NCW Libraries

An illuminating debut memoir of a woman in science; a moving portrait of a longtime friendship; and a stunningly fresh look at plants that will forever change how you see the natural world.

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State -- and to do it alone. She had no experience as a long-distance hiker, and the trail was little...

"Award-winning actresses and mother-daughter duo Laura Dern and Diane Ladd are the kind of women who draw strength from their lifelong friendships with other women, and most of all, from each other. Ever since Laura was born, the two have leaned on each other through the trials of everyday life and the tribulations that come with even the most storied Hollywood careers. They were always close, but when Diane developed a sudden illness, their relationship...

"This is the memoir music fans have been waiting for. Half of one of the greatest creative partnerships in popular music, Bernie Taupin is the man who wrote the lyrics for Elton John, who conceived the ideas that spawned countless hits and sold millions and millions of records. Together, they were a duo, a unit, an immovable object. Their extraordinary half-century-and-counting creative relationship has been chronicled in biopics (like 2019's Rocketman)...

Born in 1918, Del Griffith has done everything from riding the rails during The Great Depression to starting a Bible Camp with nothing more than a dream and 20 acres of undeveloped land. Come along for the ride as he tells about barn dances, Mumbley Peg, fried owl, and a host of other fascinating childhood memories. Learn how to build a livable home out of an old tree stump, travel like a hobo, and how much dynamite is too much when blowing up stumps....

"In the midst of running a long-shot political campaign, Democratic political consultant John Simon discovers a 100-year-old manuscript written by his grandfather Joseph--a brilliant young revolutionary whose exile to Siberia by the last czar of Russia is just the beginning of an extraordinary tale of survival, romance, and revolution. Return From Siberia chronicles not only the Simon family's relationship to each other and the past, but also the...