Wayland Library Staff Picks - NonFiction

From the author of Mayflower, Valiant Ambition, and In the Hurricane's Eye—the riveting bestseller tells the story of the true events that inspired Melville's Moby-Dick. 
Winner of the National Book Award, Nathaniel Philbrick's book is a fantastic saga of survival and adventure, steeped in the lore of whaling, with deep resonance in American literature and history.
In 1820,...

A collection of essays and autobiographical stories in which the author offers her humorous take on identity, politics, religion, art, history, and other topics.

Brian Greene, one of the world's leading string theorists, peels away layers of mystery to reveal a universe that consists of eleven dimensions, where the fabric of space tears and repairs itself, and all matter--from the smallest quarks to the most gargantuan supernovas--is generated by the vibrations of microscopically tiny loops of energy. The Elegant Universe makes some of the most sophisticated concepts ever contemplated accessible and thoroughly...

For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then in 1986 he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area. Three decades later, true crime journalist Michelle McNamara was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored...

Prosecuting Attorney in the Manson trial, Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the twentieth century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? Here is the gripping story of this famous and haunting...

"A new edition of the iconic, best-selling account of America's most fascinating serial killer, "perhaps the most unnerving true-crime book ever published" (Victoria Beale, The New Yorker), with a foreword by Georgia Hardstark. In 1971, while working the late-shift at a Seattle crisis clinic, true-crime writer Ann Rule struck up a friendship with a sensitive, charismatic young coworker: Ted Bundy. Three years later, eight young women disappeared in...

"The pie-making genius behind the popular Instagram account @lokokitchen reveals the secrets behind her mind-blowing creations"-- Ko went from pastry novice to master baker in a few short years with a knife, a ruler, a bit of patience, and a startling amount of flour. Her sculptural, state-of-the-tart fruit patterns and woven and layered crusts make an ins-pie-red first impression. Here she shows you how to build a delicious showcase in your own...

"This book is a marvel. The Fact of a Body is equal parts gripping and haunting and will leave you questioning whether any one story can hold the full truth."--Celeste Ng, author of the New York Times bestselling Everything I Never Told You Before. Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich begins a summer job at a law firm in Louisiana, working to help defend men accused of murder, she thinks her position is clear. The child of two lawyers, she is staunchly anti-death...

"A magisterial effort packed with insight and written with clarity and enthusiasm. It's also the deal of the year--the equivalent of a year's college course by an engaging, brilliant professor, all for the price of a book." Who Hasn't Gazed upon the abandoned temples of Angkor Wat or the jungle-choked cities of the Maya and wondered, could the same fate happen to us? In this riveting book, Jared Diamond--whose Guns, Germs, and Steel revolutionized...