Nonfiction November | What to read?

[@kevintowle9665]

Great video Fred! Very interesting books. Really enjoyed the brief insights from you on each book! Love Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, as well as their stand alone & solo works. Didn’t know Preston wrote NF. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

[@ReadbyFred]

Thanks Kevin! Enjoy the remainder of your weekend as well :)

[@thereadingmama]

The Immortal Life was life changing read for me!

[@ReadbyFred]

That is amazing! I'm certain Rebecca Skloot would be proud to hear that. :)

[@TimeTravelReads]

Hi Fred. What good recommendations! I've read a few of those. Lab Girl and The Soul of an Octopus got me through hard times. It might have been nice to learn more about octopus in Montgomery's book. Mostly, I was really touched that she included a teenage girl with a chronic illness. I'd never come across that before and I wish I'd been able to read it as a teen. Have a great week!

[@ReadbyFred]

That is so nice to hear that those books helped you through difficult times. I'm sure that Sy and Hope would be touched to know that their books had such a positive impact on someone's life :)

[@WildHeartsandWildflowers]

What an interesting selection of books here, Fred! I've read about half of them, and my favorites are 'Lab Girl' (really good!) and the Earthworm book, 'The Earth Moved,' by Amy Stewart. I actually love *every* non-fiction book written by Amy Stewart thus far, and there are a lot of them! And yes, worm castings are extremely important and beneficial to our gardens! (Amy Stewart has also written fiction - a series of seven books based on the fascinating Kopp sisters.) I'm currently reading 'Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues,' and while I'm thoroughly enjoying it (the world history is fantastic!), I do find myself wanting a deeper dive into the science side of the plagues. The intro of this book was all about bacteria and viruses, but I need more! Soooo... your review has convinced me I need to pick up 'I Contain Multitudes' by Ed Yong. I loved 'Immense World' by him, so I know this earlier book (2016) will be an enlightening read, too. Thanks for sharing! ❤

[@ReadbyFred]

I'll have to see what other nonfiction Ms. Stewart has written. Oh wow, talking about _The Earth Moved_ made me remember the 10 foot worm she spoke of - yikes! Lab Girl was great, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it as well. I'll need to pick up _Pathogenesis_ when I find it on sale. It sounds really good :)

[@WildHeartsandWildflowers]

@ReadbyFred One of my favorite Amy Stewart books is 'Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities' - very interesting! ☺️

[@badbettybooks4001]

The Ancient Mariners is going on my to-read list, it sounds interesting. I have read Ancient Iraq, and it was informative and I liked it! Definitely a more academic book though. I like that you included older books in your list. I find that in the modern world we are constantly presented with shiny new books and in the churn many fantastic books published in prior years fall by the wayside and don't get the attention they deserve. Great video!

[@ReadbyFred]

Thanks! I agree, with so many new books on subjects we sometimes forget the gems from the past. I hope you enjoy Ancient Mariners - Lionel Casson is a great writer :)

[@ariannefowler455]

What a treat to get an almost 30 minute long video!

[@ReadbyFred]

Hah! I didn't think this video would go _that_ long when I started recording! :)

[@MyBookHauledLife-Essie]

Thanks for these suggestions! I saw a documentary about Henrietta Lacks awhile back. Important story.

[@ReadbyFred]

I forgot to mention how the profits from the study of her cancer cells never got back to the family. This was also a theme in the book. Wonderful book, if you have a chance I would recommend the read :)

[@TriumphalReads]

Really great vid Fred! Lots of books I've read from those picks and I'll second them. 3 for 3 with your first category too haha, Why Fish Don't Exist I was pretty middle of the road with, but Soul of an Octopus I thought was great, and Hope Jahren is tremendous!

[@ReadbyFred]

Thanks Justin! There is so much variety in nonfiction - I hope that those who typically shy away from the genre find something here that they would enjoy picking up :)

[@jammiez2805]

Great selections.thanks for going into depth about the Henrietta Lacks book. Ive never been interested in reading it when ive heard 8t mentioned by many booktubers however your in depth discussion on it has made me interested.

[@ReadbyFred]

It's a great book. If you do pick it up and read it, let me know your thoughts :)

[@bookofdust]

I really enjoyed the Fish book, and its multiple intertwining threads. As a follow up to one, I read the book Who Killed Jane Stanford? It’s written by a college professor and a bit dry, it doesn’t have that level of engagement that journalistic investigative writers have, but it was fascinating to try to work out the events of her later life and mysterious death.

[@ReadbyFred]

I picked up a discount copy Why Fish Don't Exist, and found out that it was missing pages and an entire chapter (I did a rant video on that :p). I picked up the ebook version that same night because I really wanted to read the entire book. Yeah, Jane Standford and David Starr Jordan did not get along ... he is definitely a jerk (and, though I don't remember if it was proven in court, much more than just a jerk).

[@stuartgriffin1001]

Great suggestions. Besides The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore, by Evan Friss, which I am currently reading, I might not read any more non-fiction books in November. Your books suggestions reminder me that I do have The Soul of an Octopus. I will read thst one soon. I also will soon read Ghosts of Honolulu by Mark Harmon and Leon Carroll, Jr. Soon

[@ReadbyFred]

Soul of an Octopus was a good read, I hope you enjoy it if you pick it up. I think I'm going to start the Forest Unseen, another of my nonfiction November picks, this Saturday :)

[@StormReads]

Not big on Non-fiction but keep trying to get myself into them as I use to read them as a teen, books about crimes and criminals anyway lol. That Lost City one sounds interesting. You always make non-fiction sound interesting lol. I am currently listening to Birds Aren't Real it's a NF book about a conspiracy theory of the government killing of birds to make robot spy birds, it's kind of making fun of the theory while making you question each bird you see lol.

[@ReadbyFred]

Hah, I'll never look at a crow or chickadee the same way again then! Hoping the audiobook is a good one, and that it entices you to delve a little more into nonfiction :)