I have a serious DNF problem and only finish about 70% of the books I buy. I enjoy narrative non-fiction (including memoirs, investigative journalism, etc.)
Some of my favorite books in recent memory are:
– Maybe you should talk to someone by Lori Gottlieb
– Bad blood by John Carreyrou
– The Best Minds by Jonathen Rosen
– This is going to hurt by Adam Kay
– Educated by Tara Westover
– Shoe dog by Phil Knight
– The Running Ground by Nicholas Thompson
Please recommend me a book!
by EngineHelpful9311
14 Comments
I loved Bad Blood! Here are some other non-fiction / investigative books I was gripped by:
– Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
– The Smartest Guys in the Room by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind
– The Cult of We by Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell
– Billion Dollar Whale by Bradley Hope and Tom Wright
– American Kingpin by Nick Bilton
– Columbine by Dave Cullen
The Grey Seas Under. Mowat
In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick is pretty amazing
– No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson&Johnson (for me part of the Tylenol part was a little slow, but the rest of it was a compelling, great — and infuriating read)
The Barn, Thompson (I listened to this one, read by the author. It was like someone telling me a great story — with long relevant digressions — then back again.)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Skloot
Hidden Valley Road, Kolker
Uncultured (memoir), Mestyanek-Young
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, Hobbs
For what it’s worth I loved The Best Minds.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. So good and so many zany people, written in the style of a crime novel… you won’t believe it’s non-fiction but it is. It’s a ton of fun
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is probably my favourite book ever. I also found Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe to be really good.
*The Jakarta method* by Vincent Bevins
The Tiger by John Vaillant. It’s being made into a movie which illustrates how action-packed it is!
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden O’Keefe. One of my top books read of 2025. Maybe ever.
I’ve read a few on your list and really enjoyed them, so I will add these since we seem to have similar taste in non fiction :p
– how to say Babylon by safiya Sinclair
– the many lives of mama love by Lara love Hardin
– know my name by Chanel miller (check trigger warnings)
– how the word is passed by Clint smith
– the choice by Eva eger
– crying in h mart by Michelle zauner
– empire of pain by Patrick radden keefe
The Burglary by Betty Medsgar
Conspiracy of Fools by Kurt Eichenwald
A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell
The Light of Days by Judy Batalion
Into Thin Air
did you read the art thief?
Shadow Divers
Nothing to Envy
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Doen
Endurance
Hiroshima
Kon-Tiki
The Worst Hard Time