116 Time November 30/December 7, 2020
THE 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2020 • NONFICTION
One Mighty and
Irresistible Tide
JIA LYNN YANG
In 1924, Congress
enacted quotas
on immigration
that essentially
blocked migrants
from Southern and
Eastern Europe,
Africa and Asia. Yang
chronicles the efforts
of the leaders who
fought back.The Pink Line
MARK GEVISSER
Gevisser introduces
readers to the lives
of LGBTQ people
around the world in
chapters that tell
personal stories
interwoven with
analysis of how
questions of LGBTQ
identity have risen to
prominence over the
past 20 years.Let’s Never Talk
About This Again
SARA FAITH
ALTERMAN
Alterman describes
in mortifying and
hilarious detail
how with her
father’s Alzheimer’s
symptoms came
some unwelcome
revelations, including
his secret career as a
pornographic author.Open Book
JESSICA SIMPSON
Simpson’s achingly
honest book sets a
new bar for celebrity
memoirs, delving
into the details
behind tabloid
stories like her high-
profile romances
while also laying out
complex, harrowing
truths about the
costs of fame.My
Autobiography of
Carson McCullers
JENN SHAPLAND
As an archive intern,
Shapland uncovered
love letters written
between the late
author Carson
McCullers and a
woman named
Annemarie—a
discovery that
changed her life.Notes on a
Silencing
LACY CRAWFORD
Crawford’s memoir
about the assault she
experienced at an
elite boarding school
is a devastating
#MeToo story, a case
study in the ways
moneyed institutions
protect their
reputations at the
expense of survivors.Hood Feminism
MIKKI KENDALL
Kendall forces
the mainstream
feminist movement
to examine its
own privilege and
whiteness, laying
out the case for why
feminists need to
fight for basic needs
and issues that more
often plague women
of color.I Don’t Want
to Die Poor
MICHAEL
ARCENEAUX
In unflinching essays
on his finances
(particularly his
student loans), his
dating life and his
family, Arceneaux
explores his sense
of insecurity and the
nature of American
anxiety and hope.Intimations
ZADIE SMITH
Smith’s timely
essay collection
captures the COVID-
19 pandemic with
startling clarity. She
focuses on how the
corona virus has
amplified the social
divides that already
existed in her life,
and in the country as
a whole.Is Rape a Crime?
MICHELLE
BOWDLER
After her sexual
assault in 1984,
Bowdler did what
the justice system
asked: completed a
rape kit and spoke
to the police, whom
she never heard from
again. Now she asks
why the system fails
so many survivors.Wandering in
Strange Lands
MORGAN JERKINS
Jerkins, whose
family history in
the U.S. can be
traced from slavery
through the Great
Migration, travels
the country to
search for the
larger traditions,
myths and histories
that shaped her
ancestors and, now,
her culture.Vanguard
MARTHA S. JONES
Jones corrects
popular history,
asserting that
the women’s
suffrage movement
didn’t start at
Seneca Falls nor
end in 1920. She
traces Black
women’s work for
decades longer on
each end to secure
the ability to widely,
safely vote.Big Friendship
AMINATOU
SOW AND
ANN FRIEDMAN
There are few
guides on how to
maintain a serious
friendship. Sow
and Friedman,
long-distance best
friends, argue that
platonic bonds, like
marriages, require
nourishment—and
they offer advice
on how to love one
another from afar.