New Non-Fiction Arrivals at MPL
May 2025
 
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Here are our new arrivals, click the title to view in our catalog:
The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland
by Michelle Young

A saga set in Paris during World War II uncovers how an unlikely heroine infiltrated the Nazi leadership to save the world's most treasured masterpieces.

also available in audio
Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass
by Dave Barry

A noted American humorist tells his life story.

also available in audio
Crave: Cupcakes, Cakes, Cookies, and More from an Iconic Bakery
by Carolyne Mcintyre Jackson

Crave brings 70+ recipes for all things sweet from the founders of the Prairies' famous bakery.
 
Dianaworld: An Obsession
by Edward White

A fascinating new perspective on the life and afterlife of Diana, Princess of Wales, the planet's all-purpose cultural icon.
 
The Einstein of Sex: Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, Visionary of Weimar Berlin
by Daniel Brook

An illuminating portrait of a lost thinker, German-Jewish sexologist and activist Magnus Hirschfeld.
 
The End is the Beginning: A Personal History of My Mother
by Jill Bialosky

Poet, novelist, and memoirist Bialosky (History of a Suicide) returns with a memoir about her mother, Iris Yvonne Bialosky, told from her death to her birth. In what amounts to an elegy, she explores her mother's experience in a care home, her family and married life, and her teen and early years.
Freedom Ship: The Uncharted History of Escaping Slavery by Sea
by Marcus Rediker

This comprehensive account uncovers the long-overlooked maritime origins of the Underground Railroad, highlighting the pivotal role of sea routes in aiding enslaved people's escapes and featuring figures like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman in the fight for freedom. 
How Things Are Made: A Journey Through the Hidden World of Manufacturing
by Tim Minshall

An illuminating tour through the manufacturing world and its seismic influence on our lives, from internationally renowned expert Tim Minshall.
 
How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir
by Molly Jong-Fast

Jong-Fast, a writer at Vanity Fair and host of the podcast Fast Politics, offers a memoir about her famous mother (the author Erica Jong), their intense relationship, and her complicated childhood. 
Karen: A Brother Remembers
by Kelsey Grammer

On July 1, 1975, Kelsey Grammer's younger sister, 18-year-old Karen Grammer, was raped and murdered---now, for the first time, Kelsey discusses how it has affected him and the hope and healing he has found in the decades since.
 
The Last Parenting Book You'll Ever Read: How We Let Our Kids Go and Embrace What's Next
by Meagan Francis

"From the co-host of the hit podcast The Mom Hour, THE LAST PARENTING BOOK YOU'LL EVER READ is your guide to the last stage of "active" parenting as your teenagers prepare to step into the world and you prepare to step back into yourself, for moms getting ready to launch their almost-adult kids and enter the empty nesting stage of their lives."
Mark Twain
by Ron Chernow

A decidedly warts-and-all portrait of the man many consider to be America's greatest writer. 
Murder in the Dollhouse: The Jennifer Dulos Story
by Rich Cohen

A nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Jennifer Dulos and the aftershocks that rattled a wealthy suburb.
 
Peace Is a Shy Thing: The Life and Art of Tim O'Brien
by Alex Vernon

Featuring over one hundred interviews with family, friends, peers, and others--not to mention countless exchanges with Tim O'Brien himself-- Peace is a Shy Thing provides a nearly day-by-day, gripping account of O'Brien's thirteen months as an infantryman in Vietnam and gives equal diligence to reconstructing O'Brien's writing process.
 
Project Mind Control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the Tragedy of MKULTRA
by John Lisle

The inside story of the CIA's secret mind-control project, MKULTRA, using never-before-seen testimony from the perpetrators themselves. 
Queen of All Mayhem: The Blood-Soaked Life and Mysterious Death of Belle Starr, the Most Dangerous Woman in the West
by Dane Huckelbridge

A riveting, deeply researched, blood-on-the-spurs biography of Belle Starr, the most legendary female outlaw of the American West.

also available in audio
 
The Raider: The Untold Story of a Renegade Marine and the Birth of U.S. Special Forces in World War II
by Stephen R. Platt

The extraordinary life of forgotten World War II hero Evans Carlson, commander of America's first special forces, secret confidant of FDR, and one of the most controversial officers in the history of the Marine Corps, who dedicated his life to bridging the cultural divide between the United States and China.
 
Remember Us: American Sacrifice, Dutch Freedom, and a Forever Promise Forged in World War II
by Robert M. Edsel

What happens when you lose your freedom and the people who eventually get it back for you are no longer alive to thank?
 
Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin, and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie
by Dave Hage

A vivid portrait of the American prairie, which rivals the rainforest in its biological diversity and, with little notice, is disappearing even faster.
 
Sedition: How America's Constitutional Order Emerged from Violent Crisis
by Marcus Alexander Gadson

How Americans have weathered constitutional crises throughout our history
 
A Soldier's Life: A Black Woman's Rise From Army Brat to Six Triple Eight Champion
by Edna W. Cummings

One woman's extraordinary personal journey in the US military and her triumphant effort to honor her predecessors with the Congressional Gold Medal
 
Speaking in Tongues
by J. M. Coetzee

In this provocative dialogue, a Nobel laureate novelist and a leading translator investigate the nature of language and the challenges of translation.
Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During World War II
by Becky Aikman

The heart-pounding true story of the daring American women who piloted the most dangerous aircraft of World War II through the treacherous skies of Britain.
 
They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals
by Mariah Blake

A landmark investigation of the chemical industry's decades-long campaign to hide the dangers of forever chemicals, told through the story of a small town on the frontlines of an epic public health crisis.
 
Went to London, Took the Dog: The Diary of a 60-Year-Old Runaway
by Nina Stibbe

Ten years after the publication of the prize-winning Love, Nina comes the author's diary of her return to London in her 61st year.
This is Your Mother: A Memoir
by Erica J. Simpson

From "a writer who's absolutely going places" (Roxane Gay), a remarkable, inventive debut memoir about a mother-daughter relationship across cycles of poverty, separation, and illness, exploring how we forge identity in the face of imminent loss.

also available in audio
 
Whack Job: A History of Axe Murder
by Rachel McCarthy James

Examines the axe's foundational role in human history, from prehistoric violence, to war and executions, to newspaper headlines and popular culture. 
 
When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World
by Jordan Thomas

A hotshot firefighter's gripping firsthand account of a record-setting fire season.
 
Words for My Comrades: A Political History of Tupac Shakur
by Dean Van Nguyen

From Pitchfork and Guardian contributor Dean Van Nguyen comes a revelatory history of Tupac beyond his musical legend, as a radical son of the Black Panther Party whose political legacy still resonates today.
 
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