Seattle Staff Faves 2023: Nonfiction
Every year we ask our staff across the library system for their favorite books published in the current year. Enjoy this variety of nonfiction staff favorites, with annotations by staff members or as noted. (Created November 2023)
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The Last Yakuza
"Journalist Adelstein parlays decades of reporting on Japanese organized crime into a propulsive history of the yakuza. Painstakingly reported and paced like a thriller, this is a must-read for anyone interested in organized crime." (Publishers Weekly)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Snacking Bakes
60 accessible, anytime recipes for delectable cookies, cakes, brownies, and bars that need only one bowl and easy-to-find ingredients (Publisher description)
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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We Were Once A Family
"Journalist Asgarian debuts with a comprehensive and searing look at systemic issues within the foster care and adoption systems through the eyes of two Texas families whose Black and biracial children were removed from their homes, adopted, abused, and killed in a deliberate murder-suicide car crash by their white adoptive mothers in 2018...  Sensitive, impassioned, and eye-opening, this is a must-read." (Publishers Weekly)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Pulp
"She's done two other books like this, "Grist" (just about grains etc.) and "Ruffage" (on all things vegetable). Besides inspired ideas for sweet fruit dishes she delves into savory uses as well to great effect, try her amazing take on roasted carrot/fresh raspberry salad." (Kay)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Hi Honey, I'm Homo!
This is the story of how sitcoms helped change the televised coming-out scene from a radical, dangerous act into a cause for celebration — but one that can still be just as radical today. (author description)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Talk
"A Pulitzer Prize winner for Editorial Cartooning, Bell uses the graphic format to elucidate the conversation parents must have with Black children about racism and its concurrent threat of violence, recalling his mother explaining why he couldn't play with a white friend's water gun. As he considers the long-term impact of such conversations, he faces the need to have "the talk" with his own son." (Library Journal)
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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The Joy of Oysters
The Joy of Oysters is a one-stop shop of everything related to oysters, past and present. This beautifully chaotic, non-narrative book presents a wide assortment of information in its 200 pages with easy-to-digest timelines, how-tos, sidebars, pop-up tips, photos, and illustrations. In addition, there are 50 home-cook-friendly recipes to show that there's more to do with an oyster than shuck it and eat it on the half shell. (Publisher description)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Stomp and Shout
"In a tour de force, Blecha offers all music fans the definitive book about the highly significant but much neglected story of Northwestern U.S. rock."Â (Library Journal)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The No-state Solution
"Written by an Israeli-American historian, this compelling treatise draws from Talmudic and Black knowledge to uplift a proud, joyous Jewish identity that separates "nation" from "state" and requires the liberation of Palestinians under apartheid. Such a thought-provoker under 200 pages!" (Bean)
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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Rediscovering Black Portraiture
An urgent and compelling exploration of embodiment, representation, and agency, Rediscovering Black Portraiture serves to remind us that Black subjects have been portrayed in art for nearly a millennium and that their stories demand to be told. (Publisher description)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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