A few months ago we published a list of books to get your summer started off right. Those books would probably appeal to fiction lovers, but if you aren’t a fiction nut and find non-fiction far more appealing, maybe end your summer with one of these top picks:
1. For the scientist: The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan’s examination of four domesticated plant species and the intersection of human desire and scientific accomplishment that has lead to global genetic engineering revolutions, economic collapses, and the re-invention of humanity’s place in the natural world.
2. For the foodie: Curry, A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors, Lizzie Collingham’s stunning investigation of India’s culinary history, looking at waves of colonial expansion across the subcontinent and the way new ingredients and techniques have, over time, become the current landscape of food that people currently think of as Indian cuisine.
3. For the Indian historian: The Gem in the Lotus, Abraham Eraly’s narrative starting with the Indus River Valley as the seed of contemporary Indian civilization and spanning early Indian empires is a meticulously researched and engagingly told new perspective on India’s ancient history, and his lucid and contemporary writing style is an inclusive one.
4. For the global history buff: The Silk Roads, A New History of the World, Peter Frankopan’s stunning new perspective on global history through the concept of exchange and trade, looking through the lens of the silk road, historic and contemporary, to examine interaction, influence and movement across the world.
5. For the economist: Three Merchants of Bombay, Lakshmi Subramanian’s piece, one in a series of books on the development of the Indian economy throughout history curated by Gurcharan Das, charts the lives of three traders whose establishments of pioneering trading empires fills in part of the larger contemporary picture of the development of the economics of India, Southeast Asia, and the world.
6. For the art lover: Bright Earth by Phillip Ball’s work combining science and art explores the search for color, throughout history and into the modern day, and the way materials and their availability and discovery have remained at the heart of art.
7. For the aspiring doctor: The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee’s biography of cancer, a moving and thorough understanding of the historic and contemporary understanding of and treatments for one of our most pervasive and destructive diseases.
8. For the Fashionista: Overdressed, Elizabeth Cline’s fearless dive into the world of contemporary fast fashion and the way it has changed our relationship to clothing, consumption, the environment and industry is a vital and important read for anyone interested in fashion, economics, consumerism and business.