Non-Fiction
TITANIC: VOICES FROM THE DISASTER by Deborah Hopkinson
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On April 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and sank, resulting in the deaths almost 1500 people (over 2/3 of those on board). Deborah Hopkinson brings the Titanic’s tragic story to life by focusing on the stories of individual survivors. Using their memories and words, she reconstructs the narrative of the Titanic from its initial departure to its sinking and the aftermath for the 700 survivors—most of them women and children whose husbands and fathers perished in the wreck. Titanic: Voices From the Disaster is engaging, horrifying, and informative. Although the book is marketed to upper-elementary school-aged children, I highly recommend it to anyone (children, teen, or adult) who is interested in learning more about the Titanic or who enjoys survival stories.
If you liked Titanic: Voices From the Disaster, you might also like Revenge of the Whale.
SHADOW DIVERS: THE TRUE ADVENTURE OF TWO AMERICANS WHO RISKED EVERYTHING TO SOLVE ONE OF THE LAST MYSTERIES OF WORLD WAR II by Robert Kurson
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The world of commercial diving is competitive. The minute a shipwreck’s location is leaked, dive teams will sprint to it, hoping to get their hands on some of its fascinating artifacts. The divers that received the secret coordinates to “something big” lying sixty miles off the coast of New Jersey (and 230 feet below the ocean’s surface) were excited to explore an untouched wreck. But they were not prepared for what they found: a sunken German U-Boat, undocumented in any historical record. The divers were elated with the discovery–especially John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, two experienced and adventurous divers who also shared a passion for history. Each diver hoped to be the one to discover the U-Boat’s identity and its story. But diving to 230 feet is perilous, and it wasn’t long before the wreck began to claim lives. As most of the surviving divers gradually gave up on the dangerous wreck, only Chatterton and Kohler remained, determined to discover the U-Boat’s identity–even at the risk of their own lives.
I could not put this book down! Before I began reading Shadow Divers, I knew nothing about commercial diving. The logistics and dangers of deep sea dives are fascinating, as are the stories of the people who engage in such a life-threatening activity. Between the danger and suspense of each dive and the intriguing mystery of the U-Boat, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough! I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history, who likes survival stories, or even who enjoys reading thrillers. It is wonderful–a new favorite!
Thanks for the recommendation, Sally!
A CENTURY OF WISDOM: LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF ALICE HERZ-SOMMER, THE WORLD’S OLDEST LIVING HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR by Caroline Stoessinger
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Alice Herz-Sommer was an accomplished concert pianist when the Nazis invaded her home of Prague. Through her years in the Theresienstadt camp, it was music that kept Alice and her young son alive. Alice played numerous concerts for the Nazi officers, and her name never appeared on any of the deportation lists for Auschwitz. Now at age 108, Alice still plays daily and is described by her family and friends as eternally cheerful and optimistic.
Caroline Stoessinger tells the story of Alice’s life with a focus on the positive worldview that has filled her difficult life with so much joy. The chronology in this vignette-style biography is often confusing, but the story is moving and uplifting. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys biographies and memoirs with an optimistic tone.
Thanks for the recommendation, Helen!
THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN: A TALE OF MURDER, INSANITY, AND THE MAKING OF THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY by Simon Winchester
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The creation of the Oxford English Dictionary was the most expansive and grueling project that Sir James Murray ever undertook. The goal of the project was to create a comprehensive record of every word in the English language, including its origins and examples of its usage in literary context. Such a feat would have been impossible were it not for all of the volunteer submissions from philologists around the country, who mailed Murray examples of words quoted in context from literature. One of the most frequent word-donors was a man called Dr. W. C. Minor. Outside the man’s obvious love of literature, Murray knew nothing about this doctor, but he was determined to meet the man who had provided so many of the OED’s valuable contextual examples. When he discovered that Minor was a convicted murderer incarcerated in an insane asylum, however, he realized that the doctor’s past was even more startling than his immense vocabulary.
This is one of my favorite non-fiction books for grown-ups. The history of the dictionary is fascinating to a word nerd like me, and each chapter is paired with entries from the OED. The story of Minor’s life and the glimpses into the nineteenth century criminal justice system are also very interesting. I highly recommend this book to non-fiction readers and lovers of words.
Readers who enjoy reading about criminal justice in previous centuries may also enjoy The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale.
RUNNING THE BOOKS: THE ADVENTURES OF AN ACCIDENTAL PRISON LIBRARIAN by Avi Steinberg
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Avi Steinberg did not plan on becoming a prison librarian. In fact, he once planned on devoting his life to the study of the Torah and Talmud. But after a Harvard education, a falling-off from Orthodox Judaism, and a brief career as an obituary writer, he finds himself on the staff of a Boston “correctional” facility. The experience challenges him in ways he could never have expected. He spends his day cracking jokes with pimps, scouring the library stacks for forbidden messages between prisoners (and secretly saving them), leading prison creative writing groups, and struggling to balance his professional work, his almost-friendships with inmates, his often-dashed hopes for the inmates’ futures, and his knowledge of the terrible crimes many have committed.
Running the Books is both funny and touching. It is entirely character driven, not always chronological, and occasionally confusing. But if you enjoy reflective memoirs and character studies, I definitely recommend this book. I greatly enjoyed it.
1066 AND ALL THAT: A MEMORABLE HISTORY OF ENGLAND by W.C. Sellar and R.J. Yeatman
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1066 and All That: a Memorable History of England, comprising all the parts you can remember, including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates, is a humorous survey of British history from the Roman conquest through 1930, when the book was originally published. The short book is framed as a mock history textbook, complete with absurd essay questions, pointless footnotes, and a plethora of humorous errors. The authors blend actual history with Shakespeare plays, intentionally mix up people and events, combine quotes, alter timelines, etc., which results in a mixture of clever parody and just plain silliness. If you have a basic familiarity with British history and enjoy the sense of humor of Dave Barry, Monty Python, and/or The Simpsons, you will probably find this book as hilarious as I did.
Thanks for the recommendation, Sarah!
THE SUSPICIONS OF MR. WHICHER: A SHOCKING MURDER AND THE UNDOING OF A GREAT VICTORIAN DETECTIVE by Kate Summerscale
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In June 1860, three year old Saville Kent was brutally murdered during the night, taken from his bed in his family’s manor in Wiltshire and stabbed to death, his body finally being thrown into an outhouse. As the manor had been securely locked overnight, it was immediately apparent that someone inside the house must have killed the child. Thus began a true “manor house mystery” that would inspire mystery writers for years to come. The murder occurred at a time when detectives had just begun to appear in law enforcement, as well as in literature. Some viewed men like detective Jonathan Whicher as gods of genius, piecing together seemingly unconnected bits of a story to reach justice. Others saw detectives in a more sinister light: as voyeurs or spies who pried into people’s private lives and exposed their family secrets without discretion–a horrible thought for Victorians.
Summerscale explores these tensions in her account of the Saville Kent murder. She tells the story in the style of a murder mystery novel, following the detective and his investigation, and keeping readers in the dark until the truth is finally revealed in the final chapters. She also weaves the literary history of the detective into her narrative, as well as the origins of words we now take for granted–such as clue and sleuth. I had difficulty putting this book down, mostly because I wanted to find out who actually committed the crime, but also because I found it fascinating how the real history of detectives was interwoven with the development of the detective mystery genre, each influencing the other. (For example, Whicher was a personal friend of Charles Dickens.) I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries, true crime, or Victorian Gothic literature.
If you like historical mysteries, you might like Tess Gerritsen’s novel The Bone Garden.
MAUS by Art Spiegleman
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Art Spiegleman’s parents survived a Nazi concentration camp before moving to America. Years after his mother’s suicide, Art decides to tell his parents’ story in words and pictures, hoping that the bonding experience might ease some of the tension in his relationship with his father. This Pulitzer Prize winning memoir captures Spiegleman’s struggle of growing up in the shadow of his parents’ past, as well as the poignant and heartbreaking story of Vladek and Anja Spieglman’s love and life in Nazi occupied Poland.
This is one of my favorite books, and I highly recommend it. It is written for adults, but I read it for the first time in 8th grade and appreciated it as much then as I do now. The reading level is not difficult, but the subject matter is heavy. I realize that some people do not like books in graphic novel (panel art/comics) format, but if you have never tried reading a graphic novel, or assume that graphic novels are limited to stories of superheroes or fantasy worlds, this is a superb graphic memoir to try. I cannot recommend it enough!
Spiegleman’s story is completed in Maus II.
STITCHES by David Small
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David grew up in a house full of secrets. Some of the secrets were well kept and known by no one. Others, such as his grandmother’s mental instability, were known by everyone but never discussed. Although they never communicated with one another, everyone in David’s family had a habit of nonverbal self-expression. For his brother, drumming was a language. David’s language was illness. As an infant he had trouble breathing. As he became a teenager, a tumor began to grow in his neck.
But the family silence extended even to David’s medical health. After an operation that was never fully explained to him, David had lost a vocal chord and could no longer speak. As his teenage years continued, he struggled to sift through the family secrets and discover what actually happened to him.
If you enjoy memoirs about dysfunctional families, this is the book for you! It’s a graphic memoir (in format), and Small’s black and white drawings help convey his story in a powerful way.
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Susan the Librarian 