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Best Sellers

Hardcover Nonfiction

Week of October 20, 2024

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1
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BE READY WHEN THE LUCK HAPPENS
Ina Garten
Cover of BE READY WHEN THE LUCK HAPPENS

BE READY WHEN THE LUCK HAPPENS

by Ina Garten · Crown

1 wks at #1 · 1 on list

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 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. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Town & Country 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. From a difficult childhood to meeting the love of her life, Jeffrey, and marrying him while still in college, from a boring bureaucratic job in Washington, D.C., to answering an ad for a specialty food store in the Hamptons, from the owner of one Barefoot Contessa shop to author of bestselling cookbooks and celebrated television host, Ina has blazed her own trail and, in the meantime, taught millions of people how to cook and entertain. Now, she invites them to come closer to experience her story in vivid detail and to share the important life lessons she learned along the way: do what you love because if you love it you’ll be really good at it, swing for the fences, and always Be Ready When the Luck Happens.

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THE MESSAGE
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Cover of THE MESSAGE

THE MESSAGE

by Ta-Nehisi Coates · One World

1 wks on list

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The renowned author of Between the World and Me journeys to three resonant sites of conflict to explore how the stories we tell—and the ones we don’t—shape our realities. “Ta-Nehisi Coates always writes with a purpose. . . . These pilgrimages, for him, help ground his powerful writing about race.”—Associated Press “Coates exhorts readers, including students, parents, educators, and journalists, to challenge conventional narratives that can be used to justify ethnic cleansing or camouflage racist policing. Brilliant and timely.”—Booklist (starred review) Ta-Nehisi Coates originally set out to write a book about writing, in the tradition of Orwell’s classic “Politics and the English Language,” but found himself grappling with deeper questions about how our stories—our reporting and imaginative narratives and mythmaking—expose and distort our realities. In the first of the book’s three intertwining essays, Coates, on his first trip to Africa, finds himself in two places at once: in Dakar, a modern city in Senegal, and in a mythic kingdom in his mind. Then he takes readers along with him to Columbia, South Carolina, where he reports on his own book’s banning, but also explores the larger backlash to the nation’s recent reckoning with history and the deeply rooted American mythology so visible in that city—a capital of the Confederacy with statues of segregationists looming over its public squares. Finally, in the book’s longest section, Coates travels to Palestine, where he sees with devastating clarity how easily we are misled by nationalist narratives, and the tragedy that lies in the clash between the stories we tell and the reality of life on the ground. Written at a dramatic moment in American and global life, this work from one of the country’s most important writers is about the urgent need to untangle ourselves from the destructive myths that shape our world—and our own souls—and embrace the liberating power of even the most difficult truths.

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REVENGE OF THE TIPPING POINT
Malcolm Gladwell
Cover of REVENGE OF THE TIPPING POINT

REVENGE OF THE TIPPING POINT

by Malcolm Gladwell · Little, Brown

1 wks on list

Twenty-five years after the publication of his groundbreaking first book, Malcolm Gladwell returns with a brand new volume that reframes the lessons of The Tipping Point in a startling and revealing light 'Addictive... fascinating and provocative' Guardian 'Malcolm Gladwell explores the watershed moments that define this new age of societal upheaval... with curiosity and humor' TIME Magazine 'Gladwell is a great storyteller with a contagious sense of curiosity' The Economist 'The match that so elegantly graced the cover of The Tipping Point is now on fire' Wall Street Journal Why in the late 1980s and early '90s did Los Angeles become the bank robbery capital of the world? What is the magic third and what does it have to do with racial equity? What do big cats and clusters of teen suicide have in common? These are just some of the questions Malcolm Gladwell addresses in this new work, which revisits the phenomenon of epidemics and examines the ways in which we have learned to tinker with and manipulate the spread of ideas, viruses, and trends-sometimes with great success, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Gladwell shows that - whether in neighbourhoods, schools, zoos, or conference rooms-today's epidemics are no longer singular occurrences, but turbocharged versions of their earlier counterparts. Tipping points, he explains, play a much bigger role in our lives now than ever before. With this provocative and fascinating new book, we can meet them in novel and innovative ways.

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BLACK SATURDAY
Trey Yingst
Cover of BLACK SATURDAY

BLACK SATURDAY

by Trey Yingst · Harper Influence

1 wks on list

Fox News war correspondent Trey Yingst shares his gripping, firsthand account of the events of October 7, 2023, and the ensuing war, offering riveting insight and fresh facts that clarify the scope and magnitude of this latest and most dramatic outbreak in one of the bloodiest, most nuanced, and longest-standing conflicts in modern history. On the morning of October 7, 2023, the militant group known as Hamas launched a vicious attack on Israel in the most recent stage of the deeply complicated and decades-long Israel-Palestine conflict. The assault, which took place on Shabbat—the day of rest for the Jewish people—instantly became known among Israelis and the world as “Black Saturday.” On October 7, Fox News Correspondent Trey Yingst was on the ground along the Gaza border and witnessed firsthand the devastation, shock, and deep sorrow that whirled through Israel. A seasoned journalist who has reported from some of the most dangerous hotspots around the world, including the frontlines in Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, Yingst was just one among many people plunged into the terrifying chaos of that horrific event. In this shocking and eye-opening chronicle, he pieces together the story of that tragic day and reveals how he risked his life searching for answers to essential questions in real time--who within Israel had been attacked; what happened to them; who, potentially, was next--while exploring the impact on both Israelis and Palestinians as a full-scale war ramps up and peace grows more elusive. “We have a responsibility now to account for and record these events—and tell the world the truth,” Yingst writes. “We cannot look away.” Committed to reporting the whole truth, on both sides of the Israel-Gaza border, Yingst interviewed a range of exclusive contacts to incorporate multiple perspectives. From conversations with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and high-ranking soldiers, to interviews with Senior Hamas official Dr. Bassem Naim and Gazan journalist Nael Ghaboun, to heartbreaking accounts from civilians placed in the crosshairs of the attack and conflict that followed, Yingst takes us inside the newest phase of an old war in which thousands more people—men, women, and children—are suffering. Combining candor, grit, and veracity, Yingst paints a vivid picture of horrors and violence, matched by acts of courage and humanity that cut through the darkness. A testament to unwavering resilience and tenacity, Black Saturday is the riveting chronicle of one journalist’s experience relentlessly pursuing the truth in the face of terror. Black Saturday will include a 16-pages of full-color photographs.

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CONFRONTING THE PRESIDENTS
Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
Cover of CONFRONTING THE PRESIDENTS

CONFRONTING THE PRESIDENTS

by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard · St. Martin's

4 wks on list

Instant #1 New York Times and USA Today nonfiction bestseller! Every American president, from Washington to Biden: Their lives, policies, foibles, and legacies, assessed with clear-eyed authority and wit. Authors of the acclaimed Killing books, the #1 bestselling narrative history series in the world, Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard begin a new direction with Confronting the Presidents. From Washington to Jefferson, Lincoln to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Kennedy to Nixon, Reagan to Obama and Biden, the 45 United States presidents have left lasting impacts on our nation. Some of their legacies continue today, some are justly forgotten, and some have changed as America has changed. Whether famous, infamous, or obscure, all the presidents shaped our nation in unexpected ways. The authors' extensive research has uncovered never before seen historical facts based on private correspondence and newly discovered documentation, such as George Washington's troubled relationship with his mother. In Confronting the Presidents, O’Reilly and Dugard present 45 wonderfully entertaining and insightful portraits of each president, with no-spin commentary on their achievements—or lack thereof. Who best served America, and who undermined the founding ideals? Who were the first ladies, and what were their surprising roles in making history? Which presidents were the best, which the worst, and which didn’t have much impact? How do decisions made in one era, under the pressure of particular circumstances, still resonate today? And what do presidents like to eat, drink, and do when they aren’t working—or even sometimes when they are? These and many more questions are answered in each fascinating chapter of Confronting the Presidents. Written with O’Reilly and Dugard’s signature style, authority, and eye for telling detail, Confronting the Presidents will delight all readers of history, politics, and current affairs, especially during the 2024 election season.

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THE ANXIOUS GENERATION
Jonathan Haidt
Cover of THE ANXIOUS GENERATION

THE ANXIOUS GENERATION

by Jonathan Haidt · Penguin Press

28 wks on list

THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A Wall Street Journal Top 10 Book of 2024 • A New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book • One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2024 • A TIME 100 Must-Read Book of 2024 • Named a Best Book of 2024 by the Economist, the New York Post, and Town & Country • The Goodreads Choice Award Nonfiction Book of the Year • Finalist for the PEN Literary Awards A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood. “With tenacity and candor, Haidt lays out the consequences that have come with allowing kids to drift further into the virtual world . . . While also offering suggestions and solutions that could help protect a new generation of kids.” —Shannon Carlin, TIME, 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why? In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt (pronounced "height") lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood” began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood” has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies. Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the “collective action problems” that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood. Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes—communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children—and ourselves—from the psychological damage of a phone-based life.

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NEXUS
Yuval Noah Harari
Cover of NEXUS

NEXUS

by Yuval Noah Harari · Random House

4 wks on list

‘If you read only one non-fiction book this year, consider this one’ TOM HANKS ‘If there’s one book that I would urge everyone to read – it is Nexus’ STEPHEN FRY The mind-blowing story of how information networks – from the stone age to AI - have shaped our world from the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Sapiens Stories brought us together. Books spread our ideas – and our mythologies. The internet promised infinite knowledge. The algorithm learned our secrets – and then turned us against each other. What will AI do? Nexus is the thrilling account of how we arrived at this moment, and the urgent choices we must now make to survive – and to thrive. **NOW FEATURING EXCLUSIVE NEW MATERIAL FOR PAPERBACK AND EBOOK** 'One of the most remarkable intellects of our generation' RORY STEWART 'A wake-up call in the gentlest, most urgent way' YOTAM OTTOLENGHI 'This deeply important book comes at a critical time as we all think through the implications of AI’ MUSTAFA SULEYMAN 'A super narrative writer' GUARDIAN ‘[Harari] sticks the world together in a gleaming shape that inspires and excites' TELEGRAPH

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TRUTHS
Vivek Ramaswamy
Cover of TRUTHS

TRUTHS

by Vivek Ramaswamy · Threshold Editions

2 wks on list

New York Times bestselling author, accomplished entrepreneur, and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has a plan to save America, and it begins with telling the truth. Today’s conservatives know what they’re against. They’re anti-woke, anti-globalist, anti-big government. But what exactly do they stand for? The fact that this is a hard question to answer is a damning indictment of the modern Republican Party which has abjectly failed to articulate an affirmative alternative to the left’s vision. Ramaswamy calls on the conservative movement to articulate exactly what it stands for, or else warns of another illusory “red wave” in 2024. Vivek Ramaswamy is not a politician. He is a first generation American, the founder of several successful companies, and a bestselling author. Ramaswamy decided he needed to step in the arena to stop the lies and tell the American people the truth. That’s why he ran for president and became a leading voice in the America First movement. In Truths: The Future of America First, Ramaswamy shows exactly how honesty about the most important issues will get our country back on track. The America First movement emphasizes the issues that bring us together, not what divides us. It asks that we put our country over politics, merit over grievance, and truth over lies. Ramaswamy tells us the truth about our political system, and the people who control it, and exhorts us to exercise our right to self-governance again. America First is bigger than any man or woman. It’s a movement. In Truths, Vivek Ramaswamy explains exactly why that movement needs to succeed now more than ever. Our country’s future depends on it.

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THE SMALL AND THE MIGHTY
Sharon McMahon
Cover of THE SMALL AND THE MIGHTY

THE SMALL AND THE MIGHTY

by Sharon McMahon · Thesis

2 wks on list

A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From America’s favorite government teacher, a “fascinating and fun” (Adam Grant) portrait of twelve ordinary Americans whose courage formed the character of our country. In The Small and the Mighty, Sharon McMahon proves that the most remarkable Americans are often ordinary people who didn’t make it into the textbooks. Not the presidents, but the telephone operators. Not the aristocrats, but the schoolteachers. Through meticulous research, she discovers history’s unsung characters and brings their rich, riveting stories to light for the first time. You’ll meet a woman astride a white horse riding down Pennsylvania Ave, a young boy detained at a Japanese incarceration camp, a formerly enslaved woman on a mission to reunite with her daughter, a poet on a train, and a teacher who learns to work with her enemies. More than one thing is bombed, and multiple people surprisingly become rich. Some rich with money, and some wealthy with things that matter more. This is a book about what really made America – and Americans – great. McMahon’s cast of improbable champions will become familiar friends, lighting the path we journey in our quest to make the world more just, peaceful, good, and free.

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AMERICA'S DEADLIEST ELECTION
Dana Bash with David Fisher
Cover of AMERICA'S DEADLIEST ELECTION

AMERICA'S DEADLIEST ELECTION

by Dana Bash with David Fisher · Hanover Square

3 wks on list

"The Election of 1872 was the most contentious in American history. After both parties complained of corruption, neither candidate would concede and chaos erupted. The entire country watched as the wounds of the Civil War were ripped open and the promise of Reconstruction faltered in the face of violent resistance. In this book, readers will find eerie parallels to today's divided political landscape. An eye-opening warning of what's at stake, this is a must-read tale of America's deadliest election"--

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TARGETED: BEIRUT
Jack Carr and James M. Scott
Cover of TARGETED: BEIRUT

TARGETED: BEIRUT

by Jack Carr and James M. Scott · Atria/Emily Bestler

2 wks on list

1983: the United States Marine Corps experiences its greatest single-day loss of life since the Battle of Iwo Jima when a truck packed with explosives crashes into their headquarters and barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. This horrifying terrorist attack, which killed 241 servicemen, continues to influence U.S. foreign policy and haunts the Marine Corps to this day. Now, the full story is revealed as never before by Jack Carr and historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist James M. Scott. Based on comprehensive interviews with survivors, extensive military records, as well as personal letters, diaries, and photographs, this is the authoritative account of the deadly attack.

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THE BARN
Wright Thompson
Cover of THE BARN

THE BARN

by Wright Thompson · Penguin Press

2 wks on list

The instant New York Times bestseller • Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, Slate, Vanity Fair, TIME, Buzzfeed, Smithsonian, BookPage, KCUR, Kirkus, and Boston Globe • Nominated for a PEN America Literary Award “It literally changed my outlook on the world…incredible.” —Shonda Rhimes "The Barn is serious history and skillful journalism, but with the nuance and wallop of a finely wrought novel… The Barn describes not just the poison of silence and lies, but also the dignity of courage and truth.” — The Washington Post “The most brutal, layered, and absolutely beautiful book about Mississippi, and really how the world conspired with the best and worst parts of Mississippi, I will ever read…Reporting and reckoning can get no better, or more important, than this.” —Kiese Laymon “An incredible history of a crime that changed America.” —John Grisham "With integrity, and soul, Thompson unearths the terrible how and why, carrying us back and forth through time, deep in Mississippi—baring sweat, soil, and heart all the way through.” —Imani Perry A shocking and revelatory account of the murder of Emmett Till that lays bare the long lead-up to the crime and how the truth was hidden for so long In summer 1955, two men, Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam, were charged with the torture and murder of the fourteen-year-old Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi, and acquitted in a mockery of justice, leaving behind an ink cloud of a false confession. In The Barn, Wright Thompson reveals the true nature and location of the long night of hell that August: inside the barn of one of the killers, within the six-square-mile grid whose official name is Township 22 North, Range 4 West, Section 2, West Half, fabled in the Delta of myth as the birthplace of the blues, and twenty-three miles from Thompson’s own family farm. Wright Thompson has a deep, local understanding of this story—the world of the families of both Emmett Till and his killers, the historical forces that brought them together in the same place, and how the crime came to loom so large. Putting the killing floor of the barn on the map of West Half, and the Delta, and America, is a way onto the road this country must travel if we are to heal our oldest, deepest wound.

Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.