Best 2019, Best Books, Best Year-End, Nonfiction

The Best Nonfiction Books of 2019 (A Year-End List Aggregation)

“What are the best Nonfiction books released in 2019?” We looked at 371 of the top Nonfiction books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

The top 28 books, all appearing on 3 or more “Best Nonfiction” book lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 325+ titles, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.

Our other Best Of 2019 Articles:

Our Other Years: 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015

Happy Scrolling!



Top 28 Best Nonfiction Books From 2019



28 .) Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language written by Gretchen McCulloch

Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language

Lists It Appears On:

  • BookPage
  • Amazon 2
  • Esquire

The internet isn’t the first technology to alter how we communicate, but it is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. The programmers behind the apps and platforms we use decide how our conversations are structured



27 .) Catch And Kill: Lies, Spies, And A Conspiracy To Protect Predators written by Ronan Farrow

Catch And Kill: Lies, Spies, And A Conspiracy To Protect Predators

Lists It Appears On:

  • Amazon 2
  • Goodreads
  • NPR

In this instant New York Times bestselling account of violence and espionage, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Ronan Farrow exposes serial abusers and a cabal of powerful interests hell-bent on covering up the truth, at any cost. In 2017, a ro



26 .) How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir written by Saeed Jones

How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir

Lists It Appears On:

  • Publishers Weekly
  • NPR
  • Iowa Public Radio

WINNER OF THE 2019 KIRKUS PRIZE IN NONFICTION One of the most anticipated books of Fall 2019—as selected by O, The Oprah Magazine; Marie Claire; Entertainment Weekly; Time; The Millions; Refinery29; Good Housekeeping; and many more. “A moving, bracingly ho



25 .) I Like To Watch: Arguing My Way Through The TV Revolution written by Emily Nussbaum

I Like To Watch: Arguing My Way Through The TV Revolution

Lists It Appears On:

  • TVexamined
  • Esquire
  • NPR

From The New Yorker’s fiercely original, Pulitzer Prize-winning culture critic, a provocative collection of new and previously published essays arguing that we are what we watch. “Emily Nussbaum is the perfect critic—smart, engaging, funny, generous, and i



24 .) I Miss You When I Blink: Essays written by Mary Laura Philpott

I Miss You When I Blink: Essays

Lists It Appears On:

  • BookPage
  • Esquire
  • NPR

NATIONAL BESTSELLER “I’ve spent my adult life prowling bookshelves for the modern-day reincarnation of my favorite authors—Nora Ephron, Erma Bombeck, Jean Kerr, and Laurie Colwin—all rolled into one…Good news: I have finally found their successor.” —Elis



23 .) Know My Name: A Memoir written by Chanel Miller

Know My Name: A Memoir

Lists It Appears On:

  • SheReads
  • TIME
  • NPR

‘I can’t wait to read it’ Dolly Alderton ‘Extraordinary woman turning pain into power. Chanel Miller, it’s a privilege to know your name, and to celebrate it’ Thandie Newton ‘You are a brave soul. You are more than the identity given to you by the media an



22 .) Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive written by Stephanie Land

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive

Lists It Appears On:

  • King County Library System
  • Amazon 2
  • SheReads

Evicted meets Nickel and Dimed in Stephanie Land’s memoir about working as a maid, a beautiful and gritty exploration of poverty in America. Includes a foreword by Barbara Ehrenreich. At 28, Stephanie Land’s plans of breaking free from the roots of her hom



21 .) Maybe You Should Talk to Someone written by Lori Gottlieb

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

Lists It Appears On:

  • BookPage
  • King County Library System
  • Goodreads

“From a New York Timesbest-selling writer, psychotherapist, and advice columnist, a brilliant and surprising new book that takes us behind the scenes of a therapist’s world–where her patients are in crisis (and so is she)”–



20 .) Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster written by Adam Higginbotham

Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster

Lists It Appears On:

  • City of Asylum Bookstore
  • NPR
  • TIME

–THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER– ‘An invaluable contribution to history.’ Serhii Plokhy, Evening Standard ‘Tells the story of the disaster and its gruesome aftermath with thriller-like flair. Midnight in Chernobyl is wonderful and chilling … written wit



19 .) Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century written by George Packer

Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century

Lists It Appears On:

  • Publishers Weekly
  • NPR
  • Powell’s

“Portrays Holbrooke in all of his endearing and exasperating self-willed glory…Both a sweeping diplomatic history and a Shakespearean tragicomedy… If you could read one book to comprehend American’s foreign policy and its quixotic forays into quicksand



18 .) Parkland: Birth Of A Movement written by Dave Cullen

Parkland: Birth Of A Movement

Lists It Appears On:

  • King County Library System
  • Goodreads
  • NPR

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER On the first anniversary of the events at Parkland, the acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of Columbine offers an intimate, deeply moving account of the extraordinary teenage survivors who became activists and pushed b



17 .) The Mosquito: A Human History Of Our Deadliest Predator written by Timothy C. Winegard

The Mosquito: A Human History Of Our Deadliest Predator

Lists It Appears On:

  • CBC
  • Amazon 2
  • NPR

A pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction that offers a dramatic new perspective on the history of humankind, showing how through millennia, the mosquito has been the single most powerful force in determining humanity’s fate Why was gin



16 .) Go Ahead In The Rain: Notes To A Tribe Called Quest written by Hanif Abdurraqib

Go Ahead In The Rain: Notes To A Tribe Called Quest

Lists It Appears On:

  • Book Riot
  • City of Asylum Bookstore
  • NPR
  • Powell’s

How does one pay homage to A Tribe Called Quest? The seminal rap group brought jazz into the genre, resurrecting timeless rhythms to create masterpieces such as The Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders. Seventeen years after their last album, they resurre



15 .) The Witches are Coming written by Lindy West

The Witches are Coming

Lists It Appears On:

  • Esquire
  • Goodreads
  • NPR
  • TVexamined

In this wickedly funny cultural critique, the author of the critically acclaimed memoir and Hulu series Shrill exposes misogyny in the #MeToo era. THIS IS A WITCH HUNT.WE’RE WITCHES,AND WE’RE HUNTING YOU. From the moment powerful men started falling to the



14 .) Thick: And Other Essays written by Tressie McMillan Cottom

Thick: And Other Essays

Lists It Appears On:

  • King County Library System
  • Goodreads
  • NPR
  • TVexamined

“In these eight … explorations on beauty, media, money, and more, Tressie McMillan Cottom–award-winning professor and … author of Lower Ed–embraces her … role as a purveyor of wit, wisdom, and Black Twitter snark about all that is right and much th



13 .) Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS written by Azadeh Moaveni.

Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS

Lists It Appears On:

  • Readings
  • Five Books
  • Publishers Weekly
  • NPR
  • Toronto Star

An intimate, deeply reported account of the women who made a shocking decision: to leave their comfortable lives behind and join the Islamic State. In early 2014, the Islamic State clinched its control of Raqqa in Syria. Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, urged



12 .) The Heartbeat Of Wounded Knee: Native America From 1890 To The Present written by David Treuer

The Heartbeat Of Wounded Knee: Native America From 1890 To The Present

Lists It Appears On:

  • Amazon 2
  • Booklist
  • City of Asylum Bookstore
  • TIME
  • NPR

FINALIST FOR THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Chapter after chapter, it’s like one shattered myth after another.” – NPR “An informed, moving and kaleidoscopic portrait…



11 .) The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming written by David Wallace-Wells.

The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming

Lists It Appears On:

  • Readings
  • King County Library System
  • City of Asylum Bookstore
  • NPR
  • Toronto Star

“The Uninhabitable Earth hits you like a comet, with an overflow of insanely lyrical prose about our pending Armageddon.”–Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon It is worse, much worse, than you think. If your anxiety about global warming is dominate



10 .) The Yellow House: A Memoir written by Sarah M. Broom

The Yellow House: A Memoir

Lists It Appears On:

  • Book Riot
  • Powell’s
  • City of Asylum Bookstore
  • TIME
  • NPR

A brilliant, haunting and unforgettable memoir from a stunning new talent about the inexorable pull of home and family, set in a shotgun house in New Orleans East.



9.) How to Be an Antiracist written by Ibram X. Kendi

How to Be an Antiracist

Lists It Appears On:

  • Book Riot
  • Amazon 2
  • City of Asylum Bookstore
  • Publishers Weekly
  • Goodreads
  • NPR

Not being racist is not enough. We have to be antiracist. In this rousing and deeply empathetic book, Ibram X. Kendi, founding director of the Antiracism Research and Policy Center, shows that when it comes to racism, neutrality is not an option: until we



8.) Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder And Memory In Northern Ireland written by Patrick Radden Keefe

Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder And Memory In Northern Ireland

Lists It Appears On:

  • King County Library System
  • Amazon 2
  • City of Asylum Bookstore
  • TIME
  • NPR
  • Powell’s

One of the New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR – TIME MAGAZINE ONE OF THE BEST 10 BOOKS OF THE YEAR – WASHINGTON POST NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD “Masked



7.) She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story that Helped Ignite a Movement written by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story that Helped Ignite a Movement

Lists It Appears On:

  • King County Library System
  • Publishers Weekly
  • USA Today
  • Esquire
  • Goodreads
  • NPR



6.) The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays written by Esmé Weijun Wang

The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays

Lists It Appears On:

  • King County Library System
  • Powell’s
  • Publishers Weekly
  • TIME
  • Goodreads
  • NPR

Powerful, affecting essays on mental illness, winner of the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize and a Whiting Award An intimate, moving book written with the immediacy and directness of one who still struggles with the effects of mental and chronic illness, Th



5.) Three Women written by Lisa Taddeo

Three Women

Lists It Appears On:

  • Amazon 2
  • Readings
  • SheReads
  • Esquire
  • Goodreads
  • Powell’s

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “THIS IS THE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR. This is it. This is the one…It blew the top of my head off and I haven’t been able to stop thinking or talking about it since.” —Elizabeth Gilbert “Taddeo spent eight years reporting this g



4.) Underland: A Deep Time Journey written by Robert Macfarlane

Underland: A Deep Time Journey

Lists It Appears On:

  • Book Riot
  • City of Asylum Bookstore
  • Publishers Weekly
  • TIME
  • NPR
  • Powell’s

The unmissable new book from the bestselling, prize-winning author of Landmarks, The Old Ways and The Lost Words ‘You’d be crazy not to read this book’ The Sunday Times ‘Underland is a magnificent feat of writing, travelling and thinking that feels genuine



3.) Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion written by Jia Tolentino

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion

Lists It Appears On:

  • Readings
  • King County Library System
  • Powell’s
  • City of Asylum Bookstore
  • Esquire
  • Goodreads
  • NPR

A breakout writer at The New Yorker examines the fractures at the center of contemporary culture with verve, deftness, and intellectual ferocity–for readers who’ve wondered what Susan Sontag would have been like if she had brain damage from the internet.



2.) In The Dream House: A Memoir written by Carmen Maria Machado

In The Dream House: A Memoir

Lists It Appears On:

  • Book Riot
  • Iowa Public Radio
  • Powell’s
  • City of Asylum Bookstore
  • Publishers Weekly
  • TIME
  • Esquire
  • NPR

In the Dream House is Carmen Maria Machado’s engrossing and wildly innovative account of a relationship gone bad. Tracing the full arc of a harrowing experience with a charismatic but volatile woman, this is a bold dissection of the mechanisms and cultural



1.) Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee written by Casey Cep

Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee

Lists It Appears On:

  • Iowa Public Radio
  • Amazon 2
  • Book Riot
  • City of Asylum Bookstore
  • Five Books
  • Publishers Weekly
  • TIME
  • Goodreads
  • NPR

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION ‘A triumph on every level. One of the losses to literature is that Harper Lee never found a way to tell a gothic true-crime story she’d spent years researching. Casey Cep has excavated this mes




The 325+ Additional Best Nonfiction Books Released In 2019



#BooksAuthorsLists
29Acid for the Children: A MemoirFlea
Publishers Weekly
   NPR
30Aloha Rodeo: Three Hawaiian Cowboys, The World’s Greatest Rodeo, And A Hidden History Of The American WestDavid Wolman and Julian Smith
BookPage
   NPR
31
American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century
 
Amazon 2
   
Goodreads
32Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of AmericaJames Poniewozik
Publishers Weekly
   NPR
33AxiomaticMaria Tumarkin
Book Riot
   
Publishers Weekly
34Born to Fly: The First Women’s Air Race Across AmericaSteve Sheinkin
Iowa Public Radio
   
School Library Journal
35Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass IncarcerationEmily Bazelon
Publishers Weekly
   NPR
36Gods of the Upper Air: How a Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented Race, Sex, and Gender in the Twentieth CenturyCharles King
City of Asylum Bookstore
   
Publishers Weekly
37Good TalkMira Jacob
King County Library System
   
Book Riot
38Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law 
BookPage
   
BookPage
39HorizonBarry LopezNPR
   
Toronto Star
40How To Do Nothing: Resisting The Attention EconomyJenny OdellNPR
   Powell’s
41How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United StatesDaniel Immerwahr
Publishers Weekly
   NPR
42If You Lived Here You’d Be Home By Now: Why We Traded The Commuting Life For A Little House On The PrairieChristopher IngrahamNPR
   
BookPage
43Late MigrationsMargaret Renkl
Iowa Public Radio
   
City of Asylum Bookstore
44Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls: A MemoirT Kira Madden
Book Riot
   Esquire
45Make It Scream, Make It BurnLeslie Jamison
Iowa Public Radio
   Esquire
46Maoism: A Global HistoryJulia Lovell
Five Books
   
Marginal Revolution
47MothIsabel Thomas
Iowa Public Radio
   
School Library Journal
48No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill UsRachel Louise SnyderEsquire
   
Publishers Weekly
49Norco ’80: The True Story Of The Most Spectacular Bank Robbery In American HistoryPeter HoulahanNPR
   
SheReads
50Permanent RecordEdward SnowdenNPR
   
Toronto Star
51Solitary: Unbroken By Four Decades In Solitary ConfinementAlbert Woodfox
Publishers Weekly
   NPR
52Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to ComeJessica Pan
King County Library System
   
SheReads
53Super Pumped: The Battle For UberMike Isaac
Amazon 2
   NPR
54The BodyBill Bryson
BookPage
   
Iowa Public Radio
55The Education of an Idealist: A MemoirSamantha Power
Publishers Weekly
   NPR
56The Impeachers: The Trial Of Andrew Johnson And The Dream Of A Just NationBrenda Wineapple
Publishers Weekly
   NPR
57The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown Amazon
   
School Library Journal
58The Lives of Lucian Freud: The Restless Years, 1922–1968William Feaver
Publishers Weekly
   
Five Books
59
The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World
 
USA Today
   
Goodreads
60The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across The Last Untamed FrontierIan Urbina
Amazon 2
   NPR
61The UndefeatedKwame AlexanderAmazon
   NPR
62The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, And CareAnne Boyer
Book Riot
   NPR
63This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant’s ManifestoSuketu MehtaNPR
   TIME
64What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir In EssaysDamon Young
City of Asylum Bookstore
   NPR
65What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the SilenceMichele FilgateNPR
   Esquire
66Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?Caitlin Doughty
BookPage
   
King County Library System
67Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents And Flourishing As We AgeMary Pipher
King County Library System
   NPR
68Year of the MonkeyPatti Smith
Readings
   NPR
69A Bookshop in Berlin  
70
A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing: The Incarceration of African American Women from Harriet Tubman to Sandra Bland
 Booklist
71A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life Of Music And Cheap LessonsBen FoldsNPR
72A Good American Family: The Red Scare And My FatherDavid MaranissNPR
73A Good Provider Is One Who Leaves: One Family and Migration In The 21st CenturyJason DeParleNPR
74A Good WifeSamra Zafar, with Meg MastersCBC
75A Mind Spread Out on the GroundAlicia ElliottCBC
76
A Place To Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation
 
School Library Journal
77A Polar Affair 
BookPage
78A Primer for Forgetting: Getting Past the Past 
City of Asylum Bookstore
79A Queer History of the United States for Young People 
School Library Journal
80A Summer with Montaigne: On the Art of Living Well 
Book Riot
81A True Book: 
Booklist 3
82A Woman Of No Importance: The Untold Story Of The American Spy Who Helped Win World War IISonia PurnellNPR
83American like Me: Reflections on Life between Cultures Booklist
84An American Summer: Love And Death In ChicagoAlex KotlowitzNPR
85
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People
 
School Library Journal
86Angry Queer Somali BoyMohamed Abdulkarim AliCBC
87Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-utopians, and the Hijacking of the American ConversationAndrew Marantz
Publishers Weekly
88Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad OnesJames Clear
Marta’s Muse
89Beastly Puzzles: A Brain-Boggling Animal Guessing GameRachel Poliquin, illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler
Iowa Public Radio
90Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and DoJennifer L. EberhardtEsquire
91Big Wonderful Thing: A History Of TexasStephen HarriganNPR
92
Black Power Encyclopedia: From “Black Is Beautiful” to Urban Uprisings
 Booklist
93Blood: A MemoirAllison MoorerNPR
94
Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth
 
Goodreads
95Brave FaceShaun David Hutchinson
Chicago Public Library
96Breathe: A Letter to My Sons 
Book Riot
97
Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds: 100 New Ways to See the World
 
Iowa Public Radio
98
Buried Lives: The Enslaved People of George Washington’s Mount Vernon
 
Booklist 2
99Call Them By Their True NamesRebecca Solnit
TVexamined
100CamgirlIsa MazzeiNPR
101Captured Television History 4D 
Booklist 3
102Chop Suey NationAnn HuiCBC
103Colin McCahon: There is only one direction, Vol 1 1919-1959Peter Simpson
newsroom
104Collected SchizophreniasEsme Weijun Wang
Iowa Public Radio
105Conservation Success Stories 
Booklist 3
106Cosy 
BookPage
107Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide To Better, More Relaxed Parenting, From Birth To PreschoolEmily OsterNPR
108
Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History
 
USA Today
109Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreño Played the Piano for President LincolnMargarita Engle
Iowa Public Radio
110Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan 
Marginal Revolution
111Daughter of Family GAmi McKayCBC
112
Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power
 
Book Riot
113Dead People I Have KnownShayne Carter
newsroom
114Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen Booklist
115Dear Scarlet: The Story of My Postpartum DepressionTeresa Wong
SheReads
116
Defining Documents in American History: LGBTQ+ (1923–2017)
 Booklist
117Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy WorldCal Newport
Marta’s Muse
118Disturbance: Surviving Charlie Hebdo 
City of Asylum Bookstore
119Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West 
Amazon 2
120Dreyer’s EnglishBenjamin Dreyer
King County Library System
121Drive-Thru Dreams: A Journey Through The Heart Of America’s Fast-Food KingdomAdam ChandlerNPR
122EdisonEdmund Morris
Publishers Weekly
123Elizabethan Globalism: England, China And The Rainbow PortraitMatthew DimmockNPR
124Eloquent RageBrittney Cooper
TVexamined
125Embrace Your Weird: Face Your Fears and Unleash Creativity 
Goodreads
126
Enemy Child: The Story of Norman Mineta, a Boy Imprisoned in a Japanese American Internment Camp During World War II
 
School Library Journal
127Epic Continent: Adventures In The Great Stories Of EuropeNicholas JubberNPR
128Essays One 
Marginal Revolution
129Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope 
Goodreads
130Fentanyl, Inc 
Marginal Revolution
131
Finding Narnia: The Story of C. S. Lewis and His Brother Warnie
 Amazon
132Finding the Heart of the NationThomas Mayor
Readings
133First: Sandra Day O’ConnorEvan ThomasNPR
134
Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution
 
Marginal Revolution
135Five Days Gone: The Mystery Of My Mother’s Disappearance As A ChildLaura CummingNPR
136
Flash Count Diary: Menopause and the Vindication of Natural Life
 
Book Riot
137Floating Coast: An Environmental History Of The Bering StraitBathsheba DemuthNPR
138For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics Booklist
139For Small Creatures Such as We 
BookPage
140For the Love of Men: A New Vision for Mindful MasculinityLiz PlankEsquire
141Formation: A Woman’s Memoir of Stepping Out of LineRyan Leigh DostieEsquire
142From the AshesJesse ThistleCBC
143Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams 
Booklist 2
144
Games of Deception: The True Story of the First U.S. Olympic Basketball Team at the 1936 Olympics in Hitler’s Germany
 Amazon
145Gender QueerMaia Kobabe
King County Library System
146Geo Facts 
Booklist 3
147
Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals
 
Goodreads
148God Save The Queens: The Essential History Of Women In Hip-HopKathy IandoliNPR
149Good To Go: What The Athlete In All Of Us Can Learn From The Strange Science Of RecoveryChristie AschwandenNPR
150
Grace Will Lead Us Home: The Charleston Church Massacre and the Hard, Inspiring Journey to Forgiveness
 
Goodreads
151Gracefully You: Finding Beauty and Balance in the EverydayJenna Dewan
SheReads
152Greek to Me 
BookPage
153Grow Younger with Great FoodDr Catherine Stone and Jessica Giljam-Brown
newsroom
154Had It ComingRobyn DoolittleCBC
155Hammering for Freedom. 
Booklist 2
156Happiness Is BakingMaida Heatter
King County Library System
157Hello I Want to Die Please Fix MeAnna Mehler PapernyCBC
158Her Body and Other Parties 
Book Riot
159Here We Are: American Dreams, American NightmaresAaarti Namdev ShahaniNPR
160Hey, Water! 
School Library Journal
161Hidden Wonders (Lonely Planet Kids) Amazon
162High SchoolTegan Quin & Sara QuinCBC
163Hollywood’s Eve: Eve Babitz And The Secret History Of L.A.Lili AnolikNPR
164Horror Stories: A MemoirLiz PhairNPR
165Hot CombEbony FlowersNPR
166How to Be a Family 
BookPage
167How To Build A Dragon Or Die Trying: A Satirical Look At Cutting-Edge SciencePaul Knoepfler and Julie KnoepflerNPR
168
How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems
 
Iowa Public Radio
169I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic MemoirMalaka GharibNPR
170I’m Trying to Love Math Amazon
171IBM: The Fall and Reinvention of a Global Icon 
Marginal Revolution
172In My Own MoccasinsHelen KnottCBC
173In Pain: A Bioethicist’s Personal Struggle With OpioidsTravis RiederNPR
174
In the Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy
 
Marginal Revolution
175In The Country Of Women: A MemoirSusan StraightNPR
176In the Headlines 
Booklist 3
177In WavesA.J. DungoNPR
178
Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace
 Amazon
179InheritanceDani Shapiro
King County Library System
180Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for MenCaroline Criado Perez.
Toronto Star
181It Feels Good To Be Yourself: A Book About Gender Identity 
School Library Journal
182Janis: Her Life and MusicHolly George-Warren
Publishers Weekly
183Jerome Robbins, By Himself: Selections From His Letters, Journals, Drawings, Photographs, And An Unfinished MemoirJerome Robbins, editedNPR
184Jewish Emancipation: A History of Five Centuries 
Marginal Revolution
185Just Like Beverly: A Biography Of Beverly ClearyVicki Conrad, illustratedNPR
186Kid GlovesLucy Knisley
King County Library System
187Kitten Lady’s Big Book of Little Kittens Amazon
188Kochland: The Secret History Of Koch Industries And Corporate Power In AmericaChristopher LeonardNPR
189La Frontera: El viaje con papá / My Journey with Papa 
Booklist 2
190Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power 
Marginal Revolution
191Last Boat Out Of Shanghai: The Epic Story Of The Chinese Who Fled Mao’s RevolutionHelen ZiaNPR
192Leading the Way: Women In Power Amazon
193Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir Of Recording And Discording With Wilco, Etc.Jeff TweedyNPR
194LikeWarP.W. Singer and Emerson T
TVexamined
195Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History Amazon
196Love Lives HereAmanda Jetté KnoxCBC
197Love Unknown: The Life and Worlds of Elizabeth BishopThomas Travisano
Iowa Public Radio
198Madame Fourcade’s Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France’s Largest Spy Network Against HitlerLynne OlsonNPR
199Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, And Our Lives RevealedLori GottliebNPR
200Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in NarrativeJane Alison
Publishers Weekly
201Medieval Bodies 
BookPage
202Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple LivingElizabeth Willard Thames
Marta’s Muse
203
Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968
 
Booklist 2
204Mistakes to Run WithYasuko ThanhCBC
205Moneyland: The Inside Story Of The Crooks And Kleptocrats Who Rule The WorldOliver BulloughNPR
206My Body My Choice: The Fight for Abortion Rights 
School Library Journal
207
Mythologica: An encyclopedia of gods, monsters and mortals from ancient Greece
 Amazon
208Natalia Goncharova 
Marginal Revolution
209Nature’s Superheroes 
Booklist 3
210
Never Caught, the Story of Ona Judge: George and Martha Washington’s Courageous Slave Who Dared To Run Away
 
School Library Journal
211Never Enough: the neuroscience and experience of addiction 
Marginal Revolution
212No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power Of Embracing Emotions At WorkLiz Fosslien and Mollie West DuffyNPR
213No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference 
USA Today
214Nobody’s Looking At You: EssaysJanet MalcolmNPR
215Nobody’s Victim: Fighting Psychos, Stalkers, Pervs, and TrollsCarrie GoldbergEsquire
216Notes From A Young Black Chef: A MemoirKwame Onwuachi and Joshua David SteinNPR
217Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related.Jenny Heijun WillsCBC
218On Chapel Sands: My Mother and Other Missing PersonsLaura Cumming
Five Books
219On the ClockEmily Guendelsberger
King County Library System
220On the Plain of Snakes: A Mexican Journey 
Amazon 2
221One Day: The Extraordinary Story Of An Ordinary 24 Hours In AmericaGene WeingartenNPR
222One DrumRichard WagameseCBC
223
One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission that Flew us to the Moon
 
Marginal Revolution
224Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration 
Marginal Revolution
225Order Without Design: How Markets Shape Cities 
Marginal Revolution
226Ordinary HazardsNikki Grimes
Chicago Public Library
227Our Women on the GroundArab Women Reporting From the Arab World
King County Library System
228Outliers: The Story of SuccessMalcolm Gladwell
Marta’s Muse
229
Overview, Young Explorer’s Edition: A New Way of Seeing Earth
 Amazon
230Parisian Lives: Samuel Beckett, Simone de Beauvoir, and Me: A MemoirDeirdre Bair
Publishers Weekly
231
Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist
 
Booklist 2
232Penny Wong: Passion and PrincipleMargaret Simons
Readings
233Places And Names: On War, Revolution, And ReturningElliot AckermanNPR
234
Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré
 
School Library Journal
235Quit Like a Millionaire: No Gimmicks, Luck, or Trust Fund RequiredKristy Shen
Marta’s Muse
236Rage Becomes HerSoraya Chemaly
TVexamined
237RangeDavid J. Epstein
King County Library System
238Range: Why Generalists Triumph In A Specialized WorldDavid J. EpsteinNPR
239Reaching for the Moon: An Autobiography of a NASA MathematicianKatherine Johnson
Iowa Public Radio
240Republic Of Shame: Stories From Ireland’s Institutions For ‘Fallen Women’Caelainn HoganNPR
241Rough Magic: Riding the World’s Loneliest Horse RaceLara Prior-PalmerEsquire
242Sand TalkTyson Yunkaporta
Readings
243Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and ObsessionRachel MonroeEsquire
244Save Me the PlumsRuth Reichl
King County Library System
245Screen Tests: Stories and Other Writing 
Book Riot
246Sea Level Rise: A Slow Tsunami On America’s ShoresOrrin H. Pilkey and Keith C. PilkeyNPR
247Sea People 
BookPage
248Searchlight Books: 
Booklist 3
249Seattle ProhibitionBrad Holden
King County Library System
250Seattle Walk ReportSeattle Walk Report
King County Library System
251See What You Made Me DoJess Hill
Readings
252SemicolonCecelia Watson
King County Library System
253Shapes of Native Nonfiction: Collected EssaysElissa Washuta and Theresa WarburtonEsquire
254Share Your Smile: Raina’s Guide to Telling Your Own Story Amazon
255Shoot for the Moon: The Space Race and the Extraordinary Voyage of Apollo 11James Donovan
Publishers Weekly
256ShoutLaurie Halse Anderson
Chicago Public Library
257Sister OutsiderAudre Lorde
TVexamined
258Slime 
BookPage
259Slime-inators & Other Slippery Tricksters 
Booklist 3
260Soaring Earth: A Companion Memoir to Enchanted Air 
School Library Journal
261Socialist Realism 
Book Riot
262Somebody’s WifeLinda Burgess
newsroom
263
Someone like Me: How One Undocumented Girl Fought for Her American Dream
 
Booklist 2
264Sontag: Her Life and WorkBenjamin Moser
Iowa Public Radio
265Soulless: The Case Against R. KellyJim DeRogatisNPR
266Southern Nights: The story of New Zealand’s night skyNaomi Arnold
newsroom
267Spotify Teardown: Inside The Black Box Of Streaming MusicMaria Eriksson, Rasmus Fleischer, Anna Johansson, Pelle Snickars,NPR
268Spying On The South: An Odyssey Across The American DivideTony HorwitzNPR
269Stamped From the Beginning 
Book Riot
270
Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To Guide
 
Goodreads
271Strangers Assume My Girlfriend Is My NurseShane Burcaw
Chicago Public Library
272Supreme GlamourMary Wilson with Mark BegoNPR
273Survival Math: Notes On An All-American FamilyMitchell S. JacksonNPR
274
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know
 
Goodreads
275The (other) F Word 
Chicago Public Library
276The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, And The Pillage Of An EmpireWilliam DalrympleNPR
277The Art of Happy Moving: How to Declutter, Pack, and Start Over While Maintaining Your Sanity and Finding HappinessAli Wenzke
SheReads
278The Art of LeavingAyelet TsabariCBC
279The Art Of Statistics: How To Learn From DataDavid SpiegelhalterNPR
280The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor. 
Booklist 2
281The Beneficiary: Fortune, Misfortune, And The Story Of My FatherJanny ScottNPR
282The Body Papers: A MemoirGrace Talusan
SheReads
283The Body: A Guide for Occupants 
USA Today
284The Book of Delights: Essays 
City of Asylum Bookstore
285The Book of Eating 
BookPage
286The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775–1777Rick Atkinson
Publishers Weekly
287The Broken Road: George Wallace And A Daughter’s Journey To ReconciliationPeggy Wallace KennedyNPR
288The Castle On Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, And Scandal At Hollywood’s Chateau MarmontShawn LevyNPR
289The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an AgeLeo Damrosch
Publishers Weekly
290The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of AmericaMargaret O’Mara
Publishers Weekly
291The Contender: The Story of Marlon BrandoWilliam J. Mann
Publishers Weekly
292The Crimes of ISIS 
Booklist 3
293The Elephant In The Room: One Fat Man’s Quest To Get Smaller In A Growing AmericaTommy TomlinsonNPR
294The Empire And The Five Kings: America’s Abdication And The Fate Of The WorldBernard-Henri LévyNPR
295The Far Away BrothersLauren Markham
Chicago Public Library
296The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the RipperHallie Rubenhold
Five Books
297The Food of Sichuan 
Marginal Revolution
298The Ghosts of Eden Park 
BookPage
299
The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness
 
Amazon 2
300
The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un
 
Marginal Revolution
301The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your LifeChris Guillebeau
Marta’s Muse
302The Heartland: An American HistoryKristin L. HogansonNPR
303The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary 
Marginal Revolution
304The History of PhilosophyA.C. Grayling
Iowa Public Radio
305The Invisible Load: A guide to overcoming stressDr Libby Weaver
newsroom
306
The Last Leonardo: The Secret Lives of the World’s Most Expensive Painting
 
Marginal Revolution
307The LGBT Rights Movement. 
Booklist 2
308The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini 
BookPage
309
The Man They Wanted Me To Be: Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own making
 
Book Riot
310The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal.Evan RatliffNPR
311The Meaning of Trees: The history and use of New Zealand’s native plantsRobert Vennell
newsroom
312The National Team: The Inside Story Of The Women Who Changed SoccerCaitlin MurrayNPR
313The New Jim CrowMichelle Alexander
TVexamined
314The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke Booklist
315
The Nonsense Factory: The Making and Breaking of the American Legal System
 
Marginal Revolution
316The North-West is Our MotherJean TeilletCBC
317The Old Ways 
Book Riot
318The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 
Amazon 2
319The Optimist’s Telescope: Thinking Ahead In A Reckless AgeBina VenkataramanNPR
320
The People Next Door: The Curious History of India’s Relations with Pakistan
 
Marginal Revolution
321The Plaza: The Secret Life Of America’s Most Famous HotelJulie SatowNPR
322The Political YearsMarilyn Waring
newsroom
323
The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love With Me
 
Book Riot
324The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged StudentsAnthony Abraham JackNPR
325The Push for Social Change 
Booklist 3
326The Ride Of A Lifetime: Lessons Learned From 15 Years As CEO Of The Walt Disney CompanyRobert IgerNPR
327The Salt PathRaynor WinnNPR
328The Season: A Social History Of The DebutanteKristen RichardsonNPR
329The Shanghai Free Taxi: Journeys With The Hustlers And Rebels Of The New ChinaFrank LangfittNPR
330The Source Of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, And MeditationsToni MorrisonNPR
331The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You 
City of Asylum Bookstore
332The Unwinding of the Miracle 
Book Riot
333The WakeLinden MacIntyreCBC
334The Wonders of Nature Amazon
335They Called Us EnemyGeorge Takei, Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott, illustratedNPR
336They Will Have To Die Now: Mosul And The Fall Of The CaliphateJames VeriniNPR
337Things We Didn’t Talk About When I Was a Girl: A MemoirJeannie VanascoEsquire
338This One Looks Like a BoyLorimer ShenherCBC
339This Particular Happiness: A Childless Love StoryJackie Shannon Hollis
SheReads
340ThurgoodJonah Winter, illustrated by Bryan Collier
Iowa Public Radio
341To the RiverDon GillmorCBC
342
Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality
 Booklist
343
Trailblazer: A Pioneering Journalist’s Fight to Make the Media Look More like America
 Booklist
344Trainwreck 
Book Riot
345Trans MissionAlex Bertie
Chicago Public Library
346
Troublemaker for Justice: The Story of Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the March on Washington
 
School Library Journal
347Truth Be ToldBeverley McLachlinCBC
348Underground: A Human History Of The Worlds Beneath Our FeetWill HuntNPR
349Unexampled Courage: The Blinding Of Sgt. Isaac Woodard And The Awakening Of President Harry S. Truman And Judge J. Waties WaringRichard GergelNPR
350Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and LonelyLysa TerKeurst
Marta’s Muse
351
United Tastes of America: An Atlas of Food Facts & Recipes from Every State!
 Amazon
352
Unpunished Murder: Massacre at Colfax and the Quest for Justice
 
Booklist 2
353VIRAL: The Fight Against AIDS in America 
School Library Journal
354Walter Ralegh: Architect of Empire 
Marginal Revolution
355Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories Of Social UpheavalSaidiya HartmanNPR
356
We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World
 
School Library Journal
357We Have Always Been HereSamra HabibCBC
358Weird Parenting Wins: Bathtub Dining, Family Screams, And Other Hacks From The Parenting TrenchesHillary FrankNPR
359Whale Oil: One man’s fight to save his reputation, then his lifeMargie Thomson
newsroom
360What Miss Mitchell SawHayley Barrett, illustrated by Diana Sudyka
Iowa Public Radio
361What You Have Heard Is True: A Memoir Of Witness And ResistanceCarolyn ForchéNPR
362
When Death Takes Something from You Give It Back: Carl’s Book
 
Book Riot
363When We Were Arabs: A Jewish Family’s Forgotten HistoryMassoud HayounNPR
364Whiitiki! Whiti! Whiti! E!: Māori in the First World WarMonty Soutar
newsroom
365White Tears, Brown ScarsRuby Hamad
Readings
366
Whiteshift: Populism, Immigration, and the Future of White Majorities
 
Marginal Revolution
367Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, And MeAdrienne BrodeurNPR
368WorkingRobert CaroEsquire
369You Can’t Touch My Hair/Everything is Trash but It’s OkayPhoebe Robinson
TVexamined
370You Look Like a Thing and I Love You 
BookPage
371Yummy Yoga: Playful Poses and Tasty Treats Amazon


29 Best Nonfiction Book Sources/Lists



Source
Amazon
Amazon 2
Book Riot
Booklist
Booklist 2
Booklist 3
BookPage
BookPage
CBC
Chicago Public Library
City of Asylum Bookstore
Esquire
Five Books
Goodreads
Iowa Public Radio
King County Library System
Marginal Revolution
Marta’s Muse
newsroom
NPR
Powell’s
Publishers Weekly
Readings
School Library Journal
SheReads
TIME
Toronto Star
TVexamined
USA Today