Non-Fiction Book Recommendations

[rssllue]

The Personal Life of David Livingstone by William Garden Blaikie

[11-22-63sk]

A really good non fiction is the three memoirs by Frank McCourt. They are just so moving and interesting

-- 20 Oct 2014, 16:12 --

One really good book is Sickened. SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!

[abbierakes]

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lax- This book will open your eyes to how medical experimentation was done in the 50s and 60s. Different races were treated radically different when it came to medical care and patient rights.

[bookowlie]

A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel. It's a great Midwest slice-of-life memoir.

[Jusciusr]

Hi everyone, I am looking for an interesting book on past wars, be it world ward 1/2, nazi germany or any other. I am currently reading the rise and fall of the third reich but it is too biographical, too detailed and uninteresting to read.

Any reccomendations?

[Valrose]

If you like world history, I'd recommend the book Tulip, the story of a flower that has made men mad by Anna Pavord. I'm always curious about the natural world so I picked this book up, never expecting to get a survey of world history spanning from 1453-1994. Oddly, what Pavord writes in the introduction, is what happened to me, "the most interesting things in life often happen by accident." I am still amazed that a flower I just took for granted has such a rich and multifaceted history. And it's not just about the history of gardening, it's about economics, politics, royalty, social hierarchy, iconography and more. I could not put the book down.

[deah319]

A Rose for Virtue by Norah Lofts - a story about Hortense de Beaurharnais, daughter of Josephine Bonaparte. It gives us a glimpse of history wrapped in the struggles of a woman who only tries to survive society.

[Valrose]

A Rose for Virtue sounds great!! I will look into it. Thanks!

[deah319]

A Rose for Virtue sounds great!! I will look into it. Thanks!

I hope you like it!

[Booknet15]

Tulip sounds good. Will try that one.

[Alpha_Links]

Greetings,


I am new to the org, however, I am seduced by reality and have a few recommendations that you must try.

If you want a book that draws you deeply and you enjoy the cultural value of the middle east. Here's a book of a conflict known to most of the world, read A Case for Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist organization that operates in the borders of the country of Israel. The son of religious and symbolic leader of freedom, Hamas reveals the objective of the organization as well as the fears that led to his clarity and confession.

A book loaded with fast moving research is The Evolution of Desire. Professor David Buss explains and provides intriguing evidence complied cross culurally to expose modern behaviors and their true origins. Social conduct is decrypted, and theories are taken apart as he explains how our evolutionary composition yields conflicting yet necessary behaviors.

[commander93]

I recommend Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls. Very interesting story of her life- gritty, real, and powerful, it is not a book soon forgotten.

[Chipewa42014]

The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. It's young adult but it's my favorite series.

Under the Dome by Stephen King. I don't usually like books like this but I loved this book.

The All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness.

[Grishamfan]

The Boy From Nowhere by Andrew Rule is the story of a poor boy abandoned by his mother in 1940 and who never gets to meet his natural parents. To this day he does not know who his father was. This boy who left school at 14 would morph into a businessman supreme and now in his early seventies he is worth $3 billion plus. There have been more successful (Bill Gates, Warren Buffet etc.) but this is a wonderful story about an honest, humble man who turned adversity into success. This is one of those truly great feel good stories.

[mkshorten]

The Influencing Machine, by Brooke Gladstone from NPR. It's actually graphic nonfiction, and a really fascinating explanation of the history of media, how it works and how it affects us.

-- 12 Jan 2015, 12:07 --

Some of my favorite biographies/memoirs:

Bossypants, by Tina Fey. You should listen to the audio, because she narrates it herself.
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, by Cheryl Strayed
Julie & Julia, by Julie Powell. Pretty different from the movie, and while I did like the movie, the book (as usual) was better.
How to Be a Woman, by Caitlin Moran. Hilarious and topical.
Love, Nina: A Nanny Writes Home, by Nina Stibbe. Was on the Library Reads list a year or two ago.

-- 12 Jan 2015, 12:16 --

Other excellent nonfiction:

The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. The first section is much like Fast Food Nation, but I liked this one better.
Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich. A journalist in the 90s decides to live on minimum wage jobs for a month each in three different states.
Eats, Shoots and Leaves, by Lynne Truss. A book on grammar, and somehow one of the funniest books you'll ever read, particularly if you like British humor.
Cheaper by the Dozen, by Frank Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. Basically nothing like the Steve Martin movie.
Waiter Rant, by Steve Duplanica. The memoirs of a professional server, alternately fascinating and funny and horrifying.
The Rights of the People, by David K. Shipler. A book about the tension between safety and freedom, and how easily we give away our freedoms for the hope of safety.
The Astronaut Wives Club, by Lily Koppel. More than you ever knew about the moon landing, the first astronauts, and the beginning of the space program.