# Recommend great non-fiction! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910 "2006-05-23T15:49:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/1 "2006-05-23T15:49:43Z")
My birthday’s coming up at the end of the week. I have $45 in Amazon gift certificates from doing a few online surveys. Well written non-fiction is my favorite genre and I would like to treat myself with the moolah. So what would you do with the dough? 🆒 ---
**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:** [May 23, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/2 "2006-05-23T15:55:33Z")
Allow me to spew a few authors in your direction, these people have written some entertaining books although I don’t have time to link for you right now…there’s a good chance you’ll already know them anyway: Mary Roach Stefan Gates Steven Levitt Bill Bryson ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/3 "2006-05-23T16:02:04Z")
If you’re interested in natural history, check out David Quammen. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/4 "2006-05-23T16:16:49Z")
I don’t read much non-fiction, but I recently enjoyed The Great Mortality by John Kelly. It’s about the Black Death. Witty, informative, and entertaining. I’ll second the recommendations for Mary Roach and David Quammen, and add Stephen Jay Gould, in particular The Flamingo’s Smile: Reflections on Natural History. Lucky you! ---
**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:** [May 23, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/5 "2006-05-23T16:22:49Z")
Dan Savage William Poundstone Malcolm Gladwell Mark Salzman Robert Sapolsky ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/6 "2006-05-23T16:42:28Z")
I’ll second the recommendations for Bill Bryson and Malcolm Gladwell. Bryson’s _A Walk In The Woods_ is one of my favorite books. _The Lost Continent_ is also very good. Gladwell’s _The Tipping Point_ is fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/7 "2006-05-23T16:48:52Z")
Henry Petroski Eviatar Zerubavel Richard Selzer ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/8 "2006-05-23T16:54:58Z")
“The Informant” by Kurt Eichenwald. “The Devil and the White City”. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/9 "2006-05-23T16:55:27Z")
I’ve read nearly everything Bill Bryson wrote. My absolute favorite is his book about Australia. I’ll have to check out the other suggestions. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/10 "2006-05-23T17:22:27Z")
Check out either or both of these Pulitzer prize winners (non-fiction): [A Bright Shining Lie](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679724141/qid=1148404681/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-0937663-5095821?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by Neil Sheehan - the biography of American military advisor John Paul Vann is part of a textual counterpoint against the rhythm of the Vietnam War. Outstanding book. Richard Rhodes, [The Making of the Atomic Bomb](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684813785/qid=1148404853/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-0937663-5095821?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) - this one’s for you if like history, biography, science, and politics all rolled into one. One of the best books I’ve ever read! ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/11 "2006-05-23T17:23:38Z")
For history, I thoroughly enjoy David McCullough. His biographies are great, but I prefer his other stories (1776, The Great Bridge, and The Path Between The Seas in particular). ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/12 "2006-05-23T17:49:35Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > “The Devil and the White City”. I thought it was okay, not great. The author was seriously hobbled by the lack of any real info on “the devil,” though the stuff on “the white city” was fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/13 "2006-05-23T17:52:06Z")
A second voter for Robert Sapolsky, and I also recommend Diane Ackerman. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/14 "2006-05-23T17:54:49Z")
Anything by Richard Feynman. His more technical writings are great, too, if you’re inclined towards physics, but even if you’re not, his memoirs are a great read. The only title I can remember is _Surely you’re joking, Mr. Feynman_, but there are a few others as well. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/15 "2006-05-23T18:14:22Z")
Here are some of my favorites: [Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/078670621X/qid=1148407557/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-0494367-0300745?s=books&v=glance&n=283155), by Alfred Lansing [Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684826976/qid=1148407939/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-0494367-0300745?s=books&v=glance&n=283155), by Stephen Ambrose I also really enjoyed _The Devil in the White City_, and didn’t feel it was hampered by the need for speculation about the “devil.” Well-paced, fascinating and detailed. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/16 "2006-05-23T18:18:05Z")
Woops, thought of a couple more. These are both in the vein of Women Going On Adventures, which I really love. Both are autobiographical: [The Curve of Time: The Classic Memoir of a Woman and Her Children Who Explored the Coastal Waters of the Pacific Northwest](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580050727/qid=1148408073/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-0494367-0300745?s=books&v=glance&n=283155), by M. Wylie Blanchet [Two in the Far North](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/088240489X/qid=1148408214/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-0494367-0300745?s=books&v=glance&n=283155), by Margaret “Mardie” Murie. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/17 "2006-05-23T18:53:50Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > My birthday’s coming up at the end of the week. I have $45 in Amazon gift certificates from doing a few online surveys. Well written non-fiction is my favorite genre and I would like to treat myself with the moolah. > > So what would you do with the dough? 🆒 Look, “nonfiction” covers more than half the library/bookstore. Could you be more specific? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/18 "2006-05-23T19:21:13Z")
That’s a wide-open field. It depend upon what you like. Here are some of the interesting reads I’ve had in the recent past: \*\*The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of The Oxford English Dictionary \*\* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006099486X/qid=1148411728/sr=2-1/ref=pd\_bbs\_b\_2\_1/002-8927535-7178468?s=books&v=glance&n=283155](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006099486X/qid=1148411728/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-8927535-7178468?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) Simon Winchester qwrote a sequel that I haven’t read yet: \*\*The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary \*\* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C1ZXF4/ref=pd\_sim\_b\_2/002-8927535-7178468?\_encoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C1ZXF4/ref=pd_sim_b_2/002-8927535-7178468?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155) \*\*The Great Arc : The Dramatic Tale of How India Was Mapped and Everest Was Named \*\* by John Keay [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060932953/qid=1148411841/sr=2-1/ref=pd\_bbs\_b\_2\_1/002-8927535-7178468?s=books&v=glance&n=283155](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060932953/qid=1148411841/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-8927535-7178468?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) Not to mention David McCulloch’s books on the Brooklyn Bridge, The Pana Canal, the Johnstown Flood, and his bios od Teddy Roosevely, Harry Truman, John Adams, and the first year of the Revolution. Or just about anything by Stephen Jay Gould. Or the hard-to-find-but-worth-it books by L. Sprague de Camp ---
**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:** [May 23, 2006, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/19 "2006-05-23T19:26:22Z")
I’ve heard good things about Eve Golden, Stephen R. Wilk, and Cecil Adams. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910/20 "2006-05-23T19:51:28Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Look, “nonfiction” covers more than half the library/bookstore. Could you be more specific? Okay. I like well written non-fiction that has a good narrative quality. For example Bill Bryson’s books are just delicious. Allison’s Weir’s British histories are great stuff. _A Civil Action_ was wonderful. I like books that make you think about a subject in a different way. _Little Girls in Pretty Boxes_ by Joan Ryan made me swear to never watch women’s gymnastics ever again. _Savage Inequalities_ by Jonathan Kozol changed my perception of public school funding. _The Bitch in the House_ edited by Cathi Hanauer has great essays on what it means to be a modern women. I like books that offer insights into other cultures or a new way of looking at my own. There are lots of great suggestions on this thread. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-great-non-fiction/357910.md?page=2)