Hey guys, V back with you with yet another primer on literary genres – and today we’re talking about nonfiction!

Now, before you click away thinking nonfiction is just dusty textbooks and dry how-to guides, let me stop you right there. Nonfiction is so much more than that. It’s the genre of reality, where real people, real events, and real ideas come to life through storytelling. And here’s the kicker: when done right, nonfiction can be just as gripping, emotional, and mind-blowing as your favorite novel or blockbuster movie.

Think about it—every time you pick up a memoir, you’re stepping into someone else’s life, experiencing their triumphs, struggles, and pivotal moments. It’s like being handed a backstage pass to the raw, unfiltered human experience. Ever read Educated by Tara Westover? That’s nonfiction. How about Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari? Yep, nonfiction too. And don’t get me started on all the amazing investigative journalism, true crime, self-help, and even travel writing out there.

Nonfiction doesn’t just entertain—it informs, challenges, and inspires. Want to master a skill? There’s a nonfiction book for that. Curious about a historical event, a groundbreaking scientific idea, or a social issue shaping the world today? Nonfiction has got you covered. It’s like having access to the minds of experts, adventurers, and visionaries, all at your fingertips.

But here’s the secret sauce: good nonfiction tells a story. It’s not just a list of facts or instructions—it’s a narrative that pulls you in and keeps you turning the pages. The best nonfiction makes you feel something, whether it’s awe, empathy, or the motivation to change your life.

So, if you’ve been sleeping on nonfiction, now’s the time to dive in. Start with something that sparks your curiosity—a topic you’re obsessed with or a question you’ve always wanted answered. Trust me, once you find the right book, nonfiction might just become your new favorite genre.

Here’s a list of some of the best nonfiction books that are sure to grip your attention, challenge your thinking, and leave a lasting impact. Each entry includes the title, a brief summary, why you should read it, and space for you to add your own purchase link.

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1. Title: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
   Summary: A sweeping narrative that traces the history of humanity, from the emergence of Homo sapiens to the present day. Harari explores how biology, culture, and economics have shaped human society.
   Why You Should Read It: This book offers a profound look at what it means to be human. It’s thought-provoking and challenges many assumptions about human history and progress.
   Where You Can Get It: https://geni.us/sapiensbooks

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2. Title: Educated by Tara Westover
   Summary: Tara Westover recounts her journey from growing up in a strict, survivalist household in rural Idaho to earning a PhD at Cambridge University, despite having no formal education until her late teens.
   Why You Should Read It: This memoir is an inspiring story of resilience, personal transformation, and the power of education. It’s both heart-wrenching and uplifting.
   Where You Can Get It: https://geni.us/educatedmemoir

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3. Title: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
   Summary: Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman delves into the dual systems of thinking that shape human decision-making: the fast, intuitive system and the slow, analytical system.
   Why You Should Read It: It’s essential reading for anyone interested in psychology, behavioral economics, or understanding how we make choices in everyday life.
   Where You Can Get It: https://geni.us/y0qAsX

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4. Title: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
   Summary: This book tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor African American woman whose cells were taken without her consent and used to make groundbreaking medical discoveries.
   Why You Should Read It: It’s a fascinating and emotional exploration of ethics, race, and the history of modern medicine.
   Where You Can Get It: https://geni.us/ivxrYA

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5. Title: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
   Summary: Duhigg explores the science of habits, how they form, and how we can change them to improve our lives, drawing on cutting-edge research and compelling real-life examples.
   Why You Should Read It: If you’ve ever wanted to break a bad habit or start a good one, this book provides actionable insights and practical strategies.
   Where You Can Get It: https://geni.us/FsHp

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6. Title: Becoming by Michelle Obama
   Summary: The former First Lady shares her deeply personal story, from her upbringing in Chicago to her time in the White House, offering insights into her values and experiences.
   Why You Should Read It: It’s an intimate, inspiring account of a woman navigating identity, family, and public life, told with warmth and candor.
   Where You Can Get It: https://geni.us/yc8pkwz

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7. Title: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
   Summary: Cain examines the undervalued strengths of introverts and how society often overlooks their contributions, blending research, personal stories, and case studies.
   Why You Should Read It: If you’re an introvert—or know one—this book provides a fresh perspective on how to embrace and celebrate quieter ways of being.
   Where You Can Get It: https://geni.us/XTzBD

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8. Title: Atomic Habits by James Clear
   Summary: A guide to building good habits and breaking bad ones, Clear explains how small, incremental changes can lead to massive, long-term results.
   Why You Should Read It: It’s packed with practical advice and actionable steps for anyone looking to improve their habits and achieve their goals.
   Where You Can Get It: https://geni.us/kosfEX

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9. Title: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
   Summary: Comedian Trevor Noah shares his experiences growing up in apartheid-era South Africa as the child of a black mother and a white father, exploring race, identity, and resilience.
   Why You Should Read It: This memoir is both hilarious and poignant, offering a unique perspective on apartheid and its lasting impact.
   Where You Can Get It: https://geni.us/t5FQvV8

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10. Title: Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
    Summary: Jared Diamond explores why certain civilizations thrived while others did not, attributing disparities to geographic and environmental factors rather than inherent differences in people.
    Why You Should Read It: This book challenges preconceived notions about inequality and human history with a fascinating, evidence-based narrative.
    Where You Can Get It: https://geni.us/BUJzjl3

Happy reading and I’ll see you guys in the next one!
V.

Dear all,

It’s been a minute, but back to updating the Descriptive/Narrative composition banks! This update includes essays from May 2024.

Want to gain the exact examples you need for that A*? Sign up for a Premium membership so that you don’t miss out, today!

V.

You’ll find the new essays below:

We hope you enjoyed these essays! If you want to join our IGCSE First Language English class or just want to know how we can help you, please feel free to fill in this form, or drop us a WhatsApp here.

Alternately, you may scan the QR code below:

The entire premise of this site is that it offers you a set of solutions, strategies, and suggestions on how you should excel in the art of rhetoric, the English language, and across both reading and writing.

Here, we’ve talked a lot about language analysis (and we may talk more), which is crucial to this exam, and that I teach you about as a guide whom you may not have met.

It is something that I am passionate about, and that I speak about quite a fair bit through thoughts and chicken scratchings that miraculously, thousands of you have considered as you’ve looked at my thoughts along the way.

Thank you very much for that, and for your overwhelming support.

Today though, I’d like to talk about something a little different.

However good a teacher is, they cannot be there 24-7.

Probably, reading this post is only going to take out 5 minutes out of your day of 24 hours – 0.3472% of your day – It is but a drop in the ocean of the time that you may spend in order to learn and to direct your energy.

It would require a miracle of monumental proportions, or an extreme density of information for me to send over words on my part that would directly empower you.

Clearly, there is no mention in this set of sentences that I am doing so – No specific mentions of how to write a summary, a directed writing piece, or any of the questions that you will be dealing with.

In part though, this is intentional, because every single one of those questions requires you to go beyond the superficialities of format and flow:

Your language is not just about memory, not just about copying what you’ve heard about. It is more than just reading the excellent sample essays that you will find in the Premium Memberships section. (To be updated soon!)

Instead, it is about the conscious decisions that you choose to make when you write, the pattern of inferences and the logical chain of reasoning that you participate in when you read.

The way certain words carry out a meaning to you. The associations that you make, and how you logically think through them. The mental models that come to mind when you start thinking about what you should say in response to any question, and the way that you follow through with that decision, as different parts of your pre-existing training come to the fore, as a pattern of decisions manifests itself upon the page.

Put simply, language is not about just using a particular strategy at a particular time. No, it is the entire architecture of how you think, and that cannot be conveyed in a mere 0.03% of a day.

This is how we come to the question of motivation. Because as I told you, I cannot be your eternal guru. It is simply impossible.

Somehow or another, you will have to embody a realization that a part of you must be self-directed. That it must choose to learn, and consciously make an effort, rather than just receive along the way – No strategy and no technique will help you unless you have that part of you that will push you onwards to learn more, to discover more, and to appreciate fully the nuances of language that a simple blog post like this or even any number of reference books cannot fully convey even as you appreciate their value.

If you find this little observation interesting, then that is good.

Maybe it will stimulate you to learn a little more than you would have in an alternate universe, because it unlocks the little part of you that says that you will push onward and continue the learning journey in a space beyond what you are reading at the moment, or what you are listening to.

In fact, I can imagine multiple possible scenarios taking place here as the universe splits open multiple pathways that could result.

In one pathway, you read this and you go away thinking that was an interesting blog post and nothing else happens. You don’t really question your life or anything that you’ve done so far and you treat this merely as an interesting Google search result.

Or perhaps make a mental note that this is something to share with your children and this is something to share with your children.

In another pathway of the millions possible, we can imagine that maybe you will read a book, think consciously for ten minutes in the course of a thought that you would not have had if you had chosen to just let it be.

But I would not unduly generalise things, because the reality is likely something in-between. Like thousands of other people, you probably found this particular blog post by an accident. You clicked upon a link, you were SEO’d, you went to the homepage, and then you saw me. And for whatever reason, you decided to continue reading. Maybe even get persuaded. Slowly, subtly, but suddenly, uncontrollably.

Even if you disagree, I would simply like to encourage you this.

If you saw some value in what you are seeing now and what you have seen on this website, consider sharing it with many more people out there, whether parents or fellow students: A good thing should not be kept to yourself after all, and things like these don’t spread just because of technology, but rather because you as a human choose to share it – because of what we intentionally choose to spread, support, and make successful.

Ours could very well be a generation that is motivated only by the grades, the exam scores, the potential employment opportunities, or the money that could come about. But there is something greater, I am sure, than what we are looking at and I am confident that you have a role in creating a part of that universe. Share your motivation today, and do your part to make this world the better place that you aspire for it to be.

Think of sharing this article as sharing your motivation, and think of sharing your motivation as sharing your success – A path that is chaotic, and that will lead to a better society in ways that you may not understand at the moment.