I spent an afternoon at Phipps Conservatory recently, and was delighted to discover the butterfly room, something that I would definitely add to the growing list on Renee’s recent post. Among the plants, butterflies fly around and linger on flowers and on the glass windows. I could have spent hours in front of the cases [...]
Posts Tagged as ‘non-fiction’
February 13, 2009
Non-fiction fix: Loads of lovely love
Today is my parents’ 38th wedding anniversary – how cool is that? Staying with the same person for more than three decades is no mean feat, especially since the complexities of loving and being loved are among the thorniest mysteries of being alive.
Whether you’re happily married, single and satisfied, desperately seeking somebody, or all up [...]
January 7, 2009
Non-fiction Fix: Magnificent Obsessions
In the film The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Janeane Garofalo’s character hosts a radio call-in show for pets and their people. In response to one caller’s fussing, she asserts that “It’s okay to love your pets. It’s just not okay to love your pets.” It’s meant to be a gentle jab at people who [...]
November 25, 2008
Non-fiction fix: Books Where the Darned Animals (Mostly) Don’t Die
Spoiler alert: this post will reveal the endings of several books.
Why would I do that to you? Because I don’t want you to suffer as I have!
With apologies to Dewey, whose story really is quite charming, I don’t have the stomach for any more books where the beloved animal companion dies somewhere during the narrative. It’s [...]
August 29, 2008
Labor Day reading, watching, and listening
Labor Day is coming up on Monday, and it’s hard to not love a holiday that’s devoted to the appreciation of workers (that’s us!). According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s page on the history of Labor Day, we’ve been celebrating workers on the first Monday of September since 1882, and the day has been recognized [...]
June 25, 2008
Get it Right
I’m a product of serendipitous timing; this week’s Time Magazine gives me the introduction I was looking for. In reviewing two new true-crime books, Lev Grossman introduces his reviews with the observation that Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, based on a 1959 Kansas farmhouse murder, was the first real “nonfiction novel.” Most of [...]
May 20, 2008
five books I am always reading
It’s an occupational hazard for library workers to have booklists so long it would take several lifetimes to read them all, but certain titles keep their place at the top of mine, regardless of whatever distracting new temptations I happen upon. Whether I keep coming back to re-read them, or just can’t seem to finish the whole [...]
April 30, 2008
Bad Things, Good People, Helpful Books (and other things)
“Life is difficult.” This simple truth is the first sentence of M. Scott Peck’s The Road Less Traveled, long considered a classic of both psychology and spiritual living. When the chips are down, and things aren’t going your way, it can be comforting to read the words of folks who have experience in these matters, [...]
