Quotation Favorite Quotes

"There are two insults which no human being will endure: the assertion that he hasn't a sense of humor, and the doubly impertinent assertion that he has never known trouble."


from Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

Reader's Link

 Reader's Link

Browsing all posts tagged 'non-fiction'

The funniest travelogue ever?

Into the heart of Borneo

Title: Into the heart of Borneo
By: Redmond O'Hanlon

Possibly the funniest travel memoir ever written, as well as an unexpected gold mine of accurate scientific information. When O'Hanlon invited his Borneo travel companion, the poet James Fenton, on a succeeding journey, the answer was an earbreaking NO! Would most readers want to accompany O'Hanlon? Probably not. But a ... [Read more]


non-fiction, biography, travel
0 Comments

Friends Forever

The Girls from Ames

Title: The Girls from Ames
By: Jeffrey Zaslow

Imagine a group of friends that you have known literally all your life. You grew up in the same small town, knew each others' families, attended the same schools, went to the same parties, went off to different colleges and jobs, moved to different parts of the country, married, had ... [Read more]


non-fiction, audiobook
0 Comments

Worth unearthing

A unit of water, a unit of time: Joel White's last boat

Title: A unit of water, a unit of time: Joel White's last boat
By: Douglas Whynott

You’re not likely to stumble upon this gem unless you’re given to browsing technical tomes on boat construction. But oh, how lucky you’d be! This engrossing portrait of a cranky, brilliant craftsman racing against terminal illness is also a family saga: master wooden boat builder Joel White was the son ... [Read more]


non-fiction
0 Comments

Redemption of Criminal Youth

Last Chance In Texas

Title: Last Chance In Texas
By: John Hubner

The most violent criminal youth find hope in an unlikely place, "punish-'em-hard" Texas, The Giddings School, where all-day, one-on-one and group therapy sessions led by dedicated professionals teach the juvenile offenders to take responsibility for their crimes and to develop empathy and compassion for others. Instead of coming back into ... [Read more]


non-fiction, history, young adult
0 Comments

It's A Long Drive Down Interstate 5, or that's a lot of cotton!

The King of California, J.G. Boswell and The Making of A Secret American Empire.

Title: The King of California, J.G. Boswell and The Making of A Secret American Empire.
By: Mark Arax

This book dovetails perfectly if you happen to be reading John Steinbeck, or studying the photographs of Dorothea Lange. A biography which examines the life of a very powerful farmer (at one point owning over 200,000 acres of rich farmland) used to driving bargains across bar stools and shaking down ... [Read more]


non-fiction, history, biography
0 Comments

Journeys of a Passionate Traveller

A Year in the World

Title: A Year in the World
By: Frances Mayes

Mayes' most well-known work Under the Tuscan Sun and its offshoots never appealed to me so I was surprised and delighted when I discovered her more recent memoir, A Year in the World. In her day job Mayes was a writing instructor, and here she shows her craft in top ... [Read more]


non-fiction, biography, travel
0 Comments

Ever worked a weird low-level job?

Nickel and Dimed, on (not) getting by in America.

Title: Nickel and Dimed, on (not) getting by in America.
By: Barbara Ehrenreich

Haven't we all worked at some kind of wretched job at some point in our lives? And thought to ourselves "I am so over-educated for this!" In this book, Ms. Ehrenreich conducts an experiment, using herself for the test subject: find work in meaningless jobs and write about the experience ... [Read more]


non-fiction, history, biography
1 Comment

From Frito Pie to Pho

Take Big Bites: adventures around the world and across the table

Title: Take Big Bites: adventures around the world and across the table
By: Linda Ellerbee

Longtime reporter, producer, TV host, and author, Linda Ellerbee calls herself "a recovering journalist who's traveled and eaten her way around the planet and lived to tell some tales." In Take Big Bites she has written a witty, sassy book about food that's also a blend of autobiography, travelogue and ... [Read more]


non-fiction, biography, travel
1 Comment

Pathways to Santa Cruz County & Its People

Pathways to the Past: Adventures in Santa Cruz County History

Title: Pathways to the Past: Adventures in Santa Cruz County History
By: Alverda Orlando and 21 others

Pathways to the Past is not the first book on the history of Santa Cruz County. As a matter of fact, at the time of this writing, our library catalog alone shows 135 titles on its history from early ones like Illustrations of Santa Cruz County, California, with historical sketch ... [Read more]


non-fiction, history, biography
1 Comment

Reflections from the Land of Fire and Ice

The Windows of Brimnes: An American in Iceland

Title: The Windows of Brimnes: An American in Iceland
By: Bill Holm

Perhaps because I have never been there, I have always had a strange fascination with Iceland: the medieval sagas, the stark yet beautiful landscape, those small horses.... So when I heard poet and essayist Bill Holm being interviewed on NPR about this book, I immediately added it to my list. ... [Read more]


non-fiction, poetry, travel
0 Comments

Learning to Fly

The Complete Guide to Flight Instruction

Title: The Complete Guide to Flight Instruction
By: Gregory Penglis

This Bay area flight instructor has taught flying to hundreds of students for more than fifteen years. He recounts his experiences at age 16 learning to fly. He then writes about his challenges teaching student pilots and the state of flying instruction in the United States. While the book is ... [Read more]


non-fiction
1 Comment

Endearing biography of Doris Day

Doris Day: the untold story of the girl next door

Title: Doris Day: the untold story of the girl next door
By: David Kaufman

Are you a "Dayniac" too? This biography is so much more than just the usual tell-all book about America's sweetheart Doris Day with the superb voice and acting career. This book will give you the real low-down on her smarmy manager/husband, Marty Melcher. Miss Day was one of the biggest ... [Read more]


non-fiction, history, biography
0 Comments

Lime Kilns in the Limelight

Lime Kiln Legacies

Title: Lime Kiln Legacies
By: Frank A. Perry, and others

Lime Kiln Legacies is the first complete history of the lime industry in Santa Cruz County. The rise and fall of the lime industry in Santa Cruz County coincides with the developing history of California. In the first half of the 1800s, only small amounts of lime began to be ... [Read more]


non-fiction, history
3 Comments

The Happiest Places in the World

The Geography of Bliss: One grump's search for the happiest places in the world

Title: The Geography of Bliss: One grump's search for the happiest places in the world
By: Eric Weiner

Part travelogue, part memoir, part twisted self-help guide, this humorous ramble takes the reader around the world in search of the happiest places to live. NPR correspondent Eric Weiner discovers some surprises as he blends travel, psychology, science, and humor to ask not what happiness is, but where it is. ... [Read more]


non-fiction, travel
0 Comments

Something to Make You Think

Principles of Uncertainty

Title: Principles of Uncertainty
By: Maira Kalman

Maira Kalman is a wonderful whimsical artist who has drawn many colorful covers for the New Yorker and has written several slightly wacky delightful children's books including Ooh-La-La (Max in Love), Smartypants, and Fireboat, an excellent 9-11 children's book. You don't have to have seen her art or read her ... [Read more]


non-fiction, biography
0 Comments

Watching The Oscars Will Never Be The Same.

The Big Show : High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards

Title: The Big Show : High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards
By: Steve Pond

All the in-fighting and back-stabbing and shocking shenanigans of Hollywood and the behind-the-scenes gossip of the biggest show we all love to watch! Written by an observer extraordinaire who loves juicy gossip as much as we do. Now I know just how quirky the hosts can be, and it's the ... [Read more]


non-fiction, history
0 Comments

A Colorful History

Color: A Natural History of the Palette

Title: Color: A Natural History of the Palette
By: Victoria Finlay

Doesn't this sound like something that would be assigned in a dry history class? If you think so, you'd be wrong! Victoria Finlay, an excellent writer, has given us a history of the development of color in paint that is actually a page-turner. Extensively researched, we learn that each hue ... [Read more]


non-fiction, history, biography, art
0 Comments

French wine makers in WWII: an inspiring story!

Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure.

Title: Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure.
By: Don and Petrie Kladstrup

The authors interviewed several members of five prominent wine making families in France. Very interesting stories of how they personally hid Jewish refugees in wine caves and smuggled members of the Resistance in wine barrels! We read of grape harvests ruined because of the shortage of horses, sulfur dust and ... [Read more]


non-fiction, history
1 Comment

Friends in the Kitchen

M.F.K. Fisher and Me: A memoir of Food and Friendship

Title: M.F.K. Fisher and Me: A memoir of Food and Friendship
By: Jeannette Ferrary

If only it were my kitchen! I would prove to both Jeannette and Mary Frances that when I scramble eggs, or sear a pork chop, it was their advice that helped me make them turn out so "right." What serendipity! Jeannette is a cookbook writer and writes M.F.K. a fan ... [Read more]


non-fiction, history, biography
0 Comments

History You Can't Put Down

The Great Bridge

Title: The Great Bridge
By: David McCullough

Part biography, part engineering study, and part political history, The Great Bridge tells the story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. Popular historian David McCullough brings history to life in this book, which has all of the interest, characters and plot of a good novel. Even those (like myself) ... [Read more]


non-fiction, history
0 Comments

Book Discussion KitsCheck Out Our Book Discussion Kits!

To help your book discussion group, we've gathered a collection of popular paperback titles and sorted them into kits which can be sent to you upon request.