New Nonfiction
July, 2026
Daylight Come: Harry Belafonte and the World He Made by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro
Daylight Come: Harry Belafonte and the World He Made
by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro

Even three years after his death, Harry Belafonte is everywhere. You can't go to a wedding, or to a sports arena, without hearing Day-O, Jump in the Line, or Jamaica Farewell. The Harlem-born son of Caribbean immigrants, Belafonte turned the folk music of the islands into American pop--and shaped the fantasy of Caribbean life that endures as an ideal and as a multibillion-dollar tourist industry. Belafonte released the first million-selling LP in history. He was America's first Black movie star, the first Black person to produce a prime-time special on network TV, and the first to win an Emmy Award. He was once the highest-paid Black performer of all time, beloved by Black and white fans alike, even under segregation. His artistic career helped create the pop culture of the twentieth century--and his political activism reshaped the course of American history. In this sparkling new biography, Joshua Jelly-Schapiro brings Belafonte's personality and music vibrantly to life, following him from rags to riches and from Harlem to Jamaica to the March on Washington. Jelly-Schapiro takes us inside Belafonte's lifelong brotherhood with Sidney Poitier, his friendship with Fidel Castro, his collaboration with Nelson Mandela, and the sometimes shocking therapeutic relationships his difficult upbringing necessitated. At the heart of the story is Belafonte's bond with Martin Luther King Jr., whose cause Belafonte would champion for the rest of his life. That commitment to the greater good would sustain him and benefit untold numbers--and would come at a cost. The indelible story of an American icon--and a provocative study of authenticity, fame, and conviction--Daylight Come is, like Harry Belafonte himself, brimming with style and consequence.
The People's Historian: The Outsized Life of Howard Zinn by Dave Zirin
The People's Historian: The Outsized Life of Howard Zinn
by Dave Zirin

A biography of iconic radical historian Howard Zinn, examining his life and work as a progressive icon and thought leader through the story of the times that shaped him as well as the United States of America. From The Nation magazine columnist and New York Times bestselling author Dave Zirin, The People's Historian is a deeply researched biography of Howard Zinn, the beloved author of the classic national bestseller with more than four million copies sold, A People's History of the United States. The People's Historian shows Zinn's presence on the great canvases of the 20th century: from the Depression to World War II to the Civil Rights Movement to the war in Vietnam all the way until his death in 2010. With intimately researched stories from Zinn's life and career, such as the way Atlanta's small Spelman College, where Zinn taught as a young professor, helped launch the Civil Rights Movement, Zinn's work traveling to Hanoi to engineer the release of POWs, and his continuing influence in the emerging Democratic Socialist movement, The People's Historian explores Zinn's past while also demonstrating how his 75 years of political engagement with the social struggles of his time informs our perilous present. With input from family and access to Zinn's personal papers, The People's Historian paints a picture of the man behind A People's History, examining his work and legacy in the broader context of the United States.
What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking: Make It Fast by Caroline Chambers
What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking: Make It Fast
by Caroline Chambers

Caroline Chambers famously doesn't feel like cooking--and she's built a whole brand on that premise. Her superpowers are eliminating unnecessary steps; minimizing dirty dishes; and making dinnertime as simple, stress-free, and fun as possible. While plenty of obstacles stand between you and a delicious meal, being short on time is probably the biggest one. This exciting follow-up cookbook is once again organized into three time-based chapters. You'll find recipes for 100 dinners, all of which are complete meals and can be made with no more than 30 minutes hands-on time in the kitchen--and yes, that includes chopping, marinating, and all other prep.
Empire of Ashes: Truman, Hirohito, and the Descent Into Total War by James M. Scott
Empire of Ashes: Truman, Hirohito, and the Descent Into Total War
by James M. Scott

From the acclaimed Pacific War historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist, the harrowing story of America's bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the dramatic struggle to end World War II.
Rick Steves Scotland by Rick Steves
Rick Steves Scotland
by Rick Steves

Book Annotation
Think Before You Think: Understanding and Mastering Executive Function by Adrian Owen
Think Before You Think: Understanding and Mastering Executive Function
by Adrian Owen

A pioneering researcher unveils the neuroscience of executive function: how it works and what we can (and can't) do to improve it.
Triage by Claudia Rankine
Triage
by Claudia Rankine

A groundbreaking new direction for Claudia Rankine, the best-selling author of Citizen and Just Us
An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial, and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln by Lois Romano
An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial, and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln
by Lois Romano

 Mary Lincoln was at the center of politics at a time when society's expectations for women were rigid and circumscribed. The product of Southern aristocracy, she grew up among an influential clan of politicians and elites who founded Lexington, Kentucky. Mary's early exposure to the male-dominated world of politics instilled in her a keen political acumen and a fierce ambition. Proclaiming as a child that she was destined to become the wife of a president, she played a crucial role in boosting her husband to greatness. But her hopes for a triumphant experience at the pinnacle of power were lost to the Civil War and unfathomable family tragedies. Still, Mary persevered. She steadfastly supported the Union war effort, visited encampments, tended to wounded soldiers, and generously donated money and gifts to refugees from slavery. She was an unconventional, larger-than-life character who dressed too ostentatiously, grieved too publicly, suffered a shopping addiction, and seemed unable or unwilling to corral her emotions, her temper, and her opinions. She made enemies--influential men who wrote her story for her, often unfairly. After Lincoln was assassinated, she was all but abandoned by the nation he had given his life to defend and preserve. Former Washington Post writer and columnist Lois Romano rectifies the tortured legacy of Mary Todd Lincoln, who was failed at nearly every turn in her widowhood--by her family, by her government, by medical professionals ill-equipped to diagnose her mental illness, and finally, by history. Romano draws on hundreds of archives, letters, and memoirs to provide the most complete portrait--of not simply of an inconvenient widow, but of a brilliant and flawed woman, who possessed uncommon tenacity in the face of extraordinary adversity and personal torment, and helped launch one of America's greatest presidents.
The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy by Gil Durán
The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy
by Gil Durán

A fearless and urgent chronicle of the tech-authoritarian movement from its early days in San Francisco politics to its current moment on the international stage, exploring the wild and dystopian ambition of the technocrats at its center, and offering a road map to resistance. When Silicon Valley says it is ''moving fast and breaking things, '' the world interprets the chaos as a necessary cost of innovation. Gil Durán reveals something far more sinister: a decades-long campaign to replace elected governments with corporate rule. Drawing on insider political experience and new investigations, Durán traces this ideology from its philosophical roots in The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg. He introduces its modern apostles--Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Balaji Srinivasan, and Elon Musk--and shows how the promise of technological liberation has transformed into a global movement for digital feudalism, powered by cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, and the algorithmic propaganda of social media. The Nerd Reich explains the origins, strategies, and ambitions of Silicon Valley's war on democracy for the first time. From San Francisco's weaponized elections and secret billionaire projects to the White House, Durán exposes how the world's richest men are building a new political order. The Nerd Reich is more than a hidden history, it's an urgent warning: democracy is being dismantled not by coups or tanks, but by code, capital, and the illusion of innovation. Durán insists there is still time to fight back--if we act now.
A Guide to Open Water Lifesaving: Lessons on Love, Care, and Survival: A Memoir by Virginia Eubanks
A Guide to Open Water Lifesaving: Lessons on Love, Care, and Survival: A Memoir
by Virginia Eubanks

Someone you love, maybe the person you love most in the world, is drowning. Should you jump in the water? Will you be able to bring both of you back to shore? One night, Virginia Eubanks received the kind of news we all fear. Her beloved partner had been brutally beaten, just steps from their home. She jumped in the water. Eubanks dove into the responsibilities of caregiving. In the weeks, months, and years that followed, she and her partner, J., struggled to stay afloat as they faced wave upon wave of setbacks: police disinterest, suspended health insurance, inadequate medical care, lost income, lost friends, endless paperwork, and, for J., a serious case of post-traumatic stress disorder. Then, a second case. Eubanks herself developed what is known as collateral PTSD, a condition common among caregivers but rarely discussed. She scanned the horizon for help. A reporter and an activist, Eubanks turned to reliable sources for guidance: scientists, therapists, trauma theorists, social movements. But it wasn't until she happened on an old lifesaving manual that she found advice that actually helped. Inspired by its lessons, she signed up for instruction in wilderness first aid, kayak self-rescue, Winter Survival 101, map and compass navigation, bushwhacking, and lifeguarding. She went out in search of other people's stories and interviewed experts--everyone from neuroscientists to forest rangers. She gathered skills and knowledge that made her feel strong, competent, better prepared for the challenges ahead. Disarmingly funny and quietly wise, A Guide to Open Water Lifesaving is the story--heart-wrenching and all too relatable--of how one woman tried to rescue her beloved and learned that she would also have to rescue herself. Built from both loss and connection, it is a moving, hopeful love story about two people caught in their own kind of wilderness, trying not just to survive but to truly care for each other. It asks that we reconsider the ways in which we tend to our loved ones and ourselves, and remember the communities of care that sustain us. It reminds us: no one survives the wilderness alone.
More, Please!: Feel-Good Meals for Busy Families and Their Picky Eaters (a Cookbook) by Rachel Mansfield
More, Please!: Feel-Good Meals for Busy Families and Their Picky Eaters (a Cookbook)
by Rachel Mansfield

Balancing a full plate of responsibilities--from work to home to kids--can be a handful. Add cooking three wholesome meals a day (plus snacks), and it can feel downright impossible. Social media may make it look effortless, but the truth is, it's not. More, Please is here to help you feel less overwhelmed. With family-approved, kid-friendly meals, freezable options, and dietary flexibility to make the recipes gluten-free, dairy-free, refined-sugar free, and more, this book is the time-saving kitchen companion every busy parent needs. Food entrepreneur Rachel Mansfield @RachlMansfield has accumulated more than 1.5 million followers from sharing her inspiring approach to family meals, which are as delicious as they are doable. As a mother of three boys, she knows firsthand how important it is to find smart shortcuts without sacrificing flavor.
Small-Batch Breads: 50 Recipes for Loaves, Buns, and Flatbreads Made with One Cup of Flour [A Baking Book] by Rebecca Eisenberg
Small-Batch Breads: 50 Recipes for Loaves, Buns, and Flatbreads Made with One Cup of Flour [A Baking Book]
by Rebecca Eisenberg

Using just one cup of flour, create sweet and savory bagels, buns, rolls, and pastries with 50 approachable and accessible recipes from the creator of The Practical Kitchen. It all started with a recipe for miniature focaccia made in a loaf pan. That recipe went viral again, and again, and again. Now, trusted food blogger Rebecca Eisenberg brings her baking expertise, accessible recipe writing, and gorgeous food photography to this collection of sweet and savory small-batch breads made with just one cup of flour. Whether you're brand new to bread baking or a seasoned baker, Small-Batch Breads is for you. Why bake small batch breads? Maybe you're serving just one or two. Or you're looking to minimize food waste. Maybe you're a new baker just learning the techniques--a small bread is lower-risk than a large loaf. Maybe you don't own a stand mixer or you've got a tiny kitchen counter. Or maybe you just like cute little things. With fifty easy-to-follow recipes, including 100+ step-by-step photos, you can make adorable crusty loaves; two bagels for brunch on demand; an oversized, Nutella-filled pop tart; and, of course, Rebecca's viral Loaf Pan Focaccia.
Up on Cove Mountain: Adventure, Tragedy, and a Quest for Meaning on the Appalachian Trail by Earl Swift
Up on Cove Mountain: Adventure, Tragedy, and a Quest for Meaning on the Appalachian Trail
by Earl Swift

In 1990, a youthful Earl Swift backpacked the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia, a transformative experience that colored every aspect of his later life. He emerged from his hike across the rugged, sky-high roof of fourteen eastern states a sharper and more organized thinker, a better problem solver, and a committed outdoorsman. But he also left the AT with baggage: Early in his odyssey, he spent time with a couple of other southbounders, who were friendly, capable, and doing everything right, but who were nonetheless murdered weeks later at a mountaintop campsite in Pennsylvania--a fit of violence that the killer never explained. Half a lifetime later, Swift returned to the trail to find out whether he was still, in his sixties, equal to the AT's roller-coaster terrain. Driving him, too, was a quest for answers that had nagged at him since that first hike: What had happened at that campsite to turn two smart, bighearted people into prey? Why had fate chosen them, when other hikers--Swift included--seemed more likely candidates? And how could such a grisly episode have unfolded in the backcountry's sylvan loveliness, not to mention one of the safest places around?
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