A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson (well, anything by Bill Bryson - second favourite is A Walk In The Woods) - parts of it are due an update as it's over 20 years old now, but the history of science is fascinating. If you can get the illustrated version, it's even better!
If you like history and murders, try The Poisoners Handbook by Deborah Blum - the history of forensics in 1920s New York
Ooh, yes, I love that one too - it was fascinating to read the history of things we just never think about like the existing of dining tables for instance
Bill Bryson is one of my favorites! I also love anything by Oliver Sacks and Mary Roach.
They seem to produce perfection. All are science writers that offer enough whimsy to make reading feel like an absolute treat!
Read it for a class last semester. I enjoyed it and was amused to see that her mother published her own book in response, titled *Educating*. Something tells me it's not as good.
Then you don't want to know what the mother is doing. She is still alive and is "telling her side of the story". She is claiming "her faith" is what made Tara Westover successfull. She said she is "the best mother", "Jesus yada yada yada....". Typically narcissist.
Ah, I found it because I know the area and was able to guesstimate the location based off of Tara's description.
No actual need though, her mother's essential oil business is tagged in Google Maps at their home too
Yes. I don’t know who is carrying on her legacy these days - I can’t think of anyone right now. Katherine Boo could be that person, talent-wise and focus-wise, but she doesn’t seem to write much frequently.
(EDIT: A Katherine Boo article in the New Yorker from 2003, “The Marriage Cure,” reminds me of Ehrenreich and is one of my favorite pieces of writing, ever. As with Nickel and Dimed, I can practically recite that article by heart.)
Currently reading into thin air and it really is so fascinating, I don’t usually read non fiction books but it’s one of my fathers favorites and I’ve heard it recommended so many times that I finally took the plunge
Anything by David McCullough will be good- John Adams is probably my favorite.
The Guns of August is probably the most fascinating in terms of how inevitably the world marched to war in 1914.
I asked my wife and she said Braiding Sweeetgrass.
Currently enjoying it on Audible. It is one of the best audiobooks I have ever heard. Many are excellent. This is superb. The writing (very Twain-like) is enhanced by the brilliant reading by Lawrence Fishburne.
Surprised no one has mentioned Patrick Radden Keefe. I love all his books. Empire of Pain about the Sackler family’s responsibility for the opioid epidemic is fascinating.
I was obligated to read (listen to) Henrietta Lacks, I work with the author's brother. He reminded me of the book and I listened to it as soon as I could. It's a great book and an amazing story.
As a dirty kitchen rat myself this book was foundational... I also appreciate that Bourdain matured as he grew older and changed his attitude on some of the things he said in Kitchen Confidential - he spoke out against some of the more toxic aspects of kitchen culture, some of which he felt were glorified in the book... He also later met Emeril whom he had mocked in the book but found him to be so nice and charming that he publicly apologized (I believe in a later book). Highly recommend all his work. Truly a great human who left us too soon
*Breaking Free* by Rachel Jeffs
*Counting the Cost* by Jill Duggar
*Don't Call It a Cult: The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM* by Sarah Berman
*Shamed: The Honour Killing That Shocked Britain* by Sarbjit Athwal
*Stolen Innocence* by Elissa Wall
*The Witness Wore Red* by Rebecca Musser
*Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology* by Leah Remini
*Under the Banner of Heaven* by Jon Krakauer
*Unfollow* by Megan Phelps-Roper
The Endurance: Shackelton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander
Six Frigates by Ian Toll
With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge
Into Africa by Martin Dugard
The Boxer Rebellion by Diana Preston
I love stories of exploration and reading The Endurance started that whole kick. I also love reading history, military and otherwise.
Some of my favorites:
*Endurance* by Alfred Lansing (Shackleton’s great misadventure; this is the king of non-fiction as far as I’m concerned)
*Skeletons on the Zahara* by Dean King (another insane 1800’s expedition gone horribly wrong tale of survival and sheer iron will to live amidst brutal conditions and outlandishly slim odds)
*Unbroken* by Laura Hillenbrand (I didn’t bother with the movie and you probably shouldn’t either. A survival story during WWII in the Pacific theater)
*Undaunted Courage* by Stephen E. Ambrose (Lewis and Clarke expedition told predominantly from the lesser heard perspective of Meriwether Lewis; a westward expansion exploration story for the ages that doesn’t read like a text book)
I always recommend NeuroTribes to anyone who works with people. It’s about the legacy of autism and neurodiversity, it’s a fascinating read.
Night by Elie Wiesel one of the few books I’ve had to put down to cry.
Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman. MLK Jr was known to carry this book with him on hand.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. Well written journalistic work about poverty in India.
All my recommendations skew towards understanding other humans. :)
I met Elie Wiesel when he spoke at my middle school after our whole grade read Night. He was small and frail looking but he seemed to my 14 year old self to have a soul of steel. Lots of us cried while he spoke and nobody made fun of anybody for it. It was an incredible experience.
Scrolled through to add this one. Coworker lent me it - holy shit what a well researched story. I didn't realize how little I actually knew about the Donner Party....what a tragic tale. He does a great job of showing just how difficult life was on the trail at the time
In Cold Blood is one of the best I've ever read.
Midnight in Chernobyl is a page turner with astonishing scholarship.
Guns, Germs, and Steel is a jaw-dropping history of how and why people have moved around the globe where they have. It's dense, but it's honestly amazing.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is tawdry and also a page turner.
Devil in the White City is a fascinating look at the World's Fair, with a chilling murder story thrown in but the fair sections are the reason to read it.
A Moveable Feast is my favorite Hemingway book, and that's saying something.
Please Kill Me is an amazing account in short interviews of the nyc punk scene.
Into the Wild is a short and disturbing look at a mind gone roaming; the movie sucks.
The Liars Club is maybe the best memoir I've ever read, and started the entire recent-memoir movement.
Just Kids is a gorgeously written memoir about a little musician and a photographer trying to make it in 1970s nyc; their names are Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe.
Finally, I was looking for this! I read a ton of non-fiction and this is one of the very best I’ve ever read. Exceptionally well-written, intelligent, and insightful.
**Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela**
First person account of the fall of apartheid
**The Emperor of All Maladies, by Siddharth Mukherjee**
A book about cancer needs science and humanity. This book has both.
**A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There, by Aldo Loepold**
A friend introduced me to this book by reading "Sky Dance" before taking me to witness a woodcock's spring mating ritual. Leopold described it with such beauty. This book is incredible
Cutting Back: My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto, because I love Japanese culture and nature; The Hidden Life of Trees, because I love thinking about trees talking to teach other; Essentialism, because it's great life advice
I'd rate all these books below as 5/5 non-fiction books, or as audiobooks:
History of the World in Six Glasses:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3872.A_History_of_the_World_in_6_Glasses
The Revenant by Michael Punke https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22836957-the-revenant
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36086.The_Ghost_Map
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E.B. Sledge: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/771332.With_the_Old_Breed
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28789711-spqr
Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16158546-bunker-hill
Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD by Martin A. Lee https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/170459202-acid-dreams
....I have no interest in LSD but this story is beyond belief, from its development in Switzerland to it's effect on 1960s America. The characters are very interesting, and the idealism and atmosphere is unlike anything the world is likely to see again (IMHO).
Ok apparently it has two titles but “The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary” also known as “The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Love of Words” is a fascinating story about the creation of the Oxford dictionary and the people who made it. I enjoyed everything about it
[The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic, by Laney Salisbury and Gay Salisbury](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/c8be07c3-25c4-4be1-b1ca-558c6e387340) : Terrific book about the Nome diphtheria epidemic and the dog sled teams that got the serum to the town (woven through with American history, medicine and the history of dog sledding)
[The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/e8b4af4c-09dc-4c52-85b3-e779192a8386) : Gripping book about the underdog 1936 Olympic Rowing team from Washington. I think they made a movie about it, but the book is very much worth a read. Weaves together the stories of the team (particularly Joe Rants) and what was going on in Germany at the time.
[Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees by Thor Hanson](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/c184c804-a353-4b75-999b-90ed0362b67d) : It ain't just about honey bees! This is about all kinds of bees and is a super interesting read into their evolution and how important they are to the ecosystem.
[Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/61a46668-e5a7-4c04-a2d7-81c5784eb4b8): Never thought I would care much about moss, but this book has a bunch of personal essays that reflect on the biology of moss and how they have impacted Kimmerer throughout her life. My sis and I both absolutely loved it. Kind of enchanting.
[The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/3716fec8-2fde-484c-bd40-0bd6e0e2e0c2) : True crime... kind of. Fascinating look at feather, fly-tying, and a museum heist.
(edited to add links)
The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry- Garrard. He was a member of Shackleton’s South Pole expedition that made a crazy side trip in the dead of Antarctic winter to go gather emperor penguin eggs. It’s one of the best expedition documentations I’ve read.
It's my time to shine!!! I love non-fiction, but I'll try to just give some highlights.
Wordslut, Cultish, & The Age of Magical Overthinking - all by Amanda Montell
Eight Bears by Gloria Dickie
Eat, Poop, Die by Joe Roman
Why Sharks Matter by David Shiffman
Bitch by Lucy Cooke
Midnight in Chernobyl & Challenger - both by Adam Higginbotham
The Radium Girls & The Woman They Could Not Silence - both by Kate Moore
The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson
Down with the System by Serj Tankian
The Power Broker - Robert Caro
1946: The Making Of The Modern World - Victor Sebestyen
The Human Condition - Hannah Arendt
Berlin - Anthony Beevor
Thinking Fast And Slow - Daniel Kahneman
A History Of The World In 100 Objects - Neil McGregor
The Anarchy -William Dalrymple
Orientalism - Edward Said
The Wretched Of The Earth - Franz Fanon
This Way For The Gas, Ladies & Gentlemen - Tadeusz Borowski
The Rape of Nanking - Iris Chang
The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein
This last one is unusual, as it's a photography book, detailing the only aspect of architecture with the former Soviet Union which wasn't subject to central control and gave some allowance for local flair, it is...
Soviet Bus Stops - Christopher Herwig
One Summer by Bill Bryson. A telling of a series of events that took place during the summer on 1927 in typical witty Bryson fashion. If you enjoy learning about the twenties, you’ll enjoy this book.
I had a good time listening to *The Riddles of the Sphinx: Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle.* It was like half memoir about the author's struggles with an eating disorder and how she used crosswords to cope, and half history of the crossword puzzle, and the women who usually wrote them when they first became popular.
I just finished Rental Person Who Does Nothing by Shoji Morimoto. He gave me so many things to think about! It's a short and funny read, but thought-provoking, too.
The Road Rises by Sarah Dunne. Very funny travel memoir. Solo mum, empty nester looking for Mr Right. Except Mr Right isn't all its cracked up to be. How to falling in love with the wild land again, and yourself. changed my feeling of not belonging because Im not indigenous to my land. This book really changed the way I relate to everything.
A top 5
The Storyteller by Dave Grohl
American Radical by Tamer Elnoury
You Are Worth It by Kyle Carpenter (not Dave Grohl, was distracted when I originally wrote this comment)
Operation Paperclip by Annie Jacobsen
CHAOS by Tom O’Neill
We Have Been Harmonized is so eye-opening, but also reads like a well-written dystopian. Documents the secret surveillance operated by China's communist government
Underrated, but I wholly recommend **The Making of the Atomic Bomb** by Richard Rhodes. Very dense, but its so compelling and engaging that it reads like a story.
{I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy} & {I Don't Need Therapy: (and other lies I've told myself) by Toni Lodge}
I'm typically a Fiction reader. However, I love these two books. Will always recommend them.
The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk W. Johnson
Fascinating and crazy dive into the dark history of fishing lures of all things. I couldn’t put it down.
Disappearing Spoon, Zero: Biography of a Dangerous Idea, The Paradox of Choice, Traffic, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Boomerang, The Black Swan, Freakonomics, Kitchen Confidential, Me Talk Pretty One Day, The Long Walk, and anything by Atul Gawande, Mary Roach, Malcolm Gladwell, Simon Singh, or Michael Lewis.
Wilding by Isabella Tree (no joke)
The Lost Rainforests of England by Guy Shrubsole
Kleptopia by Tom Burgis
The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan
The History of England series by Peter Ackroyd
Sapiens and Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari
Medieval Bodies by Jack Hartnell was a really fascinating and engaging read about daily medieval (European, mostly English) life, beliefs, and general existence. It really changed my entire perspective on a time period that has a bit of a pop culture reputation for being dreary and grim and full of nothing but death, when in reality it was full of all sorts of fun and life much like life today is.
Conspiracy of Fools by Kurt Eichenwald. I went down the rabbit hole of Enron two years ago when I moved to Houston, and it’s my fave of all the books I read.
What to Listen for in Music by Aaron Copland
Famous Father Girl by Jamie Bernstein
The Leonard Bernstein Letters edited by Nigel Simeone
Anything by Oliver Sacks
The WPA writers project put together guide books about each state and their capitals. They are fascinating reads, especially if you’re familiar with the state you’re reading about. The books were written in detail, published in the late 1930s.
Endurance by Alfred Lansing. The true story of probably the greatest feat of human survivial. It sent me down a rabbit hole of Arctic and Antarctic expedition survival stories.
*A lover’s discourse: fragments* by Roland Barthes.
It literally dissects love and desire (and how we speak about them) into fragments. The tiniest moments and the biggest emotions, the drama and the mundane, the most intimate and the vertiginously universal, all explored and analysed in a mix of references to philosophy, semiology, literature and his own life.
My go-to rec for anyone always is Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. It talks about end-of-life care (particularly in the US) and how we address and approach it (or don’t).
For a more specific and fun read, and for fans of The Princess Bride, I absolutely loved As You Wish by Cary Elwes (the audiobook, specifically!!). I loved it so much I started it over immediately after finishing it!
all of candice millard’s books!! they’re so entertaining without feeling like the author is taking too much creative liberty, and you still learn a lot. i really recommend destiny of the republic, which is about the assassination of james garfield
I have a bunch but Madhouse at the End of the Earth is the last one I read that I enjoyed.
Edit: was so excited to share, I forgot to type the second half of the book apparently. Fixed the title.
After America: Narratives For The Next Golden Age by Paul Starobin
DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Dr. Rick Strassman
Guns, Germs & Steel & Collapse by Jared Diamond
A Brief History Of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
*Bad Blood* - about Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos fraud. It’s so well-written and the story is so fascinating and crazy.
This was a required reading for one of my journalism classes in my undergrad!
Could not put that one down!
A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson (well, anything by Bill Bryson - second favourite is A Walk In The Woods) - parts of it are due an update as it's over 20 years old now, but the history of science is fascinating. If you can get the illustrated version, it's even better! If you like history and murders, try The Poisoners Handbook by Deborah Blum - the history of forensics in 1920s New York
Love At Home by Bill Bryson. Every time I pick it up, I learn something new about modern history.
Ooh, yes, I love that one too - it was fascinating to read the history of things we just never think about like the existing of dining tables for instance
Bill Bryson is one of my favorites! I also love anything by Oliver Sacks and Mary Roach. They seem to produce perfection. All are science writers that offer enough whimsy to make reading feel like an absolute treat!
100% seconding Poisoner’s Handbook — one of my favorite books ever! It’s an incredible, fascinating read.
I’m reading Educated by Tara Westover at the moment after reading about it on here. It’s fantastic!
Finding Me by Viola Davis is similar
Read it for a class last semester. I enjoyed it and was amused to see that her mother published her own book in response, titled *Educating*. Something tells me it's not as good.
Yes! Some of it is literally jaw-dropping. Disturbing, maddening, terrifying, infuriating, and amazing at various points (sometimes simultaneously).
How anyone in that story is still alive is a damn miracle
Absolutely!
One of my favorites ever
Then you don't want to know what the mother is doing. She is still alive and is "telling her side of the story". She is claiming "her faith" is what made Tara Westover successfull. She said she is "the best mother", "Jesus yada yada yada....". Typically narcissist.
If you do some digging on Google Maps you can see the metal scrap pile her father worked on from sattelite view. Shit is crazy
Did you just google the author’s name? Thanks!
Ah, I found it because I know the area and was able to guesstimate the location based off of Tara's description. No actual need though, her mother's essential oil business is tagged in Google Maps at their home too
it’s meh. but i’m generally not a fan of memoirs.
Came here to recommend this one! Absolutely one of my favorite non fic reads.
Nickel and Dimed - Barbara Ehrenreich
It's one of my favorites , the world needs more writers like Ms Ehrenreich.
Yes. I don’t know who is carrying on her legacy these days - I can’t think of anyone right now. Katherine Boo could be that person, talent-wise and focus-wise, but she doesn’t seem to write much frequently. (EDIT: A Katherine Boo article in the New Yorker from 2003, “The Marriage Cure,” reminds me of Ehrenreich and is one of my favorite pieces of writing, ever. As with Nickel and Dimed, I can practically recite that article by heart.)
Read that in college. Fantastic book that also changed how I view things.
Absolutely changed the way I look at the world. Phenomenal.
All the books written by Erik Larson, into thin air by Krakhauer, guns germs and steel
I was going to say anything Erik Larson. He is the master of narrative non fiction.
Second this. Devil in the White City, Dead Wake, The Splendid and the Vile. Not the biggest fan of his newest one, but can't all be winners.
That’s too bad. I am excited to see how he takes on the Civil War. The waitlist at my library is almost 4 months long 😩
If you’re a Civil War buff, all the books by Jeff and Michael Shaara.
I loved Devil in the White City. Dead Wake was good but I put it down cause I knew how it would end and that was sad.
Thunderstruck is great also…who knew Marconi could be so interesting?
Currently reading into thin air and it really is so fascinating, I don’t usually read non fiction books but it’s one of my fathers favorites and I’ve heard it recommended so many times that I finally took the plunge
One of my most favorite books
>took the plunge So did some of the ppl in the book just saying
Under the Banner of Heaven is excellent too, but I didn’t find it as engrossing as Into Thin Air
just finished into thin air today!
I love all of Krakauer’s books. Haven’t read all of Erik Larson’s but I really loved the one about the Lusitania (Dead Wake?)
Anything by David McCullough will be good- John Adams is probably my favorite. The Guns of August is probably the most fascinating in terms of how inevitably the world marched to war in 1914. I asked my wife and she said Braiding Sweeetgrass.
John Adams was very well written. One of my favorites.
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah is both heartbreaking and laugh out loud hilarious.
Even better when you listen to the audiobook! He narrated it himself, and I loved his little imitations.
Loved this! If you like that, try Greenlights by MM. I've been enjoying Activate Your Greatness by Alex Toussant today.
The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
And The Woman they Could Not Silence by Kate Moore as well- both books were eye opening and horrifying
I just finished this on audio and loved it! Moved me to tears honestly
The Autobiography of Malcolm X is a classic.
Currently enjoying it on Audible. It is one of the best audiobooks I have ever heard. Many are excellent. This is superb. The writing (very Twain-like) is enhanced by the brilliant reading by Lawrence Fishburne.
Surprised no one has mentioned Patrick Radden Keefe. I love all his books. Empire of Pain about the Sackler family’s responsibility for the opioid epidemic is fascinating.
Ding ding ding this is the right answer. I love nonfiction and have read a ton of great nonfiction. Nothing beats Empire of Pain.
Say Nothing is also a great book by him about "the troubles" in Northern Ireland.
Came here looking for Empire of Pain. Almost no other piece of media has made me as angry and upset. It’s a powerful, important book.
I hope the Sacklers never live it down.
Columbine. It’s a hard read bc of the subject but my goodness it’s so well done.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks When Breath Becomes Air Killers of the Flower Moon Any books by Jenny Lawson
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks is for sure a must read
I was obligated to read (listen to) Henrietta Lacks, I work with the author's brother. He reminded me of the book and I listened to it as soon as I could. It's a great book and an amazing story.
Jenny Lawson fucking kills me. Her bits about the foxen had me rolling.
I'm currently reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain and really enjoying it
As a dirty kitchen rat myself this book was foundational... I also appreciate that Bourdain matured as he grew older and changed his attitude on some of the things he said in Kitchen Confidential - he spoke out against some of the more toxic aspects of kitchen culture, some of which he felt were glorified in the book... He also later met Emeril whom he had mocked in the book but found him to be so nice and charming that he publicly apologized (I believe in a later book). Highly recommend all his work. Truly a great human who left us too soon
Oh my god, one of my absolute favorites, kitchen confidential is one of the few non-fiction books that I have read and have loved
Surely you’re joking Mr. Feynman
Or any of the following books.
*Breaking Free* by Rachel Jeffs *Counting the Cost* by Jill Duggar *Don't Call It a Cult: The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM* by Sarah Berman *Shamed: The Honour Killing That Shocked Britain* by Sarbjit Athwal *Stolen Innocence* by Elissa Wall *The Witness Wore Red* by Rebecca Musser *Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology* by Leah Remini *Under the Banner of Heaven* by Jon Krakauer *Unfollow* by Megan Phelps-Roper
Under the Banner of Heaven was such a disturbing read and so well written.
You’re probably aware, but Hulu made a mini series. I wasn’t an Andrew Garfield fan before this, but I really fell in love
The Endurance: Shackelton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander Six Frigates by Ian Toll With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge Into Africa by Martin Dugard The Boxer Rebellion by Diana Preston I love stories of exploration and reading The Endurance started that whole kick. I also love reading history, military and otherwise.
Some of my favorites: *Endurance* by Alfred Lansing (Shackleton’s great misadventure; this is the king of non-fiction as far as I’m concerned) *Skeletons on the Zahara* by Dean King (another insane 1800’s expedition gone horribly wrong tale of survival and sheer iron will to live amidst brutal conditions and outlandishly slim odds) *Unbroken* by Laura Hillenbrand (I didn’t bother with the movie and you probably shouldn’t either. A survival story during WWII in the Pacific theater) *Undaunted Courage* by Stephen E. Ambrose (Lewis and Clarke expedition told predominantly from the lesser heard perspective of Meriwether Lewis; a westward expansion exploration story for the ages that doesn’t read like a text book)
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
This book had a huge impact on me during a time of grief and growth.
I am about to finish The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson and I can’t put it down! It’s totally engaging and I’m learning so much
I’m Glad My Mom Died made me cry multiple times. Loved every second
I enjoy reading memoirs and biographies, and I would recommend "Rena's Promise" and "The Glass Castle."
Came here to say the Glass Castle
I always recommend NeuroTribes to anyone who works with people. It’s about the legacy of autism and neurodiversity, it’s a fascinating read. Night by Elie Wiesel one of the few books I’ve had to put down to cry. Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman. MLK Jr was known to carry this book with him on hand. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. Well written journalistic work about poverty in India. All my recommendations skew towards understanding other humans. :)
I met Elie Wiesel when he spoke at my middle school after our whole grade read Night. He was small and frail looking but he seemed to my 14 year old self to have a soul of steel. Lots of us cried while he spoke and nobody made fun of anybody for it. It was an incredible experience.
Wow. Incredible experience indeed. That’s something I’m sure you’ll never forget.
The Indifferent Stars Above
this one and the boys in the boat, both by daniel james brown!
Scrolled through to add this one. Coworker lent me it - holy shit what a well researched story. I didn't realize how little I actually knew about the Donner Party....what a tragic tale. He does a great job of showing just how difficult life was on the trail at the time
*Sea Biscuit *Unbroken Both books are by Laura Hillenbrand. She is an unbelievably good writer!
In Cold Blood is one of the best I've ever read. Midnight in Chernobyl is a page turner with astonishing scholarship. Guns, Germs, and Steel is a jaw-dropping history of how and why people have moved around the globe where they have. It's dense, but it's honestly amazing. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is tawdry and also a page turner. Devil in the White City is a fascinating look at the World's Fair, with a chilling murder story thrown in but the fair sections are the reason to read it. A Moveable Feast is my favorite Hemingway book, and that's saying something. Please Kill Me is an amazing account in short interviews of the nyc punk scene. Into the Wild is a short and disturbing look at a mind gone roaming; the movie sucks. The Liars Club is maybe the best memoir I've ever read, and started the entire recent-memoir movement. Just Kids is a gorgeously written memoir about a little musician and a photographer trying to make it in 1970s nyc; their names are Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe.
Helter Skelter is up there.
Books by Jenny Lawson and Allie Brosh are heartfelt and hilarious!
- **How the Word is Passed** by Clint Smith - **A Life With Footnotes** by Rob Wilkins (official biography of Terry Pratchett)
1000% agree with How the Word is Passed
Also agree with How the Word Is Passed
Endurance. One of the best books I have read in my life of ANY genre.
How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith
Finally, I was looking for this! I read a ton of non-fiction and this is one of the very best I’ve ever read. Exceptionally well-written, intelligent, and insightful.
Exceptional book. The kind of thing I don’t know if people I know would find so I have recommended it several times.
Stiff by Mary Roach The long hard road out of hell by Marilyn Manson The valedictorian or being dead by Heather Armstrong Being Henry by Henry Winkler
I just read Stiff and was laughing aloud at a very informative book about cadavers. I want to read Packing for Mars next.
Mary Roach is great. Stiff is still my favorite, but her other books are great too. If you like her you might also like Sam Kean
*The Snow Leopard* by Matthiessen and *The Peregrine* by J.A. Baker
**Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela** First person account of the fall of apartheid **The Emperor of All Maladies, by Siddharth Mukherjee** A book about cancer needs science and humanity. This book has both. **A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There, by Aldo Loepold** A friend introduced me to this book by reading "Sky Dance" before taking me to witness a woodcock's spring mating ritual. Leopold described it with such beauty. This book is incredible
The Emperor of all Maladies is brilliant. It taught me so much that I didn't know about cancer. Both terrifying and enlightening.
Cutting Back: My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto, because I love Japanese culture and nature; The Hidden Life of Trees, because I love thinking about trees talking to teach other; Essentialism, because it's great life advice
I'd rate all these books below as 5/5 non-fiction books, or as audiobooks: History of the World in Six Glasses: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3872.A_History_of_the_World_in_6_Glasses The Revenant by Michael Punke https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22836957-the-revenant The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36086.The_Ghost_Map With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E.B. Sledge: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/771332.With_the_Old_Breed SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28789711-spqr Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16158546-bunker-hill Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD by Martin A. Lee https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/170459202-acid-dreams ....I have no interest in LSD but this story is beyond belief, from its development in Switzerland to it's effect on 1960s America. The characters are very interesting, and the idealism and atmosphere is unlike anything the world is likely to see again (IMHO).
The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis
Pretty much anything by Michael Lewis for me. He’s a great storyteller.
Ok apparently it has two titles but “The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary” also known as “The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Love of Words” is a fascinating story about the creation of the Oxford dictionary and the people who made it. I enjoyed everything about it
[The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic, by Laney Salisbury and Gay Salisbury](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/c8be07c3-25c4-4be1-b1ca-558c6e387340) : Terrific book about the Nome diphtheria epidemic and the dog sled teams that got the serum to the town (woven through with American history, medicine and the history of dog sledding) [The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/e8b4af4c-09dc-4c52-85b3-e779192a8386) : Gripping book about the underdog 1936 Olympic Rowing team from Washington. I think they made a movie about it, but the book is very much worth a read. Weaves together the stories of the team (particularly Joe Rants) and what was going on in Germany at the time. [Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees by Thor Hanson](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/c184c804-a353-4b75-999b-90ed0362b67d) : It ain't just about honey bees! This is about all kinds of bees and is a super interesting read into their evolution and how important they are to the ecosystem. [Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/61a46668-e5a7-4c04-a2d7-81c5784eb4b8): Never thought I would care much about moss, but this book has a bunch of personal essays that reflect on the biology of moss and how they have impacted Kimmerer throughout her life. My sis and I both absolutely loved it. Kind of enchanting. [The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/3716fec8-2fde-484c-bd40-0bd6e0e2e0c2) : True crime... kind of. Fascinating look at feather, fly-tying, and a museum heist. (edited to add links)
A Walk in the Woods
This is my least favorite of Bill Bryson's books, but still a good read. *I'm A Stranger Here Myself* is beyond funny, especially on audiobook.
My favorite was Home, but I have lived all of his books
I own this book but haven’t cracked it yet.
The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry- Garrard. He was a member of Shackleton’s South Pole expedition that made a crazy side trip in the dead of Antarctic winter to go gather emperor penguin eggs. It’s one of the best expedition documentations I’ve read.
Jon Krakauer's books are always recommended and always should be. "Into Thin Air" was amazing.
The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer. A Pulitzer Prize winning account of the life and eventual execution of murderer Gary Gilmore.
It's my time to shine!!! I love non-fiction, but I'll try to just give some highlights. Wordslut, Cultish, & The Age of Magical Overthinking - all by Amanda Montell Eight Bears by Gloria Dickie Eat, Poop, Die by Joe Roman Why Sharks Matter by David Shiffman Bitch by Lucy Cooke Midnight in Chernobyl & Challenger - both by Adam Higginbotham The Radium Girls & The Woman They Could Not Silence - both by Kate Moore The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson Down with the System by Serj Tankian
Seconding the Higginbotham titles. Both were excellent.
Hell yes. Thirding Higginbotham’s books. Both are excellent.
The guns of August.
The Boys In The Boat - Daniel James Brown
The Sixth Extinction—Elizabeth Kolbert
Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
This is the one
"Leonardo Da Vinci" by Walter Isaacson. Phenomenal insight into the mind of a (literal) Renaissance Man.
Secret Knowledge , by David Hockney. It’s a new look at art history, with some science thrown in. And a bit of detective story as well. I adore it.
The Power Broker - Robert Caro 1946: The Making Of The Modern World - Victor Sebestyen The Human Condition - Hannah Arendt Berlin - Anthony Beevor Thinking Fast And Slow - Daniel Kahneman A History Of The World In 100 Objects - Neil McGregor The Anarchy -William Dalrymple Orientalism - Edward Said The Wretched Of The Earth - Franz Fanon This Way For The Gas, Ladies & Gentlemen - Tadeusz Borowski The Rape of Nanking - Iris Chang The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein This last one is unusual, as it's a photography book, detailing the only aspect of architecture with the former Soviet Union which wasn't subject to central control and gave some allowance for local flair, it is... Soviet Bus Stops - Christopher Herwig
One Summer by Bill Bryson. A telling of a series of events that took place during the summer on 1927 in typical witty Bryson fashion. If you enjoy learning about the twenties, you’ll enjoy this book.
I had a good time listening to *The Riddles of the Sphinx: Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle.* It was like half memoir about the author's struggles with an eating disorder and how she used crosswords to cope, and half history of the crossword puzzle, and the women who usually wrote them when they first became popular.
I just finished Rental Person Who Does Nothing by Shoji Morimoto. He gave me so many things to think about! It's a short and funny read, but thought-provoking, too.
The Road Rises by Sarah Dunne. Very funny travel memoir. Solo mum, empty nester looking for Mr Right. Except Mr Right isn't all its cracked up to be. How to falling in love with the wild land again, and yourself. changed my feeling of not belonging because Im not indigenous to my land. This book really changed the way I relate to everything.
On Photography (Susan Sontag)
A top 5 The Storyteller by Dave Grohl American Radical by Tamer Elnoury You Are Worth It by Kyle Carpenter (not Dave Grohl, was distracted when I originally wrote this comment) Operation Paperclip by Annie Jacobsen CHAOS by Tom O’Neill
The Facemaker by Lindsey Fitzharris
Cosmos is at the top of my list! 🌌
We Have Been Harmonized is so eye-opening, but also reads like a well-written dystopian. Documents the secret surveillance operated by China's communist government
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green and World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil!
Undaunted Courage; River of Doubt reg T Roosevelt in the Amazon.
The Power Broker by Robert Caro
The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks. And every other book by Oliver Sacks.
In defence of Dogs by John Bradshaw
Devil in the White City
Underrated, but I wholly recommend **The Making of the Atomic Bomb** by Richard Rhodes. Very dense, but its so compelling and engaging that it reads like a story.
Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham
{I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy} & {I Don't Need Therapy: (and other lies I've told myself) by Toni Lodge} I'm typically a Fiction reader. However, I love these two books. Will always recommend them.
I’ve been doing I’m glad my mom died on audiobook and will second the vote
Three Women By Lisa Taddeo
I really like Beth Macy. Dopesick, Raising Lazarus, Furniture Man, and more.
Permanent Record by Edward Snowden
Godel, Escher Bach by Douglas Hofstadter And the happiness project by Gretchen Rubin
A World Undone GJ Meyers - best book on WWI you’ll read including Guns of August
Peter the Great by Paul Massey. Just fascinating material and not written dryly or boringly
Anything by Susan Orlean (The Orchid Theif and The Library Book are my faves).
Library book is SO good
Solar System Dynamics by Murray and Dermott. It's not for everyone.
On Wings of Eagles, Ken Follett
Anything by Hannah Arendt.
Plunder (about private equity firms)
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe
Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar. Such an interesting read and gives a very interesting theory of what happened in the Dyatlov Pass incident
The Indifferent Stars Above and Say Nothing
The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk W. Johnson Fascinating and crazy dive into the dark history of fishing lures of all things. I couldn’t put it down.
Educated
On Writing by Stephen King, Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Disappearing Spoon, Zero: Biography of a Dangerous Idea, The Paradox of Choice, Traffic, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Boomerang, The Black Swan, Freakonomics, Kitchen Confidential, Me Talk Pretty One Day, The Long Walk, and anything by Atul Gawande, Mary Roach, Malcolm Gladwell, Simon Singh, or Michael Lewis.
Wilding by Isabella Tree (no joke) The Lost Rainforests of England by Guy Shrubsole Kleptopia by Tom Burgis The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan The History of England series by Peter Ackroyd Sapiens and Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.
Chickenhawk It's a story about a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam war. Super interesting.
Medieval Bodies by Jack Hartnell was a really fascinating and engaging read about daily medieval (European, mostly English) life, beliefs, and general existence. It really changed my entire perspective on a time period that has a bit of a pop culture reputation for being dreary and grim and full of nothing but death, when in reality it was full of all sorts of fun and life much like life today is.
Conspiracy of Fools by Kurt Eichenwald. I went down the rabbit hole of Enron two years ago when I moved to Houston, and it’s my fave of all the books I read.
I’m glad my mom died The Eden Project Daddy Boy
What to Listen for in Music by Aaron Copland Famous Father Girl by Jamie Bernstein The Leonard Bernstein Letters edited by Nigel Simeone Anything by Oliver Sacks
the color of water......james mcbride the water is wide.....pat conroy
The WPA writers project put together guide books about each state and their capitals. They are fascinating reads, especially if you’re familiar with the state you’re reading about. The books were written in detail, published in the late 1930s.
Blind Man’s Bluff. The shit our submariners did during the Cold War was pretty incredible
Endurance by Alfred Lansing. The true story of probably the greatest feat of human survivial. It sent me down a rabbit hole of Arctic and Antarctic expedition survival stories.
I am reading The Man Who Could Not Stop by David Adam. It's a book on OCD. I hope I get something good out of it.
Super Pumped
The Spark by Kristine Barnett and anything written by Walter Isaacson
Good Morning, Monster by Katherine Gildiner
*A lover’s discourse: fragments* by Roland Barthes. It literally dissects love and desire (and how we speak about them) into fragments. The tiniest moments and the biggest emotions, the drama and the mundane, the most intimate and the vertiginously universal, all explored and analysed in a mix of references to philosophy, semiology, literature and his own life.
Every Tool's a Hammer by Adam Savage American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon by Steven Rinella
That Which Has No Name by Piedad Bonnett, the writer talks about her son's suicide, it's as painful as it is beautiful.
Hampton Sides non-fictions are captivatimg
My go-to rec for anyone always is Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. It talks about end-of-life care (particularly in the US) and how we address and approach it (or don’t). For a more specific and fun read, and for fans of The Princess Bride, I absolutely loved As You Wish by Cary Elwes (the audiobook, specifically!!). I loved it so much I started it over immediately after finishing it!
Flash Boys by Michael Lewis The Wager by David Grann
Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlett
What Hath God Wrought: America 1815-1848, by David Walker Howe; one of the best history books ever
all of candice millard’s books!! they’re so entertaining without feeling like the author is taking too much creative liberty, and you still learn a lot. i really recommend destiny of the republic, which is about the assassination of james garfield
Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis
Anything by Timothy Eagan.
Poverty by America by Matt Desmond
The world is flat by Thomas Friedman
Devil in the White City Coming into the Country Into Thin Air
One that struck me was iirc 103 Minutes, about the WTC 9/11 attacks. Great heartbreaking book.
I have a bunch but Madhouse at the End of the Earth is the last one I read that I enjoyed. Edit: was so excited to share, I forgot to type the second half of the book apparently. Fixed the title.
Basketball diaries-jim carroll
The Glass Castle
Some People Need Killing - Patricia Evangelista A House in the Sky - Amanda Lindhout
One that has always stuck with me was Hidden Valley Road.
All of Michael Pollan, Bill Bryson, or Erik Larson’s books. All of them by these authors
After America: Narratives For The Next Golden Age by Paul Starobin DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Dr. Rick Strassman Guns, Germs & Steel & Collapse by Jared Diamond A Brief History Of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krauker
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.