*Thank you for your responses, everyone. I will definitely be checking out some of these.
A book that changed my perspective on reality and the human condition: The Spell Of The Sensuous - David Abram
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48582.The_Spell_of_the_Sensuous
The Victorian Internet: about the societal impact of the telegraph
Isaac’s Storm: about the 1900 Galveston hurricane
Open: about the early history of Compaq and IBM PC clones
1984 /j
But actually it is probably “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom.
Its about someone who learns important life lessions from an old man who is dying from ALS.
American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America’s First Paramedics by Kevin Hazzard
Coach Wooden and Me by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Hope for Cynics by Jamil Zaki
It’s Your Funeral by Kathy Benjamin
Plight of the Living Dead by Matt Simon
I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong
A Woman of No Importance - Sonia Purnell
The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
Don’t know if it’s my all-time favorite, but I really enjoyed Moonwalking With Einstein. It’s a glimpse into competitive memory champions and the techniques they use. Written in a very casual, investigative style.
In order of recall,
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
Why Nations Fail
A Short History of Nearly Everything
God Is Not Great
Gödel, Escher, Bach
The Smartest Kids in the World
Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer - it explains in detail the biology and evolutionary history of parasites, and some of the incredible science that goes into studying and understanding them.
The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan - plain English explanation of what the scientific method is and why it’s our best way of understanding the world. It also explains how to think more critically about the world and how to identify pseudoscience.
Parasite Rex changed how I think about a lot of systems. Really mind expanding
Humble Pi by Matt Parker. It’s about common mistakes people make in math and the real world consequences of these mistakes
Hunter S. Thompson - Hell’s Angels
Jake Adelstein - Tokyo Vice & Tokyo Noir
The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow.
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind.
Not as tough as read as the title sounds. Just the introduction will blow your mind.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Origin_of_Consciousness_in_the_Breakdown_of_the_Bicameral_MindGuns, Germs, and Steel:
Don’t do the abridged version or watch the movie.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns%2C_Germs%2C_and_SteelThere’s some legitimate criticism of Guns, Germs, and Steel. Some of the author’s key assertions are incorrect but by and large a very well informed and exhaustively researched.
Most of the vitriol around it though seems to have missed the point. Diamond uses the book to argue against the idea of euro-exceptionalism but a loud part of society sees it as arguing the exact opposite.
Basically, what I’m saying is, don’t read it as gospel but an exceptional book that examines the way the world became the way it did from a fairly balanced perspective.
I know it really pissed off social anthropologist back in the day.
But I found the part about animal and plant domestication the most interesting. Domestication of animals created slaves you could eat.
I don’t usually read non-fiction but for a reading bingo card challenge at my local bookstore and I was blown away by Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green, it was fantastic.
The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Bloom! It’s so good!
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 by Hunter S. Thompson and A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold. Hell, I’ll also throw in Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks by Mick Foley. I should reread that.
Many, but Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber is the one I’ve read most recently.
