Adult Nonfiction

The Call of the Honeyguide by Rob Dunn

Adult Nonfiction, Natural History, Science

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A challenging new take on responding to climate change. Dunn asks readers to learn about how humans have interacted with other beings (animals, plants, insects) and how we might act in the future to the benefit of all. He offers plenty of examples, differing opinions, and humor to balance the data. Definitely one to put on your climate change shelf.

The Call of the Honeyguide by Rob Dunn, (List Price: $32, Basic Books, 9781541605732, August 2025)

Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina

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A Truce That Is Not Peace by Miriam Toews

Adult Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Memoirs

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Toews is an author unlike any other; the personal nature of her writing is global in its appeal. This autobiographical work uses a pastiche — a literary conceit that requires Toews to answer the question “Why do I write?” — to send Toews toward herself and the request her late sister asked of her. If my sister is gone, what does it mean to write to her still? asks the author. At its core — and this book is all core — this book entreats a reader to feel the most difficult emotions. It reminds us not to leave each other alone. Being together may not save us — it did not save Toews’s sister — but Miriam Toews argues that feeling together is still worth doing.

A Truce That Is Not Peace by Miriam Toews, (List Price: $26.99, Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781639734740, August 2025)

Reviewed by Julia Paganelli Marin, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas

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What Is Wrong with Men by Jessa Crispin

Adult Nonfiction, Feminism & Feminist Theory, Social Science

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Exceptional cultural criticism that convincingly and insightfully mines the seemingly disposable popular commercial ’80s to early ’00s films of Michael Douglas to expose the political, cultural, and sociological currents thrumming beneath the surface (or, at times, on the surface) of the texts and roiling through America. A terrific and fun read, while also being exemplary of the form for cultural criticism written for a general audience.

What Is Wrong with Men by Jessa Crispin, (List Price: $27, Pantheon, 9780593317624, June 2025)

Reviewed by Matt Nixon, A Cappella Books in Atlanta, Georgia

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Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane

Adult Nonfiction, Bestsellers, Ecosystems & Habitats, Nature

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Nature writer par excellence Robert Macfarlane’s latest work is a treat for all the senses. In it, he visits three rivers – one in Ecuador, one in India, one in Canada; one protected, one dying, and one under threat – in search of answers to his own question: is a river alive? The result is this beautifully written work that explores the rights of nature movement and the idea that rivers are more than mere matter for human use. Drawing upon both indigenous and Western knowledge, Is a River Alive? is erudite and eloquent, intelligent and passionate, and much needed.

Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane, (List Price: $31.99, W. W. Norton & Company, 9780393242133, May 2025)

Reviewed by Jude Burke-Lewis, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi

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This Happened to Me by Kate Price

Adult Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Memoirs

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Price is getting comparisons to Jeannette Walls and Tara Westover, and they are so deserved! Her therapy journey is featured in the bestselling book, The Body Keeps the Score, and is an unflinching tale of overcoming repressed childhood trauma and breaking cycles of abuse. It has some tough parts, but Price is honest and open. Her story of growth will inspire you.

This Happened to Me by Kate Price, (List Price: $29.99, Gallery Books, 9781668036228, August 2025)

Reviewed by Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

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The Club by Jennifer Dasal

Adult Nonfiction, Architects, Artists, Biography & Autobiography, Photographers

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Between 1870 and 1914, hundreds of young American women sought artistic training in Paris, and many found a special residence that fostered their training. The building became known as the American Girl’s Club. Dasal provides a breezy account of the club by way of individual women who left accounts of their time. An intriguing addition to the history of women artists in Europe and America.

The Club by Jennifer Dasal, (List Price: $29.99, Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781639731305, July 2025)

Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina

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Gateaux by Mori Yoshida

Adult Nonfiction, Cooking, French, Regional & Cultural

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There are different types of cookbooks. Some focus on the science…others on weeknight meals…but this one focuses on beauty, gorgeous pictures make this cookbook an adult picture book that you want to look at over and over. The recipes are not simple but works of art that will take your time and reward you with all things beautiful, beautiful to look at and pop in your mouth.

Gateaux by Mori Yoshida, (List Price: $40, Tra Publishing, 9781962098120, April 2025)

Reviewed by Ashby Rushing, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee

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Boustany by Sami Tamimi

Adult Nonfiction, Cooking, Middle Eastern, Regional & Cultural

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Boustany has been on my radar for a while now, and I am happy to report it is everything you could want and more! Filled with luscious recipes that are rich in tradition yet infused with new ideas that bring something fresh, the pantry section alone had me feeling like I had ascended into spice and pickled heaven. The history and culture that’s embedded in each dish add something so special and meaningful that it brings this book to a new level, truly something for everyone!

Boustany by Sami Tamimi, (List Price: $37.99, Ten Speed Press, 9781984863188, July 2025)

Reviewed by Grace Sullivan, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

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Lawless by Leah Litman

Adult Nonfiction, Commentary & Opinion, Courts, Judicial Power, Law, Political Science

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Leah Littman of Crooked Media takes the post-Warren Supreme Court and explains just exactly how they run on “conservative grievance, fringe theories, and bad vibes.” Using pop culture analogies at times, Littman compares the court to Mean Girls, Game of Thrones, and Arrested Development. If you’re looking for a book that clearly states exactly how we got to where we are today, this is absolutely the book for you.

Lawless by Leah Litman, (List Price: $29.99, Atria / One Signal Publishers, 9781668054628, May 2025)

Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia

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No Straight Road Takes You There: Essays for Uneven Terrain by Rebecca Solnit

Activism & Social Justice, Adult Nonfiction, Environmental Policy, Essays, Feminism & Feminist Theory, Literary Collections, Political Science, Public Policy

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“The rage, to my surprise, seemed to come mainly from middle-class white people. They seemed to see despair as a form of solidarity, and hope as a betrayal…” As a middle-class white guy who feels a decent amount of despair these days, Solnit’s latest (and brilliant as ever) collection doesn’t do much different from previous works, (especially 2016’s Hope In The Dark,) but is a vital reminder that things can change, they do change, and only we can make them change. The message is crucial, but the storytelling that conveys it is equally so, and it is the snippets of fact which catch you by surprise sometimes, and help the moral (never give up, never despair) stick – how did I never know, for instance, that MLK’s “I have a dream” speech was off script, unplanned? Solnit is one of the most important living writers, and any new book by her is cause for celebration, introspection, and ultimately, action.

No Straight Road Takes You There: Essays for Uneven Terrain by Rebecca Solnit, (List Price: $16.95, Haymarket Books, 9798888903636, May 2025)

Reviewed by Doron Klemer, Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana

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What Is Queer Food? by John Birdsall

Adult Nonfiction, Cooking, History

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John Birdsall is the winner of two James Beard awards for food and culture writing and the author of The Many Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard (which I also devoured!!). Focused on the European and American food scenes starting in the late 19th century. Birdsall deftly combines food writing and cultural history in this book he was born to write. Swinging by the tables of Truman Capote, James Baldwin, Alice B. Toklas, and others, we are shown the intersections between fashion, music, art, and food. It’s deliciously dishy, but also deeply substantive. If I could give Michelin stars to a book, I would give this 3 stars! (That’s the most you can give, btw).

What Is Queer Food? by John Birdsall, (List Price: $29.99, W. W. Norton & Company, 9781324073796, June 2025)

Reviewed by Kelly Justice, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

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Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li

Adult Nonfiction, Essays, Literary Collections

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A transcendent work that I’ll be thinking about forever. A book about living–applying precision to life’s formless mysteries, chiseling them out–much more than a book about grief. An act of generosity and courage, undertaken with breathtaking intelligence.

Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li, (List Price: $26, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 9780374617318, May 2025)

Reviewed by Kristen Iskandrian, Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama

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Sharks Don’t Sink by Jasmin Graham

Adult Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Science & Technology

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Such an entertaining and important memoir. Not only does Jasmin pack the book with super interesting shark facts, she also talks about important issues – racism, sexism, workplace and educational abuse, marine conservation, and mental health. The ways in which she describes her experiences (good and bad) and how they sometimes relate to sharks, is so poetic.

Sharks Don’t Sink by Jasmin Graham, (List Price: $18, Vintage, 9780593685273, July 2025)

Reviewed by Stephanie StJohn, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

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Forest Euphoria by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian

Adult Nonfiction, Fungi & Mushrooms, Nature

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I am beginning to love the way mycologists view the world—there is a particular exuberance, I believe, that comes along with understanding just how interconnected the world is. Kaishian’s brilliant Forest Euphoria finds joy down in the soil with mushrooms, snails, cicadas, and snakes; it revels in the air with crows; it glides through water with eels. As she celebrates the inherent queerness of the life around us—and how it helped her find herself—Kaishian rejects dominant categorizations and binaries and reveals our world in technicolor—richer and more magical and deeply connected than any science textbook would have you believe. With a lyrical, reverent tone, the writer implores us to look deeper and keep our minds open, to learn from the life around us to value and love all beings.

Forest Euphoria by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian, (List Price: $30, Spiegel & Grau, 9781954118904, May 2025)

Reviewed by Hannah DeCamp, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

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You Gotta Eat by Margaret Eby

Adult Nonfiction, Cooking, Methods, Quick & Easy

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I loved this book. I never learned how to cook and have spent most of my life struggling with feeding myself. What I would give to go back in time and hand this book to younger versions of myself. I’m also someone with a history of disordered eating and depression, and this book speaks so kindly to those parts of me. If you struggle with feeding yourself, either because you didn’t learn how to cook, or you’re depressed or low-energy, or you just have a demanding job and can’t deal with making yourself an involved, multi-step dinner, this book is the answer. It helped me so much that I told the registered dietitian I work with about it, and she bought one for her office. I’m also obsessed with one of the meals in the book: potstickers, broccoli, and ramen. And not for nothing, this is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. Three cheers for Margaret!

You Gotta Eat by Margaret Eby, (List Price: $19.99, Quirk Books, 9781683694427, November 2024)

Reviewed by Kim Baldwin, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee

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