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Best Books to Gift 2024 - Adult Nonfiction
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We have a book for everyone on your list. You might want a few for yourself, too!
Updated November 29, 2024
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Greater Victoria Public Library
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Ingrained: The making of a craftsman
Robinson, Callum.
Paper Book
Ingrained is a love letter to trees, timber and craftsmanship - and to finding your own voice. The eldest son of a Master Woodworker, Callum Robinson spent his childhood surrounded by wood and trees, absorbing craft lessons in his father's workshop, playing amongst the sycamore, oak and...
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Burn book : a tech love story
Swisher, Kara
Paper Book
Instant New York Times Bestseller From award-winning journalist Kara Swisher comes a witty, scathing, but fair accounting of the tech industry and its founders who wanted to change the world but broke it instead. "Swisher, the bad-ass journalist and...
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The Serviceberry: An Economy of Gifts and Abundance
Kimmerer, Robin Wall.
Paper Book
'This book will nourish your soul, heart, and mind' Anthony Doerr As Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy....
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Cher : The Memoir, Part One
Cher
Paper Book
***The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller*** ***The Global #1 Bestseller*** The extraordinary life of Cher can be told by only one person . . . Cher herself. After more than seventy years of fighting to live her life on her own terms, Cher finally reveals her...
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Kingmaker : Pamela Harriman's astonishing life of power, seduction, and intrigue
Purnell, Sonia
Paper Book
"A thorough account of Harriman's rise which also manages to be a brisk, twisty read ... riveting and revelatory." --The New Yorker "Rigorous but rollicking." --The New York Times Named a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by Apple Books, The Economist<...
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Rebel girl : my life as a feminist punk
Hanna, Kathleen
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An electric, searing memoir by the original rebel girl and legendary front woman of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre. Hey girlfriend I got a proposition goes something like this: Dare ya to do what you want Kathleen Hanna's band Bikini Kill...
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Be ready when the luck happens : a memoir
Garten, Ina
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * In her long-awaited memoir, Ina Garten--aka the Barefoot Contessa, author of thirteen bestselling cookbooks, beloved Food Network personality, Instagram sensation, and cultural icon--shares her personal story with readers hungry for a seat at her table....
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Traveling : on the path of Joni Mitchell
Powers, Ann
Paper Book
*An Observer Best New Biographies of 2024* *Now in paperback!* Celebrated NPR music critic Ann Powers explores the life and career of Joni Mitchell in a lyrical style as fascinating and ethereal as the songs of the artist herself. "What you are about to read is not a standard...
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What have we here? : portraits of a life
Williams, Billy Dee
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A film legend recalls his remarkable life of nearly eight decades--a heralded actor who's played the roles he wanted, from Brian's Song to Lando in the Star Wars universe--unchecked by the racism and typecasting so rife in the mostly all...
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Cue the sun : the invention of reality TV
Nussbaum, Emily
Paper Book
The rollicking saga of reality television, a "sweeping" (The Washington Post) cultural history of America's most influential, most divisive artistic phenomenon, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning New Yorker writer--"a must-read for anyone interested in television or popular culture"...
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The work of art : how something comes from nothing
Moss, Adam
Paper Book
What is the work of art? In this guided tour inside the artist's head, Adam Moss traces the evolution of transcendent novels, paintings, jokes, movies, songs, and more. Weaving conversations with some of the most accomplished artists of our time together with the journal entries, napkin doodles, and...
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Sonny Boy
Pacino, Al.
Paper Book
From one of the most iconic actors in the history of film, an astonishingly revelatory account of a creative life in full To the wider world, Al Pacino exploded onto the scene like a supernova. He landed his first leading role, in The Panic in Needle Park, in 1971, and by...
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The garden against time : in search of a common paradise
Laing, Olivia
Paper Book
In 2020, Olivia Laing began to restore an eighteenth-century walled garden in Suffolk, an overgrown Eden of unusual plants. The work brought to light a crucial question for our age: Who gets to live in paradise, and how can we share it while there's still time? Moving between real and imagined...
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Letters
Sacks, Oliver W
Paper Book
One of The New Statesman's Best Books of the Year One of Kirkus Reviews' Best Nonfiction Books of 2024 One of The New Yorker's 'Best Books We've Read in 2024 So Far' THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE * The letters of one of the greatest observers of...
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A year of last things : poems
Ondaatje, Michael
Paper Book
From one of the most influential writers of his generation, a gorgeously surprising poetry collection about memory, history, and the act of looking back Following several of his internationally acclaimed novels, A Year of Last Things is Michael Ondaatje's long-awaited...
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Revenge of the tipping point : overstories, superspreaders, and the rise of social engineering
Gladwell, Malcolm
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Most Anticipated in: AARP | Associated Press | Time Magazine | Oprah Daily | Chicago Tribune | Literary Hub | Publishers Weekly | Publishers Lunch<...
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Divine might : Goddesses in Greek myth
Haynes, Natalie
Paper Book
In Divine Might Natalie Haynes, author of the bestselling Pandora's Jar, returns to the world of Greek myth and this time she examines the role of the goddesses.We meet Athene, who sprang fully formed from her father's head: goddess of war and wisdom, guardian of Athens. We run with Artemis, goddess...
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Eighteen : A History Of Britain In 18 Young Lives
Loxton, Alice.
Paper Book
'Utterly, utterly brilliant. Fizzing with energy, wit and insight' - Tracy Borman, bestselling historianBiggest books to look out for in 2024 - The GuardianAt eighteen, your life is full of of what-ifs and why-nots. You have everything to look forward to - yet childhood is already behind you.From a...
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How the world made the West : a 4,000-year history
Quinn, Josephine Crawley
Paper Book
A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR: The Times/Sunday Times, Observer, Economist, Guardian, BBC History Magazine, i-paper, Novara Media and History Today 'Quinn has done a lot more than reinvent the wheel. What we have here is a truly...
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Nexus : a brief history of information networks from the Stone Age to AI
Harari, Yuval N
Paper Book
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Sapiens comes the groundbreaking story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world. For the last 100,000 years, we Sapiens have accumulated enormous power. But despite all our discoveries, inventions,...
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The notebook : a history of thinking on paper
Allen, Roland
Paper Book
Diaries, sketchbooks, common-places, notebooks, ledgers and ships' logs: how the blank book changed the way we think, and helped us change the world.
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The siege : a six-day hostage crisis and the daring special-forces operation that shocked the world
Macintyre, Ben
Paper Book
"For six days, it was the Iranian Embassy on Princes Gate in London that riveted the world. . . . Macintyre's superb reconstruction restores it to vivid, complex life."--The Washington Post A thrilling tick-tock recounting one of the most harrowing hostage situations and...
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The wide wide sea : imperial ambition, first contact and the fateful final voyage of Captain James Cook
Sides, Hampton
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, TIME, THE ECONOMIST, NPR, THE NEW YORKER, THE SMITHSONIAN, AND KIRKUS REVIEWS A "thrilling and superbly crafted" (The Wall Street Journal) account of the most momentous voyage of the Age of...
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Scotland Yard : a history of the London police force's most infamous murder cases
Read, Simon
Paper Book
A riveting true-crime history of London's first modern police force as told through its most notorious murder cases. The idea of "Scotland Yard" is steeped in atmospheric stories of foggy London streets, murder by lamplight, and fiendish killers pursued by gentleman detectives....
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Atlas obscura : Wild life : an explorer's guide to the world's living wonders
Giaimo, Cara
Paper Book
From the bestselling authors of Atlas Obscura and Gastro Obscura comes a nature book like no other--a dazzling, over-the-top collection of the world's most extraordinary wild species that takes you to all seven continents and beyond. It's more than a field...
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The light eaters
Schlanger, Zoë
Paper Book
"teeming with fascinating and enlightening insights" Observer A narrative investigation into the new science of plant intelligence and sentience, from National Association of Science Writers Award winner and Livingston Award finalist Zoe Schlanger. Look at the green...
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Raising hare
Dalton, Chloe
Paper Book
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERLONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2025SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024SHORTLISTED FOR THE HATCHARDS AND BIOGRAPHERS' CLUB FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE HAY FESTIVAL, SUNDAY TIMES, THE TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES,...
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Turning to stone : discovering the subtle wisdom of rocks
Bjornerud, Marcia
Paper Book
'Vast and arresting' SPECTATOR 'A remarkably human take on the geological world' NEW STATESMAN Rocks are the record of our creative planet reinventing itself for four billion years. Nothing is ever lost, just transformed. Marcia...
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The formula : how rogues, geniuses, and speed freaks reengineered F1 into the world's fastest-growing sport
Robinson, Joshua
Paper Book
An NPR Best Book of 2024 A Sports Illustrated Best Book of 2024 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Wall Street Journal reporters and authors of The Club, Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg tell the riveting saga of how Formula 1 broke through in America, detailing the eclectic culture...
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Meditations for Mortals: Four weeks to embrace your limitations and make time for what counts
Burkeman, Oliver.
Paper Book
Meditations for Mortals takes us on a liberating journey towards a more meaningful life - one that begins not with fantasies of the ideal existence, but with the reality in which we actually find ourselves. Addressing the fundamental questions about how to live, it...
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Supercommunicators : how to unlock the secret language of connection
Duhigg, Charles
Paper Book
From the author of the global bestseller, The Power of Habit 'This is not just a riveting read about how to understand others better. It's also a revealing look at how to be understood.' - ADAM GRANT If you want to improve your communication skills at work...
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I Love You: Recipes from the heart
Anderson, Pamela.
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'The most beautiful cookbook I have ever seen' Drew Barrymore Join actress, activist, and New York Times bestselling author Pamela Anderson for a deeply personal culinary journey that harmonizes style, compassion, and the...
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Zoe Bakes Cookies: Everything You Need to Know to Make Your Favorite Cookies and Bars [A Baking Book]
Francois, Zoe.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . The expert baker and author behind Zoe Bakes Cakes and Zoe Bakes on the Magnolia Network takes us through her life with 75 cookies and bars from her Vermont roots and Midwestern living. "A magical book for every cookie lover."...
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Lifeform
Slate, Jenny
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER From actor, comedian, co-creator of Marcel the Shell, and New York Times bestselling author of Little Weirds, Jenny Slate, a wild, soulful, hilarious collection of genre-bending essays depicting the journey into motherhood as...
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