Great Non-Fiction Books for Fiction Readers

Are you a fiction reader who’s interested in reading Non-Fiction books but don’t know where to start? Then you’ve come to the right place. I recently made a list of Great Fiction Books for Non-Fiction Readers. In this list I will make a list of Great Non-Fiction Books for Fiction Readers! How exciting is that?

 The Book Of Charlie by David Von Drehle is a true story about author and journalist David Von Drehle. David and his family move from Washington to Kansas & meet Charlie White who’s over a century old. David didn’t realize though, that meeting Charlie would change his life. Charlie lived an unconventional life. Charlie dealt with tragedy early on in life but learned survival skills that helped him in life. I loved reading his hitchhiking trip to California & how he and his friend were guests of Peru’s president sailing along the Amazon River. There was so much wisdom to unpack in this small book. One important lesson to remember and learn is while we can’t control what happens to us we can control our response to it.  For fiction readers who don’t read a lot of Non-Fiction you will enjoy this book, it doesn’t read like a bullet list of historical events & its not very dry. I hope to do a Q&A with David in the future!

 The Veil Between Worlds: A Memoir Of Silence, Loss & Finding Home by Christina Vo is a memoir that takes Christina on a journey to find home and what that means for her and she grows a lot through her journey. Whether you are religious like I am or spiritual, I think we can all relate as we deal with similar, if not the same, struggles throughout life. Christina grows a lot as a person and I like that she acknowledges that while she and her father and sister weren’t close, she realized that she was also at fault. It’s a reminder not to repeat the same mistakes we make, and the mistakes others make too. Christina is an excellent writer, and her words flow beautifully like a river down the stream. I can’t wait to read Christina’s memoir she wrote with her father titled My Vietnam, Your Vietnam.

 Novelist As A Vocation by Haruki Murakami is part autobiography & part writing instruction. I have become a fan of Haruki Murakami, so I was excited about reading the book. Haruki gives great advice while balancing what you the aspiring author feels right. I find it fascinating that he says he doesn’t deal with writers’ block and that when he doesn’t feel like writing he doesn’t. Haruki also talks about his life before becoming an author and you get a sense of who he is as a man as someone who is very kind and down to earth despite all his success. I also love the popular advice about not needing school to be an author. If you are an aspiring author and/or enjoy reading Haruki Murakami, I suggest you read Novelist As A Vocation.   

 Tokyo Vice, The Last Yakuza & Operation Tropical Storm by Jake Adelstein are all great books. Two of them are books but Operation Tropical Storm is only available on kindle in the form of a short story but it’s a true story. Tokyo Vice is about Jake Adelstein and his story as a journalist in Japan. The memoir covers his investigations of yakuza and other crimes in Japan. It was also interesting reading about how the culture and laws in Japan are different than the United States. I initially got into this book after seeing the first season of Tokyo Vice on Max formerly known as HBO Max.

The Last Yakuza is part biography & part yakuza history book. Makoto Saigo is a hooligan and when his music career doesn’t work out, he turns to joining the yakuza. Let me be clear, the book is not making excuses for yakuza as they, like all of us, have a choice. I like how it’s not just about Saigo, it covers why someone would join a life of crime like the yakuza and it talks about history of yakuza and how it came to be.

Operation Tropical Storm is only available for kindle but if you enjoy Tokyo Vice & The Last Yakuza, you will enjoy this book. It is in the format of a short story even though its nonfiction and not fiction. Jimmy Stern is a Jewish Japanese agent who goes under cover to bust a meth operation in Benihana Hawaii. Can Jim gain the trust of a yakuza member without blowing his cover?

If you enjoy true crime and books about Japan, I recommend all these books. I can’t wait to read Jake’s upcoming book Tokyo Noir, coming out on October 1^st!

 End Credits by Patti Lin is a memoir about Pattis time working as a writer in Hollywood. She’s written for the shows Friends, Freaks & Geeks & Breaking Bad. To us it seems glamorous, but Patti goes in depth about what a toxic environment it was facing racism & sexism. This book is a reminder that if something is too good to be true, listen to your gut because it is. With the writers’ strike that happened in 2023, I’m sure this book came out at the worst time. I can’t wait to read anything Patti writes in the future. 

 Get Signed: Find An Agent, Land A Book Deal, And Become A Published Author by Lucinda Halpern is for writers who are ready to get their work out in the world on how to get an agent. Lucinda gives great information and step by step information about publishing, writing & how to write query letters and she even has query letters as an example so any author can get an idea of what to say to an agent. Whether you want to know how to get your work out there, or you are curious about the publishing world, I recommend Get Signed.