Read all of the Shortlist (or Longlist, if you include the bonus prompts) before the winner is announced on 11/16.
If you want more time, complete the challenge before the Longlist for 2023 is announced next September.

The 2022 Nonfiction Longlist is comprised of a mix of debut and established writers, and includes works of memoir, science writing, biographies of American political figures, explorations of US and global history, and more. A majority of the Longlisted authors are newcomers to the National Book Awards and the National Book Foundation, with exceptions being David Quammen, who was Longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2018, and Kelly Lytle Hernández, who was a 2019-2020 Literature for Justice Committee Member and a 2020-2021 Literature for Justice selected title. This year’s Nonfiction Longlist includes two Guggenheim Fellows and a MacArthur Fellow. In addition, the Longlisted authors have previously been honored by the California Book Awards, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. Their writing has previously appeared in The Atlantic, The Believer, Best American Essays, Harper’s Magazine, National Geographic, The New Yorker, the New York Times, The Washington Post, ZYZZYVA, and more.

[More information about the books selected for the Longlist can be found by clicking here.]

Publishers submitted a total of 607 books for the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction. The judges for Nonfiction are Carol Anderson, Melissa Febos, Thor Hanson, Janet Webster Jones, and Oscar Villalon (Chair). Judges’ decisions are made independently of the National Book Foundation staff and Board of Directors and deliberations are strictly confidential. Winners in all categories will be announced live at the National Book Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, November 16.

Books selected for the Shortlist were announced on October 4th, 2022. These books are noted in the list below.

Key:
* Shortlist
** Winner (announced 11/16/22)