Non-Fiction Book Recommendations

[ally]

Hi All,

 

As part of my new years resolutions (yes, I’m a little late) to level up my life, one of my goals is to read 12 non-fiction books over the year.

 

I read a fair bit of fiction, but would like to expand my horizons more. So 12 non-fiction books over a year should be easy

 

I was looking, in particular, for some suggestions about books that helped you within your career, about interpersonal relationships or leadership to add to my little list, but I’m open to most books

 

So far I have

 

- Half the Sky - apparently pretty inspiring (Just about to start it)

- The Power of Habit 

- The Paleo solution - because I eat mostly paleo and I want to learn more

- I was considering starting strength but am not sure about this one - seems a bit dry 

- The Millionaire next door

- MAYBE - the emotional eaters repair guide (because lets be honest, I emotionally eat sometimes)

 

Anyone know any really good non-fiction? 

 

Lots of Love xxxx

 

[CalvinHobbes]

For any non-fiction books...Devil in the White City. SO GOOD.

 

For my career, I am reading The Emperor of all Maladies...but it's kind of career specific. I also liked How to Win Friends and Influence People for interpersonal relationships.

 

The Paleo Solution and The Power of Habit were both really good. I am probably going to re-read each this year.

[sericite]

I read two books last year that I really enjoyed and think might fit into your criteria:

 

• Switch by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

• Willpower by Roy F. Baumeister & John Tierny

 

Both are about why change is so hard based on how our brains work and what we can do to reframe things to make change easier.

 

Outside of the personal improvement, etc area, I always recommend Bill Bryson's Short History of Nearly Everything....it's a general science book written by the travel writer Bill Bryson & he does such a wonderful job.  It's a really entertaining read.

 

P.S. I read Emperor of Maladies as well - really great, really fascinating book.

[BeckyBuckeye]

Not personal improvement at all, but an interesting read is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.  Some interesting medical, science, ethics, and race history in it.

[Elenea]

A whole book about HeLa cells?  That sounds awesome!  Such an interesting and tragic story, but what a huge role they've played in science experiments. 

 

I have two more non-personal improvement suggestions for you.   I highly highly recommend the Etymologicon and the Horologicon by Mark Forsyth.  They are both really interesting looks into words and Forsyth is a really amusing writer.  The Horologicon looks at all sorts of underused, forgotten, or highly specific words for all sorts of situations, broken down by the hours of the day when you need them most.  The Etymologicon looks at the different etymological connections between tons of words and works circularly.  Love them.  Got them for Christmas, and I've flown through them.

 

If you are a word nerd, you'll love it.  If not, there are lots of other non-fiction books.

[Shoshie]

If you're into pop-sci, I'm a fan of "How to Build a Time Machine" and "What Einstein Told His Cook".  I forget the authors for both of those, but they're great books.  I also love "Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched" and "Farm City".  That last one's by Novella Carpenter-- I'm terrible at remembering author names!  And, if you like comics (or even if you don't), "Persepolis" is a great one.

[Maris Stella]

Oh Lord, maybe reading this wasn't such a good idea. My book list is growing by the minute... 

[OrangeJorwell]

I have two more non-personal improvement suggestions for you.   I highly highly recommend the Etymologicon and the Horologicon by Mark Forsyth.  They are both really interesting looks into words and Forsyth is a really amusing writer.  The Horologicon looks at all sorts of underused, forgotten, or highly specific words for all sorts of situations, broken down by the hours of the day when you need them most.  The Etymologicon looks at the different etymological connections between tons of words and works circularly.  Love them.  Got them for Christmas, and I've flown through them.

 

If you are a word nerd, you'll love it.  If not, there are lots of other non-fiction books.

 

Those both sound awesome.  *Sigh*  And I was trying not to buy more books until I've read the ones I have...

[Elenea]

Zebarah, I highly recommend getting them if you don't mind adding to your reading list.  The nice thing is that they're written in small sections.  You can easily read 2 pages, set it down for a bit and come back to it.  Or, if you can prefer, you can devour it in a few days, as I chose to do. 

[guest439437484421]

The Tim Ferriss 4 hour books get pretty good reviews:

Four hour chef

Four hour workweek

Four hour body

[RyanTheReal]

I can't recommend The Power of Habit enough. It's probably my favorite non-fiction book. 

 

Another that had a huge impact on me is The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. It's all about managing your energy in its different forms- physical, emotional, intellectual/mental, and (general) spiritual. I probably learned more from this book than any of the other ~30 books I read in 2012.

[Oogiem]

Good ones I've read in the last year all highly recommended

 

 

Longitude - True Story of the Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem  of His Time Dava Sobel

Power of Habit Charles Duhigg

Hacker Crackdown Bruce Sterling

House of Rain Craig Childs

Apocalyptic Planet Craig Childs

Take Back Your Government Robert A. Heinlein

The First 20 MInutes Gretchen Reynolds  

[18ck]

Getting Things Done by David Allen for personal work advancement surely has to take the cake. It's not a book, it's a frickin' religion. I don't do it all by any means but there are enough tricks in there to change the way you do things forever!

[SpiralGalaxy]

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach--best look at the space program that I've read. Actually, all of her books are 100% awesome, I love her style.

[Nomad Jay]

I read a good deal of non-fiction. In lieu of any specific topic requests, I recommend the following:

 

The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power by Max Boot is an interesting look at the historical use of American military interventions from 1776 onward.

 

Brian Greene's The Fabric of the Cosmos is an solid conceptual introduction to modern cosmology and particle physics. In the same vein Stephen Hawking's The Universe in a Nutshell and A Brief History of Time are equally intriguing and solid books.

[Lyra Rigby]

Non-fiction is what I love.

 

I'd recommend checking out at least one book by Jared Diamond. I love his style and his take on history. His latest book looks good; unfortunately I've not had the chance to read it due to being wait-listed at ye olde library. I also enjoy Graham Hancock's work, although it may not be the average non-history nerd's cup of tea, I'm afraid.

 

If you're into punk/indie music, check out Our Band Could Be Your Life. Please Kill Me is another decent punk-ography. Get In The Van is Henry Rollin's baby, if you will...a first hand account of the real meat of the punk scene.

 

If you're into heavy metal, I'd suggest Precious Metal. Choosing Death is a book about death metal and grindcore...the hard, hard shit. Dave Mustaine's Memoir was a decent read as well.

 

If you admire great beards, then you may like Jim Marrs' books. They are paranoid diatribes about government secrecy. I can't really tell you where to start here, although The Trillon Dollar Conspiracy was a good read, imho. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is another solid read if you're into conspiracy, economics or white collar crime type books. The Secret History of the American Empire is a follow-up to Confessions and is actually a great intro to this whole "hidden history" theory angle.

 

Hope this helps.

[Grendelsfork]

Im a writer which mans I'm a huge reader.

 

Anything by Mary Roach......hey, science can be kinky too

Carl Sagan's Demon Haunted World

Rock and a Hard Place. For those who feel their workout is tough. Try cutting your own hand off and pushing through it to get bak to your car.

[BarefootViking]

Lots of good books mentioned already, but the book that that changed my perspective on how and why we humans (and other critters) do things was The Red Queen Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature.  It explains the genetic arms race that is running in the background of our behavior pulling our strings like silent puppeteers.

 

Beyond that I will have to go back through the last few dozen books I have read and see what stood out.

[steamymuffin]

Hi Ally- you have so many suggestions on here already (many of which I am going to check out) but I am compelled to add one or two of mine. These books have changed my life permanently and I am re-reading the first one. Amazing insight... for me atleast.

 

The Road Less Travelled- Scott Peck

Anxious to Please- James Rapson/Craig English

As Man Thinketh and 7 Pillars of Success- James Allen

 

I don't know if these are what you're looking for but I'm glad I found them.

 

Colin

[Maj. Bloodnok]

"Predictably Irrational" and "The Upside of Irrationality" by Dan Ariely.  Great books about how we make decisions, especailly when it comes to how we spend money, and how our decisions can be influenced by all sorts of factors.

[Timmy M]

'pegasus bridge' by 'stephen e ambrose' is a pretty decent read, it's about the first people to see action on d day and how they essentially stopped d day from being a disaster (you can narrow it down to a single shot on a tank that destroyed it thereby preventing a battalion of tanks from mowing down everyone on all the beaches) interesting stuff

[Elder]

Gee Whiz!  My book list also growing!  I am going to have to re-arrange my days so that I can get in some more reading time!