Here are the Biggest Nonfiction Bestsellers of the Last 100 Years
(And the Books We Remember Instead)
The best-selling nonfiction of the year:
1. George W. Bush, Decision Points
2. Glenn Beck, Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth, and Treasure
3. Geneen Roth, Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything
4. Keith Richards with James Fox, Life
5. Sarah Palin, America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag
6. Jon Stewart, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race
7. Justin Halpern, Sh*t My Dad Says
8. Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That?
9. Bill O’Reilly, Pinheads and Patriots: Where You Stand in the Age of Obama
10. Chelsea Handler, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang
Also published that year:
Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies
Patti Smith, Just Kids
Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns
The best-selling nonfiction of the year:
1. Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken
2. Dr. Mike Moreno, The 17 Day Diet
3. Tina Fey, Bossypants
4. Dr. Pierre Dukan, The Dukan Diet
5. Erik Larson, In the Garden of the Beasts
6. Adam Mansbach, Go the F**k to Sleep
7. Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Body
8. David McCullough, The Greater Journey
Also published that year:
Joan Didion, Blue Nights
Christopher Hitchens, Arguably
Maggie Nelson, The Art of Cruelty
Manning Marable, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention
John Jeremiah Sullivan, Pulphead
The best-selling nonfiction of the year:
1. Mark Owen and Kevin Maurer, No Easy Day
2. Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, Killing Kennedy
3. Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, Killing Lincoln
4. Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent, Heaven is for Real
5. Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken
6. Sarah Young, Jesus Calling
7. Eben Alexander, Proof of Heaven
8. Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0
9. Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs: a Biography
10. Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen, and Jim DeFelice, American Sniper
Also published that year:
Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers
Robert A. Caro, The Passage of Power
Cheryl Strayed, Wild
The best-selling nonfiction of the year:
1. Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, Killing Jesus
2. Eben Alexander, Proof of Heaven
3. Sarah Young, Jesus Calling
4. Mark Schlabach and Phil Robertson, Happy, Happy, Happy: My Life and Legacy as the Duck Commander
5. Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In
6. Charles Krauthammer, Things That Matter
7. Mark Schlabach and Si Robertson, Si-cology 1: Tales and Wisdom from Duck Dynasty’s Favorite Uncle
8. Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0
Also published that year:
Hilton Als, White Girls
Marie Colvin, On the Front Line
Stanley Crouch, Kansas City Lightning
Sheri Fink, Five Days at Memorial
Aleksandar Hemon, The Book of My Lives
Jesmyn Ward, Men We Reaped
The best-selling nonfiction of the year:
1. Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, Killing Jesus
2. Sarah Young, Jesus Calling
3. Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken
4. Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0
5. Ina Garten, Make It Ahead
6. George W. Bush, 41: A Portrait of My Father
7. Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent, Heaven is for Real (trade paper)
8. Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent, Heaven is for Real (movie tie-in)
9. Daniel James Brown, The Boys in the Boat
10. Guinness World Records 2015
Also published that year:
Eula Biss, On Immunity
Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist
Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction
Helen Macdonald, H is for Hawk
The best-selling nonfiction of the year:
1. Marie Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
2. Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, Killing Reagan
3. Chris Kyle, American Sniper (trade paperback movie tie-in)
4. Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime
5. Sarah Young, Jesus Calling
6. Daniel James Brown, The Boys in the Boat
7. Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0
8. Johanna Basford, Lost Ocean
9. David McCullough, The Wright Brothers
10. Chris Kyle, American Sniper (mass market movie tie-in)
Also published that year:
Mary Bead, S.P.Q.R: A History of Ancient Rome
Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me
Margo Jefferson, Negroland
Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped From the Beginning
Sally Mann, Hold Still
Maggie Nelson, The Argonauts
The best-selling nonfiction of the year:
1. Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, Killing the Rising Sun
2. Marie Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
3. Chip Gaines, Joanna Gaines, and Mark Dagostino, The Magnolia Story
4. Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0
5. Sarah Young, Jesus Calling
6. Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air
7. Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run
8. Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey
9. Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton
10. Jen Sincero, You Are a Badass
Also published that year:
Carol Anderson, White Rage: the Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide
Matthew Desmond, Evicted
Susan Faludi, In the Darkroom
Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air
Margot Lee Shetterley, Hidden Figures
The best-selling nonfiction of the year:
1. Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
2. Sarah Young, Jesus Always: Embracing Joy in His Presence
3. The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World
4. William H. McRaven, Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life
5. Chip Gaines, Joanna Gaines, and Mark Dagostino, The Magnolia Story
6. Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
7. J. D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy
8. Trevor Noah, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
9. David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
10. Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy
Also published that year:
Ta-Nehisi Coates, We Were Eight Years in Power
Masha Gessen, The Future is History
Patricia Lockwood, Priestdaddy
Valeria Luiselli, Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions
