Seattle Picks: Narrative NonfictionLike this list

25 items

• Get the Picture

  a Mind-bending Journey Among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See

  Bosker, Bianca

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  Immersive reporting along the lines of George Plimpton or Barbara Ehrenreich, [blending] relentless curiosity, bottomless energy, and a gift for clever formulations that recalls Oscar Wilde. A delightful book on an inspiring topic by a writer who…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Our Moon

  Boyle, Rebecca (Rebecca B.)

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  A solid biography of the Moon. There's plenty here for readers who enjoy planetary and earth science books. (Library Journal)

• A Fever in the Heartland

  the Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them

  Egan, Timothy

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  The shocking story of how Ku Klux Klan leader David C. Stephenson seized and lost control of the state of Indiana in the 1920s. (Publishers Weekly)

• The Art Thief

  a True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession

  Finkel, Michael

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  Enthralling...In animated and colorful prose, Finkel summons the emotional intensity of a murder mystery. But old masters, not bodies, are missing...The Art Thief is about heists, yes, but it also speaks to much more. (The Washington Post)

• The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum

  the Rise and Fall of An American Organized-crime Boss

  Fox, Margalit

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  Fox succeeds in rescuing a once-notorious public figure from historical obscurity. An engrossing portrait of an unlikely criminal mastermind. (Kirkus)

• Biking Uphill in the Rain

  the Story of Seattle From Behind the Handlebars

  Fucoloro, Tom

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  Tom Fucoloro's new book explores the good, the bad, and the sometimes-shocking history of Seattle's bike culture. (The Stranger)

• The Wager

  a Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

  Grann, David

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  [Grann's] dogged search through ships’ logs and other contemporaneous accounts of the disaster and its mutinous aftermath has turned up the kind of sterling details that make his writing sing…Grann simultaneously reconstructs history while telling a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Madness

  Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum

  Hylton, Antonia

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  A thoroughgoing, often shocking exposé of segregation in the treatment (or nontreatment) of mental illness. [A] strong contribution to the literature of both mental health care and civil rights. (Kirkus)

• Splinters

  Another Kind of Love Story

  Jamison, Leslie, 1983-

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  Bestseller Jamison chronicles in this exquisite memoir the dramatic shift her life took following the birth of her daughter and the end of her marriage. By turns funny, poignant, harrowing, and joyful, this standout personal history isn't easily…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Infernal Machine

  a True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective

  Johnson, Steven, 1968-

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  Drawing parallels with contemporary acts of terrorism and governmental abuses of power in monitoring citizens, Johnson makes history part of an ongoing story we all need to consider. Smart, accessible, and highly readable. (Kirkus)

• Pathogenesis

  a History of the World in Eight Plagues

  Kennedy, Jonathan

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  A virtuoso analysis of the fallout from encounters between deadly viral and bacterial pathogens and human populations that lacked immunity. The result is a fascinating look at history from the perspective of its tiniest protagonists. (Publishers…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Chop, Fry, Watch, Learn

  Fu Pei-Mei and the Making of Modern Chinese Food

  King, Michelle Tien

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  A well-researched biography of the woman the New York Times called “the Julia Child of Chinese cooking." An appealing story of a determined home cook who taught generations how to prepare authentic Chinese food. (Kirkus)

• The Demon of Unrest

  a Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War

  Larson, Erik, 1954-

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  In his latest appealing historical excavation, Larson…examines the run-up to the Civil War during the six months between Lincoln’s November 1860 election and the surrender of Fort Sumter. (Kirkus)

• Bird Milk & Mosquito Bones

  a Memoir

  Mattoo, Priyanka

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  Film producer Mattoo reflects on leaving Kashmir during the violent 1980s in her insightful and surprisingly funny debut. Distinguished by its sharp wit and beating heart, this is a salve for wanderers of all stripes. (Publishers Weekly)

• The Best Minds

  a Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions

  Rosen, Jonathan, 1963-

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  Dazzling . . . both a breathtaking and tragic portrait of a man with vast potential and a reckoning on how schizophrenia is treated and understood. This is a tough one to forget. (Publishers Weekly)

• Black Ball

  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation That Saved the Soul of the NBA

  Runstedtler, Theresa

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  Runstedtler, a professor of African American history at American University and a former member of the Toronto Raptors’ dance team, is well acquainted with the massively popular sport’s “unspoken racial politics,” and she has the ambition to look…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Bite

  An Incisive History of Teeth, From Hagfish to Humans

  Schutt, Bill

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  A delightful examination of teeth throughout history. Vertebrate zoologist Schutt, a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History, teams with illustrator Wynne to create a lively, deeply informed investigation of the origin,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Heartbreak City

  Seattle Sports and the Unmet Promise of Urban Progress

  Scott, Shaun

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  Relearn the history of Seattle by examining it through the games people played. Scott makes a compelling case that through sports, we can learn our urban histories in a way that provides clarity about past, present and future. (The Nation)

• Brave the Wild River

  the Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon

  Sevigny, Melissa L., 1986-

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  Sevigny paints a picture by describing other elements of the canyon journey…She goes beyond botanizing and writes about the ancestral Puebloan residents of the area, mapmakers, former explorers, honeymooners. (Los Angeles Review of Books)

• How to Say Babylon

  a Memoir

  Sinclair, Safiya

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  Poet Sinclair recounts her harrowing upbringing in Jamaica in this bruising memoir. Readers will be drawn to Sinclair's strength and swept away by her tale of triumph over oppression. (Publishers Weekly)