The Seven
Nonfiction Books to Read
This Summer
By Faith Walessa
Though the line comes from a piece of fantasy, "A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone" is plain fact.
With summer passing quickly by, we’re here to encourage you to slow it down with a return to reading. We’re holding up our end of the bargain by cutting out one of the hardest steps in a reading slump: finding that next title with words that catch you by surprise and remind you of the magic bound in books. If you missed last week’s post, we chose seven of our favorite fiction books to start off your summer with a burst of imagination and compelling storytelling. Now, we’re back to present you with some works from what is often the less popular genre for bookworms: nonfiction.
Reading widely and well is a hallmark of a good education, but those of us who enjoy reading as a form of escapism or relaxation may hesitate to reach for nonfiction as easily as we would an adventure novel or a fairytale. However, the beauty of nonfiction is the telling done well—the art of noticing. The nonfiction author must present reality, our most abundant commodity. We need nonfiction to guide us through those parts of human life that are so obvious they are unreachable. This means the good nonfiction author charges themselves with rising up and out of life to convince us that we are seeing, as if for the first time, the only thing we have ever known. This task is left to the writers of philosophy, history, religion, politics, and essays on topics of all kinds. Those that do it well are deep-sighted, brilliant minds, a selection of whose works we have compiled below. I hope that while you enjoyed the summer of beautiful stories we recommended before, you find it matched here by the beauty of reality made clear.
I. The Abolition of Man, by C. S. Lewis.
The Abolition of Man is a relatively short novel and philosophical argument against moral relativism, in favor of a universal law and proper moral education. Lewis finds the main issue to be with modern education and its shallow emphasis on subjectivity. This loss of objective value leaves us sure of nothing, allowing us to be easily conditioned and manipulated, in an abolition of the proper reasoning and moral pursuit that makes us truly human.
II. Walden; or, Life in the Woods, by Henry David Thoreau.
Walden is a vividly descriptive reflection on what can be learned from those parts of life most quiet and simple. Thoreau wrote Walden as part of a personal experiment, living alone in a secluded cabin in the woods and exploring the powers of self-reliance and nature to see if he would find the meaning of life.
III. Heretics, by G. K. Chesterton.
Heretics is a collection of some of Chesterton’s finest, wittiest, and most passionate essays, written in critique of modern intellectual and cultural departures from true reason, grounded in reality and morality. He addresses many progressive authors like H. G. Wells, Kipling, and Bernard Shaw, arguing that modern thought does not bring the freedom it promises. He proposes instead that this true kind of freedom is only found in the willing surrender of traditional religion.
In omnibus requiem quæsivi, sed non inveni, nisi in hoexkens ende boexkens.
I sought peace everywhere, but have never yet found it, except in nooks and books.
IV. Democracy in America, by Alexis de Tocqueville.
Democracy in America was written by a Frenchman visiting America in the 1830s, who concerned himself with the cultural activity of a democratic society, and what lessons and warnings he might find for his fellow Europeans. He recognized that democracy was not just a form of government, but a social mindset, and authored this two-volume work exploring American ideas of equality, civil society, spirit, religion, and exceptionalism.
V. Dê Brevitâte Vîtæ (On the Shortness of Life), by Seneca the Younger.
On the Shortness of Life is a classic work of Stoic philosophy, where Seneca decides that life is in fact not short at all—when lived correctly. He argues that those who are constantly busy are usually trivially so, feeding desires for wealth, entertainment, or power. He urges us to treasure time and spend it in pursuit of wisdom and virtue, so that we find we have lived a long life well spent, regardless of the number of years we are given.
VI. A Room of One’s Own, by Virginia Woolf.
This is not a book, but an extended essay adapted from lectures Woolf delivered at Cambridge on the requirements for artistry and the relationship between women and fiction. She argues that the freedom, time, and economic independence required for the great writer had been historically denied to women, meaning that society, and not a lack of talent, had previously kept women from literature. She reflects also on the value of writing that can transcend anger and bitterness from this past to present truth first and foremost.
VII. Politics and the English Language, by George Orwell.
While also not strictly a book, this longer form essay by George Orwell argues for the inseparable connection between language and thought. Harnessing many of the themes of 1984, Politics and the English Language warns that the decay of language is equal parts symptom and cause of political manipulation. However, he offers part of the cure through advice and analysis, making the essay an ideal tool for the aspiring writer, exploring the ways to refine and revive a language gone lazy.
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Once again, all the authors we present here are part of CLT’s Author Bank, a full list of which can be found here. Reading is a gift, and we hope you put it to good use this summer alongside these beloved minds of the past and their ability to tell the truth.
Faith Walessa hails from Ontario, Canada, and is currently a sophomore at Hillsdale College. She loves fanciful poetry, theater, reading by flashlight, and mint chocolate chip ice cream.
If you enjoyed this piece, be sure to check out our podcast, Anchored—or if you’d like to see more from the Journal, take a look at our recent pair of series on informal fallacies and informal logic. Have a great weekend.
Published on 18th July, 2025. Page image of Nighthawks (1942) by Edward Hopper.