Nonfiction Book Gifts for the Lifelong Learners

A groundbreaking manifesto on living better and longer that challenges the conventional medical thinking on aging and reveals a new approach to preventing chronic disease and extending long-term health, from a visionary physician and leading longevity expert.

Why is less than 1% of rural land in the U.S. owned by Black people? An acclaimed writer and activist explores the impact of land theft and violent displacement on racial wealth gaps, arguing that justice stems from the literal roots of the earth.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Sapiens comes the groundbreaking story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world.

An urgent investigation into the experience of seeking an abortion after the fall of Roe v. Wade, and the life-threatening consequences of being denied reproductive freedom. A revelatory portrait of inequality in America, Undue Burden examines abortion not as a footnote or a political pawn, but as a basic human right, something worthy of our collective attention and with immense power to transform our lives, families, and futures.

A thrilling tick-tock recounting of one of the most harrowing hostage situations and daring rescue attempts of our time — from the true-life espionage master and New York Times bestselling author of Operation Mincemeat and The Spy and the Traitor.

An illustrated edition of The 1619 Project, with newly commissioned artwork and archival images, The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning reframing of the American founding and its contemporary echoes, placing slavery and resistance at the center of the American story.

From the author of The Power of Habit, a fascinating exploration of what makes conversations work — and how we can all learn to be supercommunicators at work and in life.

From the bestselling author of Dusk, Night, Dawn and Help, Thanks, Wow, a joyful celebration of love. In Somehow: Thoughts on Love, Lamott explores the transformative power that love has in our lives: How it surprises us, forces us to confront uncomfortable truths, reminds us of our humanity, and guides us forward.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Between the World and Me journeys to three resonant sites of conflict to explore how the stories we tell — and the ones we don’t — shape our realities.

Captivating, rich in vivid detail and character, and steeped in the glamour and grit of professional ballet, The Swans of Harlem is a riveting account of five extraordinarily accomplished women, a celebration of both their historic careers and the sustaining, grounding power of female friendship, and a window into the robust history of Black ballet, hidden for too long.

A brilliant exploration of freedom — what it is, how it’s been misunderstood, and why it’s our only chance for survival — by the acclaimed Yale historian and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller On Tyranny.

For years, Cole Arthur Riley was desperate for a spirituality she could trust. Amid ongoing national racial violence, the isolation of the pandemic, and a surge of anti-Black rhetoric in many Christian spaces, she began dreaming of a more human, more liberating expression of faith. She went on to create Black Liturgies, a digital project that connects spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black memory, and the Black body. Black Liturgies is a work of healing and empowerment and a vision for what might be.

Memory is far more than a record of the past. In this groundbreaking tour of the mind and brain, one of the world’s top memory researchers reveals the powerful role memory plays in nearly every aspect of our lives, from recalling faces and names, to learning, decision-making, trauma and healing.

Carefully curated, these 200-plus poems feature Oliver’s work from her very first book of poetry, No Voyage and Other Poems, published in 1963 at the age of 28, through her most recent collection, Felicity, published in 2015. This timeless volume, arranged by Oliver herself, showcases the beloved poet at her edifying best. Within these pages, she provides us with an extraordinary and invaluable collection of her passionate, perceptive, and much-treasured observations of the natural world.

A “powerful” (The Guardian) reflection on basketball, life, and home — from the author of the National Book Award finalist A Little Devil in America. There’s Always This Year is a triumph, brimming with joy, pain, solidarity, comfort, outrage, and hope. It is a clarion call to radically reimagine how we think about our culture, our country, and ourselves.

An award-winning journalist’s exploration of how race, identity and political trauma have influenced the rise in far-right sentiment among Latinos, and how this group can shape American politics.

No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving – every day. James Clear, one of the world’s leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

The noted inventor and futurist’s successor to his landmark book The Singularity Is Near explores how technology will transform the human race in the decades to come.

In this spellbinding portrait of obsession and flawed genius, Michael Finkel gives us one of the most remarkable true crime narratives of our times, a riveting story of art, theft, love, and an insatiable hunger to possess beauty at any cost.

The true tale of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to their death.  The Devil in the White City draws the reader into the enchantment of the Guilded Age, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. Erik Larson’s gifts as a storyteller are magnificently displayed in this rich narrative of the master builder, the killer, and the great fair that obsessed them both.

There is only one scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end the world as we know it in a matter of hours: Nuclear war. And one of the triggers for that war would be a nuclear missile inbound toward the United States. Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario explores this ticking-clock scenario, based on dozens of exclusive interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, have been privy to the response plans, and have been responsible for those decisions should they have needed to be made. It is essential reading, and unlike any other book in its depth and urgency.

A riveting new work and fresh take on the lead-up to the presidential election of 1960, drawing timely parallels to the choice Americans face in 2024.

In her “vulnerable, tender, and infinitely inspirational” (Oprah Daily) memoir, the first Black woman to ever be appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States chronicles her extraordinary life story.

An epic, heartbreaking, and deeply reported history of the disastrous humanitarian crisis at the southern border told through the lives of the migrants forced to risk everything and the policymakers who determine their fate, by New Yorker staff writer Jonathan Blitzer.

Filling a gaping hole in menopause care, everything a woman needs to know to thrive during her hormonal transition and beyond, as well as the tools to help her take charge of her health at this pivotal life stage — by the bestselling author of The Galveston Diet.

From the award-winning author Katherine Rundell comes a “rare and magical book” (Bill Bryson) reckoning with the vanishing wonders of our natural world. Beautifully illustrated, and full of inimitable wit and intellect, Vanishing Treasures is a chance to be awestruck and lovestruck, to reckon with the beauty of the world, its fragility, and its strangeness.

From the legendary music producer, a master at helping people connect with the wellsprings of their creativity, comes a beautifully crafted book many years in the making that offers that same deep wisdom to all of us.

A bold new vision for optimizing our health now and in the future. Good Energy offers a new, cutting-edge understanding of the true case of illness that until now has remained hidden. It will help you optimize your ability to live well and stay well at every age.

New York Times bestselling author Deepak Chopra delivers a visionary and unprecedented exploration of how artificial intelligence can revolutionize well-being and open new horizons for personal development.

A gorgeous, witty account of birding, nature, and the beauty around us that hides in plain sight, written and illustrated by the bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club. With a foreword by David Allen Sibley.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Signal and the Noise, the definitive guide to our era of risk — and the players raising the stakes. Taking us behind the scenes from casinos to venture capital firms, and from the FTX inner sanctum to meetings of the effective altruism movement, On the Edge is a deeply reported, all-access journey into a hidden world of power brokers and risk-takers.

The author of The Splendid and the Vile brings to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War in this “riveting reexamination of a nation in tumult” (Los Angeles Times).

A must-read for all parents: The generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech — and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

In John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction since The Innocent Man, “the master of the legal thriller” (Associated Press) teams up with Jim McCloskey, “the godfather of the innocence movement” (Texas Monthly), to share ten harrowing true stories of wrongful convictions.

From the founder of Khan Academy, the first book on the AI revolution in education, its implications for parenting, and how we can best harness its power for good.