Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Non-fiction

"Democracy in America", but for other countries?

ZaphodB — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 09:16:48 -0800

I've always loved de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, and a large part of the appeal (to me) is his perspective as a non-American and his attempt to be detached & non-judgmental. Can you recommend equivalents for other countries? 19th or 20th century books where someone visited from a third country and wrote about the politics and national character in a respectful/non-colonizing manner? There's a lot of stuff out there, but weeding through it is a chore. Much of this genre has aged badly or was written in a blatantly colonizing manner - especially the "Englishman abroad" type. I'm interested in books that have held up OK, and particularly those that were influential or well-regarded in the "subject" country in the way that de Tocqueville's writing was in the US.

(I'm also aware that de Tocqueville has a ton of his own problems, particularly when it comes to gender and race. But compared to some of his contemporaries, he's both progressive and respectful of the country he's visiting.)

Fiction or Non-Fiction Experiences Crossing the Mediterranean Sea

moiraine — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 08:40:06 -0800

I'm looking for fiction or creative non-fic recs on crossing the Med Sea to seek a better life. Apologies if I'm asking this question "wrong", but I do genuinely want to learn about the dangers and obstacles of crossing the Mediterranean Sea to escape persecution / for a better life etc. It doesn't matter if the focus is on the life before/ life during/ life after. One book which I recently loved was Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

Obviously the people crossing are not one homogenous group of people and all have different backgrounds/ reasons for crossing, so the more recs you can give me, the better.

What are some highly regarded books that have faded into obscurity?

mikek — Sun, 04 Oct 2020 23:12:36 -0800

I'm interested in non-fiction books written maybe between 1970-2000. For example, I just picked up The Unconscious Civilization, which won awards and popular acclaim in its time, but which I've never heard anyone refer to in the past 20 years. (and which has a total of 27 reviews on Amazon) I have two motivations for this: first, many of my old books seem fresher and more relevant today compared to Trump Bad #597 on the bestseller lists. Second, I have a weird melancholy feeling towards the books that I will never even encounter, representing a great deal of important human thought, just because they are old and drowned out by the new.

Recommend some frameworks for non-fiction writing?

jacobean — Sun, 05 Jul 2020 11:07:17 -0800

I find that having mental frameworks when writing non-fiction content makes the job of writing so much easier. For the most part, I use the time-honored “who, what, where, when, whey and how”. It has always helped disintegrate writer's block. Applying such a framework to a topic, always proves a great starting point. But what other frameworks are used by writers of non-fiction? All inspiration, resources or links would be appreciated!

Illustrated non-fiction books, illustrate me some more?

sol2k — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 03:44:25 -0800

I really enjoyed some non-fiction titles as illustrated, graphic novels, even as manga. I am talking about this, or this, even these. These are just some of the ones I am most familiar with, but I wonder what else is out there. What are your recommended or favorite non-fiction illustrated books?

Are there non-fiction pocket paperbacks out there?

Flying Saucer — Sat, 16 May 2020 07:33:41 -0800

I love big, coffee-table books like what DK produces. But I'm running out of room in my apartment and looking ahead to summer (even with social distancing), so I'm trying to find non-fiction books that literally fit in my pocket. Many years ago, I had a book on the world of Shakespeare that was a pocket paperback, even though it easily could have a been a big book with illustrations. I've searched online but mostly I find things like the Federalist Papers in pocket paper form, not "true" non-fiction.

So, do people know of a series or a publisher that produces small non-fiction works on history, science, mythology, occult, etc.? I'm reminded of the Abrams Discoveries Series, but those seem too nice and glossy for taking out into the city.

Any ideas?

Books for the middle aged

2 cats in the yard — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 17:01:46 -0800

I am middle aged. I am looking for books with middle aged characters or about this stage of life. I happen to not have children and I'll ask particularly for anything you can think of or enjoyed from that perspective. Beyond that I'm interested in any demographic (nationality/race/culture/religion/sexuality/any other categories I'm not thinking of) and in fiction of any genre as well non-fiction. It's also fine if kids are involved; I just would like to also have some suggestions that address middle age without children. Alas I am limited to English.

Give me stories about failure!

hot_monster — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 15:47:45 -0800

My search can be summed up in this tweet thread. A quote from the above link:
"Still really into the idea of telling more stories about failure and how it's not the end of the world.

Not stories that open with a superficial failure and end with a cathartic triumph that overshadows it; stories where people had a failure and... that's what they get to deal with."

In short. Stories where antagonist[s] have to deal with their failure. They have to live with it. Wallow in it. Be branded by it. Change because of it. The failure has to change their life and they keep on living.

Another example: The movie Pom Poko. It's a story about a group of raccoons who try to save their forest. [Spoiler Alert] They fail. At the end of the movie they have to learn to live their new lives. Some of them kill themselves. Some of them betray their heritage and others learn to live with the failure. But you know(sort of) from the beginning of the movie that they are going to fail.

I'm interested in fiction or non-fiction. Non-fiction should be closer to a well-crafted documentary or a 'This American Life' episode.

Any medium is find. Movie, book, magazine article, short story, podcast or comic.

Help with Messaging

CollectiveMind — Tue, 22 May 2018 17:52:11 -0800

I am about to launch a book. It has a largely liberal audience which I think will be excited to read about something they love. But I believe it also has a largely conservative counter-audience, or, a group of people who also follow it but don't like it and want it to go away. First, is it unreasonable to try to market the book to both audiences? And second, when I create messaging for both audiences, I want to be authentic about how their concerns and desires are addressed in the book. After nearly four years or research, there really is something for everybody. But I don't want to amp up the successes and failures for either group but I do want to capture their respective attentions. Any suggestions on how to word introductory press releases or emails?

Non-fiction reading for the agnostic soul

Kalmya — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 18:35:12 -0800

This year I've gotten into reading non-fiction, self help, memoirs type books. I am interested in recommendations of non-fiction books. I have been living under a rock, so please recommend super popular things. I am a feminist, liberal, agnostic looking for engaging reads. They could be from other backgrounds if they are uplifting, engaging, and/or thought provoking. Best reads of the year for me so far are: Designing your life; How full is your bucket; Let's take the long way home. Please recommend me more non-fiction to feed my soul.

“I love the idea of us reading together, have you any books in mind?”

brokeaspoke — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 16:34:47 -0800

What books read together made a difference for you and your partner? My partner and I are looking for books to read together and discuss. We’re both in our mid/late 40s, enjoy reading, hold typically progressive/liberal values, and are pretty well read.

We both enjoy, or are interested in literature/classics; poetry; non-fiction (especially when socially relevant); and some religious/spiritual works (we’re both Buddhist leaning agnostic, for what it’s worth); and also find interest in books that can help us improve and maintain our relationship.

So what books did you enjoy or get a lot from by reading together?

Recommendations on Dark/black comedy literature

chrono_rabbit — Fri, 08 Sep 2017 13:13:29 -0800

Some people cope with difficult life events with cat photos but I prefer reading parody, satire, non-fiction/fictional accounts of terrible events written in an entertaining manner. NYC is completely depressed and I can tell every day I commute for errands and Trump doing [something] terrible right now even if he's just playing golf. My entire life is more or less imploding and burning down but I love reading and I want to read new authors.

Examples of authors I liked would be Dominick Dunne where he covers the life of the rich and chronically unhappy and his own personal family tragedies. I liked Slaughterhouse Five and I have already started to look for Vonnegut’s other books. I thought The Great Gastby was alright even thought it's not a direct satire but based on real life events. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket was a childhood favorite but it started to decline towards the final book (like all long series). Then I have tried to read his older works but I find them tiring but his non-fiction was decent.

Requirements:
- Still in Print
- English (British is OK but I may need some definitions for certain Britishisms)
- Well-written/researched
- Not shock value/insult humor
- Edited (blogs are fine but I shouldn't be fighting the sentences to understand the overall story)

Preferences:
- Any time period/country
- Female authors
- No animal abuse

Thanks, and here's to a better few months. Previously.

Your incredibly absorbing summer reads: omnivore edition

rpfields — Sun, 13 Aug 2017 10:47:31 -0800

I need to distract myself from thoughts of the impending apocalypse and am looking for recommendations for books that you just couldn't put down. My tastes lean towards crime (true and fiction), psychological thrillers, mystery, politics, psychology etc. but I am pretty much open to anything these days, as long as it keeps me off Facebook and CNN. Lately, I've devoured Emily Cline's The Girls, Naomi Alderman's The Power, and I have a copy of The Essex Serpent on my nightstand.

I'm not a fan of grotesque violence, misogyny, or very technical and detailed speculative fiction or family sagas. I can get pretty much anything that is published in English or French and right now, I'm loving paper over e-books. I'd particularly appreciate recommendations for things from small presses or works in translation that might not otherwise come onto my radar.

Recommend non-fictional works based on legal cases

chrono_rabbit — Fri, 28 Jul 2017 18:53:02 -0800

I'm interested in reading non-fiction books for a change and I would like to read about interesting/memorable legal cases in articles, blogs, and books. I'm looking for accessible blogs, articles, and non-fictional works based on legal cases or covering current legal changes. I'm not too interested in documentaries, movies, or TV shows as I prefer text over video. I don't mind if the site hasn't updated much as I will read old articles as long as the links aren't broken. I'm interested in reading blogs run by lawyers who describe their experiences in the process too. Thanks.

No, I'm not thinking about going to law school but I realized there's a gap in my knowledge beyond Business Law 101.

Interesting, recent non-fiction that is available on Kindle

Kutsuwamushi — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 01:37:49 -0800

I used to be a big reader of non-fiction, but I haven't read much lately because I've been too busy. I'd like to change that. I'm out of the loop, though - I don't know what new, interesting, or important non-fiction has been released within the last few years. The big requirement: It has to be available on Kindle. I'm in an area where I can't order physical books. I prefer non-fiction that isn't too dumbed down for a popular audience. I tend to read a lot of history and science - particularly medicine and astronomy. Some books I liked:

The Emperor of All Maladies by Mukherjee
A History of the World in 12 Maps by Brotton
1491 by Mann
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Skloot

(And a lot more.) I'm not really set on the subject, and am especially open to recommendations from people in a particular field who think that such-and-such book about their field is good.

Best non-fiction books about witches

gc — Sun, 04 Dec 2016 20:36:51 -0800

I'm looking for readable, if not informative, non-fiction books about witches. My Google-Fu is failing me. I get so much about the Salem Witch Trials and how to do kitchen magic, but that's not what I'm looking for. What I want is some good history and culture, not so much about the witch scares, but who they were and what they did. What did their cultures think about them? How did they practice? Bonus points for non-Western cultures.

To give you an idea of what I'm looking for, here's some history books I've enjoyed recently:

Banvard's Folly, by Paul Collins
Longitude and most of the works of Dava Sobel
Assassination Vacation, by Sarah Vowell

And I've got Witches of America, by Alex Mar checked out.

Optimizing book reading

aeighty — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 08:03:16 -0800

I'm looking for tips on how to become a better reader. I'm a fairly quick reader when it comes to scifi/fantasy but classics and non-fiction are another story. Can you share any tips on how to keep going for when reading becomes difficult, or maybe a little less entertaining? I've slogged through some classics that were immensely satisfying, eventually. I did drag my feet and took way longer than I normally would with an equivalent sized scifi book. On an intellectual level, I know that my book diet should not consist solely of “candy”, but I can't seem to follow through. What things have made you a better reader?

Lost "say this, not that" book

Snarl Furillo — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 20:07:50 -0800

I saw pictures of a book on tumblr that was filled with suggestions for improvements on common condolences. For example, instead of saying, "Everything happens for a reason," try, "You must be disappointed that it didn't work out." Help me find this book, please! I'm sure I favorited it but I can't find it now. I thought the title was something simple like "Say This, Not That" or "How To Say It" but the first few books on Amazon don't seem to match, and they are common enough phrases to make (my) searching inefficient.

I remember the pictured pages being in table form, with the headings something like "Instead of..." on the left and "Try saying..." on the right. Some other half-remembered examples (somewhat clumsily paraphrased) were things like:

-"You must miss him very much" instead of "He's in a better place now."
-"It must have been hard to see her in so much pain" instead of "At least she isn't suffering anymore."
-"It must be hard to not know what will happen next" instead of "Something better will come along."

In general, the suggestions steered away from cosmic-type explanations for bad events and focused on acknowledging emotions and showing empathy. I remember being impressed by a lot of them and I would love to find this book. Help?

Seeking great subject-matter introductions for a voraciously curious kid

alms — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 07:36:11 -0800

My ten-year old son wants to understand everything. He is a voracious reader and doesn't confine himself to kids books. He loves reading the newspaper (NYTimes, Boston Globe), fiction, and non-fiction books. He's old enough to really learn things by reading. Agatha Christie is fun, but he's ready for more than that. He's full of questions about society, politics, science, economics. I'd like to get him some books that will expand his mind, begin answering his questions, and show him how the world fits together. All subject matters welcome. In addition to the ones listed above, he'd be game for biography, ecology, history, social science, social justice, technology, physics, agriculture, biology, history of science, and lots of other things.

I realize this is going to be hit and miss. That's okay. We're going to take these books out of the library, so I'm not worried about wasting money. He'll read some of the books and won't read others. No problem. Books written for kids are fine (e.g. Thing Explainer) but so are books written for a mass market adult audience. Collections of essays could be great, too.

So Metafilter, what can my son read to learn more about how the world works?

Good long-form resources for debunking conspiracy theories?

tzb — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 03:03:39 -0800

I'm soon to mentor a friend through a period of personal reflective study. An area I'd like to touch on is that he persistently clings to conspiracy theories, such as those of Leonard Horowitz. It is not my place to impose my own beliefs, but as he has limited exposure to contrasting material I would like him to balance these views with the "other side" and draw his own conclusions. As such, what are some of the best resources for debunking or explaining conspiracy theories? Ideally long-form, ie books, documentaries, and the more "general" (perhaps even relating to the psychology of conspiracy) the better. Snopes is taken as read. Novels/movies where the protagonist believes their destiny is being orchestrated/manipulated, only to learn it was all just coincidence would also be useful.

I don't want to make him feel belittled, but as he's read/watched the "best" the conspiracy world has to offer, I'd like him to also see some of the best skeptics can put forward, particularly in relation to things like medicine and the "Illuminati".

How do I amass a book collection in this day and age?

majesty_snowbird — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 16:35:07 -0800

I've always wanted to wind up with a large collection of books like my parents have. However, when I can find constantly updated information on the internet and I check out fiction from the library, I can rarely convince myself there's a good reason to actually BUY a book. What books should I be buying? Some snowflakes inside. I love going into used and new bookstores and browsing, and sometimes I'll find some book that seems interesting. But immediately what goes through my mind are things like, "should I check this out from the library to make sure I'll like it first? Is this the most updated and factually correct book on this topic? Could I get it cheaper on Amazon?", etc. I used to buy YA books without thinking about it, but with 'adult' books being double the price, it tends to give me pause.

Right now my book collection consists of my favorite YA books I brought with me from my parents' house, book series that I enjoyed and collected through Paperback Swap, assorted fiction I picked up here and there, and non-fiction books I had to get for college (mostly environmental law and policy books). A lot of the fiction I could probably part with and would forget about immediately because I rarely re-read one-off novels.

While I aspire to have a collection comparable to my parents', I assume most of the information in the non-fiction books could be found easily on the internet and a lot of the fiction is probably not necessarily even worth keeping. So basically my question is - how do I decide what books are really worth buying and keeping?

Psychology preceding avoidable accidents and catastrophes

tr0ubley — Fri, 09 May 2014 20:55:13 -0800

Please point me towards more non-fiction accounts of fatalities that may have been avoidable had the people involved made different decisions earlier on. In particular I am looking for accounts that provide detail about these earlier decisions so the reader can perhaps surmise where the “tipping point” was reached. Examples that come to mind are this NYTimes article about the avalanche at Tunnel Creek, some NIOSH firefighter fatality reports, and the NTSB report on the sinking of the tall ship Bounty during Hurricane Sandy. I’m interested in the psychology behind these types of (possibly) avoidable accidents, i.e. denial, groupthink, illusion of control, optimism bias, etc., but these need not be specifically pointed out in the report or account. Examples from any field would be greatly appreciated.

Books that allude to books that do not exist.

BlueJae — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 15:40:05 -0800

In The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, the title character is negatively influenced by a "poison" book that is mentioned repeatedly in the text but never named. "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius," the short story by Jorge Luis Borges, mentions several nonexistent books including a mysteriously altered encyclopedia and a History of the Land Called Uqbar. I am looking for more fictional references in novels or stories to other books that do not exist. Help, please? Other examples that come to mind include Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, which mentions both a journal and a (possibly not actually fiction) fiction book that do not exist, and Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin, which contains parts of novel that does not exist that itself contains a science fiction story that does not exist.

Can you recommend any foreboding, surreal texts?

Quilford — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 01:26:23 -0800

I'm looking for fiction and non-fiction texts (video, audio, and books) that take what is ostensibly a very real situation and find a surreal perspective. I'm not looking for the fantastic though, but more of a foreboding tone/atmosphere. You know, when a narrative seemingly grounded in reality has an unreal, genuinely unsettling undercurrent. Examples below. For example:

"Clutter", from This American Life: the escape from 1 World Trade Center

House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski: particularly the narrative of The Navidson Record

Mulholland Drive, amongst other things by David Lynch: mainly the first two thirds of the film

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and other works by Haruki Murakami: especially the Room 208 stuff

lots of stories from Scott Carrier

Thanks!

Audiobook Q & A, subject matter irrelevant

pintapicasso — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 17:30:55 -0800

I like to listen to audiobooks before I fall asleep. I would like to find audiobooks with a question and answer format. Can you help? I fall asleep quickly, too quickly for most short stories. I love to read and listen to Q&A-format books but they are difficult to find in audiobook form.

I prefer non-fiction. The only audiobooks I have been able to find that fit the bill are this Miss Manners guide to business etiquette and this Suze Orman personal finance reference and they were perfect.

While not in Q&A form I also enjoyed listening to 101 Tough Conversations to have with Employees. Each conversation was barely more than a page, and they did not need to be read in order. I am curious if you have any recommendations for non-fiction audiobooks that follow this format - broken into short articles that are independent from one another.

Thank you very much!