15 works of nonfiction from around the world to watch for this fall
CBC Books | Posted: August 16, 2018 4:43 PM | Last Updated: August 16, 2018
Here are 15 works of nonfiction from around the world coming out in the second half of 2018 that we can't wait to read.
Small Fry by Lisa Brennan-Jobs
What it's about: Lisa Brennan-Jobs was raised in California in the '70s and '80s — a time of rapid change within Silicon Valley and for the daughter of Apple founder Steve Jobs, it meant a life with a rarely present father. Brennan-Jobs' memoir Small Fry is an intimate look at a childhood spent teetering between her divorced parents' two very different, albeit equally hectic, worlds and an honest portrait of a complex family.
When you can read it: Sept. 4, 2018
21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari
What it's about: Yuval Noah Harari offers tools on how to navigate through and understand the 21st century. In this guide, Harari sets out to answer some of life's questions: What is happening in the world today, what is the deeper meaning of these events and how can we individually steer our way through them? Using his informal style of writing, Harari tackles current events and pressing issues including international terrorism, global warming, nationalism, migration, the human condition and fake news. Yuval Harari is an Israeli historian, writer and academic. He is also the author of Sapiens and Homo Deus.
When you can read it: Sept. 4, 2018
Heartland by Sarah Smarsh
What it's about: Heartland is an eye-opening look at the class divide in America, the working-class in the Midwest and the effects of intergenerational poverty on individuals and communities. Using analysis and commentary, Sarah Smarsh writes of her first hand experience with cyclical poverty and her tumultuous childhood on a farm west of Wichita in the 1980s and 1990s as the daughter of a wheat farmer and teen mother.
When you can read it: Sept. 18, 2018
Daemon Voices by Philip Pullman
What it's about: In this collection of essays, Philip Pullman chronicles the story of his fascination with storytelling as both a reader of Blake, Milton, Dickens and the Brothers Grimm and as a writer himself. The celebrated author offers an enthralling exploration into narrative and its role in science, religion and education, as well as insight into the mind and methods of a master within the craft.
When you can read it: Sept. 18, 2018
All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung
What it's about: Nicole Chung was born to Korean parents, but was adopted by a white family when she was a baby. She was raised in a sheltered Oregon community. As she grew up and faced prejudices as an Asian-American and transracial adoptee, she became increasingly curious about her origin story. In this memoir, Chung chronicles her search for the biological parents who gave her up — one that coincided with the birth of her own child — and exploration of her identity.
When you can read it: Oct. 1, 2018
On Sunset by Kathryn Harrison
What it's about: American author Kathryn Harrison pens this memoir that looks at her upbringing by her grandparents in a mansion on Los Angeles' famed Sunset Boulevard. On Sunset looks at her unconventional life of privilege among the wealthy and eccentric in the 1960s — and what transpired when declining finances forces her grandparents to sell the home and move on.
When you can read it: Oct. 2, 2018
Sound by Bella Bathurst
What it's about: London-born writer Bella Bathurst tells the story about losing her hearing and then regaining it after 12 years. Sound sees Bathurst explore the concepts of silence and noise as she speaks with medical specialists along with ordinary people who are deaf or have lost their hearing and what that means to them.
When you can read it: Oct. 2, 2018
There Will Be No Miracles Here by Casey Gerald
What it's about: Casey Gerald is an American author and Yale undergrad. There Will Be No Miracles Here is a true rags to riches story that looks race, class and wealth as it examines the myth of the American Dream.
When you can read it: Oct. 2, 2018
Heavy by Kiese Laymon
What it's about: Heavy is a collection of essays that draws on Kiese Laymon's life growing up in the American South to look at his personal experiences with body image, abuse and identity.
When you can read it: Oct. 16, 2018
Retablos by Octavio Solis
What it's about: In Mexican folk art, a retablo is a devotional painting featuring images painted on repurposed metal and typically laden with Catholic iconography. In Retablos, American playwright and director Octavio Solis examines his Mexican heritage, personal traumas and rites of passage and what it truly means to grow up brown living at the U.S./Mexico border.
When you can read it: Oct. 16, 2018
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
What it's about: Journalist and bestselling author Susan Orlean investigates the mystery of the 1986 Los Angeles Public Library fire, which consumed over 400,000 books and damaged 700,000 more. As Orlean digs into who might have started the fire and why, she also provides a loving history of libraries, describing their evolution through time and the ways they've shaped society.
When you can read it: Oct. 16, 2018
Let It Bang by RJ Young
What it's about: Desperate to connect with his white gun-loving father-in-law, RJ Young accepts Charles' gift of a Glock. Despite hearing comments like, "Ain't you supposed to be shooting a basketball?" from white gun owners, Young is inspired to get really, really good with guns. He ends up becoming an NRA-certified pistol instructor and goes deep into American gun culture, where he notices a dangerous persistent pattern of white fear, white violence and Black fear.
When you can read it: Oct. 23, 2018
Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know by Colm Tóibín
What it's about: Celebrated novelist Colm Tóibín looks at three literary legends and dissects their relationships with their fathers. From Oscar Wilde, whose father was a brilliant statistician, to Yeats, the son of a poor artist who could never finish a painting, and finally James Joyce, one of many children fathered by an absent drunken storyteller, Tóibín examines how complicated father-son relationships can surface in brilliant and enduring literature.
When you can read it: Oct. 23, 2018
The End of the End of the Earth by Jonathan Franzen
What it's about: Jonathan Franzen tackles a series of moral quandaries in this collection of essays, examining ethical dilemmas in the fields of environmentalism, capitalism, wealth inequality, race, technology and art. At the centre of each is a question about what humanity is or should be doing — for instance, what is our civic responsibility in preventing catastrophic climate change?
When you can read it: Nov. 13, 2018
Becoming by Michelle Obama
What it's about: Michelle Obama, the first African American to serve as first lady of the United States of America, chronicles her life in this new memoir. Obama grew up on the south side of Chicago, led a successful law career and had two daughters before her husband Barack Obama became President. Obama is celebrated for her advocacy work on behalf of girls and woman globally, and, in her role as first lady, worked to raise awareness on healthy lifestyles for families.
When you can read it: Nov. 13, 2018