Five favourite non-fiction books...

…becuase I got all enthusiastic over my five favourite novels.

I have lots of favourite non-fict but my faves would have to be, in no particular order…

  • “The Orchid Thief” Susan Orleans
  • “Guns, Germs and Steel” Jared Diamond
  • “Museum of Hoaxes” Alex Boese
  • “Used and Rare” Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone
  • “A Passion for Books” Harold Rabinowitz

…I also love “At Home with Books” but thought I should limit my bibliophile books to two per list.

Modern Times, by Paul Johnson
The Second World War, by John Keegan
Second World War, by Winston Churchill
The Civil War Trilogy, by Bruce Catton

The four books above are riveting, moving, and poetic.

The fifth is a special favorite. It is the book that made me love history, which I first read when I was nine or so:
A Child’s History of the World, by V.M. Hillyer

I’m a woman who loves history, especially military history.

Hmm… this is way tougher than my 5 novels challenge - mainly because my selection would have to be on content rather than literary merit, and also because I don’t read as much non-fiction. Off the top of my head (though I’m sure I’m going to change my mind on reflection):

The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee - Jared Diamond
The Man who Stayed Behind - Sidney Rittenberg
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
Seven Years in Tibet - Heinrich Harrer
The Code Book - Simon Singh

Damn jjimm took the very first book that came to mind.

The Code Book, by Simon Singh

The Reflexive Universe, by Arthur Young

The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins

Market Wizards, Jack Schwager (made me become a trader)

Reality Isn’t What It Used to Be : Theatrical Politics, Ready-to-Wear Religion, Global Myths, Primitive Chic, and Other Wonders of the Postmodern World, Walter Truett Anderson

Conciousness Explained, by Daniel Dennet (also, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea)

Ok so that was 6.

Damn I forgot “The Human Zoo,” by Desmond Morris.

Damn, I knew I’d regret my choices. River out of Eden by Dawkins should also be on the list. Dump Seven Years in Tibet, if you’re being strict about the “only five” rule.

  1. (another vote for) The Code Book by Simon Singh

  2. Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey by Isobel Fonseca

  3. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

  4. An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States by Charles A. Beard

  5. Beyond the Ring: The Role of Boxing in American Society by Jeffrey T. Sammons

Runner up: Darwin’s Athletes: How Sport Has Damaged Black America and Preserved the Myth of Race by John M. Hoberman

Gah, that was hard to pick. I eliminated biography and autobiography from the list just to narrow things down.

  1. Caesar and Christ, by Will Durant
  2. The Renaissance, by Will Durant
  3. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, by Tom Wolfe
  4. Master of the Senate, by Robert Caro
  5. The Great Shark Hunt, by Hunter S. Thompson

The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan
Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose
3,000 Years Ago by Geoffrey Bibby
The Harlot by the Side of the Road by Jonathan Kirsch
In the Beginning by John Gribbin

In no order:
Orthodoxy - GK Chesterton
The Greeks - HD Kitto
The Western Way of War - Victor Hanson
Holidays in Hell - PJ O’Rourke
The Offshore Islanders - Paul Johnson

My top five of those not yet listed:

  1. City of Quartz by Mike Davis
  2. Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner
  3. The Lawn: A History of an American Obsession by Virginia Scott Jenkins
  4. Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand (all the hype is truly deserved)
  5. What is Mathematics, Really? by Reuben Hersh

The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder
The Professor and the Madman Simon Winchester
Desire of the Everlasting Hills Thomas Cahill

A Bright Red Scream -?
Bodily Harm -Safe
Just checking (thoughts on OCD) -?
Saving Patty Hearst -?

Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond
The History of the English-Speaking Peoples by Winston Churchill
Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence
The Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (10th Edition)
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

The Tao te Ching, by Lao Tsu
Sophie’s World, by Jostein Gaarder
On Writing, by Stephen King
Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan
Stupid White Men, by Michael Moore

The Mismeasure of Man - by Stephen Jay Gould
The Snow Leopard - by Peter Mathiesson
The Demon Haunted World - by Carl Sagan
Brazilian Adventure - by Peter Fleming

Hard to narrow down a 5th…another Peter Fleming travel book would be a good choice, as would one of many other great travel books, maybe one by Bill Bryson. Or The Great Escape (the book the movie was based on, I forget who wrote it).

I read much more non-fiction than fiction & I love this thread. Has given me many titles for future reading already. Thanks!

Guns, Germs, and Steel – by Jared Diamond
The Beak of the Finch – by Jonathan Weiner
The Code Book – by Simon Singh
The Cuckoo’s Egg – by Clifford Stoll
Hyperspace – by Michio Kaku

-The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, edited by David Donald.

-Cartridges of the World, 9th Edition Barnes/McPherson.

-Time Almanac, 2003

-An Anthropologist on Mars, Oliver Sacks.

'can’t think of #5 just yet, but it’s out there…somewhere…

Forgot all about “Demon Haunted World”! Would have to add that as well as “Life: An Unauthorised Biography” and “Mummy Congress”. I can’t believe I forgot that one, it would have to be number one!

Can’t choose a top five, but it would include “The Elegant Universe”, by Brian Greene