New Nonfiction Roundup – July 2025

Happy summer everyone! In addition to this month’s Peak Picks, enjoy these nonfiction titles coming out in July.

In history and politics, Tim Weiner follows up his National Book Award-winning classic Legacy of Ashes with a history of the CIA in the 21st century in The Mission. Laurie Gwen Shapiro profiles Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the marriage that made an American icon, in The Aviator and the Showman; Scott Ellsworth provides a revealing account of the last year of the Civil War, the Lincoln assassination, and the rebirth of America in Midnight on the Potomac; and Nathalia Holt tells the stunning true story of the Roosevelt Brothers’ deadly quest to find the mythical Giant Panda in The Beast in the Clouds. Haley Cohen Gilliland shares the story of the grandmothers who fought to find a stolen generation of children in A Flower Traveled in My Blood and Madeline Potter presents a deeply personal portrait of the nomadic Romani people in The Roma, while Keith Houston takes a look at the history of emoji from its birth in 1990s Japan to today in Face With Tears of Joy.  In politics, reporters Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager, and Isaac Arnsdorf detail how Trump retook the White House and the Democrats lost America in 2024 while Salena Zito tells the untold story of the near assassination of Donald Trump in Butler. 

In true crime, James Patterson and Vicky Ward interviewed over 300 people to provide a definitive account of the murders of four innocent college students in The Idaho Four while Chuck Hogan reveals how four moms attempted to solve a mysterious cold case in The Carpool Detectives. And Chris Sweeney profiles Roxie Laybourne, who broke down barriers for women, solved murders, and investigated deadly airplane crashes with nothing more than a microscope and a few fragments of feathers in The Feather Detective. 

Three icons are given the biography treatment:  J. Randy Taraborrelli, author of Jackie: Public, Private, Secret turns his attention to her husband in JFK;  Shawn Levy pens a definitive biography of Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood in Clint; and Amy Odell turns her attention to Gwyneth Paltrow, one of the most influential and polarizing celebrities of the modern era, in Gwyneth. In memoir, Stephen Starring Grant takes readers on a wild ride delivering the mail in Appalachia and finally finding home in Mailman.

In science, Sam Kean’s latest romp reveals how rogue archaeologists are recreating the sights, smells, and tastes of lost civilizations in Dinner with King Tut; Michael Grunwald takes readers to the trenches of the next climate war – the fight to fix our food system – in We Are Eating the Earth; and Temple Grandin draws on her own experience to deliver an essential guidebook for guiding and nurturing autistic individuals with sensory differences in Autism, Sensory & Behavior.

Candace Parker, one of the most decorated and celebrated women ‘s basketball players of all time breaks down her ultimate recipe to success, using her own deeply inspiring journey to teach readers how to live bravely, unapologetically, and with purpose in The Can-Do Mindset while Christine Brennan paints an electrifying portrait of WNBA star and sports phenomenon Caitlin Clark in On Her Game.

Last but not least, two cookbooks round out July’s picks. Sami Tamimi, co-founder of Ottolenghi, presents more than 100 vegan and vegetarian recipes from Palestine in Boustany while Seema Pankhania gathers over 80 mouthwatering, flavor-packed recipes to satisfy every craving-salty or sweet, comforting or spicy-in Craveable.

~posted by Frank. All descriptions provided by publishers

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