Nonfiction Best Bets

A librarian’s picks for curious readers. As shared at the 2026 Vancouver Island Library Staff Conference (VILSC).

Updated May 8, 2026
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An astronaut's guide to life on Earth
Hadfield, Chris
Paper Book
Travel to space and back with astronaut Chris Hadfield's "enthralling" bestseller as your eye-opening guide (Slate).  Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4000 hours in space. During this time he...
Book of lives : a memoir of sorts
Atwood, Margaret
Paper Book
'Fat and satisfying' Observer * 'I loved it' Dua Lipa * 'Deliciously naughty' iNews * 'Beautifully told' Woman & Home * 'Spellbinding' FT * Book of the Year Guardian, Financial Times, Observer, Belfast Telegraph
Born a crime : stories from a South African childhood
Noah, Trevor
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * More than one million copies sold! A "brilliant" (Lupita Nyong'o, Time), "poignant" (Entertainment Weekly), "soul-nourishing" (USA Today) memoir about coming of age during the twilight of apartheid  
Ducks : two years in the oil sands
Beaton, Kate
Paper Book
A New York Times Notable book! One of Barack Obama's favorite books of 2022! Winner of Canada Reads 2023! "An exceptionally beautiful book about loneliness, labor, and survival."--Carmen Maria Machado Before there was Kate Beaton, New York Times...
Educated : a memoir
Westover, Tara
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER * One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University ...
King : a life
Eig, Jonathan
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2024 PULITZER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY Featured on Amazon's Al Woolworth's Top 10 Books of the Past 25 Years A finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award | Named one of the ten best books of 2023 by The Washington Post<...
Spare
Harry, Prince, Duke of Sussex
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Discover the global phenomenon that tells an unforgettable story of love, loss, courage, and healing. "Compellingly artful . . . [a] blockbuster memoir."--The New Yorker (Best Books of the Year) It was one of the most...
A truce that is not peace : life and death so far
Toews, Miriam
Ebook
THE NUMBER ONE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS 2025 'The best memoir you will read all year' NICK HORNBY 'A triumph - a meditation on writing, suicide, guilt and silence' GUARDIAN 'Curious and idiosyncratic and enjoyable'...
The Anthony Bourdain reader
Bourdain, Anthony
Paper Book
'This compilation shows he was so much more than the sum of his television work' Spectator The definitive, career-spanning collection of writing from Anthony Bourdain, including unpublished and never-before-seen material, with an Introduction by Patrick Radden...
Dirt : adventures in Lyon as a chef in training, father, and sleuth looking for the secrets of French cooking
Buford, Bill (Chef)
Paper Book
Bill Buford turns his inimitable attention from Italian cuisine to the food of France. Baffled by the language, but convinced that he can master the art of French cooking--or at least get to the bottom of why it is so revered-- he begins what becomes a five-year odyssey by shadowing the esteemed...
In defense of food : an eater's manifesto
Pollan, Michael
Paper Book
#1 New York Times Bestseller from the author of How to Change Your Mind, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and Food Rules  Food. There's plenty of it around, and we all love to eat it. So why should anyone need to defend it? Because in the so...
Salt : a world history
Kurlansky, Mark.
Paper Book
Homer called it a divine substance. Plato described it as especially dear to the gods. As Mark Kurlansky so brilliantly relates here, salt has shaped civilisation from the beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of mankind. Wars have been fought over salt and,...
Save me the plums : my Gourmet memoir
Reichl, Ruth
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "A delicious insider account of the gritty, glamorous world of food culture."--Vanity Fair In this "poignant and hilarious" (The New York Times Book Review) memoir, trailblazing food writer and beloved restaurant critic Ruth...
Into the silence : the Great War, Mallory, and the conquest of Everest
Davis, Wade.
Paper Book
* If the quest for Mount Everest began as a grand imperial gesture, as redemption for an empire of explorers that had lost the race to the Poles, it ended as a mission of regeneration for a country and a people bled white by war.* Of the twenty-six British climbers who, on three expeditions (1921-24...
A marriage at sea : a true story of love, obsession, and shipwreck
Elmhirst, Sophie
Paper Book
THE RUNAWAY NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER & ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2025 A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BOOK OF 2025 ALSO NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2025 BY NPR, VOGUE, TIME MAGAZINE, THE NEW YORKER, AND MORE "This is nonfiction that...
A walk in the park : the true story of a spectacular misadventure in the Grand Canyon
Fedarko, Kevin
Paper Book
* Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award in Outdoor Literature * Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction * Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, Air Mail, Smithsonian Magazine, and Financial Times "A...
1929 : inside the greatest crash in Wall Street history--and how it shattered a nation
Sorkin, Andrew Ross
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "It is one of the best narrative histories I've read." --The Wall Street Journal A New York Times Notable Book of 2025 * One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2025 * Named a BEST BOOK OF 2025 by The Washington...
The big short : inside the doomsday machine
Lewis, Michael
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller: a brilliant account--character-rich and darkly humorous--of how the U.S. economy was driven over the cliff. When the crash of the U. S. stock market became public knowledge in the fall of 2008, it was already old news. The real crash, the...
Careless people : a story of where I used to work
Wynn-Williams, Sarah
Paper Book
The instant Sunday Times bestseller No. 1 New York Times bestseller 'How else to put this? Bloody hell' - The Guardian 'Devastating . . . Funny . . . Highly enjoyable' - The Times 'Jaw-dropping . . . A tell-all tome' - Financial...
Empire of AI : inside the reckless race for total domination
Hao, Karen
Paper Book
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award 2025Longlisted for the 2025 Financial Times & Schroders Business Book of the Year A Financial Times Book of the Year 2025 Shortlisted for Foyles Non Fiction Book of the Year 2025 A New York Times...
Everything is tuberculosis : the history and persistence of our deadliest infection
Green, John
Paper Book
#1 New York Times bestseller * #1 Washington Post bestseller * #1 Indie Bestseller * USA Today Bestseller John Green, award-winning author and passionate advocate for global healthcare reform, tells a deeply human story illuminating the fight against the world's...
Fire weather : a true story from a hotter world
Vaillant, John
Paper Book
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR * FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN NONFICTION * FINALIST FOR THE PEN/GALBRAITH AWARD FOR NONFICTION * A stunning account of a colossal wildfire and a panoramic exploration of the rapidly changing ...
An African history of Africa : from the dawn of humanity to independence
Badawi, Zeinab, 1959-
Paper Book
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO BOOK AWARDS 2024 AND THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS 2025* *An instant Sunday Times bestseller, Radio 4 Book of the Week and Guardian Best Summer Read* Selected as a book to look out for by the Guardian and The Rest is...
Emperor of Rome : ruling the ancient Roman world
Beard, Mary
Paper Book
A sweeping account of the social and political world of the Roman emperors by 'the world's most famous classicist' (Guardian)
The finest hotel in Kabul : a people's history of Afghanistan
Doucet, Lyse
Paper Book
The Sunday Times Bestseller Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction Shortlisted for the Nero Book Award Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction The Times, Financial Times, Guardian, Observer and Economist...
The art spy : the extraordinary untold tale of WWII resistance hero Rose Valland
Young, Michelle
Paper Book
A riveting and stylish saga set in Paris during World War II, THE ART SPY uncovers how an unlikely heroine infiltrated the Nazi leadership to save the cultural legacy of the West. On August 25, 1944, Rose Valland, a woman of quiet daring, found herself in a desperate position...
Dead wake : the last crossing of the Lusitania
Larson, Erik
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the bestselling author and master of narrative nonfiction comes the enthralling story of the sinking of the Lusitania "Both terrifying and enthralling."--Entertainment Weekly"Thrilling, dramatic and powerful."...
Hidden figures : the American dream and the untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race
Lee Shetterly, Margot.
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space--a powerful, revelatory history essential to our understanding of race,...
King of kings : the fall of the Shah, the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the unmaking of the modern Middle East
Anderson, Scott
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NEW STATESMAN, ATLANTIC AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A brilliant tale of greed, paranoia and hubris... a good place to start for anyone seeking to understand the current crisis' Financial...
Knowing what we know : the transmission of knowledge, from ancient wisdom to modern magic
Winchester, Simon
Paper Book
"A delightful compendium of the kind of facts you immediately want to share with anyone you encounter . . . . Simon Winchester has firmly earned his place in history . . . as a promulgator of knowledge of every variety, perhaps the last of the famous explorers who crisscrossed the now-vanished...
The mission : the CIA in the 21st century
Weiner, Tim
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller * A New Yorker Best Book of the Year * A Washington Post Notable Book of the Year * A New York Times Editors' Choice "No one has opened up the CIA to us like Weiner has, and The Mission deserves to win Weiner a second...
Framed : astonishing true stories of wrongful convictions
Grisham, John
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "The master of the legal thriller" (Associated Press) teams up with "the godfather of the innocence movement" (Texas Monthly) to share ten harrowing true stories of wrongful convictions. "Each of these stories is told with astonishing...
In cold blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
Capote, Truman
Paper Book
Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time From the Modern Library's new set of beautifully repackaged hardcover classics by Truman Capote--also available are Breakfast at Tiffany's and Other Voices, Other Rooms (in one volume),...
Killers of the Flower Moon : oil, money, murder and the birth of the FBI
Grann, David.
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST FACT CRIME SHORTLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN NON-FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION **NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY MARTIN SCORSESE STARRING LEONARDO DICAPRIO AND ROBERT DE...
Prisoners of the castle : an epic story of survival and escape from Colditz, the Nazis' fortress prison
Macintyre, Ben
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The "entertaining [and] often-moving account" (The Wall Street Journal) of the remarkable POWs whose relentlessly creative attempts to escape a notorious Nazi prison embodied the spirit of resistance against fascism, from the author of The Spy and...
Say nothing : a true story of murder and memory in Northern Ireland
Keefe, Patrick Radden
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NOW AN FX LIMITED SERIES STREAMING ON HULU * NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER * From the author of Empire of Pain--a stunning, intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions. One...
The Wager : a tale of shipwreck, mutiny, and murder
Grann, David
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events on The Wager...
An immense world : how animal senses reveal the hidden realms around us
Yong, Ed
Paper Book
**SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** **NEW YORK TIMES, NEW STATESMAN, OBSERVER, ECONOMIST, PROSPECT, GUARDIAN, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT and SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022** **Winner of 2023 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction**...
Astrophysics for people in a hurry
Tyson, Neil deGrasse
Paper Book
Over a year on the New York Times bestseller list and more than a million copies sold. The essential universe, from our most celebrated and beloved astrophysicist. What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit...
The backyard bird chronicles
Tan, Amy
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the author of The Joy Luck Club comes a gorgeous and witty exploration of birding and nature. This inspiring work cultivates hope and connection, revealing the rhythms of our world and uncovering its beauty hidden in plain sight. * With a foreword...
Braiding sweetgrass : indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants
Kimmerer, Robin Wall
Paper Book
As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of...
A city on Mars : can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through?
Weinersmith, Kelly
Paper Book
Earth is not well. The promise of starting life anew somewhere far, far away - no climate change, no war, no Twitter - beckons, and settling the stars finally seems within our grasp. Or is it? Bestselling authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith set out to write the essential guide to a glorious future of...
The comfort of crows : a backyard year
Renkl, Margaret
Paper Book
REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "A beautiful love letter to nature and the world around us."--Reese Witherspoon (Reese's Book Club September '24 Pick) THE PERFECT GIFT FOR NATURE LOVERS, BIRDERS, AND GARDENERS, WITH ORIGINAL COLOR ART...
Finding the mother tree : discovering the wisdom of the forest
Simard, S.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER * From the world's leading forest ecologist who forever changed how people view trees and their connections to one another and to other living things in the forest--a moving, deeply personal journey of discovery "Finding the Mother Tree...
Forest euphoria : the abounding queerness of nature
Kaishian, Patricia Ononiwu
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION SCIENCE + LITERATURE SELECTED TITLE * VANITY FAIR BEST BOOKS OF 2025 * TIME 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2025 * SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2026 WILLIAM SAROYAN INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR WRITING "An antidote to the...
Fuzz : when nature breaks the law
Roach, Mary
Paper Book
What's to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers are...
Is a river alive?
Macfarlane, Robert
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR BLACKWELL'S BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION WRITING 2025 SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS 2026 From celebrated writer Robert Macfarlane comes this brilliant, perspective...
The mind electric : stories of the strangeness and wonder of our brains
Anand, Pria
Paper Book
The rise and fall of the dinosaurs : a new history of a lost world
Brusatte, Stephen
Paper Book
"THE ULTIMATE DINOSAUR BIOGRAPHY," hails Scientific American: A thrilling new history of the age of dinosaurs, from one of our finest young scientists. "A masterpiece of science writing." --Washington Post A New York Times Bestseller * Goodreads Choice Awards ...
Dead and alive : essays
Smith, Zadie
Paper Book
An illuminating new essay collection from one of the most distinctive, exciting and acclaimed writers of her generation, Zadie Smith 'Zadie Smith is a wonderful essayist. She is a natural. She writes as she thinks, and she thinks crisply and exactly' - Tessa Hadley,...
The half known life : in search of paradise
Iyer, Pico
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2023 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE NEW YORKER, NPR, TIME MAGAZINE & MORE "Masterful . . . A book of inner journeys told through extraordinary exteriors . . . One of his very best." --Washington Post  ...
The library book
Orlean, Susan
Paper Book
Susan Orlean's bestseller and New York Times Notable Book is "a sheer delight...as rich in insight and as varied as the treasures contained on the shelves in any local library" (USA TODAY)--a dazzling love letter to a beloved institution and an investigation into one of its greatest...
The Odyssey
Homer
Paper Book
Composed at the rosy-fingered dawn of world literature almost three millennia ago, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty, and power; about marriage and family; about travelers, hospitality, and the yearning for home. This fresh, authoritative...
The year of magical thinking
Didion, Joan.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER * A landmark work about grief, love, and survival from one of America's most iconic writers One of The New York Times's 100 Best Books of the 21st Century * One of The Guardian's 100 Best Books of the...
You could make this place beautiful : a memoir
Smith, Maggie
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NPR Best Book of the Year * Time Best Book of the Year * Oprah Daily Best Memoir of the Year "A bittersweet study in both grief and joy." ­--Time ...

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