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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Go Deeper with a Next Big Idea Club Membership
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.
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.
Learn Faster, from the World’s Leading Thinkers
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.
If you’re hoping to grow as a person or as a professional, we hope you’ll join us and tens of thousands of others who enjoy the Next Big Idea. Get started by downloading the app today!
When you buy through our Amazon links, the Next Big Idea Club may earn an affiliate commission.
