The sky is ink black outside the train window, mince pies glint from every shop counter, and ice crystals crackle under our boots. All signs point to the same truth: November is here.
While some people use November to grow moustaches or get into stews, we choose the nobler path: reading non-fiction until our brains hum like a radiator in a Victorian terrace. Nonfiction November is a month-long reading initiative started by the Federation of Children’s Book Group that was originally aimed at young readers. However, it’s long since escaped containment, becoming a global challenge now firmly embedded in BookTok’s bloodstream.
As the days shrink and the evenings stretch out like dark velvet, the urge to read something grounded, researched, reflective, or revelatory feels almost instinctual, an animalistic thing. So in the spirit of primary school teachers everywhere (who are probably handing their students Little People, Big Dreams books right about now), we’re turning toward memoirs, manifestos, and books that challenge this season. Here are the standout nonfiction titles of 2025 we’ve been reading, dog-earing, and pushing into our friends’ hands this November:
I. Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood
86-years-old and with an “also by” list that fills up two whole pages, Margaret Atwood was way past due for an autobiography. The Handmaid’s Tale author guides readers from her free-spirited childhood in Nova Scotia to her Harvard years, and onward to her rise as one of the most influential literary voices of our time. Described by The Guardian as “sharp, funny, and engaging,” Atwood’s reflection on her life is essential reading.
II. It’s Terrible the Things I Have to Do to Be Me by Phillipa Snow
What do Kristen Stewart and the silent film siren Louise Brooks have in common? Phillipa Snow has some ideas. In this collection of essays, the critic and cultural observer dissects what it’s like to be a famous woman, comparing the lives of 20th century icons like Marilyn Monroe and Joan Crawford with contemporary idols like Pamela Anderson and Jane Fonda. It’s witty, incisive, and weirdly comforting: a book especially pertinent for those of us who came of age in the 2000s.
III. Dead and Alive by Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith has long been one of our sharpest cultural commentators, and this essay collection proves it again. Here she writes with both intelligence and playfulness about politics, art, life, and death, moving seamlessly from Tár to Glastonbury to the musical works of Stormzy. She mourns the deaths of writers like Joan Didion, Hilary Mantel, and Toni Morrison, while dissecting her transatlantic life. Reading Smith is like being in conversation with a friend who can challenge your assumptions and make you laugh all at the same time.
IV. Black-Owned by Char Adams
You can’t call yourself a book lover if this isn’t on your shelf. In Black-Owned, Char Adams journeys from 1834 to 2025, cataloging the history of America’s Black bookstores. From Langston Hughes’ autograph parties in New York to the rapper Noname’s Radical Hood Library in Los Angeles, Adams goes coast to coast, offering up a new history of the book business. It’s a necessary, often joyful read, and a reminder of how culture and commerce can intersect in beautiful, meaningful ways.
V. Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
Oh, the mother wound. Arundhati Roy’s first ever memoir digs deep into the real life trauma surrounding the death of her mother, Mary, when Roy was only 18. Though we know her as the author of the Booker Prize winning The God of Small Things, this departure from Roy explores memory and grief in her lyrical, intensely personal style.
VI. Queer Georgians: A Hidden History of Lovers, Lawbreakers and Homemakers by Anthony Delaney
History Hit’s Anthony Delaney peels back the layers of Georgian-era Britain to reveal the lives of queer individuals who lived, loved, and survived in secrecy. From Mother Clap’s Holborn coffee house in London to the wilds of Yorkshire where Anne Lister roamed, Queer Georgians is both historical detective work and a reminder of the joys of good storytelling.
VII. Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found by Andrew Graham-Dixon
If you’ve ever been mesmerized by Vermeer’s paintings, this biography will be a welcome addition to your bedside table this winter. Andrew Graham-Dixon transports readers to the blustery world of 17th century Delft, placing Vermeer smack dab in the middle of the social and political upheavals of the Dutch Golden Age. It’s the kind of book that makes you want to visit a gallery immediately, while also giving you a sense of the artist as a human being – mysterious, meticulous, and profoundly alive.
VIII. Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress and Dr Crippen by Hallie Rubenhold
The rockstar social historian behind The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper returns. In her new book, Hallie Rubenhold reexamines a notorious Victorian murder from an entirely new perspective. By centering the wives and the mistress of the very Ripperesque Dr Crippen, Rubenhold challenges sensationalised history and gives voice to those who were silenced. It’s an addictive, intensely readable account of a true crime case that warrants a 75-part podcast.
IX. Moonlight Express: Around the World By Night Train by Monisha Rajesh
From Finnish Lapland to the misty cities of Scotland to Norway, Austria, and beyond, Monisha Rajesh’s travelogue is pure escapism. The train lover and travel writer dive deep into the romance and unpredictability of night trains across the globe. In the season of 3pm sunsets, this book will make moving through the world after dark feel less scary, and, in fact, a little bit magical.
X. How to Live an Artful Life: 366 Inspirations from Artists on How to Bring Creativity to Your Everyday by Katy Hessel
From the creator of The Great Women Artists project and author of The Story of Art Without Men comes a monthly guide to injecting more creativity into your life. If you’re looking for something light and joyful, this daily companion reflects on the lives of artists like Nan Goldin and Lubaina Himid while also offering practical tips and prompts for how to be an artist in your own life, on your own terms.
XI. The Slicks: On Sylvia Plath and Taylor Swift by Maggie Nelson
Sylvia Plath lived in New York in the summer of 1953, and it was a time in her life that she described as an evil brew of “pain, parties, work.” If you’ve listened to Taylor Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl, you might already be familiar with this particular concoction. Combining literary criticism and pop culture analysis, Maggie Nelson looks at the two blonde icons side-by-side, comparing their ambitions, work ethic, and confessional writing. Whether you’re a Swiftie or not, this treatise is important for anyone consuming culture in 2025.
So what have you been reading this month? As November ticks over into December, and we enter the cold season in earnest, let us find comfort in our overflowing stacks of books.The leaves and lilies may go and the sun may hide, but stories will never leave us – even on the darkest of dark nights. So take your pick. Grab a tale and take to your caves; it’s hibernation season. And remember what the queen of seasonal meditations, Ali Smith, once said: “Winter is an exercise in remembering how to still yourself then how to come pliantly back to life again.”
