I hear reading fiction is good for you and want to really give it a try. But in the past i have just not been held enough by a book to not abandon it for one of the non fiction books on my shelf. I have tried ‘remains of the day’ and ‘project hail mary’ , liked them but not enough to want to finish them.
Which fiction books would you recommend for a non-fiction (basically modern history all the time) reader.
by crypticbru
6 Comments
Map of Bones by James Rollins.
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan, it’s historical fiction based on a true story.
City of Thieves by David Benioff
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana R. Chambers
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn
Love & Saffron by Kim Fay
How about historical fiction? “The Exiles,” by Christina Baker Kline. Part 1 describes the cramped and unsanitary conditions British prisoners endured when transported by sailing ship to Van Deiman’s Land, later Tasmana, to the port city of Hobart Town. This was the penal colony of the Empire. we get some of the prisoners’ stories later, but Part 2 is of extreme interest. It is all true. Polar Explorer, Sir John Franklin was appointed governor of the land by the Crown. He and his wife, Lady Jane lived there. She was the living embodiment of the Guiness’ Book of Oddities. She had an 8 year old Aboriginal girl taken from her tribe and brought to the governor’s mansion. Jane set about using the girl, named Mathina, in a social experiment. Mathinna was a real person as were the Franklins. Everything written about these people is true. The is a Wiki page about Mathinna.
“The Last Bookaneer,” by Mathew Pearl. This is an historical fiction taking place in the late 1890s-early 1900s. It is a story about three bookaneers, manuscript thieves, who are frenemies. Each has their eye on Robert Louis Stevenson’s current work in progress. Unfortunately, Stevenson has left Britian and is currently living in Samoa where he is writing his last novel. These London based bookaneers not only have to get themselves to Samoa, everyone there has aligned themselvrs with Stevenson and his family. The locals are NOT about to let anyone near the family, especially not the bookaneers. What each has to do finagle their way within stealing distance of the manuscript is really, but this is not intended to be a funny book. It’s a great read!
This is a fun request because my dad also doesn’t read fiction – doesn’t see the point – and these are some books that have changed his mind. Good luck!
Shantaram! Based partly on a true event of a bank robber who escapes from an Australian prison and makes it to India where he gets sucked into the Mafia. Its utterly fascinating and completely transportive.
Demon Copperhead – Kingsolver. ( Anything by Kingsover, really). Retelling of David Copperfield but set in Appalachia about a kid stuck in the foster system and the bad guys are big pharma and the pain med industry. This book will teach you and reach you in ways you didn’t think you needed.
Life of Pi- Yann Martel. About a boy stuck in a life-raft with a tiger, an orangutan and a zebra. ( it’s logical when it happens). If you make it to the end, you’ll never be the same.