My own selections of non-fiction is really hit-or-miss.
I just finished up the Lost City of Z, which was… okay. The writer really threw a lot of facts at me, and it felt textbook in style.
Other books, like Adrift or The Endurance, just totally blow me away as nearly novel-like in entertainment value.
What are your most entertaining fun-to-read action-packed non-fiction books?
by AtticThrowaway
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Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe was pretty good. I read like 3 more books about the IRA after that one.
This question comes up a lot here, so check out previous posts. Before you do, here are some of my favorites:
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder – Grann, David
Labyrinth of Ice: The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition – Levy, Buddy
Madhouse at the End of the Earth – Sancton, Julian
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey – Millard, Candice
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex – Philbrick, Nathaniel
In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette – Sides, Hampton
The Explorers: A Story of Fearless Outcasts, Blundering Geniuses, and Impossible Success – Dugard, Martin
A Voyage for Madmen – Nichols, Peter
*The Making of the Atomic Bomb*, by Rhodes reads like a good novel.
Freakanomics by Steven D Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, it’s an old one but I throughly enjoyed it. I guess I don’t read that much non-fiction.
“A Feather Thief” is non-fiction, mystery, and super engaging! Writing is not at all stilted.
Shake Hands With the Devil is good but tough to read through.
Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America’s Kings of Beer by William Knoedelseder
Anything by Mary Roach. Educational and funny.
Mountains Beyond Mountains
A Million Little Pieces
Shantaram (not truly non-fiction, but close)
SHADOW DIVERS is so so so so damn entertaining and amazing.
Vagina Obscura, by Rachel E. Gross. I highly, HIGHLY recommend this book every time someone looks for a nonfiction rec. It’s absorbing and fascinating and so important and interesting.
Into Thin Air – Jon Krakauer
Bad Blood – John Carreyrou
Shoe Dog – Phil Knight
Radium Girls – Kate Moore
The Botany of Desire
The Parrot And The Igloo
Fire Season – by Philip Connors
The Seven Daughters of Eve – by Bryan Sykes. Though there are some fictional elements here, I still consider it as non fiction.
The great railway bazar – by Paul Theroux
Riding the iron rooster – by Paul Theroux
1912: The year the world discovered Antarctica – by Chris Turney
Andes – by Michael Jacobs