10 new non-fiction books to read this fall

1. Katya Kolpinets, Formula of Dreams

How many times have you compared yourself to the perfect bloggers and it ruined your mood and lowered your self-esteem? Media and culture researcher Katya Kolpinets tells how these projections work, why social networks are always turn into hierarchical pyramids and what to do if social capital and recognition in the form of likes and quantity are important to you followers. As a bonus, the author analyzes infogypsy, the phenomenon of travelers and Instagram stars (the activity of Meta Platforms Inc. and the social networks Facebook and Instagram belonging to her are banned in the territory of the Russian Federation), sacrificing their personal lives in the name of dubious popularity.

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2. Rachel Swaby, 52 Stubborn Women. Scientists who changed the world

The book by independent journalist Rachel Sveiby is dedicated to women whose names are undeservedly forgotten. Well-known researchers, testers and discoverers have long been pushed to the periphery of public attention. But it was their work in the field of chemistry, biology, medicine and archeology that made the world more understandable and safer. Rachel Swayby decided to correct the mistake and tell about these scientists, whose contribution to science is invaluable.

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3. Ryoko Sekiguchi, "Nagori. Longing for the passing season"

The Japanese writer Ryoko Sekiguchi lives in France and writes about the uplands. This word comes from the Japanese "nami-nokori" - literally "trace of waves, an imprint left on the shore by receding waters." Her essay "Longing for the Outgoing Season" is a reflection on the eternity and fragility of human life, on losses and disappointments, on what remains in memory. Her "nagori" is close to the Portuguese saudade - nostalgia for the lost and longing for the unrealizable. It seems that this poetic and tender book, which was published this autumn by the Ad Marginem publishing house, can console in a difficult and troubled time.

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4. Lucy Edlington, The Dressmakers of Auschwitz. The true story of women who sewed to survive

Another important book about women, somewhat reminiscent of the work of Kate Moore and her Radium Girls. Author Lucy Edlington met 98-year-old Mrs Kohut, the last living dressmaker in a fashion atelier in Auschwitz. Together they reproduced that terrible period when Germany was mired in blood: the Nazis were in power, people were executed, poisoned in gas chambers and starved to death.

Atelier in Auschwitz? Kind of absurd, you say. But it really was - it was opened by Hedwig Höss, the wife of the camp commandant. People were dying all around, and those who were in power were still worried about their appearance, fashionable outfits and status. So, for example, Eva Braun's wedding dress was delivered through burning Berlin almost over the corpses.

In the fashion atelier in Auschwitz, almost all the seamstresses were Jewish, and a little later non-Jewish communist women from occupied France joined them. And working at a sewing machine is the only thing that could save them from death. They sewed, cut, designed, and also secretly made plans for resistance. In this terrible book, Edlington is their true story, based on documents and memories.

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5. Roland Paulsen, “What if? Anxiety: how it controls us, and we control it

Swedish sociologist Roland Paulsen has written a very relevant and emotionally supportive book on how anxiety is formed and what to do about it. In addition, Paulsen tells what anxiety is and how it differs from fear, how the social foundation of the present is being eroded and how the future is being shaped, what are the most popular worries in the world and why much of what used to be considered normal is now announced disease.

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6. Dmitry Vodennikov, Immortal Dragonfly

A new book of essays by the famous contemporary poet Dmitry Vodennikov. His texts can be about everything - from personal memories to reflections on Nadezhda Mandelstam, Marina Tsvetaeva or Arseny Tarkovsky. Vodennikov peers with curiosity and tenderness at the world around him, he lives "every day is like a new life." His memory is photographically accurate, sometimes merciful and poetic: "Man is not a wolf to man, but a line."

If you like the poems of Dmitry Borisovich, then be sure to give a chance to his collection of essays.

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7. John Seabrook, Song Machine

Reissue of the legendary book "The Song Machine" by American writer and journalist John Seabrook. Publishing house Ad Marginem and the Institute of Music Initiatives have released the text in a new edition. In her book, Seabrook explores the hit factory and how songs become popular. It turns out that behind the most famous tracks of pop stars such as Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Beyonce, there are the same producers who unraveled the secret of success.

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8. Carl Zimmer, Planet of the Viruses

Many during the pandemic turned into virologists and began to carefully monitor their health. Popular science journalist Carl Zimmer turned to a fertile topic and investigated the various viruses that control our development. By the way, you may know Zimmer from the previous bestseller - "She laughs like a mother" - about the influence of heredity and DNA on the life of descendants.

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9. Susan Cain, Silent Power. How to be successful if you don't like being the center of attention

The New York Times bestseller tells how introverts can achieve phenomenal results without serious emotional costs. Princeton and Harvard graduate Susan Cain believes that you don't have to be the soul of the company and an extrovert to build a career and make the right social connections. According to the author, it is introverts who have an unusual worldview, a special mindset and “quiet strength”, which can be useful in work and achieving personal goals.

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10. "Modern Woman"

Curious non-fiction from the Gender Studies series. This is a collective monograph dedicated to gender in Russian culture in the 1890s-1930s. At the beginning of the 20th century, women finally began to appear in the history of world culture and literature as independent creative units. Therefore, for example, in the collection "Modern Woman" there are texts about masculinity and femininity in fiction, reflections on the lyrical heroines of Teffi and Mirra Lokhvitskaya, as well as on the construction of female subjectivity in prose and poetry.

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By the way, using a special promotional code 15LIFEHACKER on website "LitRes" you can get a book from a special selection as a gift, as well as a 15% discount on almost the entire range.