I’ve always preferred fiction over non because it holds my attention better and is just generally more interesting to me. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t like a good true story, but it needs to be written really well and be really interesting. What are your favorites?
by platypus_farmer42
32 Comments
Comedian bios
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
*Endurance* by Alfred Lansing, and *Into Thin Air* by Jon Krakauer.
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand
Killers of the flower moon
The indifferent stars above
I’ve also heard good things about The Wager
I second Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer! It’s about Mt. Everest. I bought myself a copy so I can read it again!
There’s also one called The Indifferent Stars Above. It’s about the Donner party (cannibalism to survive being stranded in winter). Its gruesome but very well written, very respectfully written.
In Cold Blood
The Right Stuff
Educated
The Art Thief
For military history, The Great Siege: Malta 1565 by Ernle Bradford
Devil in the White City
The Wager
Indifferent Stars Above
Say Nothing
The Boys in the Boat
Killers of the Flower Moon
The Splendid and the Vile
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson. Absolutely breathtaking.
Nicholas & Alexandra, Helter Skelter, Say Nothing, The Stranger Beside Me, Small Sacrifices, Radium Girls, Brain on Fire, What is the What
Some great suggestions so far, to throw a couple more out there. Pirate Hunters and Shadow Divers if your into underwater diving, even if you’re not… good stories.
Killers of The Flower Moon by David Grann
Longitude by Dava Sobel
Night of the Grizzlies by Jack Olsen
In The Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden
Devil in the White City
Batavia’s Graveyard
Taking Hawai’i by Stephen Dando-Collins.
Hawaiki Rising by Sam Low.
Hawai’i’s Story by Hawai’i’s Queen.
The girl with seven names. All about a North Korean escapee.
*The Jakarta method* by Vincent Bevins
*Red star over the third world* by Vijay Prashad
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. It’s like a history book and a science book, and it’s just, so much fun, so informative, so entertaining. It was published in the early 2000’s so I’m sure some of it is out of date, and I’d love to know about any other similar books that have been written more recently. Unfortunately I lack the karma to post here, so if any recommendations would be forthcoming I’d love to hear about them here.
The Spy and the Traitor
Lost City of Z by David Grann.
By a long shot.
The Wager was amazing
As was The Art Thief
I will also recommend Hellhound on his Trail in every non fiction post I see
Moscow 1812 Napoleon’s Fatal March by Adam Zamoyski. Gripping history, the growing horror increased for those of us who knew this wasn’t going to end well but didn’t know all the details.
Shadow Divers was great
1. Gomorrah by Roberto Saviano
2. Fobidden by Jordan D. Rosenblum
The “Conspiracy” series by Brad Meltzer. “Meet You In Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, And The Bitter Partnership That Changed America” by Les Standiford.
I’ve always been the same, but gotten more into non-fiction this year. I loved Double Cross and Operation Mincemeat by Ben MacIntyre. Devil in the White City by Erik Larsson is also top tier
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was good
The Hot Zone!
Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling by Jason De Leon
999: The Extrodinary Young Women of the First Official Jewish Transport to Auschwitz by Heather Dune Macadam
I thought they were both exceptional.
In The Heart Of The Sea by Nathaniel Philbrook if you would like a story about a whale sinking a whaling ship and the survivors barely surviving making their way back to civilization from the middle of the Pacific Ocean.