15 best nonfiction books of 2017

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The most interesting non-fiction works published last year.

The life hacker studied the long list of the Enlightener award, the results of the non / fictio№ exhibition, the winners of the Reader's Choice award on the LiveLib website and chose the most curious book novelties.

1. “Caught up in the revolution. Living Voices of Eyewitnesses ", Helen Rappaport

The book shows Petrograd in 1917. Among the heroes of the story are representatives of the aristocracy and the working class. The action takes place in palace halls, luxurious restaurants, on street squares and in gloomy gateways. The revolution became the backdrop for the daily life of the heroes, but at the same time it changed everything.

Rappaport used rare and little-known archives in the work on the book. Fragments of the revolution, described through the prism of perception of different heroes, add up to a single picture of the dramatic 1917.

The book became the winner of the Prize of the Book Society at the non / fictio№ exhibition in the nomination “Choice of Leading Libraries”.

2. “What the skin hides. 2 square meters that dictate how we live”, Yael Adler

Yael Adler - MD and practicing physician, renowned dermatologist from Germany. She talks about the largest human organ in a public language, with a touch of humor, supporting the descriptions with examples from practice. From the book you can learn how the skin functions, what tasks it copes with every day, what to do to keep it healthy.

The book has reached the Readers' Choice Super Final on the LiveLib website.

3. "The Reaching Link" (in two volumes), Stanislav Drobyshevsky

The author, a leading Russian specialist in anthropogenesis, talks about the history of human origin: why we descended from hominids, and not from other mammals, and who was our direct ancestor. The first volume of "Monkeys and All-All-All" is devoted to individuals who contributed to the formation of man in the distant past. The second volume "People" describes our fairly close ancestors and gives a prediction of where evolution can lead people in the future.

Both volumes of the book were included in the long list of the Enlightener Prize, the first part was shortlisted.

4. “Invented in Russia. The history of Russian inventive thought from Peter I to Nicholas II ", Tim Skorenko

The author himself retells the main idea of the book with the metaphor "Russia is not the homeland of elephants, but we have wonderful Amur tigers." He destroys myths about allegedly Russian inventions and tells what they actually came up with in Russia and why it is worth being proud of.

5. “Good morning every day. How to get up early and be on time, "Jeff Sanders

Another guide on how to forge owls into larks. The author honestly admits that the ideas, lessons and strategies that he collected into a single text are not new. At the same time, Sanders clearly explains not only how to get up early, but also why to do it. For those who find valuable ideas in the book, but are afraid to forget them, at the end of each chapter are collected the main theses.

6. "Idiot Priceless Brain" by Dean Burnett

Burnett is a neurologist, blogger, and comedian. Therefore, his book on the peculiarities of the brain was not only informative, but also very funny. The author tells why the brain can confuse you and erase something important from memory, why it inclines a person to stupid things, although it is obvious that some actions are a bad idea.

7. "Musicophilia" by Oliver Sachs

In another book, neurologist Oliver Sachs tried to explain the nature of ideal hearing, to talk about mental illnesses that stimulate an all-consuming love of music or, on the contrary, hatred of melodies.

The author talks about cases from practice and explains the relationship between consciousness and sounds. For example, it tells why a song sticks in your head or how a lightning strike can turn a person into a Chopin fan.

eight."Skeptic. A rational view of the world ", Michael Shermer

This book is pure journalism. Scientific American editor and columnist Michael Shermer has compiled articles published at different times under one cover. All of them answer the pressing questions of modern people to science.

Whether to believe in alternative medicine, what is wrong with the creationist theory of human origins, why tap water is not poison and, finally, why smart people believe in all sorts of nonsense. Shermer encourages readers to be rational and suggests looking at any question from the point of view of science.

9. “Pandemic. World history of deadly viruses ", Sonya Shah

Science journalist Sonia Shah in her book tells how a new deadly epidemic can hit the world.

Over the past 50 years, more than 300 new diseases have appeared for the first time or re-emerged in new territories with populations whose immunity was not prepared for such attacks. The author examines, using the example of cholera, how harmful bacteria march around the world, and tries to predict new diseases that can lead to a pandemic.

10. “Don't regret anything. And 99 more rules for happy people ", Nigel Cumberland

One hundred rules that help you set goals and achieve them. Not all ideas sparkle with novelty, but at the same time they give inspiration. The author promises: if you implement his rules in life, they will help you achieve success in any area, be it work, raising children or learning a foreign language.

11. “Scientists are hiding? Myths of the XXI century ", Alexander Sokolov

The book from the long-list of the "Enlightener" award tells about the myths actively introduced by representatives of pseudosciences. Alexander Sokolov, with humor turning into sarcasm, explains where obscurantism comes from, why it is actively spreading among people and what gives rise to insane theories. He explains how to test a book or inference for truthfulness and why pseudosciences are dangerous.

12. "Entertaining radiation", Alexander Konstantinov

The book answers questions about a peaceful (and not so) atom: how to assess the threat of radiation, how to defend, how does the proximity of a nuclear power plant threaten, whether radiation causes mutations. The author exposes myths and talks about the nature of radioactive radiation. Caution: the book not only enlightens, but also arouses a burning desire to bring new knowledge to the masses.

13. "Look at me", Pavel Basinsky

Literary critic and critic Pavel Basinsky describes the fate of one of the first Russian feminists, based on her diary and archival materials.

A Sorbonne student from the Kostroma province, Lisa Dyakonova was found dead in Tyrol in 1902. Her diary was published in 1905 and was called by the philosopher and critic Vasily Rozanov "one of the freshest Russian books of the late 19th century." Basinsky reconstructs Dyakonova's life, describing in detail all the twists and turns of fate.

14. “Leader of the gang for the day. An outcast sociologist takes to the streets ", Sudhir Venkatesh

In 1989, the sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh went to conduct a survey in the poorest Chicago ghetto, where he experienced many misadventures in one day. Instead of asking questions of the local population, he himself was forced to answer them when he fell into the hands of gangsters, who suspected him of a spy.

However, thanks to the coincidence of circumstances over the next 10 years, Venkatesh will return to the ghetto more than once to talk with gangsters, prostitutes, squatters, police officers, gang members. He cites the results of this large-scale study in the book "Leader of the Gang for the Day."

15. "The Titanic Will Drown", Pierre Bayard

The book is based on the hypothesis that literary works can predict the future. For example, the death of the Titanic was described in his novel by the American author Morgan Robertson. The work was published 14 years before the disaster.

Literary critic Pierre Bayard researches various works and finds many confirmations of the prophetic gift of writers. And the ironic manner of the author's narration makes reading pleasant and exciting.