New Nonfiction Releases for February 2023

It’s not the season of love — it’s the season of history books and war memoirs. Take a look at new nonfiction in February 2023.

January is for recovering from the festive season. February is the real beginning. This month there are so many new nonfiction releases, they’re quickly filling up our Goodreads Reading Challenge. Whether you’re looking to learn, laugh, or lose yourself in a great story, there’s something here for every kind of reader.

What I Wish People Knew About Dementia by Wendy Mitchell

Sunday Times Bestseller: “A book of hope.”

What can a diseased brain tell us about being human, living our own lives better and helping those with dementia get the best from theirs?

When Wendy Mitchell was diagnosed with young-onset dementia at the age of fifty-eight, it was the start of a new life. This book is wise, practical and life affirming. It combines anecdotes, research and Wendy brilliant wit and wisdom to tell readers exactly what she wishes they knew about dementia. Read it here: 2nd February 2023.

The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism by Martin Wolf

From the author of The Shifts and the Shocks, and one of the most influential writers on economics, a reckoning with how and why the relationship between democracy and capitalism is coming undone.

It analyses how the marriage between capitalism and democracy has become so fraught and yet insists that a divorce would be an almost unimaginable calamity

The arrival of this book could not be timelier as the global economy darkens further. Read it here: 2nd February 2023.

A Small Town in Ukraine by Bernard Wasserstein

Historian Bernard Wasserstein uncovers the traumatic history of Krakowiec, the town his family originated from. The results are devastating and exceptional.

“At other times, as now, it was confronted by tumultuous, uncontainable forces that aroused hatred and blood lust and wreaked devastating havoc. I want to explore Krakowiec and its people, with my family at its — and my — heart.”

A haunting and deep work of history. Read it here: 23rd February 2023.

Buy Better, Consume Less: Create Real Environmental Change by Sian Conway-Wood

Ethical Hour founder Sian Conway-Wood provides practical tips on consumption, greenwashing, and accountability. We are failing to care for our world. With piles of overflowing rubbish and streams of pollution, there is another pollution. Branding pollution. What do you do in a world consumed by consumption?

For too long, corporations have shifted the eco-responsibility onto us, the consumers. It’s time to push back and demand change.

Here at The Book Shelf, we work with the Rainforest Trust charity and have saved acres of woodland. It’s time to change and put the planet above profit. Find it here: 17th February 2023.

Content Warning: Everything by Akwaeke Emezi

Akwaeke Emezi, award-winning author of Freshwater, PET, and The Death of Vivek Oji, releases her poetry collection. Now, why is this in the nonfiction category? It’s a multi-genre phenomena. Emezi shares real experiences. From home to homesickness, belonging and leaving, this collection is unlike anything released before.

Honestly, it’s a triumph of a creative mind. It’s multi-genre and multi-disciplinary. Buy it here: 16th February 2023.

Black women Writers at Work by Claudia Tate

“Black women writers and critics are acting on the old adage that one must speak for oneself if one wishes to be heard.” — Claudia Tate

This includes Interviews with Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and Sherley Anne Williams. To name a few. This book focuses on the connections between work and lived experiences of Black female writers. The women included in this book have laid the foundation for many.

Ultimately, it’s one of the most important contributions to Black literature. Buy it here: 14th February 2023.

If you want to find out what to read on your next coffee shop date, we share ideas in our monthly newsletter. Or, if you can’t wait, then check out our Editor’s Blog. Find us on socials, our website and Goodreads to get notified whenever we publish something new.

We’re here to help readers — we’re here to help you.

By Shelby Jones