I’ve started university recently and just don’t have the energy to read complex literature nor academic articles beyond what I’m studying for my classes. I’m looking for relaxed, non-pretentious yet interesting creative non-fiction. Some books in this genre I’ve enjoyed are “The Lonely City” by Olivia Laing and “When we Cease to Understand the World” by Benjamin Lababut. Though, these books are quite prose heavy so something more straightforward would be appreciated. Areas that interest me are human health, psychology, cultural criticism and memoirs of Philosophers/Scientists and Mathematicians. Bonus points if the books have a sense of humour 😉
Also, I’d be happy to read academic books which have an easy and casual tone.
by Even_District9445
2 Comments
You might like Bill Bryson, Dave Barry, or Tony Horwitz. Bryson is a travel writer, his book “A Walk in the Woods,” about hiking the Appalachian Trail, is one of only about 5 books that actually made me laugh out loud. It was also turned into a movie. Barry is a humor columnist for the Miami Herald, or he was before he retired, and he’s got several books out that are compilations of his best columns. Horowitz covered history, and I loved “A Voyage Long and Strange.”
I also enjoyed “Visit Sunny Chernobyl” by Andrew Blackwell. He’s a travel writer like Bryson, but unlike Bryson he wasn’t getting cushy assignments, so he chose instead to visit review the most polluted and toxic places on Earth. I enjoyed it.
I loved this book – nice piece of history
E=mc^2: A Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation
by David Bodanis
Scientists building on previous work. Men getting credit for women’s work. No actual math.. nice history