50 Essential Non-Fiction Books (You'll Actually Read)

Similiar to our list of 100 (Fiction) Books to Read in a Lifetime, this list of 50 non-fiction books contains recommendations you might actually read (if you haven't already). This curated list covers the gamut of non-fiction, from compelling war stories to key feminist texts, to unbelievable struggles for survival, to tales of life in the culinary trade. You may not completely agree with our recommendations, there are surely key titles missing, so please share your recommendations for essential non-fiction books everyone should read.

50 Non-Fiction Books

A Brief History of Time

by Stephen Hawking

Was there a beginning of time? Could time run backwards? These are just some of the questions considered in an internationally acclaimed masterpiece by one of the world's greatest thinkers.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

by Maya Angelou

Captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right.

In Cold Blood

by Truman Capote

On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

by Dee Brown

Generated shockwaves with its frank and heartbreaking depiction of the systematic annihilation of American Indian tribes across the western frontier.

Hiroshima

by John Hersey

On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atom bomb ever dropped on a city. This book, John Hersey's journalistic masterpiece, tells what happened on that day.

H is For Hawk

by Helen Mcdonald

Helen Macdonald's story of adopting and raising one of nature's most vicious predators has soared into the hearts of millions of readers worldwide.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat

by Oliver Sacks

Oliver Sacks recounts the stories of patients lost in the bizarre, apparently inescapable world of neurological disorders.

Out of Africa

by Isak Dinesen

In this book, the author of Seven Gothic Tales gives a true account of her life on her plantation in Kenya.

We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families

by Philip Gourevitch

A first-hand account one of the defining outrages of modern history, an unforgettable anatomy of Rwanda's decimation. As riveting as it is moving, it is a profound reckoning with humanity's betrayal and its perseverance.

Never Cry Wolf

by Farley Mowat

Hordes of bloodthirsty wolves are slaughtering the arctic caribou, and the government's Wildlife Service assigns naturalist Farely Mowat to investigate.

The Diary of a Young Girl

by Anne Frank

Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank's remarkable diary has become a world classic - a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit.

The Beauty Myth

by Naomi Wolf

The bestselling classic that redefined our view of the relationship between beauty and female identity.

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

by Alfred Lansing

The harrowing tale of British explorer Ernest Shackleton's 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole, one of the greatest adventure stories of the modern age.

Fever Pitch

by Nick Hornby

In America, it is soccer. But in Great Britain, it is the real football. No pads, no prayers, no prisoners. And that's before the players even take the field.

Night

by Elie Wiesel

A terrifying account of the Nazi death camp horror that turns a young Jewish boy into an agonized witness to the death of his family, the death of his innocence, and the death of his God.

We Should All be Feminists

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

A unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century, one rooted in inclusion and awareness.

Alive

by Piers Paul Read

On October 12, 1972, a plane carrying a team of young rugby players crashed into the remote, snow-peaked Andes. Out of the forty-five original passengers and crew, only sixteen made it off the mountain alive.

Bad Blood

by Lorna Sage

Lorna Sage delivers the tragicomic memoir of her escape from a claustrophobic childhood in post-WWII Britain - and the story of the weddings and relationships that defined three generations of her family.

How to Cook a Wolf

by MFK Fisher

Written to inspire courage in those daunted by wartimes shortages, How to Cook a Wolf continues to rally cooks during times of plenty, reminding them that providing sustenance requires more than putting food on the table.

A Moveable Feast

by Ernest Hemingway

A Moveable Feast brilliantly evokes the exuberant mood of Paris after World War I and the unbridled creativity and unquenchable enthusiasm that Hemingway himself epitomized.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

by Bill Bryson

Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us.

Alexander Hamilton

by Ron Chernow

The riveting life of Alexander Hamilton, an illegitimate, largely self-taught orphan from the Caribbean who overcame all the odds to become George Washington's aide-de-camp and the first Treasury Secretary of the United States.

Blink

by Malcolm Gladwell

Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant-in the blink of an eye-that actually aren't as simple as they seem.

Kitchen Confidential

by Anthony Bourdain

A deliciously funny, delectably shocking banquet of wild-but-true tales of life in the culinary trade from Chef Anthony Bourdain.

Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege 1942-1943

by Antony Beevor

Historians and reviewers worldwide have hailed Antony Beevor's magisterial Stalingrad as the definitive account of World War II's most harrowing battle.

Dreams From My Father

by Barack Obama

In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American.

How to Win Friends and Influence People

by Dale Carnegie

Advice on how to make friends quickly and easily, win people over to your way of thinking, become a better speaker and more entertaining conversationalist and arouse enthusiasm among your associates.

If They Come in the Morning

by Angela Y. Davis

The scathing analysis of the role of prison and the policing of black populations offered by Davis and her comrades in this astonishing volume remains as pertinent today as the day it was first published.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

by Fredrick Douglass

Born into a life of bondage, Frederick Douglass secretly taught himself to read and write. It was a crime punishable by death, but it resulted in one of the most eloquent indictments of slavery ever recorded.

The Road to Wigan Pier

by George Orwell

In the 1930s Orwell was sent by a socialist book club to investigate the appalling mass unemployment in the industrial north of England. He went beyond his assignment to investigate the employed as well.

Friday Night Lights

by H.G. Bissinger

The 25th anniversary edition of the classic best-selling story of life in the football-driven town of Odessa Texas.

Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America

by James Forman Jr.

Former public defender James Forman, Jr. is a leading critic of mass incarceration and its disproportionate impact on people of color.

The Year of Magical Thinking

by Joan Didion

From one of America's iconic writers, a portrait of a marriage and a life - in good times and bad - that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child.

Into Thin Air

by Jon Krakauer

A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking

by Julia Child

"Anyone can cook in the French manner anywhere," wrote Mesdames Beck, Bertholle, and Child, "with the right instruction." And here is the book that, for more than forty years, has been teaching Americans how.

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China

by Jung Chang

The story of three generations in twentieth-century China that blends the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history.

Unbroken

by Laura Hillenbrand

Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

by Malcolm X

In the searing pages of this classic autobiography, originally published in 1964, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and anti-integrationist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Black Muslim movement.

Life on the Mississippi

by Mark Twain

At once a romantic history of a mighty river, an autobiographical account of Twain's early steamboat days, and a storehouse of humorous anecdotes and sketches.

The Medium is the Massage

by Marshall McLuhan

First published in 1967, this text is now more relevant than ever, as McLuhan's foresights about the impact of new media is actualized at unprecedented speeds via the Internet.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

by Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan confronted us with this seemingly simple question and, with The Omnivore's Dilemma, his brilliant and eye-opening exploration of our food choices, demonstrated that how we answer it today may determine not only our health but our survival as a species.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark

by Nichelle McNamara

A masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer - the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade - from Michelle McNamara, the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case.

No Logo

by Naomi Klein

In the last decade, No Logo has become an international phenomenon and a cultural manifesto for the critics of unfettered capitalism worldwide.

Silent Spring

by Rachel Carson

Carson's passionate concern for the future of our planet reverberated powerfully throughout the world, and her eloquent book was instrumental in launching the environmental movement.

Goodbye to All That

by Robert Graves

Good-bye to All That was published a decade after the end of the first World War, as the poet and novelist Robert Graves was preparing to leave England for good.

The Second Sex

by Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir's essential masterwork is a powerful analysis of the Western notion of "woman", and a revolutionary exploration of inequality and otherness.

Ariel

by Sylvia Plath

This edition includes in facsimile the complete working drafts of her poem "Ariel," which provide a rare glimpse into the creative process of a beloved writer. This publication introduces a truer version of Plath's works, and will no doubt alter her legacy forever.

Bossypants

by Tina Fey

Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV.

The Right Stuff

by Tom Wolfe

Millions of words have poured forth about man's trip to the moon, but until now few people have had a sense of the most engrossing side of the adventure.

The Elements of Style

by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

According to the St. Louis Dispatch, this "excellent book, which should go off to college with every freshman, is recognized as the best book of its kind we have".