December non-fiction
2003
The Myth of Greater Albania, by Paulin Kola
The Music of the Primes: Searching to Solve the Greatest Mystery in Mathematics, by Marcus du Sautoy
Eats Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss
2004
A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility, by the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change
The Uncyclopedia, by Gideon Haigh
2005
'with all faults', by David Low
Pilate: The Biography of an Invented Man, by Ann Wroe
The Georgian Feast: The Vibrant Culture and Savory Food of the Republic of Georgia, by Darra Goldstein
2006
This Was Not Our War: Bosnian Women Reclaiming the Peace, by Swanee Hunt
The Great English Pilgrimage, by Christopher Donaldson
Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West, by Dee Brown
The Elusive Quest: Reconciliation in Northern Ireland, by Norman Porter
Ockham's Razor: A Search for Wonder In An Age of Doubt, by Wade Rowland
Notes from a Small Island, by Bill Bryson
An Intimate History of Humanity, by Theodore Zeldin
Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism, by Marina Warner
2007
About Time: The Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who, 1980-1984, by Lawrence Miles and Tat Wood
Who's Next: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who, by Mark Clapham, Eddie Robson and Jim Smith
Back in Time: A Thinking Fan's Guide to Doctor Who, by Steve Couch, Tony Watkins and Peter S. Williams
Time And Relative Dissertations In Space: Critical Perspectives on Doctor Who, edited by David Butler
Latin Palaeography: Antiquity & the Middle Ages, by Bernhard Bischoff, translated by Dáibhí Ó Cróinín & David Ganz
Slide Rule: An Autobiography, by Neville Shute
2008
The Diary of a Young Girl: The Defintive Edition, by Anne Frank
Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture, by Patrick E. McGowan
Daughters of Britannia: the Lives and Times of Diplomatic Wives, by Katie Hickman
If I Had Been...: Ten Historical Fantasies, edited by Daniel Snowman
The Cecils: Privilege and power behind the throne, by David Loades
The Genius of Shakespeare, by Jonathan Bate
2009
The Jesuits, by Jonathan Wright
Don't Mention the Wars: A Journey Through European Stereotypes, by Tony Connelly
Geschiedenis van het Nederlands, by Marijke van der Wal and Cor van Bree
Memoirs Of My Life, by Edward Gibbon
2010
Tintin and the Secret of Literature, by Tom McCarthy
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Sex and Science, by Mary Roach
I, Who: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who Novels, by Lars Pearson
I, Who 2: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who Novels and Audios, by Lars Pearson
I, Who 3: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who Novels and Audios, by Lars Pearson
The Space Race, by Deborah Cadbury
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold Story of English, by John McWhorter
2011
Interpreting Irish History, edited by Ciaran Brady
Elisabeth Sladen: The Autobiography
Unrecognised States, by Nina Caspersen
Gulistān, by Sheikh Muṣleḥ-ʾiddin Saʿdī
Būstān, by Sheikh Muṣleḥ-ʾiddin Saʿdī
The Dalek Handbook, by Steve Tribe and James Goss
The John Nathan-Turner Memoirs
A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, of the State of Tennessee
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vols 5 and 6, by Edward Gibbon
Vanished Kingdoms, by Norman Davies
My top five, in chronological order of reading them:
Time And Relative Dissertations In Space: Critical Perspectives on Doctor Who, edited by David Butler - of the various books about Doctor Who as a phenomenon which I have read, this is the best collection of essays from an academic perspective, though almost entirely concentrating on Old Who.
The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition, by Anne Frank - the extraordinary tale of a teenager in hiding from the Nazis, frankly describing her own arrival at adulthood in appalling circumstances.
Tintin and the Secret of Literature, by Tom McCarthy - for us fans of Hergé, it has always been clear that there is some deep meaning behind the best of the Tintin comics. McCarthy attempts to work out what that is, with some success.
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Sex and Science, by Mary Roach - sex, of course, will never go out of fashion; and Roach reports on scientists' desperate attempts to research it, with hilarious consequences.
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vols 5 and 6, by Edward Gibbon - pars pro toto here. Gibbon is wrong on many things, including his own basic theory (as far as he ever explains it), but always eloquently so, and the book is a delight to read. I did it over a two-year period, taking it a chapter a week, with frequent breaks.
Honourable mentions to:
The Georgian Feast: The Vibrant Culture and Savory Food of the Republic of Georgia, by Darra Goldstein
Slide Rule: An Autobiography, by Neville Shute
The Genius of Shakespeare, by Jonathan Bate
Memoirs Of My Life, by Edward Gibbon
Vanished Kingdoms, by Norman Davies
The Myth of Greater Albania, by Paulin Kola
The Music of the Primes: Searching to Solve the Greatest Mystery in Mathematics, by Marcus du Sautoy
Eats Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss
2004
A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility, by the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change
The Uncyclopedia, by Gideon Haigh
2005
'with all faults', by David Low
Pilate: The Biography of an Invented Man, by Ann Wroe
The Georgian Feast: The Vibrant Culture and Savory Food of the Republic of Georgia, by Darra Goldstein
2006
This Was Not Our War: Bosnian Women Reclaiming the Peace, by Swanee Hunt
The Great English Pilgrimage, by Christopher Donaldson
Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West, by Dee Brown
The Elusive Quest: Reconciliation in Northern Ireland, by Norman Porter
Ockham's Razor: A Search for Wonder In An Age of Doubt, by Wade Rowland
Notes from a Small Island, by Bill Bryson
An Intimate History of Humanity, by Theodore Zeldin
Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism, by Marina Warner
2007
About Time: The Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who, 1980-1984, by Lawrence Miles and Tat Wood
Who's Next: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who, by Mark Clapham, Eddie Robson and Jim Smith
Back in Time: A Thinking Fan's Guide to Doctor Who, by Steve Couch, Tony Watkins and Peter S. Williams
Time And Relative Dissertations In Space: Critical Perspectives on Doctor Who, edited by David Butler
Latin Palaeography: Antiquity & the Middle Ages, by Bernhard Bischoff, translated by Dáibhí Ó Cróinín & David Ganz
Slide Rule: An Autobiography, by Neville Shute
2008
The Diary of a Young Girl: The Defintive Edition, by Anne Frank
Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture, by Patrick E. McGowan
Daughters of Britannia: the Lives and Times of Diplomatic Wives, by Katie Hickman
If I Had Been...: Ten Historical Fantasies, edited by Daniel Snowman
The Cecils: Privilege and power behind the throne, by David Loades
The Genius of Shakespeare, by Jonathan Bate
2009
The Jesuits, by Jonathan Wright
Don't Mention the Wars: A Journey Through European Stereotypes, by Tony Connelly
Geschiedenis van het Nederlands, by Marijke van der Wal and Cor van Bree
Memoirs Of My Life, by Edward Gibbon
2010
Tintin and the Secret of Literature, by Tom McCarthy
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Sex and Science, by Mary Roach
I, Who: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who Novels, by Lars Pearson
I, Who 2: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who Novels and Audios, by Lars Pearson
I, Who 3: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who Novels and Audios, by Lars Pearson
The Space Race, by Deborah Cadbury
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold Story of English, by John McWhorter
2011
Interpreting Irish History, edited by Ciaran Brady
Elisabeth Sladen: The Autobiography
Unrecognised States, by Nina Caspersen
Gulistān, by Sheikh Muṣleḥ-ʾiddin Saʿdī
Būstān, by Sheikh Muṣleḥ-ʾiddin Saʿdī
The Dalek Handbook, by Steve Tribe and James Goss
The John Nathan-Turner Memoirs
A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, of the State of Tennessee
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vols 5 and 6, by Edward Gibbon
Vanished Kingdoms, by Norman Davies
My top five, in chronological order of reading them:
Time And Relative Dissertations In Space: Critical Perspectives on Doctor Who, edited by David Butler - of the various books about Doctor Who as a phenomenon which I have read, this is the best collection of essays from an academic perspective, though almost entirely concentrating on Old Who.
The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition, by Anne Frank - the extraordinary tale of a teenager in hiding from the Nazis, frankly describing her own arrival at adulthood in appalling circumstances.
Tintin and the Secret of Literature, by Tom McCarthy - for us fans of Hergé, it has always been clear that there is some deep meaning behind the best of the Tintin comics. McCarthy attempts to work out what that is, with some success.
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Sex and Science, by Mary Roach - sex, of course, will never go out of fashion; and Roach reports on scientists' desperate attempts to research it, with hilarious consequences.
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vols 5 and 6, by Edward Gibbon - pars pro toto here. Gibbon is wrong on many things, including his own basic theory (as far as he ever explains it), but always eloquently so, and the book is a delight to read. I did it over a two-year period, taking it a chapter a week, with frequent breaks.
Honourable mentions to:
The Georgian Feast: The Vibrant Culture and Savory Food of the Republic of Georgia, by Darra Goldstein
Slide Rule: An Autobiography, by Neville Shute
The Genius of Shakespeare, by Jonathan Bate
Memoirs Of My Life, by Edward Gibbon
Vanished Kingdoms, by Norman Davies