Top Ten Tuesday- Keeping it Real

[source; I love Phil]

This week The Broke and the Bookish ask us what ten "gateway" books are into a particular genre or journey down a certain path. I really didn't grow fond of non-fiction until the last maybe five or six books- here are ten books that both helped hook me and keep me around:

1. The Lost Girls by Jennifer Bagget- Three professional twenty-somethings give up their lives to travel to exotic, off the beaten path, places for a year.

2. Born to Run by Christopher McDougall- Barefoot running, trail running, ultras.

3. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer- Climbing Everest

4. Spark by John Ratey- Why exercise will help not only your physical health, but you're mental health/intelligence as well

5. Another Day in the Frontal Lobe by Katrina Firlik- A female neurosurgeon's memoir.

6. Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink- The ethical dilemmas doctors and nursed were faced with during the five days after Hurricane Katrina at Memorial Medical Center.

7. A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout- (Disclaimer: I listened to it) A Canadian journalist recounts her kidnapping in Somalia.

8. Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer- An overview of how we treat the animals we consume in America.

9. Maybe Baby by Lori Leibovich- Several years ago I was feeling uncertain about when, and if, I wanted to have kids. The stories told in this collection of people with kids, without, and those struggling to get pregnant were very thought-provoking.

10. Where Children Sleep James Mollison- This coffee table book of sorts shows photographs of children's bedrooms from around the world. I can't wait to show this to my kid to help him gain some perspective. It's given me some!

7 comments:

  1. I found your post really interesting Christine. I haven't heard of any of these books, but I'm glad they hooked you.

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  2. A House in the Sky was seriously amazing. I was hooked rather quickly. You do have a great list, and I'll have to try some of these others.

    My TTT

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  3. Love your focus for this week's topic! I haven't read these titles but a number of them sound really familiar. I read non-fiction every now and then but they're usually history or politics or travel-themed (or science-themed on the rarest of occasions)...should broach out a bit more to biographies, memoirs and other related topics...

    My TTT

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  4. I've been getting more into non-fiction & these sound like some great books -- I can see why they helped get you more interested in the genre!

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  5. I think I liked Into the Wild even better than Into Thin Air. And although it was very different from either of those two, Under the Banner of Heaven was another very engaging Krakauer book. Here's my list.

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  6. Great list! I just got 5 Days and it is a BIG book-gulp!

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  7. I need to read Spark! I've been training for my first half marathon and I was worried that I'd have a hard time balancing work/life/training but it's been the complete opposite. If anything I've been ridiculously efficient! I'm convinced that all the running I've been doing has been great for my brain.

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