new non fiction books for 2022

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The 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2022

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A good nonfiction book doesn’t just tell you something new about the world, it pulls you out of your place in it and dares you to reconsider what you thought you knew, maybe even who you are. The best nonfiction books that arrived this year vary in scope—some are highly specific, some broad and searching—but they all ask giant questions about loss, strength, and survival. In The Escape Artist , Jonathan Freedland underlines the power of the truth through the journey of one of the first Jews to escape Auschwitz . In How Far the Light Reaches , Sabrina Imbler reveals the ways marine biology can teach us about the deepest, most human parts of ourselves. From Stacy Schiff’s brilliant chronicle of Samuel Adams’ role in the American Revolution to Imani Perry’s illuminating tour of the American South, here are the 10 best nonfiction books of 2022.

10. The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams, Stacy Schiff

Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff revisits the American Revolution in her engrossing biography of founding father Samuel Adams. The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams centers on the years leading up to 1776 when Adams helped fan the earliest flames of the independence movement. Though he drove the anti-British rebellion in Massachusetts and had an outsized role in the Revolution, Adams’ story has been told far less than those of other founders like George Washington and Alexander Hamilton . Schiff details his clandestine work and his growing radicalization to show how vital he was to American independence, crafting an intricate portrait of a man long overshadowed by his contemporaries.

Buy Now : The Revolutionary on Bookshop | Amazon

9. The Invisible Kingdom, Meghan O’Rourke

Beginning in the late 1990s, Meghan O’Rourke was tormented by mysterious symptoms that would consume her life for years to follow. She describes her wrenching experience searching for a diagnosis in The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness , a 2022 National Book Award finalist. O’Rourke’s reported memoir is an indictment of the U.S. health care system and its approach—or lack thereof—to identifying and treating chronic illnesses, which take a grave toll on millions of Americans. Moving between her own medical journey, the history of illness in the U.S., and the crisis faced by millions currently suffering from long COVID , O’Rourke writes with an empathetic hand to argue why and how we need to change our systems to better support patients. The book is a bold and brave exploration into a much-overlooked topic, one that she punctuates with candor and urgency.

Buy Now : The Invisible Kingdom on Bookshop | Amazon

8. How Far the Light Reaches, Sabrina Imbler

Sabrina Imbler thoughtfully examines connections between science and humanity, tying together what should be very loose threads in 10 dazzling essays, each a study of a different sea creature. In one piece from their debut collection, Imbler explores their mother’s tumultuous relationship with eating while simultaneously looking at how female octopi starve themselves to death to protect their young. In another, they relate the morphing nature of cuttlefish with their own experiences navigating their gender identity. Throughout, Imbler reveals the surprising ways that sea creatures can teach us about family, sexuality, and survival.

Buy Now : How Far the Light Reaches on Bookshop | Amazon

7. His Name Is George Floyd, Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa

In their engaging book, Washington Post journalists Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnpia expand on their reporting of the 2020 murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin. His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice centers on the life Floyd led before he was killed, captured through hundreds of interviews and richly textured research. The biography explores how Floyd’s experiences were shaped by systemic racism, from the over-policed communities where he was raised to the segregated schools he attended. Samuels and Olorunnipa illustrate, in compassionate terms, the father and friend who wanted more for his life, and how his death became a global symbol for change .

Buy Now : His Name Is George Floyd on Bookshop | Amazon

6. Constructing a Nervous System, Margo Jefferson

In her second memoir, Pulitzer Prize winner Margo Jefferson brilliantly interrogates and expands the form. Constructing a Nervous System finds the author reflecting on her life, the lives of her family, and those of her literary and artistic heroes. Jefferson oscillates between criticism and personal narrative, engaging with ideas about performance, artistry, and the act of writing through a plethora of lively threads. She considers everything: her parents, Bing Crosby and Ike Turner, the way a ballerina moves on stage. What emerges is a carefully woven tapestry of American life, brought together by Jefferson’s lyrical and electric prose.

Buy Now : Constructing a Nervous System on Bookshop | Amazon

5. An Immense World, Ed Yong

Journalist Ed Yong reminds readers that the world is very large and full of incredible things. An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us is a celebration of sights and sounds, smells and tastes, and the unique ways different animals exist on the planet we all share. Yong’s absorbing book is a joyful blend of scientific study and elegant prose that transforms textbook fodder into something much more exciting and accessible. From dissecting why dogs love to sniff around so much to detailing how fish move in rivers, Yong underlines why it’s so important to take the time to stop and appreciate the perspectives of all the living things that surround us.

Buy Now : An Immense World on Bookshop | Amazon

4. The Escape Artist, Jonathan Freedland

When he was just 19 years old, Rudolf Vrba became one of the first Jews to break out of Auschwitz. It was April 1944, and Vrba had spent the last two years enduring horror after horror at the concentration camp, determined to make it out alive. As Jonathan Freedland captures in his harrowing biography, Vrba was fixated on remembering every atrocity because he knew that one day his story could save lives. The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World is heavy reading that spares no detail of the brutalities perpetrated by the Nazis during the Holocaust . It’s also a crucial, skillfully rendered look inside the journey of a teenager who risked his life to warn Jews, and the rest of the world, about what was happening in Auschwitz.

Buy Now : The Escape Artist on Bookshop | Amazon

3. Ducks, Kate Beaton

In 2005, Kate Beaton had just graduated from college and was yearning to start her career as an artist. But she had student loans to pay off and the oil boom meant that it was easy to get a job out in the sands, so she did. In her first full-length graphic memoir, Beaton reflects on her time working with a primarily male labor force in harsh conditions where trauma lingered and loneliness prevailed. Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is a bruising and intimate account of survival and exploitation—of both the land and the people who worked on it—and is brought to life by Beaton’s immersive illustrations. In unveiling her plight, Beaton makes stunning observations about the intersections of class, gender, and capitalism.

Buy Now : Ducks on Bookshop | Amazon

2. South to America, Imani Perry

For her striking work of nonfiction, Imani Perry takes a tour of the American South , visiting more than 10 states, including her native Alabama. Perry argues that the associations and assumptions made about the South—with racism at their core—are essential to understanding the United States as a whole. While there is plenty of history embedded throughout South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation , the winner of the 2022 National Book Award for nonfiction, it is no history book. Instead, it’s an impressive mix of deftly compiled research and memoir, with Perry making poignant reflections on the lives of her own ancestors. The result is a revelatory account of the South’s ugly past—the Civil War, slavery, and Jim Crow Laws—and how that history still reverberates today.

Buy Now : South to America on Bookshop | Amazon

1. In Love, Amy Bloom

After Amy Bloom’s husband Brian was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, she supported him through the impossibly difficult decision to end his life, on his terms, with the aid of an organization based in Switzerland. Bloom’s memoir begins with their last flight together—on the way to Zurich—as she reflects on the reality that she will be flying home alone. But in these moments of despair, and the enormous grief that follows their trip, she finds tenderness and hope in remembering all that came before it. In writing about their marriage, Bloom unveils a powerful truth about the slippery nature of time. The book is a beautiful, heartfelt tribute to her husband, and a crucial reminder that what drives grief is often the most profound kind of love.

Buy Now : In Love on Bookshop | Amazon

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The Best Nonfiction Books of 2022

Whether you’re looking to learn, laugh, or lose yourself in a great story, there’s something here for every kind of reader.

Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. We may earn a commission from these links.

Our favorite nonfiction books of the year, several of them just the very best books of the year , touch on some of the most pressing topics of our time, from autocracy to conspiracy to healthcare reform. They vary in form, from reported nonfiction to memoir to a comic guidebook to supervillainy. Whether you’re looking to learn, laugh, or lose yourself in a great story, there’s something here for every kind of reader.

The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man, by Paul Newman

After six decades of Hollywood superstardom, it’s difficult to imagine that anything could remain unknown about Paul Newman . But that’s the particular magic trick of this memoir, assembled by way of a literary scavenger hunt. Between 1986 and 1991, Newman sat down with screenwriter Stewart Stern for a series of soul-baring interviews about his life and career. With the actor’s encouragement, Stern also recorded hundreds of hours worth of interviews with his friends, family, and colleagues. The whole enterprise was destined to become Newman’s authorized biography, but his feelings on the project soured; in 1998, he gathered the tapes in a pile and set fire to them. Luckily, Stern kept transcripts—over 14,000 pages worth. Now, those transcripts have been streamlined into this honest and unvarnished memoir, in which the actor speaks openly about his traumatic childhood, his lifelong struggle with alcoholism, and his tormenting self-doubt. But the highs are there too—like his 50-year marriage to actress Joanne Woodward—as well as the mysteries of making art, and the “imponderable of being a human being.” All told, the memoir is an extraordinary act of resurrection and reimagination.

Bad Sex, by Nona Willis Aronowitz

When Teen Vogue ’s sex columnist decided to end her marriage at 32 years old, chief among her complaints was “bad sex.” Newly divorced, Aronowitz went in search of good sex, but along the way, she discovered thorny truths about “the problem that has no name”—that despite the advances of feminism and the sexual revolution, true sexual freedom remains out of reach. Cultural criticism, memoir, and social history collide in Aronowitz’s no-nonsense investigation of all that ails young lovers, like questions about desire, consent, and patriarchy. It’s a revealing read bound to expand your thinking.

The High Sierra, by Kim Stanley Robinson

A titan of science fiction masters a new form in this winsome love letter to California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range. Constructed from an impassioned blend of memoir, history, and science writing, The High Sierra chronicles Robinson’s 100-plus trips to his beloved mountains, from his LSD-laced first encounter in 1973 to the dozens of ​​“rambling and scrambling” days to follow. From descriptions of the region’s multitudinous flora and fauna to practical advice about when and where to hike, this is as comprehensive a guidebook as any, complete with all the lucid ecstasy of nature writing greats like John Muir and Annie Dillard.

My Pinup, by Hilton Als

Has any book ever roved so far and wide in just 48 pages as My Pinup ? In this slim and brilliant memoir, Als explores race, power, and desire through the lens of Prince. Styling the legendary musician in the image of his lovers and himself, Als explores injustice on multiple levels, from racist record labels to the world's hostility to gay Black boys. “There was so much love between us,” the author muses. “Why didn’t anyone want us to share it?” These 48 meandering pages are difficult to describe, but trust us: My Pinup is a heady cocktail you won’t soon forget.

Bloomsbury Publishing Dirtbag, Massachusetts, by Isaac Fitzgerald

In this bleeding heart memoir, Fitzgerald peels back the layers of his extraordinary life. Dirtbag, Massachusetts opens with his hardscrabble childhood in a dysfunctional Catholic family, then spins out into the decades of jobs and identities that followed. From bartending at a biker bar to smuggling medical supplies to starring in porn films, it’s all led him to here and now: he’s still a work in progress, but gradually, he’s arriving at profound realizations about masculinity, family, and selfhood. Dirtbag, Massachusetts is the best of what memoir can accomplish. It's blisteringly honest and vulnerable, pulling no punches on the path to truth, but it always finds the capacity for grace and joy. “To any young men out there who aren’t too far gone,” Fitzgerald writes, “I say you’re not done becoming yourself.”

Dickens and Prince, by Nick Hornby

What do Charles Dickens, nineteenth century chronicler of social issues, and Prince, modern-day music’s master of sensuality, have in common? You’d be forgiven for struggling to come up with an answer, but for Nick Hornby, the ties are obvious—and numerous, too. In Dickens and Prince , the biographical similarities between these two late luminaries come into plain sight. But what really links Dickens and Prince, Hornby argues, is their “particular kind of genius”—as the author reveals, both shared an extraordinary drive to create and generated massive bodies of work, even though they died before reaching sixty. But beneath the surface of this fascinating biography, there lies a warm and wise craft book about what it takes to make great art in any century. Read an interview with Hornby here at Esquire.

Because Our Fathers Lied, by Craig McNamara

How do we reckon with the sins of our parents? That’s the thorny question at the center of this moving and courageous memoir authored by the son of Robert S. McNamara, Kennedy’s architect of the Vietnam War. In this conflicted son’s telling, a complicated man comes into intimate view, as does the “mixture of love and rage” at the heart of their relationship. At once a loving and neglectful parent, the elder McNamara’s controversial lies about the war ultimately estranged him from his son, who hung Viet Cong flags in his childhood bedroom as a protest. The pursuit of a life unlike his father’s saw the younger McNamara drop out of Stanford and travel through South America on a motorcycle, leading him to ultimately become a sustainable walnut farmer. Through his own personal story of disappointment and disillusionment, McNamara captures an intergenerational conflict and a journey of moral identity.

Raising Lazarus, by Beth Macy

Macy’s gripping follow-up to the mega-bestselling Dopesick finds her in a familiar milieu: back on the frontlines of the opioid crisis, where she embeds with healthcare workers, legislators, and activists seeking to save lives and heal communities. Where Dopesick focused on addiction sufferers and their families, Raising Lazarus turns the lens to the fight for justice, from the prosecution of the Sackler family to the reformers pioneering innovative treatments for the afflicted. Enlightening and exhaustive, it’s at once a damning exposé about greed and a moving paean to the power of community activism.

Fight Like Hell, by Kim Kelly

With a galvanizing groundswell of unionization efforts rocking mega-corporations like Amazon and Starbucks, there’s never been a better time to learn about the history of the American labor movement. Fight Like Hell will be your indispensable guide to the past, present, and future of organized labor. Rather than structure this comprehensive history chronologically, Kelly organizes it into chapter-sized profiles of different labor sectors, from sex workers to incarcerated laborers to domestic workers. Each chapter contains capsule biographies of working-class heroes, along with a painstaking focus on those who were hidden or dismissed from the movement. So too do these chapters illuminate how many civil rights struggles, like women’s liberation and fair wages for disabled workers, are also, at their core, labor struggles. After reading Fight Like Hell , you’ll never look at American history the same way again—and you may just be inspired to organize your own workplace. Read an interview with Kelly here at Esquire.

Phasers on Stun!, by Ryan Britt

Whether you're a tried and true Trekkie or a newbie hooked on Strange New Worlds , there's something for every science fiction obsessive in this lively cultural history of Star Trek . Through extensive reporting and research, Britt takes us inside the franchise's nearly sixty-year history, from its influence on diversifying the space program to its history-making strides for LGBTQIA+ representation. Featuring interviews with multiple generations of cast members and creatives, Phasers On Stun! merrily surprises, informs, and entertains. Read an exclusive excerpt about Star Trek 's efforts to diversify television here at Esquire.

Year of the Tiger, by Alice Wong

In this mixed media memoir, disability activist Alice Wong outlines her journey as an advocate and educator. Wong was born with a form of progressive muscular dystrophy; as a young woman, she attended her dream college, but had to drop out when changes to Medicaid prevented her from retaining the aides she needed on an inaccessible campus. In one standout essay, Wong recounts her struggle to access Covid-19 vaccines as a high-risk individual. The author's rage about moving through an ableist world is palpable, but so too is her joy and delight about Lunar New Year, cats, family, and so much more. Innovative and informative, Year of the Tiger is a multidimensional portrait of a powerful thinker.

Fen, Bog & Swamp, by Annie Proulx

The legendary author of “Brokeback Mountain” and The Shipping News delivers an enchanting history of our wetlands, a vitally important but criminally misunderstood landscape now imperiled by climate change. As Proulx explains, fens, bogs, swamps, and estuaries preserve our environment by storing carbon emissions. Roving through peatlands around the world, Proulx weaves a riveting history of their role in brewing diseases and fueling industrialization. Imbued with the same reverence for nature as Proulx’s fiction, Fen, Bog, and Swamp is both an enchanting work of nature writing and a rousing call to action. Read an exclusive interview with the author here at Esquire.

Butts, by Heather Radke

This crackling cultural history melds scholarship and pop culture to arrive at a comprehensive taxonomy of the female bottom. From 19th-century burlesque to the eighties aerobics craze to Kim Kardashian’s internet-breaking backside, Radke leaves no stone unturned. Her sources range from anthropological scholarship to Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back,” making for a vivacious blend, but Butts isn’t all fun and games. Radke explores how women’s butts have been used “as a means to create and reinforce racial hierarchies,” acting as locuses of racism, control, and desire. Lively and thorough, Butts is the best kind of nonfiction—the kind that forces you to see something ordinary through completely new eyes.

Novelist as a Vocation, by Haruki Murakami

In this winsome volume, one of our greatest novelists invites readers into his creative process. The result is a revealing self-portrait that answers many burning questions about its reclusive subject, like: where do Murakami’s strange and surreal ideas come from? When and how did he start writing? How does he view the role of novels in contemporary society? Novelist as a Vocation is a rare and welcome peek behind the curtain of a singular mind.

How You Get Famous: Ten Years of Drag Madness in Brooklyn, by Nicole Pasulka

Pasulka takes us tumbling down a glittery rabbit hole in this engrossing look at the last decade of Brooklyn ballroom culture. How You Get Famous introduces readers to electric performers like Merrie Cherry, who overcame a stroke to continue her drag career; Aja, a multiple-time contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race ; and Sasha Velour, who made waves with her bald head. Through this electric constellation of performers, Pasulka paints a vivid portrait of a singular subculture: joyful and scrappy, it’s gone on to galvanize a community and inspire a wider cultural movement.

The Last Resort: A Chronicle of Paradise, Profit, and Peril at the Beach, by Sarah Stodola

Quick—picture your perfect vacation. Does it involve staying at a resort and sipping a Mai Tai on the beach? We’re not out to yuck anyone’s yum, but beachgoers everywhere need to read this gripping account about the dark side of paradise. In The Last Resort , Stodola investigates the origins of beach culture, revealing that our understanding of the beach as paradise is actually a modern concept; it wasn’t until the 18th century that the seaside wellness craze changed our views about the ocean, once seen as a fearsome foe. Today, beach travel has become de rigueur, but it carries heavy costs, as it strangles local economies, threatens natural resources, and widens social inequality. After reading The Last Resort , you’ll never look at an all-inclusive vacation quite the same way.

Hollywood Ending: Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence, by Ken Auletta

Twenty years ago, Ken Auletta wrote a definitive New Yorker profile of Harvey Weinsten, which exposed the movie mogul as a violent and volatile person. But one story remained frustratingly ungraspable: though it was rumored that Weinstein was a sexual abuser, none of his victims would go on the record. Award-winning journalists including Megan Twohey, Jodi Kantor, and Ronan Farrow would later draw on Auletta’s reporting in their quests to expose the truth about Weinstein. Now, with his erstwhile subject behind bars, Auletta is revisiting him anew—and paying dogged attention to the systems that allowed him to operate unchecked. From the executives who abetted him to the brother who covered his tracks, Weinstein didn’t act in a vacuum, Auletta reveals—rather, he was enabled at nearly every turn. Exhaustively reported and utterly enraging, Hollywood Ending is a damning look at Hollywood’s history of corruption and complicity.

The Last Days of Roger Federer, by Geoff Dyer

“Life is weather. Life is meals,” the great James Salter once wrote. Life is also endings, according to Dyer, as fine and curious a cultural critic as they come. In this roving volume, Dyer explores ​​“things coming to an end, artists’ last works, time running out,” from Roger Federer’s impending retirement to Nietzsche’s descent into madness. Assessing the long twilight of his many subjects, Dyer leads us through the peripatetic maze of his free-associative thinking. Expect to emerge from the other side feeling grateful for “this magnificent life, whatever ruin comes in its wake.”

The Gotti Wars, by John Gleeson

For decades, Mafioso John Gotti captivated the American imagination. This notorious mobster, known as “The Dapper Don,” became a sartorial icon and graced the cover of Time (by way of an Andy Warhol portrait)—until it all came crashing down, thanks to federal prosecutor John Gleeson. The Gotti Wars is the riveting story of Gleeson’s fight to bring Gotti to justice, which spanned years, brought him into the crosshairs of organized crime, and ultimately took down five major mob families. It’s an electrifying true crime story of the Mafia-smitten 80s and 90s, to be certain, but also a vivid memoir of Gleeson’s development as a lawyer, and an excavation of the celebrity culture that turned a murderer into a superstar. Suspenseful and multifaceted, The Gotti Wars can’t be missed.

Dress Code, by Véronique Hyland

In an age where what we wear is shaped as much by algorithms and influencers as by personal taste, the fashion landscape looks different than ever before. To make sense of it all, turn to this roving, insightful collection of essays from a bona fide fashion expert, who breaks down everything from normcore to politicians’ wardrobes to the ubiquity of leggings. Rich in historical context and cultural criticism, Dress Code unpacks how clothing is both personal and political, and how it deserves serious consideration as a distinctive lens on the world. After all, as Hyland writes, “With fashion, you have no choice but to opt in.”

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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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Article   •  18 August 2022

20 of the best non-fiction books of 2022, see some of the best non-fiction books of 2022 so far, as well as more great titles coming this year..

The best non-fiction books of 2022 from Dr Julie Smith, James Patterson, Julia Gillard and more.

Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?   by Dr Julie Smith

If you liked  Atomic Habits,  consider  Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? a must-read. Full of simple, straightforward advice, this book provides plenty of tools to help you change your life for the better. By TikTok sensation and clinical psychologist Dr Julie Smith , the book is warm and informal, making it an approachable read for everyone.

SELF-HELP • PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Patting the Shark by Tim Baker

Tim Baker was living the dream. A beautiful family, a lifetime of exotic travel, and a beach-side home. But it all came toppling down when he received a surprise diagnosis: stage four, metastatic prostate cancer. Tim’s account is raw and vulnerable as it brings awareness to the disease that affects one in seven men in Australia.

MEMOIR • POIGNANT

Diana, William, and Harry  by James Patterson

Twenty-five years after her tragic death, bestselling author James Patterson tells the story of Princess Diana’s life as a mother and global icon. The heartbreaking, true account shines a light on the strength of her love for her sons – a trait that remains an enduring inspiration for the entire world today.

TRUE STORIES  • ROYAL FAMILY

Embrace Kids  by Taryn Brumfitt and Zali Yager

Imagine a world where young people don’t feel held back by their bodies. That’s what Taryn Brumfitt and Dr Zali Yager set out to inspire in writing  Embrace Kids , a body-positive handbook for parents, children, and teens. Coinciding with Brumfitt’s new documentary of the same name, the book helps parents understand their own journey and instil self-love in their children.

FAMILY & HEALTH  • PSYCHOLOGY • PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Smart, Stupid and Sixty   by Nigel Marsh

From the bestselling author of  Fat, Forty and Fired  and TED talk speaker Nigel Marsh comes  Smart, Stupid and Sixty.  Chronicling Nigel’s own experience of turning sixty, the book offers both humour and poignancy in its observations on the ‘third trimester’ of life.

MEMOIR • PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

POWER   by Kemi Nekvapil

Blending inspiring stories with author Kemi Nekvapil’s reflective coaching practices, POWER provides the tools to navigate challenges ranging from discrimination to self-doubt. Having grown up in foster care, Kemi was forced to learn to make her own choices and use her voice without apology. 

Mezcla   by Ixta Belfrage

From the co-author of  Ottolenghi FLAVOUR  comes this fun, flavour-packed cookbook dedicated to everyday eating with special occasion energy. In Spanish,  mezcla  means  mix  and that’s exactly what these recipes do by reinventing ‘fusion’ flavours. The book includes several quick, flavourful recipes that are sure to become a staple in your cooking rotation.

COOKBOOK • FOOD & DRINK

The Scrap Iron Flotilla   by Mike Carlton

When the British asked Australia for help at the outbreak of World War II, the government sent five destroyers to help bolster the British Royal Navy in the Mediterranean. The Nazis dismissed them as a load of scrap iron, but the destroyers played a pivotal role in escorting troop and supply convoys throughout the war.

HISTORY • WARFARE

Time Wise   by Amantha Imber

Learn how to level up your life with advice from behavioural scientist and podcast host Amantha Imber. Drawing on the habits of the world’s most highly effective people,  Time Wise  is a toolkit of proven strategies that will help you improve your productivity in every sector of your life. Whether you’re a CEO or a university student, this research-backed guide will help you achieve more in less time.

BUSINESS • MANAGEMENT • PRODUCTIVITY

His Name is George Floyd   by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa

Written by two award-winning reporters, this book is the only definitive biography of George Floyd. By zooming in on the portrait of this one life, the authors deliver a powerful exploration of institutional racism and a public reckoning of unprecedented breadth and intensity.

BIOGRAPHY • TRUE STORIES

Reckoning   by David Hill

Reckoning  is a heartbreaking account of the abuse that author David Hill and other Forgotten Children survived at the Fairbridge Farm School in New South Wales. Part memoir, part oral history, the book recounts the shocking systemic abuse of innocent children. The book catalysed a battle for justice, which resulted in the Fairbridge kids being awarded a record $24 million in compensation by the NSW Supreme Court. 

NON-FICTION PROSE

How Civil Wars Start   by Barbara F. Walter

Most of us don’t know it, but we are living in the world’s greatest era of civil wars. Since 1946, over 250 armed conflicts have broken out around the world, and that number continues to rise today.  How Civil Wars Start  outlines why they happen and how to avoid them in the hopes of providing a path back toward peace.

SOCIETY & CULTURE • LAW • POLITICS

How to Prevent the Next Pandemic  by Bill Gates

In 2014, Bill Gates gave a now-famous TED talk that warned of the arrival of pandemics in the near future – a prediction that was recently proven correct with the outbreak of COVID-19. Drawing on his studies of pandemics and firsthand experience with the Gates Foundation, the book outlines what we can all do to help prevent another pandemic.

MEDICINE • ECONOMICS • SCIENCE

The Palace Papers  by Tina Brown

Bestselling author Tina Brown provides an explosive insider look at the Royal Family over the last twenty years. Based on unprecedented sources and research, the book takes readers behind palace walls to tell the real story of the Windsors since the death of Diana.

BIOGRAPHY • ROYAL FAMILY

Coming soon.

Not Now, Not Ever   by Julia Gillard   

Ten years on from Julia Gillard’s famous misogyny speech ,  Not Now, Not Ever  explores the history and culture of misogyny and gender in the media and politics. With contributions from several experts and artists, the book explores a roadmap for the future with next-generation feminists Sally Scales, Chanel Contos and Caitlin Figueiredo. Out 5 October 2022.

BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT • FEMENISM • POLITICS

Bryce Courtenay: Storyteller   by Christine Courtenay

Told by the late Bryce Courtenay’s wife, Christine Courtenay, this long-awaited memoir of the Australian author reads like one of his epic fictions. With a look back at Courtenay’s personal story, the book chronicles his 34-year career in advertising and the bestselling writing that followed it. Out 1 November 2022.

BIOGRAPHY • MEMOIR • AUSTRALIAN AUTHOR

Investing with She’s on the Money  by Victoria Devine  

From the podcaster and bestselling author of She’s on the Money,  Victoria Devine comes this guide to building wealth through investing. Covering topics like superannuation, the stock market, and property investment, the book sets out to provide women with the guidance and education to build future wealth in no time. Out 20 September 2022.

SELF-HELP • FINANCE • INVESTING

The Light We Carry   by Michelle Obama

The Light We Carry  is a powerful, insightful follow-up to Michelle Obama’s bestselling memoir  Becoming.  Opening a frank dialogue with readers, Michelle considers the questions that many of us grapple with in everyday life. With the same humour and compassion that made  Becoming  a bestseller, this book shares the habits she has developed to overcome obstacles. Out 16 November 2022.

SELF-HELP • MEMOIR • PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Logan Martin: Journey to Gold  by Logan Martin

In  Logan Martin: Journey to Gold , the Olympic gold medallist and X-Games champion shares his inspiring journey to the top of the BMX freestyle podium. This testament to his dedication and self-discipline provides a peek into Logan’s life – from his smooth confidence to attention-grabbing tattoos. Out 18 October 2022.

BIOGRAPHY • BMX • ATHLETE

Fifteen Seconds of Brave   by Melissa Doyle

In this intimate and insightful book, award-winning journalist Melissa Doyle shares the stories of the most resilient people she has met throughout her 25-year-long career. Calling on her years of reporting from the front lines of triumph and tragedy, Melissa lays out the hard-won wisdom that the survivors she’d met shared with her throughout her career. Out 1 November 2022.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT • TRUE STORIES

Want more non-fiction? Check out this book list featuring non-fiction must-reads of 2022 .

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12 Nonfiction Books We Can't Wait to Read in 2022

Free up some space on your bookshelf — you’re going to need it.

From pop culture critique and gripping true-crime accounts to thought-provoking social research and commentary, new nonfiction books are coming your way in 2022 — and we rounded up the best of the best that you can’t afford to miss.

I Came All This Way to Meet You: Writing Myself Home

By jami attenberg.

New York Times bestselling author Jami Attenberg bares her creative soul in this freewheeling memoir about following your dreams and finding your voice. The author looks back on her formative years as an adventure seeker and emerging writer, when she set out across the U.S. and around the world in search of excitement, inspiration, and meaning. Along the way, she honed her craft and grew to trust her artistic instincts. A “sparkling memoir… [that] shines with wit and empathy” ( Publishers Weekly ), I Came All This Way to Meet You brims with life, passion, and creative joy.

Publication date: January 11, 2022

The Nineties

By chuck klosterman.

Celebrated author and essayist Chuck Klosterman offers a wry and revealing journey through the final decade of the 20th century in this upcoming work of pop culture criticism. The 1990s don’t sound that long ago … until we remember that, back then, the Internet was still in its dial-up infancy, we were tethered to our landlines, and we had to look up someone’s name and number in a phone book before making a call. Oh, and grunge was a very big thing. Whether you fondly remember the ’90s and are craving a nostalgia trip or were a mere babe in arms and would love to learn more about the era, Klosterman’s The Nineties has got you covered.

Publication date: February 8, 2022

Find Your People

By jennie allen.

Our digital-first moment promises to connect us. And yet, we often feel more isolated and alone than ever before. In Find Your People , Jennie Allen urges us to actively seek out and sustain lasting communities — both for the health of the individual and the health of the collective. She cites scientific research that shows the lasting physical and mental benefits we derive from friendship and shares her own personal and spiritual experiences. Allen sees the very real loneliness that afflicts so many today, and she offers practical tips to help readers reconnect with life.

Publication date: February 22, 2022

The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness

By meghan o’rourke.

In her highly anticipated new work, award-winning author Meghan O’Rourke skillfully synthesizes scientific and medical research with deeply personal experiences to examine the chronic illness epidemic in America. Such illnesses include autoimmune diseases, Lyme disease syndrome, and now, long COVID, all of which defy easy diagnosis and treatment. In The Invisible Kingdom, O’Rourke advocates for a radical shift in our approach to identifying and treating these debilitating conditions — conditions that affect millions of Americans and often leave patients and their families drained of hope.

Publication date: March 1, 2022

The Beauty of Dusk

By frank bruni.

Life changed overnight for New York Times columnist Frank Bruni in 2017: He woke up one morning and realized he couldn’t see clearly out of his right eye. Doctors determined that a rare stroke had cut off the blood supply to his optic nerve, rendering Bruni functionally blind in his right eye — and they told him that the same disorder could impact his left eye as well. In his upcoming memoir , Bruni chronicles how he faced this new reality and turned to others who had confronted traumas of their own for guidance and wisdom. The Beauty of Dusk delivers an “uplifting exploration of human potential” ( Kirkus Reviews ) and is a powerful story of adapting, acceptance, and transformation.

Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama

By bob odenkirk.

Bob Odenkirk’s decades-long career in show business is a bit like the performer himself: near-impossible to predict. In Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama, Odenkirk tracks his odyssey from dingey clubs in Chicago to writing for SNL and The Ben Stiller Show and eventually starring in his own comedy series, Mr. Show with Bob and David. That’s the “Comedy Comedy Comedy” part of Odenkirk’s saga. The “Drama” part begins with his out-of-left-field casting in a little show called Breaking Bad, where the actor’s scene-stealing portrayal of shady lawyer Saul Goodman led to a wildly popular spin-off series. Of course, all of this is told in typical Odenkirk fashion, with plenty of entertaining asides and off-kilter showbiz tales.

Growing Up Biden

By valerie biden owens.

Valerie Biden Owens is the younger sister and close confidante of President Joe Biden — and has been his campaign manager since he ran for class president in high school. She’s also a trusted political strategist who stands as one of the first female campaign managers in United States history. In this warm and candid memoir, Biden Owens lovingly recalls her formative years in the Biden household and how she and her siblings were raised to work hard and help others whenever they could. She shares the challenges she faced while breaking through gender barriers in politics and the triumph of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. Beautifully told, Growing Up Biden offers a touching look at loyalty, civic service, and family.

Publication date: April 12, 2022

By Viola Davis

Audiences are used to seeing Viola Davis bring characters to vivid life on the stage and screen. In her upcoming memoir, we get an illuminating look at Davis herself, as she shares how her life experiences transformed her into the Academy Award–winning actor we know and love today. Davis traces the dramatic trajectory of her life and career, from coming of age in Rhode Island to walking the red carpet in Hollywood and receiving an Oscar for her performance in Fences . Rich with honesty and insight, Finding Me is a fascinating self-portrait of a preeminent performer.

Publication date: April 19, 2022

Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases

By paul holes.

We may think we’re all crime solvers after watching an episode of Law and Order , but make no mistake: TV dramas are no substitute for the real thing. In this upcoming true-crime memoir, renowned cold case investigator Paul Holes offers an unflinching look at the life of a detective. Holes details the investigative, behavioral, and forensic techniques he used in solving a number of America’s toughest cases, from the murder of Laci Peterson and the kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard to his 20-year hunt for the Golden State Killer. Holes shares how his relentless pursuit of justice has taken its toll on his personal life, but that he’s committed to finding closure for victims and their families. Frank, compelling, and completely unguarded, Unmasked is a truly eye-opening read.

Publication date: April 26, 2022

Bad City: Peril and Power in the City of Angels

By paul pringle.

Criminality, betrayal, and abuse of power in the City of Angels: It sounds like the beginnings of a gritty L.A. crime novel. And while it might read like one, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Paul Pringle’s debut nonfiction narrative is a shocking exposé of corruption at the University of Southern California, the largest private employer in Los Angeles. Pringle’s investigation began after he received a tip about a drug overdose in a luxury hotel involving the head of USC’s esteemed medical school. But as Pringle searched for answers, he unearthed a far bigger, more insidious scandal. In Bad City, Pringle chronicles his dogged quest for the truth, detailing how he and his fellow reporters cut through cover-ups to expose the crimes committed by one of L.A.’s most powerful institutions. It’s an investigative-journalism ride-along packed with twists and turns. Buckle up.

Publication date: July 19, 2022

The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide

By steven w. thrasher.

Inequity permeates all sectors of society, but when it strikes at the health and survival of an individual, that raises the stakes exponentially. In his highly anticipated debut, Steven W. Thrasher, Ph.D., an award-winning journalist and a professor at Northwestern University, shines a sobering light on the disproportionate impact viruses have on marginalized communities. Thrasher’s career-defining research on the racialization, policing, and criminalization of HIV demonstrates that who you are and where you live has an outsized — and unjust — influence on your ability to survive illnesses. In The Viral Underclass, he shares the stories of friends, patients, teachers, and activists who faced life-or-death decisions within a biased health care system.

Publication date: August 2, 2022

Black Skinhead: Reflections on Blackness and Our Political Future

By brandi collins-dexter.

This timely collection of political reflections and essays is penned by Brandi Collins-Dexter, former Senior Director at Color of Change and a visiting fellow at Harvard Kennedy School. Collins-Dexter boasts a sterling reputation as a researcher, writer, and political commentator who specializes in issues of Black participation in American politics and the U.S. economy. Indeed, she recently testified before Congress on disinformation, online privacy, and economic justice. In Black Skinhead, Collins-Dexter channels her expertise into a searing and necessary meditation on Blackness and the future of politics in America.

Publication date: September 20, 2022

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50 notable works of nonfiction

The year’s best memoirs, biographies, history and more

‘Also a Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me,’ by Ada Calhoun

Calhoun’s memoir offers an unsparing portrait of her father , New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl, and the difficulties of their relationship. She also dives into the lives of a host of influential artists and writers, many of whom Schjeldahl interviewed for a biography of the poet O’Hara that never came to pass.

‘American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis,’ by Adam Hochschild

America has fallen prey to mythical enemies and demagogues several times in its history, as Hochschild reminds us in his portrait of one era , 1917 to 1921, when racism, white nationalism, and anti-foreign and anti-immigrant sentiment challenged the country’s ideals.

‘Ancestor Trouble: A Reckoning and a Reconciliation,’ by Maud Newton

Troubled by her family’s legacy of violence, mental illness and racism, Newton delves into genetics and cognitive science to wrestle with questions of inheritance. She also draws on anthropology, history, religion and philosophy to understand our national obsession with genealogy.

‘As It Turns Out: Thinking About Edie and Andy,’ by Alice Sedgwick Wohl

In this family memoir , Wohl discusses her sister Edie Sedgwick’s important but brief collaboration with Andy Warhol. The book also offers a troubling look into the siblings’ complicated family life.

‘Because Our Fathers Lied: A Memoir of Truth and Family, From Vietnam to Today,’ by Craig McNamara

In this staggering book , McNamara struggles to come to terms with his father, former defense secretary Robert McNamara, who supervised the tragedy of the Vietnam War and was a distant, uncommunicative parent.

‘Cheap Land Colorado: Off-Gridders at America’s Edge,’ by Ted Conover

Conover lends a compassionate ear to “the restless and the fugitive, the idle and the addicted, and the generally disaffected” living outside the American mainstream on an isolated Colorado prairie. With his thorough reportage, he conjures a vivid, mysterious subculture populated by men and women with riveting stories to tell.

‘Come Back in September: A Literary Education on West Sixty-Seventh Street, Manhattan,’ by Darryl Pinckney

In the 1970s, the literary critic Elizabeth Hardwick guided the 20-something Darryl Pinckney through the upper echelons of Manhattan literary and intellectual life. This memoir of that apprenticeship — by one of our most distinguished writers on African American culture, literature and history — provides a “you are there” account of those thrilling years.

‘Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America,’ by Maggie Haberman

In this illuminating portrait , Haberman lays special emphasis on Trump’s ascent in the late-1970s and 1980s New York world of hustlers, mobsters, political bosses, compliant prosecutors and tabloid scandalmongers.

‘Desperate Remedies: Psychiatry’s Turbulent Quest to Cure Mental Illness,’ by Andrew Scull

Scull tells the story of psychiatry in the United States from the 19th-century asylum to 21st-century psychopharmacology through its dubious characters, its shifting conceptions of mental illness and its often-gruesome treatments.

‘Diary of a Misfit: A Memoir and a Mystery,’ by Casey Parks

Despite its title, this memoir is about two misfits : Parks and an enigmatic character named Roy Hudgins. Parks, a reporter for The Washington Post, captures life in small-town Louisiana and probes Hudgins’s story to explore questions she asks herself about her own sexuality.

‘Easy Beauty: A Memoir,’ by Chloe Cooper Jones

Jones, a philosopher and journalist, uses her experience of disability to examine the ways others perceive bodies they find difficult. In the process, she writes about subjects from tennis to motherhood to Beyoncé in elegantly tuned prose.

‘Eliot After “The Waste Land,” ’ by Robert Crawford

Drawing heavily on T.S. Eliot’s often romantic correspondence with Emily Hale, which was under seal until 2020, this mesmerizing biography helps unpack the personal life of the famously ascetic poet.

‘Esmond and Ilia: An Unreliable Memoir,’ by Marina Warner

In this double portrait of her parents during the first years of their marriage, Warner follows them from the English countryside to Cairo. The book, largely constructed from documents, family stories and imaginative projection, recaptures a worldly, decadent atmosphere.

‘Finding Me,’ by Viola Davis

Davis is known today as the acclaimed actress whose credits include “Doubt,” “Fences” and “How to Get Away With Murder.” This memoir covers her career , but it’s more focused, with brutal candidness, on her traumatic childhood and how it shaped her later success.

‘Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History,’ by Lea Ypi

Ypi’s beguiling memoir of innocence and experience in Albania’s communist era and its aftermath is told through intimate stories of a taken-for-granted life devolving into uncertainty. It serves as a profound primer on how to live when old verities turn to dust.

‘Getting Lost,’ by Annie Ernaux, translated by Alison L Strayer

This book by the French writer , winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in literature , is made up of diary entries she wrote from 1988 to 1990. They document a Parisian affair with a married Soviet diplomat, a relationship she fictionalized in her short novel “ Simple Passion .”

‘The Great Stewardess Rebellion: How Women Launched a Workplace Revolution at 30,000 Feet,’ by Nell McShane Wulfhart

Travel writer Wulfhart chronicles how stewardesses organized to combat all manner of indignities, such as forced retirement at age 32, demeaning “girdle checks” and draconian weight limits, and in the process transformed the airline industry.

‘His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice,’ by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa

This vivid and moving account by Post reporters Samuels and Olorunnipa draws on more than 400 interviews to help depict the world that George Floyd lived in — and the circumstances that led to his death.

‘Imagining the End: Mourning and Ethical Life,’ by Jonathan Lear

In a world buffeted by multiple catastrophes, from gun violence to the destructive effects of climate change, psychoanalyst and philosopher Lear offers a hopeful path through grief and confusion.

‘The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir,’ by Karen Cheung

In this blend of memoir and reportage , Karen Cheung shows how Hong Kong is changing under the pressures of gentrification and China’s authoritarian crackdown. This is a love letter to the city, but it’s one that is free of romanticized illusion and frank about its failings.

‘Index, a History of the: A Bookish Adventure From Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age,’ by Dennis Duncan

A lively tour , from ancient Egypt to Silicon Valley, of a section of books that readers often treat as an afterthought. Duncan is an ideal tour guide: witty, engaging, knowledgeable and a fount of diverting anecdotes. Don’t skip this book’s own index, which is, of course, a work of art.

‘The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa’s Racial Reckoning,’ by Eve Fairbanks

Exploring the realities of life after apartheid in South Africa, Fairbanks depicts the complexities and disappointments of an ongoing period of change. Her journalistic approach welcomes readers who know little about the country, but she also offers a great deal for those more familiar with its struggles.

‘The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness,’ by Meghan O’Rourke

Acclaimed poet O’Rourke brings lyrical precision to this combination of memoir and reportage about “living at the edge of medical knowledge.” O’Rourke’s physical ailments over many years were often misdiagnosed or dismissed by doctors. In this book, she describes living with her pain while also investigating what we do and don’t know about chronic disease.

‘In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss,’ by Amy Bloom

In this deeply stirring memoir , novelist Amy Bloom recounts the emotional journey she took with her husband, Brian, who chose to end his life after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Bloom’s technical prowess is evident in her conscription of banal details to preface profound and sobering insights into love, marriage and death.

‘Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America,’ by Dahlia Lithwick

Arguing that true justice requires gender equality, Lithwick profiles women who have attempted to push back on legalistic attempts to restrict their rights — and those of others. She presents them not as superheroes but as real people who rely on other women in their collective effort to change things for the better.

‘Lessons From the Edge: A Memoir,’ by Marie Yovanovitch

A career diplomat, Yovanovitch was thrust into the public eye during the first impeachment of Donald Trump. In her memoir , she takes readers through her global career while also attending to the ways Trump has changed things at home.

‘A Life of Picasso: The Minotaur Years, 1933-1943,’ by John Richardson

The fourth and final volume of John Richardson’s life of Picasso is a worthy follow-up to its highly acclaimed predecessors. Completed amid difficult circumstances — Richardson, who died in 2019, was in his 90s and going blind — it is only about half their length. But it is just as rich and astounding.

‘Lost and Found: A Memoir,’ by Kathryn Schulz

This memoir by the Pulitzer-winning New Yorker writer considers the emotional whiplash of a two-year span when her father died and she met the woman who would become her wife.

‘Magnificent Rebels: The First Romantics and the Invention of the Self,’ by Andrea Wulf

Focusing on intellectual life in Jena, Germany, at the turn of the 19th century, Wulf explores how a small group of thinkers reworked our understanding of the relationship between philosophy and action.

‘Newsroom Confidential: Lessons (and Worries) From an Ink-Stained Life,’ by Margaret Sullivan

Sullivan, the former Washington Post media columnist and New York Times public editor, argues that media outlets are failing to adapt vigorously enough to the distortions of reality in the nation’s daily discourse, putting an already fragile democracy in grave jeopardy.

‘The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor — the Truth and the Turmoil,’ by Tina Brown

This episodic examination of the royal family’s difficulties since the death of Princess Diana in 1997 features a combination of preexisting press accounts and Brown’s reporting. It’s both high-minded and gossipy, and addictively readable.

‘Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe,’ by David Maraniss

Thorpe, one of the most accomplished athletes who ever lived, was often met with racist derision during his own day. In this deeply researched biography , The Post’s Maraniss offers a sympathetic portrait of an extraordinarily talented man.

‘README.txt: A Memoir,’ by Chelsea Manning

The general outline of Manning’s story is widely known, but in her memoir she captures the more personal feel of her actions and experiences. “Everyone now knows — because of what happened to me — that the government will attempt to destroy you fully,” she writes. Here she shows how she preserved herself in the process.

‘Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy,’ by David J Chalmers

In chapters studded with references to popular culture and informed by high-level philosophical scholarship, Chalmers explores serious questions about whether we live in a simulation . Ultimately, he argues, it may not matter if our world is not as “real” as it seems.

‘Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original,’ by Howard Bryant

Baseball Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson was known for his competitiveness, outsize personality and superlative talent. Bryant’s vivid and extensive account , written with access to Henderson and his wife, Pamela, shines a light on this unique and charismatic legend.

‘River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile,’ by Candice Millard

Many books have been written about the 19th-century European explorers who tried to find the Nile’s source, but this one adds new dimensions to the story . It is especially revealing on the conflicts between two of the most famous men who helped direct some of those expeditions, but it also attends to some of those largely ignored by past historians.

‘Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth,’ by Elizabeth Williamson

If the horrors of the Sandy Hook school shooting were not enough, the families of the murdered children were mercilessly stalked afterward by conspiracy theorists and confronted with vile and obscenity-laden threats, as Williamson meticulously documents in her account of this assault on grieving parents, truth and society itself.

‘Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers,’ by Mary Rodgers and Jesse Green

Pointedly frank but never too unkind, this memoir from musical theater composer and novelist Rodgers dishes on Stephen Sondheim and other luminaries. And though it’s full of gossip, it also documents Rodgers’s journey to self-understanding.

‘Solito: A Memoir,’ by Javier Zamora

In this valuable book , Zamora recounts his terrifying nine-week journey to the United States from El Salvador in 1999, when he was 9 years old, and his struggles growing up in the mythic land of Big Macs on his way to becoming a distinguished poet.

‘Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us,’ by Rachel Aviv

Hospitalized at age 6 for “failure to eat,” New Yorker staff writer Aviv became fascinated by the early phases of mental illness, the time before it remakes a person’s identity. In this work , she explores several cases, including her own youthful experience, and assesses the stories people tell themselves about their mental disorders.

‘Tasha: A Son’s Memoir,’ by Brian Morton

“Tasha” is the novelist Brian Morton’s (“ Starting Out in the Evening ”) bracing account of his mother’s final years . “How can you see your parents clearly?” he wonders. He gives it his best, passionately chronicling his mother’s knotty past alongside his present exhaustion, exasperation and anguish.

‘This Body I Wore: A Memoir,’ by Diana Goetsch

Goetsch, an acclaimed poet, here writes about her life as a transgender woman, from the first stirrings of awareness as a young child to formative adult years in the cross-dressing world of New York to transition later in life. Along the way, her personal story casts light on the history of the larger trans community over the course of her lifetime.

‘Truly, Madly: Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, and the Romance of the Century,’ by Stephen Galloway

Galloway traces the fraught romance of Leigh and Olivier , a couple whose marriage was characterized by great passion — as well as other, more mercurial passions. He is especially sharp on the question of Leigh’s mental health.

‘Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation,’ by Linda Villarosa

Race plays an enormous role in health care in the United States, with Black people in particular often facing enormously unequal treatment. Villarosa unpacks some of those dangerous inequities in a book that is both deeply researched and profoundly devastating .

‘The War of Nerves: Inside the Cold War Mind,’ by Martin Sixsmith

Sixsmith leads readers through many of the misunderstandings that characterized the conduct of both sides during the Cold War. He also records some of the many ways that Russia and the United States provoked one another, sometimes with near-disastrous results.

‘Watergate: A New History,’ by Garrett M. Graff

Though it explores familiar territory, this book brings the Watergate era to life in a new way, thanks in part to its attention to the “flawed everyday people” who shaped the events as they played out. It also works to correct some of the many errors and omissions in past records.

‘Ways and Means: Lincoln and His Cabinet and the Financing of the Civil War,’ by Roger Lowenstein

The Civil War remade America — and paying for it remade the American financial system. Business writer Lowenstein draws on decades of scholarship to tell the story of how that transformation played out.

‘We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland,’ by Fintan O’Toole

Journalist O’Toole brilliantly weaves the story of his life with several momentous decades in his country’s history. The result is a memoir , starting from his working-class roots in Dublin, where he was born in 1958, and an account of how Ireland struggled to join the modern world.

‘When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World’s Most Powerful Consulting Firm,’ by Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe

A masterful work of investigative journalism, this book delves into the often-dubious business practices of one of the world’s largest and most powerful management consulting firms.

‘You Don’t Know Us Negroes and Other Essays,’ by Zora Neale Hurston

This volume collects 51 essays by the author of “ Their Eyes Were Watching God .” It demonstrates Hurston’s formidable range, showing her skills as a critic, anthropologist, journalist and more. Some of the texts included appear in print for the first time here.

10 New Nonfiction Book Releases For May 2024

Kendra Winchester

Kendra Winchester is a Contributing Editor for Book Riot where she writes about audiobooks and disability literature. She is also the Founder of Read Appalachia , which celebrates Appalachian literature and writing. Previously, Kendra co-founded and served as Executive Director for Reading Women , a podcast that gained an international following over its six-season run. In her off hours, you can find her writing on her Substack, Winchester Ave , and posting photos of her Corgis on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester.

View All posts by Kendra Winchester

Of course, true stories are my jam and the love of my book-obsessed life. There’s nothing like opening up a new-to-me cookbook and selecting what recipes I’m going to make next. Or maybe, I’ll dive into a biography of a favorite Southern Gothic writer. Or perhaps I’ll fall headlong into microhistory about the origins of hot dogs and their impact on society. The possibilities are endless.

In celebration of true stories, I’ve collected ten of some of the most exciting nonfiction titles hitting shelves in May. You might be new to nonfiction or a true stories pro, but whatever the case, there’s sure to be something on this list that catches your eye.

All publication dates are subject to change.

Coming Home by Brittney Griner with Michelle Burford (May 7)

On February 17, 2022, Brittney Griner was detained in Russia for mistakenly carrying hash oil that had been medically prescribed. For the first time, Griner shares what it was like experiencing the Russian legal system and eventually being sent to a Russian penal colony. Days after her arrest, Russia invaded Ukraine, making Griner’s legal battle even more complicated. Griner describes how thoughts of her family, especially her wife Cherelle, helped keep her holding on to hope that one day she would be free.

First Love: Essays on Friendship by Lilly Dancyger (May 7)

When Lilly Dancyger’s cousin is murdered, Dancyger finds herself holding on to her female friendships with a new urgency. First Love delves into ideas around the importance of female friendship, its complexities, and the importance that it holds in women’s lives.

The Way You Make Me Feel: Love in Black and Brown by Nina Sharma (May 7)

In this new essay collection, writer Nina Sharma examines her interracial Black and Asian relationship. Sharma first meets her husband Quincy when she catches a ride with him to a friend’s barbecue for the 4th of July. From there, they spark a relationship that will change her perspective on the world forever. The Way You Make Me Feel dives into race, class, colorism, and so much more.

The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoë Schlanger (May 7)

The Light Eaters is a love letter to the world of plants. In this well-researched look into the way plants have learned to survive, we meet plants with flowers that change the shape of their blooms to better accommodate pollinators and vines that learn to blend in with the bushes they grow around. With her examination of these incredible specimens of the natural world, Zoë Schlanger illustrates what humanity can learn from the never-ending wisdom of plants.

Another Word for Love: A Memoir by Carvell Wallace (May 14)

Award-winning journalist Carvell Wallace has spent his career looking outward, profiling others, and reporting on events happening in the world around him. But now, Wallace turns his writing to himself. In Another Word for Love , Wallace describes what it’s like to grow up Black and queer in America. With his portrait of his own life, Wallace finds beauty in the simple things and shows gratitude for the people who made him who he is today.

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham (May 14)

The author of Midnight in Chernobyl , Adam Higginbotham, returns to write about another disaster, but this time, it’s in America. Higginbotham delves into the history of the shuttle program that led to the disaster on January 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger fell apart and killed all on board. His in-depth look gives readers a new perspective on one of the worst disasters in the history of space exploration.

Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal (May 14)

When Vanessa Angélica Villarreal becomes a mother, she decides to return to Mexico to learn more about her grandmother and her family. But when Villarreal returns, she finds that her entire life—her marriage, her family, her reality—has fallen apart. With Magical/Realism , Villarreal puts her life back together using everything from pop culture references to video games.

The Story Game by Shze-Hui Tjoa (May 21)

The Story Game is an imaginative personal narrative that starts with Hui telling stories to a little girl. Hui goes into detail about her marriage, her life as the child of immigrants, and her mental health. However, Hui struggles to remember certain events from her life. What is it that she can’t remember, and why is Hui telling this girl her story in the first place?

Heart of American Darkness: Bewilderment and Horror on the Early Frontier by Robert G. Parkinson (May 21)

With a nod to Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness , author Robert G. Parkinson describes the imperialism that led to the settling of North America. Parkinson tosses out the rose-colored glasses and notes that the colonization of America was violent, ill-planned, and extremely destructive. Parkinson’s new book destroys the myth of the founding of the United States and reveals its dark history.

Pretty: A Memoir by KB Brookins (May 28)

In this new memoir from queer Black trans writer KB Brookins, they share their experience moving through the world when you appear as one gender, but your ID says another. Pretty is a call for change, a call for acceptance of Black trans bodies in the face of ongoing prejudice and violence.

​​There are so many good books — I don’t know where to start! If you’re looking for even more nonfiction book recommendations, check out 10 New Nonfiction Book Releases of April and 10 New Nonfiction Book Releases of March .

As always, you can find a full list of new releases in the magical New Release Index , carefully curated by your favorite Book Riot editors, organized by genre and release date.

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We've sorted through the thrillers, fantasy novels, true crime books and more to find the best options to read this summer.

Soaking up the sun while reading a book you can't put down is something to look forward to this summer. Outside of deciding which insulated tumbler to take with you for hydration in the heat and finding a comfy spot on the beach or in a hammock, the most challenging part about settling in for a riveting read is choosing the novel itself.

E-readers and overnight online deliveries have put a library of unlimited books at our fingertips. From non-fiction to science fiction genres and  celebrity memoirs to book-to-screen adaptations , there are all kinds of incredible pages to peruse this spring. One of Amazon's most anticipated releases and biggest bestsellers for May is Erik Larson's latest book about the election of Abraham Lincoln and his presidency as the Civil War started.

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War

President Lincoln was only in office for five months before the Civil War began. See what unfolded in those days in Erik Larson's latest non-fiction historical thriller.

Your summer library doesn't end there, because we've rounded up plenty of other newly released book picks, from steamy romance novels to chart-topping non-fiction books to edge-of-your-seat thrillers to magical worlds filled with sorcery and everything in between. Whether you read to enter a new world or to learn more about the world you live in, we've found a book you'll want on your reading list.

The Best Summer Reads of 2024

Long island (eilis lacey series).

An Oprah's Book Club pick, Long Island tells the story of Eilis Lacey, a women whose life is changed when her husband's baby from a secret affair winds up on her doorstep.

The Ministry of Time: A Novel by Kaliane Bradley

The Ministry of Time is spy thriller with a mix of time travel and romance. When a civil servant begins working a new time travel project, she must decide if falling in love is worth the consequences of changing history.

The Familiar: A Novel by Leigh Bardugo

This immersive romance novel taking place during the Spanish Inquisition tells the story of Luzia, a magic user enlisted to help the king.

The Women: A Novel by Kristin Hannah

Kristin Hannah, author of The Nightingale , has a new book that's made its way onto four of the top bestseller lists. The Women tells the story of Frances, a field nurse who enters the Vietnam War to return home only to find rising political tensions. 

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

A Reese's Book Club Pick, First Lie Wins  is a thriller that centers around Evie Porter, who is actually someone else and was given her identity by the mysterious Mr. Smith. Evie wants a new life, but one slip-up will change her future forever.

Rebel Rising: A Memoir by Rebel Wilson

Taking readers through the ups and downs of her career, Wilson's memoir ultimately teaches self-love with laughter along the way.

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

While digging a foundation for a new development in the 1970s, the residents of Pottstown are shocked to find a skeleton. James McBride's novel  The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store intertwines the lives of the townspeople and their community during these times.

Our Fight: A Memoir by Ronda Rousey

As the UFC's first female champion, Ronda Rousey has made a name for herself in the world of mixed martial arts. Sharing her journey from the pursuit of perfection to the pursuit of happiness, this relatable story is about facing your fears.  

Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up by Abigail Shrier

Currently No. 1 on Amazon's Most Sold Non-Fiction Books for the week, Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up by Abigail Shrier explores the rising mental health crisis happening specifically in the Gen Z population. Interviewing experts in the field, Shrier explores some of the serious side effects of popular therapeutic approaches.

The House of Hidden Meanings: A Memoir by RuPaul

Save 30% when you shop RuPaul's new memoir on Amazon right now. Because reading is what? Fundamental! 

The Hunter: A Novel by Tana French

This much-anticipated book by Tana French tells the story of Cal Hooper, who develops a quiet life in Ireland with Lena and her unruly son Trey after retiring early from the Chicago P.D. When Trey's absent father shows up, the couple will do whatever they must to protect the boy.

Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere

Today  show host Savannah Guthrie explores how her belief in God can help her grapple with the challenging times happening in our world in her new book  Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere .

The Teacher: A Psychological Thriller by Freida McFadden

In this story, a scandal rocks Caseham High School when the news of an inappropriate student-teacher relationship comes to light. However, nothing is what it seems in Freida McFadden's newest thriller.

Expiration Dates: A Novel by Rebecca Serle

New York Times best-selling author Rebecca Serle released a heart-wrenching story that made Amazon's best books of March. 

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams

New York Times best-selling author Tia Williams' latest book is a No. 1 pick on Amazon. In  A Love Song for Ricki Wilde, misfit Ricki Wilde moves to Harlem to open a flower shop where a mysterious stranger sets her world ablaze. 

Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum by Antonia Hylton

Award-winning journalist Antonia Hylton explains the 93-year-old history of Crownsville Hospital — a segregated asylum in Maryland — in her book  Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum , which was one of Amazon Editor's Best Book Picks. The hospital discussed in the book was shuttered in 2004 but the building still stands today.

The Fury by Alex Michaelides

Lana is a former movie star who invites her closest friends on a vacation to her private Greek island. But things suddenly take a turn when one of them is murdered in Alex Michaelides' new thriller The Fury .

Horse: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks

Horse , which was released in mid-January, is already an award-winning novel that focuses on race, art and history.

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

Telling stories from those at the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Wandering Stars spans three generations of a family detailing their struggles and hopes for the future.

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Stonewall Book Awards

The first and most enduring award for LGBTQIA+ books is the Stonewall Book Awards, sponsored by the American Library Association's Rainbow Round Table (formerly the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table). Since Isabel Miller's Patience and Sarah received the first award in 1971, many other books have been honored for exceptional merit relating to the LGBTQIA+ experience.

The Stonewall Book Award-Barbara Gittings Literature Award, the Stonewall Book Award-Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award and the Stonewall Book Award-Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award are presented to English language works published the year prior to the announcement date. The award is announced in January/February and presented to the winning authors or editors at the American Library Association Annual Conference in June. The award winners each receive a commemorative plaque and $1,000.

Suggest a title to the appropriate Stonewall Book Awards Committee

• Suggest a title for the 2025 Barbara Gittings Literature Award (adult literature titles)
• Suggest a title for the 2025 Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award (adult non-fiction titles)
• Suggest a title for the 2025 Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award (children and young adult titles)

Anyone may suggest a title to the Stonewall Book Awards Committee for consideration. Members of the Stonewall Book Awards Committee may not recommend a book that they have contributed to, edited, or in any other way been affiliated with, or a book authored or edited by a member of their immediate family or anyone with whom they currently share a household. A short statement describing why the book is being recommended can accompany the request. All suggestions must be submitted via the appropriate online form.

For information regarding the Stonewall Book Awards (including the awards ceremony and promotional material), please contact the appropriate committee chair or [email protected] .

Barbara Gittings Literature Award

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Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children's and Young Adult Literature Award

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2022 RRT and Stonewall Book Awards Program

2023 RRT and Stonewall Book Awards Program

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Brittney Griner's book is raw recounting of fear, hopelessness while locked away in Russia

Midway through her book "Coming Home," Brittney Griner is informed of fellow American Trevor Reed’s release from a Russian penal colony. It is April 2022, and Reed is finally going home after being wrongfully detained for nearly three years. The news both elevates Griner’s spirit and breaks her heart, bringing her to tears. 

"Only someone who has lived, prayed, cried and slept in a Russian prison can truly comprehend the daily indignities, the deep isolation that weighs on your spirit," Griner writes. 

The memoir, which is available Tuesday, is a detailed accounting of Griner’s harrowing journey through a Russian legal system known for its corruption. Griner describes it as "a rigged system where the house always won." In February 2022, just a week before Russia invaded Ukraine, Griner was detained at the Moscow airport on her way back to UMMC Ekaterinburg, the Russian team she’d played with for nearly a decade during the WNBA offseason. 

In her carry-on, Griner had forgotten to remove two small vape pens with cannabis oil , a minor infraction in the U.S. but a major violation in Russia, a country known for draconian drug laws. Back home in Phoenix, a doctor had prescribed Griner medical marijuana for a litany of lingering sports injuries. Griner owns the mistake of leaving the cannabis oil in her bag, writing "I didn’t deserve the hell I was put through, and yet my forgetfulness on that February morning had cost us dearly."

If you followed Griner’s plight in real time, you’ll be familiar with all the major plot points. The details she shares are both jarring (she was forced to strip in prisons more than once, as Russian guards photographed her body) and bizarre (during her trial, as the court broke for judge deliberation, the prosecutor asked the American superstar for some photos). She passed time, and kept her sanity, by playing Sudoku and scribbling notes in the margins, a makeshift diary. She talks frankly about how often she’s felt other’d in her life − "when you’re born in a body like mine, a part of you dies every day, with every mean comment and lingering stare," she writes − and how her time in Russia was merely the latest, and cruelest, version of that reality.

It is a raw recounting of a hellish 10 months that ended with her release Dec. 8, 2022. Griner’s shame, fear, hopelessness and heartache are evident. 

And that’s why everyone should read it. 

As Griner’s story played out in the national media, many people − loudly and publicly − picked sides. Some fought for Griner’s release, posting daily to social media about how President Joe Biden’s administration needed to do whatever necessary to bring her home. Others railed against the idea of an openly gay, Black woman’s freedom being prioritized, especially if it came at the expense of trading a notorious Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout , who was serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. Some were furious that a basketball player was released while military and longer-term political prisoners, including Paul Whelan, were left behind. Wasn’t this just one more example of a sports star receiving special treatment? 

Polarization might make headlines but the truth is, the majority of Americans probably are somewhere in the middle. 

It’s likely that there are thousands of Americans across the country who are happy Griner is home , but aren’t quite sure how they feel about the finer points of the situation − about if the trade was "fair," about if she needed to go to Russia in the first place, about if she deserved her punishment for possessing the cannabis oil.

But read her book, a 300-plus page deep dive on an experience many of us wouldn’t have been able to recover from, and I suspect your empathy will grow − for her and all of humanity. 

Maybe you won’t be lining up to get season tickets to the Phoenix Mercury or purchasing a purple Griner jersey, but I bet you'll see the world differently. Especially if you followed the story only tangentially and know bits and pieces but not all the horrifying details. I’m thinking it will make you say out loud, "I’ve never thought of it that way." 

Maybe your thoughts on Griner will remain complicated. But maybe your thoughts on other issues related to her − pay equity, the reality of being Black and gay in both Russia and America, protesting the national anthem in the name of social justice − will broaden. Maybe you won’t subscribe to WNBA league pass, but you’ll decide to support your local high school team. Maybe you’ll speak up at the Thanksgiving table when someone says something crass about the LGBTQ community. Maybe the next time you see a tall, awkward kid who is obviously struggling to fit in, you’ll offer them a kind smile and encouraging word. 

It’s rare that change happens overnight, for a major event to immediately turn the public consciousness. But the ripple effect in life is real, and if Griner’s honesty helps even a dozen readers see the world differently, that impact, her impact, will be felt for years. 

Griner's book will get people talking to each other, and that's when real change begins.

Email Lindsay Schnell at [email protected] or follow her on social media  @Lindsay_Schnell  

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The best new science fiction books of May 2024

A new Stephen King short story collection, an Ursula K. Le Guin reissue and a celebration of cyberpunk featuring writing from Philip K. Dick and Cory Doctorow are among the new science fiction titles published this month

By Alison Flood

A new short story collection from Stephen King, You Like It Darker, is out in May

Shane Leonard

Every month, I trawl through publishers’ catalogues so I can tell you about the new science fiction being released. And every month, I’m disappointed to see so much more fantasy on publishers’ lists than sci-fi. I know it’s a response to the huge boom in readers of what’s been dubbed “ romantasy ”, and I’m not knocking it – I love that sort of book too. But it would be great to see more good, hard, mind-expanding sci-fi in the offing as well.

In the meantime, there is definitely enough for us sci-fi fans to sink our teeth into this month, whether it’s a reissue of classic writing from Ursula K. Le Guin, some new speculative short stories from Stephen King or murder in space from Victor Manibo and S. A. Barnes.

Last month, I tipped Douglas Preston’s Extinction and Sofia Samatar’s The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain as books I was looking forward to. I can report that they were both excellent: Extinction was a lot of good, clean, Jurassic Park -tinged fun, while Samatar’s offering was a beautiful and thought-provoking look at life on a generation ship.

The Language of the Night: Essays on writing, science fiction, and fantasy by Ursula K. Le Guin

There are few sci-fi and fantasy writers more brilliant (and revered) than Ursula K. Le Guin. This reissue of her first full-length collection of essays features a new introduction from Hugo and Nebula award-winner Ken Liu and covers the writing of The Left Hand of Darkness and A Wizard of Earthsea , as well as her advocacy for sci-fi and fantasy as legitimate literary mediums. I’ve read some of these essays but not all, and I won’t be missing this collection.

Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen

This isn’t science fiction, not quite, but it is one of the best and most important books I have read for some time. It sees Jacobsen lay out, minute by minute, what would happen if an intercontinental ballistic missile hit Washington DC. How would the US react? What, exactly, happens if deterrence fails? Jacobsen has spoken to dozens of military experts to put together what her publisher calls a “non-fiction thriller”, and what I call the scariest book I have possibly ever read (and I’m a Stephen King fan; see below). We’re currently reading it at the New Scientist Book Club, and you can sign up to join us here .

Read an extract from Nuclear War: A scenario by Annie Jacobsen

In this terrifying extract from Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario, the author lays out what would happen in the first seconds after a nuclear missile hits the Pentagon

The Big Book of Cyberpunk (Vol 1 & 2)

Forty years ago, William Gibson published Neuromancer . Since then, it has entranced millions of readers right from its unforgettable opening line: “The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel…”. Neuromancer gave us the literary genre that is cyberpunk, and we can now welcome a huge, two-volume anthology celebrating cyberpunk’s best stories, by writers from Cory Doctorow to Justina Robson, and from Samuel R. Delaney to Philip K. Dick. I have both glorious-sounding volumes, brought together by anthologist Jared Shurin, on my desk (using up most of the space on it), and I am looking forward to dipping in.

You Like It Darker by Stephen King

You could categorise Stephen King as a horror writer. I see him as an expert chronicler of the dark side of small-town America, and from The Tommyknockers and its aliens to Under the Dome with its literally divisive trope, he frequently slides into sci-fi. Even the horror at the heart of It is some sort of cosmic hideousness. He is one of my favourite writers, and You Like It Darker is a new collection of short stories that moves from “the folds in reality where anything can happen” to a “psychic flash” that upends dozens of lives. There’s a sequel to Cujo , and a look at “corners of the universe best left unexplored”. I’ve read the first story so far, and I can confirm there is plenty for us sci-fi fans here.

Enlightenment by Sarah Perry

Not sci-fi, but fiction about science – and from one of the UK’s most exciting writers (if you haven’t read The Essex Serpent yet, you’re in for a treat). This time, Perry tells the story of Thomas Hart, a columnist on the Essex Chronicle who becomes a passionate amateur astronomer as the comet Hale-Bopp approaches in 1997. Our sci-fi columnist Emily Wilson is reviewing it for New Scientist ’s 11 May issue, and she has given it a vigorous thumbs up (“a beautiful, compassionate and memorable book,” she writes in a sneak preview just for you guys).

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

Dr Ophelia Bray is a psychologist and expert in the study of Eckhart-Reiser syndrome, a fictional condition that affects space travellers in terrible ways. She’s sent to help a small crew whose colleague recently died, but as they begin life on an abandoned planet, she realises that her charges are hiding something. And then the pilot is murdered… Horror in space? Mysterious planets? I’m up for that.

In Hey, Zoey, the protagonist finds an animatronic sex doll hidden in her garage

Shutterstock / FOTOGRIN

Hey, Zoey by Sarah Crossan

Hot on the heels of Sierra Greer’s story about a sex robot wondering what it means to be human in Annie Bot , the acclaimed young adult and children’s author Sarah Crossan has ventured into similar territory. In Hey, Zoey , Dolores finds an animatronic sex doll hidden in her garage and assumes it belongs to her husband David. She takes no action – but then Dolores and Zoey begin to talk, and Dolores’s life changes.

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler

Davi has tried to take down the Dark Lord before, rallying humanity and making the final charge – as you do. But the time loop she is stuck in always defeats her, and she loses the battle in the end. This time around, Davi decides that the best thing to do is to become the Dark Lord herself. You could argue that this is fantasy, but it has a time loop, so I’m going to count it as sci-fi. It sounds fun and lighthearted: quotes from early readers are along the lines of “A darkly comic delight”, and we could all use a bit of that these days.

Escape Velocity by Victor Manibo

It’s 2089, and there’s an old murder hanging over the clientele of Space Habitat Altaire, a luxury space hotel, while an “unforeseen threat” is also brewing in the service corridors. A thriller in space? Sounds excellent – and I’m keen to see if Manibo makes use of the latest research into the angle at which blood might travel following violence in space, as reported on by our New Scientist humour columnist Marc Abrahams recently.

The best new science fiction books of March 2024

With a new Adrian Tchaikovsky, Mars-set romance from Natasha Pulley and a high-concept thriller from Stuart Turton due to hit shelves, there is plenty of great new science fiction to be reading in March

In Our Stars by Jack Campbell

Part of the Doomed Earth series, this follows Lieutenant Selene Genji, who has been genetically engineered with partly alien DNA and has “one last chance to save the Earth from destruction”. Beautifully retro cover for this space adventure – not to judge a book in this way, of course…

The Downloaded by Robert J. Sawyer

Two sets of people have had their minds uploaded into a quantum computer in the Ontario of 2059. Astronauts preparing for the world’s first interstellar voyage form one group; the other contains convicted murderers, sentenced to a virtual-reality prison. Naturally, disaster strikes, and, yup, they must work together to save Earth from destruction. Originally released as an Audible Original with Brendan Fraser as lead narrator, this is the first print edition of the Hugo and Nebula award-winning Sawyer’s 26 th novel.

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin

Just in case you still haven’t read it, Justin Cronin’s gloriously dreamy novel The Ferryman , set on an apparently utopian island where things aren’t quite as they seem, is out in paperback this month. It was the first pick for the New Scientist Book Club, and it is a mind-bending, dreamy stunner of a read. Go try it – and sign up for the Book Club in the meantime!

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8 New Books We Recommend This Week

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Violence and its impact on writers anchor three of our recommended books this week: Michael Korda offers a group biography of the soldier-poets of World War I, while Kristine Ervin writes about her mother’s murder and Salman Rushdie relives the knife attack that almost took his life two years ago.

We also recommend a history of immigration detention in America and, in fiction, new novels by Leigh Bardugo, Terese Svoboda, Caoilinn Hughes and Julia Alvarez. Happy reading. — Gregory Cowles

KNIFE: Meditations After an Attempted Murder Salman Rushdie

In his candid, plain-spoken and gripping new memoir, Rushdie recalls the attempted assassination he survived in 2022 during a presentation about keeping the world’s writers safe from harm. His attacker had piranhic energy. He also had a knife. Rushdie lost an eye, but he has slowly recovered thanks to the attentive care of doctors and the wife he celebrates here.

“A clarifying book. It reminds us of the threats the free world faces. It reminds us of the things worth fighting for.”

From Dwight Garner’s review

Random House | $28

THE FAMILIAR Leigh Bardugo

A lowly servant girl in 16th-century Spain has a secret: There’s magic in her fingertips, perhaps the kind that anxious kings and other assorted schemers would kill for. The best-selling fantasist Bardugo (“Shadow and Bone”) infuses her new standalone novel with both rich historical detail and a heady sense of place and romance.

“Her prose mirrors the Baroque setting, her sentences lush and embroidered with pearls. ... Reading Bardugo is an immersive, sensual experience”

From Danielle Trussoni’s review

Flatiron | $29.99

ROXY AND COCO Terese Svoboda

The titular sisters in Svoboda’s new novel are modern-day harpies, of mythological renown: half-woman, half-bird, fearsome creatures. They’re also social workers, and their very long life’s work is the consideration of children who have been abandoned, neglected or worse.

“Svoboda’s novel comes close to suggesting that people really are for the birds. And yet, some of the most moving moments in ‘Roxy and Coco’ happen between creatures who are desperate for care.”

From Hilary Leichter's review

West Virginia University Press | Paperback, $21.99

IN THE SHADOW OF LIBERTY: The Invisible History of Immigrant Detention in the United States Ana Raquel Minian

The American government has a long record of detaining migrants in places that are, legally speaking, black sites. Minian traces immigration detention from the late 1800s through the present via the stories of four figures, showing how absurd and arbitrary the system can be.

“Storytelling allows Minian to convey the physical and emotional toll of detention with potent specificity. The result is a book-length plea against dehumanization, at least for those who are willing to listen.”

From Jennifer Szalai’s review

Viking | $32

THE ALTERNATIVES Caoilinn Hughes

This novel features four 30-something Irish sisters, all with Ph.D.s and all lonely or a little bit lost in some way. When the oldest of them goes (voluntarily) missing and her younger sisters team up to investigate, Hughes has the catalyst for a witty, bittersweet and often stylistically bold exploration of blood ties and chosen family.

“‘The Alternatives’ is a bold, beautiful, complex novel, and I can’t wait to read what Hughes writes next. She, too, is an unstoppable force.”

From S. Kirk Walsh’s review

Riverhead | $28

THE CEMETERY OF UNTOLD STORIES Julia Alvarez

Returning to her Dominican homeland after decades in America, a weary novelist decides to build a literal graveyard for all her failed and unrealized tales in the lively latest from Alvarez (“In the Time of the Butterflies”), who continues to fuse magical realism with warm humanism.

“Lively, joyous, full of modern details and old tall tales. Any reader with roots and ancestors in other lands lives in a multiple-narrative story, one that we try to share with everyone, though we have to translate it.”

From Luis Alberto Urrea’s review

Algonquin | $28

RABBIT HEART: A Mother’s Murder, a Daughter’s Story Kristine S. Ervin

When Ervin was 8 years old, her mother was abducted from a mall parking lot; her body was found several days later. This gruesome reality is just the beginning of Ervin’s riveting tale, which resists society’s insistence on conflating both her own and her mothers’ identity with victimhood, even as it marks every facet of her life. A lacerating, bracing read that reminds us not just of the actual people behind the true crime genre, but of our own complicity in its consumption.

“Ervin writes with painful clarity about the instability of a childhood defined by public tragedy. The unanswered questions surrounding her mother’s death meant that even the most familiar of places became potential crime scenes, familiar objects indexes of loss.”

From Alissa Bennett’s review

Counterpoint | $27

MUSE OF FIRE: World War I as Seen Through the Lives of the Soldier Poets Michael Korda

In this erudite and often funny group biography of the Allied soldiers who turned their battlefield experiences into verse during the Great War, Korda tracks the whole arc of public opinion as the conflict progressed, from romantic enthusiasm to incandescent rage.

“Korda’s group portrait of soldier poets skillfully depicts how different classes of men experienced the Western Front and offers an entry point into a rich seam of under-read war poetry.”

From Alice Winn’s review

Liveright | $29.99

Explore More in Books

Want to know about the best books to read and the latest news start here..

The complicated, generous life  of Paul Auster, who died on April 30 , yielded a body of work of staggering scope and variety .

“Real Americans,” a new novel by Rachel Khong , follows three generations of Chinese Americans as they all fight for self-determination in their own way .

“The Chocolate War,” published 50 years ago, became one of the most challenged books in the United States. Its author, Robert Cormier, spent years fighting attempts to ban it .

Joan Didion’s distinctive prose and sharp eye were tuned to an outsider’s frequency, telling us about ourselves in essays that are almost reflexively skeptical. Here are her essential works .

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .