Meg Loves Words

My Go-To Non-Fiction Recommendations

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I was in a years-long reading slump after having babies. Do you know what pulled me out of it? Nonfiction! Trust me when I say good nonfiction reads like a novel. It’s gets a bad rap sometimes, but totally worth a try. These are my go-to recommendations for nonfiction. Hope you find something you want to try.

Science

Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth’s Most Awesome Creatures by Nick Pyenson

  •   If you thought you liked whales before, you’ll be obsessed with whales after this

Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter by Ben Goldfarb

  • Beavers are basically superheroes

History

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

  • You’ll never look at US history the same way again

No Man’s Land: The Trailblazing Women Who Ran Britain’s Most Extraordinary Military Hospital During World War I by Wendy Moore

  • A great supplement to all the WWI fiction you’re reading

Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higgenbotham

  • Did you like the masterpiece of cinema that was the HBO Chernobyl series? This is the perfect companion to that.
  • Audio is fantastic for this one!

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein

  • Heavy on the law side, but still fairly approachable

Memoir

Haben: The Deafblind Women Who Conquered Harvard Law by Haben Girma

  • Disability rights advocate
  • Also a reflection on being the child of immigrant parents

The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

  • A gritty, raw portrayal of life while undocumented
  • poignant, stirring prose

Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro

  • Woman takes a DNA test and learns her father isn’t her biological father
  • Stunning writing style

True Crime

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara

  • This book is so creepy
  • A few months after this book was published, the Golden State Killer was captured