For me for example its “Eat me - a natural and unnatural history of cannibalism” by Bill Schutt. Its an amazing book that covers cannibalism in animals and then the history of it in humans (cultural, survival & medicinal cannibalism).
I got a lot of “oh why would someone read something like that?” And “that not something fun to read about!” From relatives but my friends enjoyed the stuff that I could tell them about cannibalism!
I surprised myself by LOVING “Emperor of All Maladies” by Siddhartha Mukhergee. I’m not really interested in cancer, at all, but this book was amazing and so well written; it’s long and I was interested the whole time.
Actually I guess I read a lot of books on the medical industry and the practice of medicine, which might be a kind of more unusual subject to read about for leisure. Atul Gawande’s books are really great, if you’re into that sort of thing.
I loved his book Complications, and his more recent book Being Mortal (that REALLY affected me), but, weirdly, the book of his that I have thought about a lot over the years is The Checklist Manifesto. It might be a bit dated now, only because I think they have now implemented a lot of what he was suggesting in that book. It’s super interesting.
A colleague recommended me Emperor of all maladies last year and I even bought it in may I still havent read it yet, ive only heard/read good things about it and i plan on finally reading it next year!
I finished reading it not too long ago. It is a good read-- very well-researched and written. My one (subjective, personal) gripe with it is that it kinds of drags in the middle as it is quite a long book. I think the book would have been just as informative and a ton more engaging if it was a little more concise. I would still recommend it though for anyone interested in the medical history of cancer.
I love Emperor of All Maladies and Atul Gawande’s books, too.