Hi Everybody! I need ideas for nonfiction books for my dh. He prefers reading nonfiction to fiction. He's reading a fiction book now (Midnight's Children by Salmon Rushdie), so I know he'll be in the mood for nonfiction next. I know that nonfiction is such a broad category so I'll give you some ideas of what he'd like and not like. He was interested after reading book reviews for Far From the Tree but I don't think he'll find enough in it to relate to. I almost bought him the Republican Brain until he made a disparaging comment about "bioscience gobbledegook". But these two are still probably my best choices. Anyone read either of these? He likes some books about education and parenting, but keep in mind that we've been homeschooling for 14 years and our oldest is 20 and youngest is 12, so while we loved John Gatto and Alfie Kohn, we've done a lot of them already. He likes history, but only as it relates to issues nowadays. And not exhaustive military type books. All the Shah's Men is a great example of the kind of history books that he likes because it reads easily and at the same time gives great insight to present-day Iran. Or, closer to home, Johnstown Flood was absolutely wonderful, but I think he's read all the McCullough books that he's interested in. He's not really interested in biographies unless there is a really really compelling reason. (I can't think of a single biography I've ever seen him read.) He's not into sports books, unless it's an expose about the dangers of sports. He'll read books about medicine ala Nortin Hadler. (And I've tried Henrietta Lax and hated it so don't bother suggesting that one.) Or books about spirituality - he's read Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time and also that book by the atheist (not Hitchens, I'm drawing a blank) - but he's a seeker not a true atheist (yet). But definitely not open to mainstream Christian literature. He's not interested in books on art or music. I'm not interested in giving him a cookbook even though he is into cooking. He would not be interested in any kind of comedy book. He is very interested in politics, but would not be interested in anything by a talk show personality, or by any conservative for that matter. Politics might be one possibility as long as it is serious literature and not just one side beating on the other side. This is tough. Can anyone suggest a good nonfiction book that came out in the last year or two that you or your husband have enjoyed? Thanks
I fairly short non-fiction book I liked was Archemedes and the Door of Science. It has a whole chapter on the "war machines" created by Archemedes. It's really an interesting book! http://www.amazon.com/Archimedes-Science-Living-History-Library/dp/1883937124 What about biographies?
Thanks for the suggestion, Jackie. This is for my husband though, and I tend to think of the Archimedes book as a children's book. Also, I'm pretty sure my dh likes his nonfiction books to be very current. That's why I think that something that came out in the past year or two would be best. Also, he really doesn't do biographies.
OH!!! I'm sorry! For some reason, I thought you were looking for books he could read aloud to the kids! Yes, it definately is a kid's book!
One book I really enjoyed was 'Dreadnought' by Robert Massie. This American author is an excellent writer of history, and that particular book explains how the family of Queen Victoria fell out, leading to World War One. This author has also written books about the last tsar of Russia, about Peter the Great, and on Catherine the Great. I would recommend him.
