Nonfiction

[Doc Creed]

Do you read many nonfiction books? As I have gotten older I've slowly added nonfiction books to my reading diet. I'd like to know what you recommend. Here are some titles that I loved:

The Orchid Thief- Susan Orlean
In Cold Blood- Truman Capote
Undaunted Courage- Stephen E. Ambrose
All Over But The Shouting- Rick Bragg
Pilgrim At Tinker Creek- Annie Dillard
Walden- Henry David Thoreau
Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil- John Berendt
The Glass Castle- Jeanette Wells
The Goldfish Went On Vacation- Patty Dann
Atchafalaya Houseboat- Gwen Roland
Beethoven- Maynard Solomon
A Moveable Feast- Ernest Hemingway
Assassination Vacation- Sarah Vowell

 

[Dana Jean]

I read a ton of nonfiction, but nothing anyone would be interested in.

 

[Doc Creed]

I read a ton of nonfiction, but nothing anyone would be interested in.

Oh, I don't know...you know all of us that well, huh?
Try me. I actually liked your suggestions from awhile ago. The mortuary books.

 

[Dana Jean]

I'll go back through my book journal and post some.

 

[muskrat]

I devour biography like nachos. Mostly bios of authors, artists, golden age Hollywood. Musicians. Probably read that stuff more than anything, come to think of it. That stuff I can read in one, two sittings. Like junk food to me.

 

[Walter Oobleck]

I've read some non-fiction through the years. The Eden Express, Mark Vonnegut...P.O.W. John G Hubbell...Dispatches, Michael Herr and the narrator voice as Martin Sheen lies on a bed in Saigon, opening scene in Apocalypse Now...Wild, Cheryl Strayed...Michael Perry from Wisconsin writes some enjoyable, funny non-fiction. His Truck was the first I read and that one...for all those who like to study the art...follows a one-year time-line (best I can recall)...much like Cycle of the Werewolf and it chronicles his time spent renovating an old beater of a pickup truck. I think some of Twain's stuff can be classified non-fiction and considering Twain it is all salted with his particular brand of "non-fiction". I've read three or four on your list. Charles Willeford has a good one that I can't for the life of me tell you the title...either I Was Looking For a Street or...maybe? Something About a Soldier? Vance Bourjaily...his Confessions of a Spent Youth is an enjoyable read but I don't recall if that is non-fiction. Met him in Baton Rouge in the ago...should have taken him up on renting space above an unattached garage...in trade for carpentry work. Really...I should have...missed opportunity there. Harry Crews, A Biography of a Place, (rural Georgia) is a great read but if you're from the proverbial South maybe you'd rather not?

 

[Doc Creed]

I devour biography like nachos. Mostly bios of authors, artists, golden age Hollywood. Musicians. Probably read that stuff more than anything, come to think of it. That stuff I can read in one, two sittings. Like junk food to me.

I'm looking forward to the new Jerry Lee Lewis biography by Rick Bragg. Do you like 'The Killer'?

 

[skimom2]

I read a ton of nonfiction, but nothing anyone would be interested in.

Bet you're wrong

I read more fiction than nonfiction (nature of the job), but I like a good history or social scienc-y sort of book, particularly if it deals with food. I'm very partial to Michael Pollan (have and have read all of his books), The Art of Simple Food (Alice Waters), Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Anthony Bourdain's non-fiction books (not as fond of his fiction). Just finished Devoured. One book that affected me profoundly (and had great effect on how I eat and shop) was The American Way of Eating (Tracie McMillan). Histories, particularly of early America or the civil War-Reconstruction period. Russian history is fascinating! Religious history was a passion for a while--I learned a lot. My dad got me interested in military history.

In other words, don't get me started (lol)

 

[skimom2]

I devour biography like nachos. Mostly bios of authors, artists, golden age Hollywood. Musicians. Probably read that stuff more than anything, come to think of it. That stuff I can read in one, two sittings. Like junk food to me.

I like those, too. I've read a couple of very good Hepburn bios (and a couple of terrible ones--lol), and rock bios are crack.

 

[muskrat]

I'm looking forward to the new Jerry Lee Lewis biography by Rick Bragg. Do you like 'The Killer'?

Gotta love Jerry Lee.

 

[Doc Creed]

Two books that remain on my TBR list are Behind The Beautiful Forevers and The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks.
Anyone read either of them?

 

[GNTLGNT]

....last one I read was on Dean Koontz......it explains a lot about where he came from and why his style is as it is....

 

[skimom2]

Two books that remain on my TBR list are Behind The Beautiful Forevers and The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks.
Anyone read either of them?

I read Henrietta Lacks a couple of years ago. It was interesting, but I can't say I like the way the writer inserted herself into the story. There are parts where it was, "How did this affect me?", and that seemed wrong for someone who is purporting to write a non-fiction book about a person and a family.

 

[skimom2]

....last one I read was on Dean Koontz......it explains a lot about where he came from and why his style is as it is....

I'd be interested to know what changed his writing so profoundly. The first few books and the later ones seem like they were written by completely different people. It's not like the gradual growth and maturity Mr. King has displayed--his books are still identifiable as his. Mr. Koontz did a 180 as a writer, and that interests me. Barbara Kingsolver did the same thing, and it fascinates me.

 

[Spideyman]

History book, Holistic books, Biographies, Science related books.

 

[GNTLGNT]

I'd be interested to know what changed his writing so profoundly. The first few books and the later ones seem like they were written by completely different people. It's not like the gradual growth and maturity Mr. King has displayed--his books are still identifiable as his. Mr. Koontz did a 180 as a writer, and that interests me. Barbara Kingsolver did the same thing, and it fascinates me.

...much of it I believe, circles around the dynamic between a much beloved mother and devious, conniving, alcoholic and abusive father....

 

[skimom2]

...much of it I believe, circles around the dynamic between a much beloved mother and devious, conniving, alcoholic and abusive father....

Sounds interesting!

 

[Kurben]

History books. I read a biography of Jerusalem that was really interesting. Written by Simon Sebag Montefiore. I also read books about the evolution of mammals and dinosaurs. Seldom read bios on entertainment people. Read one of Harpo Marx that i liked.

 

[Tery]

Read one of Harpo Marx that i liked.

Is that Harpo Speaks!? I loved that book. Chico's daughter also wrote a book but I can't recall the title. Loved it, too.

If you like history, try Zealot. I found it fascinating.

 

[mal]

I like the bios, the autobios, history (any place in time, everything and anything), and KitchenAid Mixer manuals (except for model KSM150AGBRI, that would just be stupid).