Best Books of the Year: Non-Fiction
At the end of the year, Toronto Public Library staff members select their favourite reading experiences of the past 12 months. There are so many great responses that we end up with a series of blog posts. In this installment, our staff members share their favourite non-fiction reading of 2017. This year we read books to help us cope with life and to learn more about current events, history, politics and science.
"There is no longer any such thing as fiction or nonfiction; there's only narrative." – E. L. Doctorow
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Animal: The Autobiography of the Female Body by Sara Pascoe Cameron calls it a "brilliant book on gender studies and the creation of the female body through the eyes of a contemporary stand-up comedian." |
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Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt Elaine recommends this fascinating look at cannibalism in history, by humans and animals. |
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Church of Spies: The Pope's Secret War against Hitler by Mark Riebling The Catholic Church has faced criticism for its apparen't failure to oppose the Nazi regime. For this book, however, Riebling was granted access to Vatican files that had not previously been available. Here, he presents evidence that Pope Pius XII was actively plotting against Hitler's regime – including plotting to kill Hitler. "A good read," says Eunice. |
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Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry and Getting on the Road to Recovery by Cathryn Jakobson Ramin When journalist Ramin took a closer look at the back pain industry, she learned that common treatments for back problems are ineffective. However, methods like surgery, adjustments and injections continue to be used as desperate patients spend billions of dollars a year to find some relief from their chronic pain. This book was a great help to John as he dealt with his own back problems. |
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Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer One of Kelli's top choices of 2017. She says, "Mayer investigates the brothers Charles and David Koch and the network of exceedingly wealthy people with extreme libertarian views who are behind a plan to fundamentally alter the American political system. Fascinating." Regular Print |
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The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters by Tom Nichols Information is everywhere, and with the Internet, it's accessible instantly, but Nichols argues that the quality of the information we receive is declining as self-declared experts share their opinions. Nichols is concerned about the rise of anti-rationalism in society and the rejection of credentialed experts in order to achieve autonomy. Recommended by Laura. |
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Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America by Nancy MacLean Historian MacLean examines the Southern roots of the U.S. conservative movement. Linda reports that this book "is a great companion to "New Yorker" journalist Jane Mayer's "Dark Money"." |
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Every Breath You Take: How to Breathe your Way to a Mindful Life by Rose Elliot Staff member Tiffany stumbled upon this book while shelf-reading and decided to see if it would help her with her anxiety. She found the breathing exercises helpful. "Every time a negative thought came into my head," she writes, "I would breathe and focus on my breath and over time it helped to remind me to be in the present. One of the strongest messages in (Elliot's) book is 'the secret to happiness is be present now.' It's easy to say but hard to do." |
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Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America by Michael Ruhlman Using his local Heinin's, a Midwestern grocery chain, as a resource and an example, Ruhlman investigates the mysterious world of supermarkets and the ways in which we produce, consume and distribute food. He examines how supermarkets and our food culture have changed over the past century and speculates on how we will be buying our groceries in the future. Recommended by Kelli. |
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I Can't Breathe: A Killing on Bay Street by Matt Taibbi Having seen the videotape of Eric Garner's death in police custody, M. was interested in reading this book. Beyond a profile of Garner, whose life was far more complex than the news media portrayed, Taibbi provides insight into politics and policing strategy that had a direct impact on how Garner was treated. |
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The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story by Douglas Preston A gripping true-life adventure story. For centuries there has been a legend in Central America about a lost civilization, Ciudad Blanca, hidden deep in the ancient rain forests of Honduras. When novelist Douglas Preston was given the opportunity to join the archaeological mission tasked with uncovering the truth behind the legend, he had to join the team. With a team of archaeologists, anthropologists, photographers, filmmakers and ex-military jungle-warfare veterans, Preston travelled deep into treacherous jungle (read: very big and deadly snakes) to find the rumored indigenous settlements abandoned over 500 years ago. Recommended by Kelli. Regular Print |
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The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore Staff members Kelli and Amena both recommended this book. Kelli writes, "Not long after radium was first discovered, it began to be used to create illuminated dials for both military and commercial purposes. Hundreds of women and girls worked in radium-dial factories, meticulously applying radium paint after using their mouths to make a fine tip to their brushes. These were very coveted jobs for many years, until the women began to fall sick with mysterious illnesses. Regular Print |
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Texas Blood: Seven Generations among the Outlaws, Ranchers, Indians, Missionaries, Soldiers and Smugglers of the Borderlands by Roger D. Hodge Alyson writes, "This book was a bit of a revelation to me. Texas is a strange place, and I always thought its history must be violent, but I never realized quite how diverse it really was and still is. This is a rambling sort of book, as the author traces his own family's attachment to the state as a way of telling the lesser-known parts of Texas history. |
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The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson Between 1917 and 1970, approximately 6,000,000 African-Americans left their homes in the Southern U.S. to move north and west. Pulitzer Prize winner Wilkerson profiles three of these migrants from different decades and with different destinations. Deborah calls it "wonderful, inspirational, and eye-opening." |
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We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Adapted from her popular TEDx talk, Adichie shares her views about the importance of feminism in contemporary society. |
Interested in more staff suggestions?
- Best Books of the Year: Into the Past — our favourite historical fiction
- Best Books of the Year: Memorable Lives — memoirs and biographies we love
- Best Books of the Year: Voices from Home — books from First Nations and Canadian writers
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