Since my mid-20s, I’ve been a non-fiction gal through and through. This year, I read far fewer non-fiction books than normal (I’m hoping to reverse that trend in 2026)!
After pulling together a HUGE post about my favourite fiction reads, I’ve run out of blogging steam and will give you the bare-bones rundown of my favourite non-fiction. Apologies that they aren’t receiving the same level of attention.
I also don’t feel like it’s appropriate to rate these books from 1 to 10. Many are deeply personal stories, and so these are the ten non-fiction books that most stood out in my memory at the end of the year. I am giving them Best Of categories, though.
Here are all my monthly book summaries from 2025: January. February. March. April. May. June. July. August. September. October. November. December.
And here is my Top Ten list for fiction.
Okay, okay—I know I said I wouldn’t play favourites, but one book rises to the top in my mind, and that’s Sarah’s Best Laid Plans! She happens to be a dear friend, so I might be a bit biased… but I’m also a critical reader, and I loved this book. I thought it was brilliantly written, and it reinvigorated my planning life heading into 2026.
Best book about planning and time management
- Best Laid Plans: A Simple Planning System for Living a Life That You Love by Sarah Hart-Unger
Best Christmas read of the season
- Rediscovering Christmas: Surprising Insights into the Story You Thought You Knew by A.J. Sherrill
Best spiritual book
- The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible by Tara-Leigh Cobble (in tandem with the actual Bible, OBVIOUSLY!)
Best memoir
- Joyride by Susan Orlean
Best book about grief
- Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks
Best book about health
- Ultra-Processed People: Why We Can’t Stop Eating Food That Isn’t Food by Chris van Tulleken
Best book about socioeconomic privilege
- Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond
Best book about women’s issues and the price of global conflict
- It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War by Lynsey Addario
Best book that will break your heart and bring you to tears
- The Story of a Heart: Two Families, One Heart, and the Medical Miracle That Saved a Child’s Life by Rachel Clarke
Best true crime memoir
- What the Dead Know: Learning About Life as a New York City Death Investigator by Barbara Butcher
That’s a wrap on my Top Ten Non-Fiction reads from 2025.
Your turn.
- Have you read any books from my Top Ten List?
- What was your favourite non-fiction book in 2025?
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I love the categories you used for your non-fiction reads. Nice to see SHU’s book up there, too!
My favourite non-fiction read this year was Kara Goucher’s memoir, The Longest Race. It’s such an intense, eye-opening look at her time as an Olympic runner and the toxic culture in the pro-running world (Nike!). It really stuck with me.
I read The Longest Race in 2024! What a powerful (maddening) story.
SHU’s book came out at the PERFECT time for planning <3
I have not read any of the books on your top ten list which means, yay, I have lots of books to add to my reading list! I probably read about 1-2 non-fiction books out of every ten books I read, but in 2025 and especially in the last couple of months of the year, I have been slacking hard on my reading, so the non-fiction has been pretty lacking. The last two I read (and enjoyed!) were A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Arden and The Women They Could Not Silence. As you know, I also rated Brain on Fire pretty high on my 2025 book list!
I also read and enjoyed The Women They Could Not Silence in 2025.
Brain on Fire was a BIG hit for me. What an intense, crazy story.
I’d love to read Arden’s memoir!
I read Story of a Heart- all the feels. Memorial Days was good though im not sure i like how she concluded it. ( But thats probably just me!) I’ve read other nonfiction- Everything is Tuberculosis comes to mind- but I don’t write down what I read. Oh, Replaceable You by Mary Roach- she’s always entertaining and enlightening.
Can I admit I do not remember how she concluded Memorial Days at this point??
I love Mary Roach and it’s been several years since I’ve read any of her books, so thanks for the reminder.
I read more nonfiction than I realized, after looking at my library borrowing history.
I read John Green for the first time: Both “Everything is Tuberculosis” and “The Anthropocene Reviewed.” Both very interesting, the first one was fascinating and everyone should read it if they’re interested in medicine and history.
Vitamania by Catherine Price was an eye-opening read about how “vitamins” became a craze in the U.S., and how we got the idea that if a deficiency of a vitamin causes problems, then an excess of the vitamin should…make us supermen? Crazy. Also crazy how unregulated vitamins are. It made me re-evaluate my own supplement intake, that’s for sure!
In the Midst of Life by Jennifer Worth–she of the Call the Midwife fame. This book is not about births, but about death and her experience caring for the dying. SO good and tear-jerking, and I think everyone working in healthcare should read it.
The Language of Kindness: A Nurse’s Story by Christie Watson. The author was a nurse in the UK, so it’s a little different than the nursing experience in the U.S., but ooph, it was good and hard at the same time.
And I read Grandma Gatewood’s Walk, which was a fascinating read about the Appalachian Trail and the first woman to walk it in its entirety. She was tough!
And Murderland, which was an interesting read, if gruesome at times.
I have seen Everything is Tuberculosis everywhere, but haven’t felt compelled to read it for some reason, but it’s so highly regarded, I really should!!
I have read other books by Jennifer Worth, so I should definitely check this out!
And I’m also going to look up the Language of Kindness and Gatewood Walk books! Thanks so much for all the NF recommendations, Karen!
I haven’t read any of those, except a Bible study I’m part of is going through the New Testament part of Bible Recap. It’s been a good study, but I wish we had started in the Old Testament, understanding that groundwork would make the New Testament make more sense.
The Bible Recap is phenomenal.
I’m a huge fiction reader- I just love to be immersed in a story at all times. So it’s no surprise that I haven’t read any of these (although some do sound really good) except for SHU’s book of course!!! I’m not even all the way through it but I’m already implementing her nested goals system. I think it’s relly going to help me.
Did I even read ANY nonfiction last year??? Maybe a couple memoirs. Eesh, my goal for 2026 should be to up my nonfiction reading.
Nested goals is a REVELATION!!!!!
Honestly, if you love fiction why try to change things? I happen to LOVE non-fiction, and I love leaning into it.
Why yes, I’ve read exactly one of these 10 books! BLP FTW! BTW, I’m counting BLP as a 2026 read since that’s when I finished it.
My greatest hits for 2025 non fiction are: Joy Prescriptions (helped give me yet another nudge to ditch work), 168 Hours, Tranquillity by Tuesday, and This American Woman. I’m not sure if you’d like TAW or not due to language/bawdy content, but the author has an incredible story to tell. It’s not everyone who goes from escaping an arranged marriage to becoming a lawyer to becoming a SAM to becoming a stand up comic.
Ha. I think this may be a common theme. If there is one book that would universally apply to most people reading here it would be Best Laid Plans. We aren’t all conflict photographers or medical examiners… but we are all humans with lives to plan and lead.
Tranquility by Tuesday for the win. (I show up in that, unnamed!).
I’ve had This American Woman on hold for a while now.
I only read seven non-fiction books last year. LOL. I am a fiction girl all the way down. In 2024, it was a goal to read at least one non-fiction book a month and I did accomplish it, but the habit did not stick. I probably should have made it a reading goal for 2026, but since I wanted my goals to be fun, I considered it and immediately left it off.
BUT!! Most of the nonfiction I read I really really liked.
Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait? by Tina Cassidy was SO GOOD. We named our new car after Lucy Burns after I read this book and it was all I talked about for a few weeks. Women eventually get the right to vote! Yay! Alice Paul and Woodrow Wilson are both sort of pills, but I want to party with Lucy Burns.
Kelly Bishop’s memoir, The Third Gilmore Girl, was also a true delight. I listened to her read the audiobook and her career was interesting and varied. There’s actually not very much about The Gilmore Girls, so if people didn’t watch the show, I don’t think it’s necessary to enjoy the book.
I found How to Read Literature Like a Professor to be very inspiring and encouraging about CBBC. I might buy a physical copy of the books so I can reference it regularly.
I’ve had that Susan Orlean book on my library hold list since you first wrote about it. I can’t wait to read it!
I love that you named your car after someone you read about!!
I have heard so many good things about Bishop’s memoir but haven’t gotten around to it yet, but really should.
I hope I haven’t oversold Joyride. I loved it, but I also LOVED The Library Book and love her writing style. I think it got some mixed reviews. Anyhoo, I really enjoyed it and hope the same is true for you.
I’ve only read Geraldine Brooks’ fiction books. I’m not much for non-fiction besides health/nutrition and my obsession with cults. I’d probably like the Ultra Processed People book, but I’ve learned a lot of that topic through a science & nutrition podcast that I follow. I do enjoy a memoir now and then about a celebrity or reality person that I like.
I love memoirs the most out of all the forms of non-fiction.
I don’t read as much nonfiction as fiction, but here are some standout books from the year:
Siblings Without Rivalry (Adele Faber)
How to Say Babylon: A Memoir (Safiya Sinclair — a fascinating account of a woman who grew up in a Jamaican Rastafari household)
Saving Five: A Memoir of Hope (Amanda Nguyen — a woman who persevered to achieve her goal of working for NASA after recovering from her own sexual assault and creating a bill to help prosecution/law enforcement in future SA cases)
That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour (Sunita Puri — FABULOUS book about a palliative care physician)
The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit (Michael Finkel — about a man who lived alone in the Maine woods for decades)
Also, thank you so much for your sweet card and note! It was really fun to see your handwriting “in real life” and not just photos on the blog. 🙂
I forgot all about Siblings without Rivalry. I remember reading it when my kids were younger and thinking a) it was amazing and b) there was too much to take in and remember. I should read it again because I think I would be able to cherry pick things so much easier. I did implement (what I could remember) because it is SUCH A GOOD, PRACTICAL parenting book.
I have had The Stranger in the Woods on my TBR for ages and somehow it keeps moving down the list when other things come along. I really should try to read it this year.
Aww. This makes me so happy to hear.
Thank you for the recommendations (and everyone in the comments). I will be coming back here to find my next audiobooks!
Yay, enjoy!
I’ve never seen my own book on a top 10 list before!!! SO EXCITING ELISABETH! thank you <3 <3 <3
It put itself on that list. All the kudos for creating something wonderful and putting it out into the world.
Oooh that Desmond book looks good.
THE RELAXED WOMAN! Single greatest non-fiction book I’ve read since Your Body, Your Best Friend. It is life-changing, my friend, and I believe you will find it very resonant.
I have SHU’s book sitting on my coffee table right now! I missed the New Year’s window to read it but I think it will be just fine to read mid-Jan!
I am listening to the book slowly and I am loving it! Thanks so much for the rec. I am sure I would never have heard about it without you.
I haven’t read any of the non-fiction books on your list. I’m going to have to look back to see if I read any non-fiction at all! I can’t remember, which is sad, since I had a pretty low-volume reading year. More importantly, there was an advertisement for Bath & Body Works soaps on sale for $3.25 and I just went and bought eight! I can’t wait for all the yummy scents! I hope you get some kind of credit for that too!
$3.25! That is amazing. Go you!
I don’t read much nonfiction. I did re-read Coming Clean by Kimberley Rae Miller, a memoir of a daughter raised by hoarders this year.
I bought Best Laid Plans after seeing it everywhere and it is SO GOOD!!! I’m already thinking through some goals and feel generally more peaceful/on top of it!
I could NOT click over to my library system fast enough to order Coming Clean. I am clearly NOT a hoarder, but it’s fascinating to me.
Yay! I’m so glad you’re enjoying BLP.
3 non-fiction books ended up on my best books list and non-fiction was 22% of my reading in 2025, which is pretty typical. I’m usually 75/25 between fiction/non-fiction. I loved Story of a Heart. I plucked it of the shelf at the library one day when we were getting out of the house on a cold day for our sanity so I love how I found the book! I also loved Jordan Chiles’ memoir. I’m a huge gymnastics stan so it was bound to work for me! The other NF book was “All the Living and the Dead” which is a book about the death industry that we read for book club last February. This February we are reading “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” so I guess February is death month for us. Ha.
I read Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and loved it (but that was a few years ago now, I think; definitely not in 2025.)
I have not read one non-fiction book this year, which really surprises me! I went back into my list and I started two, but never finished them as I became bored. Barbra Streisand’s memoir was one of them….womp womp.
I read exactly one nonfiction in 2025: What the Chicken Knows, lol
I also had one stranded (Wild for Austen) that I finished last week.
As someone who tends to read nonfiction in phases/spells, I feel a shift coming for 2026 – I think this year will find me reading more of it. Fiction will likely (always?) dominate, but I feel that shifting 🙂
I haven’t read any of your favorite nonfiction books!
My favorite nonfiction book in 2025 was All in Her Head by Elizabeth Comen. Fascinating and really stuck with me! I also really loved The Third Gilmore Girl, This American Woman, and Glucose Revolution.
This post was amazing, as were the comments. My TBR is… out of control. Then again, I will never be without something to read or listen to! Thank you for sharing. 🙂