News and Interviews
Posted by Cybil on April 2, 2024
Here at Goodreads World Headquarters, we’re often asked by friends and family for specific book recommendations. We’re happy to do so, of course. (In fact, you can check out our monthly Editors’ Picks to get in on the action.) But a general piece of advice that we’ve found surprisingly effective: If you’re a nonfiction reader, try some fiction once in a while.
And if you’re a fiction reader, well, welcome to today’s collection. Below we’ve gathered up and sorted the most popular nonfiction titles on Goodreads since the beginning of the year. The books are selected by monitoring early reviews and crunching the numbers on which individual titles are on the Read or Want to Read shelves of Goodreads regulars.
We’ve sorted the selection into virtual category stacks: Essays, Memoirs, History & Biography, Science, and General Nonfiction. Keep in mind that there’s always some crossover in these classifications.
So much good stuff already in 2024: National Book Award finalist Hanif Abdurraqib’s essay collection There's Always This Year explores universal themes—truth, justice, history, hope—by way of basketball as a cultural institution. In one of the year’s buzziest books, debut author Patric Gagne candidly discusses her own unique psychological dilemma in Sociopath: A Memoir.
Meanwhile, narrative history specialist Erik Larson (The Devil in the White City) conjures the anxious days just before the Civil War in The Demon of Unrest. Author and linguist Amanda Montell thinks out loud about thinking itself in her new book. And the formidable Kara Swisher poses some uncomfortable questions about American priorities in Burn Book: A Tech Love Story.
So, yeah: Whether you’re already a nonfiction reader, or just nonfiction-curious, there’s a pretty great selection on the shelves just now. Click on the book cover images for more details about each title, and add anything interesting to your Want to Read shelf.
Your turn! Let us know in the comments if you've read a great new nonfiction book lately!
Comments Showing 1-23 of 23 (23 new)
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message 1: by Dina (new)
Apr 02, 2024 06:14AM
I read Slow Noodles recently. A poignant memoir of the author’s life in war-torn Cambodia who finds strength in her memories of her mother’s recipes. Beautiful. By Chantha Nguon with Kim Green.
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message 2: by Rachel (new)
Apr 03, 2024 06:15PM
Dina wrote: "I read Slow Noodles recently. A poignant memoir of the author’s life in war-torn Cambodia who finds strength in her memories of her mother’s recipes. Beautiful. By Chantha Nguon with Kim Green."
Thanks for the recommendation! Is it a bit like Crying in H-Mart?
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message 3: by Dawn (last edited Apr 04, 2024 11:52AM) (new)
Apr 04, 2024 11:52AM
I loved Grief is for People. I also love long lists like this, sure to introduce me to intriguing books.
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message 4: by Megan (new)
Apr 05, 2024 06:07AM
The Manicurist's Daughter by Susan Lieu is a great memoir.
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message 5: by Rachel (new)
Apr 07, 2024 06:11AM
Maurice and Maralyn, by Sophie Elmhirst. I couldn’t put it down and read it all in one night. Elmhirst writes their story beautifully, capturing their adventurous spirit and the beauty of nature too.
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message 6: by Celina (new)
Apr 07, 2024 08:45AM
I’m reading Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here by Jonathan Blitzer. It’s a thoroughly reported book about the past half-century of immigration from Central America to the US, from the points of view of immigrants and the US government. It’s excellent so far.
RuPaul’s memoir was excellent.
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message 7: by Your local cryptid (new)
Apr 07, 2024 09:22PM
Swamp kings about the history of the Murdaugh family and Aid State about how the west was complicit in creating and causing what Haiti is today
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message 8: by Maja (new)
Apr 08, 2024 01:39AM
ooh, this is such a great bunch of books! Thank you, Cybil! Adding a bunch on my WTR!
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message 9: by kimberly (new)
Apr 08, 2024 01:55PM
Rachel wrote: "Dina wrote: "I read Slow Noodles recently. A poignant memoir of the author’s life in war-torn Cambodia who finds strength in her memories of her mother’s recipes. Beautiful. By Chantha Nguon with K..."
Yes and no. I think if you enjoyed H Mart, you will enjoy Slow Noodles too but it is uniquely its own and agree with Dina—it was poignant and beautiful. Truly a must read memoir from this year.
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message 10: by devynreads (new)
Apr 09, 2024 05:14AM
I'm reading RuPaul's memoir now and I'm excited to read Sociopath by Patric Gagne!!
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message 11: by Max (new)
Apr 09, 2024 05:25PM
Who reads this tripe?
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message 12: by Emma Griffioen (new)
Apr 09, 2024 05:51PM
I have been in my non-fiction era this year, love these suggestions 🤍
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message 13: by Tanya (new)
Apr 09, 2024 07:38PM
Great list!
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message 14: by Jeff (new)
Apr 10, 2024 05:17AM
I'm most looking forward to The Demon of Unrest and, also releasing soon, Doris Kearns Goodwin's new memoir, "An Unfinished Love Story."
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message 15: by Frances (new)
Apr 10, 2024 07:26AM
Last month for Women's History Month I read Destiny's Daughter highlighting life of Mary Edwards Walker, Civil War soldier, America's first female surgeon and suffragist whose philosophies encouraged women then and now to think for themselves and recognize self-worth. An inspiring read about a foremother.
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message 16: by Ed (new)
Apr 10, 2024 01:01PM
Unable to locate The Mango Tree by Annabelle Tometich. Invalid list.
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message 17: by Cybil, Goodreads employee (new)
Apr 11, 2024 10:15AM
Maja wrote: "ooh, this is such a great bunch of books! Thank you, Cybil! Adding a bunch on my WTR!"
You're very welcome!
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message 18: by Tony (new)
Apr 12, 2024 04:54PM
Where's Eve, by Cat Bohannon?
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message 19: by Shannon (new)
Apr 17, 2024 06:41AM
Rachel wrote: "Maurice and Maralyn, by Sophie Elmhirst. I couldn’t put it down and read it all in one night. Elmhirst writes their story beautifully, capturing their adventurous spirit and the beauty of nature too."
Wow! That sounds like an incredible story! Thanks for sharing. :)
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message 20: by Kristen (new)
Apr 17, 2024 06:52PM
Tony wrote: "Where's Eve, by Cat Bohannon?"
That came out in 2023, this list is only showing books from 2024
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message 21: by Rachel (new)
Apr 21, 2024 06:11PM
kimberly wrote: "Rachel wrote: "Dina wrote: "I read Slow Noodles recently. A poignant memoir of the author’s life in war-torn Cambodia who finds strength in her memories of her mother’s recipes. Beautiful. By Chant..."
Thanks! Adding it to the (never-ending) TBR!
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message 22: by Lisa (last edited May 25, 2024 11:05AM) (new)
May 25, 2024 11:04AM
I've read a couple of these that were just okay.
My favorite nonfiction published in 2024 so far has been:
Safe: A Memoir of Fatherhood, Foster Care, and the Risks We Take for Family by Mark Daley
5 stars for me. The audio version is narrated by the author and is excellent. It's not on this list, but it should be.
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message 23: by Celeste (new)
May 25, 2024 12:28PM
I'm almost finished with Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, and it has been absolutely delightful. Dame Judi Dench is a fascinating lady, and her Shakespearean insights from her time onstage in so many productions of his plays were both enlightening and entertaining.
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