The Best Nonfiction Books of 2022 (A Year-End List Aggregation)
“What are the best Nonfiction books released in 2022?” We looked at 402 of the top Nonfiction books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!
The top 31 books, all appearing on 3 or more “Best Nonfiction” book lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 350+ titles, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.
Our other Best Of 2022 Articles:
- The Best Art, Photography, And Coffee Table Books
- The Best AudioBooks
- The Best Biography And Memoir Books
- The Best Graphic Novels And Comics
- The Best Cookbooks
- The Best Fiction Books
- The Best Books (All Catergories)
- The Best History Books
- The Best Kids, Children, and Youth Books
- The Best Mystery, Horror, and Thriller Books
- The Best Nonfiction Books
- The Best Picture Books
- The Best Poetry Books
- The Best Science And Nature Books
- The Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Books
- The Best Young Adult Books
Previous Years: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015
Happy Scrolling!
Top 31 Best Nonfiction Books From 2022
31.) Also a Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me written by Ada Calhoun
Lists It Appears On:
- Bookpage
- Large Hearted Biy
- Powells
When Ada Calhoun stumbled upon old cassette tapes of interviews her father, celebrated art critic Peter Schjeldahl, had conducted for his never-comple…
30.) Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative written by Melissa Febos
Lists It Appears On:
- Bookshop Santa Cruz
- NPR
- Powells
AN INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER Memoir meets craft master class in this “daring, honest, psychologically insightful” exploration of how we think and wr…
29.) Butts: A Backstory written by Heather Radke
Lists It Appears On:
- Amazon
- Publishers Weekly
- Rohit Bhargava
*ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF FALL: Esquire, Time, LitHub, The Every Girl, BookPage* “One of the year’s most ingenious and eye-opening cultura…
28.) By Hands Now Known: Jim Crow’s Legal Executioners written by Margaret A. Burnham
Lists It Appears On:
- Amazon
- NPR
- Publishers Weekly
If the law cannot protect a person from a lynching, then isn’t lynching the law?In By Hands Now Known, Margaret A. Burnham, director of Northeastern U…
27.) Constructing a Nervous System: A Memoir written by Margo Jefferson
Lists It Appears On:
- LA Times
- NPR
- Publishers Weekly
A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR – From one of our most nuanced thinkers on the intersections of race, class, and feminism (Cathy Park Hong, New Yor…
26.) Easy Beauty: A Memoir written by Chloé Cooper Jones
Lists It Appears On:
- LA Times
- Powells
- Publishers Weekly
“Gorgeous, vividly alive.” –The New York Times “Soul-stretching, breathtaking…A game-changing gift to readers.” –Booklist (starred review) From Ch…
25.) His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice written by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa
Lists It Appears On:
- NPR
- Publishers Weekly
- The Reading Lists
FINALIST FOR THE 2022 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION A landmark biography by two prizewinning Washington Post reporters that reveals how systemic …
24.) How to Read Now: Essays written by Elaine Castillo
Lists It Appears On:
- Bookpage
- Bookshop Santa Cruz
- NPR
“How to Read Now explores the politics and ethics of reading, and insists that we are capable of something better: a more engaged relationship not jus…
23.) I’m Glad My Mom Died written by Jennette McCurdy
Lists It Appears On:
- Bookshop Santa Cruz
- NPR
- OMP
Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette…
22.) In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss written by Amy Bloom
Lists It Appears On:
- Bookpage
- Bookshop Santa Cruz
- NPR
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – A powerful memoir of a love that leads two people to find a courageous way to part–and a woman’s struggle to go forward i…
21.) Inciting Joy: Essays written by Ross Gay
Lists It Appears On:
- Bookpage
- Bookshop Santa Cruz
- Publishers Weekly
“BRILLIANT.” –Ada Limón, U.S. poet laureate An intimate and electrifying collection of essays from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book …
20.) South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation written by Imani Perry
Lists It Appears On:
- Bookpage
- Bookshop Santa Cruz
- LA Times
WINNER OF THE 2022 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTIONINSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER”An elegant meditation on the complexities of the American South…
19.) The Fifth ACT: America’s End in Afghanistan written by Elliot Ackerman
Lists It Appears On:
- Book Depository
- Bookshop Santa Cruz
- Kirkus
“The American betrayal of Afghanistan took twenty years. Elliot Ackerman, a participant and witness, tells the story with unsparing honesty in this in…
18.) The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture written by Gabor Maté
Lists It Appears On:
- Amazon
- Bookshop Santa Cruz
- Goodreads
The instant New York Times bestseller By the acclaimed author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, a groundbreaking investigation into the causes of illn…
17.) This Is Not a Book about Benedict Cumberbatch: The Joy of Loving Something–Anything–Like Your Life Depends on It written by Tabitha Carvan
Lists It Appears On:
- Blue Willow Bookshop
- Bookpage
- OMP
Why We Can’t Sleep meets Furiously Happy in this hilarious, heartfelt memoir about one woman’s midlife obsession with Benedict Cumberbatch, and the li…
16.) Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation written by Linda Villarosa
Lists It Appears On:
- Bookpage
- NPR
- Publishers Weekly
A stunning exposé of why Black people in our society ‘live sicker and die quicker’–an eye-opening game changer.–Oprah Daily From an award-winning wr…
15.) What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions written by Randall Munroe
Lists It Appears On:
- Amazon
- Goodreads
- NPR
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! The questions throughout What If? 2 are equal parts brilliant, gross, and wonderfully absurd and the answers are…
14.) What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma written by Stephanie Foo
Lists It Appears On:
- Amazon
- NPR
- Publishers Weekly
A searing memoir of reckoning and healing by acclaimed journalist Stephanie Foo, investigating the little-understood science behind complex PTSD and h…
13.) Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? written by Dr. Julie Smith
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- iNews
- The Reading Lists
International bestseller”Smart, insightful, and warm. Dr. Julie is both the expert and wise friend we all need.” -Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestse…
12.) Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole written by Susan Cain
Lists It Appears On:
- Amazon
- Goodreads
- Rohit Bhargava
- The Reading Lists
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – Sadness is your superpower. In her new masterpiece, the author of the bestselling phenomenon Quiet explores the power o…
11.) Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus written by David Quammen
Lists It Appears On:
- Amazon
- Book Depository
- Kirkus
- NPR
National Book Award Finalist The story of the worldwide scientific quest to decipher the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, trace its source, and make possible t…
10.) Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk written by Sasha LaPointe
Lists It Appears On:
- Abe Books
- Bookpage
- Bookshop Santa Cruz
- NPR
An Indigenous artist blends the aesthetics of punk rock with the traditional spiritual practices of the women in her lineage in this bold, contemporar…
9.) Solito: A Memoir written by Javier Zamora
Lists It Appears On:
- Bookshop Santa Cruz
- Kirkus
- LA Times
- NPR
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY – A young poet tells the inspiring story of his migration from El Salv…
8.) Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us written by Rachel Aviv
Lists It Appears On:
- Bookpage
- NPR
- Powells
- Rohit Bhargava
The acclaimed, award-winning New Yorker writer Rachel Aviv offers a groundbreaking exploration of mental illness and the mind, and illuminates the sta…
7.) The Man Who Could Move Clouds: A Memoir written by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Lists It Appears On:
- Bookpage
- Bookshop Santa Cruz
- LA Times
- NPR
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST – LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION – A TIME BEST BOOK OF THE SUMMER – From the …
6.) Stay True: A Memoir written by Hua Hsu
Lists It Appears On:
- Bookpage
- Bookshop Santa Cruz
- Kirkus
- NPR
- Publishers Weekly
A NEW YORK TIMES MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK – From the New Yorker staff writer Hua Hsu, a gripping memoir on friendship, grief, the search for self, and th…
5.) Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention–And How to Think Deeply Again written by Johann Hari
Lists It Appears On:
- Amazon
- Blue Willow Bookshop
- Booktopia
- Indigo
- Rohit Bhargava
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – Our ability to pay attention is collapsing. From the New York Times bestselling author of Chasing the Scream and Lost Conn…
4.) The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human written by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Lists It Appears On:
- Abe Books
- Amazon
- Bookpage
- Bookshop Santa Cruz
- Kirkus
A New York Times Bestseller and Goodreads Choice Awards 2022 Finalist! From the author of The Emperor of All Maladies, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, a…
3.) Lost & Found: Reflections on Grief, Gratitude, and Happiness written by Kathryn Schulz
Lists It Appears On:
- Abe Books
- Bookshop Santa Cruz
- Bookshop Santa Cruz
- NPR
- Powells
- Publishers Weekly
One spring morning, Kathryn Schulz went to lunch with a stranger and fell in love. Having spent years looking for the right relationship, she was dazz…
2.) The Nineties: A Book written by Chuck Klosterman
Lists It Appears On:
- Abe Books
- Kirkus
- NPR
- OMP
- Powells
- The Reading Lists
An instant New York Times bestseller! From the bestselling author of But What if We’re Wrong, a wise and funny reckoning with the decade that gave us …
1.) An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us written by Ed Yong
Lists It Appears On:
- Blue Willow Bookshop
- Bookpage
- Bookshop Santa Cruz
- Goodreads
- Kirkus
- Powells
- Rohit Bhargava
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – A “thrilling” (The New York Times), “dazzling” (The Wall Street Journal) tour of the radically different ways that animals…
The 350+ Additional Best Nonfiction Books Released In 2022
32) A Heart that Works – Rob Delaney List: (iNews, Kirkus)
33) A Man of the World – Gilbert Grosvenor and Mark Collins Jenkins List: (OMP, Rohit Bhargava)
34) All the Living and the Dead: from Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People Who Have Made Death Their Life’s Work – Hayley Campbell List: (Goodreads, Rohit Bhargava)
35) Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire, and Revolution in the Borderlands – Kelly Lytle Hernández List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz, OMP)
36) Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century – Dana Stevens List: (NPR, Publishers Weekly)
37) Diary of a Misfit: A Memoir and a Mystery – Casey Parks List: (Kirkus, NPR)
38) Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm – Dan Charnas List: (NPR, Powells)
39) Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands – Kate Beaton List: (Indigo, OMP)
40) Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them – Dan Saladino List: (Amazon, Rohit Bhargava)
41) Faith, Hope and Carnage – Nick Cave and Seán O’Hagan List: (Book Depository, NPR)
42) Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor – Kim Kelly List: (OMP, Rohit Bhargava)
43) Finding Me – Viola Davis List: (Abe Books, The Reading Lists)
44) Free – Lea Ypi List: (Bookpage, Powells)
45) Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad – Matthew F. Delmont List: (Bookpage, Publishers Weekly)
46) High-Risk Homosexual: A Memoir – Edgar Gomez List: (LA Times, Publishers Weekly)
47) How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question – Michael Schur List: (Goodreads, OMP)
48) Imagine a City: A Pilot’s Journey Across the Urban World – Mark Vanhoenacker List: (Kirkus, NPR)
49) In Sensorium: Notes for My People – Tanaïs List: (Kirkus, NPR)
50) Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America – Pekka Hämäläinen List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz, Publishers Weekly)
51) Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew – Michael W. Twitty List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz, NPR)
52) Last Call at the Hotel Imperial – Deborah Cohen List: (Bookpage, NPR)
53) Manifesto: On Never Giving Up – Bernardine Evaristo List: (Book Depository, OMP)
54) Mr. B: George Balanchine’s 20th Century – Jennifer Homans List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz, NPR)
55) My Fourth Time, We Drowned – Sally Hayden List: (Irish Times, Kirkus)
56) Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe – David Maraniss List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz, LA Times)
57) Raised by Wolves – Jess Ho List: (Readings, Readings)
58) Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis – Beth Macy List: (Amazon, Bookpage)
59) Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto – Tricia Hersey List: (Amazon, OMP)
60) River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile – Candice Millard List: (Bookpage, NPR)
61) Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop – Danyel Smith List: (NPR, Publishers Weekly)
62) Ten Steps to Nanette – Hannah Gadsby List: (Booktopia, Readings)
63) The Come Up: An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-Hop – Jonathan Abrams List: (Amazon, Bookshop Santa Cruz)
64) The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness – Meghan O’Rourke List: (Bookpage, NPR)
65) The Life Inside – Andy West List: (iNews, Irish Times)
66) The Persuaders: Winning Hearts and Minds in a Divided Age – Anand Giridharadas List: (Irish Times, Rohit Bhargava)
67) The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future – Sebastian Mallaby List: (NPR, Rohit Bhargava)
68) The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward – Daniel Pink List: (NPR, Rohit Bhargava)
69) The Premonitions Bureau – Sam Knight List: (iNews, Irish Times)
70) The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams – Stacy Schiff List: (Bookpage, NPR)
71) The Story of Russia – Orlando Figes List: (Book Depository, Irish Times)
72) The Third Person – Emma Grove List: (Kirkus, NPR)
73) Thin Places – Kerri Ní Dochartaigh List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz, OMP)
74) Uncommon Measure: A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time – Natalie Hodges List: (NPR, Powells)
75) Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions – Temple Grandin List: (Amazon, Bookshop Santa Cruz)
76) Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life – Alice Wong List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz, NPR)
77) A BILLION YEARS – Mike Rinder List: (Kirkus)
78) A COASTLINE IS AN IMMEASURABLE THING – Mary-Alice Daniel List: (Kirkus)
79) A Girlhood – Carolyn Hays List: (Powells)
80) A Horse at Night – Amina Cain List: (Large Hearted Biy)
81) A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century – Heather Heying List: (Book Depository)
82) A More Just Future – Dolly Chugh List: (Rohit Bhargava)
83) A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community – List: (LA Times)
84) A Ukrainian Christmas – Yaroslav Hrytsak List: (Book Depository)
85) A Warbler’s Journey – Scott Weidensaul List: (NPR)
86) Abolition Geography: Essays Towards Liberation – Ruth Wilson Gilmore List: (NPR)
87) About a Son – David Whitehouse List: (iNews)
88) Abyss – Max Hastings List: (Book Depository)
89) Acceptance: A Memoir – Emi Nietfeld List: (NPR)
90) Adam Smith’s America: How a Scottish Philosopher Became an Icon of American Capitalism – Glory M. Liu List: (NPR)
91) Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent – Dipo Faloyin List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
92) AFTERMATH – Harald Jähner List: (Kirkus)
93) Age of Cage: Four Decades of Hollywood Through One Singular Career – Keith Phipps List: (NPR)
94) All That Moves Us: A Pediatric Neurosurgeon, His Young Patients, and Their Stories of Grace and Resilience – Jay Wellons List: (Publishers Weekly)
95) Allow Me to Retort – Elie Mystal List: (Powells)
96) America Made Me a Black Man: A Memoir – Boyah J. Farah List: (NPR)
97) AMERICA, GODDAM – Treva B. Lindsey List: (Kirkus)
98) American Caliph: The True Story of a Muslim Mystic, a Hollywood Epic, and the 1977 Siege of Washington, DC – Shahan Mufti List: (Publishers Weekly)
99) American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis – List: (LA Times)
100) American Murderer: The Parasite That Haunted the South – Gail Jarrow List: (NPR)
101) An American Martyr in Persia: The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville – Reza Aslan List: (NPR)
102) Ancestor Trouble: A Reckoning and a Reconciliation – Maud Newton List: (NPR)
103) And Finally – Henry Marsh List: (Book Depository)
104) AND THERE WAS LIGHT – Jon Meacham List: (Kirkus)
105) Animal Joy: A Book of Laughter and Resuscitation – Nuar Alsadir List: (Publishers Weekly)
106) Arbritrary Lines – M. Nolan Gray List: (Rohit Bhargava)
107) Arent & Pyke – Arent & Pyke List: (Booktopia)
108) Art Day by Day: 366 Brushes With History – List: (LA Times)
109) Art of the Chicken: A Master Chef’s Paintings, Stories, and Recipes of the Humble Bird – Jacques Pépin List: (NPR)
110) ASIAN AMERICAN HISTORIES OF THE UNITED STATES – Catherine Ceniza Choy List: (Kirkus)
111) Assholes – James Felton List: (Book Depository)
112) Astronomy: Sky Country – Karlie Noon & Krystal De Napoli List: (Readings)
113) Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience – List: (Goodreads)
114) Audrey Hepburn – Megan Hess List: (Booktopia)
115) Aura – Hillary Leftwich List: (Large Hearted Biy)
116) Bad City: Peril and Power in the City of Angels – Paul Pringle List: (Amazon)
117) Bad Sex: Truth, Pleasure, and an Unfinished Revolution – Nona Willis Aronowitz List: (NPR)
118) Bedtime Story – Chloe Hooper List: (Readings)
119) Being You – Professor Anil Seth List: (Book Depository)
120) Between Us: How Cultures Create Emotions – Batja Mesquita List: (Publishers Weekly)
121) Bi – Julia Shaw List: (Rohit Bhargava)
122) big beautiful female theory – Eloise Grills List: (Readings)
123) BIRDS AND US – Tim Birkhead List: (Kirkus)
124) Birds and Us: A 12,000-Year History from Cave Art to Conservation – Tim Birkhead List: (Publishers Weekly)
125) Bitch – Lucy Cooke List: (iNews)
126) Blitz Spirit – Becky Brown List: (Book Depository)
127) Blood and Ruins: The Last Imperial War, 1931-1945 – Richard Overy List: (NPR)
128) Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky – Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond List: (NPR)
129) Body Language: Writers on Identity, Physicality, and Making Space for Ourselves – Nicole Chung and Matt Ortile (editors) List: (NPR)
130) Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives – Mary Laura Philpott List: (NPR)
131) Bright Unbearable Reality – Anna Badkhen List: (Large Hearted Biy)
132) brother. do. you. love. me. – Manni & Reuben Coe List: (iNews)
133) Brown Neon – Raquel Gutiérrez List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
134) Bulldozed – List: (Readings)
135) Burning Questions: Essays and Occasional Pieces, 2004 to 2021 – Margaret Atwood List: (The Reading Lists)
136) Butler to the World: How Britain Became The Servant of Tycoons, Tax Dodgers, Kleptocrats and Criminals – Oliver Bullough List: (Irish Times)
137) Chinese-ish – Rosheen Kaul and Joanna Hu List: (Booktopia)
138) Chokepoint Capitalism – Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow List: (Rohit Bhargava)
139) Colditz – Ben MacIntyre List: (Book Depository)
140) Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America – Maggie Haberman List: (Abe Books)
141) Converted – Neil Hoyne List: (Rohit Bhargava)
142) Cressida Campbell – National Gallery of Australia List: (Booktopia)
143) Crying in the Bathroom: A Memoir – Erika L. Sánchez List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
144) Dark Goals: How History’s Worst Tyrants Have Used and Abused the Game of Soccer – Luciano Wernicke List: (NPR)
145) Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World – Peter S. Goodman List: (NPR)
146) Deaf Utopia: A Memoir—and a Love Letter to a Way of Life – Nyle DiMarco List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
147) Dear Denise: Letters to the Sister I Never Knew – Lisa McNair List: (NPR)
148) Diary of an Invasion – Andrey Kurkov List: (Book Depository)
149) Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?: A Memoir – Séamas O’Reilly List: (NPR)
150) Diddly Squat: ‘Til The Cows Come Home – Jeremy Clarkson List: (Book Depository)
151) Dirtbag, Massachusetts – Isaac Fitzgerald List: (Blue Willow Bookshop)
152) Don’t Forget to Scream – Marianne Levy List: (iNews)
153) Dreadful Sorry: Essays on an American Nostalgia – Jennifer Niesslein List: (OMP)
154) Dreaming the Land – Marie Geissler List: (Booktopia)
155) Eliot’s Book of Bookish Lists – Henry Eliot List: (Book Depository)
156) Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World: Essays – Barry Lopez List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
157) Escaping Gravity – Lori Garver List: (Rohit Bhargava)
158) Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change – Angela Garbes List: (NPR)
159) Every Good Boy Does Fine: A Love Story, in Music Lessons – Jeremy Denk List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
160) Everyone’s Invited – Soma Sara List: (Book Depository)
161) Everything I Need I Get from You – Kaitlyn Tiffany List: (Rohit Bhargava)
162) Fabric – Victoria Finlay List: (Book Depository)
163) First Nations Food Companion – Damien Coulthard and Rebecca Sullivan List: (Booktopia)
164) Folk Music: A Bob Dylan Biography in Seven Songs – Greil Marcus List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
165) Food for Life – Tim Spector List: (Book Depository)
166) For Profit: A History of Corporations – William Magnuson List: (Publishers Weekly)
167) Fragile Cargo – Adam Brookes List: (Book Depository)
168) Freezing Order: A True Story Of Money Laundering, Murder, And Surviving… – Bill Browder List: (Indigo)
169) Frozen Planet II – Mark Brownlow List: (Book Depository)
170) Fruit Punch: A Memoir – Kendra Allen List: (NPR)
171) Geopedia – Marcia Bjornerud and Haley Hagerman List: (Rohit Bhargava)
172) Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be – Becky Kennedy List: (NPR)
173) Good Pop Bad Pop – Jarvis Cocker List: (Abe Books)
174) Hagitude – Sharon Blackie List: (Book Depository)
175) Hanged! Mary Surratt and the Plot to Assassinate Abraham Lincoln – Sarah Miller List: (NPR)
176) Happy Mind, Happy Life – Dr Rangan Chatterjee List: (iNews)
177) Happy-Go-Lucky – David Sedaris List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
178) Helgoland – Carlo Rovelli List: (Book Depository)
179) Hell’s Half-Acre: The Untold Story of the Benders, a Serial Killer Family on the American Frontier – Susan Jonusas List: (NPR)
180) How Civil Wars Start – Barbara F. Walter List: (Rohit Bhargava)
181) How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures – Sabrina Imbler List: (OMP)
182) How Minds Change – David McRaney List: (Rohit Bhargava)
183) How to Avoid a Climate Disaster – Bill Gates List: (Book Depository)
184) How to Begin – Michael Bungay Stanier List: (Rohit Bhargava)
185) How to Break Up With Your Friends – Erin Falconer List: (Rohit Bhargava)
186) How to Host a Viking Funeral – Kyle Scheele List: (Rohit Bhargava)
187) How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing – KC Davis List: (NPR)
188) How to Live When You Could Be Dead – Deborah James List: (iNews)
189) How To Prevent The Next Pandemic – Bill Gates List: (The Reading Lists)
190) How to Raise an Antiracist – Ibram X. Kendi List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
191) How to Stand Up to a Dictator – Maria Ressa List: (iNews)
192) How We Eat – Paco Underhill List: (Rohit Bhargava)
193) How We Live Is How We Die – Pema Chodron List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
194) Hunting Ghislaine – John Sweeney List: (Book Depository)
195) Hysterical – Pragya Agarwal List: (iNews)
196) I Am NOT Fine, Thanks – Wil Anderson List: (Booktopia)
197) I Never Thought of It That Way – Mónica Guzmán List: (Rohit Bhargava)
198) I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki – Baek Sehee & Anton Hur (trans.) List: (Readings)
199) I’ll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlife and Motherhood – Jessi Klein List: (Amazon)
200) I’m Not Broken: A Memoir – Jesse Leon List: (NPR)
201) I’m Glad My Mom Died – Jennette McCurdy List: (The Reading Lists)
202) If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal – Justin Gregg List: (Rohit Bhargava)
203) In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial – Mona Chollet List: (NPR)
204) In Praise of Good Bookstores – Jeff Deutsch List: (Rohit Bhargava)
205) In The Margins – Elena Ferrante List: (The Reading Lists)
206) In the Mouth of the Wolf: A Murder, a Cover-Up, and the True Cost of Silencing the Press – Katherine Corcoran List: (NPR)
207) In the Shadow of the Mountain – Silvia Vasquez-Lavado List: (Bookpage)
208) Indelible City: Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong – Louisa Lim List: (OMP)
209) Index, A History of the – Dennis Duncan List: (Rohit Bhargava)
210) It Won’t Always Be Like This: A Graphic Memoir – Malaka Gharib List: (NPR)
211) It’s Not TV: The Spectacular Rise, Revolution, and Future of HBO – Felix Gillette and John Koblin List: (NPR)
212) Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America – Dahlia Lithwick List: (NPR)
213) Landlines – Raynor Winn List: (Book Depository)
214) Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life: A Memoir – Delia Ephron List: (NPR)
215) LEGACY OF VIOLENCE – Caroline Elkins List: (Kirkus)
216) Lessons From the Edge: A Memoir – Marie Yovanovitch List: (NPR)
217) Let’s Talk – Nihal Arthanayake List: (iNews)
218) Liberalism And Its Discontents – Francis Fukuyama List: (Irish Times)
219) LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI – Rinker Buck List: (Kirkus)
220) Life’s Work – David Milch List: (NPR)
221) Lighter: Let Go of the Past, Connect with the Present, and Expand the Future – Yung Pueblo List: (Amazon)
222) Like, Comment, Subscribe: How YouTube Conquered the World – Mark Bergen List: (Amazon)
223) LINEA NIGRA – Jazmina Barrera List: (Kirkus)
224) Listen to the Language of the Trees: A Story of How Forests Communicate Underground – Tera Kelley List: (NPR)
225) Mabu Mabu – Nornie Bero List: (Booktopia)
226) Making a Scene – Constance Wu List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
227) Making Videogames: The Art of Creating Digital Worlds – Duncan Harris and Alex Wiltshire List: (NPR)
228) Masa: Techniques, Recipes, and Reflections on a Timeless Staple – Jorge Gaviria List: (NPR)
229) Maybe We’ll Make It: A Memoir – Margo Price List: (NPR)
230) Meet Me by the Fountain – Alexandra Lange List: (Rohit Bhargava)
231) Men in Blazers Present Gods of Soccer: The Pantheon of the 100 Greatest Soccer Players (According to Us) – Roger Bennett List: (NPR)
232) Metaphysical Animals: How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life – Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman List: (Irish Times)
233) Mi Cocina: Recipes and Rapture from My Kitchen in Mexico: A Cookbook – Rick Martínez List: (OMP)
234) Mothercare: On Obligation, Love, Death, and Ambivalence – Lynne Tillman List: (NPR)
235) Muhammad Najem, War Reporter: How One Boy Put the Spotlight on Syria – Muhammad Najem and Nora Neus List: (NPR)
236) My Dream Time – Ash Barty List: (Booktopia)
237) Namwayut – We Are All One: A Pathway to Reconciliation – Chief Robert Joseph List: (Indigo)
238) Nasty, Brutish, and Short: Adventures in Philosophy with My Kids – Scott Hershovitz List: (NPR)
239) Nerd: Adventures in Fandom from This Universe to the Multiverse – Maya Phillips List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
240) Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World – Gaia Vince List: (NPR)
241) Not Now, Not Ever – Julia Gillard List: (Booktopia)
242) Notes on Heartbreak – Annie Lord List: (iNews)
243) Novelist as a Vocation – Haruki Murakami List: (The Reading Lists)
244) Nuclear Folly – Serhii Plokhy List: (Book Depository)
245) Of Boys and Men – Richard V. Reeves List: (Rohit Bhargava)
246) Old Vintage Melbourne – Chris Macheras List: (Readings)
247) On Freedom – Maggie Nelson List: (Book Depository)
248) On Helen Garner: Writers on Writers – Sean O’Beirne List: (Readings)
249) On the Line: A Story of Class, Solidarity, and Two Women’s Epic Fight to Build a Union – Daisy Pitkin List: (OMP)
250) Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas – Jennifer Raff List: (NPR)
251) Our Voice Of Fire: A Memoir Of A Warrior Rising – Brandi Morin List: (Indigo)
252) Out of the Corner: A Memoir – List: (LA Times)
253) Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of America’s Cemeteries – Greg Melville List: (Abe Books)
254) Overdue – Amanda Oliver List: (Rohit Bhargava)
255) Pandora’s Jar: Women in the Greek Myths – Natalie Haynes List: (OMP)
256) Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends – Marisa G. Franco List: (Amazon)
257) Plays Well with Others – Eric Barker List: (Rohit Bhargava)
258) Power Failure: The Rise and Falls of an American Icon – William D. Cohan List: (The Reading Lists)
259) Prisoners Of The Castle: An Epic Story Of Survival And Escape From… – Ben Macintyre List: (Indigo)
260) Profiles In Ignorance: How America’s Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber – Andy Borowitz List: (Irish Times)
261) PUTIN – Philip Short List: (Kirkus)
262) Quilt on Fire – Christie Watson List: (iNews)
263) Quit – Annie Duke List: (Rohit Bhargava)
264) Rationality – Steven Pinker List: (Book Depository)
265) Raven Smith’s Men – Raven Smith List: (iNews)
266) Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times – Azar Nafisi List: (Publishers Weekly)
267) Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy – David J Chalmers List: (Irish Times)
268) Reasons Not to Worry – Brigid Delaney List: (Readings)
269) Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy – Erich Schwartzel List: (Irish Times)
270) Red Roulette – Desmond Shum List: (Book Depository)
271) Ripley’s Believe It or Not! 2023 – Ripley List: (Book Depository)
272) Rise of the Black Quarterback: What It Means for America – Jason Reid List: (OMP)
273) Riverman: An American Odyssey – Ben McGrath List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
274) Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks – Patrick Radden Keefe List: (NPR)
275) Run Towards The Danger: Confrontations With A Body Of Memory – Sarah Polley List: (Indigo)
276) Runaway: Notes on the Myths That Made Me – Erin Keane List: (NPR)
277) Salmon P. Chase: Lincoln’s Vital Rival – Walter Stahr List: (NPR)
278) Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth – Elizabeth Williamson List: (Publishers Weekly)
279) Savory Baking: Recipes for Breakfast, Dinner, and Everything in Between – Erin Jeanne McDowell List: (OMP)
280) Scars And Stars – Indigo Edition: Poems – Jesse Thistle List: (Indigo)
281) Scenes from My Life: A Memoir – Michael K. Williams and Jon Sternfeld List: (NPR)
282) Scoundrel: How a Convicted Murderer Persuaded the Women Who Loved Him, the Conservative Establishment, and the Courts to Set Him Free – Sarah Weinman List: (NPR)
283) Sex Bomb – Sadia Azmat List: (iNews)
284) Sheilas – Eliza Reilly List: (Booktopia)
285) SHIRLEY HAZZARD – Brigitta Olubas List: (Kirkus)
286) Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers – List: (LA Times)
287) Smahtguy – Eric Orner List: (Powells)
288) Small Fires – Rebecca May Johnson List: (Book Depository)
289) Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family – Erika Hayasaki List: (NPR)
290) Son Of Elsewhere: A Memoir In Pieces – Elamin Abdelmahmoud List: (Indigo)
291) Speaking of Race – Celeste Headlee List: (Rohit Bhargava)
292) Special Characters – Laurie Segall List: (Rohit Bhargava)
293) Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler – Ibi Zoboi List: (NPR)
294) Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization – Neil deGrasse Tyson List: (Amazon)
295) Stealing My Religion – Liz Bucar List: (Rohit Bhargava)
296) Strip – Ada Calhoun List: (Large Hearted Biy)
297) Style – Natalie Walton List: (Booktopia)
298) Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne – Katherine Rundell List: (Irish Times)
299) Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story – List: (LA Times)
300) Takeaway – Angela Hui List: (iNews)
301) Tell Me Everything – Erika Krouse List: (Bookpage)
302) Tenderheart – Hetty Lui McKinnon List: (Booktopia)
303) The Baby on the Fire Escape: Creativity, Motherhood, and the Mind-Baby Problem – Julie Phillips List: (NPR)
304) The Believer: Encounters with Love, Death & Faith – Sarah Krasnostein List: (Irish Times)
305) THE BLACK PERIOD – Hafizah Augustus Geter List: (Kirkus)
306) The Body Illustrated – Bill Bryson List: (Book Depository)
307) The Book of Roads and Kingdoms – Richard Fidler List: (Booktopia)
308) The Boy from Boomerang Crescent – Eddie Betts List: (Booktopia)
309) The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World – Max Fisher List: (NPR)
310) The Elephants of Thula Thula – Francoise Malby-Anthony List: (Book Depository)
311) The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man – List: (LA Times)
312) THE FACEMAKER – Lindsey Fitzharris List: (Kirkus)
313) The Family Outing: A Memoir – Jessi Hempel List: (NPR)
314) The First Kennedys: The Humble Roots of an American Dynasty – Neal Thompson List: (NPR)
315) The First, the Few, the Only – Deepa Purushothaman List: (Rohit Bhargava)
316) The Fishermen and the Dragon – Kirk Wallace Johnson List: (Blue Willow Bookshop)
317) The Founders – Jimmy Soni List: (Rohit Bhargava)
318) The Future is Analog – David Sax List: (Rohit Bhargava)
319) The Generation Myth – Bobby Duffy List: (Rohit Bhargava)
320) The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology – Amy Webb and Andrew Hessel List: (Irish Times)
321) The Go-Between – Osman Yousefzada List: (iNews)
322) The Golden Mole – Katherine Rundell List: (Book Depository)
323) The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series – Tyler Kepner List: (OMP)
324) The Greatest Invention – Silvia Ferrara and Todd Portnowitz List: (Rohit Bhargava)
325) The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family – Kerri K. Greenidge List: (NPR)
326) The Heart of American Poetry – Edward Hirsch List: (OMP)
327) The High Sierra: A Love Story – Kim Stanley Robinson List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
328) The History of the World in 100 Plants – Simon Barnes List: (Book Depository)
329) The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet – Leah Thomas List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
330) The Irish Difference: A Tumultuous History of Ireland’s Breakup With Britain – Fergal Tobin List: (Irish Times)
331) THE LAST CAMPAIGN – H.W. Brands List: (Kirkus)
332) The Last Colony – Philippe Sands List: (Book Depository)
333) The Last Days of Roger Federer – Geoff Dyer List: (Abe Books)
334) The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson – Jeff Pearlman List: (NPR)
335) The Last Slave Ship: The True Story of How ‘Clotilda’ Was Found, Her Descendants, and an Extraordinary Reckoning – Ben Raines List: (NPR)
336) The Letters of Oscar Hammerstein II – Mark Horowitz (editor) List: (NPR)
337) The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times – List: (LA Times)
338) The Listeners: A History of Wiretapping in the United States – Brian Hochman List: (Publishers Weekly)
339) The Madman’s Gallery – Edward Brooke-Hitching List: (Book Depository)
340) The Marmalade Diaries – Ben Aitken List: (Book Depository)
341) The Method – Isaac Butler List: (Powells)
342) The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy – Moiya McTier List: (Publishers Weekly)
343) The Monster’s Bones: The Discovery of T. Rex and How It Shook Our World – David K. Randall List: (Abe Books)
344) The Newlyweds: Rearranging Marriage in Modern India – Mansi Choksi List: (NPR)
345) The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner – Grace Tame List: (Booktopia)
346) The Posthumous Papers of the Manuscripts Club – Christopher de Hamel List: (Book Depository)
347) The Power of Conflict – Jon Taffer List: (Rohit Bhargava)
348) The Racial Code – Nicola Rollock List: (Book Depository)
349) The Rescue Effect – Michael Mehta Webster List: (Rohit Bhargava)
350) The Southernization of America: A Story of Democracy in the Balance – Cynthia Tucker and Frye Gaillard List: (NPR)
351) The Space Between the Stars – Indira Naidoo List: (Booktopia)
352) THE STORM IS HERE – Luke Mogelson List: (Kirkus)
353) The Story of Art Without Men – Katy Hessel List: (iNews)
354) The Successor – Paddy Manning List: (Readings)
355) The Times World Cup Moments – Richard Whitehead List: (Book Depository)
356) The Trainspotter’s Notebook – Francis Bourgeois List: (Book Depository)
357) The Trayvon Generation – Elizabeth Alexander List: (NPR)
358) The Treeline: The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth – Ben Rawlence List: (NPR)
359) The Viral Underclass – Steven W. Thrasher List: (Powells)
360) THE VORTEX – Scott Carney List: (Kirkus)
361) THE WHITE MOSQUE – Sofia Samatar List: (Kirkus)
362) The Wok: Recipes and Techniques – J. Kenji López-Alt List: (OMP)
363) The Wonderful World of James Herriot – James Herriot List: (Book Depository)
364) The Wordhord – Hana Videen List: (Book Depository)
365) The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On – Franny Choi List: (OMP)
366) The World’s Worst Assistant – Sona Movsesian List: (NPR)
367) The Year of the Horses: A Memoir – Courtney Maum List: (Abe Books)
368) The Year of the Puppy: How Dogs Become Themselves – Alexandra Horowitz List: (Publishers Weekly)
369) There Are No Accidents – Jessie Singer List: (Rohit Bhargava)
370) These Precious Days: Essays – List: (Goodreads)
371) Thinking 101 – Woo-kyoung Ahn List: (Rohit Bhargava)
372) This Beauty – Nick Riggle List: (Rohit Bhargava)
373) This Is Assisted Dying: A Doctor’s Story Of Empowering Patients At The End… – Stefanie Green List: (Indigo)
374) This is Not a Pity Memoir – Abi Morgan List: (iNews)
375) This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You – Susan Rogers List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
376) Time Zone J – Julie Doucet List: (NPR)
377) Tokyo Rose – Zero Hour: A Japanese American Woman’s Persecution and Ultimate Redemption After World War II – Andre Frattino List: (NPR)
378) Toxic Positivity – Whitney Goodman List: (Rohit Bhargava)
379) Transforming Space Over Time: Set Design and Visual Storytelling with Broadway’s Legendary Directors – Beowulf Boritt List: (NPR)
380) Translating Myself and Others – Jhumpa Lahiri List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
381) Trigger Points – Mark Follman List: (Rohit Bhargava)
382) Two for Joy – Adam Henson List: (Book Depository)
383) Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases – List: (Goodreads)
384) Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice – Tommie Smith List: (NPR)
385) Virology – Joseph Osmundson List: (Bookpage)
386) Walking the Bowl: A True Story of Murder and Survival Among the Street Children of Lusaka – Chris Lockhart and Daniel Mulilo Chama List: (NPR)
387) We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys – Erin Kimmerle List: (NPR)
388) We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power – Caleb Gayle List: (Bookshop Santa Cruz)
389) What is Home, Mum? – Sabba Khan List: (NPR)
390) WHAT IT TOOK TO WIN – Michael Kazin List: (Kirkus)
391) What We Owe The Future – William MacAskill List: (Book Depository)
392) What We Want – Charlotte Fox Weber List: (iNews)
393) When They Tell You To Be Good – Prince Shakur List: (Large Hearted Biy)
394) Where Butterflies Fill the Sky: A Story of Immigration, Family, and Finding Home – Zahra Marwan List: (NPR)
395) White Debt – Thomas Harding List: (iNews)
396) Wild – Amy Jeffs List: (Book Depository)
397) Wild Maps – Mike Higgins List: (Book Depository)
398) Wired for Love: A Neuroscientist’s Journey Through Romance, Loss, and the Essence of Human Connection – Stephanie Cacioppo List: (Abe Books)
399) WOMAN – Lillian Faderman List: (Kirkus)
400) YEAR OF THE TIGER – Alice Wong List: (Kirkus)
401) Yoga – Emmanuel Carrere List: (Irish Times)
402) You Gotta Be You: How to Embrace This Messy Life and Step Into Who You Really Are – Brandon Kyle Goodman List: (NPR)
21 Best Nonfiction Book Sources/Lists
| Source | Article |
| Abe Books | The best books of 2022 |
| Amazon | The Best Nonfiction of the Year |
| Blue Willow Bookshop | The Best Books of 2022 |
| Book Depository | Best Books of 2022 |
| Bookpage | Best Nonfiction of 2022 |
| Bookshop Santa Cruz | Best Nonfiction of the Year 2022 |
| Booktopia | Booktopia’s Best Non-Fiction Books of 2022 |
| Goodreads | Best Nonfiction |
| Indigo | Top 10 Best Non-Fiction of 2022 |
| iNews | The best non-fiction books of 2022, from Notes on Heartbreak to White Debt |
| Irish Times | The Best Nonfiction 2022 |
| Kirkus | Best Nonfiction Books of the Year |
| LA Times | The 15 best nonfiction books for fans of advice, memoirs and histories |
| Large Hearted Biy | Favorite Nonfiction of 2022 |
| NPR | Books We Love – 2022 |
| OMP | OMP’s Best Books of 2022 |
| Powells | Best Books of 2022: Nonfiction |
| Publishers Weekly | Best Nonfiction 2022 |
| Readings | Best nonfiction of 2022 |
| Rohit Bhargava | The 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of 2022 | The Non-Obvious Book Awards Longlist |
| The Reading Lists | THE BEST NON-FICTION BOOKS OF 2022 |
