Nonfiction for Book Groups
The challenges of nonfiction: Availability of copies; "real"ness of the books; length of books and perceived lack of style; lack of questions
The opportunities of nonfiction: Less turnover on bestseller list (longer shelf life); garner new participants for groups; style is often there and "supporting materials" can lend richness to discussion
Broad groupings to consider: Business titles; Classics in all genres; Humor
Tips: Look at "Under the Radar" lists at RAO; past awards lists (National Book Award, ALA Notables, New York Times Notables); annual "Best of" lists at Largehearted Boy; Graphic Novels; Time 100 Best Nonfiction LIst
Titles discussed 10/16/12: Rick Geary (graphic novel true crime); long-form journalism and magazine articles by William Langewiesche, David Foster Wallace, Michael Lewis, Matt Taibbi, etc.
Erik Larson read-alike possibilities: Victorian/detailed historical true crime (Library Journal list here); Erik Larson read-alikes at the Reader's Advisor Online; perhaps historical nonfiction author/novelist Peter Ackroyd; read-alikes from the ALA program Great Nonfiction Read-Alikes
Crowd-Pleasers
Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit
Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed
Joshua Foer, Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point
Donovan Hohn, Moby-Duck
Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky
Tracy Kidder, Among Schoolchildren
Jen Lancaster
Michael Lewis, Moneyball or The Blind Side
Wes Moore, The Other Wes Moore
Anything by Michael Pollan
Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project
Business
Marcus Buckingham, First, Break All the Rules
Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People
Jim Collins, Good to Great
Spencer Johnson, Who Moved My Cheese?
Science
Richard Preston, The Hot Zone
Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
James Watson, The Double Helix
History
Thomas Cahill, How the Irish Saved Civilization
Timothy Egan, The Worst Bad Time
Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals
Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken
Candice Millard, River of Doubt
True Crime
Truman Capote, In Cold Blood
Anything by Erik Larson
Memoir
Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone
Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
Joan Didion, Magical Thinking or Blue Nights
Tina Fey, Bossypants
Gabrielle Hamilton, Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef
Jenny Lawson, Let's Pretend This Never Happened
Anthony Shadid, House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East
Cheryl Strayed, Wild
Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle
Tobias Wolff, This Boy's Life
Biography
Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs
Sylvia Nasar, A Beautiful Mind
Travel
Bill Bryson, The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, or Notes from a Small Island, Bill Bryson
Paul Theroux, The Great Railway Bazaar or The Old Patagonian Express, Paul Theroux