Good Reads & Views

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
Nonfiction

What it is: Bill Bryson takes readers on a tour of his home in England, a former parsonage, and explores how homes reflect history. What is a parlor and why do we have them? Why did people wear wigs? Among lots of other interesting tidbits, Bryson shares that flushing toilets were the most popular feature at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851. Who knew?

Reviewers say: “Informative, readable and great fun” (Kirkus Reviews); “explores everything from the spice trade to the toilet bowl, revealing the hilarious and revolting details of our private lives from Roman times to the present (Library Journal).

Want a taste? “If a potato can produce vitamin C, why can't we? Within the animal kingdom only humans and guinea pigs are unable to synthesize vitamin C in their own bodies. Why us and guinea pigs? No point asking. Nobody knows.” “Part of the reason people could eat so well was that many foods that we now think of as delicacies were plenteous then. Lobsters bred in such abundance around Britain's coastline that they were fed to prisoners and orphans or ground up for fertilizer.”

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And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle by Jon Meacham
Nonfiction

What it’s about:  It may be hard for people today to realize how much of our country’s history hung on the slavery/antislavery issue, but it consumed the politics and social life of the US the first 60 years of the 19^th century. Meacham shows how Lincoln’s position on slavery grew over the years leading up to and including the Civil War. He also, with quotations from famous and not-so-famous people, lays out how the sides were drawn.

Reviewers say:  “Richly detailed and gracefully written, this is an essential reminder that ‘progress can be made by fallible and fallen presidents and peoples’" (Publisher’s Weekly).

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21 Lessons for the 21^st Century by Yuval Noah Harari
Nonfiction

What it’s about: The author’s bestsellers Sapiens and Homo Deus dealt with the past and the future of humanity, whereas this book concerns itself with the present and immediate future. Great on audio.

Reviewers say: “Harari delivers yet another tour de force” (Kirkus); “This well-informed and searching book is one to be savored and widely discussed” (Publishers Weekly); “Highly recommended for general readers and academics alike” (Library Journal).

Some quotes: “Humans were always far better at inventing tools than using them wisely”; “We should never underestimate human stupidity. Both on the personal and on the collective level, humans are prone to engage in self-destructive activities”; “So the best advice I could give a fifteen-year-old stuck in an outdated school somewhere in Mexico, India or Alabama is: don’t rely on the adults too much. Most of them mean well, but they just don’t understand the world.”

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Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari 
Nonfiction

What’s it about: In this provocative and thought-provoking tome, Historian Harari (author of the international bestseller Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind) discusses achievements of the civilized world in the areas of disease, famine, and war, and speculates on humanity’s evolutionary goals for the future - immortality, happiness, and divinity.

Reviewers say: "Harari paints with a very broad brush throughout, but he raises stimulating questions about both the past and the future” (Publishers Weekly); “A relentlessly fascinating book” (Kirkus Reviews).

Want a taste?  “Every day millions of people decide to grant their smartphone a bit more control over their lives or try a new and more effective antidepressant drug. In pursuit of health, happiness and power, humans will gradually change first one of their features and then another, and another, until they will no longer be human.”

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Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Nonfiction

What is it? A narrative history of humanity's creation and evolution that explores how biology and history have defined understandings of what it means to be human. The author uses three revolutions to explain how things came to be as they presently are: cognitive, agricultural, and scientific.

Reviewers say: “provocative and entertaining" (Publishers Weekly); "one of the exceptional works of nonfiction that is both highly intellectual and compulsively readable” (Library Journal); “The great debates of history aired out with satisfying vigor” (Kirkus Reviews).

An aside: This somewhat controversial international bestseller is an excellent choice to listen to on audio or enjoy in graphic novel format.

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Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
Nonfiction

What it's about: Ona “Oney” Judge was born a slave at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate. One of the chosen few to accompany Martha Washington to the new nation’s capital, Judge discovered that any slave kept in Pennsylvania for more than 6 months was legally emancipated. To circumvent this, Washington sent his slaves back to Mount Vernon every 6 months. When Mrs. Washington decided to give Judge to her granddaughter, Judge had had enough. She used her contacts in the free Black community to escape to New Hampshire. This history shows a different side of the Father of our Country.

Reviewers say: “This work adds new insights into the little-known story of Ona Judge and provides an important look at America's first president from the perspective of a woman he enslaved” (Library Journal); “A startling, well-researched slave narrative that seriously questions the intentions of our first president” (Kirkus).

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Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
Nonfiction

What it is: Racial disparities and racism in the United States are skillfully reframed as a classic caste system in this fascinating, well researched history lesson. Pulitzer Prize winner Wilkerson (The Warmth of Other Suns) compares America's caste system with the one that operated in Nazi Germany and the one still operating today in India. 

Want a taste? “Caste is structure. Caste is ranking. Caste is the boundaries that reinforce the fixed assignments based upon what people look like. Caste is a living, breathing entity.”

Reviewers say: "This is a brilliant book, well timed in the face of a pandemic and police brutality that cleave along the lines of a caste system” (Booklist); “A memorable, provocative book that exposes an American history in which few can take pride” (Kirkus Reviews).

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The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
Nonfiction

What it’s about: Author Larson tells the story of Winston Churchill’s first year as Prime Minister of Britain with suspense and attention to detail. Using journals and letters of those close to Churchill, he draws a picture of May 1940 - May 1941 when Germany was conducting regular bombing raids on Britain in preparation for an invasion. Larson shows equally Churchill’s leadership and quirky personality as he tells the story of “their finest hour.”

Reviewers say: "While the story of Churchill’s premiership and the Blitz have been told in greater historical depth, they’ve rarely been rendered so vividly. Readers will rejoice" (Publisher’s Weekly); "A captivating history of Churchill's heroic year, with more than the usual emphasis on his intimates" (Kirkus Reviews); "Larson's distinctive history of Britain's 'darkest hour' offers a new angle for those already familiar with this era, while attracting readers who wish to learn more about the notable leader" (Library Journal).

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The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman
Nonfiction 

What it’s about: The Zookeeper's Wife is an astonishing story of the courage and selfless actions of the people of Warsaw during the Second World War who rescued and hid, at great personal danger, the hundreds of Jews who were hunted by the Nazis.

Why you might like it: The Zookeeper’s Wife is a true story set in Warsaw, Poland at the onset of WWII, and is both a horrifying and endearing story.

You might also like: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. 

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Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Nonfiction

What it's about: A presidential historian looks at 4 presidents and asks, are leaders born or made? Goodwin looks at Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D Roosevelt and Lyndon B Johnson, examining their early lives, dramatic reversals of fortune each experienced early in adulthood, and shows how they proved equal to the crises of their time.

Why you might like it: If you enjoy U.S. history, particularly learning new things about our presidents, give this a try. Or pick this up if you want a study in leadership qualities that is easily and compulsively readable.

You might also like: Presidents of War by Michael Beschloss if you're looking to read more about presidents and their times. Or try Dare to Lead: Brave work, Tough Conversations, Whole Hearts by Brene Brown if you're looking for more on leadership.

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