Best Nonfiction Books of 2024
Last updated: November 20, 2024
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1
Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life and Sudden Death
by Laura Cumming -
2
A Flat Place
by Noreen Masud -
3
Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI
by Madhumita Murgia -
4
Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World
by Naomi Klein -
5
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake
by Tiya Miles -
6
How to Say Babylon: A Memoir
by Safiya Sinclair
Recent Nonfiction Highlights: The 2024 Women’s Prize Shortlist, recommended by Suzannah Lipscomb
Recent Nonfiction Highlights: The 2024 Women’s Prize Shortlist, recommended by Suzannah Lipscomb
Since 1996, the Women’s Prize has been awarded the best new novels by female writers. This year, for the very first time, an equivalent prize has been established for female nonfiction writers—whose books receive less coverage and lower advances than those of their male counterparts. Suzannah Lipscomb, historian and chair of the inaugural judging panel, introduces us to the six books that made the 2024 Women’s Prize for Nonfiction shortlist.
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1
A Stranger in Your Own City: Travels in the Middle East's Long War
by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad -
2
The Britannias: An Archipelago’s Tale
by Alice Albinia -
3
The Gathering Place: A Winter Pilgrimage Through Changing Times
by Mary Colwell -
4
The Granite Kingdom: A Cornish Journey
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5
Wounded Tigris: A River Journey Through the Cradle of Civilisation
by Leon McCarron -
6
High Caucasus: A Mountain Quest in Russia’s Haunted Hinterland
by Tom Parfitt
The Best Travel Writing of 2024, recommended by Shafik Meghji
The Best Travel Writing of 2024, recommended by Shafik Meghji
Every spring, the judges of the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards draw up a shortlist for the title of the ‘travel book of the year.’ The 2024 shortlist highlights six fascinating recent travelogues that wrestle with political and environmental issues, and explore the contrast between the outsider and the insider gaze.
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1
I Would Meet You Anywhere: A Memoir
by Susan Kiyo Ito -
2
Secret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family Farm
by David Mas Masumoto -
3
Rotten Evidence: Reading and Writing in an Egyptian Prison
by Ahmed Naji, translated by Katharine Halls -
4
How to Say Babylon: A Memoir
by Safiya Sinclair -
5
Story of a Poem: A Memoir
by Matthew Zapruder
The Best Memoirs: The 2024 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist, recommended by May-lee Chai
The Best Memoirs: The 2024 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist, recommended by May-lee Chai
It’s been a “phenomenal” year for autobiographical writing, says May-lee Chai—the award-winning author and chair of the judges for this year’s National Book Critics Circle prize for autobiography. Here she offers us a tour of the five memoirs that made their 2024 shortlist.
