Non-Fiction Book Recommendations

Please use this sub-forum to discuss any non-fiction books such as autobiographies or political commentary books.
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HermitReviewer
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Re: Non-Fiction Book Recommendations

Post by HermitReviewer »

Maurice by E.M Forrester
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Post by Insightsintobooks729 »

"Daring to Drive" by Manal Al-Sharif is a good memoir about a Saudi woman who defies her country's traditions in order to fight for what she believes in.
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Post by Kathryn Price »

Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand is the nonfiction book that has affected me the most. As a Christian, his memoirs of his experiences at the hands of the Communists behind the Iron Curtain in Romania during the Cold War because of his faith is very moving for me.

Oliver Sacks' Musicophilia was a pretty good book about the psychology of sound and music to people with mental illnesses. He's written a couple of other books in that vein, too.

I also just read The Inkblots: Hermann Rorschach, His Iconic Test, and the Power of Seeing by Damion Searls. The subtitle probably says it all, but I liked the in-depth biography of Hermann Rorschach's life and the evolution of the Rorschach test up until today.

My mom also keeps reminding me of a book she loves that I haven't gotten to yet, The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum. I keep meaning to read it because it sounds pretty awesome. I don't know why I haven't yet. Probably something about time constraints, but, you know.
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Post by EvaDar »

I saw that someone was wanting recs for spiritual or inspirational non-fiction. I was recently wanting something inspirational and I reread two books about nondenominational prayer that I highly recommend.

Help, Thanks, Wow, by Anne Lamott is a beautiful little book that explores the three simple prayers. Lamott is so honest and her sense of humor fuels this writing.

The second book, Illuminata, by Marianne Williamson, says prayer is practical. "To look to God is to look to the realm of consciousness that can deliver us from the pain of living." Illuminata brings prayer into daily living, with prayers on everyday topics from happiness to depression, from finding love to achieving intimacy. There are prayers to heal the soul and the body. A great read straight through, or a daily reader, this is a gem.
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Post by Whippet »

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Hariri. Traces the journey of humanity and humankind from prehistory to just about now. The author compacts millennia into several hundred pages and intersperses humour into an otherwise grim retelling of our collective story ... Nonfiction doesn't always push the right buttons for me but this book does.
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Post by Katerina Katapodi »

This book is really amazing! The ''Out of Silence'' is a really well written book, very emotional and descriptive touching one of the most contemporary problem of women nowaday, that is abuse. Here in book, it's about the typical kind of abuse, of a woman, -the hero-who experienced abuse from her husband and father of her children. It's really exciting, besides creating feelings of disgust, for people like her husband, who practice on their women the typical kind of abuse, namely beating, offending and cheating. The most amazing part of the book, is the time of her to being able to abandon this man, and separate from him. Here, we have another emotional point, the time when her children were born, and indeed they are grown, when Ruby makes the final and definitive decision to leaver her man. Thus she is cahracterized as brave and decisive.
The happiest and most encouraging point is, when she starts living again the life she deserves, and after lot of success in her professional life too! Yes, life is right finally or we can say God saved her, being righteous!!
The book is kind of teaching on women who experience all kind sof abuse from their husbands or just love mates in their life, or once in their life; and unfortunately this phenomena is frequent enough, in USA also. Abuse a woman, can be some times an awful crime, that must be punished legally. But this does not always happen.
And in this case, Ruby finally had courage to break her silene and talk to people, so her story became known, but also from which other women could take advantage in similar cases, not to let themselves suffer as Ruby. Also, the story became known to experts, psychologists or psychatrists to be able to help other women in a similar state, or even prevent many of them from suffering in the same way as Ruby. In my turn I should say, that there are indeed many other kinds of abuse, not exactly if same type, -namely from nature-not from husbands or love mates but within same parent family and brothers or sisters. As abuse has many types, like beating, threatening and blackmailing, within members of same family, sisters and step mothers for example, who for any reason, and wanting to hide their crimes, could proceed to many other types of abuse, like beating, threatening, terrifying and blackmailing her step-children for ex. or even their own natural children..etc.
CONGRATULATIONS TO RUBY, I give 4 Starts to her book!! And of course we wish, that such facts won't be happening to any women in the future..!..
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Post by Happy Moses »

Five people you met in heaven by Mitch Albom's it's really enjoyable
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Post by JusCally »

I am a big sucker for historical biographies, especially those dealing with big Renaissance players.

G.J. Meyer's Borgias: The Hidden History is such a fantastic deconstruction of the myths surrounding that family, especially with regard to the murders attributed to Lucrezia and Cesare. It also gives a ton of background information for helpful context.

The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir is also fascinating, especially given just how many Anne biographies are available; this one focuses solely on the weeks leading up to Anne's trial and execution, with an in-depth look at the reasons behind her fall from grace.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII by David Starkey includes some interesting views, particularly about Henry's fifth wife Catherine Howard; I find Starkey's love of detail slightly tiresome and his tone can be off-putting, but he's a brilliant historian.

Just in case anyone loves 15th and 16th century European history as much as I do!
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Post by Arrigo_Lupori »

I'm reading A brief History of Nearly Everything and it is worth every moment spent on the pages. Science told in a non-scientific manner. Amazing stuff.
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Post by Libs_Books »

JusCally wrote: 09 Feb 2018, 12:09 The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir is also fascinating, especially given just how many Anne biographies are available; this one focuses solely on the weeks leading up to Anne's trial and execution, with an in-depth look at the reasons behind her fall from grace.
...
Just in case anyone loves 15th and 16th century European history as much as I do!
Well, I do love that period, though I mostly only access it through novels. However, having read Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies fairly recently, I would be interested to read a good biography of Anne Boleyn, so thanks for this recommendation.
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Post by JusCally »

Looooved Wolf Hall but have yet to read Bring Up the Bodies. Weir is a solid historian, and more accessible than some. If I remember correctly this book includes a rare portrait of Anne as she likely appeared at the time of her death. Bonus.
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Post by amcanelly3 »

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt is an amazing memoir of his childhood in poverty ridden Limerick, Ireland in the early 1900s. The only maddening thing about this memoir is that he doesn't use quotations, he writes it as if he is verbally telling it to the reader. McCourt also won a Pulitzer Prize for the book. He also wrote another memoir which is the account of him as a young immigrant in America called 'Tis but I haven't had the chance to read it yet. But I've read Angela's Ashes at least three times since I've found it.

Also, if you are into Holocaust literature, The Night by Elie Wiesel is an amazing account of his time in the camps. I cried at least twice reading that book.
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nycsunshine wrote: 14 Jul 2009, 10:36 A good friend of mine loved Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom, so I decided to read it the other day and I fell in love as well. This book is about a man named Eddie who dies and encounters five people he knew in his lifetime before he is sent off to heaven. He learns things about these people, people who he thought were insignificant to him, but turned out to have a greater impact on his life than he could ever imagine. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to read a short, quick read, that's sentimental and inspirational.
I liked that story about Eddie also. It was very moving, and I enjoyed the story surrounding Tala.
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Post by Swat3737 »

I agree with several others about Blink and anything by Malcolm Gladwell. If you like non-fiction corporate scandals, I highly recommend Conspiracy if Fools by Kurt Eichenwald, it’s about the Enron scandal. It’s fast-paced and gripping. His other books are wonderful as well.
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Post by HeyJude19 »

I recommend reading MIndfulness An eight-week plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World by Mark Williams and Danny Penman; published in 2012. Being a teacher of meditation I found the exercises in this book to be clearly written and interesting. Mindfulness takes practice, so having a how-to book is helpful, especially for beginners. Each chapter takes you on the journey of meditation and helps you to progress in a natural and gentle way. There are many benefits for this practice. But you only get them actually practicing! This book will help you do just that, and reap the benefits of a quieter mind.
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