Real Libraries and Librarians!

 Here are some fascinating non-fiction books about libraries in celebration of National Library Week!

The Library Book by Susan Orlean examines the unsolved mystery of the most catastrophic library fire in American history, and delivers a dazzling love letter to a beloved institution: our libraries.

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer is the inspiring story of how an average, mild-mannered archivist and historian became an expert smuggler when she organized a dangerous operation to sneak 350,000 precious manuscripts out of Timbuktu in the face of the 2012 al Qaeda takeover.

This Book Is Overdue! by Marilyn Johnson is a romp through the ranks of information professionals who organize our messy world and offer old-fashioned human help through the maze. Johnson celebrates libraries and librarians and discovers offbeat and eloquent characters in the quietest corners.       

The World’s Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette’s, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family by Joshua Hanagarne traces the author's inspiring story as a Mormon youth with Tourette's Syndrome who after a sequence of radical and ineffective treatments overcame nightmarish tics through education, military service and strength training. He is also a librarian with Salt Lake City Public Library.

The True Tails of Baker & Taylor: The Library Cats who Left Their Pawprints on a Small Town and the World by Jan Louch: The memoir of a small-town librarian from Nevada's Douglas County Public Library describes her loving relationship with two Scottish Folds who through promotions for the book-distribution company for whom they were named became two of the world's most famous library cats.

Dewey by Vicki Myron is the true story of a librarian’s discovery of a half frozen kitten in the drop-box of her small town library in Iowa.  The kitten becomes a beloved library mascot whose intuitive nature prompted hundreds of abiding friendships.

The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians by James Patterson: Showcasing the smart and talented people who live between the pages, this inspiring collection of true stories, as told to one of the greatest novelists of our time, invites us into a world where we can feel our curiosities, discover new voices, and find whatever we want or require.

Nevermore: Elephant, Dewey, Mother Tree, Return from Siberia, Hiding Place

 

 

Reported by Garry

 

We had quite a full house this week, with 13 participants! We had our usual mix of fiction, non-fiction, light and fluffy, and deadly serious.

 

How to Raise an Elephant by Alexander McCall Smith is a light-hearted book which is the 21^st in the “No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” series. Our reader thought that this charming book set in Botswana and following the story of Precious Ramotswe was a great way to spend a sultry summer afternoon reading.

 

Another sweet, light read was Dewey, the Library Cat by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter. Our reader says that this version, a middle grades adaptation of the original adult non-fiction tale, is as fluffy and adorable as the cat on the front cover. She read this book with her grandchild and said that it is a perfect book for a young reader to share with a beloved adult.

 

Our next reader discussed the biological study/memoir Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard. This book describes not only Simard’s childhood in British Columbia, but her journey and studies showing how exquisitely interconnected a forest is – far more so than is obvious above ground. Simard’s research shed light on the hidden communication networks between trees and the other plants in the forest, which she describes in this impressive book in direct, accessible language. Our reader was amazed by the information in this book, and says that it has changed the way she looks at the world.

 

Return from Siberia by John Shallman was our next book reviewed. This intriguing historical novel is narrated by John Simon, the grandson of the main character Joseph. Joseph is a young Russian activist during the time of the Bolshevik Revolution. Exiled to Siberia by the Russian Czar, Joseph writes of his political ideals and struggles. One hundred years later John finds and translates his grandfather’s manuscript. In doing so, John discovers extraordinary echoes of the past in the present and comes to realize how the actions of past generations affect the current. Our reader found this to be a fascinating read with the caveat that the writing is “a bit first-draft.”

 

We had a chilly murder mystery as our next book, The Hiding Place by Paula Munier is the third book in her Mercy Carr mystery series, following the adventures of the titular Mercy Carr and her Belgian Malinois dog, Elvis. This time, they are facing trouble on two fronts at once: The man who killed Mercy’s grandfather has escaped prison and may have taken her grandmother hostage, and an Army vet shows up on the scene to claim Elvis is his dog, not Mercy’s. This book is a masterful blend of action, suspense, romance, intrigue, and danger set in the Vermont countryside. Our reader thoroughly enjoyed this well-plotted thriller and recommends it to anyone looking for a tightly written, exciting mystery.

 

Also mentioned:

 

The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

The Good American: The Epic Life of Bob Gersony, the U.S. Government’s Greatest Humanitarian by Robert Kaplan

The Country Diary of An Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden

Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

Saint Patrick’s Battalion by James Alexander Thom

Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris

The Buses are A Comin’: Memoir of a Freedom Rider by Charles Person and Richard Rooker

Why We Garden: Cultivating a Sense of Place by Jim Nollman

You Might Be a Redneck If… by Jeff Foxworthy

Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food from Sustainable to Suicidal by Mark Bittman

Bring Your Baggage and Don’t Pack Light by Hellen Ellis

It’s Elemental: The Hidden Chemistry in Everything by Kate Biberdorf

The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter by Kai Bird

Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

One Two Three by Laurie Frankel