Just to clear up a common misconception: "nonfiction" is not synonymous with "boring." Nonfiction books [1] are not all tomes on dead presidents — in fact, nonfiction can be just as poetic, transportive, and exciting as novels. From essay collections to memoirs [2], here are just 12 of 2018's best nonfiction books so far. Read one of these books, and then try to tell us you still think nonfiction is simply educational.
Tonight I'm Someone Else
In Chelsea Hodson's essay collection Tonight I'm Someone Else [4], Hodson launches from her eclectic work history through other ways in which a human sacrifices body and will, reaching out to anyone who has ever questioned what a person is worth and what a person can endure.
You All Grow Up and Leave Me
Piper Weiss's memoir, You All Grow Up and Leave Me [5], tells the story of her childhood in Manhattan's exclusive private-school scene in the early 1990s and her middle-aged tennis coach, who killed himself after a failed attempt to kidnap one of his teenage students.
I'll Be Gone in the Dark
Published after journalist Michelle McNamara's sudden death, I'll Be Gone in the Dark [6] tracks McNamara's dogged pursuit of the Golden State Killer, a mysterious and violent predator who committed 50 sexual assaults and 10 sadistic murders in California.
Would You Rather?
In Katie Heaney's book of essays, Would You Rather? [7], she opens up about realising at the age of 28 that she is gay, as well as how she learned to accept herself and her new identity in the New York City dating scene.
Choose Your Own Disaster
Part memoir, part personality test, Dana Schwartz's memoir, Choose Your Own Disaster [8], offers a candid and oftentimes hilarious exploration of a millennial woman's journey through her early 20s, including all of the dating gaffes and identity crises along the way.
Dead Girls
In this searing essay collection, Dead Girls [9], Alice Bolin chronicles her life in Los Angeles while dissecting our society's fixation on battered, brutalized women, exploring everything from iconic pieces of literature to popular culture.
The Girl Who Smiled Beads
The Girl Who Smiled Beads [10] is the true story of Clemantine Wamariya, who fled the Rwandan massacre at 6 years old, only to find herself taken in by a family in Chicago, raised as their own, and given opportunities she couldn't have dreamed of in Rwanda.
Educated
Tara Westover's memoir, Educated [11], is about her unconventional upbringing by Mormon survivalists who homeschooled Westover and her six siblings.
Can You Tolerate This?
In Ashleigh Young's essay collection, Can You Tolerate This? [12], Young explores the frailty, anxiety, and limitations of the body as she comes of age in a colourful, isolated community.
Text Me When You Get Home
Through dozens of interviews with historians, creators, authors, and other experts, journalist Kayleen Schaefer's Text Me When You Get Home [13] offers a new sociological perspective — as well as a celebration — of female friendships today.
I Am, I Am, I Am
I Am, I Am, I Am [14] is Maggie O'Farrell's moving memoir about the 17 near-death experiences that have punctuated and defined her and her daughter's lives.
Godspeed
In former Olympic swimmer Casey Legler's memoir, Godspeed [15], she explores the unbearable pressure of being one of the fastest swimmers in the world at 15 (as well as the copious drugs, partying, and sex that come with it) and what it takes to make it out of that world in one piece.