Book Genre: Nonfiction

If you're a fan of NPR's This American Life, you know Sarah Vowell. She's as funny in print, witty and smart while educating you on detailed historical incidents not covered in primary school. The Lincoln assassination, yes, but Garfield and McKinley?

Do you like candy? Steve Almond does--a lot. He turned his obsession into this book, where he travels the country looking at how small candy companies survive and how they make their candy--sampling their products the whole way. This book will make you laugh, make you think, and make you hungry...

Secrets written down on postcards and contributed anonymously. I laughed, I cried, I was shocked by beauty and despair, I saw myself. Humanity revealed.

Written by or more accurately photographed by then Denver Post food critic, this charming depiction of everything he ate in a year is fascinating and weirdly addictive.

What's it like to be the cream of the medical crop? What does it take to survive a residency at the world famous Mayo Clinic? Dr. Michael Collins gives you the front seat at his first surgeries, his medical triumphs and his tragic defeats. Join Dr. Collins as he spends sleepless nights in the OR...

A book on cadavers doesn't seem like it could be funny, but author Mary Roach takes a humorous approach to a serious subject. A respectful and historical look at death and what happens to the bodies that are left behind. Filled with everything from plastic surgery to murder to medical miracles,...

Mort takes the reader around the world from Oaxaca to the Ivory Coast to Hershey, PA, to explore the depths of chocolate. It's a fascinating look at the culinary, political, sociological, economic, historical and health issues surrounding the food of the gods. If you like chocolate at all, you'...

This excellent readable little book, one of seven from Oxford University Press on the seven biggies, investigates the little good and the tremendous bad that comes from anger.

Our beloved author of The Geography of Nowhere and Home From Nowhere, casts his New Urbanist eye on major cities near and far. This civic planning classic-to-be examines the historical development of Atlanta, Berlin, Boston, Las Vegas, London, Mexico City, Paris and Rome....

Ultra-Living for the Ultra-Hip. Pad is filled with fun and fairly easy ideas for cool ways to spice up all the rooms in your home. Full of projects complete with easy to follow instructions, pictures of real people in their own homes, and even party ideas, Pad will inspire you to create the...

You can read the whole thing or open up to any page and laugh, cry or perhaps both from reading any entry. This is a compilation of future dictionary entries as imagined by a delightful variety of authors, including Julia Alvarez, Billy Collins, Edwidge Danticat, and Robert Olen Butler.

An autobiography of the childhood of Paul Feig, creator of Freaks and Geeks, of life in hell: a.k.a. elementary, junior and high school. Funny stories of sadistic gym teachers, class bullies, angst-filled dates and other embarrassing encounters that will have you laughing, probably because you...