Does this request make sense? I mainly read memoirs but am looking to branch out. I wouldn’t mind reading books that have more of an educational angle to them. I would love to read a book that is presented in a similar style to a John Oliver segment. I find he has a great way of taking topics and making them easy to understand and be engaging while being very in depth. I don’t need to have the humour tilt involved in a suggested book. I mainly don’t want to fall asleep reading haha
For example I once listened to him live talking about the history of the British monarchy centuries ago and I was able to follow along and really wanted to learn more. I know if I read a book about the same topic I likely wouldn’t be able to get past the first couple pages.
by StandingStillLooking
4 Comments
Well, you could always try the *Horrible Histories* series if you don’t mind the demographic.
Check out **Unruly: the ridiculous history of England’s Kings and Queens**, by David Mitchell. This is David Mitchell the comedian (Mitchell and Webb, Peep Show, panel shows, and a dozen other things) not the novelist. He takes you through the earliest known (imaginary) rulers through Elizabeth. It is informative and exceptionally entertaining. I hope we does more work in this vein.
Edit: the audiobook, which is also read by Mitchell, is highly recommended
Anything by Bill Bryson. Always very educational but presented in really interesting and often laugh out loud funny ways.
The best I could thing of is, “The Down and Dirty Nitty Gritty History of English Spelling”