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Nonfiction

In Cold Blood

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In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Format: Digital Audio and CD
Who’s it for: Adults

In Cold Blood is a non-fiction novel detailing the four 1959 murders of the Clutter family in their home. The tragic event took place in Holcomb, Kansas in the early morning hours of November 15, 1959.

It took authorities six weeks find and arrest the felons.

Capote and his good friend and writer Harper Lee traveled to Holcomb to interview the town, residents and investigators of the case.

It took Capote six years of detailed, extensive research to write the book describing the lives of the murderers and the victim’s.

The murderers were two ex-convicts who had been recently paroled from the Kansas State Penitentiary. Richard Eugene “Dick” Hickock and Perry Edward Smith. They robbed and murdered Herb, his wife Bonnie, his son Keyon and daughter Nancy.

The novel chronicles the lives of the murderers, family and surrounding community members, providing an in depth look at what they were thinking and feeling.

Hickcock and Smith spent five years on death row and were finally executed by hanging on April 14, 1965. The jury only deliberated for 45 minutes before finding them both guilty.

Find In Cold Blood in the catalog.

Bee People and the Bugs They Love

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Bee People and the Bugs They Love by Frank Mortimer
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

Did you know that honeybees can count to four? Or that the forager bees dance in the hive to let others know where to find the best flower patches? These and other fascinating bee tidbits are interspersed with Frank Mortimer’s personal journey to becoming a master beekeeper in Bee People and the Bugs They Love. 

Not intended as a how-to of beekeeping, this is a fun, quick read that begins with Mortimer’s foray into beekeeping in northeastern New Jersey and follows him through mistakes (pulling a tree down on his own hive), successes (hives over seven feet tall with 340 pounds of honey), and interactions with other beekeepers (like Scooby, who painted his hives in psychedelic colors and patterns). Along the way, Mortimer discusses threats to bees (specifically the Varroa mite), hive roles, the science of honey production, and much more.

While Mortimer has a tendency to repeat himself, his information is solid and his writing style is accessible. He provides a look at both the relationship between bees and the environment, as well as the one between bees and beekeepers. Recommended for those with an interest in bees who enjoy a good story.

Find Bee People and the Bugs They Love in the catalog.

A Garden in Your Belly: Meet the Microbes in your Gut

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A Garden in Your Belly: Meet the Microbes in Your Gut  Written and illustrated by Masha D’yans
Format: Book
Who It’s For: Kids

Did you know that you have a river in your body? Its called your intestines and around the river there is a “garden” too. This garden is called your gut microbiome and it’s chockful of teeny tiny creatures who LOVE to eat, fight off germs, take out the trash inside us and more. You cant see it (except with a microscope) but their presence in our bodies make us who we are! But how did they get there? Are they good creatures or bad? (spoiler alert: you’ve got some of each!) What do they look like?  What are they DOING in there??  A Garden in Your Belly will help kids gain a new understanding of the “why” of eating healthy food, playing outside and drinking water and how those things strengthen our “garden”. They will learn how we can take charge of our own health by feeding the good gut microbes, which help make us healthy in our bodies AND even our minds. The gorgeous, funny watercolor illustrations of the tiny creatures in our gut really steal the show!

Science nerd that I am, I loved this book and take it from me, A Garden In Your Belly will definitely blow your young scientist’s mind!

Find A Garden in Your Belly in the catalog

Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder

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Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder
by Arianna Huffington
Format:  Audiobook

One evening in 2007, Arianna Huffington dropped to the floor in her home office.  The fall resulted in a horrible cut over her eye and a broken cheekbone.  After months of medical tests, it was determined that Arianna was suffering from exhaustion.  At the time, Huffington was working 18 hour days as the co-founder of The Huffington Post, writing books, appearing at speaking engagements and writing as a syndicated columnist.  Arianna had always thought to herself that these were all indicators of success.  By all accounts she was a successful woman.  But as she recovered from her injuries, Arianna took a step back and began to realize that society’s definition of success was killing her.

Huffington compares society’s drive to the legs of a three-legged stool.  Striving for money and power comprise two of the legs, but without the third leg, or “third metric” the stool will topple over.  As Arianna describes it, we all need a third leg, or “Third Metric” composed of our well-being, our ability to draw on our intuition and inner wisdom, our sense of wonder, and our capacity for compassion and giving.

In sharing her story, Huffington encourages us to disconnect from our devices more frequently, get more sleep, cherish the people we are with, enjoy exercise and adventure, and most importantly be kind to one another and ourselves.   Thrive is filled with scientific findings, the personal stories of athletes, quotes from famous philosophers, poets, and entrepreneurs, and Arianna’s own personal stories.  We must all strive to remember the things that truly sustain us, prioritize the people in our lives who really matter, and be aware that we are actually living.

Find Thrive in the catalog.

All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, A Black Family Keepsake

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All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, A Black Family Keepsake
Format:  Book, Digital Audiobook, Ebook
Who It’s for:  Adults

In the year 1850, a slave named Rose gave her nine-year-old daughter Ashley this sack the evening before they were separated by auction.  The two never saw one another again. The sack was found in 2007 at a flea market by a woman who purchased it to sell on eBay.  The woman noticed the embroidered inscription on the sack that read:

My great grandmother Rose
 mother of Ashley gave her this sack when
she was sold at age 9 in South Carolina
it held a tattered dress 3 handfulls of
pecans a braid of Roses hair. Told her
It be filled with my Love always
She never saw her again
Ashley is my grandmother
Ruth Middleton 1921.

Rather than sell the sack, the woman donated it to Middleton Place Plantation Museum, where it currently resides.   In 2015, author Tiya Miles heard about the sack and began her research for All That She Carried, which describes the journey the sack followed between three generations of enslaved Black women.

By researching their customs, crafts, and culture, Miles reveals not only the journey that the sack took but more importantly the experiences of the Black women who passed this object down through four generations.  Very little can be found about these enslaved women in written archives other than their names on plantation property lists.  But through intense research, Miles has succeeded in piecing their stories together and sharing them with us in her book.

If you love history, you will appreciate all that Tiya Miles shares in her book about the experience of slaves, the talents and skills that they passed on to their children, the importance of the “things” they held onto, and most all, the love for their families that they never let anyone take away from them. All That She Carried is a must-read.

Find All That She Carried in our catalog.

Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism

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Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Safiya Umoja Noble

Format: Book

Who it’s for: Adults

If I asked you how you search for information, I bet your answer would be: “I Google it!” Safiya Umoja Noble’s book makes you take a long, hard look at how you find information, and who you trust to give you that information.

The author challenges the common belief that results are presented based on unbiased relevance.  She examines the algorithms that control the results, and discusses how the people who write those algorithms own biases can impact the results. The authors considers how racism and sexism are reinforces through these “algorithms of oppression” and why we should be critical of the search engines that have a monopoly on our information seeking habits.

This non-fiction book analyzes internet search results, focusing especially on Google, and what goes on behind the scenes to get you the results you see. You will never look at your search results the same way again.

 

Find it in the catalog