It's May! Here's the Month's Best Nonfiction
From career breakthroughs to health science to economic history — the standout titles hitting shelves this month.
I’m excited to introduce a new batch of standout nonfiction, the most compelling and thought-provoking titles scheduled for release in May 2026. With so many great books, we’ve organized them by category…
Next weekend is Mother’s Day! Why not give her a year of big ideas? Her first box will include Inside the Box by David Epstein and A World Appears by Michael Pollan. 20% off any new or gift membership with code MOM2026.
Career & Leadership
Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better by David Epstein. View on Amazon
Big Time: A Simple Path to Time Abundance by Laura Vanderkam. View on Amazon
Never Settle: Persuasion and Negotiation Skills to Get What You Want by Attia Qureshi & John Richardson. View on Amazon
Get It in Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Your Rights at Work by Ryan Stygar. View on Amazon
Teams That Meet the Moment: Practices for Effective Teaming in the Age of Complexity by Karina Mangu-Ward. View on Amazon
Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad…And How Great Companies Stay Great by Eric Ries. View on Amazon
Coachable: How the Greatest Performers Reach Their Highest Potential by Ric Bucher. View on Amazon
Clock In: No-BS Advice for Getting Ahead in Your Career (Without Losing Your Mind) by Emily Durham. View on Amazon
The Ambition Penalty: How Corporate Culture Tells Women to Step Up―and Then Pushes Them Down by Sefanie O’Connell. View on Amazon
The Future of Work Is Grey: The Untapped Value of Age in the Workforce by Dan Pontefract. View on Amazon
Personal Development
Mind Drama: The Science of Rumination and How to Outwit Your Inner Defeatist by Donna Jackson Nakazawa. View on Amazon
What’s Going Right: A Powerful New Method for Optimizing Your Mental Health by Paul Conti. View on Amazon
Addicted to Anxiety: How to Break the Habit by Owen O’Kane. View on Amazon
A Little More Social: How Small Choices Create Unexpected Happiness, Health, and Connection by Nicholas Epley. View on Amazon
How to Not Know: The Value of Uncertainty in a World That Demands Answers by Simone Stolzoff. View on Amazon
Therapy Nation: How America Got Hooked on Therapy and Why It’s Left us More Anxious and Divided by Jonathan Alpert. View on Amazon
A Time to Gather: How Ritual Created the World–and How It Can Save Us by Bruce Feiler. View on Amazon
Flamboyance: The Power of Living Boldly by Jack Parlett. View on Amazon
History & Memoir
After the Fall: From the End of History to the Crisis of Democracy, How Politicians Broke Our World by Ian Shapiro. View on Amazon
All We Say: The Battle for American Identity by Ben Rhodes. View on Amazon
Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World by Patrick Wyman. View on Amazon
American Rambler: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed by Isaac Fitzgerald. View on Amazon
The Flag Was Still There: A History of the American Experiment in Five Anniversaries by David McKean & M. Todd Bennett. View on Amazon
The Land and Its People by David Sedaris. View on Amazon
Today's Book of the Day sponsor is Comeback by Alfred A. Marcus. Why do once-dominant companies like Intel, Amazon, Disney, and Tesla struggle to reclaim their former glory? Drawing on decades of strategy expertise, Marcus delivers a compelling framework for understanding corporate renewal — and the difficult path from survival to sustained success.
Economics
How to Win a Trade War: An Optimistic Guide to an Anxious Global Economy by Soumaya Keynes & Chad Bown. View on Amazon
The Secret History of Gold: Myth, Money, Politics, and Power by Dominic Frisby. View on Amazon
Moral Economics: From Prostitution to Organ Sales, What Controversial Transactions Reveal About How Markets Work by Alvin Roth. View on Amazon
For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage by Stephanie Coontz. View on Amazon
Against Money by J. W. Mason & Arjun Jayadev. View on Amazon
Health
Walk: Rediscover the Most Natural Way to Boost Your Health and Longevity–One Step at a Time by Courtney Conley & Milica McDowell. View on Amazon
Signals: The Hidden Power and Secret Language of Hormones by Saira Hameed. View on Amazon
Longevity Nation: The People, Ideas, and Trends Changing the Second Half of Our Lives by Michael Clinton. View on Amazon
Body Electric: The Hidden Health Costs of the Digital Age and New Science to Reclaim Your Well-Being by Manoush Zomorodi. View on Amazon
Parenting
Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children by Mac Barnett. View on Amazon
Mother Tongue: A Memoir by Sara Novic. View on Amazon
Birth Vibes: Stories and Strategies for an Empowered Birth by Jen Hamilton. View on Amazon
GIRLS®: Generation Z and the Commodification of Everything by Freya India. View on Amazon
Science & Tech
It’s (Just) Rocket Science: Exploring Physics Through Spaceflight Missions by Trisha Muro. View on Amazon
I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything by Joanna Stern. View on Amazon
AI for Good: How Real People Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Fix Things That Matter by Josh Tyrangiel. View on Amazon
A Pox on Fools: The True Believers, Grifters, and Cynics Who Convinced Us to Reject Vaccines by Thomas Levenson. View on Amazon