Are you looking for a good nonfiction read to download? Every month the Mid-Manhattan Library presents a series of Author @ the Library lectures featuring recent nonfiction books on a wide range of subjects, and many of these titles are available to borrow as e-books. Since we're doing our 5th annual eBook Central this month, helping readers set up free Library e-book apps on their e-readers, tablets, phones and laptops, we thought it could be handy to have a list of some e-titles from our 2015 author talks, as well as a few from upcoming programs. If you'd like, you can see the complete lists of books discussed each month in 2015.  If you're interested in a hands-on e-book tutorial, please stop by eBook Central during the hours listed. You can also find online help on the eBook Central page.

Whether you love books about New York City, past and present, engaging biographies and memoirs, U.S. and world history, books on politics, economics, and society, music, theater, and dance, or food, we hope you'll find something interesting on this list. All the titles were published in 2014-2015. And please remember that you're always invited to our Author @ the Library programs, which take place most Monday-Thursday evenings at 6:30. Programs are free,  and no registration is required. Happy reading!

New York City 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Rebel Souls: Walt Whitman and America’s First Bohemians! by Justin Martin
• St. Marks is Dead; The Many Lives of America’s Hippest Street by Ada Calhoun
• New York in a Dozen Dishes by Robert Sietsema
• Lockdown on Rikers: Shocking Stories of Abuse and Injustice at New York's Notorious Jail by Mary E. Buser
• City on a Grid: How New York Became New York by Gerard Koeppel
• Gangland New York: The Places and Faces of Mob History by Anthony M. DeStefano
• Walking Manhattan; 30 Strolls Exploring Cultural Treasures, Entertainment Centers, and Historical Sites in the Heart of New York City by Ellen Levitt
• A Coney Island Reader: Through Dizzy Gates of Illusion, edited by Louis J. Parascandola and John Parascandola

Biographies and Memoirs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• The Phantom of Fifth Avenue: The Mysterious Life and Scandalous Death of Heiress Huguette Clark by Meryl Gordon
• Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History by Rhonda K. Garelick
• Russian Tattoo: A Memoir by Elena Gorokhova
• All Who Go Do Not Return: A Memoir by Shulem Deen
• The Remarkable Rise of Eliza Jumel: A Story of Marriage and Money in the Early Republic by Margaret A. Oppenheimer
• Woody: The Biography by David Evanie

History

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men by Eric Lichtblau
• The Great Fire: One American's Mission to Rescue Victims of the 20th Century's First Genocide by Lou Ureneck
• Our Man in Charleston: Britain's Secret Agent in the Civil War South by Christopher Dickey
• 1932: The Rise of Hitler and FDR —Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal, and UnlikelyDestiny by David Pietrusza
• When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War IIby Molly Guptill Manning
• The Cost of Courage by Charles Kaiser

Economics, Politics,  Sociology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• The Liar's Ball: The Extraordinary Saga of How One Building Broke the World's Toughest Tycoons by Vicky Ward
• The Edge Becomes the Center: An Oral History of Gentrification in the Twenty-first Century by DW Gibson
• Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity by Robert Beachy
• Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection by Jacob Silverman
• The Influence Machine: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Corporate Capture of American Life by Alyssa Katz
• From the Other Side of the World: Extraordinary Entrepreneurs, Unlikely Places by Elmira Bayrasli
• Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons, and the Racial Divide by Joy-Ann Reid

Psychology, Parapsychology, and Self-Help

 

 

 

 

 

• Unrequited: Women and Romantic Obsession by Lisa A. Phillips
• Do the KIND Thing: Think Boundlessly, Work Purposefully, Live Passionately by Daniel Lubetzky
• The Narcissist You Know: Defending Yourself Against Extreme Narcissists in an All-About-Me Age by Joseph Burgo, PhD.
• The Witch of Lime Street: Séance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World by David Jaher

Performing Arts

 

 

 

 

 

• In the Company of Legends by Joan Kramer and David Heeley
• THE B-SIDE: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song by Ben Yagoda
• What the Eye Hears: A History of Tap Dancing by Brian Seibert

Food, Home, Fun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Tasty: The Art and Science of What We Eat by John McQuaid
• Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli by Ted Merwin
• The Kitchen Ecosystem: Integrating Recipes to Create Delicious Meals by Eugenia Bone
• Voracious: A Hungry Reader Cooks Her Way Through Great Books by Cara Nicoletti
• The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind America’s Favorite Board Game by Mary Pilon
• The Indestructible Houseplant: 200 Beautiful, Easy-Care Plants that Everyone Can Grow by Tovah Martin