Current Events and History

POLITICS &CURRENT EVENTS

The Plague Year:

America in the Time of COVID

by Lawrence Wright

available in June, hardcover, Knopf Beginning with the absolutely critical first moments of the outbreak in China, and ending with an epilogue on the vaccine rollout and the unprecedented events between the election of Joseph Biden and his inauguration, Lawrence Wright’s The Plague Year surges forward with essential information—and fascinating historical parallels—examining the medical, economic, political, and social ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Don’t Let It Get You Down:

Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body

by Savala Nolan

available in July, hardcover, Simon & Schuster Nolan knows what it means to live in the in-between. Descended from a Black and Mexican father and a white mother, Nolan’s mixed-race identity is obvious. At her mother’s encouragement, she began her first diet at the age of three and has been both fat and painfully thin throughout her life. She has experienced both the discomfort of generational poverty and the ease of wealth and privilege. It is these liminal spaces—of race, class, and body type—that the essays excavate, presenting a clear and nuanced understanding of our society’s most intractable points of tension.

Something That May Shock and Discredit You

by Daniel M. Lavery

paperback, Atria Books Smart writing and experimental humor take this collection of personal essays to the next level! This is not the kind of book you can nail to one genre—it will make you laugh, cry, contemplate life and give you a history lesson all in one go. –Chelanne

CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL COMMENTARY

Letters to My White Male Friends

by Dax-Devlon Ross

available in June, hardcover, St. Martin’s Press White men are finally realizing that simply not being racist isn’t enough to end racism. These men want deeper insight not only into how racism has harmed Black people, but, for the first time, into how it has harmed them. They are beginning to see that racism warps us all. Letters to My White Male Friends promises to help men who have said they are committed to change and to develop the capacity to see, feel and sustain that commitment so they can help secure racial justice for us all.

Nice Racism:

How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm

by Robin DiAngelo

available in June, hardcover, Beacon Press In White Fragility, DiAngelo made a provocative claim: white progressives cause the most daily harm to people of color. In Nice Racism, her follow-up work, she explains how they do so. Drawing on her background as a sociologist and over 25 years working as an anti-racist educator, she picks up where White Fragility left off and moves the conversation forward.

Great Summer Reads!

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

by Timothy Snyder

paperback, Random House Though this book is pocket sized it is overflowing with important lessons from the past as we navigate the uncertainties of the present and the future. An easy but thoughtful and thought-provoking read. –Seda

History

An Atlas of Extinct Countries

by Gideon Defoe

available in June, hardcover, Europa Compass A funny, fascinating, beautifully illustrated— and timely—history of countries that, for myriad and often ludicrous reasons, no longer exist. The polite way of writing an obituary is: dwell on the good bits, gloss over the embarrassing stuff. This book refuses to do so, because these dead nations are so full of schemers, racists, and con men that it’s impossible to skip the embarrassing stuff. Perfect for fans of Bill Bryson and Prisoners of Geography.

The Outlier: The Unfishished Presidency of Jimmy Carter

by Kai Bird

available in June, hardcover, Crown Jimmy Carter’s one-term presidency is often labeled a failure; indeed, many Americans view Carter as the only ex-president to have used the White House as a stepping-stone to greater achievements. But in retrospect the Carter political odyssey is a rich and human story, marked by both formidable accomplishments and painful political adversity. In this deeply researched, brilliantly written account, Kai Bird expertly unfolds the Carter saga as a tragic tipping point in American history.

How the Word is Passed:

A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

by Clint Smith

available in June, hardcover, Little, Brown and Company Clint Smith leads the reader on an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks—those that are honest about the past and those that are not—that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation’s collective history, and ourselves. Informed by scholarship and brought to life by the story of people living today, Smith’s debut work of nonfiction is a landmark of reflection and insight that offers a new understanding of the hopeful role that memory and history can play in making sense of our country and how it has come to be.

Nautical History Enemy of All Mankind:

A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History’s First Global Manhunt

by Steven Johnson

available now, paperback, Riverhead Books Enemy of All Mankind focuses on one key event—the attack of an Indian treasure ship by notorious pirate Henry Every and his crew—and its surprising repercussions across time and space. It’s the gripping tale of one of the most lucrative crimes in history, the first international manhunt, and the trial of the 17th century.

Historical Graphic Novel

The Confidence Men:

How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History

by Margalit Fox

available in June, hardcover, Random House Imprisoned in a Turkish POW camp, two British officers join forces to bamboozle their captors. One officer takes a handmade Ouija board and fakes séances for fellow prisoners. Word gets around, and one day an Ottoman official approaches him: Could Jones contact the spirit world to find a treasure rumored to be buried nearby? Jones and Hill, a magician, use the Ouija board to build a trap for their captors that ultimately leads them to freedom.

LOCAL HISTORY

The more we understand about our local history, the more we understand about ourselves. Whether you've been in Whatcom County for one year, 10 years, or all of your life, you'll discover something new and interesting in our local history section!

Run: Book One

by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by L. Fury, Nate Powell

available in August, hardcover, Abrams ComicArts From the award-winning authors John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, comes their next groundbreaking graphic novel, Run. “Run recounts the lost history of what too often follows dramatic change—the pushback of those who refuse it and the resistance of those who believe change has not gone far enough. John Lewis’s story has always been a complicated narrative of bravery, loss, and redemption, and Run gives vivid, energetic voice to a chapter of transformation in his young, already extraordinary life.” –Stacey Abrams

Join us for a Virtual Event with Kate Moore

Wednesday, June 30, 7pm

From the acclaimed author of The Radium Girls comes another dark and dramatic but ultimately uplifting tale of a forgotten woman whose inspirational journey sparked lasting change for women’s rights and exposed injustices that still resonate today. Kate Moore is a British writer who has published numerous bestsellers, writing across various genres including history, biography, true crime, gift, and humour. She has written more than 15 books and her work has been translated into more than 12 languages.

• Register at villagebooks.com •

The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear

by Kate Moore available in June, hardcover, Sourcebooks Threatened by Elizabeth Packard's independence and outspokenness, her husband of 21 years is plotting against her. One morning, he has her committed to an insane asylum. The horrific conditions inside the Illinois State Hospital are overseen by Dr. Andrew McFarland, a man who will prove to be even more dangerous to Elizabeth than her traitorous husband. But most disturbing is that Elizabeth is not the only sane woman confined to the institution. There are many rational women on her ward who tell the same story: they've been committed not because they need medical treatment, but to keep them in line.

History

Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II

by Daniel James Brown available now, hardcover, Viking Facing the Mountain is an unforgettable chronicle of war-time America and the battlefields of Europe. Based on Daniel James Brown’s extensive interviews with the families of the protagonists as well as deep archival research, it portrays the kaleidoscopic journey of four Japanese-American families and their sons, who volunteered for 442nd Regimental Combat Team and were deployed to France, Germany, and Italy, where they were asked to do the near impossible.

Napoleon:

A Life Told in Gardens and Shadows

by Ruth Scurr

available in June, hardcover, Liveright Scurr emphatically rejects the shibboleth of the “Great Man” theory of history, instead following the dramatic trajectory of Napoleon’s life through gardens, parks, and forests. As Scurr reveals, gardening was the first and last love of Napoleon, offering him a retreat from the manifold frustrations of war and politics. Amid Corsican olive groves, ornate menageries in Paris, and lone garden plots on the island of Saint Helena, she introduces a diverse cast of scientists, architects, family members, and gardeners, all of whom stood in the shadows of Napoleon’s meteoric rise and fall.

From the River to the Sea:

The Untold Story of the Railroad War that Made the West

by John Sedgwick

available now, hardcover, Avid Reader Press The Civil War hero behind the Rio Grande and the corporate head of the Santa Fe were the first to make money by creating a railroad empire across the Southwest to the sea. The two men had fought all across the west to lay claim to the routes that would secure the most profitable territory and the richest silver mines. But they often led through narrow mountain passes or up treacherous canyons with room for only a single set of tracks. The war left one of the two lines reeling in a death spiral and sent the other on to a greatness unequaled by any other railroad in the world.