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.

Another vote for Invisible Women

Absolutely yes to Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything (it does what it say on the tin!). I have reread this many times and was over the moon to discover it was updated and reissued last year with all the latest science - it’s brilliant.

Also a big yes to The Five (Halle Rubenhold) all about Jack the Ripper’s victims but really a social history of women at the time (and how they were treated/judged). Very few mentions of JtR.

Ohhh I just rtft after I posted.

I loved it too

How Money Works (Dorling Kindersley). Explains everything from saving to derivatives!

The Five by Hallie Rubenhold - someone finally writing about the victims of Jack the Ripper

Cosa Nostra by John Dickie about the Mafia- it's so well researched, it's absolutely fascinating.

Jews Don’t Count by David Baddiel.

I truly wish more non-Jewish people would read this.

Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain. Impact of WW1 and changing society on a young woman.

Also The Secret Painter by Joe Tucker. About the author's uncle who painted, but also about class, family and a portrait of his eccentric uncle.
Hilarious and thought provoking.

Will try to read Jews Don't Count . Have read My Family by David Baddiel and that was really good .

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee

For someone with cancer running through both sides of the family, it engrossed me.

How Not To Die by Michael Greger.

Life changing.

ETA- it's about how food affects our health. Sounds dry but it's really well written and is extensively researched and updated regularly.

DH read it in 2018 and changed his lifestyle overnight. He went from being a tired, flabby 65 yearold with a range of health issues to being slim, fit and strong man who now has nothing at all wrong with him.

I re-read it again about 5 months ago after a major scare where I was diagnosed with a very great many auto immune disorders and kidney disease. In that time I have overhauled my diet and lifestyle (with a few slips here and there) and my issues are now being managed without medical intervention and monthly blood test monitoring only.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Not-Die-Discover-scientifically/dp/1509852506/ref=sr_1_1?crid=4FLKHR0I76SX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.zpvf9dlTTjaJziUrzozOGA.cTwLwj9AVO7yjDryFQDBwfhMNeQUJvVpuQhkqrCO6V0&dib_tag=se&keywords=how+not+to+die+latest+2025&qid=1780077463&s=books&sprefix=how+not+to+die+latest+2025%2Cstripbooks%2C126&sr=1-1-catcorr

YES!!! Thank you!

Yes, Gavin de Becker! It was a real eye opener about where boundaries are visible to predators who want to and often do cross them, while we are gender-socialised to be nice or make the best of things.

Yes to this and Round About a Pound a Week. It makes me understand where people and places 'come from'.

I want to read this ✔️

I loved The Five!

Bury my heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. Excellent book detailing the absolutely heartbreaking injustices done to the Native Americans.
And another YES for Invisible Women.

In Control

Its a niche one maybe in some ways, but pretty relevant to all women.

Its written by a female police officer and criminology professor.

These men who "lose it" in commiting homicide or GBH are not actually losing it; she challenges the ",crime of passion" narrative that lets men off with a lesser sentence. Its rooted in data and behaviour mapping.

In this era of Judge Nicholas Rowland it is worth a read. (He should read it himself, but he won't because he might actually grow as a human rather than siding with perpetrators... oh I am going off thread sorry....screams at patriarchy.) Ahem. Sorry.

This, plus the follow on book The Truce

So many. Only one? Maybe Empire of Pain atm

Before You Know It by John Bargh, a fascinating insight into the human subconscious and how it controls every aspect of how we think, feel and behave.

Prisoners of Geography

Another up vote for Invisible Women
Best non-fiction I've read this year...

The Price of Life - We say that life is priceless. Yet the cost of saving a life, creating a life or compensating for a life taken is routinely calculated and put into practice. For philanthropists, judges, criminals and healthcare providers, it’s just part of the job. In The Price of Life, Jenny Kleeman takes us on an adventure to meet some of the people who decide what we’re worth.

Anywhere But Here - A powerful exposé of Britain’s broken asylum system and how it fails us all.

Breath - read this a while ago but has had the most impact on me personally. Taught me how to breathe properly and has reduced reliance on asthma inhalers

Wicked Beyond Belief by Michael Bilton. Outlines the crimes of the Yorkshire Ripper and the shambolic police investigation. A lesson in how not to put all your eggs in one basket.

Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott - a Pulitzer Prize winner that reads like a novel and is heartbreakingly brilliant.

Up vote

This was fascinating, highly recommend - I think there's been a few updated reprints but could do with another update following this Hormuz horror show once it ever ends