LibraryAware November 2025 (1)

Recent Releases - History

The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald
by John U. Bacon

Published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald's sinking, bestselling author John U. Bacon's (The Great Halifax Explosion) suspenseful latest explores the maritime disaster's cause and aftermath and includes interviews with the victims' families. For fans of: The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger.

We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution
by Jill Lepore

Harvard University historian Jill Lepore's sweeping and accessible history surveys the creation and evolution of the United States Constitution, spotlighting key amendments that continue to shape the country. It's "urgent" (Kirkus Reviews) and "essential" (Library Journal) reading.

History Matters
by David McCullough; foreword by Jon Meacham, edited by Dorie McCullough Lawson and Michael Hill

In this posthumous collection of 20 essays and speeches (some previously unpublished), Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough offers freewheeling and impassioned reflections on the importance of learning about history to better understand the present. Try this next: An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History -- and How It Shattered a Nation
by Andrew Ross Sorkin

Journalist and Too Big to Fail author Andrew Ross Sorkin's richly detailed latest offers an evocative account of the Wall Street crash of 1929, which spurred the worldwide Great Depression. Library Journal calls it, "a historical blueprint for understanding the past and present financial situations in the U.S. Highly recommended and essential reading."

Recent Releases - Current Events

107 days
by Kamala Harris

"Your Secret Service code name is Pioneer. You are the first woman in history to be elected vice president of the United States. On July 21, 2024, your running mate, Joe Biden, announces that he will not be seeking reelection. The presidential election will occur on November 5, 2024. You have 107 days." Written with candor, a unique perspective, and the pace of a page-turning novel, 107 Days takes you inside the race for the presidency as no one has ever done before.

While Israel slept : how Hamas surprised the most powerful military in the Middle East
by Yaakov Katz

Offers a powerful indictment of the political and military decisions that led to the events of October 7 in Israel. The book unveils the dramatic events of the night before the attack, highlighting the cracks in Israel's military and political leadership. It provides unprecedented details on how key warnings were missed, and how Israel ignored the growing threat from Hamas, believing that the group was weak and deterred. "Crisply written... draws on excellent sources within Israel's military and intelligence services." (The Wall Street Journal)

Who is government? : the untold story of public service
by Michael Lewis

The government is a vast, complex system that Americans pay for, rebel against, rely upon, dismiss, and celebrate. It's also our shared resource for addressing the biggest problems of society. And it's made up of people, mostly unrecognized and uncelebrated, doing work that can be deeply consequential and beneficial to everyone. These vivid profiles show how the essential business of government makes our lives possible, and how much it matters.

Focus on: Native American Heritage Month

Native Nations: A Millennium in North America
by Kathleen DuVal

Historian Kathleen DuVal's sweeping and scholarly Pulitzer Prize winner offers a corrective to Eurocentric narratives about Indigenous Americans by spotlighting one thousand years of Native autonomy, governance, and resistance. Publishers Weekly calls it, "a profoundly empowered history of Native America."

By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land
by Rebecca Nagle

In this "valuable corrective to our national ignorance" (Kirkus Reviews), Cherokee journalist Rebecca Nagle surveys the history of Indigenous removal and resistance in the United States, culminating in the landmark 2020 Supreme Court decision that upheld tribal sovereignty for the Muscogee Nation in eastern Oklahoma.

Project 562 : changing the way we see Native America
by Matika Wilbur

In 2012, Matika Wilbur set out to visit, engage, and photograph people from what were then the 562 federally recognized Native American Tribal Nations. Over the next decade, she traveled six hundred thousand miles across fifty states to meet, interview, and photograph hundreds of Indigenous people. These narratives touch on personal and cultural identity as well as issues of media representation, sovereignty, faith, family, the protection of sacred sites, subsistence living, traditional knowledge-keeping, land stewardship, language preservation, advocacy, education, the arts, and more.

Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America
by Pekka Hämäläinen

This is a sweeping, revisionist North American history that centers Indigenous agency and resistance. Finnish scholar Pekka Hämäläinen's well-researched chronicle eschews traditional narratives that portray Native populations solely as colonized people doomed to extinction. For another compelling corrective to Eurocentric histories, read The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by Ojibwe historian David Treuer.

Contact your librarian for more great books!