Fragments of Marilyn Monroe

Fragments:  Poems, intimate notes, letters by Marilyn Monroe is a new book composed of snippets of the star's writings.  I loved all the photos between chapters which show her reading.  It seems uncharacteristic of the public persona of Marilyn Monroe, but she enjoyed leisure reading and expressing her thoughts on paper.  I was highly impressed by some of the titles that were found in her 400+ volume private collection (I suppose if we believe they were all read by her - I mean, sure, War & Peace may be on my bookshelf, but it doesn't mean I've read it).  A great deal of intelligence and critical thinking is shown by her introspective letters, poems, and organized lists, but like the 'Jekyll & Hyde' personality Monroe herself claimed to possess, these fragments also reveal her delicate emotional state and self-doubts.  The great aspect of the book's format is that the reader can see the documents in their original format, but read their text (typed on the opposing page) without having to decipher Monroe's script and scribbles.  This is a look past outward appearances to the real heart of Marilyn Monroe.

A Motley life...



Tattoos & Tequila book jacket



I haven't yet read the acclaimed autobiography Life by Keith Richards, but am interested in doing so.  Instead this weekend I quickly breezed through the years of hard rock, partying, and drama that is Vince Neil's life.  His story, written with the assistance of Mike Sager (I personally think he must have done more than assist), is titled Tattoos & Tequila.  The lengthy subtitle sums up almost everything between the covers, 'To hell and back with one of rock's most notorious frontmen'.  As with other celebrity biographies that speak of addictions, the events described by Neil are at times comical and stupid and at other times, just plain sad.  Sad in the way that no one's life should be so controlled by substance abuse that quality of life becomes non-existent and so little care or responsibility is taken for one's actions.  I've previously read The Dirt, Neil Strauss' biography of Motley Crue, and although the unruly behavioral episodes described are of the same ilk, the stories in The Dirt were far more enjoyable.  But then I suppose it was difficult for Neil to recall with specificity the many blackout periods during his years of fame.  Of interest to any Motley Crue fans who remember when their music was good (and you have to be over 30 to remember that).

Modern Ruins

I first saw Shaun O'Boyle's photographs of Modern Ruins: Portraits of place in the Mid-Atlantic region while visiting the booth of the Penn State University Press at the PALA annual conference in Lancaster last month.  After a brief look, I thought this collection highlighting the Mid-Atlantic regions 'architectural sacrifice zones' (as termed by Geoff Manaugh in the introduction) would be of interest to PCL patrons.  The book is divided into four sections of buildings:  institutions (featuring psychiatric hospitals), steel (with photos of Bethlehem Steel's facilities), coal (an industry introduced as the foundations of 'hardy and industrious Pennsylvanians'), and arsenal (with stunning images of Bannerman's Island, near Cold Spring, NY).  This collection takes the reader to the present state of the past and is relevant to those who appreciate black and white photography, local history, and the progression of deindustrialization of the region.  I highly recommend browsing this new acquisition.

Why not say what happened?

Ivana Lowell's memoir Why not say what happened? reminded me of another I have read lately (See my blog entry on Wendy Burden's Dead end gene pool).  The elements in both titles are similar:  an heiress from an eccentric family, old money, no strong adult figures, boarding schools, trans-Atlantic moves, etc.  Lowell's memoir suggests the Guinness family curse may have preordained the family to alcoholism (more likely the Guinness ale) and personal tragedy.  Lowell relates her tale of childhood in drafty English manor houses, dinners with the Queen Mother, childhood abuse, and her stepfather's (the poet Robert Lowell) sudden death.  The Guardian claims it is poorly written, but I found it intensely engaging and couldn't help but reading on to see what would happen next.   Although many of Lowell's life experiences are beyond the average reader's experiences, this memoir is a fly-on-the-wall look at how the other half lives has always been and I feel this genre continues to be popular with readers.
If this sounds like something you'd like to read, you might also like:
Dead End Gene Pool by Wendy Burden
Fierce by Kelly Osbourne
Uncharted Territori by Tori Spelling

What is a sacrifice zone?

The term 'sacrifice zone' was used during the Cold War to identify areas contaminated by radioactive pollutants in the course of manufacturing nuclear weapons.  Author Steve Lerner has re purposed the term and applied it to low-income and minority neighborhoods located near heavy industrial pollution sites in Sacrifice zones:  The front lines of toxic chemical exposure in the United States.  Each chapter describes a zone affected by polluted air, water, or soil.  These areas are found nationwide but have several similarities.  Each neighborhood contains poor or ethnic communities and in these communities grass-roots organizations are being formed by residents to hold accountable the industries responsible for the pollution.  The statistics provided by the author are alarming, with many industrial sites releasing massive amounts of chemicals into residential areas.  The material in this book was gathered from interviews with the residents of these areas and offers a balance between personal stories and hard statistics.  The effects of living in sacrifice zones runs the gamut from skin irritations, ash and soot deposits, noxious odors, difficulty breathing, cancer clusters, and even death.  Some of the chapters seem a bit redundant, however each is important for the sake of all those living (and dying) in the sacrifice zones.

How much?

Steve Dublanica, the brutally honest writer of Waiter Rant, answers the question 'how much should I tip?' in his new book Keep the change.  Dublanica starts out seriously exploring where tipping began, the origin of the name, and discussing just how much employees rely on tips as part of their income.  The following chapters are a narrative of his first-person interviews with workers in various professions (and they are very varied - some legal, some not), their straight talk on tips, and appropriate amounts for each service provided.  He takes a comic approach to gathering his data and the tax write-offs he claimed for researching this book must have garnered a few chuckles.  His wit and storytelling ability make this a quick, enjoyable light non-fiction book.  The insight gained by the reader in directly hearing from tipped employees is invaluable.  Never will I look at tips I leave in the same way.  Although as someone who has worked for tips in the past (I waitressed my way through one degree), I always feel I overcompensate when leaving gratuities (even though I usually can't afford it).  This look at tipping is especially relevant as the holiday season is approaching and an extra gratuity to service workers is a nice way to remember their attention throughout the year (or insure good service next year).  Take a tip from me:  Read Keep the change.

From the Ashes

On February 20, 2003, a fire in The Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island killed 100 people.  Sparks from a live band's pyrotechnics display ignited the highly flammable and toxic insulating foam that had been applied to the walls and ceiling of the club.  Within several minutes the entire building was consumed.  Gina Russo, a survivor of that night, writes an emotional, if occasionally repetitive memoir, From the ashes.  The summary of the events of the fire and the code violations that allowed for its rapid spread were descriptive and detailed, as were the medical procedures Russo endured, and the legal and criminal aspects of the tragedy.  In the more personal and emotional part of the story, Russo writes about her loss, hospitalization, rehabilitation, and depression that somehow was laced with optimism.  I think this segment of the retelling cast a slight doubt in the credibility of the author to accurately recall events.  The topic interested me as a historical disaster, however the copious spelling and grammatical errors throughout the text made me wonder if maybe I should look into moonlighting as a proofreader?  This is a self published book which has received a lot of promotion in the Northeast.  Too bad for the writing...this was a story worth telling...this could have been a good seller.

Sanitarium childhood

Gloria Paris spent most of her youth (from age 5 to 14) in sanitariums in upstate New York battling spinal tuberculosis.  In her book, A child of sanitariums:  A memoir of tuberculosis survival and lifelong disability, she recalls the treatment of her disease (full body casts, traction, fusing of bones) and the social and cultural implications of growing up in an institution instead of with her family.  She looks back on her hospital 'family' and details her adult pilgrimages to her childhood care facilities.  There is no lack of scientific fact in her writings regarding the disease or its impact on the country.  After Paris was discharged, she finished high school and college, earning a degree in microbiology.  Her first position was studying the microscopic tubercle bacilli at the hospital on Samson Air Force Base led her directly to the bacteria which had infected her body and caused bone deformity which would render her disabled.  Despite her disability, Paris leads a full life which includes raising awareness for disability rights and fundraising and advocating for minority groups.  Paris still resides in her hometown in upstate New York.
A few important points to take from this work:
*Tuberculosis is not only a disease of the past.
*Tuberculosis is treatable with a lengthy course of antibiotics.
*According to CDC statistics, there were over 12,000 cases of TB in the US.

Centers for Disease Control information on Tuberculosis

The meth problem in small-town America

I read two books on the topic of methamphetamine in the past few weeks.  The first was the fictional Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell.  (The movie Winter's Bone won Best Picture & Best Screenplay at Sundance.) Throughout a long bitter winter in the Ozarks, Ree Dolly, a teenage high school dropout, cares for her two younger brothers and mentally unstable mother amid a town of kin who are all involved with meth, both in business and personally.  Strange characters drift through the story such as Ree's Uncle Teardrop, her newly married best friend, Gail, and distant female relations who physically attack Ree. All the while Ree is tracking her missing father whose life revolves around meth.  I found the characters poverty stricken, hopeless, and hopelessly addicted to a lifestyle on a downward spiral.  I wondered if there were small towns in America that were actually models for the story.

It turns out the next book I picked up enlightened me to small towns in America's heartland where meth has taken hold of the people, the economy, and is causing a way of life to vanish.  Methland: the death and life of a small American town focuses on Oelwein, Iowa.  Once home to a meat-packing plant that employed over 2000 residents at good wages, when the author visited first in 2005, he found Oelwein to be suffering from a decrease in family farms, high unemployment due to the closing of factories, and these factors effecting the atmosphere & economy of the whole town.  Nick Reding, the author, visited Oelwein and other Midwest towns which had become victims of meth.  Meth production went from small labs in rural settings to superlabs controlled by the international drug trafficking organizations back to small labs.  Oelwein has turned its reputation around by fundraising to make needed town improvements and attracting good paying jobs back to the newly renovated industrial park and the once abandoned meat production plant.  This book was a wake-up call to a problem which could become worse; the worse the economic outlook for the US seems.  This book touched on the political and social consequences of one of America's most popular and readily accessible narcotic.  Be sure to read both the epilogue and afterword which hypothesizes on the future of Oelwein and meth in the US.  Check the webpage for Methland and see notable awards this book has been given and read further reviews on the impact of this work. 
I highly recommend both works (along with Burning Bright by Ron Rash) for a comprehensive introduction to this current topic.

Inside Gitmo

President Obama has spoken since his inaguaration about closing the controversial detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba .  Although it has been in the news lately, closing of Gitmo does not seem imminent by the end of the year even though the Supermax facility in Thompson, Illinois seems to be moving forward on planned changes being made to hold prisoners from Gitmo.  Several library resources can shed light on this facility:

• Inside Gitmo [DVD] – The prison on the Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba has received media attention for its practices, especially since 9/11. This National Geographic documentary shows the lives of guards, prisoners, and civilian visitors to the prison.

Many works have been written on the same subject, some exposes, some biographical, and others mainly political. For a different view see

• Poems from Guantanamo: the detainees speak 
• Enemy combatant: my imprisonment at Guantánamo, Bagram, and Kandahar by Moazzam Begg

The Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill. is being considered as "a leading option" to house suspected terrorists currently held at Guantanamo Bay.  See photos from the chicagotribune.com below:

Oppression and Possessions

Love in a torn land: Joanna of Kurdistan: the true story of a freedom fighter's escape from Iraqi vengeance – This latest work by Jean Sasson (author of the Princess series) is a biography of a Kurdish freedom fighter within Iraq. Like Princess, the heroine is an a Middle Eastern woman who makes sacrifices for her ethical values. This Sasson work is more politically slanted than her prior works on oppressed women. The reader gleans a base understanding of Kurdish Iraqi history, politics, warfare, and geography. After description and detail of many years of Joanna’s life the ending seems anticlimactic with many issues still unresolved, like the ever evolving region of the Middle East.  In all, an interesting book, but not quite on the riveting, page-turner levels of Sasson's other works.  PCL also has: 
Princess : a true story of life behind the veil in Saudi Arabia
Growing up Bin Laden : Osama's wife and son take us inside their secret world (with Najwa bin Laden & Omar bin Laden)

Snoop – Sam Gosling, PhD

Subtitled What your stuff says about you, this book was not what I expected. Instead of straight evaluations of what certain behaviors, preferences, and personal possessions might say about the individual, this book examines these issues critically. It has a strong psychology slant with detailed analysis backing the reasons why stuff conveys what it does to observers looking into the fishbowl. Bias, judgment, and preconceptions are both proved and disproved depending on the stuff being examined. A lot of scholarly thought went into this manuscript, although the delivery of the message was not quite on the entertainment or reader interest level of a Malcolm Gladwell book.
I would suggest these two Gladwell books instead:
Outliers : the story of success
The tipping point : how little things can make a big difference

Take the non-fiction challenge

Everyone is now flocking to the library to pick up summer reading. Try to have a few alternate choices in mind in case the book you wanted is checked out. You can always get on the hold list, but how about trying a non-fiction book that is every bit as entertaining, action-packed, and suspenseful as fiction? You might also pick up some trivia which could come in useful if you like crosswords or practicing for Jeopardy! (like I do). I’m going to suggest one page-turner in each main Dewey category (plus biography). Take the non-fiction challenge: Read something on the list and give me your feedback here.

Collective biography (B9) – The dirt by Motley Crue

Biography (B) – High on arrival by Mackenzie Phillips

100’s - My secret: A PostSecret book

200’s – Don’t know much about mythology, another Kenneth Davis book packed with trivia.

300’s – Curtains: Adventures of an undertaker-in-training (Kim gave this one a thumbs-up)

400’s – Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe's guide to better English in plain English

500’s – Wicked plants: the weed that killed Lincoln's mother and other botanical atrocities

600’s – The hot zone – Ebola, monkeys, and biological weapons will put you on the edge of your seat.

700’s – The art of Ancient Egypt by Gay Robins

800’s – Undateable : 311 things guys do that guarantee they won't be dating or having sex – This is just too funny; both the text and the pictures merit laughs. Check this promotional clip.

900’s – Paris Under Water: How the City of Light Survived the Great Flood of 1910

I'll be looking forward to your comments.

Magill's Literary Annual 2010 - new in reference

PCL now has electronic access to Magill’s Literary Annual 1977 – 2010. This reference work covers fiction and non-fiction books that appeal to general readers, represent trends in publishing, and are commonly taught in literature courses. This database can access 33 years of past annuals - over 6,900 reviews. Essays are indexed by author, title, and category and are illustrated as well. See the 2 volume print 2010 Annual in the Reference section.

Magill's Literary Annual is published by Salem Press

The end is near?

You have the amount of time shown above to read up! Here are some pre-apocalypse materials at PCL:

The real history of the end of the world: Apocalyptic predictions from Revelation and Nostradamus to Y2K and 2012 - I really wanted to like this book (I really, really did!), but try as I may it was like wading through wet sand. This is a very comprehensive work starting with beliefs at the beginning of recorded time. It is also diligently and painstakingly researched with copious footnotes (which I enjoy – I’m one of those geeks who reads the footnotes) and Newman obviously has a deep understanding and passion for the subject. You might consider reading a few chapters that may hold a special interest, but I found it dry (in spite of humor peppered throughout). My favorite chapters were on the Shakers, the Branch Davidians, and Y2K.


For some more insight on end of the world, read Nostradamus's own words… The complete prophecies of Nostradamus ... and Nostradamus: The millennium and beyond

A history of the end of the world: How the most controversial book in the Bible changed the course of Western civilization-referring to the book of Revelation

There have been quite a few checkouts on the recently added The complete idiot's guide to 2012. Want to put a hold on this item?


And finally, there is the Hollywood version. The movie 2012 portrayed an idea of the end including earthquakes, meteors, giant arks, and a bit of fluff that really outsmarted her arrogant Russian sugardaddy. I really enjoyed this (Adam thinks I'm nuts), although not in an it can happen sort of way. There is a much greater chance of Will Smith & his dog being totally alone in Manhattan.

Just remember to return all your library materials before the countdown clock runs out!

Tales of shopping...free at the library

I saw a skirt I really liked in Glamour this month. I have a pair of shoes that would look just awesome with it. So, I went online to see where I could get one. I wasn’t prepared for the $740 price tag. By the time I saved enough to buy it, it wouldn’t be the right season and would probably be completely out of style. However, what if I was a shopping addict? I’d probably be writing this looking very fashionable in my new skirt. Two non-fiction books come to mind on this topic…


Spent: Memoirs of a shopping addict, released in May by author Avis Cardella, took a look at this increasing prominent disorder which has driven compulsive shoppers even beyond bankruptcy. The NYT book review this past Sunday didn’t really have a positive or negative spin on Spent. I believe compulsive shopping is a form of addiction. I think everyone feels like buying something new every now and again. The ones who purchase the designer goods for hundreds or thousands of dollars are the ones labeled shopping addicts; the rest of us are just poor budgeters. Cardella explains the root of her addiction is that she believed people would judge her by her clothing and not for her personality. It sounds like a self-confidence and peer pressure issue to me. Even though I haven’t bought (and will not be buying) the $740 skirt and won’t have a huge credit card bill I can’t pay, it is sad that some adults still have a problem with peer pressure. You would have thought we would have outgrown it by now.

A more frightening book on overspending is Save Karyn: one shopaholic's journey to debt and back. This one is a bit older (2003) and I came across it while dusting and straightening in the stacks. Relaying her own experience, the author, Karyn Bosnak, relates how every moment of her day was consumed by the need to purchase things and services, and the struggle to pay for them and keep up appearances. This book was more frightening because Bosnak made a good salary and simply continually overspent. Her situation gets so dire that she moves, sells items she has acquired, and actually begs the general public (in a unique way) to help her out of her self-created mess. I preferred this book (over Spent) for its attention to details – this woman can tell a shopping story so descriptively you can feel the lush fabrics and smell leather, and the meticulous tally of funds she kept both in her head and on paper just trying to keep her bank balances positive is astounding. Bosnak’s issue seems more like an addiction, although I (with no $740 skirt) can’t drum up very much sympathy for either of their situations.

Reader comments are welcome.

Explicit & Exotic

Whip Smart is a cracking good tale detailing the author Melissa Febos’ life as herself and as ‘Justine’, a well-paid dominatrix. This is not a book for modest, naïve, or easily nauseated readers. It is frankly startling as the author reveals how she has made a living, what clients have paid her to do, and her conflicting feelings about her own behavior. As her clients who repeatedly pay for abuse and humiliation, ‘Justine’ has her own addictions: to substances, lifestyle, and the sadomasochistic job that keeps her returning to the ‘dungeon’ to enthusiastically deliver biting remarks and twisted torture. After deciding to break ties, she suffers dominatrix withdrawal, loss of the power of dominant oppression over men, and relationship issues. I didn’t find it surprising that this type of behavior held a certain addictive quality for the author. I did find surprising that Febos had the audacity to perform the acts she describes and even more surprising that she has publicly revealed her actions as a dominatrix (I don’t think I could even write about behavior like this without feeling completely embarrassed). No matter if you are shocked or sickened by the subject matter, this book is beyond the imagination of even the most vivid minds and definitely difficult to put down.
See what Elle has to say about Whip Smart

Some girls: My life in a harem – Jillian Lauren had an alter ego which she would slip into (or out of, as the case may be) when she arrived at the royal palace in Brunei. Paid to live on the estate of one of the richest sultanates for months at a time, Lauren would check her own emotions and desires as she became one of a herd of foreign women handsomely compensated to be at the beck and call of the Sultan’s brother, Prince Jefri. Lauren’s exhausting jet-setting travel to exotic locales with her Louis Vuitton luggage would rival the itinerary of Lara Croft. In an atmosphere of privileged boredom, catty female behaviors reminiscent of New York Housewives Bethenny and Kelly, is the daily forecast for Brunei. Jealousy in the harem abounds over jewelry, designer clothes, and the favor of the prince. In learning the best way to please the prince, Lauren learns important lessons about herself, her attitudes about love, and her values. Like Pretty Woman is to Cinderella, a movie of this tale would be the modern version of The King of Siam.

Put Some girls: My life in a harem on hold

The 2010 Ken Book Award winner is the moving photo-essay volume Asylum: Inside the closed worlds of state mental hospitals, which is available in the recent non-fiction section.

This oversized work captures snapshots of state mental institutions truly frozen in time. As facilities which were build to be cutting edge at the beginning of the 20th century declined and the scope of mental health care evolved, the massive state medical compounds began to close. The structures and the memories of those who lived or worked within them remained. Christopher Payne captures these images of painful history and tormented memory. The images are surreal, eerie, and bleak: massive, brick-strong structures as homes to some of the most frail inmates; the overwhelming size of the crumbling facilities juxtaposed with the absence of any human life. The accompanying text passage by Oliver Sacks gives a brief, though comprehensive, statement on mental health treatment, facilities, and concepts influencing the state funded institutions, but it is the photographs that communicate issues of humanity in care and the revolution that ended this form of care for the mentally ill.

Check out the Asylum book website.

The Ken Book Award is given by the National Alliance on Mental Illness of NYC-Metro, to book raising awareness of mental illness. Past winners have included Jane Pauley, Gary Trudeau, and Wally Lamb.

What I’ve read lately…

by Gina, Head Reference Librarian
Dead end gene pool: a memoir This week I breezed quickly through a new biography which was shocking, blatantly descriptive, and offered a glimpse into a lifestyle which only few have access. Dead end gene pool is the reminisces of Wendy Burden, a Vanderbilt heir. Burden relates incidents occurring within her ultra-rich, blueblood family such as her brother and her as children “robbing” the family’s “cottage” of all kitchen edibles and placing them on the roof, her mother’s sunbathing techniques, and laughable tales of weird and woeful relations. Told in a factual manner, Burden sometimes has to educate the reader as to why she (as a child) believed the described events were normal. As Burden approaches adolescence and her teenage years, she develops her own way of coping with the pressures and expectations of the family name. I found this humorous, sad, and enlightening and appreciate the candid snapshot of an American aristocratic family. The author's speaks about her work in this short video clip: http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m1B2A107GE556T

An older title I recently enjoyed was Kenneth Davis’ Don’t know much about anything. Examined in one page entries were facts about a person, location, event, along with a few trivia questions. This is great reading for crossword aficionados (I’ve already used some tidbits learned to fill in squares) or Jeopardy! contestants in training. The only complaint I have with the format is having to turn the page for the answers to post-entry quizzes multiple times while self-testing myself. I would definitely peruse other titles in this series. Visit Kenneth Davis' webpage http://www.dontknowmuch.com/

PCL owns the following in adult non-fiction:
*Don't know much about anything / Kenneth C. Davis.

*Don't know much about geography: everything you need to know about the world but never learned / Kenneth C. Davis.

*Don't know much about mythology: everything you need to know about the greatest stories in human history but never learned / Kenneth C. Davis.

*Don't know much about the Bible: everything you need to know about the "Good Book" but never learned / by Kenneth C. Davis.

*Don't know much about the Civil War: everything you need to know about America's greatest conflict but never learned / Kenneth C. Davis.

*History: everything you need to know about American history but never learned / by Kenneth C. Davis.

Davis has also authored juvenile titles in the same style.

Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime Work

Earlier this month, the Edgar Awards were named by the American Mystery Writers of America. In the best fact crime category - Columbine by Dave Cullen was the winner. This relates the events of the 1999 shooting at Columbine High outside of Denver. This book answers many questions remaining about ‘why’ and ‘how,’ even after all the publicity this tragedy received. The documentation style alternating among the months of pre-planning the attack, to the day of, to the days following is tedious at times, but journalist Cullen brings the many players and points of view cohesively together to provide a well researched and well cited document by the conclusion of the account. Riveting, revealing, and disturbing. Highly recommended for an in depth look at the teenagers involved, areas where higher authority may have been remiss, and the lasting effects for our national education system.
Other nominees:
Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa by R.A. Scotti (Random House - Alfred A. Knopf)
For those who may not know, the Mona Lisa was indeed stolen from the Louvre in 1911, was not noticed missing for 24 hours, and was gone for 2 years before being found in Florence. Motives for the disappearance of La Joconde, the most recognized painted woman are unknown. Still a mystery, the case of the missing DaVinci involved noted painters, French authorities, Louvre security, and a cast of colorful characters. R.A. Scotti makes both Mona Lisa and the facts of her disappearance come alive in this tale of historic art theft. An enjoyable education in art history.
Also recommended by R.A. Scotti – Sudden Sea, the great hurricane of 1938. This perfect storm brewed in the Atlantic bore down on the Northeast coast with short notice and affected thousands of residents. Personal stories and historical detail show a well researched documentary.
Another nominated title in the PCL collection is:
Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo (The Penguin Press) – I have yet to read this work recommended by Publisher’s Weekly and the Washington Post, but would welcome reader comments.
Reviews by Gina, Head Reference Librarian and avid true crime reader

Larger than Life Nonfiction

Oversize non fiction books can now be found standing tall atop the reference materials shelving. Check out the selection as these treasures were easy to miss previously. Titles include:
The best of LIFE
The Lonely Planet travel book: A journey through every country in the world.
Horses of the World: From the desert to the racetrack.
Reef
Amazonia: The land, the wildlife, the river, the people.
The Appalachian Trail: Calling me back to the hills, text and poetry by Earl Shaffer; photography by Bart Smith.