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What an owl knows : the new science of the world's most enigmatic birds2023
Summary: For centuries, owls have captivated and intrigued us. Our fascination with these mysterious birds was first documented over 30,000 years ago, in the Chauvet cave paintings in southern France, and our... more »- place hold (1)
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Quietly hostile : essays2023
Summary: Samantha Irby's career has taken her to new heights. She dodges calls from Hollywood and flop-sweats on the red carpet at premieres (well, one premier). But nothing is ever as it seems online, where... more »- place hold (1)
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Women we buried, women we burned : a memoir2023
Summary: A memoir of survival, self-discovery, and forgiveness. For decades, Rachel Louise Snyder has been a fierce advocate reporting on the darkest social issues that impact women's lives. This is her own... more »- place hold (2)
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When the heavens went on sale : the misfits and geniuses racing to put space within reach2023
Summary: With the launch of the Falcon 1 rocket in 2008, Elon Musk's SpaceX became the first private company to build a low-cost rocket that could reach orbit. And that milestone carried major implications:... more »- place hold (0)
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The teachers : a year inside America's most vulnerable, important profession2023
Summary: Alexandra Robbins goes behind the scenes to tell the true, sometimes shocking, always inspirational stories of three teachers as they navigate a year in the classroom. She follows Penny, a southern... more »- place hold (0)
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The love you save : a memoir2023
Summary: An acclaimed journalist and human rights activist shares the harrowing yet deeply hopeful story of her troubled childhood in East St. Louis -- a memoir of family, faith and the power of books.- place hold (0)
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A living remedy : a memoir2023
Summary: When Nicole Chung graduated from high school, she couldn't hightail it out of her overwhelmingly white Oregon hometown fast enough. As a scholarship student at a private university on the East Coast,... more »- place hold (0)
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A fever in the heartland : the Ku Klux Klan's plot to take over America, and the woman who stopped them2023
Summary: The Roaring Twenties -- the Jazz Age -- has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not... more »- place hold (2)
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You could make this place beautiful : a memoir2023
Summary: "Life, like a poem, is a series of choices." In her memoir, poet Maggie Smith explores the disintegration of her marriage and her renewed commitment to herself in lyrical vignettes that shine, hard... more »- place hold (0)
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The undertow : scenes from a slow civil war2023
Summary: Across the country, men "of God" glorify materialism, a gluttony of the soul, while citing Scripture and preparing for civil war -- a firestorm they long for as an absolution and exaltation. Lies,... more »- place hold (0)
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The odyssey of Phillis Wheatley : a poet's journeys through American slavery and independence2023
Summary: Admired by George Washington, ridiculed by Thomas Jefferson, published in London, and read far and wide, Phillis Wheatley led one of the most extraordinary American lives. Seized in West Africa and... more »- place hold (0)
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Saving time : discovering a life beyond the clock2023
Summary: In her first book, How to Do Nothing, Jenny Odell wrote about the importance of disconnecting from the "attention economy" to spend time in quiet contemplation. But what if you don't have time to... more »- place hold (0)
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All my knotted-up life : a memoir2023
Summary: A glimpse into the life and ministry of a woman familiar to many but known by few. This memoir is a portrait of resilience and survival and a poignant reminder of God's enduring faithfulness.- place hold (0)
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Walk the blue line2023
Summary: America's cops are our eyes. Our ears. Our protectors. Those who wear a badge do their best to help people. These men and women serve their communities. They service their country -- even at the risk... more »- place hold (0)
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How far the light reaches : a life in ten sea creatures2022
Summary: A queer, mixed race writer working in a largely white, male field, science and conservation journalist Sabrina Imbler has always been drawn to the mystery of life in the sea, and particularly to... more »- place hold (0)
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The escape artist : the man who broke out of Auschwitz to warn the world2022
Summary: In April 1944, Rudolf Vrba became the first Jew to break out of Auschwitz -- one of only four who ever pulled off that near-impossible feat. He did it to reveal the truth of the death camp to the... more »- place hold (0)
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His name is George Floyd : one man's life and the struggle for racial justice2022
Summary: The events of that day are now tragically familiar: on May 25, 2020, George Floyd became the latest Black person to die at the hands of the police, murdered outside of a Minneapolis convenience store... more »- place hold (0)
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Lady justice : women, the law, and the battle to save America2022
Summary: After the sudden shock of Donald Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016, many Americans felt lost and uncertain. It was clear he and his administration were going to pursue a series of... more »- place hold (0)
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I'm glad my mom died2022
Summary: Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother's dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So... more »- place hold (0)
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An immense world : how animal senses reveal the hidden realms around us2022
Summary: The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every animal is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a... more »- place hold (0)
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South to America : a journey below the Mason-Dixon to understand the soul of a nation2022
Summary: An essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South -- and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand America.... more »- place hold (0)
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Bittersweet : how sorrow and longing make us whole2022
Summary: Bittersweetness is a tendency to states of longing, poignancy, and sorrow; an acute awareness of passing time; and a curiously piercing joy when beholding beauty. It recognizes that light and dark,... more »- place hold (0)
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Staff PickThe book your dog wishes you would read2021
Summary: Wouldn't you love to know what your dog was thinking? The truth is that your dog is communicating with you all the time but, unless you know the signs, you aren't picking up on what your dog wants... more »- place hold (1)
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The heartbeat of trees : embracing our ancient bond with forests and nature2021
Summary: In an era of cell phone addiction and ever-expanding cities, many of us fear we've lost our connection to nature -- but Peter Wohlleben is convinced that age-old ties linking humans to the forest... more »- place hold (0)
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On freedom : four songs of care and constraint2021
Summary: Drawing on a vast range of material, from critical theory to pop culture to the intimacies and plain exchanges of daily life, Maggie Nelson explores how we might think, experience, or talk about... more »- place hold (0)
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Atlas of the heart : mapping meaningful connection and the language of human experience2021
Summary: In this book, Brown takes us on a journey through 85 of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and lays out an actionable framework for... more »- place hold (0)
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Beautiful country : a memoir2021
Summary: In Chinese, the word for America, Mei Guo, translates directly to "beautiful country." Yet when seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City in 1994 full of curiosity, she is overwhelmed by crushing... more »- place hold (0)
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On animals2021
Summary: "How we interact with animals has preoccupied philosophers, poets, and naturalists for ages," writes Susan Orlean. Since the age of six, when Orlean wrote and illustrated a book called Herbert the... more »- place hold (0)
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Life's edge : the search for what it means to be alive2021
Summary: We all assume we know what life is, but the more scientists learn about the living world -- from protocells to brains, from zygotes to pandemic viruses -- the harder they find it is to locate life's... more »- place hold (0)
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House of sticks : a memoir2021
Summary: Ly Tran is just a toddler in 1993 when she and her family immigrate from a small town along the Mekong river in Vietnam to a two-bedroom railroad apartment in Queens. Ly's father, a former lieutenant... more »- place hold (0)
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Somebody's daughter : a memoir2021
Summary: One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the ever looming absence of her incarcerated father and the path... more »- place hold (0)
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Finding the mother tree : discovering the wisdom of the forest2021
Summary: Author Simard illuminates the fascinating and vital truths: that trees are not simply the source of timber or pulp, but are a complicated, interdependent circle of life; that forests are social,... more »- place hold (0)
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A world on the wing : the global odyssey of migratory birds2021
Summary: In the past two decades, our understanding of bird migration -- the navigational and physiological feats that enable birds to cross immense oceans or fly above the highest mountains, to go weeks... more »- place hold (0)
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Staff PickCrying in H Mart2021
Summary: In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humor and heart, she tells of growing up... more »- place hold (0)
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What it's like to be a bird : from flying to nesting, eating to singing -- what birds are doing, and why2020
Summary: "Can birds smell?" "Is this the same cardinal that was at my feeder last year?" "Do robins 'hear' worms?" David Sibley answers the most frequently asked questions about the birds we see most often.... more »- place hold (0)
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Staff PickWorld of wonders : in praise of fireflies, whale sharks, and other astonishments2020
Summary: From award-winning poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil comes a debut work of nonfiction -- a collection of essays about the natural world, and the way its inhabitants can teach, support, and inspire us.- place hold (0)
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Caste : the origins of our discontents2020
Summary: Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today... more »- place hold (0)
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Life is in the transitions: mastering change at any age2020
Summary: Bruce Feiler has long been thinking and writing about the stories that give our lives meaning. Several years ago he began to notice a new pattern: the old stories about the major plot points of our... more »- place hold (0)
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Entangled life : how fungi make our worlds, change our minds & shape our futures2020
Summary: Living at the border between life and non-life, fungi use diverse cocktails of potent enzymes and acids to disassemble some of the most stubborn substances on the planet, turning rock into soil and... more »- place hold (0)
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The sisters of Auschwitz : the true story of two Jewish sisters' resistance in the heart of Nazi territory2019
Summary: During the Second World War two Jewish sisters -- Janny and Lien Brilleslijper -- run one of the largest hideaways in The Netherlands: The High Nest, a villa in The Gooi area. While the last... more »- place hold (1)
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