Top Ten Books of 2023: Non-Fiction

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

I love your point about our nonfiction choices revealing more about us than the fiction we read. No overlaps between yours and mine unlike your fiction top ten but some that sound fascinating.

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you Roz. Will you be making a separate non-fiction list?

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

@@BookishTexan I am not sure what I am going to manage and when. My brother died just before Christmas. The past three weeks have been a practical and emotional whirlwind. But I will want to reflect on the past year and it could be a good distraction.

[@BookishTexan]

@@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711 I am sorry to hear about your brother. Will be happy to see you whenever you feel like making a video.

[@HannahsBooks]

Clint Smith’s book and Annette Gordon Reed’s books are two of my very favorites. Everybody Was So Young has been on my list for a while but I’m bumping it up higher. Thanks.

[@BookishTexan]

Everybody was so young really fit with my lingering fascination with the American expats of the 20s, though it ended up being much more than that.

[@joniheisenberg]

I am so happy my recommendation for “The Lumumba Plot” made it on your top 10! It is my #2 and “KING” by Jonathan Eig is my #1 non-fiction read. My top fiction pick is “The Shards” by Bret Easton Ellis. Thank you for all the wonderful content you have provided this year.❤

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you for the recommendation and for your support. I’m always leery of Easton Ellis, but I may give The Shards a chance.

[@joniheisenberg]

Not sure if I previously left my comments regarding the book, so if not perhaps this will entice- “Ellis masterfully interweaves the cinematic suspense of Brian DePalma(“Dressed to Kill” tension) into the narrative.Strangely yet successfully the narrator is giving Nick Carraway vibes.” There is also all the wonderful references to 80’s music throughout the novel.🎼

[@jacquelinemcmenamin8204]

I only read two nonfiction books in 2023. My Fourth Time , We Drowned by Sally Hayden Good Morning Monster ( about therapy) Your list is excellent. Quite a few I now want to read. Happy New Year 🥳

[@BookishTexan]

I’ve heard good things about My Fourth Time we drowned. Thank you for reminding me about it

[@readandre-read]

I also included How the Word is Passed in my top 12. So good. Several people have mentioned I'm Afraid of Men; adding to my TBR along with The Hemingses of Monticello. I enjoyed Gordon Reed's book On Juneteenth. I have a goal to read at least one nonfiction book a month in 2024 so I appreciate the great suggestions! Happy New Year!

[@BookishTexan]

Thanks Angelea! Glad to know we had a book in common on our top lists this year.

[@1book1review]

Your nonfiction is so much more varied than mine. I mostly just read self improvement or memoir type nonfiction.

[@BookishTexan]

I don’t think I’ve ever read a self help book. I think I was put off by the number of business leadership books whose ideas and language were presented to me in conferences at work because I, unfairly, associate self improvement with those kinds of books. I have only recently begun reading and enjoying memoirs.

[@1book1review]

@@BookishTexan haha, yeah, I so know which you mean. I think the attitude for self improvement is looking for new ideas in areas you feel stuck or are curious to improve. And then allow to completely ignore what a book says if it doesn't work for you. I take few new things from them nowadays, it's more a way to remember what to do and motivation to keep at it.

[@patricejones8799]

Wonderful. You have given me several to add to my 2024 TBR list.

[@BookishTexan]

Thanks Patrice. Great to hear from you.

[@ariannefowler455]

Such a great list. Some were on my radar and some I'd never heard of. I'm taking notes on what to add to my list. I read more nonfiction in 2023 than in previous years and I hope to expand on that in 2024.

[@BookishTexan]

I’m hoping to read more non-fiction and to read more widely in non-fiction next year. Thank you for your kind comment.

[@brianchappell4054]

Very good analysis as usual. I have to read that Ward book as I read her latest this year and "Sing, Unburied, Sing" awhile ago. The others will be on my radar as well. peace/love 2024

[@BookishTexan]

Happy New Year to you! I hope you enjoy the other works by Ward.

[@StephanieJCohen]

I really need to get to The Hemingses of Monticello this year. I read Juneteenth and immediately purchased The Hemingses but haven’t got around to it yet. The evergreen lament on Booktube.

[@HannahsBooks]

I think you will love it!

[@BookishTexan]

It is just such an impressive work of history in every way.

[@TKTalksBooks]

Thank you! I put two of these on my 2024 TBR (Jesmyn Ward and The Hemingses )

[@BookishTexan]

I hope you will like both.

[@bookssongsandothermagic]

You're absolutely right; non-fiction really does reveal a lot about someone's interests and personalities. As always, a great selection of books Brian, that I will be looking out for....I ought to have read "12 years a slave" by now though....had it for a while.

[@BookishTexan]

Thanks Gareth.

[@RSelcov]

Good list. I haven't read any of them yet. I'll definitely be reading the Clint Smith's book this year, because it is a book club pick for May. Two of my favorite non-fiction books this year are Your Face Belongs to Us, by Kashmir Hill, about the history and current uses of facial recognition software, and The Return, by Hisham Matar, a memoir that won a Pulitzer in 2017 - his father was imprisoned by Qaddafi and he goes back to Lybia after Qaddafi was deposed; I'm still reading it (maybe finish it today?) and I'm finding it fascinating because I knew basically nothing about life Lybia.

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you. Both of the books you described sound fascinating. Thanks for making me aware of them.

[@RovingReader]

I’m interested in every single one of these! 🎉

[@myreadinglife8816]

Some of my faves made your top ten: Empire of Pain, How the Word is Passed, and The Wager. I want to read the Lumumba Plot.

[@BookishTexan]

I’m pretty sure you are the one who made me aware if The Wager so thank you! The Lumumba Plot was very good, maybe a little too detail oriented at times regarding the ins and outs of the government.

[@azu_rikka]

Your list is very tempting! Unfortunately, my main goal for 2024 is not to add more US books to my tbr. I made the decision after realizing that a third of my tbr books are from the US, and being a Swissie living in Cape Town, I felt that that was not okay😊. My 3 favourite non- fiction were: In the dreamhouse by Machado Kaffir boy by Mathabane Apeirogon (is marketed as fiction but about 75% of the facts mentioned are verifiable on google, so to me its more fact than fiction) by McCann A happy new year to you and your family!

[@BookishTexan]

I thought In the Dream House was good. I've only read one book by McCann and I did not know that so much of Apeirogon was factual. That kind of makes me want to read it more. Thanks for your comment.

[@joshyaks]

I usually read at least a couple of history books each year, but this year I think the only nonfiction book I read was Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything", which was more of a science book.

[@BookishTexan]

I’ve heard of that one (was it you?). I’ve never read a Bryson book which seems odd.

[@Bookishtravels1]

Oh i totally agree with non fiction exposing you as your are, so i must be a very eclectic person 😂 I have not read any of these, but some do spark my interest, especially The Wager. Glad that you are enjoying the books you are reading :)

[@BookishTexan]

The Wager is very good. I will warn that it gets off to a bit of a slow start, but once it gets going, it goes. I am sure you are quite eclectic!

[@Bookishtravels1]

@@BookishTexan Thanks for the warning about The Wager, will expect a slow start 😎👍🏻

[@davidnovakreadspoetry]

All of these deserve a place on my list, dammit, except Northrup and that one you’ve made me feel like rereading.

[@BookishTexan]

Sorry😂😂😂. Marc Nash does the sane thing to me two or three times a week.

[@integspec]

Came to this channel because of the Rashidi Khalidi book review. I'm solely a nin-fic reader focusing on history, geopolitics, economics, etc... I would love to subscribe but it looks like you focus more on US history related topics as Slavery, Indigenous topics, LGBT community, etc... I'm wondering if you could point me to any videos of yours that matches my interest. BTW, I'm not implying that your preferred topics are unimportant in anyway, not at all. It's just I've read about them and now I prefer to read more on what interests me. Thank you.

[@BookishTexan]

Honestly, I mostly talk about fiction on my channel and my nonfiction reading has a heavy US focus. I’m not sure I have the content you are looking for.

[@brittabohlerthesecondshelf]

Now I'm even more sorry that I didn't get to the Vivek Shraya last year! (Even though it's only an honorable mention.)

[@BookishTexan]

It is worth the read.

[@alldbooks9165]

I’ve read five. Those are pretty good stats I think.

[@BookishTexan]

Indeed.

[@bookofdust]

I think you were really like A Fever In the Heartland about the reemergence of the KKK in the Midwest and the man who was the architect behind it who was truly evil.

[@BookishTexan]

Oh that does sound good thank you!

[@girlsaint]

🎇🎉🎇