beginner's guide to non-fiction books 🪐

let's talk about my favourite non-fiction books, how to read them and some recommendations on finding your new fave!

🌼 s o c i a l m e d i a
• twitter: @thebookleo
• instagram: @thebookleo

🌺 a b o u t m e
Hi! My name is Leonie and I am a 25 year old girl from the Netherlands who loves talking about books! From YA to non-fiction to classics, I read it all (although fantasy will always be my fave).

🌹 m u s i c
Music, art, and video by Jokabi

Download / Stream Lost Woods

[vasiliki.sch_]

Can't believe YouTube kept this from me for 2 minutes

[maika]

A great memoir is "Born a crime" by Trevor Noah about his childhood and youth in South Africa. He writes in a humorous tone (great for beginner non fiction readers) but as a reader you learn a lot about the history and society of South Africa. Some of the stories he tells are funny, some are very emotional. Personal experience is mixed with information and his thoughts about certain issues.
I've recommended this book a lot and the feedback has always been positive 😊

[LastMinuteGuess]

The new hairstyle is GIVING, Leonie!

I agree with the bell hooks recommendation wholeheartedly as well! I love attaching to specific nonfiction writers and reading everything they’ve got. It’s riskier to pick up a random nonfiction than a regular novel.

EDIT: Recommendations - Yuval Noah Harari (Science/History), Rebecca Sonlit (Philosophy/Politics), David Graeber (Anthropology), Susan Sontag (Literary Criticism). Some random favorites of mine, may not be beginner friendly.

[itsdivyag]

me adding twitter threads into my yearly reading count

also I find non fic easier to be interested in reading / helps getting out of a slump (even if sometimes the language is alienatingly academic) bc it is so personal to your interests

[vaishnavisanal]

Omg, I definitely wasn't ready to see Cari and Lexi in Leonie's videos anytime❤

[The-Novella]

"I'm Glad My Mom Died" is my favorite memoir I've read!

[snehapradhan]

Also fun fact: I went to a book store to get All About Love after your recommendation. So I showed the name of your book to the bookstore guy and he took one look and said, "That's a really good book. Very good choice." So hey thanks to you I got a compliment on my book choices lol

[thebigsida]

If you are new to non-fiction, specifically history, make sure to do research to determine if a book is quality and reliable; university published works are the best in this case, I would completely avoid self-pub lol

13:15 I also had a similar experience with Gun, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond lol

[Lieuxa]

Books :
Trick mirror
All about love - her fav
Hope in the dark
The Tao of Pooh
Sarah bakes well at the existentialist cafè
I'm glad my mom died - Jeanette McCurdy
Cultish
Letters to a young poet
Come as you are


More mentioned :
Brading sweetgrass
Penguin - great ideas
And other non fic publications series
Sapiens

[youstories]

I love picking up a celebrity memoir when I hit a non-fiction reading slump! Especially in audiobook form, it feels like a long voice note from a friend where I'm being filled in on all the tea 😂

[lithlith]

About self-help books: If you’re like me and you absolutely HATE people preaching about how you should live your life without providing any provable source other than “trust me bro”, I highly recommend If Books Could Kill podcast! They criticize popular airport self-help books.

I got to know them from a review on Goodreads and never look back. It’s cathartic listening to people more knowledgeable than me discussing why the things I’ve always hated are problematic.

[msNightshade]

I love that you featured Lexi. She's hilarious, kind, and educated in her thoughts.

[larayanez]

i come to recommend “braiding sweetgrass” and “gathering moss” by robin wall-kimmerer, she’s amazing. if you have access to audiobooks, she narrates hers and her voice is sooo calming (i found her because of the ologies interview and i got obsessed, i listen to it all of the time –it’s been three years since i first found it and i still do–)

[weronikalinda]

Even if a book is providing scientific information, it should always be taken with a grain of sault. Presenting information in a certain way and omitting studies that don't fit your theory influence the overall message. Not to mention that new studies are published all the time and many theories that were believed in in the past have been proven incorrect now. There are also disputes among scientists, different experts can have different opinions so never treat anything as sacred text and always cross-reference ❤

[noplotjustbooks]

My current favourite non fiction is The Wave in the Mind by Ursula K. Le Guin, it's got a great mix of essays on herself growing up, becoming a writer, her beliefs and values, and essays on reading, writing, the literary sphere, and some essays on social issues too! Very well-rounded and has something for every reader.

[MidEri.]

seeing "i'm glad my mom died" in the thumbnail of this video was the last straw for me; i checked it out at the library, sat down at 9:00am today to start reading, and didn't look up until 2:30pm when it was done. It was insane and so engrossing

[galacticvampire]

Thank you for talking about Sapiens. I know it is a very accessible way to get into history/evolution but I have huge issues with how much the author presented his opinions and theories as if they were scientifically proven. There's a lot of questionable things in it, like nudging the idea that "life before settling and agriculture was much better" (it wasn't you died at 20 from a simple flu) or comparing slavery to how we breed animals to eat.

[BellaNelBooks]

This video is so useful, I'd love to get into more non-fiction!

[anjah]

One of my favorite non-fiction books is "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman. It basically describes how we are thinking and how that influences our descision making. The author (who has won a nobel price) manages to present topics that seem quite boring (statistics) in a very entertaining way. The whole book is full of examples which the reader can apply to their own life.

[candefelicitato]

Joan Didion will be forever the best non-fiction pick for me. Absolutely adore her!!!