Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone: 5 Non-Fiction Books I Loved

If you’ve been around for a while you can probably guess that I’m a huge YA Contemporary and Fantasy lover. Those are my two main genres although I frequently read graphic novels and mystery-thrillers as well. The one genre that I maintain my distance from is non-fiction.

I don’t like it. Mostly, I find non-fiction books boring, even when they are self-help books I don’t find a lot of them helpful or inspiring. So yeah, I have a bad track record when it comes to non-fiction books. Still, for the past year or two I’ve tried keeping an open mind and trying more non-fiction.

Has it been beneficial?

Woman shrugging and saying “maybe”

If I read like 10 non-fiction books I only ended up liking 5 of them so that’s not a very encouraging ratio. But nevertheless, there are some non-fiction books that I do love and would like to talk about so here we are! Maybe you can try them if you’re new to the genre as well or if you love non-fiction books then I think you’ll definitely love my recommendations as well.

Just a note though, when I say non-fiction, I literally include everything that’s not fiction, from autobiographies to self help books and what not. Excited? Let’s get started 🙂

1. Notes On A Nervous Planet by Matt Haig

I am an absolute sucker for Matt Haig. I read this amazing, weird yet utterly unique book back in high-school when I used to read books randomly. Fast-forward a few years and I found the author, or his book, Notes On A Nervous Planet. I was a bit hesitant because non-fiction, but I placed my absolute trust in Matt Haig and he did not disappoint.

This book is beautiful. As someone with anxiety, I felt absolutely seen in this book and I keep going back to it whenever I need. In general, Matt Haig’s presence is an absolute gift. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram, you will never regret it. He has a calming presence for me and I just love every single sentence he writes. Yeah, I’m a bit obsessed…

2. What Would Freud Do? by Sarah Tomley

I swear I would never have heard of this book unless I had been randomly browsing in a bookstore. I stumbled upon it by accident and what a happy accident! In case you haven’t realized it, I’m a huge Psychology nerd. I literally have a whole Psychology section on my blog.

Anyway, What Would Freud Say? is pitched as half introduction to psychology and half life lessons and I simply adore it! Literally anyone can read it, even if you don’t know the P of Psychology. It answers mundane questions like I keep looking at my phone every few minutes “Why can’t I concentrate?”, “I’m usually so well-behaved. . . what’s with the road rage?” in terms of psychology theories which is exactly what I try to do with my Psychology posts as well 🙂 So if you love the Psychology posts on my blog please go add this one on Goodreads!

Related Posts: Can Buying Books Make You Happy? Here’s What Psychology Says… and How to Use Psychology to Train Your Mind to Focus

3. Night by Elie Wiesel

All the credit for this one goes to my literature course which forced me to read Night. I actually have an exception to my no non-fiction books, which is Holocaust literature. It horrifies me but draws me in like nothing else and The Diary of a Young Girl is a childhood favourite of mine.

So it’s no surprise that I ended up loving Night. It was quite short, well-written and bone-chilling and I absolutely could not keep it down. I just finished it in one sitting and just sat still in awe and shock. I’ll literally shout about this book from the rooftop!

Related Post: Authors I’m Taking Away From My First Semester

4. Almost Adulting by Arden Rose

So I had no idea that this book is by a Youtuber? I just found it on Storytel and dived into it and this was such a fun read! Light-hearted, full of jokes and some life lessons and stories as well 🙂 Almost Adulting is a good read for when you’re in the mood for something light or just need to listen to something as you do your chores. I don’t know what else to say about this book but let it be known that people have read this one on my recommendation and loved it.

5. Shh! Don’t Talk About Mental Health by Arjun Gupta

Shh! Don’t Talk About Mental Health is an independently published book and I really haven’t seen people hype it as much as it deserves to be hyped. This is a non-fiction book about mental health and I genuinely feel that it’s a great introduction to mental health. It’s not a self-help book per say but more about history, facts and a bit of the author’s personal story. It’s very informative and well-written and I just wish more people would go ahead and pick this up!

Have you read any of these books? If yes, what are your thoughts on them?

Do you step out of your comfort genres or stick to them?

Do you have any non-fiction recs for me? I can’t promise that I’ll read them but I’ll definitely check them out 🙂