Thursday, February 3, 2011

Nonfiction for Those Who Love Fiction

1.  Lawrence Gonzales: Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why
2.  Stanley Bing: Rome, Inc.: The Rise and Fall of the First Multinational Corporation
3.  Olivia Judson: Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex
4.  Gavin De Becker: The Gift of Fear (and Other Survival Signals that Protect Us From Violence)
5.  Karen Pryor: Don't Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training
6.  Po Bronson: "Why Do I Love These People?": Understanding, Surviving, and Creating Your Own Family
7.  Oliver Sacks: The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales
8.  Dr. William Maples: Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist
9.  Lynne Truss: Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
10. Eric Weiner: The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World

Focus for this list:
I don't consider myself an avid reader of nonfiction.  Yet, I find myself drawn to nonfiction when flying.  These are the books that not only kept me happily absorbed during an airline ordeal, they're also the books I recommended to others once I'd touched down!

3 comments:

  1. The only non-fiction I read - and can remember - is "Broken Music" by Sting. I admire him, because he was a teacher and quit for what he believed in. I wish I had the guts to do that, too. His book was a good read, even though in passages it was a bit too "self-"flattering and exaggerated for my taste.

    If you want something really fascinating, read "No Future without Forgiveness" by Desmond Tutu. I read it while searching for an exam text (yes, I can read extremely fast if I don't read for pleasure) - I was struck - and sad - when I read it - and happy when I considered the outcome.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Let's see, I've read Deep Survival, The Gift of Fear, and The Man Who Mistook His Wife. All very good. I've given the Gift of Fear as a gift to friends and students.

    I would also recommend Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel as well as his Collapse. Intruiging and holistic look at societies are shaped by their environments and each other.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Now I need a list of fiction for someone who loves non-fiction, please. :)

    ReplyDelete