Nonfiction · 2018

Best Nonfiction Books of 2018

American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey Into The Business Of Punishment by Shane Bauer was the most-recognized nonfiction book of 2018, named by 12 of the 153 sources we track. The table ranks all 139 by how many sources named them.

Sources is the number of distinct awards and year-end lists that name the book's ISBN, in any year. 2018 is the award or list year in our catalog.

#BookAuthorSourcesNamed by
1American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey Into The Business Of PunishmentShane Bauer12
2The Great BelieversRebecca Makkai10
3Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga Of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding, Its Apocalyptic Weather, Its Purloined Basketball Team, And The Dream Of Becoming A World-Class MetropolisSam Anderson8
4Unholy LandLavie Tidhar7
5America Is Not The Heart: A NovelElaine Castillo6
6Fear: Trump In The White HouseBob Woodward6
7Little: A NovelEdward Carey6
8There Will Be No Miracles Here: A MemoirCasey Gerald6
9Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the WorldAnand Giridharadas5
10Arthur Ashe: A LifeRaymond Arsenault3
11Chesapeake Requiem: A Year With The Watermen Of Vanishing Tangier IslandEarl Swift3
12Educated: A MemoirTara Westover3
13Into The Raging Sea: Thirty-Three Mariners, One Megastorm, And The Sinking Of El FaroRachel Slade3
14Split ToothTanya Tagaq3
15The Field Of Blood: Violence In Congress And The Road To Civil WarJoanne B. Freeman3
16The Line Becomes A River: Dispatches From The BorderFrancisco Cantú3
17Bad Blood: Secrets And Lies In A Silicon Valley StartupJohn Carreyrou2
18Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine And Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, And SickMaya Dusenbery2
19Famous Father Girl: A Memoir Of Growing Up BernsteinJamie Bernstein2
20Heart Berries: A MemoirTerese Marie Mailhot2
21In PiecesSally Field2
22My Life As A Goddess: A Memoir Through (Un)Popular CultureGuy Branum2
23The Court Dancer: A NovelKyung-Sook Shin, translated by Anton Hur2
24The Mirage Factory: Illusion, Imagination, And The Invention Of Los AngelesGary Krist2
25The Overstory: A NovelRichard Powers2
26Turnip Greens & Tortillas: A Mexican Chef Spices Up The Southern KitchenEddie Hernandez and Susan Puckett2
27All You Can Ever Know: A MemoirNicole Chung1
28BecomingMichelle Obama1
29Creative QuestQuestlove1
30Enlightenment Now: The Case For Reason, Science, Humanism, And ProgressSteven Pinker1
31God Save Texas: A Journey Into The Soul Of The Lone Star StateLawrence Wright1
32Heavy: An American MemoirKiese Laymon1
33How To Change Your Mind: What The New Science Of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, And TranscendenceMichael Pollan1
34How To Write An Autobiographical Novel: EssaysAlexander Chee1
35Ninety-Nine Glimpses Of Princess MargaretCraig Brown1
36Now & Again: Go-To Recipes, Inspired Menus + Endless Ideas For Reinventing LeftoversJulia Turshen1
37Ottolenghi Simple: A CookbookYotam Ottolenghi1
38Small Animals: Parenthood In The Age Of FearKim Brooks1
39Small FryLisa Brennan-Jobs1
40The Fifth RiskMichael Lewis1
41The Library BookSusan Orlean1
42These Truths: A History Of The United StatesJill Lepore1
43Warlight: A NovelMichael Ondaatje1
44Washington Black: A NovelEsi Edugyan1
451947: Where Now BeginsElisabeth Åsbrink, translated by Fiona Graham0
    46A Common Table: 80 Recipes And Stories From My Shared CulturesCynthia Chen McTernan0
      47A Gift From DarknessPatience Ibrahim and Andrea C. Hoffmann0
        48A Hard Rain: America In The 1960s, Our Decade Of Hope, Possibility, And Innocence LostFrye Gaillard0
          49A Life Of My Own: A MemoirClaire Tomalin0
            50A New Reality: Human Evolution For A Sustainable FutureJonas Salk and Jonathan Salk0
              51Achtung Baby: An American Mom On The German Art Of Raising Self-Reliant ChildrenSara Zaske0
                52American PrisonShane Bauer0
                  53And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was ReadyMeaghan O'Connell0
                    54Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us And Undermines DemocracySiva Vaidhyanathan0
                      55Bachelor Nation: Inside The World Of America's Favorite Guilty PleasureAmy Kaufman0
                        56Ball LightningCixin Liu, translated by Joel Martinsen0
                          57Barracoon: The Story Of The Last "Black Cargo"Zora Neale Hurston0
                            58Beneath A Ruthless Sun: A True Story Of Violence, Race, And Justice Lost And FoundGilbert King0
                              59Big Game: The NFL In Dangerous TimesMark Leibovich0
                                60Chasing Hillary: Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns, And One Intact Glass CeilingAmy Chozick0
                                  61Comfort In An Instant: 75 Comfort Food Recipes For Your Pressure Cooker, Multicooker, And Instant PotMelissa Clark0
                                    62Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, And The Anatomy Of IntrigueRyan Holiday0
                                      63Contact High: A Visual History Of Hip-HopVikki Tobak0
                                        64Cravings: Hungry For MoreChrissy Teigen0
                                          65Crux: A Cross-Border MemoirJean Guerrero0
                                            66Dancing Bears: True Stories Of People Nostalgic For Life Under TyrannyWitold Szablowski, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones0
                                              67Darwin Comes To Town: How The Urban Jungle Drives EvolutionMenno Schilthuizen0
                                                68Death Of A Rainmaker: A Dust Bowl MysteryLaurie Loewenstein0
                                                  69Deviation: A NovelLuce D'Eramo, translated by Anne Milano Appel0
                                                    70EducatedTara Westover0
                                                      71Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her SuperpowerBrittney Cooper0
                                                        72Everyday Dorie: The Way I CookDorie Greenspan0
                                                          73Fascism: A WarningMadeleine Albright0
                                                            74Feast: Food Of The Islamic WorldAnissa Helou0
                                                              75Frederick DouglassDavid W. Blight0
                                                                76Full DisclosureStormy Daniels0
                                                                  77Ghosts In The Schoolyard: Racism And School Closings On Chicago's South SideEve L. Ewing0
                                                                    78Give Me Your Hand: A NovelMegan Abbott0
                                                                      79Gnomon: A NovelNick Harkaway0
                                                                        80Good And Mad: The Revolutionary Power Of Women's AngerRebecca Traister0
                                                                          81Heartland: A Memoir Of Working Hard And Being Broke In The Richest Country On EarthSarah Smarsh0
                                                                            82Hiking With Nietzsche: On Becoming Who You AreJohn Kaag0
                                                                              83Homelands: Four Friends, Two Countries, And The Fate Of The Great Mexican-American MigrationAlfredo Corchado0
                                                                                84How To Invent Everything: A Survival Guide For The Stranded Time TravelerRyan North0
                                                                                  85Indianapolis: The True Story Of The Worst Sea Disaster In U.S. Naval History And The Fifty-Year Fight To Exonerate An Innocent ManLynn Vincent and Sara Vladic0
                                                                                    86Inner City Pressure: The Story Of GrimeDan Hancox0
                                                                                      87Inseparable: The Original Siamese Twins And Their Rendezvous With American HistoryYunte Huang0
                                                                                        88Israeli Soul: Easy, Essential, DeliciousMichael Solomonov and Steven Cook0
                                                                                          89Jam Session: A Fruit-Preserving HandbookJoyce Goldstein0
                                                                                            90Just The Funny Parts: ...And A Few Hard Truths About Sneaking Into The Hollywood Boys' ClubNell Scovell0
                                                                                              91Leadership: In Turbulent TimesDoris Kearns Goodwin0
                                                                                                92Like A Mother: A Feminist Journey Through The Science And Culture Of PregnancyAngela Garbes0
                                                                                                  93Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black AmericaJames Forman Jr.0
                                                                                                    94Mastering Fear: A Navy SEAL's GuideBrandon Webb and John David Mann0
                                                                                                      95Memphis Rent Party: The Blues, Rock & Soul In Music's HometownRobert Gordon0
                                                                                                        96Milk Street: Tuesday Nights: More Than 200 Simple Weeknight Suppers That Deliver Bold Flavor, FastChristopher Kimball0
                                                                                                          97Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, And Radicalization In American PoliticsYochai Benkler, Robert Faris, and Hal Roberts0
                                                                                                            98Night MovesJessica Hopper0
                                                                                                              99Number One Chinese Restaurant: A NovelLillian Li0
                                                                                                                100On The Other Side Of Freedom: The Case For HopeDeRay Mckesson0
                                                                                                                  101One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our DemocracyCarol Anderson0
                                                                                                                    102Packing My Library: An Elegy And Ten DigressionsAlberto Manguel0
                                                                                                                      103Palaces For The People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, And The Decline Of Civic LifeEric Klinenberg0
                                                                                                                        104Playing Changes: Jazz For The New CenturyNate Chinen0
                                                                                                                          105Rage Becomes Her: The Power Of Women's AngerSoraya Chemaly0
                                                                                                                            106Searing Inspiration: Fast, Adaptable Entrées And Fresh Pan SaucesSusan Volland0
                                                                                                                              107SharpMichelle Dean0
                                                                                                                                108She Begat This: 20 Years Of The Miseducation Of Lauryn HillJoan Morgan0
                                                                                                                                  109Stealing The Show: How Women Are Revolutionizing TelevisionJoy Press0
                                                                                                                                    110Terra Nullius: A NovelClaire G. Coleman0
                                                                                                                                      111Text Me When You Get Home: The Evolution And Triumph Of Modern Female FriendshipKayleen Schaefer0
                                                                                                                                        112The Art Of Gathering: How We Meet And Why It MattersPriya Parker0
                                                                                                                                          113The Artful Evolution Of Hal & Mal'sMalcolm White, illustrated by Ginger Williams Cook0
                                                                                                                                            114The FightersC.J. Chivers0
                                                                                                                                              115The Foreign Cinema Cookbook: Recipes And Stories Under The StarsGayle Pirie and John Clark0
                                                                                                                                                116The Hellfire ClubJake Tapper0
                                                                                                                                                  117The Last Cowboys: A Pioneer Family In The New WestJohn Branch0
                                                                                                                                                    118The Most Dangerous Man In America: Timothy Leary, Richard Nixon And The Hunt For The Fugitive King Of LSDBill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis0
                                                                                                                                                      119The New Negro: The Life of Alain LockeJeffrey C. Stewart0
                                                                                                                                                        120The Order Of The DayÉric Vuillard, translated by Mark Polizzotti0
                                                                                                                                                          121The Personality Brokers: The Strange History Of Myers-Briggs And The Birth Of Personality TestingMerve Emre0
                                                                                                                                                            122The Prison Letters Of Nelson MandelaNelson Mandela, Sahm Venter (editor)0
                                                                                                                                                              123The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping Of Sally Horner And The Novel That Scandalized The WorldSarah Weinman0
                                                                                                                                                                124The Recovering: Intoxication And Its AftermathLeslie Jamison0
                                                                                                                                                                  125The Red And The Blue: The 1990s And The Birth Of Political TribalismSteve Kornacki0
                                                                                                                                                                    126The Silence Of The Girls: A NovelPat Barker0
                                                                                                                                                                      127The Soul Of America: The Battle For Our Better AngelsJon Meacham0
                                                                                                                                                                        128The Strange Case Of Dr. Couney: How A Mysterious European Showman Saved Thousands Of American BabiesDawn Raffel0
                                                                                                                                                                          129The Winter SoldierDaniel Mason0
                                                                                                                                                                            130The World Only Spins Forward: The Ascent Of Angels In AmericaIsaac Butler and Dan Kois0
                                                                                                                                                                              131To Throw Away Unopened: A MemoirViv Albertine0
                                                                                                                                                                                132Transcription: A NovelKate Atkinson0
                                                                                                                                                                                  133Two Sisters: A Father, His Daughters, And Their Journey Into The Syrian JihadÅsne Seierstad, translated by Seán Kinsella0
                                                                                                                                                                                    134Underbug: An Obsessive Tale Of Termites And TechnologyLisa Margonelli0
                                                                                                                                                                                      135Varina: A NovelCharles Frazier0
                                                                                                                                                                                        136White Fragility: Why It's So Hard For White People To Talk About RacismRobin DiAngelo0
                                                                                                                                                                                          137Who Is Michael Ovitz?Michael Ovitz0
                                                                                                                                                                                            138Who Is Vera Kelly?Rosalie Knecht0
                                                                                                                                                                                              139You're On An Airplane: A Self-Mythologizing MemoirParker Posey0