Okay, try to limit yourselves to five. LOL

Non-Fiction:

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal by Jared Diamond
Survival of the Sickest by Sharon Moalem
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer by Irene Opdyke

Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body by Neil Shubin
Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler
Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs by Buddy Levy
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
American Gospel by Jon Meacham

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A Personal Stand by Trace Adkins
A Bold, Fresh Piece of Humanity by Bill O'Reilly
Brainiac by Ken Jennings
Crashing Through by Robert Kurson
Free for All by Don Borchert

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The Translator: a Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari
Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton
The Letters of Dorothy Sayers, vol. 2
What's so Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey
The Menopause Manager by Mary Ann Mayo & Joseph L. Mayo, M.D.

I read almost no non-fiction this year, but really enjoyed When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris.

#5 - Well, when looking through my list this year I realized most of the standouts I read were non-fiction. In fact, I had a really hard time picking out just five.

A very slim non-fiction year for me this year (in fact a slim year for reading altogether, something that must, no will be rectified in 2009. But here are some non-fiction highlights:

A Traveller's History of New Zealand - very interesting it was too.
Lord of Misrule - by Christopher Lee - an impressive man, with an impressive life, and an impressive style. The beginning, when he sets the scene for his own birth (something all good biographies should try to do LOL), is superb.
Six Screenplays by Robert Riskin - Ok, so the screenplays are fiction, but the chunk at the beginning about Riskin, his life and works is very good too, and so I'm including it here in the non-fiction section (see, I told you it was a slim year for non-fiction).

Message edited by its author, Dec 21, 2008, 2:30am.

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles Mann - Incredible. Loved the history, loved the travel log, loved the maps and pictures. Great. Read it.
The Earth Shall Weep: A History of Native America by James Wilson - Made for great reading after 1491, even though it was published 10 years earlier.
Five Points by Tyler Anbinder - Really brought the area to life and gave me a new respect for that part of New York's history.
The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million by Daniel Mendelsohn - heart wrenching but exciting and lively.
The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk by Randy Shilts - Yeah, okay, I just started it, but loving it thus far.

I've read a total of 7 non-fiction books this year (which is up from 2 last year, but doesn't quite reach my goal of 10). Here are the ones that really stood out:

Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? by Allyson Beatrice
The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies by John Scalzi

Didn't read very much non-fiction this year, but what I did I enjoyed:

Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings by Mary Rubio
The Journals of Lucy Maud Montgomery, Volume V
Court Lady & Country Wife by Lita-Rose Betcherman
Krakatoa by Simon Winchester
The Darkest Jungle: The True Story of the Darien Expedition by Todd Balf

I have lots more in my TBR pile that I can't wait to get at, 2009 is looking good!

#1, clam, we were at a friend's for dinner the other night and she had just finished reading Three Cups of Tea and couldn't stop talking about it, so now that's been added to my wish list, right at the top. Sounds too good (and important) to miss.

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#11 - It is, and I would give my eyeteeth to see Greg Mortenson speak.

LOL and there's another one for the katylit & clam shared list! :oD

Yeah, I laughed when I saw it top your list LOL!!

I also loved Three Cups of Tea and I too would love to see Greg Mortenson speak; and I'd love to have an update on his projects.

My favorites were probably
Pirates - Predator of the Seas: An Illustrated History by Angus Kostam and
The Wreck of the Medusa by Jonathan Miles

I'm not a big non-fiction reader, so I eased in with seafaring :-).

I only read 2 non-fiction books this year (!), and the winner is I'm Pregnant!, because it's well organized and I felt like I learned a lot of very useful stuff before Charlie came along.

The Knock at the Door: A Journey Through the Darkness of the Armenian Genocide by Margaret Ajemian Ahnert
The Weather Makers : How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth by Tim Flannery
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish (also Siblings Without Rivalry by the same authors)
The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner
Late Innings: A Baseball Companion by Roger Angell

I think I've read 8 non-fiction this year. My favorite three:

There's a Porcupine in my Outhouse by Michael Tougias
Who Are You People? by Shari Caudron
and
Just A Geek by Wil Wheaton

James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon by Julie Phillips
Hello, Cruel World and Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornstein

I should also probably add Good Owners, Great Cats by Brian Kilcommons which has been a wonderful help with my two new roommates. :-)

Message edited by its author, Dec 22, 2008, 10:31am.

I've read very little non-fiction this year. Two that stand out:
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson
The Trouble Begins at 8: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West by Sid Fleischman

A Season of Splendor by Greg King was a great social history of the Gilded Age.

In terms of business books, I thought Groundswell was outstanding as was Here Comes Everybody.

Finally, I enjoyed two books pertaining to art history -- The Judgment of Paris and The Return of King Arthur: The Legend Through Victorian Eyes.

A Pirate of Exquisite Mind by Diana Preston

This was for a group read on LT. I had never heard of it before, and had never heard of William Dampier either. It blew my mind!

My list:

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, which I heard about here and really enjoyed.

The Terracotta Army - really good

Washington's Crossing - my top non-fiction read for the year. Just so well done.

As I Have Loved You - excellent memoir of World War II.

The Zookeeper's Wife - a nice read with the one before, also about World War II, but about Europe rather than the Pacific.

Favorite non-fiction this year: When Wanderers Cease to Roam by Vivian Swift, an absolutely beautiful memoir.

Non-fiction books I liked in 2008 are: American Pie - touchstone is incorrect! My American Pie Slices of Life (and Pie) from America's Back Roads is a romp through cross country car trip looking for good home made pies, with recipes included! My Stroke of Insight which is a must read for any one with elderly people in their lives. Merle's Door is another really good, tear jerking, dog book. I liked the new information about research into the nature of domesticated dogs.

I read some others, but those are my favs.

I read 88 non-fiction books in 2008. The best five were:

1. 4403 America's Constitution A Biography, by Akhil Reed Amar (read 17 Jan 2008) (Book of the Year)

2. 4518 The Walls of Jericho Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell, and the Struggle for Civil Rights, by Robert Mann (read 21 Dec 2008)

3. 4442 What Hath God Wrought The Transformation of America, 1815-1848, by Daniel Walker Howe (read 27 May 2008) (Pulitzer History prize for 2008)

4. 4451 Political and Social Upheaval 1832-1852, by William L. Langer (read 21 Jun 2008)

5. 4465 Siegfried Sassoon A Life, by Max Egremont (read 30 Jul 2008)

As I only read 6 it's easy to keep the list under five.

Ten years under the earth and not on the label both got 4 stars. And although variable in places they were both enjoyable reads.

The meaning of things tanked at 1.5 stars.

Ooh, I read seven! That was better than I was expecting it to be actually.

Feet in the Clouds by Richard Askwith is brilliant (about fell running. Possibly a bit niche, but I love it because a lot of the running is in the Lakes.)
What do you care what other people think? is brilliant because it's Richard Feynman. The Challenger disaster stuff is kind of interesting but less entertaining than the Feynman stories.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi was a really interesting memoir.
Creation or Evolution: Do we have to choose? by Denis Alexander was total choir preaching for me but it's always nice to read a well argued & written defense of one's own position...
Annapurna by Maurice Herzog is arguably slightly fictional but is exciting to read. Surely what they did was impossible?!

I read a boatload of mysteries this past year and just a little non-fiction. The best were:

On the Shoulders of Giants: My Personal Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance by that tall fellow

Born Standing Up by that wild and crazy guy

Clues from the Bidding at Bridge by the upside-down wunderkind

#29 - Hee hee! Nice author clues. :o)

The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari

A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz--growing up in Israel as it receives its nationhood by one of Israel's foremost authors.

Muhammed A Biography of the Prophet by Karen Armstrong

Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie along withThe Journals of Susanna Moodie by Margaret Atwood. Pioneer life on the Canadian frontier.

Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks. A look at Muslim women

Woodturning: Two Books in One: Projects To Practice and Inspire Techniques by Phil Irons. Very good book for people interested in learning turning.

#2 The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs

#1 I Have Lived a Thousand Years by Livia Bitton-Jackson

Yah know, I never suspected the non-fic list would be the one that is still going!

Summer of '49 by David Halberstam
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead; The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon by Crystal Zevon
Catfish; My Life in Baseball by Jim "Catfish" Hunter and Armen Keteyian

#35 - Oh! Warren Zevon! I will keep an eye out for that one for my husband!

One of my absolute best reads in years. When Zevon was dying he instructe his ex-wife, Crystal, to tell it all like it was, not to sugar-coat anything. She and his celebrity friends and family, plus Warren himself, recorded just how messed up the guy was. You alternately want to hug him and kick his butt all over the place! Highest recommendation!

clam, don't forget that truth is stranger than fiction!

Thanks, groo. I think I'll add it to my B&N wishlist, so I don't forget about it. My braincells have been very faulty of late.

Oops Clam hmm me thinks you have a birthday around the corner. Those brain cells won't be mush as you age if you keep reading. lol. Off today mentioned in another thread. OMG we have 7 snow days now to make up.This is nuts.