Blog Posts by Subject: Nonfiction

Here are some new noteworthy titles that may or may not be receiving the attention they deserve:

In Of Dice and Men, David Ewalt recounts the development of Dungeons & Dragons from its roots in the games of the Ancient World and 19th Century Europe, through its many incarnations and editions and the hysteria that came with it, to its current incarnation in video games.

Gifted children are considered special education students: smarter than 95% of the population, with an IQ (Intelligence Quotient) of 130 or higher. An IQ of 100 denotes average intelligence. There are also qualitative measures of people's abilities. Howard Gardner conceptualizes people's strengths in terms of multiple intelligences. Gifted adults are also characterized by quick mental speed, sophistication of thought, high levels of sensitivity, drive, and a sense of humor.

Gangsters and true crime, New York City history, financial literacy, MacArthur, FDR, Khrushchev, Lindsay, Main Street, U.S.A., travel, learning and self-discovery, climate change, foreign policy, the collective afterlife, and great pizza are among the wide-ranging topics coming up at our Author @ the Library talks in July 2014! We hope you’ll join us for insightful discussions with the authors of these 

Other recommended works:

The Girl Who Loved Camellias by Julie Kavanagh The fascinating history of Marie DuPlessis chronicles the life of the courtesan who inspired Alexandre Dumas fils’s novel and play La dame aux camélias, Giuseppe Verdi’s opera La Traviata, George Cukor’s film Camille, and Frederick Ashton’s ballet Marguerite and Armand. Sarah Bernhardt, Eleonora Duse, Greta Garbo, 

Welcome back to the Reader's Den! This month we'll be looking at The Judgment of Paris by Ross King, about a turbulent era in art history.

The rise and fall of the atomic era… achieving financial independence... legendary actor Stella Adler… millennia of Egyptomania… an exile’s return to Bosnia… Tammany Hall, a birthplace of progressive urban politics… the discovery of logic ... the art of quitting… tracking the New York art world… the history of the world’s most influential spice… blood libel in Tsarist Russia… imagining a socialist USA … bad English… the approaching death of money… dueling neurosurgeons...

Each year since 1988, the Library has awarded Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism to a journalist for a work of in-depth, investigative reporting. Over 100 non-fiction books were nominated this year, all of them read, discussed and vetted by a Library Review Committee. These are the five amazing books the group chose as this years five finalists—all must-reads!

Here are some new noteworthy titles that may or may not be receiving the attention they deserve.

Some horses are driven and ambitious just as some people are so focused and determined to achieve success. For example, Secretariat displayed those qualities. They are interested in their work and they try to improve for themselves, not simply for the trainer's approval. They are less distractible. Horses have different athletic inclinations and preferences for certain kinds of work (e.g., trail riding, eventing, dressage, barrel racing, etc.)

Monty Roberts was riding horses at a walk, trot, and canter as a 3-year-old boy. He vaguely remembers people saying, "He's only three, and look at him ride!"

The Milstein Division of United States History, Local History & Genealogy recommends our favorite, most readable, most memorable New York City nonfiction. These are the true stories of New York that engaged us, that intrigued us, and that we thought you might like to read as well.

All of the talk these days is about the rising cost of tertiary education. Is it really necessary for so many people to go to college? Ever wonder why exactly college costs are so astronomically high?

Here are three books about some of our fine city's bad guys, lying, cheating, and stealing their way through the 1890s.

If only Manga Math had existed when I struggled through Calculus. The only solace at that time was the introduction of the high tech (for its era) graphing calculator.

Here are some new noteworthy titles that may or may not be receiving the attention they deserve.

Want to "get in the groove" and discover what it takes to be a pro dancer?

A new approach to health care reform ... 20 years of Harlem Street Portraits ... humanist architecture ... The Extreme Life of the Sea ... New York City's unbuilt subways ... mothers ... the power of storytelling ... a century of candy ... New York's lost amusement parks ... the public library ... 11 missing men of WWII ... great city planning.

Who was Miss Anne in 1920s Harlem? How did George Washington define the American presidency? What is keeping a majority of Americans from eating well? Can the world’s most endangered big cat be saved? How can we improve brain performance at any age? What fascinating stories does Murray Hill have to tell? Find out at Mid-Manhattan this month!