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
The big idea: Is it your personality, or a disorder?
Psychological diagnoses offer an easy way in to understanding character – but our habit of using them comes at a cost
The Joy of Small Things by Hannah Jane Parkinson review – a compendium of delights
The Guardian writer’s collection of her columns is a droll and open-hearted bite-size read
Jimmy Carr on booze, taxes and being a virgin at 26: ‘Do I sound like an incel elder?’
The controversial comic’s new book is a surprising mix of memoir and self-help. Has having a baby softened his edges? He talks about depression, anxiety, punching down and his friend Sean Lock
A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century review – self-help laced with pseudoscience
Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein attempt to show how human nature is at odds with modern society, but their science, and style, grates
Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman review – a brief treatise on time
A sage and sane theory of ‘time unmanagement’ exhorts us to stop chasing the seconds and embrace the joy of missing out
Can ‘smart thinking’ books really give you the edge?
Trust your gut, boost your memory, de-bias your decision making… can we train our brains to perform better?
Inflamed by Rupa Marya and Raj Patel review – modern medicine’s racial divide
The colonial legacy of healthcare is laid bare in an urgent study of how medicine has progressed – and who has been left behind