Jacksonland: President Andrew Jackson, Cherokee Chief John Ross, and a Great American Land Grab by Steve Inskeep
What forces shaped the culture, politics, and economy of the American South? The factors were many – it was not one man’s doing – but NPR correspondent and author Steve … Continue reading
My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
At a time when memoirs are fashionable, Sonia Sotomayor has published an autobiography. My Beloved World is not her full life story, for she ends the book with becoming a … Continue reading
Gloomy Terrors and Hidden Fires: The Mystery of John Colter and Yellowstone by Ronald M. Anglin and Larry E. Morris
Who was John Colter? He was a companion of Lewis and Clark on their trek across the continent from 1803 to 1806 and is often credited with discovering what later … Continue reading
Michelangelo: A Life in Six Masterpieces by Miles J. Unger
Before our trip to Florence and Rome this winter, I perused several guidebooks and magazine articles. About a week before our departure, I started Michelangelo: A Life in Six Masterpieces … Continue reading
Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr.
Why would anyone keep several lavish homes that they never visit? This is the question that Bill Dedman, an investigative reporter for NBC, sought to answer when he began an … Continue reading
Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China by Jung Chang
China’s Empress Dowager Cixi, who reigned at the turn of the last century, has long been portrayed as a reactionary tyrant who usurped the power of youthful emperors and spent … Continue reading
My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead
These were my questions before I read My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead: Would I find a book about a woman’s relationship to a single book interesting? How much … Continue reading
The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild by Lawrence Anthony
South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony is a model for the modern version of the rugged man. He is unconcerned about comfort, brave in the face of danger, smart when he … Continue reading
Relish by Lucy Knisley
In her Alex Award winning book Relish: My Life in the Kitchen, artist and writer Lucy Knisley tells stories from her life accompanied by the food that played such a … Continue reading
The Red Man’s Bones : George Catlin, Artist and Showman by Benita Eisler
After biographies of Lord Byron, Frederic Chopin, and George Sand, writing about artist and ethnographer George Catlin seemed to me at first glance a departure for biographer Benita Eisler. Catlin … Continue reading
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai
On October 9, 2012, two Taliban gunmen stopped a small school bus in Mingora, Pakistan and shot three schoolgirls. Most seriously injured was Malala Yousafzai, the target of the attack. … Continue reading
The King’s Grave: The Discovery of Richard III’s Lost Burial Place and the Clues It Holds by Philippa Langley
Among the most interesting stories of 2013 was that the body of King Richard III was discovered under a parking lot in Leicester, England, not far from where he had … Continue reading
Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman
Travel has long been praised as a transforming experience. In Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World, author Matthew Goodman tells us how the lives … Continue reading
The DiMaggios: Three Brothers, Their Passion for Baseball, Their Pursuit of the American Dream by Tom Clavin (B DIMAGGIO)
The DiMaggios: Three Brothers, Their Passion for Baseball, Their Pursuit of the American Dream by Tom Clavin is a family epic, the story a family come to America. It starts … Continue reading
The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family’s Century of Art and Loss by Edmund de Waal (736.68 DEW)
I think I have a new sure-bet book to suggest to readers who ask me for something wonderful to read. I will offer The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family’s … Continue reading
Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen (B Alcott)
Louisa May Alcott’s life continues to be rewritten, as scholars discover new facts about the author many years after her death in 1888. At the Houghton Library at Harvard University … Continue reading
The Bird: The Life and Legacy of Mark Fidrych
Detroit Tigers pitcher Mark Fidrych was not a flake. On the pitcher’s mound, he talked to himself, not the ball, trying to stay focused as he prepared to pitch to … Continue reading
Mrs. Kennedy and Me by Clint Hill with Lisa McCubbin
Mrs. Kennedy and Me is available in audio (BOCD Hill NF), or in a print edition with wonderful photographs (B Hill) If JFK’s time in office was Camelot, Secret Service Agent … Continue reading
Visiting Tom: A Man, A Highway, and the Road to Roughneck Grace (977.5 PER)
When Michael Perry (Coup, Truck, and Population, 485) read from his books at Thomas Ford in spring of 2011, he also read from a work in progress. Visiting Tom is … Continue reading
Mozart at the Gateway to His Fortune: Serving the Emperor, 1788-1791 by Christoph Wolff (780.92 WOL)
Author Christoph Wolff, a professor at Harvard and known for his studies of Bach and Mozart, thinks that many scholars view Mozart’s final four years incorrectly. They write as though … Continue reading
The Grand Tour by Agatha Christie (B Christie)
Dame Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime, may have died in 1976, but she still has books coming out. I am not referring to reprints. The Grand Tour is a … Continue reading
The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl’s Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster by Tim Crothers
I am so impressionable. I have just read a book about the world of championship chess and am now thinking that I should start playing again. Maybe there is an … Continue reading
John Everett Millais by Jason Rosenfeld (759.2 Millais)
First off, if you don’t feel like you have time to read 256 pages of art history then that’s fine. Next time you’re in the library just give this title … Continue reading
Guest of Honor: Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the White House Dinner That Shocked the Nation by Deborah Davis (973.91 DAV)
The Civil Rights Movement was successful. While there is still prejudice and racism, and while there are still improvements to make, the nation is a more civil place now than … Continue reading
Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter by Frank Deford (B Deford)
Just like Queen Elizabeth II, it seems like sportswriter Frank Deford has always been here. As long as I can remember, he has been writing for Sports Illustrated, appearing on … Continue reading
The Kennedys: Portrait of a Family by Richard Avedon (973.922 Ave)
At this point in time, over 50 years having passed, The Kennedys: Portrait of a Family by Richard Avedon is a very interesting book. Could the United States ever have … Continue reading
First Family: Abigail and John Adams by Joseph J. Ellis
Long before Bill and Hillary or Barack and Michelle, couples who closely collaborate in politics and policy, there were John and Abigail. If you call them “the Adams family,” as … Continue reading
Fifth Avenue, 5 A. M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman by Sam Wasson (Media on Demand)
Find this new title as an ebook on our Media on Demand download service. Audrey Hepburn did not like Danish pastries, but she ate a sugary roll while wearing an … Continue reading
George Harrison: Living in the Material World by Olivia Harrison (781.66 HAR)
It has been eleven years since guitarist, singer, songwriter, movie producer, and gardener/landscaper George Harrison died of cancer. I did not know about the gardening and landscaping part of his … Continue reading
The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music
A couple of years ago I tried to watch The Soloist, a movie about a Los Angeles Times columnist befriending a homeless musician on L.A.’s Skid Row. I was in … Continue reading
A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos by Dava Sobel (520.92 SOB)
Copernicus was a man with a serious problem. He knew from his observations and mathematical calculations that his church’s teachings on the nature of the universe were wrong. The earth … Continue reading
Blue Nights by Joan Didion
Joan Didion has survived two great losses. Survived may not be the right word, for it suggests either luck or inner strength. Didion would probably not claim either and prefer … Continue reading
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (940.54 HIL)
Author Laura Hillenbrand’s second book Unbroken, about former Olympian and World War II prisoner of war Louis Zamperini, was highly anticipated. Seabiscuit was a wonderful book that spent years on … Continue reading
Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard (973.84 MIL)
In her first book, The River of Doubt, former National Geographic editor Candice Millard took readers back to 1913 to join Teddy Roosevelt on a dangerous journey through Brazil’s Amazon … Continue reading
Chopin’s Funeral by Benita Eisner (B Chopin)
Chopin’s Funeral starts, as you would expect, with the composer’s funeral. It was a big affair with four thousand invitation-only guests, held in a cathedral, with music chosen by Frederic … Continue reading
Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost Story of 1970 by David Browne (781.66 BRO)
If ever there was a book aimed at a target audience, Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost Story of 1970 by David … Continue reading
Cleopatra, A Life by Stacy Schiff
Cleopatra may be the most famous woman in history, according to Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra: A Life, but little is known about the character of the Egyptian queen. Schiff … Continue reading
Author Talk: Kathryn Atwood Tells About Writing Women Heroes of World War II
Oh no! Summer is half over already. We have only a few weeks left for our history-based summer reading program. It has been a fun and popular program, and one … Continue reading
Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson (822.33 BRY)
With First Folio and other theater companies performing Shakespeare this summer, it seems a good time to read about the Bard. Bill Bryson has turned from humorous autobiography to nearly … Continue reading
Byron in Love by Edna O’Brien (B BYRON)
Byron in Love is about the biggest celebrity of the Romantic period, British poet Lord Byron, chronicling all the love affairs, trysts, and trials of the author of Don Juan … Continue reading
A Slice of Life: Memoirs Recommended by ARRT
The Library is hosting a program on writing memoirs on Wednesday, April 13 at 7 p.m. Here are shining examples of the genre. For over twenty years, a group of … Continue reading
A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel (B Kimmel)
The Jarvis family lived in Mooreland, Indiana, a town of 300 people, three churches, and one four-way intersection with stop signs. Just what they were doing there isn’t clear, but … Continue reading
The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech that Inspired a Nation by Drew D. Hansen (323 Han)
When Martin Luther King, Jr., stepped up to the microphone on August 28, 1963, 250,000 people filled the park in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Millions more … Continue reading
Mark Twain: The Man in White: The Grand Adventure of His Final Years by Michael Shelden (B Twain)
100 years ago this year, Mark Twain died in his recently built home outside Redding, Conneticut. His final years had been somewhat difficult. His daughter Jean, who had been treated … Continue reading
Thommy Ford Reads 