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Nonfiction November
23
items As someone who writes creative nonfiction and loves the genre immensely, I’m disappointed when people think nonfiction is merely boring, dry, and straightforward. If written well of course, our world and the people in it are fascinating enough for tr...
Sections
7
Culture
Personal Essay Collections
History
Memoirs
Nature
Politics
Culture
Tells the story of how a suburban mother’s efforts to write honest stories for kids and teens led to a lot of increased awareness (and backlash!) surrounding often-taboo social issues.
The Genius of Judy: How Judy Blume Rewrote Childhood for All of Us
Perry draws upon the pop culture of the aughts to share her experiences as a queer millennial woman.
The 2000s Made Me Gay: Essays on Pop Culture by Grace Perry, Paperback
Personal Essay Collections
Personal essays that draw upon the author’s own reflections, interviews with other women, and a range of cultural examinations—from Easy A to the myth of Demeter and Persephone. The central thesis? Women and even girls are taught to acquiesce to male...
Girlhood by Melissa Febos, Paperback
The legendary writer focuses attention onto the death of her daughter, as well as topics of growing older and illness.
Blue Nights by Joan Didion, Paperback
Includes the most famous of Beard’s essays, “The Fourth State of Matter.” With vivid, specific details, Beard sharply yet often humorously depicts Midwestern childhood, family dynamics, and divorce.
The Boys of My Youth|Paperback - Jo Ann Beard
History
The history of Mormonism can be a little dense at times, but also feels necessary to contextualize other subjects, such as murders, a kidnapping, cults, and other tragic yet riveting material tied to extremist Mormonism. This was made into the Hulu s...
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer ...
Follows the Sackler family through generations as they become more and more ruthless in the medical industry, eventually creating an opioid crisis with Oxycontin.
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
History, but so much more too! This book also includes thematically related poetry and prose from a variety of Black writers.
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones ...
Engaging account of the history of tuberculosis alongside a more personal account of a TB patient from Sierra Leone, who Green met.
Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest ...
Memoirs
Not good for a celebrity memoir, just really really good. McCurdy employs immersive detail, complex characterization, and sharp writing to tell her important story.
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, Hardcover
McBride, known more recently for his novels, writes about growing up poor and biracial alongside many siblings in New York. The structure alternates between his upbringing and his white Jewish mother’s accounts of her own tumultuous life.
The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride, ...
A 200ish-page memoir about overcoming childhood sexual abuse and internalized toxic masculinity. The title speaks to how land features heavily here—both literally as Hocking talks about the unique landscapes of Colorado, as well as metaphorically. Fo...
A Field Guide to the Subterranean: Reclaiming the Deep Earth and our ...
Delightfully genre-defining, as each section takes on a new form. The story of being in a lesbian abusive relationship is told as a Choose Your Own Adventure, a lipogram, comparison to Bluebeard, and many more avenues.
In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado, Paperback
A wonderful testament to the beauties of Deaf life and culture.
Deaf Utopia: A Memoir-and a Love Letter to a Way of Life
A memoir that defies the traditional techniques of the genre. A film adaptation will soon be out in theaters as Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut.
The Chronology of Water: A Memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch, Paperback
Trayvon Martin’s parents jointly wrote this heartbreaking account of their son’s murder and the corresponding legal and cultural aftermath.
Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin
Memoir of a woman who experienced cancer in the face as a child, resulting in surgeries that left her looking unlike the other kids in her class. But the book is never written with melodramatic self-pity. She was best friends with Ann Patchett, who a...
Autobiography of a Face [Thirtieth Anniversary Edition] by Lucy Grealy ...
Nature
Read this if you want to recite fun facts about eels to your friends! Alternates between eel-centered chapters and memoir chapters
The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious ...
An indigenous botanist shares how to become more conscious of the natural world around us.
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the ...
A pioneer in plant communication, Simard details how trees are social and communicate all kinds of messages with one another.
Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest
Politics
From an Egyptian-Canadian novelist and journalist who now lives in Portland. Written in response to the genocide in Gaza. Was recently shortlisted for the National Book Award.
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This|Hardcover
Pulitzer Prize-winning account of eight different families struggling to get by in Milwaukee. Published in 2016.
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Prose Poetry
Ninety pages of numbered sections musing on love, loss, and other artistic works, all thematically tied together by their connection to the color blue.
Bluets by Maggie Nelson, Paperback