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New Nonfiction December 2025 |
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Book of Lives : A Memoir of Sorts
by Margaret Atwood
From this unconventional start, Atwood unfolds the story of her life, linking seminal moments to the books that have shaped our literary landscape, from the cruel year that spawned Cat’s Eye to the Orwellian 1980s Berlin where she wrote The Handmaid’s Tale. In pages bursting with bohemian gatherings, her magical life with the wildly charismatic writer Graeme Gibson and major political turning points, we meet poets, bears, Hollywood actors and larger-than-life characters straight from the pages of an Atwood novel. As we travel with her along the course of her life, more and more is revealed about her writing, the connections between real life and art – and the workings of one of our greatest imaginations.
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Fire in Every Direction : A Memoir
by Tareq Baconi
Both a love story and a coming-of-age tale that spans countries and continents, Fire in Every Direction balances humor and loss, nostalgia and hope, as it takes us from the Middle East to London, and from 1948 to the present. Tareq Baconi crafts a deeply intimate, unforgettable portrait of how a political consciousness—desire and resistance—is passed down through generations.
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Shade : the promise of a forgotten natural resource
by Sam Bloch
Studies the overlooked importance of shade in urban environments, tracing its historical role in city design, examining how its absence contributes to health and social disparities, and highlighting efforts by planners and innovators to reintroduce shade as a vital tool for climate resilience.
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The Royal We : A Memoir
by Roddy Bottum
The Royal We is a poetic survey of a time set in a magical city that once was and is no more. It is a memoir written by Roddy Bottum, a musician and artist, that documents through prose his coming of age and out of the closet in 1980s San Francisco, a charged era of bicycle messengers, punk rock, street witches, wheatgrass, and rebellion. The book follows his travels from Los Angeles, growing up gay with no role models, to San Francisco, where he formed Faith No More and went on to tour the world relentlessly, surviving heroin addiction and the plight of AIDS, to become a queer icon.
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The Uncool : A Memoir
by Cameron Crowe
Recounts how a rock-averse teen became a trusted journalist for Rolling Stone in the 1970s, chronicling his backstage access to iconic artists while exploring his formative family relationships and his path to becoming an acclaimed filmmaker.
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Coyote : The Dramatic Lives of Sam Shepard
by Robert M. Dowling
Sam Shepard was a true American original. A theater and film icon who lived life on a mythic scale, Shepard became an embodiment of the fierce independence and wild freedom of the American West. Taking us from the creative explosion of downtown New York City in the 1960s to Bob Dylan’s legendary Rolling Thunder Revue tour, from Hollywood backlots and film shoots in the Mojave Desert to the horse ranches where Shepard went to escape it all, Robert M. Dowling’s biography reveals this playwright, actor, and filmmaker as we’ve never known him before.
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The call of the honeyguide : what science tells us about how to live well with the rest of life
by Rob Dunn
How rethinking our relationships with other species can help us reimagine the future of humankind. In the woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa, sometime deep in our species' past, something strange happened: a bird called out, not to warn others of human presence, but to call attention to herself. Having found a beehive, that bird-a honeyguide-sought human aid to break in. The behavior can seem almost miraculous: How would a bird come to think that people could help her? Isn't life simply bloodier than that? As Rob Dunn argues in The Call of the Honeyguide, it isn't. Nature is red in tooth and claw, but in equal measure, life works together. Cells host even smaller life, wrapped in a web of mutual interdependence. Ants might go to war, but they also tend fungi, aphids, and even trees. And we humans work not just with honeyguides but with yeast, crops, and pets. Ecologists call these beneficial relationships mutualisms. And they might be the most important forces in the evolution of life. We humans often act as though we are all alone, independent from the rest of life. As The Call of the Honeyguide shows, we are not. It is a call to action for a more beneficent, less lonely future.
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The great contradiction : the tragic side of the American founding
by Joseph J. Ellis
Explores the contradictions at the founding of the United States, focusing on the coexistence of slavery and Native American displacement with ideals of freedom, and analyzes the debates and compromises of the Revolutionary generation that shaped early national policies and attitudes.
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Devouring Time : Jim Harrison, a Writer's Life
by Todd Goddard
Jim Harrison (1937-2016) was widely considered one of the finest voices of his generation. His twenty-one books of fiction and fourteen books of poetry influenced a generation of writers. Harrison helped to shape the course of contemporary American literature, revitalizing in particular the novella form, of which he was a recognized master. Based on more than one hundred original interviews and drawing upon Harrison's collected papers, Devouring Time is the first and only literary biography of this beloved author, whose playful, irreverent, and spiritual work continues to find and delight new readers.
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We Did Ok, Kid : A Memoir
by Anthony Hopkins
With candor and a voice that is both arresting and vulnerable, Sir Anthony recounts his various career milestones and provides a once-in-a-lifetime look into the brilliance behind some of his most iconic roles.
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The last extinction : the real science behind the death of the dinosaurs
by Gerta Keller
The story behind Dr Gerta Keller's world-shattering scientific discovery that dinosaur extinction was NOT caused by asteroid impact, but rather by volcanic eruptions on the Indian peninsula, a discovery that highlights today's existential threat of greenhouse gasses and climate change--and one that sparked an all-out war waged by the scientific establishment.
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The shape of wonder : how scientists think, work, and live
by Alan P Lightman
Offers an intimate look at the personal lives and motivations of scientists across time and place, aiming to restore public trust in science by revealing researchers as curious, thoughtful individuals navigating the same societal concerns and ethical questions as the rest of us.
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John Candy : A Life in Comedy
by Paul Myers
This heartfelt portrait of the legendary comic actor based on the interviews with his friends and colleagues follows his rise from Canadian sketch comedy to Hollywood stardom, his deep personal struggles, and enduring legacy of warmth, generosity and humor.
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We survived the night
by Julian Brave NoiseCat
Blends history, mythology, memoir, and reportage as it follows a man's journey to reclaim Indigenous identity and culture amid colonial erasure, exploring family, trauma, and Indigenous political and environmental movements across North America through an eclectic storytelling style.
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Racebook : a personal history of the Internet
by Tochi Onyebuchi
From the ever-changing nature of personal writing and free expression, to gaming, manga, fandom and virtual reality, the author examines the Internet alongside works of literature both classic and new, in an investigation of race through the lens of the modern Internet age.
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The big one : how we just prepare for future deadly pandemics
by Michael T Osterholm
Examining past outbreaks and the global response to Covid-19, this urgent analysis outlines the likelihood and potential severity of future pandemics, presenting a roadmap of scientific, political and societal steps needed to prepare for the far deadlier crises that may lie ahead.
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Dead and alive : essays
by Zadie Smith
Blending sharp observation with deep humanity, this compelling essay collection explores artists, films, cities and cultural icons, while reflecting on community, political shifts, loss and the meaning of shared spaces, capturing the complex spirit of our changing times.
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The arrogant ape : the myth of human exceptionalism and why it matters
by Christine E. Webb
Challenges the ideology of human superiority, drawing on animal behavior research and cognitive science to reveal the overlooked intelligence and social complexity of nonhuman life, arguing that rejecting human exceptionalism can transform our relationship with the planet and foster a more sustainable future.
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The Man of Many Fathers : Life Lessons Disguised As a Memoir
by Roy Wood
Reflecting on his own upbringing and the many unconventional mentors who shaped him?—?from ex-cons and comedians to co-workers and celebrities?— man explores the lessons that guided his journey into fatherhood with humor, vulnerability and purpose.
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Morton Grove Public Library
6140 Lincoln Ave
Morton Grove, Illinois 60053
(847) 965-4220www.mgpl.org |
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