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“Best of” book season continues to do its thing, and we have two new nonfiction lists I want to highlight. But first, John Green has a new book coming out next year!
New York Times bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars, John Green, announced that he’s publishing a new book about tuberculosis. It is set to be the first book in his new imprint—which is an extension of his YouTube Channel with his brother Hank Green—Crash Course Books. Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection will examine the history of the infectious illness and the work of present-day advocates raising awareness for this deadly disease that still kills over 1 million people a year. Everything is Tuberculosis is slated to release in the spring of 2025.
With “Best of” list season in full swing, Esquire announced its top nonfiction books of the year (I guess, so far?). I appreciate seeing more nonfiction books get love, and it’s quite the eclectic list (though I would have liked to see a more diverse range of titles selected). Highlights include Lyz Lenz’s divorce memoir This American Ex-wife: How I Ended My Marriage and Started My Life, which describes how Lenz left her husband and her faith, embarking on a new life all her own. By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land by Cherokee journalist Rebecca Nagle details two hundred years of land theft and Native Nations’ fight for land rights. Other notables include Splinters by Leslie Jamison and Whiskey Tender by Deborah Taffa.
For me, there’s always something special about Publishers Weekly’s “Best of” list. It features a range of genres and age groups, with a lovely balance of buzzy and new-to-me titles. This year in the nonfiction category, there are 27 titles, including Whiskey Tender, which is also on Esquire’s list, a National Book Award finalist, and part of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence longlist. In it, Deborah Taffa shares about her life growing up as a mixed tribe Native girl in a country that told her that if she gave up her Native culture, she’d be given the American dream. But as she got older, she realized that promise had been a lie. Other highlights include, There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib, The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoë Schlanger, and Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley.
You can find me over on my substack Winchester Ave, over on Instagram @kdwinchester, on TikTok @kendrawinchester, or on my podcast Read Appalachia. As always, feel free to drop me a line at kendra.d.winchester@gmail.com. For even MORE bookish content, you can find my articles over on Book Riot.