Best non-fiction books 2017 – the list so far
Some of us are recent converts to non-fiction, and we feel rather zealous about it. Contrary to what we thought, non-fiction shouldn't remind you of school. You shouldn't struggle through it or only have it on your shelf for showing off.
No, it should be un-putdownable, life changing. You should want to press these pages into your friend's hands, into stranger's hands, rearrange your local bookshops' shelves and start Twitter-stalking the authors.
All this madness awaits: first you have to read our pick of the best non-fiction of 2017.
Click through our gallery to see them all.
As the recent selfie exhibiiton at the Saatchi showed, there is almost as much appetite for studying selfies as there is for taking the photographs in the first place. Will Storr's book, with its mirrored dustjacket, is a socio-economic examination of the selfie that starts in Ancient Greece and journeys to 1980s self-love in California and the writer of the 'hymn to individualism', Ayn Rand.
Storr's shiny history of the selfie is a history of neo-liberal society, selfishness and achievement. Fittingly, it's told through Storr's own experiences: whether the author is contemplating a monastery or examining his hairline in a car window.
If you're worried you have low self esteem, rejoice: according to this book you are probably a far better person.
