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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Greater Victoria Public Library Greater Victoria Public Library
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Nonfiction Best Bets

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

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An astronaut's guide to life on earth
Hadfield, Chris
Paper Book
Back on the earth after three spaceflights, Chris Hadfield's captivating memoir An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth reveals extraordinary stories from his life as an astronaut, and shows how to make the impossible a reality. This edition contains a new afterword. ...
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
WINNER OF THE THURBER PRIZE The compelling, inspiring, (often comic) coming-of-age story of Trevor Noah, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed. One of the comedy world's brightest new voices, Trevor Noah is a...
Educated: A Memoir
Westover, Tara
Paper Book
THE MULTI-MILLION COPY BESTSELLER A BETWEEN THE COVERS PICK Selected as a book of the year by AMAZON, THE TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, NEW YORK TIMES, ECONOMIST, NEW STATESMAN, VOGUE, IRISH TIMES,...
King : a life
Eig, Jonathan
Paper Book
WINNER OF A 2024 PULITZER PRIZE IN BIOGRAPHY  A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER *SELECTED AS ONE OF  BARACK OBAMA'S FAVOURITE BOOKS OF 2023* Vividly written and exhaustively researched, Jonathan Eig's King is the...
Spare
Harry, Prince, Duke of Sussex
Paper Book
It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century- two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother's coffin as the world watched in sorrow - and horror. As Diana, Princess of Wales, was laid to rest, billions wondered what the princes must be thinking and feeling - and how...
Dirt : adventures in Lyon as a chef in training, father, and sleuth looking for the secret of French cooking
Buford, Bill
Paper Book
From the author of the widely acclaimed Heat, an exhilarating account of Bill Buford's adventures in the world of French cooking. 'A romping, chomping, savoury tour de force... Hilarious' Simon Schama What does it take to master French cooking?...
A marriage at sea : a true story of love, obsession, and shipwreck
Elmhirst, Sophie
Paper Book
**WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARDS NON-FICTION AWARD 2024** **A Guardian, Observer, Economist & Waterstones Best Book of 2024** ** A Financial Times BEST SUMMER READ** 'One of those very special books that makes you put everything on hold so...
1929 : inside the greatest crash in Wall Street history-- and how it shattered a nation
Sorkin, Andrew Ross
Paper Book
A #1 international bestseller Named a BEST BOOK OF 2025 in The Financial Times, Economist, New Statesman, Bloomberg, TIME, Washington Post and The New York Times One of Barack Obama's favourite books of 2025'One of the best narrative histories I've read'...
Careless people : a cautionary tale of power, greed, and lost idealism
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...
Everything is tuberculosis : the history and persistence of our deadliest infection
Green, John
THE CELEBRATED INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, NOW IN PAPERBACK Tuberculosis has been entwined with hu-manity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed...
Fire weather : the making of the beast
Vaillant, John
Paper Book
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER, WINNER OF THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE A Pulitzer Prize Finalist A National Book Award Finalist A Writers' Trust Award Finalist Shortlisted for the Wainwright Conservation Prize A Guardian...
An African history of Africa : from the dawn of humanity to independence
Badawi, Zeinab
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
'Ingenious' KAMILA SHAMSIE 'Incredible' PETER FRANKOPAN 'Beautiful' RORY STEWART In 1969, the luxury Hotel Inter-Continental Kabul opened its doors- a glistening white box, high on a hill, that reflected Afghanistan's hopes of becoming a modern country,...
Dead wake : the last crossing of the Lusitania
Larson, Erik
Paper Book
On 1 May 1915, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool. The passengers - including a record number of children and infants - were anxious. Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone. For months, its...
Hidden figures : the American dream and the untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race
Shetterly, Margot Lee
Paper Book
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' New York Times 'An ebullient, irrepressible spirit invests this book. It is erudite and sprightly'Sunday Times From the creation of the first encyclopedia to...
The mission : the CIA in the 21st century
Weiner, Tim
Paper Book
'No one has opened up the CIA to us like Weiner has, and The Mission deserves to win him a second Pulitzer' JOHN SIMPSON, GUARDIAN The epic successor to Tim Weiner's National Book Award-winning classic, Legacy of Ashes: a gripping and revelatory history of the CIA in...
Framed : astonishing true stories of wrongful convictions
Grisham, John
Paper Book
*** SHORTLISTED FOR THE ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION 2025*** Ten wrongful conviction cases. Twenty-one innocent people. Framed tells ten stories with a truth more shocking than fiction. John Grisham, the master of the legal thriller, teams up with...
In cold blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
Capote, Truman
Paper Book
Reconstructs the murder in 1959 of a Kansas farmer, his wife and both their children. In this title, the author's study of the killings and subsequent investigation explores the circumstances surrounding this terrible crime and the effect it had on those involved.
Killers of the Flower Moon : the Osage murders 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
Colditz Castle- a forbidding Gothic tower on a hill in Nazi Germany. You may have heard about the prisoners and their daring and desperate attempts to escape, but that's only part of the real story. In Colditz- Prisoners of the Castle, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre takes us inside the...
Say nothing : a true story of murder and memory in Northern Ireland
Keefe, Patrick Radden
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2019 A BARACK OBAMA BEST BOOK OF 2019 SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION 2019 TIME's #1 Best Nonfiction Book of 2019 A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'A must read' Gillian Flynn ...
The Wager : a tale of shipwreck, mutiny, and murder
Grann, David
Paper Book
THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER  *LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION* 'The beauty of The Wager unfurls like a great sail... one of the finest nonfiction books I've ever read' Guardian  ...
An immense world : how animal senses reveal the hidden realms around us
Yong, Ed
Paper Book
**SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** This is our world, as you've never seen it before. The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every animal is enclosed...
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
'What an enchanting and illuminating book! How lucky for us that Amy Tan has turned her genius, her deep empathy and insight, her keen eye for what is telling, to birds. Every page of these chronicles radiates warm curiosity, wonder, and delight' Jennifer Ackerman, The Genius of Birds<...
Braiding sweetgrass
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...
Finding the mother tree : discovering the wisdom of the forest
Simard, S.
Paper Book
Raised in the hardy forest communities of British Columbia, scientist Suzanne Simard overturned conventional beliefs in proving that trees and plants are connected underground by an immense web of fungal mycelia, at the centre of which lie the Mother Trees- the mysterious, powerful entities that...
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 Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World
Brusatte, Steve
Paper Book
The Times Science Book of the Year. A Sunday Times Bestseller. 'A masterpiece of science writing' - The Washington Post 66 million years ago the dinosaurs were wiped from the face of the earth. Today, Dr. Steve Brusatte, one of the leading...
The library book
Orlean, Susan
Ebook
A New York Times Book of the Year, 2018 A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB PICK A dazzling love letter to a beloved institution - our libraries. After moving to Los Angeles, Susan...
The Odyssey
Homer
Paper Book
If the Iliad is the world's greatest war epic, the Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of an everyman's journey through life. Odysseus' reliance on wit and wiliness for survival in his encounters with divine and natural forces during his ten-year voyage home to Ithaca after...
The year of magical thinking
Didion, Joan.
Paper Book
Introducing the Collins Modern Classics, a series featuring some of the most significant books of recent times, books that shed light on the human experience - classics which will endure for generations to come. A single person is missing for you, and the whole world is empty...
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