Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Married to Bhutan

Married to Bhutan: how one woman got lost, said "I do", and found bliss by Linda Leaming 2011

How far would you go to be happy? For writer Linda Leaming, it was to Bhutan, the tiny Himalayan kingdom of which it’s said the most important thing is their Gross National Happiness.  In her late 30s, she went on a short side trip to Bhutan, fell in love with the country and spent the next two years trying to find a way to get back.  The result? She sold everything, uprooted herself, gave up her career, moved away from family and friends and began a new life, found love and a lasting relationship, and now, twenty years later, is still blissfully happy in Bhutan.  A thoroughly charming memoir, full of humour, pithy observation and interesting commentary on the choices we make in life.

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Wild

Wild: from Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed 2012

In 1995 Cheryl Strayed was a young divorcée actively grieving the loss of her beloved mother to cancer. Her family has dissipated and her life lacks direction. When she begins to dabble in heroin, she realizes that she is spiraling out of control. At the lowest of low points, she makes the decision to hike 1,100 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail from California to Oregon. Hauling a massive backpack she calls “Monster”, she sets out alone only able to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Over the course of her trek, she revisits her childhood and other parts of her past, and as she becomes completely broken down, she finds a strength she never knew she had—and finally begins to heal. With humour and candour, Cheryl shares her emotional journey on the West Coast. In the most challenging of scenarios, we root for her to survive one adventure after the next and achieve her goal. In the end, despite the pain of the journey, you almost want to give the Pacific Crest Trail a try yourself!

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson 2011

Steve Jobs wanted to change the world, "put a dent in the universe," and he did. This biography was an inspiring look at who Steve Jobs really was. In many ways a genius, and in others a very difficult person, he was above all an inspiration to anyone who has passion and vision! Very extensively researched, the interviews with Jobs are fascinating and revealing. We get a real sense of what it must have been like to be Steve, and to work with him.

It is extremely detailed yet easy to read. The author makes reading each sentence effortless. Every word and paragraph makes a contribution to the narrative. If you are interested in life and want to know how Jobs changed it, you should read this book. If you're interested in computers or business, read this book. If you understand how passion and design can make a good idea better, read this book. It's a long portrait, but definitely a worthwhile read.

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Happens Every Day

Happens Every Day: an all too true story by Isabel Gillies 2009

Happens Every Day is an all-too-common story: woman and man fall in love, woman gives up job to follow man, woman and man have children, man leaves woman for woman’s friend. While the plot might be a known entity, this remains a compelling read with great character analysis and boldly honest commentary. This is not an attempt to vilify anyone, but rather, is an attempt to understand what will never be understandable: how we have no control over others and cannot predict when our lives are about to fall apart. While Isabel Gillies is a former actor from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, this story is simply about a hurt and confused wife and mother – not a Hollywood drama.

Also available on audiobook!

Read-Alikes: A Ticket to the Circus by Norris Church Mailer

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: There are Things I Want you to Know about Stieg Larsson and Me

There are Things I Want You to Know about Stieg Larsson and Me by Eva Gabrielsson 2011

Everyone knows the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson with the books The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo; The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. When Stieg Larsson died unexpectedly in 2004, he was just in the process of getting his first book published and didn’t live to see the huge success that his books would become, translated into many languages and made into films, both in his native Sweden and in Hollywood.

What many people do not know is that this was only one facet of his life. Many people do not about his life as an activist and his relentless pursuit for social justice and human rights. Who better to tell this story but his partner of 32 years Eva Gabrielsson. This is a fascinating book about both Stieg and Eva and the incredible life and drive they both shared. Since his death she has struggled to survive without him and to obtain control over Larsson’s literary estate. It is an easy read, written in chapters like snapshots of their life. You will come to appreciate just how truly driven and talented Stieg Larsson was and how together, he and Eva created the Millennium trilogy.

And for those who are interested in knowing more about the fascinating life of Stieg Larsson, swing by the library on January 19th to view the film Millennium: The Story.

This is a free screening. To register, please call 905-639-3611 Ext. 1321.

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Priceless

Priceless: how I went undercover to rescue the world's stolen treasures by Robert K. Wittman
  
In the world of North American crime, art theft does not rank high on the list of priorities for the FBI. For one man, however, stopping the theft of cultural artifacts is as important as stopping the sale of drugs or solving violent crime cases. Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures is the story of Robert K. Wittman’s FBI career and how he spent years travelling around the globe reclaiming works of art for both museums and personal collections.

Wittman makes a convincing argument for the importance of pursuing the recovery of paintings, sculptures, historic flags, swords, items from archeology sites, and other culturally relevant objects. He notes that their disappearance robs us all of our history, culture, and sense of identity. Wittman details a number of his undercover exploits as he ingratiates himself with members of the criminal underworld to recover works by Rodin, Goya, Rembrandt, and objects such as Geronimo’s eagle feather war bonnet and a crystal ball originally from Beijing’s Forbidden City. He tracks the growth of the fledgling art crime unit within the FBI and its eventual dissolution, while outlining both its successes as well as its failures.

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon  2011

Told by an American journalist, this is the inspirational story of Kamila Sidiqi, a young woman living in Kabul in a time of war.  Kamila was teaching at a local school when the Taliban seized control in 1996. What followed was a terrifying time for all the citizens of Kabul, especially the women. The Taliban decreed that all women must remain at home and only leave the house fully covered in a chadri and accompanied by the male of the house. Many women found themselves isolated and unable to support their families.

To support her five brothers and sisters, Kamila secretly started a dressmaking business.  Under extremely dangerous conditions, while adherring to the repressive rules of the Taliban, Kamila successfully grew her tailoring business to support her family and up to 100 other women.

A compelling true story of a young woman who finds herself faced with incredible hardship, and how she reinvents herself for the betterment of her family and dozens of other women and their families.

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Nine Lives

Nine Lives: death and life in New Orleans by Dan Baum 2009

Nine Lives provides a unique perspective on the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. By profiling the lives of nine individuals who lived in New Orleans from 1965’s Hurricane Betsy to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Dan Baum not only provides historical context for Katrina, but also gives you a window into what makes New Orleans so unique, so worth saving, and so difficult to save. The intertwined mini-biographies allow you to peer into the lives of people from different social classes, political orientations, and world views, always pointing back to how New Orleans shapes the people who live there. New Orleans is shown as a city with a culture foreign to the rest of the United States. Baum makes a case for its’ beauty, tradition, and family oriented lifestyle. By the same token, he outlines how its unwillingness to change economic attitudes to keep pace with the rest of the country and a lack of racial integration make it even more difficult to rebuild the city after Katrina. Nine Lives makes for an excellent read for those interested in culture, politics, history, and biographies.

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: The Flying Carpet of Small Miracles

The Flying Carpet of Small Miracles: A Woman’s Fight to Save Two Orphans by Hala Jaber 2008

The Flying Carpet of Small Miracles: A Woman’s Fight to Save Two Orphans is written by journalist Hala Jaber and flows between two parallel lines to tell one story. Part of the story focuses on the author and her struggle with infertility. This loss threatens to take over her life until the events of 9/11 compel her to rejuvenate her career as a reporter. As an Arabic speaker educated in the West, Jaber is in a unique position to report on events from Iraq. Many of her stories focus on the plight of children, and she finds herself particularly involved in the lives of two small girls who have lost most of their family. It is through her relationship with these girls that she comes to terms with her own lack of children and the possibility of mothering another family’s child.

The other component of the story focuses on the events that happen within Iraq during the Western invasion. The loss of civilian life, the chaos that follows the fall of Saddam Hussein, and the lasting resentment against the West by those who have lost family, friends, livelihoods, and security are chillingly documented by Jaber. This book would appeal to those who enjoy biographies, works on global conflict, and journalism.

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: The Mystery of Lewis Carroll

The Mystery of Lewis Carrol by Jenny Woolf 2010

Many biographies have been written about Charles Dodgson, known to his readers by his pen name, Lewis Carroll. Biographer Jenny Woolf is able to bring to life this fascinating and often inexplicable man, who has given the world the well-
loved classic Alice in Wonderland. Using recently discovered sources, the author brings us a Carroll who was brilliant, secretive, a lover of puzzles and math games (after all he was an Oxford teacher of Math), and of course an imaginative writer. Woolf tackles many of the questions (some of them of a scandalous nature) about Carroll's life. Why did he have a falling out with the Alice Liddell's family? What were the romantic secrets in his life? And what caused his financial breakdown? I especially liked the way the author attempted to explain Carroll’s behavior in the context of the Victorian times in which he lived.

Fiction Pick of the Week: Summertime

An appropriate title for a hot week in Burlington!



Summertime by J.M. Coetzee 2009

In this work of inspiring fiction J. M. Coetzee imagines himself through the interviews of a young English biographer. The novel is a series of interviews with the author posing as the biographer. Through the interviews with people like Julia, Sophie, Margo and Adriana, the reader begins to understand J. M. Coetzee in the early years of his writing in South Africa. From these interviews we see the many-sided life of the author and his relationship with each of the women. Through their relationships, we learn about what it means to care for others.
J. M. Coetzee is a Nobel Laureate and two-time winner of the Booker Prize for fiction. The novel Summertime was nominated for the Booker Prize as well.

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Beyond the Miracle Worker

Beyond the miracle worker: the remarkable life of Anne Sullivan Macy and her extraordinary friendship with Helen Keller by Kim E. Nielsen 2009


This work focuses on the life of Anne Sullivan Macy, the famous “teacher” of
Helen Keller. The author Nielsen has written two books on Helen Keller and had access to archives of Perkins Institute for the Blind where Anne Sullivan attended as well as Helen Keller.

It is an interesting, well-researched book, but will also appeal to people who want a lighter read. Annie Sullivan was also disabled with poor eyesight due to a childhood eye infection Trachoma which resulted in a life time of eye pain, and she had to undergo several eye operations and at some points in her life, she could barely see. Annie’s mother died when she was 10 and Annie was put into an orphanage due to her father’s alcoholism.

At 13 yrs old she was able to attend the renowned Perkins school for the Blind. She received her education there and at 19 years of age, she was offered a job to educate Helen Keller. The book appealed to me as it illustrated the difficulties that both women had to overcome to get an education and the lack of employment opportunities for disabled persons in the early 20th century.

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: A Life Consumed

A Life Consumed: Lilly Samson’s Dispatches From The TB Front by Diane Sims 2008

Diane Sims writes the story of her aunt Lilly Samson, from a collection of letters written during the 1920s. Lilly was a dedicated letter writer as so many were from that time period. She was a young teacher in a one-room schoolhouse in Northern Ontario outside of Sault Ste. Marie. It was there that she contracted tuberculosis and this is where the story begins.

Lilly was sent to a sanatorium on Muskoka Lake in Gravenhurst, the first of its kind in Canada. It was a very difficult disease to cure and patients spent many months on bed rest. It practiced the regimented treatment of TB, or consumption, as it was called. Thanks to her extensive letter writing and also thanks to the fact that her mother kept all of her letters, we are able to get a realistic and poignant view of what it must have been like to live in a time where TB was so prevalent and lifethreatening.

It is the place that Lilly spent the last months of her life. Through her letters we learn about the medical views of the times as well as the personal challenges the patients and their families were forced to endure. The author, Diane Sims, is the daughter of Lilly’s youngest sister. Through extensive research and with the help of Lilly’s letters, she recreates a time of uncertainty and sadness, but also a time of discovery and hope.

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Zen and Now

Zen and now : on the trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Mark Richardson 2008

August 1968 Robert Pirsig, his eleven-year-old son, and two friends set out from Minneapolis-St.Paul to motorcycle along the back roads of America to California. This road trip became the inspiration for the cult classic Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. At the heart of the book was praise for pursuing the quality within life: If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well. In 2004, Toronto columnist and author Mark Richardson set out to duplicate this journey. In Zen and Now : on the trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance he talks about his 'cycle, he visits & interviews many of the places and people described in the original book and has some new adventures of his own.

For both those who couldn't finish the original and those who re-read it religiously.