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#1 JUST MERCY
Bryan Stevenson
A civil rights lawyer and MacArthur grant recipient’s memoir of his decades of work to free innocent people condemned to death.
On the bestsellers list for 188 weeks
#2 THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE
Bessel van der Kolk
How trauma affects the body and mind, and innovative treatments for recovery.
On the bestsellers list for 65 weeks
#3 SAPIENS
Yuval Noah Harari
How Homo sapiens became Earth’s dominant species.
On the bestsellers list for 88 weeks
#4 BORN A CRIME
Trevor Noah
A memoir about growing up biracial in apartheid South Africa by the host of “The Daily Show.”
On the bestsellers list for 49 weeks
#5 WHITE FRAGILITY
Robin DiAngelo
Historical and cultural analyses on what causes defensive moves by white people and how this inhibits cross-racial dialogue.
On the bestsellers list for 76 weeks
#6 WHY WE SLEEP
Matthew Walker
A neuroscientist uses recent scientific discoveries to explain the functions of sleep and dreams.
On the bestsellers list for 39 weeks
#7 THINKING, FAST AND SLOW
Daniel Kahneman
When we can and cannot trust our intuitions in making business and personal decisions.
On the bestsellers list for 233 weeks
New York Times Review
#8 OUTLIERS
Malcolm Gladwell
Unexpected factors that explain why some people succeed, such as upbringing, timing and 10,000 hours of deliberate practice.
On the bestsellers list for 309 weeks
New York Times Review
#9 TO SHAKE THE SLEEPING SELF
Jedidiah Jenkins
A 30-year-old grapples with his identity as he cycles from Oregon to Patagonia.
On the bestsellers list for 1 week
#10 THE SOUL OF AN OCTOPUS
Sy Montgomery
The complex intelligence, emotional capacities, playfulness and spirit of the octopus, by a naturalist who counts several as friends.
On the bestsellers list for 3 weeks
#11 BEING MORTAL
Atul Gawande
The surgeon and New Yorker writer considers how doctors fail patients at the end of life, and how they can do better.
On the bestsellers list for 112 weeks
New York Times Review
#12 NO ONE IS TOO SMALL TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Greta Thunberg
Speeches by the Swedish climate activist, including her address to the United Nations.
On the bestsellers list for 10 weeks
#13 HILLBILLY ELEGY
JD Vance
A Yale Law School graduate looks at the struggles of the white working class through the story of his own childhood.
On the bestsellers list for 52 weeks
#14 KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
David Grann
The story of a murder spree in 1920s Oklahoma that targeted Osage Indians, whose lands contained oil. The fledgling F.B.I. intervened, ineffectively.
On the bestsellers list for 73 weeks
New York Times Review
#15 GRIT
Angela Duckworth
The MacArthur Fellow argues that passion and perseverance are more important than innate talent in creating success.
On the bestsellers list for 63 weeks
New York Times Review
Book covers provided by the following sources depending on availability: Syndetics