You won’t know the name Ms Wyomia Tyus, but you should. Now 75, Tyus is a long-retired track and field sprinter and the first person of any gender to retain the Olympic title in the 100-metre sprint. Not only is her autobiography a gripping sporting memoir (Tyus also claimed gold at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg and would claim four Olympic medals in total), it also sees a Black woman demolish the limits of what she was told she could achieve in an era beset by racism and sexism.

From setting world records to deconstructing barriers, plus her role in supporting the Olympic Project for Human Rights, Tyus’ story is a decades-long account of fighting for oppressed people the world over. An inspiring story of excellence on every level, Tigerbelle is a winning addition to any “to read” pile.

Plato is a name ubiquitous among cod-philosophers. But how many of us would feel confident leading a water-cooler debate on his work? The Republic, published around 375 BC, is not only Plato’s most well-known work, but also widely acknowledged as one of the most influential works in the history of thought. Presented as a dialogue between Socrates and various Athenians, it tackles the meaning of justice, happiness and everything in between.

Instead of focusing on the minutiae of the day to day, Plato’s work tackles the big, overarching themes that remain universally relevant. A vital lesson in humility, all of us would surely benefit from reminding ourselves that – as the great philosopher wrote – “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”

Somewhere between 2,300 and 3,100 years ago, an adventurous band of explorers set out from Asia to see what the great ocean to their east held. With only the most rudimentary of tools to hand, they managed to discover and colonise Polynesian islands from Samoa to Hawaii and everywhere in between.

In Sea People, her in-depth and deeply accessible account of these ocean-going innovators, Ms Thompson asks how these early explorers not only found but sustained societies on some of the world’s most far-flung landmasses without things as advanced as the written word or metal tools. An awe-inspiring reminder that if the ancestors of modern Polynesia can navigate the Pacific with little more than a wooden canoe and some sea-sick livestock, you should be able to stay afloat today.

Raised in the ancient forests of British Columbia, Professor Suzanne Simard’s life was only ever going to go one way. Starting out as a public servant in the forest service, Simard developed a lifelong fascination with trees – a fascination that eventually led to a PhD in forest sciences at Oregon State University and a bestselling book on the intricate and astounding ways the natural world connects to itself.

In Finding The Mother Tree, Simard explores how the trees in our forests not only communicate but actually work to cooperate and heal each other, sharing a collective memory, wisdom and even sentience, all of which is guided by the mysterious “mother trees”, powerful entities that help sustain woodlands across the globe.

A vital reminder that humanity does not exist apart from Earth’s natural ecosystems. Like the networks of trees populating forests from the Amazon to London’s Richmond Park, we’re an integral part of it all.

If the global pandemic taught us one thing, it is that even amid the turmoil and pain, there was beauty in slowing down. Mr Thích Nhất Hạnh, a Vietnamese monk, peace activist, and dedicated student of Thiền Buddhism, has been preaching this message for some time. Part of a series of books penned by the spiritual figurehead, this slender volume introduces readers to the foundations of mindful meditation and practise.

Taking a secular approach to the topic, How To Sit teaches the simple basics of posture and breathing, along with how to nurture concentration and compassion. A book you’ll return to time and again, this is guaranteed to become a well-thumbed addition to your daily practice.

As anyone who has ever dedicated themselves to a strict diet knows, the future doesn’t start tomorrow, but right now. This very second. In fact, since you began reading this entry, we’ve all, collectively, as a species, travelled a few seconds further into an increasingly unknowable future. Which is why you shouldn’t hesitate to read The Future We Choose.

A former UN executive secretary for climate change, Ms Figueres is uniquely placed to explore the byzantine challenges facing our planet in the coming years. Optimistically, she concludes that our planet is not doomed and that we can and will survive. Yet, this future is far from assured; the coming decade will be a crucial turning point in which we must choose to turn our minds from ecological indifference or despair towards determination for a better future. There’s no better time to begin.

An acclaimed journalist often cited as the heir to Mr Ernest Hemingway, and author of non-fiction accounts including the pragmatically titled War (2010), Mr Sebastian Junger returns with a book of a gentler, but no less urgent nature.

In Freedom, the award-winning correspondent tackles the never more expedient issue of personal freedoms versus our desire for community. Along with two veterans of the war in Afghanistan, Junger set himself the challenge of walking the railroad tracks of the Northeastern US in search of solitude and the last true wilderness.

Junger’s crisp and direct writing itself is worth the price of a hardback. But it’s his deviations into tales of primatology and boxing strategy, the role of women in resistance movements, Apache renegades and the brutal reality of life on the Pennsylvania frontier that truly make this a standout tome about friendship, liberty and the very concept of freedom in 2021 and beyond.