SUGGESTED READS: Self help books to prepare you for the new year

Written by Evangeline Cessna, local history librarian at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library.

This week’s column features an eclectic group of titles from our New Adult Nonfiction collection.

Let’s begin with a couple of business titles to help you bring your A-game to work. First is Microsoft Teams for Dummies by Rosemarie Withee. Do you want to be able to collaborate with your colleagues from down the hall or around the world? You will get an in-depth introductory tour through the latest version of the app, exploring the many ways you can chat, call, meet, work remotely, and collaborate with others in real time. This book takes you from the basics of file-sharing, organizing teams, and using video to must-have insights into less obvious functionality, such as posting the same message to multiple channels, muffling background noise, and choosing more than one feed to concentrate on when video-conferencing which will allow you to pay attention to the speaker and your team members at the same time. Whether you’re using Microsoft Teams for work, with your family, or for a collaborative hobby, you’ll find everything you need to get everyone on the same page in the same virtual room.

Have you ever wanted to start your own nonprofit? Beverly A. Browning has the perfect title for you—Nonprofit Management All-in-One for Dummies. Nonprofits are not like other businesses. They’re special. It doesn’t matter if you’re launching a career as part of a multi-million-dollar organization or a volunteer running your local little league, you’ll need special know-how to navigate the accounting practices and funding needs of a not-for-profit. This beginner-friendly reference helps replace your shelf of nonprofit how-to books with a single reference to answer your questions on how to manage a mission-focused organization, build budgets, and raise funds while staying within the confines of the laws governing nonprofits. You’ll also find advice on valuable skills like marketing that benefit your organization.

If you are looking to start your very own D&D group, then you may need to check-out the Dungeons & Dragons: Player’s Handbook by Jeremy Crawford. The fifth edition is redesigned with ten years of feedback from the D&D community, making the Dungeons & Dragons rulebook bigger and better than ever before. Create unforgettable characters with 12 core classes, 48 intriguing subclasses, and ten distinctive species. Beef up your character’s backstory with 16 compelling backgrounds and 75 fantastic stunts. Change up your combat style with fascinating new Weapon Masteries for your character class. The new Tools and Crafting system lets you use your tools to craft items and impact travel and exploration. It also contains vibrant new illustrations of every single character class, subclass, background, species, weapon, and armor. This thrilling artwork also features new and familiar spells, brought to life for the first time ever. This edition has been redesigned with an improved layout, better organization, and an alphabetized Rules Glossary.

If you have been watching YouTube and TikTok videos on botany, foraging, gardening, and the like, then check out Plants & Fungi: The Definitive Visual Guide by Lynne Boddy. This encyclopedia from DK Publishing is a botanical exploration of the world’s most fascinating plant and fungus species, many of which are also highly valued for their ecological, economic, and cultural importance. Covering all of the main groups—from the fleeting wildflowers that bring life to deserts to the towering giant trees of tropical rainforests, and from the lichens of the Arctic to the cultivated seaweeds of Southeast Asia—the book reveals the spectacular diversity of plants and fungi, the ecosystems they support, their symbiotic relationships, and their use in everything from food to clothing and medicine. Each entry explores how plant and fungus species grow and reproduce, and how they have evolved to adapt to every continent on Earth, even in the harshest of conditions, and, most importantly this book is a celebration of their beauty and biodiversity.

Finally, if you’re in the mood for a good biography, then check out Ina Garten’s memoir Be Ready When the Luck Happens. For the first time, Ina Garten presents an intimate, entertaining, and inspiring account of her remarkable journey. Ina’s gift is to make everything look easy, yet all her accomplishments have been the result of hard work, courageous choices, and impeccable attention to detail. In her unmistakable voice, she brings her past and her process to life in a high-spirited and no-holds-barred memoir that chronicles decades of personal challenges, adventures (and misadventures) and unexpected career twists, all delivered with her signature combination of playfulness and purpose. From a difficult childhood to meeting the love of her life, Jeffrey, and marrying him while still in college, from a boring bureaucratic job in Washington, D.C., to answering an ad for a specialty food store in the Hamptons, from the owner of one Barefoot Contessa shop to author of bestselling cookbooks and celebrated television host, Ina has blazed her own trail and, in the meantime, taught millions of people how to cook and entertain.

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