best nonfiction books for book reports

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The Best Book-Report Books for Middle Schoolers

No need to dread a book report! When kids find titles that are engaging, interesting, and thought-provoking, they're hooked. If it's fiction, students can dissect plot, theme, and characters. If it's nonfiction, they can plunge into a subject that fascinates them or learn a lot about something they've never heard of before. Here's a list of surefire selections for students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. For even more ideas, check out 50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12 .

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

Inspiring wartime journal reveals teen's inner life.

The Apothecary, Book 1

Cold War kids use magic to save world in brilliant novel.

Everything Sad Is Untrue: (A True Story)

Young refugee's story is told in memories, myths, fables.

Goodbye Stranger

Bittersweet, lovely story of friendship and social media.

Genesis Begins Again

Teen learns to love herself in uplifting tale of misfits.

Hold on tight for an intense tale of survival.

A Long Walk to Water

Touching take on Lost Boys of Sudan, based on true story.

One Crazy Summer

A gem, with strong girl characters, '60s black history.

Poverty, being unhoused explored in hopeful tale.

The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights

Little-known disaster gets overdue, in-depth treatment.

The Red Badge of Courage

Compelling Civil War novel questions morality of battle.

Uglies: Uglies Quartet, Book 1

Thoughtful sci-fi about the price of beauty.

Interned girl, Native boy find common ground in moving tale.

All-American Muslim Girl

Captivating coming-of-age tale explores identity, racism.

American Ace

Moving, fast-paced novel-in-verse; great for teen boys.

Bomb: The Race to Build -- and Steal -- the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

Complex, suspenseful story of developing The Bomb.

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club

Thrilling true story of teenagers who stood up to the Nazis.

Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings

Poignant memoir-in-verse recalls Cuban American's childhood.

Long Way Down

Gripping, unnerving story of teen boy contemplating revenge.

My Name Is Not Easy

Fascinating story of Alaskan kids growing up in the 1960s.

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Blog – Posted on Monday, Jun 01

The 60 best nonfiction books of all time.

The twenty-first century is still young — yet it has already produced an incredible array of nonfiction books probing all facets of human life. From uncovering invisible histories, to reflecting lyrically on medical conditions, to calling readers to political action, nonfiction writers can take us anywhere. They show us who we are, where we came from, and where we might be going.

We asked our community of 200,000 readers to vote for the most revelatory nonfiction books of all time. Without further ado, here are 60 of the best nonfiction books to peruse. These must-reads will keep you informed, inspired , entertained, and exhilarated as you journey through the most contentious and compelling topics in history and the contemporary world.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the number of great nonfiction books to read, you can also take our 30-second quiz below to narrow it down quickly and get a personalized nonfiction book recommendation  😉

Which nonfiction book should you read next?

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1.  Between the World and Me  by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Between the World and Me  by Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful history of racial violence in the United States — and what it means to be black in this country today. Presented in the form of a letter to the author’s teenage son, this nonfiction book weaves the personal and the political together in a series of searing essays.

2.  The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer  by Siddhartha Mukherjee

A disarming “biography” of disease,  The Emperor of All Maladies  chronicles thousands of years of people grappling with the terrifying specter of cancer. From the patients who have fought it, to the doctors who have treated it and the researchers who have sought to eradicate it, this riveting account captures the ongoing battle against a deadly condition.

3.  The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History  by Elizabeth Kolbert

When the next major mass extinction hits the planet, as scientists foretell it soon might, humanity will be the victim — and the perpetrator.  The Sixth Extinction  charts the transformative, and potentially catastrophic, impact of human activity on the planet, forcing us to consider what change we must enact now to ensure the continued survival of our species — and all species.

4.  How to Survive a Plague  by David France

David France has been one of the key chroniclers of the AIDS epidemic in the United States since its beginnings.  How to Survive a Plague  follows his acclaimed documentary of the same name, compiling a definitive work on AIDS activism. France draws from firsthand accounts and meticulous historical research to cement the legacy of all those who have battled the disease and fought the government and pharmaceutical companies for the rights to treatment. This nonfiction book ensures that their memories are not forgotten.

5.  The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning  by Maggie Nelson

Cultural critic Maggie Nelson’s  The Art of Cruelty  contends with the history of violence across media and the arts, scrutinizing the moral implications of our obsession with acts of brutality enacted against living bodies. This is an essential text for anyone interested in how ethics and aesthetics intersect.

6.  How to Do Nothing  by Jenny Odell

When was the last time that you can say you really, truly did nothing at all? In a capitalist society that encourages constant action and productivity, it seems nearly impossible to not be doing  something,  but  How to Do Nothing  shows that there is another way to live. So go ahead, do nothing… after, of course, you’ve read this book.

7.  100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write  by Sarah Ruhl

Sarah Ruhl has plenty to keep her busy: she is a prolific playwright as well as a mother, and routinely formulates more creative ideas than she has the time to fully realize.  100 Essays I Don’t Have Time   to Write  recounts all of those loose ends and sparks of inspiration that drive her as an artist. This collection of not-quite-essays bursts with wit and insight along its journey through the musings of a curious mind.

8.  An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States  by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States  is the first comprehensive account of the nation told from an indigenous perspective. It is a damning indictment of white violence, and the centuries of genocide and erasure of native history that have accompanied colonial expansion. It is a story of the United States that has never been told before...but should have been told long ago.

9.  The New Jim Crow  by Michelle Alexander

Legal scholar Michelle Alexander argues that justice is neither truly blind nor colorblind — in fact, the criminal justice system in the United States systematically targets people of color and enacts racial oppression.  The New Jim Crow  is both a call to awareness and a call to action, making clear the deep harm embedded in systems ostensibly designed to protect us all.

10.  The Year of Magical Thinking  by Joan Didion

In  The Year of Magical Thinking , an account of the year following the death of her husband John Gregory Dunne, literary icon Joan Didion offers an unguarded and revealing self-portrait of grief and anguish. Confronting bereavement occasionally leaves even one of America’s most lyrical writers at a loss for words. The stunningly vulnerable confessions that result are moving expressions of raw emotion.

11.  Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind  by Yuval Noah Harari

Where did we humans come from? Where are we going? And what does it even mean to be “human” in the first place? These are some of the massive questions that historian Yuval Noah Harari attempts to unpack in  Sapiens . While perhaps “brief” in its coverage on a scale of universal time,  Sapiens  still spans thousands of years of human life — showing us who we are as a species, as well as what we might become.

12.  Thinking, Fast and Slow  by Daniel Kahneman

Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his groundbreaking research on cognitive biases and behavioral science. His book  Thinking, Fast and Slow  takes us through decades of his most essential research about how we think and why we make decisions the way we do — through the “fast” system of intuition and the “slow” system of logic. Kahneman’s conversational style makes even the most complex of psychological topics accessible to readers. After absorbing his insights, they’ll never think the same way again.

13.  A Short History of Nearly Everything  by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson has garnered acclaim for his entertaining travelogues. Now he takes us along for the ride on the trip of a lifetime (and many previous lifetimes).  A Short History of Nearly Everything  is exactly what its title promises: a briskly paced adventure through the known universe, filled with plenty of wit and wondrous facts to fuel the journey.

14.  When Breath Becomes Air  by Paul Kalanithi

Doctor Paul Kalanithi confronted the possibility of death nearly every day in his work as a neurosurgeon… until one day the life at stake was his own.  When Breath Becomes Air  is his heart-wrenching memoir of coming to terms with his own mortality after a diagnosis of stage IV lung cancer. Though Kalanithi passed away from in 2015, his devastatingly beautiful reflection affirms the impact of his life on countless patients and readers.

15.  Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game  by Michael Lewis

In  Moneyball , Michael Lewis follows the story of the Oakland A’s and their unconventional strategy of scouting players, allowing them to choose the best talent for a fraction of the budget of other teams. On the surface, this is a story about baseball. But it is also a story about thinking differently and taking risks. Most importantly, it shows that when the game of life seems stacked against you, you don’t have to play along: you can reinvent the rules entirely.

16.  Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City  by Michael Desmond

Evicted  is a gripping exploration of life on the margins for the untold numbers of people in America living in poverty. Desmond weaves his narrative from the stories of eight families in Milwaukee, showing the dearth of resources and affordable housing options available to them.  Evicted  is unafraid to say what is often left out of the conversation about poverty, as it forces readers to look at the dire state of American housing and homeownership.

17.  Alexander Hamilton  by Ron Chernow

The definitive portrait of a founding father — and of the foundations of America’s history —  Alexander Hamilton  is a brilliant  biography , as audacious and awe-inspiring as its subject. It vividly portrays Hamilton’s intimate life as well as the grand scale of his impact, immortalizing the monumental figure who shaped the political spirit of a nation… and inspired a few Broadway musicals.

18.  This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate  by Naomi Klein

The climate is not the only thing that is changing — in  This Changes Everything , Naomi Klein shows us that life as we know it is changing, too. The entire future of the planet is now at stake. Addressing the climate crisis requires a radical transformation of our environmental and economic systems, and Klein’s wake-up call demands decisive action to ensure the continued liveability of the planet. 

19.  Dreamland  by Sam Quinones

Drawing from intense investigative reporting and heartbreaking personal stories of addiction,  Dreamland  reveals how and why the opiate industry has wrought destruction on communities in the United States and Mexico. From prescription painkillers to black tar heroin, these drugs have devastating consequences, as Quinones reminds us. His book makes clear that real people are being harmed by corrosive capitalism.

20.  The Warmth of Other Suns  by Isabel Wilkerson

The Warmth of Other Suns  is one of the greatest tales of American history you’ve never heard. Wilkerson chronicles the years between 1915 and 1970, when millions of black Americans embarked northward or westward in search of opportunity, hoping to leave behind the racial prejudice and economic oppression of the South. What unfolds is a profoundly sympathetic and richly rendered story of countless families, seeking acceptance and better lives in the nation they call home.

21.  Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick

Though the citizens of North Korea consistently confront poverty and famine under the censorship of a repressive regime, little details about their lives sometimes escape the country’s impenetrable borders.  Nothing to Envy  ventures inside the world’s most closed-off society, giving voice to everyday people as they try to live their lives amidst totalitarianism. It is a haunting look at their despair and disillusionment — and the dreams they continue to nurture in spite of it all.

22.  These Truths: A History of the United States  by Jill Lepore

From acclaimed historian and  New Yorker  staff writer Jill Lepore,  These Truths  traces the birth of a country “forged in contradiction,” from its mythos as a land of opportunity to its history of extermination and oppression. Examining contemporary identity and politics through the lens of history,  These Truths  calls for a comprehensive reassessment of America’s past as well as its future.

23.  Behind the Beautiful Forevers  by Katherine Boo

For the people of Annawadi, an impoverished community not far from the Mumbai airport, lives of luxury and economic prosperity are constantly within sight — but always out of reach. Though the building of upscale hotels and growth of the Indian economy initially gave residents hope of upward mobility, personal and political tragedy quickly dismantled their dreams.  Behind the Beautiful Forevers  is a shocking examination of pervasive inequality in contemporary India and the people left behind by the powerful elite.

24.  Nickel and Dimed  by Barbara Ehrenreich

For the millions of Americans who perform low-paying jobs, “unskilled” labor, the living wage they supposedly earn is by no means actually liveable. In  Nickel and Dimed , journalist Barbara Ehrenreich goes undercover, journeying from Florida to Maine to Minnesota working a series of minimum-wage jobs. She quickly gains firsthand experience of the nearly insurmountable hardships the working poor encounter when they attempt to secure jobs or homes and put food on the table. Her eye-opening narrative reveals the dire situation of low-wage workers and the failures of employers and governments to provide anything near adequate support.

25.  Blurred Lines  by Vanessa Grigoriadis

In the wake of the #MeToo movement that has had transformative effects around the world, college campuses have become intensely scrutinized battlegrounds for debates about sexual politics. Vanessa Grigoriadis travels to universities across the United States to examine how the movement has prompted students to think differently about their sexuality, as well as the sexism or sexual violence they confront on campus. Unafraid to tackle controversial topics and contentious debates,  Blurred Lines  is a complex account of radical changes to contemporary culture.

26.  Underland  by Robert Macfarlane

Underland  literally takes us beneath the surface of our world — venturing into underground caves, graves, and geological features. Yet Macfarlane also goes on a deep-time exploration and digs into the intertwined history of humans and nature, scrutinizing the traces we leave behind for generations to come. This riveting journey through time traverses the rich expanse of humankind’s past and future.

27.  All the Single Ladies  by Rebecca Traister

Journalist Rebecca Traister’s book  All the Single Ladies  underscores the collective power of single women, creating a vivid and diverse portrait of unmarried women in the United States. Composed of interviews and explorations of the history of women in intellectual and public life, this feminist book is a richly researched triumph.

28.  The Invention of Nature  by Andrea Wulf

You may not recognize the name Alexander von Humboldt. In  The Invention of Nature , however, Andrea Wulf argues that he has undoubtedly shaped our understanding of the environment and our role in protecting it. Von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and his then-radical ideas — that nature existed for more than human consumption — paved the path for contemporary conservation movements. Wulf’s luminous look at his life, full of ecological exploration and scientific advocacy, shows the lasting impact of his ideas.

29.  The Other Slavery  by Andrés Reséndez

While countries in the Americas continue to grapple with the enduring horrors of slavery, there is a side to this devastating history that has never been fully confronted: the enslavement of indigenous peoples.  The Other Slavery  is a revelatory examination of the native populations enslaved throughout the western hemisphere, exposing how deeply entrenched oppression was in the creation of the “new world.” Reséndez’s fierce prose delivers on its promise to be “myth-shattering” and enlightening.

30.  Devil in the Grove  by Gilbert King

Thurgood Marshall, the Supreme Court’s first black justice, is perhaps the most significant legal figure of the twentieth century, arguing landmark civil rights cases.  Devil in the Grove  looks at the toughest cases he confronted before he was on the Supreme Court: fighting for “The Groveland Boys,” black workers in Florida’s orange industry who were subjected to horrific violence and lynchings in the Jim Crow South. This account of  true crime  and the fight for justice delves into Marshall’s origins as a fearless crusader — something not to be missed.

31.  Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race  by Reni Eddo-Lodge

After watching intense debates about racism unfold in the United States, British journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge recognized that the same conversations were just as urgently necessary in Britain. This led her to write  Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race,  one of the most accessible and best nonfiction books about the difficulties of, well, talking about race. Eddo-Lodge analyzes modern Britain’s race relations, reminding British and international readers alike of imperialism’s complicated history.

32.  The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference  by Malcolm Gladwell

This massively successful book by Malcolm Gladwell investigates the process of things  going viral,  dissecting how and why certain ideas can take off.  The Tipping Point  explores phenomena ranging from the sharp decrease in street crime in 1990s New York to children’s television shows suddenly becoming all the rage among all age groups. This is a sharp book that cannot fail to capture its readers with its masterfully recounted sociological and psychological case studies.

33.  Quiet  by Susan Cain

Susan Cain’s  Quiet  argues that Western society (and especially American society) is structured in a way that valorizes extroverted personality traits, to the detriment of introverts. In this nonfiction book, she defines the concept of introversion, traces its history, and proceeds with a mind-blowing analysis of our everyday lives and the biases inherent in the way people are assessed in a social atmosphere.

34.  The Age of Surveillance Capitalism  by Shoshanna Zuboff

Shoshanna Zuboff’s  The Age of Surveillance Capitalism  takes as its subject our current technological state, where corporations have access to a  lot  of personal information. Zuboff investigates the power and peril of digital surveillance, arguing that we have now entered a new age of capitalism where information and personal data are tools in the hands of corporations. A fascinating and thorough book,  The Age of Surveillance Capitalism  is guaranteed to provoke deep thinking about our relationship to tech.

35. On Writing  by Stephen King

In  On Writing,  bestselling author Stephen King discusses his early-career struggles, offering advice to up-and-coming writers. Intimate, honest, and approachable, this book is one every aspiring author should read. This encouraging memoir thematizes the power of memory and the importance of perseverance. If you needed the inspiration to keep writing, this is one of the best nonfiction books for you.

36. Persepolis  by Marjane Satrapi

Marjane Satrapi’s  Persepolis  is an immersive  graphic memoir  based on the author’s childhood in the Iranian capital of Tehran during the Islamic Revolution. As she grows up during a tumultuous chapter of the country’s history, her story is both a coming-of-age tale and a historical chronicle. Satrapi’s stark, black-and-white artwork supplements her text to create a thoroughly memorable reading experience.

37.  Freakonomics  by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Freakonomics , the famous nonfiction book by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, reveals “the hidden side of everything,” as its subtitle makes clear. It’s a bold claim, but not one that it fails to live up to. The authors make the case for constantly asking questions, challenging accepted truths, and looking at facts and data in a novel way.  Freakonomics  is a witty, eye-opening interpretation of the economy, suitable to any reader with an interest in why things work the way they do.

38.  SPQR  by Mary Beard

Mary Beard’s  SPQR  is a sweeping and epic history of the Roman Empire, covering over 1000 years of the classical civilization’s story. In this cinematic account, Beard explores the growth of the empire and reflects on its multilayered legacy. Intelligent and informative,  SPQR  is an excellent choice for both devoted historians and casual nonfiction readers.

39.  The Uninhabitable Earth  by David Wallace-Wells

More urgent than ever,  The Uninhabitable Earth  by David Wallace-Wells draws attention to the pressing need to address the growing problem of climate change. This unsettling book warns about the potential devastation that awaits us in the near future — unless we can enact a revolution in how we tackle global warming.

40.  The Silk Roads  by Peter Frankopan

Another fascinating historical read,  The Silk Roads  by Peter Frankopan closes in on the relationship between the East and West. Examining and dismantling Eurocentric narratives, Frankopan’s illuminating work focuses on the history of countries lying on the “Silk Road,” the trade route connecting East and West, and attempts to re-balance history. In Frankopan’s version of world history, the center point of Western civilization is the Persian Empire.

41.  Why We Sleep  by Matthew Walker

Neuroscientist Matthew Walker’s  Why We Sleep  achieved sensational status due to its hyperfocus on a universal experience: sleep. Walker delves into the scientific specifics of why sleep is so important, and reminds his readers that sleep deprivation, though common in modern society, is a worrying phenomenon. This is one of the best nonfiction books to make a convincing case for being generous with our down-time and getting some rest.

42.  Playing to the Gallery  by Grayson Perry

Grayson Perry’s cheerful, informative, and inspiring  Playing to the Gallery  is a crash-course in art appreciation. According to Perry, no one is too ignorant to pursue an interest in art. This joyful and down-to-earth book is an excellent resource for anyone who’s interested in modern art but daunted by the sometimes-elitist institutions that represent it.

43.  How Language Works  by David Crystal

David Crystal’s  How Language Works  is a detailed, all-encompassing nonfiction book addressing the many questions that arise when you start to really think about the processes of using language. In learning more about language, you’ll also learn more about yourself, your idiolect, and your unconscious linguistic influences.

44.  Political Order and Political Decay  by Francis Fukuyama

In  Political Order and Political Decay , political scientist Francis Fukuyama (famous for his 1992 book  The End of History and the Last Man ) explores the historical development of political institutions in various countries. In this insightful book, Fukuyama asks important questions about corruption and its eradication — and what it might take to run a well-functioning state in the present day.

45.  Prisoners of Geography  by Tim Marshall

For cartography fans and or anyone with even a casual interest in geography, Tim Marshall’s  Prisoners of Geography  is a brilliant interpretation of ten modern maps. Marshall analyzes the geopolitical complexities of each region, showing the many layers and dimensions of our political reality as captured by cartographers. This book is guaranteed to change the way you view maps forever.

46.  This is Not Propaganda  by Peter Pomerantsev

Peter Pomerantsev’s  This is Not Propaganda  focuses on the complication and confusion of the current “disinformation” age. This book explores how surfaces can be deceiving, delving underneath them to examine (among other things) how Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook seep into our political thinking. This disturbing book provides fascinating insights important to everyone, but especially to readers troubled by the current involvement of digital technologies in the political realm.

47.  The Corporation  by Joel Bakan

Joel Bakan’s  The Corporation  draws an intriguing parallel between the psychopathic mindset and the way corporations grow. In this thought-provoking book, legal theorist Bakan uses his training in law to break down the potential of power to corrupt both individuals and corporations.He supplements this analysis with several informative interviews investigating the psychology of pursuing success. 

48.  Humans of New York: Stories  by Brandon Stanton

Brandon Stanton’s photo interview series “Humans of New York” initially became famous on Facebook for capturing everyday lives. This utterly heartwarming (and heart-wrenching) volume compiles multiple stories into a book you can hold. In  Humans of New York,  interviewees bare their souls to Brandon as they pose for his camera, creating a meaningful reminder of our shared and enduring humanity. 

49.  The Element  by Ken Robinson with Lou Aronica

Champion of creativity Ken Robinson urges artistic minds to follow their heart and identify their “element” in his inspirational nonfiction book  The Element . Your element, he explains, is where passion intersects with talent: that’s where you can harness your own power the most. Robinson argues for educational reform that will make helping students find their element a priority, as it is the key to unlocking creativity and innovation for the future.

50.  Eating Animals  by Jonathan Safran Foer

Written by successful novelist Jonathan Safran Foer,  Eating Animals  is a passionate testament to vegetarianism and a philosophical, ethical, and moral assessment of our eating habits, with a special focus on our consumption of animal products. It’s a provocative reading experience, and it’s sure to stay with you for a long time.

51.  Is That a Fish in Your Ear? by David Bellos

David Bellos’s  Is That a Fish in Your Ear?  is a witty, informative ode to the practice of literary translation. Bellos, himself a translator, details the individual aspects of style that complicate translation — like humor. As a result, he opens reader’s eyes to the countless artistic microdecisions obscured behind the curtain of translation. This exciting book will inspire you to seek translated books from other languages and open yourself up to new worlds.

52.  Late Bloomers  by Rich Karlgaard

In  Late Bloomers , Rich Karlgaard dispels the assumption that all genius must emerge in days of youth. He argues that our culture’s obsession with early achievement discourages older members of society from pursuing their passion and talents, pleading for the world to consider “a kinder clock for human development” instead. His book presents an alternative outlook that would empower more people among us to follow their dreams, because it’s never too late!

53.  How to Write an Autobiographical Novel  by Alexander Chee

Alexander Chee’s collection of essays,  How to Write an Autobiographical Novel,  muses on the subjects of art and identity, as well as the craft of writing itself. This thoughtful and reflective book is an impactful invitation into the interior world of one of America’s most acclaimed essayists.

54.  The God Delusion  by Richard Dawkins

A brutal and honest nonfiction book,  The God Delusion  is an unapologetic defense of atheism by Richard Dawkins. The author is entirely unconvinced by religion, and explains his reasoning in this detailed and expansive work. His provocative challenge to readers’ views is sure to prompt spiritual soul-searching for fellow atheists and religious readers alike.

55.  Afropean  by Johny Pitts

“European” doesn’t automatically mean “White.”  Afropean,  a captivating documentation of the history and experience of black Europeans, seeks to challenge this common assumption, turning the spotlight onto black communities in several European countries. This Jhalak Prize-winning work is exciting and invigorating, ready to take you along on a journey across Europe.

56.  A Secret Gift  by Ted Gup

One day, journalist Ted Gup discovered letters addressed to his grandfather from suffering families in Canton, Ohio, from the time of the Great Depression. Following that epistolary trail seventy-five years later, Gup uncovered the story of how his immigrant grandfather secretly helped fellow Cantonians, discovering more about his own grandfather as well as the history of America in the process.  A Secret Gift  is a masterful and moving tale about the past, and a reminder of the importance of kindness and generosity.

57.  The Glass Castle  by Jeanette Walls

Jeanette Walls’s  The Glass Castle  is a tender, humorous account of the author’s nomadic childhood, which has been adapted into an acclaimed movie. This astonishing memoir especially focuses on the author’s relationship with her bohemian-minded parents, whose flaws and eccentricities are described with deep affection, no matter how difficult they are to live with. Simply written and honestly told, this memoir is a true accomplishment.

58.  Know My Name: A Memoir  by Chanel Miller

Have you heard of Chanel Miller? Maybe not — but it’s likely you’ve heard of the man who sexually assaulted her on Stanford University’s campus: Brock Turner. In  Know My Name,  a searing memoir of trauma and recovery, Chanel writes herself back into the narrative, claiming the right to tell her own story. Brave and enlightening, this is a difficult but important read.

59.  1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus  by Charles C. Mann

The way most history textbooks tell it, Europeans brought civilization to the Americas with the arrival of Columbus in 1492. Not so fast, says Charles C. Mann’s  1491 , a book that’s here to challenge the accepted version of history. Mann offers an utterly transformative historical account of the Americas, reversing the general assumption that its inhabitants were simple villagers before the arrival of European colonizers.

60.  Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption  by Laura Hillenbrand

Laura Hillenbrand’s  Unbroken  tells the unbelievable story of Louis Zamperini, the rebellious American son of Italian immigrants who found himself a lieutenant in World War II. This breathtaking  tale about the Second World War  is sobering, informative, and brilliantly told — an essential read for anyone interested in the War’s effect on individual lives.

Eager for more of the best contemporary reads? Check out our list of the 21 best novels of the 21st century !

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Non Fiction Book Report: How to Write the Perfect Paper

The thought of a non fiction book report may bring to mind early school days. In fact, a parent could easily use this article to help their kids complete one of these report assignments. However, even college students may be asked to review or report on a nonfiction book. Thankfully, the standards for what makes a perfect analysis paper doesn’t change across grade levels. The content itself becomes more complicated but the principles stay the same.

There are two main principles to writing a perfect book report: describe and evaluate. Knowing how to perform each and how to balance them can help you, your students, or your kids write the best paper they can.

Describe: The Facts of the Non Fiction Book Report

Description in a book report includes names and major points in the book. This is not the time to state your analysis of the work but simply to list the relevant information so the reader knows where your analysis will go.

The information in the description portion of a nonfiction book report includes background on the author and relevant information on the creation of the book. State how the book has been assembled or organized, especially if it takes a unique genre form. This includes the author’s intention with the book as a thesis or a statement of purpose. Let the reader know that you have a big picture of the nonfiction book being discussed.

Finally, offer a summary of the nonfiction book to get your readers on the same “page” for your evaluation. By selectively summarizing information, the reader (or grader) knows what they should take from your analysis.

Evaluate: Make Your Points

When you begin evaluating, use the information you reviewed and summarized in the description section. Evaluation involves your opinion, but a supported opinion that includes relevant scholarship. This means that other writers’ reviews and journal articles that discuss the nonfiction book you’re studying can come in handy to back up your points.

You can observe the strengths and faults of the book based on your observations and experience. However, the more you can support your statements with the words of others and of the book itself, the better your report will be.

How to Start Writing a Book Report

As you read, you have to read the right way ! This means observing the author’s purpose quickly, learning the background information that will go into your report beforehand, and taking notes. As you read, note the author’s expertise and how they incorporate their thesis. When you see quotes that support the author’s ideas (or yours), take note of where they occur. This can only make writing the report easier in the long run.

The Takeaway

A non fiction book report sounds like a hefty obligation. However, whether it’s a college paper or a child’s school project, a book report doesn’t have to be a burden. Get the two qualities of description and evaluation clearly distinct in your head so that when you read, you can already sort and note the informtation that will make your paper work.

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Raise the Bar Reading

A Reading Teacher's Blog

Nonfiction Book Report Templates and Ideas for 3rd, 4th and 5th Grade Students

Generally, when we think of book reports, we think of fiction reading response. However, nonfiction book report templates serve equally as important of a purpose for digging deep into nonfiction texts.  

Book reports are such a great way to encourage the use of many different reading skills with the same text. With one nonfiction text, students can practice skills like identifying main idea and details, analyzing text structure, finding nonfiction text features, summarizing, quoting, paraphrasing, finding the author’s purpose, citing text evidence, etc. The list goes on and on! 

By allowing students to practice so many skills at once, they are able to deeply analyze the text and think critically about the topic. Students can then form their own opinions on the topic and the author’s writing style, and ask important questions for further investigation.   

1. BACKPACK BOOK REPORT:

Backpack Book Reports are an engaging, hands-on twist on a classic book report. They are very easy to prep and make a great bulletin board display when completed. 

Each page focuses on an important nonfiction reading skill. These include: 

• Main Idea & Supporting Details
• Summarizing
• Nonfiction Text Features
• Author’s Point of View & Text Evidence
• Text Structure
• Academic Vocabulary
• Interesting Facts
• Back Up Opinions
• Reflection (What I Learned, My Connection, Questions I Still Have)

2. BOOK REPORT TAB BOOKS:

These tab books really bring nonfiction texts to life! Students re-create the cover of their informational book on the front of their book report. Then, each of the 10 tabs represent an important nonfiction reading response skill.  The tabs include:

They also come in full page option to maximize student writing space, or half page size to maximize wall space for a display.  

3. INFORMATIONAL TEXT LAP BOOK REPORT:

These lap books are great in that you can have students 1.) completely design their own lap books, or 2.) provide them with more structured directions.  

• Lap Book Free-Writes: The teacher tells students what nonfiction elements they are responsible for reporting on, but does not tell them exactly how to present them. The teacher provides students tools like paper, envelopes, scissors, etc. and students can present the information however they would like.

• Structured Lab Book: With this option, the teacher can set clear expectations and provide a model for how to present each nonfiction element on their lap books.

4. NONFICTION BOOK REPORT TEMPLATES:

Students can fill in each template and staple them together with the included cover page. These 10 templates are versatile in that if there’s a skill you haven’t yet covered, you can easily leave that page out until later into the school year and it won’t affect the finished book report product.

5. DIGITAL NONFICTION BOOK REPORT TEMPLATES:

These digital slides are the same as the nonfiction book report templates above, just in a digital Google Slides format. With this format, teachers can just delete any of the slides that cover skills that their students are unfamiliar with before making them their own copy. 

6. CEREAL BOX BOOK REPORT IDEAS:

Cereal boxes are a popular 3D way to have students present their book report since cereal boxes are easily accessible for any student to get their hands on. Students cover their boxes with paper to create drawing and writing space.  

The front of the box is transformed into a type of cereal that is fitting for the text they read.  For example, a student reporting on owls might name their box “Hoot Loops”. Then, the back and sides of their box are filled with information on the text. 

Similar to the lap book options described above, it is up to the teacher in how much structure they want to provide in this activity. Students can follow a model of how to present each element of nonfiction, or come up with their own ways to present each element on their box.

7. ONE PAGE BOOK REPORT (One Pager) :

Not every single book report we assign needs to take up tons of class time. A one-page book report option is an essential resource as it can be used as a quick, zero prep assessment tool. Although short, this type of report can still have students dig deep into reading comprehension.  

On the one pager that is pictured, students still use many important nonfiction skills. These include writing a nonfiction summary, identifying text structure, finding facts, giving an overall opinion, writing a recommendation, reflection on what they learned, and providing a rating.

8. PARAGRAPH WRITING WITH GUIDELINES:

If you are looking for a way to provide a lot of structure and clear expectations, you can give students a nonfiction book report writing rubric for what their reports need to include from the very start.

Students can also use graphic organizers that break down necessary points to include according to their rubric. Using a graphic organizer for prewriting is a great support for students in organizing their ideas before jumping into their drafts. 

No matter what book report format you go with, it is important that students know and understand what is expected of their writing content. Displaying a Nonfiction Book Report Bulletin Board is such a helpful way to provide students with steps to writing a book report as well as terms they will come across in their templates.

All of the nonfiction book report templates from this blog post are included in the Nonfiction Book Reports Bundle as well as the Fiction & Nonfiction Book Reports Megabundle !

Next up: Fiction Book Report Writing Ideas

Teaching Book Report Writing: Book Report Ideas and Formats (Grades 3-5)

Copyright 2021 Raise the Bar Reading

Customized by Laine Sutherland Design

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The 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023

These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser.

T he best nonfiction books of the year dug deep, mining both personal and global history to uncover essential truths. John Vaillant captured the horrors of a wildfire to study the consequences of climate change. Matthew Desmond dissected how poverty persists in the United States and made a compassionate call for greater equity. Tracy K. Smith detailed her complicated mission to learn more about her ancestry and urged us to examine whose stories we deem worth preserving. Their books are among the most impactful nonfiction published in 2023. Here, the 10 best books of the year.

More: Read TIME's lists of the best songs , albums , movies , TV shows , podcasts and video games of 2023.

10. King, Jonathan Eig

In the first major biography of Martin Luther King Jr . in decades, journalist Jonathan Eig paints a complex and fully human portrait of an American leader. Drawing on newly released FBI files, telephone transcripts, and more, Eig presents King like he’s never been seen before. The author unveils this research in fresh and exciting turns, unpacking the activist’s public work alongside his private life. King is a nuanced new look at a civil rights icon.

Buy Now: King on Bookshop | Amazon

9. Fire Weather , John Vaillant

At the center of John Vaillant’s Fire Weather is a horrific real-life story that serves as a deafening wake-up call. The book traces the events of the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire, in which 88,000 Canadians were displaced after their homes and neighborhoods were destroyed in a fiery blaze over the course of just one afternoon. In describing the natural disaster, Vaillant breaks down the science in accessible terms and offers an important account of the consequences of climate change.

Buy Now: Fire Weather on Bookshop | Amazon

8. Liliana's Invincible Summer , Cristina Rivera Garza

For three decades, poet Cristina Rivera Garza has been haunted by her sister’s murder. In July 1990, Liliana, an architecture student living in Mexico City who loved swimming and cinema, was killed. Though an arrest warrant was filed for Liliana’s ex-boyfriend, he disappeared during the investigation. So, in 2019, Rivera Garza decided to seek answers to what happened to her beloved sister herself. She recounts her quest for information and justice, and uses her sister’s story to tell a larger one about domestic violence and femicide .

Buy Now: Liliana's Invincible Summer on Bookshop | Amazon

7. Poverty, By America , Matthew Desmond

In 2017, sociologist Matthew Desmond won a Pulitzer Prize for Evicted, which analyzed why so many American families were facing eviction in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. His latest book revisits similar themes, this time focusing on why poverty is so prevalent in the U.S . With an empathetic hand, he writes about the systems that keep Americans from living above the poverty line, and implores us all to fight for ways to bring prosperity to the masses.

Buy Now: Poverty, By America on Bookshop | Amazon

More: The 100 Must-Read Books of 2023

6. How to Say Babylon, Safiya Sinclair

As a child growing up in Jamaica, Safiya Sinclair had to adhere to her Rastafarian father’s strict rules, which governed everything from the clothes she wore to the people she was allowed to see. But the author managed to educate herself on other ways of living and decided to use her voice to break free. In her memoir, Sinclair captures her turbulent coming of age, and how she grappled with realizing that the traditions she was raised in were suffocating her. The result is a moving portrait of a woman’s self-empowerment.

Buy Now: How to Say Babylon on Bookshop | Amazon

5. You Could Make This Place Beautiful , Maggie Smith

After her marriage falls apart, Maggie Smith inspects the pieces of the life she once knew to pave a path forward. You Could Make This Place Beautiful finds Smith dissecting the very form in which she is writing as she constantly questions the purpose of memoir and the stories we tell ourselves. Mining her heartbreak and memories both with her husband and without him, Smith moves between rage, sorrow, and grief. And through it all, she illustrates her unwavering love for her son and daughter.

Buy Now: You Could Make This Place Beautiful on Bookshop | Amazon

4. A Day in the Life of Abed Salama , Nathan Thrall

In February 2012, 5-year-old Milad Salama boarded a bus with his fellow Palestinian classmates en route to a theme park. But he never made it there. The bus crashed outside Jerusalem, and the children aboard it were injured or killed. This devastating scene propels Nathan Thrall’s book , which follows Milad’s father Abed from his first romance to the day of the collision, all told against the backdrop of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict . Thrall tackles the subject with care and expertise, introducing the lives of several Israelis and Palestinians to illuminate their struggles and complex histories.

Buy Now: A Day in the Life of Abed Salama on Bookshop | Amazon

3. To Free the Captives , Tracy K. Smith

In her memoir, Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith crafts a searing narrative about being Black in America. She excavates her past to better understand the racial violence that persists today, wading through generations of her family’s history. But as she tries to learn more about her lineage, beginning with the Alabama town where her father grew up, Smith realizes that the research process itself is fraught and riddled with missing pieces.

Buy Now: To Free the Captives on Bookshop | Amazon

2. Doppelganger, Naomi Klein

What would you do if all of a sudden people started mixing you up with a person whose beliefs you can’t stand? Leftist activist and author Naomi Klein has been forced to answer this exact question: she is constantly confused with Naomi Wolf, who has spent the past few years spreading antivaccine rhetoric and fringe conspiracy theories. Klein investigates how “other Naomi” became the type of public figure she is today, taking a dizzying trip through the current cultural landscape to examine politics, misinformation, and the slippery path to radicalization.

Buy Now: Doppelganger on Bookshop | Amazon

1. Some People Need Killing , Patricia Evangelista

The title of Patricia Evangelista’s memoir is rooted in a conversation the journalist once had with a vigilante who made that unnerving declaration. Her home country, the Philippines, was full of people who shared the same belief as this man—like those working for the state, who carried out thousands of killings of citizens during President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs.” Evangelista tells the stories of those who were lost in the struggle, and interrogates the language we use to describe violence.

Buy Now: Some People Need Killing on Bookshop | Amazon

More Must-Reads From TIME

• Jane Fonda Champions Climate Action for Every Generation
• Biden’s Campaign Is In Trouble. Will the Turnaround Plan Work?
• Why We're Spending So Much Money Now
• The Financial Influencers Women Actually Want to Listen To
• Breaker Sunny Choi Is Heading to Paris
• Why TV Can’t Stop Making Silly Shows About Lady Journalists
• The Case for Wearing Shoes in the House
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Write to Annabel Gutterman at [email protected]

You May Also Like

The 100 best non-fiction books of all time

From eye-opening autobiographies to political exposés, broaden your horizons with our edit of the best non-fiction books of all time. .

The best non-fiction books can educate readers on vital subjects, offer fresh new perspectives, or simply give us a valuable, and often entertaining, insight into the lives of others. Here is our edit of the must-read new non-fiction, and the best non-fiction books of all time. 

• Science & technology
• Autobiographies, biographies & memiors
• True stories & exposés
• Self-help, lifestyle & wellbeing
• Finance & business
• Political & historical
• Natural world & environment
• Sports books & autobiographies
• Arts & entertainment

The best new non-fiction books

Charles iii, by robert hardman.

In Charles III royal biographer Robert Hardman has chronicled the extraordinary first year of the new monarch’s reign. Offering up fresh insight into Charles III’s and Queen Camilla’s partnership, his much-reported relationships with his sons, and how he managed his grief for the death of his mother with his desire to show his strength to the British people, Charles III is an authoritative examination of a tumultuous year for the Royal Family, and the man at the heart of it all. 

by Catherine Nixey

For centuries, the idea of who Jesus was has been a homogenous one – the pious, loving son of God and saviour of humankind. But this view, which has shaped Western art, literature and language has not always been the predominant view of the man. In Heresy Catherine Nixey delves into the history of Christianity to examine the many different stories that were told about Jesus in the years after his death. From a man who scorned his parents and sold his twin into slavery, to a Jesus who had someone crucified, Heresy is a fascinating story of hidden history. 

Code Dependent

By madhumita murgia.

Love it or loathe it, you can’t escape it. Talk of AI is everywhere. In Code Dependent , Madhumita Murgia, AI Editor at the FT offers a laser-sharp examination of how AI is changing our jobs, our lives, our futures and even what it means to be human. Through compelling storytelling, Murgia shares how AI is shaping individuals' people, and what we need to do to reclaim our humanity. If you read one book about AI this year, make it this one.

Hildasay to Home

By christian lewis.

The follow-up to his bestselling memoir, Finding Hildasay , in Hildasay to Home Christian Lewis shares the next chapter of his extraordinary story. After his time in solitude on Hildasay Island, the last thing Christian expected to find was love. Now, with Kate by his side, they trek down the country together and into a new chapter as parents to baby Magnus. Hildasay to Home charts Christian’s highs and lows as he and his dog Jet integrate back into everyday life and embark on another epic adventure. 

Space Oddities

By harry cliff.

Something strange is happening in deep space and here on Earth. . . Join experimental physicist Harry Cliff for a tour around space’s newest frontier, and as he introduces the discoveries that can’t be explained by physics. From unknown forces pulling on the building blocks of matter, to stars travelling faster than they should be able to, and unexplainable particles below the Antarctic Ice, Space Oddities is an approachable and humorous guide to the mysteries gripping the worlds of physics and cosmology.

The Price of Life

By jenny kleeman.

What is the true price of a life? And why is every life not worth the same? In The Price of Life journalist and documentary-maker Jenny Kleeman meets the people who decide how much we are worth, and discovers how they calculate it. From the average ransom demand and who pays it, to the philanthropists who decide who and what is worth their charity, Kleeman explains how people in power are putting a price on human existence and asks: can we boil the value of life down to data and logic? 

The Glass Cliff

By sophie williams.

Why do companies only hire a female CEO when their business is failing? And why does it feel like gender equality in thew workplace is still so far off? If you’ve ever wondered why women are still so few and far between in positions of power in government and business, The Glass Cliff is for you. Drawing on her decades of research, which inspired her viral Ted Talk, Sophie Williams explains the phenomenon of “The Glass Cliff”, and how the deck is stacked against female leaders. Full of solutions for how we can change the story, The Glass Cliff is an eye-opening read.

All the Lonely People

By sam carr.

It has been said that we are living in a loneliness epidemic, with many of us feeling more isolated than ever. In All the Lonely People psychologist Dr Sam Carr explores what it is that is making us lonely, and what we can do to foster deeper human connections. Through hours of conversations over cups of tea with people of all ages and from all walks of life, Carr discovers that everyone - including him -  seems to be looking for the same thing, and asks: how can we feel like we're part of something bigger than ourselves in our disjointed modern world? 

How to Raise a Healthy Gamer

By dr alok kanojia.

From smartphone games to the latest must have consoles, it feels like no matter where you look there are games vying to grab kids’ attention. But how much is too much, and how do you set boundaries without conflict? Written by Dr Alok Kanojia, a Harvard psychologist and expert on video game psychology, How to Raise a Healthy Gamer will equip you with knowledge and practical solutions for how to manage your child’s relationship with gaming. With screen time at the forefront of every parent’s mind, this a must-read for parents of children of all ages. 

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Parenting books to read in 2024

The green budget guide, by nancy birtwhistle.

If you’ve ever thrown something away because you couldn’t get a stain out, let your leftovers go to waste because you weren’t sure what to cook, or bought a “miracle” cleaning product that didn’t live up to its promises, The Green Budget Guide is for you. Packed with 101 ways to reduce the amount you spend sustainably from budgeting-expert Nancy Birtwhistle, with saving money and reducing our impact on the planet at the forefront of everyone’s minds, this book is a must-read this new year. 

Judgement at Tokyo

By gary j. bass.

An riveting account of how Japan’s leaders were tried as war criminals after the Second Wolrd War, Judgement at Tokyo is the culmination of a decade of research by award-winning historian Gary J. Bass. Examining the weeks after Japan surrendered to the Allies, and the decision to put the country’s leaders on trial, Bass has created a page-turning courtroom drama of the trial that set the stage for post-war life in East Asia. 

Will You Care If I Die?

By nicolas lunabba.

In a world where children murder children, and where gun violence is the worst in Europe, Nicolas Lunabba's job as a social organizer with Malmö's underclass requires firm boundaries and emotional detachment. But all that changes when he meets Elijah – an unruly teenage boy of mixed heritage whose perilous future reminds Nicolas of his own troubled past amongst the marginalized people who live on the fringes of every society. Written as a letter to Elijah,  Will You Care If I Die?  is a disarmingly direct memoir about social class, race, friendship and unexpected love.

Wise Animals

By tom chatfield.

Wise Animals delves into our historical relationship and co-evolution with technology. Starting with early tool usage and fire, journeying through the invention of reading, printing, computers, the internet, and AI, the book proposes that our knowledge of technology mimics that of our ancestors towards older technologies. Tom Chatfield argues that technology shouldn't be perceived as a threat, nor should we view ourselves as its masters or victims. Instead, this human-centric view suggests that technology is an integral part of our identity, and our combined future is ours to shape.

How Life Works

By philip ball.

A change is afoot in the world of biology, with its impact changing everything we know about life. In How Life Works Phillip Ball, award-winning author and former editor of Nature, outlines what makes this new biology so exciting. From how new knowledge about the origins of life is helping scientists to reprogram cells and cure illnesses, to the potential to regenerate organs and maybe create new lifeforms in years to come, How Life Works presents a striking vision of the future of biology. 

Life's Work

By david milch.

From one of the greatest American screenwriters of all time comes Life’s Work , an unflinchingly honest memoir about family and how our choices shape our lives. Written after his Alzheimer’s diagnosis, David Milch confronts his increasingly nebulous present and extraordinary past in Life's Work. From growing up in post-war America with his drug-addicted surgeon father to expulsion from Yale Law, his struggles with addiction, and how he created some of America’s best-loved cop dramas, Milch confronts his past with equal parts honesty and reflection. 

The Greatest Manifestation Book

By vex king.

Make 2024 the year you get the life you want with The Greatest Manifestation Book by bestselling author Vex King and social media star Kaushal. A daily journal that will help you understand and harness the power of manifestation, define your goals and intentions, practice gratitude for what you already have and understand what is holding you back, this book is the tool that will help you unlock your true potential in the new year. 

The best non-fiction books about science & technology

The psychology of stupidity, by jean-francois marmion.

Edited by Jean-François Marmion, this dissection of stupidity is brought to you by some of the brightest brains around, including a Nobel Prize winner. The Psychology of Stupidity explains how lazy thinking leads to bad decisions, why even smart people can believe nonsense, how media manipulation makes us all dumber, and the pitfalls of trying to debate with a fool.

The Psychopath Test

By jon ronson.

This Sunday Times bestseller is a fascinating and entertaining read. What if society wasn't fundamentally rational, but was motivated by insanity? This thought sets Jon Ronson on an utterly compelling adventure into the world of madness. Along the way Jon meets psychopaths, those whose lives have been touched by madness and those whose job it is to diagnose it, including the influential psychologist who developed the Psychopath Test, from whom Jon learns the art of psychopath-spotting. A skill which seemingly reveals that madness could indeed be at the heart of everything . . .

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

By rebecca skloot.

Born a poor black tobacco farmer in Virginia in 1920, Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer when she was just 31 years old. However, unbeknownst to her and her family, samples taken during her treatment continued to live on, becoming vital to research and a multi-million dollar industry in their own right. A woman who changed science and cancer treatment forever, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is an extraordinary story of memoir, science and human rights and the inspiration for an HBO film starring Oprah Winfrey & Rose Byrne.

by Laurent Richard

Pegasus is the most powerful piece of spyware ever developed, installed on a phone by as little as a missed Whatsapp call. Once on your phone it can record your calls, copy your messages, steal your photos and secretly film you, and those controlling it are able to track your daily movements. Award-winning journalists Laurent Richard and Sandrine Riguard have been investigating this for more than twenty years. Pegasus outlines this journey and explores how people's lives and privacy are being threatened by cyber-surveillance.  

Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain

By lisa feldman barrett.

In seven short essays about that big grey blob between your ears, neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett explores the origins and structure of the brain, as well as shelving popular myths about the alleged battle between thoughts and emotions, or between nature and nurture. Sure to intrigue casual readers and scientific veterans alike, the book is full of surprises, humour and revelations about human nature.

Scary Smart

By mo gawdat.

In Scary Smart,  The former chief business officer of Google outlines how artificial intelligence is way smarter than us, and is predicted to be a billion times more intelligent than humans by 2049. Free from distractions and working at incredible speeds, AI can look into the future and make informed predictions. But AI also gets so much wrong. Because humans design the algorithms that form AI, there are imperfect flaws embedded within them that reflect the imperfection of humans. Mo Gawdat, drawing on his unparalleled expertise in the field, outlines how and why we must alter the terrifying trajectory of AI development and teach ourselves and our machines to live better. 

‘ Mo Gawdat is my life guru. His writing, his ideas and his generosity in sharing them has changed my life for the better in so many ways. Everything he writes is an enlightening education in how to be human. ’ Elizabeth Day

The Book of Minds

Philosophers have spent centuries trying to understand the workings of the human mind. But, asks award-winning science writer Philip Ball, what about the non-human mind? His contention is that we need to move on from considering the human mind as the standard to judge all others. And that the more we understand about the minds of other creatures, from octopuses to chimpanzees – as well as the potential minds of computers and aliens – the more we begin to see and comprehend our own.

A Brief History of Black Holes

By dr becky smethurst.

Right now, you are orbiting a black hole. The Earth goes around the Sun, and the Sun goes around the centre of the Milky Way: a supermassive black hole – the strangest and most misunderstood phenomenon in the galaxy. In  A Brief History of Black Holes  University of Oxford astrophysicist, Dr Becky Smethurst shares why black holes aren’t really ‘black’, that you never ever want to be ‘spaghettified’, and why beyond the event horizon, the future is a direction in space rather than in time. Full of wit and learning, this captivating book explains why black holes contain the secrets to the most profound questions about our universe.

How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch

‘If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.’ - Carl Sagan. Inspired by Sagan’s famous line, Harry Cliff ventures out in search of the ultimate apple pie recipe, tracing the ingredients of our universe through the hearts of dying stars and back in time to a tiny fraction of a second after our universe began. If you've ever wondered what matter is really made of, or how our world began after the Big Bang, or what the very first moments of our universe looked like – then this is the book for you.

Discover more enlightening popular science books

The best autobiographies, biographies & memoirs.

Winner of Pulitzer Prize in Memoir, Stay True  is a deeply moving and intimate memoir about growing up and moving through the world in search of meaning and belonging. When Hua Hsu first meets Ken in a Berkeley dorm room, he hates him. A frat boy with terrible taste in music, Ken seems exactly like everyone else. For Hua, Ken represents all that he defines himself in opposition to – the mainstream. The only thing Hua, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, and Ken, whose Japanese American family has been in the US for generations, have in common is that, however they engage with it, American culture doesn’t seem to have a place for either of them. 

Father and Son

By jonathan raban.

On 11 June 2011, three days short of his sixty-ninth birthday, Jonathan Raban suffered a stroke which left him unable to use the right side of his body. Learning to use a wheelchair in a rehab facility outside Seattle and resisting the ministrations of the nurses overseeing his recovery, Raban began to reflect upon the measure of his own life in the face of his own mortality. Together with the chronicle of his recovery is the extraordinary story of his parents’ marriage, the early years of which were conducted by letter while his father fought in the Second World War.

A Girlhood: A Letter to My Transgender Daughter

By carolyn hays.

This thought-provoking and moving memoir is an ode to Carolyn Hays's transgender daughter – a love letter to a child who has always known herself. After a caseworker from the Department of Children and Families knocked on the door to investigate a complaint about the upbringing of their transgender child, the Hays family moved away from their Republican state. In A Girlhood, Carolyn Hays tells of the brutal truths of being trans, of the sacrificial nature of motherhood and of the lengths a family will go to shield their youngest from the cruel realities of the world. Hays asks us all to love better, for children everywhere enduring injustice and prejudice just as they begin to understand themselves.

Finding Hildasay

After hitting rock bottom having suffered with depression for years, Christian Lewis made an impulsive decision to walk the entire coastline of the UK. Just a few days later he set off with a tent, walking boots and a tenner in his pocket. Finding Hildasay tells us some of this incredible story, including the brutal three months Christian Lewis spent on the uninhabited island of Hildasay in Scotland with no fresh water or food. It was there, where his route was most barren, that he discovered pride and respect for himself. This is not just a story of a remarkable journey, but one of depression, survival and the meaning of home. 

Went to London, Took the Dog: A Diary

By nina stibbe.

Two decades after she left the capital for Cornwall, Nina Stibbe made the life-changing decision to take a ‘sabbatical’ from her life and marriage to move in with her friend, writer Deborah Moggach, for a year. From spending more time with her adult children and rediscovering the London she once called home, to realising that both she and the city have changed immeasurably over the years, Stibbe charts the experience with her trademark humour and grace. Went to London, Took the Dog is a funny, deeply moving read for anyone who is dreaming of or embarking on a new chapter in their life. 

Queen of Our Times

This is the definitive biography of Queen Elizabeth II by one of Britain’s leading royal authorities. With original insights from those who knew her best, interviews with world leaders and access to unseen papers, bestselling author Robert Hardman explores the full, astonishing life of our longest reigning monarch in this compellingly authoritative yet intimate biography.

by Yusra Mardini

After fleeing her native Syria to the Turkish coast in 2015, Yusra Mardini boarded a small dinghy full of refugees headed for Greece. On the journey, the boat's engine cut out. It started to sink. Seventeen-year-old Yusra, her sister, and two others took to the water to push the overcrowded boat for three and a half hours in open water. Eventually, they managed to land on Lesbos, with Yusra and the others having saved the lives of those on board. Butterfly is Yusra Mardini's journey from war-torn Damascus to Berlin and from there to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. Discover Yusra and her incredible story of resilience and unstoppable spirit.

This Is Going to Hurt

By adam kay.

This is Going To Hurt  began life as a comedy show inspired by the junior doctors’ strike and is Adam Kay’s no-holds-barred account of his life as a junior doctor. Written in secret  between gruelling hospital shifts, the book is by turns shocking, sad and laugh-out-loud funny, while telling you everything you ever need to know - and more - about life on a hospital ward. Highlighting the long hours, poor pay and staffing problems caused by underfunding, this is a must-read for anyone who values the NHS.

I Heard What You Said

By jeffrey boakye.

Jeffrey Boakye’s experience as a black student shaped the teacher he became. In I Heard What You Said , his unflinching memoir, Boakye examines his experience as a black teacher in today’s education system. From outrageous questions about his background to his ability to navigate spaces that are white by default and teaching problematic texts in English, Boayke reflects with wit and passion on why he chooses to teach in a system designed to fail millions of children each year. 

The Happiest Man on Earth

By eddie jaku.

This heartbreaking yet hopeful memoir shows us how happiness can be found even in the darkest of times. In November 1938, Eddie Jaku was beaten, arrested and taken to a German concentration camp. He endured unimaginable horrors for the next seven years and lost family, friends and his country.  But he survived. And because he survived, he vowed to smile every day. He now believes he is the ‘happiest man on earth’. This is his story. 

Brown Girl Like Me

By jaspreet kaur.

Equal parts memoir and manifesto, Jaspreet Kaur equips women with the confidence and skillset they need to navigate the difficulties that come with an intersectional identity. Interviews with brilliant South Asian Women of all walks of life as well as academic insight show what life is really like for brown women in the diaspora. Pulling no punches, and tackling topics from mental health and menstruation stigma to education and beauty standards,  Brown Girl Like Me  will educate, inspire and spark urgent conversations for change; essential reading for South Asian women and people with an interest in feminism and cultural issues.

50 best autobiographies & biographies of all time

The best true stories & shocking exposés, by john carreyrou.

How far can you get with no expertise, technology that doesn’t work, and an extraordinary sales pitch? Disturbingly far. Bad Blood is the story of one of the biggest corporate fraud cases of the 21st century. Journalist John Carreyrou explores the rise and shocking fall of tech start-up Theranos, which was valued at $9 billion based on its innovative medical technology before it was all revealed to be a lie. This is the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, and a tale of ambition and hubris set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley.

Everything you need to know about the Theranos scandal

Empire of pain, by patrick radden keefe.

Empire of Pain is the story of three generations of the Sackler family, and their role in the stories of Valium and Oxycontin. As one of the richest families in the world, the Sacklers are known for their lavish donations in the arts and the sciences. The source of the family fortune was vague, however, until it emerged that they were responsible for making and marketing Oxycontin, a blockbuster painkiller that was a catalyst for the opioid crisis – an international epidemic of drug addiction which has killed nearly half a million people. This masterpiece of narrative reporting is the secret history of the Sackler dynasty.

‘ You feel almost guilty for enjoying it so much. ’ The Times

The Snakehead

From the author of Empire of Pain comes a thrilling panorama of a secret world run by a surprising criminal. Cheng Chui Ping, a charismatic middle-aged grandmother managed a multimillion-dollar business smuggling people – all from a tiny noodle shop in New York's Chinatown. The Snakehead, uncovers the inner workings of this empire, and recounts the decade-long FBI investigation that eventually brought her down. But this is not just a crime story. As an incompetent and corrupt INS pursues desperate immigrants, Patrick Radden Keefe paints a portrait of a generation of these undocumented people, and ultimately the ironies of immigration in America more broadly. 

From forgers to money launderers to arms merchants and those on death row, this is a book about behaving badly. Award-winning and hypnotically brilliant New Yorker  writer Patrick Radden Keefe takes readers on a gripping but also humane trip into the psyches of those who society would rather forget. With global reach and meticulous research, this is a bravura piece of journalism. 

Warhol After Warhol

By richard dorment.

Twenty years ago, art critic Richard Dorment received a phone call that would change his life. The caller asked Dorment for his help after two of his prized pieces, paintings by the late pop artist Andy Warhol, had been declared fake. As the duo embark on a decade-long quest to prove the authenticity of the paintings, they stumble upon a world full of corruption and greed, and meet the colourful characters who hold the power. A stranger-than-fiction examination of the corruption and lies that have permeated the art world, Warhol After Warhol lifts the lid on the mystery and scandal that surrounds the billion-dollar art industry.

by Rob Copeland

Five decades after founding hedge-fund Bridgewater Associates, in October 2022 billionaire Ray Dalio announced he would be retiring from running the firm that has made him extremely rich, and infamous in the process. Now, through hundreds of interviews with those who know the fund and Dalio most intimately, Rob Copeland tells the shocking and fascinating story behind the firm’s enduring success. Revealing the secrets of the man behind the biggest hedge-fund on Wall Street, The Fund is a must-read business book for fans of The Big Short and Million Dollar Whale.  

Breaking Twitter

By ben mezrich.

For more than twenty years, Twitter was a digital home for users to post, retweet and debate, until one bizarre day in October 2022. Charting one of the strangest and most polarising business takeovers of modern times, in this expose of Elon Musk’s acquisition of the brand, bestselling author Ben Mezrich charts the fateful fall of the platform formally known as Twitter. With interviews with Twitter employees, and sources close to Musk, Mezrich lifts the lid on the mass firings, the exodus of advertisers and how one man’s decisions have changed the internet forever. 

by Oliver Sacks

For over four decades, twenty First World War veterans languished in hospital, treated by professionals who had no idea how to awaken them from their catatonic stupor. Motionless and silent, the men were aware of their surroundings but had no interest in engaging in them. That was until the day Dr Oliver Sacks administered a revolutionary new drug, L-DOPA, which roused the men from their inertia. A stranger-than-fiction story written in Sacks’ unmistakable prose, Awakenings is a compelling read and a classic of medical writing. 

The Sleeping Beauties

By suzanne o'sullivan.

In Sweden, refugee children fall asleep for months and years at a time. In upstate New York, high school students develop contagious seizures. In the US Embassy in Cuba, employees complain of headaches and memory loss after hearing strange noises in the night. These disparate cases are some of the most remarkable diagnostic mysteries of the twenty-first century, as both doctors and scientists have struggled to explain them and – more crucially – to treat them. Neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan travels the world to visit other communities who have also been subject to outbreaks of so-called ‘mystery’ illnesses.

by Jo Cheetham

In this story of everyday people doing extraordinary things, Jo Cheetham writes of her time protesting up and down the country as part of the No More Page 3 campaign. When studying and working as a nanny in London, Jo saw news of an upcoming protest against the Page 3 pictorial in The Sun . Soon, she was embroiled in a movement determined to expose and take down this exploitative industry. In doing so she made an unlikely group of friends that would become her closest confidents and allies. Both hilarious and moving, Killyjoy shows us the power of a grassroots campaign and of shouting a little bit louder. 

True crime books better than any podcast

The best self-help, lifestyle & wellbeing books, ten times calmer, by dr kirren schnack.

Dr Kirren Schnack is here to tell you that your anxiety isn’t here to stay. As an Oxford trained and practicing NHS clinical psychologist with twenty years’ experience, she offers a first aid kit of tools to help you understand what you’re going through and change how you’re feeling – and it might just be easier than you think. The ten chapters cover everything from dealing with anxious thoughts and stress to managing uncertainty and safely tackling trauma, with each tip taking you one step closer to an anxiety-free life. 

With You Every Step

By rob burrow.

The moving affection between rugby legends, fundraising heroes and best friends Rob Burrow and Kevin Sinfield has inspired and uplifted the nation. In this truly special, pocket-sized gift book, heartfelt words from Rob and Kevin are brought to life with artwork from leading illustrators, to create an inspiring and hopeful celebration of love, support and connection. Exploring universal truths and celebrating kindness, empathy and the joy of friendship,  With You Every Step  is the perfect way to show the special people in your life, young and old, just how much they mean to you.

Closer to Love

Vex King is back with Closer to Love , a practical guide to creating lasting connections. After finding peace and joy in his own romantic relationship, he is now sharing his wisdom to guide readers on their own journeys. He considers the complexities of modern relationships and how to navigate these in an ever-changing world, helps us to overcome fears, expectations and insecurities, and clarifies our sense of selves, ultimately helping us to get closer to love. From the bestselling author of Good Vibes, Good Life and Healing is the New High , Closer to Love is an unmissable read from one of the nation's favourite self-help gurus.  

To My Sisters

By courtney daniella boateng.

From the hosts of the hit podcast, To My Sisters, comes this essential guide to sisterhood. Old friends Renee Kapuku and Courtney Daniella Boateng are united in one mission – reinvigorate and redefine sisterhood to inspire a global community of women to uplift each other and reclaim their power. They argue that unconditional love is too often limited to parents or spouses, when actually embracing the power of friendship and community in an authentic way is just as powerful. Packed with practical advice, reflective activities and wise words, To My Sisters  will teach you how to find, build and nourish lifelong friendships. 

by Scott Shigeoka

When was the last time you learned something new or spoke to someone totally different to you about their viewpoints and experiences? In his new book, Seek , curiosity-expert Scott Shigeoka invites us to wonder, explore what makes us curious and expand our understanding of the world. In this practical and accessible guide you’ll learn how harnessing your natural curiosity by letting go of assumptions and embracing hardship can help you enjoy a more connected, compassionate and interesting life. 

How to Calm Your Mind

By chris bailey.

Productivity expert Chris Bailey offers a toolkit of accessible, science-based strategies to pursue calmness, and ultimately live a less anxious and more engaged life in How to Calm Your Mind. Covering topics including our desire for dopamine, 'busyness' and the digital world, Chris Bailey encourages us to develop our capacity for calm. In doing so, he believes we can build a deeper, more expansive reservoir of energy to draw from throughout the day and invest in the missing piece that leads our efforts to become sustainable over time, ultimately making room to do good work and live a happy life. 

by Marisa G. Franco, PhD

When was the last time you put yourself out there to make a new friend? For many of us, the answer is too long ago. In Platonic , Dr Marisa G. Franco explains how the undervaluing of friendship in our culture has led to an epidemic of isolation, and what we can do about it. Platonic  teaches us to identify and understand our individual attachment styles and why exploring how we behave in relationships is the key to unlocking what we’re doing right (and what we could do better) in our friendships. This book is the ultimate guide to learning how we make and keep friends for life.

That Little Voice In Your Head

Mo Gawdat's That Little Voice in Your Head  is a practical guide to rewiring your brain for joy. He reveals that by talking down the negative voice within, we can change the way we think, turn greed into kindness, transform apathy into compassionate action and create our own happiness. Gawdat's brain exercises draw on his experience as a former Google engineer and Chief Business Officer, as well as from his neuroscience studies. And he explains how – despite their complexity – our brains generally behave in predictable ways. Drawing inspiration from the life of his late son, Gawdat has written a manual for happiness that is steeped in empathy.

The Kindness Method

By shahroo izadi.

In these difficult times, we could all benefit from showing ourselves a little kindness. If you want to use this time to make a change, Behavioural Change Specialist Shahroo Izadi believes there’s only one way to make change last, and that’s to be kind to yourself . The Kindness Method was developed through a combination of professional training and personal experience and will leave you feeling empowered, positive and ready to make a change, whether it’s weight loss, cutting down on alcohol or improving your relationships.

The Greatest Self-Help Book (is the one written by you)

From Sunday Times bestselling author of  Good Vibes, Good Life  and  Healing is the New High , Vex King and social media star Kaushal, this is a journal like no other. Filled with exercises, activities and visual prompts, it will help you to understand and regulate your emotions, maintain habits that work for you, shift negative mindsets and cultivate positive thought patterns, build self-awareness and carve out time to practise self-love and gratitude. Think of this as your companion to help you build a healthier relationship with yourself and others;  The Greatest Self-Help Book  is the one written by you.

‘ I have always believed in the idea that people inspire people. I know what's what inspired me... and Vex really is the ultimate example of that. ’ Deliciously Ella

H is for Hawk

By helen macdonald.

In this original blend of memoir, biography and nature writing, Helen Macdonald explores how raising Mabel the goshawk helped her heal after her father's sudden death. After buying Mabel for £800 on a Scottish quayside, Macdonald embarked on the long, strange business of trying to train this wildest of animals. The book parallels her experience to that of T. H. White, a closeted homosexual and sadist in the 1930s, who also flew a hawk to self-soothe. With beautiful descriptions of nature, as well as profound reflections on grief, this award-winning book will dazzle and delight in unexpected ways. 

The Queer Parent

By lotte jeffs and stu oakley.

From fertility and adoption queries to starting school and navigating conversations with your kids, The Queer Parent is the essential guide for LGBTQ+ parents, parents-to-be and allies. Written by Lotte Jeffs and Stu Oakley, the hosts of the award-winning podcast  Some Families , this funny, empathetic guide contains advice from dozens of queer families and experts who share their experiences, tips, and pitfalls they faced in the journey to becoming parents. Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, a friend or anything in between, this book is essential reading for everyone.  

How Now to Age

By michael greger md.

Discover the foods, exercises and lifestyle changes that can increase your lifespan in this bestselling guide to longevity by Dr Michael Greger. Cutting through the noise to deliver peer-reviewed research on how to slow the effects of aging on your body, including tips inspired by the world’s oldest and healthiest communities, Dr Greger shares easy, achievable changes that anyone can make to their diet, exercise regime and lifestyle to make their later years happier, healthier and more youthful. 

The best self-help & self-care books

The best finance & business books, gonzo capitalism, by chris guillebeau.

In Gonzo Capitalism , Chris Guillebeau explores how millennials and gen-Z are embracing unconventional ways to make money amidst financial challenges. He showcases individuals who have earned substantial income by sending potatoes in the mail, naming other people's babies, and getting paid to play online games. With a keen eye on the evolving platform economy, he reveals the inner workings of our economy and empowers readers to capitalize on new tools and platforms to turn their talents into income. Gonzo Capitalism provides valuable insights for those seeking alternative paths to financial success in a changing world.

How Big Things Get Done

By bent flyvbjerg.

Understanding what distinguishes the triumphs from the failures has been the life’s work of Oxford professor Bent Flyvbjerg. In How Big Things Get Done , along with bestselling author Dan Gardner, he reveals the errors that leads projects to fail, and the principles that make them succeed. Think of how Apple’s iPod went from a project with a single employee to an enormously successful product launch in eleven months. But such successes are the exception. Exploring case studies across a broad spectrum of technologies and businesses, discover why this is an exception, and how to be one of these exceptions. 

The Geek Way

By andrew mcafee.

If you’ve ever had an incredible idea that fell on deaf ears when you spoke to your boss about it, this book is for you. Rethinking the traditional structures of top-down hierarchies, some of Silicon Valley’s most successful companies have embraced the geek way of thinking, making decisions using trial and error, evidence and stress-testing, and doing away with the practice of upper management being the sole decision makers. By examining what it is that makes businesses and teams that embrace the approach work, Andrew McAfee has unlocked the secrets of The Geek Way , and how you can apply the principles to improve your business. The future is geeky! 

The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness

By morgan housel.

In The Psychology of Money award-winning author Morgan Housel reveals that our success with money isn’t necessarily about what we know, but how we behave . Through nineteen short stories, Housel explores the way we think about our finances in the real world, helping us understand more about our strange relationship with money and teaching readers how to make better sense of one of life’s most important topics. This is a vital read for anyone looking to redefine their relationship with their finances, and if you’re already a fan, Morgan Housel’s new book, Same as Ever: Timeless Lessons on Risk, Opportunity and Living a Good Life , came out this year.

‘ The Psychology of Money is bursting with interesting ideas and practical takeaways. Quite simply, it is essential reading for anyone interested in being better with money. Everyone should own a copy. ’ James Clear on The Psychology of Money

Pathfinders

By jl collins.

Hailed as 'The Godfather of Financial Independence', in Pathfinders , JL Collins accompanies readers through fascinating real-life stories from people on the journey to financial independence, and accompanies these with reflections on his 'rules for the road'. These heartfelt, and often surprising tales are the ultimate companion for your own journey to financial freedom, and the true and lasting wealth that lies at the end.

The best finance books to read in 2024

The best political & historical non-fiction books, the making of the modern middle east, by jeremy bowen.

BBC's International Editor, Jeremy Bowen, provides a compelling and informative exploration of the Middle East in The Making of the Modern Middle East . Drawing on his extensive experience and insights from his prominent podcast, 'Our Man in the Middle East', Bowen journeys across the region, tracing its history. He encounters everyday people, their leaders, and delves into the power dynamics that have inflicted suffering on civilians. From Syria to Israel and Palestine, Bowen's deep comprehension of the region's varied political, cultural and religious aspects is evident throughout the book.

Blood on the Snow

By robert service.

Exploring the world events that preceded the 1917 Russian Revolution, in Blood on the Snow, Robert Service revisits the period that has fascinated him throughout his career. The esteemed historian presents the revisionist idea that it was Tsar Nicholas II’s decision to join the war against Germany in 1914, rather than a revolution driven by worker and peasant activism, that sowed the seeds of the Revolution. Through examination of primary source material, including diary entries from ordinary Russians, Service presents a compelling narrative of the events leading up to the birth of Bolshevik Russia. 

God: An Anatomy

By francesca stavrakopoulou.

Three thousand years ago, in the region we now call Israel and Palestine, people worshipped an array of deities led by a god called El. El had seventy children, all of whom were gods themselves; one of these children, Yahweh, fought humans and monsters and eventually evolved into the God of the great monotheistic faiths. The history of God in culture stretches back centuries before the Bible was written. Elegantly written and fiercely argued, Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou provides a fascinating analysis of God’s cultural DNA, and in the process explores the founding principles of Western culture.

In Defence of Witches

By mona chollet.

Who is a witch? In Defence of Witches recasts the term 'witch' into a powerful role model to women today, as an emblem of power free to exist beyond the narrow limits society imposes on women. Witches are everywhere, whether they are casting spells on Donald Trump or posting photos of their crystal-adorned altar on Instagram. Historically accused of witchcraft, often meeting violent ends, many types of women have been censored, eliminated, repressed, over the centuries. Mona Chollet shows that by considering the lives of those who dared to live differently, we can learn more about the richness of roles available. 

The Ship Beneath the Ice

By mensun bound.

On 21 November 1915, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship,  Endurance , sank beneath the ice of the most hostile sea on Earth. While the miraculous survival of all those on board has entered legend, the iconic ship that bore them to the brink of the Antarctic was considered forever lost . . . until March 2022. Including countless fascinating stories of Shackleton and his ship, photographs from Shackleton's original voyage and from the legendary recovery expedition itself; in The Ship beneath the Ice, the Director of Exploration tells the story of the monumental discovery in his own words.

Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries

By kate mosse.

Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries  is a celebration of unheard and under-heard women’s history . Within these pages you’ll meet nearly 1000 women whose names deserve to be better known: from the Mothers of Invention and the trailblazing women at the Bar; warrior queens and pirate commanders; the women who dedicated their lives to the natural world or to medicine; those women of courage who resisted and fought for what they believed; to the unsung heroes of stage, screen and stadium. Joyous, celebratory and engaging, Kate Mosse's book is for everyone who has ever wondered how history is made.

A (Very) Short History of Life On Earth

By henry gee.

This lyrical and moving account takes us back to the early history of the earth, a wildly inhospitable place with swirling seas, constant volcanic eruptions and an unstable atmosphere. The triumph of life as it emerges, survives and evolves in this hostile setting is Henry Gee's riveting subject: he traces the story of life on earth from its turbulent beginnings to the emergence of early hominids and the miracle of the first creatures to fly. You'll never look at our planet in the same way again.

The Fall of Boris Johnson

By sebastian payne.

Boris Johnson was touted as the saviour of the country and the Conservative Party, obtaining a huge commons majority and finally getting Brexit done. But within three short years, he was deposed in disgrace, leaving the country in crisis. Sebastian Payne, Whitehall Editor for the  Financial Times , tells the essential behind-the-scenes story, charting the betrayals, rivalries and resignations that resulted in the dramatic Conservative coup and set in motion events that saw the party sink to catastrophic new lows.

‘ A genuinely page turning, gripping account of some of the most extraordinary days in modern British history. ’ Andrew Marr

Divine Might

By natalie haynes.

In  Divine Might  Natalie Haynes, author of the bestselling  Pandora’s Jar , returns to the world of Greek myth and this time she examines the role of the goddesses. We meet Athene, Artemis, Aphrodite and Hera; each with their own story. We also meet Demeter, goddess of agriculture and mother of the kidnapped Persephone, we sing the immortal song of the Muses and we warm ourselves with Hestia, goddess of the hearth and sacrificial fire. These goddesses are as mighty, revered and destructive as their male counterparts. Isn’t it time we looked beyond the columns of a ruined temple to the awesome power within?

Black and British

By david olusoga.

In this vital re-examination of a shared history, historian and broadcaster David Olusoga tells the rich and revealing story of the long relationship between the British Isles and the people of Africa and the Caribbean. This edition features a new chapter encompassing the Windrush scandal and the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, events which put black British history at the centre of urgent national debate. This is vivid confirmation that black history can no longer be kept separate and marginalised. It is woven into the cultural and economic histories of the nation and it belongs to us all. 

How to Survive a Plague

By david france.

How to Survive a Plague was the winner of The Green Carnation Prize for LGBTQ Literature and the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT non-fiction. The book is a riveting and moving account of the AIDS epidemic and the activists at grass-roots level who fought to develop the drugs which turned AIDS from an almost always fatal infection to a manageable disease. Weaving together dozens of individual stories, many from people who were facing their own life or death struggles with the disease, this is an insider’s account of an incredibly important moment in our history.

The best history books to read right now

The best non-fiction books about the natural world & environment, the rise and reign of the mammals, by steve brusatte.

In  The Rise and Reign of the Mammals , palaeontologist Steve Brusatte weaves together the history and evolution of our mammal forebears with stories of the scientists whose fieldwork and discoveries underlie our knowledge, both of iconic mammals like the mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers of which we have all heard, and of fascinating species that few of us are aware of. For what we see today is but a very limited range of the mammals that have existed; in this fascinating and ground-breaking book, Steve Brusatte tells their – and our – story.

A World on the Wing

By charles scott weidensaul.

This is the rousing story of the billions of birds that, despite the numerous obstacles we have placed in their path, continue to head to the far horizon. The past two decades have seen an explosion in our understanding of the feats of endurance and complexity involved in bird migration. A World on the Wing  sees Pulitzer Prize-shortlisted writer and ornithologist Scott Weidensaul track some of the most remarkable flights undertaken by birds around the world.

The Green Gardening Handbook

Going green in the garden has never been easier with Nancy Birtwhistle’s sustainable, eco-friendly tips that will help you make the most of your space, and what it can grow. Whether you have a sprawling garden, a modest patch of grass or just a spare windowsill,  The Green Gardening Handbook  has over 100 tips that will help you embrace the joy of growing and eating from your own garden. This is a book for anyone green-fingered or not, packed with practical advice to save money and reduce waste, packaged in a beautifully illustrated guide. 

Nancy Birtwhistle shares her eco-friendly cleaning tips

The last drop, by tim smedley.

A gripping, thought-provoking and ultimately optimistic investigation into the world’s next great climate crisis – the scarcity of water. Water stress is already driving the first waves of climate refugees. It’s increasingly clear that human mismanagement of water is dangerously unsustainable, for both ecological and human survival. And yet in recent years some key countries have been quietly and very successfully addressing water stress. In  The Last Drop , award-winning environmental journalist Tim Smedley meets experts, victims, activists and pioneers to find out how we can mend the water table that our survival depends upon.

The Sixth Extinction

By elizabeth kolbert.

Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions of life on earth. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. Elizabeth Kolbert combines field reporting, the history of ideas and the work of geologists, botanists and marine biologists to tell the stories of a dozen species. The sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy and Elizabeth Kolbert's book urgently compels us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.

A Brief Atlas of the Lighthouses at the End of the World

By gonzález macías.

From a blind lighthouse keeper tending a light in the Arctic Circle, to an intrepid young girl saving ships from wreck at the foot of her father's lighthouse, and the plight of the lighthouse crew cut off from society for forty days, this is a glorious book full of illuminating stories that will transport the reader to the world's most isolated and inspiring lighthouses.

by Jared Farmer

Historian Jared Farmer tells the story of the planet's oldest trees and what they have meant to human beings in Elderflora . In the eighteenth century, naturalists embarked on a quest to locate and the oldest living things on earth. And so the science of tree time was born. Spanning Lebanon to New Zealand and California, Farmer takes us through this science and surveys the complex history of the world's oldest trees. Combining rigorous scholarship with lyrical writing, he shows how amidst a changing climate we need old trees now more than ever. 

Live more sustainably with these essential reads

The best non-fiction sports books, the inner game of tennis, by w timothy gallwey.

Recently named by Bill Gates as one of his 'all-time favourite books', and described by Billie Jean King as her 'tennis bible', this bestseller has been a must-read for tennis players of all abilities for nearly fifty years. Rather than concentrating on how to improve technique, Gallwey deals with the 'inner game' within ourselves as we try to overcome doubt and maintain clarity of mind when playing. 'It’s the best book on tennis that I have ever read,' says Gates, 'and its profound advice applies to many other parts of life.'

Alone on the Wall

By alex honnold.

In the last forty years, only a handful of climbers have pushed themselves as far, ‘free soloing’ to the absolute limit of human capabilities. Half of them are dead. Although Alex Honnold’s exploits are probably a bit  too  extreme for most of us, the stories behind his incredible climbs are exciting, uplifting and truly awe-inspiring. Alone on the Wall  is a book about the essential truth of being free to pursue your passions and the ability to maintain a singular focus, even in the face of mortal danger. This updated edition contains the account of Alex's El Capitan climb, which is the subject of the Oscar and BAFTA winning documentary,  Free Solo .

by Poorna Bell

Poorna Bell’s journey to get strong began when – following the death of her husband, Rob – she realized that she had been relying on the men in her life to take out the bins, carry the luggage and move furniture. Poorna is now a competitive amateur power-lifter and the strongest she has ever been. This inspiring non-fiction book is part memoir and part manifesto, starting a conversation about women’s mental and physical strength and fitness which has nothing to do with weight loss. 

Jan Ullrich: The Best There Never Was

By daniel friebe.

In 1997, Jan Ullrich obliterated his rivals in the first mountain stage of the Tour de France. So awesome was his display that it sent shockwaves throughout the world of cycling. Everyone agreed: Jan Ullrich was the future of cycling. He was also voted Germany’s most popular sportsperson of all time, and his rivalry with Lance Armstrong defined the most controversial years of the Tour de France. But just what did happen to the best who never was? This is an account of how unbearable expectation, mental and physical fragility, a complicated childhood, a morally corrupt sport and one individual – Lance Armstrong – can conspire to reroute destiny.

The Damned Utd

By david peace.

In 1974 the brilliant and controversial Brian Clough made perhaps his most eccentric decision: he accepted the position of Leeds United manager. A successor to Don Revie, his bitter adversary, Clough was to last just 44 days. In one of the most acclaimed British sports novels of recent years –subsequently made into a film starring Michael Sheen – David Peace takes us into the mind and thoughts of Ol' Big 'Ead himself, and brings vividly to life one of football's most complex and fascinating characters.

Discover more sports books & autobiographies

The best non-fiction books about arts & entertainment, mozart in italy, by jane glover.

At thirteen years old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child prodigy who had captured the hearts of northern Europe, but his father Leopold was now determined to conquer Italy. Together, they made three visits there the last when Mozart was seventeen, all vividly recounted here by acclaimed conductor Jane Glover. Evocative, beautifully written and with a profound understanding of eighteenth-century classical music,  Mozart in Italy  reveals how what he experienced during these Italian journeys changed Mozart – and his music – for ever.

Holding the Note

By david remnick.

David Remnick, the Pulitzer Prize-winnning journalist and editor of The New Yorker, writes about the lives and work of some of the greatest musicians, songwriters, and performers of the past fifty years. He portrays a series of musical lives – Leonard Cohen, Buddy Guy, Mavis Staples, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, and more – and their unique encounters with the passing of that essential element of music: time. These are intimate portraits of some of the greatest creative minds of our time written with a lifetime’s passionate attachment to music that has shaped us all.

Beyond the Story

Published in celebration of their 10th anniversary, this is the BTS's first official book , including unreleased photos, QR codes of videos and other exclusive content. Through in-depth interviews and years of coverage by Myeongseok Kang, the world of K-pop comes alive. As digital artists, BTS has been communicating with the world through the internet and this book allows readers to immediately access trailers, music videos, and more online to have a rich understanding of all the key moments in BTS history. Complete with a timeline of all major milestones,  Beyond the Story is a remarkable archive — truly everything about BTS in one volume.

Party Lines

By ed gillett.

From the illicit reggae blues dances and acid-rock free festivals of the 1970s, through the ecstasy-fuelled Second Summer of Love in 1988, to the increasingly corporate dance music culture of the post-Covid era,  Party Lines  is a groundbreaking new history of UK dance music, exploring its pivotal role in the social, political and economic shifts on which modern Britain has been built. Ed Gillett   charts an ongoing conflict, fought in basement clubs, abandoned warehouses and sunlit fields, between the revolutionary potential of communal sound and the reactionary impulses of the British establishment.

The Last Action Heroes

By nick de semlyen.

This wildly entertaining account of the golden age of the action movie charts Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s carnage-packed journey from enmity to friendship against the backdrop of Reagan’s America and the Cold War. Revealing fascinating untold stories of the colourful characters who ascended in their wake, it chronicles the rise of the invincible action hero who used muscle, martial arts or the perfect weapon to save the day. And how, as the 1990s rolled on, the glory days of these macho men – and the vision of masculinity they celebrated – began to fade.

In this episode of Book Break, Emma takes a look at some recent non-fiction titles:

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The Best Reviewed Nonfiction of 2022

Featuring bob dylan, elena ferrante, kate beaton, jhumpa lahiri, kate beaton, and more.

We’ve come to the end of another bountiful literary year, and for all of us review rabbits here at Book Marks, that can mean only one thing: basic math, and lots of it.

Yes, using reviews drawn from more than 150 publications, over the next two weeks we’ll be calculating and revealing the most critically-acclaimed books of 2022, in the categories of (deep breath): Fiction; Nonfiction; Memoir and Biography; Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror; Short Story Collections; Essay Collections; Poetry; Mystery and Crime; Graphic Literature; and Literature in Translation.

Today’s installment: Nonfiction .

Brought to you by Book Marks , Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.”

1. In the Margins: On the Pleasures of Reading and Writing  by Elena Ferrante, trans. by Ann Goldstein (Europa)

12 Rave • 12 Positive • 4 Mixed

“The lucid, well-formed essays that make up In the Margins  are written in an equally captivating voice … Although a slim collection, there is more than enough meat here to nourish both the common reader and the Ferrante aficionado … Every essay here is a blend of deep thought, rigorous analysis and graceful prose. We occasionally get the odd glimpse of the author…but mainly the focus is on the nuts and bolts of writing and Ferrante’s practice of her craft. The essays are at their most rewarding when Ferrante discusses the origins of her books, in particular the celebrated Neapolitan Novels, and the multifaceted heroines that power them … These essays might not bring us any closer to finding out who Ferrante really is. Instead, though, they provide valuable insight into how she developed as a writer and how she works her magic.”

–Malcolm Forbes ( The Star Tribune )

2. Index, A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age by Dennis Duncan (W. W. Norton)

14 Rave • 8 Positive • 1 Mixed Read an excerpt from Index here

“The cleverly punctuated title of Dennis Duncan’s book, Index, A History of the, should signal that this isn’t a dry account of a small cogwheel in the publishing machine. Instead, it is an engaging tale of the long search for the quickest way to find what you need in those big, information-rich things called books. It is indeed an adventure, and ‘bookish’ in the most appealing sense … Duncan goes into fascinating detail about all this—page numbers get an entire chapter of their own—with digressions into curious byways of booklore and literature … From ancient Egypt to Silicon Valley, Duncan is an ideal tour guide: witty, engaging, knowledgeable and a fount of diverting anecdotes. The book skews toward the literary, but anyone interested in the 2,200-year journey to quickly find what one needs in a book will be enlightened, and will never again take an index for granted. The well-designed book also includes nearly 40 illustrations. As might be expected, the index—created not by the author but by Paula Clarke Bain—is magnificent.”

–Steven Moore ( The Washington Post )

3. We Don’t Know Ourselves by Fintan O’Toole (Liveright) 17 Rave • 4 Positive • 1 Mixed • 1 Pan

“One of the many triumphs of Fintan O’Toole’s We Don’t Know Ourselves is that he manages to find a form that accommodates the spectacular changes that have occurred in Ireland over the past six decades, which happens to be his life span … it is not a memoir, nor is it an absolute history, nor is it entirely a personal reflection or a crepuscular credo. It is, in fact, all of these things helixed together: his life, his country, his thoughts, his misgivings, his anger, his pride, his doubt, all of them belonging, eventually, to us … O’Toole, an agile cultural commentator, considers himself to be a representative of the blank slate on which the experiment of change was undertaken, but it’s a tribute to him that he maintains his humility, his sharpness and his enlightened distrust …

O’Toole writes brilliantly and compellingly of the dark times, but he is graceful enough to know that there is humor and light in the cracks. There is a touch of Eduardo Galeano in the way he can settle on a telling phrase … But the real accomplishment of this book is that it achieves a conscious form of history-telling, a personal hybrid that feels distinctly honest and humble at the same time. O’Toole has not invented the form, but he comes close to perfecting it. He embraces the contradictions and the confusion. In the process, he weaves the flag rather than waving it.”

–Colum McCann ( The New York Times Book Review )

4. Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

14 Rave • 4 Positive • 1 Mixed Read an excerpt from Super-Infinite here

“Rundell is right that Donne…must never be forgotten, and she is the ideal person to evangelise him for our age. She shares his linguistic dexterity, his pleasure in what TS Eliot called ‘felt thought’, his ability to bestow physicality on the abstract … It’s a biography filled with gaps and Rundell brings a zest for imaginative speculation to these. We know so little about Donne’s wife, but Rundell brings her alive as never before … Rundell confronts the difficult issue of Donne’s misogyny head-on … This is a determinedly deft book, and I would have liked it to billow a little more, making room for more extensive readings of the poems and larger arguments about the Renaissance. But if there is an overarching argument, then it’s about Donne as an ‘infinity merchant’ … To read Donne is to grapple with a vision of the eternal that is startlingly reinvented in the here and now, and Rundell captures this vision alive in all its power, eloquence and strangeness”

–Laura Feigel ( The Guardian )

5. Thin Places by Kerri ní Dochartaigh (Milkweed) 12 Rave • 7 Positive • 2 Mixed

“Can the Irish border be described as a ‘thin place’? Never have I read such an eloquent description for the omnipresent border in our psyche … Readers will draw their own meaning from Ní Dochartaigh’s words, and she allows space for them to ponder … This debut is not a memoir in the traditional sense; nor is it simply a polemic about the sectarian violence that tore through the author’s childhood in Derry; instead, it combines both of these elements under the insistent gaze of the poet-writer who is always keen to draw our attention to nature … Readers may be surprised at the depths that  Thin Places explores. Do not mistake its appreciation of the natural world for anything twee or solely comforting … This is not for the faint-hearted …

Ní Dochartaigh’s writing is generous and she leaves little for the reader to surmise in those dark days she describes in startling detail … The darkness in her subject matter lends itself to the light, however. The natural world at large is a balm for her … It might sound incongruous to write about the beauty of the whooper swan and the enduring effect of Troubles in the same paragraph, but Ní Dochartaigh’s manages it … This is a book full of hope found in dark places and it confronts some of the realities of the Irish border and the enduring effect it has on our lives.”

–Mia Colleran ( The Irish Independent )

6. Translating Myself and Others by Jhumpa Lahiri (Princeton University Press)

8 Rave • 14 Positive • 1 Mixed

“Lahiri mixes detailed explorations of craft with broader reflections on her own artistic life, as well as the ‘essential aesthetic and political mission’ of translation. She is excellent in all three modes—so excellent, in fact, that I, a translator myself, could barely read this book. I kept putting it aside, compelled by Lahiri’s writing to go sit at my desk and translate … One of Lahiri’s great gifts as an essayist is her ability to braid multiple ways of thinking together, often in startling ways … a reminder, no matter your relationship to translation, of how alive language itself can be. In her essays as in her fiction, Lahiri is a writer of great, quiet elegance; her sentences seem simple even when they’re complex. Their beauty and clarity alone would be enough to wake readers up. ‘Look,’ her essays seem to say: Look how much there is for us to wake up to.”

–Lily Meyer ( NPR )

7. Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton (Drawn & Quarterly)

14 Rave • 4 Positive Watch an interview with Kate Beaton here

“It could hardly be more different in tone from [Beaton’s] popular larky strip Hark! A Vagrant … Yes, it’s funny at moments; Beaton’s low-key wryness is present and correct, and her drawings of people are as charming and as expressive as ever. But its mood overall is deeply melancholic. Her story, which runs to more than 400 pages, encompasses not only such thorny matters as social class and environmental destruction; it may be the best book I have ever read about sexual harassment … There are some gorgeous drawings in Ducks of the snow and the starry sky at night. But the human terrain, in her hands, is never only black and white … And it’s this that gives her story not only its richness and depth, but also its astonishing grace. Life is complex, she tell us, quietly, and we are all in it together; each one of us is only trying to survive. What a difficult, gorgeous and abidingly humane book. It really does deserve to win all the prizes.”

–Rachel Cooke ( The Guardian )

8. The Philosophy of Modern Song by Bob Dylan (Simon & Schuster)

10 Rave • 15 Positive • 7 Mixed • 4 Pan

“It is filled with songs and hyperbole and views on love and lust even darker than Blood on the Tracks … There are 66 songs discussed here … Only four are by women, which is ridiculous, but he never asked us … Nothing is proved, but everything is experienced—one really weird and brilliant person’s experience, someone who changed the world many times … Part of the pleasure of the book, even exceeding the delectable Chronicles: Volume One , is that you feel liberated from Being Bob Dylan. He’s not telling you what you got wrong about him. The prose is so vivid and fecund, it was useless to underline, because I just would have underlined the whole book. Dylan’s pulpy, noir imagination is not always for the squeamish. If your idea of art is affirmation of acceptable values, Bob Dylan doesn’t need you … The writing here is at turns vivid, hilarious, and will awaken you to songs you thought you knew … The prose brims everywhere you turn. It is almost disturbing. Bob Dylan got his Nobel and all the other accolades, and now he’s doing my job, and he’s so damn good at it.”

–David Yaffe ( AirMail )

9. Stay True by Hua Hsu (Doubleday)

14 Rave • 3 Positive Listen to Hua Hsu read an excerpt from Stay True here

“… quietly wrenching … To say that this book is about grief or coming-of-age doesn’t quite do it justice; nor is it mainly about being Asian American, even though there are glimmers of that too. Hsu captures the past by conveying both its mood and specificity … This is a memoir that gathers power through accretion—all those moments and gestures that constitute experience, the bits and pieces that coalesce into a life … Hsu is a subtle writer, not a showy one; the joy of Stay True sneaks up on you, and the wry jokes are threaded seamlessly throughout.”

–Jennifer Szalai ( The New York Times )

10. Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative by Melissa Febos (Catapult)

13 Rave • 2 Positive • 2 Mixed Read an excerpt from Body Work here

“In her new book, Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative , memoirist Melissa Febos handily recuperates the art of writing the self from some of the most common biases against it: that the memoir is a lesser form than the novel. That trauma narratives should somehow be over—we’ve had our fill … Febos rejects these belittlements with eloquence … In its hybridity, this book formalizes one of Febos’s central tenets within it: that there is no disentangling craft from the personal, just as there is no disentangling the personal from the political. It’s a memoir of a life indelibly changed by literary practice and the rigorous integrity demanded of it … Febos is an essayist of grace and terrific precision, her sentences meticulously sculpted, her paragraphs shapely and compressed … what’s fresh, of course, is Febos herself, remapping this terrain through her context, her life and writing, her unusual combinations of sources (William H. Gass meets Elissa Washuta, for example), her painstaking exactitude and unflappable sureness—and the new readers she will reach with all of this.”

–Megan Milks ( 4Columns )

Our System:

RAVE = 5 points • POSITIVE = 3 points • MIXED = 1 point • PAN = -5 points

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The 25 Non-Fiction Books We're Most Excited For in 2024

These reads could teach you something new, and maybe even change your life.

Our product picks are editor-tested, expert-approved. We may earn a commission through links on our site. Why Trust Us?

WAS ONE OF your 2024 goals to read more? Or maybe learn something new? Non-fiction is the perfect book genre to open your mind and ease yourself back into reading. And with such a broad category of books, there's something for everyone. Historical deep-dives (perfect for someone who gets lost down Wikipedia rabbit holes), self-help books (expert-driven reads when you need advice), and everything in between all fall under this wide umbrella.

2024 is another great year for non-fiction books. We've got science-based explorations of memory, various books on how to inject more positivity into your life, and even meditations on deer (yes, deer ) to help you feel more in touch with the outdoors . And if you're a big pop culture nerd, there's also exciting books on music, movies, and sports that'll teach you the ins and outs of those exciting industries that fans (us included!) can't get enough of.

The Age of Deer: Trouble and Kinship with our Wild Neighbors

Those interested in nature writing, or at least how humans connect to the world around them, will enjoy The Age of Deer . Erika Howsare explores the constant presence of deer, interviewing animal control officers, a museum interpreter examining the history of deers, and even a woman who raises orphaned fawns.

Release Date: January 2

Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet

If climate change has you worried about the future of the planet, check out Not the End of the World . This 2024 read will not only provide some uplifting news about the state of the world, but also offers guidance on how to create a more sustainable lifestyle and contribute to a better planet.

Release Date: January 9

Buy It Here

Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

Rather than looking at aging as an emotional obstacle, what if you could avoid a midlife crisis altogether? Learning to Love Midlife wants to help readers see getting older as an exciting new chapter in life.

Release Date: January 16

Infectious Generosity: The Ultimate Idea Worth Spreading

Chris Anderson, the head of TED (as in the viral TED Talks), wants to help the world become more optimistic. His advice? Be more generous. In providing various anecdotes, including his personal narrative of TED's increasing popularity, Anderson wants to prove that kindness and charity can lead to a better society.

Release Date: January 23

Come Together: The Science (and Art!) of Creating Lasting Sexual Connections

We at Men's Health are all about helping readers improve their sex lives. So of course we're excited about Come Together , which seeks to dispel myths people have about sex in relationships (sexual satisfaction doesn't have to wane over time ) and examines the common obstacles that stops couples from having great sex lives, along with how to get over them.

Release Date: January 30

Fight Right: How Successful Couples Turn Conflict into Connection

While Come Together will help you fix your sex life, Fight Right wants to help you fix how you approach conflict. When tension arises in your relationship, Drs. John and Julie Gottman want to ensure you stay calm and work to find understanding when you and your partner are at odds.

Never Not Working: Why the Always-On Culture Is Bad for Business--and How to Fix It

If you've ever been called a "workaholic," this book is for you. Whether you're a manager or just a very stressed employee, Malissa Clark breaks down why constantly working is bad for both individuals and for businesses.

Release Date: February 6

The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center

While you may think your partner is the only friend you need, this book is set out to prove you wrong. Rhaina Cohen argues that not only are friendships important, but they should be considered just as important, if not more, than romantic relationships.

Release Date: February 13

Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Deep dive into Hollywood history with this look at Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?–starting with the original 1962 play, then the 1966 film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and the story's lasting impact today.

The Fast: The History, Science, Philosophy, and Promise of Doing Without

Fasting is a fascinating part of our social, religious, and political history. John Oakes looks to examine how the idea of fasting (both in terms of food and in terms of more spiritual ideas of "fasting") have impacted humans over time, and how the idea of doing less overall can improve our lives.

Practical Optimism: The Art, Science, and Practice of Exceptional Well-Being

It's easy to fall into pessimism and obsess over the worst. That's why Practical Optimism looks to give readers a way to cope during hardship, while maintaining an overall bright outlook on life. No matter what's getting you down, Practical Optimism wants to show you there's still things worth looking forward to.

Release Date: February 20

Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters

Take a deep dive into the latest research on memory with Why We Remember . In addition to teaching you how to recall things better, the book explores the power of memory in our lives, and how we can, through memory, improve our brain's relationship to trauma, healing, and more.

Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection

Imagine yourself at work, stumbling through a presentation, frustrated you can't get your point across. Charles Duhigg's Supercommunicators wants to ensure nothing ever gets lost in translation for you again with this book on how storytelling skills can improve how you have conversations.

Languishing: How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down

When your mental health takes a dip, Languishing is here for you. Corey Keyes' new book aims to reconstruct how we see self-help and mental wellness, while building up readers' resilience to get through hardships.

Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout

Avoid burnout with Slow Productivity , a book that looks to teach employees everywhere that the key to doing your best isn't in working to your limit, but slowing down and changing your expectations. If work overwhelms you and you're eager for a change, you might want to check out this upcoming read.

Release Date: March 5

3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool

If you're a fan of music history, 3 Shades of Blue dives into the creation of the jazz album Kind of Blue , made by three of the genre's greats–Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans, along with many, many others involved in the project. Get an inside look into how great music is made, and explore the moment jazz reached its popularity peak.

The Heart and the Chip: Our Bright Future with Robots

Daniela Rus, a computer scientist, answers all the questions you may have about the future of robotics and how it's intertwined with the future of humanity. This optimistic look at our technological future is great for anyone who loves deep dives into science.

Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball

Baseball fans will love this biography of Pete Rose, who became one of the sport's great players and managers before becoming embroiled in a major betting scandal in the 1980s. O'Brien's book details Rose's career and his downfall from interviews with Rose, his associates, and archival records.

Release Date: March 26

Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Wellbeing

Want to improve your work-life balance and learn how to use your time wisely? Google's Executive Productivity Advisor (yes, that's a real title) provides actionable steps and advice for how to become the best version of you both at work and in your personal life

Release Date: April 2

Somehow: Thoughts on Love

Somehow is a meditative look at how love impacts our lives. With anecdotes from her own life, Lamott offers a warming dive into how we all share affection, and provides lessons for anyone who needs to appreciate the love in their life more.

Release Date: April 9

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Book Report Nonfiction Template

Make it easier to dissect the different sections of the story by editing and customizing this book report nonfiction template from venngage..

• Design Style : modern
• Colors : light
• Size : Letter
• Plan : free

One of the most important parts of reading is understanding the meaning and essence of the book. Dissecting the story into sections and identifying the focal points of each part is crucial to memory retention and reading comprehension. If you want to make reading more fun and enjoyable, a book report outline can help you achieve this goal. A book report nonfiction template can help readers, especially kids, understand and recall the parts of the book better. Non-fiction is a kind of writing based on facts, not fantasy. Non-fiction books talk about events, people, biographies, or historical events that occurred in real life. When reading non-fiction literature, you must always be objective about your approach. Unlike fantasy and make-believe, non-fiction literature relies on facts that trace back to real-life events. Thus, you must always be objective when discussing non-fiction literature. This is where this book report nonfiction template from Venngage becomes handy. Members of academic institutions such as teachers, educators, and librarians can use this book report nonfiction template to create professional-looking, high-quality book reports. Instead of making kids and students write

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Excellent Nonfiction Books for 4th Graders

This post may contain affiliate links.

Use this list of good  nonfiction books  for 4th graders (9-year-olds in fourth grade) as a resource for finding the best nonfiction books that your kids will enjoy reading.

It’s important for children to practice reading both fiction and nonfiction. It’s also a great motivator if kids are reading something they are interested in.

See the nonfiction book lists for ALL AGES here.

Go  here for FICTION 4th grade books for 9-year-olds .

Nonfiction Books for 4th Graders

The Hidden Life of a Toad  by Doug Wechsler There is so much to love about this nonfiction picture book! The text is really basic —  not to hard for  early elementary  grades. The book sequentially shows in text and photos the development of a toad — which is fascinating! It’s longer than I would prefer but I think kids will stay engaged since the changes in the toad are quite profound.

The Biggest Stuff in the Universe  by Mr. DeMaio, illustrated by Saxton Moore Get ready to learn cool facts about BIG things — with photographs, cartoons, and illustrations!  From the largest tree to the largest exoplanet to the biggest thing in the known universe (the Hercules Corona Borealis Great Wall), Mr. DeMaio makes learning about science on earth and in space FUN!

The Story of Movie Star Anna May Wong  written by Paula Yoo, illustrated by Lin Wang I really love how The Story of series introduces us to people that haven’t typically been the subjects of biographies and are unfamiliar. I developed so much respect for Anna May Wong because she found her passion in life, acting, and pursued it. Despite the blatant stereotyping and poor pay, Anna supported herself as an actress, moving to Europe for a time and then China. When she returned, she refused parts that showed Chinese in an unsympathetic light. Talk about perseverance!

From an Idea to Disney How Imagination Built a World of Magic  written by Lowey Bundy Sichol, illustrated by C.S. Jennings I’ve read many other biographies about Walt Disney, but this one stands out for its writing, pertinent information, and appeal. It shares about the business that continued on even after Walt’s death and his brother’s death including the merger with Pixar and the successful but controversial CEO, Michael Eisner. Fascinating!

From an Idea to Nike: How Marketing Made Nike a Global Success   written by Lowey Bundy Sichol, illustrated by C. S. Jennings Kids will see that it’s not enough to have a good idea and great product but you also must figure out how to sell your product — and Nike did this by sponsoring elite athletes like Michael Jordan to wear their shoes. The company’s journey shows kids that businesses go through ups and downs. However, continued  innovative thinking  combined with hard work and determination leads to success.

One of Our Giant Robots Is Missing: A Solve-the-Story Puzzle Adventure  written by Russel Ginns and Jonathan Maier, illustrated by Andy Norman At Roboland, Alicia gets separated from her classmates. She wanders into the employee’s only area and overhears them talking about dismantling her favorite robot, MegaTom. She knows it’s up to her to save him. Help her save MegaTom by solving the puzzles and mazes before the employees find out and catch up to them.  You’ll love this exciting, interactive puzzle adventure from Puzzlooies!

Search for a Giant Squid: Pick Your Path  by Amy Seto Forrester & Andy Chou Musser This is an informational fiction  choose your own adventure  book where readers join an expedition on a dive to the deepest ocean depths to search for a giant squid. Choose which pilot to be, the submersible you’ll use, and the dive site, and then start your adventure. What will you discover? What will you do with mechanical problems or bad weather?

GUM How it Happened The Cool Stories and Facts Behind Every Chew  written by Page Towler, illustrated by Dan Sipple Did you know that gum has been around since the Neolithic era? Learn about the history of gum, the types of gum from different cultures, more recent gum iterations, and modern gum. The authors will hook readers with the writing and design, but readers will stay for the information. It’s fascinating!

Everything Awesome About Sharks and Other Underwater Creatures!   by Mike Lowery The Everything Awesome  book series  continues with SHARKS! Handwriting and kid-like fonts plus lots of comic illustrations and colors make this a visual feast for the eyes. (Or distracting, it can go either way.) But, it’s filled with a wealth of facts about the ocean, underwater creatures, and of course, sharks. From information about ocean zones to prehistoric sharks and kelp forests, this book covers ocean information in a fun, often hilarious, way.

Where’s the Llama?  written by Paul Moran, illustrated by Gergely Forizs A group of ten llamas in the Andes in Peru decide to see the world. Can you spot them in each of the world locations like Miami Beach, New York City’s modern art gallery, a fairground in Canada, a Cambodian jungle, an ice park in China, and more? Answers are in the back plus more things to spot. We really like the artwork in this book!

Bei Bei Goes Home A Panda Story  by Cheryl Bardoe This is an excellent book for children to learn about pandas, starting with the birth of baby Bei Bei and following her as she grows up.  Full-color photographs, sequential writing, factual information, and more — this will make a great addition to school libraries.

Anglerfish The Seadevil of the Deep  written by Elaine M. Alexander, illustrated by Fiona Fogg Follow the anglerfish’s birth to growth and life deep down in the dark ocean depths.  Find out more about this weird-looking toothy fish with bioluminescence.

What Breathes Through Its Butt? Mind-Blowing Science Questions Answered  by Dr. Emily Grossman If you’re looking for an informative  nonfiction book  with voice (HUMOR) and pizazz, this book hits all the right spots.  You can’t help but love the appeal of the book which is a mixture of goofy cartoons, information in a handwritten typeface with bolded and bigger words, and funny quizzes. (What can you do to make a pineapple taste riper? a. stand it upside down b. place it in the fridge c. cut it open d. sit on it) The quizzes introduce the topic, engaging a reader’s natural curiosity. You’ll learn about eggs, muscles, escaping a crocodile’s jaw, and other much weirder topics.

Courageous Creatures and the Humans Who Help Them I Survived True Stories  by Lauren Tarshis Superb!  Four compelling stories of animals and humans will keep readers engaged.  From carrier pigeon hero of WW I to cheetah cubs adopted by a human, these will share  true stories  for any animal lover. Filled with lots of black and white photographs and factual information that supports each story. For example, read about echolocation related to the dolphin story and general information about marine animals. Highly recommended.

Sleuth and Solve: 20+ Mind-Twisting Mysteries  by Victor Escandell As a teacher, I used these kinds of mind-bending puzzles in my classroom frequently. Why? Because the solutions take  out-of-the-box thinking.  Which is SO GOOD FOR KIDS! I love the design and format of this book… Pen and ink illustrations accompany a short mystery puzzle. Kids will love the challenge of trying to figure out the solutions– then getting to check to see if they got it right by lifting the flap.

Strange Nature: The Insect Port r aits of Levon Biss  written by Gregory Mone, photographs by Levon Biss Stunning photographs labeled with information about cool  insects  like the tiger beetle, mantis-fly, and the Orchid Cuckoo Bee accompany kid-friendly informational writing with the perfect amount of text to keep readers learning and engaged. Read where each insect lives, its size, and the most important information about the insect. You’ll love this beautiful  bug book  because both the photos and the writing are AMAZING.

What If You Could Sniff Like a Shark?  written by Sandra Markle, illustrated by Howard McWilliam Despite the busy layout, this is an engaging, informative, and relatable  book of facts about ocean animals  filled with photos, illustrations, and graphic designs. On the Australian Box Jellyfish page, it explains where they live and how they use their tentacles to sting, and other fascinating facts. Then it suggests that if you could sting, too, you’d be a crime-fighting superhero.

A Brief History of Underpants   written by Christine Van Zandt, illustrated by Harry Briggs Even people in ancient times wore  underwear ! Whether it was an Inuit in caribou skin underwear or Egyptian loincloths or quilted, padded underpants of European knights, kids will read all about the history of  underwear , inventions like the sewing machine that changed the world of underwear, and plenty of fun facts about underpants!  Well-written with punny humor, facts, and comic illustrations, this little nonfiction book for young readers is a delight!  

Kwame Alexander’s Free Write: A Poetry Notebook (Ghostwriter)   by Kwame Alexander This fun-to-read workbook for ages 8 to 12 introduces writers to poetry, literary devices like metaphors, as well as other poetic techniques.  Written in Alexander’s signature voice and style,  kids will get hooked as they dive into poetry . Alexander provides example poems with fill-in-the-blanks and lots of spaces for free writes.

The Story of Tennis Champion Arthur Ashe  written by Crystal Hubbard, illustrated by Kevin Belford In this book, you’ll learn about Arthur Ashe, a famous tennis player who eventually died from AIDS-related complications after a blood transfusion. Not only did this quiet, kind man work hard in tennis but you’ll learn that he also worked hard for equal rights and research funding for HIV/AIDS.

Killer Underwear Invasion! How to Spot Fake News, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories  by Elise Gravel This is a clearly organized informational book that will  teach kids about fake news — and how to find reliable sources of information . (In a nutshell.) Comic panels filled with humor and facts will make the information digestible and easy to understand.

Little Guides to Great Lives Nelson Mandela   written by Isabel Thomas, illustrated by Hannah Warren This is another new biography series that I highly recommend for elementary-age readers. Written like a narrative story, these little books are fast-paced and informative. This particular title is about one of the world’s most admired activists and leaders, Nelson Mandela.  Little Guides to Great Lives series  contain perfect text to picture ratio, captivating illustrations, informative content, and just-right pacing. Plus, they’re very well-written.

Copycat Science  by Mike Barfield Part biographies and part experiments, this nonfiction book narrated in cartoon format makes science fun!  Learn about each scientist in their short biography, then apply and learn more about their area of study by doing the related experiment. Read about James Audubon then make a bird feeder. Then read about Rosalind Franklin and do an experiment about strawberry’s DNA. Topics include living things, human biology, materials, air, electricity and magnetism, forces and physics, astronomy, math, and more.

Beavers: The Superpower Field Guides  written by Rachel Poliquin, illustrated by Nicholas John Frith In this fact-filled, funny, and illustrated book, you’ll meet Elmer who, like other beavers, has superpowers like Chainsaw Teeth and an Ever-Toiling Tail. Wow, right!? After you zip through this engaging nonfiction book, I predict Elmer will be your new favorite kind of animal — and you’ll be a beaver expert, too. Excellent, engaging writing!

Wild Outside Around the World with Survivorman  writing by Les Stroud with illustrations by Andres P. Barr Les Stroud recounts exciting personal adventure stories of exploration and survival in all sorts of places around the world.  Fascinating stories are accompanied by photos, illustrations, maps, and informational insets.  I couldn’t put this book down and HIGHLY recommend it.

So You Want to Be a Ninja?  written by Bruno Vincent, illustrated by Takayo Akiyama Engaging and entertaining, full of facts, trivia, quizzes, and fun , this is the essential illustrated guide for ninjas-in-training. Three friends travel back in time to 1789 Japan where they’re taught by famous ninjas.

Do You Know Where the Animals Live?  by Peter Wohlleben This book is organized around questions about animals .  For every question, find the answers in a two-page spread of photographs and text. Lovely layouts with full-color photographs, quizzes, at-home applications, and interesting and informative information make this is a unique but worthy animal tome that will appeal to most readers. Questions include: Can animals survive on plants alone? Do animals dream? Why do elephants stomp their feet?

Animal BFFs   by Sophie Corrigan I’ve poured over this book because the writing is engaging and  the information about unusual animals who live together is interesting.  I particularly love the funny dialogue bubbles of conversation between animal duos that you haven’t ever heard about — like warthogs and banded mongooses or ruby-throated hummingbirds and spiders– and why they’re paired up.

How to Go Anywhere (And Not Get Lost): A Guide to Navigation for Young Adventurers  written by Hans Aschim, illustrated by Andres Lozano Engaging informational writing guides readers through the history of navigation to the development of more precision, new technology, and better maps . Illustrated activities throughout the book will help readers apply their new knowledge. for example, “Make Your Own Stick Chart” helps you make an ancient system of mapping the ocean and “Visualizing Declination” shows you the difference magnetic declination can make. Use this all year long in your homeschool or science classroom.

Rocket to the Moon: Big Ideas That Changed the World  by Don Brown Instead of reading a narrative nonfiction book, get your fact-filled history about the first moon landing in an exciting, well-written, black-and-white   graphic novel.  Reading this book will help you understand our country’s competitiveness with Russia, the many attempts to launch rockets, and the eventual success of sending astronauts into space. I’m happy to see this new “Big Ideas”  graphic novel series  with a home-run first book.

What Makes a Monster? Discovering the World’s Scariest Creatures   written by Jess Keating, illustrations by David DeGrand Monsters  — real animal monsters — is a topic that kids love reading about. Keating writes in a way that gives kids lots of information in a readable, engaging way. I love the design, too –it’s a mix of photographs, illustrations, cool fonts, and bright colors.  What Makes a Monster  is a must-read filled with unexpected information about fascinating, dangerous animals.

Pencils, Pens   and   Brushes: A Great Girls’ Guide to Disney Animation  written by Mindy Johnson, illustrated by Lorelay Bovi Learn about some of the incredible women who worked at Disney’s animation from writers to artists to animators to researchers.  My daughter read this and thinks that artsy girls especially (like my daughter) will love these biographies. Each one skillfully captures the woman’s story, where she started, her passions, her education, and how she came to work for Disney as well as what she worked on while at Disney. As you might expect, the illustrations and design of this book are both eye-catching and exquisite.

When Green Becomes Tomatoes Poems for All Seasons  written by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Julie Morstad Beautifully written and illustrated, these poems capture the beauty of each season in relatable verses that seem like magic just like the poem below describes the first snow.

december 29 and i woke to a morning that was quiet and white the first snow (just like magic) came on tip toes overnight

Glow: Animals with Their Own Night-Lights  by W.H. Beck Brightly colored (glowing) plants and animals with bioluminescence pop out of the pages on black backgrounds. Each two-page spread page has both large and medium-sized text with the perfect amount of text — not too much! Read to find out why these creatures glow. You’ll learn how they use this adaptation for a purpose such as hunting, hiding, and tricking. Impressive.

Weird but True 8 Do your kids love the Weird But True! books as much as mine do? This new edition contains 300 all-new wild and wacky facts and pictures. Want to hear a few?

• The 1904 World’s Fair featured a life-sized elephant made of almonds.
• moonbow = a nighttime rainbow
• Scientists found sharks living in an underwater volcano.
• Octopuses have blue blood and nine brains.

Worlds Strangest Creepy-Crawlies Top 40 Weird and Wonderful Hair-Raising Bugs Big, bold text and huge color photographs catch your attention immediately, starting with #40, the elephant beetle and ending with #1, the exploding ant. Huh!? Yes, this ant from Malaysia explodes and dies — yikes! Each bug featured gets a 1- or 2-page spread including important facts, a habitat map, photographs, and ratings on the “strangeometer” for creepiness, superpowers, bug beauty, and fight factor. Irresistible!

Rosie Revere’s Big Project Book for Bold Engineers 40+ Things to Invent, Draw, and Make  by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts ages (ages 5 – 10) This is an excellent, engaging activity book based on the fantastic STEM  Rosie Revere, Engineer  picture book. Colorful illustrations and a cool layout will entice readers to try, fail, and learn. Discover more about simple machines, build a marble run, solve engineering challenges, design a  stuffed animal  carrier for your bike, learn about inventors who failed a lot, and so much more.

How to Draw a Unicorn and Other Cute Animals (With Simple Shapes in 5 Steps)   by Lulu Mayo ages 6 – 16 My oldest daughter, AJ, really likes the step-by-step directions in this book. You’ll find directions for 30 animals including a llama, sloth, beaver, panda, tiger, and much more. AJ likes that she can easily draw these on her new iPad with the  Pencil . (One of the best investments I’ve made last summer when JJ was so sick. If the  kids are on screen time , I feel like drawing and being creative are good choices.)

Tear Up This Book!  by Keri Smith A very popular  American Girl book for  fun, creativity, and crafts.

The Disney Book: A Celebration of the World of Disney  (DK) My oldest daughter loves anything Disney and proclaimed that this is the best book ever written . 🙂 While I’m not sure about that, it is a dense fact-filled tome from the early years to the present day.

Genius! The Most Astonishing Inventions of All Time  by Deborah Kespert A visually appealing graphic layout makes it easy to access the invention information — in fact, it’s downright enticing! Who knows I’d care about the Archimedes Screw and want to read all about it. Or the Elephant Clock — yes, that was a real thing which was super cool. You’ll learn about these early inventions and more modern inventions such as the space rocket. This is a well-done, readable nonfiction book.

Sports Illustrated Kids Football Then to Wow! This amazing nonfiction book makes ME, a non-sports fan, interested in football. The layout and design, plus the photographs, make me want to devour all the football facts and info. I highly recommend this for any football fan – it’s packed full of information about football back in the day (1930s) and nowadays. Excellent!

The Navajo Code Talkers  by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Gary Kelley This picture book shares the difficult history of the Navajo people and focuses on how the Navajo men used their unique language to help win WWI. The information is factual in its presentation (it could have been more emotionally charged but isn’t) which lets the readers draw their own conclusions. The illustrations perfectly depict the tone of this historical story. Very well done!

The Dog Encyclopedia for Kids  by Tammy Gagne (ages 9+) This book rocks! It’s one that any dog-lover would want on their bookshelf. The layout is appealing and the information organized and written with kids in mind, meaning it’s not too wordy while being factual and interesting with each breed gets 1 or 2 pages devoted to it and accompanying colorful photos. Great for  4th graders !

Strange But True! Our Weird, Wild, Wonderful World  DK This is a favorite book on the list today — I literally couldn’t help but read so many of the pages out loud to my kids, they were just so interesting. First, the photographs grab your attention — then the headlines — and then the text. This is a GREAT  book for your reluctant readers  because it’s practically irresistible to read through it. Love it for a  gift idea !

LEGO Awesome Ideas What Will You Build? Awesome barely begins to describe this LEGO book — it’s jam-packed with so many ideas from different themes like Outer Space, Modern Metropolis, the Wild West, Fantasy Land, and The Real World. I just love browsing through the ideas. Be warned: Your kids will want you to order A LOT more Legos for these new projects.

You Might Also Like:

Best Chapter Books for 9 Year Olds

Make Your Own Harry Potter Spells

Biographies for Women’s History Month

Artist Biographies

Entrepreneur Books for Kids 

Melissa Taylor, MA, is the creator of Imagination Soup. She's a mother, former teacher & literacy trainer, and freelance education writer. She writes Imagination Soup and freelances for publications online and in print, including Penguin Random House's Brightly website, USA Today Health, Adobe Education, Colorado Parent, and Parenting. She is passionate about matching kids with books that they'll love.

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Reading Middle Grade

Books for Kids and Grown Ups

The Best 6th Grade Nonfiction Books

If you’re searching for engaging non-fiction books for 6th graders, then you’ve come to the right place. I’ve curated a list of 20 of our favorite nonfiction titles covering various topics, including history, science, and sports. 

Because my 6th-grade son or I (or often both of us) have read each book on this list, I’ve provided brief, personal reviews of each book. You’ll not only be able to get a comprehensive list but also gain insight into why each title is so great. I’m so happy to be here at Reading Middle Grade, and I hope you enjoy this list of nonfiction books for 6th graders!

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20 Best Nonfiction Books for 6th Graders

Here are 20 of the best nonfiction books for 6th graders:

For Advanced Readers

If your 6th grader reads more mature content or is willing to tackle longer nonfiction books, here are some titles to consider.

Published September 10, 2019

Free Lunch chronicles author Rex Ogle’s experiences during his sixth-grade year:  feeling constantly hungry, being uncomfortable in ill-fitting second-hand clothing, and dealing with dissolving friendships. The memoir’s title comes from Rex’s dependence on the free lunch program at school and the shame he feels when he has to explain to the cashier that he’s on the program. While some of the language and content might be more suitable for mature 6th-grade readers, this memoir provides a wealth of teachable moments and discussion. Free Lunch is heart-wrenching, beautifully written, and a significant contribution to children’s literature.

Quiet Power: The Secret Strength of Introverted Kids

Published May 2, 2017

Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking was a New York Times Best Seller and focused on how dramatically society undervalues introverted adults. Quiet Power is geared specifically for older tweens and teens and focuses on the attributes of being an introvert. I especially appreciate how Cain concludes each section with actionable tips to help young introverts thrive, pointing out that the world has space for introverts, extroverts, and ambiverts (those who fall in the middle of the introvert-extrovert spectrum) and that having friends who are different from you can enrich your life.

For Reluctant Readers

Try these short, high-interest titles for 6th graders who aren’t usually interested in reading or are intimidated by longer books.

You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen

Published July 4, 2017

You Can Fly tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, from the early days into World War II combat, through second-person poems that address the reader directly. This perspective personalizes the story, making the reader feel like they are part of the action. The author weaves in poems about Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson, and Lena Horne–highlighting the simultaneous fight against racism in the United States. Reluctant readers will appreciate how much is conveyed through these short poems, which read more like a novel in verse–they build upon one another and are best enjoyed in sequential order.

How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous

Published: July 3, 2012

While How They Croaked might make some adults cringe, this book will fascinate middle schoolers, especially reluctant readers. It provides all the gruesome details of the deaths of 19 very famous people, including King Tut, Cleopatra, Marie Curie, Edgar Allen Poe, Ludwig Van Beethoven, George Washington, and Albert Einstein.  Each story is only about 5-7 pages long, which will seem manageable for many reluctant readers. This book isn’t all shock factor and includes lots of lesser-known facts about these 19 historical figures. It’s such a creative (and disgusting) way to share history. We listened to the audio version, and L.J. Ganser’s narration made our whole family laugh out loud.

Lebron James vs. Michael Jordan: Who Would Win?

Published: August 1, 2023

Michael Jordan and LeBron James have both won numerous championships, awards, and Olympic medals. But who is the best basketball player of all time? The latest in the All-Star Smackdown series hooks even the most reluctant readers with tons of statistics and photographs of the two stars. Being from Chicago, I went in a bit biased toward Michael Jordan, but was so impressed with the new facts I learned about both players and their achievements. After my son shared this with his friends, it spurred lively debate about which player was truly the basketball G.O.A.T. The book includes a glossary to help define more difficult terms, and the “Learn More” section encourages readers to continue researching and reading about these players.

Graphic Nonfiction 

Graphic novels are highly visual, which makes them especially appealing to many young readers. The combination of words and pictures in nonfiction graphic novels can help students develop a deeper understanding of the topic or event.

Yummy: A History of Desserts

Published: November 30, 2021

Guided by three food sprites named Peri, Fee, and Fada, this graphic novel explores the fascinating history of desserts, answering questions like “Who put the first chocolate chip in cookie dough?” This book manages to be both lighthearted and informative, exploring the history and cultural influences on desserts and the science behind their creations. Along the way, the sprites share yummy-looking recipes for readers to try at home. Elliott’s illustrations are fun, unique, and vibrant, and the book’s content and complexity are perfect for 6th graders. We initially checked this one out from the library but liked it so much I purchased a copy for our home and have bought some as birthday gifts!

When Stars Are Scattered

Published: April 14, 2020

Omar and Hassan (who is non-verbal) live in a refugee camp in Kenya after fleeing war in Somalia. Despite unimaginable living conditions and constant disappointments, they find a loving community of people. However, when Omar is offered the opportunity to attend school, he’s torn. If he goes to school, who will protect Hassan? The interdependent text and illustrations in the graphic novel form allow the reader to experience Omar’s reality- a reality unfathomable to most people, regardless of age. An afterword and authors’ notes (with photographs!) offer further closure to Omar’s story and connect readers to the real people behind the characters.

Nonfiction Rescue Stories

6th graders who love adventure stories will marvel at the heroism displayed in these real-life rescues.

The Finest Hours: The True Story of a Heroic Sea Rescue

Published: December 8, 2015

On the night of February 18, 1952, during a brutal storm, two oil tankers just off the shore of Cape Cod were torn in half. The only hope for the sailors on board was a group of four coast guardsmen who braved 70-foot waves in a tiny lifeboat to attempt a rescue. This riveting young reader’s adaptation tells the incredible story of how these four men overcame impossible conditions to rescue over 30 stranded sailors. This is a great pick for 6th graders drawn to adventure stories or who like to read about military rescues.

All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team

Published: October 13, 2020

In June 2018, twelve youth soccer players and their coach entered a cave for a few hours of exploration and fun. Suddenly, the cave began to flood, blocking their exit. News of the team’s plight prompted a complex rescue mission that lasted seventeen days and involved rescue workers from across the globe. Using firsthand interviews, photographs, diagrams, cultural information, and details of the region’s landscape, Soontornvat crafts a clear, compelling narrative that highlights both the efforts of the above-ground operation and the mental strength of the boys and their coach.

Science Nonfiction for 6th Graders

These books are perfect for inquisitive students who want to dive deeper into STEM.

Science Comics: The Periodic Table of Elements

Published: March 14, 2023

The entire Science Comics series is gorgeously illustrated, both inside and out – young readers quickly grab these off the library shelves at my children’s school. This latest volume explains the periodic table through the dream adventures of Mel, a girl who must overcome her fear of making mistakes as she travels through each elemental group. Such a fun, clever, and engaging introduction to the periodic table for middle grade readers!  My 11-year-old son loves all the Science Comics, but he really tore through this one.

Reaching for the Moon: The Autobiography of NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson

Published: July 2, 2019

Katherine Johnson was a NASA mathematician who played an essential role in several missions during the Space Race, including calculating the trajectory Apollo 11 needed to get to the moon and back. Katherine’s accomplishments alone are incredibly impressive, but that she succeeded in a world rife with racism and sexism is what makes this autobiography truly inspiring. Her narrative style is conversational and familiar, and she breaks down complex ideas and events in a way that young readers will understand. We loved listening to this one on audiobook, as award-winning narrator Heather Alicia Simms draws readers deeper into Katherine’s remarkable life.

Prescriptive Nonfiction (Guides)

No doubt about it, 6th graders want more independence! These guides will help them navigate friendships, personal growth, and more.

A Smart Girl’s Guide: Middle School

Published: May 27, 2014

This is an excellent resource to help girls feel more confident when starting middle school. The guide is packed with tips, quizzes, and first-hand accounts from girls who were just as worried about starting middle school. The content is perfect for 6th graders–or any middle school student– teaching girls how to make new friends, handle more homework, and build healthy routines.

365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne’s Book of Precepts

Published: August 30, 2016

In the popular middle-grade novel Wonder by R.J. Palacio, we meet an unforgettable English teacher named Mr. Browne, who is passionate about precepts—which he explains are “principles to live by.” This companion book compiles 365 precepts from writers, artists, philosophers, and entertainers from different points in history. Several of the most touching quotes were created and sent to Palacio by children. Although Mr. Browne is a fictional character, each of the precepts is an encouraging quote from a real person. With its overarching message of kindness, this is a “wonder”ful book that deserves a place on any sixth grader’s bedside table.

Big Life Journal for Tweens and Teens

Published: November 5, 2018

Big Life Journal is a research-based, guided journal that encourages tweens and teens to develop a growth mindset to improve resiliency and increase happiness. This journal has been a huge help for my son as he navigates the start of middle school. It allows him to work independently to learn how to set goals and understand how positive self-talk can help him through challenges and setbacks. The Big Life Journal is beautifully designed and thoughtfully organized, with writing prompts, interest maps, personal stories, and quizzes that make it way more interesting and impactful than a traditional journal.

Historical Nonfiction Books for 6th Graders

Who said history was boring? These exciting historical nonfiction books for 6th graders bring the past to life.

Five Epic Disasters (I Survived True Stories #1)

Published: September 30, 2013

The I Survived series is a popular historical fiction series depicting fictional children living through actual historical events. I Survived True Stories compiles third-person accounts from real kids who survived five historical disasters, including the Children’s Blizzard of 1888, the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, and the Japanese tsunami in 2011. Readers will especially like the illustrations and historical photos in each story. My 6th grader found the factual experiences in I Survived True Stories just as interesting as their historical fiction counterparts.

Women in Sports: 50 Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win

Published: July 18, 2017

This inspiring book tells the stories of female athletes who excelled in their sport and often broke barriers, changing the world by paving the way for gender equality. The book is organized by birthdate, beginning with Madge Syers, a figure skater born in 1881, and ending with Simone Biles, born in 1997. Each page-long biography is accompanied by beautifully drawn portraits of the athlete. Women in Sports also highlights the inequalities between men’s and women’s media coverage and pay using engaging visuals. This is a great book for any 6th grader–regardless of gender–who loves history, sports, or inspirational stories.

Suspenseful Narrative Nonfiction

Our suspenseful narrative picks include thrilling accounts of important historical events.

Chasing Lincoln’s Killer

Published February 1, 2009

Chasing Lincoln’s Killer is a thrilling narrative non-fiction that engages young readers from the first page. Swanson gives a detailed account of Lincoln’s assassination by John Wilkes Booth and the subsequent manhunt for the killer and his accomplices. Alternating third-person perspectives, haunting period photographs, diagrams, and newspaper clippings help the reader understand the hours and days surrounding this tragedy on a deeper, more immediate level.

Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon

Published: September 4, 2012

Author Steve Shenkein tells the story of the “plotting, the risk-taking, the deceit, and genius” that created the atomic bomb. Shenkien masterfully creates scenes from primary and secondary sources that make Bomb read like a suspenseful thriller, not a nonfiction text. He introduces readers to the various plots and many characters involved in top-secret operations: scientists, politicians, military leaders, spies, informants, and civilians. This lens enables the reader to see how the slightest difference in a person’s actions could have altered the course of history. Sheinkin covers a great deal in just under 300 pages, and the narrative voice seamlessly moves between people and events. This book is truly remarkable. (Also available as a graphic novel adaptation ).

Informational Nonfiction Books for 6th Graders

Informational nonfiction, sometimes called browsable nonfiction, is perfect for kids who want information in small, easy-to-read sections. Browsable nonfiction is also great for reluctant readers–they can read bits at a time without losing comprehension.

Steven Biesty’s Incredible Cross-Sections of Everything

Published: May 26, 2020

How can a steel wire no thicker than a pencil hold up the longest bridge in the world? Who reassembles dinosaur skeletons? How do cacao beans become a chocolate bar? Incredible Cross-Sections of Everything answers these questions and countless more! Cross-section drawings, accompanied by fascinating (and sometimes hilarious) facts, reveal the inner workings of extraordinary machines, buildings, and processes. Although this series was initially published over 25 years ago, the books have been updated for a new generation of readers to enjoy. These are the perfect non-fiction books for kids who love to see the way things work.

National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia: 2,500 Animals with Photos, Maps, and More!

Published: October 23, 2012

National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia is a 300-page reference book that features over 2,500 animal species, a perfect addition to any young animal lover’s library. The information in this encyclopedia is incredibly well-organized, featuring a mix of fact boxes, range maps, diagrams, and vibrant photographs. “Did You Know” boxes provide fun animal facts, and color-coded tabs on every page help readers navigate the book. Kids can also explore topics like animal conservation, animal life cycles, adaptations, and habitats. A glossary explains some of the more challenging vocabulary. Both entertaining and educational, this is one of the most-read books in our home.

6th graders are at an amazing age to appreciate many different types of nonfiction literature. This diverse selection of nonfiction books –some old, some new—will keep your 6th graders occupied for hours!

Which of these books do you have in your library? Which ones have you read, and what did I miss?

More Nonfiction and 6th Grade Books

• The best middle grade nonfiction books
• Great books for 6th graders
• Realistic fiction for 6th graders

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25 Nonfiction Suggestions for Your Book Club

Sophia LeFevre

Michigander turned Indianapolis transplant, Sophie spends her days as a marketer and front-end engineer for a venture studio. When she isn’t reading or helping startups grow their online presence, you can find her exploring national parks or watching the Food Network. She blogs about her reading life at www.mainandmaple.com . Follow her on Instagram @_sophiereads .

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There are few things in life as intense as picking the next book for your book club. Maybe you’ve thought of suggesting a nonfiction book, but that seems risky. What if it’s too dense? What if people get bored? Don’t worry. We’re here to help you pick a nonfiction book that your book club will love!

There are tons of benefits to reading nonfiction in your book club. For starters, it’s a great way to remove some of the intimidation that many people feel when approaching nonfiction. Having your book club pals around to wade through the difficult or confusing parts can help spark conversation and open new dimensions to a book. 

There’s a group of readers around you who come from assorted backgrounds and have lived different life experiences—take advantage of that! You’ll get to learn about a new topic from various perspectives, while also getting to know your book club pals on a deeper level.

So, if you feel like it’s time to add some nonfiction to your book club lineup, here are some nonfiction suggestions for your book club!

Blurbs are taken from Goodreads. 

Current events.

Biographies/Memoirs

Shared Interests

Self Improvement

Looking for more ideas on how to pick your next book club book? Check out these 10 suggestions for picking your next book club book !

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30 Best Nonfiction Books for Kids

by Yen Cabag | 2 comments

Most children love a good fable or fairytale before bed, but there are plenty of wonderful nonfiction books for kids out there that can be equally entertaining, as well as informative. These might include biographies, history stories, or science texts. 

If you are the type who prefers to read about specific science topics or historical facts, here is a list of great titles you may want to check out: 

Nonfiction Books for Kids (Ages 6–10)

Introduce your kids or students to the lives of some of history’s most prominent figures with these biographies, geography books, and history books for kids.

1. Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley

This excellently-told and illustrated story will enchant every child with the challenges and triumphs of Joan of Arc. The story opens with Joan’s childhood and gives an insightful glimpse into her beliefs and what drove her to fight for her country. 

2. Good Queen Bess by Diana Stanley 

This biography of Queen Elizabeth will give children an insightful look into the life of the good queen that loved her people dearly and led them well.

You will see a glimpse of Queen Elizabeth’s personality as well as her devoted subjects in this unique biography in picture-book form. 

3. Benjamin Franklin by Ingri D’Aulaire

This excellent introduction to the life of Benjamin Franklin opens the imagination while also sharing important truths about this great leader. 

4. George Washington by Ingri D’Aulaire 

This picture book biography offers a great introduction to the life of George Washington without watering down all the important aspects of his life. 

5. Who Was Ferdinand Magellan? by Sydelle Kramer

Learn about the first circumnavigation of the globe in this insightful story of Ferdinand Magellan. Read how Magellan first started on his quest to find the Spice Islands by sailing west, and see the challenges that his treacherous journey brought.

6. The Way Things Work by David Macaulay 

This excellently illustrated science book is jam packed with how different things work. Young readers will enjoy not just the descriptions, but also the detail that goes into the hand-drawn images. 

7. Lost in Outer Space: The Incredible Journey of Apollo 13 by Tod Olson 

The 1970 journey of the Apollo 13 to the moon was hindered by an explosion—which led to the suspensful mission of simply getting back to Earth alive. This novel retelling uses diagrams and photoraphs to help children understand the magnitude of this survival story. 

8. Around the World in a Hundred Years by Jean Fritz

For the history enthusiast, this book is a great collection of stories across different cultures and throughout a hundred years in history. Jean Fritz is an excellent storyteller that makes these stories come alive for young readers. 

9. A Child’s History of the World by Virgil Hillyer

This excellently narrated history of the world helps children get a birds’ eye view of important events in history. The short chapters make this book a relaxing but very informative read. 

10. Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin 

This collection of short stories retells the true stories of famous people in history. The length of each story makes them great for relaxed reading while also learning about important events across the world. 

Books for Kids (Ages 10–13)

These biographies, history books, and science books are great for kids aged 10–13.

11. The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

This autobiography is the perfect glimpse into the life of blind and deaf author and activist Helen Keller, and how she overcame the odds. Children love reading about how she learned to read and write despite her disability, and still achieved great things in life. 

12. A Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lilias Trotter by Miriam Huffman Rockness

This book inspired the movie about the Christian woman who surrendered her life of privilege, leisure, and art to live humbly in Algeria. Her nearly 40 years of life ministering, mingled with her love for Christ, art, and literature. 

13. Sally Ride: A Photobiography of America’s Pioneering Woman in Space by Tam O’Shaughnessy 

This rich biography uses an amazing visual tapestry to describe the life of the academic underachiever who became the first American woman to make it to space, as well as an inspiring advocate for gender equality. 

14. Finding the Edge: My Life on the Ice by Karen Chen 

This memoir tells the life of Karen Chen, whose parents were Taiwanese immigrants, and how she learned to figure skate at the age of 5 and reached the Olympics by 15 years old. Her early years are enchantingly captured in this book. 

15. Irena’s Children: A True Story of Courage by Tilar Mazzeo and Mary Cronk Farell

This is the story of a young woman who courageously helped smuggle hundreds of children out of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. The Young Readers’ version makes this a good read even for a younger audience. 

16. Florence Nightingale: The Courageous LIfe of the Legendary Nurse by Catherine Reef

The woman who became a legendary nurse during the Crimean War not only went against all Victorian expectations, but she also ended up revolutionizing nursing standards. Read about her life in this entrancing biography. 

17. Always Inventing: A Photobiography of Alexander Graham Bell by Tom Matthews

This National Geographic paints a great picture of the life of Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone. The images add extra appeal to this detail-rich resource. 

18. Michael Faraday, Father of Electronics by Charles Ludwig 

This fictionalized biography shows great insights into the father of the dynamo, the electric motor, the generator, and the transformer. The author effectively shows Faraday’s strong Christian adherence to great moral standards. 

19. A Child’s Geography: Explore the Holy Land by Ann Voskamp and Tonia Peckover

This geography book is a great read not only as a homeschool resource, but also for children who love learning about foreign lands. The narrative form takes the reader into Middle Eastern countries and gives them a glimpse of cultural nuances as well as interesting things to see. 

20. What the World Eats by Faith D’ Aluisio and Peter Menzel

This compilation of the typical meals that families across the world eat gives children a good picture of differences in cultures.

The book contains a family profile made up of full-color photographs, information about the quantity and cost of the family’s food consumption, as well as a world map to pinpoint where each family lives. 

21. The Elements by Theodore Gray

For children interested in chemistry, this visual guide will certainly entertain them for hours: each element is presented in visual form and contains interesting descriptions about where they occur in nature and in technology. 

22. Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick 

Learn about Archimedes and his important role in the development of scientific thought in this excellently-crafted biography. You will see some of his work and the resulting knowledge that came from his discoveries. 

23. Science Lab in a Supermarket by Bob Friedhoffer

This book shows children how physics is at play all around us: in riding our bicycles and skateboards, baking food, playing the guitar or piano, and even turning on the shower. It also contains exciting experiments you can do at little or no expense. 

24. The Wonder Book of Chemistry by Jean-Henri Fabre

This classic science text makes for a wonderful introduction to chemistry, without sounding like a textbook, for children. The author was a physicist, botanist, chemist, entomologist, and a teacher, helping to make his books a lively explanation of basic chemistry facts. 

25. Augustus Caesar’s World by Genevieve Foster 

Learn about the 7 major civilizations of world history through these captivating accounts of important figures who lived from 4500 BC to 14 AD. You will also get a glimpse of what was going on in other places like China, India, and Persia during these years. 

New Skills for Kids

Whether your child is interested in writing or coding, there’s a book out there that’s perfect for their interests.

26. Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly by Gail Carson Levine

Who says children can’t write? This craft book introduces young writers to the form and function of story, helping them practice with a collection of writing prompts. 

27. Spilling Ink: A Young Writer’s Handbook by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter 

Inspired by letters sent in from fans, the authors set out to write this definitive guide to encourage and equip young writers.

The book includes anecdotes to inspire, as well as guidance for the practical application of important skills every writer needs, such as developing a voice, creating characters and plot, and overcoming writer’s block . 

28. Coding for Kids: Python by Adrienne Tacke

This fun book makes learning to code just like practicing an instrument or learning a new sport. Designed for ages 10 and up, kids will learn the basic foundations of programming, and even have a chance to create their own fun games. 

29. Easy Paper Projects by Maggy Woodley

With this collection of 60 crafts, kids will never get bored, and instead end up with great gift items or things they can actually wear and use! The crafts in this book include origami bookmarks, paper pendants, paper puppets, and even ornaments. 

30. Baking Class: 50 Fun Recipes Kids Will Love to Bake by Deanna Cook

Get started with baking with this basic book of recipes designed for ages 8 to 12. The recipes featured here are easy for children to follow, especially with the photos showing the step-by-step process of kneading dough, decorating cookies, and making the perfect pie. 

Best Nonfiction Books for Kids

Books are some of the best ways to learn new things, and raising up children who love to learn is a reward in itself.

Get your young ones started with one of the books in this list. 

What kinds of nonfiction books do your children or students love? Share them in the comments below. 

If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:

• Read-Aloud Books: The Best Websites for Kids
• Free eBooks for Kids: 16 Sites to Download Free Reads for the Little Ones
• How to Get Kids to Read: 7 Dynamite Techniques for Encouraging Young Readers
• Educational Games for Kids: 22 Websites and Board Games for Math, Reading, and Science Skills

Yen Cabag is the Blog Writer of TCK Publishing. She is also a homeschooling mom, family coach, and speaker for the Charlotte Mason method, an educational philosophy that places great emphasis on classic literature and the masterpieces in art and music. She has also written several books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her passion is to see the next generation of children become lovers of reading and learning in the midst of short attention spans.

Thanks for this series, YEN!

We’re so glad you’re enjoying Yen’s posts, Frank! :)

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15 Nonfiction Books That Will Change Your Worldview

Posted: February 13, 2024 | Last updated: February 13, 2024

The internet is a real treasure trove for literary enthusiasts and avid readers. With readers constantly talking about their favorite books , it's not hard to spot the titles that come up most often. From these talks, we were able to compile a list of the 15 best nonfiction books according to online consensus.

These 15 titles have captivated, educated, and inspired the reading community like no other. Throughout, you'll find the most exceptional books as chosen by the web. According to these users, each one is well worth a read.

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Simply click “Follow” near the headline of this article.

After that, be sure to let us know what you think about this content in the comments!

15. Empire of Ants: The Hidden World and Extraordinary Lives of Earth's Tiny Conquerors by Susanne Foitzik and Olaf Fritsche

Readers love Empire of Ants because it uncovers the captivating world of those titular tiny conquerors. Foitzik's book digs deep into the unbelievable lives and hidden society of the average ant. Beyond this, Empire of Ants sheds light on the insects' fascinating behavior and complex social structures.

It's an eye-opening and enjoyable read for those intrigued by the wonders of nature. By the time you reach the last page, you'll probably never look at ants the same way again. Plus, you'll think twice before you squash another one.

• Authors: Susanne Foitzik and Olaf Fritsche
• Page count: 352
• First published: 2019

14. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain

The late Anthony Bourdain's iconic memoir is a hit with readers. Bourdain's raw and unfiltered storytelling about the gritty reality of the culinary world will keep you laughing and blow your mind about the restaurant industry — often on the same page.

It provides an exciting and behind-the-scenes look into the chaotic and intense restaurant culture, captivating foodies, aspiring chefs, and nonfiction-loving readers alike. Not to mention, it'll change the way you think about going out to eat forever.

• Author: Anthony Bourdain
• Page count: 312
• First published: 2000

13. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.

Bessel van der Kolk's book The Body Keeps the Score resonates strongly with readers — just like our trauma resonates with our bodies in ways we'll never fully comprehend.

Dr. Kolk's book explores the long-lasting effects of trauma on the human body and mind, explaining the true impact of our hardships on our overall well-being. The book's comprehensive approach to trauma and healing offers valuable insights and hope for those seeking to understand and overcome past adversities.

• Author: Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
• Page count: 464
• First published: 2014

12. The Quiet Zone: Unraveling the Mystery of a Town Suspended in Silence by Stephen Kurczy

What would it be like to live in a disconnected town? What kind of problems would present themselves? And what sorts of benefits might arise? Readers appreciate the way Stephen Kurczy looks at the day-to-day experiences of an enigmatic Appalachian town with no cell service.

It's a captivating exploration of the intriguing questions that surround life in an area with no phone signals. Literary buffs consistently praise it as an engaging and thought-provoking read for curious minds immersed in the digital age.

• Author: Stephen Kurczy
• First published: 2021

11. The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis

Michael Lewis's book The Big Short is a hit with readers for its gripping account of the 2008 financial crisis and the people who predicted it. You may have seen the award-winning Adam McKay movie inspired by the book, but reading is so much more informative than watching.

Lewis offers a compelling story about a difficult subject, making complex financial concepts sound much simpler to a wide audience. Plus, Adam McKay was drawn to this source material for a reason: the book's really funny.

• Author : Michael Lewis
• Page count : 291
• First published : 2010

10. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson's book is beloved by readers for its witty approach to complex scientific concepts. Don't let that daunting title fool you, either. A Short History of Nearly Everything presents the history of our world and the universe in an easily digestible and entertaining manner, appealing to both science enthusiasts and casual readers alike.

It tackles some of life's biggest questions in the most basic terms imaginable. By the book's end, you'll be left wondering why no one ever attempted to explain these things like Bryson before.

• Author: Bill Bryson
• Page count: 544
• First published: 2003

9. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

Who said that the best nonfiction books had to be contemporary or scientific? Sometimes, nonfiction is the most engrossing when it's in the form of a personal argumentative essay. Take A Room of One's Own , for instance.

Readers celebrate Virginia Woolf's book for its powerful feminist message advocating for women's independence and female creativity. It remains a thought-provoking and inspiring read nearly a century after publication, encouraging discussions on gender equality and artistic freedom.

• Author: Virginia Woolf
• Page count: 128
• First published: 1929

8. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Would we even have true crime as a genre if not for In Cold Blood ? Truman Capote's iconic book has gripped the literary community with its chilling and masterful account of a real-life murder case and the strange relationship that develops between author and subject.

Before Capote's book, few had ever attempted to write something so controversial. Its engrossing storytelling and meticulous research make it a timeless true crime classic that single-handedly set the stage for the nonfiction subgenre as we know it today.

• Author: Truman Capote
• Page count: 343
• First published: 1966

7. Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez

Literary buffs have high praise for Caroline Criado Perez's book Invisible Women . It sheds some light on the gender data gap and its consequences. The book offers a compelling argument about how women are often overlooked in several aspects of society, raising awareness and promoting important discussions about gender equality in the process.

Most fascinating of all? Perez's Invisible Women roots its argument entirely in a massive amount of readily available fact-based evidence. The whole thing is seriously air-tight, making it all the more convincing.

• Author: Caroline Criado Perez
• Page count: 432

6. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson

Some readers love a good True Crime story. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America is a prime example of this. Erik Larson's captivating narrative intertwines the 1893 World's Fair with the chilling story of a serial killer.

It skillfully combines history and true crime, making it an intriguing and suspenseful read for nonfiction fans. As an added incentive, the book has long been in development for the screen. Now's your chance to read before production eventually begins.

• Author: Erik Larson
• Page count: 447

5. How to Be Miserable: 40 Strategies You Already Use by Randy J. Paterson, PhD

Don't be turned away by the presence of a self-help book so high on the internet's ranking of the best nonfiction books. Randy J. Paterson's How to Be Miserable isn't like the other titles in this subgenre of nonfiction.

Readers appreciate this book for its funny yet wise approach to understanding and avoiding common self-destructive behaviors. Paterson's work offers a unique perspective on happiness and personal growth that teaches you how to use reverse psychology against your mind.

• Author: Randy J. Paterson, PhD
• Page count: 248
• First published: 2016

4. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

Here's another non-fiction book you may recognize from the big screen. Recently turned into a film starring Michael B. Jordan, Bryan Stevenson's book has touched the literary community with its powerful account of the criminal justice system's many injustices.

Even the coldest hearts will be moved, inspired, angered, and challenged by this harrowing nonfiction book. Just Mercy provides a moving and eye-opening examination of racial inequality in America and the fight for justice and compassion for all.

• Author: Bryan Stevenson
• Page count: 368

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3. Walden; or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau's classic resonates with readers due to its reflection on simple living, self-reliance, and nature's profound impact on human existence. It remains an inspiring and thought-provoking read about the relationship between humanity and the natural world.

After finishing the book, you'll have no problem believing that Thoreau's Walden formed a cornerstone of the transcendentalist movement. It's one of the most beautiful, most profound books ever written about life on Earth.

• Author: Henry David Thoreau
• Page count: 348
• First published: 1854

2. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

• Author: Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Page count: 408
• First published: 2013

Readers cherish Robin Wall Kimmerer's book Braiding Sweetgrass for its beautiful exploration of indigenous wisdom and the relationship between humans and nature. It offers a refreshing and insightful perspective on ecological responsibility and respect for the natural world.

The subtitle Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants says it all. Braiding Sweetgrass reconciles old traditions with new developments to establish a new path toward a healthier life.

1. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Coming in as one of the best nonfiction books is Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings . It is partly a coming-of-age story and part memoir. Angelou's iconic book more than earns this top spot for the sheer impact the book has had since its publication around the civil rights movement.

Readers deeply appreciate Maya Angelou's lovely words that explore themes of racism, identity, and strength. It remains a powerful, emotional, and important book that sparks key discussions on social issues and personal growth.

• Author: Maya Angelou
• Page count: 304
• First published: 1969
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Lorrie Moore Is Among National Book Critics Circle Award Winners

The awards included a lifetime achievement honor given to Judy Blume.

• Share full article

By Alexandra Alter and Elizabeth A. Harris

The novelist Lorrie Moore on Thursday won a National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction for “I Am Homeless if This Is Not My Home,” her novel that follows a devastated high school teacher who goes on a road trip with the animated corpse of his ex-girlfriend, who has died by suicide.

In a citation, one of the judges, David Varno, praised the novel as “a heartbreaking and hilarious ghost story” and “an unforgettable achievement from a landmark American author.”

The awards, which were announced at a ceremony at the New School in New York City, are among the most prestigious literary prizes in the United States. Unlike other major awards, the recipients are chosen by book critics instead of committees made up of authors or academics.

The critics organization, which was founded in 1974, is made up of more than 700 critics and review editors. Thursday’s awards recognized works published last year and were open to authors of books published in English in the United States.

In addition to giving prizes in literary categories like biography, criticism, autobiography, fiction and poetry, the group also recognizes individuals and organizations for their contributions to literary culture.

This year, Becca Rothfeld, the nonfiction book critic for The Washington Post and the author of a forthcoming debut essay collection, “All Things Are Too Small,” received the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing. The award, named after a former New York Times Book Review editor, is given to an N.B.C.C. member for criticism.

The organization’s service award was given to the author and critic Marion Winik, a former treasurer for the group who helped to steer it through the pandemic.

The lifetime achievement award was given to Judy Blume, a novelist beloved for classics like “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” and “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.”

In a recorded speech to accept the honor, the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, named for the organization’s first president, Blume acknowledged librarians for their work promoting intellectual freedom. She also thanked her parents for giving her “the freedom to choose my own books.”

Librarians, who have come under pressure from some parents and lawmakers as book bans have surged across the country, were also honored when the American Library Association received the Toni Morrison Achievement Award. “At a time when our nation’s libraries remain under relentless assault from both political and economic forces, the A.L.A. towers over the literary landscape as a beacon for our most vulnerable voices,” the award chair, Jacob M. Appel, said in a citation.

Below is a complete list of this year’s winners.

“ I Am Homeless if This Is Not My Home ” by Lorrie Moore

A young man goes on a road trip with the animated corpse of his ex-girlfriend, who died by suicide, in a ghost story and zombie romance that takes place in both the 19th and 21st centuries. In a Times review of the novel, Moore’s first in 14 years, Dwight Garner praised Moore as “a consummate user of the English language; her moisture-wicking sentences confirm and reconfirm your sanity.”

Autobiography

“ How to Say Babylon: A Memoir ” by Safiya Sinclair

A memoir about growing up in a strict Rastafarian household and trying to break away from her father and the obedience he required. The Times review of the memoir said: “For its sheer lusciousness of prose, the book’s a banquet. Sinclair’s Montego Bay drips with tender sensuality and complexity that seduces you like a fresh wound to slow pokes and feels.”

“ Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage ” by Jonny Steinberg

This biography chronicles the marriage of the South African leader Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, including their decades apart while Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island and Madikizela-Mandela became a major figure in the resistance to apartheid.

“ We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America ,” by Roxanna Asgarian

Asgarian, a journalist who has written about legal issues for The Texas Tribune, investigates a shocking tragedy that occurred in 2018, when an S.U.V. plunged off a cliff along a coastal highway, killing a family of eight. She recounts the horrifying details of what investigators concluded was not an accident, but a murder-suicide, and also reveals the ways in which systemic failures in the foster care system may have contributed to the children’s deaths.

“ Phantom Pain Wings ” by Kim Hyesoon

Translated from Korean by Don Mee Choi, this poetry collection “reads like a variety of horror — haunted, grotesque, futureless,” Elisa Gabbert wrote in a review in The Times.

The Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Prize

“ Cold Nights of Childhood ” by Tezer Özlü , translated by Maureen Freely

The translation prize, awarded jointly to authors and translators, was given to a novel by Özlü, a Turkish writer who died in 1986. Originally published in 1980 and released in English in the United States last year by Transit Books, the narrative follows a woman who is battling mental illness and exploring her sexuality. The prize is named for Barrios, a poet, playwright and critic who died in 2021.

John Leonard Prize

“ Waiting to Be Arrested at Night: A Uyghur Poet’s Memoir of China’s Genocide ” by Tahir Hamut Izgil, translated by Joshua L. Freeman

In this memoir, which won the prize for best debut book, Izgil, a poet, recounts the persecution and terror he faced as a member of China’s Muslim Uyghur minority when he was living in Urumqi, a city in China’s western Xinjiang region. “This is in effect a psychological thriller, although the narrative unfolds like a classic horror movie as relative normalcy dissolves into a nightmare,” Barbara Demick wrote in a review in The Times. The prize is named for Leonard, a literary critic and co-founder of the critics organization who died in 2008.

“ Deadpan: The Aesthetics of Black Inexpression ” by Tina Post

Post, an assistant professor of English at the University of Chicago, explores purposeful withholding as a tool used by makers of Black culture.

Alexandra Alter writes about books, publishing and the literary world for The Times. More about Alexandra Alter

  More about Elizabeth A. Harris

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