Best non-fiction books I've read

Submitted by cmonster on Mon, 04/26/2004 - 01:56
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  1. Lexicon Devil: The Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash and the Germs - Brendan Mullen, Don Bolles: American history at its finest. This book was just so amazing. So amazing. It spun me off on a whole researching tangent of the late 70s punk scene. I wasn more books like this, where the same history is told by 100 people, so all these voices get heard.
  2. Fall of the Phantom Lord - Andrew Todhunter: Todhunter captures a whole lifestyle of climbers living in the Tahoe area as well as profiling the legendary Dan Osman in a completely non-judgemental way, which is both compelling and refreshing. It's a great book if you're interested in climbing, but it's also a fine standalone read.
  3. Introduction to Marine Science, 2nd ed - PS Meadows and JI Campbell: Because I really and truly am a sea monster junkie. Even the smallest of sea monsters.
  4. Yukon Wild: The Adventures of Four Women Who Paddled 2,000 Miles Through America's Last Frontier - Beth Johnson: I can't read this book too much, because it makes me want to quit my job and go boating.
  5. The Body Project - Joan Jacobs Brumberg: How did body-hating in America start? Read this book.
  6. Sons of the Profits: The Founding of Seattle, 1849-1900 - William Rankin: American history is indescribably weird.
  7. Shooting the Boh: A Woman's Voyage Down the Wildest River in Borneo - Tracy Johnston: The thing about this woman's river narrative is that she makes it clear that the trip wasn't all flowers and self-empowerment. Some of it just sucked.
  8. Men, Women and Chainsaws - Carol J Clover: Why are horror movies so popular? I've seen several new scholarly books on this subject, and they're all retreads of this classic.
  9. Mutilating the Body: Identity in Blood and Ink - Kim Hewitt: If you have a teenage daughter or a tattoo, you will probably find this book intriguing.
  10. Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters - Joan Ryan: It's not just that America is weird about its sports, it's that it's even weirder about women's sports and women's bodies.
  11. British Goblins: Welsh Folk-Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions - Wirt Sikes: This is a collection of Welsh folk lore collected by the American ambassador to Wales while he was serving his post in 1872. It's an informative and hilarious outsider's account.
  12. Assassination Vacation - Sarah Vowell: I want to go on vacation with Sarah Vowell, because very few people can appreciate the weirdness that is US history, and the wackjobs who wind up being President.