Latest Book Recommendations

The Best Science Books of 2019: Royal Society Prize, recommended by Nigel Shadbolt

“Science is a profoundly human endeavour. The stories of triumph and success in science, alongside the failures and despair, are compelling.” From a data-driven account of air pollution to a book that makes calculus fun, 2019 has been a great year for science books. Nigel Shadbolt, chair of judges, discusses the six books shortlisted for the 2019 Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize.

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Most Recommended Books

On Liberty book cover
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright
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wealth of nations
Plato's Republic
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Recent Reader Lists

Our aim is to make Five Books the place to go to on the web for book recommendations, arranged by topic. Help us achieve our goal by making a reading list on a subject you know a lot about. These lists have been created by our readers using our new interactive tool. Browse them all, or make your own.

My Books, recommended by Maddy02x

White Girls
by Hilton Als

A Prayer for Owen Meany: A Novel
by John Irving

The Bell Jar (Modern Classics)
by Sylvia Plath

The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde

Cider with Rosie
by Laurie Lee

An introduction to endurance and running training, recommended by Mehul Vaitha

The Little Black Book of Training Wisdom: How to train to improve at any sport
by Dr Dan Cleather PhD

Good to Go: How to Eat, Sleep and Rest Like a Champion
by Christie Aschwanden

Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance
by Alex Hutchinson

The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance
by David Epstein

The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative
by Florence Williams

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