Well, I hope you’ve had a chance to peruse the list I provided earlier of some of my favorite non-fiction books. I used to exclusively read fiction but once I got my mitts on a non-fiction book, I was hooked! It’s so fascinating to see how other people live, or have lived. Everyone has a story, and the people that have been dealt the worst of odds and survive and triumph, well, those particular books really inspire me! Not only that, but it’s mind-boggling to read about what people are really capable of (good and bad). Anyway, here’s the second half of my list. Again, if you do happen to check out any of the books I’ve recommended, I truly hope that you enjoy them!
- Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans: The Battle That Shaped America’s Destiny by Brian Kilmeade
- Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening by Manal al-Sharif
- The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman
- A Life in Parts by Bryan Cranston
- Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
- Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life by Steve Martin
- Finding Gobi: A Little Dog with a Very Big Heart by Dion Leonard
- The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel
- The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore
- From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty
- Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
- The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson
- Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII’s Most Highly Decorated Spy by Larry Loftis
- Yes Please by Amy Poehler
- The Wicked Boy: An Infamous Murder in Victorian London by Kate Summerscale
- Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston
- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
- The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown
- The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara
- The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt’s Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer by Anne-Marie O’Connor
- The Lives and Loves of Daisy and Violet Hilton: A True Story of Conjoined Twins by Dean Jensen
- It Was Me All Along: A Memoir by Andie Mitchell
- A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold
- The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism by Naoki Higashida
- You Don’t Know Me: Reflections of My Father, Ray Charles by Ray Charles Robinson Jr
- The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice by Rebecca Musser
- Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes
- Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- A Bookshop in Berlin: The Rediscovered Memoir of One Woman’s Harrowing Escape from the Nazis by Francoise Frenkel
- Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep
- Wild by Cheryl Strayed
- Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan
- If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood by Gregg Olsen
- Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo
- The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, A Memoir by Bill Bryson
- Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham
- Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
- The Nazi Officer’s Wife by Edith Hahn Beer
- The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish
- Buried Beneath the Boarding House: A Shocking True Story of Deception, Exploitation and Murder by Ryan Green
- Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
Alright, I hope this keeps you out of trouble for a while! The books are not listed in any particular order but I will say this, none of them require use of a dictionary. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to read a book and having to continually stop and look up words. Kind of takes the joy out of the experience! I want something that will take me out of reality and not feel like homework. So, as I said before, now it’s all up to you. All of these books should be available through your local library (actual paper books and electronic versions) and most libraries are back open by now. Even if you cannot walk inside the building, you can usually put the books you’re interested in on hold (by calling or going online) and someone from the library will meet you outside with the items you requested. Or, even better, you can download them from the comfort of your own home! It doesn’t get any better than that! Ok, going to leave you to it. Happy reading!!
My entire family is insane. 