Best Non-Fiction Read in 2009

At the top of the heap is

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared M. Diamond

There rest are as follows in order read:

American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson by Joseph J. Ellis
The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John M. Barry
Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body by Neil Shubin
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson
Women Who Love Books Too Much by Brenda Knight

(Blasted touchstones!)

I loved reading Farm City by Novella Carpenter

My votes are:

In Reckless Hands - Civil rights case about the right to reproduce
John Adams - long, but so worth it
The Gecko's Foot - bio-inspiration
New Recipes from the Moosewood Restaurant - yum
The Hiding Place - the story of Corrie ten Boom

The Lost City of Z by Davis Grann
John Adams by David McCullough
Columbine by Dave Cullen

I didn't read much non-fiction this year except for textbooks and those definitely will not make the list!

84, Charing Cross by Helene Hanff
In One Place: The Natural History of a Georgia Farmer by Milton N. Hopkins, Jr.

I read 7 non-fiction books this year. My favorite first time reads were:

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
At Large and at Small by Anne Fadiman

And an honourable mention to Looking for China: Reflections on a Silk Road by Judy Schultz, which I reread for the third time.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan -- thanks to Clam for the heads-up
Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin --Thanks to Clam for this too
The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins

I may add to this list later ...

My votes this year goes to -

The talking ape, by Robbins Burling - Hypothesising about why and how humans developed the ability to articulate, and how spoken language has changed us through the millennia.

The search for the perfect language, by Umberto Eco - European history of ideas, looking at the quest for the perfect, first and/or universal language. Admittedly I haven't finished it yet, it's very... erudite, and I've had to do a lot of reading up on topics I only thought I knew a lot about.

The dark heart of Italy, by Tobias Jones - Because it shows why Italy is what it is, connecting a lot of dots by a reasonable lines.

Honorary mentions to -
Moorish Spain, by Richard Fletcher - If he wasn't dead, or f his estate was interested, he would be able to sue GG Kay for copyright infringement ;-) Oh, right, there's no copyright on historical events! So, Lions of Al-Rassan can stay published. Whew!

Gender in the Early Medieval World, edited by Leslie Brubaker - new to me takes on (mostly) known subjects, providing food for thought with regards to how we interpret our history AND the present.

I third the vote for 84, Charing Cross Road as it was my only "10" for 2009. What a delightful book!

I don't read a lot of non-fiction but this year I read some that were really wonderful:

Columbine by Dave Cullen
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin
Homer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper

Here's the best non-fiction I read this past year. In my opinion.

American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham
Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America by Fergus M. Bordewich
The Drillmaster of Valley Forge: The Baron de Steuben and the Making of the American Army by Paul Douglas Lockhart
The Forge of Christendom: The End of Days and the Epic Rise of the West by Tom Holland
L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City by John Buntin
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour by James D. Hornfischer
Lords of the Sea: The Epic Story of the Athenian Navy and the Birth of Democracy by John R. Hale
Southern Storm: Sherman's March to the Sea by Noah Andre Trudeau
The Spartacus War by Barry Strauss
Thucydides: The Reinvention of History by Donald Kagan

And I was afraid this thread would languish.
:o)
Amazing lists, all of you.

#7 - Glad you weren't disappointed.

#11 - Holy Sheep Dip! I've only heard of two of those.

LOL

I love my history. Been fascinated all my life by "how did we get here from there?" and "why did that happen the way it did?".

Even more interesting now that I've reached a point in my life where I can look back at events that I was a part of. The Cold War, Operation Desert Shield/Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Jump Start, etc.

Old Sarge, that is one of the more interesting parts of getting "a little bit older" - looking back and having my own particular take on events and then comparing my take to other, perhaps more informed or less, points of view.

I have a couple more non-fiction books I read in 2009 which I enjoyed and recommend:

Throw Out Fifty Things: is an ER book I received early in the year and really liked its take on decluttering because she includes decluttering your thinking as well as your house.

Animals Make Us Human was not a literary classic but I very much appreciate Temple Grandin's point of view on animals and people.

and finally, I also am very fond of 84, Charing Cross Road.

Perhaps in 2010 I'll read more non-fiction. I genuinely love reading and would like to be balanced. We shall see.

This is the one I'd recommend most.

Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America by Fergus M. Bordewich

I discovered just how much I didn't know about that period in American History.

15 - That one sounds really good.

I don't read much non-fiction but I did discover the Wicked History series of young adult books which are short biographies of nefarious historical figures. The ones I read were pretty interesting.

edited to add: Ooops, I guess I started reading these in 2008 and only read the Mary Tudor one in 2009.

Odd how many of us read 84 Charing Cross Road this year. I was inspired after seeing the movie a few weeks ago, and finding it by accident my next trip to the used bookstore. I'm the odd duck in that I wouldn't give it 5 stars. I think in real life HH would have grated on my nerves within 5 minutes of meeting, but YMMV.
My best non-fic read this year is one I just started. I was given Shelby Foote's 3 volume Civil War: A Narrative for Christmas. I've wanted it forever but was too cheap to pay for it :)

My favorites this year, out of 30, were:
84 Charing Cross Road
My Life in France by Julia Child
The Exile by Pearl S. Buck
Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis (a reread)

#15 - I will definitely check that one out! I received an email through Ancestry.com a few years ago from a lady who was researching one of my ancestors. She found my family tree and we began corresponding. My ancestors helped her ancestors escape to "The Nawth" through the Underground Railroad. It's all documented in her family records and The Underground Railroad: Authentic Narratives and First-Hand Accounts by William Still. It was fascinating to see my family names in the book.

I'll speak up for The Worst Hard Time. I found this book about the Dust Bowl years in the high plains of Texas and Oklahoma riveting and heart-breaking.

For me, it was Paperweight. A collection of essays by Stephen Fry (my intellectual crush).

Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin AKA The Woman Who Thinks Like A Cow. I see Animals Make Us Human by Grandin is listed above - will have to get hold of a copy.

I was given Alex and Me by Irene Pepperberg for Christmas by one son (it was on my wishlist) and finished it last night. Amazing and life-affirming, as well as funny and sad.

>22 scaifea - I didn't know Stephen Fry wrote books. We loved watching his tv series where he toured the US in a London taxi.

coppers: Oh my goodness - I highly recommend checking out his books, both fiction and non-fiction. Then there's also, tv-wise, A Bit of Fry & Laurie (a variety/skit show with Hugh Laurie) and Jeeves & Wooster (also with Hugh Laurie).

scaifea - Jeeves & Wooster I keep meaning to see - I have some relatives who love it. Thanks for the info!

Love Jeeves & Wooster - and it makes for a hilarious comparison with Hugh Laurie's character in House - from know-nothing to know-it-all.

Top non-fiction books for me:

Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder
Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami
Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence by Matthew Sanford
American Shaolin by Matthew Polly

I've only read 8 non-fiction this year, but the 2 I enjoyed the most were

Creative Woodturning by Dale L. Nish
and
Alaska's Inside Passage by Kim Heacox This has absolutely stunning pictures of Alaska, though all the Photo books I flipped through of Alaska were stunning.

My 3 best were:

A Man on the Moon - a history of the Apollo space program, with emphasis on missions 8 and 10-17.

Six Frigates - a history of the early U.S. Navy during the quasi-war with France, actions against North African pirates, and the war of 1812.

In the Heart of the Sea - a recounting of whaling ship struck and sunk by a whale and the crew's horrific journey in 3 small ships.

Read SIX FRIGATES awhile back. Good one.

My favorties were: Zeitoun by Dave Eggers and Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America by John M. Barry

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

We Bought a Zoo by Benjamin Mee

The House on Sugar beach by Helene Cooper

I read quite a few non-fiction books last year, so my list is kind of long, but these all made an impression on me (in no particular order):

Trapped: the 1909 Cherry mine disaster
The head trip : adventures on the wheel of consciousness
Java man: how two geologists' dramatic discoveries changed our understanding of the evolutionary path to modern humans
Why we make mistakes: how we look without seeing, forget things in seconds, and are all pretty sure we are way above average
Firestorm at Peshtigo : a town, its people, and the deadliest fire in American history
Curse of the Narrows
Platypus : the extraordinary story of how a curious creature baffled the world
Snowstruck : in the grip of avalanches
The white cascade: the true story of America's deadliest avalanche
We swam the Grand Canyon
Extinct birds
Scurvy : how a surgeon, a mariner, and a gentleman solved the greatest medical mystery of the age of sail
Over the edge : death in Grand Canyon
Titanic's last secrets : the further adventures of shadow divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler
The last duel : a true story of crime, scandal, and trial by combat in medieval France

edited for touchstones

Some promising titles on that list, Helcura.

Someone wrote a book on Scurvy! Part of me is amazed, but it makes perfect sense. Must have incapacitated countless sailors for ages.

There can be no nonfiction lists made without me!

Calumet Beginnings: Ancient Shorelines and Settlements at the South End of Lake Michigan - probably only interesting to people who live(d) in Northwest Indiana...which is why I read it!

A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World - 3500 B.C. - 1603 A.D. - I am an unabashed Anglophile. This was an audiobook. I had already seen the TV series based on the book, so this was just a bit of comfort reading. Or listening. Stop judging me!

Terry Jones' Barbarians - Hello? Visigoths and Monty Python!

More Information Than You Require - this is fake nonfiction so it still counts. Please wear Depends Undergarments whilst reading.

I Drink For A Reason - Do you love David Cross? I do. Stay away from him. He belongs to me.

The Beatles: The Biography, A Day In The Life: The Music and Artistry of the Beatles, Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles, Revolution In The Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties - you know how bulimics binge and purge? I just binge.

Understanding the Fundamentals of Music, How to Listen to and Understand Great Music - these are audio courses from The Teaching Company.

Why We Eat What We Eat: How Columbus Changed the Way the World Eats - Food? Yay! History? Yay? Culinary history? This nerd is hungry!

My Tank Is Fight!: Deranged Inventions of WWII - desperate wartime weapon design is funny

Hello World: A Life in Ham Radio half art - half intro to ham radio

In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made - Ernest Hemingway's cats could have saved the world from all those flea-infested rats

The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet - screw you Pluto!

From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible - {message redacted}

Invented Knowledge: False History, Fake Science and Pseudo-religions - only thing missing was a chapter on Jenny McCarthy

Somewhat late to the fray.

Bad Science was definetly my top non-fic read of last year. How to spot when newspapers marketeers are making claims way too big for the actual basis in truth - and why this really matters

Mushroom Miscellany was also interesting.

All of Gerald Durrell's writings are superbly charming.

By far and away the worst was The suspicions of mr whicher which was dull and opinion ridden without any supporting evidence.

Unfortunetly I read omnivore's dilemma in 2008 and so it doesn't count. But it's thoroughly though provoking.

I'm surprised by the award of "worst" for The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher (not that I've read it!) Many others on LT have given it high marks.

here is my review. I gave it 2.5* in the end, which isn't too bad.

"Blurbed by Ian Rankin and le Carre, (and Sarah Waters - who?) as well as being a Richard and Judy hot pick. It's neither 'a classic', 'totally rivetting' (rather the reverse) or even 'terrific'. It should really be titled, the life and times of Samuel Kent and his extended family, as guessed by the author with extensive digressions, because very little indeed is in any way connected to the detective Mr Whicher. Most, I would guess a good 9/10ths is historical speculation from the author, sometimes using original sources, but as these are never linked in the text it is hard to be sure. There are extensive notes in the back if you manage to maintain any interest to reach that far. The rest are various anecdotes that the author came across in her research about the times and places and couldn't resist including in the text even though they had no relevance to the case, and served merely to pad the page count.
"

It does have a few good points, but not many.

Curse you, fleela. ;o) That's two more for the wishlist.

@18 duke, re 84 Charing Cross Road I'm the odd duck in that I wouldn't give it 5 stars. I think in real life HH would have grated on my nerves within 5 minutes of meeting, but YMMV.

Although it's been quite a few years since I read it, I agree with you about the book and HH. People like HH make good entertainment, but are uncomfortable to be around in real life.

I would probably give the book a 3.5 or 4 (I don't do stars, after reading some heated threads on it by serious raters). I recall it being a fun read, even a classic, but more from a booklover's point of view.

Samuel Johnson: The Struggle by Jeffrey Meyers
The Art of Travel by Alain De Botton
The Case for Democracy : the power of freedom to overcome tyranny and terror by Anatoly Shcharansky
Digital Barbarism: A Writer's Manifesto by Mark Helprin
The Millionaires' Unit: the aristocratic flyboys who fought the Great War and invented America's airpower by Marc Wortman
West with the Night by Beryl Markham
Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir by John McCain
Patience and Fortitude by Nicholas A. Basbanes
Right Time, Right Place: Coming of Age with William F. Buckley Jr. and the Conservative Movement by Richard Brookhiser
The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester
Lives of the Mind: The Use and Abuse of Intelligence from Hegel to Wodehouse by Roger Kimball