History and Current Events
January 2025
Recent Releases
The Basketball 100: The Story of the Greatest Players in NBA History
by David Aldridge & John Hollinger (editors), with The Athletic NBA staff

Aided by commentary from 40 writers of The Athletic, award-winning sports reporters David Aldridge and John Hollinger co-edited this engaging ode to basketball excellence, offering profiles and rankings of the 100 greatest players in the history of the NBA. For fans of: Why We Love Football: A History in 100 Moments by Joe Posnanski.
Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future
by Vince Beiser

In this disturbing and incisive study, award-winning journalist Vince Beiser (The World in a Grain) examines the human and environmental toll of mining metals used for digital technology. Further reading: Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara; The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives by Ernest Scheyder.
Trial by Ambush: Murder, Injustice, and the Truth About the Case of Barbara Graham
by Marcia Clark

Marcia Clark, the former lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, examines the little-known 1953 home invasion and murder of 64-year-old California widow Mabel Monahan in this "masterful" (Publishers Weekly) true crime tale. Try this next: A Devil Went Down to Georgia: Race, Power, Privilege, and the Murder of Lita McClinton by Deb Miller Landau.
The Icon & the Idealist: Margaret Sanger, Mary Ware Dennett, and the Rivalry That Brought...
by Stephanie Gorton

Journalist Stephanie Gorton's (Citizen Reporters) well-researched history chronicles the feud between feminists Margaret Sanger and Mary Ware Dennett, whose conflicting views of birth control access spurred heated debates in early 20th-century America. Further reading: The Man Who Hated Women: Sex, Censorship, and Civil Liberties in the Gilded Age by Amy Sohn.
Cabinet of Curiosities: A Historical Tour of the Unbelievable, the Unsettling, and the Bizarre
by Aaron Mahnke with Harry Marks

Aaron Mahnke adapts his popular Cabinet of Curiosities podcast with this engaging collection of stranger-than-fiction stories from throughout history. For fans of: When Hitler Took Cocaine and Lenin Lost His Brain: History's Unknown Chapters by Giles Milton.
How to Think Like Socrates: Ancient Philosophy as a Way of Life in the Modern...
by Donald J. Robertson

Psychotherapist Donald J. Robertson's accessible and incisive follow-up to How to Think Like a Roman Emperor explores the parallels between Socrates' philosophical principles and modern ways of thinking. Further reading: Reasons Not to Worry: How to Be Stoic in Chaotic Times by Brigid Delaney; Aristotle's Way: How Ancient Wisdom Can Change Your Life by Edith Hall. 
Box Office Poison
by Tim Robey

Film critic Tim Robey's sweeping and lively history surveys a century of Hollywood's big screen failures, offering a "surefire hit for movie lovers" (Library Journal). For fans of: My Year of Flops, the A.V. Club Presents One Man's Journey Deep into the Heart of Cinematic Failure by Nathan Rabin.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Sonoma County Library
707-545-0831www.sonomalibrary.org