February Non-Fiction

Updated February 11, 2026
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1929 : inside the greatest crash in Wall Street history-- and how it shattered a nation
Sorkin, Andrew Ross
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "It is one of the best narrative histories I've read." --The Wall Street Journal A New York Times Notable Book of 2025 * One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2025 * Named a BEST BOOK OF 2025 by The Washington...
24 hours at the Capitol : an oral history of the January 6th insurrection
Neus, Nora
Paper Book
The 24 Hours in Charlottesville author offers a minute-by-minute account of the January 6 riots through never-before-heard stories of those who were there Neus goes beyond mainstream reporting to reveal important truths about the US white nationalist movement ...
Adaptable : how your unique body really works and why our biology unites us
Pontzer, Herman
Paper Book
A new understanding of how our bodies work, how to keep them healthy, and how our biological diversity unites us rather than divides us How does the body work--and why does it seem to work so differently for each of us? Why do we grow tall or short, obese or slim? Why do some of...
The afterlife of Malcolm X : an outcast turned icon's enduring impact on America
Whitaker, Mark
Paper Book
A New York Public Library and Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2025 Published to coincide with the hundredth anniversary of his birth, the first major study of Malcolm X's influence in the sixty years since his assassination, exploring his enduring impact on culture,...
Alien earths : the new science of planet hunting in the cosmos
Kaltenegger, Lisa
Paper Book
"Kaltenegger's breezy narrative style invites you to experience with her the challenges and joys of being a scientist on the frontier of discovery." --Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist, American Museum of Natural History "Horizon-expanding... [Kaltenegger] has...
Around the world in 80 birds
Unwin, Mike
Paper Book
This beautiful and inspiring book tells the stories of 80 birds around the world: from the Sociable Weaver Bird in Namibia which constructs huge, multi-nest 'apartment blocks' in the desert, to the Bar-headed Goose of China, one of the highest-flying migrants which crosses the Himalayas twice a year...
The art of physics : how science explains the chaos, contradictions, and unpredictability of life
Bharmal, Zahaan
Paper Book
Can physics change your life? It already has. "What does complex system theory teach us about getting fired? How does the study of subatomic particles help us predict elections? In his insightful and entertaining new book, Zahaan Bharmal applies lessons from physics to...
Basket Ball: The Story of the All-American Game
Nelson, Kadir
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller A USA TODAY bestseller Award-winning creator Kadir Nelson delivers the perfect gift for basketball fans of any age--a beautifully illustrated history of the game and its key players over the years--in this companion to...
Battle of the Big Bang : the new tales of our cosmic origins
Afshordi, Niyayesh
Paper Book
"Excellent."--Steven Poole, The Wall Street Journal * "Terrific."--Liz Else, New Scientist (Best Popular Science Books of 2025 So Far) * "A brilliant overview of the state of modern cosmology."--Alex O'Connor, alexoconnor.com * "This will expand...
The bear at the bird feeder : why we're seeing more wild animals in our neighborhoods and how we can live in harmony with them
Minetor, Randi
Paper Book
Beyond the usual small rodents that have thrived in cities and suburbs for centuries, urban wildlife now includes larger animals that have adapted to live in areas dominated by human beings. Black bears, deer, coyotes, mountain lions, bobcats, moose, wild turkeys, Canada geese, bats, foxes, and...
Bodypedia : a brief compendium of human anatomical curiosities
Taor, Adam
Paper Book
An eclectic collection of strange and amazing stories about body parts you never knew you had, from acetabulum to zygomaticus major Bodypedia is a lively, fact-filled romp through your body, from A to Z. Featuring almost 100 stories on topics ranging from the beastly...
The Boston way : how radicals opposed slavery and the Civil War
Kurlansky, Mark
Paper Book
"Engrossing"--Wall Street Journal How do good people find the courage to resist and end the greatest evil in their country? An untold story of the Civil War Era: pacifists in Boston who led the fight to end slavery without violence and war. Has there...
Burst Your Bubble!: Outsmart the Algorithms and See What You're Missing
Grant, Joyce
Paper Book
An engaging, accessible look at internet algorithms and the importance of bursting your information bubble We are all in information bubbles, whether we realize it or not. The content that fills our bubble is the product of all the likes, clicks, and shares we make online. While we may...
The complete human body : the definitive visual guide
Roberts, Alice
Paper Book
The definitive guide to the development, form, function, and disorders of the human body. The most detailed popular reference book on human anatomy available, this beautiful exploration of the human body is now in its third edition, revised with the latest medical knowledge....
Deep water : from the frilled shark to the dumbo octopus and from the Continental Shelf to the Mariana Trench
Black, Riley
Paper Book
From celebrated science writer Riley Black, a beautifully illustrated, compelling deep dive into the life story of the abyss, its ancient creatures, and the scientists and submersibles that have documented them.   What lies beneath the surface of the ocean has...
The eternal forest : a memoir of the Cuban diaspora
Sheppard, Elena Maria
Paper Book
"Spellbinding." --Booklist, starred review * "A must-read." --Library Journal "Poetic." --Emma Straub * "This is writing as spell-casting and archival longing." --Leslie Jamison A memoir of the Cuban diaspora that follows one family's exile from...
Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling
Funt, Danny
Paper Book
This jaw-dropping book pulls back the curtain on the alluring yet perilous world of American sports gambling. Built around explosive interviews with the power players of the betting boom at FanDuel, DraftKings, and beyond, it reveals the troubling methods that are being used to bleed...
Finding My Way A Memoir
Yousafzai, Malala
Ebook
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! | A USA TODAY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR "A remarkably intimate and insistently human chronicle of a moral authority's coming of age." --The New York Times This is not the story you think you know...
The Genius of Trees : How They Mastered the Elements and Shaped the World
Rix, Harriet.
Paper Book
Graveyards : a history of living with the dead
Luckhurst, Roger
Paper Book
From the author of Gothic, a marvelously illustrated cultural history of graves and graveyards, from the earliest known burial sites to today's green burials Why, how, and where do we inter our dead? How have people throughout history responded to the problem of laying...
If anyone builds it, everyone dies : why superhuman AI would kill us all
Yudkowsky, Eliezer
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | The New Yorker's Best Books of 2025 | The Guardian's Best Books of 2025 | A 2025 Booklist Editors' Choice Pick The scramble to create superhuman AI has put us on the path to extinction--but it's not...
Jews vs. Rome : two centuries of rebellion against the world's mightiest empire
Strauss, Barry S.
Paper Book
A new history of two centuries of Jewish revolts against the Roman Empire, drawing on recent archeological discoveries and new scholarship by leading historian Barry Strauss. Jews vs. Rome is a gripping account of one of the most momentous eras in human history: the two...
Many things under a rock : the mysteries of octopuses
Scheel, David
Paper Book
Among all the ocean's creatures, few are more captivating--or more elusive--than the octopus. Marine biologist David Scheel investigates these strange beings to try and answer long-held questions: How can we learn more about an animal whose perfect camouflage and secretive habitats make them...
A most perilous world : the true story of the young abolitionists and their crusade against slavery
Gaddy, Kristina R.
Paper Book
The stories of the four teenage children of prominent abolitionists before and during the Civil War combine to form a surprisingly familiar tapestry of struggle, disappointment, and ultimately hope. "Impeccable research and incredible details bring the stories of these four young...
Out of your mind : the biggest mysteries of the human brain
Cham, Jorge
Paper Book
From the creative brain behind WE HAVE NO IDEA, an introductory journey into your own mind--if your inner voice had a PhD in neuroscience, cracked jokes, and drew cartoons Why do you love? Why do you hate? What makes you happy? Every single thought you have comes from one place:...
The physics of superheroes goes Hollywood : an all-new exploration of the real science of the multiverse, the quantum realm, and everything in between
Kakalios, James
Paper Book
Discover the surprisingly real physics at work within some of the most popular superhero movies and tv shows The multiverse and the quantum realm are fictional plot devices made popular by some of our favorite superheroes. But what if science-fiction may actually be science-fact?...
Plants & fungi : the definitive visual guide
Boddy, Lynne
Paper Book
Comprehensive, accessible, and lavishly illustrated, this is an essential and timely guide to the world's key plant and fungus species. Written by specialists, Plants and Fungi is a botanical exploration of the world's most fascinating plant and fungus species, many of...
Queer Enlightenments: A Hidden History of Lovers, Lawbreakers, and Homemakers
Delaney, Anthony
Paper Book
A BOOK RIOT BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A ground-breaking history delivered in a refreshing new voice, Queer Enlightenments details eleven overlooked stories of eighteenth-century queer people who lived extraordinary lives of resistance and joy Queer...
Replaceable you : adventures in human anatomy
Roach, Mary
Paper Book
The body is the most complex machine in the world, and the only one for which you cannot get a replacement part from the manufacturer. For centuries, medicine has reached for what's available--sculpting noses from brass, borrowing skin from frogs and hearts from pigs, crafting eye parts from jet...
The Secret Life of the Universe : An Astrobiologist's Search for the Origins and Frontiers of Life
Cabrol, Nathalie A.
Paper Book
One ofScientific American's Best Books of 2024 One of the world's leading astrobiologists takes us on an awe-inspiring journey across the cosmos to investigate some of humanity's most profound questions: Are we alone in the universe? And how did life on Earth begin? ...
Smithsonian atlas of space : a map to the universe from the big bang to the future
Launius, Roger D.
Paper Book
Journey to the farthest corners of the universe in this visually stunning coffee-table atlas by the former chief historian of NASA 300 maps and illustrations tell the incredible story of the past, present, and future of the universe and space exploration Navigate the...
Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the Ninety Percent
Bowes, Kim
Paper Book
A radical revision--and worker's-eye view--of everything we thought we knew about the ancient Roman economy The story of ancient Rome is predominantly one of great men with great fortunes. Surviving Rome unearths another history, one of ordinary Romans, who worked with...
There is no place for us : working and homeless in America
Goldstone, Brian
Paper Book
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES AND THE ATLANTIC'S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR - ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR - Through the "revelatory and gut-wrenching" (Associated Press) stories of five Atlanta families, this landmark work of journalism exposes a new and troubling...
A Trick of the Mind: How the Brain Invents Your Reality
Yon, Daniel
Paper Book
One of Next Big Idea Club's Best Books of 2025 From a groundbreaking neuroscientist, a book that will reshape the way we understand how our brain perceives the world around us--for readers of Adam Grant's Think Again and Lisa Genova's Remember. ...
The two-parent privilege : how Americans stopped getting married and started falling behind
Kearney, Melissa Schettini
Paper Book
The surprising story of how declining marriage rates are driving many of the country's biggest economic problems. In The Two-Parent Privilege, Melissa S. Kearney makes a provocative, data-driven case for marriage by showing how the institution's decline has...
Unbearable : five women and the perils of pregnancy in America
Carmon, Irin
Paper Book
From the award-winning New York magazine reporter and coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Notorious RBG, an ambitious and passionate exploration of what's gone wrong with pregnancy in America, through the lens of history, politics, and the searing...
The Unfinished Business of 1776: Why the American Revolution Never Ended
Richards, Thomas
Paper Book
A clarion call for taking back the American Revolution from the far right, published for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence Who gets to claim the legacy of the American Revolution and the mantle of patriotism that goes along with it? In a sharp,...
The Wagner Group : inside Russia's mercenary army
Margolin, Jack
Paper Book
"At once deeply researched and as readable as a thriller."--Mark Galeotti * "An important book about the world's most dangerous mercenary outfit. Margolin unearths new details that will surprise readers."--Sean McFate * "Margolin takes readers deep into the shadowy underworld. . . . A must read."...
War from the Rear: A Ukrainian Aid Volunteer's Story
Lyubka, Andriy
Paper Book
A gripping, unexpectedly humorous, and deeply human portrait of life in Ukraine reshaped by war. In this powerful collection of essays, writer Andriy Lyubka--thrust into the role of an unlikely volunteer--offers a firsthand account of delivering aid to the front lines. With raw honesty and...
We the people : a history of the U.S. Constitution
Lepore, Jill
Paper Book
The U.S. Constitution is among the oldest constitutions in the world but also one of the most difficult to amend. Jill Lepore, Harvard professor of history and law, explains why in We the People, the most original history of the Constitution in decades--and an essential companion to her landmark...

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