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Today in nonfiction news, recommendations, and items of general interest, we have nonfiction picks from a big ol’ fall book preview, author and bookstore owner Ann Patchett’s nonfic recs for fall, the National Book Awards finalists for nonfiction, and a different kind of true crime. Let’s dive in!
I can tell you from experience that putting together giant book lists like this can both be a lot of fun and a daunting enterprise. It’s fun because there are so many books, and hard because there are so! many! books! The Millions put together a list that is just flat out impressive. The scope! The range! The quality! I took one look at it and thought, “respect.”
In all, there are 35 nonfiction titles here, and they are absolute bangers. We have some buzzy titles that might already be on your radar: The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer. There’s Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win, columnist Jessica Valenti’s handbook for abortion rights advocacy; Linguaphile by Julie Sedivy, a reflection on a life spent loving language; and a the very meta The World in Books by Kenneth C. Davis, a guide to the most influential works of nonfiction ever published. Have your reading lists ready for this one.
Ann Patchett was on the Today show last week to discuss her new children’s book, The Verts: A Story of Introverts and Extroverts. She also shares her favorite nonfiction book picks for the fall in a quick segment with Hoda and Jenna. Her picks includes one on the fight against book banning in America (psst, you can read an excerpt from the book here and hear more about the author here), and something from a beloved author for all of us bird-interested folks. Insert visual of me wandering around parks in the Pacific Northwest with the Merlin Bird ID app here.
We now have the shortlist for the 2024 National Book Awards, which are awarded each year fin Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature. The five nonfiction finalists include a takedown of fatphobia, a Native coming-of-age story and memoir, and Salman Rushdie’s story of survival. The winners will be announced live at the 75th National Book Awards Ceremony ceremony on Wednesday, November 20, 2024.
If you missed the longlist of nominees, you can check that out here. That list includes one of my favorite books of the year, Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal. Any book that explores The Neverending Story, Selena Quintanilla, and Game of Thrones in one package and asks what loss after colonization, enslavement, and dispossession has done to the collective imagination is one I’m going to scream about constantly. Consider yourself screamed at, lovingly and to the tune of “No Me Queda Mas.”
Last year I met up with Emily Martin while she visited Portland and we got to talking about the ick we get from a lot of true crime content these days. So much of it seems to mine people’s violent tragedies for content with little regard for the victims and their families. That’s when Emily asked if I was listening to Scam Goddess, a comedy and crime podcast by actor and comedian Laci Mosley that explores scams and frauds. I was hooked from the very first listen and am begging Laci to do a Fraud Fridays re-release of “The Pristine Ponzi Scheme with Matt Walsh.” She talks about the scam that is the show This Is Us where the death of the dad stays a plotline in the show for the cry factor. At least once a week I yell out, “My daddy died…. so saaaad! My daddy loved this meat!” (IYKYK).
If you aren’t listening to that podcast yet and want to both scratch the itch for true crime and laugh till your stomach hurts, you should subscribe, and then you should read Laci’s recent release, Scam Goddess: Lessons from a Life of Cons, Grifts, and Schemes. Laci is not only one of the funniest people on the planet, but gets that the reason scams work so often is because, as Emily recently wrote, people care! You can listen to an excerpt from the audiobook here, and you’ll be glad you did. I knew I would laugh, but did not think I would cry (that last chapter, Laci! please!).
