Book suggestions for first timer?

[konapoppy]

Your subject line is a little misleading. You clearly have read books.

As for non-fiction recommendations, these are what I call "readable non-fiction":
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (medical topic)
Into the Wild / Into Thin Air / Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer (first two are outdoorsy/adventure, last one is about fundamentalist Mormons)
Moneyball / The Blind Side by Michael Lewis (these are both about sports, but this author has written other good books as well)
anything by Michael Pollen (primarily about food, but he is branching out)

[irene adler]

I'm a sucker for books that have been turned into movies/tv shows--The Reader, Silver Linings Playbook, Revolutionary Road, into the Wild, Orange is the New Black, Foxcatcher, Little Children etc. I am working on seeing the movies.

I also recently read and loved Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe, which lead to me re reading all of SE Hinton's books and watching the Movie the Outsiders. I also adore Tom Perrota's books (Nine Inches was a great collection of short stories)


Eta, I didn't catch the non fiction caveat. Oops.  

[konapoppy]

Jul 26, 2015 23:19:05 GMT -5 irene adler said:

I'm a sucker for books that have been turned into movies/tv shows--The Reader, Silver Linings Playbook, Revolutionary Road, into the Wild, Orange is the New Black, Foxcatcher, Little Children etc. I am working on swing the movies.

I also recently read and loved Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe, which lead to me re reading all of SE Hinton's books and watching the Movie the Outsiders. I also adore Tom Perrota's books (Nine Inches was a great collection of short stories)

If you go the celebrity route, I recommend steering clear of Andy Cohen's books. While extremely readable, you will bet the urge to watch every Real Housewives show. Just.Say.No.

[huskymom]

The Glass Castle
Unbroken

[alleinesein]

Non Fiction Authors for Comedy, Travel, Memoirs, etc
-Jen Lancaster
-Bill Bryson
-Anthony Bourdain
-Elliott Hester
-Simon Majumdar

Random book recs for non-fiction
-Women, Work and Islamism: Ideology and Resistance in Iran by Maryann Poya
-The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids by Alexandra Robbins
-Around India in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh

Any particular reason why you don't read fiction?

[jinkies]

Some great ones that haven't been mentioned yet:

Behind the Beautiful Forevers
Born to run
Being Mortal
The spirit catches you and you fall down
Seabiscuit

I second the recs above for:
Unbroken
Glass castle
anything by Jon Krakauer

[scout8]

Anything by Jon Krakauer, Bill Bryson, and Laura Hillenbrand.

[yentl]

Both the Freakonomics books
Ditto PP's on The Immortal Life of Henreitta Lacks and Under the Banner of Heaven (But I have a mild obsession with FLDS, so take that into consideration)
12 Years a Slave
Running with Scissors
Unorthodox
Anything by David Sedaris

[sicilygirl]

I was also going to recommend John Krakauer. I would probably start with Into Thin Air. It's my favorite book of all time!

[aurora]

Jul 26, 2015 23:30:15 GMT -5 @domerjen said:

...
- still alice
...
Oh nevermind, I thought you said you wanted fiction b/c you never read it.  LOL.  Some of those above are historical fiction, which still might work for you.  Otherwise, two good nonfiction ones I like are:
...

Still Alice is technically fiction, yes, but reads more like non-fiction and is definitely captivating (about a woman's decline into early-onset Alzheimer's). So, I think it's still a good recommendation!

I also liked I am Malala and Ann Patchett's short essay collection This is the Story of a Happy Marriage for non-fiction.

Overall, though, this post is reminding me how much escapist fiction I have been reading!

[aurora]

Jul 27, 2015 8:03:32 GMT -5 scout8 said:

Anything by Jon Krakauer, Bill Bryson, and Laura Hillenbrand.

Oh, yeah, I forgot Bryson! A Short History of Nearly Everything and A Walk in the Woods are my favorites.

[Deleted]

I just finished A Street Cat Named Bob and I adored it. A Walk in the Woods was another non-fiction that I really liked.

[raangoli]

For historical fiction, I really liked Stephen King's 11/22/63

[tacosforlife]

Jul 26, 2015 22:45:30 GMT -5 konapoppy said:

Your subject line is a little misleading. You clearly have read books. 

This is killing me.

[dcrunnergirl52]

Jul 27, 2015 8:34:35 GMT -5 sicilygirl said:

I was also going to recommend John Krakauer. I would probably start with Into Thin Air. It's my favorite book of all time!

This is my favorite book of all time too.

Other good ones:

A House in the Sky
Devil in the White City
Unbroken
Tipping Point
In the Garden of Beasts

[konapoppy]

Jul 27, 2015 10:00:50 GMT -5 tacosforlife said:

Jul 26, 2015 22:45:30 GMT -5 konapoppy said:

Your subject line is a little misleading. You clearly have read books. 

This is killing me.

I was feeling bad for being snarky, but this poster, nope.

[majesty318]

I like Erik Larson's books. They are non-fiction that read like fiction.

[Doggy Mommy]

I know when I'm in a reading slump, I like something fun and light. Before diving into some of the heavier suggestions, I'd recommend a lighter young adult book like Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. There are 2 companion books too. I think everyone in my book club loved this book. Another one we all loved was The Sea of Tranquility.

[elleblue]

Non fiction

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

and 

The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World

[daisypaloma]

I'm currently rereading The Joy Luck Club.  It's a fairly easy read. 

Congo is also one that I really enjoyed. 

I liked easy reads, and I hardly read non-fiction.