Throughout December, we are highlighting the books that Westmoreland County read the most in 2017. Check out our Top Ten Fiction list, and stay tuned for the Top Ten Young Adult titles.
What do a home design power couple, the FBI, Sherlock Holmes have in common? They’re all subjects of books featured in WLN’s Top Ten Nonfiction Titles of 2017. This list proves that Westmoreland County readers are a diverse bunch. Check out a few featured titles below, and find the entire top ten list at the end of this post.
Hillbilly Elegy
by J.D. Vance
Hillbilly Elegy is part memoir, part analysis of what it means to be a hillbilly. Vance explores the history of hillbilly culture–its values, beliefs and standards–through the lens of his own Appalachian family. As a former marine and graduate of Yale Law School, Vance looks back on his own life to try to understand how he overcame the challenges of his youth to become a successful adult.
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
In the 1920s an oil boom made the members of the Osage Indian nation some of the richest people in the world. Then, one by one, members of the tribe were poisoned, shot, and died suspicious deaths. The scale and mystery of the murders caused the newly created FBI to begin one of its first major homicide investigations. Killers of the Flower Moon explores prejudices held against Native Americans, the development of new investigative techniques, and the motives behind one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.
Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
Sandberg is best known for her manifesto Lean In, a book that explores why significantly less women take on leadership roles than men, and encourages women to take risks, become engaged, and pursue their goals. In Option B, Sandberg takes on a much different topic: life after the sudden death of her husband. Together with psychologist Adam Grant, Sandberg explores how to overcome grief and overcome hardships. Option B describes how to help others in crisis, develop compassion for ourselves, and build better worlds through empathy.
WLN’s Top Ten Nonfiction Titles
- Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
- The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman
- Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan by Bill O’Reilly
- The Magnolia Story by Chip & Joanna Gaines
- Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondō
- Filthy Rich: A Powerful Billionaire, The Sex Scandal that Undid Him, and All the Justice That Money Can Buy by James Patterson
- When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
- Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes by Michael Sims
- Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant