Lisa notes

How do you decide what to read next? One of my most reliable methods is simple: I trust the readers whose taste has proven itself over time.

That’s why I look forward to Nonfiction November every year. I get to collect trustworthy recommendations from bloggers I’ve followed for years—plus discover new voices I haven’t met yet. From this year’s posts around the web, I added 24 nonfiction titles to my growing 2026 reading list.

But four books rose to the top. I’m hoping to read these by the end of the year . . . but we’ll see.

Have you read any of these? What did you think?

1. Is a River Alive?
by Robert Macfarlane

I actually started this one last Saturday. Harry first recommended it last August, and I sampled it on my Kindle then. But hearing him mention it again this month at his blog Unsolicited Feedback nudged me to bump into my end-of-year reading. It seems like a fitting choice to close out my One Word of the Year: Ripple.

Harry writes,

“Is a River Alive? is a journey into an idea that Macfarlane says changes the world: the idea that rivers are alive. The book explores what it might mean for our relationship with nature, for our laws, economies and societies if we took this idea seriously.”

2. Banned Together
Our Fight for Readers’ Rights
edited by Ashley Hope Perez

My town’s independent bookstore has spent this year in our book club spotlighting banned books, so this title immediately caught my attention as a meaningful book to close out the year. (Next year’s club theme may be nonfiction, which I’m thrilled about.)

On her blog, My Head Is Full of Books, Anne recommends Banned Together because she wishes she’d had a resource like this when she was a teen librarian.

“It is a collection of essays, short stories, memoirs, graphic novels/biographies, poems, and lists of books and resources by YA authors who have recently found themselves in the same club—authors with at least one banned book.”

3. The Afterlife of Data
What Happens to Your Information When You Die and Why You Should Care
by Carl Öhman

Because my Ripple theme this year also includes thinking more proactively about end-of-life planning, I’ve been gathering information my daughter may someday need after I die. This book recommendation about what happens to our data after we die (also by Anne!) lands at exactly the right time.

This book appealed to Anne after she was looking through Facebook friends and discovered that many of them were no longer living, yet their data lived on. I’ve had the same experience.

“Did you know in a few years [2070] there will be more dead persons’ accounts on Facebook than live persons? And businesses are attempting to monetize the relationship between social media and grief?”

4. The Common Good
by Robert Reich

In these days when public trust feels dangerously absent, this book seems especially important. When it popped up on Deb’s recommendation list at her blog , I knew it belonged on my to-read list. I want to better understand what I can realistically do as an individual to help strengthen our declining social trust.

Deb says,

“Wow—everyone needs to read this book. . . . If you are feeling bleak about America, I urge you to read this book and act in ways that will work for the common good. I intend to try.”

Next Up on My 2026 Nonfiction List

To round out the top 10 of the 24 books I’ve chosen from Nonfiction November, here are the next 6 books I’m excited to get to next year:

5. Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything by B.J. Fogg, PhD, recommended by Anne
6. Monster: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer, recommended by Olivia
7. The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family by Jesselyn Cook by Jesselyn Cook, recommended by Heather
8. So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson, recommended by AJ
9. The View from Down Here: On being Disabled in an Ableist World by Lucy Webster, recommended by Liz
10. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by by Omar El Akkad, recommended by AJ

Your turn: What’s one nonfiction book you recommend often? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

It’s week 5 (the final week) of Nonfiction November, when we share what books made it onto our TBR. Join Deb at Readerbuzz to see more.

Nonfiction is one way we can get a glimpse into someone else’s world. This week’s theme for Nonfiction November—seeing through another’s eyes—reminds me that books have helped me understand more perspectives than I have access to in person. Books teach us so much about people of different cultures, politics, ages, abilities, and experiences.

And if we’re open to them, the diverse perspectives we meet in books can carry over to genuine connections in real life.

Here are 5 books I’ve read this year that showed me Diverse Perspectives.

The Migrants We Misjudge

Migration is one of the most natural human acts, yet certain people are punished for it while others are praised. It’s often the media we consume—not the actual facts—that determines how we view it.

In Dear America, renowned journalist Jose Antonio Vargas writes about his own difficult immigration story coming to America from the Philippines at 12 years old. But he also shares staggering statistics about immigration in general—like the billions in taxes undocumented workers pay each year and the reminder that “there is no line” here for people who want to become citizens.

“Even though it is an illegal act to enter the country without documents, it is not illegal for a person to be in the country without documents. That is a clear and crucial distinction. I am not a criminal. This is not a crime.”

As I read this book, I thought often of my own friends who have come to the United States to escape extreme violence in their own countries. I’m grateful they made it here alive.

The Justice We Skew

Arbitrary Death is quite an enlightening book about the death penalty in America.

The death penalty is often framed in legal absolutes, but author and prosecutor Rick Unklesbay—writing from firsthand experience—shows that decisions for a death sentence are actually quite arbitrary, including occasional wrongful sentencing of innocent people. Again and again he witnessed victims’ families feel no promised closure after decades of legal wrangling to see human executions.

“Are we willing to take the chance of an innocent person being executed? The alternative of life in prison without parole exists. Shouldn’t that be sufficient?”

The Struggles We Overlook

Disability Visibility opened my eyes to more struggles (practical and otherwise) than I ever knew existed for people living with disabilities. I picked this book from last year’s recommendations in Nonfiction November. So glad I did!

I learned so much from the multiple authors who share their real-life experiences in this collection of essays, including the perspective on the high cost of—and eventual resignation from—pursuing miracle cures:

“People ask me, ‘Have you tried yoga? Kombucha? This special water?’ And I don’t have the energy to explain that yes, I’ve tried them. I’ve tried crystals and healing drum circles and prayer and everything. What I want to try is acceptance. I want to see what happens if I can simply accept myself for who I am: battered, broken, hoping for relief, still enduring somehow.”

The Faith We Force

In How to End Christian Nationalism, Amanda Tyler writes from her research on Christian nationalism.

She concludes that when Christian nationalism abounds, there is no religious freedom for anyone. Why? Because . . .

“Religion that relies on state control for protection and enforcement is not a flourishing faith that can be freely chosen. . . . Christianity is not what unites us as Americans. Belonging in our society must never depend on how (or if) we worship, what we believe (or don’t), or how we identify (or don’t) religiously.”

Who is the “right person” to have a conversation with about Christian nationalism? Tyler says it’s someone you’re already connected to. Because if we can’t attend to it close to home, we won’t be able to end it in the public square. (Maybe not at the Thanksgiving table though?)

The “Them” We Mislabel

Finally, What’s Our Problem? makes a challenging suggestion: Get rid of our labels of Us vs. Them.

Tim Urban says it’s always a delusion to believe it’s only good guys vs. bad guys in this world. Rather, take the view that each person has the capacity to be both. So,

“There is no Them. Just one big Us.”

I don’t agree with everything Urban says in this book, but enough to wonder, as he suggests, if the real danger may not be that we just disagree, but that we’re losing trust in each other altogether.

Summary

Reading nonfiction through someone else’s eyes can be a shortcut to learn more compassion toward people different than us. Every person deserves to be treated with respect. The more we understand others’ lives and experiences, the easier it becomes to extend that respect.

But these particular books didn’t just help me see others more clearly—they also helped me see myself a little more clearly, too. For better and for worse. And isn’t that where real change begins?

What about you? Was there a book this year that opened your eyes to a perspective you hadn’t considered?

Share your thoughts and book suggestions in the comments.

It’s Week 4 of Nonfiction November. Find more book suggestions (and add your own) at Rebekah’s blog, She Seeks Nonfiction.

If you’re a reader, you probably have a favorite: fiction or nonfiction. Some of us love escaping into stories; others seek facts and insights.

But what if real understanding happens when you don’t choose between them, but read both?

Reading fiction and nonfiction together can deepen your perspective of both worlds. One stirs emotion; the other sharpens perspective.

Below are a few reasons why this pairing works for me—and three book pairings from what I’ve read this year.

1. Fiction Opens Your Heart; Nonfiction Opens Your Mind

Okay, maybe it’s not quite that simple (fiction and nonfiction can both open hearts and minds). Still, books we read for stories often help us feel something, while books we read for information often help us think something.

Try these two together.

Fiction: Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

The plot centers around a mysterious passenger aboard a flight who walks down the aisle predicting deaths. The story shows you the human side of how each person reacts to the news, and the ripple effect it creates in their lives.

Nonfiction: Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters by Brian Klaas

This fascinating look at chaos theory and randomness shows how tiny moments can have huge consequences. It’s a real-life counterpart to Moriarty’s fictional story of ripple effects.

The fiction and nonfiction together help you feel the fragility of life as well as understand why even small choices matter.

2. Together, They Give You a More Complete Picture

Fiction fleshes out a concept without having to explain it. You see it for yourself as it unfolds in a story. With nonfiction you get a full explanation with details and facts and often even possible solutions.

Fiction: The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Set in the early 1900s, this classic novel follows Celie, an African American woman, as she navigates trauma, resilience, and self-discovery in the American South.

Nonfiction: We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite by Musa al-Gharbi

This well-researched book is a thought-provoking look at how modern social justice movements intersect with class, culture, and power structures.

Read together, these two books offer a clearer picture of both historical and modern struggles over identity, race, and progress.

3. When Nonfiction Gets Heavy, Fiction Offers an Escape

Honestly, sometimes nonfiction can feel like homework, especially when the topics are intense or the science is dense. That’s where fiction provides a welcome release. Having both genres in your stack lets you match your reading mood.

Fiction: There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak

This sweeping novel sucks you in over several centuries and continents, connecting four people linked by water, memory, and the ancient Epic of Gilgamesh.

Nonfiction: Returning Home to Our Bodies by Abigail Rose Clarke

This book invites self-reflection as you reconnect with their own body as part of nature—through somatics, social awareness, and imagination.

When you’re ready to go deep, pick up the nonfiction. But when you need to come up for air, reach for the novel.

The Best of Both Worlds

Pairing genres can keep your reading life fresh. Switching back and forth between fiction and nonfiction keeps your brain active and your heart engaged. It doesn’t have to be either/or.

When you need a change of pace, try adding some of both to your stack.

Share your thoughts in the comments.

More pairings here:

• The Power of Pairing Fiction and Nonfiction Books – 2024
• What Nonfiction and Fiction Books Go Well Together? – 2023
• Pair Your Nonfiction and Fiction Books – 2022

It’s Week 3 of Nonfiction November: Book Pairings. Find more pairings (and add your own) at Liz’s blog, Adventures in Reading, Running, and Working from Home.