The Nonfiction Files 9: Nonfiction November Book Generator

17 nonfiction book recommendations to go with your favorite bits of pop culture!

So apparently a lot of the online book peeps like to call November “Nonfiction November.” I wouldn’t know a thing about that since I’m a nonfiction all year kind of gal, myself. That being said, if you’re looking for nonfiction book recs to read this month, you’re in the right place.

Welcome to my 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 coupling.

This Nonfiction Files is free to all. If you like what you read consider subscribing to Unstacked to get more bookish content and to support my work here and across all platforms!

Here is how last year’s generator turned out.

If you still need even more nonfiction recommendations, might I suggest some previous installments of The Nonfiction Files like this matrix of the 2025 nonfiction I read through the first half of the year.

And this guide of how to pick nonfiction you’ll like.

And if you still need more, stick around, because my best of and most anticipated lists are coming soon (‘tis the season), and they promise to feature a whole bunch of nonfiction bangers. Shall we proceed to the generator? We shall.

• Housewives Drama - Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Woman Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert

• Lily Allen’s New Album - We Are Too Many: A Memoir [Kind of] by Hannah Pittard

• Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet - Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice by Cristina Rivera Garza

• Isn’t about something terrible - We Live for the We: The Political Power of Black Motherhood by Dani McClain¹

• Yearning - Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness by Kirsten Radtke²

• Daddy issues - Golden Boy: A Murder Among the Manhattan Elite by John Glatt

• The feeling when you recognize a sample within a new song for the first time - Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith³

• Kayla Nicole’s clapback going over hwyt people’s heads - White Negroes: When Cornrows Were in Vogue and Other Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation by Lauren Michele Jackson⁴

• The sudden resurgence of Dancing with the Stars - All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation by Elizabeth Gilbert

• Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino - Thick: And Other. Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom⁵

• Mountains/exploration - Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer⁶

• Succession (HBO) - Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy by James B Stewart and Rachel Abrams⁷

• Crank That (Soulja Boy) x Only Time (Enya) mashup - Another Word for Love: A Memoir by Carvell Wallace⁸

• Aliens as in little green men 👽🛸 - UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government’s Search for Alien Life Here—and Out There by Garrett M. Graff

• KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix) - I’ll Love You Forever: Notes from a K-Pop Fan by Giaae Kwon⁹

• Gossip - The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986-1990 by Jonathan Mahler

• Bad Bunny - P Fkn R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance by Vanessa Díaz and Petra R Rivera-Rideau¹⁰

See anything here you really love or want to read? What would you pair with any of these topics? Let’s generate some more nonfiction magic in the comments!

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1. Dani McClain on The Stacks

2. Kirsten Radtke on The Stacks

3. Danyel Smith on The Stacks, The Stacks Book Club Episode on Shine Bright

4. The Stacks Book Club Episode on White Negroes

5. Tressie McMillan Cottom on The Stacks

6. There is honestly not another answer for this, sorry it is predictable, but it is the only option.

7. I am resisting the urge to be predictable and put Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty here, but honestly it is soooooo Succession coded. So you get two recs for the price of one.

8. Carvell Wallace on The Stacks

9. Giaae Kwon on The Stacks

10. I admit this book is not out yet, but if you can wait until January, this feels like the only answer right?