#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

Did you have a hankering to learn all all all about bread? If so, this is the book for you for sure!

Samuel Fromartz is a journalist, but, in 2009 he got the assignment to go to France and work in a boulangerie (A bakery that specializes in bread. Especially in French-style breads.) That started him on a new journey. To make his homemade baguette the best it could be, but, also, to research bread in all its form, from when the seeds were planted, to when someone ate it.

This was so immense, and so interesting, and, just… it was only 320 pages, but, it fit so much in it. Tips, recipes, and, oh, the pictures. Wow, wow. It was a fun read even for someone who likes bread more than she likes to bake bread.

You may like this book If you Liked: Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl, Taste by Stanley Tucci, or Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton

In Search of the Perfect Loaf: A Home Baker's Odyssey by Samuel Fromartz

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

I’m always a sucker for a True Crime book that takes place somewhere that I have been around, know of, and so, this book about the murder of Jane Britton a Harvard Anthropology student in 1969 written by a Harvard graduate Becky Cooper decades later.

It’s a typical sort of true crime on the one hand, there’s lots about the time (misogyny and that sort of thing that could happen at Harvard) and I could definitely tell that Cooper did tons of research on the crime, but, it’s also a bit of a memoir about Becky Cooper herself at times too which made it a slightly less typical true crime book.

It was definitely an interesting read, and, through every word I could tell that Cooper had really really been into this case. The end was a bit surprising to me, just as it has been to many others, and, definitely don’t Google the case if you don’t want to be spoiled (It was closed in 2018). An intense, but good read.

You may like this book If you Liked: Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford, I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara, or Blood & Ivy by Paul Collins

We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence by Becky Cooper

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

I think that he's one of the hosts on a newish podcast that I listen to about really really really really cold cases, Buried Bones? (Watch for a Not a Book Friday with that in the coming year!) This is his memoir though. It’s his first person look at his life solving cold cases. He’s the detective that found the Golden State Killer, but, that’s not the only big cold case he’s solved, and he’s also solved cold cases that didn’t get humongous press and instead mattered most to those friends and family of the deceased.

All of that and more is in this book, and, it’s an intense read for sure. Reading it gave me a sort of origin story for when I listen to new Buried Bones episodes now too. As I said, intense, but, such a great read too.

You may like this book If you Liked: Chase Darkness With Me by Billy Jensen, All That Remains by Sue M. Black, or I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

Unmasked: My Life Solving America's Cold Cases by Paul Holes

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

Rome has always had a very big place in the minds of those in Europe/Britain (not surprising there, since, it --was-- Europe for quite awhile) and then in the United States. And I will admit that starting as a child with all the cool non-fiction books about the Greek and Roman gods, and continuing until now. Rome has always been this empire that I think I know a ton about, and then I read a book like this one and realize that it was an even more complicated place/time than I thought.

The book starts in 146 BC (or BCE, whichever floats your boat). That was the height of the Roman Empire, and, it was when it had to go from conquering to ruling. Two totally different things (no, I’m not referring to Game of Thrones, you’re referring to Game of Thrones….. *whistles*). It tells the story of 146 to 78 BC, a time that I didn’t know a lot about. The Rise, I’ve definitely read books about that, and the fall, that too, but, this middling part. Ironically, without all the machinations and drama from this middle part, well, I may have had to actually remember the Latin that I learned in high school.

It was a book that I got thoroughly engrossed in. And, he’s a podcaster…. Because, that’s just what my podcast episode queue needs… more podcast episodes…. /s Oops.

You may like this book If you Liked: Rome's Revolution by Richard Alston, The Eternal City by Ferdinand Addis, or Rubicon by Tom Holland

The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic by Mike Duncan

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

This is what it says it is. Elwes has written a memoir about his time on The Princess Bride Movie. There were things in there that I had heard before, and there was definitely new info in there that surprised me too. Ooh, and, there were cool pictures in there too.

You may like this book If you Liked: Andre the Giant by Box Brown, Waxing On by Ralph Macchio, or If Chins Could Kill by Bruce Campbell

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

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Totally Random Non-Fiction Tuesday

I knew the name Josephine Baker, and some about her as well, but this book revealed so much more about her and her years during World War II where she became a French Nurse, but, really, she was a spy, and she apparently was a good one too. It was such an interesting read, learning more and more about this amazing woman.

You may like this book If you Liked: Madame Fourcade's Secret War by Lynne Olson, or Josephine Baker by José-Louis Bocquet, or The Princess Spy by Larry Loftis

Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy by Damien Lewis