Monthly Non-Fiction Reading List 5.2025
We have 9 books on the list, and they cover everything from terrible laws, to how the rich and powerful try to silence people, to how the media gets manipulated, and so much more!
Also, quick apology for the massive delay on this May reading list that’s coming to you in the middle of June. Work has been extra busy lately, and my YouTube channel was actually getting some views so I focused most of my extra time over there.
I won’t say this won’t happen again because it probably will. It’s OK though because I know you’re all the most patient people on the planet and love me anyway (lol). Also, you can follow my Goodreads if you want a more up-to-date and current look at what I’m reading.
Also, feel free to become a paid subscriber for the low low price of $5/month to help support the substack so I can keep buying books!
Each of the links to the books are affiliate links, so if you use my link to purchase any of these books, some comes back to support what I do (and it also helps fund my reading habit).
Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life by Maggie Smith
This was a really good book for writers and creators with some solid advice and motivation. I didn’t know who Maggie Smith was, but as someone who writes and creates, I enjoy reading these types of books. I quickly learned that Maggie is a poet, but she does a decent job of mostly talking to a general audience of writers. There are a few spots where it’s pretty hyper-focused on poetry writing, but I didn’t mind it.
Bad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America by Elie Mystal
The only thing I dislike about Elie Mystal is that he doesn’t have more books. I absolutely loved his first book and loved this one just as much. For those who don’t know, Elie Mystal graduated from Harvard Law, and he’s very vocal about social justice issues. He has this incredible way of discussing everything screwed up with our judicial system but in a way that anyone can understand. He also speaks with an infectious passion about these topics, and he’s pretty funny as well.
His first book broke down all the things messed up with the constitution, and in this one, he picks different laws that are extremely flawed and breaks down how messed up they are. He discusses gun laws, abortion rights, immigration laws, voter registration, and much more. Do yourself a favor and read this book. And if you haven’t read his previous book Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution, do that ASAP as well.
The Disease to Please: Curing the People-Pleasing Syndrome by Harriet Braiker
This was a pretty good book. As the title suggests, it’s a book for people pleasers. It has some solid advice and dives into various reasons why some people aim to please. It goes over how this causes issues in the person’s life and ways to overcome it. It’s not amazing, but it’s worth the read if you struggle with people pleasing.
Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful by David Enrich
I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. I guess it makes sense, though, seeing as how I love confirmation that the rich and powerful are jerks. In each chapter of this book Enrich tells the story of how someone tried speaking the truth about a powerful person or organization and how they were silenced or almost silenced.
The First Amendment is often associated with right-wing people for some reason, but as a leftist, it’s something I think is extremely important. So many people are being silenced in our country, which was founded on freedom of speech, and it’s wild that the rich and powerful can wrap people up in expensive court cases until they’re forced to give up. This is something all of us should be more educated about, so we can try to stop it in the future.
The Next Conversation: Argue Less, Talk More by Jefferson Fisher
I had never heard of Jefferson Fisher before, but I was introduced to him with this book. I guess he’s a lawyer who blew up on Instagram by giving people advice about how to talk to people. Once I realized he was a social media influencer, I was like, “Oh, here we go,” because 99.9% of influencer books are awful and clearly a cash grab. With that being said, I was extremely happy to be wrong, because this book was amazing.
Fisher gives practical advice for a variety of situations. He teaches people how to navigate conflict, how to speak with confidence, and so much more. It’s very simple, practical advice that anyone can follow, and I loved it. I highly recommend checking out this book if you want to work on your communication skills.
Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell by Tim Miller
I was unfamiliar with Tim Miller, but I kept seeing him pop up on podcasts lately while he was promoting this book. He was/is a Republican who isn’t a fan of Trump. I don’t immediately dislike people from the other side, so I went into this book with an open mind. I guess this was a good book, but there’s absolutely nothing surprising about it. It basically just confirms exactly what we all knew; a lot of public, famous right-wing people sell their souls for money and power.
Tim Miller was basically a Republican PR guy who spun stuff and tried to make candidates look good. He’s also gay. This book is a sort of memoir as he explains the extreme amounts of cognitive dissonance he had while living this life, but he shines a light on how so many of his colleagues (and himself) were just concerned with “winning”, and they didn’t care how many people they hurt along the way.
I’m going to give this book 5 stars because it’s well written and informative, and I don’t think he’s lying. But as a person? I don’t like the guy. I tried checking out some of his content after reading this book, and it seems like he just farms engagement by being “the right-wing guy who hates Trump.”
Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference by Rutger Bregman
I read one of Rutger’s previous books, and while it was a good book, I wasn’t a fan of his writing style. I decided to give him another chance with this new one, and unfortunately, I’m still not a fan. He’s a great writer and extremely popular, but his style of writing just bores the hell out of me.
This book is basically what the title suggests. It’s about taking into consideration how you can do good in this world when you choose a career. He speaks to this idea while also writing about a lot of different people who are doing good in the world. It’s a fantastic book, but I just got bored with it pretty quick. But if this topic sounds interesting, definitely check it out.
How to Stubbornly Refuse to Make Yourself Miserable about Anything: Yes Anything! by Albert Ellis
This is one of the best mental health books around. I’ve read this book multiple times, and it’s so helpful. Ellis is the creator of Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT). This time, I decided to give it another read because my son was dealing with a lot of anxiety in school, and I wanted to see if it’d be good for him to check out. He’s currently giving it a read and loving it.
Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan Holiday
I’ve read a lot fo Ryan Holiday books, but they’re all his newer ones. This was the book that put him on the map, and it’s all about his early days of being a PR/promoter guy. The book is a little outdated since a lot of the work he did was when blogs were huge and social media was on the rise. It’s about all the ways people like him would manipulate bloggers, journalists and others with fake stories to get promotion.
Sadly, I’m sure a lot of these strategies still happen all the time since journalists and others are all about getting attention and clicks. Good book, though. Check it out if you’d like to learn about how the media is manipulated.
Subscribe to the reading list! It’s free! Although I’ve been publishing this weekly reading list for free for multiple years, consider becoming a paid subscriber for $5 to help me pay for new books and keep this list free for everyone.
If you enjoyed this post, it’d mean a lot to me if you shared it. Forward it in an email, share it on social media, or whatever suits your fancy.