With the first day of summer officially getting closer, I know we have a lot of people who love to read during the summer, especially on the beach. So, I thought I would throw out some picks for some non-fiction books that people might enjoy.
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When the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, few could have imagined the fate that awaited the Polish clergy. The Catholic Church had a powerful influence on the Polish people. For the Nazis to gain absolute control, the solution was simple – the clergy had to be destroyed. As a young seminarian trapped in the merciless events of the time, Kazimierz Majdanski – who would later become an Archbishop – was not prepared for the events that would follow his arrest. You Shall Be My Witness is his extraordinary memoir, which chronicles his experiences and remarkable test of faith. |
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Lou Gehrig started his professional baseball career at a time when players began to be seen as celebrities. Though this suited the charismatic Babe Ruth, Gehrig avoided the spotlight and preferred to speak with his bat. Best known for playing in 2,130 consecutive games as well as his courage in battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (a disease that now bears his name), the Iron Horse that emerges from Luckiest Man is surprisingly a common man. Honest, humble, and frugal, his only vices were chewing gum and the occasional cigarette. Despite becoming one of the greatest baseball players of all time, the author shows how Gehrig truly was one of a kind. |
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Many people will attest to the happiness pets bring, but few are aware of the neurochemical basis. In one of those delectably books that tie together threads of science, history, and everyday life, Made for Each Other explains the evolutionary processes behind our love and need for animals. Olmert starts with our ancestors’ transformation into hunters, the forging of communities, and the welcoming of wolves around the hearth. As wolves evolved into dogs, it is the chemical oxytocin that turned them into “man’s best friend,” and the same mutually beneficial oxytocin-enhancing chemistry makes possible the close bonds between humans and horses, cattle, and cats. More proof of the astonishing intricacy of life’s interconnectivity. |
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This gripping true story about a 34-year-old Buffalo firefighter who regained consciousness after nearly 10 years patiently records a family’s heroic grief and fortitude. Trapped under a collapsed roof in a burning house in 1995 and deprived of oxygen for six minutes, Donny Herbert suffered severe anoxic brain injury and lapsed into a long, largely unresponsive, nonspeaking state. Finally on a stupendous day in 2005, Donny simply started talking again. In The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up, the author offers a restrained version of events, frequently tying Donny’s recovery to divine intervention, though the miraculous events are spare in relation to the enormous span of time anticipating Donny’s recovery. |
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I Am Murdered relates the tale of the 1806 murder of one of the nation’s most celebrated public figures. Virginia’s George Wythe was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and of the Constitution. He was also teacher and friend to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Marshall and Henry Clay. Few were as beloved and admired; but one day in 1806, he and his entire household were poisoned. Historian Bruce Chadwick takes readers through the circumstances of Wythe’s murder and gradually reveals—no surprise to the attentive reader—the murder suspect. It’s a good story, well told about life in Richmond, a small, elite-driven capital city in the young nation’s most important state. |
Whatever you do this summer, read a few good books and let me know some of your picks. I’ll be posting the fiction list soon. I’ll probably post another list of both non-fiction and fiction in August after I’ve read a few more and heard from you!