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One of Washington Post's 50 most notable non-fiction books of 2024

National Books Critics Circle - 2024 Longlist: Autobiography

The Minotaur at Calle Lanza is an unforgettable travel memoir about the mysterious transformations that may lurk inside us all.

Venice, 2020. As a pandemic rages across the globe, Zito Madu finds himself in a nearly deserted city, its walls and basilicas humming with strange magic. As he wanders a haunted landscape, we see him twist further into his own past: his family's difficult immigration from Nigeria to Detroit, his troubled relationship with his father, the sporadic joys of daily life and solitude, his experiences with migration, poverty, foreignness, racism, and his own rage and regret. But as it is with all labyrinths, after finding its center, will he come away unscathed, or will he transform into the gripping, fantastical monstrousness that's out to consume him whole?

With nods to Italo Calvino and Jorge Luis Borges, this surrealist debut memoir takes us into the labyrinth of memory and the monsters lurking there.

Did the phrase "That's what I was wondering…" solve a murder?

In the morning hours of July 16, 1936, Helen Clevenger's uncle discovered her bloodied body crumpled on the floor of her small room in Asheville's grand Battery Park Hotel. She had been shot through the chest. Buncombe County Sheriff Laurence Brown, up for reelection, desperately searched for the teenager's killer as the public clamored for answers. Though witnesses reported seeing a white man leave the scene, Brown's focus turned instead to the hotel's Black employees and on August 9 he arrested bell hop Martin Moore. After a frenzied four-day trial that captured the nation's attention, Moore was convicted of Helen's murder on August 22. Though Moore confessed to Sherriff Brown, doubt of his guilt lingers and many Southerners feared that justice had not, in fact, been served.

Author Anne Chesky Smith weaves together varying accounts of the murder and investigation to expose a complex and disturbing chapter in Asheville's history.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Irish citizens on both sides of the Mason-Dixon answered the call to arms. This was most evident at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Louisiana Irish Rebels charged with the cry "We are the Louisiana Tigers!" Irish soldiers of the Alabama Brigade and the Texas Brigade launched assaults on the line's southern end at Little Round Top. During Pickett's Charge, Gaelic brothers fought each other as determined Irishmen of the Sixty-Ninth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry repelled Irish of the Virginia Brigade in one of the most decisive moments in American history. Author Phillip Thomas Tucker reveals the compelling story.

The Belt Cookie Table Cookbook celebrates the Rust Belt tradition of the cookie table with forty-one classic recipes from authentic Mahoning Valley cooks.

What's a cookie table? Funny you should ask! The cookie table is a tradition beloved by residents of Youngstown, Pittsburgh, and parts in between. It has its roots in a time when wedding cakes were far too dear for newly arrived immigrants to purchase. Instead, family and friends showed their love for a bride and groom by baking from scratch hundreds (sometimes thousands) of cookies and other small sweet treats to be shared at the reception.

The Belt Cookie Table Cookbook includes cookies from different cultures, cookies with different textures, spices, shapes, and a trove of interesting backstories. Simple cookies, ridiculously indulgent cookies, experimental cookies―they're all here. And most of all, this cookbook shares the tradition of the cookie table, a heartfelt way of building community that has endured through generations. In the tradition of the community cookbook. Author Bonnie Tawse, a former Atlas Obscura Field Agent, collects 41 recipes that include everything from pizzelles to potato chip cookies. Buy it with Belt's Car Bombs to Cookie Tables: The Youngstown Anthology for the full experience!

A wonderful testament to a local baking tradition of the Midwest and a must for any kitchen large or small.

A historical tour of midwestern pies that recalls when recipes were shared through faded note cards and junior league cookbooks.

New England may say it's the Great American Pie Belt, but pie has a rich and varied history in the American Midwest too. Stop by any church or community event in the heartland today and you're likely to see as many types of pie on the dessert table as there are people who made them. Midwest Pie highlights the treats, both sweet and savory, that have come to define this region. Here, you'll learn about bean pie's origins in the Nation of Islam, the popularity of desperation pies during the Depression, how Michigan miners ate lunch pasties in the mines, and much more. Full of accessible instructions and helpful sidebars, you'll learn the stories behind a variety of pies, including: Hoosier Pie

• Schnitz Pie
• Sawdust Pie
• Ohio Buckeye Pie
• Runza

Midwest Pie is the perfect collection for any home chef looking to learn more about the diversity and deliciousness of one of the region's most enduring culinary contributions.

Detroit in 50 Maps shows you the Motor City from entirely new perspectives, from neighborhood coffee shops to the legacy of redlining.

There are thousands of ways to map a city. Roads, bridges, and railways help you navigate the twists and turns; topography gives you the lay of the land; population growth shows you its changing fortunes. But the best maps let you feel what that city's really like. Detroit in 50 Maps deconstructs the Motor City in surprising new ways. Track where new coffee shops and coworking spaces have opened and closed in the last five years. Find the areas with the highest concentrations of pizzerias, Coney Island hot dog shops, or ring-necked pheasants. In each colorful map, you'll find a new perspective on one of America's most misunderstood cities and the people who live here.

A conversation starter for Detroiters past, present, and future, Detroit in 50 Maps is for anyone keen to understand the city in new and surprising ways.

The best personal essays from a contested region, from Belt Publishing’s ten years as a press.

Everyone has an opinion on the Rust Belt—whether it’s the “real America” or a place that no longer exists called by a name that has long outlived its usefulness, as our own president has said. But undeniably, there’s something that connects the post-industrial cities. Maybe the question isn’t what defines that connection, but who.

Over the past ten years, Belt Publishing has been putting out books that prioritize the voices of the many people who live here. We’ve collected our favorite writing from across our collections, from Pittsburgh to Detroit, Chicago to St. Louis, Milwaukee to Cleveland, and more. Here, writers document growing up in segregated St. Louis and elucidate the coded Islamophobia of southern Michigan. Writers include Megan Stielstra, 2022 Missouri Author of the Year Vivian Gibson, Aaron Foley, Kathleen Rooney, Sarah Kendzior, and more.

I have yet to meet a person who is drawn to pawpaws who is not a good person.

Pawpaws are found in the fleeting, honeyed weeks between August and October. They are fleshy and awkward to eat, sweetly fragrant, and they do not travel well at all. But they were once a favorite of Native Americans, and George Washington presumably loved them for dessert. Today, they are beloved by foragers, keepers of regional food traditions, and anyone seeking relief from the industrial food chain.

In The Pocket Pawpaw Cookbook, Sara Bir sets the humble pawpaw center stage, with detailed information on how to harvest, source, store, and―of course―cook with these uniquely midwestern delicacies. Here you'll find recipes for:

- pawpaw cornbread

- pawpaw pudding

- key lime pawpaw cheesecake

- banana-pawpaw ketchup

Sidebars address questions as varied as Where can I buy frozen pawpaws? and How do I use pawpaw in a cocktail? Written with humor and love for a curious subject, The Pocket Pawpaw Cookbook will inspire you to experiment in the kitchen and get out into the woods. With an introduction by Alexis Nikole Nelson, TikTok star and @blackforager.

"Set in a Louisiana bayou and told in Cajun dialect-de chirren been nezzle/Good snug on de flo'--the poem has lively illustrations that perfectly suit the unique text."
-Horn Book

"Rice is especially good with facial expressions, whether they are on a Texas jack rabbit, a longhorn steer, a dusty cowboy, or the green and long-nosed alligator named Gaston."
-Library Journal

It's the night before Christmas in a tiny shack on the Louisiana bayou, and Santa Claus, with his eight friendly alligators and toy-laden skiff, is on his way. Written in lively Cajun accents, the best-selling Cajun Night Before Christmas' is a beloved holiday classic. Now, with this innovative coloring book, children of all ages can put their own colorful spin on the story. These brilliant illustrations are sure to inspire some wide Cajun smiles.

See how the Packard Motor Car Company grew into one of the country's finest automobile companies and produced cars that exemplified quality and innovation.

Founded in 1899, the Packard Motor Car Company grew into one of America's finest automobile companies, producing cars that exemplified American quality and innovation. Packards were the cars of presidents, movie stars, and those with an appreciation for high quality. The company is known for producing a variety of automobiles, as well as marine engines for PT boats. The Packard represents the classic era of automobile manufacturing and remains one of the most sought-after collector cars. The Packard Motor Car Company was in existence from 1899 to 1957, but the golden era of Packard cars came to a close in the late 1930s. The images featured in this book represent the early years at the Warren, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan factories. The first Packard was built in 1899, and the company then went on to build the fifth car to climb Mount Washington and some of the finest record-setting racecars in the history of automobile racing. Packard Motor Car Company contains rare images from the Larz Anderson Auto Museum that were saved from the Packard factory and the personal collection of James Ward Packard when the company closed.

An insightful take on the Tarot through the lens of the industrial Midwest, and a beautiful piece of nature writing in its own right.

What can the Tarot tell us about the flora and fauna of the industrial Midwest? In what ways might this ancient practice connect us to the Rust Belt today? Rust Belt Arcana uses the Tarot's time-tested structure to answer these questions, juxtaposing the characteristics of the cards with the creatures and plants that surround us every day. The 22 idiosyncratic essays here--one for every card in the Major Arcana--bridge biology, natural history, and the human condition. They tell stories of abundance and loss, and they remind us of the Rust Belt's persistent remnant wilderness, a landscape often dismissed as unremarkable.

A magical book both for Tarot enthusiasts and for those who are seeking to see beauty in a beleaguered landscape and define their remarkable place within it.

In So You Want to Publish a Book?, Anne Trubek, founder of Belt Publishing, demystifies the publishing process.

This insightful guide offers concrete, witty advice and information to authors, prospective authors, and those curious about the inner workings of the industry. Learn the differences between Big Five and independent presses, and how advances and royalties really work. Discover the surprising methods that actually move books off the shelves. Develop the lingo to make editors swoon, and challenge yourself to find the errors intentionally embedded in the text!

The effort to win the war began at home--and for the researchers at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, enhancing America's military aviation arsenal was the key to victory.

Formed in 1915, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics established itself over the next 25 years as one of the world's finest research organizations. When World War II began in 1939, the NACA employed a mere 500 workers and maintained a budget slightly in excess of $4 million. To meet the demands of the war, a special partnership was quickly forged between NACA researchers, industry designers, and military planners. The Langley laboratory possessed world class aeronautical research facilities and flight research operations, making it ideally suited to help America win the war.

Military historian Mark Chambers tells the story of the monumental task of developing the planes that spurred Allied victory in World War II.

Though removed from the frontlines, Cleveland played an active role in national events before, during, and after the Civil War.

President Lincoln visited this abolitionist hotbed after his 1860 election. Following his assassination five years later, his funeral train made a stop there. Cleveland and Cuyahoga County sent over 9,000 troops to war. More than 1,700 never returned. Born just outside Cleveland, James Garfield emerged from the war to become President of the United States. Most vitally, the economic prosperity of the war years began the transformation of this small but thriving village into a future manufacturing powerhouse.

Author W. Dennis Keating, member and past president of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable, creates a panoramic view of the city through one of the nation's most troubled times.

Rollins Pass holds 12,000 years of history; Paleoindians utilized the pass 65 centuries before the invention of the wheel.

Later, wagon and rail magnates saw the pass as a "Great Gate" across the Continental Divide. Today, the area is listed as one of Colorado's Most Endangered Places.

B. Travis Wright, MPS, is a 2022 Colorado Preservation Inc. State Honor Award recipient for his advocacy of Rollins Pass. As historians and photographers, B. Travis Wright and Kate Wright, MBA, document the timeless landscapes atop Rollins Pass.

A Fabulous Fable of the Supernatural Kind

The saga of the Morristown ghost has been told around campfires and dinner tables in Morris County for generations. Local legend claimed British Loyalists secretly buried stolen Patriot treasure on Schooley Mountain as they fled the oncoming forces of George Washington during the Revolutionary War. Years later in 1788, a former school teacher from Connecticut, Ransford Rodgers, convinced local prominent Morristown families that a ghost was protecting the true location of the treasure and he alone could exercise it. Little did the victims know, Rodgers was perpetuating an elaborate hoax and eventually extorted large sums of money from the embarrassed local elite. The tale has been recounted in various sensational pamphlets and publications ever since, leaving behind a mystery of what is true or myth.

Author Peter Zablocki separates fact from fiction in the story of the great Morristown ghost hoax.

Jonathan Foiles weaves together psychology and public policy, exploring the trauma underlying urbanization in a book Kirkus Reviews calls an urgent call for reform.

When Jonathan Foiles was a graduate student in social work, he had to choose between specializing in either mental health or public policy. But once he began working, he found it impossible to tell the two apart. As he counseled poor patients from Chicago's South and West Sides, he realized individual therapy couldn't account for all the ways unemployment, poverty, lack of affordable housing, and other policy decisions impacted the well-being of both individuals and communities.

Through a series of beautifully written and accessible case studies, Foiles lets us in on the stories of individual poor Chicagoans. He teaches us how he makes diagnoses, explains how therapists before him would analyze his patients, and teaches us about the profound ways that policy decisions contribute to individual suffering.

A remarkable, unique work of medical writing that serves as a call to action, this report by an experienced mental health professional is a must-read for anyone interested in the overlaps between mental health, public policy, and urbanization.

A guided tour of one of the Midwest’s most vibrant subcultures, one DIY ramp at a time.

The American Midwest may not have a reputation as the nation’s skating mecca, but maybe it should. In Midwest Shreds, Mandy Shunnarah travels around the region for a deep dive into its skating culture, detailing the activity’s long, storied history there and the large and diverse skating community that calls the Midwest home today. Here, you’ll learn how skating has become a form of mutual aid in Iowa, follow hard-core street skaters as they vie to become King of Cleveland, experience the transcendence of skating in a converted St. Louis cathedral, meet the anarchists who’ve built their own skate paradise, cinder block by cinder block, in southern Ohio, and encounter skaters from Des Moines, Madison, Chicago, West Lafayette, Detroit, and other corners of the Midwest.

With writing that revels in the crunching scrape of hard wheels, the joy of nailing a trick for the first time, and the grit required to fall and get back up again, Midwest Shreds illuminates a small corner of Midwest life and offers a portrait of the rich cultural history and diversity that makes the region what it is today.

Southeast Minnesota has regularly felt the wrath of nature.

In 1890, a driving straight-line wind on Lake Pepin overturned the Sea Wing, killing ninety-eight people within minutes in the worst marine tragedy in Minnesota history. In 1940, a raging blizzard trapped duck hunters on islands in the Mississippi River and left motorists stranded across the region, leaving dozens injured or dead. Then, in 1965, flood waters of the Mississippi River and its vast network of tributaries kept area residents in fear for two months, shattering records for high water marks and destroying buildings and farmlands before receding and leaving behind damage that took years to rebuild.

Local author Steve Gardiner examines these powerful natural disasters and their ramifications on the people of Southeast Minnesota.