I’ve recently jumped into non-fiction and am looking for suggestions! I’m currently reading Dead in the Water by Kit Chellel and Matthew Campbell and I am loving the way it reads like narrative fiction. Does anyone have a suggestions for books similar to this that I may enjoy? I love true crime, investigative journalism, and fun history, specifically international!
by babyblueloves
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Pretty much anything by Erik Larson – *Devil in the White City* is pretty popular
The Blooding by Joseph Wambaugh.
Barbara Tuchman wrote narrative histories well.
James m. Tabor ‘Blind Descent ‘
Two men are the first explorers of the deepest cave on earth. Something like 7 miles of tunnels leading them two vertical miles down!
In 2004, two great scientist-explorers attempted to find the bottom of the world. American Bill Stone took on the vast, deadly Cheve Cave in southern Mexico. Ukrainian Alexander Klimchouk targeted Krubera, a freezing nightmare of a supercave in the war-torn former Soviet republic of Georgia.
Both men spent months almost two vertical miles deep, contending with thousand-foot drops, raging whitewater rivers, monstrous waterfalls, mile-long belly crawls, and the psychological horrors produced by weeks in absolute darkness, beyond all hope of rescue.
Based on his unprecedented access to logs and journals as well as hours of personal interviews, James Tabor has crafted a thrilling exploration of man’s timeless urge to discover—and of two extraordinary men whose pursuit of greatness led them to the heights of triumph and the depths of tragedy.
Blind Descent is an unforgettable addition to the classic literature of true-life adventure, and a testament to human survival and endurance.
*__Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage__* by Alfred Lansing
Get ahold of “The New Journalism” edited by Tom Wolfe. He pretty much defines TNJ as nonfiction that reads like fiction, and this collection has excerpts from works ranging from Truman Capote to Hunter S. Thompson.
All of Jon Kraukaer’s work. I’m partial to Under the Banner of Heaven and Into Thin Air. But his other stuff is worth a read as well.
Lawrence Wright is another author to consider. Going Clear is one of the best when it comes to understanding Scientology.
*The Emperor of All Maladies* by Siddhartha Mukherjee
*There Are No Children Here* by Alex Kotlowitz
*In Cold Blood* by Truman Capote
*Seabiscuit* by Laura Hillenbrand
*The Right Stuff* by Tom Wolfe
*The Boys In the Boat* by Daniel James Brown
Check out Ben Macintyre.
War against all Puerto Ricans by Nelson A. Denis
It’s a semi dramatized history of the Puerto Ricans short-lived revolution post World War 2. No prior knowledge of Puerto Rican history is needed.
Any David Grann book
Among the Braves by Shibani Mihtani
Tracers in the Dark by Andy Greenberg
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe is an excellent narrative nonfiction book about the IRA during the Troubles and could hit all your boxes.
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann is good. A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan is another one. We Will Be Jaguars by Nemonte Nenquimo is a bit more of a memoir, but is also a really good in this category imo.
Anything by Daniel James Brown:
*Boys in the Boat* is about the UW crew team during the depression that rowed in the Nazi Germany Olympics. Overall a very feel good book.
*The Indifferent Stars Above* is about the Donner Party. Definitely NOT a feel good book, lol. But I did find parts of it strangely uplifting.
*Facing the Mountain* about the all Nissei (2nd generation Japanese immigrants) unit during WWII
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote for sure.
The Good Nurse, We Were Once A Family, White Hot Hate, The Indifferent Stars Above, Hidden Valley Road, Evicted, Invisible Child, Beneath the Surface