List

Summer Reading Suggestions for Nonfiction Readers

By Skokie Staff Advisory Services

Looking to learn something new over the summer or perhaps start a new hobby? What about exploring art, history, or diving into true crimes, and travel? This list has something for everyone.

  • Change the Recipe: Because You Can't Change the World Without Breaking Some Eggs

    by Andres, Jose

    Renowned chef Jose Andres shares his experience as the founder of a nonprofit that feeds people following hurricanes, floods, and other disasters. An inspiring read about caring for each other and centering kindness during the hardest of times. Suggested by Brenna.

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  • Funny Because It's True: How The Onion Created Modern American News Satire

    2025 by Wenc, Christine

    If you’re online and of a certain age, you probably have a headline from satirical comedy news outlet The Onion etched into your psyche. (Mine is ‘Businessman Does His Work Lying on Bed Like Schoolgirl’). This book provides insight into the process of making parody and making news, growing a business despite disastrous setbacks, and watching a college side project grow into a household-name source for reliable social commentary and quick, meme-able snapshots that have remarkable staying power. Suggested by Amy G.

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  • The True Happiness Company

    by Dinavahi, Veena

    In this wrenching, darkly funny memoir, Veena Dinavahi's quest for mental health is derailed by a charismatic alternative therapist who pulls her into his Mormon self-help cult. Driven to understand her journey after leaving the cult, she re-enrolls in college and studies psychology. Brutal, candid, and captivating. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

    2025 by Wynn-Williams, Sarah

    This is one of those books that makes you gasp out loud at every turn, revealing information that sounds too sensational to be true. This dive behind the scenes at Facebook (now Meta) is shocking, intimate, and impossible to put down. Suggested by Amy G.

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  • The Secret Public: How Music Moved Queer Culture from the Margins to the Mainstream

    2025 by Savage, Jon

    Music journalist Jon Savage takes a fascinating look at the impact of queer performers, managers, producers, and artists on pop culture from the 1950s to the 1970s. Covering famous performers and artists such as Little Richard, Any Warhol, and David Bowie, his kaleidoscopic work shows how queer artists were responsible for many of the greatest cultural breakthroughs in the last half of the 20th century and led to the historic dismantling of discriminatory gay laws and the fusion of queer and straight culture. Endlessly absorbing and highly accessible. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • Hope Dies Last: Visionary People Across the World, Fighting to Find Us a Future

    2025 by Weisman, Alan

    Looking to the future, it can be easy to become overwhelmed by the unprecedented changes ahead of us, especially with regard to changing climate and weather patterns. Alan Weisman inspires us to fight against fatalism by looking to those of us who are already working to mitigate climate change. This book puts in full focus our human ingenuity, determination against the insurmountable, and deep love for and devotion to the world we live in. Suggested by Amy G.

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  • So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color

    2025 by De Robertis, Caro

    Caro De Robertis weaves together the voices of 20 trans and gender-nonconforming people of color in their 50s, 60s, and 70s in order to explore what it was like for their generation to come of age, as well as to record and memorialize the struggle for the right to free gender expression that these individuals pioneered. Riveting, joyful, deeply personal, moving, and at times heartbreaking. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • Is a River Alive?

    by MacFarlane, Robert

    Nature writer Robert MacFarlane asks a seemingly simple question: what happens ecologically, politically, and spiritually if rivers are treated as living beings with legal personhood rights? Traveling to areas where this idea is being tested, Macfarlane tracks the legal, scientific, and cultural impact of affording rivers inalienable rights, such as the right to reach the sea and the right to exist without undue pollution. Fundamentally hopeful, this is a must read for nature lovers. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • Waste Wars: The Wild Afterlife of Your Trash

    2025 by Clapp, Alexander

    Trash may not sound like the most exciting topic, but this expose of the deeply troubling global garbage trade is an engrossing deep dive. From Ghana to Turkey to Indonesia, Alexander Clapp examines the way wealthy nations export trash around the world, with devastating human and environmental costs. Suggested by Brenna.

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  • The Harder I Fight the More I Love You

    2025 by Case, Neko

    Neko Case’s intimate and evocative lyricism are on display in her autobiography, following her childhood in the Pacific Northwest to her work in the indie rock scene. As in her music, she is witty, insightful, and open, discussing the loneliness of her unconventional and tumultuous childhood as well as the community that comes from a shared creative space. Suggested by Amy G.

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  • Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People

    2025 by Perry, Imani

    National Book Award winner Imani Perry pens a lyrical and well-researched historical narrative that examines the connection of the color blue to Black history, expertly weaving themes of hope, melancholy, and even her own personal story. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All-Women's Ascent of Denali

    2025 by Randall, Cassidy

    Cassidy Randall has written a cinematic, engrossing, and edge-of-the-seat adventure story about a forgotten group of women climbers called the “Denali Damsels" who had the audacity to believe that women could walk alone in extraordinary and treacherous heights. Recounting their harrowing adventure in the 1970s, Randall brings back the spotlight on a forgotten boundary breaking expedition while highlighting the enduring fight against sexism and for equality in sports. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • America, Let Me In: A Choose Your Immigration Story

    2025 by Torres Medina, Felipe

    Writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Felipe Torres Medina has written a very funny, empathetic, and inventive explanation guide on the U.S. American immigration process using a "choose your own adventure" format. An eye-opening look at the immigration system. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age

    2025 by Vara, Vauhini

    In her reflective and thought-provoking essay collection, technology journalist and novelist Vauhini Vara tries to make sense of humanity’s relationship with technology, from the omnipresence of Google to the dominance of Amazon, and now the arrival of AI (artificial intelligence). By using her own life as an example, she writes about loss, morality, and identity. A must-read for anyone interested in technology and artificial intelligence as well as readers who enjoy meditative and circumspective memoirs.

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  • Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves

    by Gilbert, Sophie

    Atlantic critic and Pulitzer Prize finalist Sophie Gilbert writes a blazing critique of how early-2000's pop culture turned women and girls against each other—and themselves—with disastrous consequences. Sharply written with keen insights, this cultural criticism is a must read for fans of Lindy West and Sarah Ditum. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road

    2025 by Hanks, E. A.

    Former Vanity Fair and New York Times writer E.A. Hanks—the daughter of actor Tom Hanks and his late first wife, Susan Dillingham—writes a candid and moving account of taking a road trip along Interstate 10. She wanted to revisit the places she and her mother had visited as an attempt to understand her troubled mother, their messy relationship, and herself. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age

    2025 by Hess, Amanda

    Cultural critic Amanda Hess’s fierce and funny debut memoir is an astute examination of how pregnancy, birth, and motherhood have been reshaped by technology and social media. She confronts technology’s distortions as they follow her through pregnancy and into her son’s early life. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • Things Become Other Things

    by Mod, Craig

    A transformative 300-mile walk along Japan’s ancient pilgrimage routes and through depopulating villages inspires a heart-rending remembrance of a long-lost friend, documented alongside remarkable photographs. Recommended for readers who enjoyed "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed and "The Long Field" by Pamela Petro. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

    2025 by Green, John

    An enlightening and eye-opening exploration of the history and present-day reality of tuberculosis around the world. I learned a lot from this engaging narrative nonfiction, but what strikes me the most is the prevalence of social injustices that perpetuate the spreading of tuberculosis. John Green's call to action is sincere and, for the lack of a better word, infectious. This title can be enjoyed by both teen and adult readers. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism

    2025 by Ewing, Eve L.

    Multi-talented Chicago sociologist Eve Ewing examines the double-edged sword of American public education. She brings to light several cases in which schooling has been used to enforce damaging social structures, from the racial hierarchies built into the creation of the institution itself, to current exclusionary practices around standardized testing. Using contemporary examples from individuals affected by these practices, we are prompted to reimagine what the school system could be, and how we can change schooling to better serve our communities. Suggested by Amy G.

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  • You'll Never Believe Me: A Life of Lies, Second Tries, and Things I Should Only Tell My Therapist

    2025 by Ferrell, Kari

    Dubbed the “the Hipster Grifter” by The New York Observer, Kari Ferrell recounts her journey through petty crime, media notoriety, incarceration, and turning her life around by becoming a social justice activist. Publisher Weekly recommends this to fans of memoirs and true crime. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • Shift: Managing your Emotions--So They Don't Manage You

    2025 by Kross, Ethan

    Neuroscientist Ethan Kross combines cutting-edge research with realistic recommendations in this book about understanding and handling one's emotions. Well-written and without too much scientific jargon, this is a helpful and pleasant read. Suggested by Paul.

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  • How to Be Well: Navigating Our Self-Care Epidemic, One Dubious Cure at a Time

    by Larocca, Amy

    Skeptical about the latest beauty or wellness trend taking over social media? You are not alone! Journalist Amy Larocca takes a cultural, political, and personal exploration of the wellness industry and the ways it's shaping our thinking about health and self-care. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • Boat Baby

    2025 by Nguyen, Vicky

    In her upbeat, feel-good and often humorous memoir, NBC News anchor Vicky Nguen recalls her family’s dangerous journey out of Vietnam, offers insight into what it was like for her growing up Asian American, and her journey of becoming a broadcast journalist. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks

    2024 by Gibbins, David J. L.

    Anyone who’s ever pored over a National Geographic story about exploring the deep will be enthralled by David Gibbins’ life in underwater archeology. He takes us from ancient wrecks in the North Sea and Aegean to a shipment of Tang Dynasty porcelain that may have been manufactured for the export market to a casualty of World War II’s Battle of the Atlantic whose crew hailed from a handful of communities in present-day Bangladesh. He shows us how seafaring has always scrambled any neat distinctions between peoples and civilizations. Suggested by Andrew.

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  • Footnotes from the Most Fascinating Museums

    2024 by Eckstein, Bob

    Sue the T-rex and the Smithsonian’s venerable Panda Cam both merit illustrations in New Yorker cartoonist Eckstein’s compendium of postcard-style tributes to great and interesting museums throughout North America. Suggested by Andrew.

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