The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson. About the discovery of waterborne illness.
Big Chicken by Maryn McKenna. About antibiotic resistance driven by livestock farming.
Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin. About milestones in evolutionary history.
Darwin Comes to Town by Menno Schilthuizen. About urban wildlife.
testmf on
The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger
CandidTortoise on
*The Anthropocene Reviewed* by John Green.
Indifferent_Jackdaw on
The Moth – various.
There are I think three anthologies collected by The Moth where ordinary people and celebrities tell true stories from their lives.
Unbroken – Lauren Hilldebrand.
There is a teen edition of this book which might be a good entry point.
Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi’s
A graphic novel. So it’s story is very accessible.
BoredConfusedPanda on
you need to give some indication of what you might like – if you dont read then stuff like which tv genres you like, tropes you like/dislike, any topics of interest (hobbies or simply things you are curious about). Something for people to go off of.
freerangelibrarian on
Mary Roach writes very informative and witty books.
Packing For Mars is my favorite, but I like them all.
blueberry_pancakes14 on
My favorite non-fictions that read more like novels and/or just aren’t dry and/or textbooky (I do also like some textbooky ones, but I omitted those on purpose here):
Medusa’s Gaze and Vampire’s Bite: The Science of Monsters by Matt Kaplan
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach
The Story of Life in 25 Fossils: Tales of Intrepid Fossil Hunters and the Wonders of Evolution by Donald R. Prothero
My Beloved Brontosaurus: On the Road with Old Bones, New Science, and Our Favorite Dinosaurs by Maxwell King
Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived by Anton Scalia
The Way I Heard It by Mike Rowe
The Devil’s Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America’s Great White Sharks by Susan Casey
Nature Noir: A Park Ranger’s Patrol in the Sierra by Jordan Fisher-Smith
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Shark Trouble by Peter Benchley
A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage
Iron Coffins: A Personal Account of the German U-boat Battles of World War II by Herbert A. Werner
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
Submerged: Adventures of America’s Most Elite Underwater Archeology Team by Daniel Lenihan
Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria and Dark Descent: Diving and the Deadly Allure of the Empress of Ireland by Kevin F. McMurray
Neptune’s Ark: From Ichthyosaurs to Orcas by David Rains Wallace
Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks by Richard G. Gernicola
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
gunslingerkt on
The Premonition by Michael Lewis
CherryBombO_O on
Life Of Brian by AC/DC’s Brian Johnson
Sewerzurf on
Manufacturing Consent by Hermann and Chomsky.
Sewerzurf on
Blackshirts and Reds by Michael Parenti.
waterbaboon569 on
Candice Millard (The River of Doubt, River of the Gods) and David Grann (Killers of the Flower Moon, The Lost City of Z, The Wager) both consistently write killer historical nonfiction that will have you gripped.
Lindsey Fitzharris (The Butchering Art, The Facemaker) writes great medical history, although maybe skip if you’re very squeamish.
I also love The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum, although that one is more episodic than a singular narrative. Same with Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz.
And in memoir, In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado is stunning.
ketarax on
Not strictly non-fiction, but *Ishmael* by Daniel Quinn will capture you for life.
eilupt on
What Einstein Told His Cook 1 & 2 and What Einstein Told his Barber by Robert Wolke
17 Comments
For me it is Discworld by Terry Pratchett
Edit: sorry misread the question. disregard.
I would recommend the nonfiction book Manhunt by James Swanson
*Educated* by Tara Westover
Into Thin Air
[Another similar question](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/17a67i7/nonfiction_with_easy_to_read_writing/)
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson. About the discovery of waterborne illness.
Big Chicken by Maryn McKenna. About antibiotic resistance driven by livestock farming.
Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin. About milestones in evolutionary history.
Darwin Comes to Town by Menno Schilthuizen. About urban wildlife.
The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger
*The Anthropocene Reviewed* by John Green.
The Moth – various.
There are I think three anthologies collected by The Moth where ordinary people and celebrities tell true stories from their lives.
Unbroken – Lauren Hilldebrand.
There is a teen edition of this book which might be a good entry point.
Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi’s
A graphic novel. So it’s story is very accessible.
you need to give some indication of what you might like – if you dont read then stuff like which tv genres you like, tropes you like/dislike, any topics of interest (hobbies or simply things you are curious about). Something for people to go off of.
Mary Roach writes very informative and witty books.
Packing For Mars is my favorite, but I like them all.
My favorite non-fictions that read more like novels and/or just aren’t dry and/or textbooky (I do also like some textbooky ones, but I omitted those on purpose here):
Medusa’s Gaze and Vampire’s Bite: The Science of Monsters by Matt Kaplan
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach
The Story of Life in 25 Fossils: Tales of Intrepid Fossil Hunters and the Wonders of Evolution by Donald R. Prothero
My Beloved Brontosaurus: On the Road with Old Bones, New Science, and Our Favorite Dinosaurs by Maxwell King
Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived by Anton Scalia
The Way I Heard It by Mike Rowe
The Devil’s Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America’s Great White Sharks by Susan Casey
Nature Noir: A Park Ranger’s Patrol in the Sierra by Jordan Fisher-Smith
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Shark Trouble by Peter Benchley
A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage
Iron Coffins: A Personal Account of the German U-boat Battles of World War II by Herbert A. Werner
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
Submerged: Adventures of America’s Most Elite Underwater Archeology Team by Daniel Lenihan
Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria and Dark Descent: Diving and the Deadly Allure of the Empress of Ireland by Kevin F. McMurray
Neptune’s Ark: From Ichthyosaurs to Orcas by David Rains Wallace
Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks by Richard G. Gernicola
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
The Premonition by Michael Lewis
Life Of Brian by AC/DC’s Brian Johnson
Manufacturing Consent by Hermann and Chomsky.
Blackshirts and Reds by Michael Parenti.
Candice Millard (The River of Doubt, River of the Gods) and David Grann (Killers of the Flower Moon, The Lost City of Z, The Wager) both consistently write killer historical nonfiction that will have you gripped.
Lindsey Fitzharris (The Butchering Art, The Facemaker) writes great medical history, although maybe skip if you’re very squeamish.
I also love The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum, although that one is more episodic than a singular narrative. Same with Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz.
And in memoir, In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado is stunning.
Not strictly non-fiction, but *Ishmael* by Daniel Quinn will capture you for life.
What Einstein Told His Cook 1 & 2 and What Einstein Told his Barber by Robert Wolke
Bill Bryson’s books