Looking to expand your mind and enrich your reading list this summer? Our Best Nonfiction Books to Read in June 2025, curated by Storizen, brings you a handpicked selection of compelling, thought-provoking reads across diverse topics—from groundbreaking insights on capitalism and climate change to inspiring memoirs and sharp guides for entrepreneurs. Whether you want to explore new ideas, deepen your understanding of the world, or simply enjoy captivating stories rooted in reality, these nine nonfiction books are sure to spark your curiosity and keep you engaged all month long.
1. Four Days a Week: The Life-Changing Solution for Reducing Employee Stress, Improving Well-Being, and Working Smarter by Juliet Schor
In Four Days a Week, bestselling author and leading sociologist Juliet Schor makes a powerful case for rethinking the traditional five-day work model and embracing a four-day workweek. Backed by decades of research, Schor shows how this shift can tackle urgent issues like burnout, rising workplace stress, AI disruption, and the climate crisis—while improving productivity and employee well-being. With examples from companies like Kickstarter and Basecamp that have already made the switch, she reveals how fewer hours can lead to happier, more engaged workers, better retention, and strong business outcomes. This book offers a timely, evidence-based blueprint for governments, organizations, and workers to create a healthier, more sustainable future of work—one extra day off at a time.
2. More Than Words: How Talking Sharpens the Mind and Shapes Our World by Maryellen MacDonald
In More Than Words, psycholinguist Maryellen MacDonald unpacks the remarkable science behind our uniquely human ability to talk—and why it matters far beyond simple communication. From speaking and writing to signing, the act of turning thoughts into language is not only a social tool but a mentally demanding process that shapes how we think, learn, remember, and age. MacDonald reveals how the very effort of talking boosts brain function, influences emotional regulation, and even slows cognitive decline. Drawing on global research, she explores how language adapts to speech demands, why classroom conversations matter, how speech patterns link to mental health, and how talking can even intensify political beliefs. Both fascinating and deeply insightful, More Than Words challenges us to rethink the everyday act of speaking and its profound impact on every corner of our lives—from education and parenting to public policy and mental well-being.
3. The Growth Dilemma: Managing Your Brand When Different Customers Want Different Things by Annie Wilson & Ryan Hamilton
In The Growth Dilemma, marketing experts Annie Wilson and Ryan Hamilton tackle a challenge every growing brand eventually faces: how to expand without alienating the very customers who built your success. Through a smart, engaging framework, they explore what happens when new customer segments clash with existing ones—whether it’s luxury brands becoming too mainstream or tech updates that backfire. With real-world examples from Apple to Gucci to Crocs, Wilson and Hamilton show how brands can strategically navigate customer conflicts, decide who to target, and grow without imploding. Packed with insights, wit, and practical advice, this book is an essential guide for anyone trying to scale a brand without losing its soul.
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4. Black Capitalists: A Blueprint for What Is Possible by Rachel Laryea
In Black Capitalists, Dr. Rachel Laryea—Wall Street professional and Yale-trained anthropologist—offers a powerful, thought-provoking exploration of how Black innovators around the world are redefining capitalism to serve not just profit, but people. Blending personal experience with rich storytelling and sharp analysis, she challenges the notion that capitalism must be exploitative and exclusionary, showing how Black entrepreneurs—from Lagos to Wall Street—are using the system’s tools to uplift communities and drive meaningful change. Through eye-opening accounts of resilience and ambition, Laryea invites us to rethink who gets to benefit from capitalism and how it can be reshaped into a more equitable force. Bold, deeply researched, and urgently relevant, Black Capitalists charts a hopeful and inclusive vision for economic transformation.
5. After the Idea: What It Really Takes to Create and Scale a Startup by Julia Austin
In After the Idea, entrepreneurship expert Julia Austin delivers a no-nonsense guide to what really makes startups succeed: operational excellence. Whether you’re launching your own venture or diving into the chaos of an early-stage startup, Austin goes beyond the buzz of big ideas and funding rounds to focus on the crucial work that happens after the pitch deck. Drawing on her deep experience with companies like Akamai and VMware, and years of advising hundreds of founders, she lays out practical, proven strategies for scaling smartly—covering everything from customer development to team dynamics. Clear, grounded, and full of hard-earned wisdom, After the Idea is the ultimate handbook for turning startup vision into lasting success.
6. Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age by Shannon Watts
In Fired Up, Shannon Watts—founder of Moms Demand Action—offers an empowering guide to breaking free from self-doubt and reigniting your inner spark at any stage of life. Drawing from her own journey of building one of the largest grassroots movements in the U.S., Watts encourages readers to stop living on autopilot and start embracing their power, purpose, and potential. Whether you’re ready to speak up at work, pursue a long-held dream, or reclaim your confidence, Fired Up provides the inspiration and tools to turn hesitation into action. With heart, honesty, and hard-won wisdom, this book is a rallying cry for anyone ready to stop holding back and start living boldly.
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7. Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet by Kate Marvel
In Human Nature, climate scientist Kate Marvel offers a moving and unconventional look at climate change through the lens of nine powerful emotions. Blending science with storytelling, she explores not just the data and disasters, but how it feels to live on a planet in flux. From anger and grief to wonder and hope, each chapter weaves together personal reflections, myth, history, and science to create a rich, emotional biography of Earth. With wit, heart, and lyrical insight, Marvel reminds us that climate change isn’t just a crisis in models or headlines—it’s happening to us, and feeling something about it is the first step toward caring and acting. Human Nature is at once a love letter to our planet and a call to reconnect with what it means to be human in an era of profound change.
8. Submersed by Matthew Gavin Frank
In Submersed, Matthew Gavin Frank takes readers on a haunting, poetic descent into the mysterious world of deep-sea obsession, where science, history, and true crime converge in chilling and unexpected ways. Beginning with the eccentric culture of DIY submersible builders—risk-takers drawn to the ocean’s depths—Frank traces humanity’s enduring fascination with sinking below the surface, from ancient diving bells to modern tragedies like the Titan implosion. At the heart of the narrative lies the harrowing story of journalist Kim Wall’s murder aboard Peter Madsen’s homemade submarine, a crime that forces Frank to confront the darker edges of obsession. With lush prose and gripping insight, Submersed explores the murky waters where wonder meets madness, asking what compels us to seek the deep—and what we might lose in the process.
9. How To Lose Your Mother: A Daughter’s Memoir by Molly Jong-Fast
How to Lose Your Mother is Molly Jong-Fast’s raw, darkly funny, and deeply emotional memoir about growing up in the shadow of literary icon Erica Jong—and the complicated love between a mother and daughter. With biting humor and painful honesty, Molly unpacks a childhood shaped by fame, chaos, and a mother who often felt more like a force of nature than a parent. But as her mother begins to slip into dementia, the memoir shifts into a tender, heartbreaking exploration of loss—not just of the woman Erica was, but of the relationship Molly longed for. Equal parts gossip, grief, and gut-punch truth, this memoir offers a brutally candid look at what it means to love someone imperfectly and lose them anyway.
These Best Nonfiction Books to Read in June 2025, curated by Storizen, offer something for every curious reader eager to learn, reflect, and be inspired. From powerful personal stories to cutting-edge research and practical guides, these titles invite you to challenge your perspectives and discover new ways of thinking about the world around you. So grab one—or all—and dive into June with a fresh dose of knowledge, motivation, and insight that will stay with you long after the last page. Happy reading!
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