#totallyrandomnonfictuesday

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

Apparently poisons were big in New York in the early 20th Century, until Charles Norris became the Chief Medical Examiner. And, he, as well as Alexander Gettle, a toxicologist, changed the game, basically forever.

A lot of it is about Dr. Gettler, who would literally go through a deceased person’s organs a little at a time to find the answer to something. He’d prove the innocence of a husband suspected of poisoning his wife (it was mercury in the calomel prescribed by the doctor), or that the Standard Oil workers didn’t just die from ‘working too hard’, but, instead because of the tetraethyl lead they were working with. Oh, and he even proved that radium caused the deaths of the Radium Girls (the women who painted dials on watches).

It was such an interesting look at these cases, and these poisons, and the men, especially Gettler who was definitely an interesting character, that changed much of forensic science so much.

You may like this book If you Liked: Forensics by Val McDermid, The Inheritor's Powder by Sandra Hempel, or American Sherlock by Kate Winkler Dawson

The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

This is another fun Mary Roach non-fiction book. This time about the places (and times) that humans and wildlife collide. Roach goes all over the world, from indoor elephants, to bears, to terrifying leopards. And, I’m not sure that it’s a spoiler, but, a lot of the time, these issues that humans are having with animals, it’s not the animals fault, but ours.

Just like her other books, it has a good balance of information (oh so much information) and humor throughout the book. It was a fun read. Also, laser scarecrows??

You may like this book If you Liked: Are We Smart Enough To Know How Smart Animals Are? by F.B.M. de Waal, Poached by Rachel Nuwer, or Animals Strike Curious Poses by Elena Passarello

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

This was such a cool book. I mean, it is what it says it is on the tin, but, also so much more. Mars is always interesting. It’s Earth, but it's not, but it is, sorta. We can see what’s there now, but, since we haven’t set foot on it yet, we can’t see (in the way that we can dig down on Earth and look at rocks and tree rings and fossils and all that sort of thing) what was there before. Still, based on what we do know, the author, a geologist, does go through a ton of Mars’ history as we think it is right now. A really fun read.

You may like this book If you Liked: The Sirens of Mars by Sarah Stewart Johnson, Our Universe by Jo Dunkley, or Under Alien Skies by Philip C. Plait

The Red Planet: A Natural History of Mars by Simon Morden

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

Cats are the best. And this book goes from beginning to end all about Cats and history, and does so in one of the most different and hilarious ways I’ve ever seen.

I had never read or heard of Paul Koudounaris before this book, but, apparently this is on brand. This book is actually “by” Baba, Paul’s cat. It starts with cats like the the ones in Egypt (and the cat goddess Bastet) to cats in World War I and II, to even going prehistoric with the history of cats.

For a cat lover it was just so amazing, and, as for those dog lovers who read this blog, you may learn something too. Humans domesticated dogs, Cats domesticated themselves! Heh.

You may like this book If you Liked: The Lion in the Living Room by Abigail Tucker, The Inner Life of Cats by Thomas McNamee, or Cat Sense by John Bradshaw

A Cat’s Tale: A Journey Through Feline History by Paul Koudounaris

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

The ship Endurance was going to the South Pole. But, instead, the 28 men on board went through disaster after disaster, first, getting stuck in an ice flo, then having the ship itself crushed in the ice. And then for five months, the crew was the weirdest sort of castaways, on floating ice islands. Slowly floating closer and closer to Elephant Island.

The story was crazy, and, yet, also amazing. And, Lansing’s writing put the spotlight firmly on the actual story, the actual history. Astounding story, great read.

You may like this book If you Liked: The Endurance by Caroline Alexander, Icebound by Andrea Pitzer, or A Wretched and Precarious Situation by David Welky

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

This book is basically what it says on the tin, and that is what made it such a great read.

Halloween is so big in the US, and has been for quite awhile, and now it’s even expanding to other countries in the world too (China, Japan, etc.) I knew about some of the history of Halloween, but this book gave me even more insight into how stuff as diverse as Mexico’s Day of the Dead, the Celtic Samhain, etc. can combine and morph to create what we celebrate as Halloween.

Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween by Lisa Morton

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

This was a really cool book. It takes stuff like, undersea cables, airplane turbulence, or happiness levels and brings them to life both with words and graphics. I mean, who doesn’t love a good infographic (Really though, this is a library blog on Tumblr, we all already knew that we’re all nerds!)

You may like this book If you Liked: Adrift by Scott Galloway, Ways of Being by James Bridle, or How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil

Atlas of the Invisible: Maps and Graphics That Will Change How You See the World by James Cheshire

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

There are a lot of buildings that have existed, but no longer do, or are in ruins. James Crawford has 21 structures in this book, ones that go all the way from places such as The Library of Alexandria to the World Trade Center, and so many other amazing architecture in between.

Some of these buildings I knew about, and some of them were actually new to me and I learned so much about them, their history, and the humans that inhabited some of them as well.

You may like this book If you Liked: Great Buildings by Philip Wilkinson, A Chronology of Architecture by John Zukowsky, or A History of New York in 27 Buildings by Sam Roberts

Fallen Glory: The Lives and Deaths of History's Greatest Buildings by James Crawford

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

Jon Krakauer is most well known for Into Thin Air and Into the Wild, what I consider more experiential non-fiction (not a real term as far as I know, but aptly describes how I see those two books). This one, though, is most definitely true crime, and, it’s an intensely true crime book too.

It’s about a double murder of an innocent mother and baby that two Mormon brothers say they were told to do by God. (They were Brenda, the adult who was murdered, brothers-in-law). And, as if that wasn’t the recipe for an intense enough book, he also looks into the fundamentalist groups that call themselves Mormons, but, also believe in things like Polygamy (I learned something there, I didn’t realize that these groups weren’t just in the southwest/west, but also in Canada and Mexico too.

I will admit that it was a book that I had to put down a couple of times. It was well written (not surprising since Krakauer is an engaging author), but, because it concerned such intense subjects, it was just too hard to read for too long. Glad I read it, but, oof…

You may like this book If you Liked: The Betrayal of Anne Frank by Rosemary Sullivan, The Trial of Lizzie Borden by Cara Robertson, or The Phantom Killer by James Presley

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

I’ve read Agatha Christie’s novels of course, and they've always impressed me by how tight and well plotted and just… in a lot of ways they are like no other books I’ve read. So, I was interested to read more about Agatha Christie herself to see how that fit into the books that she wrote.

I mean, wow. Thompson goes into everything. And, even had interviews with Christie’s daughter and grandson too. There was the archeological digs, all about her various relationships, and, of course, her 11 day disappearance as well.

Honestly, the book was just as much fun as the Christie mysteries, and reading about her makes me want to go back and read more of the books the she wrote that I haven’t haven’t yet read too.

You may like this book If you Liked: The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict, The Grand Tour by Agatha Christie, or The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards

Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

So, apparently at the end of the 19th Century here in the US there was some sort of moral revolution on behalf of animals? Before the late 1800s horses and dogs and all sorts of animals just weren’t thought about as much other than dumb working animals, or in the case of dogs, entertainment (dog fighting, uck). Then, in 1866 a group started a campaign to change the US’s laws, and not just the laws, but the norms around those animals too. And it was wicked successful, by the start of the 20th century, Americans had a different relationship with animals for sure. And, of course, I mean… now we’ve most definitely swung even more towards the “humanization” of animals.

Learning about all these people who fought for these animals (like the publisher of Black Beauty who was also the head of Massachusetts’s animal-welfare society, or the many veterinarians or other animal welfare advocates) was super interesting. I really knew almost nothing about most of them. And, since now we still have the norms that were changed back then, it didn’t really occur to me that animals were treated in any other way at any time.

You may like this book If you Liked: Beastly by Keggie Carew, Justice for Animals by Martha Craven Nussbaum, or How to Love Animals by Henry Mance

Our Kindred Creatures by Bill Wasik

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

This is definitely a different sort of way of looking at living things, and at consciousness. And, it’s not so much about us humans (after all, we’re still only a blip of time in the grand scheme of even our little Earth here), but, all the animals, and even bacteria, etc. here on Earth.

It’s not a strictly a science book, because, Godfrey-Smith is a philosopher of science. But, it was an interesting look (as someone who has read a ton of science science books on nature and the life cycle of our planet, etc.) from sort of the other side of science. The less science-y science of our world.

You may like this book If you Liked: Becoming Earth by Ferris Jabr, How To Be Animal by Melanie Challenger, or Science in the Soul by Richard Dawkins

Living on Earth by Peter Godfrey-Smith

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

Apparently it’s super hard to be a plant (I mean, being human isn’t exactly a cake walk either, but, I digress). And, I guess that we do have advantages that plants don’t. Unless the plant is one in a pot, it’s not moveable, so, when things come at it, they can’t just go inside, or put on a few more layers (or take them off). Not to mention, it’s amazing how these plants have evolved so that, for example, its flower is the perfect shape for its preferred pollinators.

I honestly was surprised by most of what I read in this. I mean, plants are cool (well, the correct number of plants are, and, ones that don’t catch me and rip my pants/skin), but, I mean, a seedling that can hear water. That’s crazy cuckoo awesome. I guess plants are indeed pretty cool (still not cooler than mushrooms, but, getting closer).

You may like this book If you Liked: Thus Spoke the Plant by Monica Gagliano, Around the World in 80 Plants by Jonathan Drori, or Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake

The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

I don’t know, maybe it’s because I grew up with Natalie Jacobson and Susan Wornick on Channel Five since… forever, or who knows why, but, Connie Chung wasn’t surprising or revelatory to me. Of course, she had also been a reporter for a couple of decades by the time I was watching her. And, even though I have seen tons of her interviews and her being CBS anchor and that sort of thing. I didn’t really know much about her.

So, this book was really amazing. There were so many things that I just didn’t realize, past the stuff that got thrown around about her when she was at her peak. She goes into all that, and more. It was not an easy book to read, because she was straight up not just about the good stuff, but the bad too. Definite must read.

You may like this book If you Liked: What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey, Going There by Katie Couric, or The News Sorority by Sheila Weller

Connie: A Memoir by Connie Chung

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

Pete Rose was really really good at baseball. I mean, he set the record for most hits in a career in the MLB (in 2016 Ichiro Suzuki ‘broke’ the record, but, over 1,000 of those hits happened in the Japan league first) and he still holds that. But, he’s also really really complicated. Because he was banned for gambling. And, that’s… very complicated since now that even while watching the slightly shorter baseball games of these last few years, there will be at least 4 or 5 or more ads for gambling apps all over the telecast.

This book has actually been on my TBR list since Rose died last September, and, while, I knew somewhat about Pete Rose (Cincinnati, the betting, that he was a Cincinnati Red) but not a whole lot. For example, apparently he was on the Phillies and the Expos as well, ah… the Expos, I remember them. They traded Pedro Martínez to the Red Sox!). So, this was an amazing book that seems to have been really deeply researched. And, it even seemed fair and sort of balanced too.

You may like this book If you Liked: Ty Cobb by Charles Leerhsen, My Prison Without Bars by Pete Rose, or The Betrayal by Charles Fountain

Charlie Hustle by Keith O'Brien

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Totally Random Non-Fiction

This was cool. This is a ton of Christmas stories from a lot lot lot of different authors from Maine. And, not just from current ones, but, also writings (both fiction and essay) from the 1800s, the Great Depression, and so many other times. Just an awesome look at 200 years of history, via Christmas.

All is Calm: A Maine Christmas Reader by Shannon Butler, Ed.