I'm linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for another Top Ten Tuesday.
This week is all about hidden gems! I decided to focus on nonfiction because I feel like there's so much good nonfiction out there, and it only rarely reaches blockbuster status where everyone's talking about it. This isn't counting memoir or self-help or other niches like that, but books that are there to teach you in depth about one specific topic, which is something I love!
1. American Hookup by Lisa Wade
All about the culture of sex on college campuses — who's having it, and why, and how it's different from past generations, and what the impact is on students.
2. The Hidden Brain by Shankar Vendantam
Now a fantastic podcast by the same name hosted by the book's author, this dives into a bunch of different areas where your brain functions differently than you might expect.
3. The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King
Native Americans have been robbed and betrayed by the U.S. Government and depicted in damaging and stereotypical ways in the media — but that's all the past, right? Not so much.
4. Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink
Why do you eat what you eat when you eat it? Probably for many more reasons than you realize.
5. Marriage, a History by Stephanie Coontz
Coontz provides a detailed overview of what marriage has meant to people and how it has functioned over the past centuries.
6. Sister Citizen by Melissa V. Harris-Perry
There are certain distinct ways that black women are portrayed and discussed in popular culture, and these have definite consequences for black women see themselves and how others see them.
7. Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat by Hal Herzog
The way we think about our relationship with animals is actually quite odd and contradictory. I read this over five years ago and I still think about some of the things I learned in this book.
8. Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt
If drivers who feel safer drive more dangerously, how do we make our roads and cars safer without leading to more accidents? Vanderbilt looks at the fascinating intersection of driving and science.
9. The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley
Are we doing disaster preparation all wrong? Ripley looks out how we expect people to behave during disasters vs. how they actually behave, and what this means for how we should change our preparation infrastructure.
10. The Working Poor by David K. Shipler
Shipler shows just how complex the issue of poverty is, and how badly some policymakers (on both sides of the aisle) misunderstand what actually goes on in the life of a person trying to raise a family on a low-paying job.
What are some of your favorite unknown nonfiction reads?
This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Thanks for supporting A Cocoon of Books!
No comments:
Post a Comment