I'm a big narrative non-fiction fan, and definitely need some new recs! But I'm a scaredy-cat and do not like true crime at all save for a few exceptions. Cults, tragedies, and conspiracies are fine, but no serial murder please. Memoirs are good too!
Books I've Liked
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The Best Land Under Heaven by Michael Wallis
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Educated by Tara Westover
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CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill
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Bottoms Up & the Devil Laughs by Kerry Howley
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The Rise & Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte
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Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
Books Already On My List
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Krakauer in general, but particularly Into Thin Air
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The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family by Jesselyn Cook
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Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne
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And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts
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Acid for the Children by Flea
Any genre or topic is welcomed (except the true crime, obv).
(Sorry this is a repost – I just didn't get a ton of results when I posted yesterday)
by theygotthemustardout
5 Comments
Since you liked Educated, you might like The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner
Other ideas:
Red Notice by Bill Browder
American Kingpin by Nick Bilton
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
Check out Erik Larson. Dead Wake, Isaac’s Storm and In The Garden of Beasts are all excellent and read like novels (and none are true crime).
Also Double Cross by Ben Macintyre is a “too crazy to be fiction” story about spies during WWII. It is wild.
{{The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot}}
*Wizard of the Upper Amazon* by Lamb/Cordova
*In the Spirit of Crazy Horse* by Peter Matthiessen
*Salvation on Sand Mountain* by Dennis Covington
*The Jakarta method* by Vincent Bevins