Non-Fiction Book Recommendations

Booklover83 · Post by **Booklover83** » 08 Nov 2011, 17:27

Can anyone reccomend a few good Biography books for me? It is one of my monthly themes for my challenge next year:)

Thanks!

Fran · Post by **Fran** » 09 Nov 2011, 06:00

Booklover83 wrote:Can anyone reccomend a few good Biography books for me? It is one of my monthly themes for my challenge next year:)

Thanks!

Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang/Jon Halliday

Bighuey · Post by **Bighuey** » 09 Nov 2011, 09:09

One of my favorites is the Biography of H.P. Lovecraft by L. Sprague DeCamp.

Cathran · Post by **Cathran** » 09 Nov 2011, 17:55

looking for some good memoirs if anyone can recommend some that would be great, ty

Va_treehugger · Post by **Va_treehugger** » 21 Nov 2011, 08:09

Cathran, I am listening to the audio book of Half Broke Horse by Jeanette Wells. It is very good! (I was surprised, b/c usually memoirs are not my thing.) The author narrates the book on the CDs and does a great job. This book is about her grandmother's life in the 1920's-40's ish.

Also, she wrote another book about her and her mother's lives. Am reading that next month!

-- Mon Nov 21, 2011 8:17 am --

A Voyage Long and Strange: On the Trail of Vikings, Conquistadors, Lost Colonists, and other Adventurers in Early America by Tony Horwitz

I don't know about you, but I have forgotten more than I remember about American History. And what I do remember is just wrong. I am not a terribly big history buff, but the author wrote in a light way to make the lesser know history enjoyable and amusing. It covers a period of about 1000 AD to when the Pilgrims arrived. There was a lot of action going on here between those two events.

thwaters · Post by **thwaters** » 05 Dec 2011, 16:53

Fran wrote:
Booklover83 wrote:Can anyone reccomend a few good Biography books for me? It is one of my monthly themes for my challenge next year:)

Thanks!
Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang/Jon Halliday

Hi Fran-
I would recommend "Leonardo-The Artist & the Man" by Serge Bramly. It is a fascinating look at the genius of da Vinci. Before reading this book, I had no idea that a human being could accomplish so much in one lifetime. Another interesting biography is "Einstein" by Walter Isaacson -- Einstein is another brilliant mind that offered so much to our world, and it was intriguing to learn about him in detail. He was so much more than just a brilliant scientist.
I hope you'll find both books to be great reading--
T.H. Waters, author of Ghellow Road

Jssherr · Post by **Jssherr** » 05 Dec 2011, 20:21

I am currently reading Catherine the Great;Portrait of a Woman by Massey. This biography feels like a novel. It has an amazing amount of detail in the early chapters but then flows into an exciting storyline about a very powerful woman...
This is a definite page turner!

Fran · Post by **Fran** » 06 Dec 2011, 05:57

@Jssherr
So glad you are enjoying Catherine the Great ... she's one of my most admired historical women.

@thwaters
I've added your recommendations to my TBR list ... much appreciated.

JAGUAR46 · Post by **JAGUAR46** » 26 Dec 2011, 01:09

Read He Answered by LV Robinson. A short novel based on love, loss, struggle and faith. This book made me laugh, cry and laugh again and again. Based on a young woman who faces trials after trials in life, and rises above the challenges to meet the man of her dreams. Then has to deal with his crazed ex-wife who does the unthinkable. A hiliarious emotional must read.

Dorin · Post by **Dorin** » 27 Dec 2011, 14:22

Hi

The Rape of Nanking - Iris Chang

guytwo · Post by **guytwo** » 07 Jan 2012, 09:58

I recently finished "JFK and the Unspeakable: Why he died..." by James Douglass and it was an amazing book. I strongly recommend this book to everyone who has an interest in history, Cold War history and of course JFK's murder.

Purple Rose · Post by **Purple Rose** » 09 Feb 2012, 06:47

Fran wrote:"Booklover83"]Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang/Jon Halliday

Definitely, 100% second this recommendation. I read it recently and it is a relevant read in light of the New China where the people are highly wired (despite strict censorship laws) and are using the Internet to make their voices heard. Today, it is not unusual for a news broadcaster to express her personal displeasure while reading the news about some new party policy she disagrees with. Instead of being thrown in jail, she would be celebrated by netizens.

This is a very interesting read by the author of the best-selling Wild Swans which was also about Mao, in a way as it describes life during the Cultural Revolution.

sandman · Post by **sandman** » 25 Feb 2012, 13:19

would like to suggest:-
a short history of nearly everything - bill bryson
the greatest show on earth - richard dawkins
darwin - adrian desmond & james moore
ideas for the 21st century - a c grayling

peace and good karma

Mel Carriere · Post by **Mel Carriere** » 02 Mar 2012, 00:58

The Steve Jobs bio by Walter Isaacson is very entertaining, and surprisingly funny. Sometimes we look at these movers and shakers of history as towering icons of virtue, but as this book points out, this is definitely not the case. Steve Job's early years are a study in hooliganism and debauchery. Better living through chemistry was his motto, for sure. The moral of the story is that there is hope for all of us, no matter how far we have descended into the pit of our own vices.

MrsDavid · Post by **MrsDavid** » 04 Mar 2012, 11:29

I highly recommend "The Accidental Anarchist" by Bryna Kranzler. Culled from the extensive memoirs of the author's grandfather, it is the story of a Jew conscripted into the Czar's army during the Russo-Japanese War. Fearing death from both other Russian soldiers as well as the enemy, Jacob Marateck escaped death no less than three times. It's an action-packed, suspenseful first hand account of the plight of the Russian Jew in the early twentieth century and reflects the common feeling of straddling two worlds (the religious Jewish community and the antisemitic Russian society) while belonging to neither.