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Young Heroes of the Soviet Union book cover (a man and a woman standing on a balcony, looking out, stylized like a World War 2 poster)

Young Heroes of the Soviet Union by Alex Halberstadt

Part Soviet history, part family biography, Alex Halberstadt’s Young Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Memoir and a Reckoning is a thought-provoking look at how trauma can echo down generations. For Halberstadt, born in Moscow in the 1970s, the past has always hung over his family’s lives like an ever-present specter. His paternal grandfather was one of Stalin’s last surviving bodyguards and a major in the KGB, a job that made him culpable in some of the brutal crimes carried out by the State.

How Not To Kill Your Houseplant book cover (A bright yellow cover with the title surrounded by different houseplants in cartoony pots)

How Not to Kill Your Houseplant by Veronica Peerless

Did you bond with your houseplants during the pandemic, but haven’t had any luck keeping your greenery green?  Then you may want to check out this user-friendly guide to caring for some of the most commonly grown houseplants.  This book begins with general potting guidelines, then arranges information for specific plants by type.  It outlines the basics on everything a plant needs to thrive in easily understood bullet points.  You’ll get details of light, temperature, soil, water and feeding along with tips on possible problem areas, such as disease and insect pests, wit

How To Be Fine book cover (a woman holding an open book up, hiding her face)

How to Be Fine by Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer

Jolenta and Kristen are the hosts of the funny and insightful podcast, By the Book.  In each episode, they read a chosen self-help book, spend two weeks living by the book’s guidelines, and then offer their opinions of the book’s premise.  When they had read and lived by 50 different books, they decided to write one of their own.  How to be Fine highlights what they learned from their experiment.  

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs book cover (a cartoon image of a black cat with a sinister impression, on a red background, with a childishly handwritten title)

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? by Caitlin Doughty

Author, blogger, YouTube personality, and (most importantly) mortician Caitlin Doughty has compiled a list of the best questions about death that she’s received from kids and answers them in this hilarious book. As a mortician with a degree in medieval history, she answers these questions with science and history in an easy-to-understand matter while touching on her "death positive" movement, in which she believes that we should stop the cultural censorship of death for the betterment of society.

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning book cover (the shape of a house made out the silhouettes of other household objects-- tables, couches, beds, lamps, clocks-- above a simple line drawing of two chairs at a table)

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson

Bookshelves are awash with advice for those wishing to organize their living spaces.  Techniques vary from no-nonsense clutter-busting to thanking and discarding items that no longer spark joy.  Anyone who has had to clear out a relative's home will understand the practicality of the Swedish concept of death cleaning: the organizing of one's worldly goods before passing away.  The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning serves as a friendly guide to undertaking this admittedly gloomy-sounding project at any stage of life.