Fall 2024 New Release Books
Lifelong Learner Reader Type Book Recs
This fall, nonfiction readers are in for a feast of knowledge, inspiration, and discovery with a collection of new releases that cover everything from history to science, memoirs to self-improvement. Whether you're a curious mind seeking deep dives into fascinating topics, or someone looking for motivational stories to spark change, this season’s lineup has something for every type of nonfiction lover. From insightful biographies to thought-provoking essays, these fresh titles promise to expand your worldview and keep you turning the pages!
december new release books
Cabin: Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman
by Patrick Hutchison
A memoir of the author's journey from an office job to restoring a cabin in the Pacific Northwest, based on his wildly popular Outside Magazine piece.
Wit's End isn't just a state of mind. It's the name of a gravel road, the address of a run-down off-the-grid cabin, 120 shabby square feet of fixer-upper Patrick Hutchison purchased on a whim in the mossy woods of the Cascade Mountains in Washington state.
Giant Love: Edna Ferber, Her Best-Selling Novel of Texas, and the Making of a Classic American Film
by Julie Gilbert
A book that explores the great American novelist and playwright Edna Ferber, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Ficton, whose work was made into many Academy Award-winning movies; the writing of her controversial, international best-selling novel about Texas, and the making of George Stevens' Academy Award winning epic film of the same name, Giant.
The stupendous publication of Edna Ferber's Giant in 1952 set off a storm of protest over the novel's portrayal of Texas manners, money and mores with oil-rich Texans threatening to shoot, lynch or ban Ferber from ever entering the state again.
In Giant Love, Julie Gilbert writes of the internationally best-selling Ferber, one of the most widely read writers in the first half of the 20th Century - her evolution from mid-west maverick girl-reporter to Pulitzer Prize winning, beloved American novelist, from her want-to-be actress days to becoming Broadway's acclaimed prize-winning playwright whose collaborators - George S. Kauffman and Moss Hart, among them, were, along with Ferber, herself, the most successful playwrights of their time.
Also Here
by Brooke Randel
As a young girl Brooke Randel knew little about the Holocaust-just that it was a catastrophe in which millions were murdered, and that her grandma Golda Indig barely escaped that fate. But her Bubbie never spoke about what happened, and the two spent most of their time together making pleasant memories: baking crescent roll cookies, playing gin rummy, and watching Baywatch. Until an unexpected phone call when Golda said, out of the blue: "You should write about my life. What happened in the war."
What results is a fascinating memoir--about one woman's harrowing survival, and another's struggle to excavate the story from under the sands of time, and her grandma's illiteracy. Chronicling the darkness of the past and the difficult (and occasionally comic) challenges of bringing it to life in a sunny Florida condo, this book offers an insightful look into the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren,
and the impossible pull of both silence and remembrance.
My Time to Stand: A Memoir
by Gypsy-Rose Blanchard - Melissa Moore - Michele Matrisciani
A victim of her mother's Munchausen by proxy and child abuse survivor, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard's unique and controversial case made headlines across the world.
Now, she's finally free to start living her life on her terms--and to tell her own story as only she can.
Forced to use a wheelchair in public and endure a lifetime of faux illness, fraud, and exploitation, Gypsy was subjected not only to her mother's medical, physical, and emotional abuse, but deprived of childhood milestones. Prevented from attending school or socializing, Gypsy's formative years were defined by pain and isolation.
After serving 8 years in prison for the role she played in her mother Dee Dee's murder, Gypsy is embracing her fresh start--and reminding all of us that it's never too late.
The Last Tsar: The Abdication of Nicholas II and the Fall of the Romanovs
by Tsuyoshi Hasegawa
"Elegantly written and magisterially researched" (Robert Service, author of A History of Modern Russia), the definitive story behind the self-destruction of the autocratic Romanov dynasty, by the world's foremost expert
When Tsar Nicholas II fell from power in 1917, Imperial Russia faced a series of overlapping crises, from war to social unrest. Though Nicholas's life is often described as tragic, it was not fate that doomed the Romanovs--it was poor leadership and a blinkered faith in autocracy.
The Tiger Slam: The Inside Story of the Greatest Golf Ever Played (Tiger Woods in 2000-2001)
by Kevin Cook
Twenty-five years ago, Tiger Woods achieved the greatest feat in golf history: the "Tiger Slam." Now, for the first time, the award-winning author of Tommy's Honor delivers a riveting account of Tiger at his most brilliant--dominating the game in a way we will never see again.
In 1997, as every schoolchild knows, Tiger Woods won the Masters by the largest margin in history, becoming the first Black player to win a major championship. Four years later, the world watches with breathless anticipation as he returns to Augusta National, aiming for a milestone no other golfer has ever achieved: four professional Grand Slam triumphs in a row.
Postmortem: What Survives the John Wayne Gacy Murders
by Courtney Lund O'Neil
In the vein of the bestselling I'll Be Gone in the Dark, this compelling work of true crime explores the aftershocks of "Killer Clown" John Wayne Gacy's crimes with a uniquely intimate slant, as the daughter of a key witness probes her mother's personal experiences and the legacy of murder within a family, a community, and the American psyche.
On a December night in 1978, Courtney Lund O'Neil's mother, teenaged Kim Byers, saw her friend Rob Piest alive for the last time. At the end of his shift at the pharmacy where they both worked, fifteen-year-old Rob went outside to speak to a contractor named John Wayne Gacy about a possible job.
That night Rob became Gacy's final victim; his body was later found in the Des Plaines River. Kim's testimony, along with a receipt belonging to her found in Gacy's house, proving that Rob had been there, would be pivotal in convicting the serial killer who assaulted and killed over thirty young men and boys.
november new release books
Box Office Poison: Hollywood's Story in a Century of Flops (Original)
by Tim Robey
***A NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB MUST-READ BOOK OF NOVEMBER 2024***
From grand follies to misunderstood masterpieces, disastrous sequels to catastrophic literary adaptations, Box Office Poison tells a hugely entertaining alternative history of Hollywood, through a century of its most notable flops. What can these films tell us about the Hollywood system, the public's appetite-or lack of it-and the circumstances that saw such flops actually made? Away from the canon, this is the definitive take on these ill-fated, but essential celluloid failures.
Cher: The Memoir, Part One
by Cher Cher
The extraordinary life of Cher can be told by only one person . . . Cher herself.
After more than seventy years of fighting to live her life on her own terms, Cher finally reveals her true story in intimate detail, in a two-part memoir.
Her remarkable career is unique and unparalleled. The only woman to top Billboard charts in seven consecutive decades, she is the winner of an Academy Award, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Cannes Film Festival Award, and an inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who has been lauded by the Kennedy Center.
She is a lifelong activist and philanthropist.
Growing Up Urkel
by Jaleel White
An incisive and insightful memoir by one of the most beloved icons of nineties television Jaleel White, the actor who portrayed Steve Urkel on the hit sitcom Family Matters.
DOES IT BOTHER YOU WHEN PEOPLE STILL CALL YOU URKEL?
"This is a question I get all the time and it's an interesting one--because the question lands differently from different people. Over the years, I've trained myself to hear their tone when saying the name or asking the question. If it's an older grandmother who hasn't seen me in a while she'll say, 'Oh baby, it's Urkel!' with genuine enthusiasm, and I'll greet her with love and give her a hug.
At this point in my life, I firmly understand that this journey was never just about me. It's been about finding my calling and figuring out the best ways to use it to bring joy to others. I see my story as a testament to the power of perseverance, authenticity, and reinvention."
I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying: A Memoir
by Youngmi Mayer
San Francisco Chronicle's Best New Books of Fall 2024
From standup comedian Youngmi Mayer, an unforgettable memoir written with "raw, enviable freedom that simply floors you," interrogating whiteness, gender, and sexuality in America, navigating a tumultuous childhood in Korea and Saipan, and coming to terms with her parents' shortcomings (Michelle Zauner).
"Do you know what happens if you laugh while crying? Hair grows out of your butthole." It was a constant truism Youngmi Mayer's mother would say threateningly after she would make her daughter laugh while crying. Her mother used it to cheer her up in moments when she could tell Youngmi was overtaken with grief. The humorous saying would never fail to lighten the mood, causing both daughter and mother to laugh and cry at the same time. Her mother had learned this trick from her mother, and her mother had learned this from her mother before her: it had also helped an endless string of her family laugh through suffering.
Let's Make Things Better: A Holocaust Survivor's Message of Hope and Celebration of Life
by Gidon Lev - Julie Gray
"To me, hard times are like hide-and-seek--where is the solution, where is the hope? We can never give up looking for these things because they are just waiting to be found." --Gidon Lev
On May 8, 1945, when he was just ten years old, Gidon Lev was liberated from a Nazi concentration camp after four nightmarish years. Twenty-six family members, including Gidon's beloved father and grandparents, were murdered in the Holocaust. Only Gidon and his mother survived.
From the depths of despair, a little boy who had lost so much was determined to build a life filled with adventure and love. And that is exactly what he did. Today, a spritely and cheerful octogenarian and father of six, Gidon speaks to celebrities and diplomats all over the world and has taken social media by storm--all with his signature candor, charm, and wisdom.
Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative
by Keke Palmer
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF FALL 2024: Bookshop, Apple Books, People, BookRiot, and more!!
Keke Palmer thought she knew who she was. What it means to be a good person and what it takes to be a success. It all seemed so simple, until she realized the challenges she would have to face to prove to herself who she wanted to be. From feeling alienated to having to restart her career after ten years in to becoming a single mother just months after her son was born--everything she worked for in life that she felt granted her what she wanted now also reminded her that "life is going to life" and throw curveballs regardless of what you deserve. She found herself asking, Where do I find my power? How do I master myself?
October New Release Books
What I Ate in One Year: (And Related Thoughts)
by Stanley Tucci
From Stanley Tucci, award-winning actor and New York Times bestselling author, a deliciously unique memoir chronicling a year's worth of meals.
"Sharing food is one of the purest human acts."
Food has always been an integral part of Stanley Tucci's life: from stracciatella soup served in the shadow of the Pantheon, to marinara sauce cooked between scene rehearsals and costume fittings, to home-made pizza eaten with his children before bedtime.
Now, in What I Ate in One Year Tucci records twelve months of eating--in restaurants, kitchens, film sets, press junkets, at home and abroad, with friends, with family, with strangers, and occasionally just by himself.
Be Ready When the Luck Happens: A Memoir
by Ina Garten
In her long-awaited memoir, Ina Garten--aka the Barefoot Contessa, author of thirteen bestselling cookbooks, beloved Food Network personality, Instagram sensation, and cultural icon--shares her personal story with readers hungry for a seat at her table.
Here, for the first time, Ina Garten presents an intimate, entertaining, and inspiring account of her remarkable journey. Ina's gift is to make everything look easy, yet all her accomplishments have been the result of hard work, audacious choices, and exquisite attention to detail. In her unmistakable voice (no one tells a story like Ina), she brings her past and her process to life in a high-spirited and no-holds-barred memoir that chronicles decades of personal challenges, adventures (and misadventures) and unexpected career twists, all delivered with her signature combination of playfulness and purpose.
Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While Also in an Actual Cult!)
by Bethany Joy Lenz
A deliciously witty and inspiring memoir by One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz about her decade in a cult and her quest to break free.
In the early 2000s, after years of hard work and determination to breakthrough as an actor, Bethany Joy Lenz was finally cast as one of the leads on the hit drama One Tree Hill. Her career was about to take off, but her personal life was slowly beginning to unravel. What none of the show's millions of fans knew, hidden even from her costars, was her secret double life in a cult.
From Here to the Great Unknown: A Memoir
by Lisa Marie Presley - Riley Keough
Born to an American myth and raised in the wilds of Graceland, Lisa Marie Presley tells her whole story for the first time in this raw, riveting, one-of-a-kind memoir faithfully completed by her daughter, Riley Keough.
In 2022, Lisa Marie Presley asked her daughter to help finally finish her long-gestating memoir.
A month later, Lisa Marie was dead, and the world would never know her story in her own words, never know the passionate, joyful, caring, and complicated woman that Riley loved and now grieved.
Sonny Boy: A Memoir
by Al Pacino
From one of the most iconic actors in the history of film, an astonishingly revelatory account of a creative life in full
To the wider world, Al Pacino exploded onto the scene like a supernova. He landed his first leading role, in The Panic in Needle Park, in 1971, and by 1975, he had starred in four movies--The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon--that were not just successes but landmarks in the history of film. Those performances became legendary and changed his life forever. Not since Marlon Brando and James Dean in the late 1950s had an actor landed in the culture with such force.
American Heroes: From the #1 Bestselling Authors of Walk in My Combat Boots
by James Patterson - Matt Eversmann - Tim Malloy
From the authors of Walk in My Combat Boots, "American Heroes is a gripping collection of firsthand accounts...capturing the indomitable spirit of our nation's finest" (Jack Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Terminal List series).
U.S. soldiers who served in overseas conflicts--from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan--share true stories of the actions that earned them some of America's most distinguished military medals, up to and including the Medal of Honor.
They never acted alone, but always in the spirit of camaraderie, patriotism, and for the good of our beloved country.
There has never been a better time for all of us to think about duty, sacrifice, and what it means to be an American hero.
The Glass Girl
by Kathleen Glasgow
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces comes a raw, heart-wrenching novel about a teenager facing down her struggles with alcohol--and the journey she must take to heal.
Everyone in fifteen-year-old Bella's life needs something from her. Her mom needs her to help around the house, her dad needs her to not make waves, her ex needs her to not be so much. The only person who never needed anything from her was her grandmother--and now she's dead.
Dreams: The Many Lives of Fleetwood Mac
by Mark Blake
An illuminating deep-dive into everything Fleetwood Mac--the songs, the rivalries, the successes, and the failures--Dreams evokes the band's entire musical catalog as well as the complex human drama at the heart of the Fleetwood Mac story.
Fleetwood Mac has had a ground-breaking career spanning over fifty years and includes some of the best-selling albums and greatest hits of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. But the band's unique story is one of enormous triumph and also deep tragedy. There has never been a band in the history of music riven with as much romantic drama, sexual tension, and incredible highs and lows as Fleetwood Mac.
The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science
by Dava Sobel
The acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Galileo's Daughter crafts a luminous chronicle of the life and work of the most famous woman in the history of science, and the untold story of the many young women trained in her laboratory who were launched into stellar scientific careers of their own
"Even now, nearly a century after her death, Marie Curie remains the only female scientist most people can name," writes Dava Sobel at the opening of her shining portrait of the sole Nobel laureate decorated in two separate fields of science--Physics in 1903 with her husband Pierre and Chemistry by herself in 1911. And yet, Sobel makes clear, as brilliant and creative as she was in the laboratory, Marie Curie was equally passionate outside it. Grieving Pierre's untimely death in 1906, she took his place as professor of physics at the Sorbonne; devotedly raised two brilliant daughters; drove a van she outfitted with x-ray equipment to the front lines of World War I; befriended Albert Einstein and other luminaries of twentieth-century physics; won support from two U.S. presidents; and inspired generations of young women the world over to pursue science as a way of life.
Roman Year: A Memoir
by André Aciman
The author of Call Me by Your Name returns with a deeply romantic memoir of his time in Rome while on the cusp of adulthood.
In Roman Year, André Aciman captures the period of his adolescence that began when he and his family first set foot in Rome, after being expelled from Egypt. Though Aciman's family had been well-off in Alexandria, all vestiges of their status vanished when they fled, and the author, his younger brother, and his deaf mother moved into a rented apartment in Rome's Via Clelia. Though dejected, Aciman's mother and brother found their way into life in Rome, while Aciman, still unmoored, burrowed into his bedroom to read one book after the other. The world of novels eventually allowed him to open up to the city and, through them, discover the beating heart of the Eternal City.