Recommend clean secular nonfiction

PinkFridge

Wed, Dec 08 2021, 5:14 pm

American Wasteland was interesting.

amother

Honeydew

Wed, Dec 08 2021, 5:17 pm

Books by Malcolm Gladwell - David and Goliath , Blink, Outliers.

GLUE

Wed, Dec 08 2021, 7:15 pm

Guts and Glory-Ben Thompson
These books are about different wars like the American Revolution, he also wrote other history books but I never read them

Politically Incorrect Guide Books
They are on different topics and authors, I liked some did not like others they have a lot of them on different points in history

scruffy

Wed, Dec 08 2021, 7:24 pm

I love nonfiction! A couple of picks off the top of my head -

The Boys in the Boat - about the American crew team that won gold in the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother - Chinese-American woman's memoir on Asian style parenting her children

Into the Wild - recounts the story of a college kid found dead in the Alaskan wilderness

amother

Hawthorn

Wed, Dec 08 2021, 7:32 pm

icedcoffee wrote:

Anything by Erik Larsen is great, like The Devil in the White City about a serial killer doctor and the 1893 World Fair. It reads like a suspenseful thriller but it's also a great slice of a historical moment. Though there is gore/murder.

Absolutely 💯 love Erik Larson. Also, anything bu Jon Krakauer is fantastic.

amother

Arcticblue

Wed, Dec 08 2021, 8:13 pm

So I reviewed my Goodreads record to find books I enjoyed. I tried to summarize the main idea so you can decide if this book is for you.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - fascinating story of the author's search for the life story of the woman whose cells contributed to most breakthroughs in modern medicine. Although Henrietta has been dead for decades, her cells live on. For people who love science and biography.

People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present by Dara Horn - sad but also surprisingly hopeful book about antisemitism, and how dead Jews are celebrated and commemorated but living ones are not. Cannot recommend highly enough.

A Fortress in Brooklyn: Race, Real Estate, and the making of Chassidic Williamsburg by Nathaniel Deutsch and Michael Casper - It's all in the title. As a native Williamsburger, I LOVED it. I remember some of the events they describe, and it was fun to read about it from an academic angle.

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline C. Perez - about the many ways the lack of data about women impacts 50% of the population.

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by P.R. Keefe - about the family that build the medical advertising industry and directly led to the opioid epidemic. I was sad to learn that they are Jewish, at least the earlier links in the family chain.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba - about a boy in Africa who invents a windmill to provide his family with electricity. It might have some disturbing details, which I tend not to remember to clearly.

The Beast that Crouches at the Door by Rabbi David Fohrman - beautiful Torah from Rabbi Fohrman that makes you see Bereishis from a whole new perspective. He also wrote The Exodus you Almost Passed Over and The Queen You Thought You Knew. Reads almost like a story.

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van der Kolk - exactly what it sounds. Scientific and psychological, but easy to read.

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green - Essays about the modern world, where the author "rates" some really random things about the world. Some moving, some funny, some poignant. If you enjoy John Green's fiction, this is definitely a book not to be missed. It might have some language or inappropriate stuff, but nothing major that I couldn't move past easily.

An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield - memoir by a woman with bipolar disorder.

Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World by Laura Linney - I read this early in the Covid pandemic and it helped me understand why people react the way they do.

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman - hilarious memoir by the scientist. I kept laughing out loud throughout. Might have some scientific and religious stuff that won't sit well with frum readers, but I highly recommend regardless.

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander - This should be required reading before any discussion of racism in America today.

Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higgenbotham - detailed account of the Chernobyl disaster.

Sacred Trash by Adina Hoffman - fascinating book about the Cairo Genizah. Quite academic, if you like that sort of thing.

Mitzvah Girls by Ayala Fader - about chinuch in chassidish Boro Park. I most enjoyed the linguistic details. Very academic.

The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara by David Kertzer - about the kidnapping of a Jewish boy in 1858, all too recently in modern history, and how it contributed or at least played out in the context of the decline of the Vatican's power.

Let the People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College by Jesse Wegman - exactly what the title says it's about. Agree or disagree, it will leave you with food for thought.

All Who Go Do Not Return by Shulem Deen - the most beautiful and literary of the OTD memoirs, written quite sensitively and even poetically. Stay away if this genre is not for you...

My Life and Hard Times by James Thurber - pure hilarity. Memoir of the author. Featuring such gems as The Night the Bed Fell which I remember reading in school and crying from laughter.

Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism by Anne Case - as depressing as it sounds, focusing on the rise of so-called deaths of despair, which refer to suicide, overdose, and alcohol related illnesses.

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis - about the people who figured out what was going on before the crash that led to the Great Recession. For people who enjoy financial history.

The End of Policing by Alex Vitale - explains the reasons behind the animosity towards police that erupted over the last few years. Agree or disagree, it leaves you with food for thought.

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly - the story of the Black women of NASA.

The Story of My Life by Helen Keller - the autobiography of Helen Keller is beautifully written and gives insight into her life and struggles

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

My Inventions by Nikola Tesla - Autobiography by one of the most enigmatic but prolific inventor the world has ever seen. I wonder if he would have been diagnosed with something or other nowadays.

The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic and How it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson - about how John Snow tried to solve the mystery of the cholera epidemic

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven Levitt - random but fascinating.

Code Talker by Chester Nez - memoir of a Navajo code talker who helped the US send coded messages during WWII that the Japanese were unable to decode.

Stalling for Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator by Gary Noesner - title says it all.

The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein - about how the government allowed and even enforced segregation through urban planning decisions.

In Cold Blood by Truman Copote - the book that started the genre of literary true crime nonfiction. It's about the murder of a family and reads almost like a novel.

allthingsblue

Wed, Dec 08 2021, 8:30 pm

Beauty in the broken places by Allison pataki

Normal by magda Newman as suggested earlier in the thread

Maybe you should talk to someone

PinkFridge

Wed, Dec 08 2021, 8:39 pm

amother [ Arcticblue ] wrote:

So I reviewed my Goodreads record to find books I enjoyed. I tried to summarize the main idea so you can decide if this book is for you.

I just read People Love Dead Jews. And I've heard her speak. Fascinating and sobering.
Re Freakonomics, there's the story of his parents - Turbulent Souls.
And, heartbreaking and elegant, The Color of Water.

amother

Lemonchiffon

Wed, Dec 08 2021, 8:56 pm

This was a GREAT book.

amother

Honeydew

Wed, Dec 08 2021, 9:06 pm

Seconding recommendations of some of the other posters -
Into thin air by Jon Krakauer - surprisingly fascinating book that delves into what makes people risk their lives (and their brain cells) to climb Mount Everest
Turbulent Souls
Our Crowd -Jewish immigrants who started many of the Wall Street firms.

Really enjoying this thread.

amother

Lavender

Wed, Dec 08 2021, 9:10 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

I have People Love Dead Jews on hold at the library, hoping to get it soon. I've heard (ok read) good word of mouth. I heard her on a recent podcast by Bari Weiss (her book How to Fight Anti Semitism is another good non-fiction rec) and was impressed.

There seem to be a lot of Little House fans here so I'd also recommend the book Prairie Fires for the true story and historical background of the Ingalls family. The book rightfully won the National Book Award, it is impeccably researched, well written, and a gripping read.

Mom/Bubby/Morah

Wed, Dec 08 2021, 9:33 pm

Extraordinary, Ordinary People: Memoir of A Family by Condaleeza Rice

Title says it all . Great read .
Love this thread - goals !!

4everdiet

Wed, Dec 08 2021, 10:53 pm

Keep them coming. Did anyone read The Glass Castle?

youngishbear

Wed, Dec 08 2021, 11:14 pm

4everdiet wrote:

Keep them coming. Did anyone read The Glass Castle?

I read this. Very interesting memoir.

Great thread! I especially like nonfiction that are available as audiobooks through the public library.

I second The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. For people who like that genre of tracing a specific crime or criminal, there's also:

Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World's Most Famous Detective Writer by Margalit Fox

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca

Some are better than others.

amother

Honeydew

Wed, Dec 15 2021, 9:21 pm

History of the Jews - Paul Johnson
Six Days of War
The Prime Ministers
Out of the Depths
StrengthsFinder

amother

Buttercup

Wed, Dec 15 2021, 9:46 pm

the woman who smashed codes by Jason Fagone. About a woman who was a code breaker in WWII. Fascinating read.

the boy in the moon by Ian brown. Written by a father of a disabled son. Beautifully written, very moving.

Maybe you should talk to someone by Lori Gottlieb. About a therapists experience being in therapy

I second these 2 that were mentioned. Really liked them.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic and How it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson

readreread

Mon, Jan 10 2022, 9:23 am

I enjoyed Cultish by Amanda Montell, which is about how cults and cult-like groups use certain language to rope in new members/victims. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H.....tkr=1

If you like true crime, I also loved I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara, about the Golden State Killer. https://www.amazon.com/Ill-Be-.....r=1-1

amother

DarkViolet

Fri, Jan 21 2022, 3:16 pm

Bump. Not OP.
Specifically looking for memoirs.
I put many of these suggestions on hold at my local library. No more holds allowed until they come in and I pick them up, but I'll be following this thread. Thanks! Looking forward!

amother

DarkViolet

Sun, Jan 23 2022, 7:26 am

Bump

GLUE

Sun, Jan 23 2022, 1:09 pm

A year without made in China-Sara Bongiorni
A family tries to spends a whole year not buying stuff from China

The Longest Road-Philip Caputo
A 70 year old man decides to drive from Key West Florida to Dead horse Alaska before he dies, and ask people on what keeps the country together.