The Best Books for Self-Improvement The best books for self improvement, selected by leading experts—covering topics from performance psychology and mindfulness to overcoming insecurities.

Self-improvement on Five Books:
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Gender Outlaws The author, gender theorist and self-described “SM femme tranny dyke” tells us why gender isn’t binary, and recommends books that give long-suppressed voice to the transgender community

"“Ze” and “hir” were first invented back when the Internet was a bunch of MIT geeks who were playing massive multiplayer dungeon games, and their characters were nongendered. They had to think up pronouns and they came up with ze and hir."
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Sports Psychology The best sports psychology books recommended by the first man to ever receive a degree in the subject, expert Bill Coles.

“You may not be interested in psychology, but psychology is interested in you.” Veteran sports psychologist Bill Cole recommends his top five sports psychology books:
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Five Books: The best books on How to Write, recommended by Eric Olsen The journalist and editor Eric Olsen takes us inside the writing process and reveals who gives the best advice for aspiring authors

"Sometimes what goes on in a writing workshop is that you convince the writer that he doesn’t want to be a writer."
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Historical Novels Set in the Victorian Era Virginia Feito, author of historical horror Victorian Psycho, recommends five boundary-pushing historical novels set in the Victorian era.

"There are so many ways to pretend to be someone you are not. I think it’s something that we will always be drawn to, down through the generations."
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The Internet The co-founder and former chief executive of the website Cheapflights, David Soskin, discusses his favourite books on the subject of the Internet

"Running a dot.com company is a seven-day-a-week job and there is no time for anything else."
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Emerging Markets What determines whether a country goes backwards or forwards? Why have so few developing countries joined the ranks of rich nations? George Magnus, former chief economist of UBS, chooses books to…

“What is it that causes countries to grow and develop and become part of the global system, the trading system, the investment system and then, suddenly, reach a point in their development when they are not making relative progress anymore?”
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The Best Hiking Memoirs The best memoirs about hiking and other journeys on foot, as recommended by Gail Simmons, author and modern-day pilgrim

"Walking is the ultimate in slow travel, and therefore in immersive travel. With books about walking, you really feel like you are traveling in the company of that person, you are with them every step of the way."
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Making Movies Darren Aronofsky, the director of "Mother!" and "Black Swan", recommends the books that inspired him with making movies.

"The players in Hollywood change all the time, but the town never changes. And that’s the truth. It’s different people, but the same characters are always emerging."
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The Best Christian Books Our recommendations span the best history of Christianity books, the best Jesus books, books on the existence of God, and many more. Our best Christian book recommendations are from members of the…

🐣Happy Easter! 🐣
You can use our reading lists to find the best Christian books ever written on a variety of subjects.
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The Best Prose Poetry The best prose poetry and modernist French poetry, including Arthur Rimbaud, Gertrude Stein, Francis Ponge and Claudia Rankine, recommended by Jeremy Noel-Tod, poetry critic and editor of the Penguin…

“The Illuminations are the product of what Rimbaud said he wanted to do as a poet: the systematic derangement of the senses”
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The Best Science Books for Kids: the 2020 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize The best science books for kids: chosen by the scientists, writers and teachers judging the 2020 Royal Society Young People's Book Prize.

“Science should be fun, and we wanted books that get that across”
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The Best Parenting Books A collection of the best parenting books recommended by experts. Covering mindful parenting, motherhood, dads, child development, teenagers & more.

Our growing collection of parenting books recommended by experts is aimed at providing information and good advice for parents to help them to raise happy, confident and resilient children.
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The Best Art History Books for Teenagers The best art history books for teenagers, as recommended by John Harrison, longtime art history teacher at Britain's Eton College. Perfect for students studying History of Art at A Level in the UK or…

“Art history students like drama and a good story”
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Sex & Sexuality - Five Books Expert Recommendations Best books on sex and sexuality, covering advice, vice, history, literature, sexual revolutions, marriage, adultery and more. All recommended by experts.

Our interviews on sex and sexuality cover everything from sex education to sperm.
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"There was always a copy of the ABC railway guide beside my grandmother’s telephone. I’m sure that’s where the story originated." Mathew Prichard, Agatha Christie's grandson, picks his five best Agatha Christie novels
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Italian Food The best books on Italian Food, as recommended by Ruth Rogers co-founder of the acclaimed River Cafe restaurant.

"You can get into a taxi in the middle of Rome and the driver will give you a recipe to make the best fettuccine."
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The Best Jane Austen Books The best Jane Austen books. Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Persuasion and more Jane Austen novels discussed by Austen scholar Patricia Meyer Spacks

“I would say Persuasion is the best of Jane Austen’s novels.”
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Tariffs and Trade Donald Trump has famously said that tariff is a 'beautiful' word.  Most economists disagree. Here trade expert, Dmitry Grozoubinski, explains what tariffs are, what they have been, and can be, used…

A year ago today, US President Donald Trump announced 'Liberation Day'. Here's our interview with trade expert @explaintrade.com for a more nuanced understanding of tariffs and their impact on trade:
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Happiness for Children The best books on happiness for children, as recommended by Vanessa King, lead psychologist at charity/non-profit Action for Happiness.

“Happier people tend to be more physically and emotionally resilient – there is also evidence that they can live longer”
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Historical Figures - Five Books Expert Recommendations Best books on a wide range of historical and contemporary figures. Everyone from de Sade to Socrates, from Marx to bin Laden, from the Kennedys to the Queen

We have a wide range of recommendations of books about key historical figures, up to and including a few who are still alive. These are people who changed history or at least political history.
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The Best Cormac McCarthy Books The best Cormac McCarthy books from Blood Meridian and All The Pretty Horses to The Road, chosen by Stacey Peebles, editor of the Cormac McCarthy journal.

“Blood Meridian is the masterpiece; a rich mixture of history and metaphysics.” Literary scholar Stacy Peebles talks us through Cormac McCarthy's oeuvre:
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Cosmology Theoretical cosmologist, Sean Carroll, chooses five books on cosmology: space, time and the universe that even the science-shy can understand and enjoy

"The single issue that interests me the most is the arrow of time – why the past is different from the future."
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Irish Unionism As is the norm in many countries with proportional representation, the United Kingdom's government depends on a small political party to stay in power. Who are the Irish unionists? What is the…

“Nobody, in 1900, would have conceived of the present Northern Ireland as a satisfactory political entity”
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The Best Picture Books of 2017 The best picture books of 2017, as recommended by author, bookseller and Five Books children's editor, Zoe Greaves.

"“I don’t know how to explain singing. It’s just something that happens, like dancing, or farting.” You know exactly what she means, and it’s slightly unexpected. And funny."
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The Best Biographies: The 2026 NBCC Shortlist The five books that made the National Book Critics Circle shortlist of the best new biographies in 2026—and the winning title.

NEW

Iris Jamahl Dunkle—the award-winning biographer, poet and critic—introduces us to the five brilliant books that made the shortlist for the National @BookCritics Circle Award for Biography.

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The Best Books on the Philosophy of Travel The best books on the philosophy of travel, recommended by philosopher Emily Thomas, author of The Meaning of Travel: Philosophers Abroad.

"Having spent my entire adult life as a professional philosopher, I was suddenly gripped with the obsessional idea of writing something about philosophy and travel."
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Chokepoint Capitalism Modern market economies face a growing malaise, says activist and science fiction author Cory Doctorow: powerful actors creating 'chokepoints' between producers and consumers, causing untenable…

"As the creative labor markets have lurched from crisis to crisis, the absence of well-developed proposals for alternatives has led us to keep doing the same thing and hoping for a different outcome."
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The Tudors - Five Books Expert Recommendations The best books on the Tudors. Historians recommend the best books on many aspects of Tudor life..

The best books on the Tudors as selected by historians. The Tudor period was a fascinating time of massive change.
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Italy's Risorgimento The best books on Italian unification and the history of the Risorgimento, recommended by historian Carlotta Ferrara degli Uberti.

“The term ‘Risorgimento’ refers to the process of unification that led to the creation of the Italian nation-state”
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