Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another recommendation for The Genius of Birds. Other nonfiction I've enjoyed in the past few years:

Evicted, by Matthew Desmond
The Buried, by Peter Hessler
The Color of Law, by Richard Rothstein
Why Fish Don't Exist, by Lulu Miller
The Bright Ages, by Matthew Gabriele and David Perry
Children of Ash and Elm, Neil Price
The Road to Unfreedom, Timothy Snyder
Assassination Vacation, by Sarah Vowell
Fuzz, by Mary Roach (her older book, Stiff, is also great)
The Big Burn, by Timothy Egan

LOVED Assassination Vacation

+1
Anything by Sarah Vowell.
She is incredible

She's been quiet for a few years? Do you know what she's up to?

The Woman They Could Not Silence, about the fight to end sexist laws that allowed husbands to put their wives in insane asylums

This is so good. I highly recommend it.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56132724-the-woman-they-could-not-silence

Spillover

https://www.amazon.com/Spillover-Animal-Infections-Human-Pandemic/dp/0393066800/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=2f2d4c63-efaa-47c2-80be-e3befc6f4633

Deer Creek Drive by Beverly Lowry

The stunning true story of a murder that rocked the Mississippi Delta and forever shaped one author’s life and perception of home.

In 1948, in the most stubbornly Dixiefied corner of the Jim Crow south, society matron Idella Thompson was viciously murdered in her own home: stabbed at least 150 times and left facedown in one of the bathrooms. Her daughter, Ruth Dickins, was the only other person in the house. She told authorities a Black man she didn’t recognize had fled the scene, but no evidence of the man's presence was uncovered. When Dickins herself was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, the community exploded. Petitions pleading for her release were drafted, signed, and circulated, and after only six years, the governor of Mississippi granted Ruth Dickins an indefinite suspension of her sentence and she was set free.

In Deer Creek Drive, Beverly Lowry—who was ten at the time of the murder and lived mere miles from the Thompsons’ home—tells a story of white privilege that still has ramifications today, and reflects on the brutal crime, its aftermath, and the ways it clarified her own upbringing in Mississippi.

Autobiographies are a cool genre of nonfiction, full of stories of how they came to be and how they viewed em the world. Plus it gives you a different look at Sarah m areas you may be familiar with.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chocolate City, about the history of DC
Sewing Girl's Tale, about a early rape prosecution in 1780s NYC
10 Steps to Nanette, Hannah Gadsby's memoir about dealing with mental illness and trauma
The Rage of Innocence, about racism in the juvenile justice system
The Woman They Could Not Silence, about the fight to end sexist laws that allowed husbands to put their wives in insane asylums

I came here to suggest this. If you have ever lived in DC, especially, it is fascinating.

DP: I just ordered it — thanks to both of you for the recommendation.
All 4 of my grandparents lived in DC by 1920, ,and both of my parents were born here. I’m really looking forward to to reading this book.

Maybe I’ll even dig out my very old Chocolate City t-shirt. Lol.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another recommendation for The Genius of Birds. Other nonfiction I've enjoyed in the past few years:

Evicted, by Matthew Desmond
The Buried, by Peter Hessler
The Color of Law, by Richard Rothstein
Why Fish Don't Exist, by Lulu Miller
The Bright Ages, by Matthew Gabriele and David Perry
Children of Ash and Elm, Neil Price
The Road to Unfreedom, Timothy Snyder
Assassination Vacation, by Sarah Vowell
Fuzz, by Mary Roach (her older book, Stiff, is also great)
The Big Burn, by Timothy Egan

LOVED Assassination Vacation

+1
Anything by Sarah Vowell.
She is incredible

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Empire of Pain, about the opioid epidemic - will make you question everything the FDA approves

Madame Secretary - Madeleine Albright's autobiography

The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

A Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulright - probably my favorite nonfiction ever. Takes the daily diary of a woman from colonial New England who was a midwife and extrapolates all kinds of detail about the lives of ordinary women during that time period

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer - series of essays/linked chapters about Indigenous peoples' interactions with nature and what we can learn from them

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain - a young woman during WWI, authobiography

Life and Death of the Great Lakes - fascinating investigative reporting about the ecological disaster in the Great Lakes

All That She Carried by Tiya Miles - looks at the items a young enslaved girl brought with her out of slavery and what they tell us about her life and that of her ancestors

All That She Carried was fantastic!

It's not new by a long stretch, but if you're local, Rosa Lee by Leon Dash remains one of the most compelling books I've ever read. Also not new but with a local hook, Katharine Graham's Personal History.

Thank you, Rosa Lee looks fantastic and I hadn't heard of it. I read and LOVED Katharine Graham's autobiography. Probably the best autobiography I've ever read.

Rosa Lee was tough.

All That She Carried was fantastic. Is the bag still on display at NMAAHC?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Empire of Pain, about the opioid epidemic - will make you question everything the FDA approves

Madame Secretary - Madeleine Albright's autobiography

The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

A Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulright - probably my favorite nonfiction ever. Takes the daily diary of a woman from colonial New England who was a midwife and extrapolates all kinds of detail about the lives of ordinary women during that time period

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer - series of essays/linked chapters about Indigenous peoples' interactions with nature and what we can learn from them

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain - a young woman during WWI, authobiography

Life and Death of the Great Lakes - fascinating investigative reporting about the ecological disaster in the Great Lakes

All That She Carried by Tiya Miles - looks at the items a young enslaved girl brought with her out of slavery and what they tell us about her life and that of her ancestors

All That She Carried was fantastic!

It's not new by a long stretch, but if you're local, Rosa Lee by Leon Dash remains one of the most compelling books I've ever read. Also not new but with a local hook, Katharine Graham's Personal History.

Thank you, Rosa Lee looks fantastic and I hadn't heard of it. I read and LOVED Katharine Graham's autobiography. Probably the best autobiography I've ever read.

Anonymous wrote:"Issac's Storm" by Erik Larson. Apropos after Hurricane Ian.

So many Erik Larson's books are good!



The Splendid and the Vile
Devil in the White City

Dead Wake

Anonymous wrote:Educated and Just Kids are other possibilities (altho I think Educated shows up on the thread of popular books you didn’t like)

I agree with both of these. Have read Just Kids several times.

Ron Chernow: Hamilton, Washington and Grant

Amazing!

Anonymous wrote:Chocolate City, about the history of DC
Sewing Girl's Tale, about a early rape prosecution in 1780s NYC
10 Steps to Nanette, Hannah Gadsby's memoir about dealing with mental illness and trauma
The Rage of Innocence, about racism in the juvenile justice system
The Woman They Could Not Silence, about the fight to end sexist laws that allowed husbands to put their wives in insane asylums

I came here to suggest this. If you have ever lived in DC, especially, it is fascinating.

Far From the Tree, by Andrew Solomon

https://www.amazon.com/Far-Tree-Parents-Children-Identity/dp/0743236726

It's very long, but each chapter focuses on a different family, so you can read it in parts. But I think it's extraordinary when taken as a whole - just one of the deepest and most thoughtful books I've read. Solomon approaches the complexities of identity with so much compassion, and his reflections were full of insight. I was so touched by this book, and it definitely influenced how I see myself, my children, and the world.

Anonymous wrote:Another recommendation for The Genius of Birds. Other nonfiction I've enjoyed in the past few years:

Evicted, by Matthew Desmond
The Buried, by Peter Hessler
The Color of Law, by Richard Rothstein
Why Fish Don't Exist, by Lulu Miller
The Bright Ages, by Matthew Gabriele and David Perry
Children of Ash and Elm, Neil Price
The Road to Unfreedom, Timothy Snyder
Assassination Vacation, by Sarah Vowell
Fuzz, by Mary Roach (her older book, Stiff, is also great)
The Big Burn, by Timothy Egan

LOVED Assassination Vacation