Nonfiction

You were born for this : astrology for radical self-acceptance book cover

You were born for this : astrology for radical self-acceptance

Chani Nicholas

133.5 /Nicholas
Nonfiction, Self Help

"A revolutionary empowerment book that uses astrology as a tool for self-discovery, success, and self-care from the beloved astrologer Chani Nicholas, a media darling with a loyal following of 1 million monthly readers"--

Violette's picture

This is an enjoyable and fast-paced introduction to astrology that I found both empowering and insightful! Chani Nicholas helps us to create and navigate our birth charts, outlining our Sun, Moon, and Ascending signs and their corresponding interpretations. A fun way to discover how the universe impacts our daily lives from the moment we were born! -Violette

Dead Mountain : the untold true story of the Dyatlov Pass incident book cover

Dead Mountain : the untold true story of the Dyatlov Pass incident

Donnie Eichar

796.522 /Eichar
Nonfiction, History, True Crime

In 1959, a group of Russian students died tragically on a winter hiking trip to the northern Ural Mountains. The circumstances surrounding their deaths at Dyatlov Pass seemed bizarre, and with very little physical evidence left behind, dozens of competing theories cropped up to explain what had happened. Half a century later, American author Donny Eichar was determined to find out the truth, and his obsession took him across the world to retrace their journey in search of answers.

Jessica's picture

I recommend it if you like to read survival stories, mountaineering adventures, true crime, or are interested in Soviet Era history. -Jessica

Wrong : how media, politics, and identity drive our appetite for misinformation book cover

Wrong : how media, politics, and identity drive our appetite for misinformation

Dannagal Goldthwaite Young

305 /Young
Nonfiction, Political

"In this book, the author offers a new model that identifies social and cultural identity-who we are and who we want to be-as the most important factor driving the American phenomena of being wrong"--

Jessica's picture

Added by Jessica

Educated : a memoir book cover

Educated : a memoir

Tara Westover

BIOGRAPHY Westover, Tara
Nonfiction, Memoir

"Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag." In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent. As a way out, Tara began to educate herself, learning enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University. Her quest for knowledge would transform her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Tara Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education offers: the perspective to see one's life through new eyes, and the will to change it."--Provided by publisher.

Jessica's picture

Added by Jessica

The white ladder : triumph and tragedy at the dawn of mountaineering book cover

The white ladder : triumph and tragedy at the dawn of mountaineering

Light, Daniel (Mountain climber), author.

796.522 /Light
Nonfiction, History, Sports

"A sweeping history of mountaineering before Everest, and the epic human quest to reach the highest places on Earth"--

Candice's picture

I have absolutely no interest in climbing mountains, but ever since I read Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" when it came out, I've been obsessed with reading about it. I think this book will be best enjoyed from the comfort of a beach towel, with nary a hill in sight. -Candice

From these roots : my fight with Harvard to reclaim my legacy book cover

From these roots : my fight with Harvard to reclaim my legacy

Lanier, Tamara, 1962- author.

342.730873 /Lanier
Black History, Nonfiction, Biographies, History

"Tamara Lanier grew up listening to her mother's stories about her ancestors. As Black Americans descended from enslaved people brought to America, they knew all too well how fragile the tapestry of a lineage could be. As her mother's health declined, she pushed her daughter to dig into those stories. "Tell them about Papa Renty," she would say. It was her mother's last wish. Thus begins one woman's remarkable commitment to document that story. Her discovery of an eighteenth-century daguerreotype, one of the first-ever photos of enslaved people from Africa, reveals a dark-skinned man with short-cropped silver hair and chiseled cheekbones. The information read "Renty, Congo." All at once, Lanier knew she was staring at the ancestor her mother told her so much about-Papa Renty. In a compelling story covering more than a decade of her own research, Lanier takes us on her quest to prove her genealogical bloodline to Papa Renty's that pits her in a legal battle against one of the most powerful institutions in the country, Harvard University. The question is, who has claim to the stories, artifacts, and remnants of America's stained history-the institutions who acquired and housed them for generations, or the descendants who have survived? From These Roots is not only a historical record of one woman's lineage but a call to justice that fights for all those demanding to reclaim, honor, and lay to rest the remains of mishandled lives and memories"--

Candice's picture

This is a fascinating story that melds historical acts of racism and exploitation with present-day conversations about who owns what, who gets to tell the story, and what people are owed. -Candice

The Paris girl : the young woman who outwitted the Nazis and became a WWII hero book cover

The Paris girl : the young woman who outwitted the Nazis and became a WWII hero

White, Francelle Bradford, author.

940.5344 /White
Nonfiction, Biographies, History

Written by her own daughter, this biography chronicles the astonishing courage Andrée Griotteray, a teenage girl in Nazi-occupied Paris who would become a hero of the French Resistance through her harrowing work as an underground intelligence courier.

Candice's picture

There have been several fiction books published recently that focus on women performing acts of derring-do in WWII, and this here is the real thing. -Candice

The waiting game : the untold story of the women who served the Tudor queens book cover

The waiting game : the untold story of the women who served the Tudor queens

Clark, Nicola (Associate lecturer in history), author.

942.05 /Clark
Nonfiction, History

Every Tudor Queen had ladies-in-waiting. They were her confidantes and her chaperones. Only the Queen's ladies had the right to enter her most private chambers, spending hours helping her to get dressed and undressed, caring for her clothes and jewels, listening to her secrets. But they also held a unique power. A quiet word behind the scenes, an appropriately timed gift, a well-negotiated marriage alliance were all forms of political agency wielded. The Waiting Game explores the daily lives of ladies-in-waiting, revealing the secrets of recruitment, costume, what they ate, where (and with whom) they slept. --

Candice's picture

For the reader who might be more intrigued with what was going on in the lives of those who were on the edges of the royal spotlight. -Candice

A history of Ancient Rome in twelve coins book cover

A history of Ancient Rome in twelve coins

Harney, Gareth, author.

937.06 /Harney
Nonfiction, History

This accessible historical account traces ancient Rome's rise to power through the stories of twelve remarkable coins, revealing how Romans used currency to immortalize their gods, emperors and conquests, connecting modern readers with the empire's epic past.

Candice's picture

I'm always a fan of books about Roman history! This one looks less dense and more readable than some others I've attempted. -Candice

Everything must go : the stories we tell about the end of the world book cover

Everything must go : the stories we tell about the end of the world

Lynskey, Dorian, author.

001.9 /Lynskey
Nonfiction

A rich, captivating, and darkly humorous look into the evolution of apocalyptic thought, exploring how film and literature interact with developments in science, politics, and culture, and what factors drive our perennial obsession with the end of the world. As Dorian Lynskey writes, "People have been contemplating the end of the world for millennia." In this immersive and compelling cultural history, Lynskey reveals how religious prophecies of the apocalypse were secularized in the early 19th century by Lord Byron and Mary Shelley in a time of dramatic social upheaval and temporary climate change, inciting a long tradition of visions of the end without gods. With a discerning eye and acerbic wit, Lynskey examines how various doomsday tropes and predictions in literature, art, music, and film have arisen from contemporary anxieties, whether they be comets, pandemics, world wars, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Y2K, or the climate emergency. Far from being grim, Lynskey guides readers through a rich array of fascinating stories and surprising facts, allowing us to keep company with celebrated works of art and the people who made them, from H.G. Wells, Jack London, W.B. Yeats and J.G. Ballard to The Twilight Zone, Dr. Strangelove, Mad Max and The Terminator. Prescient and original, Everything Must Go is a brilliant, sweeping work of history that provides many astute insights for our times and speaks to our urgent concerns for the future-- Provided by publisher.

Candice's picture

End-of-the world scenarios aren't just for eschatologists anymore. -Candice