Feel free to add to this list

Mantra asked me for a list of "must read" non-fiction books, something I had never thought of. I suppose someone has compiled one somewhere but I have not. I can share some suggestions from last year's class. I have read most of them and found them worth my while:

"Our Guys" by Bernard Lefkowitz
"Methland: The Life and Death of a Small American Town" by Nick Reding
"The Red Parts: A Memoir" by Maggie Nelson

We had at least two people in class last year writing about murder cases, so some of the suggestions tended to be on the grisly side.

Also recommend but still on my "to read" list:
"At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays" by Anne Fadiman

Here's a book that William Dietrich said he read as part of his research for "Blood of the Reich," the novel you can read for this class (or if you prefer to read some of Bill's non-fiction work, I recommend "The Northwest Passage," his book on the Columbia River): "Himmler's Crusade: The Nazi Expedition to Find the Origin of the Aryan Race." That would be a good one to read before Bill visits the class.

Here are the non-fiction book I have read in the past year that I think are worth consideration:

"The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town" by John Grisham (famous novelist tries out non-fiction, successfully, I thought)
"North by Northwestern: A Seafaring Family on Deadly Alaskan Waters" by Capt. Sigg Hansen and Mark Sundeen (I didn't expect to like this one, but it tells a lot about Seattle and its connection to the fishing industry.)

I highly recommend two books by Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistani journalist: "The Taliban" and "Descent into Chaos"
"The Lexicographer's Dilemma" by Jack Lynch is a fascinating book on the English language and the development of grammatical rules.
Bill Bryson brings humor and his own personality into his non-fiction: "Notes from a Small Island" is about living and traveling in England.

"At Home" by Bryson was recommended by the class last year but I have not read it.