I’ve read fictional books my whole life (31 years old) and I read very frequently. When I really get into it, at least 2 books a week. I’ll read any smut book but I do enjoy fantasy/supernatural type ones like Dean Koontz books (though I speed read since his descriptions are too long). I’m also still young enough to enjoy some teenage books as long as they’re at least in college and I like detective/police stories.
My issue is, after reading fictional books for 3 decades, I’m not sure where to start when I think about switching to non-fiction. I’ve always written them off as boring but I feel like I’m at the point in my life where I could be learning something out of my love for reading. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still continue to unwind and lose myself in a fiction but where do I start my journey in non-fiction?
I don’t care for history based ones (war books would be a great alternative to melatonin for me) and I’m not really interested in learning about other cultures at this time. Honestly, I’m not sure what I’m interested in. I just know I’d like to mentally feel more “worldly” by reading a “real” book.
by HappleSnapple1992
15 Comments
These are all really easy nonfiction that I think would be a good transition for you:
UFOs, JFK, and Elvis by Richard Belzer
American Kingpin by Nick Bilson
The Devil in the White City by Eric Larsson
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
As a science writer, might I interest you in some science writing?
Some of my favorites:
American Wolf by Nate Blakselee – about the return of wolves to Yellowstone
An Immense World by Ed Yong- the science of different animal species’ senses, by one of the most masterful science writers out there
The Immortal Life of Henriett Lacks – the story of a Black woman whose cells became the foundation of a lot of science without her knowing
DEEP by James Nestor- about the sport / hobby of freediving
Midnight in Chernobyl by Afam Higginbotham- a breathtaking account of the Chernobyl meltdown, a bit more on the history side but lots of hreat science writing & basically reads like a novel
Pretty much anything by Mary Roach, who has written about everything from cadavers (Stiff) to sex (Bonk) to misbehaving wild animals (Fuzz), and is always hilarious!
I like Mary Roach’s Curiosities series (particularly Gulp and Stiff) for science. You can also try memoirs by people who have life experiences you’re interested in.
If you’re interested in social media’s and smart phones’ effect on our lives I really enjoyed Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. It’s part informative, with thought provoking examples in each chapter to underscore the point he wants to make, and part self help with actionable advice if you want to be more intentional with your screen usage.
r/nosurf has a reading list pinned about related topics if you want to browse it.
Otherwise my favourite way to pick a non-fiction book is to go to my library, walk to the non-ficton section and grab what seems intereting. I often only read like 10 pages out of five different books, but it’s really fun
Hunter S Thompsons Hells Angel’s is insane. If you want something that is unique and a bit batshit crazy that you may think it’s actually fiction this is for you. Check Trigger warnings.
Electric Kool-aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe is also pretty nuts I went through a beatnik hippie era of reading in my late teens early 20s and it actually overlaps a bit with Hells Angel’s at one point.
Some easy to get engrossed in non-fiction about current-ish events might be an in:
*Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup*, by John Carreyrou about the Theranos scandal.
*The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion,* by Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell about WeWork.
*Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators*, by Ronan Farrow about Harvey Weinstein.
I’m going to second Mary Roach for entertaining science non-fiction. And especially Gulp and Stiff. I did not care for her book, Fuzz though. So don’t start with that.
It’s been challenging to find non-fiction writers who are as compelling as fiction writers.
I recently discovered Jill Lepore and find her style quite engaging.
Have you gotten into any memoirs? That could be a great gateway to nonfiction reading that still have that feel of getting transported to another world like you can in fiction, it’s just someone else’s world. Some of my favorite memoirs are:
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
Running with Scissors by Augustan Burroughs
All Souls: A Family Story from Southie by Michael Patrick McDonald
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Liars Club by Mary Karr
Memoirs and biographies are about as far as I’ll stray from reading fiction novels unless it’s something I was encouraged to read for work for professional development.
Maybe you should try a non-fiction best-seller like:
21 lessons for the 21st century by Yuval Noah Harari
The art of war by Sun Tzu
The power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Anything by David Sedaris
Try biographies. Maybe start with an audiobook to help with the transition?
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
Why not read literature to spice up your fiction? Something that actually explores the human condition.
The Stranger by Camus or The Metamorphosis by Kafka are quick jumping off points
Crime and Punishment
For non fiction, you can never go wrong with Christopher Hitchens
Factfulness by Hans Rosling – talks about how we have instincts that distort our view of the world (and news/media/etc plays into this to give dramatic headlines) and how we can reframe our perspective. In particular, this book talks about how much progress the world has made in terms of reducing violence, disease, poverty, etc. I have heard some criticism that this book is overly simplistic and too optimistic, but regardless the author makes some interesting points.
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell – talks about the factors that lead to extreme levels of success (ex, Bill Gates or Oppenheimer) – how success at this level is not just due to an innate natural talent or hard work, but rather being in the right place, at the right time, in the right circumstances.