Nonfiction News The Ridgefield Library’s Nonfiction Newsletter January 2021 A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year Selected picks from: History of America’s Hurricanes by Eric Jay Dolin Best The New York Times, Presents the story of American hurricanes, from Nonfiction Library Journal, the nameless storms that threatened Columbus' The Washington Post, New World voyages, to the devastation wrought Books by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the Time, Publishers Weekly, escalation of hurricane season as a result of 2020 BookPage, Goodreads, global warming. Bill Gates, and the New York Public Library The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson Draws on personal diaries, archival documents and declassified intelligence in a portrait of Winston Churchill that explores his day-to-day experiences during the Blitz and his role in uniting England. Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise The 5 Best Nonfiction Books of 2020 chosen by Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace the editors of the New York Times Book Review by Carl Safina Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker The New York Times best-selling author of A Promised Land by Barack Obama Beyond Words brings readers close to three non- Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener human cultures: sperm whales, scarlet macaws, Shakespeare in a Divided America by James Shapiro War: How Conflict Shaped Us by Margaret MacMillan and chimpanzees —to explore what they do, why they do it, and how life is for them. Untamed by Glennon Doyle An activist, speaker and philanthropist offers a A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to memoir that reveals how women can reclaim Rome in Search of Faith by Timothy Egan their true, untamed selves by breaking free of the The Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author of restrictive expectations and cultural conditioning The Immortal Irishman traces an ancient that leaves them feeling dissatisfied and lost. pilgrimage route from Canterbury to Rome, visiting some of Christianity’s most important shrines to explore the faith’s past, present and future. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson Wilkerson examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives Having and Being Had by Eula Biss today are still defined by a hierarchy of human Having just purchased her first home, the divisions. author embarks on a self-audit of the value system she has bought into. The essays in this Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning volume offer an interrogation of work, leisure, and the lived experience of capitalism. by Cathy Park Hong An award-winning poet and essayist offers a ruthlessly honest, emotionally charged exploration of the psychological condition of being Asian American. Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Bess Kalb The award-winning television writer reflects on her relationship with her loving grandmother, The Address Book by Deirdre Mask the daughter of immigrants from 19th-century Tells the story of how streets got their names and Belarus whose hardships, sacrifices and houses their numbers, and why something as headstrong nature shaped the author’s seemingly mundane as an address can save lives perspectives on family and career. or enforce power. 472 Main St., Ridgefield, CT 06877—203/438-2282—www.ridgefieldlibrary.org The Ridgefield Library’s NONFICTION Newsletter – Page 2 Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age NEW NONFICTION by Sanjay Gupta, M.D. Keep your brain young, healthy and sharp with SAMPLER this science-driven guide to protecting your mind from decline. Gupta discusses common myths, diet and exercise, drugs, vitamins, and Pee Wees: Confessions of a Hockey Parent supplements, and answers questions on by Rich Cohen Alzheimer’s as well a discovering what we can The New York Times bestselling author of learn from “super-brained” people in their The Chicago Cubs and Ridgefield resident eighties and above. takes a rollicking deep dive into the ultra- competitive world of youth hockey following the ups and downs of the Ridgefield Bears The Listening Path: The Creative Art of and competition in Fairfield County. Attention by Julia Cameron A 6-week Artist’s Way Program that is a transformational journey to deeper, more profound listening and creativity. Readers are given tools to become better listeners to their environment, the people around them and The Doctors Blackwell: How Two themselves. Each week is a challenge to Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to expand the ability to listen in a new way. Women and Women to Medicine by Janice P. Nimura The story of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in America to receive an M.D. in You’ll Never Believe What Happened to 1849, and her younger sister Emily who also Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism becomes a physician, and their founding of by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children, a Writer and performer on Late Night with Seth hospital staffed entirely by women. Meyers Amber Ruffin writes with her sister Lacey Lamar with humor and heart to share absurd anecdotes about everyday experiences Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending of racism. Pain, and Other Big Ideas by Alexi Pappas The Olympic runner, actress, filmmaker and writer Alexi Pappas shares what she’s learned about confidence, self-reliance, Let Me Tell You What I Mean mental health, embracing pain, and by Joan Didion achieving your dreams in the aftermath of A timeless collection of mostly early pieces her mother’s suicide when she was four from 1968 to 2000 that reveal what would years old. become Joan Didion's subjects, including the press, politics, California robber barons, women, and her own self-doubt. Martha Stewart’s Very Good Things by Martha Stewart Martha shares all her best good Bored Games: 100+ In-Person and Online things—the original life hacks for the Games to Keep Everyone Entertained home—to make your life easier, more by Adams Media fun, more delicious, and more Make your next get together a success efficient. Find hundreds of clever tips whether it is online or in-person. With 100 and solutions to elevate every day. classic party games, including ice breakers, truth or dare variations, trivia games, contests of strength and speed, minute challenges, and more, you can avoid awkward small talk and get your guests laughing and interacting. The Last Queen: Elizabeth II’s Seventy Year Battle to Save the House of Windsor by Clive Irving Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved A timely and revelatory new biography that to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding follows Elizabeth and her family’s struggle by Daniel Lieberman to survive in the face of unprecedented Drawing on insights from evolutionary biology changes in our attitudes towards the royal and anthropology, Lieberman suggests how we family, with the critical eye of an can make exercise more enjoyable. These investigative reporter who is present and engaging stories and explanations will involved on a highly personal level. revolutionize the way you think about exercising. .