Mary Catelli's Erraticly Updated and Exceedingly Ill-Organized Journal

Raiders, Rulers, and Traders: The Horse and the Rise of Empires by David Chaffetz

From the taming of horses to Russian use of cavalry in World War I.

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Conquests And Cultures: An International History by Thomas Sowell

A discussion of the effects of geography, conquest, culture and much more. Goes in depth on four regions that have suffered conquest: Britain, Africa, the Slavonic regions, and the Americans. It is very impressive when you can convey the tragedy inherent in the geography of Africa. All the complications and difficulties of history.

Dressing the Past edited by Margarita Gleba, Cherine Munkholt, and Marie-Louise Nosch

Not so much a discussion of what people wore as how people reconstruct, as best they can, what people wore.  Observations on everything from Scythian women wearing elaborate headdresses because most of the gold ornaments in their graves had to have been on it, to tracing the history of Hollywood's use of historical accuracy.

The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore by Michael Dylan Foster

An intriguing discussion of the multitude of yokai in Japanese folklore -- and pop culture.

Covering such things as their liminal natures, myths and legends of heroes (even gods) fighting them, folklorists who collected and theorized abou them, spooky tales, the various terms that have been used to describe the basic concept, and a lengthy discussion of some types. Includes the big ones -- kitsune, oni,etc -- and some odd and lesser known ones.  I found it particularly fun that two of the tales were "The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids" -- recognizable despite the variations -- and "Hop O'My Thumb" -- the summary of the Japanese tale would serve for the French one, too.

Religions of China in Practice by Donald S. Lopez Jr.

Primary source from China. Includes discussion of whether the Buddha is eternal or has ceased, a long discussion of where haunts come from and how to deal with them (for an unburied child, it's not bury the child), an autobiographical account of an emperor's sacrifice, a list of exactly how you can count up your merits, a discussion of how to save ghosts in the hells, and more.

Buddhism in Practice by Donald S. Lopez Jr.

A collection of texts from all over Asia. All written by the practitioners, except for annals written by a historian.

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The Secret Lives of Colour by Kassia St. Clair

A collection of pieces on various colors in human history.  Most on the pigments -- the chemistry of it has vast history.  Of which Prussian blue being discovered because a man making a batch of red lake was given adulterated potash is merely the weirdest.  Brushes on symbolism, gems, flowers, and other things.  Lots of interesting bits, and only a couple bobbles I picked out.

Murder Most Foul: The Killer and the American Gothic Imagination by Karen Halttunen

A study of the change in literature from the Puritan execution sermons -- which treated it as extreme sin, but nevertheless the logical outgrowth of habitual sins that just about everyone has, and downplayed both the crime itself and the immediate motive -- to the Gothic treatment, which went far more into individual motives, the gory and morbid details of the crime, and the treatment of murderers as alien monsters.  Various themes, such as murder within familes.

The Great Chain of Being: A Study of the History of an Idea by Arthur O. Lovejoy

Tracing across eras from the age of the Platonists the notion of plenitude in a (rather!) academic study.

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By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia by Barry W. Cunliffe

A rather technical book about the civilizations in Europe and Asia and their technological and cultural changes and exchanges.

Full of bits like the first evidence of wheels existing (on a pot found in Poland), the way Bactria had an unusual amount of Hellenistic influence, and other such details.