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American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI (2020) by Kate Winkler Dawson recounts the life and career of Edward Oscar Heinrich (1881-1953), one of the founding fathers of forensic science in the United States.

For the last twenty years, record executive and producer Rick Rubin has significantly shaped the course of hip hop, rock, and popular music, among other music genres. Thanks to his impact on the industry, he was named as one of Time's "100 Most Influential People in the World."

In 1938, Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter were the first botanists to run the river rapids of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon to Lake Mead. At the time women in science were a rarity. While botany was considered acceptable for women, it was news-making and controversial for women to go on the actual expeditions to collect plant samples. 

Local Chicagoan, Mike Evans, founder of the startup 'GrubHub', brings us his inspiring story in Hangry (2022). He details the grit and determination it takes to be an entrepreneur and build up your business, but along with success comes burnout and disillusionment.

Jim Gaffigan, in the book, Dad is Fat (2013) expounds on the challenges of having his hands full with 5 children.  His fertile wife gets pregnant just looking at babies, while Jim wonders if he will be a good father.  To his astonishment he rises to the challenge and finds that having children can be a rewarding experience.  He muses on people who sit around all day and j

Dr. Henry Marsh, in his book And Finally (2023), addresses issues of life and death as he faces the end of his life due to prostate cancer.  Dr.

How would react if you realized your child was never going to be "normal"? That's the question Ron Fournier had to face when his son, Tyler, was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.  

Unbroken (2014) by Laura Hillenbrand tells the remarkable story of Olympic runner Louis Zamperini.  Louis was made to run by his brother Pete, who saw the boy had talent but realized that it would also keep him out of trouble.  He eventually went on to compete in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, where he shook Hitler's hand.

What a powerful read. That this book exists is a miracle: originally written for a contest in 1930s Eastern Europe (in what is now Poland and Lithuania), these six essays were among hundreds hidden from the Nazis multiple times and eventually discovered in a church in 2017.

In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson undertakes to hike the 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail that runs from Georgia to Maine. Bryson enlists the help of an unfit friend, Katz, who can barely tackle a staircase. Together they meander along the trail meeting other people with the same goal. Statistics are clearly against them.

Michael Lewis’ classic sports book holds up almost twenty years later. Scott Brick does a fantastic job narrating Moneyball (2003), keeping the pace moving and the subject engaging.

An immigrant memoir that will pull at your heart strings, House of Sticks is an eye-opening tale of suffering and survival.