As the title mentions, I just finished reading The Wager by David Grann and before that I read City of Thieves by David Benioff. I'm hoping to continue this historical fiction / page turner kick. Can anyone suggest what book I should read next? It doesn't necessarily have to be as military themed as those two but would love it to be a fun page turner.
Edit:
Mislabeled The Wager as Historical Fiction when it is in fact nonfiction.
by jdp11
9 Comments
The Wager is nonfiction so any books by Grann, Larson, or Patrick Radden Keefe. I’m finishing up The Indifferent Stars Above. It’s a page turner.
If you liked The Wager, I’d keep going with David Grann, or try anything by Erik Larson. Note that both Grann and Larson are writing non-fiction though, not fiction. It’s just so well written it reads like a gripping fiction story!
Have you read All the Light We Cannot See?
If you haven’t read Astoria by Peter Stark I highly recommend it. Fantastic historical non fiction narrative about the attempted founding of Astoria, Oregon in the early 1800’s, less than a decade after Lewis and Clark’s expedition. It follows a sea and overland expedition and pulls in a lot of primary resources through journals about the people on those journeys.
Also Endurance, about Shackleton.
The Wide Wide Sea, about James Cook’s ill-fated third expedition
I found myself getting into maritime historical non fiction last year, and realized I hit a distinct time of middle age. My wife was gleefully giving me a lot of good humored shit when we were at a family gathering and my septuagenarian uncles and I were raving about The Wide Wide Sea, and other maritime journeys. I just turned 42, so I suppose it’s time to start building a model ship and getting into trains or something.
Lord of the flies? Classic.
Besides, Wager is built on Lord of the flies premise.
A Gentleman in Moscow was great but it’s not a page turner in the same vein as The Wager. It’s the best one I read last year though
I second anything by David Grann or Erik Larson. I especially liked Dead Wake and In the Garden of Beasts.
The Perfect Storm is a great follow up to The Wager.
I know people have mentioned Grann but I want to specifically recommend The Lost City of Z by him. It’s a page turner and is what got me into non-fiction ages ago when it came out. I also recommend [this The New Yorker ](https://archive.ph/Hrevc)report.
Candice Millard’s books are excellent.