More Exciting Nonfiction Books for Fall & Winter Reading

Compiled by Jamie H. Vaught

--Catherine, the Princess of Wales: A Biography of the Future Queen by Robert Jobson (Pegasus Books, $29.95) tells the full story of how Kate Middleton became the woman she is today through the British author and journalist's extensive connections within the royal household. An attractive, clever, and ambitious girl from unexceptional beginnings, Catherine is destined to become the first "commoner Queen” in British history since Anne Hyde, wife of James II. Since her wedding in 2011—and since becoming the Duchess of Cambridge—Catherine, 42, has endeared herself to the people of the Britain and America with her extensive travels, with her infectious smile, sense of style, and down-to-earth nature. With her self-deprecation, willingness to laugh at herself, solid work-ethic—along with Prince William’s warmth, and accessibility—this dynamic duo has become the most popular members of the royal family.

--The Boys of Riverside: A Deaf Football Team and a Quest for Glory by Thomas Fuller (Doubleday, $28) is an extraordinary story about a successful all-deaf high school football team. The 240-page hardcover looks back at the historic 2021 and 2022 seasons in which the California School for the Deaf chased history, following the personal journeys of Keith Adams (their dynamic deaf head coach), a student who spent the majority of the season sleeping in his father’s car parked in the Target lot, a fiercely committed player who literally played through a broken leg in order not to miss a crucial game, and other fascinating characters. The San Francisco-based author is a Page One correspondent for The New York Times.

--The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America and Lost His Way by Michael Tackett (Simon & Schuster, $32.50) is an intimate look at the personal and political life of one of the most powerful senators in American history. Drawing on thousands of pages of archival materials, letters, and more than 100 interviews with associates, colleagues, and McConnell himself, the 400-page hardcover covers McConnell’s early life, his formative battle with polio as a young child, and details his 40-plus-year career as one of the Senate’s top leaders. In the long history of the U.S. government, few senators have wielded as much power as Kentucky’s McConnell, a lifelong Republican. The author conducted more than 50 hours of exclusive interviews with McConnell, and also had interviews with Presidents Joe Biden and George W. Bush, and former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, among others. Tackett is an award-winning journalist with more than three decades of experience covering national politics, including nine presidential elections. He is currently the Deputy Washington Bureau Chief for the Associated Press.

--Lincoln vs. Davis: The War of the Presidents by Nigel Hamilton (Little, Brown and Company, $38) is a riveting story of how two Civil War presidents faced off as the fate of the country hung in the balance.  Of all the books written on Abraham Lincoln, there has been one surprising gap: the drama of how the “railsplitter” from Illinois grew into his critical role as U.S. commander-in-chief, and managed to outwit his formidable opponent, Jefferson Davis, in what remains history’s only military faceoff between rival American presidents. Davis was a trained soldier and war hero; Lincoln a country lawyer who had only briefly served in the military. With a cast of unforgettable characters, from first ladies to fugitive coachmen to rebellious cabinet officials, the 780-page hardcover is a captivating dual biography written by well-known author Nigel Hamilton, who has written books about John F. Kennedy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Bill Clinton, among others.

--Trump in Exile by Meridith McGraw (Random House, $32) is a behind-the-scenes look at Donald Trump's postpresidency at Mar-a-Lago in South Florida as he surprisingly regroups from an election defeat that he refuses to acknowledge and plots his return to the White House. The author, who has covered the Trump era from its beginning, through the White House years to his 2024 campaign, documents the incredible period of Trump’s exile in South Florida and brings us inside the gold-colored walls of his private club, where an alternate reality in which the 2020 election was stolen became Republican Party orthodoxy.

--The Highest Calling: Conversations on the American Presidency by David M. Rubenstein (Simon & Schuster, $32) chronicles the journeys of the presidents who have defined America as it exists now, what they envision for its future, and their legacy on the world stage. Drawing from his own experience in the President Jimmy Carter administration, the author engages in dialogues with our nation’s presidents and the historians who study them.  Rubenstein interviewed living presidents, and top historians and journalists who reflect on the U.S. presidency, including Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Maggie Haberman, Ron Chernow, and others. Through insightful analysis and anedoates, the author captures our country’s most prominent leaders, the political genius and frays of the presidential role, and the wisdom that emerges from it.

--Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard (St. Martin's Press, $35) presents 45 wonderfully entertaining and insightful portraits of each president, with commentary on their achievements―or lack thereof. Who best served America, and who undermined the founding ideals? Who were the first ladies, and what were their surprising roles in making history? Which presidents were the best, which the worst, and which didn’t have much impact? How do decisions made in one era, under the pressure of particular circumstances, still resonate today? And what do presidents like to eat, drink, and do when they aren’t working―or even sometimes when they are? The authors' extensive research has uncovered never before seen historical facts based on private correspondence and newly discovered documentation, such as George Washington's troubled relationship with his mother. The 419-page will delight all readers of history, politics, and current affairs.

--The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust by Francis S. Collins (Little, Brown and Company & Worthy Publishers, $30) is a deeply thoughtful guidebook to get us beyond public divisions and back to the sources of wisdom. As the COVID-19 pandemic revealed, we have become not just a hyper-partisan society but also a deeply cynical one, distrustful of traditional sources of knowledge and wisdom. Skepticism about vaccines led to the needless deaths of at least 230,000 Americans. “Do your own research” is now a rallying cry in many online rabbit holes. Yet experts can make mistakes, and institutions can lose their moral compass. So how can we navigate through all this? A physician and geneticist, the author reminds us of the four core sources of judgement and clear thinking: truth, science, faith, and trust. Drawing on his work from the Human Genome Project and heading the National Institutes of Health, as well as on ethics, philosophy, and Christian theology, Collins makes a strong, thoughtful case for each of these sources—their reliability, and their limits.

--American Reckoning: Inside Trump's Trial -- and My Own by Jonathan Alter (BenBella, $29.95) is an eye-opening account from a presidential historian with a front row seat on history, covering the historic first criminal trial of a president. As one of a handful of journalists allowed in the courtroom, for 23 days the author sat just feet away from the most dangerous threat to democracy in American history, watching the spectacle of the century: the felony trial of Donald Trump. Highly publicized but untelevised and thus largely hidden from public view, this landmark trial offered hope of real justice amid a grueling eight-year national ordeal and foreshadowed the drama of the 2024 presidential election. Alter chronicles the shaping of his political consciousness and his unpredictable relationships with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain, and Joe Biden, whose decision to step down in favor of former prosecutor Kamala Harris put the criminal trial front and center with the upcoming presidential election.

--Unredacted: Russia, Trump, and the Fight for Democracy by Christopher Steele (Mariner Books, $32.50) is written by the intelligence officer who was behind the explosive "Steele Dossier," revealing a blistering new report on the threat Putin and Trump pose to democracy based on intelligence. In the 318-page hardcover, the author shares for the first time what that inside view looks like, how he came to the point of gaining such a level of insight, and what Western governments—and all of us—can and should do to counter this generational threat.  Steele began his 22-year career working as a diplomat, intelligence professional, and Russia expert within the British government in 1987. He once worked in Moscow where he served through the fall of the Soviet Union. Later the author worked in London where he became one of the government's senior intelligence experts and advisors on Russia and the former Soviet Union.

--10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People: A Groundbreaking Approach to Leading the Next Generation―And Making Your Own Life Easier by David Yeager (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, $32) reveals the new science of motivating young people ages 10 through 25 in this groundbreaking book that is a must-read for managers, parents, educators, coaches, and mentors everywhere. Based on cutting edge research, the author and acclaimed developmental psychologist explains how to stop fearing young people’s brains and hormones, and start harnessing them. The 456-page hardcover helps adults develop an ear for the difference between the right and wrong way to respect young people and avoid frustrating patterns of miscommunication and conflict. It's an essential read for anyone who interacts with young people.

--War by Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster, $32) reveals the behind-the-scenes story of three wars -- Ukraine, the Middle East and the struggle for the American Presidency. With the inside-the-room reporting, the 435-page hardcover offers an intimate account of one of the most stormy eras in presidential politics and American history. A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, Woodward is the author of 22 successful books, 15 of which have been No. 1 New York Times bestsellers, covering every president from Richard Nixon to Joe Biden.

--A Life in the Spirit: A Memoir by Ralph Martin (Emmaus Road Publishing, $25) chronicles author's journey from the early days of the Catholic charismatic renewal to become one of the most courageous voices defending the truth of the Gospel during an age of dissension and disbelief. Dr. Martin’s writing, speaking, and evangelization efforts—particularly through the international apostolate he founded, Renewal Ministries, and his teaching at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit—are discussed in the 184-page hardcover. The memoir recounts not only Dr. Martin’s struggle to remain faithful to his commitment to Christ through obstacles and opposition, but also includes beautiful reflections on family life and remarkable experiences with the likes of Pope St. John Paul II, Mother Angelica, and many others. 

--Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race That Will Change the World by Parmy Olson (St. Martin's Press, $30) reveals the surprising story of the battle between the world's two leaning AI firms, their struggles to use their tech for good, and the hazardous direction they could go. The story focuses on the continuing rivalry of two key CEOs at the center of it all, who cultivated a religion around their mission to build god-like super intelligent machines: Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Demis Hassabis, the CEO of DeepMind. The book warns readers to the real threat of artificial intelligence that its top creators are ignoring: the profit-driven spread of flawed and biased technology into industries, education, media and more. Along with access to a network of high-ranking sources, the author uses her 13 years of experience covering technology to bring to light the exploitation of the greatest invention in human history, and how it will impact us all. A former reporter for the Wall Street Journal and Forbes, Olson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology regulation, artificial intelligence, and social media.

--Who Could Ever Love You: A Family Memoir by Mary Trump (St. Martin's Press, $29) tells the heartbreaking true story of a father, a mother and a family's exile. It's the same author who also wrote a candid bestseller about her uncle, President Donald Trump, and the dysfunctional family in 2020. Mary Trump grew up in a family divided by its patriarch’s relentless drive for money and power. The daughter of Freddy Trump, the highly accomplished, dashing eldest son of wealthy real estate developer Fred Trump, and Linda Clapp, a flight attendant from a working-class family, Mary lived in the shadow of Freddy’s humiliation at the hands of his father. Her father was supposed to be the one to take over Fred Trump's business, but things didn't work out. Instead, Donald Trump took over the firm. The 273-page hardcover reveals the cold, selfish cruelty that has come to define the Trump family thanks in large part to her uncle, whose malicious ambition has divided our nation and threatens the world.

--Legal Gladiator: The Life of Alan Dershowitz by Solomon Schmidt (Skyhorse, $32.99) is a remarkable story about one of the nation's most controversial attorneys, exploring his rise to prominence while providing an intimate look into his personal life. It's the story of a poor, failing high schooler from Brooklyn who became the youngest professor in the history of Harvard Law School, where Ted Cruz, Natalie Portman, Mike Pompeo, Jamie Raskin, and others sat under his tutelage. As a lawyer, Dershowitz has had a major impact on the most notorious legal cases in modern U.S. history, ranging from Claus von Bulow to Mike Tyson to O.J. Simpson to Jeffrey Epstein to Donald Trump. The author, who has written eight books in a series called History Bites, had unprecedented access to Dershowtiz's personal and professional life. The 480-page book also includes exclusive interviews with Bob Shapiro, Jeffrey Toobin, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Glenn Greenwald, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Eliot Spitzer, Justice Stephen Breyer, Mike Huckabee, Woody Allen, Noam Chomsky, Jared Kushner, Geraldo Rivera, Mark Levin, Mike Pompeo, Megyn Kelly, Mike Tyson, Ted Cruz, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., O.J. Simpson, and Donald Trump, among others.

--McMillions: The Absolutely True Story of How an Unlikely Pair of FBI Agents Brought Down the Most Supersized Fraud in Fast Food History by James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte (Grand Central, $30) is a fascinating story about the massive crime network that rigged the McDonald's monopoly game for decades. The tireless FBI agents had discovered a shocking conspiracy where almost every high-value prize winner was actually illegitimate from 1989 to 2001. But how could this happen and who all was behind it? A rookie FBI agent and a brilliant undercover operation led them to one man who brilliantly crafted a near-infallible nationwide conspiracy for fraud. It is a story littered with tragedy: families torn apart, betrayals, financial ruin, and one suspicious car crash. Yet, there are bright spots in the pranks of the FBI agents and their co-conspirators.

--Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn by Christopher Cox (Simon & Schuster, $34.99) is a new hardcover about a former president that was scheduled to be released in early November. More than a century after he dominated American politics, President Wilson still fascinates. The author offers a panoramic reassessment of Wilson's life and his controversial role in the movements for racial equality and women’s suffrage. The Wilson that emerges is a man superbly unsuited to the moment when he ascended to the presidency in 1912, as the struggle for women’s voting rights in America reached the tipping point. He was the first southern Democrat to occupy the White House since the Civil War era. The author is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and served as chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision.

--The Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing the Challenges of Extreme Ownership to Lead and Win (Expanded Edition)  by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin (St. Martin's Press, $32) reveals a revolutionary approach to help leaders recognize and attain the leadership balance crucial to victory. The 309-page hardcover provides the crucial insight and awareness necessary for leaders to understand when to lead and when to follow, when to focus and when to detach, when to tighten the reins and when to let the team run, when to aggressively maneuver and when to be prudent. As leadership consultants to over 1,600 companies and organizations across the U.S. and multiple countries, the authors have worked with thousands of leaders across the full spectrum of industries in the business world. Through dynamic examples from their combat and training experiences in the SEAL Teams and stories from the business arena, Willink and Babin demonstrate how each leadership concept applies on the battlefield, in business, and in life.

--Fools on the Hill: The Hooligans, Saboteurs, Conspiracy Theorists, and Dunces Who Burned Down the House by Dana Milbank (Little, Brown and Company, $32) exposes the chaotic, incompetent and dysfunctional state of the current Republican House. They tied up the House so often with far-right fantasies that they produced what was arguably the least effective session of Congress in history. A widely-read Washington Post columnist, the author spent a year reporting from inside the Capitol, watching the political drama from the front row.  Writes journalist Jonathan Karl of ABC News, "Dana Milbank is a sizzling hot observer of American politics. His writing is irreverent, provocative and, whether or not you agree with his point of view — always entertaining."

Jamie H. Vaught, a longtime sports columnist in Kentucky, is the author of six books about UK basketball, including recently-published “Forever Crazy About The Cats: An Improbable Journey of a Kentucky Sportswriter Overcoming Adversity.” Now a retired college professor who taught at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro., he is the editor and founder of KySportsStyle.com Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter @KySportsStyle or reach him via email at KySportsStyle@gmail.com.