Before Christmas, we shared with you our favorite fiction books of the year. At the time, we also polled the staff about their favorite nonfiction books of the year. The only parameter was that it had to be published in 2018. In the holiday rush, we forgot to share! We are here to rectify that today. Maybe you can come to the store and pick up a great book in the down time after a busy holiday season, or find your favorite for 2019. Either way, we’ll be here to help.

  • John Evans, bookstore owner – Black Flags, Blue Waters by Eric Jay Dolin

  • Black Flags, Blue Waters is the swashbuckling reality of pirates in the early period of colonial formation. It’s a must-read for anybody going to the islands this winter. This book is big fun.

  • Kelly, book buyer and events manager – The Dinosaur Artist by Paige Williams
  • Austen, operations manager – 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan Peterson
  • Lisa, first editions manager – The Real Lolita by Sarah Weinman
  • Hillary, front desk manager – The Meaning Revolution by Fred Kofman
  • Clara, former Oz manager – Congratulations, Who Are You Again? by Harrison Scott Key
  • Abbie, fiction supervisor – Educated by Tara Westover

  • Educated is a captivating and inspirational memoir about a girl breaking free from her eccentric family’s ideals to pursue an education. It will stay with you for a long time; it’s perfect for fans of The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls.

  • Guy, First Editions Club supervisor – Disappointment River by Brian Castner
  • Brian Castner’s Disappointment River is both a vivid history of early North American exploration and a reflective travel memoir following the author’s own retracing of a failed route through the Canadian wilderness.
  • Andrew, blog supervisor – The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist by Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington

  • Before I read The Cadaver King, I suspected it was going to be well-written, but I was surprised by how engrossing it also turned out to be. Mixing infuriating stories of injustice for Levon Brooks and Kennedy Brewer along with policy wonk details of Mississippi’s broken death investigation system, this book is not only good, but also important, if it can get people to pay attention to an important but neglected issue.

  • Aimee, bookseller – I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

  • I am a true crime junkie; my favorite podcasts include My Favorite Murder, Criminal, and Last Seen. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is about a previously unsolved case concerning the Golden State Killer. McNamara expertly weaves evidence, witness statements and police files to create the full picture. (Fun fact: I wrote a blog about this book earlier in the year and we unknowingly posted it the same day the news broke that the Golden State Killer had been caught.)

  • Hunter, bookseller – The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte

  • A wonderfully accessible tale of some of the beasts that lived long before us, as well as a creative take on the story of how these creatures are discovered and studied, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs makes science fun and reawakens the fascination and curiosity about dinosaurs that exists in many.

  • Trianne, bookseller – Sick by Porochista Khakpour

  • In a world where physical illness is often ignored or misunderstood, Sick does not shy away from the reality of Lyme disease. Khakpour’s refreshingly irreverent memoir chronicles the progression of her sickness and brings a fractured beauty to the harsh truth that we all are bound by physicality.

  • Jack, bookseller – Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back) by Jeff Tweedy
  • Jamie, bookseller – Heavy by Kiese Laymon

  • The scope of this memoir is truly American: race, violence, poverty, food, tenacity, deceit, honesty hope, fear, fearlessness, love. The honesty with which Laymon writes is heartrending, and his prose is impeccably gorgeous.

  • Norris, bookseller – The Library Book by Susan Orlean

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