What good non-fiction have you read lately?

That's a broad area care to be more specific.

-Anything- that's not made up

I'm currently rereading Bryan Burroughs Public Enemies about the era of Dillinger,Baby Face Nelson,Bonnie and Clyde etc.Michael Mann is making it into a film with Johnny Depp as Dillinger.Also Paddy Wacked by T.J. English-its a history of Irish organized crime in the U.S.The Westies in NYC played pretty rough.

Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime

by Geoffrey R. Stone

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. The film is worth your time, too, and I'll add I enjoyed watching the film after having read the book. I think it's on DVD in mid-February and still lingering in theaters, here and there.

I'm the king of non-fiction, here are some of my recommendations:

The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge by David McCullough

Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: Simon Winchester

Alexander Hamilton: Ron Chernow

The Great Influenza: The story of the deadliest pandemic in history: John M. Barry

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson

The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik

John Paul Jones: Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy by Evan Thomas

Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson

Lateralus, you just chose my next book. I love books about health, and I'll be reading the Influenza one first. Does anyone by any chance know of a documentary about it? Saw it in college and would love to see it again (it was on VHS).

Thanks for the recommendations and keep them coming!

In that case I would also recommend:

The Demon Under the Microscope: From Battlefield Hospitals to Nazi Labs, One Doctor's Heroic Search for the World's First Miracle Drug.
by Thomas Hager

Polio: An American Story by David M. Oshinsky

Rats, Lice, and History by Zinsser is the classic. The writing style is old-fashioned, but the book is fascinating.

Anything by David Halberstam.

Especially The Breaks Of The Game, Playing For Keeps, War In A Time Of Peace & The Coldest Winter.

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz

Thanks for the recommendations! I bookmarked this thread for reading material.

I was browsing the bargain bin at Borders and ended up with 9 books for $90.XX after tax.


Oxford Guide To Philosophy

An Incomplete Education http://www.amazon.com/Incomplete-Edu...0712758&sr=1-1

Oxford Guide To The Supreme Court

World Art: The Essential Illustrated History
(got the softcover version)
http://www.amazon.com/World-Art-Esse...0712859&sr=1-1

A History of Western Philosophy
http://www.amazon.com/History-Wester...0712921&sr=1-1

501 Must Read Books
http://www.amazon.com/History-Wester...0712921&sr=1-1

The Collected What If? Eminent Historians Imagining What Might Have Been
http://www.amazon.com/Collected-Emin...0713040&sr=1-2

World of Facts 2008 (not the almanac)

Completed Works of William Shakespeare


So many books so little time!

The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star

A few of my favorite NFs:

Out of Sheer Rage by Geoff Dyer. Hilarious. Highly recommended if you're a Seinfeld fan.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X May have been the first adult book I ever read. Starts as pulp, but becomes very thoughtful and quietly powerful.

Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro. Almost overwhelming, it's really a history of modern New York.

E=mc2 by David Bodanis. A quick & fun read, good for the beach.

Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro. What can I say? The man's a genius.

Master of the Senate is volume three of the set. You should read the other volumes first.

If you liked E=mc^2, you should read A Brief History of Pi.

Who wrote A Brief History of Pi?

I misremembered the title. It's A History of Pi by Petr Beckmann.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0312381859

I read this one recently. Odd book. Some fun stuff about "Circle Squarers" and others who try to "prove" pi is a rational number. I remember the author sure makes his feelings known about the Romans, Communists and Nazis and their disservice to mathematics.

Keith Devlin has some good books if people are interested in math. Language of Mathematics and The Math Instinct are two I've read and can highly recommend.

David Foster Wallace (author of Infinite Jest) wrote a very readable math book, Everything and More, about Infinity and The Calculus.

Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh is another good, readable, book that gives a broad history of math while focusing on Fermat's famous theorem and the quest to prove it.

My favorite "math" book of all time though is Gödel Escher Bach : An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter http://www.amazon.com/Godel-Escher-B.../dp/0465026567

I'm currently re-reading "This Book Needs No Title: A Budget of Living Paradoxes" by Raymond Smullyan. And reading "Two Zen Classics" (The Gateless Gate and The Blue Cliff Records) translated and notated by Katsuki Sekida

I second Lateralus' recommendation of the Erik Larson books and would add his latest, Thunderstruck.

Some other recommendations:

Son of the Morning Star, Evan S. Connell

Book of the Dead: The Complete History of Zombie Cinema, Jamie Russell

Like Hidden Fire and Setting the East Ablaze, Peter Hopkirk

off the top of my head...Helter Skelter (really in depth look at the manson murders) and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (read the reviews first, it's not for everyone)

I'm reading a book on Sufism called: Love is the Wine

I'm also reading a book by Crimethink Inc. called: Days of War Nights of Love

Both are pretty good.

two books already mentioned that I second
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik

I would add
Positively Fifth Street by James McManus
Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis

Funny you would mention Word Freak, I have just gotten it from Paperbackswap. Haven't had a lot of reading time, but first on my list are The Hot Zone and Word Freak.

I recommend: Lend Me Your Ears edited by William Safire. It's a huge collection of speeches (over 1000 pages long). The abolition speeches were especially moving. Each speech was a window into the speakers time and environment.