New York Times Nonfiction Bestsellers

The preeminent list of best selling nonfiction in the United States.
Updated July 22, 2025
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The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
Jonathan Haidt
Paper Book
THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A Wall Street Journal Top 10 Book of 2024 * A New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book * One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2024 * A TIME 100 Must-Read Book of 2024 * Named a Best Book of 2024 by the...
Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection
John Green
Paper Book
Instant #1 New York Times bestseller! * #1 Washington Post bestseller! * #1 Indie Bestseller! * USA Today Bestseller! John Green, acclaimed author and passionate advocate for global healthcare reform, tells a deeply human story illuminating the fight against the...
Abundance
Ezra Klein
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "A terrific book...Powerful and persuasive." --Fareed Zakaria "Spectacular...Offers a comprehensive indictment of the current problems and a clear path forward...Klein and Thompson usher in a mood shift. They inspire hope and enlarge...
Mark Twain
Ron Chernow
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times Bestseller! "Comprehensive, enthralling . . . Mark Twain flows like the Mississippi River, its prose propelled by Mark Twain's own exuberance." --The Boston Globe "Chernow writes with such ease and clarity . . . For all its...
Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind
Nate Bargatze
Paper Book
AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A #1 TORONTO STAR BESTSELLER AN INSTANT USA TODAY AND INDIE BESTSELLER  A GLOBE AND MAIL BESTSELLER From one of the hottest stand-up comedians, Nate...
A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck
Sophie Elmhirst
"Gird your loins and line up your couple's therapist." - New York Times Book Review podcast"This is nonfiction that reads like fiction - the best kind. Elmhirst's retelling is a triumph, second only to the seemingly impossible feat of Maurice and Maralyn themselves. You won't be able...
The Body Keeps The Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma
Bessel van der Kolk
Paper Book
#1 New York Times bestseller "Essential reading for anyone interested in understanding and treating traumatic stress and the scope of its impact on society." --Alexander McFarlane, Director of the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies A pioneering researcher...
Educated: A Memoir
Tara Westover
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 ...
When Breath Becomes Air
Paul Kalanithi
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * This inspiring, exquisitely observed memoir finds hope and beauty in the face of insurmountable odds as an idealistic young neurosurgeon attempts to answer the question, What makes a life worth living? ...
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
David Grann
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...
Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity
Peter Attia
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * OVER TWO MILLION COPIES SOLD * A groundbreaking manifesto on living better and longer that challenges the conventional medical thinking on aging and reveals a new approach to preventing chronic disease and extending long-term health, from a visionary...
The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War
Erik Larson
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The author of The Splendid and the Vile brings to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War in this "riveting reexamination of a nation in tumult" (Los Angeles Times). ...
The Glass Castle: A Memoir
Jeannette Walls
Paper Book
THE BELOVED #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER--FROM THE AUTHOR OF HANG THE MOON The extraordinary, one-of-a-kind, "nothing short of spectacular" (Entertainment Weekly) memoir from one of the world's most gifted storytellers. The Glass Castle...
The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession
Michael Finkel
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * One of the most remarkable true-crime narratives of the twenty-first century * "The Art Thief, like its title character, has confidence, élan, and a great sense of timing."--The New Yorker A...
Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America
Michael Harriot
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINEE * AMAZON'S TOP 20 HISTORY BOOKS OF 2023 * B&N BEST OF EDUCATIONAL HISTORY * THE ROOT'S BEST BOOKS OF 2023 * CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2023 From acclaimed columnist and political commentator Michael Harriot,...
The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook
Hampton Sides
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A "thrilling and superbly crafted" (The Wall Street Journal) account of the most momentous voyage of the Age of Exploration, which culminated in Captain James Cook's death in Hawaii, and left a complex and controversial legacy still debated to this day....
2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America
Josh Dawsey
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In 2024, award-winning reporters Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager, and Isaac Arnsdorf bring us the definitive, inside story of the most tumultuous and consequential presidential campaign in our history. "A well-paced, thorough and...
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
Trevor Noah
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  
The Backyard Bird Chronicles
Amy Tan
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...
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
Timothy Snyder
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A "bracing" (Vox) guide for surviving and resisting America's turn towards authoritarianism, from "a rising public intellectual unafraid to make bold connections between past and present" (The New York Times)<...
Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI
Yuval Noah Harari
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the author of Sapiens comes the groundbreaking story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world. "Strikingly original . . . A historian whose arguments operate on the scale of millennia has managed to capture the...
Greenlights
Matthew McConaughey
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * 6 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE! Discover the life-changing memoir that has inspired millions of readers through the Academy Award-winning actor's unflinching honesty, unconventional wisdom, and lessons learned the hard way about living with greater...
All About Love: New Visions
bell hooks
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller and enduring classic, All About Love is the acclaimed first volume in feminist icon bell hooks' "Love Song to the Nation" trilogy.  All About Love reveals what causes a polarized society, and how to heal the divisions that cause suffering. Here is the truth about...
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism
Amanda Montell
Paper Book
"One of those life-changing reads that makes you see--or, in this case, hear--the whole world differently." --Megan Angelo, author of Followers "At times chilling, often funny, and always perceptive and cogent, Cultish is a bracing reminder that the scariest thing about cults...
Signs: The Secret Language of the Universe
Laura Lynne Jackson
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A renowned psychic medium teaches us how to recognize and interpret the life-changing messages from loved ones and spirit guides on the Other Side. "A collection of incredible stories . . . that speak to the universe's endless capacity for...

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