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Please list a few 'great' non fiction books. Due to time constraints and not really enjoying fiction, I read only non fiction, and have for most of my life.
I will start.
1. The Smartest Guys In the Room by Peter Elkind/Bethany Mclean. The Enron Story. Reads like fiction, but it's true. It's a huge book and I've read it more than once.
2. Charlie Wilson's War by George Krile Later made into a movie (which I didn't see), the story of U.S. congressman who helped to arm the Afghan rebels against the Russians.
3. The Snowball by Alice Schroeder Warren Buffett's biography
4. Trumped! The inside story of the real Donald Trump John O'Donnell Focusing mainly on Trump's management of his A.C. casino's.
I love Ann Rule's true crime books, because of her unique way of getting inside the heads of the characters, and of course her great writing style.
I also enjoy most of Peter Ackroyd's books on English history, because he usually goes about detailing it in his style which brings history to life. He revels in the tiny details that people often overlook, which give great insight into the people and social trends of ages past.
Bruce Feiler immerses himself into different social circles and environments, often for several years at a time, and then writes beautifully (and respectfully) about his experiences - at an English college, teaching in Japan in a small village, traveling with a circus, the country music scene in Nashville - fascinating insights and apparently he easily wins the confidence of those with whom he is living or working.
On a lighter note, Bill Bryson's Notes From a Small Island remains near the top of my list. Travelogue, history, and humor - the best of his 'oeuvre.
Oh, I LOVE Bill Bryson and that particular book is one of my all time favorites. It's the first Bill Bryson book I ever bought and I bought it because it had me laughing OUT LOUD in the aisle of Barnes and Noble and I felt that if it was that good standing up in a store, I'd surely enjoy it sitting at home in comfort. Which I did.
If you liked that book, Lost Roses, you might also really enjoy this one:
non-fiction:
"Doubt" (Hecht) will rock religious complacency.
"Empire Express" is the real world that built the transcontinental railroad.
"In The Ruins of Empire" what REALLY happened after the war with Japan, how Mao got power, &cetra
"Guns, Germs, and Steel"
"Thy Will Be Done" In depth on the Rockefeller activities, especially atrocities in the Amazon in the name of religion
"Kara Kush" (Iidries Shah) is the Afghan side of "Charlie Wilson's War."
"Innocents Abroad" (Mark Twain) A fantastic read, experiential Grand Tour before westernization.
"Life on the Mississippi" (Mark Twain) how rough river life was.
Look on Project Gutenberg for some older non-fiction. I'm Currently reading "Modern London"
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakaur -- the story of the 1996 Mt Everest Disaster.
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