NONFICTION THAT READS LIKE FICTION

 

All too often, nonfiction is perceived as too difficult to read

and not very entertaining. The following booklist will change your mind.

While all the books are nonfiction, they will all inform and entertain

you while telling a story, and of course, all are available at

the Manchester Public Library. As the saying goes

“get real”!

 

On Writing: a memoir of the craft

Stephen King (B King & CD Book)

 

In Cold Blood: a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences

Truman Capote (346.152)

 

Flu: the story of the great influenza pandemic of 1918 and the search

for the virus that caused it

Gina Kolata (614.518)

 

Word Freak: heartbreak, triumph, genius and obsession in the world

of competitive Scrabble players

Stefan Fatsis (793.73)

 

Into Thin Air: a personal account of the Mount Everest disaster

Jon Krakauer (796.522 & CD Book)

 

Flags of Our Fathers

James Bradley (940.5426)

 

Julie and Julia: my year of cooking dangerously

Julie Powell (B Powell)

 

Stiff: the curious lives of human cadavers

Mary Roach (611 & CD Book)

 

A Civil Action

Jonathan Harr (346.7303)

 

Shadow Divers: the true adventure of two Americans who

risked everything to solve one of the last mysteries of WWII

Robert Kurson (940.5451)

 

Bringing Down the House: the inside story of six MIT students

who took Vegas for millions

Ben Mezrich (364.172)

 

The Lobster Chronicles: life on a very small island

Linda Greenlaw (974.145)

 

Friday Night Lights: a town, a team and a dream

H. Bissinger (796.332)

 

The Devil in the White City: murder, magic, and madness

at the fair that changed America

Erik Larson (364.1523)

 

Love in the Driest Season: a family memoir

Neely Tucker (362.734 & CD Book)

 

Complications: a surgeon’s notes on an imperfect science

Atul Gawande (617.092 & CD Book)

 

Seabiscuit: an American legend

Laura Hillenbrand (798.4 & CD Book)

 

Into the Wild

Jon Krakauer (917.9804)

 

The Perfect Storm: a true story of men against the sea

Sebastian Junger (974.45)

 

Faithful: two diehard Boston Red Sox fans chronicle the

historic 2004 season

Stewart O’Nan (796.357 & CD Book)

 

There Are No Children Here: the story of two boys growing up

in the other America

Alex Kotlowitz (305.23)

 

Undaunted Courage: Meriweather Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and

the opening of the American West

Stephen Ambrose (917.8042)

 

A Walk in the Woods: rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

Bill Bryson (917.4044 & CD Book)

 

Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper—case closed

Patricia Cornwell (364.1523 & CD Book)

 

Nickel and Dimed: on (not) getting by in America

Barbara Ehrenreich (305.569 & CD Book)

 

A Trip to the Beach: living on island time in the Caribbean

Melinda & Robert Blanchard (972.973)

 

Lusitania: an epic tragedy

Diana Preston ( 940.4)

 

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

John Berendt (975.872 & CD Book)

 

How Starbucks Saved My Life:a son of privilege learns

to live like everyone else

Michael Gates Gill (B)

 

Manhunt:the 12 day chase for Lincoln's killer

James Swanson (364.1524 & CD)

 

updated 02/2013