Connie Chung. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Martha Graham. Malcolm X. Elon Musk. These figures would likely make for strange tablemates at a dinner party. And yet they sit well beside each other on Kirkus’ list of the 100 best nonfiction books of 2024. (See the complete list here.)
Chung, the veteran journalist, is on the list for the sprightly and entertaining memoir that bears her name: Connie. Emerson, Graham, and Malcolm are the subjects of three revelatory works: Glad to the Brink of Fear: A Portrait of Ralph Waldo Emerson by James Marcus, Errand Into the Maze: The Life and Works of Martha Graham by Deborah Jowitt, and Malcolm Before X by Patrick Parr. As for Musk, chances are that this is not the kind of attention he craves: Kate Conger and Ryan Mac’s deeply reported book, Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter, is a scathing assessment of the billionaire’s takeover of the social media platform.
As the above titles make clear, the list is wide ranging, featuring not just memoirs and biographies but also histories, journalistic investigations, and essay collections. It also includes the six finalists for this year’s Kirkus Prize.
Several of the books address timely themes, confronting such urgent national crises as a woman’s right to choose, immigration, and gun violence. Among these books are Jessica Valenti’s Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use To Win, Jonathan Blitzer’s Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis, and Dominic Erdozain’s One Nation Under Guns: How Gun Culture Distorts Our History and Threatens Our Democracy.
Other books take on this country’s deep-rooted racial discrimination and inequality. A standout title is Tricia Rose’s fervently argued Metaracism: How Systemic Racism Devastates Black Lives―and How We Break Free.
Beyond the weighty subject matter, some books on the list give the reader pure pleasure. There are the fascinating creatures that Leigh Ann Henion lovingly documents in her illuminating book, Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark. There are the varied and astonishing works of painters—and the universe of colors they work with—in Alexandra Loske’s inspired study, The Artist’s Palette. And there are words themselves: Julie Sedivy shares her infectious passion for them in her wondrous book, Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love.
The satisfaction of simply learning is another power that so many of these books provide. As Abigail Thomas writes in her wise and vivifying memoir, Still Life at Eighty: The Next Interesting Thing, “I am learning something new every day. Granted, it’s the same thing, but I learn it over and over with the same startled awareness. I look out at the lush green expanse behind my house, gazing with pleasure at everything growing, especially my locust, loving the spread of its branches, and at the same moment, or a moment later, I remember this is not really my green yard, and not really my tree. Mine to appreciate, to care for while I live, but I don’t really own anything. What is mine to keep? Secrets, maybe. Nothing else.”
John McMurtrie is the nonfiction editor.
