2014 Staff Favourites - Nonfiction - Part 2

A big year for reading at Halifax Public Libraries. As we do every year at The Reader, we polled our staff all across our entire library system to see their favourite books of 2014. What a response! Stay tuned over the next few days for lists of our picks from the best published in fiction, nonfiction and children's and young adult books.  I know they've piqued my interest and have lengthened my "to read" list!

The Birth of Korean Cool: how one nation in conquering the world through pop culture by Euny Hong
"The subtitle says a lot: fascinating account of how Korean Pop Culture is about way more than Psy” Kristina

The Art of Asking: or how I learned to stop worrying and let people help by Amanda Palmer
"Rock star, crowdfunding pioneer, and TED speaker Amanda Palmer knows all about asking. Performing as a living statue in a wedding dress, she wordlessly asked thousands of passersby for their dollars. When she became a singer, songwriter, and musician, she was not afraid to ask her audience to support her as she surfed the crowd (and slept on their couches while touring)." publisher

The Good Spy: the life and death of Robert Ames by Kai Bird
"The Good Spy is Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Kai Bird’s compelling portrait of the remarkable life and death of one of the most important operatives in CIA history – a man who, had he lived, might have helped heal the rift between Arabs and the West." publisher

Yes Please by Amy Poehler
"IN A PERFECT WORLD...We’d get to hang out with Amy Poehler, watching dumb movies, listening to music, and swapping tales about our coworkers and difficult childhoods. Because in a perfect world, we’d all be friends with Amy — someone who seems so fun, is full of interesting stories, tells great jokes, and offers plenty of advice and wisdom (the useful kind, not the annoying kind you didn’t ask for, anyway)." publisher

The Romanov Sisters: the lost lives of the daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra by Helen Rappaport
"The Romanov Sisters sets out to capture the joy as well as the insecurities and poignancy of those young lives against the backdrop of the dying days of late Imperial Russia, World War I and the Russian Revolution. Helen Rappaport aims to present a new and challenging take on the story, drawing extensively on previously unseen or unpublished letters, diaries and archival sources, as well as private collections. It is a book that will surprise people, even aficionados." publisher

Hot, Wet and Shaking: how I learned to talk about sex by Kaleigh Trace
"Kaleigh Trace—disabled, queer, sex educator—chronicles her journey from ignorance to bliss as she shamelessly discusses her sexual exploits, bodily negotiations and attempts at adulthood, sparing none of the details and assuming you are not polite company." publisher

My Drunk Kitchen: a guide to eating, drinking and going with your gut by Hannah Hart
"One day, sad cubicle dweller and otherwise bored New York transplant Hannah Hart decided, as a joke, to make a fake cooking show for her friend back in California. She turned on the camera, pulled out some bread and cheese, and then, as one does, started drinking. (Doesn't everyone cook with a spoon in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other?) The video went viral and an online sensation was born." publisher