Spring '09
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann, The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard, Four Corners: One Woman's Journey Into the Heart of Papua New Guinea by Kira Salak
This trio of true adventure books are completely gripping. The Lost City of Z, written by New Yorker columnist David Grann, chronicles his obsession with Victorian explorer Colonel Percy Fawcett. Trained by the Royal Geographical Society in London, Fawcett undertook numerous trips exploring the Amazon basin. Based on pottery fragments and stories, he became convinced there was an enormous lost city he called "Z" somewhere in the Amazon. Aging and nearly destitute, Fawcett is given one more chance to find the city. Traveling only with his son and son's best friend, the three disappear into the jungle, never to be seen again. Numerous attempts to find Fawcett have been made throughout the years, resulting in over 100 casualties.
Following new clues in letters Fawcett had written to family, Grann attempts to find Fawcett's trail himself. Switching between Fawcett's story, Grann's attempt and other attempts at finding the city, Grann presents an intriguing look into the Amazon, its residents and lost civilizations.
The River of Doubt contains many of the same elements in The Lost City of Z. After losing his third presidential bid, a downhearted Teddy Roosevelt accepts a lecture tour of South America. His carefully planned trip down the Amazon quickly falls apart when Roosevelt decides to instead explore an unknown Amazonian river, known only as The River of Doubt. While the party was lead by the highly able explorer Candido Rondon, founder of the Brazilian Indian Protection Agency, most of the rest of the group were poorly chosen and inexperienced. The group is plagued by sickness, loss of boats, tons of useless baggage, near starvation and attacks by natives. This is a gripping all-nighter!
While Roosevelt's party may have been plagued by unnecessary and often useless staff, Kira Salak travels completely solo. Four Corners comes from an odd angle. While she is a writer, she is not a journalist. She travels into dangerous territory and seeks out stories not as writing fodder but as a way to prove to herself that she can. Repeatedly she gets herself into narrow scrapes, often risking her life in hopes of having some epiphany on her life and feelings of worthlessness. Beyond the strange emotional waves that Salak rides, the book is an honest narrative on the joys, fears and dangers of a single woman traveling in third world countries. Her adventures are often ill-advised to the point to stupidity, but they are nonetheless fascinating. Traveling through Papua New Guinea is an adventure of great daring for anyone. Kudos to Kira for doing it, whatever her motives.
Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You - Dr. Sam Gosling
Gosling presents a quick and dirty overview of his snooping research. Learn how to tell how introverted, neurotic, conscientious, agreeable or narcissistic your friends, family and coworkers are. What is a messy desk the sign of? What message is a coworker sending when their family photos face their guests as opposed to them? What can a top 10 song list tell about a person? What you can tell about someone by their bookshelves. As Gosling points out, many of these telltale signs seem obvious... but you need to have him point them out to notice them.
Then We Came to the End - Joshua Ferris
Anyone who has worked in an office will feel a strong sense of understanding, if not deja vu, when reading Then We Came to the End. Written in a chatty, meandering stream-of-conciousness style the narrator shares stories of coworkers and their jobs as they are downsized one by one. Sometimes likable, sometimes interesting and all recognizable as "hey, that sounds like that guy I used to work with" the workers are all interesting in a low key way. An excellent read for those who aren't currently being downsized or unemployed.
I Love Ranch Dressing - And Other Stuff White Midwesterners Like by Cara Freie
This is a Midwest-specific version of Stuff White People Like. Targeting our likes with snarky accuracy, Freie pokes fun at our love of Ranch Dressing (on anything), comfortable Dockers, novelty sweaters, Cracker Barrel and having your wedding reception at the VFW. Hey, that's not funny! Oh wait, yeah, it is.
Look at My Striped Shirt! - The Phat Phree
OMG! IT'S PEOPLE! THAT YOU HATE! This book is a collection of modern soliloquies rendered in the style of some of the most irritating and despicable people we have the misfortune to run into. Charming people like:
I Just Made Some Statements that I Can't Back Up
"No, the pineal gland is the third eye. Fourth eye is the gall bladder. I'm sorry, I can't tell you my sensei's name. He's wanted by the army of Myanmar... Check this out. This is called a death punch. If I used it against you it would instantly break all 206 bones in your body"I'm Your Cool Teacher
"I wear tight blue jeans to work, as I find this further breaks down the barrier between student and teach...I complement the Levi's with a sport coat in order to be appease the powers that be...The only thing I don't allow in my class is for you to not like me."I Want You To Be in My Wedding
'Since we're pretty tight, I want you to be in the wedding... As for the bachelor party, I was hoping you could put that together. I was definitely thinking Vegas...Of course you won't need a hotel room if you have family down there. I doubt you have family in Antigua, though...Send your RSVP bas as soon as possible, because if we can't make it, I need to get someone from the the B list. We need asses in the seats!"
Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in their Homes - Kyle Cassidy
Cassidy attempts to give an even-handed overview of the average gun owner in their home. Accompanying the gun owners are quick bios on the types of guns, professions of the owners and their pets and children's names. From utili-kilted Rambo wannabes to teen girls with their shotguns, armed America is here. Check out their guns, reasoning, politics, cats and tchotchke collections.
Masters - Art Quilts - Major Works by Leading Artists
An inspiring collection of modern art quilts made by masters. Rich and detailed, these quilts rival any painting. From photo realistic trees, portraits and modernist grids this thick beautiful collection shows a dazzling array of fabric masterpieces.