Nonfiction

This was probably the most difficult book I’ve ever read/listened to (I did a little of both in this case).  Not because it was over 17 hours of audio and over 500 pages long, but because it transported me right back to that horrible, life-changing day in high definition technicolor.  

Mitchell Zuckoff was a reporter for the Boston Globe on 9/11/2001 and covered the story.  In this book he follows the lives of dozens of victims and survivors.  We hear stories of pilots, flight attendants, firemen, businessmen and women, and more.  We see who their loved ones are, where they were the night before, and where they were headed.  We see hopes and dreams irrevocably changed.  Mr. Zuckoff does a spectacular job of taking us  through the timeline of 9/11 beginning with the hijacking of American Airlines Flight 11 right through to the collapse of the north tower of the World Trade Center.  

At times I couldn’t stop reading.  At times I had to.  Not only do we have a personal look at those who experienced tragedy and suffering firsthand, we also read about failures in interagency communication and procedures that probably should have been in place but weren’t.  For instance, Mr. Zuckoff tells us, “On September 11, 2001, the FAA’s ‘no-fly list’ included a grand total of twelve names. By contrast, the State Department’s so-called TIPOFF terrorist watchlist included sixty thousand names. Yet the FAA’s head of Civil Aviation Security didn’t even know that the State Department list existed. Two names on that State Department list were Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, both on board Flight 77.”  

He also recounts how TSA guidelines were very different from what we’re used to in this post-9/11 world.  Several hijackers set off metal detectors but were never patted down and were allowed to board anyway.  Interestingly, although hijackings were more common than sabotage by bomb on airplanes, regulations more frequently screened checked luggage for bombs than it did passengers for weapons.  It was sometimes maddening to read, and I had to remind myself that it truly was a different world.  This kind of attack was just not on anyone’s radar.

In the final chapter, Mr. Zuckoff gives us a small look into some of the survivors’ lives since 9/11, and then he closes out with two appendices, one containing a list of all the victims and the other a concise timeline of each flight.

Although it’s a difficult emotional journey, I do highly recommend this book, not only to those who remember exactly where they were “when the world stopped turning,” but also to the generation of people just becoming adults who have no personal memories of a day that started so sunny but ended so dark.

~ Carrie

Let’s start with a little pop quiz.     

• 1. Which of the following is NOT true about George Washington?

  • He had a horse named George.

  • He paid 122 shillings for nine teeth.

  • He was the “Father of the American Mule.”

  • He had a secretary from Portsmouth, NH.

2. Which New England state did Washington NOT originally visit because they had not yet ratified the Constitution?

As a long-time fan of Nathaniel Philbrick, I did not hesitate to pick up his latest book, Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy.  I opted for the audio version of this one and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was read by the author. 

It was a delight to travel with Mr. Philbrick, his wife, Melissa, and his dog, Dora, as they followed the newly elected president’s excursion as far north as Kittery, Maine and south all the way to Savannah, Georgia.  The narrative seamlessly bounces from reflections on Washington’s journey long ago to the people and places of today, landmarks that still remain, and how Washington’s influence can still be felt. You’ll learn things about our first president that will humor you, amaze you, and maybe even anger you.  You’ll learn the answers to my little quiz. (You didn’t think I’d give that away, did you?).  And if you’re anything like me, you’ll want to hop in the car and start driving up or down the east coast yourself to stop where Washington stopped, sleep where he slept, and cross rivers he crossed.  You’ll want to go to Washington D.C. to find the original boundary markers placed there in 1791 and learn more about how Washington “rolled up his sleeves and helped build a government designed to transcend the ego of any single individual.”  

If you enjoy books about our nation’s history, I highly recommend this one.  

~Carrie

During a recent video conversation with my friend, we were recommending books to one another that we’d enjoyed reading. When I answered “no” to his inquiry as to whether I had read Caste: the Origins of Our Discontents, his eyebrows went up and he simply said, “you have to”. 

He was so right!  This is a book that educated me in a way no history text ever did.  Through Ms. Wilkerson’s very readable style of writing, my eyes and my mind were opened to untold tragedies brought about by the simple belief that some humans are better, more important, and more deserving than others, based on where, when, and into what family they were born. 

The book compares the unfathomable cruelties of three caste systems.  The one most of us have heard of in India (Brahmins: priests, gurus, etc. down to the Shudras or Dalits: the untouchables), the German Reich system, headed by Adolf Hitler, that existed from 1933 and thankfully ended in 1945, and the caste system in the United States of America that began around four hundred years ago and still exists today.  Yes, this country, land of “the free and the brave” in which “all men [women] are created equal” continues to perpetuate a subliminal yet definitive caste system. 

The author’s descriptions of torture and abuse on those of lower caste ranks by the “higher-ups” was disturbing, but I read on.  I had to.  I’ve read other books that dealt with injustice and cruelty, but the specifics that Wilkerson cites reinforce her position of the tyranny of caste systems and support her belief that every one of us is responsible to everyone else, regardless of caste. We are all human. 

According to Wilkerson, “Each time a person reaches across caste [referring to levels within the caste] and makes a connection, it helps to break the back of caste.  Multiplied by millions in a given day, it becomes the flap of a butterfly wing that shifts the air and builds to a hurricane across an ocean.”

I can’t stress strongly enough how universally important this book is, particularly in this day and age when blatant hatred is so prevalent and peoples of our nation, and the world, are so divided.  I challenge anyone who reads this book to not think differently about our fellow humans and what role each of us plays in humanity.

~ Debra

Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald is a book of essays. Although essays and short stories are not usually my thing, I was attracted to the book because I thought that the insights into the natural world would be refreshing after a year of basic indoor isolation.  To Ms. Macdonald’s credit, that was exactly what I found. Her descriptive way of writing brings the reader outdoors and able to clearly visualize whatever it is she is writing about. This collection of essays focuses on the animal world, mainly those that fly, and expands into other aspects of nature such as solar eclipses, various plants, and the interactions of the natural world with the most mysterious animals on the planet--us humans.

One thing that struck me was her expansive use of vocabulary. To me, adding new words to my knowledge base has always been an added benefit of reading so long as they are not interspersed too frequently to stop the flow of the story, message, or description.  I’m not saying that the reading level of this book is that high, and I would certainly recommend it to high school students, but rather that a number of the words that the author uses may be beyond that of the average reader.  Since I was reading an ebook, I was able to look up the meaning of a word that I didn’t know by simply touching it, which I had to do regularly and found this feature invaluable.  If you have never tried reading e-books, I highly recommend it. 

Most of the essays were uplifting and gave the reader the sense of being present in the moment. Like nature itself, some descriptions were uncomfortable to read but for the most part the visualizations were spectacular and uplifting. A little more than halfway through the book, Macdonald describes in vivid detail Vesper Flights and the reader cannot help but share her fascination with this event. Vespers, she explains, are evening prayers and Vesper Flights refer to the activities of swifts on warm summer evenings. 

I have not yet read Helen Macdonald’s best-selling book, H is for Hawk, but suspect I will in time. For now, I’m glad I read Vesper Flights.  

~ Debra

“I desperately want to move us towards healing, but we can’t get to that part without the hard truths.”

Emmanuel Acho is a retired middle linebacker for the Cleveland Browns and the Philadelphia Eagles.  He is currently a sports analyst for Speak for Yourself  on Fox Sports 1, and in 2020 he started a popular weekly YouTube series called Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man that led to him writing this book.  Some may also be familiar with him as the host of this year’s TV show Bachelor: After the Rose episode.

After the social injustices against the Black community in 2020, Auch decided that the only way society could change is to have open and extremely uncomfortable conversations about race differences and what it means to be a Black person in America.  He welcomes readers to come as we are to “a safe place” to begin having those conversations as we learn more about Black culture. Auch’s main point within his book is that only if we all work together can we bring about positive changes in America.   

Auch is a first-generation American and grew up in Dallas with both of his parents who immigrated to the US from Nigeria.  He identifies himself as Nigerian American or as Black.  He acknowledges he was  privileged in attending a private school where most of the students were not people of color.  Therefore, he recognizes that he grew up “navigating the lines between Whiteness and Blackness all my life.”  This provides Auch with a unique perspective on both races.

Each chapter begins with a question people have asked after watching his YouTube show.  The question is then explained throughout the chapter as if we are having a conversation with Auch. He does not preach as he provides both historical and current cultural references to support his perspective on the issues being discussed.  He also discusses cultural appropriation, white privilege, the “angry Black man”, interracial couples, discrepancies in education within the last 400 years; the term “reverse racism,” civil disobedience, the N-word, and our internal monologues surrounded by our own biases.  Auch strongly suggests that we Google “Implicit Bias Test” and take one for ourselves to learn where our biases might lie because until we actually see the results, we may be in denial that it exists.

Auch also provides names of authors, titles of books, movies, and websites as resources for readers who want to learn more about Black culture and topics discussed in the chapter.  Stay tuned after the Acknowledgements to read Acho’s “Quick Notes”. He discusses more topics based on questions he’s been asked, that didn’t organically fit elsewhere in the book. These are important topics about people of color and are worth reading or listening to.  

This is one of the best books I have read or listened to about race in America. The audiobook is a little over 4.5 hours long, yet it took me a whole lot longer due to all the times I stopped to rewind it to take notes.  If you are going to read only one book on this topic, I strongly suggest reading Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.  It is truly like having a conversation without judgment.

Remember to check out Emmanuel Acho’s website where his YouTube videos are posted.  He is also releasing a children’s version of this book on May 04, 2021 called Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy.

~ Michele

World Wide Vet by Dr. Evan Antin is for all who love watching “Animal Planet” and/or reading books about animals. Some may know this veterinarian from his TV show, Evan Goes Wild;  this book will enhance that experience, but for those of you who have never seen the show or heard of him, you are still in for a treat.

Dr. Antin relates his adventures from Africa to South American and numerous other exotic places around the world.  He opens our eyes to the life of native people explaining their view of the plants and animals around them.   A more detailed part of this book involves his finding, filming,  photographing, and interacting with a wide range of exotic animals from monitor lizards and giraffes to black macaques. Sometimes he finds himself in dangerous situations and occasionally it happens right here in the US.  Once , as the time he was bitten by a copperhead, and the first hospital he went to did not have the anti-venom he needed!

Some of the facts are fascinating.  For example, poison dart frogs lose their poison after being kept in captivity.     The only animal other than humans that gets leprosy is the armadillo!  The book is filled with interesting tidbits like this.

Dr. Antin is an unpretentious and likeable fellow who has great respect for all of the groups of people he meets as well as for the animals.  He is a wonderful educator who imparts knowledge in an easily understandable and interesting manner. He respects the wide array of animals throughout the world, always conveying his desire to preserve all of them and the areas in which they exist.

This is an intriguing book that is easy to read and is educational while being entertaining at the same time.

~ Barbara

Dolly Parton, one of the most iconic country music artists, shares her songs, the stories behind them and corresponding events that went on in her life around the time they were written.  The Introduction begins with “My name is Dolly Parton, and I am a songwriter.  That is how I express myself.  In a song, I can go anywhere.” And she does.

Dolly begins with her life growing up in a poor, religious and musical family in the Tennessee mountains, and the book goes mostly in chronological order from there to the present day and her thoughts of “being an Icon”.  She does not wear rose colored glasses when she reveals events in her life that happen around the music she wrote.  She shares about her relationship with her husband, Carl Dean, the controversy surrounding her relationship with Porter Wayne, when she sold her first song, life traveling on the road, collaborating with other artists, acting roles in both movies and TV, writing the music for the 9 to 5: The Musical and many, many other accomplishments in her life.  Dolly also shares some of her philanthropist activities, such as starting the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library because her own father could not read. 

She touches upon it in the book, yet most people don’t realize that Dolly Parton has made most of her money writing songs for other people.  One of the most famous songs is Whitney Houston’s cover of “I Will Always Love You”, which made the song a number 1 hit-song for the third time (read the book to discover the first two).  Dolly discloses some of the songs she has written for and with others.   While reading the book you'll discover the numerous artists she collaborated with and for whom she shared her songs.  Plus, you'll learn about the one surprising person who also wanted to record "I Will Always Love You".

I listened to both the audiobook and read the book at separate times.  The book is the size, or slightly smaller, than what we would consider the size of a coffee table book.  The audiobook’s narration shares introductions to different parts of the book, but it is mostly Dolly Parton beautifully having a conversation with us.  There are a few seconds of her songs when she begins talking about them or events in her life.  Whereas, the book provides the entire lyrics to the songs, plus it shows gorgeous color pictures from her life performing on stage, co-workers in movies, musical instruments, clothing, friends and family, and other memorabilia. Which one is better?  Why not read and listen to both at the same time?

I am not a fan of the way the book ended, but how do you end a story that is not over?  Dolly exquisitely shares her life experiences and wisdom with us, and in doing so she reveals to us what a down-to-earth and positive person she is.  I recommend this book to fans of Dolly Parton and country music. 

~ Michele

Boy Erased A Memoir of Identity, Faith, and Family by Garrard Conley is eye opening, unfathomable, and frightening. The author takes us into his family’s world of religion and how it affects his own personal journey of dealing with his homosexuality. 

While I recommend this book, I can’t say that I enjoyed reading it.  At times the author jumps around which caused me to stop and figure out where he was in the narrative, but I find that in reading nonfiction books like this there is a different form of satisfaction.  I feel that it was definitely a worthwhile read and am grateful to have read it.

Reading this book reinforced my core belief that there is no, nor can there be, a true definition of “normal” when talking about humanity. We have been taught all our lives that every individual is unique but, on some level, there are still those who believe that people, given their own uniqueness, must fall somewhere into the general category of normal. I say categorically that there is no such thing!

As a heterosexual, I find it nearly impossible to imagine walking in the shoes of someone for whom homosexuality is normal but know that it is real and not chosen. I don’t believe that I can ever be converted to that version of normalcy just as surely as I believe that a homosexual individual can ever, no matter how hard they try, “become” straight. This book describes the attempt with all its devastating consequences to help the author become pure, in the eyes of God, by denouncing and denying his homosexuality. He struggles with the question of whether God loves all His creatures as they are or if those who deviate from society or religious beliefs are truly damned for all eternity. I personally believe the former and if you want the perspective of someone who has lived through the struggle, you may find it in this book. 

~ Debra

No matter how old you are, I would venture to guess that you have watched at least one episode of Jeopardy! in your lifetime or perhaps may even be a truly loyal fan today. After the 36 years that Alex Trebek has hosted Jeopardy! you wouldn’t be alone!

Alex Trebek’s autobiography, The Answer Is...Reflections on My Life was an easy, quick, and uplifting read. Yes, he addresses his cancer but does not dwell on it and shares with the reader so much more. In short one to three page reflections and with lots of photos, he writes about going off to military school, his childhood best friend who became a reformed bully, his love of horses and so many more tidbits that make him a human being as well as the successful quiz show (not game show, as I learned from reading this book) host that most of us are familiar with today.

We base our identities on the people we know, who we love, our family and friendly associations, where we’re from, our accomplishments, our financial status, and a myriad of other factors. Alex Trebek is no exception. While he is most closely identified by his TV persona in the eyes of the viewing world, and I believe to a great extent by himself, in this book he shares with us other aspects of his life that round out the man he is.

If biographies are not your “thing”, you may want to dip your toe into this quick and refreshing book that you might still enjoy. You may be pleasantly surprised. And if biographies are what you gravitate toward, you will certainly enjoy reading about someone most of us know and admire.

~ Debra

“I never plan for death; rather, I plan to live.”  - William Shatner

I have read several of Shatner’s nonfiction books, all about Star Trek.  I’ve heard him speak at a comic book convention and paid to have my picture taken with him.  Shatner has a reputation for being humorous, sporting, and difficult to work with.  What does he have to say at this advanced age?

Live Long and….What I learned Along the Way is about his views, philosophical and otherwise, on various life aspects such as dieting, relationships. and work.  Shatner is afraid of death, passionate about the idea of “passion,” and absolutely loves his Dobermans and horses.  I was curious to see his perspective on events I’ve seen in the news.  His second wife died in their pool.  His lifelong friendship with Leonard Nimoy was rocky at the end, and he didn’t attend Nimoy’s funeral.  The anecdotes still amused me given the circles he travels in.  Look up "Shatner" and "Rivet Motorcycle" to see him with a bizarre vehicle then read the story behind it here.

The memoir is a smooth read though the writing is fairly standard, and the entertainment relies mostly on how interested you are in Shatner.  It doesn’t stand out in the memoir category, partially because some of his biography has been written in his other books.   It is a nice read for anyone wanting to know what goes on in his mind and how he makes his life choices.

~ Mark

Maus has always been in the back of mind as a graphic novel to read.  I mean, it did win a Pulitzer.   I finally got around to reading it, and I easily see why it's so acclaimed.

Maus is part biography, part autobiography.  Artist and writer Art Spieglman wrote himself as one of the main characters.  The central concept is that Art interviews his father Vladek about the latter’s experiences as a Jew during the Holocaust so he that can create this very book.   Intertwined with Vladek’s experiences is the present-day drama focusing on Art’s relationship with his father.  Vladek is miserly, stubborn, and afraid of being alone: all traits that irritate those close to him.   Art often has to listen to his father and his stepmother Mala complain about one another.

It’s too bad the cartoony artwork will throw some people off since it is such a strong element.  The Jews are depicted as mice, and the Nazis as cats.  The choice to make the characters anthropomorphic adds a level of emotion you wouldn’t have as much if the characters were humans.  I’m used to movies where people are being shot and such, but if an animal is harmed, I get uneasy.  Watching pain on a mouse’s face as the Jews are tortured elicits a more visceral reaction that makes me empathize all the more.   At the same time, the anthropomorphism keeps anything from feeling too extreme, which makes it great for different reading levels.

I was fascinated by how Vladek got from one point to another in trying to escape persecution, the alliances and enemies he made, and the tight places he found himself in.  Certain atrocities I never knew such Jews being packed shoulder-to-shoulder in a freight train and then left in there for days.  How could Vladek survive that?

The path for Vladek before and after the war is so much more personal to the reader given the truth of his experiences.   In a wink to the audience, Art the Mouse tells his in-comic wife that sometimes embellishing is necessary and that in real life she wouldn’t go so long without interrupting him.   It’s the common problems in present-day storyline and how the characters navigate them that bind the connection to the reader.  By the end I had connected to humanity on multiple levels.

This is the graphic novel for people who don’t read graphic novels.  If you’re still unsure, flip through and read a page or two.  You will be in for quite an experience.

~ Mark

Marcia Hinds and her husband Frank were over the moon when the doctor announced that they had just given birth to their second child, a healthy baby boy. In I Know You’re In There: Winning Our War Against Autism, Marcia Hinds describes her family’s journey from “Autism Island” (her term) to the mainland.

What I liked most about the book was the way she tells the story. Marcia loves her son, Ryan, and will do whatever it takes to prevent him from being discarded by society, written off by doctors, or as she puts it, stranded on Autism Island forever. Her single mission since his diagnosis was to help him become all that he could be and for him to achieve a full and good life. I was inspired by her success right from the beginning with the  preface by a healthy, adult Ryan. I found her inclusions of communications and points of view from other people in Ryan’s life to be helpful in rounding out the details of his journey.

As a mother, I can relate to this Hind’s unconditional love for her child and her unrelenting efforts to achieve her goals for Ryan, yet there were times that I felt her persistent demands and sometimes off-putting communications with Ryan’s teachers and doctors tended to be unnecessarily offensive. I am not sure how I would have been able to cope with such a parent when I was teaching. 

The details she writes about and her descriptions of her son’s specific behaviors throughout his most difficult struggles and recovery were eye opening and frankly forever changed the way I observe a child’s misbehavior in public places. No longer will I make blanket assumptions about the cause of a child’s behavior or a parent’s ignorance or ability to raise his/her child.

Ms. Hinds made it fairly clear that her purpose for writing this book was to address parents of children afflicted with autism, doctors who believe that there is little or no hope to help these children, and teachers who can be so influential in making or breaking a child. For all others who will ever deal directly with, or generally observe children in public, the information in this book is invaluable, and I highly recommend it.

~ Debra