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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 — 891,421 ratings
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| 2 |
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A Short History of Nearly Everything
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4.22 avg rating — 417,327 ratings
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| 3 |
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Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
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4.06 avg rating — 237,182 ratings
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| 4 |
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Outliers: The Story of Success
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4.19 avg rating — 855,456 ratings
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| 5 |
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Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
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4.04 avg rating — 451,076 ratings
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| 6 |
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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 — 8,733 ratings
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| 7 |
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Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
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4.34 avg rating — 1,230,411 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 — 795,588 ratings
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| 9 |
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In Cold Blood
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4.09 avg rating — 719,550 ratings
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| 10 |
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Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
by
3.96 avg rating — 618,299 ratings
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| 11 |
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Educated
by
Tara Westover (Goodreads Author)
4.47 avg rating — 1,814,126 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 — 470,297 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 — 440,928 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 — 748,978 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 — 206,392 ratings
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| 16 |
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The Glass Castle
by
Jeannette Walls (Goodreads Author)
4.33 avg rating — 1,343,064 ratings
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| 17 |
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Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
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3.95 avg rating — 268,234 ratings
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| 18 |
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Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
by
Jon Krakauer (Goodreads Author)
4.26 avg rating — 559,123 ratings
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| 19 |
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The Communist Manifesto
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3.68 avg rating — 193,363 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 — 194,970 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 — 292,408 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 — 849,327 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 — 162,750 ratings
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| 24 |
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The Diary of a Young Girl
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4.20 avg rating — 4,128,103 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 — 209,601 ratings
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| 26 |
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Quantum Energetics and Spirituality Volume 1: Aligning with Universal Consciousness
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4.37 avg rating — 1,507 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 — 19,648 ratings
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| 28 |
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Night
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4.38 avg rating — 1,347,304 ratings
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| 29 |
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Columbine
by
Dave Cullen (Goodreads Author)
4.29 avg rating — 101,172 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 — 352,257 ratings
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| 31 |
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Walden or, Life in the Woods
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3.77 avg rating — 202,597 ratings
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| 32 |
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Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
by
Cheryl Strayed (Goodreads Author)
4.07 avg rating — 858,863 ratings
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| 33 |
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Seabiscuit: An American Legend
by
4.23 avg rating — 167,790 ratings
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| 34 |
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #1)
by
4.30 avg rating — 575,075 ratings
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| 35 |
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Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
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4.26 avg rating — 100,967 ratings
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| 36 |
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Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
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4.18 avg rating — 368,606 ratings
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| 37 |
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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 — 243,031 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 — 59,903 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
by
4.30 avg rating — 231,426 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 — 156,546 ratings
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| 41 |
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Socialism: Utopian and Scientific
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4.25 avg rating — 8,632 ratings
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| 42 |
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21 Lessons for the 21st Century
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4.16 avg rating — 175,328 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 — 73,351 ratings
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| 44 |
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Moneyball
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4.27 avg rating — 142,952 ratings
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| 45 |
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Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
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4.05 avg rating — 112,774 ratings
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| 46 |
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AI Doctor: The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare - A Guide for Users, Buyers, Builders, and Investors
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4.28 avg rating — 7,185 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
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4.20 avg rating — 88,315 ratings
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| 48 |
|
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
by
David Grann (Goodreads Author)
3.90 avg rating — 108,790 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 — 120,527 ratings
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| 50 |
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In a Sunburned Country
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4.08 avg rating — 120,570 ratings
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| 51 |
|
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
by
Stephen King (Goodreads Author)
4.34 avg rating — 314,083 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 — 996,825 ratings
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| 53 |
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When Breath Becomes Air
by
4.41 avg rating — 784,946 ratings
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| 54 |
|
Just Love Her
by
Raz Mihal (Goodreads Author)
4.30 avg rating — 5,761 ratings
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| 55 |
|
The White Pill: A Tale of Good and Evil
by
Michael Malice (Goodreads Author)
4.42 avg rating — 2,042 ratings
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| 56 |
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Man's Search for Meaning
by
4.37 avg rating — 853,348 ratings
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| 57 |
|
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
by
3.78 avg rating — 13,929 ratings
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| 58 |
|
American Marxism
by
4.16 avg rating — 4,433 ratings
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| 59 |
|
At Home: A Short History of Private Life
by
3.99 avg rating — 98,013 ratings
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| 60 |
|
Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism
by
4.40 avg rating — 8,886 ratings
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| 61 |
|
"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character
by
Richard P. Feynman (Contibutor)
4.27 avg rating — 215,633 ratings
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| 62 |
|
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
by
3.84 avg rating — 121,199 ratings
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| 63 |
|
The Captive Mind
by
4.27 avg rating — 4,828 ratings
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| 64 |
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Unhumans: The Secret History of Communist Revolutions
by
4.04 avg rating — 929 ratings
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| 65 |
|
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes And Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 133,982 ratings
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| 66 |
|
The Age of AI and Our Human Future
by
3.45 avg rating — 5,183 ratings
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| 67 |
|
The State and Revolution
by
4.26 avg rating — 18,003 ratings
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| 68 |
|
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
by
Greg McKeown (Goodreads Author)
4.06 avg rating — 128,447 ratings
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| 69 |
|
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
by
Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)
3.89 avg rating — 217,572 ratings
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| 70 |
|
Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America
by
4.26 avg rating — 805 ratings
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| 71 |
|
Das Kapital
by
3.90 avg rating — 12,039 ratings
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| 72 |
|
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
by
3.95 avg rating — 59,892 ratings
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| 73 |
|
Self-Reliance and Other Essays
by
4.12 avg rating — 20,354 ratings
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| 74 |
|
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 — 964 ratings
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| 75 |
|
The Selfish Gene
by
Richard Dawkins (Goodreads Author)
4.16 avg rating — 190,853 ratings
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| 76 |
|
Private Revolutions: Four Women Face China's New Social Order
by
3.97 avg rating — 1,666 ratings
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| 77 |
|
John Adams
by
4.08 avg rating — 375,488 ratings
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| 78 |
|
Modern Romance
by
3.80 avg rating — 189,658 ratings
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| 79 |
|
Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World
by
3.81 avg rating — 3,151 ratings
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| 80 |
|
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
by
4.30 avg rating — 121,980 ratings
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| 81 |
|
The Story of My Life
by
4.08 avg rating — 150,603 ratings
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| 82 |
|
The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values
by
Brian Christian (Goodreads Author)
4.34 avg rating — 4,726 ratings
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| 83 |
|
Why You Should Be a Socialist
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3.89 avg rating — 1,341 ratings
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| 84 |
|
Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics (Politics of Place, #1)
by
4.19 avg rating — 113,630 ratings
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| 85 |
|
AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future
by
Kai-Fu Lee (Goodreads Author)
3.84 avg rating — 5,369 ratings
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| 86 |
|
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 — 55,737 ratings
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| 87 |
|
The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence
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4.18 avg rating — 50,217 ratings
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| 88 |
|
Consequences of Capitalism: Manufacturing Discontent and Resistance
by
4.34 avg rating — 1,653 ratings
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| 89 |
|
Wild Hope: Healing Words to Find Light on Dark Days
by
4.31 avg rating — 1,339 ratings
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| 90 |
|
Assassination Vacation
by
3.93 avg rating — 47,136 ratings
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| 91 |
|
The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect
by
3.94 avg rating — 6,493 ratings
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| 92 |
|
A Room of One’s Own
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4.22 avg rating — 253,330 ratings
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| 93 |
|
Chasers of the Light: Poems from the Typewriter Series
by
Tyler Knott Gregson (Goodreads Author)
4.18 avg rating — 10,914 ratings
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| 94 |
|
The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century's Greatest Dilemma
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3.81 avg rating — 13,415 ratings
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| 95 |
|
Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines
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4.11 avg rating — 1,574 ratings
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| 96 |
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Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
by
4.12 avg rating — 130,285 ratings
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| 97 |
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The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
by
A.J. Jacobs (Goodreads Author)
3.76 avg rating — 68,902 ratings
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| 98 |
|
The Trigger: Hunting the Assassin Who Brought the World to War
by
Tim Butcher (Goodreads Author)
3.81 avg rating — 4,068 ratings
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| 99 |
|
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson
by
Mitch Albom (Goodreads Author)
4.20 avg rating — 1,175,736 ratings
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| 100 |
|
Everyday Sexism
by
Laura Bates (Goodreads Author)
4.26 avg rating — 12,421 ratings
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Mia
1808 books
12 friends
12 friends
Greyweather
2660 books
65 friends
65 friends
Rindee
291 books
139 friends
139 friends
Cynthia
594 books
22 friends
22 friends
Liane
930 books
13 friends
13 friends
Roberta
2491 books
20 friends
20 friends
Dorothy
3550 books
54 friends
54 friends
Marilyn
399 books
14 friends
14 friends
More voters…
Comments Showing 1-11 of 11 (11 new)
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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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