Nonfiction for the Reluctant, Stressed, and Skeptical

- Callen Leave a comment

I was recently reminded that there’s a lot of fascinating reading in non-fiction if you only know how to find it. Non-fiction offers a different reading experience than fiction does. Where fiction affects your emotions and takes you on a journey (often tense, angsty, or deeply emotionally wrenching), non-fiction engages your mind with more intellectual fascination. Here are some non-fiction books I’ve read that offer various entry points into the genre.

My top category is always science – I love Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery, and What If (1 & 2) by Randall Munroe. I’ve also started on the works of Mary Roach, renowned for her approachable and entertaining forays into topics like death, sex, space, and most recently animal offenders in Fuzz. I’d say my love for scientific non-fiction (and fiction; my favorite author is Andy Weir after all) is because of my natural curiosity, since these books explore different realms of knowledge and the limits of what’s possible.

My second-favorite nonfiction category is books by humorists like David Sedaris; I’ve read most of his work (for the title alone I particularly love Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls) as well as other hilarious and relatable personalities. I remember loving Wow No Thank You by Samantha Irby.

Another very common entry point into nonfiction is true crime books – I’m still working my way into this area but I have read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (a classic and definitely fascinating) as well as The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary and the convicted murderer who was an invaluable part of it.

Many people also love memoirs like Crying in H Mart (I’ll read it when I need to cry and not before, thank you) or poetry by breathtaking wordsmiths like Rupi Kaur (I tried Milk and Honey, and it made me feel raw, vulnerable and exposed so I decided to try again later), or powerful, expose-type social science reads. The power of the latter is in making you feel seen, or as if your eyes have been opened. For that reason I loved Ace by Angela Chen and highly recommend it.

The key in my experience is identifying what it is you value in a reading experience and seeking them out. For me, this includes infectious enthusiasm, a dry sense of humor, a sense of hope, and engrossing storytelling. Do you have something that immediately hooks you, or a favorite nonfiction read? Let us know below!

 

Fuzz by Mary Roach

- Callen Leave a comment

At long last I read a work by eminent non-fiction author Mary Roach! She’s been on my to-read list for a long time because of her reputation for entertaining and accessible explanations of various topics, and I finally took the plunge with her most recent, Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law.

In this wide-ranging volume Roach explores the field of “wildlife-human conflict” – the zone in which the natural world infringes on human activity and the various methods used to control, combat, or understand that invasion. This includes the predators you’d expect: bears, elephants, leopards, and the like, but also invasive non-native species, dangerous trees, destructive birds, and the cute creatures with unexpected impacts on the ecosystem. Also covered are a wide variety of anti-wildlife strategies including frightening devices (most notably a screaming tube dude), lasers, monkey birth control, poisoned beans, and many more. The book ultimately coalesces around a meditation on humanity and its various approaches to nature – those who coexist, those who condemn, and those who struggle to know determine the right decision.

I enjoyed Roach’s humor, and that the book challenges the idea of human supremacy while still sympathizing with those whose livelihoods (or just their lives) are endangered by wildlife behaviors. I also appreciated the global scope of Roach’s survey and how vividly she renders the people she works with along the way.

If you’re a non-fiction reader, science lover, animal lover, or looking for an entertaining learning experience, give this book a try.

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

- Ann 1 Comment

What if you could take a vacation to your past, without the filter of memory? What would you give to go back in time and relive your youth, in person, with the people who shared it? These are the questions Alice faces in This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub.

On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice’s life isn’t terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn’t exactly the one she expected. She’s happy with her apartment, her romantic status, her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But something is missing. Her father, the single parent who raised her, is ailing and out of reach. How did they get here so fast? Did she take too much for granted along the way?

When Alice wakes up the next morning somehow back in 1996, it isn’t her 16-year-old body that is the biggest shock, or the possibility of romance with her adolescent crush, it’s her dad: the vital, charming, 49-year-old version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, is there anything that she should do differently this time around? What would she change, given the chance? (from the publisher)

I’ve always loved time-travel/live-your-life-differently/second-chance stories. It’s so intriguing – if impossible – to try a different choice and speculate if the outcome would have been better, or worse. Sadly, this title fell a little flat for me although the ending was satisfying. I found it difficult to connect with the main character, especially when she was in the past as a teenager. However, the writing is skillful and, as expected, returning to the past as an adult with greater understanding of the world, was endlessly intriguing.

The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews

- Ann Leave a comment

A London heiress rides out to the wilds of the English countryside to honor a marriage of convenience with a mysterious and reclusive stranger in The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews.

Tall, dark, and dour, the notorious Captain Jasper Blunt was once hailed a military hero, but tales abound of his bastard children and his haunted estate in Yorkshire. What he requires now is a rich wife to ornament his isolated ruin, and he has his sights set on the enchanting Julia Wychwood.

For Julia, an incurable romantic cursed with a crippling social anxiety, navigating a London ballroom is absolute torture. The only time Julia feels any degree of confidence is when she’s on her horse. Unfortunately, a young lady can’t spend the whole of her life in the saddle, so Julia makes an impetuous decision to take her future by the reins—she proposes to Captain Blunt.

In exchange for her dowry and her hand, Jasper must promise to grant her freedom to do as she pleases. To ride—and to read—as much as she likes without masculine interference. He readily agrees to her conditions, with one provision of his own: Julia is forbidden from going into the tower rooms of his estate and snooping around his affairs. But the more she learns of the beastly former hero, the more intrigued she becomes… (from the publisher)

This fun romance is the second in Matthew’s series “Belles of London” (the first is The Siren of Sussex with more promised). A quick read with a charming, book-loving heroine!

A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny

- Ann Leave a comment

Are you a Louise Penny fan? There are a lot of us, but in case you haven’t read any books by this amazing mystery writer, here is a push to get you started!  Set in Canada, her Three Pines mysteries are complex, intelligent and thoughtful with appealing characters (especially the main character Chief Inspector Gamache) and tense scenarios. You can start with any in the series, but the characters and relationships develop over the course of the novels. I would recommend starting with any in the series and then, when you realize you must read them all, start from the first one (Still Life)

The newest, A World of Curiosities is the 18th in the series and, like the previous ones, is highly recommended. From the publisher:

It’s spring and Three Pines is reemerging after the harsh winter. But not everything buried should come alive again. Not everything lying dormant should reemerge.

As the villagers prepare for a special celebration, Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir find themselves increasingly worried. A young man and woman have reappeared in the Sûreté du Québec investigators’ lives after many years. The two were young children when their troubled mother was murdered, leaving them damaged, shattered. Now they’ve arrived in the village of Three Pines.

Gamache and Beauvoir’s memories of that tragic case, the one that first brought them together, come rushing back. Did their mother’s murder hurt them beyond repair? Have those terrible wounds, buried for decades, festered and are now about to erupt?

As Chief Inspector Gamache works to uncover answers, his alarm grows when a letter written by a long dead stone mason is discovered. In it the man describes his terror when bricking up an attic room somewhere in the village. Every word of the 160-year-old letter is filled with dread. When the room is found, the villagers decide to open it up.

As the bricks are removed, Gamache, Beauvoir and the villagers discover a world of curiosities. But the head of homicide soon realizes there’s more in that room than meets the eye. There are puzzles within puzzles, and hidden messages warning of mayhem and revenge.

In unsealing that room, an old enemy is released into their world. Into their lives. And into the very heart of Armand Gamache’s home.

Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall

- Ann Leave a comment

From the  author of Boyfriend Material comes a sweet and scrumptious romantic comedy about facing your insecurities, finding love, and baking it off, no matter what people say in Alexis Hall’s Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble . 

Paris Daillencourt is a recipe for disaster. Despite his passion for baking, his cat, and his classics degree, constant self-doubt and second-guessing have left him a curdled, directionless mess. So when his roommate enters him in Bake Expectations, the nation’s favorite baking show, Paris is sure he’ll be the first one sent home.

But not only does he win week one’s challenge—he meets fellow contestant Tariq Hassan. Sure, he’s the competition, but he’s also cute and kind, with more confidence than Paris could ever hope to have. Still, neither his growing romance with Tariq nor his own impressive bakes can keep Paris’s fear of failure from spoiling his happiness. And when the show’s vicious fanbase confirms his worst anxieties, Paris’s confidence is torn apart quicker than tear-and-share bread.

But if Paris can find the strength to face his past, his future, and the chorus of hecklers that live in his brain, he’ll realize it’s the sweet things in life that he really deserves. (from the publisher)

If you like baking shows and watching people overcome their fears and find inner strength and value, this lovely, quick-read romance is perfect for you!

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

- Ann Leave a comment

Bird Gardner has only fading memories of his mother, who left him and his father three years earlier. They never speak of her or acknowledge that she was ever in their lives but instead do their best to go unnoticed in  Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng.

Bird and his father, a former linguist who now shelves books in the Harvard University library, have been living under  oppressive laws that were written to create stability after America has gone through years of economic crisis and violence. Authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents – especially those of Asian origin – and libraries have been forced to remove books that seem unpatriotic. People are encouraged to spy on each other and the accused are often considered guilty until proven (if ever) innocent.

Bird’s mother, Margaret, is a Chinese American poet. One of her poems has been used by protest groups even though that was not the intention of the poem. Nevertheless, she is considered a dissident and her books are destroyed. Margaret flees to protect her son and husband, going underground and joining the groups who are fighting the oppressive laws.

One day Bird receives a mysterious note with nothing but the drawing of a cat. He goes in search of answers and slowly puts together the puzzle, finding many others along the way that are, each in their own way, fighting back. (I’m happy to say that librarians play a key role in this underground network!)

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking book that covers a range of emotions – anger and frustration but also kindness and love. The fight against hopelessness and impossible odds adds suspense yet there are glimmers of hope. Although it is sometimes hard to read – the story is a little to close to some of the issues we face today – I highly recommend it.

January Online Reading Challenge – Paris

- Ann 1 Comment

Ernest Hemingway called Paris “a moveable feast”. Audrey Hepburn advised us that “Paris is always a good idea”. Humphrey Bogart promised us in Casablanca that “we’ll always have Paris”. Victor Hugo claimed that “Paris nourishes the soul”. Paris, it seems, has a hold on us, even if we’ve never been.

Paris is far from perfect, struggling with many common urban problems, but it seems to rise above with its beauty, sophistication and effortless elegance. Rich in history and long known as the center for art and fashion, what exactly is it about this city that makes so many love it?

Hello and welcome to the first month of the 2023 Online Reading Challenge! This month we’re traveling to Paris. Our main title is Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly. This fascinating book combines the stories of a contemporary teenager and a young woman living during the French Revolution. From the publisher:

Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And her father has determined that accompanying him to Paris for winter break is the solution for everything.

 But Paris is a city of ghosts for Andi. And when she finds a centuries-old diary, the ghosts begin to walk off the page. Alexandrine, the owner of the journal, lived during the French Revolution. She’s angry too. It’s the same fire that consumes Andi, and Andi finds comfort in it—until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs, words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes terrifyingly present.

Revolution artfully weaves two girls’ stories into one unforgettable account of life, loss, and enduring love. Revolution spans centuries and vividly depicts the eternal struggles of the human heart. 

You can find copies of this title plus many more set in Paris (and there are lots!) on displays at each of our locations.

Online Reading Challenge – December Wrap-Up

- Ann Leave a comment

Hello Readers!

How did your December Challenge reading go? Did you find something that might have opened your eyes to the issue of mental illness and the stigma around it? Did you see yourself or someone you know with some of the same mental health battles?

I read the main title this month, Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson.  This is a seriously funny memoir of Lawson’s continuing battle with depression and anxiety. She has chosen to embrace  the flawed as well as the beautiful parts of life, unabashedly insisting on being “furiously happy” whenever possible.

This outlook on life has led to some crazy (and frankly, puzzling) situations, like a trip to Australia where she insists on dressing in a koala costume while holding a koala  (she didn’t actually get to hold a koala but she did wear her costume when visiting koalas at a wildlife refuge), or keeping a taxidermized racoon with a bizarre expression (see picture on the front of the book) with her whenever possible (she actually has two taxidermized racoons).

While many of these stories are odd, they are undoubtedly funny and Lawson’s joyful embracing of whatever happens is infectious. There is a serious side to the funny too – Lawson is perfectly aware that each day is a struggle and that her anxiety and depression, while managed, are never far away.

That wraps up the 2022 Online Reading Challenge. I hope you were able to find some excellent, thoughtful books this year with the help of the Challenge! The 2023 Challenge begins in just a few days on January 2nd. Watch the blog for an introduction to our first location.

 

Reading With TumbleBooks

- Valerie Leave a comment

Do you want help explaining the world to your children?  We have a resource that can help with that!  While TumbleBooks is primarily a source that can help your children learn to read, it includes books that explore a number of different topics.  For instance, science.

Do your kids know that Mauna Loa is currently erupting?  Introduce the idea of volcanology to beginning readers with the online picture book A Trip To The Top Of The Volcano With Mouse, by Frank Viva.  In this story book you’ll meet an adventurous human who explorers Mount Etna with his companion, a mouse, who just wants to be done so he can eat pizza.  As the pages turn, you are able to hear the story being read while seeing the words highlighted on the page.

More advanced readers can build both their reading skills and knowledge when TumbleBooks explains subjects in more detail.  For example, The Story Of Snow, by Mark Cassino (with Jon Nelson, Ph.D.) explains how snowflakes form.  Read along as each sentence is highlighted and take time to look at the illustrations that show how snow crystals develop.

Or read Faces Of the Moon, by Bob Crelin, which explains why the moon changes shape each night and introduces the concepts of waxing and waning.

TumbleBooks can grow with your child.  It contains both non-fiction and fiction titles that can be read to your pre-kindergarten child, your elementary beginning reader, and more advanced books that your child can read alone.  Sports books, poetry, all the way up to chapter books can be enjoyed in this robust resource.  All you need is your library card to being your adventure!

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