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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.


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The 12-Hour Art Expert

by Noah Charney


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All That She Carried

by Tiya Miles


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Bad Days in History

by Michael Farquhar


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The Beachcombers Companion

by Anna Marlis Burgard


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Butter A Rich History

by Elaine Khosrova


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Creativity the perfect crime

by Philippe Petit


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Did You Just Eat That?

by Paul L Dawson


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Drinks: a User's Guide

by Adam McDowell


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Engineering for Cats

by Mac Delaney


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Entertainment Nation

by Kenneth Cohen


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Gardening Hacks

by Jon VanZile


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Goodnight Mind

by Colleen Carney


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Have You Eaten Yet?

by Cheuk Kwan


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How to Bake Pi

by Eugenia Cheng


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How to Be an American

by Silvia Hidalgo


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How to be an Artist

by Jerry Saltz


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How to Know the Birds

by Ted Floyd


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How to Tell a Story

by Meg Bowles


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Humans of New York

by Brandon Stanton


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In Intimate Detail

by Cora Harrington


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The Incredible Journey of Plants

by Stefano Mancuso


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Just My Type

by Simon Garfield


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Keep the Memories Lose the Stuff

by Matt Paxton


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The Last Resort

by Sarah Stodola


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Letters to a Young Scientist

by Edward O Wilson


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The Little Book of Life Hacks

by Yumi Sakugawa


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The Little Book of Life Skills

by Erin Zammett Ruddy


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Long Live the Queen

by Bryan Kozlowski


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Lost Places

by Heribert Niehues


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Mindful Thoughts at Home

by Kate Peers


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Modern American Manners

by Frederic Mayo


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Nectar of the Gods

by Liv Albert


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A New Way of Seeing

by Kelly Grovier


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Nonstop Metropolis

by Rebecca Solnit


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Novel Destinations

by Shannon McKenna Schmidt


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Patch Work, a life amongst clothes

by Claire Wilcox


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Phoning Home

by Jacob M. Appel


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Pleased to Meet Me

by Bill Sullivan


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Show Your Work

by Austin Kleon


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Smarter Living

by Karen Barrow


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Snowflakes, Sunbursts and Stars

by Ayako Brodek


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The Suffragist Playbook

by Lucinda Robb


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Talking to My Daughter About the Economy

by Yanis Varoufakis


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Tenafly

by Alice Rigney Renner


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Tenafly: Images of Modern America

by Paul Stefanowicz


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Things to Look Forward To

by Sophie Blackall


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Tools for Food

by Corinne Mynatt


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Turkish Delight and Treasure Hunts

by Jane Brocket


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The Useful Book

by Sharon Bowers


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What We Bring to the Practice of Medicine

by Kimberly Greene-Liebowitz


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The World's Most Romantic Destinations

by Abbie Kozolchyk