The 10 Best Nonfiction Books of the 2010s

This is one of the 743 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

Time, 10 Books

This list features TIME's selection of the ten best nonfiction books of the 2010s, curated by the TIME Staff. The list highlights works that capture universal human experiences through the intimate stories of individuals, reflecting on themes such as grief, recovery, and societal challenges. The selection criteria focus on narrative quality, the ability to provide deep insights, and the impact of uncovering truths that resonate broadly. The books are presented in order of their publication year, showcasing a decade's achievements in nonfiction writing. The methodology emphasizes narrative impact and thematic depth, as selected by TIME's editorial team.

This list was originally published in 2020 and was added to this site over 1 year ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
908 The Warmth Of Other Suns Isabel Wilkerson 2010 American English
1969 The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee 2010 American English
1494 Behind the Beautiful Forevers Katherine Boo 2012 American English
7161 Wild Cheryl Strayed 2012 American English
5615 Wave Sonali Deraniyagala 2013 Sri Lankan English
1207 Between the World and Me Ta-Nehisi Coates 2015 American English
1392 Evicted Matthew Desmond 2016 American English
8177 The Order Of Time Carlo Rovelli 2017 Italian Italian
3520 Bad Blood John Carreyrou 2018 American English
5634 These Truths Jill Lepore 2018 American English