India, Nov. 23 -- Dear Reader,

My nonfiction list this year is wildly skewed-half tech dystopia, half mountain mysticism, with a multitude of memoirists weaving through the middle. It feels chaotic, but perhaps it mirrors the moment we're living in: caught between the future we're building and the primal truths we can't escape.

Through it all though, some books stand out. Here they are. Books that shaped my year. Books that changed how I think. Books that made me slow down. Books that consoled me. Books I wanted to discuss with fellow readers the moment I finished them. These are the ones worth stealing hours of your life for.

Every year autobiographies get more raw and reflective. It feels like everyone decided to stop being polite an...