Staff Picks Category: Non-fiction

Crash Course World History by John Green [Online Resource]

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Library users may know John Green best as the author of such popular books as The Fault in Our Stars and An Abundance of Katherines, but he is also a prolific YouTube content creator. His Crash Course series is, so I’m told, aimed at teens, but is loved by adults as well. I am particularly fond of Crash Course History.

Crash Course History was the first series in the Crash Course brand and every episode consists of a short presentation by Green enhanced with clever animations. Green’s style is conversational and engaging. He treats us to occasional tangents and jokes, but the content remains focused and extremely informative, and he doesn’t shy away from difficult topics like imperialism, fascism, and slavery.

Each episode is just over ten minutes long. The length is appropriate for an easily digestible summary that leaves you curious and interested to learn more about a topic. Episodes include The Agricultural Revolution, The Silk Road and Ancient Trade, Mansa Musa and Islam in Africa, and The Columbian Exchange and 38 other topics from ancient through modern times.

Other series in Crash Course brand include, among others, English Literature, Philosophy, Economics, and U.S. History, and more are being planned. You can find them all at the Crash Course page on YouTube.

High Tide in Tucson: Essays From Now or Never by Barbara Kingsolver [Book]

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Written in the 1990s but still every bit as pertinent and fresh, this series of essays from the novelist is about nature, single motherhood, and musings about cultures and politics (oddly prescient). Most of the essays were previously published in magazines, but were revised for inclusion in the book. Kingsolver pays close attention to her natural and human surroundings whether she is in Africa or her home turf of Kentucky, or her current abode in the desert. Some essays are funny, some lump-in-the-throat poignant; all are highly recommended.

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay [Book]

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Roxane Gay’s memoir Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body is startling. It is moving and important. It is hard to read and hard to put down.

In this memoir of her body Gay puts into words so much that would generally be left unsaid. Gay’s writing is clear and concise. It does not shy from the contradictions in life. It is both restrained and emotional. It is devastating. Gay tells us about her life. She was raped at the age of twelve. She is fat. She is scared. She is complex, intelligent, insightful, compassionate, and a brilliant writer. She lives a privileged life and recognizes her privilege. She is the subjected to great prejudice and discrimination. In Hunger she shares truths that must be incredibly difficult to share and she does so very well.

Gay’s book tells us much about her life, but it also tells us much about our culture, our country, our attitudes. We are not kind to fat bodies. We are not kind to women’s bodies. We are not kind to black bodies. We are not kind to ourselves. You probably already know this, but Gay’s book will still open your eyes. Her perspective is probably not one you have heard before.

On the back of the dust jacket Ann Patchett tells us why this book is important and I cannot improve on what she says. She writes:

“It turns out that when a wrenching past is confronted with wisdom and bravery, the outcome can be compassion and enlightenment—both for the reader who has lived through this kind of unimaginable pain and for the reader who knows nothing of it. Roxane Gay shows us how to be decent to ourselves and decent to one another. Hunger is an amazing achievement in more ways than I can count.”

The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise by Michael Grunwald [Book]

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If you have ever visited the Everglades, (or what’s left of it) you know it is a marsh, not a swamp. The swamp of the title refers to the name commonly, especially in previous centuries, assigned to it by non-specialists, but even more to the morass of politics that has alternatively consigned it to death, and pushed it back from the brink. This is a book for observers and students of political strategy and American history. Yes, there are ecological lessons here, but it is more a tale of why some people become environmental activists (some very surprising stories), and why some have a different vision for the future, and of their continuing battles for the future of the Everglades, and by extension, south Florida.

Endurance: a year in space, a lifetime of discovery by Scott Kelly [Audiobook]

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Scott Kelly reads the parallel stories of how a boy from blue collar New Jersey, son of alcoholic parents, became an astronaut and how he endured a year on the International Space Station. These stories are told in alternating chapters. Once you get used to his somewhat deadpan (I’m a tough fighter pilot, man of few words) delivery the parallel stories are engaging. Details of training in Russia and life aboard the ISS are fascinating. For those with an interest in the space program and science in general.

Beyond the Messy Truth: How We Came Apart, How We Come Together by Van Jones [Book]

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The “messy truth” to CNN commentator and progressive activist Van Jones is that the country was primed for a revolution regardless of the candidates in the 2016 presidential election. He elucidates the history of the increasing divide between the four segments of American political life he identifies, and makes suggestions for both liberals and conservatives for understanding, corrective action, and finding commonalities across what seems a huge chasm. In spite of the detailing of serious problems like the epidemic of addiction, Beyond the messy truth isn’t a depressing read because of solutions offered. Fresh ideas, persuasively expressed. Strongly recommended regardless of your politics, though progressives may find the most to digest here.

God, a guide for the perplexed by Keith Ward [Book]

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No perplexity required. A survey of beliefs about God, primarily in the West, beginning with ancient Greece. From the common folk to philosophers both famous and obscure. Sprinkled with wry humor and anecdotes. Recommended for history buffs, particularly those interested in the evolution of Christian beliefs.

Being Mortal [Audiobook, Book, E-book]

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As the title implies, this book is for everyone, everyone who is mortal. With the subject matter, one might expect a very depressing tome. Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and a staff writer for the New Yorker, is an amazing story-teller. In the end, there is hope for making the world, and the end of life, better. He frankly addresses the failings of a medical system that tries to fix everything, when that might not be the right choice. He takes us through the very personal lives, and deaths, of many people, including the very personal story of his own father, as well as sharing his research into how we got where we are. Yes, it is good to live in a world that no longer has poor houses, but in some cases, we haven’t done much better.

Reading this book will hopefully encourage you to start the difficult but important conversations with your relatives and loved ones. Do you want to spend the end of your life living with parakeets? Will you be happy if you can eat chocolate ice cream and watch football?

[This was also very good on audio, but might make you cry a little while you are driving…]

The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson [Book]

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Bill Bryson is at his sincerely sardonic best as he roams his adopted country in search of what he loves best: quaint villages, good hiking, exquisite views, mysterious ancient sites, and odd people to make fun of–including himself. It’s just as unputdownable as all his other travel memoirs.

The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner [Book]

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Eric Weiner is a grump with a mission — trying to discover the happiest places in the world, and what makes them that way. From the World Database of Happiness in Rotterdam, Netherlands, to the Gross National Happiness of Bhutan, from binge drinking and happiness in Iceland to binge drinking and unhappiness in Moldova, Weiner travels the world and discovers some of what makes different people happy, and the many paths one can take to get there.

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin by Jen Bryant; illustrated by Melissa Sweet [Book]

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Horace couldn’t stop drawing. He drew all the time and said, “Pictures just come to my mind…and I tell my heart to go ahead”. Horace never stopped making pictures. Not while working hard every day to provide for his family and not even when he was in the trenches in France during WWI. Of the war, Horace said, it “brought out all the art in me”. He painted war scenes, bible scenes, and what he saw of everyday life. This is an engaging picture book that will introduce children to a great American artist.

Stuffology 101 by Brenda Avadian, MA, and Eric Riddle [Book]

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I was going to have a photo taken of me reading this in front of a pile of boxes we haven’t unpacked since the last move, but I couldn’t find the camera.
Stuffology is a refreshing contrast to The life-changing magic of tidying up even though it promises similar benefits to getting rid of excess stuff. They’re serious about their subject but light-hearted in their approach. Get rid of the accumulated objects that are weighing your life down and you’ll be better able to focus, function and live fully in the present. Plus they coined the acronyms CHAOS (Can’t Have Anybody Over Syndrome) and POOP (Piles Of Overwhelming Paperwork).