5 Books to Read for Nonfiction November

In the reading community, November is known as #NonfictionNovember, and book lovers focus on mixing in nonfiction titles with the rest of their reading. Before November ends, consider reading some true stories. Here are five narrative nonfiction books that I really enjoyed. 

When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion by Julie Satow – When Women Ran Fifth Avenue tells the stories of Hortense Odlum of Bonwit Teller, Dorothy Shaver of Lord & Taylor, and Geraldine Stutz of Henri Bendel. It also provides a brief history of department stores and how they changed the world of shopping and opened up employment opportunities for women. At a time when most working women were nurses or teachers, the department store created a new career path for them in sales and business. This glimpse into the department store phenomenon and its impact on our culture and shopping habits is fascinating, especially in light of their slow demise as online shopping popularizes. While this is narrative nonfiction, it is a page-turner chock full of trade secrets, drama, and intriguing history. I truly could not put it down.

American Cartel by Scott Higham and Sari Horwitz – In the U.S., death by opioid overdose has consistently climbed over the last two decades. Unlike previous drug crises, the opioid epidemic was sparked by U.S. drug manufacturers and further flamed by those same drug companies, pharmaceutical distributors, pharmacies, and doctors. American Cartel chronicles how a small group of DEA agents and a band of lawyers worked diligently for years to stem the flow of these drugs and to make these bad actors pay for the crisis they created. While the book starts slow and slowly builds up steam, the second half reads like a thriller though if it were fiction the “bad guys” would appear comically drawn – the behavior these drug companies and distributors engaged in seems so over-the-top it is hard to believe that they and the scores of people working for them actually behaved so horrifically. American Cartel is a stellar (and at times horrifying) read that proves the continued importance of high-quality investigative journalism in today’s world and how greed created a national emergency that has swept the country unchecked.

Being Henry: The Fonz…and Beyond by Henry Winkler – Henry Winkler’s first big role in Hollywood, as The Fonz in Happy Days, defined him for decades after the show went off the air. His incredible story starts earlier with a troubled home life and undiagnosed dyslexia and follows him through his role as The Fonz and into the acting roles he has subsequently played and children’s books he has written. Fans of Happy Days will enjoy the details he divulges about the show, including the origin of the term “jumping the shark” and how he was treated significantly better than the rest of the cast and the tension that created. I listened to this one; Winkler and his wife Stacey narrate, and I felt that they were personally telling me their tales. 

Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives by Mary Laura Philpott – Mary Laura Philpott’s new essay collection is outstanding; her humor, hope, and insightfulness will resonate with anyone who has struggled to understand life, death, and the last few years. Centered around her response to her son’s epilepsy diagnosis, Bomb Shelter tackles serious topics but laces them with funny anecdotes about the turtle who lives in her yard and knocks on her back door, college tours, and her inability to keep pet frogs alive. Reading Bomb Shelter feels like spending time with a close friend and, when you are done, you will wish you were friends. Philpott’s can-do attitude and positive outlook are so refreshing, and it is also comforting to find that someone else worries as much as I do.

Everyone But Myself by Julie Chavez – Everyone But Myself opens with the author chronicling her first panic attack and goes into her subsequent mental health crisis, followed by her personal journey to understand, manage, and ease her debilitating anxiety. Like many moms, self-care took a back seat to everything else in her life eventually leading to her struggle with the aftereffects of her panic attacks and her questioning what would happen next. On this journey, she finds her way back to a healthy and happy life with the help of family, friends (old and new), and some additional tools and resources. For those mothers who are feeling overwhelmed by today’s family responsibilities and all that they entail, Julie’s story will provide comfort and encouragement as well as some much-needed laughter.

For more book recommendations and bookish thoughts, see Cindy’s monthly Buzz Reads column, her award-winning Thoughts from a Page Podcast or follow @ThoughtsFromaPage on Instagram.