5 Best Books … Genre Reads

Cassandra of Indie Reader Houston runs the meme: “5 Best Books”. Every week, a different topic is suggested by Cassandra and participants list what they think are the 5 best book for that topic. Click HERE to see the topics for the next few weeks.

This week, the topic is genre reads.

The books I mention in 5 Best are often literary fiction or dystopia/SF, since those genres are my favorites. So for this week, I took a different, genre: non-fiction. I used to say I never read non-fiction, but since I have a blog, I can easily check that, and it’s not true! I don’t read loads of it, but every once in a while I read a memoir, travelogue or other non-fiction book. I read enough to be able to compose a top-5. Here they are…

The To-Do List by Mike Gayle

Procrastinator Mike Gayle decided enough is enough and he made himself a to-do list of over 1200 (!) items which he vowed to clear within a year.

The book follows his progress and highlights the most interesting items on his list, the people he met while carrying out the items or the situations he had to overcome to be able to fulfil his goals.

It is a fun read and in the back of the book are all 1277 items listed. An inspiring book!

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

A very different book is the story of the childhood of Jeannette Walls. She comes from a very deprived background. Although her parents were educated people, they were always on the run from debt collectors.

As the parents refused to accept welfare their kids missed out even on the basics, such as warm clothes and food. They lived in bitter poverty and the children regularly had to eat food that was discarded by others in rubbish bins.

Jeanette Walls does not condemn her parents but writes it as it was.

Lost on Planet China by J. Maarten Troost

A really nice travelogue. Troost visits China as a tourist. Although he is an experienced traveller, initially he feels as lost in China as I think I would be.

Without complaining, and with humor, he tells about all the strange things he encounters in China: food, crowds, air polution, etc.

If you want to experience China without actually going there, this is a great book. My review is HERE.

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I Is An Other by James Geary

This is a non-fiction book about metaphors.

A metaphor is used when you use unrelated words to describe something. For instance, “My job is a jail” or “She had a bright idea”. A job isn’t literally a jail and an idea can’t emit light.

The psychology behind using metaphors is explained for various areas of our life, such as advertisements, science, innovation, stock market and politics. There is also a chapter on Aspergers and metaphors. Easy to read, full of great insights.

My review is HERE.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver and her family move from California to a farm in Virginia and challenge themselves to eat only food produced on their own farm for a year.

The book tells about their agricultural year, their reasons behind the challenge, the American agricultural business and how local produce would make life healthier, cheaper and the country a better place to live in.

The book is written in a friendly way, with very little (but some) condescension. There are some recipes and a lot of references to other books and articles propagating local food. It’s inspiring too!

What non-fiction books are your favorites?