Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
Here are ten nonfiction titles I’ve recently added to my TBR list. If you’ve read any of them or have other suggestions for great titles in this genre, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
1. Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the Ninety Percent by Kim Bowes
Why I’m interested: As I’ve mentioned here before, I prefer reading about the lives of ordinary people in the past. It’s interesting to find out what they ate and wore and what their daily lives were like.
2. The Crown’s Silence: The Hidden History of the British Monarchy and Slavery in the Americas by Brooke N. Newman
Why I’m interested: This is an aspect of the transatlantic slave trade that I wasn’t aware of.
3. Believe You’re Made for More: 7 Steps to Break Free from Low Self-Esteem, Remember Your Worth and Claim Your Quiet Confidence
by Natasha Page
Why I’m interested: It sounds helpful. (I don’t have a great track record with self-help books, though, so no promises that I’ll actually finish it).
4. Ferns: Lessons in Survival From Earth’s Most Adaptable Plants by Fay-Wei Li and Jacob S. Suissa.
Why I’m interested: Botany is such an interesting subject.
5. Unfrozen: The Fight for the Future of the Arctic by Mia Bennett, Klaus Dodds
Why I’m interested: Cimate change frightens me, but I am also intrigued by how it alongside geopolitical conflicts are shaping the future of this continent. Will humans someday live there for non-scientific purposes, for example?
6. The Great Shadow: A History of How Sickness Shapes What We Do, Think, Believe, and Buy by Susan Wise Bauer
Why I’m interested: I couldn’t read about contagious diseases back when Covid first emerged, but now I can occasionally explore how previous generations handled similar crises and how epidemics and pandemics e can permanently affect a culture in all sorts of interesting ways.
7. The Flowers of Good: The Science and the History of Marijuana Liberation by Sidarta Ribeiro, Daniel Hahn
Why I’m interested: For the record, I don’t drink, smoke, or do any sort of drugs, including this one. I also do not judge you if you’ve made other choices in life. My interest in the topic is rooted firmly, pun intended, in how this plant can be used to treat pain and nausea from all sorts of various illnesses. The less suffering in the world, the better if you ask me! Such things should never be politicized.
8. When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy by Beronda L. Montgomery
Why I’m interested: Can you tell I love reading about plants, especially during the cold months of the year when nothing grows? This is another topic I know nothing about but would like to.
9. Why Not Me: Living with Invisible Illness by Lindsay Ireland
Why I’m interested: I don’t have multiple sclerosis, but I do like reading about the lives of other people living with chronic, invisible illnesses. We often share a lot in common, and it’s rewarding to learn about the aspects of other diseases that are generally only known to those who are quietly dealing with them. Having empathy and/or sympathy for others is a good thing that I think should be encouraged more often than many parts of western society currently do.
10. Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others by Stephanie Dalley
Why I’m interested: I was lucky enough to learn a little about this topic in college, but there’s still so much I don’t know about it. Mythology is fascinating, so this is definitely something I’ll be checking out sometime.
This year I’m hoping to read more nonfiction about medical and scientific advances.
The first few times I tried audiobooks, I was not at all a fan of them because I can read much faster than the average narrator speaks and I’d much rather get to know characters through the written word instead of the spoken one.
2. Zombies
1) Successful Human Settlements
The original theme for this week was “