Friday, March 23, 2012

Non-Fiction List

I was going through some non-fiction lists, and although they were very interesting and helpful, I couldn't help but notice, a lot of the stuff I've read in the past and really enjoyed were not on these lists.  It seems only prize winning books get on most lists.  But what about those books that are in the back of the dusty library shelf? What about those books that people don't know exist?  What about those books about people nobody knows?  What about those books that talk about subjects you never thought could be interesting?

I decided to go through my book list from 2006 through 2012 and pull out my favorite non-fiction books.  I did go a little back in my memory past 2006 to get some older reads, however, most of this list are from books I've read in the last six years.  Some you may recognize, some you probably never heard of, while others you probably are going "I would never read that in a million years".  Everything on this list, I've given a B+ or above to.



Memoir / Autobiography

90 Minutes in Heaven – Don Piper 
A Child Called ‘It” – David Peltzer
Bird by Bird –Anne Lamont 
Fall Down Laughing: How Squiggy Caught Multiple Sclerosis and Didn’t Tell Nobody – David Lander 
Have a Little Faith – Mitch Albom 
Here’s The Story – Maureen McCormick 
How Reading Changed My Life - Anna Quindelin 
How Starbucks Saved My Life - Michael Gates Gill 
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl – Harriet Jacobs 
Karen - Marie Killilea
Know It All – A.J. Jacobs 
The Last Lecture - Randy Paucsh 
Look Me in the Eye – John Elder Robinson 
Man's Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl 
Moab is my Washpot: An Autobiography – Stephen Fry 
Mustaine – Dave Mustaine 
My Autobiography – Charles Chaplan 
On Writing – Stephen King 
Passing – Nela Larson
Passing for Normal – Amy Welensky
Rage to Survive – Etta James 
Roasting in Hell's Kitchen – Gordon Ramsey 
Tennessee Williams Notebooks – Tennessee Williams/M. Bradham Thornton
Through The Storm – Lynn Spears 
Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia & Bulimia - Marya Hornbacher 
The Year of Living Biblically – A.J. Jacobs



Biography

A Capitalist Romance:   Singer and the Sewing Machine – Ruth Brandon 
Depardieu: A Biography – Paul Chutkow
The Man Who Invented Christmas – Lee  Standiford 

History

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America – David von Drehle

Other

Freakonomics - S. Levitt, S. Dubner 
Secret Windows: Essays on Writing – Stephen King
Where The Germs Are - Nicholas Bakalar







3 comments:

Michelle Stockard Miller said...

Liz, would it be okay if I posted a link to your list on the challenge blog link page? I think this will be helpful to people.

Did you look at the Goodreads lists I posted? They're more recommended reads by actual readers than necessarily award winners, although I'm sure there are some award winners on the lists.

I have read On Writing and part of Secret Windows. Both are excellent, of course.

All the books I will be reading are coming directly from my shelves. It's going to be a very eclectic list. =O)

Wall-to-wall books said...

Wow! I don't think I have read any of these!
A couple of them sit on my book shelves though.
And a few more look good - I think I will look them up.
I am looking forward to seeing what you think of some of these.

Unknown said...

Michelle - of course. You don't have to even ask!! I wish I could offer up more. No I didn't check out the goodreads list. I will now.

Wendy - I read more non fiction books than I realize. It is interesting to see it listed.

I think in the future I am going to concentrate on history instead of memoirs though.