New non-fiction books for February

Looking for reading inspiration? Browse our non-fiction picks for February! All these books and more are available to borrow for free with your library card.

Scorpions: A Memoir

My mind is full of scorpions. A cerebral itch, impossible to scratch. I know these creatures well, but they know me better. They answer to another name, this nest of scorpions, the writhing black mass that lives inside my head. For as long as Tuppence Middleton can remember, she has struggled with obsessive thoughts and compulsions. She visualises her OCD as scorpions inhabiting her mind, something to be hidden that impacts her life daily. Often used as a shorthand for tidiness or as the punchline of a joke, OCD is one of society's most misunderstood disorders and it's rarely spoken about with such honesty and openness. Beautifully written, moving and often darkly funny, Tuppence recounts what it feels like to share your mind with a nest of scorpions.

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The Leopard in my House: One Man's Adventures in Cancerland

One morning, while shaving, the comedian Mark Steel noticed that one side of his neck seemed larger than the other. After a whistlestop tour of assorted medical professionals, a consultant delivered the ominous words that would define the next months of his life: 'I'm afraid it's not good news, Mr Steel'. And so began a journey into the heart of the NHS, as he embarked on the long and uncertain road to cancer recovery via a range of mildly torturous and entirely miraculous treatments. What, if anything, might he learn about himself - and our capacity for coping with life when times get tough - as he becomes part of a club that one in two British people will ultimately join? A frank and funny diary of one man's rather trying year, this is an unforgettable and uplifting story of getting ill, getting on with it, and getting better.

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Looking at Women, Looking at War

When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Victoria Amelina was busy writing a novel, taking part in the country's literary scene, and parenting her son. Now she became someone new: a war crimes researcher and the chronicler of extraordinary women like herself who joined the resistance. These heroines include Evgenia, a prominent lawyer turned soldier, Oleksandra, who documented tens of thousands of war crimes and won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, and Yulia, a librarian who helped uncover the abduction and murder of a children's book author.

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Nancy's Green and Easy Kitchen

Nancy Birtwhistle is loved for her no-nonsense guidance and down-to-earth approach on all things eco-friendly. She encourages every one of us to make small, practical changes that work for us and help the planet. Nancy's flexible recipes enable you to use what you have to hand and make the most of seasonal ingredients while learning how to cook in a more sustainable, efficient way. Batch-cooking the basics makes it easy to avoid ultra-processed foods and you'll soon find that with all Nancy's wisdom your home menu will be both delicious and nutritious.

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Picnic on Craggy Island: The Surreal Joys of Producing Father Ted

Three decades after it first appeared on screen, Father Ted is still cherished, quoted and endlessly re-watched. Its beloved main characters, unforgettable lines and extraordinary visual jokes have given birth to a thousand gifs and t-shirts and a million catchphrases. Unforgettable to watch, it was also unforgettable to work on. Lissa Evans, as producer of the second and third series, spent three years hovering anxiously over every moment, from the first glimpse of script to the last revolution of a runaway milk-float round a specially-built plywood roundabout.

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The Prosecutor

Returning to Germany in the aftermath of the Second World War, Fritz Bauer - a gay Jewish lawyer and outspoken critic of Hitler - was determined to reclaim the Germany he had once loved. But he soon saw that the perpetrators of the Holocaust had largely got away with their crimes. Top Nazi officers - mass-murders and cruel sadists - had been given plum jobs at major German companies; held prestigious offices in top universities; were in positions of power as lawyers, judges and political advisors. The war was over and many were keen to forget and move on. Thus began Bauer's dogged fight for justice and a reckoning with the past.

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Poppy Cooks: The Potato Book

The spud, the humblest of ingredients, can be made into more than just mash (but if it is mash, make it the best mash), and in this book Poppy O'Toole celebrates the range and variety from just this one mighty ingredient. In these pages are the tools you need for the perfect potatoes every time, with a signature classic recipe, before Poppy then adds tips and tricks for cooking with different methods and flavour options, as well as mouth-watering international classics and old-school freezer favourites.

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The Honesty Box

'The Honesty Box' is a beautiful and much-needed book about what it is like to be in a relationship with someone who is neurodivergent and the challenges it can bring. Lucy Brazier's story highlights just how life-changing a diagnosis can be, and how it can truly save relationships.

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Ungovernable: The Political Diaries of a Chief Whip

Over the course of five years, Simon Hart had a front-row seat to the most turbulent times in recent British political history. From negotiations around Brexit to the impact of Liz Truss's extraordinary forty-nine-day premiership and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he's seen and heard it all. And starting in 2022, under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, he witnessed successive dramas unfold, all while holding down the (often misunderstood) position of chief whip. Astonishingly, during those whip years, Simon oversaw a record fifteen Conservative MPs fall by the wayside. In a first-of-its-kind extraordinary look at life as a chief whip, 'Ungovernable' is a revealing, real-time, blow-by-blow account - offering a glimpse of what truly goes on in Westminster behind closed doors.

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