The East Brunswick Public Library will be closed starting Monday, April 27th and reopening on Monday, May 18th. Read More

Non-Fiction

The Woman They Could Not Silence : One Woman, Her Incredible Fight For Freedom, And The Men Who Tried To Make Her Disappear

From the New York Times , USA Today , and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Radium Girls comes another dark and dramatic but ultimately uplifting tale of a forgotten woman hero whose inspirational journey sparked lasting change for women's rights and exposed injustices that still resonate today. 1860: As the clash between the states rolls slowly to a boil, Elizabeth Packard, housewife and mother of six, is facing her own battle. The enemy sits across the table and sleeps in the next room.

The Nineties

In The Nineties, cult author Chuck Klosterman makes a home in every element of 90s culture: the film, the music, the sports, the TV, the politics, the changes regarding race and class and sexuality, the yin/yang of Oprah and Alan Greenspan. In perhaps no other book ever written could the sentence, 'The video for 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' was not more consequential than the reunification of Germany' make complete sense. Chuck Klosterman has written a multi-dimensional masterpiece, a work of synthesis that's equal parts smart and delightful.

On Freedom Road : Bicycle Explorations and Reckonings on the Underground Railroad

 

"A thoughtful and illuminating bicycle journey along the Underground Railroad by a climate scientist seeking to engage with American history. The traces of the Underground Railroad hide in plain sight: a great church in Philadelphia; a humble old house backing up to the New Jersey Turnpike; an industrial outbuilding in Ohio. Over the course of four years, David Goodrich rode his bicycle 3,000 miles east of the Mississippi to travel the routes of the Underground Railroad and delve into the history and stories in the places where they happened."--Provided by publisher.

That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the 11th Hour

As a young girl, Puri realized that the gulf between her immigrant parents' experiences and her own as American-born were nearly impossible to bridge, save for two elements: medicine and faith. She followed her mother into medicine, but began to question medicine's power. Were patients' lives being saved, or merely prolonged? At that time palliative care was a new field, translating the border between medical intervention and quality of life care. Here Puri reveals a nuanced and optimistic portrait of medicine and hospitalization.

Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves

A whirlwind tour of new ideas and findings about animal emotions, based on de Waal's studies of the social and emotional lives of chimpanzees, bonobos, and other primates. De Waal discusses facial expressions, animal sentience and consciousness, Mama's life and death, the emotional side of human politics, and the illusion of free will. He distinguishes between emotions and feelings, all the while emphasizing the continuity between our species and other species.