I decided to give the ole 50 books in a year challenge a try. I have most of the books I want to read mapped out but I figured I throw in a few non fiction. I’m trying to broaden my horizon a bit so I’m open to pretty much anything under 500 pages and written in the last century.
by wwscfd
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Jon Krakauer, Mary Roach, Wade Davis, Christopher Hitchens, Simon Winchester, Erik Larson are all authors I’ve read and can recommend. Enjoy!
Bill Bryson writes excellent and entertaining non-fiction. I particularly enjoy *A Walk in the Woods* which depicts his attempts to hike the Appalachian Trail. *At Home* is a wonderful history of common items in our homes described room by room.
If you enjoy history about the American intelligence apparatus, Annie Jacobsen has two excellent books on the subject: *Suprise, Kill, Vanish* and *Area 51*. The first describes the history of the “third option” which is covert operations in foreign nations by the CIA. The second describes the history of what we know of Area 51 in the Nevada desert with projects like the U2 spy plane and the SR-71.
I’d also recommend *The Stranger in the Woods* which tells the story of the last true American hermit and how he avoided others in the Maine wilderness for decades and his eventual capture for dozens of home break ins for supplies.
Speculative non-fiction **Life 3.0** by Max Tegmark. It presents the spectrum of futures mankind is facing due to the ascent of artificial intelligence.
Sapiens.
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
the immortal life of henrietta lacks by Rebecca Skloot, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
Books by Ben Mcintyre.
A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell
Rising Out of Hatred by Eli Saslow
Educated by Tara Westover
The Light of Days by Judy Batalion
Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow
The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone
Tiger – John Vaillant
Shadow Divers – Robert Kurson.
Both end up reading like thrillers.
I’ve sold most of the nonfiction books I’ve read over the past decade. I still have these two. (And Cheryl Strayed’s Tiny Beautiful Things, but that doesn’t answer the question.)