Nonfiction help

[indiana_j]

I need nonfiction recommendations.  I'm not normally a reader of nonfiction - fantasy and horror, with the occasional foray into mystery and, every once in a while, romance (I generally prefer my fiction to have romance in them but I'm not generally a fan of the romance novel, per say) - but I've read a few this year that I really liked.

Namely, Deborah Blum's The Poisoner's Handbook earlier this year (which I'd recommend reading, btw, it's really, really good and very well written) and currently The Billionaire's Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace, which is about a bottle of wine that sold for $156,000 - it's pretty good, if a bit dry at times.

I'd like to read more, especially since I'm getting a Kindle and won't necessarily have to have these in physical form, but I don't know what to get.  So I turn to you guys, with these things to be kept in mind:

* I really do like history and am not much of a science person.  However, that being said, as long as something is interesting and doesn't either make me feel stupid and / or make me feel like it's talking down to me, I can read.  Also, food related books (I have a book I'll be reading called The Foie Gras War) are a win.

* They have to be interesting.  The reason I generally prefer fiction to nonfiction is that the first is able to keep my attention and I have trouble doing so with nonfiction.  So, nonfiction that ... I don't know, feels like a good enough story to be fiction?

Areas of interest: food, history, science and any others that folks think I might be interested in.

Comments

[diamond-dust06.livejournal.com]

I just finished The Poisoner's Handbook a couple of weeks ago. So good! If you haven't yet, I really recommend The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. The Great Influenza by John Barry about the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic is another excellent book about the birth of scientific medicine, although it's long and kind of boring at times. I borrowed it from Manda so you can ask her if you don't want to get your own copy ;)

If you're interested about evolution, Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne and Evolution: the Triumph of an Idea are two of the best introductions to the theory, the evidence, and in the case of the latter, the history of the science from Darwin to today.

And I can't recommend enough anything by Carl Sagan. The man was a genius. Billions and Billions and Demon-Haunted World are two of my favorites.

[indiana-j.livejournal.com]

You'll be pleased, I actually picked up Skloot's book a few weeks ago after you'd mentioned it! Haven't gotten around to reading it yet but I'm really looking forward to it.

And I'm so weird, I love to read about the plague so the Barry book looks great, as does the other suggestions.

I knew I could count on you for good science reads! <3

[diamond-dust06.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm also reading a really interesting book about modern political conspiracy theories: Voodoo Histories by David Aaronovitch. He's really snarky about the conspiracists he's debunking, it's hilarious.