Sophie Roell, Editor

Success in running could be narrowly defined in terms of performance or more broadly as part of leading a good life, argues runner and ethics professor Sabrina Little. She recommends some of her favourite books on running, from the role models that inspired her to tales of what not to do.

It’s important to understand what goes on beneath the surface in China, and how people feel and react, says Anne Stevenson-Yang, who spent many decades living and working there. She recommends books to better understand the country, from its imperial history to the economic take-off of the last four decades.

Slovenia has the organised, modern infrastructure of Western Europe, the laid-back lifestyle of Southern Europe, and a generous seasoning of Balkan spice—as well as a Mediterranean coastline with hot summers, Alpine mountains with snowy winters, Tuscany-like terraced vineyards, and caves like Lord of the Rings, says British writer Sam Baldwin. He recommends books to get to know the country he fell in love with and now lives in.

In the 20th century, the United States emerged as a leading centre of experimental physics, with a lot more going on than just the Manhattan project and the use of atomic energy in warfare. Science writer Mark Wolverton, author of Splinters of Infinity, recommends some of his favourite books about the history of physics, with a focus on the 20th century and the United States. (For books about classical physics, browse all our physics book recommendations).

If you want to take an economy that’s wholly dependent on fossil fuels and turn it into a low-carbon one it’s going to be expensive, says economist Dieter Helm—and the sooner we face up to that reality the better. He recommends books to help us think through the relationship between economics and the environment, including one that really shines a spotlight on our own, individual behaviour.

Far from being outlandish, a belief in the paranormal appears to be a trait that many human beings share. Christopher French, Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths and author of The Science of Weird Shit, recommends five books that explore the paranormal—from a skeptical point of view.

Both books and movies seek to tell compelling stories, but they do so in different ways. Peter Markham, both a director and a long-time teacher of directing at the American Film Institute, talks us through five of his favourite book-to-movie adaptations—and what they reveal about successfully bringing a book to the screen.

“They’re not your traditional ‘boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl in the end.’ There’s normally something else underlying the plotline, which elevates it slightly from your traditional rom-com.” Award-winning romance novelist Dani Atkins recommends her favourite romance novels ‘with a twist.’

Central Asia’s history is rarely a focus for students in the West, but its flourishing cities and great thinkers once made it one of the world’s most dynamic and important regions. Frederick Starr, a leading expert on Central Asia and author of a number of books about it, talks us through the highlights of an area that was so much more than just a stopping place on the ancient Silk Roads.

Wonderful as it would be to climb Mount Everest or row across the Atlantic, not all of us will get the chance to go on an epic adventure. But that doesn’t mean we can’t go exploring. Alastair Humphreys, the British adventurer, explains the concept of ‘local adventure’ and recommends books that give a feel for what it’s about and why it’s worth pursuing.