# Recommend your favorite non-fiction books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2012, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382 "2012-01-13T11:22:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/21 "2012-01-13T19:16:10Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I recently read _A Short History of Nearly Everything_ by Bill Bryson, who’s a fiction writer with no science background. I had no idea Bill Bryson wrote fiction, but I \*love \*all of his many travel books–very funny. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/22 "2012-01-13T19:18:46Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I had no idea Bill Bryson wrote fiction, but I \*love \*all of his many travel books–very funny. I probably got my facts wrong. All I did know is that he didn’t really have a scientific background. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/23 "2012-01-13T19:24:37Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > [Accidental Empires](http://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Empires-Silicon-Millions-Competition/dp/0887308554/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326472908&sr=1-1) - Humorous, inside look at the start of America’s high-tech industry That was a fun book. I also liked [The Cuckoo’s Egg](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo%27s_Egg), a narrative by the astronomer [Cliff Stoll](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Stoll) about how he detected and tracked a hacker who was working for the KGB. And I’d recommend any of the books by [Michael Lewis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Lewis). Mostly he writes on financial matters (although in a very entertaining manner) but he is also the author of the books upon which the movies The Blind Side and Moneyball were based. ---
**Author:** ![wheresmymind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@wheresmymind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheresmymind)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/24 "2012-01-13T19:50:23Z")
[The Billionaire’s Vinegar](http://www.amazon.com/Billionaires-Vinegar-Mystery-Worlds-Expensive/dp/0307338770) - A surprisingly page-turning account of the world of (very old) vintage wines, with an emphasis on a hidden cache of Bordeaux purportedly owned by Thomas Jefferson. [Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes](http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0375425020) - An account of the Piraha people of the Amazon, told by a missionary/linguist who lived with them. Very interesting to read about a culture and language so different from any other, and to explore how language can influence your very worldview and vice versa. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/25 "2012-01-13T20:43:42Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > \*\*Guns, Germs, and Steel \*\*by Jared M. Diamond is the stock answer to the OP’s question, a solid foundation of world history with very broad strokes. Far more interested in the ‘why’ than the ‘what and when’ other history books are so intensely interested in. I have qualms about some of his specific conclusions, but overall his method is sound. He does himself no favors in the first third of the book concentrating on plants and animals but that information is essential to his thesis by the end was probably where I learned the most. It is a good book, but I did not include it on my list because I feel it is inflated. There is a lot of redundancy in Diamond’s exposition on why some civilizations (particularly those from the North Atlantic) have come to dominate the world. He could have made the same points using two-thirds the space. On the other hand, I’d say that \*Collapse \*wastes nothing. Also, be advised that the PBS special \*Guns, Germs, and Steel \*has very little to do with the book of that name. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/26 "2012-01-13T20:55:05Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > _The Last Season_ by Eric Blehm. If you like the Krakauer outdoor adventure books, this is a similar story about the investigation into the disappearance of a park ranger. I second this suggestion. I’m reading it for the second time right now. It’s really well written, and certainly transports me to the Sierra Nevada mountains. The Krakauer books that have been suggested are winners, too. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/27 "2012-01-13T20:59:56Z")
At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor, by Gordon W. Prange (Absorbing, gargantuan read about the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor) Death of a President, by William Manchester (All about the JFK assassination. He has his prejudices on the subject, but still a fascinating, informative read) Bundy: The Deliberate Stranger, by Richard W. Larsen (All about Ted Bundy, one of the most prolific serial killers in history. Women everywhere _need to read this book_. It’s both horrifying \*and \*fascinating, and it will teach you to be wary of your environment - and the strangers in it - for the rest of your life.) A Casebook on Jack the Ripper, by Richard Whittington-Egan (More than 30 years old now and hard to find today but as something of a Ripper hobbyist, it’s the best book I ever read on the subject.) The Vampire in Lore and Legend, by Montague Summers (Summers definitely has a different take on investigating the myths and origins of the vampire.) And, two more votes for Krakauer’s Into Thin Air and Wolfe’s The Right Stuff. I read them cover-to-cover at each sitting. ---
**Author:** ![justrob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@justrob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justrob)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/28 "2012-01-13T21:10:17Z")
I thought the autobiography “[If Chins Could Kill](http://www.amazon.com/If-Chins-Could-Kill-Confessions/dp/0312291450/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326488509&sr=8-1)” by Bruce Campbell was an excellent read. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/29 "2012-01-13T21:22:46Z")
[Andrew Jackson and His Indian Wars](http://www.amazon.com/Andrew-Jackson-His-Indian-Wars/dp/0670910252) - Robert V. Remini [Undaunted Courage](http://www.amazon.com/Undaunted-Courage-Meriwether-Jefferson-American/dp/0684826976/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326489789&sr=1-1) - Stephen Ambrose (about the Lewis and Clark Expedition) ---
**Author:** ![pdunderhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4bbf92/32.png) [@pdunderhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pdunderhill)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/30 "2012-01-13T22:56:30Z")
Charles (Chuck) Yeager’s Autobiography, as someone who loves all forms of aviation this book is detailed, historical and stirring. The Periodic Kingdom: A Journey into the Land of the Chemical Elements by Peter.W.Atkins, an AAA guide to Chemistry as if it were an Atlas to a foreign land. If you never ‘got’ Chemistry this is an excellent sideways view and introduction. Fear and Loathing in America - Hunter S. Thompson. Good preparation for a change of U.S. leadership? Godel,Escher,Bach. - Douglas Hofstadter. Read any review and discover about this tour de force linking Music, Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Cognition and more. A friend spent 6 months with an Oil company in the Libyan desert with this as his only English book and reccomended it to me, superb. And finally, ‘Why don’t Penguin’s feet freeze’ published by New Scientist magazine, A complementa(i)ry adjunct to Cecil’s column. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/31 "2012-01-14T00:33:42Z")
If you like really funny, snarky writing, try [A Massive Swelling:Celebrity Reexamined as a Grotesque, Crippling Disease and Other Cultural Revelations](http://www.amazon.com/Massive-Swelling-Celebrity-Reexamined-Revelations/dp/014100195X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326501072&sr=8-1) ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/32 "2012-01-14T04:17:44Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > It is a good book, but I did not include it on my list because I feel it is inflated. There is a lot of redundancy in Diamond’s exposition on why some civilizations (particularly those from the North Atlantic) have come to dominate the world. He could have made the same points using two-thirds the space. On the other hand, I’d say that \*Collapse \*wastes nothing. > > Also, be advised that the PBS special \*Guns, Germs, and Steel \*has very little to do with the book of that name. I agree the special isn’t very good, and I agree there are some faults with the book, but since I don’t know the OP personally I have a hard time thinking of a specific book that I’m sure would change his life forever. I’m sure the ones you recommended will do it though. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/33 "2012-01-14T06:08:37Z")
Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. So good that when I finished reading it, I immediately read it again. The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger What Do You Care What Other People Think? by Richard Feynman The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan 1776: America and Britain At War by by David McCullough The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris With The Old Breed by Eugene Sledge Faster by James Gleick Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff (2011) ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/34 "2012-01-14T21:59:09Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And I’d recommend any of the books by [Michael Lewis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Lewis). Mostly he writes on financial matters (although in a very entertaining manner) but he is also the author of the books upon which the movies The Blind Side and Moneyball were based. I can’t recommend this guy enough–may be the flavor of the moment but I loved reading The Big Short last summer and just finished Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World. Thoroughly engaging writer, and thoroughly enraging subject matter. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/35 "2012-01-14T22:07:05Z")
**Cosmos** by Carl Sagan. He has this soothing, eloquent, and perhaps even poetic way of describing the universe from a human perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Bilbo1967](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bilbo1967](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bilbo1967)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/36 "2012-01-14T23:08:48Z")
I’d second Spoke’s\* Undaunted Courage\*, and also say that Stephen Ambrose’s other books are all worth reading. Rather than add a specific book, I’d recommend anything by Christopher Hibbert. He has written many history books, and they are all eminently readable imho. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/37 "2012-01-14T23:48:03Z")
> [@](#): > > What Do You Care What Other People Think? by Richard Feynman Also, _Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feyman_. Just because you’re a rocket scientist doesn’t mean you have to be boring and stuffy. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/38 "2012-01-15T02:33:23Z")
_The Omnivore’s Dilemma_ and _The Botany of Desire_, both by Michael Pollan _Brothel: Mustang Ranch and its Women_ by Alexa Albert ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382/39 "2012-01-15T14:55:22Z")
_Washington: A Life_ by Ron Chernow–I couldn’t put it down. _Longitude_ by Dava Sobel–the story of John Harrison, who developed a clock that would keep precise time at sea. This was the most challenging science issue of his time and was his life-long mission. Relatively short and an easy read. _e=mc2: A Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation_ by David Bodanis. It’s for non-science people–he wrote it after seeing an interview with Cameron Diaz (I think) saying she wished she understood it… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-your-favorite-non-fiction-books/609382.md?page=1)