5 Best Non-Fiction Books I Read in 2022
And why you should read them.
Non-fiction books are the best to broaden our minds.
Some excellent ones force you to introspect and change your perspective of how you see the world.
If you can’t travel the whole world, read books that take you to the different realms of awakening.
Books like How Far The Light Reaches teach human values like adaptability, living in a community, and sexuality through marine biology. In contrast, books like The Escape Artist take you to the brutal world of the past and urges you to think about what we can learn from massive killings in death camps.
Spanning across themes, here are my five best nonfiction books in 2022 that are a must-read for anyone who’s passionate about self-improvement.
1. The Invisible Kingdom, Meghan O’Rourke
The Invisible Kingdom is a bold memoir that talks about the much-needed topic of chronic illness and its diagnosis.
Most people suffer from mysterious symptoms that remain undiagnosed by our healthcare system. Over time, chronic diseases have become a silent epidemic because of our inherited idea that diagnosis can’t detect the cause of hard-to-understand medical conditions.
The author shares her journey of living with unidentified symptoms slowly consuming her life.
Why you should read this book
This book has changed my perception of healthcare and diseases.
The author shows a sense of urgency to change the system and a ray of hope for those having unrecognized ailments. She talks about how this health crisis affects a large population and who are most likely to be overlooked by institutions. These chunks of people include the working population, women, and people of color.
After reading the author’s emotional journey of not knowing what’s wrong while searching for a medical system that can relieve her pain, many would feel seen.
After decades of consulting with doctors, health experts, and researchers, she gives insights into the ‘Invisible’ illness, including autoimmune diseases, post-treatment Lyme disease, and others. I highly recommend this book to understand your health and body differently.
My favorite quotes from The Invisible Kingdom
“And so it is a truth universally acknowledged that a young woman in possession of vague symptoms like fatigue and pain will be in search of a doctor who believes she is actually sick.”
“This seems like one of the hardest things about being sick in the way you’re sick: being sick makes you stressed. But being stressed makes you sicker.”
2. In Love, Amy Bloom
In Love is a beautiful memoir and the author’s heartfelt tribute to her husband.
This book shows how love makes us courageous enough to let our loved ones go rather than see them in pain.
Amy observed sudden changes in her husband Brian’s behavior. He started talking about the past often, stopped doing things he loved, and isolated himself from friends.
She felt things were falling apart.
Her world shattered when she learned that Brian had Alzheimer’s disease. She couldn’t bear to see her husband praying for death every day. They made the most difficult decision; going to Dignitas, an organization allowing a person to die peacefully.
Why you should read this book
Nobody wants to talk about the darkest sides of life, like death and parting ways with their loved ones. The author has beautifully displayed the world's harsh reality and encouraged me to live and love fully.
In Love is an unforgettable story of a beautiful marriage and a love that follows enormous grief. Time waits for none, so express yourself freely and do what your heart says.
My favorite quotes from In Love
“Marriage is not a ritual or an end. It is a long, intricate, intimate dance together and nothing matters more than your own sense of balance and your choice of partner.”
“Intimacy is being seen and known as the person you truly are.”
3. An Immense World, Ed Yong
Nowadays, humans are so confined in their little worlds that they don’t have the time to observe the magic of nature and other species.
An Immense World is an excellent book about the hidden realms of animal senses. Your perception of nature will change entirely after reading this gem of facts, discoveries, and unsolved mysteries of nature.
This is one of the best science books I have read, and I highly recommend it to those who love to learn and explore their surroundings.
Why you should read this book
You can see the world from the perception of animals; how turtles track the earth’s magnetic fields, humans wield sonar signals like bats, trees court bugs by humming inaudible songs, etc.
It is a collection of interesting facts like why dogs love to sniff around, how fishes generate electric signals, and many more.
An Immense World will make you feel closer to nature and surprise you with its groundbreaking discoveries. After reading this book, I observed and appreciated everything surrounding me.
My favorite quotes from An Immense World
“Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every animal can only tap into a small fraction of reality’s fullness. Each is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny
“Speaking of palms, your right hand shares just a sixth of its microbial species with your left hand.”
4. How Far the Light Reaches, Sabrina Imbler
How Far the Light Reaches correlates science with humanity.
You can dive deep into the oceans through ten remarkable essays that tell the surprising ways sea creatures teach us about adaptation, survival tactics, family, and expressing sexuality.
Marine life also shows a mother’s pure love when female octopuses starve to death to protect their children. Sea creatures show the finest example of accepting one’s gender identity through the morphing nature of cuttlefish. The author discusses their ability to live in a community and protect each other.
Why you should read this book
How Far the Light Reaches relates marine science to human behavior and leaves actionable takeaways on adaptability, connection, choosing your gender identity, and more.
Even fiction lovers will find this book interesting as it is a weird mix of science, coming out as queer, and some mind-boggling sentences. I enjoyed unraveling the mystery of life in the sea with this book. Worth reading.
My favorite quotes from How Far the Light Reaches
“expected to be daughters but turned out to be something else,”
“to be unthinkable too, to invent a future that no one expected of you.”
5. The Escape Artist, Jonathan Freedland
The Escape Artist is a memoir based on the brutality of Nazis and World War II. The book revolves around a Holocaust survivor Rudolf Vrba who broke out of Auschwitz to warn the world about the concentration camps.
After enduring two years of torture, Vrba could finally flee in April 1944. He was determined to reveal the truth about the horrible death camps.
This book chronicles the story of a brave teenager who risked himself to save the lives of 200,000 Jewish people.
Why you should read this book
This book gave me goosebumps through the details of massive killings in the Holocaust. The author didn’t spare details of the torture as Vrba was determined his story would save thousands of lives one day.
This story of a young boy who dared to stand up for the truth deserves to be remembered with a few holocaust survivors like Anne Frank. Give it a read if you want to explore the darkest secrets of the nazi empire.
My favorite quotes from The Escape Artist
“Only when information is combined with belief does it become knowledge, and only knowledge leads to action.”
“Information is necessary, to be sure, but it is never sufficient. Information must also be believed.”
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