Tier Ranking My Year In Nonfiction

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Remember when every YouTuber was tier ranking random things? I got sick of tier ranking videos. I couldn't hide them from my feed fast enough. Since I hated that stupid trend so much . . . I'm going to participate in it. That's right. I'm going to tier rank a random selection of nonfiction books I've read in the past 12 months.

You can count on me to find a way to make tier ranking pretentious.

If you have no idea what I'm blathering about, here's a Wikipedia page about tier lists. Reading it is not worth your time.

Okay. Let's go.

My Year In Nonfiction

(Tier Ranked To Make Me Feel Relevant)

I'll Allow It

(These books are fine. I learned stuff.)

Legendary Creatures: Mythical Beasts And Spirits From Around The World by Adam Auerbach. This is a picture book encyclopedia of mythical critters. I got it for Brooklyn's 7th birthday because she's in her myths and monsters era. The illustrations are vibrant. The text gives a very basic overview of each critter. It held Brooklyn's attention, which is an impressive feat.

The Last Season by Eric Blehm is a biography of a park ranger named Randy Morgenson. Randy was a backcountry ranger for 28 years. Then, one morning, he didn't answer his radio. Nobody could find him. He had just vanished into the wilderness. This book is about his life and the search for him after he disappeared. I enjoyed learning about the behind-the-scenes stuff that occurs during a multi-day search operation. There's a lot happening at once as the searchers try to put together the pieces of Randy's life to figure out where he might have gone. I wish more of the book had been about the search because the chapters about Randy's past are a bit tedious.

Recommended Reading

(These books gave me thoughts. I would happily reread them.)

The Faithful Executioner: Life And Death, Honor And Shame In The Turbulent Sixteenth Century by Joel F. Harrington. The premise caught my attention immediately. In 1500s Nuremberg, a man named Frantz Schmidt began keeping records of his job. Frantz spent 45 years as a public executioner, which means the Nuremberg government paid him to extract confessions and publicly execute criminals. Frantz also had a side hustle: He ran a very successful medical practice. He killed people and he healed them! Frantz was a Christian and a father who wanted to give his children the best life possible. How did he reconcile all the conflicting parts of himself? This biography is a dense and detailed reconstruction of Frantz's life. It took me weeks to read, but it was worth it. I learned a lot about 1500s Europe and the complicated values of the people who lived there.

Building A Second Brain: A Proven Method To Organize Your Digital Life And Unlock Your Creative Potential by Tiago Forte. Modern humans learn tons of new information every single day. We put pressure on ourselves to remember the information, form an opinion about it, organize it, solve problems, etc. It can be overwhelming. This book outlines a digital notetaking system that helps the reader reduce information overload. Basically, you use a notetaking app to build yourself a second brain. The author teaches the reader how to choose which bits of information are important and how to organize your notes so they're easy to find when you need them. I like the book because it's straightforward and actionable.

How The Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With The History Of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith. The author visits various historical sites in North America and Africa and reports on how the sites educate the public about the history of slavery. As expected, some sites do better than others. I found this book fascinating because I love history and visiting historical sites. The book made me think about which parts of history are considered "important," and which parts are glossed over.

 An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth: What Going To Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, And Being Prepared For Anything by Chris Hadfield is part memoir, part self-help book. The author is a real-life NASA astronaut who has been to space three times. He talks about the work ethic and values it takes to achieve extremely difficult goals. (That's the "life on Earth" part.) He also talks about traveling and living in space. (That's the most interesting part.) Since I love medical stuff, I appreciate that the author is so honest about what happens to humans in space. He talks about everything from nausea to sleep to gritty eyeballs. It's entertaining and informative.

Required Reading

(If I made a college class syllabus, these books would be on it. I will hear no objections. They will be on the final exam.)

Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke is about butts. Mostly, women's butts. Mostly, the clothes that women use to cover their butts. It's a deep dive into culture and fashion history. You can't discuss the history of butts without talking about racism, sexism, cultural appropriation, and pop culture. In addition to clothing styles, the author explores eugenics and the quest to define the "perfect" butt. She also talks about the influence of celebrities like Sir Mix-A-Lot, JLo, the Kardashians, and Miley Cyrus. I love this book because it forced me to think about a topic I've never really considered. I thought butts were just . . . butts. Heather Radke proves they are much more complicated.

Biased: Uncovering The Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, And Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt argues that bias is so deeply ingrained in us that we don't even know it's there. That could be a tricky topic to write about, but the author approaches it scientifically and never shames the reader. She even points out her own biases and how her scientific studies helped her uncover them.

Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History And Persistence Of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green. It's mostly history + interesting facts about tuberculosis. I like this book because it brings awareness to a problem that humans can solve. Tuberculosis is curable. A million people do not have to die from it every year. I hope the book bumps tuberculosis up humanity's priority list. We have to figure out how to get the cure to the people who need it most.

Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl. The author was an Austrian neurologist, psychologist, philosopher, and Holocaust survivor. In the first part of the book, he shares stories from his life and explains how the events shaped the way he thinks. The author believes that the search for meaning is what keeps humans motivated. If we lose our desire to find meaning, then we lose our will to live. I appreciate how the author approaches his life story because it's balanced and compassionate. He looks at all the people involved in an event and tries to figure out what was driving their behavior. It feels grounded. The author is examining people's actions instead of instantly judging the actions as right or wrong. He wants to know the "why" behind them.

What's the best nonfiction book you read this year?