Good Reads & Views

The Food Explorer by Daniel Stone
Nonfiction

What it’s about: The true adventures of one David Fairchild, 19th-century botanist and food explorer, who was responsible for the introduction of various crops to the American marketplace, ranging from avocadoes and mangoes to seedless grapes and pomegranates.

Why you might like it: This adventure story reads like fiction and provides lots of “did you know…” tidbits, like who the Myer lemon is named after and why there are all those avocados being grown in California.

Reviewers say: “An erudite and entertaining historical biography of a food pioneer with particular interest for gastronomes and agriculture enthusiasts” (Kirkus Review).

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River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard          
Nonfiction  

The true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s incredible journey down one of most dangerous rivers on earth.  After losing his third bid for the presidency in 1912 he is asked to take a trip to South America that will challenge him physically.  With his son Kermit, the famous explorer Brazilian Candido Rondon, American naturalist George Cherrie and a party of men, Roosevelt and his team face starvation, rushing rapids, natives with poison arrows, disease carrying insects and even murder.  It is an unbelievable tale of exploration and incredible hardship as he and his men discover an unmapped tributary of the Amazon River.  It is known as the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Scientific Exploration of 1913-1914.  It’s a fascinating and dramatic biography filled with adventure.