2018 Topaz Adult titles + annotations

*denotes unanimous vote for title’s inclusion on list

*Astrophysics for people in a hurry by Neil Degrasse Tyson (W.W. Norton & Company)Tyson delivers the perfect book for non-scientists who want to refresh the astronomy and physics they learned in school. This title delivers on its promise to be a fast, compressible read while filled with interesting information.

Barbarian days: a surfing life by William Finnegan (Penguin)Finnegan tells the story of his days surfing around the world, starting in the 1960s. He also describes the changes in the beach cultures of that era (which are not as idyllic as the beach movies or the songs would indicate).

Blitzed: drugs in the Third Reich by Norman Ohler (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)Ohler elaborates on the role drugs played in Nazi Germany. They were widely used by the general population and soldiers, eliminating the need for food and sleep enabled invasions of foreign territories. Ohler also makes the case that Hitler's increasing addiction to drugs affected his judgement at the end of WW II. Of interest are the chapters which deal with Germany’s role in the birth of the drug industry.

Book thieves: the Nazi looting of Europe's libraries and the race to return a literary inheritance by Anders Rydell (Viking)The Nazi looting of Europe’s art treasures is fairly well known. Less known is their theft of millions of books and manuscripts for the purpose of creating Fascist research libraries. The author investigates the fate of the plundered collections and contemporary efforts to return the materials to their rightful owners.

*Bright hour: a memoir of living and dying by Nina Riggs (Simon & Schuster)A memoir in which poet Nina Riggs explores life after her terminal cancer diagnosis, with reflection on motherhood, marriage, friendship, and more.

Burglar's guide to the city by Geoff Manaugh (FSG Originals)Manaugh, blogger for BLDGBLOG, takes us on an architecturally-focused tour of how burglars manage their craft. Rather than a dry look at criminals and buildings, this story-packed assessment of burglary peers through the eyes of an expert on buildings and cities.

Dear Ijeawele, or a feminist manifesto in fifteen suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Knopf)“A few years ago, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie received a letter from a dear friend from childhood, asking her how to raise her baby girl as a feminist. Dear Ijeawele is Adichie's letter of response. Here are fifteen invaluable suggestions--compelling, direct, wryly funny, and perceptive--for how to empower a daughter to become a strong, independent woman.” Follett description

Do no harm: stories of life, death, and brain surgery by Henry Marsh (St. Martin’s Press)British neurosurgeon Henry Marsh takes us through the triumphs and failures of brain surgery, one story and philosophical digression at a time.

End of the perfect 10: the making and breaking of gymnastics’ top score ―from Nadia to now by Dvora Meyers (Touchstone)Meyers examines women’s gymnastics and its scoring system from Nadia Comaneci's famous Perfect 10 in 1976 to the lead-up of the 2016 Olympics.

Everybody behaves badly: the true story behind Hemingway's masterpiece The Sun Also Rises by Lesley M. M. Blume (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)Illuminating the people and situations that strongly influenced Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises",

this book provides detailed insights into the real "Lost Generation."

*Gatekeepers: how the White House Chiefs of Staff define every presidency by Chris Whipple(Crown)

Arguably the worst job in politics, chiefs of staff have been pivotal in the successes and failures of modern presidents. The author investigates the roles chiefs from Nixon to Obama have played in world and national events giving the reader an insider’s view to White House machinations.

Gulf: the making of an American sea by Jack E. Davis (Liveright)The first comprehensive story of the Gulf of Mexico, “America's Sea”, is an interesting and engaging tale covering the history of the Gulf, the geography of the area, and the sociology of how people have impacted it--a very readable tale that all Texans, not just Gulf residents, will be interested in.

*Hidden Figures: the American dream and the untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race by Margot Lee Shetterly (William Morrow)The amazing true story of four African-American female mathematicians at NASA who helped to achieve some of the greatest moments in the NASA space program.

Hidden life of trees: what they feel, how they communicate - discoveries from a secret world by Peter Wohlleben (Greystone)Trees are more than just oxygen and wood sources for humans. In highly anthropomorphic terms, Mr. Wohlleben tells us that forest trees are living, social beings. They count, learn and remember; nurse sick neighbors and warn each other of danger by sending electrical signals across a fungal network. This books gives greater understanding of the communication of trees and a greater appreciation of nature.

I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong (Ecco) For the last quarter-century or so, microbiologists have been exploring what may amount to a new view of life, full of fascination and self-contradiction. Their work suggests strange and surprising things about our origin and evolution, about health and disease, about symbiosis and risk. This is one of the most interesting developments in biology today. It sweeps from the personal to the planetary; it changes the way you look at human bodies, birds in the air and leaves of grass.

I'm Judging You: The Do-better Manual by Luvvie Ajayi (Henry Holt)The book provides great topics for discussions and a space for one to judge his/her actions with an eye opening and hilarious perspective.

In Vino Duplicitas: The Rise and Fall of a Wine Forger Extraordinaire by Peter Hellman (The Experiment)An unknown man gained access to the privileged world of ultra fine wines and conned some of the richest billionaires with fake wines manufactured in his home

*Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann (Doubleday)A thoroughly researched and compellingly written examination of the early 20th century serial murders of the Osage Indian tribe in Oklahoma, as well as the development of the modern FBI under Hoover's leadership as it worked to solve these horrible crimes.

Life Everlasting: The Extraordinary Story of One Boy's Gift to Medical Science by Sarah Gray (HarperOne)When a mother-to-be hears that one of her twins has a fatal birth defect, she investigates donation as a way of giving his life meaning. A year after his death, the author’s need to know what happened to his donation leads her on a journey that not only provides comfort, but changes her life.

Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story by Douglas J. Preston (Grand Central Publishing)For hundreds of years, explorers have been hunting for the Lost City of the Monkey God. The author joins a modern exploration team as they explore a possible site and struggle with government red tape, accessibility issues, and a hostile environment. Their findings have a widespread impact on the field of archeology, the country of Honduras, and the individuals on the expedition.

Marriage Bureau: The True Story of How Two Matchmakers Arranged Love in Wartime London by Penrose Halson (William Morrow)Two young women in wartime London began a "Marriage Bureau" in 1939, using a coded index filing system to match lonely registrants. The author's resources for these sometimes sad, sometimes hilarious stories, includes registration forms, ledgers, letters, advertisements, photographs, and newspaper articles from the successful bureau.

Monopolists: Obsession, Fury and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game by Mary Pilon (Bloomsbury)Traces the development of the game's original version ("Landlord's Game") in the early 1900s to the version of "Monopoly" that people play today, including the people who made the changes along the way (legally and otherwise). Also discusses the last major legal battle between the companies that manufactured the "Monopoly" and "Anti-Monopoly" games.

Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant (Alfred A. Knopf)More than a memoir, Sandberg uses her grief as an opportunity to study the psychology behind grieving and the techniques necessary for finding joy through the most difficult of circumstances.

Originals: How Non-conformists Move the World by Adam M. Grant (Viking)Grant discusses how to encourage originality and nonconformity. He looks at the personality types and characteristics as well as the virtues, of these non-conformists and provides ways for the rest of us to be more original.

Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon by Bronwen Dickey (Alfred A. Knopf)Using history, science and investigative journalism, Dickey challenges our beliefs about pit bulls. While acknowledging her personal bias, she provided an even handed treatment of the controversy making this a must read for both sides of the dispute.

Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier's Story of a Forgotten War by Matti Friedman (Algonquin)A memoir of a few soldiers' time defending a hill ("Pumpkin") in a nameless Lebanese war, while around them a new kind of war - complete with IEDs and asymmetrical warfare - emerges, leading to desperate numbers of wounded and dying ("flowers").

Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple by Jeff GuinThis in-depth, balanced and well-written biography of Jim Jones follows him from his Indiana youth to his final days in Jonestown, where more than 900 of his followers died from the 1978 mass poisoning.

Spaceman: An Astronaut's Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe by Mike Massimino (Crown Archetype)Massimino, an unlikely astronaut, tells the story of how a kid from a blue-collar family who had more failures than successes (he applied to NASA three different times!) made it to space and even

repaired the Hubble telescope. An endearing tale that combines a love of astronomy and a perseverance to achieve one’s dreams.

Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World by Aja Raden (Ecco)Jeweler and historian Aja Raden examines how humans give value to stones (turning them into 'jewelry' to desire and acquire) through specific examples, such as the tale of the beads that bought Manhattan and how the first wristwatch became essential to world wars.

Victoria the Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire by Julia Baird (Random House)Many people have viewed Queen Victoria as primarily a puritanical, grieving widow who always wore black. While Victoria endured many difficult periods, especially for the death of her husband, Prince Albert, Baird's book includes new research about the monarch and her influence on the British Empire (good and bad), as well as the politics of Europe during the 19th century. The book also proves that, despite royal impressions, monarchs are human.

We Crossed a Bridge and it Trembled: Voices From Syria by Wendy Pearlman (Custom House)Dr. Wendy Pearlman spent years interviewing Syrian refugees. Here we have the opportunity to read their stories in their own words, tracing the revolution from its inception to today. Introduction includes brief history of Syria.

*When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (Random House)"At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated"--Jacket flap.

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper (Pantheon Books)The author skillfully makes the job of editing a dictionary sound interesting, even funny at times. Editors’ choices and the public’s reactions to the resulting definitions provides insightful social commentary.

Year of the Dunk : A Modest Defiance of Gravity by Asher Price (Crown)Describes a former cancer patient's preparations and attempts to learn how to slam dunk when he's way past his prime.

*You Don't Have to Say you Love Me: A Memoir by Sherman Alexie (Little, Brown and Company)Alexie pays bittersweet tribute to his mercurial mother in this memoir comprised of vignettes and poems.