| |
Non-Fiction Reviews
Page history last edited by coshea@... 1 mo ago
|
|
Apples and Oranges: My Brother and Me, Lost and Found, by Marie Brenner. New York writer Marie Brenner tackles some painful issues in this poignant exploration of sibling rivalry. Brenner shares the story of her lifelong, rocky relationship with her only brother, Carl (he threw her out the window when she was a baby), and particularly of their struggle to reach some accord after he was diagnosed with incurable cancer. Carl's love and care for his apple orchard in eastern Washington provides an interesting local connection to this moving tale of how family relationships can both harm and heal.
Reviewed by Martha Bayley, Collection Manager, Kitsap Regional Library, August 2009.
|
 |
365 Ways to Live Cheap, by Trent Hamm. Who doesn’t like to save money? Even when you’re feeling flush, you don’t want to waste it. These days most people are feeling a bit of a pinch. Whether you want to pay off debt, build savings or make a game of cutting expenses, it never hurts to have more hints to follow. Hamm offers 365 ways to save money or just avoid spending it. The tips are divided into sections by areas of savings: transportation; food; appliances; children; and many others. Big savings, penny pinchers and lifestyle changes are all included. Among the “365 ways” a newcomer to watching their wallet will find baby steps that aren’t too scary and even hardcore tightwads can find some handy hints and reminders. As your first step on the living cheap path you can check out this book from the library for free! Visit Trent Hamm's blog at The Simple Dollar. Reviewed by Rainbow Greenwood, Tech. Services & Collection Management, April 2009.
|
|
|
If you are a fan of Spanish food or just curious to know more about it, check out two new books. Everything but the Squeal: Eating the Whole Hog in Northern Spain by John Barlow describes how a professed glutton tested his stamina with a year of eating in Spain. Barlow lives in Galicia, a beautiful spot in Northwest Spain, kind of like the Pacific Northwest in the way of climate and scenery. Although I visited Galicia in the summer, it was still green and moist while other parts of Spain were brown and dry. When I lived in Spain for 6 months, I was in Castile (around Madrid) and the specialty in Castile is roast meats of all types. Several times I ate roast suckling pig where you are served virtually the whole pig. It was delicious but slightly appalling at the same time.
Spanish food is very diverse because the regions are so diverse. To help you understand this diversity, check out the other new book about Spanish food called Spain: A Culinary Road Trip by Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow. It is a companion to the PBS series which follows these two, along with Mark Bittman and a Spanish actress, traveling around Spain cooking and sampling culinary specialties. I checked the PBS schedule and it looks like the first episode aired last week on KCTS. There are sure to be repeats as well. Spain has interesting food, beautiful scenery and a fascinating history so both the book and the TV series should be worth catching. Reviewed by Gail Goodrick,Non-Fiction Selector, Oct. 2008
|
 |
Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, by Novella Carpenter. Sometimes an idea just grows. Sometimes unlikely things happen in unlikely places. Like a farm in the middle of an inner city neighborhood. Granted, we’re not talking vast acreage and tractors but a farm in many ways. Like the poultry, produce and growing a variety of other food sources—both plant and animal. Novella Carpenter and her boyfriend chose their Oakland apartment in a bad neighborhood because of the empty lot next door. They wanted to have a garden while still enjoying an urban lifestyle. So they started gardening on a lot they didn’t own, then things grew. As Carpenter expands her farm, with the difficulties and benefits of the urban setting, we also get to know their neighbors and friends. This is a memoir of truly knowing your food, pursuing your interests, working with what you have where you are, and letting your ideas grow. Part philosophical exploration, part documentary and all good read. Reviewed by Rainbow Greenwood, Technical Services/Collection Management, Kitsap Regional Library, September 2009. Visit Novella Carpenter's Farm Blog at Ghost Town Farm.
|
 |
Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season, by Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King. 2004 was a season to remember for followers of baseball, particularly so for God's most pitiful creature, the Red Sox fan. Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan, upstanding members of Red Sox Nation (a.k.a. The Faithful), kept journals of their 2004 Red Sox experience and chronicled events beginning before spring training and continuing through the post World Series celebration. Throughout their journey, the authors share their insights & anecdotes and amaze the reader with their knowledge of Red Sox History and understanding of the game. It's an intimate glimpse into the lives of obsessed fans. Humorous, dramatic, happy, and sad, it illustrates the fervor with which some fans approach the game. King and O'Nan capture the desperation of Boston’s Faithful, clinging to a thread of hope, season after season, only to watch the string sever before their eyes. They've suffered with the rest of us and are not afraid to share. After 86 years of no Boston baseball championships and too many close calls to count, the New York Daily News headline from 21 Oct 2004 sums up the season, "Hell Freezes Over". Faithful is a great read for any sports fan and a must for fans of baseball. Reveiwed by John Fossett, Media Selector [2/19/2008]
|
 |
Go Fug Yourself Presents: The Fug Awards, by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan Admit it. The title catches your eye and you wonder to yourself what the book is about. That’s how I got lured into reading it. The content is strangely entertaining. I found myself chuckling and at the same time feeling ashamed about laughing at others. The authors have quite the skill at spotting and analyzing with humor what they believe to be fashion disasters, whether it be over-tanning, under-dressing, or overall scary. The chapters are split up into different categories where they discuss candidates for the various awards they’ve created. At the end of each chapter a winner (or is that loser?) is chosen. Although I can see where they’re coming from most of the time, there are always at least a few outfits that get picked on that I love and would totally wear! This book is fun, light reading worth picking up for a laugh. Reviewed by Kelli Becker, Acquisitions Specialist [3/30/2008]
|
 |
Japanese Goth: Art and Design, by Tiffany Godoy & Ivan Vartanian
I was drawn to this book by the title and cover, thinking it would be mainly focused on the Goth fashion scene in Japan. In fact, this book is a showcase of Goth culture from Japan, covering a wide variety of tastes. It show its influence on fashion, art, and music by organizing the 235 pages into themes with a quick description at the beginning of each section. Whether you are into the cutesy side of Goth or tend toward the more grotesque, this book has something to offer.
Reviewed by Kelli Becker, Acquisitions Specialist, Kitsap Regional Library, October 2009.
|
 |
A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca, by Andres Resendez. In the last few years readers have flocked to modern tales of survival (and death), such as John Krakauer’s Into Thin Air. Andres Resendez, however, has managed to do something different. He has taken the writings of a sixteenth century explorer and turned them into such a harrowing tale that you literally cannot put the book down. Resendez has also managed to make the story seem so real and immediate that you can taste the dust in the explorers’ dry mouths, and feel the thorns in their feet. Cabeza de Vaca and three companions were forced to take on this adventure after being shipwrecked on the coast of Florida. Only after they walked across the entire continent were they finally rescued. The Washington Post book review considers this….”a terrific story…kin to “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre…or Moby Dick”… Reviewed by Martha Bayley, Collection Management Manager [2/11/2008]
|
 |
The Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature, by Jonathan Rosen. In this poignant book, Rosen ruminates on the human paradox of trying to preserve nature, even as we destroy it. His own personal fascination with bird watching which he developed while living in the heart of New York City provides a perfect backdrop for Rosen’s musings on history and philosophy. This is an elegant, eloquent reminder of the wonder of nature in unexpected places.Reviewed by Martha Bayley, Manager, Collection Management, Kitsap Regional Library, March 2009
|
|
|
Little Farm in the Foothills: A Boomer Couple’s Search for the Slow Life by Susan Colleen Browne with John F. Browne
Fed up with close (and noisy) neighbors in town and craving more space for serious gardening, the Browne’s decided to take the risk of pursuing their dream of a place in the country. This memoir follows the pursuit of their dream with all its ups and downs. Fantasies meet budgets, city experiences meet country realities, and schedules meet delays….but they keep together and keep going.
Eventually, the Brownes are able to move onto their Whatcom County, Washington property and start living their country dream. As beginner “farmers” they still have plenty of lessons to learn about how country living really works. Bear, deer, weather and different kinds of noisy neighbors offer plenty of learning opportunities.
While the pursuit of their country dream is still in progress, they have realized much of what they hope for. This memoir offers a realistic glimpse into the process of moving to their place in the country, but it’s also just a fun story to follow.
Reveiwed by Rainbow Greenwood, Technical Services & Collection Management, Kitsap Regional Library, Dec. 2009
|
 |
Lucia: A Venetian Life in the Age of Napoleon by Andrea di Robilant is the story of the author’s great-great-great-great-grandmother. Lucia was a member of one of the elite Venetian families –the Memmos--who had ruled Venice for 1000 years and she married a member of another elite family—the Mocenigos. Both families had doges and other statesmen among their ancestors and had palazzos along the Grand Canal. However, their privileged world changed forever when Venice was conquered first by the French and then by the Austrians. She and her husband survived by their wits and charm, he as an official of one regime or another, she as a member of one court or another. Lucia’s life is fascinating to read about not only because she lived through extraordinary times but also because she was, by force of her husband’s distractions and indifference, required to live a very independent life and was quite successful because of her incredible resourcefulness and tenacity. Her letters and journals remain in the author’s family and formed the basis for this book. Reviewed by Gail Goodrick, Non-fiction Selector [2/17/2008]
|
 |
On the Trail of the Real Macbeth, King of Alba, by Cameron Taylor & Alistair Murray
Scottish history and a travel guide as well for those who would follow in the footsteps of MacBeth. This very readable little book starts with a table that compares Shakespeare’s creation with the historical figure of MacBeth before dealing with MacBeth and his relationships with his cousins Duncan & Thorfinn and how Malcolm II “the Destroyer” set the stage by choosing the weakest of his grandsons to be King of Alba. The latter part of this book deals with the evolution of MacBeth’s character as a usurper and tyrant, the sources Shakespeare used to create his play, its variations, and the attempts to reclaim the real MacBeth. He was the only ruling king from Moray and the last Celtic one. Reviewed by Lisa Schureman, Collection Management Assistant, Kitsap Regional Library, May 2009.
|
 |
Outlaws of Medieval Scotland: Challenges to the Canmore Kings, 1058-1266, by R. Andrew McDonald. Most everyone has heard of MacBeth, that King of Scots who died in 1057 and was made infamous by William Shakespeare. And thanks to Mel Gibson, quite a few people have heard about that other Scottish notable, William Wallace, who fought and died for Scotland’s independence. R. Andrew McDonald’s Outlaws of Medieval Scotland covers the years that came after MacBeth, when Malcolm III and his second wife, Margaret of Wessex, founded the Canmore dynasty which ruled Scotland until the death of Alexander III in 1286. Originally intended as a closing chapter to McDonald’s previous work, The Kingdom of the Isles: Scotland’s Western Seaboard, Outlaws developed into a full-fledged book fuelled by the conflicting representations surrounding some of Scotland’s most controversial rulers. Although at times frustrated by the lack of surviving sources, particularly those within the Canmore sphere of influence (and bias), McDonald presents an accessible and balanced picture of the Canmore rise to power—certainly a closer run contest than some historians would like us to believe with the bodies of Malcolm III’s descendents by his first wife, Ingibjorg of Orkney, as well as those of MacBeth’s step-son serving as bloody stepping stones to mark their success. McDonald’s history also covers widespread opposition to the Canmore dynasty stemming from dynastic rivalries—powerful native lords forced to protect their territories from Vikings and other invaders without the aid of a Scots king. The Lords of Galloway would briefly succeed in driving Royal Canmore authority from Galloway, and Thomas of Galloway would ultimately survive the dynasty that imprisoned him for 66 years. In the end, though, that dynasty would end with the death of a frail girl, the seven-year-old Margaret, the Maid of Norway, who died on the way to Scotland to be crowned queen. Reviewed by Lisa Schureman, Collection Management Assistant [3/10/2008]
|
 |
The Perfect Summer: England 1911, Just Before the Storm, by Juliet Nicolson. Nicholson's The Perfect Summer follows the chronological countdown format so successfully used by historians like Barbara Tuchman. But, while Tuchman's August 1914 chronicles about the momentous events leading to World War I, Nicholson's work has no single grand event that happened at the end of the perfect summer of 1911. The format works well, though, because it situates the reader firmly in the midst of events both solemn and slight, significant and trivial, full of details that lead you to feel you have lived amongst the inhabitants of both "Upstairs" and "Downstairs" as they experienced these summer days. Frivolity laced with boredom reigned among the Upstairs inhabitants and they seemed unaware of the precarious life led by the working poor. While there were definite signs of discontent and protests, it would take World War I to transform this entrenched society. Reviewed by Gail Goodrick, Non-Fiction Selector [Jan. 7, 2008] |
 |
Featured Review: Ruby's Humans, by Tom Adrahtas
In the ever-popular memoir style, canine Ruby shares her perspective on the inner life of dogs—at least as interpreted by Tom Adrahtas. Adrahtas’s take on Ruby's life—written from a dog's eye view—tells the tale of rescue dog Ruby from early trauma to the adjustments of learning to trust in a kind and caring home. Interspersed with glimpses into canine (she explains about the D-word) society, belief systems, and opinions on humans and cats—you can probably guess what she thinks of them—Ruby's Humans is funny and touching as dog books often are, but this time without all those silly human sentiments and biases. Reviewed by Rainbow Greenwood, Technical Services/Collection Management, Kitsap Regional Library, July 2009.
|
|
|
The Shetland Bus, by David Howarth. These are the harrowing stories of how the British Royal Navy supplied the Norwegian Underground along the west coast of Norway during World War II using Norwegian fishing vessels, civilian crews, and Lunna and Scalloway in the Shetland Islands as their base. Horrible weather, strafing, possible betrayal, and loss are countered with humor as the author recounts some of the antics and sacrifices of the independently-minded skippers and crews with whom he worked. If you enjoy these stories, you might also enjoy We Die Alone and The Sledge Patrol, by the same author. Reviewed by Lisa Schureman, Collection Management Assistant, Kitsap Regional Library, Nov. 2009.
|
 |
The World on Fire: 1919 and the Battle with Bolshevism, by Anthony Read describes the events of the year following the Armistice in November 1918. While the war’s victors were trying to agree on terms for peace in Paris, the rest of Europe and America were rocked by the effects of the Russian Revolution and the fall of the old empires of Europe. Unions were flexing their muscles after the restrictions of the war years. Government officials everywhere feared the spread of Bolshevism. Disgruntled soldiers and workers took inspiration from Russia and the result was reactionary crackdowns by capitalists, governments and volunteer patriot groups. Seattle had one of the worst of the reactionaries in its mayor Ole Hanson who cracked down hard on a strike in February 1919 and went on to national prominence as a result of his action. Similarly, Calvin Coolidge rose to prominence as governor of Massachusetts when he sent in National Guard troops to squash a strike by Boston police. With a cast of characters including the young J. Edgar Hoover and the Wobblies, this book provides fascinating background for U.S. history buffs along with insight into the rise of Hitler in Germany in the 1920’s. Reviewed by Gail Goodrick, Nonfiction Selector [June 2, 2008]
|
|
|
Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Mark Richardson This book is a motorcycle road trip, a biographical portrait, a literary/philosophical study, and a journal of personal exploration wrapped into one. Richardson takes us along as he becomes a “Pirsig pilgrim” riding his motorcycle from Minnesota to the Pacific coast of California along the path of the riders in Robert Pirsig's classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. As Richardson reports the ups and downs of traveling, he also shares information about Pirsig’s life, ride, career, and the original book. Richardson also explores the discussion of “Quality” central to the first book as he journeys along the roads and within himself. Fans of Pirsig’s book will certainly appreciate this new work. Anyone with interest in road trips and self-exploration - or even Zen and motorcycle maintenance - should also enjoy the ride. Reviewed by Rainbow Greenwood, Technical Services/Collection Management, Dec. 2008
|
 |
The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman tells the poignant story of Jan and Antonina Zabinski, directors of the Warsaw Zoo in the late 1930’s, who with incredible courage turned their home, as well as the zoo’s cages and sheds into shelters for Jews and Polish resisters after the zoo had been destroyed by the German army. The reader watches in horror as the family’s beloved friends, relations and animals suffer the vicissitudes of war. Ackerman manages to combine a reverence for the natural world with a historian’s perspective to capture this moment in time when the world appeared to have gone mad. You won’t forget this amazing family, nor the City of Warsaw that was destroyed. Reviewed by Martha Bayley, Collection Manager, Kitsap Regional Library, August 19, 2008.
|
Non-Fiction Reviews
|
|
Tip: To turn text into a link, highlight the text, then click on a page or file from the list above.
|
|
|
|
|
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.