Lit Hit List: Nonfiction November
It’s #nonfictionNovember, friends, and we wanted to do a few recommendations (well, maybe Elizabeth went a little nutty) if you’re planning on participating! Also, just to do some self-promotion, see all of our non-fiction reviews right here! We also do read a lot of memoirs, so click over here to see those reviews — we figure they are mostly true. And now, some collected thoughts:
Moira
I’m really not a big nonfiction reader, but I have some niche interests within the genre. I love a good memoir: my favorites are coming-of-age stories or stories of people leaving religious cults. Right now, the majority of nonfiction I read are books my therapist recommends. So please, just do me the favor of pretending you can’t figure out my very specific neuroses from the books I recommend, ok?
In terms of memoir, you just really can’t beat Augusten Burroughs in my book (ha!). I’ve read him since high school, when I convinced my mother that Running With Scissors was on my AP Language summer reading syllabus so she’d buy it (when she opened it up and randomly read a page, she figured it out really quickly.) I’ve since read most of his books, and I think my favorite next to Running with Scissors is Lust and Wonder, his 2016 memoir about the major romantic relationships of his adult life. His books are filthy and funny and very readable.
I’m a big fan of both of Emily Nagoski’s books: Come As You Are, and Burnout (the latter written with her sister.) . Both were recommended by my therapist. Come As You Are focuses on female sexuality (more specifically and wokely, assigned female at birth sexuality)—I was apprehensive about it at first because I thought the insight would be like “most women can’t come from penetration” and like, duh, I know, thanks. But actually it explores things I had never known or considered about female arousal, and the specific ways society screws women up around their sexuality. Burnout, which I reviewed on the blog, talks about the impact of toxic stress on women, and how to escape the stress cycle. Like Come as You Are, it touched on a lot of the ways that society makes women’s lives complicated. What I really love about Nagoski’s writing is her acknowledgment of how our culture makes being female difficult, while still giving strategies for combatting the resulting problems in your daily life.
Memoirs! More memoirs. I love memoirs. Recently I’ve loved Amanda Stern’s “Little Panic” (and now we are friends and neighbors!) It’s a really wonderful book about growing up with anxiety, and it spoke to me in a very personal way. My college roommate (for three years of off-campus living) and one of my very dearest friends, Adam, looks exactly like Andrew Rannells. So of course we both read his memoir “Too Much is Not Enough.” I expected it to be very funny and snarky, but I was touched by his story about a predatory relationship he endured in high school, as well as just generally charmed by his writing.
I’d be remiss in not mentioning humorous essay books, which are a love of mine. To narrow the field, Sloan Crosley’s books, particularly her first, “I Was Told There’d be Cake” is a delightfully snarky book that manages to be low-key while still laugh out loud funny. And, of course, there’s David Sedaris, the master of essays. You really can’t go wrong with him, but “Me Talk Pretty One Day” is a true masterpiece.
Long story short, I’ll never be a full convert to nonfiction, but there are some niches I’m happy to delve into from time to time. I’m always open to hearing your recommendations as well! Just make sure it’s some funny essays or about the female orgasm.
Elizabeth
You know this was coming: if you haven’t read it yet, you should read “Know My Name” by Chanel Miller as your Nonfiction November choice. Full stop. And now, with the rest of my list.
I have always gravitated toward nonfiction reads, most likely from developing a love of history at a formative age. To be honest, a good microhistory may be one of my favorite things, particularly if it is accompanied by a snack and a beverage on a blanket outside. My undergraduate degree was in British history, and I wrote my senior thesis on World War II, so a good portion of these recommendations do cover those topics, but the British have such an interesting and varied history that it’s easy to write a ton of books about it.
To me, there is no one better at writing a compelling microhistory than Erik Larson. Most people have read “Devil in the White City” (you should, it’s amazing), but I also loved “Dead Wake” (about the last crossing Lusitania) and “In the Garden of Beasts” (about the last U.S. Ambassador to Germany before World War II). I also just pre-ordered “The Splendid and the Vile,” all about Churchill and the Blitz, so get ready for that review in February. Other favorites within this genre: “The Witches” by Stacy Schiff | “In the Hurricane’s Eye” by Nathaniel Philbrick | “Capital” by John Lanchester | “Romanovs” by Simon Sebag Montefiore | “Salt” by Mark Kurlansky.
Shockingly, I am not a massive fan of memoirs unless it involves some sort of fundamentalist cult. What can I say, I am fascinated. “Educated” by Tara Westover is one that immediately comes to mind. For a more generalized view into extreme American religions, I would definably start with recommend “Going Clear” by Lawrence Wright and “Under the Banner of Heaven” by Jon Krakauer (and if you haven’t read his book about Everest, I’m not sure we can be friends, tbh).
You guys know that I love a scammer story, and we have reviewed a few of them on here, but I did want to include them because they are so freaking fascinating. “Bad Blood” by John Carreyou is the first one in this genre that I devoured. I would also recommend “My Friend Anna” about Anna Delvey and “Catch and Kill” by Ronan Farrow, and I’m thinking that “Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber” may be one of my November reads. It looks so good!
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my one of my favorite niches: Bill Bryson and others like him. I loved “A Walk in the Woods” and “A Short History of Nearly Everything”, and I can’t wait to read “The Body". One of the things that he does so well is turn the prosaic into something interesting, like being at home or the English language. Sarah Vowell is another author that does this well — combining humor and the absurd with trivia and off-the-wall facts. In her oeuvre, I’d start with either “Assassination Vacation” or “The Wordy Shipmates.” Lastly, “Origin Story” by David Christian is a delight.
Shannon
You probably wouldn’t be able to tell from reading my reviews (which are mostly of novels), but I love a good nonfiction read. To make it simple, I’ve put together some of my favorite categories and recs:
Memoirs and Essays
“Small Fry” by Lisa Brennan Jobs: this is one of my top books of 2019, and I read it in the first few days of January. Steve Jobs’ oldest daughter is an absolutely beautiful writer.
“Becoming” by Michelle Obama: duh
“This Will Only Hurt a Little” by Busy Philips: Busy’s memoir is open, honest, vulnerable, and funny—everything a great celebrity memoir should be.
“A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisine” by Anthony Bourdain: RIP
“Kitchen Confidential” by Anthony Bourdain: I didn’t read this until after he passed away and I mourn the fact that I wasn’t as big of a fan of his as I could have been while he was alive.
“We’re Going to Need More Wine” by Gabrielle Union: another outstanding celebrity memoir
“The Vanity Fair Diaries: 1983-1992” by Tina Brown: a great behind-the-scenes look at Tina Brown’s time resurrecting the magazine
“Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body” by Roxane Gay: hard to get through at times but absolutely excellent
“I Know What I’m Doing and Other Lies I Tell Myself” by Jen Kirkman: she’s my favorite comedian and her books are so funny. In fact, I discovered her because I saw her memoir “I Can Barely Take Care of Myself: Tales from a Happy Life Without Children” and thought she stole my future memoir title. (I could relate, is what I’m saying.)
“Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith” by Joe Perry: I am a fairly big Aerosmith fan thanks to my parents and guitarist Joe Perry’s memoir is a great read—I was pleasantly surprised by how good his writing was
“Trick Mirror” by Jia Tolentino (my review here)
“Make Trouble” by Cecile Richards: from the former president of Planned Parenthood and daughter of former Texas governor Ann Richards.
Feminism
“Know My Name” by Chanel Miller (my review here and Elizabeth’s review here)
“She Said” by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey (my review here)
“Good and Mad” by Rebecca Traister
“Sex Object: A Memoir” by Jessica Valenti: everything Jessica Valenti writes is excellent.
“Asking For It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture and What We Can Do About It” by Kate Harding
“All The Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation” by Rebecca Traister: my copy is full of underlines and notes in the margins as I thought about my own family and myself
Scientology (yes this is a whole category unto itself)
“Going Clear” by Lawrence Wright: start here for the definitive background on Scientology
“Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me” by Ron Miscavige: the father of the leader of Scientology’s memoir. This is a good next step after “Going Clear.”
“Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape” by Jenna Miscavige: the leader of Scientology’s niece speaks out
“Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology” by Leah Remini: putting this here instead of in memoirs because of its focus
“The Unbreakable Miss Lovely” by Tony Ortega: Ortega is an investigative journalist who focuses on Scientology and this book details the absolutely bonkers lengths Scientology went to to stop another journalist from writing about the organization in the 1970s
History
“The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11” by Lawrence Wright: the Pulitzer Prize-winning book about how Al-Qaeda came to be. Don’t just watch the Hulu show; it starts around page 300 of the book.
“Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost Its Soul” by Jeremiah Moss: a bit dramatic at times but a strong take on New York’s gentrification
“The World As It Is: Inside the Obama White House” by Ben Rhodes: a great retrospective from one of Obama’s top aides.
“Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth” by Reza Aslan: I’m not particularly religious but I enjoyed this historical account of Jesus’ life. (Also, if you haven’t seen the clip of the author on Fox News explaining why he, as a Muslim, wrote a book about Jesus, you’re welcome.) I think that’s a great place to end, don’t you?
