Deep Dives (DDL Summer 2026)

Updated May 16, 2026
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Air-borne : the hidden history of the life we breathe
Zimmer, Carl
Paper Book
One of Smithsonian Magazine's Ten Best Science Books of 2025 The fascinating, untold story of the air we breathe, the hidden life it contains, and invisible dangers that can turn the world upside down Every day we draw in two thousand gallons of air-...
At home : a short history of private life
Bryson, Bill.
Paper Book
From one of the most beloved authors of our  time--more than six million copies of his books have been sold in this country alone--a fascinating excursion into the history behind the place we call home. "Houses aren't refuges from history. They are where history ends up."  ...
Blood : the science, medicine, and mythology of menstruation
Gunter, Jen
Paper Book
"This book is the brilliant and long needed corrective that we have waited for, since the first time we stuffed a box of pads into a three-ply paper bag and slunk out of a pharmacy. Never again." --Samantha Bee New York Times bestselling author of The...
Breath : the new science of a lost art
Nestor, James
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2020 Named a Best Book of 2020 by NPR   "A fascinating scientific, cultural, spiritual and evolutionary history of the way humans breathe--and how we've all been...
The breath of the gods : the history and future of the wind
Winchester, Simon
Paper Book
"As our climate changes, the force of the wind is set to grow. By looking to the past and the future, Winchester examines the twinned possibilities alive in this bluster: the power of the wind to tear our world apart and its ability to help us travel farther and do more." --...
Challenger : a true story of heroism and disaster on the edge of space
Higginbotham, Adam
Paper Book
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction * Winner of the Kirkus Nonfiction Prize * Shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction * A New York Times Notable Book NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "Stunning...A heart-pounding...
Empire of pain : the secret history of the Sackler dynasty
Keefe, Patrick Radden
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR * A grand, devastating portrait of three generations of the Sackler family, famed for their philanthropy, whose fortune was built by Valium and whose reputation was destroyed by OxyContin. From...
Entangled life : how fungi make our worlds, change our minds & shape our futures
Sheldrake, Merlin
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WITH OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE A "brilliant [and] entrancing" (The Guardian) journey into the hidden lives of fungi--the great connectors of the living world--and their astonishing and intimate roles in human life, with...
Everything is tuberculosis : the history and persistence of our deadliest infection
Green, John
Paper Book
#1 New York Times bestseller * #1 Washington Post bestseller * #1 Indie Bestseller * USA Today Bestseller John Green, award-winning author and passionate advocate for global healthcare reform, tells a deeply human story illuminating the fight against the world's...
The gales of November : the untold story of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Bacon, John U.
Paper Book
For three decades following World War II, the Great Lakes overtook Europe as the epicenter of global economic strength. The region was the beating heart of the world economy, possessing all the power and prestige Silicon Valley does today. And no ship represented the apex of the American Century...
Ghostland : an American history in haunted places
Dickey, Colin
Paper Book
One of NPR's Great Reads of 2016 "A lively assemblage and smart analysis of dozens of haunting stories... absorbing...[and] intellectually intriguing."--The New York Times Book Review An intellectual feast for fans of offbeat history, Ghostland <...
A history of the world in twelve shipwrecks
Gibbins, David J. L.
Paper Book
From renowned underwater archaeologist David Gibbins comes an exciting and rich narrative of human history told through the archaeological discoveries of twelve shipwrecks across time. The Viking warship of King Cnut the Great. Henry VIII's the Mary Rose. Captain John...
How flowers made our world : the story of nature's revolutionaries
Haskell, David George
Paper Book
"A work of real passion."--The New York Times "A seamless melding of poetry and science."--Wall Street Journal An exquisite exploration of the power of flowers, placing them at the center of the story of how evolution created the world we know today
The icepick surgeon : murder, fraud, sabotage, piracy, and other dastardly deeds perpetrated in the name of science
Kean, Sam
Paper Book
From a New York Times bestselling author comes the gripping, untold history of science's darkest secrets.  "A fascinating book [that] deserves a wide audience." --Publishers Weekly, starred review Science is a force for...
The library book
Orlean, Susan
Paper Book
A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB PICK A WASHINGTON POST TOP 10 BOOK OF THE YEAR * A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER and NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2018 "A constant pleasure to read...Everybody who loves books...
Murderland : crime and bloodlust in the time of serial killers
Fraser, Caroline
Paper Book
An Edgar Award winner for True Crime * A National Bestseller * A Washington Post Notable Book * Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, Forbes, NPR, Vulture, Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Slate, Newsweek, New York...
Our moon : how Earth's celestial companion transformed the planet, guided evolution, and made us who we are
Boyle, Rebecca
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * "A riveting feat of science writing that recasts that most familiar of celestial objects into something eerily extraordinary, pivotal to our history, and awesome in the original sense of the word."--Ed Yong, New York Times...
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 history of food : strange but true stories about the origins of everything we eat
Siegel, Matt
Paper Book
An irreverent, surprising, and entirely entertaining look at the little-known history surrounding the foods we know and love. Is Italian olive oil really Italian, or are we dipping our bread in lamp oil? Why are we masochistically drawn to foods that can hurt us, like hot peppers?...
The secret history of home economics : how trailblazing women harnessed the power of home and changed the way we live
Dreilinger, Danielle
Paper Book
The term "home economics" may conjure traumatic memories of lopsided hand-sewn pillows or sunken muffins. But common conception obscures the story of the revolutionary science of better living. The field exploded opportunities for women in the twentieth century by reducing domestic work and...
Silk : a world history
Prasad, Aarathi
Paper Book
A Smithsonian Magazine Best History Book of 2024 A Library Journal Selection for Best Nonfiction of 2024 A Next Big Idea Book Club Must-Read for April "Aarathi Prasad's Silk: A World History is a love song to this protean material. . . . Beautiful [and] fascinating." --Wall...
Sing like fish : how sound rules life under water
Kingdon, Amorina
Paper Book
A captivating exploration of how underwater animals tap into sound to survive, and a clarion call for humans to address the ways we invade these critical soundscapes--from an award-winning science writer "Sing Like Fish is that rare book that makes you see the world...
What the chicken knows : a new appreciation of the world's most familiar bird
Montgomery, Sy
Paper Book
A charming and eye-opening exploration of the special relationship between humans and chickens from Sy Montgomery, "one of our finest chroniclers of the natural world" (The New York Times). For more than two decades, Sy Montgomery--whose The Soul of an...

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