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Recommendations based on Lost At Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteriesby Jon Ronson
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
by Jon Ronson
Exploration of the psychiatric industry, examining the definition and diagnosis of psychopathy.
In this madcap journey, a bestselling journalist investigates psychopaths and the industry of doctors, scientists, and everyone else who studies them. The Psychopath Test is a fascinating journey ... (Goodreads)
So You've Been Publicly Shamed
by Jon Ronson
An exploration of the impact of public shaming in the digital age, and its implications for justice.
For the past three years, Jon Ronson has travelled the world meeting recipients of high-profile public shamings. The shamed are people like us - people who, say, made a joke on social media that came ... (Goodreads)
Them: Adventures with Extremists
by Jon Ronson
Exploration of extreme political and fringe groups by an inquisitive journalist.
Ronson chronicles his travels and interviews with "extremists" and attempts to uncover the mystery behind the "tiny elite that rules the world from inside a secret room". The book is written on the ... (Wikipedia)
Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World
by J. Mark G. Williams
A practical guide to finding inner peace and balance through mindfulness.
From one of the leading thinkers on Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, a pioneering set of simple practices to dissolve anxiety, stress, exhaustion, and unhappiness.In "Mindfulness," Oxford ... (Goodreads)
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
by Lawrence Wright
An investigative look into the controversial religion of Scientology, its origins, practices, and impact on its followers.
A clear-sighted revelation, a deep penetration into the world of Scientology by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the now-classic study of al-Qaeda's 9/11 attack, the Looming Tower . Based on more ... (Goodreads)
Based on a True Story
by Norm Macdonald
A hilarious memoir recounting the author's experiences in stand-up comedy and life.
When Norm Macdonald, one of the greatest stand-up comics of all time, was approached to write a celebrity memoir, he flatly refused, calling the genre "one step below instruction manuals." Norm then ... (Goodreads)
The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking
by Oliver Burkeman
Exploring alternative paths to happiness, rejecting traditional approaches of positive thinking.
Success through failure, calm through embracing anxiety—a totally original approach to self-help Self-help books don't seem to work. Few of the many advantages of modern life seem capable of lifting ... (Barnes & Noble)
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster
by Jon Krakauer
A gripping narrative of the 1996 expedition on Mount Everest that resulted in tragedy.
When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. ... (Goodreads)
What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
by Randall Munroe
A humorous exploration of science, tackling the most bizarre questions with real-world scenarios.
Randall Munroe left NASA in 2005 to start up his hugely popular site XKCD 'a web comic of romance, sarcasm, math and language' which offers a witty take on the world of science and geeks. It now has ... (Goodreads)
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
by Jon Krakauer
An exploration of the fundamentalist Mormon faith, its history, and the power of religious extremism.
A Story of Violent Faith A multilayered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, savage violence, polygamy, and unyielding faith. This is vintage Krakauer, an utterly compelling work of ... (Goodreads)
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town
by Jon Krakauer
A harrowing account of sexual assaults in Missoula, Montana and the failures of the justice system to bring justice to the victims.
Missoula, Montana, is a typical college town, home to a highly regarded state university whose beloved football team inspires a passionately loyal fan base. Between January 2008 and May 2012, ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds
by Michael Lewis
A fascinating examination of the two psychologists who changed the way we view the human mind.
Forty years ago, Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky wrote a series of breathtakingly original papers that invented the field of behavioral economics. One of the greatest ... (Goodreads)
Bad Feminist
by Roxane Gay
A collection of essays exploring feminism, race, and gender, and their intersections.
Pink is my favorite color. I used to say my favorite color was black to be, cool, but it is pink—all shades of pink. If I have an accessory, it is probably pink. I read, Vogue, and I’m not doing it ... (Goodreads)
Reasons to Stay Alive
by Matt Haig
A memoir exploring mental illness and its effects on the author's life.
Matt Haig’s accessible and life-affirming memoir of his struggle with depression, and how his triumph over the illness taught him to live. Like nearly one in five people, Matt Haig suffers from ... (Goodreads)
Fermat's Enigma
by Simon Singh
Uncovering the centuries-old mathematical mystery of Pierre de Fermat's Last Theorem.
xn + yn = zn, where n represents 3, 4, 5, ...no solution "I have discovered a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain." With these words, the ... (Goodreads)
Nickel and Dimed: On
by Barbara Ehrenreich
A journalist's exploration of poverty in the U.S., exposing the struggles of low-wage workers.
Millions of Americans work full-time, year-round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which ... (Goodreads)
Chaos: Making a New Science
by James Gleick
Investigation of complex systems and the impact of chaos on scientific understanding.
A work of popular science in the tradition of Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan, this 20th-anniversary edition of James Gleick’s groundbreaking bestseller Chaos introduces a whole new readership to ... (Goodreads)
The Complete Maus
by Art Spiegelman
A graphic novel depicting a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust and his son's journey to understand the past.
On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of its first publication, here is the definitive edition of the book acclaimed as “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the ... (Goodreads)
Danse Macabre
by Stephen King
A suspenseful tale of horror, with a supernatural twist.
Before he gave us the “one of a kind classic” (The Wall Street Journal) memoir On Writing, Stephen King wrote a nonfiction masterpiece in Danse Macabre, “one of the best books on American popular ... (Goodreads)
Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain
by Charles R. Cross
An in-depth look at the life of the Nirvana frontman, exploring his legendary career and tumultuous life.
The art of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was all about his private life, but written in a code as obscure as T.S. Eliot's. Now Charles Cross has cracked the code in the definitive biography Heavier Than ... (Goodreads)
Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism
by Temple Grandin
An autobiographical account of a woman with autism who thinks in pictures, and how she learned to navigate a world that doesn't understand her.
Temple Grandin, Ph.D., is a gifted animal scientist who has designed one third of all the livestock-handling facilities in the United States. She also lectures widely on autism—because Temple Grandin ... (Goodreads)
Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction
by David Sheff
An intimate look at a father's struggle to understand and help his son through his addiction.
With a new afterword Now a Major Motion Picture What had happened to my beautiful boy? To our family? What did I do wrong? Those are the wrenching questions that haunted David Sheff’s journey through ... (Goodreads)
God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
by Christopher Hitchens
Criticism of organized religion, arguing it is the root of much suffering in the world.
With his unique brand of erudition and wit, Hitchens describes the ways in which religion is man-made. "God did not make us," he says. "We made God." He explains the ways in which religion is ... (Goodreads)
Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker
by Kevin D. Mitnick
True story of an infamous hacker's journey of escape and evasion, eventually leading to his arrest and imprisonment.
If they were a hall of fame or shame for computer hackers, a Kevin Mitnick plaque would be mounted the near the entrance. While other nerds were fumbling with password possibilities, this adept ... (Goodreads)
The Orchid Thief
by Susan Orlean
A captivating story of obsession, intrigue, and the beauty of the rare flower.
The Orchid Thief is Susan Orlean’s tale of an amazing obsession. Determined to clone an endangered flower—the rare ghost orchid Polyrrhiza lindenii— a deeply eccentric and oddly attractive man named ... (Goodreads)
The Blind Side
by Michael Lewis
Story of an underprivileged African-American teen who is rescued and mentored by a wealthy white family.
The #1 New York Times Bestseller "Lewis has such a gift for storytelling…he writes as lucidly for sports fans as for those who read him for other reasons." —Janet Maslin, New York Times When we first ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales
by Oliver Sacks
A collection of case studies, illustrating extraordinary neurological phenomena.
If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self—himself—he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it. Dr. Oliver Sacks recounts the ... (Goodreads)
Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety
by Eric Schlosser
An exploration of nuclear weapon safety and the risk of catastrophic accidents.
A myth-shattering exposé of America’s nuclear weapons Famed investigative journalist Eric Schlosser digs deep to uncover secrets about the management of America’s nuclear arsenal. A groundbreaking ... (Goodreads)
Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets
by Sudhir Venkatesh
An exploration of urban poverty and gang life, through the eyes of an unlikely researcher.
The story of the young sociologist who studied a Chicago crack-dealing gang from the inside captured the world's attention when it was first described in, Freakonomics,., Gang Leader for a Day, is ... (Goodreads)
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science
by Atul Gawande
Exploration of the human costs and consequences of medical care, highlighting our imperfections and vulnerabilities.
In gripping accounts of true cases, surgeon Atul Gawande explores the power and the limits of medicine, offering an unflinching view from the scalpel's edge. Complications lays bare a science not in ... (Goodreads)
