40 Nonfiction Books to Look Out for in 2024
Magazine / 40 Nonfiction Books to Look Out for in 2024

40 Nonfiction Books to Look Out for in 2024

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40 Nonfiction Books to Look Out for in 2024

If your New Year’s resolutions include reading more in 2024, you might be wondering what new titles will be coming out. That’s where we come in—in fact, finding the latest and greatest nonfiction books is kind of our thing. So to start planning your 2024 reading calendar, check out the list of 40 excellent books below.

Learn something new every day with “Book Bites,” 15-minute audio summaries of the latest and greatest nonfiction. Get started by downloading the Next Big Idea App today!

 

Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet By Hannah Ritchie

1. Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet

By Hannah Ritchie
Publication Date: January 9, 2024

Packed with the latest research, practical guidance, and enlightening graphics, data scientist Hannah Ritchie will make you rethink almost everything you’ve been told about the environment. View on Amazon

 

Making It in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. (And How It Got That Way) By Rachel Slade

2. Making It in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. (And How It Got That Way)

By Rachel Slade
Publication Date: January 9, 2024

A moving and eye-opening look at the story of manufacturing in America, whether it can ever successfully return to our shores, and why our nation depends on it, told through the experience of one young couple in Maine as they attempt to rebuild a lost industry, ethically. View on Amazon

 

Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture By Kyle Chayka

3. Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture

By Kyle Chayka
Publication Date: January 16, 2024

A timely history and investigation of a world ruled by algorithms, which determine the shape of culture itself. View on Amazon

 

Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age By Chip Conley

4. Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

By Chip Conley
Publication Date: January 16, 2024

What if we could reframe our thinking about the natural transition of midlife not as a crisis, but as a chrysalis—a time when something profound awakens in us. View on Amazon

 

The Holocaust: An Unfinished History By Dan Stone

5. The Holocaust: An Unfinished History

By Dan Stone
Publication Date: January 23, 2024

Stone draws on Nazi documents, but also on diaries, post-war testimonies, and even fiction, urging that, in our age of increasing nationalism and xenophobia, it is vital that we understand the true history of the Holocaust. View on Amazon

 

Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters By Brian Klaas

6. Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters

By Brian Klaas
Publication Date: January 23, 2024

A provocative challenge to how we think our world works—and why small, chance events can divert our lives and change everything, by social scientist Brian Klaas. View on Amazon

The Survivors of the Clotilda: The Lost Stories of the Last Captives of the American Slave Trade By Hannah Durkin

7. The Survivors of the Clotilda: The Lost Stories of the Last Captives of the American Slave Trade

By Hannah Durkin
Publication Date: January 30, 2024

Weaving a tapestry of history, biography, and social commentary, Durkin deepens our knowledge and understanding of the Black experience of America and its tragic past. View on Amazon

 

The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder By Robert L. Sutton and Huggy Rao

8. The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder

By Robert I. Sutton and Huggy Rao
Publication Date: January 30, 2024

The causes and solutions for five of the most common and damaging friction troubles: oblivious leaders, addition sickness, broken connections, jargon monoxide, and fast and frenzied people and teams. View on Amazon

 

Imagination: A Manifesto By Ruha Benjamin

9. Imagination: A Manifesto

By Ruha Benjamin
Publication Date: February 6, 2024

In this revelatory work, Benjamin calls on us to take imagination seriously as a site of struggle and a place of possibility for reshaping the future. View on Amazon

 

Never Not Working: Why the Always-On Culture Is Bad for Business—and How to Fix It By Malissa Clark

10. Never Not Working: Why the Always-On Culture Is Bad for Business—and How to Fix It

By Malissa Clark
Publication Date: February 6, 2024

A preeminent researcher on the culture of overwork delivers a comprehensive, nuanced definition of workaholism, busting myths along the way. View on Amazon

 

White Supremacy Is All Around: Notes from a Black Disabled Woman in a White World By Akilah Cadet

11. White Supremacy Is All Around: Notes from a Black Disabled Woman in a White World

By Akilah Cadet
Publication Date: February 6, 2024

Founder and CEO of consulting firm Change Cadet, Dr. Akilah Cadet shares a powerful, incisive look at where we are in the fight to dismantle white supremacy—and what we urgently need to do next. View on Amazon

 

2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed By Eric Klinenberg

12. 2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed

By Eric Klinenberg
Publication Date: February 13, 2024

A meticulously reported, character-driven, unforgettable investigation of a time when nothing was certain and everything was at stake, by the acclaimed sociologist and bestselling author Eric Klinenberg. View on Amazon

 

The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center By Rhaina Cohen

13. The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center

By Rhaina Cohen
Publication Date: February 13, 2024

At a time when many Americans are spending large stretches of their lives single, widowed or divorced, or feeling the effects of the “loneliness epidemic,” Cohen insists that we recognize the many forms of profound connection that can anchor our lives. View on Amazon

 

Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters By Charan Ranganath

14. Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory’s Power to Hold on to What Matters

By Charan Ranganath
Publication Date: February 20, 2024

Memory is far more than a record of the past. In this groundbreaking tour of the mind and brain, one of the world’s top memory researchers reveals the powerful role memory plays in nearly every aspect of our lives, from recalling faces and names, to learning, decision-making, trauma and healing. View on Amazon

 

Practical Optimism: The Art, Science, and Practice of Exceptional Well-Being By Sue Varma

15. Practical Optimism: The Art, Science, and Practice of Exceptional Well-Being

By Sue Varma
Publication Date: February 20, 2024

A practical program rooted in optimism to help you live fully and joyfully in an imperfect, turbulent world. View on Amazon

 

Languishing: How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down By Corey Keyes

16. Languishing: How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down

By Corey Keyes
Publication Date: February 20, 2024

The Emory University sociologist who coined the term languishing—low-grade mental weariness that affects our self-esteem, relationships, and motivation—explores the rise of this phenomenon and presents a comprehensive guide to flourishing in a world that demands too much. View on Amazon

 

The Great Wave: The Era of Radical Disruption and the Rise of the Outsider By Michiko Kakutani

17. The Great Wave: The Era of Radical Disruption and the Rise of the Outsider

By Michiko Kakutani
Publication Date: February 20, 2024

An urgent examination of how disruptive politics, technology, and art are capsizing old assumptions in a great wave of change breaking over today’s world, creating both opportunity and peril. View on Amazon

 

The Washington Book: How to Read Politics and Politicians By Carlos Lozada

18. The Washington Book: How to Read Politics and Politicians

By Carlos Lozada
Publication Date: February 20, 2024

The Pulitzer Prize-winning opinion columnist at The New York Times explores how people in power reveal themselves through their books and writings and, in so doing, illuminates the personal, political, and cultural conflicts driving Washington and the nation. View on Amazon

 

Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection By Charles Duhigg

19. Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection

By Charles Duhigg
Publication Date: February 20, 2024

A fascinating exploration of what makes conversations work—and how we can all learn to be supercommunicators at work and in life. View on Amazon

 

Normal Women: Nine Hundred Years of Making History By Philippa Gregory

20. Normal Women: Nine Hundred Years of Making History

By Philippa Gregory
Publication Date: February 27, 2024

The #1 New York Times bestselling historical novelist delivers her magnum opus—a landmark work of feminist nonfiction that radically redefines our understanding of the extraordinary roles ordinary women played throughout British history. View on Amazon

 

Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout By Cal Newport

21. Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout

By Cal Newport
Publication Date: March 5, 2024

From the New York Times bestselling author of Digital Minimalism and Deep Work comes a groundbreaking philosophy for pursuing meaningful accomplishment while avoiding overload. View on Amazon

 

A History of Women in 101 Objects By Annabelle Hirsch

22. A History of Women in 101 Objects

By Annabelle Hirsch
Publication Date: March 5, 2024

Discover the hidden history of women—and the world—through this visual exploration of intimate objects and the surprising, sometimes shocking stories behind them. View on Amazon

 

Purpose: What Evolution and Human Nature Imply About the Meaning of Our Existence By Samuel T. Wilkinson

23. Purpose: What Evolution and Human Nature Imply About the Meaning of Our Existence

By Samuel T. Wilkinson
Publication Date: March 5, 2024

By using principles from a variety of scientific disciplines, Yale Professor Samuel Wilkinson provides a framework for human evolution that reveals an overarching purpose to our existence. View on Amazon

 

The Heart and the Chip: Our Bright Future with Robots By Daniela Rus and Gregory Mone

24. The Heart and the Chip: Our Bright Future with Robots

By Daniela Rus and Gregory Mone
Publication Date: March 5, 2024

Roboticist Daniela Rus and science writer Gregory Mone provide an overview of the interconnected fields of robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, and reframe the way we think about intelligent machines while weighing the moral and ethical consequences of their role in society. View on Amazon

 

Cultures of Growth: How the New Science of Mindset Can Transform Individuals, Teams, and Organizations By Mary C. Murphy

25. Cultures of Growth: How the New Science of Mindset Can Transform Individuals, Teams, and Organizations

By Mary C. Murphy
Publication Date: March 12, 2024

Award-winning social psychologist Mary Murphy offers a groundbreaking reconsideration of individual and team success—showing how to create and sustain a growth mindset in any organization’s culture. View on Amazon

 

You Get What You Pay For: Essays By Morgan Parker

26. You Get What You Pay For: Essays

By Morgan Parker
Publication Date: March 12, 2024

The award-winning author of Magical Negro traces the difficulty and beauty of existing as a Black woman through American history, from the foundational trauma of the slave trade all the way up to Serena Williams and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. View on Amazon

 

The Menopause Brain: New Science Empowers Women to Navigate the Pivotal Transition with Knowledge and Confidence By Lisa Mosconi

27. The Menopause Brain: New Science Empowers Women to Navigate the Pivotal Transition with Knowledge and Confidence

By Lisa Mosconi
Publication Date: March 12, 2024

The New York Times bestselling author of The XX Brain shows women how to navigate menopause successfully and come out the other side with an even better brain. View on Amazon

 

Third Millennium Thinking: Creating Sense in a World of Nonsense By Saul Perlmutter, John Campbell, and Robert MacCoun

28. Third Millennium Thinking: Creating Sense in a World of Nonsense

By Saul Perlmutter, John Campbell, and Robert MacCoun
Publication Date: March 26, 2024

Based on a wildly popular UC Berkeley course, a primer on how to think critically, make sound decisions, and solve problems—individually and collectively—using scientists’ tricks of the trade. View on Amazon

 

Says Who?: A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words By Anne Curzan

29. Says Who?: A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words

By Anne Curzan
Publication Date: March 26, 2024

A kinder, funner usage guide to the ever-changing English language and a useful tool for both the grammar stickler and the more colloquial user of English, from linguist and veteran professor Anne Curzan. View on Amazon

 

Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Wellbeing By Laura Mae Martin

30. Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Wellbeing

By Laura Mae Martin
Publication Date: April 2, 2024

Google’s Executive Productivity Advisor offers insights on how to make the “new way of work” work for you, providing actionable steps to optimize your productivity, accomplish more, prevent burnout, and cultivate a harmonious work-life balance. View on Amazon

 

Somehow: Thoughts on Love By Anne Lamott

31. Somehow: Thoughts on Love

By Anne Lamott
Publication Date: April 9, 2024

Beloved New York Times bestselling author Anne Lamott explores the transformative power that love has in our lives: how it surprises us, forces us to confront uncomfortable truths, reminds us of our humanity, and guides us forward. View on Amazon

 

The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality By Amanda Montell

32. The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality

By Amanda Montell
Publication Date: April 9, 2024

From the bestselling author of Cultish and host of the podcast Sounds Like a Cult, a delicious blend of cultural criticism and personal narrative that explores our cognitive biases and the power, disadvantages, and highlights of magical thinking. View on Amazon

 

MicroSkills: Small Actions, Big Impact By Adaira Landry and Resa E. Lewiss

33. MicroSkills: Small Actions, Big Impact

By Adaira Landry and Resa E. Lewiss
Publication Date: April 16, 2024

MicroSkills is built on one core, easy-to-learn principle: every big goal, complicated task, healthy habit, and, yes, even what we think of as character traits, can be broken down into small, learnable, skills that can be practiced, and incorporated real-time. View on Amazon

 

Sovereign: Reclaim Your Freedom, Energy, and Power in a Time of Distraction, Uncertainty, and Chaos By Emma Seppälä

34. Sovereign: Reclaim Your Freedom, Energy, and Power in a Time of Distraction, Uncertainty, and Chaos

By Emma Seppälä
Publication Date: April 23, 2024

The acclaimed author of The Happiness Track maps a radically fresh, science-backed path to break the bonds of self-destructive patterns and beliefs and live a fuller, more authentic life. View on Amazon

 

The Complications: On Going Insane in America By Emmett Rensin

35. The Complications: On Going Insane in America

By Emmett Rensin
Publication Date: April 23, 2024

The Complications is an intimate portrait of what it’s like to live with schizoaffective disorder of the bipolar type as well as a biting, revelatory critique of America’s mental health culture. View on Amazon

 

Ask: Tap into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You for Unexpected Breakthroughs in Leadership and Life By Jeff Wetzler

36. Ask: Tap into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You for Unexpected Breakthroughs in Leadership and Life

By Jeff Wetzler
Publication Date: May 7, 2024

A globally recognized expert on learning and leadership offers a hands-on, surprisingly effective way to find out what others really think, know, and feel. View on Amazon

 

Black Meme: The History of the Images That Make Us By Legacy Russell

37. Black Meme: The History of the Images That Make Us

By Legacy Russell
Publication Date: May 7, 2024

Representations of Blackness have always been integral to our understanding of of the modern world. In Black Meme, Legacy Russell explores the construct, culture, and material of the “meme” as mapped to Black visual culture from 1900 to present day. View on Amazon

 

Smart Rivals: How Innovative Companies Play Games That Tech Giants Can't Win By Feng Zhu and Bonnie Yining Cao

38. Smart Rivals: How Innovative Companies Play Games That Tech Giants Can’t Win

By Feng Zhu and Bonnie Yining Cao
Publication Date: July 30, 2024

A new, researched-based look at how traditional or smaller companies can better compete with Big Tech on their own terms—from a Harvard Business School professor and a former Bloomberg journalist. View on Amazon

 

Hyperefficient: Optimize Your Brain to Transform the Way You Work By Mithu Storoni

39. Hyperefficient: Optimize Your Brain to Transform the Way You Work

By Mithu Storoni
Publication Date: September 17, 2024

Instead of unthinkingly imposing the rhythm of our daily tasks on our brains, Dr. Mithu Storoni proposes we instead impose the rhythm of our brains on our work. This easy-to-follow advice will help you perform at your best throughout the day, every day. View on Amazon

 

It's A Gas: The Sublime and Elusive Elements That Expand Our World By Mark Miodownik

40. It’s A Gas: The Sublime and Elusive Elements That Expand Our World

By Mark Miodownik
Publication Date: September 24, 2024

The New York Times bestselling author of Stuff Matters and Liquid Rules presents a fascinating guided tour of the secret life of gases: the strange, elusive, and fascinating substances that shape our world. View on Amazon

 

The Key Ideas in 15 Minutes

“If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books,” Roald Dahl once famously said. The only trouble is, reading even one book from cover to cover takes hours—and you may not have many hours to spare.

But imagine for a moment: What if you could read a groundbreaking new book every day? Or even better, what if you could invite a world-renowned thinker into your earbuds, where they personally describe the 5 key takeaways from their work in just 15 minutes?

With the Next Big Idea App, we’ve turned this fantasy into a reality. We partnered with hundreds of acclaimed authors to create “Book Bites,” short audio summaries of the latest nonfiction that are prepared and read aloud by the authors themselves. Discover cutting-edge leadership skills, productivity hacks, the science of happiness and well-being, and much more—all in the time it takes to drive to work or walk the dog.

Next Big Idea App Book Bites

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The Next Big Idea App is free for anyone to try—and if you love it, we invite you to become an official member of the Next Big Idea Club. Membership grants you unlimited access to Book Bites and unlocks early-release, ad-free episodes of our LinkedIn-partnered podcast. You also gain entry to our private online discussion group, where you can talk big ideas with fellow club members and join exclusive live Q&A sessions with featured authors.

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For a more focused learning experience, we recommend a Hardcover or eBook Membership. Every few months, legendary authors and club curators Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel Pink select two new nonfiction books as the must-reads of the season. We then send hardcover copies straight to your doorstep, or eBook versions to your favorite digital device. We also collaborate with the authors of selected books to produce original reading guides and premium video e-courses, 50-minute master classes that take you step by step through their most life-changing ideas. And yes, it’s all available through the Next Big Idea App.

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Whether you prefer to read, listen, or watch, the Next Big Idea is here to help you work smarter and live better. Wake up with an always-fresh Idea of the Day, the perfect shot of inspiration to go with your morning coffee. Then dive into one of our Challenges, hand-picked collections of Book Bites that form crash courses in subjects like communication, motivation, and career acceleration. Later, watch the playback of an interview with U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Stanford psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt, or philosopher John Kaag. And be sure to check the “Events” tab in the app, so that you can join an upcoming live Q&A and personally chat with the next featured thought leader.

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