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What are the different types of nonfiction writing?
What are the different types of creative nonfiction?
What is an example of a nonfiction book?
What is nonfiction writing?
- History. Historical nonfiction consists of true accounts of historical eras and events. Some histories dwell purely in objective facts, and other histories are refracted through the lens of the author’s personal beliefs.
- Biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. This subset of nonfiction focuses on the life story of a particular subject. Biographies are written in the third person about someone other than the author.
- Travel guides and travelogues. Travelogues are a close cousin of memoirs, and they recount an author’s specific experience traveling somewhere. Travel guides tend to be more instructive, offering suggestions and practical information for travelers bound for a particular destination.
- Academic texts. Academic texts are designed to instruct readers on a particular topic. Most Americans first encounter academic books in the form of assigned school textbooks that form the basis for a yearlong class.
- History
- Philosophy
- Religion and Spirituality
- Science
- Popular Science
- Politics and Social Sciences
- Essay
- Self-Help
- Business and Economics
- Health and Wellness
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History books are not to be mistaken with textbooks. Rather than cherry-picking details to be memorized about a person, an event, or an era, these nonfiction titles are more like cross-sections in time. They provide readers with as much of the social and political contexts of events as possible with the use of rich primary and secondary sources, so...
This is where the big questions get asked. While ‘philosophy’ conjures up the image of impenetrable books written by Nietzche and Confucius for the enjoyment of beard-stroking academics, that isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of this genre! Contemporary authors have taken care to make their writings more accessible without sacrificing depth of analysis.
Books about religion and spirituality can take many forms. Some are theory-based, some are written from personal experience, and some are structured like a self-help book, with the end goal of helping readers find their spiritual home. Oftentimes, each book focuses on a particular belief system — there are even Christian publisherswho are solely de...
Science books, or “Science & Maths” books — as Amazon would categorize them — can get quite technical. Most of the time, they’re reporting on scientists’ academic research. And so, science books tend to be well-organized and follow academic conventions like referencing and indexing. But while they sounddry, the intriguing questions that they addres...
Is this type of nonfiction just academic science books but repackaged for laypeople? Why yes indeed. Popular science books take complex research and processes and get rid of most of the jargon, so that your average Joe can pick them up and learn something new about our universe. They’re almost like Vox videos, but that you read instead of watch.
With the ongoing social and political tumult across the world, there has been a rise in both the reading and writing of this kind of book. Some political and social science books are based more on anecdotal evidence, others are on par with academic papers in terms of depth of research. Either way, they usually pick out a specific feature or structu...
A book of essays is a collection of themed pieces of writing written by an author, or multiple authors, who often has some sort of authority on or personal experience with the subject matter. While they sound incredibly serious, they don’t require as much research as the types of nonfiction we’ve mentioned above. They’re often quite introspective a...
Out of all the non-fiction genres out there, this is probably the most popular one. The name itself is explanatory: aself-help book provides you with some guidance and actions through which you can solve personal problems. Self-help books can be research-based, or they can be reflective — like an extended blog post. Note, though, that while the lat...
While this a broad category that may include volumes with a journalistic flavor, business books tend to be guides to entrepreneurship and management. It’s a medium for those who've had experience in the workplace or the market to share their tips and tricks (and also a good tool for authors to bag guest-speaking events). In this sense, this kind of...
There's no shortage of health and wellness books out there — what do we care about if not a long and healthy life, right? These books cover many different topics, from diets to sleeping habits, from stress management to dealing with anxiety. Most are written by researchers and doctors, who have the technical knowhow to offer sound insight and advic...
Learn about the different types of nonfiction books, from history and philosophy to science and memoir. Find examples of each genre and how to spot them in bookstores or online.
- Reedsy
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Buy on Amazon. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful history of racial violence in the United States — and what it means to be black in this country today.
- The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Buy on Amazon. A disarming “biography” of disease, The Emperor of All Maladies chronicles thousands of years of people grappling with the terrifying specter of cancer.
- The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert. Buy on Amazon. When the next major mass extinction hits the planet, as scientists foretell it soon might, humanity will be the victim — and the perpetrator.
- How to Survive a Plague by David France. Buy on Amazon. David France has been one of the key chroniclers of the AIDS epidemic in the United States since its beginnings.
- Jennifer Kushnier
- Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo (2012) What does it mean to strive for a better life when everything is against you?
- Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (2005) The concept of Freakonomics looks at a variety of behavioral and social phenomena through an economic lens.
- Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon (2012) The winner of more than a dozen awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Award and Books for a Better Life Award, Solomon’s work draws on a decade of research interviewing more than 300 families.
- Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong (2020) Published mere months after the discovery of the novel coronavirus and just ahead of the resulting surge of anti-Asian violence and othering that Asian Americans experienced in its wake, this is an essential read for the moment we’re in.
Dec 31, 2017 · After two years of careful consideration, Robert McCrum has concluded his selection of the 100 greatest nonfiction books of all time. Take a quick look back at five centuries of great writing.
Jan 25, 2022 · Learn about the ten types of creative nonfiction genres, such as memoir, personal essay, travel writing, and CNF. Explore how they use literary techniques and connect to other types of nonfiction books, such as historical nonfiction and autobiography. Find examples of each genre and tips for writing your own.
Sep 15, 2023 · Learn the difference between fiction and nonfiction, how to identify a nonfiction book, and what types of nonfiction books exist. Explore the characteristics, purposes, and examples of nonfiction books and authors.
