Genre or Topic/Theme Related: interesting non-fiction

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

so i've realized i don't read much non-fiction and i really want to start reading more of it. So..any recommendations for some good non-fiction?

i'm into music, art, fashion..but would read about basically anything.

[Lynn]

Do you consider memoirs nonfiction? I have been on a BIG memoir kick for the last few years... also "travelogues" which I just think of as memoirs in which people travel.

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

i'm open to anything! :)

I really want to read Eat, Pray, Love..i've heard that is really good..its on my bookshelf just waiting to be read!

[Katerina]

i've been wanting to read Eat, Pray, Love as well.

Some that i have are good:

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness and the Fair that Changed America

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

ooh thanks Katerina! I just bought the Barbara Kingsolver one actually so I will be reading that soon!

[Caiti Casey]

I'm adding all of those to my TBR list!!!

[Jessica]

hmm i haven't really read much non-fiction..let me think about it. i'm sure i have read something good.

[Lynn]

I read Eat Pray Love about a year ago. It is really good! I think all yall would like it! and omg Katerina.. I read The Year of Living Bibically over the summer. I LOVED it!! I also read his other memoir The Know-It-All which is really funny too. Right now I want to read My Jesus Year: A Rabbi's Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith and one of my good friends recommended Mango Elephants in the Sun: How Life in an African Village Let Me Be in My Skin b/c we're both interested in the Peace Corps

[Lynn]

ooh and if you are into Andy Warhol, this one might be worth looking into: The Andy Warhol Diaries. I got it at the library at the beginning of last semester but only got to flip through it.. It was interesting though.

[Janet]

Good topic Jaime because I really feel the same way!

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

ooh Lynn those are some great suggestions! Thanks!
Keep them coming everyone! :)

[Jessica]

there is always The Diary of Anne Frank..but I asked a friend who reads alot of nonfiction and this is what she gave (I trust her opinion):

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
In Cold Blood
Johnstown Flood
The Glass Castle: A Memoir
Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil
Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper
How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else


she has a variety of interests clearly! :)

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

ooh..I will have to look at all of these!!

[Sonja]

I can recommend the following as good/interesting non-fiction:

Any of the Jen Lancaster books - Bitter is the New Black, Bright Lights Big Ass, Such a Pretty Fat. She has great voice and is very VERY funny!

Anything by Bill Bryson - A Walk in the Woods, Neither Here nor There, In a Sunburned Country. He writes superbly and is also very funny.

I also really like books about food/food writing and some of the ones I've picked up from that are: Garlic and Sapphires where Ruth Reichl (the editor of Gourmet magazine) talks about the year she was the restaurant critic at the New York Times. Its hilarious and shes got some great recipes in the book as well. Another one is A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage. This is a different look at some of the most prominent cultures through time defined by their beverage of choice. And yet another one is The True History of Chocolate; I really liked it even though I did already know a lot of the history they discussed.

Last but certainly not least, anyone who hasn't read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch really should go out and get it! He was a professor at my college diagnosed with prostate cancer and this is his advice to everyone on how to follow your dreams and make the best use of your time on Earth. Its not a depressing read and I highly recommend it!

Okay, so I think thats all I've got for now. If I think of anything else I'll let you know...

[Caiti Casey]

Wow just what I needed...like 20 more books to had to my TBR list. :P Thanks you guys for the awesome suggestions.

[Lauren]

I've got some on my nonfiction bookshelf on my profile if you want to check it out. I've also got a bunch on the historical fiction shelf too! =)

[Lori, The Over-Caffeinated Coffee Girl]

I would say, if you want to read a biography, read one about someone you're interested in. I like Jackie Kennedy, so I read books about her. I like Marilyn Monroe, so I read a biography about her.

[Tami]

I enjoyed Angela's Ashes awhile back, then read both 'Tis and Teacher Man. I really am not sure how much is non fiction, I have heard many rumors, but I thought they were enjoyable.

[Justine]

Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood
The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World - Same guy as the Year of Living Biblically
Dry: A Memoir
Straight up and Dirty - not that great, good for a quick light read
Divided Minds: Twin Sisters and Their Journey Through Schizophrenia
If I Am Missing or Dead: A Sister's Story of Love, Murder, and Liberation
Oh the Glory of It All
Madness: A Bipolar Life
Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia - I know you wanted to read this but I'm putting it out there again!

Of the many short stories variety:
Laurie Notaro - So so good and so so funny.
But Enough About Me: A Jersey Girl's Unlikely Adventures Among the Absurdly Famous
Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress
Other Augusten Burroughs/David Sedaris
Chelsea Handler - Her two books are hilarous
I Was Told There'd Be Cake

I really hope that's all of them...

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

ooh thanks Justine!
I really need to get going on Wasted. I have been wanting to read it for a while but i keep putting it off for other books.

[Kelsey]

I definitely recommend Laurie Notaro too. I literally laugh hysterically when I read her books.

[Kelsey]

I also love memoirs. There was one I read recently called Quiet, Please: Dispatches From A Public Librarian. It was pretty good!

[Bree]

oh boy. i have alot to add now!

[Ashley]

Memoirs I have Read:

Please Stop Laughing At Me-Jodee Blanco
A Rip In Heaven-Jeanine Cummins
Still Waters-Jennifer Laucke
Stolen Innocence-Erin Merryn
Running With Scissor-Augusten Burroughs
Dry-Augsten Burroughs
Sickened-Julie Gregory
Lucky-Alice Sebold
Three Weeks with my Brother-Nicholas Sparks
Faith Under Fire-LaJoyce Brookshire
A Special Education-Dana Buchman
Bad Girl-Abigail Vona
And I Don't Want To Live This Life-Deborah Spungen
The Freedome Writer's Diary-Erin Gruwell

[Janet]

I bought Bitter is the New Black because my secret santa wanted her other book and it looked funny, so I got it. Haha! Thanks, Lynn!! (From Kentucky because I think we have a couple of Lynn's! Haha)

[Lynn]

yay Janet! We're both reading Jen Lancaster! :] And thanks so much! I've been reading Bright Lights, Big Ass usually before I go to bed. It's pretty funny. She seems like someone who would be easy to be friends with.

Kelsey, have you heard of Free For All Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library?

Ok so I keep adding wayyyy too many books to my to-read shelf. I don't think it'll ever die down. haha. But I looooooove memoirs so I'm glad I'm seeing lots of recommendations!

[Kelsey]

Lynn, I haven't, but I'll definitely have to check it out!

[Katerina]

ooh good thread..i'm definitely going to read soem of these!

[Molly]

I agree Katerina..I will be adding alot of these IMMEDIATELY!! keep them coming!! I haven't read much non fiction because i always found it boring..but these sound wonderful!!

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

another good topic to bring back from the dead..


I read Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach recently. VERY interesting non-fiction! I plan to read her other 2 books!

[Emily]

Favorite non-fiction:

Lies My Teacher Told Me Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
How the Pro-choice Movement Saved America Freedom, Politics, And the War on Sex
A Girl from Yamhill
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Escape
Anne Frank Remembered The Story of the Woman Who Helped to Hide the Frank Family
Love Is a Mix Tape Life and Loss, One Song at a Time
The Year of Living Biblically One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible

[Emily]

Best Book Ever Written:
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.
It is absolutely my favorite book. And this is coming from someone who hates non-fiction.

Sonja wrote: "Anything by Bill Bryson - A Walk in the Woods, Neither Here nor There, In a Sunburned Country. He writes superbly and is also very funny."
These books of his are also amazing, and so hilarious! My favorite is In a Sunburned Country.

He is definitely my favorite non-fiction author, which means he's basically the only one I'll read, though Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously isn't bad so far either.

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

Emily-- I LOVED Love is a Mix Tape!

[Kayla]

My favorite nonfiction:

An Alchemy of Mind The Marvel and Mystery of the Brain
Alive The Story of the Andes Survivors
Another Day in the Frontal Lobe A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside
The Glass Castle A Memoir
Gorillas in the Mist
In Cold Blood
The Making of a Woman Surgeon
Minding the Body
Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions Second
Edition
Princess A True Story of Life Behind the Veil
in Saudi Arabia
Reading Lolita in Tehran A Memoir in Books

I love non-fiction, particularly medical narratives, in case you couldn't tell :)

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

I'll definitely be taking a look at your list for sure!

[Bárbara]

Fugitives and Refugees A Walk in Portland, Oregonand Stranger Than Fiction True Stories, both by Chuck Palahniuk, are pretty good. The first one is about life in Portland, while the second is a collection of essays, things he's written as a journalist, or about the making of Fight Club as a film, etc. Both are really interesting.

[jessi]

memoirs:

The Glass Castle
Jesus Land
Running With Scissors

other awesome non-fic:

Reefer Madness
Anything But Straight
Unspeakable Love
Dying to Win
The Accidental Guerilla
The End of Faith

[Jen]

Interesting non-fiction I've read:

A Piece of Cake: A Memoir
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
Prozac Nation


On my TBR list:
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea
Salt A World History
The Zookeeper's Wife A War Story
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
Without a Map: A Memoir
Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

I haven't read this but I'm really excited to..just because I love him!

Eating Animals

[Kayla]

That book sounds great, Jamie, especially since I'm a vegetarian! I'm definitely putting it on my to-read list. Thanks for sharing!

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

No problem! He's one of my favorite authors! He's fiction work is brilliant so I'm hoping this will be too!

[Jayme]

I just went through a huge travel non-fiction craze, including
Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven
Lipstick Jihad A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America And American in Iran
Eat, Pray, Love One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
Cartwheels in a Sari A Memoir of Growing Up Cult

also loved I Was Told There'd Be Cake and Susan Jane Gilman's books

[Lori, The Over-Caffeinated Coffee Girl]

I've been reading The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, which is surprisingly non-fiction. I love it because it's so far-fetched at times that you think it must be fiction, but nope. It says non-fiction on the back.

I peruse The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath every few days. They are so good! It's slightly scary the number of times I say "You said it Sylvia!" but I really enjoy her journals.

Because I'm a complete history nerd and I am done with American history classes, I've decided to study America's wars. I ordered 2 books on the Revolution and 1 on the Civil War, which I should get soon. And I have a book on World War I and World War II. I'm really looking forward to this because I didn't get to study the wars.

[Lynn]

Memoirs:
The Unlikely Disciple A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University
Cabin Pressure One Man's Desperate Attempt to Recapture His Youth as a Camp Counselor
Summer at Tiffany
The Glass Castle
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
French By Heart An American Family's Adventures in La Belle France
Dead Man Walking
The Year of Living Biblically One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible
The Know-It-All One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the WorldEat, Pray, Love One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
Blowing My Cover My Life as a CIA Spy

Nonfiction:
Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?
Salvation on Sand Mountain Snake-Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia
For the Love of God The Faith and Future of the American Nun
and right now I'm reading Columbine which is AMAZING!

[Rachel]

One that I have read really reads like a fiction book. I read it for a class of mine and I loved it! Some people don't believe it because it's just so fascinating: The Spy Wore Red

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

I'd add this one to the list of interesting non-fiction!

IraqiGirl: Diary of a Teenage Girl in Iraq