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Time for summer reading. What are some of the greatest non-fiction books of all time?
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Here's an awesome list posted by The Guardian (UK). I personally find the lack of awesome science books disappointing, but they had to spread it around some I guess.
http://guardian....on-books -
It'd be awesome if we could link up to all these books. That way it'd be easy for people to buy them.
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My personal favorites are 'A Brief History of Time' by Stephen Hawking (http://amazon.co...53380168) and 'Demon Haunted World' by Carl Sagan. (http://amazon.co...45409469).
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All-time? That's really tough. Maybe Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War (http://classics....war.html) or Herodotus's Histories. Maybe Darwin's The Origin of Species http://amazon.co...17123207
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@Dan Gould This is supposed to be SUMMER reading. Not the syllabus for the course "Dusty History Books"
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That said, I think that A Brief History of Time doesn't count. It glosses over things in a way that I was far more confused after reading than before.
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There are some good biographies that would probably make the list
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@Dan Gould A Brief History of Time is incredible because it is one of the only books i know of that takes as complex a scientific principle as General Relativity and makes it accessible to a large swatch of the general public.
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I don't think I'm well-read enough to know what the greatest are. But some relatively recent non-fiction/biographies/memoirs that I've liked:
* American Shaolin
* Getting Stoned with the Savages
* The Cluetrain Manifesto
* All I Did Was Ask
* I Thought My Father Was God
* The Omnivore's Dilemma
* Persepolis
I'm sure I can come up with more. -
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@Chris Dumler What's Persepolis? I have Cluetrain Manifesto just sitting on my table, waiting, begging to be read.
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"Your Personal Style" by Nancy Plummer, it's FULL of great styling tips to bring out anyone's wardrobe.
http://amazon.co...63675900 -
@Dan Gould A Brief History of Time is a good fiction. I grew up with that book in 1980s and found it highly frustrating with the current science.
Thomas Kuln's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is on my reading list. The Selfish Gene (Richard Darwins) is another good book. -
what a great list...love non fictions. love MONEYBALL. if you're going for psuedo-non-fiction, give anything by Ben Mezrich a try. (Accidental Billionaires...that became The Social Network movie or Bringing Down The House...that became movie 21)
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A Million Little Pieces by James Frey had a huge impact on my life years ago when it was published.
Just had my younger brother read it, and he just expressed to me the other day that he's scared to finish it. He's been sitting at the end for weeks because he doesn't know what he'll do after it. The writing style is what gets us the most. -
@Andrew Skotzko "A memoir of growing up as a girl in revolutionary Iran, Persepolis provides a unique glimpse into a nearly unknown and unreachable way of life..."
They also made a film. -
Anyone who liked "A Brief History" might want to try "The Black Hole Wars"
http://amazon.co...5&sr=1-1
It is a tough book but it pays off in the end. -
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@Dan Gould I just read "Thucydides: The Reinvention of History" by Donald Kagan a couple of months ago. It's short, concise and valuable in understanding Thucydides and his contribution to history.
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Anything by Erik Larson. Wrote Devil in the White City, Thunderstruck, and the new In the Garden of Beasts. He writes non fiction like fiction so its a really engaging read.
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Many of you have been talking about different "time and space" theory related books. Back in 97 or 98, I picked up a book, not that big, maybe 250 pages tops, which was titled something like "Einstein's Theory of Relativity for the rest of us" or something like that. I read down to the last few chapters and left the dang thing in a Waffle House in Richmond, VA!
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I forgot about the book I am reading now. The Psychopath Test
http://amazon.co...7&sr=1-1
I'm not sure how valid the science is but it is a heck of a read. Just orderd the "Devil in the White city" It looks great! -
....ooops, I hit "enter." Anyway, it was a new book at the time. I've searched around Amazon for a book like that and nothing really has struck me. I wonder if it rings a bell with any of you. It very well explained to me the fundamental ideas of Einstein's work, including things like Doppler Theory, time and space, bending time, black holes, ect. Any help would be appreciated.
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"Into the Wild" by John Krakauer - I have not red the book but I want to, after watching the movie.
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@Wilson Hines so I found: Relativity for the rest of the us: (http://amazon.co...5212567X), and also Einstein for Dummies (http://amazon.co...64583484).
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@Michael Viamari Yeah, but I never, ever would have picked that book up at a bookstore with a name starting with "Math" lol. Now I would, but not in '98,'99.
Herein lies the problem, no matter how hard I look I can't find it. Yes, I find similarly titled books, but nothing hitting the mark.
Thanks for the effort. -
@Michael Viamari I'm just browsing the appendix right now and OMG I am already at a loss. I pre-requisit tested into my University with Calculus, but oh my do I hate math.
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"Three Cups of Tea" has been getting lots of press these days after CBS reported that a lot of the story was false or exaggerated. But i'd still recommend checking it out and then reading the book that exposes some of his lies called "Three Cups of Deceit."
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If you're into that sort of thing, Michael Lewis' "The Big Short."
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I'm not sure about all time, but The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene, Truman by David McCullough, and my most recent read The Most Human Human by Brian Christian.
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"Lee's Lieutenants" by Douglas S. Freeman. A multi-volume testament to the power of leadership. Read by many US Generals in the field even during WW II.
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I'm beefing up on my world war history with Blood Tears and Folly vol. 1.
Highly recommended if you'd like to beef up on your modern history -
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@Brittany Laughlin I actually wasn't too upset when I found that out. Mostly because I'm sure that all writers must do at least a little fabricating in their autobiographies. Besides, he was a wild alcoholic and drug addict - are we really gonna be surprised that he would go and lie? ;)
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You have to pick up Dawkin's "The Ancestor Tale" - it's mind-blowing. He gives the reader an overview of every species in the biosphere through their relationship to the human family tree. It's vast, heady, informative, comprehensive, and fun on every page. I can't recommend it enough
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couple of days ago i've got tablet pc as a gift and now solved a problem of dragging bookshelf with me, so spending now any free moment reading books about architecture and hand made cloth elements...
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TNorgard recommends: "The Greater Journey"- Americans in Paris- by David Mc Cullough- is a story of adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set off for Paris around 1830-1900, with much ambition to excel in their work. So interesting...
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Old fav, Steal this Book by Abbie Hoffmann http://amazon.co...6858217X, another great read for me is The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch http://amazon.co...6&sr=1-1
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I've always been unclear on the concept of "summer reading", but one of my favorite non-fiction books of all time is Winterdance by Gary Paulsen, his story of training for and running the Iditarod sled-dog race in Alaska. It's an awesome book, and don't let the winter theme throw you - it's great reading for any season. http://amazon.co...56001454
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Some of my favorites are: Outliers and The Tipping Point, both by Malcolm Gladwell. Guns, Germs, and Steel By Jared Diamond. The Art of Deception by Kevin Mitnick is highly entertaining as well.
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@Glenn Pogue - Devil in the White City is fantastic! I loved it! The rest of my book club hated it, but I am an architect and a history geek to boot, so for me it was like candy. I also called Chicago almost a second home for about five years, so I was familiar with the lay of the land. Ihope you enjoy it!
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Can't think of much that combines "non-fiction" and "summer reading" but I am into Carl Safina's The View From Lazy Point right now and find it to be distressing but with such gorgeous prose and insight it keeps me hooked amidst the destruction you just know he's going to describe.
Last year I did the British monarchs' bios from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry VIII...time well spent with Alison Weir and the Brits of yore! :) -
'The Periodic Table' by Primo Levi is utterly brilliant.
There are also some excellent travel and mountaineering books out there. 'Touching the Void' by Joe Simpson is one of the best, plus 'In Siberia' by Colin Thuberon and 'A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush' by Eric Newby. -
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Hit the ground running by Jason Jennings, Why not? by Barry Nalebuff & Ian Ayres and You don't have to be born brilliant, You Inc & You can by John McGrath. The last ones are probably hard to get in the USA. I brought mine from Australia.
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Devil in the White City; Blood, Bones, and Butter
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"Greatest Non-Fiction OF ALL TIME" is a tall order, but here are some of my faves: If you like New York history (and if not, why not?), you should read THE POWER BROKER by Robert Caro; it's an excellent biography (and indictment) of Robert Moses. If you like crime fiction, James Ellroy's memoir MY DARK PLACES is my favorite of ALL his books. JOHN ADAMS by David McCullough is not only a terrific HBO mini series, but an immensely readable epic! (I really enjoyed his 1776, as well)
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The aforementioned DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY is really cool, too. I can also recommend Erik Larsen's THUNDERSTUCK, which ties together the stories of Guglielmo Marconi and another serial killer.
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Oh yeah... I happen to be reading David Attenborough's memoir, LIFE ON AIR, right now. That guy is amazing. I've listened to some of the audiobook as well--terrific stuff.
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Philosophy: - You are not a gadget, Jaron Lanier. Hardcore Sports: Hell on Two Wheels, Amy Snyder. Philosophy & Sports - Let my people go surfing, Yvon Chouinard
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Really enjoying MONEY FROM THIN AIR right now, story of Craig McCaw, the cellular/cable king.
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"Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" by Annie Dillard, "Pieces of the Frame" and "Annals of the Former World" by John McPhee, and "Silence" by John Cage. Thought-provoking all, yet all limber enough to be summer reading. The last is only for those interested in contemporary art, though.
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I'd like to suggest that a good set of encyclopedia's were, at one point, the greatest non-fiction book(s) of all time. They made a enormous quantity of engaging information available to a broad swath of the populous, basically, a game changer in my opinion. People do not, as far as I know, interact with the on-line equivalents in the same way. Anybody randomly pick up K-L on Wikipedia and flip to a page and start reading? I read my entire World Book set that way.
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- Elisabeth Sampon
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- Ben J Dyer
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