Best Non-Fiction Books of All Time
Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones (Released: January 2016)
Author(s): James Clear
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.21 (1116 Ratings, 125 Reviews)
Pages: 168
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving—every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights. Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field. Learn how to: - Make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy); - Overcome a lack of motivation and willpower; - Design your environment to make success easier; - Get back on track when you fall off course; ...and much more. Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.
Genre(s): Nonfiction, Business, Design, Psychology
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Released: January 2011)
Author(s): Yuval Noah Harari
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.22 (1040 Ratings, 110 Reviews)
Pages: 443
From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.” One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas. Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because over the last few decades humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us, but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become? Featuring 27 photographs, 6 maps, and 25 illustrations/diagrams, this provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential reading for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem.
Genre(s): Nonfiction, History, Science, Psychology, Comics & Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Historical, General, Comics
Thinking, Fast and Slow (Released: January 2011)
Author(s): Daniel Kahneman
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.10 (452 Ratings, 49 Reviews)
Pages: 499
Kahneman introduces two modes of thought - system 1, fast and intuitive, and system 2, slow and reasoned - and explores how these modes effect behavior, particularly judgement and decision making.
Genre(s): Nonfiction, Psychology, Business, Business & Careers
What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions (Released: January 14)
Author(s): Randall Munroe
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.21 (487 Ratings, 41 Reviews)
Pages: 320
The creator of the incredibly popular webcomic xkcd presents his heavily researched answers to his fans' oddest questions, including “What if I took a swim in a spent-nuclear-fuel pool?” and “Could you build a jetpack using downward-firing machine guns?” 100,000 first printing.
Genre(s): Science, Nonfiction, Science fiction, Comics, Humor
Quiet : The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking (Released: January 2012)
Author(s): Susan Cain
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.02 (457 Ratings, 60 Reviews)
Pages: 370
“Superbly researched, deeply insightful, and a fascinating read, Quiet is an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to understand the gifts of the introverted half of the population.”—Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY People • O: The Oprah Magazine • Christian Science Monitor • Inc. • Library Journal • Kirkus Reviews What are the advantages of being an introvert? They make up at least one-third of the people we know. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society. In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. She charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal throughout the twentieth century and explores how deeply it has come to permeate our culture. She also introduces us to successful introverts—from a witty, high-octane public speaker who recharges in solitude after his talks, to a record-breaking salesman who quietly taps into the power of questions. Passionately argued, impeccably researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet has the power to permanently change how you see yourself.
Genre(s): Nonfiction, Psychology, Introversion
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (Released: January 2016)
Author(s): Cal Newport
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.04 (411 Ratings, 57 Reviews)
Pages: 304
One of the most valuable skills in our economy is becoming increasingly rare. If you master this skill, you'll achieve extraordinary results. Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep-spending their days instead in a frantic blur of e-mail and social media, not even realizing there's a better way. In DEEP WORK, author and professor Cal Newport flips the narrative on impact in a connected age. Instead of arguing distraction is bad, he instead celebrates the power of its opposite. Dividing this book into two parts, he first makes the case that in almost any profession, cultivating a deep work ethic will produce massive benefits. He then presents a rigorous training regimen, presented as a series of four "rules," for transforming your mind and habits to support this skill. A mix of cultural criticism and actionable advice, DEEP WORK takes the reader on a journey through memorable stories -- from Carl Jung building a stone tower in the woods to focus his mind, to a social media pioneer buying a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo to write a book free from distraction in the air -- and no-nonsense advice, such as the claim that most serious professionals should quit social media and that you should practice being bored. DEEP WORK is an indispensable guide to anyone seeking focused success in a distracted world.
Genre(s): Productivity, Nonfiction, Self-Help, Psychology
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (Released: January 2018)
Author(s): John Carreyrou
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.42 (460 Ratings, 68 Reviews)
Pages: 339
NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER * NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY: NPR, The New York Times Book Review, Time, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post * The McKinsey Business Book of the Year The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of Theranos, the one-time multibillion-dollar biotech startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes--now the subject of the HBO documentary The Inventor--by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end. "The story is even crazier than I expected, and I found myself unable to put it down once I started. This book has everything: elaborate scams, corporate intrigue, magazine cover stories, ruined family relationships, and the demise of a company once valued at nearly $10 billion." --Bill Gates In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup "unicorn" promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a machine that would make blood testing significantly faster and easier. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at more than $9 billion, putting Holmes's worth at an estimated $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn't work. A riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a tale of ambition and hubris set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley.
Genre(s): Nonfiction, General, Fraud, True crime, Crime
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams (Released: January 2017)
Author(s): Matthew Walker
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.33 (329 Ratings, 55 Reviews)
Pages: 360
“Why We Sleep is an important and fascinating book…Walker taught me a lot about this basic activity that every person on Earth needs. I suspect his book will do the same for you.” —Bill Gates A New York Times bestseller and international sensation, this “stimulating and important book” (Financial Times) is a fascinating dive into the purpose and power of slumber. With two appearances on CBS This Morning and Fresh Air's most popular interview of 2017, Matthew Walker has made abundantly clear that sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life. Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why we suffer such devastating health consequences when it is absent. Compared to the other basic drives in life—eating, drinking, and reproducing—the purpose of sleep remains more elusive. Within the brain, sleep enriches a diversity of functions, including our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions. It recalibrates our emotions, restocks our immune system, fine-tunes our metabolism, and regulates our appetite. Dreaming creates a virtual reality space in which the brain melds past and present knowledge, inspiring creativity. In this “compelling and utterly convincing” (The Sunday Times) book, preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker provides a revolutionary exploration of sleep, examining how it affects every aspect of our physical and mental well-being. Charting the most cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs, and marshalling his decades of research and clinical practice, Walker explains how we can harness sleep to improve learning, mood and energy levels, regulate hormones, prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes, slow the effects of aging, and increase longevity. He also provides actionable steps towards getting a better night’s sleep every night. Clear-eyed, fascinating, and accessible, Why We Sleep is a crucial and illuminating book. Written with the precision of Atul Gawande, Andrew Solomon, and Sherwin Nuland, it is “recommended for night-table reading in the most pragmatic sense” (The New York Times Book Review).
Genre(s): Science, Nonfiction, Psychology, Health & Fitness
Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World (Released: January 2019)
Author(s): Cal Newport
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.02 (328 Ratings, 45 Reviews)
Pages: 302
New York Times Bestseller 'Digital Minimalism is the Marie Kondo of mobile phones' Evening Standard 'An eloquent, powerful and enjoyably practical guide to cutting back on screen time' The Times 'An urgent call to action for anyone serious about being in command of their own life' Ryan Holiday, author of The Obstacle is the Way 'What a timely and useful book' Naomi Alderman, author of The Power Learn how to switch off and find calm Do you find yourself endlessly scrolling through social media or the news while your anxiety rises? Are you feeling frazzled after a long day of long video calls? In this timely book, professor Cal Newport shows us how to pair back digital distractions and live a more meaningful life with less technology. By following a 'digital declutter' process, you'll learn to: · Rethink your relationship with social media · Prioritize 'high bandwidth' conversations over low quality text chains · Rediscover the pleasures of the offline world Take back control from your devices and find calm amongst the chaos with Digital Minimalism.
Genre(s): Technology, non-fiction, Self-Help, Business, Nonfiction, Foreign Language Study, Business & Economics, Technology & Engineering
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer (Released: January 2018)
Author(s): Michelle McNamara, Gillian Flynn (Narrator), Patton Oswalt (Narrator), Gabra Zackman (Narrator)
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.07 (333 Ratings, 49 Reviews)
Pages: None
For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area. Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark—the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Utterly original and compelling, it has been hailed as a modern true crime classic—one which fulfilled Michelle's dream: helping unmask the Golden State Killer.
Genre(s): Nonfiction