June 2024 list by Donalee Jacobs
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Cactus Country
by Zoë Bossiere
In Cactus Country RV Park, Zoë doesn't have the words to express it, but he experiences life as a trans boy—and others begin to see him as a boy, too. As Zoë enters adolescence, he must reckon with the working-class men he's grown close to, whose hard masculinity seems as embedded in the desert landscape as the cacti sprouting from parched earth. In response, Zoë adopts an androgynous style and new pronouns, persisting in the search for answers, dreaming of a day they might leave the park behind to embrace whatever awaits beyond. Equal parts harsh and tender, Cactus Country is a precisely rendered journey of self-determination that will resonate with anyone who's ever had to fight to be themself.
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The Call to Serve
by Jon Meacham
Published to coincide with the 100th anniversary of his birth, this intimate portrait of the 41st U.S. President documents his life, celebrating the legacy of a man whose strong values of integrity and respect for others led to a life of leadership viewed as a call to serve.
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Chop Fry Watch Learn
by Michelle Tien King
In 1949, a young Chinese woman arrived in Taiwan, fleeing from the chaos of war on the mainland. At the time, Fu Pei-Mei had no idea how to cook. Yet as a young housewife she taught herself and launched a career as a television instructor that would last four decades. As her fame grew, she traveled beyond the borders of Taiwan, teaching the rest of the world how to cook Chinese food. Woven into this lively account of Fu's life and times are Michelle King's own family stories, personal reflections, and contemporary oral history, raising questions about food, gender, diaspora, and cultural identity.
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The Court v. The Voters
by Joshua A. Douglas
An urgent and gripping look at the erosion of voting rights and its implications for democracy, told through the stories of 9 Supreme Court decisions -- and the next looming case. In The Court v. The Voters, law professor Joshua Douglas takes us behind the scenes of significant cases in voting rights -- some surprising and unknown, some familiar -- to investigate the historic crossroads that have irrevocably changed our elections and the nation. In crisp and accessible prose, Douglas tells the story of each case, sheds light on the intractable election problems we face as a result, and highlights the unique role the highest court has played in producing a broken electoral system.
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The End of Everything
by Victor Davis Hanson
A military historian narrates a series of sieges and sackings that span the age of antiquity to the conquest of the New World, depicting war's drama, violence and folly and delivering a sobering call to heed the lessons of obliteration to avoid catastrophe once again.
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A Fatal Inheritance
by Lawrence Ingrassia
This sweeping history of cancer research from the 1960s to today's cutting-edge methods tells the story through the experience of the author who lost his mother, brother, two sisters and nephew to the disease.
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Fifty-Three Days on Starvation Island
by John R. Bruning
The best-selling author of Indestructible returns with the story of the first 53 days of the standoff between the Japanese arms and a handful of Marine aviators defending the Americans dug in at Guadalcanal.
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In My Time of Dying
by Sebastian Junger
The best-selling author of The Perfect Storm and Freedom shares the story of how a near-death experience led him to question his own atheism and undertake a scientific and philosophical examination of mortality and what happens after we die.
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In This Economy?
by Kyla Scanlon
A definitive and approachable guide to economics, from one of the internet's favorite financial educators. Through her trademark blend of creative analogies, clever illustrations, refreshingly lucid language - and even quotes from literature, and philosophy - Scanlon answers questions such as: What is Fed cred, Fed flexing, and Fedspeak? Is our national debt really a threat? What is a "mild" recession, exactly? What's really happening in the labor market, and how do we improve it for workers? At a time when experts overcomplicate simple things loudly, Scanlon shows that understanding the markets, and the systems they operate in, is easier than you think.
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It Wasn't Roaring, It Was Weeping
by Lisa-Jo Baker
The best-selling author of Never Unfriended presents a coming-of-age memoir of growing up in South Africa at the height of apartheid and her struggle not to emulate her father's fierce temper rooted in her family and nation's pain.
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It's Not Hysteria
by Karen Tang
On a mission to transform how we engage with our bodies and our healthcare, a board-certified gynecologist and staunch advocate provides a comprehensive guide to common conditions and potential treatment options for reproductive health, educating and empowering women and those assigned female at birth.
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Left for Dead
by Eric Jay Dolin
A best-selling and award-winning maritime historian presents this true story of five castaways — three British sailors and two Americans — abandoned on the Falkland Islands during the War of 1812, showing individuals in wartime under great duress acting both nobly and atrociously as they struggle to survive.
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Life's Too Short
by Darius Rucker
Award winning and bestselling singer-songwriter Darius Rucker tells the story of his life both as the lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish and as a solo country music star, sharing stories of his road-hardened life that are raw, real, funny and deeply emotional.
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Long Haul
by Frank Figliuzzi
Based on his own on-the-ground research and drawing on his 25-year career as an FBI special agent, the author takes us along America's highways and interstates where at least 850 homicides have been linked to long-haul truck drivers, which caused the FBI to open a special unit, the Highway Serial Killings initiative.
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Magic Pill
by Johann Hari
To answer questions about the new drugs transforming weight loss—from his personal experience on Ozempic, a journalist embarks on a journey from Iceland to Minneapolis to Tokyo to interview the leading experts in the world to answer those questions, in this essential guide to the revolution that's already begun.
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Nutrivore
by Sarah Ballantyne
A best-selling author and renowned health expert, in this paradigm-shifting, comprehensive approach to nutrition, dispels diet myths and empowers you to embrace a nutrient-focused lifestyle tailored to your unique needs so you can finally start feeling good every day.
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Paradise of the Damned
by Keith Thomson
An ambitious courtier, confidant to Queen Elizabeth and El Dorado fanatic, Sir Walter Raleigh, released from the Tower of London, journeys across an ocean to find the fabled city, gambling his painstakingly acquired wealth, hard-won domestic bliss and his very life, while back home, his rivals plotted his demise.
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Quanta and Fields
by Sean M. Carroll
The most trusted explainer of the most mind-boggling concepts guides readers into the extraordinary depths of The Standard Model of particle physics, illuminating the mysteries of quantum reality and what the universe is made of.
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Relentless
by Luis A. Miranda
Revealing a deep understanding of Latino culture and building community to change our world for the better, a veteran of New York and national politics who embodies the relentless spirit of progress of American immigrants narrates his life, career, experience and the ascendency of "Hamilton," created by his son Lin-Manuel.
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The Situation Room
by George Stephanopoulos
A former senior advisor to President Clinton, and for more than 20 years, the anchor of This Week and the co-anchor of Good Morning America, takes us into the White House Situation Room, the epicenter of crisis management where decisions are made that affect the lives of every person on this planet.
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The Struggle for Taiwan
by Sulmaan Wasif Khan
From the White Terror all the way to Trump-era rising tensions, this first comprehensive history of the triangular relationship between the U.S., China and Taiwan shows how decision-makers must heed the lessons of the past to avoid war, charting the paths to our present predicament to show what futures might be possible.
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The Third Perspective
by Africa Brooke
Offering readers a new path for communication to build trust and fruitful relationships, an international thought leader presents a proven system for returning to critical thinking and reducing societal divides by opening our minds and being more self-questioning in difficult discussions.
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Throne of Grace
by Bob Drury & Tom Clavin
Two bestselling authors present this epic narrative of America's greatest yet most unsung pathfinder, Jedediah Smith, whose explorations on both sides of the Rocky Mountains and all the way up the West Coast would become the stuff of legend.
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A Walk In The Park
by Kevin Fedarko
The author of The Emerald Mile chronicles his dangerous, life-changing, year-long 750-mile trek along the length of the Grand Canyon, living in the vertical wilderness between the caprock along the rims and the Colorado River.
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The Well-Connected Animal
by Lee Alan Dugatkin
Drawing on work in animal behavior, evolution, computer science, psychology, anthropology, and genetics, Dugatkin enlightens readers about the role of social networks for animals in the wild. Listeners will learn that social networks play a key role in the lives of giraffes, elephants, kangaroos, many a primate and bird species, Tasmanian devils, honeybees, whales, bats, badgers, field crickets, manta rays, and more. Interviews and insights from researchers offer a front row seat to understanding animal behavior and uncovering animal networks.
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What a Fool Believes
by Michael McDonald
In his candid, laidback memoir, written with his friend, Emmy Award-nominated actor and comedian Paul Reiser, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, Grammy Award-winning and platinum-selling icon tells the story of his life and music, relaying the lessons he's learned along the way.
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The Wolves of K Street
by Brody Mullins
Taking readers to K Street and into the offices of the most powerful men in Washington, two veteran investigative journalists present an intense and infuriating portrait of 50 years of corporate influence to infiltrate American politics and undermine our democracy.
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The Year of Living Constitutionally
by A. J. Jacobs
Jacobs, a best-selling author, chronicles his hilarious adventures as he attempts to live as closely as possible to the original meaning of the Constitution, and conducting interviews with constitutional experts from both sides, delves into originalism and living constitutionalism, the two rival ways of interpreting the document.
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You Never Know
by Tom Selleck
An American icon and famed actor brings us on his uncharted but serendipitous journey to the top in Hollywood, clearing up misconceptions; sharing dozens of never-before-told stories from both his personal and professional lives; and offering a truly fresh perspective on a changing industry and a changing world.
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