Readers' Top Nonfiction of 2022 (So Far)

Apparently the GoodReads/Amazon minions have no idea that nonfiction actually includes more subjects/topics/genres than "memoir". * sarcasm *

Elentarri wrote: "Apparently the GoodReads/Amazon minions have no idea that nonfiction actually includes more subjects/topics/genres than "memoir". * sarcasm *"

i agree, i'm getting a little tired of all the famous people's memoirs especially

I'm with you both- GR does not have anything better than memoirs. As okay as they are, there are other nonfiction books out there that are just as good, if not better.

*****

The only books I agree with in this listing are 'The Nineties' and 'Bittersweet', both of which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Looks like GR is only including books which fit a certain narrative. For example, no sign of The War on the West, which was released at the end of April and has already gained an average reader score of 4.42 after 1,359 ratings. It's hardly a record, but it should at least secure a place ahead of "Easy Beauty", "South to America" and "Idiots", which scored less points with fewer reviews.

Stolen Focus by Johann Hari was pretty decent, but also a bit memoir-ish.
Taste for Poison was a light-weight look at various poisons. Not bad if you know nothing about the subject.

Where is the history? Where is the science? This is a really sad list.

I'm going with - Trailed: One Woman's Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders by Kathryn Miles. The subject matter and questions posed in this book are so important.

Oof the Betrayal of Anne Frank is.. not a good book. It's pulled from publication in the Netherlands for good reasons.

"Where is the history? Where is the science? This is a really sad list." - agree !

Carola wrote: "Oof the Betrayal of Anne Frank is.. not a good book. It's pulled from publication in the Netherlands for good reasons."

Wow, really? Can you tell me where to look for more info?

history goodreads pliz

I guess the PR companies for memoirs pays well, so they get featured. Science and history perhaps not so much. Perhaps they don't see promotion on GR as getting sales?

Naomi wrote: "Carola wrote: "Oof the Betrayal of Anne Frank is.. not a good book. It's pulled from publication in the Netherlands for good reasons."

Wow, really? Can you tell me where to look for more info?"

The book was pulled back in March. As Carola wrote, it is definitely not a good book. Goodreads doesn't allow links to other sites in comments. Searching Google using the terms "Anne Frank Book Pulled" resulted in links to several stories on the book.

news DOT sky DOT com/story/anne-frank-betrayal-book-pulled-by-publisher-as-historians-discredit-findings-of-cold-case-investigation-12573390

"Our theory is a theory and nothing more," chief investigator Pieter van Twisk told Dutch news agency ANP." But it is being presented as fact despite being discredited by 69 historians.

The breadth of topics here is actually pretty startling.

Proceeds to list nothing but memoirs and true crime.

What?

Return to Nature: The New Science of How Natural Landscapes Restores Us by Emma Loewe

Goodreads joins many local libraries; not subtle in pushing a jaded narrative.

Where's the narrative nonfiction ffs??? I agree, it's a sad list indeed.

If you hate this list, blame readers, not Goodreads. They specifically say at the top of this post that this list is compiled from readers’ “Want to Read” choices.

I agree, where is the History, I only occasionally read memoirs. How can Candice Millard's River of the Gods not be on this list?

Jennifer wrote: "If you hate this list, blame readers, not Goodreads. They specifically say at the top of this post that this list is compiled from readers’ “Want to Read” choices."

Exactly. I mean, yes, the statement from GR about the breadth of topics is a little silly when you consider the breadth of nonfiction that is not reflected here, but what are they supposed to do? Make fun of people's reading choices? Memoirs represent our interest in other people.

It's still fair to criticize Goodreads for its compilation. It would not be too much to ask for them to weight the tags. A book may have more raw tags for Nonfiction, but if it has more cumulative tags for various memoir/biography categories, it's probably best categorized as a memoir. This is all data they have, and with all that Amazon processing power, it's not unfair to expect them to do something with it.

If you truly want some non-fiction, then you should go with "The War on the West" by Douglas Murray. Very factual, very real. Very non mainstream narrative, that's why it is not on this list.

Yes, I too was looking for some science and history. So tired of memoir. Here's a some history from NYT book review: The Sewing Girl's Tale, by John Wood Sweet

Elentarri wrote: "Apparently the GoodReads/Amazon minions have no idea that nonfiction actually includes more subjects/topics/genres than "memoir". * sarcasm *"

I agree. Where are things like science popularizing? Or history, especially things NEW in history? I read "White Malice" this spring, for example, and it was great.

Ron wrote: "I'm with you both- GR does not have anything better than memoirs. As okay as they are, there are other nonfiction books out there that are just as good, if not better.

*****

The only books I agre..."

I thought Nineties was stream-of-consciousness bleck where Klosterman reached Peak Bill Simmons.

I grokked a couple of other books at my library without reading. Even without knowing the new info on the Anne Frank book, wasn't impressed. The seven chemicals book on poisoning? I've read much better on poisonings.

More and more, pop-history and pop-social-history books seem to be recycles. Like on this month's giveaways? A new FDR book is NOT groundbreaking. Nor a new book on the 1930s British Nazi-leaning "smart set."

For anyone not looking for a memoir I enjoyed all of these new releases this year ...

Disappointing. Where are the science books of nonfiction? Physics, cosmology, mathematics, the biosciences? Most in the list above are memoirs or self-help.

In my experience, many Memoirs are seldom "Non-Fiction" anyway.

Fadell, Tony - Build: An unorthodox guide to making things worth making

Hanson, Victor Davis - The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America

Howard, Hugh - Architects of an American Landscape: Henry Hobson Richardson, Frederick Law Olmstead, and the reimagining of America’s public and private spaces

O’Brien, Keith - Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe (Love Canal, Niagara Falls, NY)

Pink, Daniel - The Power of Regret: how looking backward moves us forward

Renehan, Edward J. Jr. - Deliberate Evil: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Daniel Webster, and the 1830 murder of a Salem slave trader

Robison, Peter - Flying Blind: the 737MAX tragedy and the fall of Boeing

Schaub, Diana - His Greatest Speeches: How Lincoln Moved the Nation

Wolfhart, Nell McShane - The Great Stewardess Rebellion: how women launched a workplace revolution at 30,000 feet (1960s and '70s womens rights)

Zegart, Amy B. - Spies, Lies and Algorithms: the history and future of American intelligence

Where's the history??

Naomi wrote: "Carola wrote: "Oof the Betrayal of Anne Frank is.. not a good book. It's pulled from publication in the Netherlands for good reasons."

Wow, really? Can you tell me where to look for more info?"

If it’s banned, it goes to the top of the list for me!! 😂

Cristina wrote: "If you truly want some non-fiction, then you should go with "The War on the West" by Douglas Murray. Very factual, very real. Very non mainstream narrative, that's why it is not on this list."

I think the reason it might not be on this list may have to do with the fact that it's just another attempt by far right wingers to downplay the atrocities committed by Western powers, something which they've been doing for centuries now. I imagine it would have been very mainstream in the 1860's, though.

How to be perfect is actually a pretty great primer on philosophy. I enjoyed it.