I’m a huge fan of Bill Bryson! He has a couple books about linguistics (The Mother Tongue and Made in America) that were personal favorites of mine. His nearly 600 page work ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ was also a very easy read.
In a similar vein ‘Unruly’ by David Mitchell has been a fun read so far!
Also a special shout out to ‘Pillars of the Earth’ by Ken Follett; it’s historical fiction but ignited my love of architecture.
Came here to mention Bill Bryson, his books are great, The Body: A Guide for Occupants was an excellent read, I learned so much!
Richard Feynman is also great, his “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman” is such a trip.
Homage to Catalonia, George Orwells memoir about the Spanish civil war. I never read memoirs or autobiographies, but I am very glad I have read this one. It gives a good insight into various aspects of the civil war, as well as Orwells personal views (and his sigarette addiction). On top of that, it is at times hilarious. And it is almost unbelievable how many things happened in just 6 months.
Highly recommend it if you’re into history or politics or love Orwells other works.
At the risk of getting political:
Foundations of Geopolitics by Alexander Dugin.
It’s basically the policy north star of the current Russian leadership, and it explains Russian geopolitical aims very well.
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand.
Its about thoroughbred racehorse Seabiscuit, and one of the first non-school non fiction I read. I haven’t revisited the book again, but I loved it. It took a topic I had no interest in and still made me love it.
Is 1984 still considered a fiction book? Sry bit of a troll comment…