10 non-fiction books to break your reading rut
Non-fiction readers on Kobo have found every one of these books worthy of reading all the way to the end. And almost every book on this list will take you no more than a month to read if you spend about 15 minutes per day reading.
We’ve selected a handful of non-fiction books that are sure to grab readers looking for a fresh perspective, a thread of history they didn’t know about, or an interesting concept explained in an entertaining way.
When Anthony Bourdain first published this book, it was a literary sensation. Readers had seldom heard such frank talk about what goes on in restaurant kitchens, and never from such a gifted writer with first-hand experience. And we all learned why you never order fish on a Monday.
Read for this many minutes per day to finish in a month: 15
The ever-curious Malcolm Gladwell dives into why we misunderstand each other so often, trusting the people we shouldn’t and mistrusting people who mean us no harm. He looks into the cases of pyramid schemer Bernie Madoff, deadly police traffic stops, and Neville Chamberlain’s disastrous meeting with Adolf Hitler and finds patterns in what gets us to drop our guard and what puts us on edge.
Read for this many minutes per day to finish in a month: 15
Hopefully your upbringing isn’t anything like Tara Westover’s. Raised by her fanatically religious father to prepare for the imminent apocalypse, she knew little of what passes for normal in the outside world. And with not even a birth certificate, the outside world knew little of her. But at the age of 17 she entered a classroom for the first time and began a journey that would take her to a doctoral program in Cambridge and beyond.
Read for this many minutes per day to finish in a month: 18
Following nearly a decade of research, Lisa Taddeo tells the stories of three women, ranging in age from teen to middle-age. Readers get to know them through their desires, fears, and mistakes as they go through lives that are as unique as they are relatable.
Read for this many minutes per day to finish in a month: 17
Samra Habib won the CBC Canada Reads prize for her memoir about coming to Canada from Pakistan as a refugee with her family, and having to figure out who she is and how to be true to herself without losing her family ties.
Read for this many minutes per day to finish in a month: 8
Even if you’ve already seen the film starring Frances McDormand, there’s no substitute for Jessica Bruder’s in-depth reportage from the front lines of the working poor traveling from job to job on America’s highways, hoping to one day find the means to rest.
Read for this many minutes per day to finish in a month: 13
Any lover of books and libraries will be fascinated to learn about the fire that raged through the main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, and might have become a more notable historical event had it not occurred the same week as the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Susan Orlean is one of the great narrative non-fiction writers, and here she seamlessly weaves the life story of arson suspect Harry Peak with the story of the intrigue-laden LA library itself and its many memorable characters.
Read for this many minutes per day to finish in a month: 15
Climbing Mount Everest isn’t supposed to be easy, but with planning a seasoned mountaineer can reach the peak and return safely-which was the plan for this expedition until a vicious storm descended on them. This new edition includes a lengthy postscript that recounts the debate that erupted following this book’s original publication in 1998 around who’s to blame for the lives lost.
Read for this many minutes per day to finish in a month: 15
If you want someone to finally explain what exactly is “space-time” and how does the theory of relativity work-no really, how does it work?-then this slim volume from Neil deGrasse Tyson is what you’ve been seeking. In less time than it takes to view the TV series Cosmos, Tyson explains the major forces that make the universe tick.
Read for this many minutes per day to finish in a month: 5
Thomas King’s irreverent not-quite-history offers a wry account of how Indigenous peoples and settlers have gotten along (or not) in the centuries since Europeans first landed on the shores of the Americas. The wit King’s fans expect from his novels is on full display as he comments on national myths, pop culture, and more.
Read for this many minutes per day to finish in a month: 13
Originally published at https://www.kobo.com on May 29, 2022.
