Non Fiction Staff Picks

"A family reunion gives way to an unforgettable genealogical quest as relatives reconnect across lines of color, culture, and time, putting the past into urgent conversation with the present. In 1791, Thomas Jefferson hired a Black man to help survey Washington, DC. That man was Benjamin Banneker, an African American mathematician, a writer of almanacs, and one of the greatest astronomers of his generation. Banneker then wrote what would become a...

"Captain Kidd was one of the most notorious pirates to ever prowl the seas. But few know that Kidd had an accomplice, a behind-the-scenes player who enabled his plundering and helped him outpace his enemies. That accomplice was his wife, Sarah Kidd, a well-to-do woman whose extraordinary life is a lesson in reinvention and resourcefulness. Twice widowed by twenty-one and operating within the strictures of polite society in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century...

Filled with favorite recipes gathered from Amish cooks across the United States and Canada, Amish Community Cookbook will have you preparing delicious, down-to-earth dishes your family will request again and again. The Amish people are renowned for their rich agricultural heritage, strong community spirit, and good old-fashioned, stick-to-your-ribs comfort food. This treasury of beloved recipes expresses their close connection to the land and reliance...

"Featuring 25 profiles of illustrators, jewelry designers, ceramicists, painters, clothing designers, and printmakers, [this book] provides a behind-the-scenes look at the daily rituals and best practices that keep these creative entrepreneurs on track. With Q&As, insider tips, and DIYs from each maker, these pages offer guidance and encouragement to artists just starting their careers and to professionals looking to take their creative business to...

One of television's best loved personalities via the wildly successful hit MTV show The Osbournes, Ozzy tells about his days on the road and the heartbreak he suffered during those days of hard living.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream is perhaps the best loved of Shakespeare's plays. It brings together aristocrats, workers, and fairies in a wood outside Athens, and from there the magic begins. A young woman flees Athens with her lover, only to be pursued by her would-be husband and by her best friend. Unwittingly, all four find themselves in an enchanted forest where fairies and sprites soon take an interest in human affairs, dispensing magical love potions...

"From the indie rockstar of Japanese Breakfast fame, and author of the viral 2018 New Yorker essay that shares the title of this book, an unflinching, powerful memoir about growing up Korean-American, losing her mother, and forging her own identity. In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humor and heart, she tells of growing up the...

"From the acclaimed author of A CASE OF CURIOSITIES, Allen Kurzweil's stranger-than-fiction "investigative memoir", detailing his 40-year-search for his boarding school bully who tied him up at the age of twelve and whipped him to the soundtrack of Jesus Christ Superstar, and who went on to lead a mad-cap life of international crime and financial fraud"--