I'm linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for another Top Ten Tuesday.
This week's topic is books in a specific genre that we've recently added to our to-read list (in my case, my lower pressure "might want to read" list). A number of books have caught my attention recently for their deep dives into a particular topic, either through statistics or through history. I adore these kinds of books! Here are ten I've recently made a note of.
1. Black Stats: African Americans by the Numbers in the Twenty-first Century by Monique W. Morris
I ran across this on a list of suggested reading somewhere. I've read a lot of books by and about black Americans in recent years, but it can be helpful to place individual stories in a larger context of trends and statistics. I just realized there's a Latino Stats book as well.
2. Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
I heard the author interviewed on the Hidden Brain podcast, which is where I get a lot of great social science book recommendations, like American Hookup. Google has access to such an immense amount of data that I'm fascinated to learn more about what data scientists there have been able to uncover.
3. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
I've seen this book receive praise everywhere, and while I know it will probably be depressing and not that surprising, I feel obligated as an American citizen to keep learning more about the systems in our country that keep people in poverty, and — hopefully — what I can do to help.
4. Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright
I've never read this classic book, and one of my good friends (who is also a fan of taking deep dives into topics) at one point read a bunch of books about Scientology, so I'd love to read this and discuss with her.
5. Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction by Derek Thompson
This popped up with a high rating from someone I follow on Goodreads, and I knew I'd enjoy it as well. Statistics and human behavior? I'm there.
6. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
I keep hearing about this book, especially after the recent release of Grann's new book, Killers of the Flower Moon, and even though the topic isn't inherently interesting to me, it sounds like Grann makes it interesting. I think it would be worth a read.
7. Nabokov's Favorite Word Is Mauve: What the Numbers Reveal About the Classics, Bestsellers, and Our Own Writing by Ben Blatt
I swear I heard about this book on a podcast, but now I can't figure out which one. This book combines statistics and books, so obviously it was going on my list. [Edited to add: I figured out where I heard about it! Modern Mrs. Darcy linked to an interview with the author.]
8. So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
I keep hearing about this book, and it sounds like the kind of thing I'd find interesting — an investigation of what happens during and after someone is metaphorically flogged by the media and/or Internet.
9. They Can't Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America's Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowery
This is an in-depth look at a part of history that's happening right now — the awakening of white America to unjustified police violence, the advent of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the quest to find a way to make all Americans feel safe on their own streets.
10. The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America by George Packer
I've seen a couple people mention this as more of what they thought Hillbilly Elegy would be. Rather than being based in personal experience and memoir, this book is a more straightforward history and analysis of the ways in which different parts of our country have developed radically different lifestyles and viewpoints. It couldn't be more timely.
What books like this have caught your eye recently?
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