New Books: Feb 2021

"In this captivating and highly readable history, Roth documents the incredible rise of the soybean and its myriad uses during the 20th century. . . will appeal to those interested in agriculture, food, and American history. Highly recommended."--Choice

"A lively, well-researched tale of how an obscure legume became the basis of a massive industry."--Wall Street Journal

Winner of the 2020 Green Prize for Sustainable Literature
Financial Times Best Books of 2019
The Guardian Best Food Books of 2019
Fast Company Best Climate Books of 2019

“I wish I'd had this book when I was first studying landscape design 20 years or so ago. It's a magnificent contribution to landscape design history, to gardens' cultural and aesthetic values, and to humanity's relationship with nature. Every designer should have this book.” —Garden Design Online
“Satisfyingly complete. . . . deserves a wide readership ranging from general readers through scholars and practitioners.” —Choice

Includes the work of former ECTC library specialist Amanda Johnston.
"Black Bone: 25 Years of the Affrilachian Poets is a beautiful collection of both old and new work."―USA Today
"The Affrilachian Poets continue to be a groundbreaking literary force. . . . In celebration of their decades-long collaboration, the group has published its first anthology, Black Bone."―Detroit Free Press
"Black Bone is a testament to the work of this trailblazing group which has created a poetic revolution by demanding recognition and promoting racial justice through dynamic and impact writing."―Mid-South Tribune

“[Kidd’s] painstaking research and artful crafting of setting and character ensures that The Book of Longings is not just an extraordinary novel, but one with lasting power . . . [her] brilliance shines through on so many levels, but not the least in her masterful, reverential approach to capturing Jesus of Nazareth as a fully human young man . . . [The Book of Longings] is an epic masterpiece that is a triumph of insight and storytelling.” —Associated Press.
“Well-researched and boldly plotted, this masterful novel brings a lovely character to life.” —People

Finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction. One of the New York Times' Ten Best Books of the Year. Named one of the best novels of the year by Time, Washington Post, NPR, Chicago Tribune, Esquire, BBC, and many others

Winner of the NAACP Image Award and finalist for the 2019 Los Angeles Times Book Prize
“A powerful work of lyric art.” ―New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice

ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR. A Best Book of 2020 * Entertainment Weekly * Washington Post * O Magazine * New York Times Book Review * Publishers Weekly * NPR * The Economist * Shelf Awareness * Library Journal * St. Louis Post-Dispatch * Slate
Finalist for the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction

“A tour-de-force meditation on trauma, survival and the language we use to talk about it all.”―TIME, Best Books of 2019

“[A] dizzying, dazzling amalgamation of memoir and criticism.”―Vanity Fair
“Carmen Maria Machado is as much alchemist as author. . . . In this brainy, playful, shattering account, Machado ultimately tells her own singular tale.”―O, the Oprah Magazine

2020 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"One of the funniest books of the year. . . . A delicious, ambitious Hollywood satire." —The Washington Post

A New York Times bestseller.
Named a Best Book of 2020 by the Australian Book Review, AV Club, Books-a-Million, Electric Literature, Esquire, the Financial Times, Good Housekeeping (UK), The Guardian, Kirkus Reviews, Literary Hub, the New Statesman, the New York Public Library, NPR, the Star Tribune, and TIME

A New York Times Book Review Top 10 Crime Novel of the Year

New York Times Bestseller!
"[Piranesi] flooded me, as the tides flood the halls, with a scouring grief, leaving gleaming gifts in its wake… rich, wondrous, full of aching joy and sweet sorrow. "- The New York Times Book Review
“Piranesi Will Wreck You: The novel establishes Susanna Clarke as one of our greatest living writers.” ―New York Magazine. “Infinitely clever… none of [Clarke's] enchantment has worn off - it's evolved. . . to abide in these pages is to find oneself happily detained in awe.” ―The Washington Post

Bestselling novel by Madison County native Walter Tevis. This novel was adapted into a popular Netflix series in 2020

***2020 National Book Award Finalist for Fiction*** ***2020 Story Prize Finalist***
***Longlisted for the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction*** “Cheeky, insightful, and irresistible.” —​​​​​​​Ms. Magazine. “Vivid, vibrant stories that will linger on your tongue like sweet tea.”
Vox

WINNER OF THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION
“Electrifying” (People) • “Masterly” (The Guardian) • “Dramatic and memorable” (The New Yorker) • “Magic” (TIME) • “Ingenious” (The Financial Times) • "A gonzo literary performance” (Entertainment Weekly) • “Rare and splendid” (The Boston Globe) • “Remarkable” (USA Today) • “Delicious” (The New York Times) • “Book groups, meet your next selection" (NPR)

One of New York Times' critic Jennifer Szalai's 10 Best Books of 2019
A New York Times Notable Book
2019 National Book Award Finalist

National Bestseller
Winner of the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize for Fiction
Shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for Fiction
Shortlisted for the Reading Women Award

WINNER OF THE BRITISH FANTASY AWARDS 2018 - NON-FICTION.

“Sunny Days” is full of such nostalgic jolts for readers who grew up in those years....it makes the era a pleasure to revisit." WALL STREET JOURNAL. "Fun, fascinating and surprisingly touching." ― PEOPLE MAGAZINE. "[A] lively and bewitching recounting of a particularly ripe period in television and cultural history." ― NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW. "Researchers and nostalgic Sesame Street fans alike will appreciate this thorough, compelling overview of a pivotal period of TV history." ― LIBRARY JOURNAL

Named a Best Book of 2020 by NPR and Vanity Fair. One of Smithsonian's Ten Best Science Books of 2020

Oxford University Press

"In a history that reads like a novel, Conant connects the 1943 bombing by the Nazis of an American ship containing banned mustard gas to the development of chemotherapy as a cancer treatment."
― An Editors’ Choice of the New York Times Book Review. "Engrossing.… Convey[s] a fast-paced medical detective story that demonstrates how careful scientific observation can yield unexpected benefits and serves as a reminder of the difficult choices made by governments to balance public health and secrecy in matters of security." ― Peter Reczek, Science

A PBS NEWSHOUR-NEW YORK TIMES BOOK CLUB PICK
A Mail on Sunday Book of the Year
A Science Friday Best Science Book of 2018
A Los Angeles Public Library Best Nonfiction Book of 2018
Shortlisted for the 2019 Wellcome Book Prize

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOKS OF THE YEAR
ONE OF THE WALL STREET JOURNAL TOP TEN BOOKS OF THE YEAR
PEOPLE'S #1 BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

“A compelling story of the ongoing mission to understand and treat our troubled minds.”
- Nina MacLaughlin, Boston Globe
“Superb…nuanced…In Mind Fixers, Anne Harrington has written an excellent, engaging guide to what biological psychiatry has accomplished―and not accomplished―so far.”
- Richard J. McNally, Wall Street Journal
“Harrington’s grasp of this story and the clarity with which, with limited moralism, she delivers a tale about the ‘big picture’ of psychiatry and neurology is emblematic of the historian’s craft.”
- Stephen T. Casper, Science

The book is both interesting and easy to read; it will add to a library’s collection in the areas of civil rights, medicine, public health, and American history. It is an important contribution to understanding the nation’s progress and what can still be done to repair the racial divide. Extensive chapter notes facilitate the ability to locate additional sources. (J. A. Ohles, Moravian College CHOICE, February 2019, Vol. 56 No. 6)

"A charming analogy... [Nicholls] covers some fascinating material, from the rare prion-driven disease known as fatal familial narcolepsy to the potentially atavistic nature of cataplexy."
―Science

Recommended by CHOICE

A Smithsonian Magazine Top Ten Best Science Book of 2020

A Smithsonian Magazine Best History Book of 2018

Winner • Mark Lynton History Prize
New York Times • Times Critics Top Books of 2019

"An engrossing new account, elegantly written by one of the people who knows the country best."
― John Reed, Financial Times

Named One of the New York Times Critics’ Top Books of 2019 • Named One of the 10 Best History Books of 2019 by Smithsonian Magazine • Winner of the MPIBA Reading the West Book Award for narrative nonfiction

"Zamoyski's book is one of the finest biographies of Napoleon Bonaparte ever written."
―MHQ: Quarterly Journal of Military History
"Magnificent...Napoleon was neither demon nor deity. He was a man, with great talents and great flaws, often intertwined...[Mr. Zamoyski] writes beautifully."
―Economist

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A Time “Must-Read” Book of 2019

Winner of the 2020 Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature!
Winner of the 2020 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work!
"Riveting... Takei has evolved into an increasingly powerful voice for oppressed communities, and Enemy finds him at peak moral clarity — an unflinching force in these divisive times." — The Washington Post
"A detailed, wrenching account... They Called Us Enemy should prove the most potent introduction for younger readers to this ignoble chapter in our history." — The New York Times
"Powerful, moving and relevant." — Los Angeles Times

"One of the best works on Ukraine’s highly peculiar geography, history, and modernity I’ve ever come across. . . . As Schlögel himself points out repeatedly, the struggle for Ukraine’s future is not going to end any time soon. Books such as this inspire hope that the struggle is not in vain and that Ukraine will eventually emerge as a fully fledged European state—not just ‘a country at the edge.’" -- Vitali Vitaliev - Geographical. "This book is an invitation to the broader public, well-familiar by now with the cities in Western and Eastern Europe, to discover Ukraine, to explore its multifaceted identities. Since an end to the war in Ukraine is not yet in sight, books like this are much needed. When most of the publications available reiterate the same narratives of unbridgeable differences between Ukraine’s east and west, it takes Schlögel’s insightfulness and erudition to show the commonalities between Lviv in the West, Odessa in the South and Donetsk in the East; to take Ukraine out of the shadow of Russia and put it back on Europe’s mental maps." European History Quarterly

Finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Nonfiction
Shortlisted for the 2020 Cundill History Prize
Named a Best Book of 2020 by the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Atlantic, Publishers Weekly, and a New York Times Critics' Top Book of 2020

NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW AND THE EAST HAMPTON STAR

One of Time's 100 Must-Read Books of 2020
One of Smithsonian Magazine's Ten Best History Books of 2020
A Washington Post Notable Work of Nonfiction in 2020
Longlisted for the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal

New York Times Bestseller

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"One of the most moving and revealing books ever written about a rock star."―Los Angeles Times. "Thorough, definitive."―The New York Times. "Heavier Than Heaven sets a high, new standard."―Rolling Stone

“Brilliantly original”—The New York Times Book Review. “Extraordinary” —The Guardian. “Essential”—The San Francisco Chronicle

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"Revelatory and surprising -- perfect for the Ziggy completist." ―New York Magazine. “Beguiling… the fabulosity of Bowie’s life and times lends itself extraordinarily well to the oral history form." ―San Francisco Chronicle

Wilcox (religious studies, Univ. of California, Riverside) has a sterling record of scholarship on queer theory in religion. Here she offers a history and critical assessment of the work of LGBTQ activists who consider themselves nuns … Readers benefit from not only the author’s extensive field work but also her commitment to critical theory and ability to see power dynamics." -- CHOICE

“Haidt is looking for more than victory. He’s looking for wisdom. That’s what makes The Righteous Mind well worth reading…a landmark contribution to humanity’s understanding of itself.” –New York Times Book Review

New York Times Bestseller & Wall Street Journal Bestseller

"Pierrette Brillat-Savarin’s last words were, apparently, 'Bring on the dessert. I think I am about to die.' Although the sister of the great gastronome Jean-Anthelme does not figure in the delectable, handsomely illustrated Dessert: A Tale of Happy Endings, readers who habitually choose their last course first will identify with her sense of priorities. . . . The book is packed like tutti-frutti ice-cream with nuggets of deliciousness."
― Times Literary Supplement
"This lavishly illustrated history of the delights of dessert will have the sweet-toothed hungering for 'buttery lemon tart,' ice cream, tiramisu, 'ethereal sponge cakes, light and airy profiteroles,' Pavlova...and why not? If you can't enjoy a proper pudding in the festive season, when can you? Don't worry. In January, bookstore shelves will be groaning with slimming manuals. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we diet."
-- Rose Shepherd ― Saga Magazine, "Christmas Books"

A New York Times Bestseller and winner of the PEN / E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award

"Enthralling . . . breathtaking . . . Metazoa brings an extraordinary and astute look at our own mind’s essential link to the animal world." ―The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)

A New York Times Best Book of the Year
A Time Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year
2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence Winner
One of NPR’s Best Books of 2019

“A deeply researched guide to the world’s smells, down to their volatile molecules.” –Tejal Rao, The New York Times

“An exhaustive compendium on odors and their chemical makeup… Perfect for foodies, those interested in science, and the innately curious. Engagingly written, this would be a wonderful ready reference to have on hand” —Library Journal. “The reference book that will make everything you eat seem more interesting. There is fascination and delight on every page.” —The Sunday Times (UK)

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice; A New York Times Notable Book of 2019; "trenchant and intelligent; wry but not glib; humane but never indulgent."
—Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times
“Imagine a world bereft of gates and uncrossable lines, with no discernable rules. That’s the Hadean landscape that has been painted expertly, in dark hues, by Andrew Marantz in his book Antisocial.”
—Kara Swisher, The New York Times Book Review
“By turns amusing and alarming. . . . Like an old Hunter S. Thompson report from the campaign trail, Antisocial is an entertaining read about a distressing subject.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“Antisocial is an engrossing work of literary journalism. . . . A genuine first of its kind: ambitious, attuned to the novel features of social media, and written with enough detail and perspective to survey the subtle grain of a multifaceted movement. . . . Marantz is a master of this beat, and he excels at unwinding the subtle ironies, personal tics, and moments of vulnerability that reveal his subjects. . . . Antisocial is an engaging, relentlessly detailed, and observant study of the characters and personal motivations at play in the far right’s information pipeline.”
—The Nation

"Devastatingly relevant."
—Vogue

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“Blowout is a rollickingly well-written book, filled with fascinating, exciting and alarming stories about the impact of the oil and gas industry on the world today. . . . [It features] many colorful tales about villains, scoundrels and adventurers. . . . A brilliant description of many of the problems caused by our reliance on fossil fuels.”—The New York Times Book Review
“I can’t stress enough what a great storyteller Rachel Maddow is. [She carries] the reader through some hair-raising journalism in such an engaging and propulsive fashion you simply cannot put the book down. . . . It has left a most lasting impression.” —San Francisco Chronicle

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • “An instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times. NAMED THE #1 NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR BY TIME MAGAZINE AND ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY People • The Washington Post • Publishers Weekly AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • O: The Oprah Magazine • NPR • Bloomberg • Christian Science Monitor • New York Post • The New York Public Library • Fortune • Smithsonian Magazine • Marie Claire • Town & Country • Slate • Library Journal • Kirkus Reviews • LibraryReads • PopMatters

FINALIST FOR THE PEN/JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH AWARD FOR NONFICTION AND LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/JEAN STEIN BOOK AWARD

Named an Outstanding Academic Title for 2019 by Choice Reviews,

"[A] Marley's Ghost-style warning of the irrevocable destructions to come . . . Thomas is engaging and vital." — New York Review of Books

“If you’ve been paying any sort of attention, you know that fashion is a dirty business. Human rights abuses, environmental devastation, economic devastation—these are just the broad strokes of a deeply broken system. And Fashionopolis seeks to pull the curtain back on that system. But it also wants to show us a way out.” —Esquire

"A fascinating account [. . .] Dana Thomas, a veteran style writer, convincingly connects our fast-fashion wardrobes to global economic and climate patterns and crises [. . .] Among the book’s delights are Thomas’s sketches of her individual subjects […] Thomas displays her skills as a culture and style reporter as she visits the visionaries who are attempting to remake the industry, if not from whole cloth, then maybe from lab-grown or recycled fibers of some kind. […] Thomas has succeeded in calling attention to the major problems in the $2.4-trillion-a-year industry, in a way that will engage not only the fashion set but also those interested in economics, human rights and climate policy." —New York Times Book Review
“Dana Thomas’s Fashionopolis takes readers through the dark history of the clothing industry, offering a detailed accounting of exactly what goes into the production of the 80 billion garments that are produced, purchased, discarded, and repurchased each year.”—Science

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. “What do you do after you have written Stamped From the Beginning, an award-winning history of racist ideas? . . . If you’re Ibram X. Kendi, you craft another stunner of a book. . . . What emerges from these insights is the most courageous book to date on the problem of race in the Western mind, a confessional of self-examination that may, in fact, be our best chance to free ourselves from our national nightmare.”—The New York Times

AN EDGAR AWARDS 2020 WINNER
"Reads like a grim folk tale...intimate and engrossing."
―The New York Times

"The air of menace is palpable...A deeply compelling story of a crime that hit close to home."
―NPR

"Searing.... Oluo lays out a sweeping cultural history of white men failing upward, from education to sports to politics.... Mediocre is a fast, engaging read, and Oluo is a warm, evenhanded narrator."―San Francisco Chronicle. "Ijeoma Oluo's sharp yet accessible writing about the American racial landscape made her 2018 book, So You Want to Talk About Race, an invaluable resource for anyone looking to understand and dismantle racist structures. Her new book, Mediocre, builds on this exemplary work, homing in on the role of white patriarchy in creating and upholding a system built to disenfranchise anyone who isn't a white male."―TIME “This well-researched, yet highly personal, tome shines a spotlight on modern-day racism and white supremacy.”―USA Today

“Ambitious and disturbing. . . Markovits forcefully interrupts the comfortable bath of self-flattery in which our well-graduated professionals pass their hours.” – New York Times Book Review. “An imaginative new book that will prompt endless debate in the faculty lounge, the country-club tap room, and the family dinner table. . . a book that will jolt and provoke the reading public . . . Markovits produces shocking figures about the yawning wealth gap on leafy campuses.” — The Boston Globe

NEW YORK BESTSELLER

The New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller

“Makes the argument ― based on the personal experience of the writer, a Carleton College professor, of teaching creative writing in prison ― that liberal education is what even the most hardened criminals need.”
- The Chronicle of Higher Education

“Deborah Appleman's outstanding scholarship on literacy instruction spans decades. In this book, she writes about teaching college literature and writing courses in a high-security prison. But her revelations about the transformative power of education also speak to the necessity of changing teaching in our schools...Appleman's book is important, not just for those who teach in prisons, but also for those who want to understand how to break the school-to-prison pipeline.”
- Rethinking Schools