These books are being published and released this month. They have been ordered by the Library and will be available soon.

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Biography and Memoir  | General Nonfiction

Biography and Memoir

Alfred & Emily
By Doris Lessing
A deeply personal meditation on family, parents and children, war and memory, takes the Nobel Prize-winning author of  The Grass Is Singing back to her childhood in Southern Africa, and the lives, both fictional and factual, that her parents led in the wake of the devastation of the Great War.

Black Wave: A Family’s Adventure at Sea and the Disaster That Saved Them
By John Silverwood & Jean Silverwood, with Malcolm McConnell
A couple describes how they took two years off to embark on an extraordinary sea voyage with their four children, a journey that led from Long Island Sound to French Polynesia, and the disaster off the coast of Manuae that transformed their peaceful idyll into a desperate fight for survival.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? Memoirs of a Literary Forger
By Lee Israel
A candid memoir describes how a down-on-her-luck writer conceived of and successfully executed for nearly two years a remarkable forgery caper in which she used her talent as a researcher and celebrity biographer to forge more than three hundred letters by such literary notables as Dorothy Parker, Edna Ferber, Lillian Hellman, Noel Coward, and others.

The Geography of Love: A Memoir
By Glenda Burgess
An intimate account of a grand romance and marriage chronicles the author’s relationship with a twice widowed man with an emotionally scarred teenage daughter, their fifteen magical years of marriage, and the devastating illness that challenged their resilience and strengthened their devotion to each other and their children.

In His Sights: A True Story of Love and Obsession
By Kate Brennan
The personal story of a woman’s relationship with her obsessive ex-lover describes the history that made her wary of romance, her efforts to end her affair with a charismatic businessman after discovering his infidelity, and her terror at becoming a target of the man’s stalking behaviors.

Milton: Poet, Pamphleteer, and Patriot
By Anna Beer
In an account that covers such topics as his writings in the service of Parliament against King Charles, his troubled relationships, and the impact of the Restoration on his survival, the author chronicles the life and times of the master writer, offering insight into his lesser-known involvement in the politics and religion of his era.

Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini:  The Secret Female Pope
By Eleanor Herman
Herman traces the story of a seventeenth-century mistress who significantly influenced the Catholic Church and international policy in Rome during the reign of her lover and brother-in-law, Pope Innocent X, in an account that describes her humble origins, strategic marriages, and Vatican powers.

The Other Half: The Life of Jacob Riis and the World of Immigrant America
By Tom Buk-Swienty
A revisionist portrait of the late nineteenth-century social reformer draws on previously unexamined diaries and letters to trace his immigration to America, work as a police reporter for the New York Tribune, and pivotal contributions as a muckraker and progressive.

A Sense of Belonging: From Castro’s Cuba to the U.S. Senate, One Man’s Pursuit of the American Dream
By Mel Martinez
The junior U.S. senator from Florida shares the story of his life, from his youth in Cuba, to his escape to the U.S. after Castro took power, his role as a member of the Cuban-American community, and his rise to the heights of American political power, explaining how his experiences as a Cuban exile have shaped his views of Cuba and the U.S.

Sex, Love, and Fashion: A Memoir of a Male Model
By Bruce Hulse
A leading male model offers a revealing glimpse inside the decadent world of high fashion during the 1980s and 1990s, capturing a world of sex, drugs, extravagance, intense competition, and indulgence, while chronicling his own experiences, successes and failures, the dark underside of modeling, and his fulfillment as a photographer, husband, and father.

Somewhere in Heaven: The Remarkable Love Story of Dana and Christopher Reeve
By Christopher Andersen
Based on interviews with people who knew them best, Andersen traces the inspirational story of the late celebrity couple’s early marriage, describing their shared years prior to Christopher’s paralyzing accident.

Waiter Rant
By The Waiter
Based on the award-winning WaiterRant.net blog, this whimsical account of a waiter’s life at an upscale New York restaurant describes his daily experiences with a series of outrageous customers and shares tips on such topics as getting good service and proper tipping etiquette.

General Nonfiction

13 Things That Don’t Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time
By Michael Brooks
An expanded version of an article that originally appeared in New Scientist magazine offers a provocative look at thirteen of the most hotly debated topics in modern-day science and analyzes how issues from cold fusion to dark matter are changing the way scientists work and how they will shape and define science in the twenty-first century.

50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days – And How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!
By Dean Karnazes, with Matt Fitzgerald
The uplifting tale of a record-breaking “ultra-marathon” runner and his decision to break his own personal record and his competition in fifty marathons in fifty days throughout the country contains his personal secrets for endurance training.

7 Deadly Scenarios: A Military Futurist Explores War in the 21st Century
By Andrew F. Krepinevich
A military strategist looks at the very real dangers confronting America in the twenty-first century, drawing on extensive research, interviews, and intelligence to analyze seven potentially disastrous scenarios that America is ill-prepared to handle, from a global pandemic or an attack on the global underwater information grid to a nuclear Iran.

The Anti-Alzheimer’s Prescription: The Science-Proven Plan to Start at Any Age
By Vincent Fortanasce
A leading neurologist outlines a program for preventing Alzheimer’s disease, making recommendations for identifying and reducing risk factors, outlining a regimen of strategic diet and exercise, and sharing tips for reducing stress and improving sleep.

Blue Dixie: Awakening the South’s Democratic Majority
By Bob Moser
A chief political reporter for The Nation outlines strategies for how the Democratic Party can effectively win Southern support, predicting a revival in democratic beliefs throughout Southern states while explaining how Democrats can promote a strategic agenda based on economic fairness.

The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our Health and Well-Being
By Nena Baker
Baker links everyday products to illness-causing chemical buildups in the body, exploring the roles of manufacturing breakthroughs, political policies and popular culture in exposing people to chemical hazards, in a report that also makes recommendations for how to address key concerns.

The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals
By Jane Mayer
A provocative study of how the U.S. made disastrous, self-destructive decisions in pursuit of terrorism around the globe in the wake of 9/11 reveals how these actions not only violated the Constitution and American values, but also hampered efforts to bring down Al-Qaeda, seriously damaging the nation’s moral and political standing in the world.

Dry Storeroom No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum
By Richard Fortey
A noted paleontologist and author of Trilobite! journeys behind the scenes of London’s Natural History Museum to reveal the institution’s hidden treasures and the people, research, and passions that created the museum, in a provocative study of the social history of the scientific accomplishments of the past two centuries.

Eden’s Castaways: The Shipwreck That Made America
By Lorri Glover and Daniel Blake Smith
A revisionist account of the 1609 dramatic rescue of the Jamestown settlers describes the factors that doomed the Virginia Company enterprise, the violent hurricane that compromised escape attempts, and the fortunate shipwreck that proved a turning point in the colony’s future.

For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, & the Murder That Shocked Chicago
By Simon Baatz
The author documents the 1924 murder case of millionaire property developer’s son Bobby Franks and the high-profile arrest and trial of his teenage killers, in an account that also offers insight into the psychological contest between the case’s defense and state’s attorneys.

Hell’s Cartel: IG Farben and the Making of Hitler’s War Machine
By Diarmuid Jeffreys
Jeffreys traces the rise and fall of a powerful early twentieth-century German chemical conglomerate, documenting its infamous connection to the Nazi party that resulted in its leaders’ trials for murder and slave labor, evaluating its wartime activities, and offering insight into the role of politics and big money in promoting industry corruption.

How Beautiful It Is and How Easily It Can Be Broken: Essays
By Daniel Mendelsohn
A volume of critical interpretations of significant modern films features the writer’s scholarly and cultural observations about such works as Brokeback Mountain, World Trade Center, and Troy, accompanied by his insights into the theater and literature, from Euripides to Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex.

I Don’t: A Contrarian History of Marriage
By Susan Squire
A provocative survey of marriage from a political, religious, and cultural perspective considers how historical realizations about sex and paternity shaped the institution, the influence of the modern “love marriage,” and the ways in which marriage has been viewed in myriad ages.

The Lizard King: The True Crimes and Passions of the World’s Greatest Reptile Smugglers
By Bryan Christy
Based on the author’s investigation into the world of snake smuggling, this account of the activities of a high-powered family of illegal reptile importers describes the efforts of a daring federal agent to dismantle their ring, and the author’s own encounters with dangerous snakes.

Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection
By John T. Cacioppo and William Patrick
A pioneering neuroscientist draws on detailed studies to demonstrate the correlation between social environments and health, offering insight into the differences between chronic loneliness and depression while explaining how social isolation can affect perceptions, behavior, and physiology.

The One-Life Solution: Reclaim Your Personal Life While Achieving Greater Professional Success
By Henry Cloud
The best-selling author of Boundaries and Integrity addresses the challenge of how to maintain a healthy work-life balance, counseling readers on how to successfully integrate the increasing demands of career and family.

A Path Out of the Desert: A Grand Strategy for America in the Middle East
By Kenneth M. Pollack
The author argues that the political repression, economic stagnation, and cultural conflict of the Middle East are the greatest threat to America’s long-term peace and prosperity, and proposes a new U.S. strategy designed to encourage reform in the region.

Poisoned Profits: The Toxic Assault on Our Children
By Philip Shabecoff and Alice Shabecoff
The authors look at the prevalence of toxic chemicals in the food supply, household cleaners, water systems, and other ordinary aspects of modern life, following the money trail to expose the direct link between the chemical industry and the growth in childhood disease and disabilities, and presenting strategies to help parents protect their children and force change in corporate America.

Pure Romance Between the Sheets: Find Your Best Sexual Self and Enhance Your Intimate Relationship
By Patty Brisben
In a guide that features coverage of such topics as the physiology of sexual desire, the role of communication in a sexual relationship, and techniques for creative lovemaking, Brisben outlines accessible practices that can help women to better understand their sexuality and enhance an intimate life.

Six Six Six: The FBI Agent, the Mob Killer, and the Bloody Alliance the Feds Couldn’t Hide
By Peter Lance
Lance documents the inside story of the FBI scandal involving top organized crime agent R. Linley DeVecchio, tracing his role in numerous prosecutions and the career of Rudolph Giuliani, his information sharing with mafia contacts that led to three murders, and the Justice Department’s attempt to cover up his crimes.

The Suicide Index: Putting My Father’s Death in Order
By Joan Wickersham
Through a review of her family history and more recent events that had led up to his suicide, a daughter explores her father’s death through an emotional timeline in order to deal with the questions and pain of her loss.

Take Back Your Family: A Challenge to America’s Parents
By Rev. Run & Justine Simmons, with Chris Morrow
The hip-hop icon, father of six, ordained minister, and star of the MTV reality series Run’s House and his wife share their proven principles for giving children a firm foundation in life, even in an age of shallow materialism and fragmented families, emphasizing discipline, boundaries, noble values, faith, parental involvement, and other essentials.

The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life
By Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd
An influential psychologist and authority on time science counsels readers on how to adjust one’s time perspective for greater life fulfillment, explaining how perceptions about time influence major life decisions by causing people to focus inappropriately on the past, instant gratification, and future goals.

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (And What It Says About Us)
By Tom Vanderbilt
An intriguing study of the mysteries of the road analyzes the complex social, physical, psychological, and technical factors that dictate how traffic works, why we drive the way we do, and what our driving reveals about us, discussing the unintended consequences of attempts to engineer safety, why plans to protect pedestrians can lead to more accidents, and more.

Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts About Alternative Medicine
By Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst
In a study that counsels readers on how to make informed choices and supports the primacy of the scientific method for public health practice and policy, an analysis of alternative medicine evaluates thirty popular treatments, including acupuncture, homeopathy, and herbal remedies, to address contradictory opinions and identify their benefits and potential dangers.

We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam
By Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway
A powerful follow-up to We Were Soldiers Once…and Young continues the stories of the soldiers introduced in the original memoir, as it returns to the Vietnam battlefield to reveal how the war has changed both them and their former enemies.

Why We Hate Us: American Discontent in the New Millennium
By Dick Meyer
A study of the erosion of American culture explores the general disillusionment and discontent that pervade Americans’ lives, arguing that the social, spiritual, and philosophical turmoil that followed the 1960s collided headlong with the media and technology revolution at the end of the twentieth century to create an explosive cultural and ethical overload.

The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule
By Thomas Frank
The author of the best-selling What’s the Matter with Kansas? examines the political, social, and economic consequences of several decades of deliberate and lucrative conservative misrule, revealing how Washington has been remade into a world of economic disparity, lobbyists, and incompetence.

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