# Fun to read non-fiction books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 27, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367 "2007-07-27T14:10:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/1 "2007-07-27T14:10:40Z")
Or at least non-fiction books that you actually read because of interest and not just for school assignments or work. For me, Uncle John’s Bathroom reader ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/2 "2007-07-27T14:16:16Z")
I’ve had _America: The Book_ and Pauline Kael’s _For Keeps_ in my bathroom for a while. I should be finished both, but I usually dump out at work so I don’t spend a lot of time in there. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/3 "2007-07-27T14:22:34Z")
Wow, just about all I read is non-fiction so it is all fun for me. I love the Uncle John’s readers, too! Lately I’ve read Tony Bourdain’s new collection of essays _The Nasty Bits_ which was very entertaining and hiliarious!! If you like baseball, hell, even if you don’t like baseball, I would highly recommend _[The Soul of Baseball: A Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America](http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Baseball-Through-ONeils-America/dp/0060854030)_. Wonderful book about the great Buck O’Neil, Negro Leagues icon. The author follows Buck during what ended up as the last summer of Buck’s 94 years. Funny stories, heartwarming anecdotes. Buck was a unique original. Right now I’m reading _Down and Out in Paris and London_ by George Orwell. Written in 1933 he chronicles his years as a “starving artist”…so far it is great fun, he has a sly wit when describing poverty. Poverty-stricken myself lately it’s a bit comforting to read about his travails. ---
**Author:** ![I\_m\_Ron\_Burgundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9fc29f/32.png) [@I\_m\_Ron\_Burgundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_m_Ron_Burgundy)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/4 "2007-07-27T14:23:31Z")
I don’t really understand the point of the non-fiction distinction, but I’m enjoying David Sedaris’s _Naked_ at the mo. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/5 "2007-07-27T14:26:56Z")
[Persian Fire](http://www.amazon.com/Persian-Fire-First-Empire-Battle/dp/0349117179/ref=pd_bbs_3/102-6155134-0336140?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185546345&sr=8-3) by Tom Holland is great reading. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/6 "2007-07-27T15:03:47Z")
I quite enjoyed [_South_](http://www.amazon.com/South-Antarctic-Expedition-Shackleton-Endurance/dp/1558217835/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5/002-7445392-9592063?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185548365&sr=8-5) by Sir Ernest Shackleton. It’s Shackleton’s own account of his ill-fated South Pole expedition in 1914, and while it is non-fiction (history), it reads like an exciting adventure novel. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/7 "2007-07-27T15:03:59Z")
I read mainly nonfiction, and I have loved many nonfiction works. One of the more compulsively readable was “Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers” by Mary Roach. I also loved “The Hero With A Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell, “A History of Pi” by Petr Beckmann, all of the “Big Secrets” books by William Poundstone, “Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment” by W. Richard Stevens, “The C Programming Language” by Kernighan and Ritchie, and “A History of Western Philosophy” by Bertrand Russell. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/8 "2007-07-27T15:12:37Z")
I enjoy Peg Bracken and Lora Brady, both of whom write cookbooks. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/9 "2007-07-27T15:20:07Z")
Anything by Asimov and Heinlein. Those guys were very interesting, fiction, fact, or opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/10 "2007-07-27T15:26:25Z")
Stephen King’s _Danse Macabre_ and _On Writing_. I recommend them to anyone who thinks that King only writes horror fiction. [The Daily Cocktail](http://www.panews.com/entertainment/local_story_180191933.html) is an interesting gem–a guide to alcoholic drink inspired by an historical event that took place on that day. If you’ve ever wondered what drink to serve for the events that involved the Menendez Brothers, OJ Simpson, Joey Buttafuco or John Wayne Bobbitt, this book is for you! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/11 "2007-07-27T15:29:55Z")
IF you like business and business scandals, try James Stewart’s Den of Thieves, which is about the Ivan Boesky/Michael Milken scandals, and Disneywar, about the Michael Eisner era at Disney and Kurt Eichenwald’s The Informant, about price fixing at Arthur Daniels Midland, and Conspiracy of Fools, about Enron. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/12 "2007-07-27T15:32:57Z")
There’s a rather obscure author named Cecil Adams… However, if well-researched serial-killer accounts that flow like novels are your idea of fun (and they are mine), then Harold Schechter’s DEVIANT (Ed Gein), DERANGED (Albert Fish) and DEPRAVED (H.H. Holmes) are quite entertaining. Jay Robert Nash’s less-well-researched BLOODLETTERS AND BADMEN is also fun, though not as reliable. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/13 "2007-07-27T15:39:54Z")
Timothy Ferris is an enjoyable science writer. he takes difficult concepts and makes them fairly understandable to the lay person without dumbing it down. I kind of like Roger Penrose, too. Calvin and Hobbes collections are an awesome way to pass toilet time. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/14 "2007-07-27T15:51:32Z")
A couple that I’ve mentioned before in other threads, that are funny, educational, and an absolute blast to read: [The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World](http://www.amazon.com/Know-All-Humble-Become-Smartest/dp/0743250621/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-6453067-4059644?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185550748&sr=1-1), by A. J. Jacobs [Sperm Are from Men, Eggs Are from Women: The Real Reason Men And Women Are Different](http://www.amazon.com/Sperm-Are-Men-Eggs-Women/dp/0762426802/ref=pd_ybh_1/105-6453067-4059644?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0ABPF5Z1K5WKE8GXY5SP&pf_rd_t=1501&pf_rd_p=280800601&pf_rd_i=ybh), by Joe Quirk ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/15 "2007-07-27T17:00:08Z")
I’m currently reading _Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die_ by Michael Largo and _Twinkie, Deconstructed_ by Steve Ettlinger. Both are good. ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/16 "2007-07-27T17:39:08Z")
I’m currently enjoying David Christian’s _Maps of Time_, a book about the history of the universe, the galaxies, suns, planets, Earth, life, us. I loved _Devil’s Candy: The Bonfire of the Vanities Goes to Hollywood_, a book about the making of the movie. I loved the book _The Bonfire of the Vanities_, and like most fans of the book, was astonished at the atrocious movie. Julie Salamon, the author of _Devil’s Candy_, gives a blow-by-blow description of the making of the movie. A brilliant exposé of a movie gone terribly wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/17 "2007-07-27T17:48:47Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] I read mainly nonfiction, and I have loved many nonfiction works. One of the more compulsively readable was “Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers” by Mary Roach. [/QUOTE] Seconded. She also wrote Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife. From the Publishers Weekly review: > [@](#): > > She ranges into the oddest nooks and crannies of both science and belief (and scientists who believe), regaling the reader with tales of Duncan Macdougall, a respected surgeon who weighed consumptives at their moment of death to see if the escaping soul could be measured in ounces, and of female mediums who, during séances, extruded a substance called ectoplasm from their private parts (she even examines a piece of alleged ectoplasm archived at Cambridge University). She goes to school to learn to be a medium, subjects her brain to electromagnetic waves to see if they induce the experience of seeing ghosts and joins a group trying to record sounds made by the spirits of the Donner party. There’s even a mention of **Cecil**! ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/18 "2007-07-27T17:52:31Z")
Mein Kampf…fuckin’ hilarious ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/19 "2007-07-27T17:52:59Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Stephen King’s _Danse Macabre_ and _On Writing_. I recommend them to anyone who thinks that King only writes horror fiction. [/quote] I hope you also recommend _Hearts In Atlantis_. Though that does have a supernatural element, it’s definitely not a horror novel (and has a lot more than the movie did). ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367/20 "2007-07-27T18:05:38Z")
Also enjoyed: Savage Love, The Kid, Skipping Towards Gomorrah, and The Commitment, all by **Dan Savage** , a gay man who writes an advice column and has adopted a child. The books of **Bill Bryson**. My favorite is his latest, a memoir of his childhood called The Thunderbolt Kid. \*\*Malcolm Gladwell’s \*\* Blink and The Tipping Point. \*\*Paco Underhill’s \*\* Why We Buy: the science of shopping, and The Call of the Mall. \*\*Paul Feig’s \*\* Kick Me and Superstud (memoirs count, right?) \*\*Mark Salzman’s \*\* True Notebooks, his account of teaching writing to juveniles in prison. Freakonomics by **Steven Levitt**. All you can find by **Robert Sapolsky** , who writes on animal and human behavior. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-to-read-non-fiction-books/413367.md?page=2)