Over the past ten years, I’ve read over a thousand books, hundreds of them nonfiction. But like most book lovers, there are always books that I can’t stop thinking about, that I can’t stop recommending. Typically, these books sit in a permanent place on my side table, always within reach. Their pages are highlighted and underlined, and have my kindergarten-like scrawl in their margins. Every time I reread these favorites, I find something new, something that makes me rethink my perspective on the text in their pages. These are the books I will never stop recommending. Disability Visibility, edited by Alice Wong Many nondisabled people think good allyship means giving disabled people a pass for “not doing things the right way” when it’s actually realizing that the “right way” isn’t fair for disabled people in the first place. Disability Visibility shows disabled people facing down a society built without their existence in mind. With Wong’s expert guidance, the writers in this anthology center disabled people’s perspectives and celebrate disabled bodies/minds. Wong passed away in 2025, …

Book Riot’s Best of the Year (So Far) list for 2026 is finally here! On the main list, staff and contributors have named their favorite books that they’ve read so far this year, which include everything from science fiction to graphic novels to poetry. But of course, here at True Story, we’re nonfiction fanatics. I’ve collected a handful of some of the year’s best titles that, if you haven’t read them already, you’ll definitely want to add them to your TBR. Charity and Sylvia by Tillie Walden The life of Charity and Sylvia, a lesbian couple who lived openly in 19th-century Vermont, is fascinating in itself, and acclaimed cartoonist Tillie Walden tells this story with such deftness: slice-of-life vignettes are interspersed with letters, dreams, lists, and mentions of Black and Indigenous history unfolding at the same time. My heart ached for these two deeply religious women, who even after decades together, fear their love will be their damnation. This is the first book I’ve ever read that moved me to sobs within a single page. …

It’s Caribbean Heritage Month! Every June, book lovers from around the world celebrate the wealth of Caribbean Literature. There are plenty of page-turners to be getting on with, including epic fantasy novels, all-consuming literary fiction, and heart-pounding thrillers. But here at True Story, we’re always looking for nonfiction to add to our TBRs. So if you’re looking for Caribbean writers to add to your TBR to read this June—and beyond!—here are a few to get you started. Putting Myself Together by Jamaica Kincaid There are few authors I love more than Jamaica Kincaid. There’s always been something truly magnificent about her work. While she’s most known for her short novels, like Lucy and Annie John, Kincaid can also write a mean essay. So, of course, her new anthology jumped to the top of my TBR. This collection of essays includes pieces from Kincaid’s early career that were published in places like The New Yorker, The Village Voice, and Ms. This book is perfect for commuters or sneaking in a few minutes of reading time between …