I used to love reading history books as a child/teenager. Would absolutely tear through them to the point it became the focus of my university studies. But unfortunately, having to read many that were very dry, often overtly political or just straight outside of my interests just killed my joy.
I recently read David Mitchell's Unruly and couldn't out it down. Hardly intellectual but I don't need that when reading anymore – I want to get back to enjoying what I'm reading. Off the back of this I read 52 Times Britian Was A Bellend, which was enjoyable but a bit TOO easy. Lots in there I wanted to know more about!
I've heard good things about Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers and it's on the reading list but I'm keen to break away from military history. I've read a fair bit of that and want to broaden my horizons. I tried Montaillou and found it interesting but again, a bit dry.
by Aeviv