Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing: 26 Nonfiction Books to Give for the Holidays

This is part of our 2020 Gift Guide — see previous entries for kids and YA, memoirs and gift books! Maybe it’s because it so often feels like truth is at a premium these days, but looking back over the year’s Staff Picks, it seems like we recommended more nonfiction than usual. Whatever the reason, we’ve rounded up the Best of 2020 along with some new favorites, for your gift-giving (or -keeping) pleasure.

New Books


Recommended by Steve
How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: Essays

By Kiese Laymon

Listen, Kiese Laymon is one of our best writers, full stop. This revised edition features new essays, an updated introduction and, in addition to his powerful words, a message about reclaiming your own worth along the way.

Recommended by Becca
HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style

By Elizabeth Holmes

Even before The Crown Season 4 became the talk of Twitter, we all knew at least one person obsessed with the royals. New and old royal watchers alike will delight in Elizabeth Holmes’ “so many thoughts” — an examination of the messages and hidden histories behind the sartorial choices of the four most influential women of British royalty.

Recommended by Ben
The Ancient Way: Discoveries on the Path of Celtic Christianity

By River Jordan

In this jaunty fusion of travel writing and spiritual odyssey, River and an old friend take a pilgrimage to the Isle of Iona, encountering plenty of adventures, setbacks, and epiphanies along the way. Writing in her down-to-earth, quirky, self-deprecating style, she seeks the sublime alongside new friends and kind strangers, discovering the thin places where the mundane and divine brush, merge, become one and the same.

Read two short excerpts here on Musing!

Recommended by Becca
Time to Eat: Delicious Meals for Busy Lives: A Cookbook

By Nadiya Hussain

You may know her from the Great British Baking Show, but if you haven’t watched Season 6 champion Nadiya Hussain’s new Netflix series (of the same name as this book), you are missing out. Go watch, then try to resist buying this cookbook. It will be impossible, because Nadiya Hussain is the most charming person on Earth. Almost charming enough to make me want to make the “fish bake” with the SpaghettiOs.

Best of 2020



His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope

By Jon Meacham, with an afterword by John Lewis

A moving biography of the late John Lewis, whose tireless work to better this country endures. Tracing Lewis’ life from the farm to the halls of Congress, Meacham delivers what might be his most stirring work yet. Includes an afterword by Lewis himself.

Signed copies —read an excerpt here on Musing!

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

By Isabel Wilkerson

This was an incredibly timely book to arrive this year — a look at how racism in the United States resembles the caste system in India — and one that will reverberate for long after.

The Undocumented Americans

By Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

Sometimes the truth is not just stranger but also more fraught, piercing and raw than fiction. Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s account of immigrants living in America — and working, often in backbreaking thankless jobs — makes space for the real stories of people who often go unseen and unappreciated.

Cursed Objects: Strange but True Stories of the World’s Most Infamous Items

By J. W. Ocker

A book full of cursed things, for a cursed year! Seriously, though, this one is fascinating, creepy, funny collection of tales.

Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America

By Candacy Taylor

This overview of the Green Book, published from 1936 to 1966, which Black travelers used to negotiate safe restaurants, lodging and other businesses, is thoroughly researched and thoughtfully presented.

Agent Sonya: Moscow’s Most Daring Wartime Spy

By Ben Macintyre

“Sonya” was the code name of Ursula Burton, a Soviet spy who in the course of a fascinating career was hunted by the Nazis, MI5, MI6 and the FBI — and eluded all of them. A riveting, page-turning work of narrative history.

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments

By Aimee Nezhukumatathil & Fumi Nakamura

Combining personal narrative, beautiful writing about the natural world and its countless marvels, and equally beautiful illustrations, this makes a great gift. And if you loved Late Migrations, this is the perfect book for you.

Fight of the Century: Writers Reflect on 100 Years of Landmark ACLU Cases

By Michael Chabon (Editor) & Ayelet Waldman (Editor)

A collection of essays by some of the best writers working — including Marlon James, George Saunders, Geraldine Brooks, William Finnegan and Ann Patchett — each addressing a different landmark case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Read an excerpt here on Musing!

A Measure of Belonging: Twenty-One Writers of Color on the New American South

By Cinelle Barnes (Editor)

A staff favorite, this anthology features a diverse cast of writers, including Kiese Laymon, Osayi Endolyn and Nashville poet Tiana Clark, to name just three. AMOB grapples with the question of who belongs in the South by asserting — in many ways, through many lenses — we do.

Read an interview with editor Cinelle Barnes!

The Road from Raqqa: A Story of Brotherhood, Borders, and Belonging

By Jordan Ritter Conn

A story of brothers, an ancient city and the promise of America, The Road From Raqqa is a book about finding connection — to place, to people, and to purpose. We especially love it because Riyad Alkasem’s restaurant, Cafe Rakka, is just outside Nashville, but we’d recommend this read no matter what.

Read an excerpt here on Musing!

More nonfiction we loved:

Greetings From New Nashville by Steve Haruch — signed copies!
Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh
Ex Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Re-Read by Michiko Kakutani
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Stuff You Should Know by Josh Clark & Chuck Bryant
Love is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubled Times by Bishop Michael Curry
Dying of Whiteness by Jonathan Metzl
Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
The Quiet Americans: Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War—a Tragedy in Three Acts by Scott Anderson
In Bibi’s Kitchen by Hawa Hassan
The Best of Me by David Sedaris
Having and Being Had by Eula Biss

Speaking of stuff you should know. … Looking to get a gift shipment off in time for the holidays? As Ann said the other day, the supply chain is strained, everything is unpredictable, and there are delays in every direction. It’s an unpredictable end to an unpredictable year! That said, in order to have a chance, we’ll need your order right away and you’ll need to select Priority Mail as your shipping method.