Hi, everyone! I’m looking for suggestions for nonfiction reads.
I like: history, animals, nature, interesting people, survival stories. David Grann and Atul Gawande are two of my favorite authors and I’ve read all of their books.
I don’t like: celebrities who write books just because, self-help, or advice.
Thank you!
by fenwayfan4
9 Comments
For history, I’d recommend Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. It’s a little more ponderous than your typical history textbooks, but it goes over how humans got to where they are now and why we live the way we do.
As for interesting people: The Stranger in the Woods, a book on the North Pond Hermit, who (allegedly) spent 27 years alone in the woods of Maine, until he was caught during a burglary. Doubles as a survival story, I suppose.
I enjoy adding nonfiction to my reading pile, most of it hard science/mathematics, but I’m not going to suggest those. Thinking back over the years and seeing you’re likes of history/animals/nature, the following two hit on all three:
My first suggestion is Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky. Its a quick read, but very informative and traces humankinds involvement with Cod over the centuries.
My second suggestion is Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food by Paul Greenburg. Once again it traces current uses and controls for fishes that have been affected by humans over the years, as well as current forecasts and outlooks.
The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber
The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western Hemisphere by Paulette FC Steeves
The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang
Alexandra Kollontai by Cathy Porter
Braiding Sweetgrass
Women’s House of Detention by Hugh Ryan is a fascinating deep dive into NYC’s House of D, which existed from the 1930s-1970s as a place where women (primarily BIPOC) were essentially incarcerated for being queer, and how the queer community in NYC sprung up around it.
Ryan uses case files, letters, and even interviews with people who were incarcerated there towards the end since it only closed in the 70s. It follows interesting people and includes lots of elements of survival. I was expecting to be bored by it when my book club chose to read it, but ended up being one of my favorite books of the year.
Atlas of a Lost World; Finding Everett Ruess; Born a Crime; Virgo and Bone; Braiding Sweet Grass; In a Sunburned Land
The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker (I cannot recommend this enough)
All the Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks (got me teary at a couple points. Fantastic and educational, but very human).
Try Robert Macfarlane’s books. ‘Underland’ is fascinating. Also give ‘The Heat Will Kill You First’ by Jeff Goodell a go. It deals with the issue of heat (as in the weather) on social, economical, and physical levels. Very interesting and essential reading for those who take an interest in climate change.
You might try Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Not quite survival, but he was a reporter for an outdoor magazine that was doing a story on a Mt Everest expedition that turned into one of the bigger disasters on the mountain. I had no interest in Everest or climbing going into it, and I loved it.