Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: interesting nonfiction

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  Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations

  by Georgina Howell

  A marvelous tale of an adventurous life of great historical import She has been called the female Lawrence of Arabia, which, while not inaccurate, fails to give Gertrude Bell her due. She was at one time the most powerful woman in the British Empire: a nation builder, the driving force behind the creation of modern-day Iraq. Born in 1868 into a world of privilege, Bell turned her back on Victorian society,... (more)
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  The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food

  by Jennifer 8. Lee

  If you think McDonald's is the most ubiquitous restaurant experience in America, consider that there are more Chinese restaurants in America than McDonalds, Burger Kings, and Wendys combined. New York Times reporter and Chinese-American (or American-born Chinese). In her search, Jennifer 8 Lee traces the history of Chinese-American experience through the lens of the food. In a compelling blend of sociology and... (more)
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  A Voyage Long and Strange

  Rediscovering the New World

  by Tony Horwitz

  The bestselling author of Blue Latitudes takes us on a thrilling and eye-opening voyage to pre-Mayflower America On a chance visit to Plymouth Rock, Tony Horwitz realizes he’s mislaid more than a century of American history, from Columbus’s sail in 1492 to Jamestown’s founding in 16-oh-something. Did nothing happen in between? Determined to find out, he embarks on a journey of rediscovery, following in the... (more)
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  Who Hates Whom: Well-Armed Fanatics, Intractable Conflicts, and Various Things Blowing Up A Woefully Incomplete Guide

  by Bob Harris

  The daily news gives you events but rarely context. So what do al-Qaeda, North Korea, and Iran really want? Which faction is which in Iraq and who’s arming whom? What’s the deal with Somalia, Darfur, and Kashmir? Fatah, Hamas, and Hezbollah? Finally, here’s Who Hates Whom —a handy, often stunning guide to the world’s recent conflicts, from the large and important to the completely absurd. • Which countries are... (more)
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  The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes

  And Other Surprising True Stories of Zoo Vets and Their Patients

  by Lucy Spelman, Ted Mashima

  A moray eel diagnosed with anorexia…A herd of bison whose only hope is a crusading female doctor from Paris…A vet desperately trying to save an orphaned whale by unraveling the mystery of her mother’s death…This fascinating book offers a rare glimpse into the world of exotic animals and the doctors who care for them. Here pioneering zoological veterinarians—men and women on the cutting edge of a new medical... (more)
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  Shut Up, I'm Talking: And Other Diplomacy Lessons I Learned in the Israeli Government--A Memoir

  by Gregory Levey

  Shut Up, I'm Talking is a smart, hilarious insider take on Israeli politics that reads like the bastard child of Thomas Friedman and David Sedaris. Now a political writer for Salon, Gregory Levey stumbled into a job as speechwriter for the Israeli delegation to the United Nations at age twenty-five and suddenly found himself, like a latter-day Zelig, in the company of foreign ministers, U.S. senators, and heads... (more)
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  The Truth About Hormones

  by Vivienne Parry

  What's going on when we're tetchy, spotty, fearful, tearful or just plain awful? Hormones rule our internal world: they control our growth, our metabolism, weight, water balance, body clocks, fertility, muscle tone, mood, the speed of ageing, whether you want sex or not (and whether you enjoy it) and even who we fall in love with. Their effects may occur in seconds and be over in a flash, or take months and last... (more)
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  The Dangerous World of Butterflies: The Startling Subculture of Criminals, Collectors, and Conservationists

  by Peter Laufer

  A true tale of beauty and obsession, smugglers and scientists, and nature’s most enigmatic creature.
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  Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World

  by Dan Koeppel

  A gripping biological detective story that uncovers the myth, mystery, and endangered fate of the world’s most humble fruit To most people, a banana is a banana: a simple yellow fruit. Americans eat more bananas than apples and oranges combined. In others parts of the world, bananas are what keep millions of people alive. But for all its ubiquity, the banana is surprisingly mysterious; nobody knows how bananas... (more)
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  Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years : Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times

  by Elizabeth Wayland Barber, E. J. W. Barber

  New discoveries about the textile arts reveal women's unexpectedly influential role in ancient societies. Barber "weaves the strands of mythology and literature, archaeology, ethnology, and documented history into a rich tapestry" says John Noble Wilford, New York Times Book Review. Photos and drawings. Author lectures.
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  Thieves of Baghdad

  by William Patrick, Matthew Bogdanos

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  Freakonomics: Book 1

  Freakonomics

  A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

  by Stephen J. Dubner, Steven D. Levitt

  Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author and journalist. They usually begin with a mountain of data and a simple question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: freakonomics. Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and... (more)
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  The Omnivore's Dilemma

  A Natural History of Four Meals

  by Michael Pollan

  The bestselling author of The Botany of Desire explores the ecology of eating to unveil why we consume what we consume in the twenty-first century "What should we have for dinner?" To one degree or another this simple question assails any creature faced with a wide choice of things to eat. Anthropologists call it the omnivore's dilemma. Choosing from among the countless potential foods nature offers, humans... (more)
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  A Short History of Nearly Everything

  by Bill Bryson

  One of the world’s most beloved and bestselling writers takes his ultimate journey -- into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer. In A Walk in the Woods , Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trail -- well, most of it. In In A Sunburned Country , he confronted some of the most lethal wildlife Australia has to offer. Now, in his biggest book, he confronts his greatest... (more)
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  The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World

  by Michael Pollan

  Every schoolchild learns about the mutually beneficial dance of honeybees and flowers: The bee collects nectar and pollen to make honey and, in the process, spreads the flowers’ genes far and wide. In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan ingeniously demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a similarly reciprocal relationship. He masterfully links four fundamental human desires—sweetness,... (more)
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  The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars

  by Joe?l Glenn Brenner

  Chronicles the near-century old competition between the major corporate candy giants, Milton Hershey, and Forrest Mars. Softcover. DLC: Hershey Foods Corporation--History.