Nonfiction and Big-Idea Books — 2026-09-25
Nonfiction's fall season is now in full swing: Bob Chapek has broken his silence on his Disney ouster in a new memoir, Benjamin Moser's "Anti-Zionism" is sparking debate in the New York Times, and the Baillie Gifford Prize is heading toward its shortlist announcement. In Germany, the SPIEGEL bestseller list is seeing a wave of new entries, with Daniele Ganser's "Kampf der Giganten" debuting at number 4.
Nonfiction and Big-Idea Books — 2026-09-25
Top developments
Bob Chapek breaks silence on Disney ouster in new memoir
On September 23, the New York Times reported that Bob Chapek, Disney's former CEO, publicly addresses his 2022 ouster for the first time in a new memoir — and places the blame on Bob Iger, who both preceded and succeeded him. The book adds a headline-grabbing title to the fall business-memoir season, a genre that reliably fuels boardroom-drama debates and CEO-podcast book tours. Expect it to dominate business and investing bestseller conversations in coming weeks
Benjamin Moser's "Anti-Zionism" sparks debate
The New York Times reviewed Benjamin Moser's new book "Anti-Zionism" on September 22, noting that the prizewinning biographer charts a tradition of Jewish opposition to Zionism and recounts his belated conversion to that view. It is exactly the kind of big-idea, controversy-generating title that will divide readers and reviewers — and potentially generate prize and debate attention in the months ahead
Baillie Gifford Prize 2026: shortlist date approaching
The Baillie Gifford longlist was revealed on September 3, spanning espionage, true crime and war; the shortlist of six will be announced on 1 October, with the £50,000 winner named on 4 November. With the shortlist just a week away, attention will intensify around which history and big-idea titles survive the cut
Fall season's buzziest books previewed on NPR's Here & Now
On September 21, WBUR's Here & Now previewed the season's big releases as fall publishing ramps up. Among notable recent business & investing releases was William D. Cohan's "Money to Burn: The Unvarnished Truth About Leon Black, Apollo, and the Rise of a New Wall Street" (Portfolio, September 8, 2026) — a Wall Street investigation primed for the same debate-driven attention as Chapek's memoir
Local view
German media are heavily covering this week's SPIEGEL bestseller list. Nordbayern reports that the September 17 list saw two new number-one bestsellers, one of them a new entrant. For calendar week 39 (September 24), Nordbayern again highlighted the week's most promising new entrants. Author Daniele Ganser publicly celebrated his new book "Kampf der Giganten" reaching #4 on the Spiegel bestseller list. Meanwhile, fr.de's bestseller roundup for KW39 flags Dörte Hansen's new North Sea novel among four new titles storming the list
Context & numbers
- Baillie Gifford Prize winner receives £50,000; 2025 was won by Helen Garner for "How to End a Story: Collected Diaries"
- Shortlist of six: announced 1 October; winner announced Wednesday 4 November
- Cohan's "Money to Burn" (Portfolio) published September 8, 2026, ISBN 9780593716342
On the radar
- Baillie Gifford shortlist announcement on 1 October — expect heavy coverage of which history and current-affairs titles make the cut
- Winner announcement on 4 November at the London ceremony
- Watch whether Chapek's memoir and Cohan's Leon Black book reach the NYT Business bestseller list in coming weeks
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