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History and Current Events June 2024
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| Left for Dead: Shipwreck, Treachery, and Survival at the Edge of the World by Eric Jay DolinWhat it is: Bestselling maritime historian Eric Jay Dolin chronicles a fateful skirmish between an American sealing expedition and a British convict ship during the War of 1812 that left five castaways stranded on the Falkland Islands for 534 days.
For fans of: The Wager* by David Grann.
Praise: "This stunning account of shifting fortunes is riven with tension on every page, as Dolin provides detailed descriptions of bickering and backstabbing, tricky nautical maneuvers, and desperate survival techniques. It's an edge-of-your-seat adventure." (Publishers Weekly) |
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Fat Leonard: How One Man Bribed, Bilked, and Seduced the U.S. Navy by Craig WhitlockWhat's inside: a meticulously researched investigation into one of the most significant public corruption scandals in American history: the ongoing story of how a Malaysian defense contractor defrauded the U.S. Navy of tens of millions of dollars and put our nation's security at risk . About the author: Longtime Washington Post investigative reporter Craig Whitlock covers the Pentagon and national security issues. He is the author of The Afghanistan Papers. Praise: "A masterly investigation into one of the Navy’s worst scandals." (The New York Times)
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Another Word for Love: A Memoir by Carvell WallaceWhat's inside: In this vulnerable and expansive memoir, celebrated profile writer, podcast host, and cultural critic Carvell Wallace examines his childhood growing up Black and Queer in America and the struggles he faced as the son of a single parent in a predominantly white Pennsylvania town. Praise: "Intricate and exhilarating... An exquisite, soulful must-read." (Kirkus)
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Fair Play: How Sports Shape the Gender Debates by Katie BarnesWhat's inside: An award-winning LGBTQ+ journalist traces the evolution of women's sports as both a pastime and a political arena -- one in which equality and fairness have been fought over for generations. In doing so, Barnes contextualizes the controversy surrounding trans athletes and proposes new solutions for the future of gender in sports. Praise: The Washington Post calls Fair Play "[An] excellent and much-needed examination of current debates... Barnes brings nuanced, in-depth analysis to complex issues that have been oversimplified, misunderstood, and sometimes distorted." Kirkus deems it "Enlightened and empathetic―required reading for anyone weighing in on gender and sports."
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| Praise: "... a blistering exposé... Mattioli’s impressive reporting—which draws on internal documents and hundreds of interviews with employees, senior executives, and government officials—recreates the company’s conquests in disturbing detail... This is investigative journalism at its finest." (Publishers Weekly) |
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What's inside: this engrossing adventure story follows a young Japanese man known as Christopher as he traveled with English explorer Thomas Cavendish from Japan to Queen Elizabeth's Court via the Philippines and New Spain (Mexico), becoming the first recorded Japanese person to set foot in North America and the British Isles. Praise: "Lockley succeeds in focusing his history on the contributions of the ‘oppressed, trafficked and marginalized’ who have otherwise left no record. In the process, he tells a lively tale of maritime adventure, piracy, and advancements in science and global economics… a fascinating look into 16th-century geopolitics." (Kirkus)
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The Way That Leads Among the Lost: Life, Death, and Hope in Mexico City's Anexos
by Angela Garcia
What it is: A prize-winning anthropologist offers the first book ever written on the anexos of Mexico City: informal treatment centers for addiction and mental illness where parents send their children to escape the violence of the country's drug wars.
Why you should read it: Angela Garcia draws on a decade of field research as well as her own family story to give a devastating portrait at what families do when they are out of options. The result is a book of profound ethnographic richness and moral urgency.
Praise: A stunning portrait... a luminous, immersive account of an unseen social safety net." (Publishers Weekly)
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Praise: "Propulsive… This razor-sharp book is the masterful culmination of years of reportage… a work of compassion, one that never fails to center the vulnerability or the dignity of students." (The Washington Post)
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Is it for you? Luthra's book is undoubtedly critical of the Dobbs decision. The result is a "well-researched, compelling book [that] will appeal to anyone who is interested in the human cost of reproductive rights in America" (Booklist) which "prov[es] the feminist adage: The personal is political" (Bookpage).
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Praise: "[A] well-made disco ball of a book — it’s big, discursive, ardent, intellectual, and flecked with gossip. The Freaks Came Out to Write may be the best history of a journalistic enterprise I’ve ever read." (Dwight Garner, The New York Times)
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The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America by Sara B. FranklinWhat's inside: Based on exclusive interviews, personal papers and years of research, this tribute to legendary Knopf editor Judith Jones reveals the audacious woman behind some of the most important authors of the 20th century—including Sylvia Plath, John Updike, Anne Frank, and Julia Child-- chronicling her career and how she changed culture mores and expectations along the way. Praise: "The Editor retrieves Jones from the margins of publishing history and affirms her essential role in shaping the postwar cultural landscape, from fiction to cooking and beyond." (The Millions)
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Next Up at Nonfiction Book Club...
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The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free
by Paulina Bren
What's inside: Historian Paulina Bren's engrossing social history of Manhattan's Barbizon Hotel reveals how the 700-room women-only residential hotel offered a safe haven for women creatives seeking work in 20th-century New York. Famous residents included Rita Hayworth, Joan Crawford, Sylvia Plath, Joan Didion, Liza Minelli, and more.
Praise: "More than a biography of a building, the book is an absorbing history of labor and women’s rights in one of the country’s largest cities, and also of the places that those women left behind to chase their dreams." (The New Yorker)
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Contact your librarian for more great books! |
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