I was asked for some summer reading suggestions by someone who reads a lot of Christian books. He was looking for something different. Due to time constraints, I read virtually no fiction, but I do read quite a lot of non-fiction. So here’s a selection of my non-fiction summer reading over the past few years.


Running for My Life: One Lost Boy’s Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games by Lopez Lomong. Wonderful story about how one of the lost boys of Sudan were adopted into a Christian home and eventually ran in the Olympic games. You’ll laugh….and cry.



The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man’s Quest to Be a Better Husband by David Finch. Needs a bit of a language warning but gives an unprecedented insight into what it means to have Asperger’s syndrome.



Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory by Ben Macintyre. Brilliantly written story about the extraordinary story behind the Allies deception of the Nazi’s during the Second World War.



Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer. Recently made into the film, Everest, it tells the story of how two professionally guided trips in 1996 resulted in the death of five climbers. Incredible heroism and some remarkable escapes.



No Greatness without Goodness: How a Father’s Love Changed a Company and Sparked a Movement by Randy Lewis. The Senior VP of Walgreens experience of raising an autistic son gave him a huge heart for others with disabilities. Over many years this passion developed into a massive and remarkable vision to provide meaningful, well-paid, and full-time employment for men and women with disabilities. You can read my review here.



The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World’s Most Wanted Man by Luke Harding.  It’s sympathetic to Snowden (which I’m not) but it does a fairly good job of cutting through the media hype and political spin to give a factual account of what Snowden did and the consequences that followed.



This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral–Plus, Plenty of Valet Parking!–in America’s Gilded Capital by Mark Leibovich. If you are not already sick of politics, this will do the job.



Into the Abyss: An Extraordinary True Story by Carol Shaben. A true story of how four people (including a prisoner) worked together to survive a plane crash in a remote icy part of Alberta (six other people died).



My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor. What does a 37 year-old Harvard neuroscientist do when she suffers a near-fatal stroke that left her unable to walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life? Simple — she re-trains her brain.



The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. edited by Clayborne Carson. This was the book recommended to me as the best modern biography of MLK. I learned a ton from it.



A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts by Andrew Chaikin. Just what it says on the cover! Based on interviews with the first astronauts, it tells the inspiring story of how America’s space program started and eventually put a man on the moon.



Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. 2,800 Amazon reviews! And now wonder. Makes you long for such days and such men again.



It Doesn’t Take a Hero : The Autobiography of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf by Norman Schwarzkopf. For those of us who lived through the first Gulf War, this will bring back many memories but also give unique insight into the life and times of a true American hero.



10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works–A True Story by Dan Harris. The hilarious and painful story of TV anchor Dan Harris’s pursuit of happiness. See my review here.



Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder by Arianna Huffington. Get’s a bit new-agey as it goes on, but the early chapters on the connection between sleep and human flourishing are enlightening and challenging. See my review here.