What was the last non fiction book you bought/ read/enjoyed?

[LemonAndAPear]

I'm always looking for non fiction recommendations and I'd appreciate any suggestions. Even if you haven't read it yet I'd be interested to know what you've bought recently.

TIA

Really enjoyed English Pastoral by James Rebanks. Made me think a lot about food is produced in this country and how farming practices over the years have changed our landscape.

Am currently enjoying Africa is not a Country by Dipo Faloyin. I’m finding it thought provoking and I like the authors style of writing. My 15 year old DS recommended it to me - he also found it very readable.

Empire of Pain. Still on it. It's amazing. It's about the Sackler family who are responsible for the opioid crisis in America.

I'm reading Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner at the moment. It's about her relationship with her mother, who died of cancer when she was 25, and about identity and food and grief and complexity. I'm halfway through and I think I'm going to think it's excellent.

Second/third the people who've mentioned Hungry by Grace Dent - one of my favourite books this year

It's taking me a while to get through due to size and my lack of energy, but I'm finding Coward: Why we get anxious & what we can do about it by Tim Clare an interesting read.

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

One of my favourite ever non-fiction books. It looks at why certain civilisations did 'better' than others - nothing to do with the people themselves but the resources they had to hand. You'll never look at history the same way.

I know why I can't pay attention - MN!

Also fix the system not the women sounds like it'll be the next book on my feminist reading list

And What do You Do?: What the Royal family don't want you to know. By Norman Baker.

I removed FB & Insta, but couldn't pull myself away from MN after reading it.

Stolen Focus by Johann Hari seems to be a free download from Epub.
I'm buying the kindle anyway for a more comfortable read.

Passage Across the Mersey, it's a biography of Helen Forrester (Twopence to Cross the Mersey etc) by her son. I loved her memoirs so I thought it was very interesting.

The White Ship by Charles Spencer. It's about the kings just after the Norman conquest and a ship sinking. I knew very little about this period of history and found it fascinating- like a real life game of thrones!

Also The Authority Gap by Mary Ann Sieghert about unseen bias against women. Great but also made me feel really angry! Some practical advice in it which I have already tried to use a bit.

And the beauty insider by Alison Young for skincare advice.

Mudlarking by Lara Maiklem. Fascinating!

Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake. All about fungi and utterly mind blowing.

Oh yes. Love this thread.

Drama Queen by Sara Gibbs. Each chapter title is a label she's been called.

How the girl guides won the war is an eye opener

Wonderland, a year of Britain's wildlife. Brett Westwood & Stephen Moss. This is my bedtime story - a little page dedicated to a seasonal natural wonder every single day.

Wild. Cheryl Strayed.

Pandemic 1918, all about the Spanish flu. Interesting to read how it was dealt with a century ago.

What a great thread.
My recommendation of recently published non-fiction books is In Control which is about the steps in an abusive relationship and absolutely eye opening
The non-fiction book which has stayed with me for years is Singled Out which is about the women who would have married all of the men who died in the First World War. Really haunting and makes me grateful every day to be alive in a time when a woman can be independent
One which has been most useful to me is Difficult Conversations. It's changed how I approach things with DH, the DC and also at work.

Can I just add, too, that I used to think my dad was really odd for only reading non-fiction since about his 40s but I'm realising that there is so much to learn about the world whereas there are only so many ways a rom com or crime book can go.

The Five by Hallie Rubenhold

All about the victims of Jack the Ripper and challenging the accepted narrative.

I have just started Bob Mortimer's autobiography 'And Away', I have high expectations because I love Bob.

I've just bought Square Haunting - Five women, freedom and London between the wars by Francesca Wade.

The five women are H.D., Dorothy L. Sayers, Jane Ellen Harrison, Eileen Power and Virginia Woolf. Hope it will be interesting. Not sure about this new fashion for having a shorter front flap with the cover below sticking out.

The Library Book Susan Orlean The history of Los Angeles library and a love letter to libraries
Ladies Can't Climb Ladders Jane Robinson Female pioneers in the professions
The Life Project Helen Pearson History of longitudinal studies in Britain. Far more interesting than it sounds!

A Biography of Bess of Hardwick.
"And What do You Do?" - a critique of the Royal Family by Norman Baker.
An account of Edward V111's involvement with the Nazis by Andrew Morton. 17 Carnations I think it's called.