Spring Book Preview 2023: Nonfiction
Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation That Saved the Soul of the NBA by Theresa Runstedtler
Long considered a time of transition in pro basketball, the ’70s gets a fresh look from Theresa Runstedtler, who tells the story of a generation of Black basketball players who dealt with a rival league, controversy over desegregation, and more to carve out a spot in the culture for the NBA. (March 7)
Seventy Times Seven: A True Story of Murder and Mercy by Alex Mar
Journalist Alex Mar delves into the story of one of the youngest death-row inmates in U.S. history. After the 1985 murder of an elderly woman in Gary, Indiana, left 10th-grader Paula Cooper facing execution, the victim’s grandson forgave the teenager and rallied to her cause in an effort to spare her life. (March 28)
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A Fever In The Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author Timothy Egan examines D.C. Stephenson’s rise in the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s and how an ordinary woman, Madge Oberholtzer, brought him down by spilling his secrets. (April 4)
You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir by Maggie Smith
Poet Maggie Smith turns to vignettes for this book that details the end of her marriage and her quest to find herself again, touching on topics such as gender roles, forgiveness, and femininity. (April 11)
The Forgotten Girls: A Memoir of Friendship and Lost Promise in Rural America by Monica Potts
Political reporter Monica Potts explores her upbringing in Clinton, Arkansas, and how her best friend, who shared her dreams of leaving the poverty-
stricken town, ended up living on the streets and addicted to drugs. (April 18)
The Wisdom of Morrie: Living and Aging Creatively and Joyfully by Morrie Schwartz and edited by Rob Schwartz
Morrie Schwartz, the inspiration for the smash hit Tuesdays With Morrie, died nearly 30 years ago, but his son Rob rounds up some of his best work and nuggets of wisdom for this compilation. (April 18)
Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage by Jonny Steinberg
Jonny Steinberg has made a career out of documenting South African politics, and for this book, he explores one of the most complex political marriages in history: Winnie and Nelson Mandela. The book details Nelson’s devotion to his wife behind bars and Winnie’s political maneuvering that was often at odds with her husband’s goal. (May 2)
Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper
Christian Cooper had already made a name for himself in the birding community before a white woman baselessly accused him of threatening her in Central Park in 2020; video of the incident went viral video. His memoir traces his love of birding, through his professional work as a writer and editor to the infamous encounter and its fallout. (May 9)
King: A Life by Jonathan Eig
In the first major biography of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that will include recently declassified FBI files, biographer Jonathan Eig takes an in-depth look at the civil rights icon in this follow-up to his Muhammad Ali biography. (May 16)
Women We Buried, Women We Burned: A Memoir by Rachel Louise Snyder
Acclaimed reporter Rachel Louise Snyder turns the focus inward with this book about growing up in an Evangelical Christian family, running away as a teenager, and traveling the world to report on domestic
violence around the globe. (May 23)