Top 10 Most Rated True Life Story Books 2023

I despise the idea of guilty pleasures because they frequently undervalue the pleasure. But I know that narrative non-fiction is the type of book that will help me get out of my funk whenever I'm stuck, bored, overstimulated, or tired while I'm on the road.

Yes, these books, like Mad Men and Breaking Bad, are primarily intended for entertainment. This is why they blow my mind. What method do the authors use To tell this epic tale in a way that makes the details of the background seem exciting? To keep you guessing, even when most of the time you already know what will happen next? They are able to deeply and intimately describe the hero's thoughts and describe the sunset on a day they have never experienced.

All of this is storytelling, not just facts or journalism. This is the best kind of narrative nonfiction: telling stories about real people doing amazing things. Surprisingly, it's all true: the arc, the rising and falling action, the climax, the characters.

I'd like to recommend a few of my favorites from the genre down below. I read these books in so many long sessions because I loved them so much that I hoped I would never finish them. These authors are experts at what they do, and when they are at their best, they can teach us not only how to write, but also about life and the human condition.

There is always a story book for every situation and mood, some story books are meant for men while some for women and some for both gender, see our article on story books every woman should read. Enjoy

Top 10 True Life/Non-Fiction Story Books/Novels 2023:

• In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick
• Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco by Bryan Burrough & John Helyar
• The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candace Millard
• And the Sea Will Tell by Vincent Bugliosi and Bruce Henderson
• A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889 by Frederic Morton
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
• The Tiger: A True Story of Survival and Vengeance by John Vaillant
• The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story by Michael Lewis
• Rising Tide: John M. Barry's The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America
• Endurance: Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing's Shackleton

1. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

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Did you know that Moby Dick was based on a true story? And that the actual story may be superior? A real whaling vessel was torn in half by an enraged sperm whale. Then things get crazy. The crew escaped in three lifeboats and travelled thousands of miles at sea without food or water until they gradually turned to cannibalism (similar to drawing straws, killing the loser, and then eating the winner). This book not only tells an absolutely unbelievable story, but it also provides an excellent history of the whaling industry and the cowboy-like businessmen who ran it. Wow.

2. Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco by Bryan Burrough & John Helyar

The Fall of RJR Nabisco In all honesty, a book about a leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco in 1988 by two investment bankers (yes, the cracker company and the tobacco brands were once one company) should be really boring. However, it isn't somehow. Not only is it not, but it is also essentially a microcosm of the entire 1980s finance industry. There are a plethora of characters, plot points, and details. Look, I just went inside the Dov Charney/American Apparel story, and as crazy as that was, I still found myself saying, Meh, still not as good as Barbarian on numerous occasions. Additionally, Bryan Burroughs, the author of this book, is simply an expert in the subject matter. His other two works are equally as good as this one and well worth reading: This list should include Public Enemies and the Big Rich.

3. The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candace Millard.

He is stranded in the Amazon jungle at the beginning of this book, pleading with his son to let him commit suicide so that he would no longer be a burden on their exploring party. The situation improves from there. I mean, did you know that he is credited with being the first person to map and navigate a river that was completely unknown and ran the length of the Nile? And that he did that for amusement after becoming president? I don't think I need to say much more, but in case you needed any more convincing, I'll say that Candice Millard, the author of Destiny of the Republic, which I highly recommend, also wrote this one, and it's better than her previous work. Not only is there a lot of great drama and history in this book, but it also shows me a human side of Roosevelt that I didn't know before.

4. And the Sea Will Tell by Vincent Bugliosi and Bruce Henderson

It's hard for me to pick a favorite Vincent Bugliosi book, but because it's different from his other works, I prefer And the Sea Will Tell. Helter Skelter, Bugliosi's excellent book on Charles Manson's prosecution, is well-known. He is the attorney for Jennifer Jenkins (not her real name), a woman who is being tried for her boyfriend's murder of married strangers on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The dead couple's boat, which was painted a different color, was found when they pulled into a Hawaiian yacht club. Six years later, the wife's body was discovered in a chest that had been washed ashore during a severe storm. Is that right? Is she aware of it? Did her odd boyfriend carry it out on his own? What could have motivated them? Although Bugliosi empathizes with his client, neither he nor we are aware of her identity. The majority of people believe that she was involved in the murders, but Bugliosi tells the story of the riveting trial and her eventual acquittal, as well as what happened on this remote island.

5. A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889 by Frederic Morton

It examines the bizarre meeting of Crown Prince Rudolf, a young Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, Theodor Herzl, Gustav Klimt, and playwright Arthur Schnitzler in Austria in 1888. Rudolf, a troubled, melancholy young man whose suicide, one could argue, initiated World War I, appears throughout the book. It would seem unlikely that such a meeting and coincidence could have gone unnoticed for this length of time, but they have. Because of this, you must read books like these, which reveal a side of history that has been overlooked or lost.

6. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Truman Capote, a childhood friend of Harper Lee, wrote one of the greatest true crime novels ever written, In Cold Blood. It is the horrific murder of a family in 1959 by two ex-convicts who had served time together. Why did they kill someone? Which men were they? Why is there such horrific violence? Capote spent a lot of time interviewing the murderers and was captivated by these questions. He doesn't really answer all of the questions; rather, he shows us a world that is completely foreign to us. In one interview, Perry Smith stated to him: I tried not to hurt the man. He impressed me greatly as a gentleman. Speaking slowly. Before I cut his throat, I had this thought. Christ the King. There's a reason why this book is a classic and perhaps the first in its genre.

7. The Tiger: A True Story of Survival and Vengeance by John Vaillant

It is a good book. Because of this, I've already recommended it so many times. It would be worthwhile to read even if only the main story—the search for a man-eating tiger in Siberia in post-communist Russia—were all there. However, there is so much more to it than that. The author explains the Russian psyche, the psyche of man versus predator, the psyche of primitive people and animals, and the psyches of primitive animals and people in such a masterful way that you are surprised to find 1) that he knows this, and 2) that he manages to fit all of this information into a book that is easy to read and is relatively short. You may have previously read about the story online: A team is sent to Russia to kill a tiger that is killing people (Russia is so unbelievable that they already have a team for this). The soldier's rifle goes into the tiger's open jaws and down his throat all the way to the stock, killing the tiger at the last possible moment as the tiger leaps to attack the team leader when he is trapped. The tiger lived despite having been shot around a dozen times, as the autopsy later revealed. In addition, Vaillant wrote the amazing book The Golden Spruce, which tells the story of one of the most unique trees ever to grow on this planet—until it was felled by an eco-terrorist with mental issues, disappeared, and was never seen again.

8. The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story by Michael Lewis

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The story features an entrepreneur who establishes three billion-dollar businesses (Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and WebMD) throughout the book. It is on an epic quest to construct the largest sailboat in the world. It has multiple appearances of a tuba that is reminiscent of Rosebud. You learn about entrepreneurship, Silicon Valley, and, in some ways, the new American Dream through Jim Clark. Yes, Michael Lewis knows how to tell a story, but he mostly knows how to find stories. Some of his best books, like The New New Thing, feature characters who almost seem too good to be true. His more recent works, The Big Short and Flash Boys, are comparable to this one in that they are more explanatory than narrative. This book is just stories and is it super good. Additionally, I read this book because I duped a college friend into purchasing it for us to share when I was poor. He has not read the copy, which I still own. I'm sorry Milt!).

9. Rising Tide: John M. Barry's The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America

It is an amazing book about more than just the flood in 1927 or the South. It begins with wealthy New Orleanians hurrying to the levee to check on a growing emergency and ends with a decision that changed the course of American history in a myriad of ways, from the country's next president to the permanent decline of the most important city in the South to race relations for the next fifty years. It is one of those books with such masterful writing and meticulous research that it is simultaneously a book that is certain to be a success (it was) and far more educational than a book of its popularity would suggest.

10 Endurance: Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing's Shackleton

Written more than 50 years ago, is a story that has stood the test of time. The boat and crew of Sir Ernest Shackleton's daring attempt to cross the Antarctic continent become entangled in the ice flows. After that, he has to survive for 600 days, first from the elements, then from hunger, then from the sea as he bravely tries to reach land 650 miles away in a small lifeboat, and finally from land and mountains to help his men. Shackleton simply boarded the boat with them when he finally got there with it, and he went back home as if nothing had happened. In a book based on the remarkable diaries of his men, we see how incredibly brave he was in the face of terrible hardship. He never gave up and never seemed hopeless. His life and this book were living examples of his family's motto: Fortitudine vincimus means We conquer by endurance.