2023 Staff Picks for Adults--Nonfiction

Updated January 3, 2024
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A Fever in the Heartland The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them
Egan, Timothy.
Ebook
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A Washington Post Notable Work of Nonfiction * An NPR Best Book of the Year * A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year *  A Chicago Review of Books Best Book of the Year * A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year * A Goodreads...
The anthropocene reviewed essays on a human-centered planet
Green, John
Paper Book
Goodreads Choice winner for Nonfiction 2021 and instant #1 bestseller! A deeply moving collection of personal essays from John Green, the author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down. "The perfect book for right now." -People <...
The Art Thief A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession
Finkel, Michael.
Ebook
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * One of the most remarkable true-crime narratives of the twenty-first century * "The Art Thief, like its title character, has confidence, élan, and a great sense of timing."--The New Yorker A...
Nature swagger : stories and visions of Black joy in the outdoors
Mapp, Rue
Paper Book
An exquisite combination of beautiful photography and compelling stories, this book from Outdoor Afro founder, Rue Mapp, celebrates Black joy in nature. Filled with breathtaking photography, inspiring stories, profiles, and spotlights from Outdoor Afro group members...
Better Living Through Birding Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World
Cooper, Christian.
Ebook
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Central Park birder Christian Cooper takes us beyond the viral video that shocked a nation and into a world of avian adventures, global excursions, and the unexpected lessons you can learn from a life spent looking up. "Wondrous . . ....
Choosing to Run A Memoir
Linden, Des.
Paper Book
Choosing to Run takes readers through both the triumphs and greatest challenges of Des Linden's career, including the day that, despite freezing rain and gusting winds, she experienced her career-defining win at the 2018 Boston Marathon. She discusses her unique journey, and how she got there...
Cultish : the language of fanaticism
Montell, Amanda
Paper Book
The author of the widely praised Wordslut analyzes the social science of cult influence: how cultish groups from Jonestown and Scientology to SoulCycle and social media gurus use language as the ultimate form of power. What makes "cults" so intriguing and...
Eager The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter
Goldfarb, Ben.
Ebook
WINNER of the 2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Author of the New York Times 2023 "Notable Book" Crossings Washington Post "50 Notable Works of Nonfiction" Science News "Favorite Science Books of 2018" Booklist "Top Ten Science...
Enchantment : awakening wonder in an anxious age
May, Katherine
Paper Book
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER "When I tell you that I dogeared almost every page in this book, I'm telling God's honest truth. I didn't know how much I needed someone else to validate what I was going through. The sense that I had lost my curiosity, my imagination, my ability to make...
The good life : lessons from the world's longest scientific study of happiness
Waldinger, Robert J.
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller What makes for a happy life, a fulfilling life? A good life? In their "captivating" (The Wall Street Journal) book, the directors of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest scientific study of happiness ever...
The Heat Will Kill You First Life and Death on a Scorched Planet
Goodell, Jeff.
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | SELECTED AS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, AND THE ECONOMIST | FINALIST FOR THE L.A. TIMES BOOK PRIZE, THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY'S HELEN BERNSTEIN AWARD...
Friends, lovers, and the big terrible thing : a memoir
Perry, Matthew
Paper Book
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER The BELOVED STAR OF FRIENDS takes us behind the scenes of the hit sitcom and his struggles with addiction in this "CANDID, DARKLY FUNNY...POIGNANT" memoir (The New York Times) ...
I'm glad my mom died
McCurdy, Jennette
Paper Book
* #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER * MORE THAN 2 MILLION COPIES SOLD! A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor--including eating...
In the houses of their dead : the Lincolns, the Booths, and the spirits
Alford, Terry
Paper Book
In the 1820s, two families, unknown to each other, worked on farms in the American wilderness. It seemed unlikely that the families would ever meet--and yet, they did. The son of one family, the famed actor John Wilkes Booth, killed the son of the other, President Abraham Lincoln, in the most...
King A Life
Eig, Jonathan.
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2024 PULITZER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY A finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award | Named one of the ten best books of 2023 by The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Time A New York Times...
The last folk hero : the life and myth of Bo Jackson
Pearlman, Jeff
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller By the author of Showtime--the source for HBO's Winning Time--the definitive biography of mythic multi-sport star Bo Jackson. "A legendary tome on a legendary athlete." --Chris Herring, author of Blood in the Garden From the mid-1980s...
Poverty, by America
Desmond, Matthew.
Ebook
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Evicted reimagines the debate on poverty, making a "provocative and compelling" (NPR) argument about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR...
Surrender : 40 songs, one story
Bono
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER * Bono--artist, activist, and the lead singer of Irish rock band U2--has written a memoir: honest and irreverent, intimate and profound, Surrender is the story of the remarkable life he's lived, the challenges he's faced, and the friends and family who...
That good night : life and medicine in the eleventh hour
Puri, Sunita
Paper Book
"A profound exploration of what it means for all of us to live--and to die--with dignity and purpose." --People   "Visceral and lyrical." --The Atlantic As the American born daughter of immigrants, Dr. Sunita Puri knew from a young age that the gulf...
Tiny Beautiful Things Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
Strayed, Cheryl
Ebook
NOW A HULU ORIGINAL SERIES * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * An anniversary edition of the bestselling collection of "Dear Sugar" advice columns written by the author of #1 bestseller Wild--featuring a new preface and six additional columns. ...
The unidentified : mythical monsters, alien encounters, and our obsession with the unexplained
Dickey, Colin
Paper Book
"Absolutely perfect for the current moment." --Buzzfeed America's favorite cultural historian and author of Ghostland takes a tour of the country's most persistent "unexplained" phenomena In a world where rational, scientific explanations are more...
Valiant Women The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II
Andrews, Lena S.
Paper Book
National Bestseller * Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist "An ingenious look at WWII." --Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) A groundbreaking new history of the role of American servicewomen in WWII, illuminating their forgotten yet essential contributions to the Allies' victory. ...
What an Owl Knows The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds
Ackerman, Jennifer.
Ebook
An instant New York Times bestseller! A New York Times Notable Book of 2023 Named a Best Book of 2023 by Publishers Weekly From the author of The Genius of Birds and The Bird Way, a brilliant scientific investigation into...
My grandmother's hands : racialized trauma and the pathway to mending our hearts and bodies
Menakem, Resmaa
Paper Book
A NATIONAL BESTSELLER "My Grandmother's Hands will change the direction of the movement for racial justice."-- Robin DiAngelo, New York Times bestselling author of White Fragility In this groundbreaking book, therapist Resmaa Menakem examines the...

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