[LMS]

As it is now the summer, I will have a lot of time on my hands to read. I already have a long list of fiction books to read but I felt like expanding my horizons and read some non-fiction books. I am not too fussy about genre (I'll read science, history whatever). However, I have no idea where to look. Can anyone recommend any must-read non-fiction books?

[Kimberly]

Well Bill Bryson who writes travel books is a great read! Any of his travel books are good He also just published a science book. I have it but haven't read it yet. We also have a History Book thread you should visit if you are looking for History Book ideas

[summerbug]

Bill Bryson is definitely an interesting choice! I think most would like him Of course, I've only done the audio version so I can't vouch for the book really.

If you are interested in one perspective on the fast food industry, "Fast Food Nation" is pretty good. "The Electronic Republic" is pretty interesting - it's about how electronic media (tv, fax, computers, e-mail, etc) have impacted government and will. Considering how rapidly things change it could be out of date (1996ish). So, it might be interesting to see how right or wrong he may have been about things. It still raises relevant questions like, yes people can easily participate in the political process someday with the click of a button - but at what cost? Do you want people easily swayed by a tv ad turning and voting an instant later?

Biographies are usually a fascinating read.

[froggiepopple]

Here is a list of some of my favorite nonfiction books:
Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble and Coming of Age in the Bronx by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
The Forensic Casebook: The Science of Crime Scene Investigation by N.E. Genge
Rules for Radicals by Saul D. Alinksy
The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World by Marti Olsen Laney, Psy.D
How Children Fail and How Children Learn by John Holt
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon
A Bright Red Scream: Self Mutilation and the Language of Pain by Marilee Strong
A Language Older Than Words by Derrick Jensen
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi with Curt Gentry
8 BALL CHICKS: A YEAR IN THE VIOLENT WORLD OF GIRL GANGS BY GINI SIKES
THE DAY I BECAME AN AUTODIDACT; AND THE ADVICE, ADVENTURES, AND ACRIMONIES THAT BEFELL THEREAFTER BY KENDALL HAILEY
Dancing Naked in the Mind Field by Kary Mullis
An Underground Education: The Unauthorized and Outrageous Supplement to Everything You Thought You Knew About Art, Sex, Business, Crime, Science, Medicine, and Other Fields of Human Knowledge by Richard Zacks
Eat, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money-That The Poor and Middle Class Do Not! By Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter C.P.A.
Principia Discordia: Or How I Found the Goddess and What I Did to Her When I Found Her by Malaclypse the Younger
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg
The Redneck Manifesto: How Hilbillies Hicks and Whitetrash Became America's Scapegoat by Jim Goad
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon
Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls by Mary Pipher
The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education by Grace Llewellyn
Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto by Vine Deloria, Jr.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown
Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want by Barbara Shar
7 Kinds of Smart: Identifying and Devoloping your Multiple Intelligences by Thomas Armstrong
The Gift of Fear: And Other Survival Signals that Protect us From Danger by Gavin De Becker
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert M. Pirsig
Kiss my Tiara: How to Rule the World as a Smart-Ass Goddess by Susan Jane Gilman
Prison Writings: My Life is My Sun Dance by Leonard Peltier
Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter

[Kimberly]

froggiepopple what a list! thanks for posting. I have read some of them but I will have to check the others out! thanks

[froggiepopple]

You're welcome Kim

[LMS]

Wow thanks for all the suggestions. I should get reading

[Kimberly]

Let us know what you decide to read first. I like reading non-fiction every once and a while.. makes me feel all smart

[LMS]

Well I have started A Short History Of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. I have read some of his travel books so it is interesting to see how he handles a different topic. I am about three quarters through.

[Kimberly]

Let me know what you think! I have that book I just have to read it. I love his travel books.

[LMS]

I have now finished. It took em a while to get into it but I really liked it. I liked how it focused less on what we know, but how we know it. I also like how Bryson actually talked of the personalities of some of the scientists.

[Kimberly]

I will be sure to read it soon then! I like the way he writes in general. A slight sense of humor and a sense of wonder about things!

What are you going to read next? Something else from the list?

[LMS]

I am alternating between non-fiction and fiction. I seem to be getting through books quite quickly.

After finishing A Short History Of Nearly Everything, I read the End of The Affair by Graham Greene. Then I read this book borrowed from a friend called Greek and Roman Mythology. I have now started re-reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

After that I think I may read either Evolutionary Genetics by John-Maynard Smith (I am a science geek and I love anything that mentions Game Theory) or I, Claudius by Robert Graves. I haven't decided yet.

[Soz]

I'm also a science geek and I really want to read Brian Green's books and A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. I have Green's The Elegant Universe but I haven't gotten to read it yet.

[Mariael311]

I like the other book by the same author of "Fast Food Nation"...somethingcalle "Reefer Madness"

I also read some of those beauty books like "Don't go buy another hair care product without me, THe Beauty Bible" and such by A. Pequin..I think thats how you spell her last name.