NCW Libraries

"Pulitzer Prize-winner and biographer of Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, and John D. Rockefeller, Ron Chernow returns with a sweeping and dramatic portrait of one of our most compelling generals and presidents, Ulysses S. Grant. Ulysses S. Grant's life has typically been misunderstood. All too often he is caricatured as a chronic loser and inept businessman, fond of drinking to excess; or as the triumphant but brutal Union general of the Civil...

The actor shares personal stories and observations about illness and health, aging, the strength of family and friends, and how perceptions about time affect the consideration of mortality. Diagnosed at age 29, Fox is engaged in Parkinson’s advocacy work, raising global awareness of the disease and helping find a cure through The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, the world’s leading non-profit funder of PD science....

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...

In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable...

The popular actor recounts his childhood in western Canada, his rise in film and television, his diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, and how he has worked to raise awareness of the disease and find a cure.

Rich with in-depth, on-the-ground investigative reporting that gives readers a front row seat to Aaron Hernandez's tumultuous downward spiral. This book will reveal the unvarnished truth behind the troubled star, with first-person accounts and untold stories - from his hometown of Bristol, CT to his college days in Gainesville, FL to the Patriots' NFL locker room where he ascended to stardom, to the prison where Hernandez spent his final days.

"A brilliant and brave investigation by Michael Pollan, author of five New York Times best sellers, into the medical and scientific revolution taking place around psychedelic drugs--and the spellbinding story of his own life-changing psychedelic experiences When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions...

"Master historian David McCullough's classic book about some of history's most daring and accomplished figures from Alexander von Humboldt to Charles and Anne Lindbergh. Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough has written profiles of exceptional men and women who shaped the course of history and changed how we see the world. Their remarkable stories express much that is timeless about the human condition. Here are Alexander von Humboldt, whose...

"In this searing meditation on the bonds of family and the danger of extremist faith, one of today's most celebrated Christian writers recounts his unexpected journey from a strict fundamentalist upbringing to a life of compassion and grace -- a revelatory memoir in the tradition of Educated and Hillbilly Elegy. Raised by an impoverished widow who earned room and board as a Bible teacher in 1950s Atlanta, Philip Yancey and his brother, Marshall, found...