I come from a family of readers. I didn't know anyone else who had a library in their home. No, it wasn't on the Beauty and the Beast level that practically took up a wing of a castle, but it did have a rolling ladder that almost every single person I ever took in there would climb on and try to make it swing like Belle did in the opening montage.

 

My mother swings between the classics and thought-provoking literature to what she called her "candy books" aka sci-fi and fantasy. On the other hand, my dad is a pure non-fiction kind of guy. Sure, he'll make time for the occasional modern thriller (I'm pretty sure he has a man-crush on Jack Reacher and Jack Ryan), but mostly he reaches for pure fact. I certainly take more after my mom than my dad, but I've learned to enjoy the odd non-fiction.

 

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Ten Days in a Madhouse by Nellie Bly

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Etched in Sand by Regina Calcaterra

Escape from Sobibor by Richard Rashke

The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender

Oranges and Sunshine by Margaret Humphreys