Texas Topaz Nonfiction List for Adults

Here are recommendations for adults from the 2024 Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List! The purpose of the Texas Topaz Reading List is to provide children, teens, and adults with recommended nonfiction titles that stimulate reading for pleasure and personal learning. Visit txla.org/topaz for the full list and lists from previous years.


Updated January 31, 2024
Lewisville Public Library
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The light we carry : overcoming in uncertain times
Obama, Michelle
Paper Book
The powerful, insightful follow-up to the critically acclaimed, multi-million #1 bestselling memoir Becoming In her inspiring follow-up to Becoming, former First Lady Michelle Obama shares practical wisdom and powerful strategies for staying hopeful and balanced in...
Atlas of the heart : mapping meaningful connection and the language of human experience
Brown, Brené
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * In Atlas of the Heart, Brené Brown writes, "If we want to find the way back to ourselves and one another, we need language and the grounded confidence to both tell our stories and be stewards of the stories that we hear. This is the framework for...
The art thief : a true story of love, crime and a dangerous obsession
Finkel, Michael
Paper Book
*The New York Times bestseller*  *Longlisted for the ALCS Gold Dagger Award for Non-Fiction* 'A breath-taking read, as compelling as a Highsmith novel. I loved it' - Maggie O'Farrell 'Brilliant' - Sunday Times ...
Cobalt red : how the blood of the Congo powers our lives
Kara, Siddharth
Paper Book
The revelatory Pulitzer Prize finalist for General Nonfiction, New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller, shortlisted for the Financial Times Best Business Book of the Year Award. An unflinching investigation reveals the human rights...
A fever in the heartland : the Ku Klux Klan's plot to take over America, and the woman who stopped them
Egan, Timothy
Paper Book
The Roaring Twenties - the Jazz Age - has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants in...
Friends, lovers and the big terrible thing : a memoir
Perry, Matthew
Paper Book
'There's never been a more honest or raw memoir . . . and it may just save lives' Daily Mail 'Funny, fascinating, compelling . . . also a wonderful read for fans of Friends' The Times 'HI, MY NAME IS MATTHEW, although you may know me by my...
How to speak whale : a voyage into the future of animal communication
Mustill, Tom
Paper Book
'Fascinating' Greta Thunberg 'Extraordinary' Merlin Sheldrake 'A must-read' New Scientist 'Enthralling' George Monbiot 'Brilliant' Philip Hoare As a biologist and nature filmmaker, Tom Mustill had always liked whales. But when one...
Life in five senses : how exploring the senses got me out of my head and into the world
Rubin, Gretchen
Paper Book
'A charming journey through the science and experience of fully engaging your senses of smell, taste, touch, sight, and sound' - Adam Grant, author of Think Again The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project turns to the five senses...
Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O'connell's Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People
Kidder, Tracy.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The powerful story of an inspiring doctor who made a difference, by helping to create a program to care for Boston's homeless community--by the Pulitzer Prize-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Mountains Beyond Mountains "I...
Scenes from My Life : A Memoir
Williams, Michael K.
Paper Book
The New York Times BestsellerONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, NPR, The RootA moving, unflinching memoir of hard-won success, struggles with addiction, and a lifelong mission to give back.When Michael K. Williams died on 6 September 2021, he left behind a career as one of the...
The great escape : a true story of forced labor and immigrant dreams in America
Soni, Saket
Paper Book
"An eye-opening look at the world of global itinerant workers . . . The Great Escape is a must-read." --The New York Times Book Review The astonishing story of immigrants lured to the United States from India and trapped in forced labor--told by the visionary labor leader who engineered their escape...
We should not be friends
Schwalbe, Will
Paper Book
By the time Will Schwalbe was a junior at college, he had already met everyone he cared to know. He also knew exactly whom he wanted to avoid- the jocks. The jocks wore backwards baseball caps and moved in packs, filling boisterous tables in the dining hall, and on the whole seemed to Will another...
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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