Tag: nonfiction

book list, News, Recommendations

The Best Debut Nonfiction of 2026 (So Far)

by AdamLeave a Comment on The Best Debut Nonfiction of 2026 (So Far)
The Best Debut Nonfiction of 2026 (So Far)

Nonfiction is hard to judge. (Well, all art is hard to judge, but stay with me.) How do you compare a memoir about conversion therapy to a behind-the-scenes look at how literary agents work? This list of Best Debut Nonfiction features a wide variety of books, but it could be more diverse. It’s mostly memoir, research about literary agents, and the occasional exposé into the world of amateur wrestling.

Each book is extremely well written and offers insight into parts of the world you may not have experienced. Each writer offers a lens into those corners of society.

Below are the 10 Best Debut Nonfiction Books of 2026 (So Far) that I read. If you’re thinking, “only 10?” I promise, there are even more nonfiction titles in the second half of the year that will blow your mind.

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Interviews, my reading life

My Reading Life: Fetishized author Kaila Yu reads and writes about body

by AdamLeave a Comment on My Reading Life: Fetishized author Kaila Yu reads and writes about body
My Reading Life: Fetishized author Kaila Yu reads and writes about body

In her debut memoir-in-essays, former model Kaila Yu writes about being an object of Asian fetish with a sharp eye and eye-opening candor. Throughout Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty, Yu peels back the curtain on the personal, cultural, and historical forces that shaped her self-image, exposing how pop culture, colonialism, and desire intertwined to distort both her sense of beauty and her sense of self.

We asked her to answer our My Reading Life questionnaire so readers could get to know the books that shaped her life and influenced her debut book.

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Interviews, my reading life

My Reading Life: This Is Your Mother author Erika J. Simpson wants teens to sink into worlds they love

by AdamLeave a Comment on My Reading Life: This Is Your Mother author Erika J. Simpson wants teens to sink into worlds they love
My Reading Life: This Is Your Mother author Erika J. Simpson wants teens to sink into worlds they love

Erika J. Simpson, author of the memoir This Is Your Mother, is a recent transplant to Denver after spending her life in the South. She received her MFA from the University of Kentucky and received the 2021 MFA Award in Nonfiction. Her essay “If You Ever Find Yourself” was published in Roxane Gay’s The Audacity and featured in Best American Essays 2022.

Her memoir is a powerful reckoning with legacy, loss, and the shifting terrain between mother and daughter. Through scripture-steeped memories and raw reflections, Erika Simpson traces her mother’s mythic resilience and the moment it gave way to mortality. In peeling back the layers of her mother’s story, she uncovers her own.

We asked her to answer our recurring My Reading Life questionnaire so readers could get to know her, and the books that shaped her life, better.

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Recommendations

6 writers recommend books you’re guaranteed to fall in love with

by AdamLeave a Comment on 6 writers recommend books you’re guaranteed to fall in love with
6 writers recommend books you’re guaranteed to fall in love with

It’s a daunting task to recommend books to someone. What’s their taste, what mood are they in, how do they feel about certain genres, and countless other questions run through my head. So, instead of asking writers to give me recommendations on the spot, I’ve asked them to share books they love. No other qualifications. Just hit Debutiful readers with a book (or a few) they love and think readers will love as well. And, boy, did they deliver!

Here are February’s writer recommendations that Debutiful’s favorite writers guarantee you’ll fall in love with.

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