Favourite Non-Fiction Books of 2018

At the start of this year I decided to do some reading about pollution, plastic, recycling and so on, and the damage being done to the environment. I realised that I knew absolutely nothing about clothing – how it’s made, where it comes from, and what happens when we’re done with it. Andrew Brooks’ Clothing Poverty is an eye-opener. He explains processes and exploitation that are not secret yet are abominable. You will never look at a garment or charity shop [thrift store] in the same way ever again. It has completely changed my clothing purchase habits. Highly recommended.

Will Millard’s memoir The Old Man and the Sand Eel is a corker of a book. Not only is the cover stunning but he has managed to take a topic I have zero interest in and make it fascinating. If you like memoirs and fishing, you’ll love this book. If you’ve never read a memoir before and have no interest in fishing, you’ll love this book. You can read my mini review here.

Shortly after reading Clothing Poverty, I spotted Bottled & Sold by Peter H. Gleick. I stopped buying bottled water some time ago but I wanted to find out more about why it is such big business. Gleick walks us through the environmental impact of producing bottled water and how consumers are conned into believing they need it and it is ‘better’ for them. Extremely well researched and an enlightening read.