Ideas That Shaped My Year: Nonfiction

The thinkers and themes that changed how I see the world

Source: Wikimedia Commons

What a Year of Words!

While I usually focus on crafting essays, a close friend convinced me to take a detour and share my “Books of the Year.” Honestly, diving into others’ book lists always leaves me in awe. There are readers out there devouring a hundred books a year—like marathon runners breezing through miles while I’m celebrating my 5k or 10k. My pace is slower, my style more exploratory. I find myself drawn to essays, zines, anthologies, and those delightful “dipping in” moments that feel more like a mental stroll than a long-haul literary trek.

Welcome to Part 1 of My Year in Books!

In this post, you’ll find:

• My Top 5 Non-Fiction Picks (plus honorable mentions)

• Thoughtful Reflections on a Year of Reading

This isn’t a comprehensive survey of what the publishing world churned out in 2024—far from it. This list is unabashedly personal, a snapshot of what caught my eye, challenged my mind, or warmed my heart.

If this post sparks your curiosity, inspires your next read, or gives you a new perspective, I’d consider it a roaring success. Who knows? Maybe one of these books will find its way onto your to-read list—and that, to me, would be the perfect ending to my reading year.

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Top 5 Non-Fiction Picks

5 Little Weirds by Jenny Slate

(Memoir / Essays / Humour, 2019, 224 pages, Little, Brown and Company)

This caught my eye in a café in Prague in the Summer. I was curious to read more female writers' voices, and I’d not knowingly read much by millennial women. Despite a certain knowingness that could risk slipping into generalisations, Slate is disarmingly personal. The confessional tone is given levity by sheer eccentricity, like a small deer who ate a hallucinogenic mushroom. I enjoyed the uniqueness of her voice.

4. Research For People Who (Think They) Would Rather Create by Dirk Vis

(Art Practice, 2021, 136 pages, Onomatopee Projects)

This gem came into my life via a bookshop in Rotterdam, where Dirk Vis teaches. It poses intriguing questions: What is artistic research? What makes a research document meaningful? And how do theory and practice merge in the creative process?

Ironically, I could have used a guide titled Creating for People Who Think They’d Rather Research! But Vis bridges these worlds beautifully, offering a fresh perspective that resonated with me as a theoretically-trained amateur artist. Bonus points for its playful illustrations—they make complex ideas more approachable and fun to explore.

3. Picnic Comma Lightning: The Experience of Reality in the Twenty-First Century by Lawrence Scott

(Philosophy / Science / Psychology, 2018, 256 pages, Penguin)

This is far more than another call to ditch your phone and embrace a digital detox. Lawrence Scott dives deep into how our digital lives are reshaping the way we perceive reality, weaving literary allusions and personal anecdotes into his reflections.

I appreciated his nuanced approach—there’s no preaching here, just thoughtful musings on how we navigate a world increasingly shaped by screens. It inspired me to delve deeper into the field of digital humanities, which feels more relevant with every passing day.

2. Less: Stop Buying So Much Rubbish by Patrick Grant

(Autobiography / Material Culture / Consumerism / Environmental Economics, 2024, 349 pages, William Collins)

In Less, Patrick Grant achieves something remarkable: he fuses seemingly disparate political ideas—industrial nostalgia, environmental sustainability, and personal identity through work—into a cohesive and compelling narrative. Traditionally, these concepts have belonged to different camps: the sentimental socialism of miners and the tough-love ethos of “get on your bike” conservatives, or the fringe green politics of degrowth economics.

But Grant makes this fusion feel natural, even timely. He explores how governments across the West are shifting focus from free-market globalization to protecting homegrown industries, all while weaving in the coziness of Danish “hygge.” His foresight is most striking when tackling the future of work. With automation threatening many jobs, mental health awareness on the rise, and younger generations demanding environmentally conscious careers, Grant challenges us to reimagine what fulfilling, meaningful work could look like in a greener economy.