This month’s best new popular nonfiction

Don’t miss the best new popular nonfiction from the past month, hand-picked by our editors! Don’t miss this month’s popular nonfiction picks — which include a powerful collection from a National Book Award–winning author, a New York Times bestselling history of birds, and more!

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	A wildly popular astrophysicist muses on how to handle an alien encounter WHY IT’S READWORTHY: Using science as a guide, explore how aliens might actually look and act — and what they might think of us Plenty of discussion fodder for anyone who has ever wondered about extraterrestrial life “A fun romp through the possibilities of alien life-forms and the physics that might allow them to land in our backyards” (Kirkus Reviews) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers What if you let AI make all of your decisions for a year? WHY IT’S READWORTHY: A tech journalist delivers a “lighthearted, accessible account” (The New York Times) of giving AI full control of her life for a year — and explores what she learned Artificial intelligence can do everything from household chores to vacation planning, but what does it really mean for society? “Slyly tongue-in-cheek, often unsettling… A highly personal portrait of what it feels like to stand on the edge of technological transformation” (Kirkus Reviews) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers The latest from ‘one of America’s finest living writers’ (San Francisco Chronicle) WHY IT’S READWORTHY: A testament to hope and resilience named one of the most anticipated books of the year by Time, Los Angeles Times, Oprah Daily, and more The first nonfiction collection from the two-time National Book Award–winning author of Sing, Unburied, Sing and Men We Reaped “Ward moves nimbly among people and themes” (Time), from her upbringing in rural Mississippi to her partner’s sudden death to raising her children Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers Ever-increasing screen time is impacting our health — but it doesn’t have to WHY IT’S READWORTHY: “A wonderfully inspiring and intensely practical exploration of how technology took us out of our bodies, and how we can learn to inhabit them again” (Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks) The award-winning host of NPR’s TED Radio Hour draws on expert interviews, scientific findings, and research participant experiences “Body Electric will help you reclaim focus, health, and attention at work, at home, and even with your kids. Engaging and essential reading for the digital age” (Dan Harris, author of 10% Happier) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers Go behind the scenes of a murder case that won’t stay out of the headlines WHY IT’S READWORTHY: In 2023, Alex Murdaugh was convicted of killing his wife and son. Drawing on original interviews, phone transcripts, and more, a novelist and New Yorker contributor pulls back the curtain on the highly publicized case Discover the corruption and lies behind a wealthy Southern dynasty — and how they led to murder — even as the case remains contested today “The Family Man is the Truman Capote version of the Murdaugh story, a thoughtful, well-researched, and beautifully written inquiry into how and why a person comes to commit such an appalling crime” (Slate) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers The true origins of the dollar — and why the US never really controlled it to begin with WHY IT’S READWORTHY: An economic scholar argues that from its birth as the taler in 15th-century silver mines to its role as today’s global currency, the dollar has always maintained its own sovereignty A fascinating, sweeping history that stretches over 500 years “Brimming with startling details, this is also serious financial history with a conclusion ripe for our unsettled times” (New York Times bestselling author Evan Osnos) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers ‘A blazingly smart, funny, thoughtful, and moving book’ (Elizabeth Gilbert) WHY IT’S READWORTHY: Can humans really change? Learn why we’re so committed to the idea of self-transformation in this “eye-opening book” (New York Times bestselling author James Kirchick) If you’ve ever wanted to become someone new, fix your flaws, or shift part of your identity, this read is for you “Combining shrewd analysis and evocative reportage, [You’ve Changed] offers an entertaining and insightful take on humanity’s unappeasable drive to be different. Readers will be riveted” (Publishers Weekly) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers How did feathered dinosaurs evolve into the sparrows outside your window? WHY IT’S READWORTHY: “One of the stars of modern paleontology” (National Geographic) takes readers through millions of years of avian history — and it’s “even stranger than you imagined” (The Times) Meet penguins the size of gorillas, crows that outsmart most mammals, seabirds with 20-foot wingspans, and much more “Steve Brusatte has a rare gift for bringing the distant past vividly and fascinatingly to life” (Bill Bryson) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers Follow a scientist deep into the harsh Antarctic wilderness WHY IT’S READWORTHY: From her two-person research camp in Antarctica, Louise K. Blight adds a woman’s perspective to the voices of male researchers and explorers that have come before her “Part memoir, part field journal, part meditation on adaptation, Blight’s book captures science as it truly is: patient, communal, imperfect, and deeply human” (Library Journal starred review) Through the stories of the penguins she studies, Blight reveals Antarctica as a place of refuge and a starting point for changing the human relationship to the natural world Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers How have hundreds of Black youth come to be wrongfully convicted of crimes in the US? WHY IT’S READWORTHY: “A must-read reckoning with past and present alike” (Pulitzer Prize–winning author Heather Ann Thompson) In this gripping work of narrative nonfiction, an award-winning sociologist delves into the racist systems that have been designed to ensnare young Black people in legal trouble Imani Perry, author of South to America, calls this a “deeply moving, brilliant, and righteous” read from “a masterful storyteller and a rigorous scholar” Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers
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