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Hello and happy Wednesday, nonfiction readers! This week is cold and snowy in Minnesota, so I am planning to be cuddled up with books as much as possible over the coming days. This week, there are some great new books to grab, including one of the more anticipated memoirs of the year. Let’s take a peek!
Uncanny Valley: A Memoir by Anna Weiner – In her mid-20s, Anna Weiner left an East Coast job in book publishing for a West Coast job in Silicon Valley. The book offers a first-hand account of “reckless startup culture at a time of unchecked ambition,” a story we’re still sorting out today. This book is one of the most highly-anticipated titles of January, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it.
Further Listening: In an interview with NPR, Weiner talks about the conflicting perks and values that were part of Silicon Valley culture.
Making Our Way Home: The Great Migration and the Black American Dream by Blair Imani – This illustrated history tells the story of the 60-year Great Migration and its impact on Black identity and American life as a whole. It explores topics like voting rights, domestic terrorism, activism, and civil rights, along with stories about famous and everyday people. It looks beautiful!
Backlist Bump: Imani’s first book also looks beautiful – Modern HERstory: Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History.
Father of Lions: One Man’s Remarkable Quest to Save the Mosul Zoo by Louise Callaghan – There’s a weird, specific sub-genre of nonfiction all about trying to save animals and artifacts from wars. This book is about the Mosul Zoo in Iraq, which served as a staging ground for ISIS fighters while the city was under siege. The caretaker of the zoo, Abu Laith, hid from insurgents to try and keep the animals from starving until the city is liberated.
Further Reading: If you don’t mind spoilers, you can read about the final evacuation of animals from the zoo, which took place in March 2017.
And finally, a few other books that might be of interest this week:
- Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wuddun
- Lord of All the Dead: A Nonfiction Novel by Javier Cercas
- Conversations in Black: On Power, Politics, and Leadership by Ed Gordon
- Start by Believing: Larry Nassar’s Crimes, the Institutions that Enabled Him, and the Brave Women Who Stopped a Monster by Dan Murphy and John Barr
- A World Without Work: Technology, Automation, and How We Should Respond by Daniel Susskind
That’s all for today! You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @kimthedork and co-hosting the For Real podcast here at Book Riot. Happy reading! – Kim