I read the first chapter of this book one afternoon when I was at the library in college. I loved it, but never got around to checking it out. I’d love to win! Favorite non-fiction: Desiring God, by John Piper, is the first one that comes to mind.

My favorite non-fiction book is Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World’s Most Revered and Reviled Bird by Andrew Blechman because I’ve always had a thing for pigeons and I’d love to have my own pigeon loft someday.

I’m a little weird.

I LOVE anything by Bill Bryson. He writes travel stuff, and things about the English language, and since I’m an English major… I just read a biography about Shakespeare by him called The World As Stage and it was hilarious. I honestly laughed out loud at parts.

Desert Solitude by Edward Abbey is my favorite non-fiction work. It’s about a year spent in beatiful Arches National Park before it was a major tourist destination, and it is really a captivating story of one man and nature.

A second “anything by Bill Bryson.” Seriously, check him out. My absolute favorite is A Short History of Nearly Everything, which I read and think it is just the opposite of a textbook, or that all textbooks should be written by him and then children would want to learn!

On a side note, since that book deals with a lot of things that are often controversial in religion, maybe sometime you could address the Mormon views on creation, etc? I’ve just realized while writing this that I have absolutely no idea!

My favorite non-fiction book is “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer. I’ve read it a number of times and I just really love how honest it is; at times you love the main character and at times you think he’s just a huge idiot. I like that about the book; he’s not turned into some hero.

I also really like “Blue Like Jazz” by Don Miller. The subtitle is “non-religious thoughts on Christian spirituality.” I just think it’s really beautiful and has a lot of interesting ideas that make you think and question.

Kristin Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:10 am

Blue Like Jazz – Amazing!

Forgot about this one.

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. If you’ve ever loved a dog, this is the book for you.

I am always looking for a good read — and I love it even more when something is suggested. One of my favorite non-fiction books would probably be “A Child Called It”…I remember reading it at such a young age and it made me cry over and over again, such a sad story!

I would love to win this book and add it to my good reads!

my favorite non-iction book is In Small Things Forgotten, after i read it i wanted to dig up the side yard!

I loved loved LOVED The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. It reads like fiction but is the true story of the construction and execution of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and a charming doctor who is actually a serial killer operating at the time of the fair. Reallly great read!

I’d have to second Devil in the White City as it is one of my favorite books. And I’ll add Born to Run by Christopher McDougal which is a fascinating book about ultra marathon runners.

Hear me out – my favorite non-fiction book is The River of Doubt by Candace Millard. It’s about Theodore Roosevelt’s journey down the uncharted Amazon & is FASCINATING!

I prefer Fiction, but I have read a few non-fiction that I like. Perhaps my favorite is Spiritual Lightening by M. Catherine Thomas. Great book. Do religious books count?? I hope so… Just in case not, I also liked Boy, the autobiography of Roald Dahl. He was my favorite author as a kid, and when we had to do book reports on autobiographies, I knew immediately what I was going to do!

Stiff is on my list of books to read.

I like several books by A.J Jacobs, but a recent fave has been Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Or the Michael Pollan books, or Good Calories/ Bad Calories by Gary Taubes – a comprehensive look at the conventional wisdom that surrounds popular dietary advice. It’s a bit dry b/c it goes through so many clinical trials, but it’s still an interesting read. Was I only supposed to suggest one book? oopsies…

I love a good nonfiction book to break up my reading, primarily of fiction. There are a few good nonfiction books though – if you like forensics you might enjoy “Dissecting Death” by Frederick Zugibe and David L. Carroll, very nice narrative style that keeps you going. Also “Founding Mothers” by Cokie Roberts – about the wives of the great men who founded our country.

Current favorite – The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone
It is a lifestyle and vegan book, it has great information and stories and recipes!

Sadly I don’t read much non-fiction though! I am excited to add some of your readers suggestions to my library list.

I’ve contemplated reading this book before but never got around to it!
As for my favorite non-fiction work, I used to read a lot of memoirs about people going through drug & alcohol addiction… my favorite used to be James Frey’s “Million Little Pieces”, as it was published as non-fiction initially. However, it later came about that it’s actually not completely true. So I guess that one’s out. I recently read “Mistaken Identity” about two girls that were in a van crash in Indiana a few years ago & one family was told their daughter died & the other that their daughter lived… you find out later that it was a case of mistaken identity & the girls were mixed up. It was so heartbreaking, but a really interesting read. It’s about the Van Ryn & Cerak families.

‘Power of Now’ by Eckhart Tolle, and ‘Making Avonlea: L.M. Montgomery and Popular Culture ‘ by Irene Gammel.

This cadaver book is unlike anything I’ve read but I’m open to new experiences.

Favorite non-fiction… I don’t necessarily have a favorite, but I really enjoyed “The Way we Never Were”, unsure of the author.

It’s a sociology book about how we have these myths in our culture about family, or people, or children, etc., and she goes through and cites loads of interesting stats and stories and draws upon info from all manner of sources to basically deconstruct our assumptions about our own cultural past. I couldn’t put it down!

not an original suggestion, but freakonomics and super freakonomics. excellent, informative yet lighthearted enough to enjoy.

Oooh, my fave non fiction goes along with this book! It’s Dead Men Do Tell Tales by Dr. William Maples. He is a forensic anthropologist and in the book he talks about many of his interesting cases. Including when he got to help with the russian czar and his family’s exhumation. It’s a really great book!

My favorite non-fiction book is a ‘My Lobotomy’ by Howard Dully. As a psych student, I was drawn to the subject matter, off the bat. But in addition to the interesting details surrounding the procedure, Howard’s narrative is really candid and direct. ‘Stiff’ has actually been on my list since reading ‘My Lobotomy.’ I’d love to win a copy.

I’ve meant to buy/read this book for a long time, but never have. Hmm…favorite nonfiction…probably Life as We Know It, by Michael Berube.

Oh I saw someone put Eat Pray Love, that’s a favorite book of mine too. I also just read the Omnivores Dilemma and Slaughter house. As unappetizing as they are I really like knowing where my food is coming from and how it’s being processed.

This book sounds like it is RIGHT up my alley!!! *fingers crossed*

Its SO hard to pick a favorite book… because I love to read. But one that sticks out in my mind was from when I was a little girl called “Julie of the Wolves” Of course its a young adult reading book- but I found a cheap copy on Amazon and still reread it to this day!

My favorite nonfiction book is “The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court.” It reads like a page turner, and gives you an insiders look into the word of the most powerful (and most misunderstood) court in the US. It also presents a great history of some of the biggest and most important cultural, social and political battles of the last 40 years. AWESOME.

I think one of my new favorite non-fiction books is The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine, M.D.. I had to read it for one of my Women’s Studies classes and LOVED it! I think my favorite thing is that it is one a few books that talks about how men and women are biologically different and this isn’t a bad thing. I think people mistake saying we are different by saying we aren’t equal but I don’t think this is true. This book talks about how women have brains that expand and contract based on what they are going through. So interesting!

My favorite non-fiction book is actually this one! But I have it as an audiobook on iTunes, so I’m entering because I’d love a hard copy of it. I majored in physiology in college and got to spend a quarter in the human cadaver lab, and ever since then I’ve been fascinated with them.

I’m going to echo many of the comments and say my favorite is Eat, Pray, Love. If only I had the freedom to leave everything, live in Italy and eat the best pizza on earth

I’m a nurse, so most of the non-fiction I read is medical related. I found both of these really interesting, and I don’t think you have to be in health care to enjoy them: “Birth: The Surprising History of How We are Born” by Tina Cassidy, and “Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science” by Atul Gawande.

I’m not sure I could pick a favorite, but my husband got me Sarah Vowell’s “The Wordy Shipmates” for Christmas, and I really loved it. She is as hilarious, smart and heartfelt on paper as she is on This American Life. Plus, I love early American history, especially something as frequently cited as the Puritans.

Sloane Crosley wrote a bunch of great essays in “I Was Told There’d Be Cake.” I picked it up for the title and loved it! Her next book is coming out in July and I can’t wait!

P.S. There’s a wedding-related essay I think you would enjoy

I really have liked Into Thin Air by John Krakauer, Fast Food Nation, and well the 9/11 Commission Report as odd as that sounds.

I just finished the Omnivore’s Dilemma and it was such a great, conversational read. It has changed the way I think about food and I’m (albeit slowly) trying to eat more whole foods and to be more aware of where my food comes from.

The book, “Diary of an Early American Boy” always fascinated me as a child. While not strictly nonfiction, it draws on the found diary of a boy, Noah Blake, who was 15 in 1805. It couples Noah’s diary entries with drawings and elaboration on life from that era, including building techniques and general farm labor. As someone who was obsessed with the “Dear America” series, this was perhaps even more fascinating for its deeper basis in reality.