Beyond Reality discussion

Do you ever read nonfiction? What nonfiction topics and authors do you enjoy?

I have read a few nonfiction titles over the years, but I have to admit, it’s never been a favorite genre for me because I read for enjoyment and I don’t find a lot of nonfiction that enjoyable. I think I equate nonfiction with all those textbooks I had to read throughout college and grad school, even though I know there are nonfiction books that are written to be very readable. I guess biography and memoirs would be the closest to “enjoyable” for me.

I read non fiction now and then, though its not a favorite. Mostly its science or technology related in one way or another.

I always have grand aspirations for reading non-fiction, but my track record is not that great. If I make it through a non-fiction book, it’ll most likely be a memoir or (auto)biography, I especially enjoy ones read by the author. I make it through most books on music too.

I read maybe 25-30% non-fiction - typically science, history (mostly ancient), nature, society, some economics and politics.


Recent stand-outs have been:

Ed Yong's An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us

The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot by Robert Macfarlane

Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution by Carlo Rovelli

Bitch: On the Female of the Species by Lucy Cooke

The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis by Christiana Figueres

The Book of Humans: A Brief History of Culture, Sex, War and the Evolution of Us by Adam Rutherford

Moneyland: Why Thieves and Crooks Now Rule the World and How To Take It Back by Oliver Bullough

Men Who Hate Women - From Incels to Pickup Artists: The Truth about Extreme Misogyny and How It Affects Us All by Laura Bates

Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art by Rebecca Wragg Sykes

The Byzantine World War by Nick Holmes

Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godfrey-Smith

I'd say my reading is about 25-30% nonfiction, maybe a little more. Mostly memoirs, science, and science history, with a smidge of sociology/economics.

Favorite nonfiction authors are Mary Roach, Sam Kean, Oliver Sacks, and Malcolm Gladwell. Also Erik Larsen is excellent. I've read multiple books by all of the above and they are wonderful. Some others I recommend:

The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York (I hear she has a new book out, I haven't read it yet)

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

Hidden Figures

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

and some memoirs:

Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner

A Face for Picasso: Coming of Age with Crouzon Syndrome

Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things

When Breath Becomes Air

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth

and a favorite that is likely of interest to many people here: As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride. I recommend this one on audio, since Cary Elwes reads it himself and there are cameo appearances from several of the other major players in the cast and crew!

Shel wrote: "and a favorite that is likely of interest to many people here: As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride. I recommend this one on audio, since Cary Elwes reads it himself and there are cameo appearances from several of the other major players in the cast and crew! "

Most of the cast did a reading of the story online as a political fundraiser a few year ago, it was so worth the donation <3 Nonfiction is not my thing but I may check this out!

So, since we’re sharing titles, a few I think might be of interest, which I enjoyed of the past few years are:

Robin: The definitive Biography of Robin Williams https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Born with Teeth, by Kate Mulgrew (Katherine Janeway) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Without You, by Anthony Rapp https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

The Music Lesson, by Victor L. Wooten https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Up Till Now, William Shatner https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Leonard: My 50 Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man, William Shatner https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Jim Henson, by Brian Jay Jones https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Imagination Illustrated: The Jim Henson Journal https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

James Tiptree, Jr.: The Dpuble Life of Alice B. Sheldon, by Julie Phillips https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...





Wishful Drinking and The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher