Nonfiction

Non-Fiction Summer Reading

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There’s no reading quite as wonderful as summer reading.  Here are some terrific non-fiction books that are perfect for a relaxing summer day.

I Wear the Black Hat by Chuck Klosterman –  Mr. Klosterman questions the modern understanding of villainy and delivers perceptive observations on the complexity of the anti-hero in a very humorous way.  He blends cultural analysis with self-interrogation and imaginative hypotheticals.

The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel – This is the true story of the young American wives whose husbands were sent into space as part of the Mercury Seven program.

Difficult Men by Brett Martin – An entertaining and insightful look at the creators of some highly rated recent television series such as Breaking Bad, The Shield, Six Feet Under, The Sopranos and Deadwood.

The Good Life Lab – Radical Experiments in Hands-On Living by Jehanara Tremayne.  An inspirational story of how one couple ditched their careers and life in New York City to move to rural New Mexico to live self-sufficiently.

Mickey and Willie: Mantle and Mayes, the Parallel Lives of Baseball’s Golden Age by Allen Barra.  The combined biographies of two baseball greats.

 

Susan Reads: The Immortal Game: A History of Chess

/ Susan O. / 1 Comment

[Cover] People have been doing it for more than 1300 years.  James Bond did it. So did Kirk and Spock.  Ben Franklin was addicted to it. Harry Potter did it the wizard way, but never once did Doyle ever directly say Sherlock Holmes did. I picked up The Immortal Game: A History of Chess, expecting it to be the dorkiest book ever written, a checkered feather in my Nerd cap.  I expected it to be boring and confusing, full of that chessy shorthand I can’t seem to follow despite its simplicity, and I never expected to actually finish it.

            I was so wrong.

            Author David Shenk presents a surprisingly fascinating history of the game, starting with its roots in India in the 600’s, played in similar fashion on a squared but monochrome board. The game spread to the Middle East just as Mohammad was gathering his followers, and the spread of Islam throughout the Mediterranean carried the game to Spain, where it spread upwards all the way to the Vikings. Chess underwent several incarnations as different kings and clerics tried to ban it, adding the familiar two-toned board to make it easier to follow.  In the late 1400’s, the king’s minister became the all-powerful queen, in response to the presence of several very strong queens in Europe at the time, such as Isabella of Spain and Mary, Queen of Scots. It was during this renaissance that our current game was born.

            Chess has been used throughout the ages as a teaching tool of the masses, from teaching peasants their place in society, to teaching the peasants that they are just as powerful as kings and helping to fuel revolutions (Ben Franklin allegedly told a player who check-mated him to go ahead and take his king; America had no need of kings and he would continue to play without it), to teaching battlefield strategies, to almost freeing the imprisoned Napoleon, but the man sent to tell him of the rescue plans stored in the game died en route.

            Shenk alternates his chapters of history with play-by-play explanations of one historic game, explaining why each move was important. This breaks up the history with examples of strategy, without delving too deep into QH4/BH3 shorthand, and makes for an enjoyable and educational read. Shenk argues that chess masters are made, not born (reiterating M. Gladwell), and that any person can become a Grand Master at any age, if enough practice is given. I am no chess master, playing on an entertainment level in a very random and haphazard fashion and doing rather well at it. However, after reading the book, with very little thought effort on my part, I was able to beat my computer chess program – four times in a row.

            A very painless and interesting book whether you actually play or just want to read about it. As Spock would say : Fascinating.

Amazon Names Their Best Books of 2013 So Far

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With 2013 half over,  Amazon has chosen their top 10 books of the year so far (Jan-Jun). Their picks and brief summaries:

  1.  Life After Life by Kate Atkinson– What if you could be born again and again?  This brilliant, multi-layered novel answers that question as Atkinson’s protagonist moves through multiple lives, each one an iteration on the last, flirting with the balance between choice and fate.
  2. The Son by Phillipp Meyer – A multigenerational Western spanning the 1800s Comanche raids in Texas to the 20th century oil boom, The Son is a towering achievement.
  3. Frozen In Time by Mitchell Zuckoff – Two adventures in one …recounting the 1942 crash (and subsequent struggle to survive) of a U.S. cargo plane crew in Greenland, and describing the author’s own participation in a modern-day mission to uncover the mystery behind their disappearance.
  4. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer – The characters in this novel pulse with life as Wolitzer follows a group of teenagers who meet at a summer camp for artsy teens in 1974 and work to maintain their friendship through the competitions and realities of growing up.
  5. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini – Following The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini has written another masterwork, one that moves through war, separation, birth, death, deceit, and love – illustrating how people’s actions, even the seemingly selfless ones, are shrouded in ambiguity.
  6. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell – This Young Adult novel about two kids who fall in love on a bus is sweet without being saccharine.  And it’s a story adults can love, too.
  7. Gulp by Mary Roach – Roach is about as entertaining a science writer as you’ll find, and this book about how we ingest food will make you think, laugh, and wince as she covers all things alimentary.
  8. After Visiting Friends by Michael Hainey – Unfolding like a novel, this nonfiction gem starts with journalist Hainey uncovering inconsistencies within his own journalist father’s obituary – and while the truth behind the death will eventually be uncovered, greater truths await for Hainey, ones that will change the way he views the past and the present.
  9. Tenth of December by George Saunders – Saunders’ first collection of short stories in six years introduces his ironic, absurd, profound, and funny style to an army of new readers.
  10. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker – This enchanting debut, set mostly in turn-of-the-century Manhattan, is both a well-researched historical novel and a spectacular work of fantasy.

To see Amazon’s list of top books in other categories, click here.

What’s the best book you’ve read so far this year?

Crazy Weather? There’s a Book for That!

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Derecho

Derecho

It seems the weather has just been so crazy this year!  Recently, a new weather term (to non-weather experts, anyway) was being tossed around – derecho.   This refers to a widespread, long-lived, straight-line windstorm that is associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms.  The damage a derecho causes is similar to a tornado.  The swath of wind damage has to be 240 miles long and have wind speeds of 58 miles per hour or higher to qualify as a derecho.  Conditions were very favorable in the middle of June for a derecho to occur in the Midwest.  The potential existed for 70 million people being affected.   In June of 2012, a derecho caused 13 deaths and caused $1 billion in damages.

Windsor, CT

Windsor, CT

On July 1, 2013, Connecticut experienced a rare occurance – three tornadoes.  An EF0 (wind speeds from 65-85 mph) began in Greenwich and
ended in Stamford.  Another EF0 touched down in Enfield and an EF1 tornado (wind speeds from 86-110 mph) touched down in East Windsor, Windsor and Windsor Locks causing considerable damage.  On July 19th, an EF1 tornado started in Andover, then Coventry and ended in Mansfield.

The Cheshire Library has many books about weather.  They can be found in the Adult non-fiction section under the Dewey number 551.6 and in the Childrens’ section in the same Dewey section.

A few titles that might be of interest are:

  1. Weather by Simon Seymour
  2. Weather by Brian Cosgrove
  3. Wild, Wet and Windy by Claire Llewellyn
  4. The Weather Book by Jack Williams
  5. Complete Idiot’s Guide to Weather by Mel Goldstein
  6. Eric Sloane’s Weather Book by Eric Sloane
  7. The Winds of Change by Eugene Linden
  8. The Weather of the Future by Heidi Cullen
  9. Freaks of the Storm by Randall Cerveny

                 

O Say Can You See: Patriotic Books

/ Jenn / Leave a comment

Patriotism comes in many forms. Some people express it by joining the military and defending their country, both home and abroad. Some rally citizens through songs, speeches, writing, and art. And others instill patriotic values in their families, workplaces, places of worship, and in their own lives.

However you take pride in your country, here are a few books to celebrate your inner patriot.

  1. A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories, and Speeches

    A Patriot’s Handbook by Caroline Kennedy

    Celebrating the Land We Love by Caroline Kennedy. This collection of more than 200 selections has themes like “The Flag”, “Freedom of Speech”, and “The Individual”. The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are rewritten in full, along with presidential speeches, farewell addresses, and decisions from landmark Supreme court cases. Poems and selections from fiction, including authors like Alice Walker, Stephen Crane, and F. Scott Fitzgerald are included, along with popular patriotic songs. Kennedy also includes dissenting voices such as Thoreau, Oscar Wilde, and Frederick Douglass, reminding us that while we are the land of the free and the home of the brave, we still have much to do to make it so.

  2. Mr. and Mrs. Madison’s War: America’s First Couple and the

    Mr. and Mrs. Madison’s War by Hugh Howard

    Second War of Independence by Hugh Howard. Perhaps the most forgotten war, the War of 1812 celebrated it’s 200th anniversary last year. This conflict was truly our second war of independence, as Great Britain was looking to assert her dominance over us on both land and water. Author Hugh Howard presents this important war as James and Dolley experienced it. More came out of this war than Dolley running from the White House with the portrait of George Washington.

  3. Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American

    Revolutionary Summer by Joseph Ellis

    Independence by Joseph Ellis. Joseph Ellis is the master of taking a large subject like the American Revolution and paring it down to the nitty gritty. His latest in his canon of American Revolution titles is Revolutionary Summer, where he examines the summer of 1776 and how it changed not only our history, but history across the world. Influential figures from both sides, including John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, General William Howe, and Admiral Lord Richard, help tell the story of one of the most important summers in human history.

  4. Patriot’s History of the United State: From Columbus’s Great

    A Patriot’s History of the United States by Larry Schweikart

    Discovery to the War on Terror  by Larry Schweikart. Schweikart believes that American history has been distorted by intellectuals searching for instances of racism, sexism, and bigotry in our history and seeks to right those wrongs by telling the history as it happened. He argues that more emphasis is placed on Harriet Tubman than George Washington,  and more on the Japanese internment during WWII than D-Day or Iwo Jima. I can’t say I entirely agree with this statement, as American history is full of those problems and “oversights”, but for the right person who appreciates reading about “old dead white men” this book is for you.

  5. Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. MacPherson. I would be

    Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. MacPherson

    completely remiss if I didn’t include something from the Civil War. During this 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, it is important to remember what led us to our nation’s greatest conflict, what happened, and what we can learn. MacPherson, a well-known Civil War scholar, makes the topic readable, approachable, and entertaining for readers of all ages, reading abilities, and knowledge. The most important lesson we today can learn from that terrible war is that divided horrific things happen, but together we can accomplish anything.