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

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

Our other Best Of 2019 Articles:

• The Best Young Adult Books
• The Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Books
• The Best Science And Nature Books
• The Best Mystery, Horror, and Thriller Books
• The Best Nonfiction Books
• The Best History Books
• The Best Fiction Books
• The Best Cookbooks
• The Best Graphic Novels And Comics
• The Best Biography And Memoir Books
• The Best Art And Photography Books
• The Best Kids, Children, and Youth Books
• The Best Poetry Books

Our Other Years: 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015

Happy Scrolling!

Top 28 Best Nonfiction Books From 2019

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

Lists It Appears On:

• BookPage
• Amazon 2
• Esquire

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon 2
• Goodreads
• NPR

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

• Publishers Weekly
• NPR
• Iowa Public Radio

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

• TVexamined
• Esquire
• NPR

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

• BookPage
• Esquire
• NPR

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

• SheReads
• TIME
• NPR

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

• King County Library System
• Amazon 2
• SheReads

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

• BookPage
• King County Library System
• Goodreads

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

• City of Asylum Bookstore
• NPR
• TIME

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

• Publishers Weekly
• NPR
• Powell’s

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

• King County Library System
• Goodreads
• NPR

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

• CBC
• Amazon 2
• NPR

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

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

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

15 .) The Witches are Coming written by Lindy West

Lists It Appears On:

• Esquire
• Goodreads
• NPR
• TVexamined

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

• King County Library System
• Goodreads
• NPR
• TVexamined

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

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

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

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

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

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

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

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

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

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

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

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

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

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

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

5.) Three Women written by Lisa Taddeo

Lists It Appears On:

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

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

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

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

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

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

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

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

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

Lists It Appears On:

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

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

The 325+ Additional Best Nonfiction Books Released In 2019

29 Best Nonfiction Book Sources/Lists