The Most Popular Histories and Biographies of the Last 10 Years, According to Goodreads
Goodreads, with its more than 140 million members, can be a treasure trove of reader statistics. Recently, Goodreads editors decided to gather data on the most popular histories and biographies of the last 10 years.
They comprised the list by looking at reviews, ratings, and how many of the site’s members added books to their “Read” or “Want to Read” shelves. The resulting list is somewhat to be expected — with nonfiction heavyweights like Erik Larson and Walter Isaacson making appearances — but there are also some surprises. A couple of the books on the list, Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann and Hidden Figures
by Margot Lee Shetterly, have even been made into popular movies.
Below is a sampling of the most popular histories and biographies of the last 10 years, according to Goodreads.
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston
How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones
Visit Goodreads for the full list.
Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
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