What one non-fiction book would you love people to read?

[Yourinmyspot]

Mine is The Body by Bill Bryson. I found it fascinating and some of the facts in it are amazing, my favourite being the following.

’Every time you breathe, you exhale 25 sextillion molecules of oxygen- so many that with a day’s breathing you will in all likelihood inhale at least one molecule from the breaths of every person that has ever lived. And every person who lives from now until the sun burns out will from time to time breathe in a bit of you. At the atomic level we are in a sense eternal’.

I find that fact fascinating and oddly comforting.

Wild Swans

How to Kill a Witch.

How the patriarchy played a role in the Scottish witch trials and subsequent deaths.

A bookclub read i dreaded but ended up loving.

The Five by Halle Rubenhold about Jack the Ripper’s victims, brilliant book also
Nine Pints by Rose George, all about blood, it’s fascinating.

Michelle Obama’s autobiography, Becoming

I agree

Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, essential guide to understanding yourself and others
if you manage people, Radical Candor by Kim Scott, one of the most practical books on leadership

Upvote for The Five, Invisible Women and Wild Swans!
Can I add Wifedom by Anna Funder? Biography of Eileen O’Shaughnessy who made the mistake of marrying Eric Blair/George Orwell. Brilliant feminist takedown of Orwell and an education in reading - the passive voice usually means a woman is doing something behind the scenes. 😡

Man’s search for meaning. Victor Frankl.

feel the fear and do it anyway.

creative visualisation - Shakti Gawain

This!

I love reading non-fiction and there are some great choices on here. I'm adding "A House Unlocked" by Penelope Lively. It's a reflection on twentieth century history through an examination of some of the objects from her grandmother's house. An easy read but thought provoking.

Agreeing with pretty much all the books on here so far.

I’ll add ‘The Hidden Persuaders’ by Vance Packard, which may be extremely old and the specifics not current any more, but opened my eyes once and forever when I was a kid to the nature of commerce and marketing. Not even in a negative way tbh - just making it clear that the environment around you is not accidental, but not a conspiracy either. Once you really see that, I think it helps in understanding a lot of other things.

I’ll throw in ‘The Spy and the Traitor’ by Ben Macintyre because it’s such a brilliant page turner and illuminates the history of the Cold War.

Agree with so many of these and would add

1. the road less travelled by M. Scott Peck
2. The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Oh yes, I read THe Body in lockdown, fascinating read.
Mine would be Ultra Processed. people by Chris van Tulleken. Completely changed my view of food.

Factfulness, Hans Rosling.

The book is about humans, world, data, medicine and how media misrepresent them. And about our opinions and perceptions.

It's very readable and surprisingly positive. A big plus for me is, that it's not anglo-american, the author was Swedish.

We read Wifedom for my book club.

It's an excellent book. I had loved George Orwell since I was a teen but that book made me so angry. I loathed the selfish tosser.

Dream Babies by Christina Hardyment - a historical survey of child-rearing methods from medieval to modern times. Shows that none of our methods are new.

Another vote for Invisible Women here ⭐️ I was outraged when I first read it and thought some of the examples just couldn’t be true - but they were. It’s a shocking book and shows how far we still have to go to reach true equality, and an understanding that women are people in their own right, not just little men.

Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

The Question of Palestine, by Edward Said, and Christ in the Rubble, by Munther Isaac. Important perspectives by Palestinian Christians, one an academic giving a long view, one a pastor active in the present.

"Poverty Safari" by Darren McGarvey. It explores the systemic nature of poverty but doesn't shy away from questions of personal and community responsibility for betterment.

It's good to read alongside "Despised" by Paul Emery. This book explores how left wing politics and politicians have moved away from issues of class and class politics and made the working class a punching bag.

The Demon Haunted World: Science As A Candle In The Dark by Carl Sagan. How can you make good decisions when you turn your back on reason and critical thought. This is so pertinent today.

The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us From Violence by Gavin de Becker Keeping yourself safe by trusting your gut and how to recognize unsafe men and boundary crossing. Women are increasingly at risk and I think this should be required reading.

Nice thread.

Why zebras don’t get ulcers. Fantastic essay on the physiologic stress response and modern life.

Entangled Lives by Merlin Sheldrake. All about fungi and their incredible abilities

I’ve just finished There Are Rivers In The Sky by Elif Shafak.

I thought it was beautiful.

a classic though, Rebecca.

If you like that, try The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Its like Hans Rosling meets The Help.

Its non fiction, medical misogyny, institutional racism and the history of genetics in medicine all rolled into one.

Its deeply sad at times, but if I could put it on the curriculum, I would.

Oh, who didn’t read the title properly… me!

The 100 Year Life - mindblowing and has changed how I view and treat money, work and my time.