Nonfiction November Book Generator

I'm giving you 10 nonfiction book recommendations based off your favorite bits of pop culture and/or your emotional state.

I started working on this piece last week. I hadn’t thought about it at all in relationship to the election or really how we would be feeling today, and so if this feels too trivial or business as usual, please skip. I get it. There is a lot going on that feels yucky and overwhelming. If, on the other hand, a handful of book recommendations feels like exactly what you need today. I’ve got you!

November has been dubbed “Nonfiction November” in some book spaces, and what better way to celebrate than with a nonfiction book generator? Shout out to

Morgan Pager

for inspiring this spinoff of “The Game”.

Here’s how it works, I asked folks to present me with a bit of pop culture (book/movie/tv show/ song etc.) or a mood and I used that to find them the perfect nonfiction recommendation. As you’ll see, some of the pairings are extremely literal while others are a more vibe based pairing.

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• Aging - Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over by Nell Painter

• Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit - Congratulations, The Best Is Over!: Essays by R. Eric Thomas

• Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott¹/Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc - We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America by Roxanna Asgarian²

• Patrick Radden Keefe³ - Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime That Changed America by Kevin Cook

• Shakespeare history and/or criticism - The Great White Bard: How to Love Shakespeare While Talking about Race by Farah Karim-Cooper⁴

• “Not Ready to Make Nice” by The Chicks - Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger by Rebecca Traister⁵

• Los Angeles - Bad City: Peril and Power in the City of Angels by Paul Pringle

• Memoir about ups and downs in a long friendship - Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman⁶

• Mariah Carey’s Memoir⁷ - Why Mariah Carey Matters by Andrew Chan

• Spooky/witchy/erie but not too scary because I’m a baby - Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi

What did you think? How did I do? I’d love to see what you’d pair with the above. Add yours to the comments!

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1. Andrea Elliott on The Stacks

2. Roxanna Asgarian on The Stacks

3. Patrick Radden Keefe on The Stacks

4. Farah Karim-Cooper on The Stacks

5. The Stacks Book Club Episode on Good and Mad

6. Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman on The Stacks

7. The Stacks Book Club Episode on The Meaning of Mariah Carey