Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Best of 2016: Adult Non-Fiction

As the year comes to a close, library staff members and volunteers reflect on the best books they've read in 2016. Here are their suggestions for the best books in adult non-fiction:

When Breath Becomes Air
by  Paul Kalanithi
Also available in Spanish, Large Type, CD Audiobook, eAudiobook, and eBook
Recommended by Beth, Information Specialist, Hampton Park Library




Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets
by Svetlana Alexievich
Recommended by Joan Dudzinski, Collection Support Supervisor, Cumming Library





Jacksonland: President Andrew Jackson, Cherokee Chief John Ross, and a Great American Land Grab
by Steve Inskeep
Also available as CD Audiobook
Recommended by Kim Tomblin, Collection Development Librarian
Kim says: "This nonfiction history title tells the story of the long political struggle in the early part of the 19th century between future President Andrew Jackson and Cherokee Chief John Ross over the land of the Five Civilized Tribes that included Cherokee land. That land was to become part of what was a rapidly expanding United States and included part of the Deep South and north Georgia. This was an interesting read and I learned much that I did not know about the early expansion of the United States and the tragic methods that were used to drive the Cherokee from the land where they were a thriving community of planters. I listened to the audiobook, capably narrated by the author himself."

Blood at the Root
by Patrick Phillips
Also available as eBook and CD Audiobook
Recommended by Kim Tomblin, Collection Development Librarian




Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
by J.D. Vance
Also available as eBook and CD Audiobook
Recommended by Kim Tomblin, Collection Development Librarian and Martha, Materials Selector




The Hiding Place
by Corrie Ten Boom
Also available as eAudiobook, CD Audiobook, and eBook
Recommended by Alexis Belasco, Information Specialist, Hampton Park Library
Alexis says: "The Hiding Place is the inspirational, heart-breaking, and thought-provoking true story of the depth of human depravity that is only exceeded by the depth of God’s grace."

Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs
by Sally Mann
Recommended by Stephen Kight, Assistant Director for Public Services





Mother & Son: The Respect Effect
by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs
Recommended by Lorraine Lane, Youth Specialist, Cumming Library
Lorraine says: "Mother & Son: The Respect Effect is a must read for any mother raising boys. It is never too late in your relationship with your son to read this book."




The Seven Decisions: Understanding the Keys to Personal Success
by Andy Andrews
Recommended by Lorraine Lane, Youth Specialist, Cumming Library
Lorraine says: "The Seven Decisions: Understanding the Keys to Personal Success challenges you to step away from the ordinary life into the extraordinary life. Andy Andrews is indeed a master storyteller. He strings words together beautifully, truly making you ponder what you just read. I have read several of his books and they always inspire me."

Just Mercy
by Bryan Stevenson
Also available as an eBook
Recommended by Amy Weiler, Information Specialist, Sharon Forks Library
Amy says: "This is the memoir of a Harvard educated attorney who John Grisham has called a real life Atticus Finch. Mr. Stevenson, who founded the Alabama non-profit Equal Justice Initiative, has devoted his career to pursuing justice for the wrongly convicted as well as our most vulnerable people. The book shook me to the core more than a few times when I realized how easy it is to convict an innocent person and how difficult it is to free one."

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo
by Amy Schumer
Also available as CD Audiobook
Recommended by Amy Weiler, Information Specialist, Sharon Forks Library
Amy says: "Even though I'm not an Amy Schumer fan I gave The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo a try because I had read so many positive reviews about it. I loved it. It was very funny and contained a surprising amount of depth for a celebrity memoir. Ms. Schumer writes about subjects such as sexual assault, abusive relationships, the fat shaming of women, and our country’s gun laws. Warning: it is very raunchy, and if that offends you, you will not like the book."

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
by Bill Bryson
Also available as CD Audiobook and eBook
Recommended by Lola Nichols, Information Specialist, Sharon Forks Library




Bossypants
by Tina Fey
Also available as CD Audiobook and eAudiobook
Recommended by Lola Nichols, Information Specialist, Sharon Forks Library
Lola says: "Funny! I'm not usually a big biography fan but this was a good one."



Love That Boy: What Two Presidents, Eight Road Trips, and My Son Taught Me About a Parent's Expectations
by Ron Fournier
Recommended by Beth, Information Specialist, Hampton Park Library




Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
by Matthew Desmond
Also available as eAudiobook and eBook
Recommended by Martha, Materials Selector, Library Headquarters




Lovable, Livable Home: How to Add Beauty, Get Organized and Make Your House Work for You
by Sherry and John Petersik
Recommended by Teresa Santangelo, Collection Support Supervisor, Sharon Forks Library

American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst
by Jeffery Toobin
Also available as Large Type, CD Audiobook, and eBook
Recommended by Holly Raus, Youth Specialist, Cumming Library
Holly says: "This well researched account of the kidnapping of Hearst publishing heiress, Patricia Hearst by the SLA and her consequent joining of her kidnapper’s crusade, her year on the run with them and her subsequent trial allows the reader to decide for themselves whether Hearst was really a victim of Stockholm Syndrome or a spoiled girl looking for excitement and a different life. I can remember following this case on the front page of the newspaper for months in 1974 and 1975 and I was intrigued to learn more since time has passed and my viewpoint was no longer that of a child. Toobin presents all sides of the situation and led me to reconsider some interesting points."

Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America
by Patrick Phillips
Also available as eBook, CD Audiobook, and CD Audiobook
Recommended by Holly Raus, Youth Specialist, Cumming Library
Holly says: "After reading this history of the expulsion of blacks from Forsyth County by terror, trial and lynching, I have been unable to drive through Cumming’s Downtown Square without feeling haunted by what happened here. As a transplanted Northerner, I had no idea these things were still happening into the 1990s. The book is disturbing yet informative and thought provoking."

A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy
by Sue Klebold
Also available as Large Type, CD Audiobook, and eBook
Recommended by Holly Raus, Youth Specialist, Cumming Library
Holly says: "As the mother of Dylan Klebold, one of the Columbine School shooters, Sue Klebold does not flinch as she seeks to find the truth balanced between the reality of what her son did on that day and the boy whom she knew and loved and lost. I felt such admiration for her as I read about her journey from the point of finding out how deeply depressed and disturbed her son was, then on to her path to becoming an advocate for mental health and suicide prevention."

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