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Both informative and entertaining, these books not only teach but help us to question our beliefs about the world.
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A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
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Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
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4.01 avg rating — 894,128 ratings
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| 2 |
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A Short History of Nearly Everything
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4.22 avg rating — 419,882 ratings
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| 3 |
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Socialism Is Dead! Long Live Socialism!: The Marx Code—Socialism with a Human Face:
by
Todor Bombov (Goodreads Author)
4.29 avg rating — 11,131 ratings
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| 4 |
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Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
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4.06 avg rating — 238,793 ratings
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| 5 |
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Outliers: The Story of Success
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4.19 avg rating — 860,384 ratings
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| 6 |
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Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
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4.04 avg rating — 454,166 ratings
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| 7 |
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Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
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4.34 avg rating — 1,244,894 ratings
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| 8 |
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by
Rebecca Skloot (Goodreads Author)
4.13 avg rating — 799,964 ratings
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| 9 |
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In Cold Blood
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4.09 avg rating — 724,276 ratings
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| 10 |
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Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
by
3.96 avg rating — 620,166 ratings
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| 11 |
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Educated
by
Tara Westover (Goodreads Author)
4.47 avg rating — 1,836,063 ratings
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| 12 |
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Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
by
Susan Cain (Goodreads Author)
4.08 avg rating — 472,578 ratings
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| 13 |
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A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
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4.07 avg rating — 443,191 ratings
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| 14 |
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The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
by
Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 753,737 ratings
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| 15 |
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Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
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3.75 avg rating — 206,466 ratings
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| 16 |
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The Communist Manifesto
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3.68 avg rating — 195,788 ratings
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| 17 |
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The Glass Castle
by
Jeannette Walls (Goodreads Author)
4.33 avg rating — 1,351,765 ratings
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| 18 |
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Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
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3.95 avg rating — 268,805 ratings
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| 19 |
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Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
by
Jon Krakauer (Goodreads Author)
4.26 avg rating — 563,614 ratings
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| 20 |
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Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
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3.65 avg rating — 195,260 ratings
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| 21 |
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Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
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3.92 avg rating — 293,931 ratings
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| 22 |
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The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
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4.01 avg rating — 851,889 ratings
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| 23 |
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Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
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4.34 avg rating — 165,670 ratings
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| 24 |
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The Diary of a Young Girl
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4.20 avg rating — 4,155,340 ratings
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| 25 |
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The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
by
Michael Pollan (Goodreads Author)
4.19 avg rating — 210,006 ratings
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| 26 |
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Quantum Energetics and Spirituality Volume 1: Aligning with Universal Consciousness
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4.38 avg rating — 1,488 ratings
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| 27 |
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Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers
by
Lois P. Frankel (Goodreads Author)
3.67 avg rating — 19,761 ratings
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| 28 |
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Night
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4.38 avg rating — 1,354,298 ratings
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| 29 |
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Columbine
by
Dave Cullen (Goodreads Author)
4.29 avg rating — 101,934 ratings
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| 30 |
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The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom
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4.48 avg rating — 354,251 ratings
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| 31 |
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Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
by
4.26 avg rating — 101,694 ratings
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| 32 |
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Walden or, Life in the Woods
by
3.77 avg rating — 203,466 ratings
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| 33 |
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Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
by
Cheryl Strayed (Goodreads Author)
4.07 avg rating — 862,641 ratings
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| 34 |
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Seabiscuit: An American Legend
by
4.23 avg rating — 168,123 ratings
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| 35 |
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #1)
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4.30 avg rating — 577,961 ratings
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| 36 |
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The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales
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4.05 avg rating — 244,688 ratings
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| 37 |
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Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
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4.19 avg rating — 373,270 ratings
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| 38 |
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Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
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3.85 avg rating — 60,097 ratings
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| 39 |
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Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
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4.30 avg rating — 232,611 ratings
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| 40 |
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The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
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3.95 avg rating — 157,057 ratings
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| 41 |
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The Myth of American Idealism: How U.S. Foreign Policy Endangers the World
by
4.47 avg rating — 1,631 ratings
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| 42 |
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21 Lessons for the 21st Century
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4.15 avg rating — 176,473 ratings
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| 43 |
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Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
by
3.97 avg rating — 74,613 ratings
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| 44 |
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Moneyball
by
4.27 avg rating — 143,758 ratings
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| 45 |
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The Law
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4.34 avg rating — 14,046 ratings
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| 46 |
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Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
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4.05 avg rating — 112,972 ratings
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| 47 |
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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures
by
4.20 avg rating — 88,776 ratings
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| 48 |
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The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
by
David Grann (Goodreads Author)
3.90 avg rating — 109,718 ratings
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| 49 |
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The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus
by
4.16 avg rating — 121,018 ratings
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| 50 |
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In a Sunburned Country
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4.07 avg rating — 121,274 ratings
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| 51 |
|
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
by
Stephen King (Goodreads Author)
4.34 avg rating — 316,143 ratings
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| 52 |
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Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption
by
4.39 avg rating — 993,035 ratings
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| 53 |
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When Breath Becomes Air
by
4.41 avg rating — 796,633 ratings
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| 54 |
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AI Doctor: The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare - A Guide for Users, Buyers, Builders, and Investors
by
4.28 avg rating — 7,098 ratings
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| 55 |
|
Just Love Her
by
Raz Mihal (Goodreads Author)
4.30 avg rating — 5,661 ratings
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| 56 |
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Man's Search for Meaning
by
4.37 avg rating — 864,749 ratings
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| 57 |
|
The Gulag Archipeligo 1918-1956: An Experiment In Literary Investigation I - Ii.
by
4.35 avg rating — 13,736 ratings
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| 58 |
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At Home: A Short History of Private Life
by
3.99 avg rating — 98,280 ratings
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| 59 |
|
To Overthrow the World: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Communism
by
4.16 avg rating — 561 ratings
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| 60 |
|
Agent Sonya: Moscow's Most Daring Wartime Spy
by
4.16 avg rating — 17,599 ratings
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| 61 |
|
The White Pill: A Tale of Good and Evil
by
Michael Malice (Goodreads Author)
4.42 avg rating — 2,067 ratings
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| 62 |
|
Utopia
by
3.55 avg rating — 82,513 ratings
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| 63 |
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Socialism: Utopian and Scientific
by
4.26 avg rating — 8,768 ratings
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| 64 |
|
Gulag: A History
by
4.28 avg rating — 13,493 ratings
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| 65 |
|
"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character
by
Richard P. Feynman (Contibutor)
4.26 avg rating — 216,675 ratings
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| 66 |
|
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
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3.78 avg rating — 13,986 ratings
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| 67 |
|
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes And Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 134,176 ratings
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| 68 |
|
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
by
3.84 avg rating — 121,526 ratings
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| 69 |
|
The Captive Mind
by
4.27 avg rating — 4,886 ratings
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| 70 |
|
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
by
Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)
3.89 avg rating — 218,755 ratings
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| 71 |
|
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
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3.95 avg rating — 60,128 ratings
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| 72 |
|
Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism
by
4.40 avg rating — 9,140 ratings
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| 73 |
|
The Age of AI and Our Human Future
by
3.44 avg rating — 5,272 ratings
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| 73 |
|
Self-Reliance and Other Essays
by
4.12 avg rating — 20,452 ratings
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| 75 |
|
American Marxism
by
4.16 avg rating — 4,452 ratings
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| 76 |
|
The Rape of the Mind: The Psychology of Thought Control, Menticide, and Brainwashing
by
4.21 avg rating — 1,234 ratings
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| 77 |
|
The Selfish Gene
by
Richard Dawkins (Goodreads Author)
4.16 avg rating — 191,820 ratings
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| 78 |
|
John Adams
by
4.08 avg rating — 376,646 ratings
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| 79 |
|
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
by
4.30 avg rating — 122,917 ratings
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| 80 |
|
The Story of My Life
by
4.07 avg rating — 150,811 ratings
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| 81 |
|
The Longest Con: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism
by
Joe Conason (Goodreads Author)
4.14 avg rating — 1,087 ratings
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| 82 |
|
Unhumans: The Secret History of Communist Revolutions
by
4.03 avg rating — 943 ratings
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| 82 |
|
Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism
by
4.26 avg rating — 10,316 ratings
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| 84 |
|
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
by
Greg McKeown (Goodreads Author)
4.06 avg rating — 129,745 ratings
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| 85 |
|
Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America
by
4.26 avg rating — 868 ratings
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| 86 |
|
Modern Romance
by
3.80 avg rating — 189,763 ratings
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| 87 |
|
Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics (Politics of Place, #1)
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4.19 avg rating — 115,263 ratings
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| 88 |
|
Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World
by
3.81 avg rating — 3,197 ratings
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| 89 |
|
The State and Revolution
by
4.26 avg rating — 18,318 ratings
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| 90 |
|
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World
by
Steven Johnson (Goodreads Author)
3.89 avg rating — 56,008 ratings
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| 91 |
|
The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values
by
Brian Christian (Goodreads Author)
4.34 avg rating — 4,818 ratings
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| 92 |
|
The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence
by
4.18 avg rating — 50,759 ratings
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| 93 |
|
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
by
Barbara Demick (Goodreads Author)
4.46 avg rating — 98,872 ratings
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| 94 |
|
Wild Hope: Healing Words to Find Light on Dark Days
by
4.31 avg rating — 1,377 ratings
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| 95 |
|
Assassination Vacation
by
3.93 avg rating — 47,200 ratings
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| 96 |
|
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media
by
4.24 avg rating — 24,201 ratings
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| 97 |
|
AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future
by
Kai-Fu Lee (Goodreads Author)
3.84 avg rating — 5,488 ratings
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| 98 |
|
A Room of One’s Own
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4.22 avg rating — 256,994 ratings
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| 99 |
|
Seven Things You Can't Say About China: An Unflinching Look at the Hidden Dangers of China's Global Influence (Seven Things Series)
by
4.17 avg rating — 978 ratings
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| 100 |
|
Chasers of the Light: Poems from the Typewriter Series
by
Tyler Knott Gregson (Goodreads Author)
4.18 avg rating — 10,934 ratings
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Mia
1808 books
12 friends
12 friends
Greyweather
2660 books
65 friends
65 friends
Rindee
292 books
139 friends
139 friends
Cynthia
604 books
22 friends
22 friends
Liane
930 books
13 friends
13 friends
Roberta
2491 books
20 friends
20 friends
Dorothy
3569 books
54 friends
54 friends
Marilyn
399 books
14 friends
14 friends
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by
Roberta
(new)
Jan 23, 2010 05:52PM
This is a great list. I love non-fiction so will be able to use it as a guide. I don't know how to add a book but would like to reccomend Zarafa: A Giraffe's True Story, from Deep in Africa to the Heart of Paris by Michael Allin.
reply
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flag
Great list! Some non-fiction is just so utterly boring . . thank you for creating such a wonderful list.
You add books at the top of the list, at the tab next to "all votes."However, if you are the author I believe that is no longer possible; too many authors were abusing the privilege.
I read a ton of non fiction, I have added my limit of 100 books.
@StaceySaid it before and I'll say it again: As you share the same first name with the author, I can't escape the notion that you might be one and the same person?
# 757 The Woman in White and # 797 A Darkness Absolute are both fiction, as are #1014 Still Life, #1027 Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, and #1089 Murder on the Orient Express.#1181 The Great Gatsby (THE great American NOVEL!!!)
21 duplicates found and removedI’ll start in the next days removing fiction, appreciable any listings (less books to check it if I know for sure it’s fiction :-D)
Agnieszka wrote: "21 duplicates found and removedI’ll start in the next days removing fiction, appreciable any listings (less books to check it if I know for sure it’s fiction :-D)"
Murder on the Orient Express is fiction.
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