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#1 THE GREAT INFLUENZA
John M Barry
An overview of the 1918 flu epidemic and cautionary tale for similar kinds of large-scale outbreaks.
On the bestsellers list for 2 weeks
#2 SAPIENS
Yuval Noah Harari
How Homo sapiens became Earth’s dominant species.
On the bestsellers list for 97 weeks
#3 SAY NOTHING
Patrick Radden Keefe
A look at the conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles.
On the bestsellers list for 4 weeks
New York Times Review
#4 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 197 weeks
#5 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 74 weeks
#6 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 58 weeks
#7 CHESAPEAKE REQUIEM
Earl Swift
The ways that climate change encroaches the well-being of the small community of Tangier Island, Virginia.
On the bestsellers list for 3 weeks
#8 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 85 weeks
#9 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 318 weeks
New York Times Review
#10 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 242 weeks
New York Times Review
#11 MIDNIGHT IN CHERNOBYL
Adam Higginbotham
An account of the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, based on hundreds of hours of interviews.
On the bestsellers list for 4 weeks
#12 THE LIBRARY BOOK
Susan Orlean
The story of the 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Public Library provides a backdrop to the evolution and purpose of libraries.
On the bestsellers list for 15 weeks
New York Times Review
#13 BRAIDING SWEETGRASS
Robin Wall Kimmerer
A botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation espouses having an understanding and appreciation of plants and animals.
On the bestsellers list for 4 weeks
#14 BAD BLOOD
John Carreyrou
The rise and fall of Theranos, the biotech startup that failed to deliver on its promise to make blood testing more efficient.
On the bestsellers list for 5 weeks
New York Times Review
#15 CALYPSO
David Sedaris
A collection of comedic stories on mortality, middle age and a beach house dubbed the Sea Section.
On the bestsellers list for 31 weeks
New York Times Review
Book covers provided by the following sources depending on availability: Syndetics