I'm always wary of recommending books, music or movies because what appeals to me is not likely to appeal to others. In fact, it's been my unfortunate experience that it definitely does not appeal to others.
Nevertheless, I thought for this post I'd list just a few of my favorite non-fiction reads from the last couple of years.
Of the hundred or so books I managed to digest over that span, a couple dozen or so stood out. Some of them were books I had read before and wanted to reread, following the advice that one should always alternate between reading a new book and rereading an older one.
From the many that I thought especially worthwhile it was difficult to select those I wanted to mention on this list. Even so, here are a baker's dozen I particularly enjoyed reading or rereading:
The World's Religions - Huston Smith: This is a classic in the field of religious studies. It's perhaps the best explanation of the beliefs and teachings of the world's major religions.
Return of the God Hypothesis - Stephen Meyer: Meyer is a philosopher of science who composes a compelling case for the existence of God or something very much like God. He takes his evidence from the origin of the universe, its astonishing fine-tuning and the origin of life.
The Miracle of Man - Michael Denton: An accessible account of how the laws of physics and chemistry are just what they must be to permit the emergence of intelligent beings like humans. Had any of the properties of matter, such as the viscosity of water, been even slightly different no higher life forms would exist.
Non-Computable You - Robert Marks: Marks is a computer expert who argues in a very entertaining way that artificial intelligence will never be able to do what the human brain can do.
The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self - Carl Trueman: Trueman outlines the philosophical history of ideas that has produced our contemporary attitudes toward sex and gender.
Kierkegaard - Stephen Backhouse: A very lucid introduction to the life of the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard.
Sword and Scimitar - Raymond Ibrahim: Ibrahim describes the history of seven major battles between the armies of Islam and those of the West culminating in the siege of Vienna in 1683. It's a fascinating account and one that helps the reader understand the contemporary conflict between Islam and the West.
Animal Algorithms - Eric Cassell: Cassell writes breathtaking descriptions of the ability of animals, particularly insects, to accomplish incredible behaviors despite having brains the size of a pinhead.
I'm Not a Racist, But ... - Lawrence Blum: One of the best books on race that I've come across.
Dominion - Tom Holland: Historian Tom Holland takes us on a tour of the history of Western civilization and argues implicitly that the accomplishments of the West were made possible by the Christian worldview that permeated the thinking of its people.
Love Thy Neighbor: A Story of War - Peter Maas: An account of the stupidities and horrors of the Bosnian war in the 1990s by a journalist who lived through it.
A Fortunate Universe - Lewis and Barnes: Two cosmologists team up to explain the fine-tuning of the atom and how had any of the properties of the atom been different by the tiniest amounts the universe wouldn't and couldn't exist.
Lone Survivor - Marcus Luttrell: Luttrell was a Navy SEAL who recounts his SEAL training, a mission in Afghanistan that went horribly bad and his eventual rescue. Only he survived the mission. It's a remarkable story of endurance and heroism.
