Cheshire

Susan’s Picks from 2014

/ Susan O. / Leave a comment

I feel terrible for only squeezing in 27 books this year, a new low for me, but considering I wrote or edited three books in between, I don’t feel so bad. I am an unforgivable nerd, wallowing in science, history, psychology, and biography to the point I read almost no fiction at all anymore. I feel bad when people ask me to recommend something and I have no clue what to offer because the last really good book I read was on the histology of Ebola, or they’re looking for romance recommendations and my idea of a great romance is the novelization of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Here are the best and worst I read this year, not counting a reread of Chris Wooding’s Retribution Falls, which I love so much I gave out ten copies at Christmas:

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Jacket.aspxThe Riddle of the Labyrinth: the Quest to Crack an Ancient Code, by Margalit Fox. Fox covers the work by Michael Ventris, who eventually untangled the mystery of the early Greek/Mycenean Linear B glyphs, but spends much of the book discussing Alice Kober’s work, so much of it uncredited yet without which Ventris would not have succeeded. When Kober – who spent the majority of her life working on the syllabary – dies just a year before the pieces fall into place, you want to cry for her. If you love a good detective novel – this is a true story that shook the history world. (I warned you about the nerdism).

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Detroit: An American Autopsy, by Charlie LeDuff. An incredible book about the decay of Detroit, a city so far gone America has forgotten it exists, while the people still try to survive in a place without – well, anything. No jobs, no police, no grocery stores, and most recently, no water. Made me incredibly angry to see America left to rot like this.

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WJacket.aspxho Discovered America? by Gavin Menzies. Ever read a book that makes you feel like you woke up on an alien world, that everything you were ever told about history was wrong? This book takes Thor Heyerdahl to a whole new level, pointing out overwhelming scientific evidence that Asian, African, and European peoples were routinely coming to America long before Columbus was born. Utterly fascinating. Even if Menzies is only 10% right, it still changes everything we know about history. Easy to read, and you won’t be able to put it down.

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Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in Northern Korea, by Barbara Demick. This book is so touching and so sad, you cannot help but be moved by people who have so little control over their lives that even their food and clothing is doled out by the government, and if they say you will starve, then you starve, because they will not give you more. People risking death to swim to China, or pay for an underground railroad to South Korea, where they have extreme culture shock that defies the propaganda they have been fed for generations. Hate the leader, but love the people. I love Gavin Menzies, but I think this gets my vote for Best Book of the Year.

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deafI Can Hear You Whisper: An Intimate Journey Through the Science of Sound and Language, by Lydia Denworth. Denworth’s youngest son is born profoundly deaf; this is her story not only of trying to decide how to educate him (as a lip-reader, a signer, or hearing w/ a cochlear implant). Interspersed with her journey is the science behind hearing and language, and the history of deafness, and it is utterly fascinating how much hearing and learning are interconnected, and why many deaf people never read beyond a fourth-grade level.

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Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, by John LeCarré. I needed to read a couple of spy novels as research for a book I was writing. Every list I looked at said this was the best. I have no doubt they are right. A spy novel that will keep you guessing until the very end, it makes James Bond look like a pampered fool. Very British, but very, very good.

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boyWorst book I read this year? There were a couple of stinkers, but I think the worst I read was The Boy Detective: A New York Childhood, by Roger Rosenblatt. I don’t care how many awards he’s gotten. I almost never abandon a book half-way through, but I just couldn’t finish this. It has a boy, and he’s in New York, but the rest is just a single run-on sentence of chapterless rambling. You know how your brain wanders foggy from topic to topic when you’re lying in bed half asleep? That’s this book. I read some clunkers, but I made it to the end of them. This one I couldn’t get past 50 pages. No, thank you.

 

What did you like/dislike this year?

Sharon Reads: The Case of the Vanishing Little Brown Bats by Sandra Markle

/ Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

The Case of the Vanishing Little Brown Bats is a non fiction book for children by Sandra Markle. This book explores the brown bats remarkable decline in population, including the likely causes and the effect that this decline can have on our lives.

Are you among those that think of bats and shudder, or do you think they are cute or useful? Well The Case of the Vanishing Little Brown Bats can show those that are not overly fond of bats why they might want to help them stick around. Bats eat a large number of bugs, limiting the amount of bugs that can spread diseases, and the amount of damage insects can to to crops and our food supply.  Sadly large populations of little brown bats have been dying off each winter. Scientists have been hard at work to figure out if a virus killing them, if climate change or pesticides be the cause, or if it something else? This book follows a team of dedicated scientists working to save the little brown bats in this real-life science mystery. Thankfully, unlike the continuing death of bee colonies, there are now answers about what is hurting our bats and there are steps being taken to help them. There are suggestions for further research and ideas for families to help the cause.

I love bats, and the fact that they can decimate the mosquito population in no time flat. The Case of the Vanishing Little Brown Bats is a well researched and organized book that presents the facts of the investigation along with extra pieces of information that could be of great interest to middle grade readers. It is not sensationalized, but instead shows the steps of a scientific investigation and all of the possible causations and solutions, including those that turned out to be dis-proven. I think animal lovers will get something great out of this book, it could help some creeped out by the bat understand them a bit more, and will act as a credible resources for research. I gave this book four stars on Sharon the Librarian and Goodreads.

If this sort of animal mystery appeals to you, you might want to check out: The Case of the Vanishing Honey Bees, and The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs by the same author.

 

 

Celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with Knowledge and Service

/ Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment
January 19, 2015 is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. In 1994 Congress designated MLK day as a day of service. The MLK Day of Service is the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service. It calls for Americans to work together in order to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems. To learn more about the day check out the official website here.

The titles below include children’s books about Dr. King, fiction and nonfiction books about ordinary people who stand up for what’s right, and stories about helping others and giving back. Then there is a list of books about volunteering, to help choose what avenues we each might want to take in volunteering or service. No matter the day, helping out in the community is rewarding for the volunteer and those it helps. So even if you cannot participate on the designated day, maybe a book can help in finding something you can be passionate about or enjoy while serving the community.

People Who Made a Difference:

1. Child of the Civil Rights Movement by  Paula Young Shelton. A daughter of civil rights activist Andrew Young describes her experiences of growing up in the Deep South at the height of the movement, sharing her witness to the efforts of her father, family friend Martin Luther King, Jr. and thousands of others who participated in the historic march from Selma to Montgomery.

 

2. March On!: The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World by Christine King Farris.Having led thousands in a march for civil rights to the foot of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. made the most of the historical moment by giving a speech that would forever inspire people to continue to fight for change in the years ahead.

3. Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges. Provides the first-hand factual account of the six-year-old student who made history by having been one of the first black children to attend an all-white, segregated school in the 1960s.

4.Sit-in: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney. A picture book celebration of the
50th anniversary of the momentous Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in, when four college students staged a peaceful protest that became a defining moment in the struggle for racial equality and the growing Civil Rights Movement.

More books on civil rights and how individuals affect change include:The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles,  I Am Rosa Parks by Rosa Parks, Heroes for Civil Rightsby David A. Adler, Ida B. Wells: Mother of the Civil Rights Movement by Dennis Brindell Fradin and Judith Bloom Fradin, Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movementby Ann Bausum, My Country, ’tis of Thee: How One Song Reveals the History of Civil Rights by Claire Rudolf Murphy, Miles to Go for Freedom: Segregation and Civil Rights in the Jim Crow Yearsby Linda Barrett, The Girl From the Tar Paper School: Barbara Rose Johns and the Advent of the Civil Rights Movement by Teri Kanefield, and Free at Last?: The Civil Rights Movement and the People Who Made Itby Fred Powledge. 

Inspiration to Serve:

1. 50 Ways to Save our Children: Small, Medium & Big Ways You Can Change a Child’s Lifeby Cheryl Saban.Describes how to make a difference in a child’s life, including collecting toys for homeless shelters, donating books to schools and libraries, volunteer work, charitable donations, and starting a scholarship fund.

2. Teens With The Courage to Give: Young People who Triumphed over Tragedy and Volunteered to Make a Difference by Jackie Waldman. Thirty young people tell their stories of overcoming hardship to become volunteers in this inspiring look at a national trend among teenagers.

3. Our Day to End Poverty: 24 Ways You Can Make a Difference by Shannon Daley-Harris and Jeffrey Keenan, with Karen Speerstra.Imagine ending poverty at home and around the globe in our own lifetimes. Imagine your actions combining with others; actions to make poverty history. With originality and imagination, this book invites us to look at our very ordinary days, from waking up in the morning to going to bed in the evening, and to begin to think about poverty in new and creative ways. “Our Day to End Poverty” is organized into 24 “hour/chapter” segments.  Each chapter connects with your day, from breakfast to bedtime, relating these steps to ending poverty to our daily routines. Some times a problem gets to be so big, we feel there is nothing we can do about it. “Our Day to End Poverty” reminds us that if we all do just a little, a lot can get done.

  4. Giving: How Each of us Can Change the World by Bill Clinton. Compiling anecdotes about the diverse charitable efforts of the famous and non-so-famous, the former president looks at the positive influence of such work in every corner of the world and examines the profound benefits of working for the good of others for all humankind.
Looking for more inspiration? Try checking out The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change by Adam Braun, Give a Little: How Your Small Donations Can Transform Our World by Wendy Smith, Immersion Travel USA: The Best and Most Meaningful Volunteering, Living, and Learning Excursions by Sheryl Kayne, Green Volunteers: The World Guide to Voluntary Work in Nature Conservation edited by Fabio Asuneda, Volunteering: The Ultimate Teen Guide by Kathlyn Gay, In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving by Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy with Sally Jenkins, The Busy Family’s Guide to Volunteering: Do Good, Have Fun, Make a Difference as a Family! by Jenny Friedman, Volunteer Vacations: Short-term Adventures that will Benefit You and Others by Bill McMillon, Doug Cutchins, and Anne Geissinger, or Volunteering: A How-to Guide by Audrey Borus.

Children’s Nonfiction Books about Pets

/ Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

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.

 

Do You Love a Great Tear-Jerker?

/ Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment
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!