# Non-fiction titles you think everyone should read **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 4, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808 "2008-08-04T15:05:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/1 "2008-08-04T15:05:38Z")
We all have our tastes when it comes to fiction, but there are certain non-fiction titles out there that are practically a life toolbox. They clearly and succinctly put forth how some facet of life works and how to deal with it. Maybe it’s something concrete like financial planning. Maybe it’s more esoteric, like satisfying your existential angst. What non-fiction book have you found that will always be in your library, that you encourage your friends and family to read or maybe even buy them copies? For me, it’s Gavin de Baeker’s _Gift of Fear_. No other book has ever made so much sense about the dark side of human interactions. He explains how to keep yourself safe, how to evaluate people for threats, and how to deal with the threats when they happen. Two points that I took from his book: 1.) Listen to your gut. This is not some namby-pamby “get in touch with your inner child” fantasy. Your subconscious, as he explains it, is constantly putting together environmental clues, and when it starts yelling at you, it’s because you are in danger, but you just haven’t figured it out yet. 2.) The greatest fear men have of women is that a woman will laugh at them. The greatest fear women have of men is that a man will kill them. Just that one sentence put together thoughts and ideas I’d tried to explain both on this board and to male friends many times and failed. ---
**Author:** ![MrBelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@MrBelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrBelding)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/2 "2008-08-04T16:09:08Z")
I think Into Thin Air. It’s a Krakauer novel about a bunch of people trying to climb Everest. It’s a really touching story and his descriptions are very vivid and many parts you feel as though you’re among the climbers. He does a great job to really accentuate their interactions and character development so you feel really close to those people over their journey. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/3 "2008-08-04T16:25:45Z")
I second Into Thin Air; it’s a fascinating but quite harrowing read. My own recommendations: [84 Charing Cross Road](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/84_Charing_Cross_Road) [Pilgrim at Tinker Creek](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrim_at_Tinker_Creek) [Almost Everyone’s Guide to Science](http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=0300081014) This is a very partial list, of course, and there are dozens of other books that I would highly recommend, but these three have amused me, moved me, and taught me a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/4 "2008-08-04T16:29:50Z")
[QUOTE=MrBelding] I think Into Thin Air. It’s a Krakauer novel about a bunch of people trying to climb Everest. It’s a really touching story and his descriptions are very vivid and many parts you feel as though you’re among the climbers. He does a great job to really accentuate their interactions and character development so you feel really close to those people over their journey. [/QUOTE] Is it a novel or is it non-fiction? I just started reading _Younger Next Year_, by Chris Crowley & Henry Lodge, M.D. It’s a more or less new look at aging gracefully, rather than slowly decomposing. Very well written with some essential information for those who want to be active and productive during their retirements. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/5 "2008-08-04T16:30:32Z")
My husband introduced me to 1980’s \*The Cuckoo’s Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage \* by Clifford Stoll, a hippie astronomer who was working at Berkeley when he noticed a 75-cent discrepancy in some billing records. This led him to catch a computer hacker who’d been recruited by the KGB. Some of the ways they tricked this guy to string him along are hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/6 "2008-08-04T16:33:55Z")
Hour of Gold Hour of Lead by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Ignore whatever feelings you may have against her husband Charles and read this book. A good chunk is from diaries AML kept directly after the kidnapping of her son. She also writes from years later. I have read many things about grief and loss, but never anything with so much wisdom & insight into the universal human condition. [oh and Into thin Air is nonfiction, about disastrous Everest climbing season] ---
**Author:** ![martu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@martu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martu)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/7 "2008-08-04T16:46:15Z")
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan It’s the book I buy friends when they try to convince me that ghosts exist or that homeopathy works or, well, anything touched on by the book. I can’t explain it better than Sagan, indeed my explanations often end up causing offence not convincing others. A must read for all adults in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/8 "2008-08-04T16:46:53Z")
[QUOTE=Sigmagirl] My husband introduced me to 1980’s \*The Cuckoo’s Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage \* by Clifford Stoll, a hippie astronomer who was working at Berkeley when he noticed a 75-cent discrepancy in some billing records. This led him to catch a computer hacker who’d been recruited by the KGB. Some of the ways they tricked this guy to string him along are hilarious. [/QUOTE] Awesome book. I actually saw this story on PBS (probably “Nova”) a number of years ago and read the book afterwards. I should probably find it and read it again. My recommendation is “Prisoner of Trebekistan” by Bob Harris, a former five-time Jeopardy! champion. It’s funny, poignant, engaging, and it’s about more than just being on a game show. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/9 "2008-08-04T16:47:49Z")
Okay, you may think it’s cheesy, but somebody has to do it. The 1936 basic toolbox of getting along: How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. ---
**Author:** ![counsel\_wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/65b543/32.png) [@counsel\_wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/counsel_wolf)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/10 "2008-08-04T17:11:24Z")
Great idea for a thread, I’m sure some interesting reading material will come from it. Here’s my suggestions, after the first two they take a fairly dark turn, reflecting my own preferences, perhaps someone else should post a list of positive uplifting books as a counterbalance.: [The History of Western Philosophy - Russel](http://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Western-Philosophy-Routledge-Classics/dp/0415325056/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217868350&sr=8-2) Introduces the reader to the broad scope of ideas that mankind has pondered over since Greek times. [Fowler’s Modern English usage](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fowlers-Modern-English-Usage-2nd/dp/0192813897/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217868472&sr=1-5) A great reference for those of us who aspire to better written English. The second edition is rarely out of reach when I am writing anything of length. [Opening Skinner’s box - Slater](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Opening-Skinners-Box-Psychological-Experiments/dp/074756860X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217868618&sr=1-1) A useful introduction to the foibles of the human mind. The chapter on how to prevent yourself from being manipulated should be required reading in every classroom, ever. [The Lucifer effect - Zimbardo](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lucifer-Effect-Philip-Zimbardo/dp/1844135772/ref=pd_sim_b?ie=UTF8&qid=1217868618&sr=1-1) The creator of the Stanford Prison experiment expounds at length about the power of the situation to control your actions. Again, awareness of this can prevent you from following crowds into dark moral places. [Fooled by Randomness - Taleb](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fooled-Randomness-Hidden-Chance-Markets/dp/0141031484/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217868921&sr=1-2) Instructs the reader about a number of easy to fall into mathematical traps in investment and life in general. And finally 2 works about the political world we live in. [Tell Me No Lies - Pilger (editor)](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tell-Me-Lies-Investigative-Journalism/dp/0224062883/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217869098&sr=1-2) A collection of works of investigative journalism from WW II up to 2004. Was important to me in realising the position of immense privilege in which I live and some of the underhanded things that are done in my name. [Shake hands with the devil - Dallaire](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shake-Hands-Devil-Failure-Humanity/dp/0099478935/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217869259&sr=1-1) An almost unreadably sad book as much about the inaction of ‘the west’ and the UN as it is about the massacres in Rwanda. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/11 "2008-08-04T17:12:30Z")
**The Omnivore’s Dilemma** by Micheal Pollan. Everyone who eats food should read this book… and that’s all of us. (Also nodding vigorously to The Demon-Haunted World.) ---
**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:** [August 4, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/12 "2008-08-04T17:44:25Z")
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. It changed my life more than any other non-fiction book I’ve read. Stiff by Mary Roach. Just because I really liked it. ETA: Great pick, **Savannah**! ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/13 "2008-08-04T17:52:24Z")
Lucy Dawidowicz - The War Against the Jews, 1933-45 Harrison Salisbury - 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad Both of them I find stunning not just as memorials to man’s inhumanity to other men, but also for the spirit of survival that permeates them. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/14 "2008-08-04T17:57:24Z")
[QUOTE=Doug Bowe] Okay, you may think it’s cheesy, but somebody has to do it. The 1936 basic toolbox of getting along: How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. [/QUOTE] This is a great book, I’ve read it several times and it still sits on my bookshelf. No-nonsense, a very easy read…timeless advice. I’ve always been partial to _Lies My Teacher Told Me_ by James Loewen. Big eye-opener, make me look at the world alot differently. This is a must read for 'Dopers!! ---
**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:** [August 4, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/15 "2008-08-04T18:09:53Z")
My top three: [Tuesdays with Morrie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuesdays_with_Morrie)–A book of lessons from a dying man on how to live. [Remembering Denny](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_n6_v25/ai_13816894). Totally unlike anything Calvin Trillan has written, it is a book you will remember. [On Writing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Writing)–An autobiography of Stephen King’s life, followed by some great advice on how to write. King knows his craft. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/16 "2008-08-04T19:24:36Z")
First Light, The Hot Zone, The Demon in the Freezer - all by Richard Preston. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/17 "2008-08-04T20:40:34Z")
Hey I thought (for some inaccurate reason) we were just limited to one . So I’m adding my other favorites -The Mismeasure of Man. by Stephen J. Gould. on the pointlessness of sorting humans into “races”, among other things -Pilgrim At Tinker Creek. by Annie Dillard. What a good writer can do with nature writing. You will look at the world around you more closely. -The Snow Leopard. by Peter Mathiesson. Another great writer on travel, nature, buddhism, and people. -Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. I like lots of her nonfiction. This one’s on good writing. another shout-out for The Demon Haunted World. (not listing my favorite humor or travel books that I recommend to everyone, since we’ve already had plenty of threads on those topics) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/18 "2008-08-04T20:43:15Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] [On Writing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Writing)–An autobiography of Stephen King’s life, followed by some great advice on how to write. King knows his craft. [/QUOTE] Also: [_Danse Macabre,_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danse_Macabre_(book)) King’s survey of the horror-literature-and-film world. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/19 "2008-08-04T20:47:01Z")
[QUOTE=martu] The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan It’s the book I buy friends when they try to convince me that ghosts exist or that homeopathy works or, well, anything touched on by the book. [/QUOTE] Ditto (though I still sorta kinda believe in ghosts 😉 ). Likewise, _Why People Believe Weird Things_ by Michael Shermer- another great critical thinking book (though not as well written as Sagan). [The Cartoon History of the Universe](http://books.google.com/books?id=LAobqyx4HZMC&dq=Larry+Gonick&pg=PP1&ots=ft-d7yzX0b&sig=svanpAlH_MkamqeyCnFe_Pxms4g&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA46,M1) series by Larry Gonick (includes the 3 CHotU series and the CHot-Modern World series that’s on its second volume). Gonick’s cartoons seem simple, but they’re a GREAT refresher course for people who did well in world history and a great intro for people who didn’t, plus even if you _did_ do well in/were interested in history it probably goes into parts that you never studied (e.g. China, the Bantu, the silver mines of Potosi, etc.,). ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808/20 "2008-08-04T20:49:15Z")
I also wanted to recommend Demon-Haunted World, great book. Instead I’ll mention [Guns, Germs, and Steel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel), these are two of the books I’ve set aside for my kids to read someday, I hope it affects them as much as they did me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-fiction-titles-you-think-everyone-should-read/458808.md?page=2)