Best nonfiction books of July 2024, as chosen by the Amazon Editors
It’s the summer, so you’ll have to excuse us if we’re looking for nonfiction to read outside, preferably under the breezy shade of a leafy tree or a beach umbrella. The best writers are able to take serious subjects (and those not-so-serious) and make them highly digestible. A few examples are below, but also be sure to check out our full list of the Best Nonfiction Books of July, as well as our top picks across all genres and our Best Books of 2024 So Far.
This boisterous history of reality TV is best binged like your favorite Real Housewives franchise. Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Emily Nussbaum does a masterful job painting a line between the sagas, stars, and stories that changed television forever and launched a thousand D-listers, from reality TV pioneers in the 1940s, An American Family, America's Funniest Home Videos and Cops (one directly led to the existence of the other), to The Real World, Survivor, and The Apprentice. Cue the Sun! is packed with incredible anecdotes (including the staggering number of people who tried to thwart one of the most popular shows of all time), nostalgia (poor Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey), and a lot of respect for its subjects, who, in bravely airing their innermost thoughts and desires for all to see, changed the country’s opinions and acceptance of race, sexuality, gender roles, and class. RuPaul walked so the Queer Eye cast could run. To write this review, I had to shake the sand out of my copy—bring your own to the beach. —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor
I was skeptical that a 300-page book on refrigeration could hold my interest, but honestly, with Nicola Twilley’s narrative, fascinating writing, I could have read 300 more pages. Twilley kicks off her page-turning journey into the “artificial cryosphere” by taking a job inside a nearly inhospitable commercial freezer that holds the milk, chicken nuggets, lobsters, yogurt, and ground beef consumed everywhere from school cafeterias to upscale restaurants. She introduces readers to an Arctic “doomsday vault” of seeds, a frozen dumpling billionaire, and even a “refrigerator dating expert,” and also uncovers what’s at stake if the step that comes between the farm and the table is compromised. That’s because refrigeration is “the most important invention in the history of food and drink,” she writes, transforming every aspect of modern-day life, “as worthy of awe as the Pyramids of Giza,” giving humans “power over space, time, and the seasons.” And that’s just the tip of the iceberg in this brilliant book full of frosty fables. —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor
There is nothing more amazing than hitting the road. There is also nothing more terrible than all the small, but exhausting, indignities faced at airports, on cruise ships, and by daring to step out of your comfort zone. And nobody will make you laugh harder about both than Gary Janetti, whose third book of essays is just as delightful and insightful as his first two, Start Without Me and Do You Mind if I Cancel? Janetti, a former TV writer whose witty jokes have earned him millions of social media followers, evokes David Sedaris as he hides from awkward dinner partners and competes with his husband (reality star Brad Goreski) to survive impossibly difficult hikes. But between the laughs are touching moments of humanity, such as how his modest childhood in Queens offered a rude awakening to the class system, and how dining alone is now his favorite activity, but it can evoke the same insecure feelings as high school when he had nobody to sit with. And this paradigm is what makes him, and his essay collections, so charming: the depth and honesty with which he examines his fabulous life. —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor
This book about the energy and aliveness of our planet is positively enchanting. With writing as lush as the vibrant green forests at the center of the narrative, Ferris Jabr unveils his captivating premise that Earth is more interconnected than we could ever imagine. Think: “A tree growing in Brazil can change the weather in Manitoba.” And, in a weary world that feels increasingly polarized and distant, reading about how every living object—from the tiniest microbe to the towering mountain—relies on each other is like a soothing balm. While this viewpoint has not always been embraced or supported by science, research is starting to prove it, lending a heft and authority to this magical thesis. Distance and location make no difference—we all call this place home, and you’ll revel in this meditative book that brings that idea to life. —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor
As we gear up for fall’s election, there are no shortage of books offering advice on the state of democracy in America. (See also: this month’s Democracy or Else, by the “Pod Save America” hosts.) Regardless of your political views, we can all agree on the importance of the civic responsibility of understanding how the government works and casting a vote. Explaining both are what Sami Sage (the founder of the Betches media network) and Emily Amick (a lawyer who currently works as US Judiciary Committee Counsel to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer) have set out to do. Their clear, bullet-pointed, voice-y guide is probably aimed toward a younger audience (I’d hand this to a high schooler), but I still learned plenty: such as the seven “tribes of America” that researchers have sorted us into, or a script for how to have a challenging conversation with somebody who shares different views. It’s easy to turn off the news when it feels overwhelming, but this breezy book might give you the framework—and energy—to engage this election season. —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor
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