Brain Food
Idiotic Is the Word
I'm not one to read a lot of non-fiction, but when I saw the cover of The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club I just had to have it. The cover shot shows the legs of woman in old roller skates and a polka dot dress lying on a hard wood floor. I couldn't resist the promise of an idiot girl action-adventure that included someone who was obviously as klutzy as me. Read more.
From
The other day a friend of mine loaned me the Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Companion (2000, Chuck Williams, General Editor), and after just a minute or two of leafing through it I knew I had to buy a copy of my own. Read more.
The Maternally Inclined
My baby daughter is a big fan of in-arms napping, which means that for a couple of hours most days I find myself sitting, quiet and still, with a sleeping baby in my lap. I often sit with her in the big, comfortable chair that we've put in front of one of the computers and try to catch up a little on my surfing. Lately I'm reading a lot of "mom blogs," and in the past couple of months I've seen a number of mentions of Andrea J. Buchanan. After reading the fourth or fifth glowing recommendation of her work, I decided it was time to check it out myself. Read more.
The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga
by Marian Klatt
By now you are either a woman who loves Yoga and feels you know everything about it you need for your life, or one who does't really care about Yoga, and feels the same.
Either way, I promise you'll learn something in adding The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga to your library. This is not a new book. The first edition came out in 1960, followed by a 1988 edition, and another in 1995. The 1998 is the one sitting upon my shelf; I enjoy the preface of the latter for its unintended timelessness. "Humanity is plunging deeper and deeper into crisis, yet a bright future awaits .... The most positive action we can perform to contribute to the momentous task of bringing our planet back into balance is to start changing ourselves." Read more.
The Fated Sky
by Marian Klatt
I found myself thinking, "Wow! I didn't know that!" several times before finishing the second page of The Fated Sky, by Benson Bobrick, and was hopeful the rest of the book and its 310 pages would be equally fascinating. Read more.
Queen Gossip
by Marian Klatt
For an American, reading the Memoirs of Catherine the Great is a bit like reading your mother's diary from when you were a baby. You find out she had all these other things going on in her life, that you actually weren't the only thing she thought about, and it might just throw you off a bit. Catherine the Great, who dealt with all manner of intrigue and politics during her reign (1762-96), talks little to none about a certain country becoming sovereign across the sea. America figures little in her story: Russia (naturally), France, England, Poland, Turkey, Austria ... these are the stars of this 18th century political drama. Read more.
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Language
Yesterday afternoon I was over at a friend's house for coffee and while she busied herself in the kitchen, I looked through her bookshelves (didn't someone once say that was the only socially-acceptable form of snooping?). Tucked in among the novels and medical texts--she's a pharmacy student--was one volume that particularly caught my eye: The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories. Just the title is delicious. Read more.
Travel Books
Travel is one of life's grandest pleasures. Taking off and exploring a new city is a great way to relax and forget the daily grind. Nowadays, information about even the most far-flung destinations is readily available on the internet. But, even if you have a laptop to bring with you or internet access on your phone or PDA, chances are you'll still want a trusty guidebook to thumb through when you are out and about. Read more.
The Double Helix by James D. Watson
This issue's theme is "just a little" so I am going to write about one of my favorite "little" non-fiction gems. About the size and length of Steinbeck's The Red Pony, The Double Helix is the perfect short read. Don't let its size or length fool you though. This paperback packs an entertaining non-fiction punch that rivals the thickest of volumes. Originally published in 1968, about 15 years after the first public announcement of the discovery of the double helix structure, the book is still entertaining today. Read more.
The Book on the Bookshelf by Henry Petroski
My latest non-fiction read can be summed up with two words: Librarian porn. No, I am not talking about scantily clad, bespectacled women with buns in their hair and books in their hands. I am talking about a book that I read with voracious excitement as a librarian. Read more.
Fun with Economics
I hate economics with a passion. But I thoroughly enjoyed a book by an economist about economics. Sort of. The subtitle of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explains It All aptly describes Steven D. Levitt. He is an economist, but he uses his economic lens to look at things that readers never thought about quantifying before. Along with his co-author, Stephen J. Dubner, he takes us on a ride through our society like no other. Read more.
Word Freak
One of the last things my husband and I bought before moving to New York City after a 3½ year stay in Sweden was a Swedish scrabble set. Why? So that we would have something to play with Swedes who came to visit or new Swedish friends we may make in the U.S. Scrabble is the ultimate mix of skill and luck. Since I am a linguaphile with a competitive streak it rates as one of my favorite games. Because of this, I've been wanting to read Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis ever since I heard it existed. The book did not disappoint. Read more.
Eats, Shoots, & Leaves by Lynne Truss
I first discovered Eats, Shoots and Leaves, by Lynne Truss, while working as an academic librarian in Sweden. I saw a review of it in a trade publication, and since I was responsible for the English language subject collection among other things, I felt like it would be an excellent addition to my library. So, I ordered it and forgot about it. We were the first library in Sweden to order it, though it was already climbing the English bestseller lists. It arrived and began its life as a circulating library book. Several months later, while packing for a move back to the U.S., I received a final package from my mother, containing a copy of the book. She thought I would enjoy it, and she was right! Read more.
Reference Books
Rather than reviewing a book or two as I usually do in this column, I'd like to explain and explore my love of seemingly dry reference books. I think that my early exposure to this sort of book, along with the insatiable thirst for trivia that followed, led directly to my life's work as a librarian and researcher. The recent holiday season reminded me of my favorite pastime: reading and memorizing information. Read more.
Chocolate
Chocolate is one of the most universal refreshments in the world. Almost anywhere you travel, you will find it in some form. Yet the average person knows very little about chocolate. I chose to read two very different books about chocolate to expand my cocoa knowledge. One outlines the history of chocolate from its discovery to the modern day, while the other provides a behind the scenes look at the big business of chocolate production at two of the chocolate giants. These books left me not only hungry, but also with a craving for even more knowledge about the sweet. Read more.
Books About Stuff
I like knowing "random" things about "stuff." This may be how I ended up as a reference librarian. Lately I have noticed that in addition to reading my usual biographies, I am drawn to non-fiction books about everyday substances. These books are sort of like biographies of things instead of people. I have found that such books provide not only entertainment and relaxation, but also fill in gaps in my trivia knowledge that I may need when I finally fulfill my lifelong dream of being a Jeopardy! contestant. I recently finished one about coal, and before that I made my way through the histories of two of the world's most ingested items: caffeine and salt. Here's a little snippet about each of the three books. Read more.
Visual Biography of Dr. Seuss
During my recent visit to my parents' new home in Florida, I went to the library with my mother to look for some inspiration for this month's column. I made a dash for the biographies, my usual fare, but something on the new non-fiction books display caught my eye: a large book with Dr. Seuss cover illustrations all over it. While it was not at all what I had expected it to be, or what I was looking for when I first picked it up, it turned out to be a great read. Read more.
Languages
As an admitted linguaphile and avid reader of non-fiction, I was delighted when I came across two fairly recent books about languages. One of them deals with languages that died out long ago while the other takes a tour of some of the unusual languages that currently teeter on the edge of extinction. Reading them together provided me with an entertaining journey, and also served up a cautionary tale of what we will lose if we continue to allow languages to die out. Read more.