Nonfiction | Great River Regional Library

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The best strangers in the world : stories from a life spent listening

Author(s):

Ari Shapiro, 1978-

Description:

Ari Shapiro takes us around the globe to reveal the stories behind narratives that are sometimes heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking, but always poignant. He details his time traveling on Air Force One with Obama, or following the path of Syrian refugees fleeing war, or learning from those fighting for social justice both at home and abroad. As the self-reinforcing bubbles we live in become more impenetrable, Shapiro keeps seeking ways to help people listen to one another; to find connection and commonality with those who may seem different; to remind us that, before religion, or nationality, or politics, we are all human. 03/17 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

070.43 Sha

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Chasing catastrophe : my 35 years covering wars, hurricanes, terror attacks, and other breaking news

Author(s):

Rick Leventhal

Description:

From the front lines in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and other conflict zones to the base of the burning Twin Towers on 9/11 to the eye of countless hurricanes, Rick Leventhal chronicles some of the most amazing stories he's covered in his thirty-five years as a news reporter, anchor, and Senior Correspondent--with some life lessons thrown in along the way. 03/06 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

070.92 Lev

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Black people breathe : a mindfulness guide to racial healing

Author(s):

Zee Clarke

Princella Seripenah, illustrator

Description:

This practical guide features thirty-three mindfulness exercises centered on healing for the Black community, each focusing on the systemic challenges that people of color face and designed to deal with the emotions these experiences create. 03/16 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

155.84 Cla

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What looks like bravery : an epic journey through loss to love

Author(s):

Laurel Braitman

Description:

Laurel Braitman shares how, in the years following her beloved father's death, she denied her suffering and lived with the constant fear of loss that left her terrified of love and intimacy until she set out on a journey to confront the grief she'd been avoiding for so long. 03/16 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

155.937 Bra

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Femina : a new history of the Middle Ages, through the women written out of it

Author(s):

Janina Ramirez, 1980-

Description:

Through examination of artefacts, writings, and possessions, this reappraisal of medieval femininity presents countless cases of influential women such as Jadwiga, the only female King in Europe, whose names were struck from history. 02/21 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

305.409 Ram

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Shirley Chisholm : champion of Black feminist power politics

Author(s):

Anastasia Carol Curwood, 1974-

Description:

Shaking up New York and national politics by becoming the first African American congresswoman and, later, the first Black major-party presidential candidate, Shirley Chisholm left an indelible mark as an 'unbought and unbossed' firebrand and a leader in politics for meaningful change. Anastasia C. Curwood interweaves Chisholm's public image, political commitments, and private experiences to create a definitive account of a consequential life. 04/08 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

320.082 Cur

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You don't have to carry it all : ditch the mom guilt and find a better way forward

Author(s):

Paula Faris, 1975-

Holly Crawshaw

Description:

Being a working mom should work. Instead, it is a thankless, difficult job, with impossible contradictions and unreachable expectations. American moms are more burned out than any time in history. We believed we could have it all--fulfilling work and a healthy and happy family. We try to carry it all. Paula Faris offers a declaration to overwhelmed and depleted working moms--things are going to get better! There is another way forward that frees us from the barbaric conflict of mom-guilt and the bone-weary exhaustion of carrying it all and feeling like we're failing everywhere. Faris dismantles the cultural expectations and toxic traps that American moms experience. She also gathers insightful and actionable steps towards a better way of working, momming, and living. 03/20 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

331.44 Far

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The teachers : a year inside America's most vulnerable, important profession

Author(s):

Alexandra Robbins,1976-

Description:

A year-in-the-life of 3 teachers that reveals what's really going on behind school doors. Alexandra Robbins goes behind the scenes to tell the true, sometimes shocking, always inspirational stories of 3 teachers as they navigate a year in the classroom. She follows a southern middle school math teacher, a special ed teacher in the western US, and an East Coast elementary school teacher. She also interviewed other teachers who share their secrets, dramas, and joys. Interspersed among the stories are hard-hitting essays on the biggest issues facing teachers today, and the ways all of us can help the professionals who are central both to the lives of our children and the heart of our communities. 03/14 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

371.1 Rob

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The read aloud factor : how to create the habit that boosts your baby's brain

Author(s):

Rekha S. Rajan

Description:

We have always known that reading aloud is an important way to bond with your baby and develop language skills. Now neuroscience research is showing us the long-term benefit that reading aloud has for children--all the way into adulthood. Individuals who were read to more frequently as children had a measurably healthier brain in old age. This book takes the latest research on brain development, describes how reading aloud supports language and social-emotional development, and gives parents and caretakers what they need to make read alouds a regular and enjoyable part of the family routine. 03/20 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

372.452 Raj

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Planta sapiens : the new science of plant intelligence

Author(s):

Paco Calvo

Natalie Lawrence

Description:

Decades of research document plants' impressive abilities: they communicate with one another, manipulate other species, and move in sophisticated ways. Lesser known, however, is the new evidence that plants may actually be sentient. Although plants may not have brains, their microscopic commerce exposes a system not unlike the neuronal networks running through our own bodies. They can learn and remember, possessing an intelligence that allows them to behave in adaptive, flexible, anticipatory, and goal-directed ways. 03/16 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

571.2 Cal

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Real self-care : a transformative program for redefining wellness : (crystals, cleanses, and bubble baths not included)

Author(s):

Pooja Lakshmin

Description:

"Self-care," a word that encompasses any number of lifestyle choices and products, has exploded in our collective consciousness as a panacea for practically all of women's problems. Dr. Pooja Lakshmin finds this cultural embrace of self-care incomplete at best and manipulative at worst. Faux self-care practices keep us looking outward--comparing ourselves with others or striving for a certain type of perfection. Real self-care is an internal, self-reflective process that involves making difficult decisions in line with our values, and when we practice it, we shift our relationships, our workplaces, and even our broken systems. She provides a step-by-step program for real and sustainable change and solace. 03/15 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

613 Lak

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Travelers to unimaginable lands : stories of dementia, the caregiver, and the human brain

Author(s):

Dasha Kiper

Description:

These compelling case histories meld science and storytelling to illuminate the complex relationship between the mind of someone with dementia and the mind of the person caring for them. 03/07 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

616.831 Kip

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What's eating us : women, food, and the epidemic of body anxiety

Author(s):

Cole Kazdin

Description:

Cole Kazdin reveals that disordered eating is an epidemic crisis killing millions of women. Women of all ages struggle with disordered eating, preoccupation with food, and body anxiety. In interviewing women and researchers, Kazdin found that most people with eating disorders never receive treatment. She exposes flawed systems that claim to be helping us, and reveals disordered eating for the crisis that it is: a mental illness with the 2nd highest mortality rate that no one wants to talk about. She identifies new treatments not yet available to the general public, grass roots movements to correct racial disparities in care, and strategies for navigating true health while still living in a dysfunctional world. 03/14 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

616.8526 Kaz

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The creative vegetable gardener : 60 ways to cultivate joy, playfulness, and beauty along with a bounty of food

Author(s):

Kelly Smith Trimble

Description:

Lifestyle editor and master gardener Kelly Smith Trimble encourages readers to widen their focus, be playful, and imagine a vegetable garden that reflects their own unique aesthetic and offers a meditative sanctuary as well as a source of fresh, homegrown food. Learn how to: Embrace nature's rhythms ; Create wildlife habitat and a pollinator paradise ; Break free of boxy raised beds ; Plant in circles, spirals, or labyrinths ; Grow herb and flowers with your vegetables ; Make your own one-of-a-kind garden sancutary. 03/06 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

635 Tri

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The container victory garden : a beginner's guide to growing your own groceries

Author(s):

Maggie Stuckey

Description:

Maggie Stuckey shares everything you need to know to succeed with container gardening: planning, gearing up, planting, nurturing, and harvesting. 03/01 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

635.986 Stu

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Tenacious beasts : wildlife recoveries that change how we think about animals

Author(s):

Christopher J. (Christopher James) Preston

Description:

Conventional wisdom is that wild animals are being wiped out. But wildlife is rebounding. A handful of wildlife populations have reached numbers unimaginable in a century. Red deer in Europe, bison in North America, humpback whales in the Atlantic. They are back from the brink, numbering in the tens, or even hundreds, of thousands. This book tracks--and tries to understand--these dramatic rebounds. It shines a light on species returning to forests and farms, prairies and oceans, rivers and cities. It asks how these transformations can be happening and what they have to teach. 02/22 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

639.97 Pre

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Field guide to outside style : design & plant your perfect outdoor space

Author(s):

Ryan McEnaney

Description:

This is a fun and easy-to-follow guide to designing and planting the outdoor living space of your dreams. 03/21 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

712.6 McE

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The way they were : how epic battles and bruised egos brought a classic Hollywood love story to the screen

Author(s):

Hofler, Robert

Description:

Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of "The Way We Were," this book is the first ever account of the making of the classic film starring Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford, revealing the full story behind its genesis and continued controversies, its many deleted scenes, its much-anticipated but never-filmed sequel, and the real-life romance that inspired this groundbreaking love story. 02/22 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

791.4372 Hof

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Yours truly : an obituary writer's guide to telling your story

Author(s):

James R. Hagerty

Description:

James R. Hagerty shares his unique skills with those who want to have the last word with flourish, honesty, and even humor. Whether in-brief for future newspapers and websites, or as a more complete mini-memoir for friends and family, this book is a guide to making sure your story is told the way you want--and how the process of preparing your own life story can help you live a better life. 03/02 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

808.0669 Hag

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Culture : the story of us, from cave art to K-pop

Author(s):

Martin Puchner, 1969-

Description:

What good are the arts? Why should we care about the past? For millennia, humanity has sought to understand and transmit to future generations not just the "know-how" of life, but the "know-why"--the meaning and purpose of our existence, as expressed in art, architecture, religion, and philosophy. This crucial passing down of knowledge has required the radical integration of insights from the past and from other cultures. Martin Puchner takes us on a breakneck tour through pivotal moments in world history, providing a global introduction to the arts and humanities in one engaging volume. 4/15 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

909 Puc

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Hitler's aristocrats : the secret power players in Britain and America who supported the Nazis, 1923-1941

Author(s):

Susan Ronald

Description:

Susan Ronald takes readers into the shadowy world of the aristocrats and business leaders on both sides of the Atlantic who secretly aided Hitler and Nazi Germany. Enlisting Europe's aristocracy, international industrialists, and the political elite in Britain and America, Hitler spun a treacherous tale everyone wanted to believe: he was a man of peace. His allies conspired for Hitler at the highest levels of the British aristocracy and spread their web to America's wealthy powerbrokers, becoming his eyes, listening posts, and mouthpieces in the drawing rooms, cocktail parties, and weekend retreats of Europe and America. 03/15 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

940.531 Ron

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Brotherhood of the flying coffin : the glider pilots of World War II

Author(s):

Scott McGaugh

Description:

This book distills war down to individual young men climbing into defenseless gliders made of plywood, ready to trust the towing aircraft that would pull them into enemy territory by a single cable wrapped with a telephone wire. They were all volunteers, for a specialized duty that their own government projected would have a 50 percent casualty rate. None faltered. In every major European invasion of the war they led the way. These all-volunteer glider pilots played a pivotal role in liberating the West from tyranny. Here their story is told in full--a story which epitomizes courage, dedication and sacrifice. 03/21 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

940.5449 McG

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The humanity archive : recovering the soul of Black history from a whitewashed American myth

Author(s):

Jermaine Fowler

Description:

Using history as a foundation, this book uses storytelling techniques to make history come alive and uncover the truth behind America's whitewashed history. Challenging dominant perspectives, Jermaine Fowler goes outside the textbooks to find recognizably human stories. Connecting current issues with the heroic struggles of those who have come before us, Fowler brings hidden history to light. 02/22 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

973.0496 Fow

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Gentleman bandit : the true story of Black Bart, the Old West's most infamous stagecoach robber

Author(s):

John Boessenecker, 1953-

Description:

Black Bart is widely regarded today as not only the most notorious stage robber of the Old West but also the best behaved. He held up at least 29 stagecoaches in California and Oregon with mild, polite commands, stealing from Wells Fargo and the US mail but never robbing a passenger, earning him the title of a true 'gentleman bandit.' Charles E. Boles was an educated, respectable man, who did not drink, fight or consort with prostitutes. His true calling as America's greatest stage robber was never suspected until his final capture in 1883. John Boessenecker tells the glittering story of this mysterious stage robber who doubled as a rich, genteel socialite in the golden era of the Wild West. 03/16 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

979.4 Boe

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Finding Jackie : a life reinvented

Author(s):

Oline Eaton

Description:

Oline Eaton resurrects the Jackie Kennedy Onassis who has been culturally erased, who we need now more than ever--not the First Lady who was a paragon of femininity, fashion, American wifeliness and motherhood, but rather the kaleidoscopic Jackie who emerged after the murder of her husband changed her world and ours. Here is the story of Jackie's reinvention into an adventurer, a wanderer, a woman and an idea in whom many Americans and people around the globe have deeply, fiercely wanted to believe. 02/21 j

Format:

Book

Call Number:

B Ona Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy