Nonfiction That Reads
Like Fiction (For Adults)
Looking for something new to read? Check out these
 recommendations curated by our librarians! 
 
Girl, stop apologizing : a shame-free plan for embracing and achieving your goals
by Rachel Hollis

The best-selling author of Girl, Wash Your Face and founder of TheChicSite.com urges women to stop feeling self-conscious about their ambitions and to start pursuing their dreams with confidence, outlining specific behaviors that promote moving forward
Educated : a memoir
by Tara Westover

Traces the author's experiences as a child born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, describing her participation in her family's paranoid stockpiling activities and her resolve to educate herself well enough to earn an acceptance into a prestigious university and the unfamiliar world beyond.
American predator : the hunt for the most meticulous serial killer of the 21st century
by Maureen Callahan

An investigative journalist documents the story of enigmatic serial killer Israel Keyes and the efforts of the Anchorage PD and the FBI to capture him, discussing what his case reveals about twenty-first-century law enforcement
Adventures in opting out : a field guide to leading an intentional life
by Cait Flanders

Offers a guide to creating an intentional life that emphasises the beauty of the natural world, the importance of gaining new perspectives, the joys of real human connection, and the peace that comes from living in harmony with one's own values
The splendid and the vile : A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
by Erik Larson

The best-selling author of Dead Wake draws on personal diaries, archival documents and declassified intelligence in a portrait of Winston Churchill that explores his day-to-day experiences during the Blitz and his role in uniting England. Maps.
Furious Hours : Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
by Casey Cep

Presents the true story of Harper Lee’s never finished final work – and the shocking story of the serial killer who inspired it, while offering a deeply moving portrait of one of the country’s most beloved writers and her struggle with fame, success and the mystery of artistic creativity. Original. Illustrations.
I'll be gone in the dark : one woman's obsessive search for the Golden State Killer
by Michelle McNamara

An account of the unsolved Golden State Killer case traces the rapes and murders of dozens of victims and the author's determined efforts to help identify the killer and bring him to justice. (true crime). Reprint. 150,000 first printing. AB. K. LJ. NYT. PW.
The heartbeat of Wounded Knee : native America from 1890 to the present
by David Treuer

An anthropologist's chronicle of Native American life from the Wounded Knee massacre to the present traces the unprecedented resourcefulness and reinvention of distinct tribe cultures that assimilated into mainstream life to preserve Native identity.
Midnight in Chernobyl : the untold story of the world's greatest nuclear disaster
by Adam Higginbotham

"Journalist Adam Higginbotham's definitive, years-in-the-making account of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster--and a powerful investigation into how propaganda, secrecy, and myth have obscured the true story of one of the twentieth century's greatest disasters. Early in the morning of April 26, 1986, Reactor Number Four of the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station exploded, triggering history's worst nuclear disaster. In the thirty years since then, Chernobyl has become lodged in the collective nightmares of the world: shorthand for the spectral horrors of radiation poisoning, for a dangerous technology slipping its leash, for ecological fragility, and for what can happen when a dishonest and careless state endangers its citizens and the entire world. But the real story of the accident, clouded from the beginning by secrecy, propaganda, and misinformation, has long remained in dispute. Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews conducted over the course of more than ten years, as well as letters, unpublished memoirs, and documents from recently-declassified archives, Adam Higginbotham has written a harrowing and compelling narrative which brings the disaster to life through the eyes of the men and women who witnessed it firsthand. The result is a masterful nonfiction thriller, and the definitive account of an event that changed history: a story that is more complex, more human, and more terrifying than the Soviet myth. Midnight in Chernobyl is an indelible portrait of one of the great disasters of the twentieth century, of human resilience and ingenuity, and the lessons learned when mankind seeks to bend the natural world to his will--lessons which, in the face of climate change and other threats, remain not just vital but necessary"--Publisher's website
The five : the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper
by Hallie Rubenhold

Researched portraits of the five women murdered by Jack the Ripper in 1888 challenge popular beliefs to reveal each victim's historically relevant and diverse background while discussing the cultural and gender disadvantages that rendered them vulnerable. 25,000 first printing. Illustrations.
Livingston Parish Library
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