9 Nonfiction Books To Make You Rethink the World Around You

Dungy suggests that “everyone with a vested interest in the direction the people on this planet take in relationship to others … take some time to plant life in the soil.” It’s hard to classify Soil: it’s partly grounded in Dungy’s own experiences, so has elements of memoir. It also has plenty of markers that would push it into the “nature writing” category. Regardless of how you classify it, it’s a unique read that uses Dungy’s process of creating a diverse and unruly prairie garden as a springboard into an intellectual exploration of diversity in the U.S. (and beyond).

At this point, I think Kimmerer’s book has gained the status of a classic. As an Indigenous woman and a trained botanist, Kimmerer’s writing brings together two epistemologies in an accessible and personal manner. Because she delivers complex ideas alongside anecdotes from her own life and work, the book is incredibly engaging. It has an intimate feel, like you’re sitting down to talk with Kimmerer about various plants and animals over a cup of tea. Suffice it to say, reading this book will shift how you think about the natural world, its abundance and endangerment, and the role of human beings within it.

Street names and building numbers are, for millions of people, one of the most mundane aspects of daily life. But Deirdre Mask does a deep dive into the history and implications of addresses around the world, writing, “We think of street addresses as purely fictional and administrative tools, but they tell a grander narrative of how power has shifted and stretched over the centuries.” The Address Book looks at everything from how street naming and numbering happens to their relationship to political, racial, and class dynamics. It’s a fascinating and unexpected read.

Cain’s book is the oldest one on this list, but it’s also one of those books that sticks with you. It’s a fascinating perspective into the ways our world is designed for extroverts and what that means for people who are, well, not extroverts. It’s written for everyone, so whether you identify as an introvert or an extrovert, there’s a lot to take away from this one. It’ll have you rethinking everything from your personal relationships to the structure of your workplace.

Hersey’s foundational perspective in Rest is Resistance is that grind culture, having its roots in histories of enslavement and colonization, is borne of white supremacy and capitalism — a perspective that, unfortunately, makes terrifying and undeniable sense. With that in mind, she advocates for rest as a subversive act that resists and undermines the extractive nature of grind culture. As the founder of the Nap Ministry, Hersey is dedicated to using rest to step outside of the fog of sleep deprivation. This book takes readers through Hersey’s theories of rest as resistance, including ideas about how rest can offer up space to dream and imagine outside of the confines of grind culture.