Below I’m highlighting some nonfiction books coming out in July. 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
“Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America’s Legendary Racehorse” by Kim Wickens (Jul 11)
The early days of American horse racing were grueling. Four-mile races, run two or three times in succession, were the norm, rewarding horses who brandished the ideal combination of stamina and speed. The stallion Lexington, named after the city in Kentucky where he was born, possessed these winning qualities, which pioneering Americans prized. Lexington shattered the world speed record for a four-mile race, showing a war-torn nation that the extraordinary was possible even in those perilous times. He would continue his winning career until deteriorating eyesight forced his retirement in 1855. But once his groundbreaking achievements as a racehorse ended, his role as a sire began. Horses from his bloodline won more money than the offspring of any other Thoroughbred — an annual success that led Lexington to be named America’s leading sire an unprecedented 16 times. Yet with the Civil War raging, Lexington’s years at a Kentucky stud farm were far from idyllic. Confederate soldiers ran amok, looting freely and kidnapping horses from the top stables. They soon focused on the prized Lexington and his valuable progeny. Kim Wickens, a lawyer and dressage rider, became fascinated by this legendary horse when she learned that twelve of Thoroughbred racing’s thirteen Triple Crown winners descended from Lexington. Wickens spent years meticulously researching the horse and his legacy — and with Lexington, she presents an absorbing, exciting account that transports readers back to the raucous beginning of American horse racing and introduces them to the stallion at its heart.
“Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future” by Gloria Dickie (Jul 11)
Bears have always held a central place in our collective memory, from Indigenous folklore and Greek mythology to 19th century fairytales and the modern toy shop. But as humans and bears come into ever-closer contact, our relationship nears a tipping point. Today, most of the eight remaining bear species are threatened with extinction. Some, such as the panda bear and the polar bear, are icons of the natural world; others, such as the spectacled bear and the sloth bear, are far less known. In “Eight Bears,” journalist Gloria Dickie embarks on a globe-trotting journey to explore each bear’s story, whisking readers from the cloud forests of the Andes to the ice floes of the Arctic; from the jungles of India to the backwoods of the Rocky Mountain West. She meets with key figures on the frontlines of modern conservation efforts — the head of a rescue center for sun and moon bears freed from bile farms, a biologist known as Papa Panda, who has led China’s panda-breeding efforts for almost four decades, a conservationist retraining a military radar system to detect and track polar bears near towns — to reveal the unparalleled challenges bears face as they contend with a rapidly changing climate and encroaching human populations. Weaving together ecology, history, mythology, and a captivating account of her travels and observations, Dickie offers a closer look at our volatile relationship with these magnificent mammals. Engrossing and deeply reported, “Eight Bears” delivers a clear warning for what we risk losing if we don’t learn to live alongside the animals that have shaped our cultures, geographies, and stories.
“Beastly: The 40,000-Year Story of Animals and Us” by Keggie Carew (Jul 18)
Animals have shaped our minds, our lives, our land and our civilization. Humanity would not have gotten very far without them — making use of their labor for transportation, agriculture and pollination; their protection from predators; and their bodies for food and to make clothing, music and art. And over the last two centuries, humans have made unprecedented advances in science, technology, behavior and beliefs. Yet how is it that we continue to destroy the animal world and lump its magnificence under the sterile concept of biodiversity? In “Beastly,” author Keggie Carew seeks to re-enchant readers with the wild world, reframing our understanding of what it is like to be an animal and what our role is as humans. She throws readers headlong into the mind-blowing, heart-thumping, glittering pageant of life, and goes in search of our most revealing encounters with the animal world throughout the centuries. How did we domesticate animals and why did we choose sheep, goats, cows, pigs, horses and chickens? What does it mean when a gorilla tells a joke or a fish thinks? Why does a wren sing? Beastly is a gorgeously written, deeply researched, and intensely felt journey into the splendor and genius of animals and the long, complicated story of our interactions with them as humans.
More Notable Releases for July
- “Parachute Women: Marianne Faithfull, Marsha Hunt, Bianca Jagger, Anita Pallenberg, and the Women Behind the Rolling Stones” by Elizabeth Winder (Jul 11)
- “First to the Front: The Untold Story of Dickey Chapelle, Trailblazing Female War Correspondent” by Lorissa Rinehart (Jul 11)
- “The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight” by Andrew Leland (Jul 18)
- “Baking Yesteryear: The Best Recipes from the 1900s to the 1980s” by B. Dylan Hollis (Jul 25)
