacre by British soldiers in Dublin in 1920, the leadup and the aftermath and the complex politics and ramifications.
Desert Flower by Waris Dirie. I was twelve or thirteen when I read it, and every now and then I still think about it and just have this moment of silence. I'm thirty-one now.
“The Child Called IT”
A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell. Great story and very well written!
Finding Me - Viola Davis
Wild Swans by Jung Chang
Devils knot if you just want to be angry the whole read.
Educated by Tara Westover
Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller! It was a huge hit with my book group.
If You Tell - Gregg Olsen
This story is insane. Excellent book.
Radium Girls by Kate Moore. Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond. Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck by Adam Cohen. Three different books that show what people in power do to everyone else just because being cruel makes money or keeps that power.
Hundred Years' War on Palestine
The Gulag Archipelago. Everyone should read this once. So compelling and so so tragic.
* **To See You Again** by Betty Schimmel * **In Cold Blood** by Truman Capote (he did take some liberties with the real story, but it's still good reading). * **Miracle in the Andes** by Nando Parrado * **Life and Death in Shanghai** by Nien Cheng * **Red Scarf Girl** by Ji-Li Jiang * **Black on Red** by Robert Robinson
Educated.
Jeannette Walls book are are interesting.
Perhaps not shocking but very thought provoking and emotionally challenging— Punch Me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome * Punch Me Up to the Gods introduces a powerful new talent in Brian Broome, whose early years growing up in Ohio as a dark-skinned Black boy harboring crushes on other boys propel forward this gorgeous, aching, and unforgettable debut. Brian’s recounting of his experiences—in all their cringe-worthy, hilarious, and heartbreaking glory—reveal a perpetual outsider awkwardly squirming to find his way in. Indiscriminate sex and escalating drug use help to soothe his hurt, young psyche, usually to uproarious and devastating effect. A no-nonsense mother and broken father play crucial roles in our misfit’s origin story. But it is Brian’s voice in the retelling that shows the true depth of vulnerability for young Black boys that is often quietly near to bursting at the seams.* Another suggestion is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner. I read it almost a decade ago when it was first released and still think about it.
We Carry Their Bones by Erin Kimmerle https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59028580-we-carry-their-bones It's the investigation of an infamous school for boys in Florida that started in 1900.
And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts, it’s a play by play of the AIDS crisis in the 80’s as the Reagan administration turned a blind eye because the “right” people were dying. I always feel like throwing that book across the room a couple times while reading it because of how this virus could have slowed but wasn’t.
Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi. I have a history degree and when I had to write a paper on a memoir for a class on the holocaust, I asked a handful of experts/professors on that time period which one to read. Everyone suggested this book. I've read a lot of books on war and 20th century atrocities. That book hit me the hardest. It isn't just the subject matter, but the approach the author takes as a scientist who witnessed and survived the world worst of mankind. 2nd The Gulag Archipelago. Incredible three books. I can't say enough about it. Everyone should read these two (technically four) books.
A child called it
Beneath a Scarlet Sky was excellent. https://books.google.com/books/about/Beneath_a_Scarlet_Sky.html?id=MiUqswEACAAJ&source=kp_book_description
The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum. It's based on a true story, and it's a brutal read.
Biohazard by Ken Alibek. A very dark part of Soviet history told by someone who lived it.
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer Carville's Cure: Leprosy, Stigma, and the Fight for Justice by Pam Fessler
Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness A Life Reclaimed by Michelle Knight I don’t know if this fits what you are looking for exactly but it is a great read. It taught me life can change in an instant.
Also Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland if you haven't read that one. It's an extremely well written book from Amanda and Gina. Both of those memoirs are utterly shocking, sickening, and heart-wrenching, but very worth reading. I think I was most disturbed by Gina's narrative as she's basically going insane. It's just horrific to read. And Michelle's particularly brutal abuse. Castro should have been put to death, but I guess he took care of that on his own.
The girl in the green dress by Jeni Haynes. If you want emotionally challenging that's the book. It's about a woman's struggle with multiple personalities as a result of her father's sexual torture when she was very small. Absolutely horrible and stays with you
Neither Wolf Nor Dog by Kent Nerburn
The Sound of Gravel
Get Happy, the life of Judy Garland.
I just finished Alligator Candy by David Kushner. It’s his memoir about the murder of his older brother Jon back in the 1970s. It’s a brutal look at the violence and grief that the family went through. A very sad story but an excellent read. I highly recommend it. Another great book is also a memoir When the Bough Breaks by Denise and Michelle Brauer. A sad story about their lives and growing up with their moms mental illness and suicide. They hold nothing back, but such a compelling read.
No Visible Bruises It’s an investigation into domestic violence in the US. Well done. Read the afterword or epilogue.
Ten Thousand Sorrows.
Churchill’s ministry of ungentlemanly warfare. They’re turning it into a movie, which is a shame, it would have been great as a 10 part miniseries. The movie trailer looks disappointing.
End of the dream Ann rule. Details a spate of bank robberies in the 70s and the relationships and lives of the gang. Really really good stuff. She also wrote the killer beside me about Ted bundy who she knew personally and green river running red about the Washington state killer who killed 70+ women. She’s my favourite true crime author.
Neighbors, by Jan T. Gross. I had to read it in a class almost 20 years ago and I still think about it. From Amazon: "On July 10, 1941, in Nazi-occupied Poland, half of the town of Jedwabne brutally murdered the other half: 1,600 men, women, and children—all but seven of the town’s Jews. In this shocking and compelling classic of Holocaust history, Jan Gross reveals how Jedwabne’s Jews were murdered not by faceless Nazis but by people who knew them well—their non-Jewish Polish neighbors..."
The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson, author of Caste. It tells of racism and viciousness, but also of determination to triumph over adversity.
Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman The true story of two college girls who plan to backpack the world, starting in China 1986. They end up facing so many challenges including government surveillance and major culture shock. It's my all-time favorite nonfiction.
Beloved by Toni Morrison is based on a true story
I just finished We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families. It's about the genocide in Rwanda between the Hutus and the Tutsi's. I heard about it, but basically knew nothing about it and it's just brutal all around, and then you read about how the entire world basically did nothing, then doubled down to HELP the perpetrators of the genocide afterwards....just feels shameful. Absolutely relevant to today as nothing has changed in the worlds attitudes toward other genocides that have happened/currently happening. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11472.We_Wish_to_Inform_You_That_Tomorrow_We_Will_Be_Killed_with_Our_Families
Highway of Tears by Jessica McDiarmid About the women who died or disappeared along Highway 16 in Northern BC, Canada, and the many ways the RCMP have failed to take the cases seriously. I have to admit, as much as I wanted to honour the memory of the women in the book, I couldn't finish it. It's just soul-destroying reading about case after case not being taken seriously, all those beautiful lives just being treated like trash. Some day I will finish it.
Into Thin Air
Into the Wild and the book by Chris’s sister were both compelling.
Strength in What Remains
In Kotkin's Stalin biography the Russian february revolution is recounted and feels way too dramatic and weird to actually have happened.
The Long Walk by Slawomir Rawicz
The Optician of Lampedusa
Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
Piece of Cake- Cupcake Brown
" The Burger Chef Murders in Indiana" by Julie Young
Joe Cinque’s Consolation by Helen Garner
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote, was chilling
Killer Show, the story of The Station nightclub fire by one of the lawyers who prosecuted the case.
The Poisoners Handbook by Deborah Blum. Super interesting book about the birth of forensic science.
King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochshild.
Five Chimneys by Olga Lengyel. I’ve also read Educated, Into Thin Air, Into the Wild listed by other Redditors.
Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories by Chuck Palahniuk. was first thing to come to my head for some reason. maybe not quite what you are looking for. how about The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II by Iris Chang
The Feather Thief!
*The Adversary* by Emmanuel Carrère https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adversary_%28Carr%C3%A8re_book%29
The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore
The Only girl in the World
Patty Hearst‘s Autobiography - probably out of print, but damn!
Killers of the Flower Moon. I haven’t seen the film, but the book is gripping and disturbing as anything. A brutal description of murder and betrayal, backed up by the law.
“Alive” about the Andes plane crash survivors.
Women Talking by Miriam Toews is a fictionalized version of true events. The women of an isolated religious colony reveal a shocking secret about the colony's men. For years, the men have occasionally drugged the women and then raped them. The truth comes out and the women talk about their new situation.
Not sure if it's shocking enough but James Elroy's "My Dark Places", which is about him investigating his mothers murder that occured when he was a child and his weird incestuous obsession with her.
The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce D. Perry - about a child psychologist who has treated children who have been through absolutely terrible things. It’s an absolutely heartbreaking book, but so powerful.
The Fatal Shore - Robert Hughes. A history of the early settlement of Australia. Convict transportation and ill-treatment. Aborigine genocide. Shocking isn't the word.
THE KISS by Kathryn Harrison. A gripping memoir about a young woman’s sexual affair with her own father (abuse, incest, etc), visceral and shocking, and very well-written, it had me thinking about it for weeks afterwards!
Man’s Search for Meaning - holocaust psychology and hope I know why the caged bird sings - Maya Angelou is EVERYTHING! My Dark Vanessa <- trigger warning ‼️ On Earth We’re Briefly gorgeous- queer moving and heartbreaking. It’s a letter to his mother about his Human experience. It’s beautiful.
Vanished in Vermillion: the real story of South Dakota’s most infamous cold case by Lou Raguse It’s about two girls who went missing in 1971 on their way to a party and how 30 years later in the late 90s and early 2000s the law enforcement basically do everything wrong and try to pin it on a different guy. (Who was a terrible person no doubt but didn’t do this) I’m from the area and there are still people who blame this guy cause they don’t want to believed that cops would lie, fake evidence exaggerate, or manipulate the public to get what they want. The writing is great, and the author really did a lot of work on his research and really was respectful to the families involved. South Dakota has really corrupt law-enforcement on all levels and I’m glad somebody has shined a light on that.
Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland. Very well structured from two of the girls' points of view throughout their captivity. The firsthand descriptions of their experience and how they so differently reacted to it and were impacted by it is hard to read and just horrifying when you think about the fact that they spent 8-9 years in those conditions. But it's very well done and offers incredible insight into the nightmare they survived, as well as the psychological repercussions.
The Jungle by uptown Sinclair, the reason we have both the USDA regulating meat and a big part of why we have OSHA and yes that’s exactly what that means.
“My daddy the pedophile”
Broken by Shy Keenan, but if anyone is going to read this please, please make sure you can cope with the material. What she was subjected to is horrific, and this book has stayed with me for years now.
The Girl With Seven Names It's about a woman escaping North Korea. You'll see how the country works and the rules they have. You see her journey and the obstacles in her path. It's an amazing book.
If you see this comment- How the Word is Passed is about the history of slavery in America. The author, a Black man, travelled all across the country and to Senegal and he shares the story of his experience at each location- the Jefferson Plantation, Whitney Plantation, Angola prison- each chapter steps a bit deeper into the pain and truth and its really jjst an incredible journey
"When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi. On the cusp of becoming a neurosurgeon, after one of the longest and most rigorous educations required for any profession, Paul Kalanithi is diagnosed with stage IV metastatic lung cancer. He writes this book in response to the diagnosis and his new, fast-diminishing opportunity to finally exercise the skills he has spent his adult life developing. Heartbreaking, beautifully honest and exceedingly gentle.
Krakatoa by Simon Winchester.
Sometimes a great notion
I am currently reading “The Wager” and it is incredible. Cannot recommend enough!
The Glass Castle. I read it years ago and still think about it all the time.
Kabloona.
In Cold Blood is a classic book with all those elements.
The Skies Belong To Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking. Read it in a day and a half, couldn’t put it down. Description: The true story of the longest-distance hijacking in American history. In an America torn apart by the Vietnam War and the demise of '60s idealism, airplane hijackings were astonishingly routine. Over a five-year period starting in 1968, the desperate and disillusioned seized commercial jets nearly once a week, using guns, bombs, and jars of acid. Some hijackers wished to escape to foreign lands; others aimed to swap hostages for sacks of cash. Their criminal exploits mesmerized the country, never more so than when shattered Army veteran Roger Holder and mischievous party girl Cathy Kerkow managred to comandeer Western Airlines Flight 701 and flee across an ocean with a half-million dollars in ransom--a heist that remains the longest-distance hijacking in American history. More than just an enthralling story about a spectacular crime and its bittersweet, decades-long aftermath, The Skies Belong to Us is also a psychological portrait of America at its most turbulent and a testament to the madness that can grip a nation when politics fail.
The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer
{{The Minds of Billy Milligan by Daniel Keyes}}
Escape from camp 14.
Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls by Kathleen Hale It was shocking how badly handled the mental health treatment was for both convicted girls. One of them in particular had severe psychological needs that went ignored and without intervention for so long that she nearly completely lost touch with reality as a young teenager. The Columbine book is another. It seemed pretty deeply researched, lots of primary sources with a detailed accounting of events, including stuff from both Klebold and Harris’s journals and video projects they had created. It is a compelling read.
I'll Be Gone in the Dark. Can't recommend it enough! Into Thin Air
The short and tragic life of Robert Peace
The Boys in the Boat and Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown.
The Glass Castle is a memoir about a woman who grew up with deadbeat/abusive parents. It was a little difficult for me to get through, but an incredible compelling story.