New Nonfiction
June 2025

The fate of the day : the war for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780
by Rick Atkinson

Chronicles the pivotal middle years of the American Revolution, tracing the Continental Army's fight for survival, George Washington's struggles for resources, Benjamin Franklin's diplomacy in Paris, and British attempts to suppress the rebellion in the face of mounting costs.
Class Clown : The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up
by Dave Barry

Class Clown isn’t just a memoir; it’s a vibrant celebration of a life rich with humor, absurdity, joy, and sadness. Dave says the most important wisdom imparted by his Midwestern parents was never to take anything too seriously. This laughter-filled book is proof that he learned that lesson well.
Mark Twain
by Ron Chernow

Drawing on Twain’s bountiful archives, including thousands of letters and hundreds of unpublished manuscripts, Chernow masterfully captures the man whose career reflected the country’s westward expansion, industrialization, and foreign wars, and who was the most important white author of his generation to grapple so fully with the legacy of slavery. Today, more than one hundred years after his death, Twain’s writing continues to be read, debated, and quoted. In this brilliant work of scholarship, a moving tribute to the writer’s talent and humanity, Chernow reveals the magnificent and often maddening life of one of the most original characters in American history.
The Golden Road : How Ancient India Transformed the World
by William Dalrymple

In The Golden Road, William Dalrymple draws from a lifetime of scholarship to highlight India's oft-forgotten position as the heart of ancient Eurasia. For the first time, he gives a name to this spread of Indian ideas that transformed the world. From the largest Hindu temple in the world at Angkor Wat to the Buddhism of China, from the trade that helped fund the Roman Empire to the creation of the numerals we use today (including zero), India transformed the culture and technology of its ancient world – and our world today as we know it.
Karen : A Brother Remembers
by Kelsey Grammer

The author's sister was kidnapped and murdered at age eighteen, and he poignantly remembers her and the impact her loss had on his life and family, exploring with raw honesty the devastation after her death and the long and arduous journey toward healing.
America, Amâerica : a new history of the New World
by Greg Grandin

This sweeping history of the Western Hemisphere from a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian re-examines the intertwined destinies of North and South America, challenging traditional narratives and revealing a complex and dynamic relationship shaped by conflict, cooperation and mutual influence.
The ocean's menagerie : how earth's strangest creatures reshape the rules of life
by C. Drew Harvell

Explores the remarkable biology of ocean invertebrates, highlighting their extraordinary adaptations and contributions to medicine, engineering, and ecological balance, while weaving the author's personal journey as a marine biologist with a call to protect these ancient and vital underwater ecosystems.
The fate of the generals : MacArthur, Wainwright, and the epic battle for the Philippines
by Jonathan Horn

In The Fate of the Generals, bestselling author Jonathan Horn brings together the story of two men who won the same medal but found honor on very different paths. MacArthur's journey would require a daring escape with his wife and young child to Australia and then years of fighting over the thousands of miles needed to make it back to the Philippines, where he would fulfill his famous vow only to see the city he called home burn. Wainwright's journey would take him from the Philippines to Taiwan and Manchuria as his captors tortured him in prisons and left him to wonder whether his countrymen would ever understand the choice he had made to surrender for the sake of his men. A story of war made personal based on meticulous research into letters and diaries including boxes of previously unexplored papers, The Fate of the Generals is a vivid account that raises timely questions about how we define honor and how we choose our heroes, and is destined to become a classic of World War II history.
White light : the elemental role of phosphorus--in our cells, in our food, and in our world
by Jack Lohmann

Explores the cyclical nature of life and death through the history and impact of phosphorus, from its discovery as a fertilizer to its role in global agriculture and environmental degradation, urging a renewed understanding of our relationship with both the earth and mortality.
Strangers in the land : exclusion, belonging, and the epic story of the Chinese in America
by Michael Luo

A New Yorker executive editor and writer follows the Chinese in America from the middle of the 19th century as they persisted amidst suspicion and as a native-born population took shape until finally, in 1965, America's gates swung open to people like his parents, immigrants from Taiwan.
Inside the Stargazer's Palace : The Transformation of Science in 16th-Century Europe
by Violet Moller

Tours the intellectual heart of early European science, exploring its rich, multidisciplinary culture and revealing a dazzling forgotten world, where all knowledge, no matter how arcane, could be pursued in good faith.
The age of diagnosis : how our obsession with medical labels is making us sicker
by Suzanne O'Sullivan

From a neurologist and award-winning author of The Sleeping Beauties, a meticulous and compassionate exploration of how our culture of medical diagnosis can harm, rather than help, patients I'm a neurologist. Diagnosis is my bread and butter. So why then would I, an experienced medical doctor, be very careful about which diagnosis I would pursue for myself or would be willing to accept if foisted upon me? We live in an age of diagnosis. The advance of sophisticated genetic sequencing techniques means that we may all soon be screened for potential abnormalities. The internet provides a vast array of information that helps us speculate about our symptoms. Conditions like ADHD and Autism are on the rapid rise, while other new categories like Long Covid are driven by patients themselves. When we are suffering, it feels natural to seek a diagnosis. We want a clear label, understanding, and, of course, treatment. But is diagnosis an unqualified good thing? Could it sometimes even make us worse instead of better? Through the moving stories of real people, neurologist Suzanne O'Sullivan explores the complex world of modern diagnosis, comparing the impact of a medical label to the pain of not knowing. With scientific authority and compassionate storytelling, she opens up new possibilities for how we might approach our health and our suffering.
Medicine River : a story of survival and the legacy of Indian boarding schools
by Mary Annette Pember

Through searing interviews and assiduous historical reporting on Native American boarding schools from the mid-19th century to the 1930s, the author traces the evolution and continued rebirth of a culture whose country has been seemingly intent upon destroying it.
Freedom ship : the uncharted history of escaping slavery by sea
by Marcus Rediker

This comprehensive account uncovers the long-overlooked maritime origins of the Underground Railroad, highlighting the pivotal role of sea routes in aiding enslaved people's escapes and featuring figures like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman in the fight for freedom.
Valley of forgetting : Alzheimer's families and the search for a cure
by Jennie Erin Smith

Recounts the decades-long effort to study a Colombian community with a rare genetic mutation causing early-onset Alzheimer's, exploring the scientific breakthroughs, personal sacrifices, and ethical complexities of a groundbreaking quest to understand and potentially prevent the disease.
The lost trees of Willow Avenue : a story of climate and hope on one American street
by Mike Tidwell

Chronicles a year of climate change impacts on a single urban block near Washington, D.C., intertwining personal stories of neighbors battling environmental and social challenges with reflections on the ethical dilemmas of geoengineering as a last-ditch effort to combat the crisis. 
Marsha : the joy and defiance of Marsha P. Johnson
by Tourmaline

A Black trans luminary brings to life the first definitive biography of one of the most important and remarkable figures in LGBTQ+ history, revealing her story, her impact, and her legacy. 
The illegals : Russia's most audacious spies and their century-long mission to infiltrate the West
by Shaun Walker

Traces the history of the Soviet Union's “illegals” spy program, revealing how deeply embedded, long-term operatives shaped global espionage from the Bolshevik era to modern Russia, while examining its enduring influence on Russian identity, global politics, and Putin's strategies today.
Hope dies last : visionary people across the world, fighting to find us a future
by Alan Weisman

An award-winning environmental journalist examines humanity's resilience and creativity in facing climate change, showcasing global efforts to combat environmental devastation while exploring how we adapt, hope and act in the face of an uncertain future.
The Art Spy : The Extraordinary Untold Tale of Wwii Resistance Hero Rose Valland
by Michelle Young

A saga set in Paris during World War II uncovers how an unlikely heroine infiltrated the Nazi leadership to save the world's most treasured masterpieces.
Find more recommendations online.
 

Morton Grove Public Library
6140 Lincoln Ave
Morton Grove, Illinois 60053
(847) 965-4220

www.mgpl.org