Top Ten Tuesday: Books for Readers Who Like Nonfiction

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top ten tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.

 Today’s Topic: Top Ten Books for Readers who Like Nonfiction

For readers that like nonfiction, here are some of our favorites!

Ricki

*I opted to divide my books into the marketed audience. I will say that all of the books I listed below cross age levels and would be appreciated by all ages.*

1. For Children:

Locomotive by Brian Floca

locomotive

My husband and I loved reading this with our son. Adults (with or without children) will enjoy this book just as much as children will. It is beautifully written.

2. For Middle Grades:

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

brown girl

It is difficult to put words to this book. It is a stunning masterpiece that will appreciated for years to come. If you haven’t read it, I promise it is worth the hype.

3. For Young Adults:

Dreaming in Indian, Edited by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Leatherdale

dreaming in indian

Readers get lost in the contemporary Native American Voices of this anthology which features a combination of art, photography, poetry, and prose.

4. For Adults:

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

glass castle

Ahh, let me count the ways I love this book. Many of my high schools loved the writing of this text. It is marketed for adults, but the beauty of story makes it a book that touches many lives. This is one of my all-time favorite books.

5. For Professional Development/Writers:

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

bird by bird

This text taught me a lot about writing and made me want to drop everything and crawl into a cave to write. If you aren’t inspired to write after reading this book…then I shall bake you a pie.

Kellee

Nonfiction is one of the genres that many of my students are not interested in (though I try to get them into it!). Here are 5 nonfiction books that I wish my students would read because they are awesome.

All of these books are on my list for the same reason: Because they made me completely fascinated about the time period or topic. They all are told in a mix of informational and narrative to keep the reader entertained, they all are about a topic not widely written/talked about (except Amelia), and they all are just filled with such a ridiculous amount of information.

1. An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy

americanplague

2. The Great Fire by Jim Murphy

greatfire

3. Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and The Endurance by Jennifer Armstrong

shipwreck

4. Amelia Lost: The Life and Disapperance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming

amelialost

5. Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

hitleryouth

Honorary (because I’m not done yet). The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming

romanov

Which books would you recommend to readers who like nonfiction?

RickiSig and Signature

6 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday: Books for Readers Who Like Nonfiction”

  1. “Into the Wild” is as gripping as any novel. And keep an eye out for my friend Mary Norris’s terrific upcoming “Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen’ on her 30 + years as a New Yorker copy editor.

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  2. Oh, I love Brown Girl Dreaming – it was soooo amazing on audio! I also love The Glass castle and Bird by Bird. Like Ricki, many of my favorite nonfiction books are memoirs – I really enjoy them. Though I have also read some great nonfiction for book groups that I probably never would have read on my own. The Big Burn, Henrietta Lacks, and The River of Doubt come to mind. And so many amazing memoirs! I highly recommend The Invisible Wall, The Dream, and Golden Willow – 3 memoirs by a man in his 90’s!

    http://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2013/03/memoir-review-invisible-wall.html

    I haven’t read any of the books Kellee listed yet – I better get busy!

    Sue

    http://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2013/03/memoir-review-invisible-wall.html

    Reply
  3. I hardly ever read nonfiction middle-grade or YA books! So, most of these are new to me, though I loved, loved, loved Brown Girl Dreaming.

    I do remember really loving Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, Swanson’s middle-grade version of his bestseller Manhunt. And I have a read a few YA memoirs (I don;t read much other nonfiction but do love memoirs).

    Another great list!

    Sue

    2015 Big Book Summer Challenge

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