New Non-fiction

The Peter White Public Library has a new crop of non-fiction available on the new book shelves.  Michigan resident Mardi Jo Link has established a reputation for non-fiction set in the Great Lakes State.  Her books Bootstrapper, When Evil Came to Good Hart and Isadore’s Secret won numerous awards.  Her latest, The Drummond Girls is a personal memoir about Link and her friends’ annual trips to Drummond Island.  In 1993, Link and five of her friends set out for Drummond Island to celebrate an upcoming wedding.  For the next two decades, the women have made an annual sojourn to the Island to escape adult responsibilities and to hold on to a piece of their wild youth.

Summer is a perfect time to eat outdoors and April McKinney can help you with that. The Outdoor Table is the ultimate cookbook for your next backyard BBQ, tailgate or picnic.  Not only do these 175 recipes look good, but they will travel well.  The book is divided into seven chapters—beverages, breakfast, appetizers, breads, sides, main dishes and desserts.

Carol Deppe holds a PhD in biology from Harvard and has spent her life breaking new ground developing organic gardening techniques and educating the general public about how easy it is to grow food.  The Tao of Vegetable Gardening explores practical methods and the deeper essence of gardening by focusing on tomatoes, green beans, peas and leafy greens.  Experienced gardeners and novices looking for guidance will both appreciate the wealth of knowledge Deppe shares.

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Strandal is the tale of Midwestern chef Lars Thorvald who has three loves in his life—his kitchen, his wife and his daughter Eva.  When his wife falls in love with wine and escapes with a dashing sommelier, Lars is left to raise Eva on his own.  He vows to share his passion for food with his daughter who later finds solace and salvation in the flavors of her native Minnesota.

Pulitzer Prize winning American historian Joseph J. Ellis brings to life a gripping and dramatic portrait of one of the most critical and misunderstood periods of U.S. history—that between the Revolution and the formation of the federal government.  The Quartet details how George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison shaped the new country and developed the Bill of Rights to assure state compliance with the constitutional settlement.

Kate Braestrup spent her life serving as a chaplain to the Maine Warden Service.  Her job was to support families when a loved one is lost in wilderness or water.  Little did she know she would be of need of these services when her husband Drew dies suddenly.  The mother of four was challenged in ways she never expected.  Anchor and Flares is the story of how this mother combined love, service and strength to survive.

War is Not a Game by Nan Levinson chronicles the transformation of eight warriors who banded together to found the organization Iraq Veterans Against the War.  Five marines, two soldiers and one airman were all young and gung-ho when they were sent to fight a war that left them and many of their comrades confused, enraged and haunted.  Once they returned home, they were determined to put their disillusionment to use.  Levinson tells the story of these working-class veterans who became leaders of a national organization.

Eric Greitens was born and raised in Missouri.  He served as a Navy Seal and is a Rhodes Scholar.  He is the founder of The Mission Continues and has been called one of the 50 greatest leaders in the world.  When he heard from Zach Walker, a fellow Seal a decade after they served together, he realized that not everyone can survive hardship.  What followed was a daily mentoring of Walker and struggle to understand what makes some people more capable of handling trauma than others.  Resilience is a collection of letters based on his and Walker’s correspondence.

Blackout, Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget by Sarah Hepola is a gritty but comic memoir that follows Hepola’s rocky road to sobriety.  Alcohol was “the gasoline of all adventure” for 30 something Hepola as she cruised New York City.  A successful writer and blogger, she had the world right where she wanted it, until she realized what she was trying to bury was not as important as saving herself.

Dr. Laura Bates is an English professor at Indiana State University.  She is also a prison volunteer who took Shakespeare to solitary confinement at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility.  Her story Shakespeare Saved My Life, Ten Years in Solitary With the Bard is a memoir of her work with the worst of the worst.  The transformation of convicted murderer Larry Newton is set against the themes of Shakespeare’s works.

Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good is a family history with recipes.  Kathleen Flinn tells the story of her family adventures from the family farm in Michigan to the shores of Florida, and the Route 66 trek to San Francisco and in between.  Flinn understands how meals can be memories and cooking can be communication.  This memoir, filled with colorful characters and real life adventures, will appeal to a variety of readers.

The new book shelves at PWPL are filled with lots of great reading.  No matter what your interests, you should find something that will captivate you and give you hours of reading pleasure.

--Pam Christensen, Library Director