best nonfiction essays 2022

The 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2022

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

Fire Island 's Joel Kim Booster Wants to Leave His 'Hot Idiot' Act Behind

By andrew r. chow, quinta brunson on abbott elementary, teachers, and comedy, by katie reilly, how amanda seyfried learned to dance like elizabeth holmes in hulu’s the dropout, by shannon carlin, jennette mccurdy discusses her stunning memoir, by sam lansky, jerrod carmichael revealed his secrets in rothaniel . now he's tackling new ground.

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The Best Reviewed Essay Collections of 2022

Featuring bob dylan, elena ferrante, zora neale hurston, jhumpa lahiri, melissa febos, 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: Essay Collections .

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 (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. 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 )

3. 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 )

4.  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 )

5. You Don’t Know Us Negroes by Zora Neale Hurston (Amistad)

12 Rave • 3 Positive • 1 Mixed

“… a dazzling collection of her work … You Don’t Know Us Negroes reveals Hurston at the top of her game as an essayist, cultural critic, anthropologist and beat reporter … Hurston is, by turn, provocative, funny, bawdy, informative and outrageous … Hurston will make you laugh but also make you remember the bitter divide in Black America around performance, language, education and class … But the surprising page turner is at the back of the book, a compilation of Hurston’s coverage of the Ruby McCollom murder trial …

Some of Hurston’s writing is sensationalistic, to be sure, but it’s also a riveting take of gender and race relations at the time … Gates and West have put together a comprehensive collection that lets Hurston shine as a writer, a storyteller and an American iconoclast.”

–Lisa Page ( The Washington Post )

6. Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us by Rachel Aviv (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

11 Rave • 4 Positive • 2 Mixed Listen to an interview with Rachel Aviv here

“… written with an astonishing amount of attention and care … Aviv’s triumphs in relating these journeys are many: her unerring narrative instinct, the breadth of context brought to each story, her meticulous reporting. Chief among these is her empathy, which never gives way to pity or sentimentality. She respects her subjects, and so centers their dignity without indulging in the geeky, condescending tone of fascination that can characterize psychologists’ accounts of their patients’ troubles. Though deeply curious about each subject, Aviv doesn’t treat them as anomalous or strange … Aviv’s daunted respect for uncertainty is what makes Strangers to Ourselves distinctive. She is hyperaware of just how sensitive the scale of the self can be.”

–Charlotte Shane ( Bookforum )

7. A Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast by Dorthe Nors (Graywolf)

11 Rave • 1 Positive Read an excerpt from A Line in the World here

“Nors, known primarily as a fiction writer, here embarks on a languorous and evocative tour of her native Denmark … The dramas of the past are evoked not so much through individual characters as through their traces—buildings, ruins, shipwrecks—and this westerly Denmark is less the land of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales and sleek Georg Jensen designs than a place of ancient landscapes steeped in myth … People aren’t wholly incidental to the narrative. Nors introduces us to a variety of colorful characters, and shares vivid memories of her family’s time in a cabin on the coast south of Thyborøn. But in a way that recalls the work of Barry Lopez, nature is at the heart of this beautiful book, framed in essay-like chapters, superbly translated by Caroline Waight.”

–Claire Messud ( Harper’s )

8. Raising Raffi: The First Five Years by Keith Gessen (Viking)

4 Rave • 10 Positive • 1 Mixed Read an excerpt from Raising Raffi here

“A wise, mild and enviably lucid book about a chaotic scene … Is it OK to out your kid like this? … Still, this memoir will seem like a better idea if, a few decades from now, Raffi is happy and healthy and can read it aloud to his own kids while chuckling at what a little miscreant he was … Gessen is a wily parser of children’s literature … He is just as good on parenting manuals … Raising Raffi offers glimpses of what it’s like to eke out literary lives at the intersection of the Trump and Biden administrations … Needing money for one’s children, throughout history, has made parents do desperate things — even write revealing parenthood memoirs … Gessen’s short book is absorbing not because it delivers answers … It’s absorbing because Gessen is a calm and observant writer…who raises, and struggles with, the right questions about himself and the world.”

–Dwight Garner ( The New York Times )

9. The Crane Wife by CJ Hauser (Doubleday)

8 Rave • 4 Positive • 2 Mixed • 1 Pan Watch an interview with CJ Hauser here

“17 brilliant pieces … This tumbling, in and out of love, structures the collection … Calling Hauser ‘honest’ and ‘vulnerable’ feels inadequate. She embraces and even celebrates her flaws, and she revels in being a provocateur … It is an irony that Hauser, a strong, smart, capable woman, relates to the crane wife’s contortions. She felt helpless in her own romantic relationship. I don’t have one female friend who has not felt some version of this, but putting it into words is risky … this collection is not about neat, happy endings. It’s a constant search for self-discovery … Much has been written on the themes Hauser excavates here, yet her perspective is singular, startlingly so. Many narratives still position finding the perfect match as a measure of whether we’ve led successful lives. The Crane Wife dispenses with that. For that reason, Hauser’s worldview feels fresh and even radical.”

–Hope Reese ( Oprah Daily )

10. How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo (Viking)

8 Rave • 2 Positive • 1 Mixed Read an excerpt from How to Read Now here

“Elaine Castillo’s How to Read Now begins with a section called ‘Author’s Note, or a Virgo Clarifies Things.’ The title is a neat encapsulation of the book’s style: rigorous but still chatty, intellectual but not precious or academic about it … How to Read Now proceeds at a breakneck pace. Each of the book’s eight essays burns bright and hot from start to finish … How to Read Now is not for everybody, but if it is for you, it is clarifying and bracing. Castillo offers a full-throated critique of some of the literary world’s most insipid and self-serving ideas …

So how should we read now? Castillo offers suggestions but no resolution. She is less interested in capital-A Answers…and more excited by the opportunity to restore a multitude of voices and perspectives to the conversation … A book is nothing without a reader; this one is co-created by its recipients, re-created every time the page is turned anew. How to Read Now offers its audience the opportunity to look past the simplicity we’re all too often spoon-fed into order to restore ourselves to chaos and complexity—a way of seeing and reading that demands so much more of us but offers even more in return.”

–Zan Romanoff ( The Los Angeles Times )

Our System:

RAVE = 5 points • POSITIVE = 3 points • MIXED = 1 point • PAN = -5 points

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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.

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.”

Adrienne Westenfeld is the Books and Fiction Editor at Esquire, where she oversees books coverage, edits fiction, and curates the Esquire Book Club. 

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Nonfiction Books » Best Nonfiction of 2022

Most recommended books.

My Fourth Time, We Drowned by Sally Hayden

“The subtitle is ‘seeking refuge on the world’s deadliest migration route’—that being the route from North Africa, across the Mediterranean, to Europe. All the books on the shortlist have a topicality and the ways in which they are topical are very varied and interesting. This is a book about events that are unfolding right now, as we’re speaking. We know they’re happening, but somehow we manage to push them away and not think about them. But migration is one of the huge issues of our time and this book really makes you feel it.” Caroline Sanderson , Journalist

Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century by Brad DeLong

“What Brad argues is that between 1870 and 2010 we had an extraordinary period in human history in which, particularly in the Western world—but now spread globally—there were sustained high rates of growth of productivity and real incomes…He makes the provocative remark—which I think is actually true—that if we told our great great grandparents, in 1850, that by 2010 this is how many of us would live, they would have thought, ‘this is utopia!’…But he argues that in the last 13 years, the great productivity growth machine has stopped. It’s a very controversial view, but it seems we’re going back to the stagnant economies our great great grandparents—and everyone else going back for thousands of years—took for granted.” Martin Wolf , Economist

Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller

“Chris Miller tells us the history of how microchips were developed, emphasizing the critical role of the government, and especially defense procurement. He gives us a description of how microchips became the single most complex global good, with different pieces and aspects of the technology located in the Netherlands, the United States, Japan, Korea, and especially and most importantly, Taiwan. And he gives us a discussion of the risks that a literal war in Taiwan or an economic war of the type that we are seeing the beginning of could pose for this incredibly important complex and globalized technology.” Jason Furman , Economist

A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Chapters by Henry Gee

“I see this book almost as one long poem. The style might not be to everyone’s taste, but I think everybody would agree that it’s amazing. The use of language is breathtaking. You feel like you’re part of this extraordinary evolutionary process, both physical and biological. He stops it from just being drearily descriptive, and takes you on this wave of fantastic imagery—describing what was happening, so that you can see it.” Maria Fitzgerald ,

Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell

“Rundell is a children’s author who also specializes in Renaissance literature and makes the case that Donne should be as widely feted as William Shakespeare, his contemporary. She writes, ‘Donne is the greatest writer of desire in the English language. He wrote about sex in a way that nobody ever has, before or since: he wrote sex as the great insistence on life, the salute, the bodily semaphore for the human living infinite. The word most used across his poetry, part from ‘and’ and ‘the’, is ‘love”.” Sophie Roell , Journalist

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With so many nonfiction books to choose from, it's not easy to find the ones that are really worth spending your time reading. To help, we've collected all our books recommendations relating to the best nonfiction of 2022 here.

Part of our best books of 2022 series.

Five of the Best Self-Help Books of 2022 , recommended by Avram Alpert

Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want by Ruha Benjamin

Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole by Susan Cain

The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O'Rourke

Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else) by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò

Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living by Dimitris Xygalatas

At the turn of the year, many of us take the opportunity to think about our lives—how they are going, and how we hope to live them in future. We asked Avram Alpert , author of The Good-Enough Life , to recommend five of the best self-help books of 2022 that might help our bids for self-improvement; his choices remind us that self-help is not only about life-hacks and diets, but about bringing the world more in line with our ideals.

At the turn of the year, many of us take the opportunity to think about our lives—how they are going, and how we hope to live them in future. We asked Avram Alpert, author of The Good-Enough Life , to recommend five of the best self-help books of 2022 that might help our bids for self-improvement; his choices remind us that self-help is not only about life-hacks and diets, but about bringing the world more in line with our ideals.

The Best Philosophy Books of 2022 , recommended by Nigel Warburton

How to Say No: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Cynicism by Diogenes and the Cynics, translated by Mark Usher

Looking for Theophrastus: Travels in Search of a Lost Philosopher by Laura Beatty

Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy by David Chalmers

The Life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family and Philosophy by Andy West

Thinking to Some Purpose by Susan Stebbing

Every year we ask our philosophy editor Nigel Warburton to recommend the best new books in the field. In 2022, his philosophy book recommendations include David Chalmers' latest examination of consciousness, a memoir of teaching philosophy in prison, and a biography of the ancient provocateur and original cynic Diogenes.

Every year we ask our philosophy editor Nigel Warburton to recommend the best new books in the field. In 2022, his philosophy book recommendations include David Chalmers’ latest examination of consciousness, a memoir of teaching philosophy in prison, and a biography of the ancient provocateur and original cynic Diogenes.

The Best Politics Books: the 2022 Orwell Prize for Political Writing , recommended by David Edgerton

Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad by Michela Wrong

Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy by Adam Tooze

Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit

Things I Have Withheld by Kei Miller

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber & David Wengrow

From the dawn of humanity to the Covid crisis, from a study in power to the plight of the powerless, the Orwell Prize for Political Writing looks for books that break through the mendacities of politics and rise to the challenge of our times, explains historian David Edgerton , chair of this year's judging panel. He talks us through the ten fabulous books that made the 2022 shortlist.

From the dawn of humanity to the Covid crisis, from a study in power to the plight of the powerless, the Orwell Prize for Political Writing looks for books that break through the mendacities of politics and rise to the challenge of our times, explains historian David Edgerton, chair of this year’s judging panel. He talks us through the ten fabulous books that made the 2022 shortlist.

Award Winning Nonfiction Books of 2022 , recommended by Sophie Roell

Devil-Land: England Under Siege, 1588-1688 by Clare Jackson

Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate by M E Sarotte

It’s that time of year when there are dozens of the best-of-the-year lists. Which books are worth reading? One way of narrowing it down is by looking at the various awards that celebrate books across a range of nonfiction categories. Five Books editor Sophie Roell does a roundup of nonfiction books that won prizes in 2022.

The Best Popular Science Books of 2022: The Royal Society Book Prize , recommended by Maria Fitzgerald

The Greywacke: How a Priest, a Soldier and a School Teacher Uncovered 300 Million Years of History by Nick Davidson

Different: What Apes Can Teach Us About Gender by Frans de Waal

Spike: The Virus vs. The People - the Inside Story by Jeremy Farrar & with Anjana Ahuja

Age Proof: The New Science of Living a Longer and Healthier Life by Rose Anne Kenny

Hot Air: The Inside Story of the Battle Against Climate Change Denial by Peter Stott

The renowned UCL neuroscientist Professor Maria Fitzgerald , chair of the 2022 Royal Society Book Prize, talks us through the judges' selection of the best popular science books of the year—including a whistle-stop tour of the history of the Earth, a self-help book offering evidence-based advice on how to live a longer life, and a primatologist's study of gender among apes.

The renowned UCL neuroscientist Professor Maria Fitzgerald, chair of the 2022 Royal Society Book Prize, talks us through the judges’ selection of the best popular science books of the year—including a whistle-stop tour of the history of the Earth, a self-help book offering evidence-based advice on how to live a longer life, and a primatologist’s study of gender among apes.

The Best Economics Books of 2022 , recommended by Jason Furman

The Journey of Humanity: The Origins of Wealth and Inequality by Oded Galor

Streets of Gold: America's Untold Story of Immigrant Success by Leah Boustan & Ran Abramitzky

Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It by Richard V Reeves

As we study the causes of economic prosperity over the millennia and particularly the last century-and-a-half, it's worth remembering that humans are always the most important driver of economic growth. Jason Furman , a Harvard economics professor and former adviser to Barack Obama, picks out five of the best economics books of 2022, as well as topics he'd like to see books about in 2023.

As we study the causes of economic prosperity over the millennia and particularly the last century-and-a-half, it’s worth remembering that humans are always the most important driver of economic growth. Jason Furman, a Harvard economics professor and former adviser to Barack Obama, picks out five of the best economics books of 2022, as well as topics he’d like to see books about in 2023.

The Best China Books of 2022 , recommended by Jeffrey Wasserstrom

Fragile Cargo: The World War II Race to Save the Treasures of China's Forbidden City by Adam Brookes

Agents of Subversion: The Fate of John T. Downey and the CIA's Covert War in China by John Delury

Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden: Two Sisters Separated by China's Civil War by Zhuqing Li

Indelible City: Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong by Louisa Lim

Accidental Holy Land: The Communist Revolution in Northwest China by Joseph W. Esherick

From a true story that reads like a spy novel to a detailed study of the mythic origins of the Chinese Communist Party in Northwest China, there were lots of interesting books published about China this year. Jeffrey Wasserstrom , a professor at UC Irvine and specialist in modern Chinese history, recommends some of his 2022 favourites.

From a true story that reads like a spy novel to a detailed study of the mythic origins of the Chinese Communist Party in Northwest China, there were lots of interesting books published about China this year. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, a professor at UC Irvine and specialist in modern Chinese history, recommends some of his 2022 favourites.

The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist , recommended by Caroline Sanderson

Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire by Caroline Elkins

The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland

The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown by Anna Keay

A Fortunate Woman: A Country Doctor’s Story by Polly Morland

Every year the judges of the Baillie Gifford Prize pick out the best nonfiction books published in the United Kingdom over the previous 12 months. Author and books journalist Caroline Sanderson , chair of this year's judging panel, talks us through the books that made the 2022 shortlist, books that are important, readable and will hopefully surprise you.

Every year the judges of the Baillie Gifford Prize pick out the best nonfiction books published in the United Kingdom over the previous 12 months. Author and books journalist Caroline Sanderson, chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the books that made the 2022 shortlist, books that are important, readable and will hopefully surprise you.

The Best Business Books of 2022: the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award , recommended by Andrew Hill

Dead in the Water: Murder and Fraud in the World’s Most Secretive Industry by Kit Chellel & Matthew Campbell

Influence Empire: The Story of Tencent and China’s Tech Ambition by Lulu Chen

The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era by Gary Gerstle

The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Art of Disruption by Sebastian Mallaby

Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century by Helen Thompson

For its annual book award, the Financial Times looks beyond books that might be filed under business in a bookshop, picking out books that are compelling and enjoyable, explains Andrew Hill , the newspaper's senior business writer. He talks us through the 2022 shortlist: books that shine a light on obscure but immensely important companies or industries, or address some of the bigger challenges facing our capitalist economies.

For its annual book award, the Financial Times looks beyond books that might be filed under business in a bookshop, picking out books that are compelling and enjoyable, explains Andrew Hill, the newspaper’s senior business writer. He talks us through the 2022 shortlist: books that shine a light on obscure but immensely important companies or industries, or address some of the bigger challenges facing our capitalist economies.

The Best Economic History Books of 2022 , recommended by Davis Kedrosky

How the World Became Rich: The Historical Origins of Economic Growth by Jared Rubin & Mark Koyama

The World the Plague Made: The Black Death and the Rise of Europe by James Belich

Pioneers of Capitalism: The Netherlands 1000–1800 by Jan Luiten van Zanden & Maarten Prak

The Cambridge Economic History of China by by Debin Ma and Richard von Glahn (editors)

From a sweeping history of China covering three millennia to what econometrics papers can tell us about what made the world rich, it's been a fantastic year for economic history books. Davis Kedrosky , a student at Berkeley and publisher of Great Transformations , an economic history newsletter, picks some of his favourite economic history books of 2022.

From a sweeping history of China covering three millennia to what econometrics papers can tell us about what made the world rich, it’s been a fantastic year for economic history books. Davis Kedrosky, a student at Berkeley and publisher of Great Transformations , an economic history newsletter, picks some of his favourite economic history books of 2022.

The British Academy Book Prize: 2022 Shortlist , recommended by Philippe Sands

The Invention of Miracles: Language, Power, and Alexander Graham Bell's Quest to End Deafness by Katie Booth

Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich, 1945-1955 by Harald Jähner & Shaun Whiteside (translator)

Osebol: Voices from a Swedish Village by Marit Kapla & Peter Graves (translator)

Horizons: The Global Origins of Modern Science by James Poskett

When Women Kill: Four Crimes Retold by Alia Trabucco Zerán & Sophie Hughes (translator)

Kingdom of Characters: A Tale of Language, Obsession, and Genius in Modern China by Jing Tsu

The annual British Academy book prize rewards "works of nonfiction that have contributed to public understanding of world cultures and their interaction." Human rights lawyer Philippe Sands , one of the prize's judges, talks us through the books that made the 2022 shortlist and explains what makes them so compelling.

The annual British Academy book prize rewards “works of nonfiction that have contributed to public understanding of world cultures and their interaction.” Human rights lawyer Philippe Sands, one of the prize’s judges, talks us through the books that made the 2022 shortlist and explains what makes them so compelling.

Nonfiction of 2022: Fall Roundup , recommended by Sophie Roell

The Story of Russia by Orlando Figes

Existential Physics: A Scientist’s Guide to Life’s Biggest Questions by Sabine Hossenfelder

Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle by Jody Rosen

The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I by Lindsey Fitzharris

Reading nonfiction books is an excellent way of getting a grip on the realities of the world around us, whether it's how to live, how to run a country, or understanding how the universe works. Five Books editor Sophie Roell looks at some notable new nonfiction books published since June.

Reading nonfiction books is an excellent way of getting a grip on the realities of the world around us, whether it’s how to live, how to run a country, or understanding how the universe works. Five Books editor Sophie Roell looks at some notable new nonfiction books published since June.

Notable Nonfiction of Spring 2022 , recommended by Sophie Roell

The Empress and the English Doctor: How Catherine the Great Defied a Deadly Virus by Lucy Ward

A Little History of Art by Charlotte Mullins

A Brief History of Equality by Thomas Piketty

Atoms and Ashes by Serhii Plokhy

In the past few months, lots of history books about the past as well as excellent insights into the present have hit the shelves. Some are gripping reads offering a few hours of escapism, others contributions to our human quest to make the world a better place. Some manage both. Five Books editor Sophie Roell offers a roundup of the most notable new books of nonfiction published in March, April and May 2022.

Notable Nonfiction of Early 2022 , recommended by Sophie Roell

The Last Emperor of Mexico by Edward Shawcross

Stalin's Library: A Dictator and his Books by Geoffrey Roberts

Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb by Togzhan Kassenova

This Mortal Coil: A History of Death by Andrew Doig

The Nowhere Office: Reinventing Work and the Workplace of the Future by Julia Hobsbawm

Even though we're still in the first couple of months of 2022, there are already lots of really interesting nonfiction books either out or just about to be published. Five Books editor Sophie Roell surveys the flood of books that cover everything from Neolithic archaeology to the latest insights of neuroscience and genetics, as well as books that explore where we work, what we feel, and how we die.

Even though we’re still in the first couple of months of 2022, there are already lots of really interesting nonfiction books either out or just about to be published. Five Books editor Sophie Roell surveys the flood of books that cover everything from Neolithic archaeology to the latest insights of neuroscience and genetics, as well as books that explore where we work, what we feel, and how we die.

The Best History Books: the 2022 Wolfson Prize Shortlist , recommended by Carole Hillenbrand

The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars and Caliphs by Marc David Baer

The Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World by Malcolm Gaskill

Going to Church in Medieval England by Nicholas Orme

God: An Anatomy by Francesca Stavrakopoulou

Fallen Idols: Twelve Statues That Made History by Alex von Tunzelmann

Every year the Wolfson History Prize celebrates books that combine meticulous and original research with great writing, accessible to the general reader.  Here, one of the 2022 judges, the eminent Islamic scholar Carole Hillenbrand , guides us through the shortlist to explain why each book is a must-read.

Every year the Wolfson History Prize celebrates books that combine meticulous and original research with great writing, accessible to the general reader.  Here, one of the 2022 judges, the eminent Islamic scholar Carole Hillenbrand, guides us through the shortlist to explain why each book is a must-read.

The Best Memoirs: The 2022 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist , recommended by Marion Winik

A Little Devil in America: Notes In Praise Of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib

Gay Bar: Why We Went Out by Jeremy Atherton Lin

A Farewell to Gabo and Mercedes: A Son's Memoir of Gabriel García Márquez and Mercedes Barcha by Rodrigo Garcia

A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa

Concepcion: An Immigrant Family’s Fortunes by Albert Samaha

Autobiography is evolving; increasingly we find the field dominated by 'genre-fluid' books that plait memoir together with strands of cultural criticism, history, journalism or even poetry. Here, Marion Winik , the memoirist and critic, talks us through the five books that have been shortlisted in the National Book Critic's Circle autobiography category—and describes the face of memoir in 2022.

Autobiography is evolving; increasingly we find the field dominated by ‘genre-fluid’ books that plait memoir together with strands of cultural criticism, history, journalism or even poetry. Here, Marion Winik, the memoirist and critic, talks us through the five books that have been shortlisted in the National Book Critic’s Circle autobiography category—and describes the face of memoir in 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.

The Best Nonfiction of 2022

Summer Loomis

Summer loves all things related to books and reading, and enjoys helping others find the right books for their lives too.

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Choosing the best nonfiction books of 2022 makes me think immediately of all the good nonfiction titles I’ve read in the past few years. This year saw some very highly anticipated books come out (more on that below), which then set me thinking about all the good things I’ve read in the last few years. It’s not that I’ve read more per se, but somehow it seems that my choices have been really excellent of late (or am I just imagining that?). You’ll have to judge for yourself, but I think it has been an especially good few years for nonfiction.

In that spirit, I will list my favorites from this year and make some suggestions from other authors you might enjoy. Sort of like a “greatest hits” of my reading life, I have some titles I have just loved. And I will even add some at the end that I haven’t read yet, but that I suspect I will also enjoy because who couldn’t use a few more? My list cannot be exhaustive of course, but I hope it will serve as a solid starting point for those interested in getting more nonfiction into their reading lives. If that’s you, you’re in the right place for reading these in 2023 and beyond.

The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human by Siddhartha Mukherjee

As someone with only a passing knowledge of biology, you might not think I am the ideal reader for this book. But the amazing thing is, you’d be wrong. I heard of Mukherjee’s first book The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer many years ago, but I didn’t read it until very recently. And as soon as I started, I knew I wouldn’t be able to put it down until I finished it. It was absolutely fascinating and when I saw he was publishing another, I added that to my list for 2022 as well. This would be a great read for anyone who liked Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks or Rose George’s Nine Pints , both of which I also really enjoyed. My high school biology teacher would be so proud!

South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry

This book won the 2022 National Book Award from the National Book Foundation in the U.S. It is a little difficult to categorize since it embraces both nonfiction and personal history, but they are brought together so seamlessly that it all seemed very natural and necessary to me. Definitely one of the best nonfiction books of 2022, it is a meditation not only on U.S. history, but also on what it means to belong to America and call oneself an American, while still acknowledging some of our country’s deepest flaws.

Similarly, I would highly recommend Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. There is also a young readers edition Caste (Adapted for Young Adults) for those who find that helpful. And of course this reminds me that I have yet to read Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Sons: the Epic Story of America’s Great Migration , so I offer that, too, as a suggestion for you and myself!

Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life by Alice Wong

I have had Alice Wong’s first book, Disability Visibility , on my reading list for some time, but I have to admit that I still hadn’t read it by the time I picked up Year of the Tiger . All that is to say that you don’t have to know who she is, either. This book is such an excellent standalone memoir that you can enjoy it even if you (like me) have made the questionable life choice of not reading her before. The format is different from a traditional memoir. Instead it is made up of varied types of writing Wong has done over the years and is a very understandable way to approach her views, especially for readers who do not have a disability yet or have not thought much about the experiences of those who do.

Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions by Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin is an author I have heard a lot about, but still haven’t read much of her work. She is a highly impressive writer, inventor, and teacher. And while I’m not sure I agree with everything in her book, I think it provides a lot of food for thought about how people organize their thinking and see the world. Plus her writing is very accessible and clear to me, qualities not always found in authors who tackle similarly complex topics. She explains with clarity how our brains are wired differently in an exploration of visual thinking. Definitely give this book a read and see how it changes the way you see your thinking and that of others around you.

Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey

This is one of those books I didn’t know I needed and maybe I am not the only person out there who will feel this way while reading it. Fellow Rioter Patricia Elzie-Tuttle also mentioned it as one of her best of 2022 nonfiction picks in Book Riot’s Best Books of 2022 roundup, so I am happy to be in very good company. Although I can read with my eyes, too, I personally preferred to read this on the audio which Hersey narrates. However, either way, just get a copy. You won’t regret it. I found myself believing what she said as I listened: “Grind culture cannot have you…Stay in the dream space…You are enough.” I can’t be the only person who recognizes how much the world needs this book and it was definitely one of the best nonfiction books of 2022. Go out and see if this is for you too!

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

I had marked this as one I wanted to read in 2022, but am thankful to fellow Rioter CJ Connor for naming it one of their favorite reads of 2022, since that bumped it to the top of my reading list. This is at once a mystery and a very moving meditation on what it means to belong to a place, especially one with which you have a deeply complicated relationship. Parks initially set out to understand what happened to her grandmother’s transgender neighbor who lived as a man. Over the course of this book, Parks offers a thoughtful treatment of both her subject’s possible lives and her own interior life. Content warnings for sexual assault, addiction, and homophobia.

Inciting Joy by Ross Gay

This is exactly the sort of nonfiction gem that I missed when it came out in 2022, so I was lucky that fellow Rioter Jenn Northington pointed me to it. I got teary-eyed when I first started reading Gay’s introduction.

It reminded me of the famous Buddhist parable of the mother grieving the death of her son. She goes to the Buddha and asks him to bring her son back to life. He promises to do so if she will bring him a mustard seed from the house of a family in which no one has ever died. The mother goes from home to home searching for a person who has never grieved the loss of a loved one. And of course, she returns with empty pockets and an understanding of the universality of loss. Perhaps she also returned with a deep understanding that though grief may feel isolating, it can be communal in its own way too. Gay’s work is that same kind of life-changing and thought-provoking, making it one of the best nonfiction books of 2022 without a doubt.

Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk by Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe

This memoir is also one of the most affecting nonfiction titles I read 2022, but you should know something about the topics going in. LaPointe writes very movingly about her life, but it is definitely not without clear and (at times) present trauma. Content warnings for sexual assault, rape, child abuse, and pregnancy loss. On the other hand, I was drawn in from the first page and could not put this down. This is a very worthwhile read despite covering very difficult topics. Get a copy if you haven’t already!

Those are the titles I chose for my best nonfiction of 2022, but there are so many others I have not read yet. A few come to mind immediately like Solito: A Memoir by Javier Zamora and Julian Aguon’s No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies . I also wrote a list of the best biographies of 2022 if that appeals. If you need more nonfiction generally, check out the best nonfiction out in October 2022 (with only two titles that overlap with my list above!) or new November nonfiction for more books to settle your cravings for the best nonfiction of 2022.

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Electric Lit’s Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2022

Reading Lists

Books by melissa febos, cj hauser, and tajja isen rank among our top picks in an outstanding year for nonfiction.

Whether it’s urging fellow essayists to reject conventional writing wisdom or subverting the expected emotional responses to the death of a parent, much of 2022’s best nonfiction has been about reclaiming narratives: of the body, of the self, of religion and sex and popular culture. Exploring everything from the murky depths of the ocean floor to the oil fields of Alberta, this year’s creative nonfiction is at once achingly vulnerable and bitingly incisive, reflecting serious consideration of the systems that shape our daily lives and the individual choices we make within them. All these ideas and more are reflected in our list of the best nonfiction of 2022, voted on by Electric Literature staff and contributors. Here are the top three, followed by additional favorites (there were many ties!) in alphabetical order.

The Top Three Nonfiction Books of the Year

Body work: the radical power of personal narrative by melissa febos.

Appearing at the top of our nonfiction list for the second year in a row, Melissa Febos returns with Body Work , an invigorating blend of memoir and literary masterclass. “It’s often been taboo to talk about craft in terms of the personal,” Febos told Electric Literature earlier this year. “Our psychology, our wounds, our politics, and perhaps most of all, our bodies.” Pushing back against familiar craft advice to avoid “self-indulgence” and “navel-gazing,” Body Work celebrates the liberatory nature of autobiographical writing, calling for writers to reject the notion that their experiences aren’t worth committing to the page. 

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy

Known for starring in the teen sitcoms iCarly and Sam and Cat , former child star Jeanette McCurdy made headlines and topped bestseller lists this past summer with her memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died . As unflinchingly honest and devastatingly funny as the intentionally provocative title and cover image of the book itself, McCurdy interrogates her relationship to addiction, eating disorders, and, of course, the controlling mother who thrust her into the limelight to begin with. 

The Crane Wife by CJ Hauser

Published three years after the publication of her essay of the same name in The Paris Review , CJ Hauser’s 17-part memoir, The Crane Wife , unfurls an earnest, sharp-witted narrative about romantic, familiar, and interpersonal relationships —and the stories we tell ourselves about them once they’re over. “Seeking out binaries and black and white answers can make us feel resolved and settled and safe in an artificial way,” Hauser told Electric Literature . “What feels more empowering is feeling malleable and open and flexible, but knowing what you value so that you can make decisions that serve you over and over again.” 

Electric Lit’s Other Favorite Nonfiction Books of the Year

Bad sex: truth, pleasure, and an unfinished revolution by nona willis-aronowitz.

Written by Teen Vogue sex and love columnist Nona Willis-Aronowitz, Bad Sex explores, well, bad sex. Part memoir, part history, and part cultural criticism, Willis-Aronowitz traces the lineage of sexual inequities from the nineteenth century to the present, pairing a historical deep-dive into misogyny, feminism, and consent, with the author’s own journey toward sexual and romantic liberation amid the backdrop of patriarchy, capitalism, and white supremacy. 

Best American Essays 2022 edited by Alexander Chee

“I found myself drawn to essays told with and through the information we take in through our bodies,” Alexander Chee writes in the forward to this year’s anthology of creative nonfiction, explaining his selection process. “If I wanted safety, it was the safety the truth provides.” Featuring work from Anthony Veasna So, Vauhini Vara, Elissa Washuta, and many, many more, this year’s anthology is an essential addition to the Best American canon. 

Dirtbag, Massachusetts: A Confessional by Isaac Fitzgerald

Gritty, funny, and bittersweet, Isaac Fitzgerald’s memoir in essays, Dirtbag, Massachusetts , recounts the author’s journey through many different phases of his life: coming of age in a Boston homeless shelter, bartending in the bay area, and even smuggling medical supplies abroad. Noted on TIME’s Must-Read Books of the Year List, saints and dirtbags alike won’t want to miss this stunner. 

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton

In an attempt to pay off her student loan debt as quickly as possible, future New Yorker cartoonist Kate Beaton spent two years in Alberta working in the oil industry. Tacking labor, sexual violence, and the harm inflicted on the environment and on First Nations land, Beaton’s autobiographical comic, Ducks , tells a personal story of homesickness and loneliness while reflecting on the ethics of the oil industry. 

Easy Beauty by Chloé Cooper Jones

Born with a rare congenital condition that manifests as a visible disability, formally trained philosopher and Pulitzer Prize winner Chloé Cooper Jones’ memoir, Easy Beauty , uses the author’s experience with disability as a launching point to explore the rules and limitations placed on us by society, the changes that accompany parenthood, and the role of beauty in our lives. “[The book] is interested in seeking out what beauty does in our lives and what the experience of beauty is,” Jones told Electric Literature . “How do we recognize it in our lives? What is that feeling that it gives?”

Girls Can Kiss Now by Jill Gutowitz

Featuring essays centered around her experiences with pop culture artifacts like Game of Thrones , Orange is the New Black , and Entourage , Jill Gutowitz’s essay collection, Girls Can Kiss Now , blends memoir with cultural analysis to explore the recent mainstreaming of lesbian culture. Sharp, funny, and timely, Girls Can Kiss Now offers a vulnerable, kaleidoscopic look at our pop culture past, present, and future. 

Heretic by Jeanna Kadlec

In her memoir, Heretic , long-time Electric Lit contributor Jeanna Kadlec traces her experiences of leaving her husband, the evangelical church, and the life she had been born into in search of a more authentic lifestyle and community for herself as a queer woman. “My ideal readers, first and foremost, were younger versions of myself,” Kadlec says. “Ex-Evangelical queer people who were coming out of the church.”

High-Risk Homosexual by Edgar Gomez

In his sharp, intimate memoir, High-Risk Homosexual , Edgar Gomez traces his experiences coming out as a gay, Latinx man, exploring his complex relationship with his family from an uncle’s cockfighting ring in Nicaragua to the spaces where he would come to embrace his identity. “Part of the reason I wrote this book was to untangle the messiness of my upbringing and give meaning to the memories that haunt me,” Gomez wrote for Electric Literature . “I don’t believe writing is therapy, but spending hours attempting to understand why people did what they did…helped me reach a place of acceptance and forgiveness.”

How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler

The ocean is queer and wondrous in science writer Sabrina Imbler’s essay collection, How Far the Light Reaches , which, from shrimps to goldfish to yeti crabs, explores how sea creatures survive in a hostile environment. “I couldn’t help but draw these parallels in the book, using the ways that [sea creatures’] bodies have evolved to be perfectly suited for these foreign and alien environments, spaces that might not seem friendly to life,” Imbler told Electric Literature. “How do we manage to be resilient in the face of all these things that seek to destroy us?”

How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo

“I can no longer muster up disappointment when white authors whose works supposedly deal in equality and justice show themselves (and the reactionary readers who love them) to not be remotely interested in either equality or justice,” writes Elaine Castillo in How to Read Now . Pushing beyond familiar platitudes about reading’s capacity to build empathy, How to Read Now interrogates the ethics of consuming popular culture, urging us to reimagine the possibilities for what reading can be.

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

Celebrated as a Best Book of the Year by TIME and The New Yorker , celebrated fiction writer Jami Attenberg’s memoir, I Came All This Way To Meet You , tells the story of how she came to devote her life to her art and her writing. From reflecting on the traumas of her youth to couch-surfing her way through a national book tour, Attenberg’s story is one of survival, artistic perseverance, and transformation. It represents, too, an essential addition to the travel writing genre, with Electric Literature author Alexa Abdalla calling it, “A guidebook, in more than one sense, for the resurgence of the genre.”

In Sensorium: Notes for My People by Tanaïs

Utilizing perfume as an organizing structure, writer and perfumer Tanaïs’ In Sensorium: Notes for My People combines the author’s experiences with perfume history, erotica, and religious texts to craft an expansive web of memory, senses, and ideas. “Becoming a part of a record is part of why I seek writing as my medium,” Tanaïs’ told Electric Literature . “A book is impermanent in many ways, but we write to create a body that lasts beyond our time. There’s comfort in knowing that a perfume is ephemeral.”

Manifesto: On Never Giving Up by Bernadine Evaristo

In her follow-up to her Booker Prize-winning novel, Girl, Woman, Other , Bernadine Evaristo returns with Manifesto: On Never Giving Up. Part memoir on her life and career and part manifesto on activism and creativity, Evaristo’s book will resonate with anyone who has felt counted out before they’ve even had a chance to begin. 

Solito by Javier Zamora

In Javier Zamora’s gripping memoir, Solito , the author recounts his three-thousand-mile odyssey from El Salvador to the United States as a nine-year-old child. Communicating a journey marked by danger as well as by unexpected moments of grace and kindness, Solito is a powerful, intimate account of migration.

Some of My Best Friends: Essays on Lip Service by Tajja Isen

Across nine striking, highly-researched essays, Catapult editor-in-chief, voice actor, and debut author Tajja Isen’s Some of My Best Friends explores nationalism, colorblind casting, and the myth of neutrality to interrogate the gulf between what’s said—by individuals, organizations, and even corporations—and what’s meant. As Isen told Electric Literature shortly before the publication of the book : “It’s become easier than ever to say something while meaning, or intending to do, nothing.” 

South to America: A Journey Below the Mason Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry

“I don’t think that literature is organizing,” South to America author Imani Perry told Electric Literature early this summer , “but that literature can do the work of inspiring organizing.” The winner of the 2022 National Book Award for nonfiction, Perry’s book chronicles the Alabama-born author’s return to the South to chronicle the lives of Southerners—past and present—in an effort to better understand America. 

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

“We’ve created a culture in which we purposely isolate sick people,” says 2022 National Book Award finalist Meghan O’Rourke, discussing our culture of othering and isolating sick individuals. “We think of illness as a state apart from normal life, as opposed to being part of life.” O’Rourke’s memoir, The Invisible Kingdom , tackles the loneliness and isolation that comes with being sequestered in this manner, explicating her decades-long struggle with chronic pain, her navigation of the medical industry, and her search for answers. 

The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

“Ingrid Rojas Contreras has recreated what a memoir can be for everyone, but especially for the Latinx and Caribbean diasporas,” wrote Angela María Spring earlier this year for Electric Literature. Contreras fought for her memoir —a National Book Award Finalist—to be classified as nonfiction, tying her and her mother’s experiences with head trauma and amnesia to a years-later pilgrimage to Colombia following a dream visitation from her grandfather. The results are kaleidoscopic, breathtaking, and genre-defying. 

The Tiger and the Cage: A Memoir of a Body in Crisis by Emma Bolden

After being diagnosed with endometriosis at a young age, the essay writer Emma Bolden found herself struggling for decades to convince doctors and medical professionals to believe and take seriously her account of her pain and symptoms. In her memoir, The Tiger and The Cage , Bolden shares a powerful, poetic narrative of her journey with her illness and her attempts to receive adequate medical support. “I’m not super uncomfortable about [my experience with endometriosis] being out there,” Bolden told Electric Literature . “I’m just like: This happened. It happened to me. It happens to other women.” 

Virology: Essays for the Living, the Dead, and the Small Things in Between by Joseph Osmundson

“It’s not just public catastrophe, like the HIV or COVID-19 pandemic, that drives us to write,” says leading microbiologist Joseph Osmundson in Virology. “A private catastrophe, one just in our own body, can do the same.” Across 11 thought-provoking essays, Osmundson explores the personal and wide-ranging effects of viruses on our daily lives, interrogating how, in ways big and small, they impact our social graces, political discourse, legislation, and economic systems. As we continue to process and respond to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Virology provides a timely call to action for a healthier tomorrow. 

When They Tell You To Be Good by Prince Shakur

In his debut, coming-of-age memoir , Prince Shakur moves between the past and the present, bridging connections between his personal history as a gay Black man in the United States, with the history of his family, his murdered father, and of Black revolutionaries. “A memoir as a form allows you to dictate themes of a different level,” Shakur told Electric Lit earlier this year, regarding the scope of the book. “I think it gave me a deeper respect for what I could see as a kind of totality of my life thus far.”

You Don’t Know Us Negros and Other Essays by Zora Neale Hurston

One of Electric Literature’s most anticipated books of 2022 , this compendium of Zora Neale Hurston’s essays, articles, and criticism spans thirty-five years of the beloved author’s work. Featuring an introduction by Henry Louis Gates Jr., this long-overdue collection represents the first comprehensive compendium of Hurston’s nonfiction output, showcasing her intelligence, style, and breadth as an archivist and thinker.

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Best Nonfiction Books and Memoirs Coming in 2022

Feature Image Credit: @putnambooks

New year, new books! With 2022 coming in hot, there’s a brand-new batch of books arriving to join in the fun. If you’re looking to add some interesting books to your collection, this list will not disappoint. Whether you like memoirs or true stories, these non-fiction finds are the ultimate page-turners.

Don’t miss the must-read nonfiction books of 2021>>

Let’s Get Physical by Danielle Friedman (January 4, 2022)

Although it’s perfectly acceptable for women to work out in today’s world, it wasn’t that long ago that it was frowned upon. There was a time when it was considered unladylike for a female to sweat or appear stronger than a man. As humankind has progressed, luckily so have the social norms when it comes to exercising. In this book, Danielle Friedman takes us for a walk down memory lane, revisiting the inception of step aerobics along with the variety of fitness crazes that have crossed our paths. From empowerment to inclusivity, this book is a great motivator to kick off the new year.

A Little Closer to Home by Ginger Zee ( January 11, 2022)

Depression and mental health can be tough things to tackle, but Ginger Zee recognizes the importance of normalizing the discussion. As a self-proclaimed people pleaser, it was challenging for her to peel back the layers and figure out what she needed to find her bliss, instead of focusing on everyone else’s happiness. Through her storytelling of struggles and hope, she takes the reader on a journey of self-love. It wasn’t until she allowed herself to be vulnerable that she started healing. She hopes that she can help others do the same.

Enough Already by Valerie Bertinelli (January 18, 2022)

Beyond Valerie Bertinelli being a celebrity, her story paints the picture of an extremely relatable woman going through normal mid-life trials and tribulations. As a female in her fifties, she started to face new challenges, including taking care of her ailing mother. Despite a successful career and critically acclaimed cookbook, she still felt self-conscious if she gained weight or started showing signs of aging. It wasn’t until she lost her mother and found an old recipe box that she said, “enough!” This is a story about self-acceptance and embracing the journey, no matter what part of the path you’re on.

Heiresses by Laura Thompson (February 1, 2022)

When the average person thinks of an heiress, thoughts of money, fame and excess run through the mind. Even though that may appear to be the case on the outside, many times it’s a much different situation on the inside. This book takes a look at some of the trials and tribulations that these women have had to go through, along with stories of success and charity. These pages highlight some of the most well-known ladies of luxury and paint quite a different picture than what the modern-day media displays. You’ll learn how some had to fight for equality, which was worth way more than any money.

God Is a Black Woman by Christena Cleveland (February 8, 2022)

Even though Christena was raised to believe in God, she had a realization that this particular God was no longer working for her. The God that she had believed in all of these years is perceived as a white man, for all intents and purposes, and she started to think about how this idea continued to fuel racism, oppression, and powerlessness. To re-evaluate everything she knew, she embarked on a spiritual journey through France to create her path of faith. Her intimate story encourages the reader to question old ways of thinking and deconstruct the things that are hindering growth.

The Lonely Hunter by Aimée Lutkin (February 8, 2022)

While it’s common for more and more people to stay single, there is still a stigma attached to being unhitched. It seems that the older you get, the more questions arise about marital status. As an unattached woman in her thirties, Aimée sat down to enjoy dinner with her coupled-up friends when all of a sudden, she was facing a barrage of questions about her dating status. She decided to take matters into her own hands and do a social experiment, dating as many people as she could within one year. If rules were made to be broken, this is the book that is going to permit you to do just that.

This Monk Wears Heels by Kodo Nishimura ( February 8, 2022)

This life was meant to be lived full of authenticity and Kodo Nishimura is doing just that. At one time or another, all of us feel like we don’t fit in. This story takes a Buddhist approach to what it means to truly live your best life and to let all of your uniqueness shine through, even if that means outrageous outfits and the highest heels. This book encourages you to let those feelings of inadequacy go so that you can trade them in for self-acceptance. You’ll learn how to start releasing your fears and begin to live a life full of celebration.

In Defense of Witches by Mona Chollet ( March 8, 2022)

Witches are often perceived as being evil, scary and fictional characters that come to life on Halloween. While this may be the common way of thinking, there is a lot more history behind the horror stories. This book takes a deep dive into the true stories of witches from the past and how they lived. Mona explains how different types of women were accused of witchcraft and the persecution they faced. Connecting the past with the present, she examines how some things haven’t changed enough for the women who are choosing to live life on their terms.

Finding Me by Viola Davis ( April 26, 2022)

Viola Davis is well known for her acting chops, but now it’s time to see her in a different light. Her memoir isn’t sugar-coated, allowing the reader to gain true insight into her life, both on and off the screen. She takes you on a personal journey, starting from her younger years and landing here in the present day. Although honest raw, she tells her tale in a way that is truly inspiring and loaded with optimism. This relatable read is one to look forward to in 2022, and also one you won’t want to put down.

BI by Julia Shaw (June 28, 2022)

We’ve come a long way when it comes to inclusivity, but we’ve still got miles to go when it comes to creating lasting change. This book beautifully illustrates the common and quiet struggles that many bisexuals experience. Even though bisexuality is statistically more common than homosexuality, it can often be more misunderstood. Julia draws on her own experiences to deliver an honest look at the hidden culture of bisexuality in this extremely important book. While the human life is filled with complexities, her hope is for people to realize that love and respect are what truly matter.  

With 2022 in full swing, it’s a good time to update your reading list. Luckily, there’s a new batch of memoirs set to hit the shelves this spring and summer. These page-turners are filled with true-life stories that will keep you captivated from cover to cover.

Left on Tenth by Delia Ephron (April 12, 2022)

Delia couldn’t catch a break; she lost her sister and husband to cancer back-to-back. When she decided to let go of her husband’s landline one day, all hell broke loose, and she found herself in internet limbo. Delia decided to seek solace in writing, and her work caught the attention of recently widowed Peter. As they began to commiserate and collaborate, they also fell madly in love. But the upswing was cut short when Delia was diagnosed with AML, an aggressive form of leukemia. You’ll root for Delia all the way to the last page in this heart-wrenching memoir.

Constructing a Nervous System by Margo Jefferson (April 12, 2022)

Margo Jefferson credits her colorful life to the cast of characters who shaped her world growing up. In this captivating memoir, Margo fills the pages with the people who profoundly affected her – good, bad, and indifferent. Jefferson beautifully expresses what a black female body is capable of, from ballet dancers to Olympic athletes. With Ike Turner and Bing Crosby showing up as her alter-egos, while her parents come to life in the form of a jazz duo, the reader will remain entertained from start to finish. Her memoir provides a poignant look at the American perspective from a specific pair of eyes.

Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott (April 12, 2022)

Early in life, Mary Philpott developed an interesting habit of always being on the lookout for danger. As she got older and became a mom, this instinct only intensified. However, Mary didn’t let it debilitate her; in fact, she used it to be optimistic. As long as she kept an eye out, she could keep her family safe. But when a tragedy leaves her son unconscious, her whole outlook completely changes. This book looks at what it means to face your fears, especially when what you are most afraid of becomes part of your darkest reality.

Hello, Molly! By Molly Shannon (April 12, 2022)

At just four years old, Molly’s mom, little sister, and cousin were all killed in a terrible car accident while her dad was driving. Left to be raised by her grieving father, she grew up in a very lackadaisical environment, where she used comedy to cope. It became clear that Molly was genuinely talented, which led her to develop her comedic skills in New York City. Soon after, she became a well-known household name for her role on Saturday Night Live . These pages are filled with funny behind-the-scenes encounters with the rich and famous and shed new light on the life story of this funny lady.

Burn the Page by Danica Roem (April 26, 2022)

As a transgender woman, Danica Roem made history when she unseated Bob Marshall as Virginia state delegate. She knew going in that this would be a bumpy road and strategized how she could put herself in the best light possible. She hired someone who could dig up every unfavorable story and help her re-tell it. Prepared to take on anything that her opponent picked up from the past, Danica was able to set fire to the tall tales that weren’t true and show real growth from the things that no longer defined her. This powerful memoir shows that it’s never too late to re-write your story.

Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver (May 3, 2022)

Although Minnie Driver attended acting school in her youth, she was the only student in her class that did not get signed with an agent. But it wouldn’t take long for her to be discovered, and soon after, she shot to stardom as a movie star in the ‘90s. Although acting was her passion, nothing captured her heart like the birth of her son, and nothing broke it more than the death of her mother. As an Academy Award nominee and a single mother, Minnie’s memoir is engaging, intriguing, and inspiring. Raw and real, her story reminds us that life is beautiful, even when it is messy.

Mean Baby by Selma Blair (May 17, 2022)

From a young age, Selma was told that she was a mean baby; her mouth was always snarled, and she constantly looked angry. She decided she should live up to that reputation and behaved as badly as possible throughout her youth. Even though Selma went on to find fame as a successful Hollywood actress, she couldn’t shrug off this dark side that haunted her. She also began to acknowledge the physical pain she felt and how she would cope with alcohol. Later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she was forced to face her demons head-on. This is her story, and it’s both heartbreaking and beautiful.

The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras (July 12, 2022)

Although Ingrid was raised amongst political chaos in the 1980s and ‘90s of Colombia, she was more interested in her mom’s busy fortune-telling business. Her maternal grandfather was a healer who held the “secrets,” giving him the power to see the future, help the sick, and speak to the dead. Ingrid never felt that she inherited their abilities until she sustained a head injury that left her with amnesia one day. Convinced that this was her ticket to learning the “secrets,” her mom takes her back to Colombia to explore the family history and what it means to trust in things we cannot explain.

Crying in the Bathroom by Erika L. Sánchez (July 12, 2022)

Born to Mexican immigrants and raised in Chicago, Erika took the nineties by storm as a self-proclaimed oddball. She didn’t fit in but did her best to stand out with her signature black nail polish and her ability to make people laugh. Joking around was her favorite thing, and she often found herself leaving the school classroom because she was laughing too hard. However, that comedic timing paid off later and led her to become an award-winning novelist. This collection of essays covers it all – from depression to feminism and sex to self-awareness, all while sprinkling in laughter along the way.

Fruit Punch by Kendra Allen (August 9, 2022)

As a millennial Black woman in the south, growing up in the nineties and early 2000s was an interesting time for Kendra in Dallas, Texas. Although forced to conform to her family’s conservative values, she would find a way to rebel whenever she could. Even though she was required to wear stockings to her uncle’s Southern Baptist Church, she’d poke a hole in every pair. Yet, Kendra did her best to come into her own while managing her family’s expectations. This is a collection of stories that boldly illustrate her experiences with class, race, and what it means to be brutally honest in a complicated world.

An Immense World by Ed Young (June 21, 2022)

Ed Young takes readers on a journey through the sensory world of wildlife, eloquently describing the sights, sounds, smells, textures, and tastes experienced by a variety of sophisticated creatures. He discusses fish that have the ability to send electrical messages down a river, turtles that can sense the Earth’s magnetic fields, and the extraordinary evolution of several other animals and insects. An immersive glimpse into the existence of creatures that experience the world in unique and beautiful ways.

Rogues by Patrick Radden Keefe (June 28, 2022)

In this collection of his most celebrated New Yorker articles, Patrick Radden Keefe explores the lives and motivations of a variety of criminals, rebels, and outliers. Amongst others, he writes about cases that deal with expensive wine forgeries, questionable whistleblowers, sketchy arms merchants, those facing the death penalty, and those who represent them. This culmination of his work paints a captivating portrait of crime, corruption, and human behavior.

Why Didn’t You Tell Me? by Carmen Rita Wong (July 12, 2022)

Former national television host, professor, and advice columnist Carmen Rita Wong tells all in this memoir about the secrets her mother kept from her and the ways in which they impacted her life. She discusses her childhood in Harlem, surrounded by Black and brown Latina women, her time in Chinatown with her hustler father, and the white playgrounds in New Hampshire where she relocated after her mother remarried. As she got older and her relationship with her mother began to fray at the edges, Carmen started questioning everything she thought she knew. When her mother’s secrets were finally revealed, it was too late. Why Didn’t You Tell Me? is a compelling story about race, culture, and the hidden histories we keep within us.

Animal Joy by Nuar Alsadir (August 16, 2022)

In this enlightening book about the power of laughter, poet and psychoanalyst Nuar Alsadir describes the importance of being present and feeling alive. She combines personal experiences and theoretical concepts, drawing from her time in clown school and her knowledge of a variety of subjects (such as Anna Karenina’s morphine addiction, the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, and laugh tracks). Woven throughout the book is her relationship with her daughters, a warm intercession that constantly challenges Alsadir and her thinking. A unique meditation on the importance of staying connected to one’s true self.

Nomad Century by Gaia Vince (August 23, 2022)

Gaia Vince dives into the seismic repercussions of climate change and its effects on global migration. As diminishing coastlines, wildfires, and hurricanes rewrite our planet’s human geography, the threat of displacement looms for billions. Vince draws on her travel experiences and career in environmental reporting to educate readers about the changes that will ultimately reshape our way of life.

Who I Am by Melanie Chisholm (September 15, 2022)

A member of the iconic Spice Girls band, Melanie Chisholm shares her experience in the music industry and the ups and downs of her journey to stardom. She reflects on the highlights, describing performances at Madison Square Garden and the London 2012 Olympics, and discloses struggles she faced as a woman in the spotlight. Her memoir is insightful, inspiring, entertaining, and powerful.

The Family Outing by Jessi Hempel (October 4, 2022)

Growing up, Jessi Hempel and her siblings were conflicted and struggling as they grappled with their family, their identities, and the world they lived in. But by the time they reached adulthood, everyone in Jessi’s seemingly perfect middle-class American family had come out: Jessi and her father as gay, her brother as transgender, her sister as bisexual, and her mother as a survivor of a harrowing experience with a serial killer. Revealing these things allowed the Hempel family to explore other personal truths, helping them discover a sense of freedom and belonging.

Inciting Joy: Essays by Ross Gay (October 25, 2022)

In this collection of poignant essays, poet and author Ross Gay explores the joy incited by caring for others and creating meaningful connections. “We Kin,” “Share Your Bucket,” “Grief Suite,” and “Through My Tears I Saw” dive into concepts of remedial nature, toxic masculinity, and healing through grief. Gay’s eloquent works paint a beautiful portrait of what could be possible if we more often devoted our attention to the things that unite us.

Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story by Bono (November 1, 2022)

In this captivating memoir, iconic artist and activist Bono reveals the experiences that shaped him, inspired him, and humbled him. He describes the loss of his mother during his adolescence, U2’s wild success as a rock band, and his tenure as an activist devoted to the fight against AIDS and poverty. An honest reflection written with humor and sincerity, the story of Bono’s life is as inspiring as one would have guessed.

Conversations with Birds by Priyanka Kumar (November 8, 2022)

Filmmaker and author Priyanka Kumar shares her passion for wildlife and preservation in this study of the transformative power of nature. Raised at the foot of the Himalayas in India, Kumar was disappointed after moving to North America and consistently witnessing destruction of the environment. But when she moved to Los Angeles in her twenties to work on films, she was finally able to reconnect with her surroundings through birdwatching. This collection of essays follows Kumar across the American West, describing the experiences that shaped her while she studied the magnificent avian world.

How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler (December 6, 2022)

This collection of essays written by science and conservation journalist Sabrina Imbler dives into the deep sea to explore the mystery of several creatures lurking below where the light reaches. Each essay focuses on one of these creatures: A mother octopus who starves herself while ensuring her eggs are safe, the Chinese sturgeon who struggles to migrate due to pollution and dams, colonies of deep-sea crabs that survive off the chemicals and heat emanating from the core of the Earth, and several others. How Far the Light Reaches examines the communities and relationships between the ocean’s wildlife and its surrounding environment and discusses ideas of adaptation, survival, sexuality, and care, prompting readers to reimagine the way we live our own lives.

Weightless by Evette Dionne (December 6, 2022)

In this deeply insightful and important novel, author Evette Dionne dives into personal experiences and milestones, and highlights how race and weight intersect with social variables like relationships, sex, health, and image. Through this journey, she shines a light on the obstacles and restrictions created by societal prejudices that fat women face every day. Dionne introduces a whole new perspective to many readers and brings attention to the neglect, stigma, and fetishization that often goes unnoticed by many in our society. Weightless crucially encourages us to recognize the “subtle” reinforcements and consequences of our prejudices, as well as the importance and empowerment of self-love.

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The Electric Typewriter

The 50 best articles and essays of 2022, these precious days by ann patchett, the broken country by molly mccully, 50 more great short memoirs, relationships, it’s your friends who break your heart by jennifer senior, tinder hearted by allison p. davis, scenes from an open marriage by jean garnett, 50 more great articles about relationships.

Bed Habits by Rachel Handler

Insane after coronavirus by patricia lockwood, the plague year by lawrence wright, 50 more great articles about health, homo imaginatus by philip ball, how wanting less leads to satisfaction by arthur c. brooks, failure to cope "under capitalism" by clare coffey, the surprising benefits of talking to strangers by joe keohane, why are some siblings so terrible with money, while some are just fine by chris bourn, 50 more great articles about psychology, brazilian butt lift by sophie elmhirst, saying goodbye to my chest by naomi gordon-loebl, 10 more great articles about body image.

My High School’s Secret Fantasy Slut League by Lena Crown

Teenage justice by elizabeth weil, how do you make the perfect toy by matthew braga, 50 more great articles about growing up, a history of flight by wright thompson, how the story of soccer became the story of everything by tim murphy, 30 more great articles about sport, the webb space telescope will rewrite cosmic history. if it works. by natalie wolchover, how the physics of nothing underlies everything by charlie wood, do we need a new theory of evolution by stephen buranyi, 100 more great science & tech. reads, the hacker who saved the internet by andy greenberg, ghosts by vauhini vara, of course we’re living in a simulation by jason kehe, a day in the life of a vending machine by tom lamont, the last phone boxes by sophie elmhirst, africa’s cold rush and the promise of refrigeration by nicola twilley, social media, why the past 10 years of american life have been uniquely stupid by jonathan haidt, i didn’t want it to be true, but the medium really is the message by ezra klein, instagram is over by kate lindsay, 50 more great articles about the internet, hand to mouth by kensy cooperrider, why do people, like, say, ‘like’ so much by sam wolfson, curses aren’t just words by john mcwhorter, 35 more great articles about language, revolt of the delivery workers by josh dzieza, descend into the sewers with london’s fatberg-busters by jessica leigh hester, 40 more great articles about work, what was the ted talk​ by oscar schwartz, 14 hours in the queue to see queen elizabeth's coffin by laurie penny, a treasure hunt for the ages by stephen rodrick, animal lovers actually, britain is a nation of sentimental hypocrites by julian baggini, the problem with saying oontz oontz by spencer kornhaber, see also..., 150 great articles and essays, 100 great nonfiction books, more proof that this really is the end of history by francis fukuyama, fraudpocalypse by john lanchester, the rise and fall of chimerica by jacob dreyer, 30 more great articles about politics.

Climate Change

Beyond catastrophe by david wallace wells, we should fix climate change — but we should not regret it by thomas r. wells, the big business of burying carbon by jeffrey ball, the world is burning once again by jacob stern, the century of climate migration by gaia vince, dimming the sun to cool the planet by bill mckibben, sixty years of climate change warnings by alice bell, 30 more great reads about climate change, was it inevitable by keith gessen, inside the u.s. effort to arm ukraine by joshua yaffa, afghanistan meant nothing by laura jedeed, 35 more great articles about war, the elect by john mcwhorter, magic actions by tobi haslett, my mustache, my self by wesley morris, 30 more great articles about race, heat listed by matt stroud, the girl in the picture by nile cappello, 25 more great true crime reads.

The Apocalypse

The future dystopic hellscape is upon us by sam biddle, the super-rich ‘preppers’ planning to save themselves from the apocalypse by douglas rushkoff, ikea’s race for the last of europe’s old-growth forest by alexander sammon, here comes the sun—to end civilization by matt ribel, asteroids solar storms nukes climate calamity killer robots by joel achenbach, 10 more great articles about the apocalypse, subscribe to our email newsletter.

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Prime Big Deal Days: Best Early October Prime Day Deals to Shop Right Now

Amazon is launching a massive two-day shopping event next month and we're rounding up the best early deals already.

Amazon's summer Prime Day may be in the rearview mirror but its Prime Big Deal Days sale is just a few weeks away. It's the second Prime Day-like sale of the year and Amazon hopes it will kickstart the holiday shopping season a little earlier than the usual Black Friday rush. 

We've got all of the details on Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days sale below and we're be rounding up the best early Prime Day deals below as we get ever closer to the event. 

Best early October Prime Day deals

Though the sale isn't officially underway yet, the deals have already started to ramp up. We're gathering up a bunch of our favorites below so you can kickstart your holiday savings early.

Best early October Prime Day deals on tech

Apple Watch Series 8: $299

Apple's last-gen smartwatch is seeing some of its best savings to date following the Series 9 release. It's still a great device in 2023, though, so grab one while supplies last.

Microsoft Windows 11 Pro: $27

Not an Amazon deal, but this StackSocial offer discounts a Windows 11 Pro license to just $27 -- saving you over $170 compared to the Microsoft price.

Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 + Ring Floodlight Cam: $270

If you want to upgrade your home's security, this bundle includes a Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 and a Ring Floodlight Cam, which nets you some excellent coverage around your house -- and a $180 discount.

Eero mesh Wi-Fi systems

Amazon's Eero mesh routers are among the best in the business and now the retailer is getting ready for its Prime Big Deal Days sale with a number of discounts.

• Samsung Galaxy S23: Up to 20% off
• Motorola Razr Plus: $900 (save $100)
• Amazon Fire TV 2-Series smart TVs: From $130
• Amazon 65-inch Fire TV Omni QLED: $600 (save $200)
• Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 over-ear headphones: $249 (save $150)
• Microsoft Xbox Series X: $450 (save $50)
• AnkerMake M5 3D printer: $599 (save $200)

Best early October Prime Day deals on home

Keurig K-Mini Coffee Maker: $60

For a limited time only, Amazon is offering this coffee maker in six different colors for just $60. It's ideal for those with limited counter space.

Eufy HomeVac S11 Lite cordless stick vacuum: $80

Free your home from dust and dirt with this lightweight and stylish stick vacuum. It works for carpets and hard floors and includes extra attachments for various nooks and crannies. 

• L'Or Barista System coffee and espresso machine: $123 (save $36)
• Shark floor care and air purifiers: Up to 40% off
• Jackery Explorer 2000 Pro portable power station: $1,799 (save $100)
• Tineco Pure One S15 Flex stick vacuum: $350 (save $150)

Best early October Prime Day deals on health and fitness

Echelon EX-3 bike: $350

Echelon's EX-3 connected bike is down to its best price ever at Amazon right now. Add it to your home gym and save $150. 

• Theragun Elite massage gun: $398 (save $51)
• Echelon Reflect smart fitness mirror: $602 (save $397)
• Mobifitness exercise bike: $460 (save $200)

What is Amazon Prime Big Deal Days?

It's reasonable to be confused as to what exactly Prime Big Deal Days is. You probably know it's a sale event, but Amazon is steering clear of Prime Day branding for it and using a new name entirely for this fall 2023 sale. So, what do you need to know?

Prime Big Deal Days is a two-day Amazon sale taking place in October that offers exclusive savings to Amazon Prime subscribers with limited-time offers, flash deals and rock-bottom prices. If that sounds a lot like Prime Day, it's because the sale is essentially a second Prime Day event for 2023 in all but name, just like the Prime Early Access Sale that took place in October last year. 

When is Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days sale?

Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days event will take place on Oct. 10 and 11 . Running for a full 48 hours, the sale will offer a huge number of limited-time deals during those two days, though we expect Amazon will kick things off a little early with some promotions preceding the official start time. We'll keep track of those right here. 

Unlike Prime Day proper, which (save for a few exceptions) takes place in July, the Prime Big Deal Days sale occurs in the fall and is an opportunity for organized holiday shoppers to get started early, and also a chance for Amazon to hoover up eager bargain-hunters' dollars before Black Friday sales begin in earnest. 

As you can see from the history of Prime Day dates below, Amazon has held its Prime Day sales each July, with just a couple of deviations from that regular schedule. Notably, in 2020, Amazon pushed its Prime Day sale to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic before returning it to the summer in 2021 in a slightly earlier June spot. Prime Day returned to its July spot for 2022, though Amazon did use that October slot once again for an additional Prime Early Access Sale event that acted as a kickoff to the holiday shopping season. This year, that slot is being used for Prime Big Deal Days. 

As a reference, here are the Prime Day dates from previous years:

• Prime Day 2015: July 15.
• Prime Day 2016: July 12.
• Prime Day 2017: July 11 to 12 (first to last longer than one day).
• Prime Day 2018: July 16 to 17.
• Prime Day 2019: July 15 to 16.
• Prime Day 2020: Oct. 13 to 14 (delayed by COVID-19 pandemic).
• Prime Day 2021: June 21 to 22 (the earliest to date).
• Prime Day 2022: July 12 to 13.
• Prime Early Access Sale 2022: Oct. 11 to 12.
• Prime Day 2023: July 11 to 12.

How long will the Prime Big Deal Days sale last?

Like Prime Day, Prime Big Deal Days will run for 48 hours. The sale will kick off at midnight PT (3 a.m. ET) on Oct. 10.

Amazon's Prime Day and Prime Day-like events haven't been single-day affairs since 2016, spanning two days for the first time in 2017 and continuing to be 48-hour bonanzas since then. Many of the deals launching at the sale's opening time will be available throughout the event, supplies permitting, with other, more limited-time Lightning deals launching and expiring within the two-day span. 

Will there be a second Amazon Prime Day event this year?

Yes, Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days is the second Prime Day-like sale of 2023. It replaces the Prime Early Access Sale that took place in October 2022 and is like Prime Day in basically every way. 

Which countries get Prime Big Deal Days?

Prime Day is an international affair and the same applies to the Prime Big Deal Days sale with 19 countries participating. The full list is as follows:

• Netherlands

Japan will also have its own Prime Big Deal Days sale later in the month.

How does Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days sale work?

The idea behind Prime Day -- and, by extension, Prime Big Deal Days -- is a simple one: Subscribers to Amazon's Prime service can get exclusive discounts on thousands of products and services across the site during a limited period of time. The products, while still available to non-Prime members, will have extra savings for members, dropping many of their prices down to new all-time lows. 

When you're logged in to your Prime account and looking at a product landing page, you'll see the discounted price if it's on sale. You don't need any special coupon codes, nor is there a need to use a specific payment method in order to get the discounts. If you spend your money wisely each year, you can easily make back your Prime membership cost in savings during the event.

Do you need to be a Prime member to shop the Prime Big Deal Days sale?

Yes, Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days sale requires a Prime subscription if you want to nab any of the Prime-exclusive deals. You don't have to be a paying subscriber, though, as long as the event falls within your Prime trial period. That means you can start your month-long trial now and get in on the savings for free. For more info on that, check out our guide to shopping Prime Day sales without paying for Prime .

Amazon last year  raised prices on Prime membership . It's now $15 a month (or $139 a year).

Amazon Prime: 30-day free trial

Like Prime Day, Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days sale requires an Amazon Prime membership, though you don't have to be a paying member to get in on the savings. Start your 30-day Prime free trial now and you'll be able to shop the best deals without paying for a subscription -- just remember to cancel before it renews.

Will other retailers participate in Prime Day?

Each Prime Day, we see other retailers announcing sales that directly compete with Amazon's event, and we expect its fall event to be no different. Best Buy has already confirmed it intends to host a 48-hour flash sale on the very same dates and Walmart will overlap Prime Big Deal Days with its own Holiday Kickoff sale running Oct. 9 through 12. Home Depot is also running a Decor Days sale from Oct. 5 through 9 with savings on all things home decor in time for the holidays.

Why did Prime Day start?

Amazon has been hosting its annual Prime Day sale since 2015. Originally, it was a 24-hour sales event to celebrate Amazon's 20th birthday. The "Prime" in the name refers to Amazon's subscription service, which offers free delivery on many products in as little as one to two days, and which has now expanded to encompass the Netflix-style  Prime Video service  and various  other Amazon-related perks . 

Prime Day soon became a version of "Black Friday in July" for Amazon, allowing the retailer to have a branded 48-hour shopping extravaganza in an otherwise sleepy retail season. Unlike Black Friday, however, the Prime Day branding lets Amazon differentiate its summer sale from competitors while selling Prime memberships and Amazon-branded hardware such as  Echo speakers  and Fire tablets, which encourage customers to stay within the Amazon ecosystem. The fact that the sale also allows Amazon and its partners to clear out inventory and warehouse space ahead of the holiday shopping season doesn't hurt, either.

Where can you find deals right now?

The CNET Deals team covers all of the best price drops, discounts and deals daily from all the top retailers. Whether it's a one-day promo at Woot, a weekend sale at Best Buy or a coupon code for a product at Amazon, if it's a great deal, we'll be covering it. 

Be sure to check out all of the great deals each day at CNET.com/deals  and sign up for our CNET Deals newsletter for a daily digest of deals delivered to your inbox. You can also sign up for CNET Deals text alerts for curated deals during the event, and install out our  CNET Shopping browser extension  to help ensure that purchases you make all year round will be at the lowest price available.

Get the best price with CNET Shopping.

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‘Sex Education’ Is Back. Here’s What You Need to Know.

The raunchy British teen dramedy has been away for two years. Here’s a refresher for the Netflix series’s fourth and final season.

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By Rachel Sherman

School is back in session for the sweet, sometimes absurd British comedy “Sex Education,” which leans heavily into its streaming-series freedom to portray adolescent sex for what it generally is: awkward, mediocre, part of life. Expect close-ups of patchy pubic hair, belly rolls and many (many) penises — among other physical realities of sex that don’t typically appear in teen stories.

The show, which won the award for best comedy series at the International Emmy Awards in 2022, centers on Otis (Asa Butterfield), the erudite but romantically floundering son of a sex therapist (Gillian Anderson), who finds that he, too, has a gift for doling out intimate advice — in his case, to his desperately uninformed classmates. Unlike other raunchy teen dramas, like the provocative “ Skins ” and “ Euphoria ,” “ Sex Education ” takes a normalizing, endearingly un-edgy and even occasionally musical approach to the birds and the bees (though the writers would probably choose a more clinical term).

In the fourth and final season, now streaming on Netflix , Otis must navigate a new school alongside his effervescent best friend, Eric (Ncuti Gatwa). After the closure of Moordale Secondary School at the end of Season 3, they now face a social hurdle more daunting than trying to become popular: survival as the new kids.

But if popularity at Moordale was all about status and appearance, the new school represents something of an alternative educational universe, where learning is student-led, sustainability is cool and gossip is frowned upon.

Will Otis and Eric fit in? Will Otis set up a new sex therapy clinic? And where is his broody, wryly sharp love interest Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey)?

Two years have passed since the release of Season 3. Here’s a refresher — a little gossip, if you will — as we head into Season 4.

What happened to Moordale?

After a schoolwide sexually transmitted infection outbreak in Season 2 and an obscene, intergalactic production of “Romeo and Juliet: The Musical,” Moordale Secondary School attracted news attention for its debauchery and earned the nickname “Sex School.” The administration hired a new head teacher, Hope Haddon (Jemima Kirke), to turn things around, but her shame-based approach to discipline and strict dress code couldn’t keep the students from being sexually curious teenagers.

As revenge, the student body revolted at a public assembly for Moordale’s investors and the news media, disrupting the program with a screening of a sex-positive student film in which they dressed in genitalia-inspired costumes. Then the audience chanted, “We are Sex School,” and the band performed an explicit song.

It was chaotic and symphonic, and it was enough of a ruckus to scare off investors and prospective paying parents. Moordale’s funding was withdrawn, and it closed its doors, forcing its students to find new schools.

Where is Maeve?

In Season 3, one of the English teachers at Moordale, Ms. Sands (Rakhee Thakrar), gave Maeve, Otis’s crush and sex clinic business partner, a brochure for a gifted and talented program in the United States. Throughout the season, Maeve wavered back and forth on the decision, concerned about the money and leaving her little sister behind.

Otis and Maeve’s will-they-won’t-they relationship got some resolution when they finally kissed on a class trip to France. But in the final scene of the season, we learned that Maeve was leaving to study literature at a prestigious American university.

The news came as a blow to Otis, who was happy for Maeve’s dream opportunity but devastated to see her go. Maeve promised that her departure didn’t mean that they were over, but she didn’t define the relationship further.

Is Jean … OK?

Yes … and no. At the end of Season 3 Otis’s mother, Jean, went into labor with dire complications, including hemorrhaging. But she pulled through, and in the season finale, she delivered a healthy baby girl whom she named Joy. Although the pregnancy had a happy ending, the future of the family is a bit fuzzier. In one of the final scenes of the finale, Jean opened a paternity test and her shock revealed that her partner, Jakob (Mikael Persbrandt), might not be the father.

Throughout the pregnancy, Jean and Jakob were committed to raising their baby together and forging a robust, if a bit untraditional, family unit with Otis and Ola (Patricia Allison), Jakob’s daughter (who, in a messy set of circumstances, used to date Otis).

Will Jean, a careerist rising in her field, continue her sex therapy practice? Will Jakob remain in the picture? And if he isn’t the father, who is?

Where do things stand with Eric and Adam?

Eric, who is gay and proudly wears eyeliner, colorful nail polish and silky scarves, has had an emotional roller coaster of a relationship with Adam (Connor Swindells), a closeted bully who is new to intimate relationships. They grew closer as Adam learned to accept his sexuality, but Eric struggled to be with someone who couldn’t fully open up, and he eventually kissed another boy on a family trip to Nigeria.

Adam eventually forgave the infidelity, but Eric realized he had outgrown the relationship and broke up with him anyway. Heartbroken, Adam began to come to terms with his identity; in the finale, he came out as bisexual to his mother, finally admitting to her that Eric had been his boyfriend. This could be a turning point for the animal-loving gentle giant who always feels like a misfit.

Is there still a wide array of experience in Season 4?

Somehow the show’s lens has gotten even wider. “Sex Education” is known for its nuanced depictions of gender, sexuality and disability, and for presenting forms of intimacy that are rarely displayed on mainstream television. A progressive new school promises an even more varied student body, with types of relationships not explored in previous seasons. Whether the school lives up to its “good vibes only” reputation remains to be seen.

The show celebrates the body — its limitations, its potential, its drive — in its many forms. Whatever Season 4 may bring, it is sure to explore a wide range of teenage lust and physical complexities.

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The raunchy British teen dramedy “Sex Education” has been away for two years. Here’s what to know before diving into the fourth and final season .

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