The Best Nonfiction Books I Read in 2025

Before this past year, you wouldn’t find me reading a nonfiction book unless it was critically acclaimed. But I made it a goal to read more nonfiction books this year. And it paid off and now, I have a ton of books to choose from as the best nonfiction book I read it 2025!

Sometimes, you just need to come across a good book that will chance how you think about a genre. I didn’t always love fantasy novels but after reading a bunch of classic fantasy novels, I was eager to read more. And that has been true for nonfiction books as well.

I big misconception that people have about nonfiction is that they are mostly biographies. That is not the case at all. It has surprised me all the different types of nonfiction books and just how much work goes into writing one. It is a tall task and these authors have put years of research into their books.

I read a bunch of nonfiction books about various topics. Some of the books caught my eye while I was curious about some topics and wanted to read more about them. You can see the full list below!

The Best Nonfiction Books I Read in 2025

• Carthage Must Be Destroyed by Richard Miles
• The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides
• Waste Wars by Alexander Clapp
• Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
• Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

I decided to read Carthage Must Be Destroyed by Richard Miles after visiting a museum and seeing an exhibition about it. Before that, I knew next to nothing about Carthage and I knew I had to read more about it.

Carthage Must Be Destroyed talks about the history of Carthage, the wars, their religious ceremonies, and everything in between. You get a full account of Carthage’s history from the founding to their last day.

The history of Carthage is violent and full of war and a lot of death. But that doesn’t mean that Carthage didn’t have an impact in the history books. They influenced their neighbors and many cities took inspiration from this once prominent city. If you want to learn about Carthage like I did, then this the book to read!

I love books about history and knew I would enjoy The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides before I even opened the first page. The book follows the true accounts of James Cook’s expedition and first contact and it is as incredible an adventure as you can expect.

Sides uses journal entries and other credible sources to tell of James Cook’s final expedition and why it may have gone wrong. While we may never know why, we do know what happened and can take a few guesses. Either way, it is hard to deny that James Cook was one of the greatest explorers who ever lived.

When I saw Waste Wa Waste Wars by Alexander Clapp on an online list, I knew I had to read this book. . I am glad that I did because I learned a lot about where our trash ends up. Many governments avoid responsibility for their trash and send it to other countries instead.

Journalist Alexander Clapp goes on a two-year journey across five continents to see for himself where most of the trash of the worlds ends up. His trip takes him to places like Java, the jungles of Guatemala, Turkey, and Ghana and what he sees there is shocking.

Books like these are important because they raise awareness and inform the public. Hopefully this leads to reform and governments being held accountable. Clapp deserves numerous awards for this book and I know I will be voting for this book as one of the best nonfiction books of 2025.

Kitchen Confidential is the book that made Anthony Bourdain a celebrity overnight. His book shares industry secrets as Bourdain doesn’t hold anything back. When Bourdain wrote this book, he feared that chefs would hate him for outing the industry secrets. Instead, chefs loved how much they could relate to this book.

Even if you don’t like biographies, this book is still a must read. Bourdain’s writing style is bold and unfiltered. He was ready to anger fellow chefs just to expose his frustrations with the dark side of being a chef. But this book is still a love letter to cooking and shares Bourdain’s journey into becoming a chef and everything he has learned over the years.

In Empire of Pain, author Patrick Radden Keefe pulls the curtain to the side and lets everyone see the Sacklers for who they are. Keefe looks back at the origins of the Sackler family and how they became one of the most powerful families in the world.

This book also looks at the opioid crisis and how the Sacklers were making millions of dollars a day as the United States got addicted to opioids. To understand how the opioid crisis happened, Radden dives into the history of Arthur Sackler, the one who made the Sackler name famous.

The book also talks about how the Sackler family has avoided being associated with opioids over the years. But Keefe’s book makes sure that everyone knows who the Sackers are and what role they played during the opioid crisis.

Conclusion

These are the best nonfiction books that I read in 2025. The list include books about different topics including history as well as educating me on a variety of topics. I enjoyed learning about less covered topics and would recommend all of them to fellow nonfiction readers.

If you aren’t into reading nonfiction, then you will enjoy books that are more focused on adventures such as Wide Wide Sea. It is impressive that an author can research and write a book about an expedition from centuries ago.

With the year coming to an end, I doubt I’ll be reading another nonfiction book this year. But I will make sure that I read more nonfiction books next year. It all comes down to finding a book you can’t put down. Until next time, happy reading!

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