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What books have you read about a subject that you care nothing -- or almost nothing -- about, but yet found the book to be very entertaining?
I am rereading The Greatest Game Ever Played by Mark Frost, and I am once again enjoying it immensely even though I am not a golfer and find golf very boring to watch. I have laughed out loud at least a dozen times, and I am not even half-way through it this time. (The last time I read it was about 15 years ago after the Disney movie was released.)
Another example of what I am talking about is The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger, However, I am interested in weather, but the book's style was more like a novel than a scholarly work with one dry fact after another.
All of Erik Larson's books fall into this category for me (Devil in the White City, The Splendid and the Vile, Thunderstruck) He has a way of bringing a subject to light and providing all the factual details with enough story telling to keep it moving along.
Another, lesser known example is The Address Book by Deirdre Mask. I didn't really know much (nor have an interest in) the idea of how impactful a physical address is until I read (and thoroughly enjoyed) this book!
All of Erik Larson's books fall into this category for me (Devil in the White City, The Splendid and the Vile, Thunderstruck) He has a way of bringing a subject to light and providing all the factual details with enough story telling to keep it moving along.
Another, lesser known example is The Address Book by Deirdre Mask. I didn't really know much (nor have an interest in) the idea of how impactful a physical address is until I read (and thoroughly enjoyed) this book!
Devil in the White City was the first one to come to my mind as well.
What books have you read about a subject that you care nothing -- or almost nothing -- about, but yet found the book to be very entertaining?
Another example of what I am talking about is The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger, However, I am interested in weather, but the book's style was more like a novel than a scholarly work with one dry fact after another.
Since the movie was total bs, I never had the desire to read the book. In the movie, everything that came after the conversation between Clooney's and Mastrantonio's characters (the 2 ships' captains) had to have been totally made up, since no one in real life survived to tell the story of what happened when they were caught in the storm and that's the most important part of the story. How does the book cover that part of the story?
My favorite is "The Hot Zone." You would think a book about Level 4 viruses (Marburg and Ebola) would make your eyes droop but Richard Preston has a gift for writing this true story like a thriller. I can never forget his description, early in the story, about a man bleeding out (crashing and bleeding) on a plane then dying in the hospital. It was terrifying. I also cannot hear or read the words "Reston, Virginia" without thinking of The Monkey House. If this ever came to the US, Covid would seem only as deadly as a cold in comparison. Well, it almost did. The book came out in 1995 but you can still get it today in paperback. It is my all-time favorite book.
There have been a few threads like this- and I searched and this one showed up. (it's not long so it might be handy).
There is some duplication which is always confirmation to me and then a few others that I know were mentioned previously, but not recently.
There have been a few threads like this- and I searched and this one showed up. (it's not long so it might be handy).
There is some duplication which is always confirmation to me and then a few others that I know were mentioned previously, but not recently.
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