LibraryAware July 2025

Recent Releases

The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild
by Bryan Burrough

Forget the Alamo coauthor Bryan Burrough's rollicking and richly detailed history examines American gunfighter culture's origins in post-Civil War Texas. Further reading: Gun Barons: The Weapons That Transformed America and the Men Who Invented Them by John Bainbridge, Jr.

The Secret Public: How Music Moved Queer Culture from the Margins to the Mainstream
by Jon Savage

Chronicles the transformative influence of queer artists on pop culture from 1955 to 1979, highlighting their covertly revolutionary music that challenged oppression, shaped iconic figures, and fueled cultural and civil rights movements in the face of persistent societal crackdowns and discrimination.

Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers
by Caroline Fraser

In her disturbing and well-researched true crime account, Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Fraser (Prairie Fires) examines the history of serial killers in the Pacific Northwest from the 1940s to the 1980s. For fans of: The Killer Across the Table: Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and Predators with the FBI's Original Mindhunter by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker.

By the Second Spring: Seven Lives and One Year of the War in Ukraine
by Danielle Leavitt

Utilizing journals and extensive interviews, historian Danielle Leavitt profiles seven everyday Ukrainians in her evocative account of life during wartime. Further reading: Displaced: Civilians in the Russia-Ukraine War by Valery Panyushkin.

Project Mind Control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the Tragedy of MKULTRA
by John Lisle

Historian John Lisle's disturbing and well-researched latest examines the evolution of the CIA's MKULTRA mind control program in the mid-20th century, featuring hundreds of pages of never-before-seen testimonies from program participants and victims. Further reading: Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control by Stephen Kinzer.

America, América: 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. Illustrations. Maps.

When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World
by Jordan Thomas

In his unputdownable debut, anthropologist and former Los Padres Hotshot wildland firefighter Jordan Thomas recounts his experiences during the 2021 fire season in California, detailing how climate change, colonization, and political malfeasance have exacerbated the rise of megafires in the American West. Try these next: The Last Fire Season: A Personal and Pyronatural History by Manjula Martin; Wildfire Days: A Woman, a Hotshot Crew, and the Burning American West by Kelly Ramsey.

The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe
by Marlene L Daut

The complex life of Henry Christophe is explored by an award-winning Yale scholar, detailing his journey from enslaved individual to revolutionary leader, king, and suicide, while examining the political dynamics and personal betrayals that shaped Haiti's tumultuous history during its fight for freedom.

Contact your librarian for more great books!