2025 National Book Awards Longlist - Non-FictionLike this list

10 items

• One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

  El Akkad, Omar, 1982-

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  An award-winning novelist and immigrant to the West, after reporting on the War on Terror, Black Lives Matter protests, and the slaughter in Gaza, concludes that much of what the West promises is a lie—that there will always be groups outside the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Black Moses

  a Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State

  Gayle, Caleb,

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  A powerful account of Edward McCabe’s bold attempt to establish a Black-governed state in Oklahoma, exploring how racism, political resistance and white greed ultimately derailed his vision of self-determination and opportunity for Black Americans…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Motherland

  a Feminist History of Modern Russia, From Revolution to Autocracy

  Ioffe, Julia,

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  An acclaimed journalist tells the story of modern Russia through the history of its women, from revolution to utopia to autocracy.

• For the Sun After Long Nights

  the Story of Iran's Women-led Uprising

  Jamalpour, Fatemeh,

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  A powerful account of Iran’s 2022 women-led uprising, told through the intertwined experiences of two journalists—one reporting from within the regime’s grasp, the other in exile—who document resistance, repression and the enduring fight for freedom.

• Things in Nature Merely Grow

  Li, Yiyun, 1972-

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  Yiyun Li’s remarkable, defiant work of radical acceptance as she considers the loss of her son James.

• Wards of the State

  The Long Shadow of American Foster Care

  Rowe, Claudia

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  A compelling exploration of the broken American foster care system, told through the stories of six former foster youth. This powerful narrative nonfiction book delves into the systemic failures that lead many foster children into the criminal…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• When It All Burns

  Fighting Fire in a Transformed World

  Thomas, Jordan (Anthropologist),

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  In When It All Burns, wildland firefighter and anthropologist Jordan Thomas recounts a single, brutal six-month fire season with the Los Padres Hotshots—the special forces of America’s firefighters. Being a hotshot is among the most difficult jobs…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Autobiography of H. Lan Thao Lam

  Lin, Lana

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  Situated between memoir, social criticism, and conceptual art, The Autobiography of H. Lan Thao Lam is an incisive response to a modernist classic and an affecting exploration of the poetics and politics of our times.

• Run the Song

  Writing About Running About Listening

  Ratliff, Ben,

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  Out the front door, across the street, down the hill, and into Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. This is how Ben Ratliff's runs started most days of the week for about a decade. Sometimes listening to music, not always. Then, at the beginning of the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Salt Stones

  Seasons of a Shepherd's Life

  Whybrow, Helen,

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  Set in Vermont's Green Mountains, a profoundly moving meditation on the lessons and wisdom that come from raising a family, tending sheep, and living close to the land.