Michael Benninger

Barack Obama once remarked that “Reading is the gateway skill that makes all other learning possible, from complex word problems and the meaning of our history to scientific discovery and technological proficiency.” Those are words the former POTUS continues to live by, and each year he releases a list of his recommended reads.

If you’ve read any amount nonfiction over the past 30 years, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with Bill Bryson. Among today’s most prolific nonfiction authors, Bryson has penned more than 20 books about language, science, history, and his adventures traveling the globe.

This has been a banner decade for publishers of nonfiction, as sales have steadily outpaced fictional literature every year since 2013. So as the curtains draw to a close on the 2010s, what better time than now to take a look back at the most noteworthy nonfiction published since the end of the aughts.

The holidays are upon us and, with the average American set to spend $657 on gifts this year, retailers are hoping to rake in record profits before 2019 ends. Yet at the same time, many people are awakening to the reality that we’re on the cusp of a climate crisis, and holiday consumerism is a major contributor to the problem.

Among the numerous nonfiction authors who have debuted this century, few have made as much of an impact as Malcolm Gladwell. A journalist, public speaker, and consummate connector of dots, Gladwell has published six eye-opening books since the turn of the century, each of which has appeared on the New York Times bestseller’s list.

Love is commonly referred to as the universal language, yet, in fact, it’s anything but. In his bestselling book The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts, author Gary Chapman explains how the heart communicates in a quintet of “love languages,” which vary from one person to the next.

Ever wonder how many languages are spoken around the world today? Is it 50? 100? Maybe even 500? In fact, there are at least 7,111 languages actively spoken on Earth! Yet despite the vast number of dialects devised by our species, when it comes to the language of love, our hearts only know a handful.

We’ve already taken a look at how some people associate love with receiving gifts, while others interpret it through words of affirmation, but there are also many people who primarily perceive love in terms of physical affection. And if you or your partner express fondness through physical touch, here’s everything you need to know about the most sensory of the love languages.

From a young age, many of us instinctively associate love with getting gifts. Between birthdays, holidays, and school graduations, most kids can’t wait to open presents from loved ones on special occasions. After all, it’s always nice having something new from someone who cares about you.

If you’re in a committed relationship, odds are that you and your partner speak the same language. After all, communication plays a key role in the compatibility of any couple. But when it comes to the language of love, it’s not at all uncommon for two partners to desire different forms of affection or express their emotions in different ways.

Nearly everyone feels lonely at some point in their life. Whether it’s the result of being away from friends and family or if it occurs at the end of a relationship, loneliness is a seemingly inevitable aspect of the human experience. And while it’s OK to feel alone from time to time, recent research reveals that loneliness can be lethal. Pair this news with reports that people in the US are experiencing more loneliness than ever before, and it’s clear that America’s isolation epidemic could ...

It’s hard to believe that while debt is a primary worry for many people, an astonishing 21% of Americans don’t know whether or not they even have any outstanding balances. Yet that’s exactly what the U.S. News & World Report discovered in May of this year when they surveyed 1,000 consumers about how much money they owed banks, schools, and other institutions.

You don’t need to look far these days to find that millennials are being condemned for killing many aspects of modern culture. Indeed, older Americans are quick to point their fingers at today’s twenty- and thirty-somethings, blaming them for the demise of everything from breakfast cereal to breastaurants. Yet there is one age-old institution that’s thriving thanks to millennials: long-lasting marriages.

Whether it’s flunking an exam, being chewed out by a boss, or getting rejected by a romantic interest, no one enjoys feeling like a failure. And for some people, this sense of dread can become so great they give up entirely on attempting to achieve their dreams in the first place. But where does this insecurity come from, and is there a way to leverage a fear of failure to your advantage?