non fiction book that don’t read so academically?

I have a hard time reading academic books. They aren't difficult in terms of language used, but I just find them to be a slog.

Are there any non-fiction books out there (could be any topic) that read in a way that's more…. prosaic? poetic? explained by way of story telling?

Hopefully my request makes sense.

Some books that come to mind are:

The Lives of Cells by Lewis Thomas
Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons

Thanks!