I am ridiculously tired! My grad school pulled an about face on me and required a Wednesday night class - I live 4 hourrrsss away! So I was at work before 7:10, worked untl 12:30, had to take half a day, drove a little over four hours, class for four hours, drove home, home at 1 am on Thursday, up at 6, work, then I had tickets for a local dinner theater that I bought a couple of months ago! Great fun with some awesome ladies, but about ready to be UUUUUNconscious! I am, in fact, too tired for Pet Photo Sessions (tm). For a special bonus, one of the cats is sick, soooo yeah. Gross.
Life Among the Savages
Shirley Jackson
Published: 1952
Why?: I admit to having a huge soft spot for humorists. Shirley Jackson is most famous for her more political work (“The Lottery”) and her collection of horror novels (the most famous is probably The Haunting of Hill House). I read her stories about raising her four children in suburbia before I read “the Lottery” or anything of her creepy works. In fact, it must have been a decade after I read “The Lottery” that I realized this book was by the same author! The stories are delightful and witty, far ahead of similar books dealing with the realities of family life.
Gist: "Our house is old, noisy and full. When we moved into it we had two children and about five thousand books; when we finally overflow and move out again we will have perhaps twenty children and easily half a million books . . ." This book is a collection of stories inspired by Jackson’s real life and children; exactly where fiction and reality diverge isn’t clear, but only in the same way that all master storytellers adjust their lives for a good story.
Bonus Trivia: Life Among the Savages is followed by Raising Demons. Also, a selection from this novel, about her son starting kindergarten, is often included in Jackson collections with the name “Charles.”
Perfect For: Ages 12+, people who love a good chuckle
Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir
Keywords: Humor, Classic
Showing posts with label Books: Nonfiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books: Nonfiction. Show all posts
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
15: Daily Life in Medieval Times
I took my camera to work and, in classic fashion, it's still in my desk drawer. Smooth, right?
Daily Life in Medieval times
Francis and Joseph Gies
Published: 2005
Why?: I was raised on stories of English history. Instead of “Little Red Riding Hood” or “Goldilocks,” Mom told me and my brother stories about the Henries, Stephens, and Jameses who ruled the Isle over the centuries. I don’t remember a time when I couldn’t list the wives of Henry VIII, or I didn’t know that Medieval castles stank to high heaven! This is what happens when your mother is both a gifted storyteller and a history teacher of the first order. Mom definitely did her work with me – I am an unashamed Anglophile and history nerd. I have a collection of books about life in both medieval and renaissance England (as well as across Europe, including France and Germany), and this is one of the best. It’s easy to read, chock-full of information, well-illustrated, and written in accessible language. This is a book meant to be educational without falling into the often over- convoluted realm of “scholarly” writing.
Gist: Daily Life in Medieval Times is a combination of previous works by the Gieses: Life in a Medieval Castle, Life in a Medieval City, and Life in a Medieval Village. Each book used a real location as a jumping-off point for introducing the culture of the times: Chepstow Castle in Wales, the city of Troyes in France, and the village Elton in England. They include loads of details, from wagons to hair to privies to social interactions, and give as close to a complete image as you can get of life long ago.
Perfect For: Ages 15+, fans of history, renaissance fair goers, costumers
Ye Olde Trivia: It doesn't appear that this collection is currently available new, but there are used sellers. Also, the separate books are available, and are often at Barnes and Nobles as bargain books, published by that company.
Genres: Nonfiction, History
Keywords: History, Illustrated
Daily Life in Medieval times
Francis and Joseph Gies
Published: 2005
Why?: I was raised on stories of English history. Instead of “Little Red Riding Hood” or “Goldilocks,” Mom told me and my brother stories about the Henries, Stephens, and Jameses who ruled the Isle over the centuries. I don’t remember a time when I couldn’t list the wives of Henry VIII, or I didn’t know that Medieval castles stank to high heaven! This is what happens when your mother is both a gifted storyteller and a history teacher of the first order. Mom definitely did her work with me – I am an unashamed Anglophile and history nerd. I have a collection of books about life in both medieval and renaissance England (as well as across Europe, including France and Germany), and this is one of the best. It’s easy to read, chock-full of information, well-illustrated, and written in accessible language. This is a book meant to be educational without falling into the often over- convoluted realm of “scholarly” writing.
Gist: Daily Life in Medieval Times is a combination of previous works by the Gieses: Life in a Medieval Castle, Life in a Medieval City, and Life in a Medieval Village. Each book used a real location as a jumping-off point for introducing the culture of the times: Chepstow Castle in Wales, the city of Troyes in France, and the village Elton in England. They include loads of details, from wagons to hair to privies to social interactions, and give as close to a complete image as you can get of life long ago.
Perfect For: Ages 15+, fans of history, renaissance fair goers, costumers
Ye Olde Trivia: It doesn't appear that this collection is currently available new, but there are used sellers. Also, the separate books are available, and are often at Barnes and Nobles as bargain books, published by that company.
Genres: Nonfiction, History
Keywords: History, Illustrated
Sunday, August 07, 2011
10: The Short and Bloody History...
I had a grand time with my second 30% book haul today (with bonus tax free day!), but I did manage to get a papercut on my eyeball.
Don't ask.
Also, don't try it, because it's not a very nice experience.
It's ridiculously humid today, so I still can't get any shots outside. WHY must it be both 100 degrees heat index AND dripping with moisture?! EGADS.
The Short and Bloody History of Knights, Spies, and Pirates
John Farman
Published: 2000
Why?: This little bargain book is a lot of fun, full of easily-accessible and amusing historical information. When I was a kid, I was determined I would write fun and entertaining historical documentaries when I grew up, for use in schools. Though I do a bit of that in my classes (readers’ theatre, anyone?), I haven’t left school for Hollywood quite yet (*g*). So, I’ll stick to buying books that educate and amuse, and adding to my knowledge of history that way.
Gist: The title gives you a pretty good idea, you know! Though not in-depth, the historical and biographical sketches are fun and appear largely accurate.
Perfect For: Historians with a need for a giggle.
Genres: Nonfiction, History
Keywords: Humor
Don't ask.
Also, don't try it, because it's not a very nice experience.
It's ridiculously humid today, so I still can't get any shots outside. WHY must it be both 100 degrees heat index AND dripping with moisture?! EGADS.
The Short and Bloody History of Knights, Spies, and Pirates
John Farman
Published: 2000
Why?: This little bargain book is a lot of fun, full of easily-accessible and amusing historical information. When I was a kid, I was determined I would write fun and entertaining historical documentaries when I grew up, for use in schools. Though I do a bit of that in my classes (readers’ theatre, anyone?), I haven’t left school for Hollywood quite yet (*g*). So, I’ll stick to buying books that educate and amuse, and adding to my knowledge of history that way.
Gist: The title gives you a pretty good idea, you know! Though not in-depth, the historical and biographical sketches are fun and appear largely accurate.
Perfect For: Historians with a need for a giggle.
Genres: Nonfiction, History
Keywords: Humor
Monday, August 01, 2011
07: Escape
Our internet went out! >_< It took two days for the evil company to get it fixed, and now I'm behind! *sniffle* I'm actually posting this on the 3rd, but it's been ready since the 1st, so I'll cheat a bit with the posting date!
Escape
Carolyn Jessop and Laura Palmer
Published: 2007
Why?: I connected this book to The 19th Wife because I read it after, myself. This is the story of Carolyn Jessop, one of the wives of cult leader Merrill Jessop. Her prose is tightly handled, but tells the story of a life in bondage to ignorance and lifestyle with painful clarity. Though there is certainly bitterness and heartbreak in her story, Jessop looks with optimism to the future.
Gist: This is the memoir of a woman who escaped her husband, a leader in the FDLS, and successfully gained sole custody of her children. It tells of her life from her childhood, with her mother and her mother’s sister wives, through her marriage to a much older man at 17, to her current life in the “outside” world.
Bonus Trivia: Carolyn Jessop is the only woman to have left a group of Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints and won full custody of her children. She has released a second memoir entitled Triumph: Life After the Cult, but it focuses more on personal philosophy than the events of her life. For those who might feel uncomfortable hearing just her side of the story, her eldest daughter chose to return to her father’s family. She has announced that she will write her own book about life with the FLDS.
Perfect For: Ages 17+ for dealing with mature subject matter
Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir
Keywords: Drama
Escape
Carolyn Jessop and Laura Palmer
Published: 2007
Why?: I connected this book to The 19th Wife because I read it after, myself. This is the story of Carolyn Jessop, one of the wives of cult leader Merrill Jessop. Her prose is tightly handled, but tells the story of a life in bondage to ignorance and lifestyle with painful clarity. Though there is certainly bitterness and heartbreak in her story, Jessop looks with optimism to the future.
Gist: This is the memoir of a woman who escaped her husband, a leader in the FDLS, and successfully gained sole custody of her children. It tells of her life from her childhood, with her mother and her mother’s sister wives, through her marriage to a much older man at 17, to her current life in the “outside” world.
Bonus Trivia: Carolyn Jessop is the only woman to have left a group of Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints and won full custody of her children. She has released a second memoir entitled Triumph: Life After the Cult, but it focuses more on personal philosophy than the events of her life. For those who might feel uncomfortable hearing just her side of the story, her eldest daughter chose to return to her father’s family. She has announced that she will write her own book about life with the FLDS.
Perfect For: Ages 17+ for dealing with mature subject matter
Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir
Keywords: Drama
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