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Recommend me a non fiction book with interesting short articles

23 replies

bowelpain · 03/10/2024 03:29

I am looking for a non fiction book with short articless. Something easy to pick up and put down. An example would be BillBryson's notes from a big country.

OP posts:
AmeliaEarache · 03/10/2024 03:34

59 Seconds by Richard Wiseman

LunaNorth · 03/10/2024 03:38

Mantel Pieces by Hilary Mantel.
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris.

LunaNorth · 03/10/2024 03:44

Chewing the Fat by Jay Rayner.

Pallisers · 03/10/2024 03:44

Far From The Tree by Andrew Solomon. one of the most fascinating books I have ever read but broken down into discrete chapters that can be read on their own.

It deals with hard stuff though.

bowelpain · 03/10/2024 06:00

Thanks for the suggestions! I also like the freakanomics books for a simmilar style.

OP posts:
AmeliaEarache · 03/10/2024 08:51

Ok, that make it easier (I was focusing on the short’ side of things)

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre, Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez - both excellent, but will make you shout at the news in frustration sometimes.

Clive James’s memoirs are excellent and you can dip in an out. The History Of The World In 100 Objects (adapted from the radio series) is in another one.

PaminaMozart · 03/10/2024 09:00

Yes to Clive James' memoirs. Highly entertaining and yet more substantial than a lot of autobiographies.

If you are interested in literature, check out Virginia Woolf's The Common Reader.

MsAmerica · 04/10/2024 03:29

Since you mention Bryson, meaning you're not averse to Americans - every year, there is a book called something like "Best American Essays" and I think there are some specific ones like best science essays. A library or bookstore could help you track them down.

PolaroidPrincess · 04/10/2024 18:54

Rebel Ideas by Matthew Syed. I love his programmes on R4 and this book was fascinating.

Hatty65 · 04/10/2024 19:08

A Field Guide to the English Clergy was great. Very funny true stories about eccentric vicars from History.

The ‘Mermaid of Morwenstow’ excommunicated a cat for mousing on a Sunday. When he was late for a service, Bishop Lancelot Fleming commandeered a Navy helicopter. ‘Mad Jack’ swapped his surplice for leopard skin and insisted on being carried around in a coffin. And then there was the man who, like Noah’s evil twin, tried to eat one of each of God’s creatures…
In spite of all this they saw the church as their true calling. These portraits reveal the Anglican church in all its colourful madness.

Dappy777 · 04/10/2024 22:21

Aldous Huxley and George Orwell are both wonderful essayists. I also have a collection of Bertrand Russel's newspaper articles. They're very short (no more than two pages each) but great – warm, witty and wise.

Sussurations · 04/10/2024 22:36

Came here to recommend Orwell’s essays, so another vote for those.

I enjoyed A Little History of Religion by Richard Holloway. Really easy to pick up and put down and tackles a huge subject in an appealing and digestible way.

MerylSqueak · 04/10/2024 23:21

Thanks for starting this op. Very interesting.

bowelpain · 05/10/2024 05:42

Thanks all its great to see what you all suggest and hope they'll allow me to read arround kids.

OP posts:
Bobbyelvis4ever · 05/10/2024 10:13

Paul Auster - True Tales of American Life. He curated a book of stories from people's past on a variety of topics. Some cute, some sad, some leave you scratching your head, and at some you'd laugh out loud.

Lovely for dipping into a book, and people's lives

babybythesea · 05/10/2024 14:06

I love science and nature so mine are all in this genre. Sorry!

Natural Histories - Brett Westwood and Stephen Moss.
The Flight of the iguana - David Quammen
The Golden Mole - Katherine Rundell.

Most of them have chapters about specific animals. My favourite is the Quammen book. It muses on everything from genetics to evolution to an incident with whales in USSR. My top essay is one on street trees in New York.

HarpQuartet · 05/10/2024 16:33

One on One by Craig Brown is very enjoyable. It describes encounters between people in a circular way: X meets Y, then in the next section Y meets Z... Of course I can hardly remember any of it now but I seem to think that one "chapter" is about Helen Keller's friendship with Mark Twain.

ChessieFL · 05/10/2024 16:37

If you want something more light hearted, there’s a few authors who have published books of their newspaper/magazine columns. Have a look at Marian Keyes Under the Duvet/Further Under the Duvet, Jilly Cooper Between the Covers, Sue Townsend Confessions of a Middle Aged Woman, David Mitchell Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse/Dishonesty Is The Second Best Policy. Lots more but those are a few that come to mind immediately.

MissMaryBennet · 05/10/2024 16:46

In the Blood by Steve Jones

CantBelieveNaive · 05/10/2024 17:04

Womanhooded by Lambe you can read a chapter at a time complete and reach your potential in your life ;)

merryhouse · 05/10/2024 17:36

Unquiet Women by Max Adams (biographies of various women in history)
The Madman's Library by Edward Brooke-Hitching (weird books)
The Compendium of (not quite) Everything by John Elledge (random stuff)

DriveInSaturday · 05/10/2024 17:58

Bollocks to Alton Towers, and More Bollocks to Alton Towers, by Robin Halstead, Jason Hazeley, Alex Morris and Joel Morris.

The title is misleading, these are lovely warm books. The premise is that they are fed up with big brash places like Alton Towers and seek out less obvious attractions. Each chapter is a write-up of a different attraction, written with appreciation rather than sneering, leaving you feeling that you might just check out the British Lawnmower Museum or the Margate Shell Grotto.

They were written in the 2000s so they are out of date and quite a few of the attractions are closed now, but others have become well known.

Joyfulincolour · 14/10/2024 23:21

101 Essays that will change how you think. It's by Brianna Weist. Amazing book.

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