Here’s the list of 66 STAFF PICKS PROJECT acquisitions for May 2018. 
Staff Picks are on display in the library or checked out to a library patron. Come in to browse!
Check the Coos Library Coastline database to place your hold or ask the library staff to place your reservation for you. Be sure to keep your patron record up to date so you can be notified by email when your hold is ready for pick-up. Donate to help this project achieve its goal of $10,000 for 12 months of Staff Picks acquisitions. If we go over our goal, donations will be used to extend the project until funds are depleted.
Use our new searchable and sortable list of all Staff Picks items to explore all 457 of them as of May 31, 2018
| TITLE | FIRST NAME | LAST
NAME |
#Category | DESCRIPTION
(from Amazon.com unless otherwise noted) |
|
| 1. | Gender Revolution: A Journey with Katie Couric |
20th Century Fox, Studio | #DVD | DVD Newscasting legend Katie Couric takes us on a journey to discover the modern-day dynamics of gender. | |
| 2. | Swiss Army Man |
A24,
studio |
#DVD | DVD Swiss Army Man creates a world like no other—a place of pure fantastical imagination, brimming with magical realism yet featuring two characters whose dreams and fears are entirely relatable. [Paul] Dano and [Daniel] Radcliffe both fully commit to their directors’ audacious vision, and their work is exceptional, finding the perfect balance of humour and heart that drives the whole film. A celebration of all the wonders cinema has to offer, Swiss Army Man is a cultural phenomenon in the making — a surreal and wholly original examination of human vulnerability and connection that must be experienced. | |
| 3. | Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries – Series 2
|
Acorn Media, Studio | #DVD | Miss Phryne Fisher (Essie Davis, Girl with a Pearl Earring) is back with more intriguing mysteries and exquisite fashion. A private detective in 1920s Melbourne, Phryne has a knack for being in the right place at the right time—and she’s usually armed with the right weapon. Aided by her maid, Dorothy “Dot” Williams (Ashleigh Cummings, Tomorrow, When the War Began), Phryne ventures from the city’s mansions to its brothels, gaining admirers and enemies along the way. Often assisting their investigations are Detective Inspector Jack Robinson (Nathan Page, The Secret Life of Us) and Constable Hugh Collins (Hugo Johnstone-Burt, Cloudstreet). Jack finds Phryne’s eager interest in his cases exasperating, but he comes to rely on her crime-solving instincts—and is increasingly captivated by her other charms. John Noble (Fringe, Sleepy Hollow) guest stars in this series of the hit Australian drama. |
|
| 4. | Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries – Series 1 |
Acorn Media, Studio | #DVD | In 1920s Melbourne, the Honorable Phryne Fisher is a thoroughly modern woman operating in a mostly male world. The glamorous “lady detective” goes about her work with a pistol close at hand–and, more often than not, a male admirer even closer. | |
| 5. | The Man Who Climbs Trees |
James | Aldred | #NONFIC | As a wildlife cameraman for the BBC and National Geographic, James Aldred spends his working life high up in trees, poised to capture key moments in the lives of wild animals and birds. … In this vivid account of memorable trees he has climbed (“Goliath,” “Apollo,” “Roaring Meg”), Aldred blends incredible stories of his adventures in the branches with a fascination for the majesty of trees to show us the joy of rising—literally—above the daily grind, up into the canopy of the forest. |
| 6. | D C-T! |
Joana | Avillez and Molly Young | #NONFIC | Just as there are few cities as storied and replete with life as New York City, there are few illustrators or writers who have charmed as many generations as William Steig. To Molly Young and Joana Avillez, a connection between the two seemed obvious, and so D C-T! (“The City!”) was born. Using a playful phonetic language first invented by Steig in his now classic 1968 book CDB!–but which in today’s world of text message and internet shorthand feels uncannily contemporary–Young and Avillez tell a different story on each page of this collection of illustrations stuffed to brim with humor and cleverness. |
| 7. | American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear |
Khaled A. | Beydoun | #NONFIC | Using his unique lens as a critical race theorist and law professor, Khaled A. Beydoun captures the many ways in which law, policy, and official state rhetoric have fueled the frightening resurgence of Islamophobia in the United States. Beydoun charts its long and terrible history, from the plight of enslaved African Muslims in the antebellum South and the laws prohibiting Muslim immigrants from becoming citizens to the ways the war on terror assigns blame for any terrorist act to Islam and the myriad trials Muslim Americans face in the Trump era. |
| 8. | Harvest: Unexpected Projects Using 27 Extraordinary Garden Plants |
Stefani | Bittner & Alethea Harampolis | #NONFIC | A beautifully photographed, gift-worthy guide to growing, harvesting, and utilizing 47 unexpected garden plants to make organic pantry staples, fragrances, floral arrangements, beverages, cocktails, beauty products, bridal gifts, and more. |
| 9. | By the Shore: Explore the Pacific Northwest Coast Like a Local |
Nancy | Blakey | #NONFIC | The book covers the coastal areas of Oregon (from Astoria to Florence); Washington (including Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula); and British Columbia, Canada (including Vancouver Island). Gorgeously illustrated with line drawings and color photographs, this book is a visual treat for the armchair adventurer, as well as a practical guide to take with you on your next outing. |
| 10. | Black Girls Rock!: Owning Our Magic, Rocking Our Truth |
Beverly | Bond, editor | #NONFIC | Pairing inspirational essays and affirmations with lush, newly commissioned and classic photography, Black Girls Rock!: Owning Our Magic and Rocking Our Truth is not only a one-of-a-kind celebration of the diversity, fortitude, and spirituality of black women but also a foundational text that will energize and empower every reader. |
| 11. | Pacific Northwest Camping Destinations: RV and Car Camping Destinations in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia |
Mike and Terri | Church | #NONFIC | …The largest part of the book describes over 130 great camping destinations throughout Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. There are descriptions of the local attractions and visitor activities. A selection of good camping areas convenient to the destination area are described in detail. Whenever possible the book offers a choice of commercial or government campgrounds. A map for each destination shows the location of campgrounds and attractions. |
| 12. | The Roots of My Obsession: Thirty Great Gardeners Reveal Why They Garden |
Thomas | Cooper, Editor | #NONFIC | The Roots of My Obsession features thirty essays from the most vital voices in gardening, exploring the myriad motives and impulses that cause a person to become a gardener. For some, it’s the quest to achieve a personal vision of ultimate beauty; for others, it’s a mission to heal the earth, or to grow a perfect peach. The essays are as distinct as their authors, and yet each one is direct, engaging, and from the heart. |
| 13. | Cringeworthy: A Theory of Awkwardness |
Melissa | Dahl | #NONFIC | New York magazine’s “Science of Us” editor explains the compelling psychology of awkwardness, and asks: what if the moments that make us feel most awkward are actually valuable? |
| 14. | Saving Banksy |
Colin M. | Day, Director | #DVD | DVD “Saving Banksy” is the story of one misguided art collector’s attempts to save a Banksy painting from destruction and the auction block. Featuring some of the world’s top street artists, this film poses the question “What would you do if you owned a million dollar painting that the artist doesn’t want sold?” [documentary] |
| 15. | Tomorrow
|
Damian | Dibben | #SCIFI | A winter’s night, Venice, 1815. A 217-year-old dog is searching for his lost master.
So begins the journey of Tomorrow, a dog who must travel through the courts and battlefields of Europe—and through the centuries—in search of the man who granted him immortality. His adventures take him to the London Frost Fair, the strange court of King Charles I, the wars of the Spanish succession, Versailles, the golden age of Amsterdam and to nineteenth-century Venice. |
| 16. | Robert Rauschenberg |
Leah | Dickerman et. al., editor | #NONFIC | The early 1950s, when Robert Rauschenberg launched his career, was the heyday of the heroic gestural painting of Abstract Expressionism. Rauschenberg challenged this tradition, inventing new intermedia forms of art making that shaped the decades to come. Published in conjunction with the inaugural 21st-century retrospective of this defining figure, this book offers fresh perspectives on Rauschenberg’s widely celebrated Combines (1954–64) and silkscreen paintings (1962–64). It also illuminates lesser-known periods within Rauschenberg’s career, including his work of the early 1950s and that from the late 1960s onward, now compelling and prescient to contemporary eyes. …Sixteen short essays by eminent scholars and emerging new writers focus on specific moments within Rauschenberg’s career, examining his creative production across an extraordinary range of media. Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) |
| 17. | Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America |
Michael Eric | Dyson | #NONFIC | As the country grapples with racist division at a level not seen since the 1960s, one man’s voice soars above the rest with conviction and compassion. In his 2016 New York Times op-ed piece “Death in Black and White,” Michael Eric Dyson moved a nation. Now he continues to speak out in Tears We Cannot Stop―a provocative and deeply personal call for change. Dyson argues that if we are to make real racial progress we must face difficult truths, including being honest about how black grievance has been ignored, dismissed, or discounted. |
| 18. | Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America |
James | Forman | #NONFIC | Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. One of The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of 2017. Locking Up Our Own enriches our understanding of why our society became so punitive and offers important lessons to anyone concerned about the future of race and the criminal justice system in this country. |
| 19. | How To Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change |
Josh | Fox, Director | #DVD | …acknowledges that it may be too late to stop some of the worst consequences of climate change and asks, what is it that climate change can’t destroy? What is so deep within us that no calamity can take it away? |
| 20. | Frieze: A to Z of Contemporary Art |
Frieze Magazine | #NONFIC | Frieze A to Z of Contemporary Art charts the dynamic, changing landscape of the contemporary art and culture of the past quarter century. Drawing on frieze magazine’s exceptional back catalogue of articles, this book brings together a curated collection of over fifty engaging highlights. It features artist interviews; essays on subjects as varied as museums, photography, pre-historic art and television; and think pieces on broader cultural topics, such as fame, gentrification, nostalgia, and style. (Phaidon, publisher) | |
| 21. | The Ensemble |
Aja | Gabel | #FIC | Following … four unforgettable characters, Aja Gabel’s debut novel gives a riveting look into the high-stakes, cutthroat world of musicians, and of lives made in concert. The story of Brit and Henry and Daniel and Jana, The Ensemble is a heart-skipping portrait of ambition, friendship, and the tenderness of youth. |
| 22. | The Spirit of the Bauhaus |
Olivier | Gabet, Editor | #NONFOC | This essential and accessible guide to the Bauhaus, published in time for the 100th anniversary of the school in 2019, celebrates a school that continues to be recognized as the most durable and influential source of modern ideas about art, design, and craft. 276 illustrations. Published by Thames & Hudson. |
| 23. | Meet Cindy Sherman: Artist, Photographer, Chameleon |
Jan | Greenberg and Sandra Jordan | #YA
#NONFIC |
Looking at the life of legendary photographer Cindy Sherman, Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan have created an unconventional biography, that much like Cindy Sherman’s famous photographs, has something a little more meaningful under the surface. Infusing the narrative with Sherman’s photographs, as well as children’s first impressions of the photographs, this is a biography that goes beyond birth, middle age, and later life. It’s a look at how we look at art. |
| 24. | Less |
Andrew Sean | Greer | #FIC | A scintillating satire of the American abroad, a rumination on time and the human heart, a bittersweet romance of chances lost, by an author The New York Times has hailed as “inspired, lyrical,” “elegiac,” “ingenious,” as well as “too sappy by half,” Less shows a writer at the peak of his talents raising the curtain on our shared human comedy.[Pulitzer Prize winner] |
| 25. | The Art of Living |
Thich Nhat | Hanh | #NONFIC | Containing the essence of the Buddha’s teachings and Thich Nhat Hanh’s poignant, timeless, and clarifying prose, The Art of Living provides a spiritual dimension to our lives. This is not an effort to escape life or to dwell in a place of bliss outside of this world. Instead, this path will allow us to discover where we come from and where we are going. |
| 26. | When Einstein Walked with Godel: Excursions to the Edge of Thought |
Jim | Holt | #NONFIC | In this scintillating collection, Holt explores the human mind, the cosmos, and the thinkers who’ve tried to encompass the latter with the former. With his trademark clarity and humor, Holt probes the mysteries of quantum mechanics, the quest for the foundations of mathematics, and the nature of logic and truth. |
| 27. | Rescue, Restore, Redecorate: Amy Howard’s Guide to Refinishing Furniture and Accessories |
Amy | Howard | #NONFIC | Whether you dream of restoring an heirloom to its former beauty, or just want to modernize a flea market treasure, Amy Howard has the design and refinishing secrets you need. Here are all the furniture finishing recipes, techniques, and tips that have made Howard’s beloved classes sold-out success stories, and made Howard herself the go-to guru of refinishing and “use what you have” redecorating. |
| 28. | Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” |
Zora Neale | Hurston | #NONFIC | In 1927, Zora Neale Hurston went to Plateau, Alabama, just outside Mobile, to interview eighty-six-year-old Cudjo Lewis. Of the millions of men, women, and children transported from Africa to America as slaves, Cudjo was then the only person alive to tell the story of this integral part of the nation’s history. Hurston was there to record Cudjo’s firsthand account of the raid that led to his capture and bondage fifty years after the Atlantic slave trade was outlawed in the United States….
Based on those interviews, featuring Cudjo’s unique vernacular, and written from Hurston’s perspective with the compassion and singular style that have made her one of the preeminent American authors of the twentieth-century, Barracoon masterfully illustrates the tragedy of slavery and of one life forever defined by it. Offering insight into the pernicious legacy that continues to haunt us all, black and white, this poignant and powerful work is an invaluable contribution to our shared history and culture. |
| 29. | Everything Is Here to Help You: A Loving Guide to Your Soul’s Evolution |
Matt | Kahn | #NONFIC | In this book, spiritual teacher and intuitive Matt Kahn redefines the spiritual path for the modern-day seeker, and offers original, innovative ways to resolve fear, unravel judgments, and learn how to view life from a clear, expanded perspective. |
| 30. | The View from Flyover Country: Dispatches from the Forgotten America |
Sarah | Kendzior | #NONFIC | A clear-eyed account of the realities of life in America’s overlooked heartland, The View from Flyover Country is a piercing critique of the labor exploitation, race relations, gentrification, media bias, and other aspects of the post-employment economy that gave rise to a president who rules like an autocrat. … necessary reading for anyone who believes that the only way for America to fix its problems is to first discuss them with honesty and compassion. |
| 31. | Inequality for All |
Jacob | Kornbluth, Director | #DVD | DVD A passionate argument on behalf of the middle class, Inequality for All features Robert Reich–professor, best-selling author, and Clinton cabinet member–as he demonstrates how the widening income gap has a devastating impact on the American economy. The film is an intimate portrait of a man whose lifelong goal remains protecting those who are unable to protect themselves. Through his singular perspective, Reich explains how the massive consolidation of wealth by a precious few threatens the viability of the American workforce and the foundation of democracy itself. In this Inconvenient Truth for the economy, Reich uses humor and a wide array of facts to explain how the issue of economic inequality affects each and every one of us. |
| 32. | After Kathy Acker |
Chris | Kraus | #NONFIC | In this first, fully authorized, biography, Chris Kraus approaches Acker both as a writer and as a member of the artistic communities from which she emerged. At once forensic and intimate, After Kathy Acker traces the extreme discipline and literary strategies Acker used to develop her work, and the contradictions she longed to embody. |
| 33. | Daring Democracy: Igniting Power, Meaning, and Connection for the America We Want |
Frances Moore | Lappe & Adam Eichen | #NONFIC | An optimistic book for Americans who are asking, in the wake of Trump’s victory, What do we do now? The answer: We need to organize and fight to protect and expand our democracy. |
| 34. | The Garden in Every Sense and Season |
Tovah | Martin | #NONFIC | In 100 evocative essays, Martin shares sage garden advice, offers intimate reflections on her own garden, and urges us to inhale, savor, and become more attuned to our gardens. |
| 35. | A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America
|
T. Christian | Miller and Ken Armstrong | #NONFIC | Based on investigative files and extensive interviews with the principals, A False Report is a serpentine tale of doubt, lies, and a hunt for justice, unveiling the disturbing truth of how sexual assault is investigated today—and the long history of skepticism toward rape victims. |
| 36. | See What Can Be Done: Essays, Criticism, and Commentary |
Lorrie | Moore | #NONFIC | A welcome surprise: more than fifty prose pieces, gathered together for the first time, by one of America’s most revered and admired novelists and short-story writers, whose articles, essays, and cultural commentary–appearing in The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Harper’s Magazine, and elsewhere–have been parsing the political, artistic, and media idiom for the last three decades. |
| 37. | Banksy Does New York |
Chris | Moukarbel, Director | #DVD | DVD When infamous street artist Banksy revealed his NYC residency, he set off a daily scavenger hunt among fans, would-be art collectors, and, of course, the police. Everyone wanted a piece of his ephemeral works before they were destroyed or removed. Chris Moukarbel tracks the course of Banksy’s secretly created works across NYC and explores the unprecedented speed of the public’s reaction. |
| 38. | Warlight |
Michael
|
Ondaatje | #FIC | From the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author of The English Patient: a mesmerizing new novel that tells a dramatic story set in the decade after World War II through the lives of a small group of unexpected characters and two teenagers whose lives are indelibly shaped by their unwitting involvement. |
| 39. | The Young Karl Marx |
Raoul | Peck, Director | #DVD | DVD 26 year-old Karl Marx embarks with his wife, Jenny, on the road to exile. In 1844 Paris, he meets Friedrich Engels, an industrialist’s son, who investigated the sordid birth of the British working-class. Engels, the dandy, provides the last piece of the puzzle to the young Karl Marx’s new vision of the world. Together, between censorship and the police’s repression, riots and political upheavals, they will lead the labor movement during its development into a modern era. |
| 40. | 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos |
Jordan B. | Peterson | #NONFIC | Humorous, surprising and informative, Dr. Peterson tells us why skateboarding boys and girls must be left alone, what terrible fate awaits those who criticize too easily, and why you should always pet a cat when you meet one on the street. … 12 Rules for Life shatters the modern commonplaces of science, faith and human nature, while transforming and ennobling the mind and spirit of its readers. |
| 41. | Grandma Says: Wake Up World! |
Agnes Baker | Pilgrim | #AUDIO
#NONFIC |
(Taowhywee) Agnes Baker Pilgrim, known to most as ”Grandma Aggie”, is in her nineties and is the oldest living member of the Takelma Tribe, one of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz. A descendant of both spiritual and political tribal leaders, Grandma Aggie travels tirelessly around the world to keep traditions alive, to help those in need, and to be a voice for the voiceless, helping everyone to remember to preserve our Earth for animals and each other in a spiritual environment. … This is an amazing recording of one of the oldest and most important voices of the First Nation and of the world. Her stories and advice will mesmerize and captivate you, as well as provide a blueprint for how all the inhabitants of the earth can live together in harmony, spirituality, and peace. |
| 42. | Watermelons’ Nooses and Straight Razors: Stories from the Jim Crow Museum |
David | Pilgrim | #NONFIC | …examines the origins and significance of several longstanding anti-black stories and the caricatures and stereotypes that undergird them. It features images from the Jim Crow Museum, the nation’s largest publicly accessible collection of racist objects. These pictures document the social injustice that Martin Luther King Jr. referred to as a pus-filled boil “which must be exposed to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.” Each chapter concludes with a story from the author’s journey, challenging the integrity of racial narratives. |
| 43. | Dancing on the Edge |
Stephen | Poliakoff | #DVD | DVD In the early 1930s London, the black jazz group known as the Louis Lester Band is on the rise. Countless aristocrats, including the royal family, ask the band to perform, but just as the band’s success balloons, tragedy strikes, setting off a chain of events that may end it all. From acclaimed writer and director Stephen Poliakoff, this mystery features an all-star cast led by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthew Goode, and many more! |
| 44. | Collusion: How Central Bankers Rigged the World |
Nomi | Prins | #NONFIC | In this searing exposé, former Wall Street insider Nomi Prins shows how the 2007-2008 financial crisis turbo-boosted the influence of central bankers and triggered a massive shift in the world order. |
| 45. | Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead |
Cecile | Richards | #NONFIC | From Cecile Richards—president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund for more than a decade, daughter of the late Governor Ann Richards, featured speaker at the Women’s March on Washington, and a “heroine of the resistance” (Vogue)—comes a story about learning to lead and make change, based on a lifetime of fighting for women’s rights and social justice. |
| 46. | River Cafe London |
Ruth | Rogers et al. | #NONFIC | At the River Cafe in London, Ruth Rogers and her co-founder, Rose Gray, helped to shape the way we eat, trained a new generation of chefs, and, with their best-selling cookbooks, transformed the way we prepare Italian food at home. … This beautiful cookbook encapsulates the essence of the restaurant and its food—and is a must-have for all food lovers to cook from time and again. |
| 47. | Saladish: A Crunchier, Grainier, Herbier, Heartier, Tastier Way with Vegetables |
Ilene | Rosen | #NONFIC | …100 fresh and creative recipes, organized seasonally, from the intoxicatingly aromatic (Toasty Broccoli with Curry Leaves and Coconut) to the colorfully hearty (Red Potatoes with Chorizo and Roasted Grapes). |
| 48. | Just the Funny Parts: …And a Few Hard Truths About Sneaking Into the Hollywood Boys’ Club |
Nell | Scovell | #NONFIC | Just the Funny Parts is a fast-paced account of a nerdy girl from New England who fought her way to the top of the highly-competitive, male-dominated entertainment field. The book delivers invaluable insights into the creative process and tricks for navigating a difficult workplace. It’s part memoir, part how-to, and part survival story. Or, as Scovell puts it, “It’s like Unbroken, but funnier and with slightly less torture.” |
| 49. | Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Change |
Vandana | Shiva | #NONFIC | In Soil Not Oil, Vandana Shiva explains that a world beyond dependence on fossil fuels and globalization is both possible and necessary. Condemning industrial agriculture as a recipe for ecological and economic disaster, Shiva champions the small, independent farm: their greater productivity, their greater potential for social justice as they put more resources into the hands of the poor, and the biodiversity that is inherent to the traditional farming practiced in small-scale agriculture. What we need most in a time of changing climates and millions who are hungry, she argues, is sustainable, biologically diverse farms that are more resistant to disease, drought, and flood. “The solution to climate change,” she observes, “and the solution to poverty are the same.” Soil Not Oil proposes a solution based on self-organization, sustainability, and community rather than corporate power and profits. |
| 50. | Seed Sovereignty, Food Security: Women in the Vanguard of the Fight Against GMOs and Corporate Agriculture |
Vandana | Shiva, Editor | #NONFIC | In this unique anthology, women from around the world write about the movement to change the current, industrial paradigm of how we grow our food. As seed keepers and food producers, as scientists, activists, and scholars, they are dedicated to renewing a food system that is better aligned with ecological processes as well as human health and global social justice. (from North Atlantic Books) |
| 51. | Starting an Etsy Business for Dummies |
Kate | Shoup | #NONFIC | The easy way to build an online craft business from scratch… Starting an Etsy Business For Dummies offers expert advice for artists and entrepreneurs looking to build an online craft business from scratch. You’ll get invaluable information on how to set up an Etsy shop, write compelling item descriptions, photograph your work, engage the Etsy community, understand fees, and find your muse when it takes a holiday. |
| 52. | Wade in the Water |
Tracy K. | Smith | #NONFIC | The extraordinary new poetry collection by Tracy K. Smith, the Poet Laureate of the United States. |
| 53. | Before the Flood – National Geographic |
Fisher | Stevens, Director | #DVD | DVD Featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Fisher Stevens, Before the Flood presents a riveting account of the dramatic changes occurring around the world due to climate change. |
| 54. | Cy Twombly |
Jonas | Storsve, Editor | #NONFIC | The American artist Cy Twombly (1928-2011) was one of the seminal artists of the second half of the twentieth century, with a complex oeuvre extending over six decades. His work brilliantly fused the legacy of American Abstract Expressionism with the intellectual rigor of classical European and Mediterranean culture, reflecting his extensive reading in history, classical literature, and mythology. This catalogue, edited by curator Jonas Storsve, accompanies a sweeping retrospective at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, one of the largest exhibitions on his work to date. |
| 55. | The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi |
Phil | Szostak | #NONFIC | Featuring concept art, costume sketches, and storyboards, this book takes fans on a deep dive into the development of the fantastic worlds, characters, and creatures—both old and new—of The Last Jedi. |
| 56. | Design by Nature: Creating Layered, Lived In Spaces |
Erica | Tanov | #NONFIC | Inspired by nature’s colors, textures, and patterns, design icon Erica Tanov uses her passion for textiles to create beautiful, timeless interiors that connect us to the natural world. Now, in her first book, Design by Nature, Tanov teaches you how to train your eye to the beauty of the natural world, and then bring the outdoors in—incorporating patterns and motifs from nature, as well as actual organic elements, into simple ideas for everyday decorating and design. |
| 57. | The Emissary |
Yoko | Tawada | #FIC | A delightful, irrepressibly funny book, The Emissary is filled with light. Yoko Tawada, deftly turning inside-out “the curse,” defies gravity and creates a playful joyous novel out of a dystopian one, with a legerdemain uniquely her own. |
| 58. | The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South |
Michael W. | Twitty | #NONFIC | A renowned culinary historian offers a fresh perspective on our most divisive cultural issue, race, in this illuminating memoir of Southern cuisine and food culture that traces his ancestry—both black and white—through food, from Africa to America and slavery to freedom. |
| 59. | The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, And Body in the Healing of Trauma |
Bessel | Van Der Kolk | #NONFIC | Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. |
| 60. | Cuba – The Cookbook |
Madelaine | Vazquez Galvez and Imogene Tondre | #NONFIC | Cuban food is known worldwide for its blend of bright colours and intense flavors, and Cuba: The Cookbook is the first book to celebrate and document comprehensively its cuisine and contemporary food culture. |
| 61. | How Bernie Won: Inside the Revolution That’s Taking Back Our Country – And Where We Go From Here |
Jeff | Weaver | #NONFIC | When Jeff Weaver hopped in a car with Bernie Sanders in the summer of 1986, he had no idea the Vermont backroads would lead them all the way to the 2016 presidential campaign.
In How Bernie Won, Weaver shows how Bernie sparked a movement that would sweep America and inspire millions. He vowed not to run a negative campaign. He would focus on policies, not personalities. He would not be beholden to big money. He would actually make America work for ordinary people. |
| 62. | Hitler’s American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law |
James Q. | Whitman | #NONFIC | Nazism triumphed in Germany during the high era of Jim Crow laws in the United States. Did the American regime of racial oppression in any way inspire the Nazis? The unsettling answer is yes. In Hitler’s American Model, James Whitman presents a detailed investigation of the American impact on the notorious Nuremberg Laws, the centerpiece anti-Jewish legislation of the Nazi regime. Contrary to those who have insisted that there was no meaningful connection between American and German racial repression, Whitman demonstrates that the Nazis took a real, sustained, significant, and revealing interest in American race policies. |
| 63. | American Histories – Stories |
John Edgar | Wideman | #NONFIC | In this singular collection, John Edgar Wideman, the acclaimed author of Writing to Save a Life, blends the personal, historical, and political to invent complex, charged stories about love, death, struggle, and what we owe each other. With characters ranging from everyday Americans to Jean-Michel Basquiat to Nat Turner, American Histories is a journey through time, experience, and the soul of our country. |
| 64. | Interior Portraits: At Home With Cultural Pioneers and Creative Mavericks |
Leslie | Williamson | #NONFIC | Powerfully personal and deeply authentic, this beautiful book will appeal not only to lovers of bohemian architecture but also to anyone who feels the pull of the West Coast lifestyle. Showcasing thirteen unique homes from the rugged coast of Big Sur to the sunlight-filled modernist structures of Los Angeles and San Diego, this book is a journey through the very best that California design has to offer. |
| 65. | Tin Man |
Sarah | Winman | #FIC | With beautiful prose and characters that are so real they jump off the page, Tin Man is a love letter to human kindness and friendship, and to loss and living. |
| 66. | Backlash: What Happens When We Talk Honestly About Racism in America |
George | Yancy | #NONFIC | “Backlash is a decisive intervention on a hugely important topic by a very courageous thinker. Highly recommended.” (Simon Critchley, Hans Jonas Professor, The New School for Social Research) |
