October 20, 2026 – Book & Documentary Recommendations From a Non-fiction Enthusiast (Part Three)

Before I begin, I have to admit that I really struggled trying to determine what to write about today. Some of the topics I considered are as follows: 1) The perks of getting old, 2) If I were to get a DNA test, would I discover Goldilocks is a long-lost relative? 3) Valid reasons to stop wearing white which have nothing to do with Labor Day, 4) Improbable excuses to explain away significant weight gain, 5) Money saving hacks that don’t involve SPAM, 6) When organizing your paperwork, how to determine what stuff to keep and what stuff to toss in the round file. Look, I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Sometimes it’s difficult to narrow down the options because truly, they are endless.

As it stands, I settled on providing a new and updated list of book recommendations which, oddly enough, I posted about EXACTLY six years ago today. I know you’d probably prefer to read about Goldilocks or the perks of getting old (which will involve a great deal of sarcasm), but as I’ve made up my mind, those topics will have to wait. Besides, they require a little more time to marinate. So, yes, for today I intend to provide you with some really great recommendations or suggestions of books I have found to be a worthwhile read. And to shake things up a bit, I’m also including some of my favorite documentaries. My literary preferences are non-fiction and tend to fall under the subcategory of biographies and autobiographies, which is essentially identical to what I look for in documentaries. However, there are a few books and films which don’t fit into either.

Needless to say, I hope you find my list useful. I always appreciate a good recommendation, whether it involves leisurely or non-leisurely activities. And this applies TENFOLD when starting over in a new community. Whenever I move to a new city or town, I’m all for getting the lowdown on the best doctors, dentists, restaurants, hiking trails, veterinarians, grocery stores, schools, hair salons, dog boarders, and so forth. It takes away much of the guesswork and makes life less stressful and a bit more manageable.

Anyway, here goes. Please keep in mind that much of the content is disturbing so you may not find all of it palatable.

BOOKS:

• The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story by Hyeonseo Lee
• Above Suspicion: An Undercover FBI Agent, an Illicit Affair, and a Murder of Passion by Joe Sharkey
• The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor – A New York Times Bestseller with Timeless Lessons on Gratitude and Hope by Eddie Jaku
• In Pieces by Sally Field
• Chief Seattle and the Town That Took His Name: The Change of Worlds for the Native People and Settlers on Puget Sound by David M. Buerge
• Texas Blood: Seven Generations Among the Outlaws, Ranchers, Indians, Missionaries, Soldiers, and Smugglers of the Borderlands by Roger D. Hodge
• My Love Story by Tina Turner
• American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan
• The Hiding Place: The Inspiring True Story of Faith and Forgiveness During World War II | 35th Anniversary Edition by Corrie Ten Boom, Elizabeth Sherrill, John Sherrill
• Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
• The Apparitionists: A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography, and the Man Who Captured Lincoln’s Ghost by Peter Manseau
• North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both by Cea Sunrise Person
• The Sisters of Auschwitz: The True Story of Two Jewish Sisters’ Resistance in the Heart of Nazi Territory by Roxane van Iperen
• The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine by Janice P. Nimura
• The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free by Paulina Bren
• Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases by Paul Holes
• The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland
• Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir by Matthew Perry
• Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama: A Memoir by Bob Odenkirk
• The Dressmakers of Auschwitz: The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive by Lucy Adlington
• Managing Expectations: A Memoir in Essays by Minnie Driver
• Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin’s Wrath by Bill Browder
• Toil & Trouble: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs
• I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
• The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust by Elizabeth B. White, Joanna Sliwa
• The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family by Ron Howard, Clint Howard
• Did I Ever Tell You This? A Memoir by Sam Neill
• The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man David Von Drehle
• The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir by PAUL NEWMAN, David Rosenthal
• Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz by József Debreczeni
• Just as I Am: A Memoir by Michelle Burford
• Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America by Joy-Ann Reid
• Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself by Crystal Hefner
• My Name Is Barbra by Barbra Streisand
• Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond by Henry Winkler
• Connie: A Memoir by Connie Chung
• Cher: Part One: The Memoir – An Intimate and Extraordinary Story of a Trailblazing Icon Who Topped Billboard for Seven Decades (The Cher Memoir Book 1) by Cher
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz: A True Story of Family and Survival by Jeremy Dronfield
• In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

DOCUMENTARIES:

• Being Eddie
• The Jinx, The Life and Deaths of Robert Hurst
• John Candy: I Like Me
• Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey
• Sean Combs: The Reckoning
• My Octopus Teacher
• Marty, Life is Short
• Trust Me: The False Prophet
• Sly Lives!
• American Murder: The Family Next Door
• The Keepers
• Love To Love You, Donna Summer
• Queen of Chess
• The Greatest Night in Pop
• Becoming Led Zeppelin
• Martha
• The Perfect Neighbor
• Blackfish
• Billy Joel: And So It Goes
• Leaving Neverland
• Capturing the Friedmans
• Tina
• Earth, Wind and Fire – To Be Celestial vs That’s the Weight of the World
• My Mom, Jayne

Alright, I’d better wrap this up. I’ve spent nearly all afternoon at the computer and need to place my focus elsewhere. Have a wonderful day and happy reading/watching!!

P.S. If you have an Amazon account and a Kindle to load your books onto, you can access free books through your local library district via Amazon. Yes, FREE!!