Memoirs with pop culture flair

The Wondering Years: How Pop Culture Helped Me Answer Life’s Biggest Questions

by Knox McCoy

From the publisher: "When you hear the phrase pop culture, you likely think reality television, boy bands or Real Housewives. Pop culture may not cure diseases, topple political regimes, or make scientific breakthroughs, but it does play a vital role in the story of humanity. Popular podcaster Knox McCoy understands this. In The Wondering Years, Knox explores this idea of connecting popular culture to his own experiences. Through books, television, music, and movies, Knox found many of the answers he was searching for about God and the universe and why we are all here."

Here for It: Or How to Save Your Soul in America

by R. Eric Thomas

If you love heartfelt, thoughtful memoirs that also make you laugh, then you must pick up this collection of essays by pop-culture critic R. Eric Thomas. Eric shares stories from childhood to adulthood, detailing his coming-of-age with bracing candor and hilarious honesty. He writes about discovering his identity, feeling like an outsider, and finding his voice, all while injecting hilarious pop culture references, bits of wisdom, and his signature wit. While he relays plenty of difficult experiences, his tone is persistently hopeful. I highly recommend the audiobook version, narrated by the author, for full humorous effect.

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion

by Jia Tolentino

From the publisher: "This is a book about the incentives that shape us, and about how hard it is to see ourselves clearly through a culture that revolves around the self. In each essay, Tolentino writes about a cultural prism: the rise of the nightmare social internet; the advent of scamming as the definitive millennial ethos; the literary heroine’s journey from brave to blank to bitter; the punitive dream of optimization, which insists that everything, including our bodies, should become more efficient and beautiful until we die. Gleaming with Tolentino’s sense of humor and capacity to elucidate the impossibly complex in an instant, and marked by her desire to treat the reader with profound honesty, Trick Mirror is an instant classic of the worst decade yet."

This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch: The Joy of Loving Something—Anything—Like Your Life Depends On It

by Tabitha Carvan

From the publisher: "Tabitha Carvan was a new mother, at home with two young children, when she fell for the actor Benedict Cumberbatch. You know the guy: strange name, alien face, made Sherlock so sexy that it became one of the most streamed shows in the world? The force of her fixation took everyone—especially Carvan herself—by surprise. But what she slowly realized was that her preoccupation was not about Benedict Cumberbatch at all, as dashing as he might be. It was about finally feeling passionate about something, anything, again at a point in her life when she had lost touch with her own identity and sense of self."

Piccolo Is Black: A Memoir of Race, Religion, and Pop Culture

by Jordan Calhoun

While searching for his identity as a Black adolescent growing up in the 90’s, Jordan Calhoun rarely saw himself represented in television or movies—but he expertly picked up on Black-coded characters (like Piccolo from Gargoyles or Ursula from The Little Mermaid). By identifying with these cartoon characters—and falling in love with video games and music—he clung to nerd culture as a way to navigate big changes, like his family becoming Seventh Day Adventists, or transferring to an all-white school on the other side of Detroit. In this reflective memoir, Calhoun looks back on the anime, superheroes, and musicians who influenced his taste in pop culture, his view of the world, and his struggles as a young kid in an oppressive environment. You don’t need to know every single reference in this memoir in order to appreciate Jordan’s humor, honesty, and insight—you just need to remember your own favorite Saturday morning cartoon or the movie you watched over and over as a kid, and let his questions sink in.

Son of Elsewhere: A Memoir in Pieces

by Elamin Abdelmahmoud

“I am a student of migration stories,” writes Elamin Abdelmahmoud, opening his own story of migration, pop culture, and identity. At age 12, his family emigrated from Sudan to Kingston, Ontario, launching a diasporic journey through “elsewhere” (a concept Abdelmahmoud explains throughout the book). As a teen he watches the OC to learn about dating and relationships, listens to a wide variety of music to hone in on his personal taste, and compartmentalizes his identities as Black, Arab, and Canadian. This works for a while, but eventually Abdelmahmoud feels pulled to integrate the disparate parts of him clamoring for attention. Part immigration story, part love story, and part coming of age journey, this funny, endearing, and heartfelt memoir will remind you what it’s like to desire “fitting in” and reveal the value of being yourself.

They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us

by Hanif Abdurraqib

Talented poet, essayist, and critic Hanif Abdurraqib will have you reaching for a pen, book dart, highlighter, anything to mark the page and save his brilliant words to ponder later. His debut essay collection weaves music criticism and personal stories with broader thoughts on how music responds to current events, and how we respond to music. His references range from Bruce Springsteen to Prince to Fall Out Boy, and his personal stories range from traumatic to joyful. You’ll want to absorb the brilliance of each essay, savoring them for a day or two before moving on to the next—and when you finish, be sure to pick up Abdurraqib’s latest: A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance. Note: both collections dig deep into tough topics like suicide, grief, and abuse.

Memoirs with pop culture flair

The Wondering Years: How Pop Culture Helped Me Answer Life’s Biggest Questions

Here for It: Or How to Save Your Soul in America

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion

This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch: The Joy of Loving Something—Anything—Like Your Life Depends On It

Piccolo Is Black: A Memoir of Race, Religion, and Pop Culture

Son of Elsewhere: A Memoir in Pieces

They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us

Find your next read with:

100 Book recommendations
for every mood

Memoirs with pop culture flair

The Wondering Years: How Pop Culture Helped Me Answer Life’s Biggest Questions

Here for It: Or How to Save Your Soul in America

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion

This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch: The Joy of Loving Something—Anything—Like Your Life Depends On It

Piccolo Is Black: A Memoir of Race, Religion, and Pop Culture

Son of Elsewhere: A Memoir in Pieces

They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us

Find your next read with:

100 Book recommendations for every mood

100 Book recommendations
for every mood