There is no shortage of advice about how to live well. It arrives through podcasts, social media, newsletters and apps, often in short pieces that are easy to read and just as easy to forget.

Books are different. A good book gives an idea the space it needs. It lets the writer explain the research, tell the stories behind it and admit what we still don’t know. It asks for more of our time, and usually gives more back.

The books on this list cover the subjects we come back to most at Wellness Seen: sleep and rest, food, the mind, the body and time outdoors. Some are written by scientists and doctors, some by journalists, and some by writers who thought hard about how they wanted to live.

Not every idea in them will suit everyone, and some of their authors have been challenged on parts of their work. That is part of reading well. Take what is useful, question what isn’t and leave the rest.

These are ten books we think are worth the time, grouped by subject so you can start wherever you like.

Sleep and rest

Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker. A neuroscientist on what sleep does for us.

Wintering, by Katherine May. On rest and retreat in difficult times.

Rest, by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang. Why we get more done when we work less.

Food

Ultra-Processed People, by Chris van Tulleken. A doctor looks at what ultra-processed food is and how it came to fill our shelves.

Food for Life, by Tim Spector. A guide to eating well, from the scientist behind Zoe.

Mind

Four Thousand Weeks, by Oliver Burkeman. On time, and how to spend it.

Stolen Focus, by Johann Hari. Why it has become so hard to pay attention.

Body

Breath, by James Nestor. A journalist’s investigation into how we breathe.

Outlive, by Peter Attia. A doctor on living longer and better.

Outdoors

The Nature Fix, by Florence Williams. What time in nature does for us.