What Do “Life,” “Love,” and “Story” Have in Common?

Looking Back at January’s New Nonfiction

As someone who’s a total word nerd (I mean, I really love lists and patterns), I couldn’t resist doing a little experiment with the new nonfiction titles from January. What better place to geek out than here with all of you, right?

I rounded up a bunch of titles and authors, threw them into a word cloud, and what came out was pretty fun to look at. So, if you're into infographics, lists, and the quirky patterns words can create, this one’s for you!

A Few Things I Noticed in January’s Nonfiction:

Here’s what stood out when I broke it down:

• Everything, Life, Love, and Story: These four words showed up five times each. It seems like January's nonfiction titles were all about big ideas—life, love, and the stories we tell to make sense of them.

• Memoir: This one appeared four times, reinforcing that personal stories continue to captivate readers.

• Words like Became, Change, Modern, Mother, Raise, and World came up three times. It's clear that change, transformation, and personal growth are major themes, and there's a lot of focus on how we shape our worlds and raise the next generation.

Want to See All the Titles?

Now, I didn’t catch every nonfiction title released in January (can you imagine how long that list would be?), but I did spend some time researching titles that piqued my interest. If you want to see the full list of books that made this experiment, I’ve compiled everything into a neat PDF for you to download. You can:

• Highlight, Circle, or Star Your Must-Reads: Use it as a checklist to keep track of what you want to read.

• Compare With a Friend: Swap notes on which books caught your eye and buddy-read a title together.

• Plan Your Library Holds: Check your library’s catalog and put upcoming reads on hold.

• Build a Wishlist: Use it as a shopping guide for birthdays, holidays, or future book hauls.

• Check for Audiobooks: Some of these might be even better in audio!

• See What’s Already Getting Buzz: Look up reviews to see which ones are making waves.

• Attend Author Events: Check if any of these authors have book tours or virtual talks.

What’s Next?

I’ll be doing this every month, so we can watch how the themes change (pun intended!) as we move through the year. Will we see more memoirs, more love, or maybe even some new words making their way to the forefront in February? Stay tuned!

A Quick Question for Authors:

I’m curious—have you noticed any of these themes showing up in your work or what you’re reading? Let’s start a conversation about how these trends might be shaping nonfiction right now!

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Download the PDF of January’s Nonfiction Titles and Authors here:

I’ll be back soon with another roundup—can’t wait to see what comes up in February!

Let’s Chat! I’d love to hear your thoughts—what words or themes do you think will show up next? Drop a comment and let’s keep the conversation going!