Favorite Non-instructional Books?

There are lots of threads in this forum about best chess books for learning the endgame, strategy, opening, etc. But chess, to me, is about a whole lot more than just getting better and finding more ways to demolish your opponent. It's also vastly entertaining, filled with sparkling personalities, fiction, anecdotes, bizarre behavior, etc.

So what are your votes for best chess reading, i.e., before bed, at breakfast, in the bathroom, etc.?

I have a bunch that fit the bill, but I'll list only five to get the ball rolling:

"King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game" by Paul Hoffman. A superb memoir from a journalist who's met and played with some of the top chess personalities of our time.

"Karl Marx Plays Chess" by Andy Soltis. A bunch of amazing facts and anecdotes that only Soltis could dig up. Where does he get this stuff??!!

"The Even More Complete Chess Addict" by Fox and James.

"The Bobby Fischer I Knew and Other Stories" by Denker and Parr. Profiles of some of the most amazing chess personalities of the 20th century. Not the greatest players or the world champions, but just amazing people you're glad you now know about.

"The 64 Square Looking Glass" edited by Burt Hochberg. Fiction, poetry, humor, etc. from such as Kurt Vonnegut, Woody Allen, Vladimir Nabokov, Lewis Carroll, and many many others. A real treat.

OK, that's five for me. But I could go on and on. What about some of your choices?

http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Companion-Chess-David-Hooper/dp/0192800493

http://www.amazon.com/Golombeks-Encyclopedia-Chess-Harry-Golombek/dp/0517531461

http://www.amazon.com/Blindfold-Chess-Psychology-Techniques-Champions/dp/0786434449/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351044272&sr=1-1&keywords=blindfold+chess

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/can-you-recommend-chess-books-to-read-just-for-enjoyment

Spitleaf,

Thanks for the heads up. I'm new to the forum, so I didn't realize that there was another similar thread. Oops.

Oh well, it can't hurt to try.

You're welcome.  Happy hunting.  Here's one that wasn't mentioned in the enjoyment thread:

+3 for Sosonko's books.

Remember seeing reviews of those books at chesscafe some time ago and thinking they would be interesting reading.  Never got round to them somehow.  Thanks for the reminder Noreaster.

Speaking of the reliable past, here is another one I'd be keen to get my hands on (and another missing from the enjoyment thread): The Day Kasparov Quit: and other chess interviews by Dirk Jan Ten Geuzendam.

 I read The Day Kasparov Quit: and other chess interviews by Dirk Jan Ten Geuzendam. I don't remember much about it if that means anything to you  I finished Hooked on Chess by Bill Hook and his stories about the NYC chess scene of the pre-Fischer era were very interesting. I recently came across two other books one by Averbach and the other by Tukmakov and was wondering if anyone had some opinions on them? Tukmakov' work is co-authored by Sosonko so it must be pretty good. 

Another one I'd wanted to read but forgot about.  Thanks again.

I belive this is not an instructional work but I'M not so sure.....I'M kind of undecided on it even though some seem very taken with this work......on the fence about it......

Noreaster - The Joys of Chess is not an instructional book per se, but it is quite intense and technical, and it has a high pure-chess content. I found it was best for dipping into.

Bobby Fischer goes to war by David Edmons

The Royal Game by Stefan Zweig

The Psychology of the chess player by Reuben Fine

Psychology in Chess by Nikolai Krogious

Stumbled upon this today while looking for something else.  It sounds pretty interesting from the reviews (will confess a soft spot for stuff like this, being a fan first, and a player second).  Nine GM's are interviewed.  They also give a favorite personal game and a favorite played by other players, apparently the annotations are mostly verbal so its likely chess players of any strength can enjoy going over the games (or if you're really serious about the "non-instructional" thing you could just read the interviews).

" King's Gambit " is a very good book. I also enjoyed " The Chess Players " which is rather loosely based on Paul Morphy's life.  

I enjoyed Mortal Games. It was by the same guy that did Searching for Bobby Fischer.

Oh, The Turk is also really interesting. I don't remember the author, but it's a true account about an automaton that could supposedly play chess. Allegedly, it inspired that random number generator, the idea that computers could "think" and evaluate, and the chess computor.

Fluff central with this one........nice title though........

Here's another one that wasn't posted in the enjoyment thread: The Luneburg Variation by Paolo Maurensig.  Been several years since reading it but it was really an interesting read.  One of my favorite works of fiction with chess as a major theme.