I’m excited to introduce a new batch of standout nonfiction—the most compelling and thought-provoking titles scheduled for release in November 2025.
Each of these books has earned a spot on our longlist for Season 28 of the Next Big Idea Club. In the coming months, we will narrow our sights on a smaller pool of finalists. At the end of each season, we will announce a winner and send our members a copy!
As always, we invite longlisted authors to create a “Book Bite”—a fifteen-minute audio recording where they share five big ideas from their book. Picture striking up a conversation with someone at a neighborhood block party…only they happen to be a brilliant nonfiction author.
So, without further ado, here are the November 2025 must-reads…
The Joy of Solitude: How to Reconnect with Yourself in an Overconnected World
By Robert Coplan
Publication Date: November 4, 2025
An engaging, practical guide through the promises and paradoxes of solitude, offering science-backed advice for getting the most out of your alone time and deepening your relationship with yourself and others. View on Amazon
Notes on Being a Man
By Scott Galloway
Publication Date: November 4, 2025
Galloway explores what it means to be a man in modern America. He promotes the importance of healthy masculinity and mental strength. View on Amazon
The Land Trap: A New History of the World’s Oldest Asset
By Mike Bird
Publication Date: November 4, 2025
Tracing three centuries of history, Bird explores how land quietly became the linchpin of the global banking system, driving everything from soaring housing prices to rising geopolitical tensions. View on Amazon
Conversations on Faith
By Martin Scorsese with Antonio Spadaro
Publication Date: November 4, 2025
A new and original work from the legendary Martin Scorsese, in which he and Father Antonio Spadaro discuss the visionary director’s relationship to faith throughout his life. View on Amazon
The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity
By Tim Wu
Publication Date: November 4, 2025
In an economic future centered on artificially-intelligent platforms, how can their power be restrained to ensure broad—and sustainable—prosperity for everyone? View on Amazon
Life on a Little-Known Planet: Dispatches from a Changing World
By Elizabeth Kolbert
Publication Date: November 4, 2025
A landmark collection of Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Kolbert’s most important pieces about climate change and the natural world. View on Amazon
The Shortest History of AI: The Six Essential Ideas That Animate It
By Toby Walsh
Publication Date: November 4, 2025
A timely addition to the Shortest History series from a world-leading AI researcher: The history of the development of artificial intelligence told through its six essential animating ideas. View on Amazon
Nations Apart: How Clashing Regional Cultures Shattered America
By Colin Woodard
Publication Date: November 4, 2025
A powerful paradigm for understanding the defining hot button issues of contemporary America and the action we can take to bridge our cultural divisions and save the republic. View on Amazon
Every Last Fish: A Deep Dive into Everything They Do for Us and We Do to Them
By Rose George
Publication Date: November 4, 2025
A fresh and fascinating take on fish, the fishing industry, and our shared future from one of our most intrepid and entertaining nonfiction writers. View on Amazon
Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts
By Margaret Atwood
Publication Date: November 4, 2025
How does one of the greatest storytellers of our time write her own life? The long-awaited memoir from one of our most lauded and influential cultural figures. View on Amazon
The Science of Pets
By Jay Ingram
Publication Date: November 4, 2025
Top science writer and TV personality Jay Ingram shares new insights into the hearts, minds, and bodies of the animals who love us (or do they?). View on Amazon
Violent Saviors: The West’s Conquest of the Rest
By William Easterly
Publication Date: November 4, 2025
A celebrated economist argues that economic development is not really development unless everyone has the right to consent to their own progress. View on Amazon
Shared Wisdom: Cultural Evolution in the Age of AI
By Alex Pentland
Publication Date: November 11, 2025
How to build a flourishing society by using what we know about human nature to design our technology—rather than let technology shape our society. View on Amazon
The Tree of Life: Solving Science’s Greatest Puzzle
By Max Telford
Publication Date: November 11, 2025
Taking readers inside one of science’s most ambitious projects, a leading evolutionary biologist offers a definitive portrait of life’s family tree. View on Amazon
The History of Money: A Story of Humanity
By David McWilliams
Publication Date: November 11, 2025
In this fresh, eye-opening global history, economist David McWilliams charts the relationship between humans and money―from clay tablets in Mesopotamia to cryptocurrency in Silicon Valley. View on Amazon
The Heart of Entrepreneurship: Crafting Your Authentic Recipe for Success
By Melissa Bernstein
Publication Date: November 11, 2025
From the creator of Melissa & Doug, an entrepreneur’s guide to discovering and launching your unique vision. View on Amazon
Crush: Close Encounters with Gravity
By James Riordon
Publication Date: November 18, 2025
The fascinating story of gravity, from its intimate role in our daily lives to its cosmic significance. View on Amazon
The Greatest Sentence Ever Written
By Walter Isaacson
Publication Date: November 18, 2025
America’s bestselling biographer reveals the origins of the most revolutionary sentence in the Declaration of Independence, the one that defines who we are as Americans—and explains how it should shape our politics today. View on Amazon
Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century
By W. David Marx
Publication Date: November 18, 2025
A revealing exploration of a quarter century of cultural stagnation, examining the commercial and technological forces that have come to dominate contemporary culture—from music and fashion to art, film, TV, and beyond. View on Amazon
Soft: A Brief History of Sentimentality
By Ferdinand Mount
Publication Date: November 18, 2025
Revealing all the weird and wonderful ways people in the past expressed their grief and joy, Mount explores the shifting importance societies have placed on empathy for the misfortunes of others. View on Amazon
Nightmare Obscura: A Dream Engineer’s Guide Through the Sleeping Mind
By Michelle Carr
Publication Date: November 18, 2025
A leading sleep expert reveals the latest science behind the dreaming brain and why we have nightmares―offering key insights into how harnessing dreams can improve your sleep and health. View on Amazon
The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the Wind
By Simon Winchester
Publication Date: November 18, 2025
Between two poles—wind as a malevolent force, and wind as savior of our planet—lies a world of fascination, history, literature, science, poetry, and engineering which Simon Winchester explores with the curiosity and vigor. View on Amazon
Capitalism: A Global History
By Sven Beckert
Publication Date: November 25, 2025
A landmark event years in the making, a brilliant global narrative that unravels the defining story of the past thousand years of human history. View on Amazon
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