BOOKSHELF

NONFICTION

All That’s Unseen: An Appalachian Memoir, by Emilee Hackney

Born and raised deep in the hollers of the Appalachian Mountains, Emilee Hackney knew little beyond the ridgelines and coalfields of southwest Virginia. As an eighth-generation Appalachian, her childhood was steeped in the stories of her grandparents — tales of the coal mines’ brutal grip and the way the land, both beautiful and unforgiving, never quite let anyone go. At 14, Emilee meets Sam, a senior at her high school, who offers her a glimpse at a promising future together. But as they begin attending services at Deliverance Christian Church as a couple, Emilee is thrust into the radical realm of Pentecostalism. In a culture where marriage at 19 isn’t uncommon, Emilee is engaged to Sam. Eager to make her relationship work, she embraces the extremist doctrines of the religion, submitting herself fully to God, to Sam, and to a life of repentance. But what she doesn’t yet know is the man she plans to marry is not who he claims to be. Years later, Emilee finds herself isolated from friends, family and her own sense of truth. Wracked with shame and self-doubt, she reaches a breaking point. On the verge of spiraling out of control, in a stunning act of defiance and hope, she applies to Harvard; against all odds, she is accepted. From the magisterial mountains of Tazewell to the halls of Cambridge, Emilee begins the arduous process of reinventing herself and her relationships with her home, faith and values.

Utopia for Our Century: A Manifesto of Hope, by David Albertson and Jason Blakely

In Thomas More’s Utopia, a traveler from the New World delivers a shocking message: On a lost island beyond the horizon, people live far better lives than in Europe. More, a leading intellectual of his day, was murdered by Henry VIII in 1535 for refusing to sign a loyalty oath, but his utopian vision inspired some of the most consequential movements in the modern world. In their provocative manifesto, Albertson and Blakely retrieve More’s insights and apply them to our moment.

Lost in Curiosity: Field Notes from Scientists’ Adventures into the Unknown,
by Roberta Kwok

The real story of science isn’t a triumphant breakthrough. It’s messy, mysterious and deeply human. Chronicling researchers’ struggles and hopes in the field and lab, Kwok documents it all: fending off relentless snowfall on a remote Greenland glacier; desperately searching for an elusive frog in the rainforests of Borneo; and scrambling to capture fleeting signals of a faraway moon outside our solar system. These are the untold stories of devoted young scientists and restless minds chasing nature’s riddles. From enigmatic fossils and mind-bending physics to the puzzling behavior of wild animals, Lost in Curiosity is a journey through the questions that keep scientists up at night.

The Secret World of Twilight: A Natural History of Dusk and Dawn, by Sally Coulthard

Every day, in the brief stretch of time just before sunrise and soon after sunset, magic happens. Twice a day the atmosphere is partially illuminated by a sun that’s hiding below the horizon, creating a sky that glows with soft, diffused light — opening the secret world of twilight. Circadian rhythms affect almost all living things, including animals, plants and even microbes. They, of course, profoundly affect us too. In a world when so many of us live according to rhythms defined by artificial light, or in spaces that remove any connection with the outside, the need to understand and celebrate twilight has never been greater. Coulthard celebrates 30 iconic and often surprising animals and plants that thrive in this liminal, otherworldly space.