I find it easiest to choose the best nonfiction books I read. These are books that I cannot stop thinking about and regularly reflect on.
By far the best book I read in 2023 (of any genre) was We Were Once a Family. This is the most recent book I have added to the list of books I push on people. It is hard to believe Roxanna Asgarian’s usual form is a newspaper. This book packs an emotional punch while also being informative and gripping.
Each of these other nonfiction books also deserve acclaim, but I have failed to see them on best books of the year lists. (The Woman They Could Not Silence was published in 2021.) Because they deserve more than a handful of words, I encourage you to read my reviews for each.
Scroll down to read some quick thoughts for each of my 2023 favorites (in no particular order).
We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, & Child Removal in America
Roxanna Asgarian
I cannot offer enough praise for the way Asgarian narrates this story, full of the complex family relationships and personal decisions, with empathy as well as social and cultural awareness. There were so many times I felt gut wrenched and anger while reading We Were Once a Family. It is an inherently emotional journey compounded by exceptional storytelling. But Asgarian does not simply leave this story with readers to digest and forget about. Instead, she compels us to listen and act.
Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian in Black & White America
Julia Lee
Biting the Hand is an important work that merges memoir, social commentary, and race studies while exploring the unique experience of Asian Americans in the U.S. Throughout the book, Lee uses works by critical race theorists, diasporic literary scholars, activists, and writers of color. I loved how Lee tied her personal stories with these ideas, philosophies, and theories from the lexicon of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous thinkers. For me, this added depth and complexity to the narrative while also providing context from the broad experience of minorities in a white-supremacist country.
The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear
Kate Moore
Moore’s extensive research, particularly of primary sources, is clear from the first pages of The Woman They Could Not Silence. I think some of the book’s power comes from the fact we are able to hear parts of the story in Elizabeth’s (other others’) own words. I also really valued that Moore provided sufficient context for readers to understand the norms of the time period. This allowed me to truly appreciate Elizabeth’s struggles and accomplishments. Moreover, Moore ended with a powerful post script that reminds readers that despite Elizabeth’s story being over 160 years ago, it is still relevant today. Women are frequently still delegitimized by being called crazy.
The People’s Hospital: Hope & Peril in American Medicine
Ricardo Nuila
Ricardo Nuila gives readers a peak into Ben Taub, Houston’s taxpayer-funded hospital, through a handful of uninsured patients. Sometimes, after being turned away from every other hospital in Houston, these patients found themselves at Ben Taub, where they are treated with dignity regardless of their socioeconomic or residency status and where patients are prioritized over profit. Through these stories and his own, Nuila manages to show how broken our health care system is and how it demoralizes even the best physicians.
Full Review | Amazon | Bookshop.org
Tell Me Everything
Minka Kelly
Tell Me Everything is a candid, and at times painful, read. I do not typically think of celebrity memoirs as courageous or inspirational, but that is exactly what this book is. I was particularly impressed with Minka’s self-reflection and candid writing. She is extremely self-aware and recounts her story in a generous and humane manner. In the end, Minka has written a memoir that is a touching tribute to unconventional women and families and a telling story about the long-lasting effects of trauma and the everyday difficulties of overcoming it.
