2024 book list - non-fiction
This is part II of my books-I've-read-this-year-list. You can part I (fiction) find here.
As always, I’ve read far more fiction than non-fiction this year. And, as usual, I started (too) many non-fiction books at once, which often resulted in not finishing them at all. Therefore, I only managed to complete eight non-fiction books this year... On to doing better next year!
De onbekende zee, by Colin Janssen & Jan Mees
Not available in English
Already wrote a separate blog post (in Dutch) about this book earlier. Worth reading if you want to know more about the ocean.
Alice in wetenschapswonderland, by Carlo Frabetti
Not available in English
Would recommend this book to anyone with children who have a keen interest in natural science. It’s about a girl who has to write an essay on physics and - through her dreams - meets famous figures like Charles Darwin, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, and many others. Along the way, she learns about gravity, Newton's laws, Archimedes' principle, and much more.
From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want, by Rob Hopkins
The author, Rob Hopkins, is the founder of the grassroots movement Transition Towns, that works towards more sustainable human environments. This book is his call for more imagination in our modern society. He explores how a lack of imagination and the decline of nature have contributed to our current challenges and offers practical ways to 'unleash' the power of imagination to build more sustainable communities that benefit both nature and humans.
I found this book very inspiring and have referred to it often over the past year.
Dierschap. Naar een gedeelde ruimte voor mens en dier, by Glenn Deliège & Sylvie Van Damme (eds.)
Not available in English
This book explores the presence - or lack - of animals in urban environments and our perception of them. It also discusses ways to better accommodate wildlife in human spaces, such as through animal-aided design.
It's a good read, but personally, I’m more in favour of rewilding - restoring natural processes to encourage species to return to cities on their own - rather than selectively choosing which species we want and then designing environments tailored specifically to them.
Ode aan de verwondering, Caroline Pauwels
Not available in English
This book had been on my to-read list since Pauwels' passing in 2022. As VUB rector, she was known for many things; her call for imagination being one of them. In line with the Hopkins book I read earlier this year, Pauwels celebrates imagination while mourning its decline in modern society. Some of the tips she shares in the book include:
- Engage in conversations, especially with those who hold different thoughts and opinions
- Step out of your comfort zone
- Observe
- Learn to find the extraordinary in your everyday experiences
- Never stop learning
Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us about Ourselves, James Nestor
Not always entirely accurate according to a marine biologist in the Marine Social Science Book Club I recently joined, and I trust her judgment on these topics more than the author's.
That said, it’s still an enjoyable and fairly quick read that inspires a sense of awe for (non-competitive) deep divers and the underwater world.
Also read:
- But Everyone Feels This Way, by Paige Layle
And since I realised I never got around to share my 2023 non-fiction list, I'm going to add some of those titles here - because they really are worth mentioning:
- Ocean Endangered, by Russell Arnott & Celine Van Weelden
- The nature of nature, by Enric Sala
- Less is more, Jason Hickel
- Het duisternismanifest, Johan Eklöf
- Rewilding the Sea, Charles Clover
- Zalm, Lars Kvamme
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