Madison Library District
Choice Awards
Nonfiction NOMINEES FOR 2024
Voting ended October 21.
Find all the nominees below.
Winners
1. Spare
by Prince Harry
(Henry Windsor)
It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow—and …
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2. Kneaders Bakery & Cafe
by Colleen Worthington
The story of Kneaders Bakery and Cafe began with Colleen and Gary Worthington baking traditional European bread in their kitchen. After mastering old-world bread-baking techniques and …
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3. Brick of
Dad Puns
by Cider Mill Press
Did you hear about the two radios that got married? The reception was fantastic. This cheesy-but-grate book is jam-packed with unbearable puns …
Read the full synopsis
4. The Fun Habit
by Mike Rucker
Doesn’t it seem that the more we seek happiness, the more elusive it becomes? The Fun Habit shows readers that fun, unlike happiness, is an action you …
Read the full synopsis
5. From Grace to Charity
by Emily Belle Freeman
On the last night of his life, Hyrum Smith folded down the corner of a page in the Book of Mormon and marked one “I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto …
Read the full synopsis
6. Taste of Home
Copycat Favorites
by Taste of Home
Versions of beloved dishes from Olive Garden, Panera Bread, Starbucks, Rib Shack, Arby’s, Applebee’s, The Cheesecake Factory, Chick-Fil-A and more are featured in …
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7. Eat & Flourish
by Mary Beth Albright
A lively and evidence-based argument that a whole food diet is essential for good mental health. Food has power to nourish your …
Read the full synopsis
8. You: The Story
by Ruta Sepetys
Life is story in motion. Each day, you add to your story, revise it, and view it from a different angle. You erase things. Tear pages out. And sometimes, in hindsight, wish you could put them …
Read the full synopsis
9. Counting the Cost
by Jill Duggar
Jill and Derick knew a normal life wasn’t possible for them. As a star on the popular TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting, Jill grew up in front of viewers who were …
Read the full synopsis
10. Tasty, Healthy, Cheap
by Kevin Tatar
Join Kevin Tatar (@KWOOWK) for delicious recipes that help you save money and build confidence in the kitchen! KWOOWK is all about fun and flavor without breaking the bank. As a self-taught home cook, Kevin has made …
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Other Nominees
Divine Quietness
by Emily Robison Adams
Do you ever feel like your sincere, heartfelt prayers are ignored or met with silence? Do you wonder why a loving God would ever …
Read the full synopsis
The Ship Beneath the Ice
by Mensun Bound
On November 21, 1914, after sailing more than ten thousand miles from Norway to the Antarctic Ocean, the Endurance finally succumbed to the …
Read the full synopsis
What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? Vol. 1
by Kyŏng-yun Chŏng
Star secretary Miso Kim has been by vice-chairman Youngjun Lee’s side through thick and thin for nine years … until she suddenly quits! Her unexpected declaration throws …
Read the full synopsis
A Mystery of Mysteries:
The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe
by Mark Dawidziak
It is a moment shrouded in horror and mystery. Edgar Allan Poe died on October 7, 1849, at just forty, in a painful, utterly bizarre manner that would not have …
Read the full synopsis
Knife Drop
by Nick DiGiovanni
Home-cooked food doesn’t have to be over-the-top, fussy, or time-intensive to be absolutely amazing. In his debut cookbook, Nick DiGiovanni gives you the tools to …
Read the full synopsis
A Fever in the Heartland
by Timothy Egan
The Roaring Twenties–the Jazz Age–has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their …
Read the full synopsis
The Art Thief
by Michael Finkel
For centuries, works of art have been stolen in countless ways from all over the world, but no one has been quite as successful at it as the master thief …
Read the full synopsis
The Wager
by David Grann
On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely …
Read the full synopsis
Baking Yesteryear
by B. Dylan Hollis
Friends of baking, are you sick and tired of making the same recipes again and again? Then look no further than this baking blast from the past, as B. Dylan Hollis highlights the most unique …
Read the full synopsis
Walking with Gorillas
by Gladys Kalema-Zikusokan
In her enchanting memoir, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Uganda’s first wildlife veterinarian, tells the remarkable story from her animal-loving childhood to her career protecting …
Read the full synopsis
Dictatorship:
It’s Easier Than
You Think!
by Sarah Kendzior
and Andrea Chalupa
Co-hosts of the popular podcast Gaslit Nation outline the authoritarian’s playbook, illuminating five steps every dictator needs to take to successfully amass and …
Read the full synopsis
Tasting History
by Max Miller
What began as a passion project when Max Miller was furloughed during Covid-19 has become a viral YouTube sensation. The “Tasting History with Max Miller” channel has thrilled food enthusiasts and …
Read the full synopsis
Alexandra Petri’s
US History
by Alexandra Petri
A witty, absurdist satire of the last 500 years, Alexandra Petri’s US History is the fake textbook you never knew you needed! As a columnist for the …
Read the full synopsis
8 Rules of Love
by Jay Shetty
Nobody sits us down and teaches us how to love. So we’re often thrown into relationships with nothing but romance movies and pop culture to help us …
Read the full synopsis
A Story of Seven Lives
by Gin Shirakawa
Nanao used to be a house cat, but after tragedy struck, he was abandoned on the rough streets of Tokyo. Now, alongside his best friend and fellow stray Machi, Nanao has to fight every …
Read the full synopsis
Lore Olympus: Vol. 4
by Rachel Smythe
The rumor mill of Olympus is constantly churning, but Persephone and Hades are all anyone can talk about. With the constant gossip creating intense pressure on the …
Read the full synopsis
Compassion:
The Great Healer’s Art
by Ulisses Soares
Throughout His life, the Savior showed an unlimited capacity for compassion as He blessed, lifted, and healed people wherever He went. His focus was to love and serve …
Read the full synopsis
Built to Move
by Kelly Starrett
and Juliet Starrett
After decades spent working with pro-athletes, Olympians, and Navy Seals, mobility pioneers Kelly and Juliet Starrett began thinking about the physical well-being of the …
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The Seven-Step Homestead
by Leah M. Webb
Perfect for any aspiring backyard gardeners, this book offers a doable, incremental program for turning any yard into a primary food source with vegetables, fruits, chickens, pollinator plants, and …
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Master Slave
Husband Wife
by Ilyon Woo
In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in …
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Divine Quietness: Finding Meaning When Heaven is Silent
by Emily Robison Adams
Do you ever feel like your sincere, heartfelt prayers are ignored or met with silence? Do you wonder why a loving God would ever refuse to answer? Divine Quietness explores the reasons God sometimes answers our prayers with silence, in spite of our best efforts. Through the lens of her own experience and drawing on literature from many faith traditions, Emily Robison Adams discusses new ways of thinking about faith, doubt, and divine quietness. This thoughtful new book will help you learn to rethink your assumptions underlying what it means to have faith and how to connect with God even in quietness.
7. Eat & Flourish: How Food Supports Emotional Well-being
by Mary Beth Albright
A lively and evidence-based argument that a whole food diet is essential for good mental health. Food has power to nourish your mind, supporting emotional wellness through both nutrients and pleasure. In this groundbreaking book, journalist Mary Beth Albright draws on cutting-edge research to explain the food/mood connection. She redefines “emotional eating” based on the science, revealing how eating triggers biological responses that affect humans’ emotional states both immediately and long-term.
Albright’s accessible voice and ability to interpret complex studies from the new field of nutritional psychology, combined with straightforward suggestions for what to eat and how to eat it, make this an indispensable guide. Readers will come away knowing how certain foods help reduce the inflammation that can harm mental health, the critical relationship between the microbiome and the brain, which vitamins help restore the body during intensely emotional times, and how to develop a healthful eating pattern for life―with 30-day kickoff plan included. Eat & Flourish is the entertaining, inspiring book for today’s world.
The Ship Beneath the Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance
by Mensun Bound
On November 21, 1914, after sailing more than ten thousand miles from Norway to the Antarctic Ocean, the Endurance finally succumbed to the surrounding ice. Ernest Shackleton and his crew had navigated the 144-foot, three-masted wooden vessel to Antarctica to become the first to cross the barren continent, but early season pack ice trapped them in place offshore. They watched in silence as the ship’s stern rose twenty feet in the air and disappeared into the frigid sea, then spent six harrowing months marooned on the ice in its wake. Seal meat was their only sustenance as Shackleton’s expedition to push the limits of human strength took a new form: one of survival against the odds.
As this legendary story entered the annals of polar exploration, it inspired a new global race to find the wrecked Endurance, by all accounts “the world’s most unreachable shipwreck.” Several missions failed, thwarted, as Shackleton was, by the unpredictable Weddell Sea. Finally, a century to the day after Shackleton’s death, renowned marine archeologist Mensun Bound and an elite team of explorers discovered the lost shipwreck. Nearly ten thousand feet below the ice lay a remarkably preserved Endurance, its name still emblazoned on the ship’s stern.
The Ship Beneath the Ice chronicles two dramatic expeditions to what Shackleton called “the most hostile sea on Earth.” Bound experienced failure and despair in his attempts to locate the wreck, and, like Shackleton before him, very nearly found his vessel frozen in ice.
Complete with captivating photos from the 1914 expedition and of the wreck as Bound and his team found it, this inspiring modern-day adventure narrative captures the intrepid spirit that joins two mariners across the centuries–both of whom accomplished the impossible.
What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? Volume 1 by Kyŏng-yun Chŏng
Star secretary Miso Kim has been by vice-chairman Youngjun Lee’s side through thick and thin for nine years … until she suddenly quits! Her unexpected declaration throws Youngjun for a loop. After all, what more could she want in life to abandon an excellent job working for a boss like him? So when Miso reveals she’s leaving to finally live her own life and find love, he sets out to prove that he’s the ultimate catch–whatever it takes to convince her to stay!
3. Brick of Dad Puns: Over 375 Pun-ishingly Hilarious Jokes by Cider Mill Press
Did you hear about the two radios that got married? The reception was fantastic.
This cheesy-but-grate book is jam-packed with unbearable puns that are so bad, they’re good. This collection features over 200 jokes-all puns intended! These are jokes you’ll love to hate. From the good to the bad and the ugly, these clever one-liners and witticisms will have readers of all ages laughing–and groaning. This book is perfect for punsters and dad joke aficionados who enjoy cringe-worthy jokes, or you can gift it to that long-suffering friend or family member as pun-ishment! And many more!
A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe
by Mark Dawidziak
It is a moment shrouded in horror and mystery. Edgar Allan Poe died on October 7, 1849, at just forty, in a painful, utterly bizarre manner that would not have been out of place in one of his own tales of terror. What was the cause of his untimely death, and what happened to him during the three missing days before he was found, delirious and “in great distress” on the streets of Baltimore, wearing ill-fitting clothes that were not his own?
Mystery and horror. Poe, who remains one of the most iconic of American writers, died under haunting circumstances that reflect the two literary genres he took to new heights. Over the years, there has been a staggering amount of speculation about the cause of death, from rabies and syphilis to suicide, alcoholism, and even murder. But many of these theories are formed on the basis of the caricature we have come to associate with the gloomy-eyed grandfather of Goth, hunched over a writing desk with a raven perched on one shoulder, drunkenly scribbling his chilling masterpieces. By debunking the myths of how he lived, we come closer to understanding the real Poe―and uncovering the truth behind his mysterious death, as a new theory emerges that could prove the cause of Poe’s death was haunting him all his life.
In a compelling dual-timeline narrative alternating between Poe’s increasingly desperate last months and his brief but impactful life, Mark Dawidziak sheds new light on the enigmatic master of macabre.
Knife Drop: Creative Recipes Anyone Can Cook by Nick DiGiovanni
Forget the rules. Just cook!
Home-cooked food doesn’t have to be over-the-top, fussy, or time-intensive to be absolutely amazing. In his debut cookbook, Nick DiGiovanni gives you the tools to become fearless in the kitchen and to create delicious meals.
Building on a foundation of staple recipes such as basic pasta dough and homemade butter, Nick shares a mouthwatering selection of his favorite recipes. Feast on New England favorites like Browned Butter Lobster Rolls and Garlic Butter Steak Tips, enjoy decadent pasta dishes like Smoky Mezcal Rigatoni and Sungold Spaghetti, and recreate fan favorites like his Viral Pasta Chips and Dino Nuggets. And of course, Nick had to include some “collab” recipes from his famous friends like Andrew Zimmern, Robert Irvine, Joanne Chang, Lynja, and more.
Knife Drop also includes Nick’s expert advice on equipment, ingredients, and techniques, so home cooks of any ability level can pick up some new skills. Explore a library of QR codes linking to video tutorials showcasing key cooking techniques, from holding a chef’s knife and making a piping bag to pronouncing “gnocchi” the correct way.
9. Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar
Jill and Derick knew a normal life wasn’t possible for them. As a star on the popular TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting, Jill grew up in front of viewers who were fascinated by her family’s way of life. She was the responsible, second daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle’s nineteen kids; always with a baby on her hip and happy to wear the modest ankle-length dresses with throat-high necklines. She didn’t protest the strict model of patriarchy that her family followed, which declares that men are superior, that women are expected to be wives and mothers and are discouraged from attaining a higher education, and that parental authority over their children continues well into adulthood, even once they are married.
But as Jill got older, married Derick, and they embarked on their own lives, the red flags became too obvious to ignore. For as long as they could, Jill and Derick tried to be obedient family members — they weren’t willing to rock the boat. But now they’re raising a family of their own, and they’re done with the secrets. Thanks to time, tears, therapy, and blessings from God, they have the strength to share their journey. Theirs is a remarkable story of the power of the truth and is a moving example of how to find healing through honesty.
A Fever in the Heartland:
The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them
by Timothy Egan
The Roaring Twenties–the Jazz Age–has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants in equal measure, and took radical steps to keep these people from the American promise. And the man who set in motion their takeover of great swaths of America was a charismatic charlatan named D.C. Stephenson.
Stephenson was a magnetic presence whose life story changed with every telling. Within two years of his arrival in Indiana, he’d become the Grand Dragon of the state and the architect of the strategy that brought the group out of the shadows – their message endorsed from the pulpits of local churches, spread at family picnics and town celebrations. Judges, prosecutors, ministers, governors and senators across the country all proudly proclaimed their membership. But at the peak of his influence, it was a seemingly powerless woman – Madge Oberholtzer – who would reveal his secret cruelties, and whose deathbed testimony finally brought the Klan to their knees.
The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and Dangerous Obsession
by Michael Finkel
For centuries, works of art have been stolen in countless ways from all over the world, but no one has been quite as successful at it as the master thief Stéphane Breitwieser. Carrying out more than two hundred heists over nearly eight years—in museums and cathedrals all over Europe—Breitwieser, along with his girlfriend who worked as his lookout, stole more than three hundred objects, until it all fell apart in spectacular fashion.
In The Art Thief, Michael Finkel brings us into Breitwieser’s strange and fascinating world. Unlike most thieves, Breitwieser never stole for money. Instead, he displayed all his treasures in a pair of secret rooms where he could admire them to his heart’s content. Possessed of a remarkable athleticism and an innate ability to circumvent practically any security system, Breitwieser managed to pull off a breathtaking number of audacious thefts. Yet these strange talents bred a growing disregard for risk and an addict’s need to score, leading Breitwieser to ignore his girlfriend’s pleas to stop—until one final act of hubris brought everything crashing down.
This is a riveting story of art, crime, love, and an insatiable hunger to possess beauty at any cost.
5. From Grace to Charity by Emily Belle Freeman
On the last night of his life, Hyrum Smith folded down the corner of a page in the Book of Mormon and marked one “I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity” (Ether 12:36). What does grace have to do with charity? How does receiving one lead to gaining the other? Scripture tells us that charity is a love that causes us to lay down our lives for someone. A greater love. A love that we must pray to be filled with. The pure love of Christ. What if charity is the outward expression of our inward understanding of grace? It is meeting others where they are, as they are, and then lifting them. It is the way of Christ.
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann
On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes.
But then . . . six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes – they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death–for whomever the court found guilty could hang.
Baking Yesteryear: The Best Recipes from the 1900s to the 1980s
by B. Dylan Hollis
Friends of baking, are you sick and tired of making the same recipes again and again? Then look no further than this baking blast from the past, as B. Dylan Hollis highlights the most unique tasty treats of yesteryear.
Travel back in time on a delicious decade-by-decade jaunt as Dylan shows you how to bake vintage forgotten greats. With a big pinch of fun and a full cup of humor, you’ll be baking everything from Chocolate Potato Cake from the 1910s to Avocado Pie from the 1960s.
Dylan has baked hundreds of recipes from countless antique cookbooks and selected only the best for this bakebook, sharing the shining stars from each decade. And because some of the recipes Dylan shares on his wildly popular social media channels are spectacular failures, he’s thrown in a few of the most disastrously strange recipes for you to try if you dare.
A few of Dylan’s favorites that are going to have you licking your lips and begging for more
● 1900s Cornflake Macaroons
● 1910s ANZAC Biscuits
● 1930s Peanut Butter Bread
● 1940s Chocolate Sauerkraut Cake
● 1950s Tomato Soup Cake
● 1970s Potato Chip Cookies
Baking Yesteryear contains 101 expertly curated recipes that will take you on a delicious journey through the past. With a larger-than-life personality and comedic puns galore, baking with Dylan never gets old. We’ll leave that to the recipes.
Walking with Gorillas: The Journey of an African Vet
by Gladys Kalema-Zikusokan
In her enchanting memoir, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Uganda’s first wildlife veterinarian, tells the remarkable story from her animal-loving childhood to her career protecting endangered mountain gorillas and other wild animals. She is also the defender of people as a groundbreaking promoter of human public health and an advocate for revolutionary integrated approaches to saving our planet. In an increasingly interconnected world, animal and human health alike depend on sustainable solutions and Dr. Gladys has developed an innovative approach to conservation among the endangered Mountain Gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and their human neighbors.
Walking with Gorillas takes the reader on an incredible personal journey with Dr. Gladys, from her early days as a student in Uganda, enduring the assassination of her father during a military coup, to her veterinarian education in England to establishing the first veterinary department for the Ugandan government to founding one of the first organizations in the world that enables people to coexist with wildlife through improving the health and wellbeing of both. Her award-winning approach reduced the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on critically endangered mountain gorillas.
In the face of discrimination and a male dominated world, one woman’s passion and determination to build a brighter future for the local wildlife and human community offers inspiration and insights into what is truly possible for our planet when we come together.
Dictatorship: It’s Easier Than You Think!
by Sarah Kendzior and Andrea Chalupa
Co-hosts of the popular podcast Gaslit Nation outline the authoritarian’s playbook, illuminating five steps every dictator needs to take to successfully amass and maintain power.
Do you crave the power to shape the world in your image?
Can you tell lies without blinking an eye?
Do you see enemies all around you?
If you answered yes to all of the above, then this is the job for you! And if becoming a dictator sounds intriguing, well, you’ve just stumbled upon the playbook that will guide you step by step towards making your big lie a reality.
Join Gaslit Nation co-hosts Sarah Kendzior and Andrea Chalupa, with artist Kasia Babis, on a journey from riches to even more riches. They’ll show you how to consolidate your authority, silence your critics, weaponize your citizens, and even prolong your inevitable downfall!
Tasting History: Explore the Past Through 4,000 Years of Recipes
by Max Miller
What began as a passion project when Max Miller was furloughed during Covid-19 has become a viral YouTube sensation. The “Tasting History with Max Miller” channel has thrilled food enthusiasts and history buffs alike as Miller recreates a dish from the past, often using historical recipes from vintage texts, but updated for modern kitchens as he tells stories behind the cuisine and culture. From ancient Rome to Ming China to medieval Europe and beyond, Miller has collected the best-loved recipes from around the world and has shared them with his fans.
Now, with beautiful photographs portraying the dishes and historical artwork throughout, Tasting History compiles over sixty dishes such as:
-Tuh’ – a red beet stew with leeks dating back to 1740 BC
-Deep-fried cheese balls with honey and poppy seeds
-Soul yeasted buns with currants from circa 1600
-And much more.
Including the original recipe and Miller’s modern recreation, this cookbook is a must-have for any avid cook or history fan looking to experience delicious recipes from the past.
Alexandra Petri’s US History: Important American Documents (I Made Up)
by Alexandra Petri
A witty, absurdist satire of the last 500 years, Alexandra Petri’s US History is the fake textbook you never knew you needed! As a columnist for the Washington Post, Alexandra Petri has watched in real time as those who didn’t learn from history have been forced to repeat it. And repeat it. And repeat it. If we repeat history one more time, we’re going to fail! Maybe it’s time for a new textbook.
Alexandra Petri’s US History contains a lost (invented!) history of America. Petri’s “historical fan fiction” draws on real events and completely absurd fabrications to create a laugh-out-loud, irreverent takedown of our nation’s complicated past. On Petri’s deranged timeline, John and Abigail Adams try sexting, the March sisters from Little Women are sixty feet tall, and Susan Sontag goes to summer camp.
Nearly eighty short, hilarious pieces span centuries of American history and culture. This side-splitting work of historical humor shows why Alexandra Petri has been hailed as a “genius,”* a “national treasure,”† and “one of the funniest writers alive.”
4. The Fun Habit: How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life
by Mike Rucker
Doesn’t it seem that the more we seek happiness, the more elusive it becomes?
The Fun Habit shows readers that fun, unlike happiness, is an action you can take almost anywhere, anytime. Fun is connected to behavior and habits rather than goals, which means it’s possible to get more fun into your life with intention. Whether you’re a frustrated happiness-seeker looking for a new approach, a success-oriented hustler trying to balance work with a fulfilling life, or someone who experienced a life-changing trauma and needs to regain their well-being with the best medicine available, this book will show you how to reap the serious benefits fun offers us all.
Grounded in science, empirical evidence, and practical recommendations, The Fun Habit delineates why you should be having more fun and shows you how to rebuild the necessary skill set you need to make fun a habit. From teaching you how to escape the happiness trap, to finding just the right kind of fun for you, to spreading the fun to your friends and family, Rucker will inspire you to incorporate a bias toward fun into every aspect of your life.
8. You: The Story: A Writer’s Guide to Craft Through Memory by Ruta Sepetys
Life is story in motion. Each day, you add to your story, revise it, and view it from a different angle. You erase things. Tear pages out. And sometimes, in hindsight, wish you could put them back. A day is a story. A year is a story. A life is a story.
You are a story.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Ruta Sepetys is known for creating vivid characters and harrowing plots. After five award-winning works of historical fiction and countless hours of meticulous research, she can affirm that the secret to strong writing is embedded within your life experience.
You: The Story is a powerful how-to book for aspiring writers that encourages you to look inward and excavate your own memories in order to discover the authentic voices and compelling details that are waiting to be put on the page. Masterfully weaving in humorous and heartfelt stories from her own life that illustrate an aspect of the craft of writing (such as plot, character development, or dialogue), Sepetys then inspires readers with a series of writing prompts and exercises.
Perfect for fans of Burn After Writing and Bird by Bird, You: The Story awakens the emerging writer and reveals that with some reflection, curiosity, and courage, you have a story to tell.
8 Rules of Love: How to Find It, Keep It, and Let It Go by Jay Shetty
Nobody sits us down and teaches us how to love. So we’re often thrown into relationships with nothing but romance movies and pop culture to help us muddle through. Until now.
Instead of presenting love as an ethereal concept or a collection of cliches, Jay Shetty lays out specific, actionable steps to help you develop the skills to practice and nurture love better than ever before. He shares insights on how to win or lose together, how to define love, and why you don’t break in a break-up. Inspired by Vedic wisdom and modern science, he tackles the entire relationship cycle, from first dates to moving in together to breaking up and starting over. And he shows us how to avoid falling for false promises and unfulfilling partners.
By living Jay Shetty’s eight rules, we can all love ourselves, our partner, and the world better than we ever thought possible.
A Story of Seven Lives: The Complete Manga Collection by Gin Shirakawa
Nanao used to be a house cat, but after tragedy struck, he was abandoned on the rough streets of Tokyo. Now, alongside his best friend and fellow stray Machi, Nanao has to fight every day just to get by. Aside from foraging for food and finding a safe place to sleep, Nanao and Machi must remain vigilant about all sorts of dangers, including humans who want the stray cats gone.
When a woman named Yoshino starts feeding the neighborhood cats, Nanao reluctantly bonds with her. But the woman has emotional scars and a past entwined with Nanao’s. Can Nanao help her heal, and perhaps heal himself in the process?
Lore Olympus: Volume 4 by Rachel Smythe
“I don’t always get to do as I please.”
The rumor mill of Olympus is constantly churning, but Persephone and Hades are all anyone can talk about. With the constant gossip creating intense pressure on the pair, they decide to slow down their budding romance and focus on sorting out their own issues first.
But that’s easier said than done.
Hades struggles to find support in his personal life, with Zeus trivializing his feelings and Minthe resorting to abusive patterns in their relationship. And while Hades tries to create healthier boundaries where he can–like finally putting a stop to his sporadic, revenge-fueled hookups with Hera–he still feels lonely and adrift.
Persephone feels equally ostracized as her classmates shun her for her connection to Hades, and she can find no refuge at home, with Apollo constantly dropping by unannounced and pushing his unwelcome advances. And on top of it all, the wrathful god of war, Ares, has returned to Olympus to dredge up his sordid history with the goddess of spring, threatening to surface Persephone’s dark and mysterious past and ruin her tenuous position in the land of the gods.
Despite agreeing to take it slow, Persephone and Hades find themselves inextricably drawn toward each other once more amid the chaos. The pull of fate cannot be denied.
Compassion: The Great Healer’s Art by Ulisses Soares
Throughout His life, the Savior showed an unlimited capacity for compassion as He blessed, lifted, and healed people wherever He went. His focus was to love and serve everyone around Him, then and now. Both through His treatment of others and through the loving gifts that He has provided us to guide us back to Him, Christ continually demonstrates compassion for each of God’s children and invites us to do the same.
In The Great Healer’s Art, Elder Ulisses Soares teaches that just as the Savior is there for us when we seek relief from the pains of this life, He asks us to be His hands, feet, eyes, and ears and to do the things He has done: bear one another’s burdens, comfort those in need of comfort, mourn with those who mourn, feed the hungry, visit the sick, succor the weak, lift up the hands that hang down. Elder Soares teaches, “We each have the opportunity to come unto the Savior and receive the divine compassion that is so needed in our world. As we partake of the gifts the Savior has offered us, we are better able to share His compassion with those around us.”
When we practice compassion for others, we practice the Great Healer’s art, sealing up wounds and divisions that might otherwise fester and injure. As we plead for the gifts of charity and compassion and strive to become like Him, we too can bless, lift, and heal those around us.
Built to Move: The Ten Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully
by Kelly Starrett and Juliet Starrett
After decades spent working with pro-athletes, Olympians, and Navy Seals, mobility pioneers Kelly and Juliet Starrett began thinking about the physical well-being of the rest of us. What makes a durable human? How do we continue to feel great and function well as we age? And how do we counteract the effects of technology-dependence, sedentary living, and other modern ways of life on our body’s natural need for activity?
The answers lie in an easy-to-use formula for basic mobility maintenance: 10 tests + 10 physical practices = 10 ways to make your body work better.
The book is full of foundational wisdom for everyone from beginners to professional athletes and everyone in between. Built to Move introduces readers to a set of simple principles and practices that are undemanding enough to work into any busy schedule, lead to greater ease of movement, better health, and a happier life doing whatever it is you love to do—and want to continue doing as long as you live. This book is your game plan for the long game.
6. Taste of Home Copycat Favorites by Taste of Home
Versions of beloved dishes from Olive Garden, Panera Bread, Starbucks, Rib Shack, Arby’s, Applebee’s, The Cheesecake Factory, Chick-Fil-A and more are featured in this exciting cookbook. Keep these famous foods at your fingertips with Taste of Home Copycat Favorites!
Don’t dial delivery, skip the drive-thru and save your tip money, because Copycat Favorites brings America’s most popular menu items right to your kitchen. It’s never been easier to treat your family to their favorite restaurant foods than with this all-new follow-up to Taste of Home’s best-selling cookbook Copycat Restaurant Favorites. Inside, you’ll discover 100+ entrees, pizzas, sandwiches, soups and desserts—all inspired by popular eateries and the brands you love.
10. Tasty, Healthy, Cheap: Budget-friendly Recipes with Exciting Flavors
by Kevin Tatar
Join Kevin Tatar (@KWOOWK) for delicious recipes that help you save money and build confidence in the kitchen!
KWOOWK is all about fun and flavor without breaking the bank. As a self-taught home cook, Kevin has made it his mission to help students and young adults in the pursuit of healthy, affordable, and approachable home cooking.
This book is a companion to his shorts and videos, featuring both signature recipes and recent favorites, including breakfast bowls, sandwiches, dinners, and much more. Tasty. Healthy. Cheap.
You’ll also find key techniques explained and tips to make sure every recipe turns out right the first time. Now let’s KWOOWK!
The Seven-Step Homestead:
A Guide for Creating the Backyard Microfarm of Your Dreams
by Leah M. Webb
Perfect for any aspiring backyard gardeners, this book offers a doable, incremental program for turning any yard into a primary food source with vegetables, fruits, chickens, pollinator plants, and medicinal herbs.
Today’s gardeners want a bit of everything—vegetables, fruit, medicinal herbs, flowers for pollinators, and even chickens for eggs. The dream is to build a diverse landscape that serves multiple functions, but achieving that goal can be intimidating and overwhelming. Homesteader Leah M. Webb shares her strategy for implementing a homestead plan in seven stages by starting small and gradually adding more features each year.
The Seven-Step Homestead takes readers through the process with a series of doable steps, beginning with establishing one or two raised beds of the easiest vegetables to grow, and gradually building up to the addition of fruit trees and berry bushes on hugelkulture mounds, a coop full of chickens, and a winter’s worth of storage crops. Step-by-step photos from the author’s own homestead, accompanied by her hard-earned advice and instruction, make this a one-of-a-kind guide for anyone who aspires to grow more of their own food.
1. Spare by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (Henry Windsor)
It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow—and horror. As Princess Diana was laid to rest, billions wondered what Prince William and Prince Harry must be thinking and feeling—and how their lives would play out from that point on.
For Harry, this is that story at last.
Before losing his mother, twelve-year-old Prince Harry was known as the carefree one, the happy-go-lucky Spare to the more serious Heir. Grief changed everything. He struggled at school, struggled with anger, with loneliness—and, because he blamed the press for his mother’s death, he struggled to accept life in the spotlight.
At twenty-one, he joined the British Army. The discipline gave him structure, and two combat tours made him a hero at home. But he soon felt more lost than ever, suffering from post-traumatic stress and prone to crippling panic attacks. Above all, he couldn’t find true love.
Then he met Meghan. The world was swept away by the couple’s cinematic romance and rejoiced in their fairy-tale wedding. But from the beginning, Harry and Meghan were preyed upon by the press, subjected to waves of abuse, racism, and lies. Watching his wife suffer, their safety and mental health at risk, Harry saw no other way to prevent the tragedy of history repeating itself but to flee his mother country. Over the centuries, leaving the Royal Family was an act few had dared. The last to try, in fact, had been his mother. . . .
For the first time, Prince Harry tells his own story, chronicling his journey with raw, unflinching honesty. A landmark publication, Spare is full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom
by Ilyon Woo
In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in American history. Posing as master and slave, while sustained by their love as husband and wife, they made their escape together across more than 1,000 miles, riding out in the open on steamboats, carriages, and trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to the free states of the North.
Along the way, they dodged slave traders, military officers, and even friends of their enslavers, who might have revealed their true identities. The tale of their adventure soon made them celebrities, and generated headlines around the country. Americans could not get enough of this charismatic young couple, who traveled another 1,000 miles criss-crossing New England, drawing thunderous applause as they spoke alongside some of the greatest abolitionist luminaries of the day—among them Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown.
But even then, they were not out of danger. With the passage of an infamous new Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, all Americans became accountable for returning refugees like the Crafts to slavery. Then yet another adventure began, as slave hunters came up from Georgia, forcing the Crafts to flee once again—this time from the United States, their lives and thousands more on the line and the stakes never higher.
With three epic journeys compressed into one monumental bid for freedom, Master Slave Husband Wife is an American love story—one that would challenge the nation’s core precepts of life, liberty, and justice for all—one that challenges us even now.
2. Kneaders Bakery & Cafe: A Celebration of Our Best Recipes and Memories
by Colleen Worthington
The story of Kneaders Bakery and Cafe began with Colleen and Gary Worthington baking traditional European bread in their kitchen. After mastering old-world bread-baking techniques and testing countless recipes, Colleen, Gary, and their growing team of bakers moved onto their signature artisan bread.
But bread is just the beginning. Kneaders is well-known for their mouth-watering soups, sandwiches, and breakfast as well as their delectable pies, cakes, and pastries. For the first time, home cooks have access to popular recipes such as Overnight Chunky Cinnamon French Toast, Artichoke Portobello Soup, and Blueberry Sour Cream Pie. Beautiful and appetizing photos accompany each recipe.
What began in Colleen Worthington’s kitchen a little more than twenty-five years ago has grown into a successful family-owned bakery and cafe business with time-tested, delicious recipes gathered in this one-of-a-kind anniversary cookbook.
Regular Hours of Operation
- Monday: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
- Tuesday - Wednesday: 9:00 am – 8:00 pm
- Thursday: 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
- Friday: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
- Saturday: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
- Sunday: CLOSED
Closures in 2024
- January 1 – New Year’s Day
- January 15 – Martin Luther King, Jr., Day
- February 19 – Presidents Day
- March 22 – Staff Development Day
- April 6 – Building Maintenance
- May 25-27 – Memorial Day
- June 19 – Juneteenth
- July 4 – Independence Day
- August 31 – September 2 – Labor Day
- September 20 – LCEI Conference
- October 5 – Building Maintenance
- October 31 – Open from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
- November 11 – Veterans Day
- November 27 – Closing at 5:00 pm
- November 28-30 – Thanksgiving
- December 24-26 – Christmas
- December 31 – New Year’s Eve
- January 1, 2025 – New Year’s Day
Closures in 2025
- January 1 – New Year’s Day
- January 20 – Martin Luther King, Jr., Day
- February 17 – Presidents Day
- April 5 – Building Maintenance
- May 24-26 – Memorial Day
- June 19 – Juneteenth
- July 4 – Independence Day
- August 30-September 1 – Labor Day
- October 4 – Building Maintenance
- October 31 – Open from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
- November 11 – Veterans Day
- November 26 – Closing at 5:00 pm
- November 27-29 – Thanksgiving
- December 24-26 – Christmas
- December 31 – New Year’s Eve
- January 1, 2026 – New Year’s Day
Address
73 North Center
Rexburg, Idaho 83440
We are located on Center Street, just north of Main Street, by the Historic Rexburg Tabernacle.
Contact Us
(208) 356-3461
24 Hour Phone Renewal: (208) 356-6658
askmadisonlibrary@madisonlib.org