Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. After her mother died, Cheryl Strayed left for the Pacific Crest Trail, a world “two feet wide and 2,663 miles long".
The Most Popular Non-Fiction Memoirs Bestsellers Books - Cheryl Strayed's Wild: Info, Plot Summary, Review and Cheryl Strayed Biography.
Author: Cheryl Strayed
Book: Wild: From Lost to Found (336 Pgs.)
Wild is Cheryl Strayed's first-person memoir of her 1,100-mile (1,800 km) hike along the Pacific Crest Trail during the summer of 1995. She began her journey in the Mojave Desert, hiking through California and Oregon before ending her trek ninety-four days later by crossing the Bridge of the Gods into Washington. The book also contains flashbacks to prior life occurrences that led her to begin her mountain-climbing journey
Strayed had been devastated by the death of her mother, Bobbi Lambrecht, in 1991. Her stepfather disengaged from Strayed's family, and her brother and sister remained distant. Strayed became involved in heroin use, and eventually she and her husband divorced. Seeking self-discovery and resolution of her enduring grief and personal challenges, at age 26, Strayed set out alone, on her 1,100-mile journey, having no prior backpacking experience. Wild intertwines the stories of Strayed's life before and during the journey, describing her physical challenges and spiritual realizations while on the trail
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption. The story of World War II hero Louis Zamperini, a former Olympic track star who survived a plane crash in the Pacific theater, spent 47 days drifting on a raft and then survived more than two and a half years as a prisoner of war in three brutal Japanese prisoner-of-war camps.
The Most Popular Non-Fiction Biographic Bestsellers Books - Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken: Info, Plot Summary, Review and Laura Hillenbrand Biography.
Author: Laura Hillenbrand
Book: Unbroken (473 Pgs.)
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane's bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.
The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he'd been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.
Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.
In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit. Telling an unforgettable story of a man's journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
The Most Popular Non-Fiction Bestsellers Books - Daniel James Brown's The Boys in the Boat Info, Plot Summary, Review and Daniel James Brown Biography.
Author: Daniel James Brown
Book: The Boys in the Boat (416 Pgs.)
The non-fiction book is about the University of Washington 8-oared crew which represented the United States in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, and narrowly beat out Italy and Germany to win the Gold Medal.
There are 2 backstories, firstly that all 9 members of the Washington team came from lower middle class families and had to struggle to earn their way through school during the depths of the Depression. Along with the chronicle of their victories and defeats in domestic competition the reader learns the importance of synchronization of the 8 rowers as they respond to the commands of the coxswain and his communications with the stroke, consistent pacing, and sprint to the finish so that all team members are left completely exhausted and in pain at the end of a competitive race.
The second backstory begins with a depiction of Hitler decreeing construction of the luxurious German venues at which the Games would take place. Along the way the book also explains how the Nazis successfully covered up the evidence of their harsh and inhumane treatment of the Jews so as to win worldwide applause for the 1936 Olympic Games, duping the United States Olympic Committee among others.
The townspeople of Holcomb and other friends of the Clutters are deeply affected by the murders. This includes Nancy's best friend, Sue, and Nancy's boyfriend, Bobby. The townspeople perceived the Clutters as the family "least likely" in the world to be murdered. Unable to conceive that the killers were strangers, many of them become suspicious of everyone and anxious about their own safety in the company of their neighbors. The man who heads the murder investigation, Al Dewey, becomes obsessed with both the murderers and the Clutter family. His need to find the killers becomes his driving force in life.
All comes together with a description of the final race. During the 1930s rowing was a popular sport with millions following the action on the radio. The victorious Olympians became national heroes. In accordance with the strictures of amateur athletics the boys sank into relative obscurity after their victory, but still better off than their parents, and for the rest of their lives proud of their accomplishment.
In Cold Blood, the true story about the 1959 murders of Herbert Clutter, a farmer from Holcomb, Kansas, his wife, and two of their four children.
The Most Popular Non-Fiction Bestsellers Books - Truman Capote's In Cold Blood: Info, Plot Summary, Review and Truman Capote Biography.
Author: Truman Capote
Book: In Cold Blood (343 Pgs.)
In Cold Blood tells the true story of the murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959. The book is written as if it were a novel, complete with dialog, and is what Truman Capote referred to as "New Journalism" — the nonfiction novel. Although this writing style had been used before, the craft and success of In Cold Blood led to its being deemed the true masterwork of the genre. For Truman Capote, it was the last in a series of great works, which included Breakfast at Tiffany's, Other Voices, Other Rooms, and The Grass Harp. In Cold Blood was originally published in four parts in The New Yorker and then released as a novel in 1965. In Cold Blood took six years for Capote to research and write, and it took an incredible toll on Capote, personally — so much so that he never published another book again. In Cold Blood is said to have been his undoing.
The book tells the story of the murder of the Clutter family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Clutter and their two teenage children, Kenyon and Nancy (two older daughters were grown and out of the house), and the events that lead the killers to murder. The family was living in Holcomb, Kansas, and in November 1959, they were brutally killed, with no apparent motive, by Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. The family was discovered bound and shot to death, with only small items missing from the home. Capote read about the crime in The New York Times soon after it happened, and before the killers were caught, he began his work in Kansas, interviewing the people of Holcomb and doing extensive research with the help of his friend Harper Lee, who would go on to write the classic To Kill a Mockingbird.
Perry and Dick initially get away with the murder, leaving behind scant clues and having no personal connection with the murdered family. Capote explores the motive again and again within his text, eventually concluding that any real motive for the crime lays within Perry — his feelings of inadequacy, his ambiguous sexuality, and his anger at the world and at his family because of his bad childhood. Dick plays the role of true outlaw, but the impact of the killings weighs heavily on him, and his own role in the murders remains unexplained and unclear.
The townspeople of Holcomb and other friends of the Clutters are deeply affected by the murders. This includes Nancy's best friend, Sue, and Nancy's boyfriend, Bobby. The townspeople perceived the Clutters as the family "least likely" in the world to be murdered. Unable to conceive that the killers were strangers, many of them become suspicious of everyone and anxious about their own safety in the company of their neighbors. The man who heads the murder investigation, Al Dewey, becomes obsessed with both the murderers and the Clutter family. His need to find the killers becomes his driving force in life.
While the anxiety in Holcomb grows, the killers move on with their lives. The book follows Perry and Dick to Mexico and back, and incredibly, it seems that they might never be found out and brought to justice. Ultimately, a living witness who can tie the two men to the Clutters, footprints at the crime scene, and the possession of a pair of binoculars and a radio from the Clutter home become the pair's undoing. They are arrested and both confess to their part in the crime. They are tried for murder and convicted; after many years on death row, both men are hanged. During their time on death row, Perry slowly reveals his personal thoughts, his ambitions, and the motives that contributed to his life choices, including the fateful night he and Dick entered the Clutter home.
The Most Popular Non-Fiction Bestsellers Books - Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl AKA The Diary of Anne Frank Info, Plot Summary, Review and Anne Frank Biography
Author: Anne Frank
Book: The Diary of a Young Girl (304 Pgs.)
On her thirteenth birthday, Anne Frank’s parents give her a diary. She’s excited because she wants someone, or something, in which to confide all of her secret thoughts. Even though she has a rich social life, she feels misunderstood by everyone she knows. Anne starts writing about daily events, her thoughts, school grades, boys, all that. But, within a month, her entire life changes.
As Jews in German-occupied Holland, the Frank family fears for their lives. When Anne’s sister, Margot, is called to appear before the authorities, which would almost surely mean she was being sent to a concentration camp, Anne and her family go into hiding. They move into a little section of Anne's father's office building that is walled off and hidden behind a swinging bookcase. The little diagram of the office building and "Secret Annex" along with the Thursday, July 9, 1942 entry gives us the layout.
For two years, the Frank family lives in this Secret Annex. Mr. and Mrs. van Daan and their son Peter (who is a few years older than Anne) are also in hiding with the Franks. Later, Mr. Dussel, an elderly dentist moves in, and Anne has to share her bedroom with him. Anne’s adolescence is spent hidden from the outside world. She’s cooped up in tiny rooms, tiptoeing around during the day and becoming shell-shocked from the sounds of bombs and gunfire at night.
Luckily, the Franks have tons of reading material and a radio. Anne grows in her knowledge of politics and literature, and she puts tons of energy into studying and writing. At the same time, she grows further and further away from the other members of the Annex.We see a real change in Anne when she begins hanging out in the attic with Peter van Daan. Around this time she starts having dreams about a boy she was in love with, another Peter, Peter Schiff. She sometimes even gets the two Peters confused in her head.
She comes to see Peter (of the Annex) as much more than she first thought. She finds him sensitive and caring, and they talk about everything, including sex. Eventually their relationship changes. Anne and Peter’s passion turns into a friendship and a source of comfort for them both.
Another big change for Anne happens when the war seems to be ending. She hears that personal accounts such as her diary will be in demand after the war ends. We see a return to her earlier optimism as she begins editing her diary with vigor and excitement.
Unfortunately, this does not last. Even as Anne becomes more and more sensitive to the suffering going on in the world, her own suffering becomes unbearable. She feels completely alone. She thinks everyone hates her. She feels constantly criticized. And there is no escape. At one point, she thinks it might have been better if she and her family had all died instead of hiding in the Annex. As Anne becomes harder on those around her, she also becomes harder on herself, berating herself for being mean to the other members of the Annex.
There her diary ends. Two short months after Anne’s fifteenth birthday, and two days after he last diary entry, the Secret Annex is raided. We don’t know Anne’s thoughts or feelings at that point or any time after, but we know things got worse.
As you probably already know, Anne and the other members of the Annex were sent to various concentration camps. Anne's father, Otto Frank, was the sole survivor.
The Most Popular Non-Fiction Bestsellers Books - Booker T. Washington's Up from Slavery Info, Plot Summary, Review and Booker T. Washington Biography
Author: Booker T. Washington
Book: Up from Slavery (160 Pgs.)
Up from Slavery chronicles over forty years of Washington's life: from slave to schoolmaster to the face of southern race relations. In this text, Washington climbs the social ladder through hard, manual labor, a decent education, and relationships with great people. Throughout the text, he stresses the importance of education for the black population as a reasonable tactic to ease race relations in the South (particularly in the context of Reconstruction). He argues for combining the learning of a trade with more intellectual studies (a combination which is reminiscent of Ruskin's philosophy in Fors Clavigera).
The book is in essence Washington's traditional, non-confrontational message supported by the example of his life.
The Most Popular Non-Fiction Bestsellers Books - Ayn Rand's The Virtue of Selfishness Info, Plot Summary, Review and Ayn Rand Biography
Author: Ayn Rand
Book: The Virtue of Selfishness (176 Pgs.)
Most ethical discussions take for granted the supreme moral value of selfless service. Debate then centers on details: Should we serve an alleged God or substitute “society” for God? How much sacrifice is required? Who’s entitled to benefit from others’ sacrifices?
In this volume’s lead essay, “The Objectivist Ethics,” Ayn Rand challenges that basic assumption by reconsidering ethics from the ground up. Why, she asks, does man need morality in the first place? Her answer to that question culminates in the definition of a new code of morality, based in rational self-interest, aimed at each individual’s life and happiness, and rejecting sacrifice as immoral.
In additional articles, Rand expands her theory and discusses practical questions such as: Do people face intractable conflicts of interest? Isn’t everyone selfish? Doesn’t life require compromise? How do I live in an irrational society? What about the needs of others? What are political rights? What’s the rational function of government? Her fresh, provocative answers cast new light on what it means to be genuinely selfish.
Wild is Cheryl Strayed's first-person memoir of her 1,100-mile (1,800 km) hike along the Pacific Crest Trail during the summer of 1995. She began her journey in the Mojave Desert, hiking through California and Oregon before ending her trek ninety-four days later by crossing the Bridge of the Gods into Washington. The book also contains flashbacks to prior life occurrences that led her to begin her mountain-climbing journey
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane's bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.
The non-fiction book is about the University of Washington 8-oared crew which represented the United States in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, and narrowly beat out Italy and Germany to win the Gold Medal.
In Cold Blood tells the true story of the murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959. The book is written as if it were a novel, complete with dialog, and is what Truman Capote referred to as "New Journalism" — the nonfiction novel. Although this writing style had been used before, the craft and success of In Cold Blood led to its being deemed the true masterwork of the genre. For Truman Capote, it was the last in a series of great works, which included Breakfast at Tiffany's, Other Voices, Other Rooms, and The Grass Harp. In Cold Blood was originally published in four parts in The New Yorker and then released as a novel in 1965. In Cold Blood took six years for Capote to research and write, and it took an incredible toll on Capote, personally — so much so that he never published another book again. In Cold Blood is said to have been his undoing.
On her thirteenth birthday, Anne Frank’s parents give her a diary. She’s excited because she wants someone, or something, in which to confide all of her secret thoughts. Even though she has a rich social life, she feels misunderstood by everyone she knows. Anne starts writing about daily events, her thoughts, school grades, boys, all that. But, within a month, her entire life changes.
Up from Slavery chronicles over forty years of Washington's life: from slave to schoolmaster to the face of southern race relations. In this text, Washington climbs the social ladder through hard, manual labor, a decent education, and relationships with great people. Throughout the text, he stresses the importance of education for the black population as a reasonable tactic to ease race relations in the South (particularly in the context of Reconstruction). He argues for combining the learning of a trade with more intellectual studies (a combination which is reminiscent of Ruskin's philosophy in Fors Clavigera).
Most ethical discussions take for granted the supreme moral value of selfless service. Debate then centers on details: Should we serve an alleged God or substitute “society” for God? How much sacrifice is required? Who’s entitled to benefit from others’ sacrifices?