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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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Above the Noise: My Story of Chasing Calm
DeRozan, DeMar
Paper Book
From one of the most outspoken and respected NBA athletes comes a groundbreaking and remarkable memoir chronicling a very public struggle with depression, in the hopes that other people will not suffer alone "As men, and especially Black men, we don't talk about our mental health enough....
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Ingrained : the making of a craftsman
Robinson, Callum
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION A captivating memoir that immerses readers in the life of a Scottish carpenter as he perfects his craft, builds a business, and reflects on what inheritance and shared responsibility...
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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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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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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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The Serviceberry : Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
Kimmerer, Robin Wall/ Burgoyne, John (ILT)
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world....
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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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Traveling : on the path of Joni Mitchell
Powers, Ann
Paper Book
*An Observer Best New Biographies of 2024* 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 account of the life and...
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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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Who we are : four questions for a life and a nation
Sinclair, Murray
Paper Book
For decades, Senator Sinclair has fearlessly educated Canadians about the painful truths of our history. He was the first Indigenous judge in Manitoba, and only the second Indigenous judge in Canadian history. He was the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and remains one of the...
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Taylor Swift style : fashion through the eras
Chapelle, Sarah
Paper Book
An instant New York Times and USA Today bestseller! Dazzling. Incomparable. Unforgettable. The definitive book of Taylor Swift's fashion evolution. This gorgeous hardcover edition has gilded gold edges, foiled cover accents and colored endpapers....
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This Is Our Life
The Tragically Hip
Paper Book
This Is Our Life is the story of The Tragically Hip - the definitive account of their incredible journey, as told in their own words. Drawn from hundreds of hours of interviews, Rob Baker, Gord Downie, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois, Gord Sinclair and the fellow musicians, producers and crew that helped...
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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 : a memoir
Pacino, Al
Paper Book
The Instant New York Times Bestseller * One of People Magazine's Top 10 Books of the Year "The rare celebrity memoir that's also a literary read. As funny as it is reflecive, it shares stories behind Pacino's hardscrabble upbringing, classic films and journey to icon...
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Everything and Nothing at All: Essays
Heijun Wills, Jenny
Paper Book
FINALIST FOR THE 2024 WRITERS' TRUST PRIZE FOR NONFICTION * The Globe and Mail's Best Books of 2024 * CBC's Best Canadian Non-Fiction of 2024 "Here is my disconnect: the private and public self. My mind and body. The real person and curated spectacle. . . . Are there actual...
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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
Paper Book
A New Yorker Best Book of 2024 The letters of one of the greatest observers of the human species, revealing his passion for life and work, friendship and art, medicine and society, and the richness of his relationships with friends, family, and fellow intellectuals over the...
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A year of last things : poems
Ondaatje, Michael
Paper Book
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Included on The Guardian's Best Recent Poetry * Longlisted for the 2024 UK Poet Laureate's Laurel Prize * One of the Globe and Mail's most anticipated books of 2024 * Named a Best Book of 2024 by Winnipeg Free Press With A...
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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
New York Times bestselling author Natalie Haynes returns to the world of ancient Greek myth in this scintillating follow-up to Pandora's Jar. Few writers today have reshaped our view of the ancient Greek myths more than revered bestselling author Natalie Haynes. Divine Might...
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Eighteen : A History Of Britain In 18 Young Lives
Loxton, Alice.
Paper Book
A Guardian Most Anticipated Book of 2024 Social media sensation Alice Loxton brings a scintillating new history of Britain, told through eighteen figures in British history at the age of eighteen. At eighteen, your life is full of possibility. You have...
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How the world made the West : a 4,000-year history
Quinn, Josephine Crawley
Paper Book
An award-winning Oxford history professor "makes a forceful argument and tells a story with great verve" (The Wall Street Journal)--that the West is, and always has been, truly global. "Those archaic 'Western Civ' classes so many of us took in college should be updated, argues...
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Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI
Harari, Yuval Noah
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
A Globe 100 Best Book of 2024 * A New Yorker Best Book of 2024 * A Kirkus Most Anticipated Book of Fall 2024 The first history of the notebook, a simple invention that changed the way the world thinks. We see notebooks everywhere we go. But where did these indispensable implements...
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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
One of Indigo's Top 10 History Books of 2024 A brilliant, seat-of-your-pants hostage-taking and daring SAS rescue mission of the Iran Embassy in London in 1980, this is Ben Macintyre at the very height of his story-telling powers. On April 30, 1980, six heavily armed...
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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 * A "thrilling and superbly crafted" (The Wall Street Journal) account of the most momentous voyage of the Age of Exploration, which culminated in Captain James Cook's death in Hawaii, and left a complex and controversial legacy still debated to this day....
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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 backyard bird chronicles
Tan, Amy
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A gorgeous, witty account of birding, nature, and the beauty around us that hides in plain sight, written and illustrated by the best-selling author of The Joy Luck Club * With a foreword by David Allen Sibley "Unexpected...
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The light eaters : how the unseen world of plant intelligence offers a new understanding of life on Earth
Schlanger, Zoë
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The New Yorker's Best Books of 2024 * TIME's 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2024 * New York Magazine's 10 Best Books of the Year * Washington Post's 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction of 2024 * Smithsonian's 10 Best Science Books of the Year * ...
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The miraculous from the material : the science behind nature's wonders
Lightman, Alan P.
Paper Book
A gorgeously illustrated exploration of the science behind the universe's most stunning natural phenomena--from atoms and parameciums to rainbows, snowflakes, spider webs, the rings of Saturn, galaxies, and more Nature is capable of extraordinary phenomena. Standing in awe of...
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Pillars of Creation : How the James Webb Telescope Unlocked the Secrets of the Cosmos
Panek, Richard.
Paper Book
The James Webb Space Telescope is transforming the universe right before our eyes--and here, for the first time, is the inside account of how the mission originated, how it performs its miracles of science, and what its revolutionary images are revealing. Pillars...
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Raising hare
Dalton, Chloe
Paper Book
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERSHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE HAY FESTIVAL, SUNDAY TIMES, THE TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES, SPECTATOR AND iNEWS 'A beautiful book' - ANGELINA JOLIE'I will be recommending this to everyone' - MATT HAIG'Quietly profound,...
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Turning to stone : discovering the subtle wisdom of rocks
Bjornerud, Marcia
Paper Book
Earth is vibrantly alive and full of wisdom for those who learn to listen. Earth has been reinventing itself for more than four billion years, keeping a record of its experiments in the form of rocks. Yet most of us live our lives on the planet with no idea of its...
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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 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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Never Boring: The up and down History of the Vancouver Canucks
Willes, Ed
Paper Book
Veteran hockey writer Ed Willes takes an irreverent look back at the sometimes thrilling, often infuriating and always fascinating history of the Vancouver Canucks. Cheering for the National Hockey League's Vancouver Canucks over the last half century has required patience, commitment and...
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I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music As Medicine
Levitin, Daniel J.
Paper Book
Neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author of This Is Your Brain on Music Daniel J. Levitin reveals how the deep connections between music and the human brain can be harnessed for healing. Music is perhaps one of humanity's oldest medicines as well as its...
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Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts
Burkeman, Oliver
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD NOMINEE FOR READERS' FAVOURITE NON-FICTION "Rehab for burned-out high achievers." --The Guardian How would life open up if we stopped treating it as a problem to be solved?
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Ordinary Mysticism : Your Life as Holy Ground
Starr, Mirabai.
Paper Book
"This gorgeous, transformative, welcoming book is for anyone who longs to feel more present, more alive, more joyful and aware of the holiness of daily life."--Anne Lamott, author of Dusk, Night, Dawn and Help, Thanks, Wow Welcome to the temple of your regular life. So begins...
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Supercommunicators : How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection
Duhigg, Charles.
Paper Book
From the Globe and Mail and New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Habit, an investigation of what makes conversations work, and how we can all learn to be supercommunicators at work and in our lives. We all know people who seem capable...
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Crust: Essential Sweets and Savories from Victoria's Beloved Bakery
Moore, Tom
Paper Book
Every morning, for over a decade, locals and visitors alike have lined up outside Crust Bakery, eager to taste their delicious, rustic baking. It's the kind of baking you dream of filling your home with. And now, you can! Within the pages of this debut cookbook, Crust Bakery's founding chef and co...
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I love you : recipes from the heart
Anderson, Pamela
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Literally... the most beautiful cookbook I have ever seen. It is stunning." --Drew Barrymore Join actress, activist, and New York Times bestselling author Pamela...
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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 Zoë Bakes Cakes and Zoë 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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