6 Non-fiction Books You Won’t Want to Miss

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From a comprehensive look at climate change to a dishy new royal biography, here are six of the season’s biggest non-fiction books.

PRINCE HARRY: BROTHER, SOLDIER, SON by Penny Junor

From renowned royal family biographer Penny Junor, comes this authoritative biography of Britain’s Prince Harry, who, believe it or not, recently celebrated his 30th birthday. Junor gives an insider view of the life of the man who is fourth in line for the throne — from the devastating loss of his mother, the late Princess Diana, to his ‘colourful’ teenage years and the notorious not-so-royal indiscretions (who can forget the naked frolics in Las Vegas and the infamous swastika stunt), to the fulfillment of his childhood dream of serving in the military by flying helicopters for the RAF in Afghanistan. It’s all here — including Junor’s take on the persistent rumors about Prince Harry’s true paternity.

LIVE FROM NEW YORK: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales

Touted as the juiciest book since The Andy Warhol Diaries, this uncensored history of NBC’s iconic comedy show delves into almost three decades’ worth of backstage memories from cast, celebrity hosts, writers and network execs. The hefty tome (weighing in at over 700 pages in the hardcover version) gives the inside story from the show’s creator, Canadian Lorne Michaels, and regulars like Dan Aykroyd, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Mike Myers, Tina Fey, and Billy Crystal, to name just a few.

THE NECESSARY WAR, Volume One by Tim Cook

In the first of a two-volume series, Canada’s award-winning historian Tim Cook writes about the Second World War in much the same way he covered the Great War in At the Sharp End and Shock Troops – by chronicling the voices of Canadians who were there. His research is extensive, combining letters from soldiers, rare documents and maps of battlefields to tell the story of what many refer to as the world’s last necessary war – and Canada’s first independent declaration of war.

HACK ATTACK: The Inside Story of How the Truth Caught Up With Rupert Murdoch by Nick Davies

Just in case anyone is still wondering if personal privacy is still possible…stop wondering. It isn’t. At least, that’s what you’ll conclude after you read Hack Attack, British journalist Nick Davies chronicle of his six-year quest to uncover the truth behind the hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World. What started with an editor getting caught listening to voice mail messages of staff at Buckingham Palace, soon became a wide scale investigation extending from Fleet Street to Scotland Yard all the way to Downing Street. Tabloids paid private investigators to hack the phones of celebrities and politicians, send Trojan horse emails, bribe the police and commit burglaries…all in the name of getting a scoop. At the center of the story is Rupert Murdoch himself, the scope of his power, and his privileged access to government.

LADY PARTS by Andrea Martin

Award-winning actress and comedy legend Andrea Martin has entertained us on stage and screen for over 40 years. The SCTV alum’s new memoir is as funny and entertaining as you might expect, but the book goes beyond just the laughs. She talks openly about her secret battle with bulimia, anxiety and self-doubt, as well as divorce, parenting, romance later in life and ailments pertaining to aging ‘lady parts’. She also comes clean about something else: she is not Canadian as widely believed (yes, alas, she’s an American), but fell in love with Toronto so much after visiting in 1970 that she stayed.

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING: Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi Klein

She’s taken on globalization and austerity, and now in her new book, Canadian journalist and author Naomi Klein takes on climate change. In This Changes Everything, Klein argues that global warming is not just about carbon, but the failings of free market capitalism, and that the climate crisis could actually be a catalyzing force for positive change by reducing corrosive corporate influence in the global economy. The book gives a comprehensive – yet accessible – look at the climate dilemma from its historical and political contexts, environmental science and the economics of fossil fuels.