Nonfiction can be tricky, but when it’s good, it’s amazing.

Below are my top recommendations for nonfiction reads (in alphabetical order by author, ’cause that’s how nonfic rolls.)

The Diving Bell & The Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death, Jean-Dominique Bauby

Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper, Diablo Cody

Columbine, Dave Cullen

Abraham: Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths, Bruce Feiler

Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe’s America, Andrew Ferguson

The Know-it-All: One Man’s Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, A.J. Jacobs

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, A. J. Jacobs

Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, Anne Lamott

Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith, Anne Lamott

Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy, Melissa Milgrom

The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession, Susan Orlean

Pretty is What Changes: Impossible Choices, the Breast Cancer Gene, and How I Defied My Destiny, Jessica Queller

A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern Day Slavery, E. Benjamin Skinner

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Mary Roach

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, Mary Roach

Cleopatra: A Life, Stacy Schiff (reviewed here)

Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitants, Robert Sullivan

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, James Swanson

Assassination Vacation, Sarah Vowell

Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Captain America, and the New Face of American War, Evan Wright

* * * * * * * *

(This post goes out to Shayla Dvorak, who asked me for recommendations for her nonfiction book group. Thanks for opening the wormhole into my brain.)

As always, happy reading!

Filed under: Blue Truck Recommends, nonfiction