Best of 2009: Nonfiction Favorites

Recommendations from our staff:

 

Stitches (Hardcover)

$27.95
ISBN-13: 9780393068573
Availability: Usually ships from warehouse in 1 - 5 days
Published: W. W. Norton & Company, 9/2009
This wonderful memoir, told in graphic form, is the moving tale of Small’s childhood. Centered on Small’s traumatic and lonely upbringing in often cold family environment, this book is an intense, satisfying read. Small’s superb artistry effectively evokes the pain of youth, illness and familial secrecy. Lovers of Bechdel’s Fun Home will surely love this book. -josie

$15.00
ISBN-13: 9781400079971
Availability: Usually ships from warehouse in 1 - 5 days
Published: Anchor, 1/2007
It’s a phrase I hear from everyone in my own life circle: I’m broke and I can’t seem to get ahead. Are we a great big generation of college failures? I say no, and so does Draut. From the disproportionate wage to cost-of-living reality, to exorbitant college tuition fees & unregulated credit card fees; today’s 20 & 30 something’s are cultivated to fail. —Adrienne

$22.95
ISBN-13: 9781595580047
Availability: Usually ships from warehouse in 1 - 5 days
Published: New Press, 6/2006
Written to document the disparity for wealth-building in minority communities, five experts illustrate the power structure of race in the U.S. If you think we are closing the gap on economic and racial equality, consider your own ethnicity and begin your re-education with this important book. —Adrienne

$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780312428501
Availability: Usually ships from warehouse in 1 - 5 days
Published: Picador, 10/2009
Sontag’s journals are more fascinating than any biography. She is revealing yet elusive and coy, as if she knew we’d be reading her notes. Her personality presses through the pages, set down in poetic sentences, lists of books she must read and the thinkers she worshiped; yet her personal life is kept at a distance as if she were trying to study her own emotions at arm’s length. —Vernon

Columbine (Hardcover)

$26.99
ISBN-13: 9780446546935
Availability: Usually ships from warehouse in 1 - 5 days
Published: Twelve, 4/2009
Cullen dedicated ten years to meticulously researching what happened at Columbine. The result of that dedication is a book that tells the unflinching truth about what happened before, during, and after the massacre. Most importantly, it tells the story of the killers, a young psychopath and a suicidal kid who wanted an escape. I think everyone should read this. —Flannery

How Fiction Works (Paperback)

$14.00
ISBN-13: 9780312428471
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Picador, 7/2009
Wood’s concise book on writing can be read in an afternoon but studied for a lifetime. He may lean heavily on the realist and naturalist mode (and he makes his case for what these styles mean for the reader and writer), but Wood truly work together to create the essential dreams in fiction. Required reading for writers and students of literature. —Vernon

$14.95
ISBN-13: 9780547247960
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Mariner Books, 9/2009
Tough chronicles the life of Harlem product Geoffrey Canada, who is bound & determined to properly educate EVERY child in Harlem. Canada is the creator of Harlem’s Children’s Zone, a K-12 charter school experiment along with several parent education and after-school care programs. His model could change our entire school system, if we only care to try. —Adrienne

$22.99
ISBN-13: 9780061859335
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: William Morrow, 10/2009
In today’s world it’s easy to feel lost and alone, even hopeless. For those times, Post Secret is an excellent remedy. Nothing makes you feel less alone than seeing your own secrets in a stranger’s words and visions, page after page. This year honor the true spirit of the holidays, and give the gift of a profound connection, because it’s something we all need. —Flannery

$22.00
ISBN-13: 9780805089257
Availability: Usually ships from warehouse in 1 - 5 days
Published: Henry Holt and Co., 10/2009
This book prompted me to read many passages out loud to friends. It’s hilarious, witty and sarcastic in all the right places while managing to not be mean-spirited or petty. She may poke fun at her Mennonite background—read about the top five Shame-Based Foods for Mennonite youth lunches on p.107—but the overall message is one of gratitude for and devotion to her family.—Nici

$14.95
ISBN-13: 9781593762445
Availability: Usually ships from warehouse in 1 - 5 days
Published: Soft Skull Press, 5/2009
Rev Jen is an art star and an ordained reverend. She wears elf ears twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Rev Jen chronicles her two years working for Nerve.com, writing a column about her ‘sexperiments’, which are exactly what the word implies. Wildly eccentric, explicit and hilarious, Rev Jen’s work is perhaps not for the staunchly conservative. – josie

$19.95
ISBN-13: 9781551522555
Availability: Usually ships from warehouse in 1 - 5 days
Published: Arsenal Pulp Press, 9/2009
Imagine walking by a tree "wearing" a knit sweater. Welcome to yarn bombing, a new form of street art where artists create textiles to surreptitiously place in a public space. The resulting pieces are whimsical and truly unique. This book makes me excited about new ways to bring my art into the world, and, just between you and me, go on a yarn bombing mission of my own. —Kate

$12.99
ISBN-13: 9780061791475
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks, 10/2009
Okay, I’m not one for reading humor books, but when I picked this one up, I laughed my pants off. It’s a hilarious and spellbinding collection of people’s quirks, tics and superstitions. Example: “When eating chips I check each on to see which side has more flavor. Then I make sure that side ends up facedown to maximize my chip-eating pleasure.” —Clytia

$18.95
ISBN-13: 9781595584472
Availability: Usually ships from warehouse in 1 - 5 days
Published: New Press, The, 6/2009
Originally a documentary, Taylor follows Plato’s lead in Examined Life as she conducts dialogues (interviews) with the key thinkers of philosophy and theory today: Judith Butler, Slavoj Zizek and (especially) Cornel West are some of the highlights. In their con-versations with Taylor, these thinkers can’t so easily hide behind their authorial selves, and the results are revealing.  —Vernon

$50.00
ISBN-13: 9780812979633
Availability: Usually ships from warehouse in 1 - 5 days
Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 11/2009
Finally out in paperback, making it more affordable, this book is the quintessential Leibovitz. This book really encompasses her entire life and includes everything from her shots for professional jobs to her personal life and family, including the iconic Susan Sontag. If you own no other photography book than this, that is okay because this book is all you may ever need.—Saraphine

$19.95
ISBN-13: 9781600594663
Availability: Usually ships from warehouse in 1 - 5 days
Published: Lark Books, 5/2009
Just when you thought crochet was dead Howell brings it back and makes it as chic as ever. This book really has something to make for everyone in your life and will get you excited about picking that hook up again. I could not resist the Ester Williams bikini on page 33 or the Helena Bonham Carter top on page 106. Which is your favorite?—Saraphine

$20.00
ISBN-13: 9780143116462
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin (Non-Classics), 10/2009
Kalman’s unique artistic style and sense of humor make this memoir/travelogue/art book an excellent, entertaining read. In addition, the more weighty philosophical questions and conundrums she encounters balance well with her often whimsical style. Overall, Kalman is simply wonderful, as is her thought provoking, beautiful book!—josie

$39.95
ISBN-13: 9780375415197
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Knopf, 9/2009
I don’t think I’ve ever used the expression “tree porn” before, but it’s all I can think of when presented with Sibley’s gorgeous new field guide. Featuring a comprehensive collection of trees found all over the United States and a cornucopia of intricate, brightly colored illustrations, this book is perfect for the tree-hugger in your life (especially if that happens to be you).—Kat

$22.95
ISBN-13: 9781600594694
Availability: Usually ships from warehouse in 1 - 5 days
Published: Lark Books, 10/2009
Finally! The book all of us environmentally conscious knitters (and crocheters) have been waiting for is finally here and filled with projects I actually want to make! They give you great information about every fiber used for every project, sustainable cooperative yarn, and how using some of your finished projects can help the planet. Knit on!—Saraphine

$25.95
ISBN-13: 9781594202230
Availability: Usually ships from warehouse in 1 - 5 days
Published: Penguin Press HC, The, 5/2009
Here’s a book that couldn’t have been timelier: what if the white collar “knowledge” industry our education systems have been training young Americans for isn’t very edifying work? What if hyper-networked techies put down their Blackberries and picked up a wrench to rediscovered their sense of wonder they had back when they were getting their fingernails dirty? —Vernon

The Wordy Shipmates (Paperback)

$16.00
ISBN-13: 9781594484001
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Riverhead Trade, 10/2009
Not only is Sarah Vowell extremely funny, she's very knowledgeable and informative. The Wordy Shipmates will change the way you look at pilgrims and immerse you in American history. Vowell's writing style is so conversational, you won't even notice the pages flying by--reading her writing is second only to listening to her in person. –Nici

$23.99
ISBN-13: 9780316019101
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Little, Brown and Company, 7/2009
I like reading about crows, so this book was a natural for me. And it does indeed have much crow lore tucked within its pages. But what I found most valuable in the end was the way Haupt urges us to embrace the natural world that is all around us, rather than putting off our explorations until we are in pristine wilderness. And yes, more often than not, that world includes crows.—Seana

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