Below I’m highlighting some nonfiction books coming out in December. All of the mentioned titles are available to put on hold in our catalog and will also be made available via the library’s Overdrive website on the day of publication in eBook and downloadable audiobook format (as available). For a more extensive list of new nonfiction books coming out this month, check our online catalog.
Top Picks
“How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures” by Sabrina Imbler (Dec 6)
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 creatures living in hostile or remote environments. Each essay in their debut collection profiles one such creature, including:
- the mother octopus who starves herself while watching over her eggs,
- the Chinese sturgeon whose migration route has been decimated by pollution and dams,
- the bizarre, predatory Bobbitt worm (named after Lorena),
- the common goldfish that flourishes in the wild,
- and more.
Imbler discovers that some of the most radical models of family, community, and care can be found in the sea, from gelatinous chains that are both individual organisms and colonies of clones to deep-sea crabs that have no need for the sun, nourished instead by the chemicals and heat throbbing from the core of the Earth. Exploring themes of adaptation, survival, sexuality, and care, and weaving the wonders of marine biology with stories of their own family, relationships, and coming of age, How Far the Light Reaches is a shimmering, otherworldly debut that attunes us to new visions of our world and its miracles.
“Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America” by Leila Philip (Dec 6)
Beginning with the early trans-Atlantic trade in North America, Leila Philip traces the beaver’s profound influence on our nation’s early economy and feverish western expansion, its first corporations and multi-millionaires. In her pursuit of this weird and wonderful animal, she introduces us to people whose lives are devoted to the beaver, including a Harvard scientist from the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana, who uses drones to create 3-dimensional images of beaver dams; and an environmental restoration consultant in the Chesapeake whose nickname is the “beaver whisperer”. What emerges is a poignant personal narrative, a startling portrait of the secretive world of the contemporary fur trade, and an engrossing ecological and historical investigation of these heroic animals who, once trapped to the point of extinction, have returned to the landscape as one of the greatest conservation stories of the 20th century. Beautifully written and impeccably researched, “Beaverland” reveals the profound ways in which one odd creature and the trade surrounding it has shaped history, culture, and our environment.
“The Earl and the Pharaoh: From the Real Downton Abbey to the Discovery of Tutankhamun” by The Countess of Carnarvon (Dec 6)
In November 1922, the world was mesmerized by news of an astonishing historical find in Egypt’s legendary Valley of Kings: the discovery of the tomb of the Egyptian Pharoah Tutankhamun. George Herbert, himself a famed amateur Egyptologist and noted antiquities collector, financed the expedition and excavation headed by lead archaeologist Howard Carter, and accompanied him inside this sacred space that had remained untouched for centuries. Inside the tomb, the explorers found King Tut’s sarcophagus and a treasure trove of astonishing artifacts: chariots and model boats, board games and paintings, a coffin made of pure gold. But these objects were more than just beautifully crafted works of art; they shed new light on Tutankhamun world and this fabled period of history, and changed our understanding of how the ancient Egyptians had lived — transforming overnight what had been formed through centuries of history and myth. Drawing on Highclere Castle’s archives, the Countess of Carnarvon pays homage to her ancestor on the 100th anniversary of this extraordinary event. In vivid and dramatic detail, she brings into focus the larger-than-life characters and lustrous settings — as well as those twists of luck and tragedies that shaped Herbert’s life. Across the early 1900s, Highclere saw no less drama than the fictional Downton Abbey, with early tragedies for the Earl and love affairs, as well as highs of exorbitant wealth and trials of punishing debt. But above all there was adventure. While Herbert first went to Egypt for his health, this mysterious, romantic land would become a second home; the beloved place where he funneled his attentions over a period of decades, never quite realizing how great the fruits of his labors would prove.
More Notable Releases for December
- “Screaming On the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood” by Jessica Grose (Dec 6)
- “Queens of the Age of Chivalry: England’s Medieval Queens, Volume Three” by Alison Weir (Dec 6)
- “Wings of War: The World War II Fighter Plane that Saved the Allies and the Believers Who Made It Fly” by David Fairbank White (Dec 6)
- “Financial Feminist: Overcome the Patriarchy’s Bullsh*t to Master Your Money and Build a Life You Love” by Tori Dunlap (Dec 27)
