DecisionMostDeadly Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 I'm more towards non-fiction - that is what I mainly read, but it gave me the interest in the history to actually write a fictional book myself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadya Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 I like to read both and I probably read as much fiction as non-fiction. There are many different kind of non-fiction books which interest me. I like biographies and autobiographies. For a while, while still growing up, I became absorped in supernatural subjects and read mostly about anything supernatural or paranormal abilities. Now it interests me less, but I still like to read about it sometimes. Also history topics and books about how to become a writer yourself, literary criticism. Anything that seems interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 Good for you DMD, and there's a lot to keep you interested there Sadya ! Glad you enjoyed my website ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilde Lily Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 I read quite a bit of non-fiction. History is my favorite non-fiction genre, especially Tsarist Russia, the Russian Revolution, pre-revolutionary France, Marie Antoinette, the French Revolution, the American Civil War. I also like to read biographies of authors I enjoy or interesting historical figures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 I reading a book thats non-fiction about true shark attacks on people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCee Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 I don't read much non-fiction, but when I do it is usually travel biographies and annthing about dogs. I will very occasionally read a biography/autobiography of historical persons. And I read history now and again. I love anything about past kings and queens (loved Starkey's Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 I love anything about past kings and queens (loved Starkey's Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII). I've just started reading Starkey's Henry, very interesting, so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 (edited) I've been reading "Too Close To the Sun - The Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton" but I've got side-tracked onto another book for a bit. He was an adventurer in Kenya during the early 1900's and had an affair with the author Karen Blixen who was running a coffee plantation over there. (Basis of movie Out of Africa ) I'm quite fascinated with this time period in Kenya and have read several other books concerning settler life. I loved The Flame Trees of Thirka by Elspeth Huxley and there are several about the antics of the aristocracy in the Rift Valley (nicknamed Happy Valley due to them being high most of the time). Edited May 11, 2009 by poppy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 I can't think of a single non-fiction book I've read... I guess I haven't. This surprises me, because I'm a bit of a history-freak, so I should (logic tells me) have at least a few non-fiction books together with my already owned historical fiction novels. Would anyone like to recommend good non-fiction with a WWII theme? The Forgotten 500 by Gregory A. Freeman. From the Amazon Editorial Review: Bombing of the Ploiesti, Romania, oil refineries, a key German resource, started in 1942. Allied pilots sustaining damage frequently bailed out over Serbia in German-occupied Yugoslavia, where the resistance and others hid them. By 1944, more than 500 were stranded and slowly starving. The OSS concocted the daring Operation Halyard to airlift them, but they had to construct a landing strip without tools and without alerting the Germans or endangering local villagers, and then the rescuers had to avoid being shot down themselves. The operation's story is an exciting tale, but it was kept from general knowledge for decades; the resistance leader most responsible was a rival to Tito. Nazi-baited by a Stalinist mole in British intelligence, he was executed in 1946 with the consent of Britain and America, which thereafter refused to acknowledge having been snookered (the State Department kept many details classified more than 50 years). Evoking the rescuees' successive desperation, wild hope, and joy, and their gratitude to the Serbians who risked their lives to help, Freeman produces a breathtaking popular account. Murray, Frieda -- Most recent Non-Fiction was Honeymoon In Tehran. Very interesting look inside of Iran. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacefield Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 I've read Tobey Young's 'How to Lose Friends and Alienate People,' and other than that I have a lot of art/artist and design books. The most recent purchases being an Andrew Wyeth book, oh and one on Charles and Ray Eames. Lovely stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 (edited) I am reading (or rather re-reading) a fascinating book at the moment entitled The Life and Death of St Kilda by Tom Steel. It is probably now out of print, but I bought it on a visit to the bird sanctuary on Fair Isle many years ago. St Kilda is a group of islands inhabited for over 7000 years, on the outer fringes of the Hebrides, and is just about remote as it can be. I would love to go there some time. The islands were evacuated in August 1930, and the book tells the story of the islanders and their lost way of life. How the men used to scale the sheer cliffs in their bare feet to kill the sea birds (their main source of food and income from the feathers and oil) and how contact with the mainland and in particular, the introduction of religion of the more orthordox variety impacted on their way of life, and partly contributed to the islands downfall, as the services went on for so long (3 times a day for up to 3 hours at a time) that the islanders could not do the essential work. I love books like this. Earlier this year when I was visiting Lundy I also read Lighthouse by Tony Parker, which is a series of interviews with lighthouse keepers. The job is now defunct as the lights around Britain are all automated, but there were keepers on Lundy until as recently as 1994 (the year before I started going). Trinity House were visiting the island on one of my visits a few years ago and showed me round the old keepers quarters on one of the two Lundy lights, which I found fascinating, but not as much as this book. Edited May 13, 2009 by Talisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarah_9 Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Hello, Just love reading be it fiction or non fiction , when i ws in my teenage i was crazy about fictions, but now i`m more interested in reading non fiction work, they are more useful and informative, currently i`m reading a book by Jim Clemmer it is about time management. Regards, sarah_9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Mines Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 (edited) I read nonfiction books on subjects that interest me: the brain, language, psychiatry, evolution, hell, art history, death, dreams, cosmology, mnemonics, literary criticism, etc. It probably accounts for about 10 per cent of my overall reading. Edited June 20, 2009 by Ben Mines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewell Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 I don't read a lot of non fiction from cover to cover like a novel,etc. I have read some really good non fiction on the art of writing, in that way though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarah_9 Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 I also like reading astronomy and IQ related works, but astronomy is like rocket science for me still in the pre satge sarah_9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blithe Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 I read a lot of non-fiction - travel, psychology, history and familiar essays. I also love philosophy and have read Montaigne, Epictetus, Epicurus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius over and over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirinrob Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I can't think of a single non-fiction book I've read... I guess I haven't. This surprises me, because I'm a bit of a history-freak, so I should (logic tells me) have at least a few non-fiction books together with my already owned historical fiction novels. Would anyone like to recommend good non-fiction with a WWII theme? One I would recommended is 'The coming of the Third Reich' by Richard Evans though its not specifically about WW2, it does provide good background into the climate surrounding the establishment of the the Third Reich. It is the first volume of 3 that cover the establishment, events of and demise of the Third Reich. It is written for a general audience, so is accesible. I'm definitely going to get the other 2 volumes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 The non-fiction on my shelves comprises solely of books on writing, books on bookshops and libraries, biographies and autobiographies of authors, and critical assessments of authors' work. I sense a theme here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catwoman Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 One I would recommended is 'The coming of the Third Reich' by Richard Evans though its not specifically about WW2, it does provide good background into the climate surrounding the establishment of the the Third Reich. It is the first volume of 3 that cover the establishment, events of and demise of the Third Reich. It is written for a general audience, so is accesible. I'm definitely going to get the other 2 volumes I saw that at the Charity at the charity shop for 50p I might get that now. I do have a lot of Non fiction. Some for my job and for furthering my knowledge and understanding of my work. Psycholo including psychology books and Human right books. I have a lot of Human rights books. A lot of Political books especially books about Democracy etc. My Chomsky books are very precious to me and I refer to them on a nearly daily basis. I also have History books including a lot about Ancient Eygpt, the World Wars. I like to pick up random referance books and read them. There is nothing better than to learn something new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ned Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 I read a fair bit of non fiction, i would say that for every 3 or 4 works of fiction i read i read 1 non fiction book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 About 50-50, which reflects my enjoyment too - like them equally. Last few non-fiction books include: The Water Road (Paul Gogarty - travel), The Secret Life of the French (Lucy Wadham), In Search of Robert Millar (Richard Moore), The Political Animal (Jeremy Paxman), A View from the Foothills (Chris Mullin - political memoir), Your Inner Fish (Neil Shubin - evolution), Lady Worsley's Whim (Hallie Rubenhold - history), Churchill's Wizards (Nicholas Rankin). So -fairly varied, but also reasonably representative as most of my non-fiction reading is travel lit, history (incl. biography) and science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Landsman Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 (edited) I have a fervent interest in politics and the ideologies that have shaped the world we currently live in, so I try and read as many political texts as possible. A good true story can be just as gripping as a fantastical novel no doubt. Edited November 22, 2009 by Jay Landsman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Definately - and if it is written properly, reads the same as a good fiction novel - like a good story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Landsman Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 I definitely plan on getting some Norman Mailer books for christmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Cool Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 (edited) I too have recently moved into non fiction category now looking out for some real life spice. Edited November 25, 2009 by Janet Removed advertisment for own book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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