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Get Book Smart

While Melvil Dewey devised a good method for categorizing books, some books just defy categorization. For example, where would you find a guide that shows "Tools for Food"?  Would you even think of looking in the "tools section"? Even if you love all forms of art, Would you even think to look for a book about the "Art of Protest"?

In this list, you will find all manner of quirky, fascinating, thoroughly-researched, comprehensive, marvelous and mind-blowing nonfiction books. Books you never knew you needed.


The 12-Hour Art Expert

by Noah Charney


All That She Carried

by Tiya Miles






Bad Days in History

by Michael Farquhar


The Beachcombers Companion

by Anna Marlis Burgard


Butter A Rich History

by Elaine Khosrova






Creativity the perfect crime

by Philippe Petit


Drinks: a User's Guide

by Adam McDowell


Engineering for Cats

by Mac Delaney


Entertainment Nation

by Kenneth Cohen


Gardening Hacks

by Jon VanZile


Have You Eaten Yet?

by Cheuk Kwan


How to Bake Pi

by Eugenia Cheng


How to Be an American

by Silvia Hidalgo


How to be an Artist

by Jerry Saltz


How to Know the Birds

by Ted Floyd


How to Tell a Story

by Meg Bowles


Humans of New York

by Brandon Stanton


In Intimate Detail

by Cora Harrington


The Incredible Journey of Plants

by Stefano Mancuso


Just My Type

by Simon Garfield


Keep the Memories Lose the Stuff

by Matt Paxton






The Last Resort

by Sarah Stodola


Letters to a Young Scientist

by Edward O Wilson




The Little Book of Life Hacks

by Yumi Sakugawa


The Little Book of Life Skills

by Erin Zammett Ruddy


Long Live the Queen

by Bryan Kozlowski


Lost Places

by Heribert Niehues




Mindful Thoughts at Home

by Kate Peers


Modern American Manners

by Frederic Mayo




Nectar of the Gods

by Liv Albert


A New Way of Seeing

by Kelly Grovier


Nonstop Metropolis

by Rebecca Solnit


Novel Destinations

by Shannon McKenna Schmidt


Patch Work, a life amongst clothes

by Claire Wilcox




Phoning Home

by Jacob M. Appel


Pleased to Meet Me

by Bill Sullivan




Show Your Work

by Austin Kleon


Smarter Living

by Karen Barrow


Snowflakes, Sunbursts and Stars

by Ayako Brodek


The Suffragist Playbook

by Lucinda Robb


Talking to My Daughter About the Economy

by Yanis Varoufakis


Tenafly

by Alice Rigney Renner


Tenafly: Images of Modern America

by Paul Stefanowicz


Things to Look Forward To

by Sophie Blackall


Tools for Food

by Corinne Mynatt


Turkish Delight and Treasure Hunts

by Jane Brocket




The Useful Book

by Sharon Bowers


What We Bring to the Practice of Medicine

by Kimberly Greene-Liebowitz


The World's Most Romantic Destinations

by Abbie Kozolchyk