Category Archives: Non-Fiction

American Shaolin

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Title: American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China

Author: Matthew Polley

Publisher: Gotham, December 2007

Summary: This is not your typical travelogue or coming-of-age story, but this Alex Award winner will be as entertaining as any book you’ll read this year. In 1992, Matthew Polley dropped out of Princeton and went to China to learn kungfu from the legendary monks of the Shaolin temple in China. He lived there for two years at the temple, studying kickboxing and becoming the first American to be accepted as a Shaolin disciple.

This book chronicles not only Matthew’s story, but also the rapid changes occurring in rural China during the ’90s, where cultural traditions and social mores truly began to collide with the modernizing influences of the West. Written in an almost irreverent tone with several laugh-out-loud, cringe inducing moments (the noted Iron Crotch technique being among them), American Shaolin is really about the relationships between Matthew, his fellow trainees and monks, and the other laowai (foreigners) who come to Shaolin to study and to profit. The monks of Shaolin, young and old, provide the heart and soul of this terrific book.

Who will like this book?: People looking for a book about the changes in China that isn’t overly political or preachy. Readers who like stories about other cultures. Anyone who harbors fantasies about secretly being the toughest guy in the room…and being able to prove it.

If you like this, try this: A Fighter’s Heart by Sam Sheridan. Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman. Shenzen by Guy Delisle.

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian

Burma Chronicles

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Title: Burma Chronicles

Author: Guy Delisle

Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly, September 2008

Summary: Because his wife works for MSF (Doctors without Borders), French-Canadian cartoonist Guy Delisle often finds himself living in countries that, for most of us, are shrouded in mystery. This graphic travelogue recounts the year he spent living in Myanmar, formerly called Burma, a small impoverished nation run by a military junta constantly sanctioned for human rights violations. It’s most notable citizen is the leader of its banned democratic party and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for nearly 13 years.

Delisle rarely gets political, even though he lives in a house just up the road from Suu Kyi, or ‘The Lady,’ as she is referred to by the Burmese people. Instead, he describes everyday life in Burma: The oppressive heat, the delight his neighbors take in his light-skinned baby Louis, and the ubiquitous Karen Carpenter songs playing in the grocery stores. He describes the difficulties NGOs like MSF have trying to reach the impoverished and disadvantaged populations they strive to aid, and the idiosyncrasies of living under dictatorship.

Who will like this book?: Fans of travel writing. People interested in human rights, or the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi.

If you like this, try this: Delisle’s other graphic travelogues: Shenzen (about China) or Pyongyang (North Korea.) A Perfect Prisoner: A Life of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s Prisoner of Conscience by Justin Wintle.

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian

After the Fire

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Title: After the Fire: A True Story of Friendship and Survival

Author:  Robin Gaby Fisher

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, August 2008

Summary:  On January 19, 2000, a fire set in a freshman dormitory at Seton Hall University killed 3 students and injured 58. After the Fire is the true story of the two most severely injured survivors. Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos were roommates, housed just yards away from the student lounge where the fire had been set. The author describes, in heartbreaking detail, their struggle to escape the building and then survive their horrible injuries.

I’m not going to lie. This is a very emotional story. The details about the methods used to treat burn victims are a necessary part of this story. Rather than repel you, they will probably bring you to tears. You will be amazed by these two young men and the St. Barnabas medical staff that perform miracles every day. Though the fire and the months immediately after it are a big part of this book, the deep bond that develops between Shawn and Alvaro is the author’s main focus. Their friendship and support of each other is enviable. We should all have friends like this.

Recommended by: Sue, Circulation Coordinator

The Unthinkable

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Title: The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why

Author: Amanda Ripley

Publisher: Crown, June 2008

Summary: Ever wonder how you would react in a real emergency? You will keep asking that question throughout this interesting non-fiction book on surviving disasters. The author analyzes behavior in several disastrous situations to try and determine who survives – and why. The answers may surprise you.

Who will like this book?: Readers who are interested in human behavior.

If you like this, try this: Brain Rules by John Medina

Recommended by: Barb, Reference Librarian.

Brain Rules

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Title: Brain Rules

Author:  John Medina

Publisher: Pear Press, March 2008

Summary:

“If you wanted to create an education environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you probably would design something like a classroom. If you wanted to create a business environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you would probably design something like a cubicle.”

This is just one of John Medina’s interesting observations detailed in Brain Rules. Medina has narrowed his research down to 12 rules of brain function with a chapter designated for each.

In chapter 1, “Exercise Boosts Brain Power” we learn, among other things, that one of the greatest predictors of successful aging is the presence or lack of a sedentary lifestyle. I personally know a few people who could benefit by reading chapter 4, “We Don’t Pay Attention to Boring Things”. Chapters 7 and 8 detail the effects of sleep and stress on brain function, and Chapter 11 tells us (surprise, surprise), that male and female brains are different. If you are interested in learning why we think and behave the way we do, Medina does a great job explaining the “rules”.

Who will like this book?  Anyone interested in human behavior.

Recommended by: Sue, Circulation Coordinator

Dry

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Title: Dry

Author: Augusten Burroughs

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, June 2003

Summary: Augusten (author of Running with Scissors and A Wolf at the Table) continues his autobiographical work in Dry. Sadly I am not sure his story is all that unique in terms of living a “successful” life on the outside. He makes a very good living in New York City working as an advertising executive during the day. However, when not at work, and, sometimes when (and certainly at lunch), Augusten’s life revolves around his need to drink to oblivion. He describes the chaos of his life and relationships brilliantly and often they are so “out there” you laugh with him as he reveals how crazy his life/addiction has become. Finally his boss forces him into rehabilitation where he meets and befriends some hilarious and sad personalities. His telling of his return to his life sober makes for a truly moving story. His sadness and regret is palpable when he realizes he may have lost the opportunity to be with his true love. Not for the faint-hearted.

Who will like this book?: Readers who relish the madness of the lives some people live and survive.

If you like this, try this: The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls.

Recommended by: Karen, Administration

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star

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Title: Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar

Author: Paul Theroux

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, August 2008

Summary: In 1975, Theroux’s book The Great Railway Bazaar, a 28,000-mile intercontinental journey via rail from London to Tokyo became a travel classic. Thirty years later, Theroux decided to retrace his steps. The result is this fascinating account of the places you vaguely knew existed (Tblisi), probably would never go to (Bangalore), but definitely should know something about (Mandalay).

Who will like this book?: All who love great travel books and love to travel vicariously.

If you like this, try this: The Great Railway Bazaar. Dark Star Safari. The Kingdom by the Sea, all by Theroux.

Recommended by: Cliff, Reference

Speak Truth to Power

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Title: Speak Truth to Power. Human Rights Defenders who are Changing Our World

Editor: Nan Richardson

Interviewer:  Kerry Kennedy Cuomo

Photographer:Eddie Adams

Summary: This book contains interviews with 49 defenders of human rights around the world.  While some are well-known Nobel Prize Laureates such as the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Elie Wiesel, most of the defenders are not well-known.  Along with each interview, there is a black and white photograph of the person that, through the talents of the photographer, Eddie Adams, speaks volumes. After I read many of the interviews, I returned to linger over the photograph.

What unites these brave individuals is the clarity of the belief that they are doing something right (with a capital “R”) and their need to effect change.  All of them champion the fight against different human rights violations ranging from children’s rights, religious freedom,  disarmament, political rights, and multinational corporate responsibility, to name only a few.

Kerry Kennedy Cuomo has been working on behalf of human rights since 1981.  She established the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights in 1987, and serves as Chair of the Amnesty International Leadership Council, and in numerous other capacities.  Ms. Cuomo best sums up this unusual and inspiring book.

In a world where there is a common lament that there are no more heroes, too often cynicism and despair are perceived as evidence of the death of moral courage. That perception is wrong. People of great valor and heart, committed to noble purpose, with long records of personal sacrifice, walk among us in every country of the world

Eddie Adams is an internationally famous photographer and is one of the most published photographers in America.

Who will like this book:  Those people interested in understanding political issues in other areas of the world, in reading about people who are making a difference, and those that wish to be inspired.

If you like this, try this: Three Cups of Tea of Greg Mortenson. Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder.

Recommended by:  Susan Z, Reference Librarian

The Nine

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Title: The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court

Author: Jeffrey Toobin

Summary: Best-selling author Jeffrey Toobin takes the reader into the chambers of the Supreme Court to reveal the character and thinking of the nine people who decide the law of the land. This is a remarkable and riveting book – lucid and probing.

Also, author Jeffery Toobin will be appearing on Sunday, September 24th at 8 PM for the Open Visions Forum at the Quick Center of Fairfield University.

Who will like this book?: Those interested in the workings of the third branch of our government.

If you like this, try this: The Brethren by Bob Woodward. Supreme Injustice by Alan Dershowitz. Harry Blackmun: The Outsider Justice by Tinsley Yarbrough.

Recommended by: Cliff, Reference Librarian

The Prince of Frogtown

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Title: The Prince of Frogtown

Author: Rick Bragg

Summary: This is the final volume in Rick Bragg’s Americana Saga: All Over But the Shoutin’ and Ava’s Man. Bragg finishes his collection of family stories with a tale about fathers and sons inspired by his own relationship with his ten year-old stepson. Bragg has a great gift for descriptive storytelling.

Who will like this book?: All who enjoy a great memoir.

If you like this, try this: This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolfe. Liar’s Club by Mary Karr.

Recommended by: Cliff, Reference.