One
year
ago,
I
wrote
a
piece
about
15
of
the
best
nonfiction
books
I’d
read
during
the
first
year
of
the
pandemic.
I
didn’t
know
at
the
time
that
we
had
another
whole
year
of
the
pandemic
left,
but
here
we
are.
Society
has
been
a
bit
more
open
over
the
past
12
months
compared
to
the
2020-2021
pandemic
season.
So,
I
had
a
little
less
time
for
reading,
and
winnowing
this
year’s
list
down
to
15
was
not
as
much
of
a
challenge.
Still,
there
were
plenty
of
good
reads
this
time
around,
and
I’m
hoping
to
recapture
that
joy
of
reflecting
on
and
sharing
my
past
year
of
reading
with
a
whip-smart
audience
of
fellow
bibliophiles.
So,
without
further
ado,
here
are
15
of
the
best
nonfiction
books
I
read
during
a
slightly
better
year
of
everyone’s
life.
Empire
of
Pain:
The
Secret
History
of
the
Sackler
Dynasty
by
Patrick
Radden
Keefe
The
slower
moving
the
crisis,
the
harder
it
is
to
pay
attention
to.
Nevertheless,
“Empire
of
Pain”
will
have
you
caring
so
much
about
the
opioid
epidemic,
and
raging
so
much
at
the
Sackler
family,
that
you’ll
have
trouble
paying
attention
to
much
else
in
the
meantime.
Topical
subject
too
with
the
Sackler
bankruptcy
case
in
the
news.
Say
Nothing:
A
True
Story
of
Murder
and
Memory
in
Northern
Ireland
by
Patrick
Radden
Keefe
You
didn’t
think
I
could
stop
at
one
Keefe
book,
did
you?
The
guy
can
write.
This
one
features
more
stellar
reporting
and
another
gripping
narrative.
Really
gave
me
a
whole
new
perspective
on
the
Troubles,
and
that’s
saying
something
given
that
I
studied
in
Ireland
and
took
a
bunch
of
Irish
studies
classes
at
the
University
of
Limerick
(yes,
that’s
a
real
place,
and
no,
actual
limericks
were
not
part
of
the
curriculum).
Nine
Lives:
Death
and
Life
in
New
Orleans
by
Dan
Baum
Speaking
of
books
with
a
great
sense
of
place,
pick
this
one
up
if
you
have
any
interest
whatsoever
in
the
great
city
of
New
Orleans
and
the
rich
history
of
its
traditions.
I’ve
been
visiting
The
Big
Easy
to
spend
Mardi
Gras
with
my
cousin
for
more
than
a
decade,
and
so
much
of
what
I’ve
seen
made
a
whole
lot
more
sense
after
reading
this
book.
There’s
always
more
to
learn.
American
Uprising:
The
Untold
Story
of
America’s
Largest
Slave
Revolt
by
Daniel
Rasmussen
For
example:
New
Orleans
and
its
general
environs
were
the
site
of
the
largest
slave
revolt
in
American
history.
Who
knew?
Unfortunately,
the
surviving
primary
source
materials
lacked
some
detail
that
would
have
been
nice
to
have,
for
reasons
that
are
explained
pretty
well
in
the
book.
But
you
still
won’t
want
to
miss
learning
what
you
can
about
an
important
chapter
in
U.S.
history
that
should
never
have
been
forgotten
in
the
first
place.
After
the
Fall:
Being
American
in
the
World
We’ve
Made
by
Ben
Rhodes
Rhodes
deftly
articulates
what
it
means,
within
a
global
framework,
to
embrace
American
identity
while
grappling
with
the
many
missteps
of
our
government.
Some
stuff
in
there
now
seems
pretty
prescient
about
Russia’s
relationship
with
Ukraine
too.
Sea
of
Glory:
America’s
Voyage
of
Discovery,
The
U.S.
Exploring
Expedition,
1838-1842
by
Nathaniel
Philbrick
The
mid-1800s
were
a
horrific
hellscape
in
many
ways,
but
one
redeeming
feature
was
that
nations
were
competing
to
outdo
one
another
in
exploration
and
scientific
achievement.
Zero
in
on
that
part
of
history
with
this,
another
dazzling
tale
of
nautical
adventure
from
Philbrick.
The
Ice
Finders:
How
a
Poet,
a
Professor,
and
a
Politician
Discovered
the
Ice
Age
by
Edmund
Blair
Bolles
Discovery
can
be
a
messy
process
though.
Turns
out
that
it
was
a
tough
sell
initially
to
convince
the
scientific
community
that
large
portions
of
the
earth
were
once
covered
by
massive
ice
sheets.
This
book
underscores
how
human
foibles
can
both
impede
and
advance
scientific
inquiry.
Death
in
the
Sahara:
The
Lords
of
the
Desert
and
the
Timbuktu
Railway
Expedition
Massacre
by
Michael
Asher
Following
my
own
idiosyncratic
principle
of
“read
about
something
cold,
then
read
about
something
hot,”
“Death
in
the
Sahara“
was
a
natural
choice.
What
a
thrill,
what
a
haunting
experience
this
book
is.
Don’t
start
it
if
you
have
a
big
deadline
coming
up.
Even
if
you
finish
this
book
in
time,
you’re
going
to
have
a
lot
to
think
about.
Storm
of
Steel
by
Ernst
Jünger
The
crumbling
colonialism
of
“Death
in
the
Sahara”
is
followed
shortly
by
Europe’s
descent
into
utter
chaos.
You
won’t
get
a
much
more
visceral
feel
for
the
first
World
War
than
the
one
provided
by
“Storm
of
Steel.”
Jünger’s
now-classic
account
of
brutal
World
War
I
combat
will
make
you
shudder.
Pair
it
with
a
trip
to
the
National
World
War
I
Museum
and
Memorial
if
you’re
really
serious.
After
the
Fact:
The
Surprising
Fates
of
American
History’s
Heroes,
Villains,
and
Supporting
Characters
by
Owen
J.
Hurd
You
probably
need
some
lighter
history
at
this
point,
and
you’ll
find
it
here.
Say,
“Huh,”
instead
of
“AH!”
with
this
one
—
there
are
lots
of
fun
and
interesting
tidbits.
Hunt,
Gather,
Parent:
What
Ancient
Cultures
Can
Teach
Us
About
the
Lost
Art
of
Raising
Happy,
Helpful
Little
Humans
by
Michaeleen
Doucleff
My
girlfriend
is
always
on
my
case
about
reading
more
parenting
books.
This
was
about
as
close
as
I
could
get
this
year.
Can’t
say
I
disagree
with
much
of
the
parenting
advice.
As
an
attorney
who
has
dabbled
in
family
law
though,
I
imagine
the
other
parent
will
often
be
more
of
an
impediment
to
implementing
these
techniques
than
the
child.
Wah-to-yah
and
the
Taos
Trail
by
Lewis
H.
Garrard
There,
back
in
the
more
familiar
territory
of
1800s
history.
Garrard
charges
into
the
American
West
with
youthfulness
exuberance,
and,
fortunately
for
us,
he
kept
meticulous
records
of
his
journey.
He’s
refreshingly
progressive
and
culturally
sensitive
for
his
time.
You’ll
eat
this
one
up
if
you’ve,
like
me,
developed
a
mild
obsession
with
all
things
Taos.
The
Dragon
Behind
the
Glass:
A
True
Story
of
Power,
Obsession,
and
the
World’s
Most
Coveted
Fish
by
Emily
Voigt
This
book
doesn’t
fit
neatly
into
any
category,
but
the
writing
alone
makes
it
worthwhile.
In
a
nutshell,
some
bizarre-looking
fish
becomes
a
status
symbol,
people
behave
in
bonkers
ways
as
a
result,
and
the
rest
of
us
are
entertained.
Get
behind
it.
Accessory
to
War:
The
Unspoken
Alliance
Between
Astrophysics
and
the
Military
by
Neil
deGrasse
Tyson
and
Avis
Lang
Science
and
warfare
have
always
been
bedfellows.
You’ll
get
an
intimate
view
into
their
strange
relationship
in
this
enlightening
tome
coauthored
by
your
personal
astrophysicist.
I
still
can’t
get
over
how
many
of
our
now-mundane-but-technologically-miraculous
personal
conveniences
we’d
be
missing
if
we
were
a
more
peace-loving
species.
Humanity
is
weird.
Corruptible:
Who
Gets
Power
and
How
It
Changes
Us
by
Brian
Klaas
Does
power
really
corrupt?
Yes,
although
it’s
much
more
complicated
than
that.
The
dynamics
of
power
affect
your
life
every
single
day,
whether
or
not
you
realize
it.
Learn
more
about
how
and
why
here,
and
you
don’t
even
have
to
feel
like
you’re
doing
homework.
Plus,
Klaas
is
a
fellow
native
Minnesotan
and
we’re
all
culturally
obligated
to
promote
one
another’s
work
product.
There
you
go,
another
year
of
solid
nonfiction
reads.
Get
to
your
local
library,
get
to
your
favorite
bookstore,
and
get
reading.
Jonathan
Wolf
is
a
civil
litigator
and
author
of Your
Debt-Free
JD
(affiliate
link).
He
has
taught
legal
writing,
written
for
a
wide
variety
of
publications,
and
made
it
both
his
business
and
his
pleasure
to
be
financially
and
scientifically
literate.
Any
views
he
expresses
are
probably
pure
gold,
but
are
nonetheless
solely
his
own
and
should
not
be
attributed
to
any
organization
with
which
he
is
affiliated.
He
wouldn’t
want
to
share
the
credit
anyway.
He
can
be
reached
at jon_wolf@hotmail.com.