Free Kindle Non-Fiction: Utopias, Vietnam Marines, Navajo Looms, and a Christian Look at Middle-earth

by Napoleon Hill

Napoleon Hill's self-help staple sits at 4.16 with nearly 400,000 ratings, which tells you how many people have passed it around over the years. The pitch is that big achievements start with a clear purpose and a willingness to act on an idea. If you like your motivation old-school and philosophical rather than a bulleted listicle, this is your pick, though skeptics should go in knowing it's more mindset than method.

by Thomas More

Thomas More's Utopia comes in at 3.55 across 86,000 ratings, a middling score that makes sense for a book people are often assigned rather than choose. It imagines an island society designed to cut out the problems wealth, power, and inequality create. One reader points out that the term 'utopia' could mean either 'good place' or 'no place,' and I love that the ambiguity may be the whole joke. Best for readers who enjoy arguing with a book.

“As the centuries roll by, more and more books are written about Utopian societies that should be established on Earth, but the few actually tried... fail. Sir Thomas or Saint Thomas More, depending on your affiliation, Utopia , ( greatly influenced by Plato's The Republic) is a satire about...”

by Doyle Glass

This is the one I'd grab first. Swift Sword reconstructs the Marines of MIKE 3/5 on 4 September 1967 in Vietnam, built from 50 interviews with veterans and with relatives of those who didn't come home. It's rated 4.48 by over 1,700 readers and won the 2023 PenCraft Book of the Year for Best Nonfiction. Military history fans will be all over it, and anyone who likes oral-history style storytelling should give it a shot.

by Rod Kackley

88 Days retells the abduction of Jayme Closs, taken at thirteen after her parents were killed, and it sits at 3.68 with about 360 ratings. One reviewer says it spends more time on the investigation and search than on the abduction itself, so adjust your expectations. Another picked it up after hearing the story on a podcast, which feels like the right audience: true crime listeners who want a bit more detail and a story with a hopeful ending.

“First heard of this story when I was listening to a podcast and that's what prompted me to buy the book. It's such a tragic story that does have a happy ending in that Jayme survives. I truly don't u understand the mind set of some people in this world.”

by Gladys A. Reichard

Gladys Reichard's study of Navajo weavers and chanters opens with the legend of Spider Woman teaching women to weave on a loom with crosspoles of sky and earth cords. It's rated 3.98 by just over 100 readers. One reviewer says it reads like a field journal, strange sentences and all, so this is more primary-source curiosity than smooth narrative. Another says it's a nice companion to the Tony Hillerman novels, and I'd agree if you're already hooked on that landscape.

“3.4 stars. A book that is difficult to review for various reasons. The book reads as what it probably is, a field journal. Here and there, strange sentence structures interfere with the flow of the descriptions. In spite of this, I really liked it, it has many sections that are very interesting,...”

by A. K. Frailey

A. K. Frailey looks at Tolkien's Christian worldview and how it shaped The Lord of the Rings, using the virtues and vices of his characters to talk about the same qualities today. It's at 4.15 with 78 ratings, so a small but happy readership. Not for everyone, since it's openly written from a faith perspective, but if you've ever wondered what's under the surface of Middle-earth, it could be a nice companion to a reread.