ooo ok def want to check out the Menkedick book, I've seen it around but haven't heard whether it's good, I'll take this as a recco? And Orenstein def on my list (the answer to my quandary may be also just... look at my list lolsob)
Two books that come to mind that might meet your criteria:
1 The Hidden Pleasures of Life, Theodore Zeldin. I truly can't remember much about this book (maybe that's not a good sign?), but I remember thoroughly enjoying it.
2 The Psychology of Money, Morgan House. This is definitely a breezy read, with lots of stories about lots of people, and a nice overarching narrative. Ostensibly it is about money, but Housel is such a gifted storyteller and his style is light enough that I think it would be decent pre-bedtime reading.
Other possible options worth checking out: A Natural History of the Senses and A Natural History of Love, Diane Ackerman. Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography and Boswell's Life of Johnson are also good reads, if you want to go in that direction.
I'm also just getting out of a reading rut (that lasted about six months, sigh). What got me out of it was The Lucky Ones by Zara Chowdhary and The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan. Currently reading
Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation: On the Social and Psychic Lives of Asian Americans by David L. Eng and Shinhee Han.
As for suggestions, if you haven't read them, last year I enjoyed The Other Significant Others by Rhaina Cohen and Single at Heart by Bella DePaulo. They are not about dating per se, but adjacent enough and easy enough to read that it might fit your needs right now!
Thank you so much for this! Opening multiple tabs as we speak. I'm def not actively looking for anything about dating, I have plenty of those (although def checking out the DePaulo book now, and have had Cohen on my radar for a while). My main search is for excellent, reported or heavily researched narrative, polyphonic books about big topics, rather than the story of one event or one family or one company
DePaulo's book is super interesting, and I found it helpful for thinking about myself. She frames being single at heart as a spectrum. I'm about 65% single at heart, with people who are 100% preferring to be single and most likely to live alone. It also explains a lot about how I feel about dating and online dating!
Ordinary Insanity by Sarah Menkedick come to mind. And perhaps Peggy Orenstein’s books?
ooo ok def want to check out the Menkedick book, I've seen it around but haven't heard whether it's good, I'll take this as a recco? And Orenstein def on my list (the answer to my quandary may be also just... look at my list lolsob)
Yes, it’s good!
Two books that come to mind that might meet your criteria:
1 The Hidden Pleasures of Life, Theodore Zeldin. I truly can't remember much about this book (maybe that's not a good sign?), but I remember thoroughly enjoying it.
2 The Psychology of Money, Morgan House. This is definitely a breezy read, with lots of stories about lots of people, and a nice overarching narrative. Ostensibly it is about money, but Housel is such a gifted storyteller and his style is light enough that I think it would be decent pre-bedtime reading.
Other possible options worth checking out: A Natural History of the Senses and A Natural History of Love, Diane Ackerman. Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography and Boswell's Life of Johnson are also good reads, if you want to go in that direction.
I'm also just getting out of a reading rut (that lasted about six months, sigh). What got me out of it was The Lucky Ones by Zara Chowdhary and The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan. Currently reading
Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation: On the Social and Psychic Lives of Asian Americans by David L. Eng and Shinhee Han.
As for suggestions, if you haven't read them, last year I enjoyed The Other Significant Others by Rhaina Cohen and Single at Heart by Bella DePaulo. They are not about dating per se, but adjacent enough and easy enough to read that it might fit your needs right now!
Thank you so much for this! Opening multiple tabs as we speak. I'm def not actively looking for anything about dating, I have plenty of those (although def checking out the DePaulo book now, and have had Cohen on my radar for a while). My main search is for excellent, reported or heavily researched narrative, polyphonic books about big topics, rather than the story of one event or one family or one company
DePaulo's book is super interesting, and I found it helpful for thinking about myself. She frames being single at heart as a spectrum. I'm about 65% single at heart, with people who are 100% preferring to be single and most likely to live alone. It also explains a lot about how I feel about dating and online dating!