Hey, look, it’s May and we’re still in the midst of a global pandemic. I figured it was time for another reading recommendations list. I had a few people request a nonfiction version, so here it is. I’ve been reading more and more nonfiction over the years, usually because I’m researching something for a book and then go down a rabbit hole. There is so much to learn. I’m by no means a “nonfiction expert”; these titles are very slanted toward my unique interests. But, what unites all of these is that they are very well-written.
Relationships:
Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find—and Keep—Love – Amir Levine,MD and Rachel Heller, MA
Decoding Love: Why It Takes Twelve Frogs to Find a Prince, and Other Revelations from the Science of Attraction — Andrew Trees
The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts — Gary Chapman
Parenthood and Family:
All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood — Jennifer Senior
Bringing Up Bébé – Pamela Druckerman
How Not to Hate Your Husband after Kids – Jancee Dunn
True crime:
American Fire: Love, Arson,and Life in a Vanishing Land – Monica Hesse
The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir – Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich
The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness and Murder – Charles Graeber
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark:One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer – Michelle McNamara
In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery – Robert Kolker
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town – Jon Krakauer
People Who Eat Darkness: The True Story of a Young Woman Who Vanished from the Streets of Tokyo—and the Evil That Swallowed Her Up – Richard Lloyd Parry
Women’s Issues:
All the Rage: Mothers, Fathers, and the Myth of Equal Partnership — Darcy Lockman
Bad Feminist: Essays –Roxane Gay
The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are Used Against Women — Naomi Wolf
Bitch in the House: Women Tell the Truth About Sex, Solitude, Work, Motherhood, and Marriage — Cathi Hanauer, editor
Drop the Ball: Achieving More By Doing Less — Tiffany Dufu
Three Women – Lisa Taddeo
Why We Can’t Sleep: Women’s New Midlife Crisis – Ada Calhoun
Health and Medicine:
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End – Atul Gawande
Eating Animals –Jonathan Safran Foer
Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ by Giulia Enders
Memoir:
An Exact Replica of a Figment of my Imagination – Elizabeth McCracken
A Beautiful, Terrible Thing: A Memoir of Marriage and Betrayal – Jen Waite
Becoming — Michelle Obama
The Big Tiny: A Built-It Myself Memoir — Dee Williams
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness – Susannah Cahalan
Dry — Augusten Burroughs
Running with Scissors — Augusten Burroughs
Everything is Horrible and Wonderful: A Tragicomic Memoir of Genius, Heroin, Love and Loss — Stephanie Wittels Wachs
The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story – Hyeonseo Lee
The Glass Castle — Jeannette Walls
Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations – Mira Jacob
Her – Christa Parravani
High Achiever: The Incredible True Story of One Addict’s Double Life — Tiffany Jenkins
I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death – Maggie O’Farrell
It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool Too) – Nora McInerny
No Happy Endings – Nora McInerny
Land of Enchantment — Leigh Stein
Lit — Mary Karr
A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy – Sue Klebold
My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward – Mark Lukach
Once More We Saw Stars – Jayson Greene
Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison – Piper Kerman
The Rules Do Not Apply – Ariel Levy
The Rules of Inheritance – Claire Bidwell Smith
To Shake the Sleeping Self: A Journey from Oregon to Patagonia, and a Quest for a Life with No Regret – Jedidiah Jenkins
The Sound of Gravel – Ruth Wariner
The Still Point of the Turning World — Emily Rapp
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness –Kay Redfield Jamison
Untamed — Glennon Doyle
The Valedictorian of Being Dead: The True Story of Dying Ten Times to Live –Heather Armstrong
Wave – Sonali Deraniyagala
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running – Haruki Murakami
When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi
You’ll Grow Out of It – Jessi Klein
You Will Not Have My Hate – Antoine Leiris
Celebrity:
The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee — Sarah Silverman
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood – Trevor Noah
The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo – Amy Schumer
I’m Fine…And Other Lies – Whitney Cummings
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) – Mindy Kaling
Life Will Be the Death of Me…and You Too! – Chelsea Handler
This Will Only Hurt a Little – Busy Philipps
Yes Please – Amy Poehler
Self-Help, Spirituality, Psychology, Science, Special Interest, Kitchen Sink:
After This: When Life is Over, Where Do We Go? — Claire Bidwell Smith
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear – Elizabeth Gilbert
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking — Malcolm Gladwell
Outliers: The Story of Success – Malcolm Gladwell
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference — Malcolm Gladwell
Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction – Derek Thompson
The Life-changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck: How to Stop Spending Time You Don’t Have with People You Don’t Like Doing Things You Don’t Want to Do – Sarah Knight
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed – Lori Gottlieb
Modern Loss: Candid Conversations About Grief. Beginners Welcome. – Rebecca Soffer and Gabrielle Birkner
The Paradox of Choice — Barry Schwartz
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Won’t Stop Talking — Susan Cain
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes& Other Lessons from the Crematory — Caitlin Doughty
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers – Mary Roach
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life From Dear Sugar – Cheryl Strayed
Toxic Success: How to Stop Striving and Start Thriving — Paul Pearsall
We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast – Jonathan Safran Foer
What Made Maddy Run: The Secret Struggles and Tragic Death of an All-American Teen – Kate Fagan