When I set my 2025 reading goals in Storygraph, I decided that I wanted to push myself. So I added a personal challenge to read six nonfiction books. I added it with no idea what I was going to read. I reached out to Threads and Facebook for some suggestions. And my friends, you turned up.
Over several days, I received about 118 recommendations with 104 being original recs. I’m blown away by the diversity of books people shared as their “must-reads.” Especially since I was not helpful in what I was looking for (because, honestly, I don’t know what kind of nonfiction I want to read).
After gathering up all of the suggestions (and probably missing a number due to how Threads, well, threads their posts), I have gathered for all of us a list of those recommendations. There are so many books that I’m splitting this into two posts, so be sure to check back for the second post. And I’ve done all the work for you making sure I have the full title, author and adding a link to Storygraph (because that’s who we support around these parts).
Most recommended
First up, 12 books received multiple recommendations and most of these will be immediate ads to my list.
The most recommended book was Educated by Tara Westover
Running a close second with recommendations were I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (which I already read and loved) and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.
And the rest of the multiple recommendation books received two recommendations. Of these, I’m going to add to my TBR:
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
- Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
- The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride by Daniel James Brown
- Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
And despite the duplicate suggestions, I’m not sure I’ll be adding these books. They’re probably great, but just didn’t pique my interest:
- The Burnout Workbook: Advice and Exercises to Help You Unlock the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
- Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
- The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl
- Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand.
And the rest…
The rest of the recommendations that I will be adding to my list are:
- 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
- An East End Farewell: Memoirs of an Apprentice Undertaker by Yvette Venebles
- As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes
- Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
- Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton
- Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
- Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow
- The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
- The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean
- A Heart that Works by Rob Delaney
- Here for It; Or, How to Save Your Soul in America by R. Eric Thomas
- Hey, Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing by Emily Lynn Paulson
- I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
- If You Can’t Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury by Geraldine DeRuiter
- Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba
- Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris
- Not My Father’s Son by Alan Cumming
- Owner of a Lonely Heart: A Memoir by Beth Nguyen
- The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore
- Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey
- She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement by Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey
- Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest by Gregg Olsen
- Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
- Unraveling: What I Learned About Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool, and Making the World’s Ugliest Sweater by Peggy Orenstein
- Unruly: A History of England’s Kings and Queens by David Mitchell
- We Do This ’til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice by Mariame Kaba
Those are the books that are going on my TBR. I received a lot of other suggestions that are undoubtedly amazing books, but for a number of reasons aren’t immediate yesses from me. I’m going to put that list up in another post, so make sure to check back because there is a good chance there is something you’d like on that list.
Have you read any of the books on this list? Let me know what you thought in the comments!
