This collection of 10 non fiction books for Christmas presents in 2023 was super easy for me to collate as I just went through my wishlist of books and chose ones I think would make great gifts!
Before I get to the list (if you wish to skip this part and head straight to the list click here) I will share with you a super simple but effective way I share Christmas gift ideas with my family.
Shareable gift idea spreadsheet
I have three wonderful sisters, the youngest of which is THE MOST organised person I know! It is often around this time of year she will email me asking for ideas on what to get the kids for Christmas!
As a group, we decided a few years ago to create a shared spreadsheet where we could list gift ideas for our kids. There is absolutely no obligation to buy from the list, they are just ideas. Sometimes I buy from the list, sometimes I don’t. It is super handy though when I have no idea what to buy a niece or nephew! When we buy from the list we simply cross out what we have bought as soon as we have bought it, so others know not to purchase it.
Below are the instructions and a free template to download, that I have shared previously.
I have created a template for you to use if you think this is something that will suit your family. As with the master checklist the spreadsheet contains some extra columns for notes etc. To be able to enter into the spreadsheet you will need to click on ‘File’, then ‘make a copy’ to have your own version you can edit.
Click here to download your Christmas gift idea spreadsheet.
To then share this spreadsheet with your broader family, click on the share button in the top right-hand corner.
It will then bring up a pop up box for you to enter the email addresses of the people you wish to share the document with. Enter them and click done!
Then your family members can view and edit the document on any device – so even on their phone when they are out shopping!
Non Fiction Books For Christmas Presents 2023
Below are 10 non fiction books that I would love to read. I am yet to read them so I have taken the short description included from the Booktopia website. Please note the links in this post are affiliate links, which means at no extra cost to you, making purchases through them helps support this site. Thank you!
The Comfort Crisis – Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self By: Michael Easter – In many ways, we’re more comfortable than ever before. But could our sheltered, temperature-controlled, overfed, underchallenged lives actually be the leading cause of many our most urgent physical and mental health issues? In this gripping investigation, award-winning journalist Michael Easter seeks out off-the-grid visionaries, disruptive genius researchers, and mind-body conditioning trailblazers who are unlocking the life-enhancing secrets of a counterintuitive solution: discomfort.
Behave – The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst By: Robert M Sapolsky – Why do human beings behave as they do?
We are capable of savage acts of violence but also spectacular feats of kindness: is one side of our nature destined to win out over the other?
Every act of human behaviour has multiple layers of causation, spiralling back seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years, even centuries, right back to the dawn of time and the origins of our species.
In the epic sweep of history, how does our biology affect the arc of war and peace, justice and persecution? How have our brains evolved alongside our cultures?
This is the exhilarating story of human morality and the science underpinning the biggest question of all: what makes us human?
Jaws – The Story of a Hidden Epidemic By: Paul R. Ehrlich, Sandra Kahn – Jaws by Paul R. Ehrlich and Sandra Kahn is a groundbreaking book that sheds light on a silent epidemic plaguing western civilization. In this captivating non-fiction work, the authors explore the alarming decrease in jaw size and the resulting crooked and crowded teeth that have become all too common. But this is not just an aesthetic concern; it also poses serious health risks, including obstructed airways and breathing difficulties.
While modern orthodontics offers solutions such as braces and oral devices, Ehrlich and Kahn delve deeper into the underlying causes of this oral evolution. Drawing on their expertise as an orthodontist and an evolutionist, respectively, they reveal the biological, dietary, and cultural factors that have contributed to this crisis.
However, this thought-provoking book doesn’t stop at highlighting the problem. The authors also propose simple adjustments that can help alleviate these issues and prevent further complications. Moreover, they present a major alternative to traditional orthodontics, offering a promising long-term solution.
Anatomy of a Breakthrough – How to get unstuck and unlock your potential By: Adam Alter – Everyone, at some time, will go through episodes of simply being stuck; whether it’s in our careers or relationships, our personal, professional or artistic lives. We call these things like ‘being stuck in a rut’, ‘having writer’s block’ or ‘being frozen in place’.
This is not just harmful in the short-term, but is often chronic, dangerous to our mental health and well-being, and with severe consequences to our success and development.
Anatomy of a Breakthrough is the remedy to identifying and overcooking the ‘friction points’ holding us back. Adam Alter offers a brilliantly applicable new framework for not only getting ‘unstuck’ but also going on to thrive. Critically, he introduces us to the Friction Audit:a test to work out where our sticking points lie, categorises them as existing in our head, heart or habits. Unstuck then takes us through a 5-step process to strive for more and to thrive.
Wifedom – Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life By: Anna Funder – Using newly discovered letters from Eileen Orwell to her best friend, Funder recreates the Orwells’ marriage, through the Spanish Civil War and WW II in London. As she rolls up the screen concealing Orwell’s private life she is led to question what it takes to be a writer and what it is to be a wife.
Compelling and utterly original, Wifedom speaks to the unsung work of women everywhere today, while offering a breathtakingly intimate view of one of the most important literary marriages of the 20th century. It is a book that speaks to our present moment as much as it illuminates the past.
Doppelganger – A Trip Into the Mirror World By: Naomi Klein – This is a book for our age and for all of us; a deadly serious dark comedy which invites us to view our reflections in the looking glass. It’s for anyone who has lost hours down an internet rabbit hole, who wonders why our politics has become so fatally warped, and who wants a way out of our collective vertigo and back to fighting for what really matters.
Dead Man Walking – The Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty That Sparked a National Debate By: Helen Prejean – Prejean’s working with men on death row soon leads her to ask: How can society benefit from replicating the violence it condemns? In formulating her answer, however, Helen Prejean also confronts the counterbalancing factors. Chief among them is the devastating rage and grief of the victims’ families, whom she comes to know and befriend and whose need for retribution she understands. Prejean’s indictment of capital punishment sensitively navigates the complex personal, ethical, and legal issues involved, balancing compassion for both the criminals and the people whose lives they destroy. By turns reflective and deeply personal, spiritual and candidly human, this engrossing and deeply moving meditation on one of the most painfully controversial issues.
Japanese Death Poems Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death
Compiled By: Yoel Hoffmann – Although the consciousness of death is, in most cultures, very much a part of life, this is perhaps nowhere more true than in Japan, where the approach of death has given rise to a centuries-old tradition of writing jisei, or the “death poem.” Such a poem is often written in the very last moments of the poet’s life.
Hundreds of Japanese death poems, many with a commentary describing the circumstances of the poet’s death, have been translated into English here, the great majority of them for the first time. Yoel Hoffmann explores the attitudes and customs surrounding death in historical and present-day Japan, and gives examples of how these have been reflected in the nation’s literature in general. The development of writing jisei is then examined—from the poems of longing of the early nobility and the more “masculine” verses of the samurai to the satirical death poems of later centuries.
You Are Only Just Beginning – Lessons for the Journey Ahead By: Morgan Harper Nichols – Sometimes it’s difficult to take that first step into your future and embrace the unknown. This illustrated collection of poetry and essays empowers you to embrace your next adventure with confidence and grace, drawing on invaluable lessons from nature.
Popular Instagram poet and bestselling author Morgan Harper Nichols reimagines the classic heroine’s journey—from the very first call to adventure, through trials, hardships, and new relationships, all the way back home—and offers key lessons and affirmations to encourage and equip you every step of the way.
Killing for Country – By: David Marr – A gripping reckoning with the bloody history of Australia’s frontier wars. Killing for Country is a unique history of the making of Australia – a richly detailed and gripping family saga of fortunes made and lost, of politics and power in the colonial world, and the violence let loose by squatters and their London bankers as they began their long war for the possession of this country – a contest still unresolved in today’s Australia.
And a bonus idea if you are shopping on Booktopia, I have my eye on this fabulous Mucho Black Spiral-Bound A5 Notebook from Semikolon. Perfect for the person in your life who likes to write things down!
What non fiction books are on your wishlist?
This post is part of my 2023 Christmas series. You can find other posts in the series here.
Some of the links contain affiliate links, which means at no extra cost to you, making purchases through them helps support this site. Thank you!