I’ve tried, but I just couldn’t do it! I love stories, have always loved stories, and always will—but I really want to try reading non-fiction other than memoirs, because I’ve read those before. I want something good, and not self-help, because I hate that!
by Due-Examination-37
14 Comments
The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel is excellent! It’s a biography of sorts with a mystery component that reads like a novel.
Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green.
John has a really light breezy style of writing that makes his books easy to read
F. von Schirach, Crime (stories)
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote captivated me.
The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule, a friend of Ted Bundy is fabulous as well.
They read more like stories
You might really like Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson
It’s nonfiction but it’s about a heist combined with a super niche underground hobby. it’s got a lot of action aspects and a bunch of secrecy/mystery, so it’s a really fun read even though it is also filled with loads of scientific and historical background information
A Primates Memoir is one of the most readable nonfictions I’ve ever read. About an anthropology grad student doing his academic work in Africa. Half is about the (fascinating) primate science and half is a travelogue of accidentally insane shenanigans he got wrapped up in while traveling between Africa and America due to the political situation at the time (getting kidnapped etc).
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is about a woman whose cervical cancer cells went on to form the absolute bedrock of modern medicine because of their unique survival. In addition to the interesting medical discoveries is the hidden underbelly of racism, bodily autonomy etc.
Devil in the White City is about the Chicago Worlds Fair. While architects and designers were designing the fairgrounds (the white city) there was also a serial killer at work in Chicago contemporaneously.
The Boys in the Boat is about the 1936 gold medal Olympic rowing team. Even though I knew how it ended (gold medals for everyone) I was still on the edge of my seat reading it!
The Last Season – Eric Blehm
It is a non-fiction book about the life and mysterious disappearance of legendary National Park Service ranger Randy Morgenson in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains in 1996. The book is a blend of biography, adventure narrative, and mystery, exploring Morgenson’s solitary life, his deep connection to the wilderness, and the circumstances surrounding his vanishing, which left many questioning if it was suicide, foul play, or an accident.
Into Thin Air by krakauer.
I feel like I could have, at one point, written this post myself, OP. Someone in this very same sub recommended the book *Shadow Divers* by Robert Kurson It concerns a group of guys on the east coast who dive to abandoned shipwrecks, and end up making a once in a lifetime discovery. I picked it up and was absolutely riveted by this story. Since then it has only made me want to check out more nonfiction.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Last Battle: When US and German Soldiers Joined Forces in the Waning Hours of World War II in Europe
by Stephen Harding. the story is so outlandish, it sounds like fiction. basically a group of Austrian born German soldiers and their commander, seeing the war is over, try their hardest to get home. on the way they meet an American tank force shooting ahead of the lines to rescue French VIP POWs from a castle on the Austrian border(Castle Itter). The German soldiers and the American tank crews team up to protect a castle from a division of German SS. it does a great job setting up the location and then whos being held there. (de Gaulles sister? and the former prime minister). action packed, well paced, absolutely one of my favorites.
Try *The Professor and the Madman*. A true story about the creation of the OED, but reads like a novel.
It really depends on what you’re interested in and/or curious about. Some genres/categories are things like nature, history, science, politics/social science, religion/spirituality, essay, sports, travel etc. I’ll give some recs for a couple that I like to read within nonfic. Everyone else feel free to add in replies so it’s all in one place.
**Nature:**
*Gathering Sweetgrasss* by Robin Wall Kimmerer (this one is also considered Essay and Science)
*World of Wonders* by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (this one leans towards memoir but it’s beautifully done imo)
*Entangled Life* by Merlin Sheldrake (many nature ones fall under the Science umbrella like this one)
**History:**
*Everything is Tuberculosis* by John Green (history, science, health. The audiobook is narrated by the author and wonderfully done)
*Night* by Elie Wiesel (memoir, short but a heavy read)
*The Lemon Tree* by Sandy Tolan