If You Liked The Book, Unbroken…

unbroken If you enjoyed reading the book, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, here’s a selection of read-alike books that you might also enjoy.

strengthStrength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder – Presents the story of Burundi civil war survivor Deo, who endures homelessness before pursuing an education at Columbia and eventually returning to his native land to help people in both countries.born

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall – Recounts the author’s experiences with the reclusive Tarahumara Indians, whose techniques allow them to run long distances with ease, and describes his training for a fifty-mile race with the tribe and a number of ultra-marathoners.

survivorThe Survivors Club by Ben Sherwood – Draws on inspirational stories about survivors of accidents, crime, and serious illness to investigate why some people succumb to life-threatening hardships while others rally, in a report that includes coverage of the higher survival rates of right-handed people, the science of luck, and emergency room probability rates.broken

Broken Jewel by David Robbins –  Presents a tale of war, love, and survival set against the backdrop of the U.S. 11th Airborne’s raid on the Japanese-run Los Baänos prison in the Philippines–one of the most daring episodes of World War II.

ghostGhost Soldiers by Hampton Sides –  Chronicles the daring mission of the elite U.S. Army Sixth Ranger Battalion to slip behind enemy lines in the Philippines and rescue the 513 American and British POWs who had spent over three years in a hellish, Japanese-run camp near Cabanatuan.kra

Krakatoa by Simon Winchester –  Considers the global impact of the 1883 eruption of the Krakatoa volcano, documenting its cause of an immense tsunami that killed 40,000 people, its impact on the weather for several years, and its role in anti-Western Islamic fundamentalism.

lostLost In Shangri-la by Mitchell Zuckoff –  Describes the 1945 odyssey of three plane crash survivors in New Guinea who endured a harrowing journey through the jungle to seek help, their encounter with a primitive tribe who had never seen white people, and their eventual rescue by a band of paratroopers.ordinary

Ordinary Heroes by Scott Turow – Stewart Dubinsky plunges into the mystery of his family’s secret history when he discovers his deceased father’s wartime letters to his former fiancâee, revealing his court-martial and imprisonment during World World II.

caineThe Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk – Developments on board an American naval destroyer during World War II compel the crew members to relieve the captain of his command.

pacific

Pacific Glory by P.T. Deutermann – A thrilling, multi-layered World War II adventure following two men and an unforgettable woman, from Pearl Harbor through the most dramatic air and sea battles of the war.

 

Also, see our display on one of the end caps in our lobby.

 

 

 

Children’s Nonfiction Books about Pets

Do you have a children begging for a new pet, or one that needs to learn a little bit more about the responsibility that comes with the joys of having a pet? Perhaps your youngster just loves all things cute and pet-like and would like to learn a little bit more about them, including some history and wacky facts. Well, which ever inspires you and your child to search for non fiction books about pets, here are some books that you can enjoy together.

1.Presidential Pets: the Weird, Wacky, Little, Big, Scary, Strange Animals that have Lived in the White House by Julia Moberg

2. Pets in America: a History by Katherine C. Grier

3. Oh the Pets You Can Get!: All About our Animal Friends by Tish Rabe

4. Adopting Pets: How to Choose Your New Best Friend by Bill Gutman

5. Pocket Pets by Alvin Silverstein, Virginia Silverstein, and Laura Silverstein Nunn

6. The Royal Treatment: a Natural Approach to Wildly Healthy Pets by Barbara Royal, with Anastasia Royal

7. Underwater Dogs: Kids Edition by Seth Casteel

8. Sneed B. Collard III’s Most Fun Book Ever About Lizards by Sneed B. Collard III

9. 125 True Stories of Amazing Pets: Inspiring Tales of Animal Friendship & Four-legged Heroes, Plus Crazy Animal Antics

10. Why Rabbits Eat Poop and other Gross Facts about Pets by Jody Sullivan Rake

Looking for even more pet fun? Here are a few more books that might fit the bill; My First Guinea Pig and Other Small Pets by Linda Bozzo, Love Your Hamster by Judith Heneghan, Orangutans are Ticklish: fun facts from an Animal Photographer by Steve Grubman with Jill Davis, Do Fishes Get Thirsty? questions answered by Dr. Les Kaufman and staff of the New England Aquarium, How Dogs Really Work!  by Alan Snow, Silkies and other Guinea Pigs, My First Pets Board Book, Safety: with Pets illustrated by Sue Wilkinson, When a Pet Dies by Fred Rogers,  or May I Pet Your Dog?: the How-to Guide for Kids Meeting Dogs (and Dogs Meeting Kids) by Stephanie Calmenson.

 

10 Books We’re Looking Forward to in January

What better way to start off the new year than with some new books? Lucky for us, there are some terrific ones coming our way in January.

Every month, librarians from around the country pick the top ten new books they’d most like to share with readers. The results are published on LibraryReads.org. One of the goals of LibraryReads is to highlight the important role public libraries play in building buzz for new books and new authors. Click through to read more about what new and upcoming books librarians consider buzzworthy this month. The top ten titles for January are:

  1. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley
  2. The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion
  3. The Magician’s Lie by Greer Macallister
  4. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
  5. Golden Son (Book II of the Red Rising Trilogy) by Pierce Brown
  6. The Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna van Praag
  7. The Bishop’s Wife by Mette Ivie Harrison
  8. Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar
  9. First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen
  10. Full Throttle by Julie Ann Walker

 

Do You Love a Great Tear-Jerker?

Do you love a book that just tears down all your walls and makes you cry? Some weekends or holidays set people in the mood for a book that they need to read alone because books that sad do not make for good company. These are books that just might leave you curled up in a ball, eating too much ice cream, and all out of tissues. Books that make your eyes well up just thinking about them. these are books that make you really cry, not just the token two or three tears or sniffles, I am talking full blown ugly crying. Sounds like torture, I know, but sometimes you just need a good cry. If you find yourself needing that kind of read, these books are sure to deliver.
1. The Fault in our Stars by John Green
2. Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
3. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
4. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
6. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
7. If I Stay by Gayle Forman
8. Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
9. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
10. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
For more sob worthy reads that stick with you check out: Night by Elie Wiesel, Where the red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls,  Room by Emma Donoghue, The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay, The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, See You at Harry’s by Jo Knowles, Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway,  My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, A Widow’s Story: a Memoir by Joyce Carol Oates, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, The Giver by Lois Lowry, or Where She Went by Gayle Forman. This is far from a comprehensive list, so if you have a book that you love that also happened to make you cry ugly tears please share it in the comments!

Entertainment Weekly Picks Top Nonfiction Books of 2014

The following nonfiction titles were among Entertainment Weekly‘s top picks for 2014.

blood will outBlood Will Out by Walter Kirn – The true story of a young novelist who meets and befriends an eccentric, privileged New Yorker when he delivers a crippled hunting dog to him from an animal shelter, and later discovers that his friend was a serial imposter and brutal double-murderer.wonder

The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore -A cultural history of Wonder Woman traces the character’s creation and enduring popularity, drawing on interviews and archival research to reveal the pivotal role of feminism in shaping her seven-decade story.

can't we talkCan’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast – A graphic memoir by a long-time New Yorker cartoonist celebrates the final years of her aging parents’ lives through four-color cartoons, family photos and documents that reflect the artist’s struggles with caregiver challenges. what if

What If? by Randall Monroe – The creator of the popular webcomic “xkcd” presents his heavily researched answers to his fans’ oddest questions, including “What if I took a swim in a spent-nuclear-fuel pool?” and “Could you build a jetpack using downward-firing machine guns?

smokeSmoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty – The blogger behind the popular Web series “Ask a Mortician” describes her experiences working at a crematory, including how she sometimes got ashes on her clothes and how she cared for bodies of all shapes and sizes.short

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs – Presents the life of Robert Peace, an African American who became a brillant biochemistry student at Yale University, but after graduation lived as drug dealer and was brutally murdered at the age of thirty.