America celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, and the first of many books about our nation’s history are being released this month. Acclaimed historian Jon Meacham unites centuries of essential American voices to understand our national debates and divisions in American Struggle while CBS News’s senior correspondent Norah Jones paints a vivid portrait the hidden heroes who shaped America in We the Women and David J. Silverman places race at the center of Native American U.S. history in The Chosen and the Damned. Chris Jennings tells the gripping story of the siege at Ruby Ridge and shows how it set the stage for the unmaking of America in The End of Days. Josh Ireland reveals the true story of the plot to kill Stalin’s greatest enemy in The Death of Trotsky and Sam Dalrymple pens a sweeping history of modern South Asia through the five partitions that reshaped it in Shattered Lands. Turning to current events, Emily Galvin Almanza takes us behind the closed doors of America’s criminal courts to expose unfair trials and a violent system as she searches for justice in America in The Price of Mercy and Ross W. Greene presents an urgent case for reimagining support, belonging, and hope in schools with The Kids Who Aren’t Okay.
Several thought-provoking essay collections are being released this month. The late Rachel Held Evans’s most impactful essays for reckoning with and reimagining faith are collected in Braving the Truth and a posthumous collection by Toni Morrison finds her reflecting on the American canon and illuminating the race, the arts, and life beyond the page in Language as Liberation. Cultural critic Maria Popova returns with a bold exploration of what makes a meaningful life with Traversal. Ej Dickson praises psycho housewives, stage parents, momfluencers, trad wives, and other women we love to hate in One Bad Mother while Laura Mauldin gives voice to the unpaid caregiving labor of spouses and intimate partners with In Sickness and in Health. For science-minded readers, Hannah Ritchie presents a hopeful guide to solving climate change in 50 questions and answers in Clearing the Air; Matt Kaplan profiles scientists who were ridiculed, exiled, and imprisoned for being right in I Told You So!; and Jamie C. Woodward tells the history of our planet through major geologic changes and scientific breakthroughs in A Little History of the Earth.
In memoir, Gisèle Pelicot, who waived her right to anonymity in her legal fight against her ex-husband and the fifty men accused of sexually assaulting her, aims to change the conversation around shame in A Hymn to Life. California governor Gavin Newsom reflects on how his childhood shaped his vision for the state and the nation in Young Man in a Hurry. Podcaster and Jelly Roll’s wife Bunnie Xo shares her unfiltered and unapologetic journey of redemption in Stripped Down; American Idol finalist David Archuleta traces his journey from closeted Mormon teen to global queer pop star in Devout; Father James Martin, podcast host of This Spiritual Life, tells the story of a busboy, dishwasher, caddy, usher, factory worker, bank teller, and corporate tool and, finally, a Jesuit priest in Work in Progress; and Mark Haddon, acclaimed author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, paints a ringing testament about how he sees the world in the lavishly illustrated Leaving Home. From Dorothy Roberts (Killing the Black Body) comes a spirited and riveting memoir of growing up in an interracial family in 1960s Chicago in The Mixed Marriage Project while Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Eugene Robinson tells our nation’s torturous racial history through his own family’s story in Freedom Lost, Freedom Won. And in biography, Gabriel Sherman recounts how the epic fight to control the last great media dynasty broke a family — and the world — Bonfire of the Murdochs while Dan Chiasson chronicles the early days and inexorable rise of Bernie Sanders, the one-of-a-kind visionary who changed politics forever in Bernie for Burlington.
TV fans won’t want to miss Scott Meslow’s extraordinary, untold history of Twin Peaks in A Place Both Wonderful and Strange or Jeff Probst’s celebration of the landmark 50th season of Survivor in Survivor: Forged by Fire. And movie fans will be thrilled to read Paul Fischer’s intimate story of how three young visionaries–Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg–revolutionized American cinema in The Last Kings of Hollywood.
In health and wellness, social media sensation Dr. Zachary Rubin tells you everything you need to know about asthma, food allergies, hay fever, and more in All About Allergies while Dr. Amy Shah shares a science-based protocol for perimenopause and menopause to sleep better, think better and feel better in Hormone Havoc; Nedra Glover Tawwab guides readers to create healthy dependency and connection without losing themselves in The Balancing Act; Daniel Coyle provides a blueprint for building a life full of meaning, joy and fulfillment in Flourish; Leslie John reveals the surprising and underrated power of oversharing in Revealing; and Joshua Becker returns with a transformative guide to experience God’s promises through the power of minimalism in Uncluttered Faith. Misha Brown pens a no-nonsense guide to changing the way you treat yourself in Be Your Own Bestie and Tom Bellamy explores romantic obsession, the neuroscience of limerence, and how to make love last in Smitten. Zimbabwe-born physician Khameer Kidia reimagines western health care for everyone in Empire of Madness; Robert Wachter chronicles how AI is transforming healthcare and what it means for the future in A Giant Leap. And Bill Gurley helps people find and thrive in a career that they actually love in Runnin’ Down a Dream.
Finally, in cooking, Jerrelle Guy shares simple meals to make everyday special in We Fancy while Steph Grasso helps home cooks develop a healthier, happier relationship with food through 80 nourishing recipes in Crave, Cook, Nourish and Lauren Chambers empowers women with 100 recipes to reverse hormonal imbalance and optimize health in Hormone Healthy Eats. Ella Quittner’s methodically perfected recipes reveal the best ways to cook and bake your favorite foods in the charmingly obsessive Obsessed With the Best and Thalia Ho explores the five tastes and how they transform dessert through 100 recipies in Bittersweet.
~ posted by Frank