For those of you who want factual books on a range of subjects you could try some of these excellent books:
Fascinating insights and entertaining analysis into the way we use words in David Crystal’s latest book:
The Gift of the Gab: How Eloquence Works
Science:
The Tale of the Duelling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery by Sam Kean (recommended by Dr Evans, Chemistry)
Strange Glow: The story of radiation by Timothy J. Jorgensen
Stuff Matters: The strange stories of the marvellous materials that shape our man-made world – Mark Miodownik
New from Marcus du Sautoy – What we cannot know: Explorations at the edge of knowledge
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe
History and Classics:
SPQR by Mary Beard
Twelve years a slave by Solomon Northup
The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee. This is the new book from the author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
