W. W. Norton & Company

A historian with many interests—from Jane Franklin to Wonder Woman—Jill Lepore here explores the very origins of our country. At a time when it feels like the foundation is crumbling, it’s important to look back and understand how the United States was formed. Lepore has a deftness with language that is always a delight to read. The pages of These Truths breezed by pleasurably. Ivy

Avast! This book is a delight, making pirate history engaging and fascinating. Every other page had some tidbit about piratical, world, and particularly American history that I couldn’t wait to talk about with people. The pirates are presented as honestly as possible, in their heroic triumphs and in the brutality and violence they were part of. Highly recommend for the pirate or history buff in your life. - Jax

“For the title of his debut collection of essays on race, gender, and American society, Wesley Yang invokes W.E.B. Du Bois’s 1903 classic study of race in America. These 13 essays explore the ways in which the American dream shapes and distorts an assortment of people: chefs, strivers, pickup artists, and school shooters. Included here is ‘Paper Tigers,’ Yang’s personal, National Magazine Award–winning look at Asian-American overachievers. As Yang’s avid followers already know, his laser scrutiny spares no one—not even Yang himself.” —The Millions

Home After Dark follows a boy through the harsh experiences of an unstable life. Its simple yet exacting art style and the writing of its characters are of equal quality in this fictional follow-up to Small’s critically acclaimed memoir Stitches. Home After Dark has received starred reviews from Booklist, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Library Journal. Booklist says, “Small turns a deeply focused lens onto the isolation, loneliness, and relentless cruelty of male adolescence in this immensely powerful new work. Spare and powerful, this is not to be missed." - Ian

Gary Young’s prose poems feel like forgotten soulmates. Seemingly unassuming sentences, day-to-day observations, build upon each other, and then in an expert turn, enlightenment takes sudden, luminous flight. Each poem sits with me long after I’ve read it once, twice, more. His new collection, That’s What I Thought, comes out this fall, and I am so looking forward to dipping in and finding new companions. - Melinda

When Mary Beard writes Art History she writes a history of experiencing art. In this investigation of civilization Beard focuses on the images humans have created of themselves and the divine and how they relate to who those people were. I loved the way this book pushed me to think as creatively about ancient art and sculpture as we are taught to think about modern art. A total joy! - Clara

This history book was written for anyone who loves true crime or scandalous drama. The narrative follows Nicolas de la Reynie, the man appointed by Louis XIV to clean up crime-ridden Paris as the city’s first chief of police. La Reynie’s investigation into the twisted “Affair of the Poisons” takes us deep into a thrilling story of murder, witchcraft, intrigue, sex, and revenge. - Clara

Following three astronomers across the Great Plains to the point of totality of the 1878 total solar eclipse, each one has their distinct reasons for converging on such a historic event that held great promise for the maturing field of astronomy to test some of its big ideas. But all their reasons are fascinating, engaging, and peculiar. A must for anyone interested by historical astronomy. - Ian

The re-release of this book is a wonderful thing, we are lucky to have it back in the collective unconscious. If The Little Mermaid 2 met Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace it might look something like this. But this is better, because it’s real. It’s a story of unrequited love, and madness, and war, and mermaids, and all the ways a small town can shape a big life. It’s a story of the ocean, and its unwavering loyalty to itself. And it’s a story of family, of the ways we mark and are marked by our kin. I will be recommending this book to the people I love for a very long time. - Wren

Close your eyes and visualize a lush, vibrant, greener-than-green jungle. Now get rid of the bugs and giant cats who want to eat you, lose the muggy, humid air, and add some cute pots and knotted plant hangers (see my review of Modern Macramé). Now open your eyes and see that you’re holding a copy of Plant Style, which, through its beautiful pictures, plant profiles, and care charts (including information on the water and light needs of the various plants) shows you how to curate and care for this jungle. - Megan