reader's choice Dec 2023

 

Register for these fun programs coming up in January 2024!

Tue Jan 2 through Tue Jan 9, all day - Put together your 2024 vision board!  Supplies available on the 2nd floor. No registration necessary, just drop in!

Thu Jan 4 @ 6:30pm – Decluttering with Katie Rogers
(register here https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/8508324)

Sat Jan 6 @ 3pm – Great Short Stories Film Series presents Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (register here https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/9330648)

Mon Jan 8 @ 6:30pm – Great Short Stories Book Club discusses “Mr. Blandings Builds His Castle” by Eric Hodgins
(register here https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/8360680)

Sat Jan 27 @ 6:30pm – Burns Night
(register here https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/8011691)

Tue Jan 30 @ 6:30pm – Books & Beyond Discussion Group chats about immigration/emigration (register here https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/8810331 and reading suggestions available here https://oneallibrary.org/adults---reading-recommendations)

Last night, Books & Beyond had a Reader’s Choice meeting where there was no assigned topic, just sharing what we’ve been enjoying lately!

Ghost Story by Peter Straub

In the sleepy town of Milburn, New York, four old men gather to tell each other stories—some true, some made-up, all of them frightening. A simple pastime to divert themselves from their quiet lives. But one story is coming back to haunt them and their small town. A tale of something they did long ago. A wicked mistake. A horrifying accident. And they are about to learn that no one can bury the past forever...

Howl for the Gargoyle by Kathryn Moon (ebook on Hoopla)

Hannah never wanted to be a werewolf. After over thirty years as a human, she finds her new life on the other side of the species line too full of sudden changes. Especially when those changes risk her band's chance at a world tour. Desperate for a way to slake the cravings and soothe the restless anger that arrives every month like clockwork, Hannah takes the advice of a friend and books a night with the Monster Smash Agency. Hannah and Rafe's partnership ought to be practical, but their chemistry carves a new path. This werewolf is unlike any client Rafe has worked with yet, and he's determined to make her howl his name.

The Handi Book of love, Lust, and Disability by Jess Tarpey, Andrew Gurza, and Katy Venables (Unavailable in the JCLC system or WorldCat, available for purchase as an ebook on Amazon)

The Handi Book of Love, Lust and Disability unearths new conversations on sex, relationships and disability. It's beautifully designed and full of raw, powerful and inspiring stories, poetry and artwork from 50 phenomenal contributors from the disabled community.

Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again: Women and Desire in the Age of Consent by Katherine Angel (audiobook on Hoopla)

In today’s crucial moment of renewed attention to violence and power, Angel urges that we remake our thinking about sex, pleasure, and autonomy without any illusions about perfect self-knowledge. Only then will we fulfil Michel Foucault’s teasing promise, in 1976, that “tomorrow sex will be good again.”

Diary of a Genius: Salvador Dali’s Autobiography (available from WorldCat)

This stands as one of the seminal texts of Surrealism, revealing the most astonishing and intimate workings of the mind of Salvador Dalí, the eccentric polymath genius who became the living embodiment of the 20th century's most intensely subversive, disturbing and influential art movement.

Fifty Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship by Salvador Dali (ebook on Hoopla and available from WorldCat) 

For many, Salvador Dali represents the Surrealist painter par excellence, one whose work explored his own dream life, hallucinations, and fetishes in the process of objectifying the irrational elements of the unconscious. In this rare and important volume, the painter expresses (in his inimitably eccentric fashion) his ideas of what painting should be, expounds on what is good and bad painting, offers opinions on the merits of Vermeer, Picasso, Cézanne, and other artists, and expresses his thoughts on the history of painting.

The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear by Ralph Keyes (available from WorldCat)

Ralph Keyes, an author who has taught writing for more than thirty years, assures us that anxiety is felt by writers at every level, especially when they dare to do their best. He describes the sequence of "courage points" through which all writers must pass, from the challenge of identifying a worthwhile project to the mixture of pride and panic they feel when examining a newly published book or article.

The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham: A Biography by Selina Hastings

He was a brilliant teller of tales, one of the most widely read authors of the twentieth century, and at one time the most famous writer in the world, yet W. Somerset Maugham’s own true story has never been fully told. At last, the fascinating truth is revealed in a landmark biography by the award-winning writer Selina Hastings. Granted unprecedented access to Maugham’s personal correspondence and to newly uncovered interviews with his only child, Hastings portrays the secret loves, betrayals, integrity, and passion that inspired Maugham to create such classics as The Razor’s Edge and Of Human Bondage.

Edith Wharton by Hermione Lee

Delving into heretofore untapped sources, Lee does away with the image of the snobbish bluestocking and gives us a new Edith Wharton-tough, startlingly modern, as brilliant and complex as her fiction. Born into a wealthy family, Wharton left America as an adult and eventually chose to create a life in France. Her renowned novels and stories have become classics of American literature, but as Lee shows, Wharton's own life, filled with success and scandal, was as intriguing as those of her heroines. Bridging two centuries and two very different sensibilities, Wharton here comes to life in the skillful hands of one of the great literary biographers of our time.

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time. The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success ― not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is. If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone. But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

When an injury throws a young, battle-hungry orc off her chosen path, she may find that what we need isn't always what we seek. Set in the world of New York Times bestselling Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree's Bookshops & Bonedust takes us on a journey of high fantasy, first loves, and secondhand books.

The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of WWI by Douglas Brunt

The hidden history of one of the world’s greatest inventors, a man who disrupted the status quo and then disappeared into thin air on the eve of World War I—this book answers the hundred-year-old mystery of what really became of Rudolf Diesel.

Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

Our narrator produces a sound from the piano no one else at the Conservatory can. She employs a technique she learned from her parents—also talented musicians—who fled China in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. But when an accident leaves her parents debilitated, she abandons her future for a job at a high-end beauty and wellness store in New York City, Holistik, known for its remarkable products and procedures—from remoras that suck out cheap Botox to eyelash extensions made of spider silk—and her new job affords her entry into a world of privilege and gives her a long-awaited sense of belonging. But beneath these creams and tinctures lies something sinister. A piercing, darkly funny debut, Natural Beauty explores questions of consumerism, self-worth, race, and identity—and leaves readers with a shocking and unsettling truth.

Wild Dances: My Queer and Curious Journey to Eurovision by William Lee Adams

A memoir of glitz, glamour, geopolitics, and the power of pop music, following a misunderstood queer biracial kid from small-town Georgia who became the world's foremost Eurovision Song Contest blogger.

The Last Courtesan of Olympus by Amanda Meuwissen (Unavailable in the JCLC system or WorldCat, available for purchase as an ebook or paperback on Amazon)

Aikos is the best at what he does, the most skilled and coveted acolyte of Aphrodite, and he knows it, but when his beauty and allure attracts the attention of the gods themselves, his ascension to courtesan takes a turn he never expected. Straight to Olympus.

Nobel Minds 2023 (available on Youtube)

The 2023 laureates in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine and economic sciences talk to Zeinab Badawi and students in the audience at the Royal Palace in Stockholm about their discoveries and achievements, and how these might find a practical application.

Nobel lectures 2023 on Medicine/Physiology (available on Youtube)

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

Lucy Worsley's 12 Days of Tudor Christmas

Lucy Worsley recreates how Christmas was celebrated during the age of Henry VIII, eating, drinking, singing, dancing and partying as people did 500 years ago. On each of the traditional twelve days of Christmas, Lucy reveals a different aspect of the festivities, uncovering fresh insights into the Tudor mind and casting a captivating new light on Christmas itself.

Tudor Monastery Farm at Christmas (available on Youtube)

This film turns the clock back 500 years to find how the farms of Tudor England celebrated the twelve days of Christmas, with a frenzy of music, food and alcohol.

The Truth About Christmas Carols (available on Youtube)

BBC TV documentary broadcast on 25 December 2008, in which Howard Goodall investigates the often uncomfortable relationship between carols and the Church’s celebration of Christmas, using musical illustrations provided by various musicians including the choir of Truro Cathedral, directed by Christopher Gray.

FX's A Christmas Carol (currently streaming on Hulu)

FX’s A Christmas Carol is an original take on Charles Dickens’ iconic ghost story by Steven Knight (Taboo, Peaky Blinders). The FX Original movie is a spine-tingling immersion into Ebenezer Scrooge’s dark night of the soul.

 

NYT top 10 books of 2023

 

Here they are, the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2023!

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

Shortlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize and the 2023 Nero Book Award for Fiction
Winner of the 2023 An Post Irish Book Award for Novel of the Year
Finalist for the 2023 Kirkus Prize for Fiction

A Top 10 Best Book of 2023 by The New York Times and The Washington Post. One of The New Yorker's Essential Reads of 2023. Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, TIME, NPR, New York Public Library, BBC, and more.

Murray makes his triumphant return with a tragicomic tale about an Irish family grappling with crises. The Barneses — Dickie, Imelda, Cass and PJ — are a wealthy Irish clan whose fortunes begin to plummet after the 2008 financial crash. But in addition to this shared hardship, all four are dealing with demons of their own: the re-emergence of a long-kept secret, blackmail, the death of a past love, a vexing frenemy, a worrisome internet pen pal and more. The novel threads together the stories of the increasingly isolated Barneses, but the overall tapestry Murray weaves is not one of desolation but of hope. This is a book that showcases one family’s incredible love and resilience even as their world crumbles around them. 

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION • A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE

A dystopian satire in which death-row inmates duel on TV for a chance at freedom, Adjei-Brenyah’s debut novel — following his 2018 story collection, “Friday Black” — pulls the reader into the eager audience, making us complicit with the bloodthirsty fans sitting ringside. “As much as this book made me laugh at these parts of the world I recognized as being mocked, it also made me wish I recognized less of it,” Giri Nathan wrote in his review. “The United States of ‘Chain-Gang All-Stars’ is like ours, if sharpened to absurd points.” Amid a wrenching love story between two top competitors who are forced to choose between each other and freedom, the fight scenes are so well written they demonstrate how easy it might be to accept a world this sick. 

Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal

INCLUDED ON THE NEW YORKER'S BEST BOOKS OF 2023

De Kerangal’s brief, lyrical novel, first published in France in 2012 and newly translated by Jessica Moore, follows a young Russian conscript named Aliocha on a trans-Siberian train packed with other soldiers. The mood is grim. Aliocha, unnerved by his surroundings after a brawl, decides to desert — and in so doing, creates an uneasy alliance with a civilian passenger, a Frenchwoman. Their desolate environment — de Kerangal describes the Siberian landscape as “a world turned inside out like a glove, raw, wild, empty” — only heightens the stakes. “The insecurity of existence across this vastness and on board the train emphasizes the significance of human connection,” our reviewer, Ken Kalfus, wrote. “In a time of war, this connection may bring liberation and salvation.” 

The Fraud by Zadie Smith

One of NPR's Best Books of the Year • Named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly

Based on a celebrated 19th-century criminal trial in which the defendant was accused of impersonating a nobleman, Smith’s novel offers a vast, acute panoply of London and the English countryside, and successfully locates the social controversies of an era in a handful of characters. Chief among them are a widowed Scottish housekeeper who avidly follows the trial and a formerly enslaved Jamaican servant who testifies on behalf of the claimant. Smith is a talented critic as well as a novelist, and — by way of the housekeeper’s employer, a once popular writer and friendly rival of Dickens — she finds ample opportunity to send up the literary culture of the time while reflecting on whose stories are told and whose are overlooked. “As always, it is a pleasure to be in Zadie Smith’s mind, which, as time goes on, is becoming contiguous with London itself,” Karan Mahajan wrote in his review. “Dickens may be dead, but Smith, thankfully, is alive.”

North Woods by Daniel Mason

ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW AND THE WASHINGTON POST’S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time, NPR, Chicago Public Library, The Star Tribune, The Economist, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal

Mason’s ambitious, kaleidoscopic novel ushers readers over the threshold of a house in the wilds of western Massachusetts and leaves us there for 300 years and almost 400 pages. One after another, in sections interspersed with letters, poems, song lyrics, diary entries, medical case notes, real estate listings, vintage botanical illustrations and assorted ephemera not normally bound into the pages of a novel, we get to know the inhabitants of the place from colonial times to present day. There’s an apple farmer, an abolitionist and a wealthy manufacturer. A pair of beetles. A landscape painter. A ghost. Their lives (and deaths) briefly intersect, but mostly layer over each other in dazzling decoupage. All the while, the natural world looks on — a long-suffering, occasionally destructive presence. Mason is the consummate genial host, inviting you to stay as long as you like and to make of the place what you will. 

The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions by Jonathan Rosen

Named a Top 10 Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic

A Washington Post Notable Book

An inch-by-inch, pin-you-to-the-sofa reconstruction of the author’s long friendship with Michael Laudor, who made headlines first as a Yale Law School graduate destigmatizing schizophrenia; then for stabbing his pregnant girlfriend to death with a kitchen knife, after which he was sent to a maximum-security psychiatric hospital. Drawing from clips, court and police records, legal and medical studies, interviews, diaries and Laudor’s feverish writings (including a book proposal of his own), Rosen examines the porous line between brilliance and insanity, the complicated policy questions posed by deinstitutionalization and the ethical obligations of a community. “The Best Minds” is a thoughtfully constructed, deeply sourced indictment of a society that prioritizes profit, quick fixes and happy endings over the long slog of care. 

Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: A Journey Through the Deep State by Kerry Howley

Howley’s account of the national security state and the people entangled in it includes fabulists, truth tellers, combatants, whistle-blowers. At the center is Reality Winner (“her real name, let’s move past it now”), the National Security Agency contractor who was convicted under the Espionage Act for leaking classified information to The Intercept and sentenced to 63 months in prison. Howley’s exploration of privacy and digital surveillance eventually lands her in the badlands of conspiracy theorists and QAnon. It’s an arc that feels both startling and inevitable; of course a journey through the deep state would send her down the rabbit hole. The result is a book that is riveting and darkly funny and, in all senses of the word, unclassifiable. 

Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World by John Vaillant

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN NONFICTION • ONE OF TIME'S 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF THE YEAR

In 2016, raging wildfires consumed Fort McMurray in the Canadian province of Alberta. In the all-too-timely “Fire Weather,” Vaillant details how the blaze started, how it grew, the damage it wrought — and the perfect storm of factors that led to the catastrophe. We are introduced to firefighters, oil workers, meteorologists and insurance assessors. But the real protagonist here is the fire itself: an unruly and terrifying force with insatiable appetites. This book is both a real-life thriller and a moment-by-moment account of what happened — and why, as the climate changes and humans don’t, it will continue to happen again and again.

Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo

Named a best book of 2023 by The New Yorker, Time, NPR, Smithsonian Magazine, and Oprah Daily

In 1848, Ellen and William Craft, an enslaved couple in Georgia, made a daring escape north disguised as a sickly young white planter and his male slave — Ellen as the wealthy scion in a stovepipe hat, dark green glasses and a sling over her right arm to conceal her illiteracy. Improbably, despite close calls and determined slave catchers, the Crafts succeeded in their flight, going on to tour the abolitionist speaker circuit in England and to write a popular account of their journey. Their story, which a leading American abolitionist called “one of the most thrilling in the nation’s annals,” is remarkable enough. But Woo’s immersive rendering, which conjures the Crafts’ escape in novelistic detail, is equally a feat — of research, storytelling, sympathy and insight. 

Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country by Patricia Evangelista

New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, Time, The Economist, Chicago Public Library

This powerful book mostly covers the years between 2016 and 2022, when Rodrigo Duterte was president of the Philippines and pursued a murderous campaign of extrajudicial killings — EJKs for short. Such killings became so frequent that journalists like Evangelista, then a reporter for the independent news site Rappler, kept folders on their computers that were organized not by date but by hour of death. Offering the intimate disclosures of memoir and the larger context of Philippine history, Evangelista also pays close attention to language, and not only because she is a writer. Language can be used to communicate, to deny, to threaten, to cajole. It can propagate lies, but it also allows one to speak the truth.

 

Appalachia

 

The next Books & Beyond (BAB) meeting is on Tuesday, December 19th at 6:30pm.  It is a Reader’s Choice meeting so there is no assigned topic.  If you’d like to browse, there are a variety of displays up on the 2nd floor right now and you can also peruse the options on the library’s Shelf Care webpage: https://oneallibrary.org/adults---reading-recommendations

This week, BAB met to chat about Appalachia.  From fun, fluffy monster romances to folk medicine, we talked about it all!

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

A breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond in Depression-era America

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Richardson

Inspired by the true blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the brave and dedicated Kentucky Pack Horse library service of the 1930s, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one woman's belief that books can carry us anywhere—even back home.

The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant

White mule, white lightning, firewater, popskull, wild cat, stump whiskey, or rotgut—whatever you called it, Franklin County was awash in moonshine in the 1920s. When Sherwood Anderson, the journalist and author of Winesburg, Ohio, was covering a story there, he christened it the “wettest county in the world.” In the twilight of his career, Anderson finds himself driving along dusty red roads trying to find the Bondurant brothers, piece together the clues linking them to “The Great Franklin County Moonshine Conspiracy,” and break open the silence that shrouds Franklin County.

Lawless (feature film)

In 1931, the Bondurant brothers of Franklin County, Va., run a multipurpose backwoods establishment that hides their true business, bootlegging. Middle brother Forrest (Tom Hardy) is the brain of the operation; older Howard (Jason Clarke) is the brawn, and younger Jack (Shia LaBeouf), the lookout. Though the local police have taken bribes and left the brothers alone, a violent war erupts when a sadistic lawman (Guy Pearce) from Chicago arrives and tries to shut down the Bondurant’s operation.

Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell

Ree Dolly's father has skipped bail on charges that he ran a crystal meth lab, and the Dollys will lose their house if he doesn't show up for his next court date. With two young brothers depending on her, 16-year-old Ree knows she has to bring her father back, dead or alive. Living in the harsh poverty of the Ozarks, Ree learns quickly that asking questions of the rough Dolly clan can be a fatal mistake. But, as an unsettling revelation lurks, Ree discovers unforeseen depths in herself and in a family network that protects its own at any cost.

Winter’s Bone (feature film)

Faced with an unresponsive mother and a criminal father, Ozark teenager Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) does what she can to manage the household and take care of her two younger siblings. Informed by the sheriff (Garret Dillahunt) that their father put their home up for bond and then disappeared, Ree sets out on a dangerous quest to find him.

House of Cotton by Monica Brashears

Magnolia Brown is nineteen years old, broke, and effectively an orphan. She feels stuck and haunted: by her overdrawn bank account, her predatory landlord, and the ghost of her late grandmother Mama Brown. One night, while working at her dead-end gas station job, a mysterious, slick stranger named Cotton walks in and offers to turn Magnolia’s luck around with a lucrative “modeling” job at his family’s funeral home where she’ll impersonate the dead. 

Flat Broke with Two Goats: A Memoir by Jennifer McGaha

When Jennifer discovered that she and her husband owed back taxes—a lot of back taxes—her world changed. Now desperate to save money, they foreclosed on their beloved suburban home and moved their family to a one-hundred-year-old cabin in a North Carolina holler. Soon enough, Jennifer's life began to more closely resemble her Appalachian ancestors than her upper-middle-class upbringing. But what started as a last-ditch effort to settle debts became a journey that revealed both the joys and challenges of living close to the land.

Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America’s First Frontier by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin

It is the mid-eighteenth century, and in the thirteen colonies founded by Great Britain, anxious colonists desperate to conquer and settle North America’s “First Frontier” beyond the Appalachian Mountains commence a series of bloody battles. These violent conflicts are waged against the Native American tribes whose lands they covet, the French, and the mother country itself in an American Revolution destined to reverberate around the world.

These Silent Woods by Kimi Grant

For eight years, Cooper and his young daughter, Finch, have lived in isolation in a remote cabin in the northern Appalachian woods. And that's exactly the way Cooper wants it, because he's got a lot to hide. Finch has been raised on the books filling the cabin’s shelves and the beautiful but brutal code of life in the wilderness. But she’s starting to push back against the sheltered life Cooper has created for her—and he’s still haunted by the painful truth of what it took to get them there.

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters and propelled by a plot that will shock you again and again, The Library at Mount Char is at once horrifying and hilarious, mind-blowingly alien and heartbreakingly human, sweepingly visionary and nail-bitingly thrilling—and signals the arrival of a major new voice in fantasy.

Southern Folk Medicine: Healing Traditions from the Appalachian Fields and Forests by Phyllis D. Light

This practical and easy-to-understand guide to the plant wisdom of Southern and Appalachian folk medicine reveals the history and practices of this unique herbal tradition.

Fractured Truth by Susan Furlong

When the mutilated remains of a young woman are found in an Appalachian Mountain cave, newly sworn-in deputy sheriff Brynn Callahan is forced to track down a killer driven by twisted motives. 

The Thread That Runs So True: A Mountain School Teacher Tells His Story by Jesse Stuart

First published in 1949, Jesse Stuart’s now classic personal account of his twenty years of teaching in the mountain region of Kentucky has enchanted and inspired generations of students and teachers.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse—the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips

In a small Alabama coal-mining town during the summer of 1931, nine-year-old Tess Moore sits on her back porch and watches a woman toss a baby into her family’s well without a word. This shocking act of violence sets in motion a chain of events that forces Tess and her older sister Virgie to look beyond their own door and learn the value of kindness and lending a helping hand.

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. 

Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani

It's 1978, and Ave Maria Mulligan is the thirty-five-year-old self-proclaimed spinster of Big Stone Gap, a sleepy hamlet in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. She’s also the local pharmacist, the co-captain of the Rescue Squad, and the director of The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, the town’s long-running Outdoor Drama. Ave Maria is content with her life—until, one fateful day, her past opens wide with the revelation of a long-buried secret that will alter the course of her life. 

Tibetan Peach Pie: A True Account of an Imaginative Life by Tom Robbins

Internationally bestselling novelist and American icon Tom Robbins' legendary memoir--wild tales of his life and times, both at home and around the globe.

The Most They Ever Had by Rick Bragg

In spring 2001, a community of people in the Appalachian foothills had come to the edge of all they had ever been. Now they stood looking down, bitter, angry, afraid. Across the South, padlocks and logging chains bound the doors of silent mills, and it seemed a miracle to blue-collar people in Jacksonville, Alabama, that their mill still bit, shook, and roared. The century-old hardwood floors still trembled under whirling steel, and people worked on, in a mist of white air. The mill had become almost a living thing, rewarding the hard-working and careful with the best payday they ever had, but punishing the careless and clumsy, taking a finger, a hand, more.

No Getting Ogre You by M.L. Eliza (Amazon only)

Lost on the Appalachian Trail, Jaquelyn falls head-over-heels (literally) into an ogre's lair. She should be terrified of the enormous horned monster, but he turns out to be a surprisingly gentle green giant, and soon the fact that he and Jaquelyn don't understand each other no longer matters.

I’m in Love with Mothman by Paige Lavoie (request from WorldCat)

22-year-old Heather is suffering from an epic case of burnout. So, just like any other young influencer, she abandons her social platforms, gathers up her best flowy dresses, and moves to a desolate cabin. Heather imagines spending her #unplugged days traipsing through the woods and tending to her garden. However, her cottagecore fantasy is turned upside down when a wounded cryptid crashes into her roof—and her heart.

I’m Engaged to Mothman by Paige Lavoie (Amazon only)

Heather was sure dating a forest monster meant she wouldn’t have to impress his family, but faced with the royal court of Eclipsica, she realizes things might not be so simple.

best books for leaders

 

Every year since 2014, the Non-Obvious Company has reviewed nonfiction books published throughout the year and selected the best of the best -- the most insightful, the most impactful, the most "non-obvious" -- for their annual book awards. This year, they're partnering with Inc. Magazine to produce the 2023 Inc. Non-Obvious Book Awards, showcasing the best business books for entrepreneurs and other business leaders, as selected by Non-Obvious Company founder Rohit Bhargava.

Here are all of this year's winners, listed alphabetically by title.

1. A City on Mars by Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith

A witty overview of space exploration exposing all the inconvenient truths of why space habitation is actually really hard, and why we might need to temper our dreams of space settlement with harsh reality. 

 2. Afrofuturism by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Kevin Strait, Kinshasha Holman Conwill, Kevin Young, and Vernon Reid

Offers an important and illuminating chronicle of the widely underappreciated contributions of Afrofuturists to imagining a better and more equitable future for humanity. 

3. Against Technoableism by Ashley Shew

Unlike most books about disability, this one is written by a disabled person. Academic Ashley Shew aims to "explode" common perceptions about disability and explain how to create a more equitable world. 

4. Awaken Your Genius by Ozan Varol

This guide to innovation explores why we call some people "geniuses" when really, every single one of us could learn to be a genius. 

5. Back to the Futures by Scott Irwin and Doug Peterson

Scott Irwin and Doug Peterson explain why we should be thinking about commodity futures markets -- how they work, and how they impact us even when we're not invested in them -- just a little more. 

6. Big Bets by Rajiv Shah

Big Bets offers a manifesto for what it really takes to think bigger, ask more ambitious questions, maintain your optimism, and actually set yourself on the path to change the world. 

7. Black Founder by Stacy Spikes

MoviePass founder Stacy Spikes explains what happened when he pursued his dream -- and the lessons he learned that could open the door for so many others like himself. 

 8. Breaking Free by Marcie Bianco

Bianco argues that we should not pursue equality -- an unrealistic ideal grounded in racism and sexism -- but should instead make it our mission to pursue freedom. 

 9. Build a Better Business Book by Josh Bernoff

Bernoff offers a step-by-step guide to writing a good business book. 

10. Building by Mark Ellison

A memoir from a master carpenter may not immediately seem like the ideal place to learn timeless business lessons, but Ellison offers plenty of takeaways that would rival the best guidebooks on growing a business. 

11. Centered by Kaleena Sales

Designer Kaleena Sales argues that diverse design perspectives and styles should not be an ancillary component of design education, but rather a core component of the curriculum.

12. Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish

The key to a better future is to master the art of making the right decisions in everyday, seemingly insignificant moments. 

13. Code to Joy by Michael L. Littman

You may not realize it, but learning a little bit of programming might indeed be an important part of surviving our digital future. 

14. Crossings by Ben Goldfarb

Goldfarb lays out why roads are the key to human history -- and our future -- and explores what it would take to build roads that positively benefit the environment as opposed to destroying it. 

15. Do Interesting by Russell Davies

Advertising legend Russell Davies offers a collection of tips on what it really takes to be more creative and more noticeable. 

16. Doppelganger by Naomi Klein

What if you discovered a mirror version of yourself who believed in everything you despised? What sounds like science fiction sets that stage for a very real memoir from influential social critic Naomi Klein that will transform the way you see yourself in a world filled with floods of fake content and people. 

17. Emotional Labor by Rose Hackman

For decades, the invisible work of emotional labor was never understood or discussed. Emotional Labor is a well-researched exploration of why emotional work often disproportionately holds women and people of color back, and how exposing it can foster more equality in work and life. 

18. Encounterism by Andy Field

In an increasingly digital world, we need to refocus on the joy of being physically together and the beauty of ordinary encounters. 

19. Everyday Dharma by Suneel Gupta

In a time when it can be hard to center on your purpose at work, Everyday Dharma reminds you how to rediscover your essence (or dharma). 

20. Excellent Advice for Living by Kevin Kelly

A collection of advice from one of the tech industry's longtime icons that reads like the very best life advice from a benevolent grandfather who has been at the center of the technological shift in the world, and offers up short, digestible lessons he's curated along the way. 

21. Extremely Online by Taylor Lorenz

Promising to chronicle the entire history of social media, Lorenz offers a highly engaging exploration of what living our lives "extremely online" is doing to our self-esteem, relationships, and our culture at large. 

22. Fool Me Once by Kelly Richmond Pope

Kelly Richmond Pope -- a forensic accounting professor and the director of All the Queen's Horses, a documentary about the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history -- investigates how scams make so much money, examines the people working within them, and spotlights the whistleblowers who break them open.

23. For the Culture by Marcus Collins

Collins explores culture's role in our decisions and why it is so essential that we understand it, whether we're consumers or marketers. 

24. Generations by Jean M. Twenge

Renowned generational researcher Jean Twenge offers a detailed look at every generation's habits. It presents a roadmap to understanding the forces that each generation's mindset exerts on their collective behavior, and how they interact with one another.

25. Happiness Is Overrated by Cuong Lu

Written by an ordained monk, Happiness Is Overrated: Simple Lessons on Finding Meaning in Each Moment exhorts us to stop spending so much time chasing happiness and instead to look at the truth of our lives, without denying our suffering, and find joy in each moment. 

26. Hidden Genius by Polina Marinova Pompliano

From the founder of The Profile, Pompliano brings to light the perspectives and ways of thinking that have empowered leaders like Al Pacino and Lin-Manuel Miranda to succeed. 

27. Hidden Potential by Adam Grant

Social scientist Adam Grant argues that we can all rise to achieve great things and offers a roadmap to realizing your hidden potential that focuses on learning how to improve at improving. 

28. How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner

The world's leading expert on megaprojects offers an insider's look at why some billion-dollar projects fail while others succeed. 

29. How to Make Money by Nafisa Bakkar

Bakkar offers a transparent look at both her experience as a Muslim female entrepreneur and at what it actually takes to create a lucrative business. 

30. How to Protect Bookstores and Why by Danny Caine

Bookstore owner Danny Caine argues for the value of bookstores -- and his guide for how we can all contribute to saving them. 

31. How to Think Like a Woman by Regan Penaluna

Writer and journalist Regan Penaluna wanted to study philosophy -- and soon found that all philosophers taught in her classes were male. She chronicles her efforts to find and learn from women philosophers.

32. How to Work With (Almost) Anyone by Michael Bungay Stanier

From the best-selling author of The Coaching Habit comes a practical guidebook on what it takes to work with every type of person. 

33. How Work Works by Michelle P. King

Your success in any business endeavor might come down to your ability to read all the unspoken elements of a situation. This skill, also dubbed "reading the air," is just one of the useful insights you'll take away.

34. I Hope You Fail by Pinky Cole

You wouldn't think a book actively hoping you'll fail would offer much inspiration, but restaurateur Pinky Cole offers 10 irreverently useful "hater statements" along with the secret for overcoming them. 

35. Knowing What We Know by Simon Winchester

Winchester explores the rise of the encyclopedia -- including Wikipedia -- and investigates whether the ways in which we collect knowledge are impeding our ability to think. 

36. Look by Christian Madsbjerg

A teacher who developed a course on human observation offers a nuanced guide on how to recapture our ability to pay attention that will help you focus on the unexpected, listen better, and really look at everything happening around you. 

37. Magic Words by Jonah Berger

Renowned marketing professor Jonah Berger offers an immediately useful exploration of six types of "magic words" that can motivate others, unlock creativity, and persuade anyone. 

38. MCU by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards

A historic look at the pop culture universe of Marvel Studios, its rise, and how that movement happened. 

39. Misbelief by Dan Ariely

Why do some people succumb to misbeliefs and shift their reality -- and how can any of us prevent ourselves from being misbelievers? A legendary social scientist offers some answers. 

40. Mixed Signals by Uri Gneezy

Gneezy uses behavioral economics and game theory to explore our approach to incentives and how we can design things to be more effective. 

41. More Numbers Every Day by Micael Dahlen and Helge Thorbjornsen

Economics professors Micael Dahlen and Helge Thorbjornsen examine our obsession with numbers -- tracking our sleep, steps, friends, and more -- and how you can live a happier, healthier life by understanding their context. 

42. NFTs Are a Scam/NFTs Are the Future by Bobby Hundreds

Hundreds provides a rare, balanced look at both the opportunity and the bullshit driving the NFT craze, and offers an even-handed but still optimistic way to make sense of the hype. 

43. Nobody's Fool by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris

Psychology professors Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris explain why we get misled and what habits we can cultivate to avoid getting scammed.

44. On Being Unreasonable by Kirsty Sedgman

British cultural studies scholar Kirsty Sedgman explores the relative definition of "reasonable" and its role in why we disagree. 

45. Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire

Oliver Darkshire comes to work at an antique bookstore in London, takes it over, and learns unexpected lessons from working with rare books. 

46. Ordinary Notes by Christina Sharpe

Part poetry collection and part art project, Ordinary Notes has been described as "a brilliant new literary form" and offers a fascinating, immersive look at the everyday Black experience that will change your perspective. 

47. Outrage Machine by Tobias Rose-Stockwell

Rose-Stockwell argues that our outrage is fueled by algorithms, and investigates what it does to our culture when outrage is continually fueled and monetized. 

48. Outsmart Your Brain by Daniel T. Willingham

A practical, step-by-step guide on exactly how to be a better learner -- a valuable skill at work and in life at any stage. 

49. Paved Paradise by Henry Grabar

Examines everything you've never thought about in terms of parking and reveals why understanding it might be the key to creating more livable cities in the future. 

50. Pockets by Hannah Carlson

Carlson explores the history of pockets, what they reveal about us and our perspective on gender, and why that matters. 

51. Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond

Desmond suggests the solution to inequity may be in our willingness to become "poverty abolitionists" and offers a manifesto to ending poverty in America. 

52. Quiet Street by Nick McDonell

A short memoir written from the perspective of a young white man who was forced to confront his elite background, it attacks the 1 percent and how they cling to power, and examines what it would take for them to share it. 

53. Radical Inclusion by David Moinina Sengeh

From the classrooms of Sierra Leone, Sengeh tackles the idea of creating a better, more inclusive world through lessons on identifying exclusions, building connections, and reimagining the systems that hold people back. 

54. Reimagine Inclusion by Mita Mallick

A more mature look at the evolution and meaning of DEI, Mallick breaks down 13 common ideas people believe about diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

55. Right Kind of Wrong by Amy Edmondson

Edmondson guides readers to avoiding the shame of failure and instead pursuing "intelligent failure," which will help you achieve more success by getting better at learning from the things you'll inevitably do wrong. 

56. Saving Time by Jenny Odell

In this irreverent guide from the best-selling author of How to Do Nothing, you'll learn how to reevaluate the role time plays in your life to find a better balance. 

57. Saying NO to a Farm-Free Future by Chris Smaje

Social scientist and farmer Chris Smaje explains how farms work, and how we can protect nature as well as keep farms alive. 

58. Selfless by Brian Lowery

Lowery argues that your self isn't just you, but everything around you -- and so your highs and lows belong to others too. It's an empowering, reimagined way to look at yourself. 

59. Size by Vaclav Smil

An impressively wide-ranging, unique look at a topic that truly affects everything. 

60. SLAY the Bully by Rebecca Zung

You're going to deal with narcissists, in life as well as business. Zung breaks down the unfortunately necessary skill of negotiating and dealing with these individuals. 

61. Soul Boom by Rainn Wilson

The Office actor offers a humorous explanation of how we can use spirituality and religion to bring people together and find balance, instead of letting it divide us.

62. STFU by Dan Lyons

An entertainingly blunt book that offers the underappreciated call to action for all of us to shut the f*ck up. Learning to be strategically quiet and to speak with intention might not only help you succeed, it might also make the world better for the rest of us. 

63. The Anxious Achiever by Morra Aarons-Mele

Top-rated podcaster Aarons-Mele explains how to lean into anxiety and make it work for you. 

64. The Canceling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott

A remarkably thoughtful review of a sensitive topic for many, Lukianoff provides an exploration of the roots of cancel culture on American college campuses and its effects on our ability to tolerate and engage with dissenting viewpoints. 

65. The Case for Good Jobs by Zeynep Ton

MIT professor Zeynep Ton examines the connection between retention and jobs that make people feel good while doing them -- and how we can use this concept to improve frontline jobs. 

66. The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman

An A.I. thinker and ethicist explores what the future of A.I. will bring and what the ethical considerations need to be. 

67. The Defiant Optimist by Durreen Shahnaz

Part memoir and part guidebook, this shares Shahnaz's efforts to fight for women's rights as well as her advice for redistributing finances to more equitably invest in the community. 

68. The Four Workarounds by Paulo Savaget

Savaget offers a practical and story-filled guide on using four of the most common workarounds. 

69. The Future Is Disabled by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

A rare look at the future from a disabled perspective: Told through the unique format of love letters, the book offers the sadly radical idea that a utopian future and disabled people can coexist. 

70. The Future of the Responsible Company by Vincent Stanley and Yvon Chouinard

A marketing pamphlet of sorts about the Patagonia founders' decision to give the company away nevertheless offers a refreshing, behind-the-scenes look at exactly what the company's leadership has learned from their unique approach to business. 

71. The Golden Screen by Jeff Yang

Jeff Yang brings Asian American culture to life through the movies that have shaped or told the story of the Asian experience in America. 

72. The Identity Trap by Yascha Mounk

Mounk challenges conventional thinking about identity and reveals how we might find belonging in groups without letting identity fuel the idea that we are in conflict with one another. 

73. The Long View by Richard Fisher

BBC journalist Richard Fisher explains why, in a world dominated by the 24-hour news cycle, thinking in terms of deeper, longer time scales is so essential. 

74. The PARA Method by Tiago Forte

A quick guide expanding on the author's highly practical and popular method for organizing all the files in your digital clutter to help you focus on what matters most, instead of getting buried in digital folders and email. 

75. The Perennials by Mauro F. Guillén

A different look at generational differences argues that the terms we typically use to define generations are outdated because they put us into rigid categories, and offers an explanation of how we can create more effective intergenerational collaboration and communication. 

76. The Power of Empathy by Michael Tennant

Effectively balances a self-help approach with a practical explanation of how we can use empathy as a tool. 

77. The Power of One by Frances Haugen

A fantastic example of bravery and how one person's actions really can change the world. 

78. The Power of Saying No by Vanessa Patrick

Patrick offers a process and toolkit for something you probably know you should do more -- say no -- and explains how you can go about doing that in a way that doesn't make you feel wracked with guilt. 

79. The Power of Wonder by Monica C. Parker

A well-thought-out dissection of "wonder" and a compelling reminder of just how important to our emotional fulfillment it can be to find consistent ways to cultivate more wonder in our lives. 

80. The Problem of 12 by John Coates

Harvard professor John Coates examines the issues that come up in a world where a few institutions exert influence over politics, the economy, and nearly every other aspect of our lives. 

81. The Real Work by Adam Gopnik

Gopnik explains how masters become experts at their craft and what they can teach the rest of us about improving at whatever we do. 

82. The Right Call by Sally Jenkins

Acclaimed sports writer Sally Jenkins relates all she's learned from interviewing legendary athletes, coaches, and other sports minds. 

83. The Second in Command by Cameron Herold

Leadership coach Cameron Herold explains just how important a COO is and why getting the right person in that role can significantly improve a CEO's success. 

84. The Song of Significance by Seth Godin

This collection of short anecdotes will make you think about the biggest aspects of your business by delivering potentially huge suggestions in a small, digestible format. 

85. The Status Revolution by Chuck Thompson

A wildly original look at how we assign status and a deeper review of the macro shift that may cause a reimagining of the idea of luxury. 

86. The Teachers by Alexandra Robbins

An urgent and sometimes disturbing look at the true lives and work of U.S. teachers exploring what teachers deal with on a daily basis, why they're so underpaid and underappreciated, and why it's so difficult to get people to enter that profession. 

87. The Theory of Everything Else by Dan Schreiber

Popular podcaster Dan Schreiber offers an entertaining journey into "weird," all to help you find new ways to think differently. 

88. The Wisdom of the Bullfrog by William H. McRaven

Navy Admiral William H. McRaven offers leadership lessons from legendary military officers and breaks down everything he himself has learned in his journey to becoming admiral.

89. Turnaround Time by Oscar Munoz

The unlikely story of a leader who took over a major airline, had a near-fatal heart attack a month later, and then managed to recover and lead a dramatic turnaround at United Airlines. 

90. Unmasking AI by Joy Buolamwini

Legendary A.I. researcher Joy Buolamwini explores how we can be more human in a world that is increasingly dominated by technology. 

91. Upshift by Ben Ramalingam

You'll discover the secrets of becoming an "upshifter" who can innovate under any kind of pressure. 

92. Walking With Sam by Andrew McCarthy

Actor and travel writer Andrew McCarthy tells his story of walking through Spain with his son and explores the power of taking time off. 

93. What Is ChatGPT Doing... and Why Does It Work? by Stephen Wolfram

Prominent scientist Stephen Wolfram offers a short, accessible explanation of the technology behind ChatGPT, how it works, and what it's actually doing.

94. When Race Trumps Merit by Heather Mac Donald

Mac Donald argues that we may be overcorrecting when it comes to creating more policies and opportunities for disadvantaged groups, and that that overcorrection may actually be causing us to leave equity behind. 

95. Win Every Argument by Mehdi Hasan

The ambitious but somehow realistic goal of this book is to help you win any argument. 

96. Working to Restore by Esha Chhabra

Chhabra examines regenerative commerce through several lenses, exploring how can we use the economy and the things we're producing to simultaneously resurrect and rebuild the environment. 

97. You Will Own Nothing by Carol Roth

In a world where ownership and the need for it is transformed, Roth offers an activist lens on why we all may want to fight back for our right to own things once again. 

98. Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross

The authors use compelling science and fascinating stories to offer up an argument that many have long believed but rarely had proof of -- that art helps humanity flourish. 

99. Your Face Belongs to Us by Kashmir Hill

The fight to create and improve facial recognition technology is riveting, scary, and timely...this is the perfect introduction not only to the evolution of this technology, but also to what we should all know about the potential dangers this technology poses. 

100. Yours Truly by James R. Hagerty

A Wall Street Journal obituary writer's explanation of how obituaries are written and what they tell us about people's lives. What would your obituary say -- and what would you want it to say?

https://www.inc.com/inc-staff/non-obvious-book-awards-best-books-2023.html