25 Favorite Non-Fiction Books
Historically, I would say I have preferred fiction to non-fiction in my reading time by a fairly wide margin. A 70-30 split seems too wide but 60-40 seems a bit light so let’s call it 65-35 in favor of fiction and move on. In my younger days, that would’ve been more like 99-1 fiction and even up until the last decade or so, the skew would have been much closer to 80-20. But, as I’ve aged and as I’ve gotten pickier about my fiction choices, I’ve come to a place where I look forward to my next non-fiction read much more so than my next work of fiction. Last year, eight of my top ten reads (I got in 52 books for the second straight year, boom) were non-fiction and I expect this year will fall in around that mark as well. Still, I am no expert in the field, like my co-host Richard Bardon, and without doubt, several of my non-fiction reads each year come from Richard’s recommendation. But my love for the genre as a whole has grown significantly and over the years, I’ve read some really great works of non-fiction.
I tend to lean away from memoirs and lengthy biographies in addition to business-related books, overly complex educational reads, and political commentary. I try to make time for a few of these each year and sometimes they work quite well for me (as you’ll see on my list) but overall, my interests tend to lean toward sports, movies and TV, and music, usually rock stars and bands but not exclusively. Here are some of my favorites from across the non-fiction sphere.
If you would prefer to listen to this list, you can do so here:
HONORABLE MENTIONS: “Hi Bob!” by Bob Newhart (2018) and “X” by Chuck Klosterman (2017)
I cut both of these not for quality (because, indeed, they are both fantastic and would undoubtedly find places high on this list) but for content purposes. “Hi Bob!” is basically a longform podcast and that feels like a cheat compared to some of the exhaustive reporting and writing on display here. Similarly, “X” is a collection of essays brought together from years and years of writing for various websites and magazines and that, too, seems like a cheat. But this list would be incomplete without at least a mention of both books and thus, here they are.
HONORABLE MENTIONS PART 2
I omitted spiritually based books from this list because it felt like a category unto itself or at least a sub-category similar to my feelings on “Hi Bob!” and “X”. If you’re interested in this category, my favorites are “Love Does” by Bob Goff (or any of Bob’s books) and “Divine Nobodies” by Jim Palmer.
25. “The Punch” – John Feinstein (2002)
Feinstein is closer to the James Patterson of sports journalism than anything else and if you’ve ever listened to syndicated sports radio, you have for sure caught a super generic CBS Sports Minute with John Feinstein. Even still, he’s built an inarguable legacy for himself since he burst onto the scene in 1986 with “A Season on the Brink.” Feinstein likely has better books but “The Punch” tells one of his most compelling stories, focusing on an altercation between two NBA players in 1977 that left both scarred in different ways. The book mixes the micro story of both Rudy Tomjanovich and Kermit Washington with the macro of the league as a whole which found itself on the precipice of irrelevance just as this event took place.
24. “Heavier Than Heaven” – Charles A. Cross (2001)
I’ve read a ton of books on the grunge scene in the early 90’s including anything related to Cobain. “Heavier Than Heaven” is not perfect (Dave Grohl was famously not interviewed for the book) but of all the Cobain books I’ve dug into, this is, I think, the most complete, presenting him as he was and shedding (what was at the time) new light on the troubled superstar who made some of my very favorite music.
23. “The Revolution Was Televised” – Alan Sepinwall (2012)
Sepinwall effectively invented the episodic TV show review and, in the process, became the critic of record in the field. In my mind, he is to TV criticism as Roger Ebert was to film criticism. Having been on the frontline, as it were, of the Peak TV Era, no one is better equipped to write the history of the shows that changed television, from The Sopranos to Lost to Mad Men and Breaking Bad. Each chapter of “Revolution” highlights a different show from the era with notes on production, reception, and cultural impact. There are other very good books that go in-depth on the individual shows herein (including Sepinwall’s own books on both Breaking Bad and The Sopranos) but for a crash course on the era, look no further.
22. “Bossypants” – Tina Fey (2011)
Memoirs are not typically my favorite genre, particularly the entertainer/entertainment variety. But I love Fey and her work here is an excellent mix of insight and laughs, many of the self-deprecating kind. You get a great sense of who Fey is and why people in the industry want to work with her. I highly recommend the audiobook which she narrates herself and which gives you the vocal embellishments that really drive home her sense of humor.
21. “Petty” – Warren Zanes (2015)
I know (or knew) less about Tom Petty than a lot of other musicians and rock stars going in; Petty is, for me, mostly a greatest hits type of musician, someone whose music I know mostly from the radio not from diving deep into his full catalog. Sometimes, though, that makes for more enjoyable reading because you get to set aside the “I already know this” feeling you might have with a subject you’re more knowledgeable on. Zanes pulls no punches on the facts and events of the musician’s life but he also doesn’t seem to take pleasure in the sordid details like some rock biographers. To his credit, Petty was quite open with Zanes and thus, you get a story that feels more complete and much more intimate than what I typically expect to find when I go into a book like this.
20. “Your Favorite Band is Killing Me” – Steven Hyden (2016)
Hyden is a fairly well-known rock critic who has worked at Uproxx, AV Club, and Grantland (RIP). In “Your Favorite Band”, he explores 19 rivalries within the music world, discusses the virtues and faults of both parties, and asks you to pick a side. Some of the matchups are well-known, such as Tupac and Biggie, TSwift and Kanye, Nirvana and Pearl Jam, etc. but some I had absolutely no idea about due to my age, musical proclivities, or, in some cases, geography. Did you know Oasis v Blur was a huge rivalry in the UK? I didn’t, because Oasis wrote a couple of the biggest songs of the 90’s and Blur did the “Woohoo” song. But apparently this was a big deal overseas! It’s a very well thought-out and researched book with a great mix of fact and personal opinion.
19. “The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts” – Tanner Colby and Tom Farley (2008)
This definitely falls into the “Not a Fun Read” category if you are someone who needs such trigger warnings. I have no idea how deeply the Chris Farley story resonates with those in the generations before and after me, but I fall squarely into the group for whom he was a massive star and for whom his death was devastating. I think part of the reason for putting this book together was to provide therapy for his family; you can kind of feel Tom trying to work through his brother’s death through the book. It is, nonetheless, an outstanding and complete read. I’m a fan of the oral history style (more on that to come) and the format is used to great effect herein.
18. “The Last Boy” – Jane Leavy (2010)
Mickey Mantle is THE athlete for a generation of Americans who grew up worshipping the Yankees’ troubled-but-talented star. There are plenty of books about The Mick, including at least one autobiography, but Leavy wrote what is widely considered the definitive Mantle book. The author chronicles his upbringing, his rise to fame, his injury-riddled career, and his continual battle with alcoholism while interweaving tales of her meetings with him in his later days. He is an incredibly complicated person and Leavy does a tremendous job of digging through all the layers to present a complete picture of the man.
17. “Billion Dollar Whale” – Bradley Hope and Tom Wright (2018)
I am the sort of person who pays a great deal of attention to the things I pay attention to and a great deal of no attention to the things I pay no attention to. (This is probably the worst sentence ever written and I am sorry.) That is to say, I’m all in or all out and when I’m all out, the details surrounding a thing pass me by completely. I’m not a businessperson and thus, I pay no attention to business matters even when they involve massive scandals like the one laid out in “Billion Dollar Whale.” But Richard harped on me for months to read this one, about a Malaysian con man who bilked investors from a wide range of fields including Hollywood out of billions of dollars. Hope and Wright did tremendous work in investigating and putting the story together and it is an immensely enjoyable read.
16. “The Daily Show (The Book)” – Chris Smith (2016)
The second of four oral histories to make my list, this is another that falls into the “sometimes it’s better not to know much about the subject matter” category. The Daily Show was never a show I watched with much conviction, though I always had an appreciation for the bits I saw, not to mention Jon Stewart. But this retelling of the history of the show, how it came together, how it succeeded, the behind the scenes process, etc. I found to be extremely engrossing and the audiobook flowed wonderfully.
15. “Bad Blood” – John Carreyrou (2018)
Like “Billion Dollar Whale”, this is another big-time story in the business world that I knew absolutely nothing about. Since my reading, it’s become an even bigger story with the HBO documentary last year and an Adam McKay movie starring Jennifer Lawrence in the works. Carreyrou’s reporting is exquisite and it is a riveting story. I routinely found myself wondering aloud how anyone could fall for the Theranos scheme but at the same time questioning whether those involved knew they were running a scam or if they actually bought their own lies. This is definitely one you want to read before the movie drops sometime next year.
14. “The Man from the Train” – Bill James (2017)
Wow. Bill James is the father of sabermetrics (analytical stats) in baseball so I wouldn’t have pegged him to solve a string of 100-year-old murders BUT THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT HE DID! With the help of his daughter, James began investigating a grisly murder that took place in Iowa in 1912 and took on the task of connecting the murder with a series of others that took place across America between 1898 and 1912. AND HE SOLVED IT, GUYS. He figured out who the murderer was! It’s incredible journalism and I think we should probably put Bill James in charge of a lot of things moving forward.
13. “Boom Town” – Sam Anderson (2018)
If there are two things I hate, it’s Oklahoma and the Oklahoma City Thunder. And yet, I was thoroughly enthralled by Anderson’s chronicle of following the Thunder through the 2012-13 season, accompanied by the history of the state itself. “Boom Town” is just far more interesting than any book about Oklahoma has any right to be and I’m starting to think Anderson might be a warlock for making his book work so well and keeping me this invested in the Thunder. (I am mostly kidding about Oklahoma, it’s fine. I am very much not kidding about the Thunder. Just for the record.)
12. “Willie Mays: The Life, the Legend” – James S. Hirch (2010)
Mays, even more than Mantle or any of the great baseball players of the era, is probably the athlete from before my time that I most wish I could watch live. Hirch’s biography is definitive and complete, detailing all the events of Mays’ life from his childhood all the way up through the present day but, of course, with particular attention paid to his playing days. It is an extremely long book (fair warning) but Mays has earned every single page and Hirch’s layout never bogs down.
11. “Born Standing Up” – Steve Martin (2007)
One of the original American Treasures, Martin’s memoir is touching and hilarious, serving as perhaps the gold standard (for me, of course) in the genre. “Standing Up” is by no means exhaustive, coming in at a slim 224 pages, but I take this as a lack of vanity rather than being overly protective of his personal history (which he is entitled to protect if he so chooses, of course). It’s a wonderful little book and a super easy read that even I, among the world’s slowest readers, could knock it out in one good sitting.
10. “The Rap Year Book” – Shea Serrano (2015)
Shea has become a literary and Twitter superstar over the last half decade and I considered putting his next book, “Basketball (And Other Things)”, on this list (I was less into “Movies (And Other Things)” but that’s okay, he does not need my approval) but it’s “The Rap Year Book” that I really love the most in a cover-to-cover way. The book begins in 1979 and in each year moving forward, Shea picks the most influential rap song of the year and makes his case for said song. And look, I am not a hip-hop aficionado (surprising, I know) so maybe his choices are terrible; I do not know and I do not care. The writing is laugh-out-loud funny and the artwork (done by the impeccable Arturo Torres, whose prints adorn the wall of the office I am in right at this very moment) is exquisite.
9. “Friday Night Lights” – Buzz Bissinger (1990)
I’m not totally sure but it is conceivable that “Friday Night Lights” was the first sports book I ever read and it has stuck with me through many, many further ventures into the genre. It is widely held up as one of the great sports books ever written and inspired both the 2004 movie and the 2006 TV show of the same name. It is a heartbreakingly real and thorough look into the culture of small-town football and it pulls no punches on its various subjects. I was only five years old when Bissinger followed the Permian Panthers through their season and yet I feel like I know every single person in the book due to how universal they all are.
8. “The War for Late Night” – Bill Carter (2010)
Having previously chronicled the contentious rivalry that developed between David Letterman and Jay Leno in “The Late Shift”, Carter returned to the Late Night scene to detail the battle between Leno and Conan O’Brien that took place in 2009. I am firmly Team Coco in this fight because, after all, I am a human being and not a sentient 1955 Mercedes. With that said, I love that Carter presented the facts surrounding the dispute between O’Brien and Leno without inserting a shred of opinion. In fact, the book probably puts more emphasis on O’Brien’s faults than Leno’s, although this is partly due to Leno’s being much more publicly known to mass audiences. It’s a brilliantly reported book and Carter is a master of his craft and although the grip of talk shows on the culture at large seems to weaken by the day, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the entertainment industry.
7. “The Book of Basketball” – Bill Simmons (2009)
I have a love-hate relationship with Simmons that now frustratingly leans toward “hate” much more than I would like. Even still, it cannot be overstated how important his writing (and writing style) has been on me over the last 20 years. It is an absolute fact that I would not be writing this piece today if not for Bill Simmons (so please forward all complaints directly to him, thanks). “The Book of Basketball” was a monumental experience for me because, for the first time, someone dug into the ENTIRETY of the NBA to an obscenely detailed level. The title may seem pretentious, but it is spot on in that Simmons covers EVERYTHING. It’s a huge undertaking, clocking in at over 730 pages but honestly, I could’ve done with another 700 pages or so without any problem because I am, of course, all basketball all the time.
6. “Live From New York” – James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales (2002)
Miller and Shales did not invent the oral history (cavemen and such) but they did reintroduce it into the mainstream as an effective writing style. Without this book (and its descendant, “Those Guys Have All the Fun” which covers ESPN), I’m not sure the other oral histories on my list ever get made or at least, I’m not sure they ever find their way into my possession. “Live From New York” chronicles the rise, fall, and rebirth of Saturday Night Live through its first 25+ years (an updated version was published in 2015), for which Miller and Shales talked to virtually every single person who ever came through the doors at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. It’s a magnificent look at one of the industry’s greatest institutions.
5. “The Breaks of the Game” – David Halberstam (1981)
You can argue the merits of any number of books being the best (team) sports book ever written but you’ll be hard pressed to convince me of anyone else taking the title of best sportswriter away from Halberstam. I’ve read “Breaks” several times, most recently in 2018, and it remains nearly unparalleled in its excellence. The book follows the Portland Trailblazers and the fallout from trading their eccentric star (American Treasure Bill Walton) but really, it’s about the NBA as a whole as it moved toward a make-or-break era of basketball. Halberstam is a true master of his craft and the story he weaves is, like a good 30 for 30, so compelling that even a non-sports fan could enjoy the read.
4. “Yours in Truth” – Jeff Himmelman (2012)
This is one of the more unique biographies I’ve ever read and one of the more enjoyable as well. Himmelman was tasked with biographing famed Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee and he did so through a mix of interviews, exhaustive research, and digging through a warehouse full of Bradlee’s archives and personal correspondence. Bradlee was a fascinating figure and Himmelman’s handling of the material and the structure of the book work extremely well in bringing his life to the page. “Yours in Truth” perhaps is not the complete “warts and all” treatment but it also doesn’t shy away from the lesser aspects of Bradlee’s life and in doing so, you get a fair accounting of the subject.
3. “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft” – Stephen King (2000)
Part memoir, part writing instruction, I have never read a book more important and more in tune with the creative process than this one. Some chapters are biographical, and some read more like a Master Class session, but all are valuable and, of course, well-written. In the midst of describing how he came up with an idea for one of his books, King walks you through his creative process with suggestions (and sometimes actual rules) for jumpstarting your own endeavors. It is an easy, interesting read that also promotes highlighting and note taking and the lessons herein I think are vital to anyone who wants to create, either part-time or full.
2. “Everybody Loves Our Town: A History of Grunge” – Mark Yarm (2011)
I’ve mentioned previously both my love for the grunge era of music and the oral history form of storytelling. “Everybody” combines those two things into an exhaustive-yet-dynamic read that I could hardly put down. Yarm got interviews with EVERYBODY even loosely connected to the grunge scene and chronicled, in great detail, the rise of the genre, its spread across the country, and its inevitable downturn. There’s plenty of focus on the stars of the scene (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains) but Yarm never skips over any contributor, whether an early grunge predecessor like the U-Men or bands that tried and failed to ride the music’s flannel coattails like Candlebox. I’ve read just about every grunge-era book I’ve been able to get my hands on and this remains, for me, the definitive volume on the scene.
1. “Into the Wild” – Jon Krakauer (1996)
I think this book is still used in some English classes but in my day, it was a must-read in virtually EVERY high school. There are very few mandatory reads from my school days that I tolerated, let alone revered, but “Into the Wild” struck a deep chord with me and I revisit it every few years. No one in the literary world has modernized the concept of wildness exemplified in the writings of Jack London, Rudyard Kipling, etc. like Krakauer has and I think this is his most personal book. I think it’s clear he felt a connection to his subject, Chris McCandless, the would-be adventurer who died in the Alaskan tundra either due to poor planning or tragic circumstance (or both) and through “Into the Wild” he wrestles with that connection. Whether you think McCandless was a hero or you think he was an idiot or, like me, you sit somewhere in the middle, this is a book that stays with you and turns over in your head for days on end. It is a sad, beautifully written book and exemplifies Krakauer’s mastery of his genre.