What I Wish People Knew About Dementia by Wendy Mitchell review – a book of hope
Wendy Mitchell’s good-humoured practical guide to living with dementia has a deeper, more existential message for all of us: connect, forgive, accept and live
Sweat by Bill Hayes review – a history of the physical that gets personal
An all-encompassing book about bodies and exercise through the ages that leaves you hungry for more
Smile: The Story of a Face by Sarah Ruhl review – a bruising battle with Bell’s palsy
The playwright’s fascinating book shows how a decade-long struggle with the condition profoundly affected her sense of self
Recovery: The Lost Art of Convalescence by Dr Gavin Francis review – the art of getting better
This helpful history and guide reveals that the sometimes difficult healing process is part of what makes us human
Smile by Sarah Ruhl review – what if you could no longer look happy?
Robbed of her smile by Bell’s palsy, the playwright is forced to confront difficult truths in this moving and subtle memoir
The big idea: should we eat like our ancestors?
Are eating plans like the paleo diet really healthier - or more ethical - than the way we eat now?
Top 10 books about self-improvement
In time for new year resolutions, a cultural historian chooses some of the best guides to making a better life, dating back to some of our earliest literature
Nonfiction to look out for in 2022
From studies of grief to memoirs from Melvyn Bragg and Jarvis Cocker, along with Norman Scott’s account of a very English scandal, here are the titles coming your way next year
The book I got for Christmas: ‘An emotional bootcamp of sorts’
Continuing our series of Guardian writers revealing their most memorable gift books, Rebecca Liu recalls being given a stack of dating guides as an 18-year-old whose ‘lessons’ were hard to unlearn
The Sweet Spot by Paul Bloom review – the pleasure of pain
An intriguing scientific investigation into why suffering, from mountaineering to BDSM, so often leads to satisfaction