Paperbacks love going on adventures. This autumn, when book lovers are picking apples at the local orchard, going on hayrides, or grabbing their favorite fall-inspired latte, it’s paperbacks that come along for the ride. They tough it out through fall rainstorms, cider spills, and enthusiastic annotations. That’s why we love them. If you’re looking for a new paperback to travel around with you this fall, here are some must-read upcoming nonfiction releases.
Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It by Cory Doctorow
While the internet was once a glorious place of innovation, it’s been getting worse. And it’s not just in our heads. In Enshittification, Cory Doctorow tells us how platforms have been screwing over their customers and why some of the platforms even die because of it. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Doctorow leaves his readers with a solution, describing what we can do about enshittification to make the world a better place.
Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy is known for her immersive novels The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Now she’s back with a memoir delving into her complicated relationship with her mother. Her mother, Mary, passed away in 2022, and Roy was startled by the depth of her grief. She began to write about her mother “to be able to continue to love her.” I’m not the only one obsessed with this memoir. It was named The New York Times Book Review’s Top Ten Books of the Year, Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography, and a finalist for the Kirkus Prize.
Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America by Beth Macy
Beth Macy grew up working as a paper girl for her hometown newspaper in Urbana, Ohio. Over the years, Macy watched her town fundamentally change. It became poorer, angrier, and less welcoming. After her mother dies, Macy decides to investigate and get to the bottom of why her town had become a place she barely even recognized.
We Survived the Night by Julian Brave NoiseCat
Julian Brave NoiseCat grew up with a Secwépemc and St’at’imc father and a non-Native mother. When his father disappears, NoiseCat throws himself into studying Native history. In We Survived the Night, NoiseCat presents the history of First Peoples across the centuries as they face ongoing colonization and press forward for a better future. We Survived the Night went on to win the Tadeusz Bradecki Prize.
True Story
Sign up for True Story to receive nonfiction news, new releases, and must-read forthcoming titles.
Without Fear: Black Women and the Making of Human Rights by Keisha N. Blain
From Ida B. Wells to Marguerite Cartwright, Keisha N. Blain examines the lives of Black women in American history who have fought for human rights. These women understood that the fight for civil and human rights is intertwined. Their intersectional approach to their activism helped pave the way for the contemporary fight for freedom worldwide. Without Fear was a Library Journal Best Book of the Year, longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, and a BookBub Best Nonfiction of the Year.
You can find me over on my substack Winchester Ave, over on Instagram @kdwinchester, or on my podcast Read Appalachia. As always, feel free to drop me a line at [email protected]. For even MORE bookish content, you can find my articles over on Book Riot.
This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
English (US) · 
French (CA) · 
French (FR) ·