Scurvy

Scurvy: How a Surgeon, A Mariner, and a Gentleman Solved the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail by Stephen J. Brown Summary: Scurvy took a terrible toll in the Age of Sail, killing more sailors than were lost in all sea battles combined. Finding the cure for the dreaded disease ranks among the greatest of human accomplishments, yet its impact on history has been largely ignored. Now, in this best-selling book, Stephen R. Brown shines a light on how the mystery was solved in a spellbinding tale of ships, sailors, and the age of exploration. Angie's Comments: Be careful to not eat while reading this book – some of the information about life at sea was enough to put me off food. Scurvy is about more than just scurvy; it is about the hard life at sea in the 1700s and 1800s. Through the efforts of James Lind, James Cook, Gilbert Blane, and others, a disease that killed thousands was finally conquered itself. Brown illustrates life at sea and the quest to cure scurvy in detail, showing the false leads and the real answer that took years to discover. There is a lot of detail, and the final chapter shows how treating scurvy changed history. Recommended for readers interested in diseases or sailing.  Request this item

The Other Daughter

The Other Daughter by Lauren Willig Summary: Raised in a poor yet genteel household, Rachel Woodley is working in France as a governess when she receives news that her mother has died, suddenly. Grief-stricken, she returns to the small town in England where she was raised to clear out the cottage...and finds a cutting from a London society magazine, with a photograph of her supposedly deceased father dated all of three month before. He's an earl, respected and influential, and he is standing with another daughter-his legitimate daughter. Which makes Rachel...not legitimate. Everything she thought she knew about herself and her past-even her very name-is a lie. Still reeling from the death of her mother, and furious at this betrayal, Rachel sets herself up in London under a new identity. There she insinuates herself into the party-going crowd of Bright Young Things, with a steely determination to unveil her father's perfidy and bring his-and her half-sister's-charmed world crashing down. Very soon, however, Rachel faces two unexpected snags: she finds she genuinely likes her half-sister, Olivia, whose situation isn't as simple it appears; and she might just be falling for her sister's fiancé... From Lauren Willig, author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Ashford Affair, comes The Other Daughter, a page-turner full of deceit, passion, and revenge. Angie's Comments: What happens when you discover that your parents lied to you? Rachel has a lot of emotional turmoil to work through, and fortunately by the end, she has come to terms with her life. Of course, the question is what terms are those? There are some twists with the father that I didn’t expect. Recommended for readers who like family drama and historical fiction.  Request this item

The Buried Book

The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh by David Damrosch Summary: Adventurers, explorers, kings, gods, and goddesses come to life in this "useful, entertaining and informative" story of the first great epic (The Washington Post) Composed in Middle Babylonia around 1200 BCE, The Epic of Gilgamesh foreshadowed later stories that would become as fundamental as any in human history: The Odyssey and the Bible. But in 600 BCE, the clay tablets that bore the story were lost to the world, buried beneath ashes and ruins. David Damrosch begins with the rediscovery of the epic in 1872 and from there goes backward in time, all the way to Gilgamesh himself. The Buried Book is an illuminating tale of history as it was written, stolen, lost, and--after 2,000 years and countless battles, conspiracies, and revelations--finally found. Angie's Comments: Another look into ancient civilizations and lives. I had heard of the Epic of Gilgamesh in sixth grade social studies, but I hadn’t heard of it since. The Epic itself is interesting, but the issues around its decipherment, its discovery, and its beginnings is fascinating. It is the story of different cultures, different values, and the uncertainties of life and death. If you read this book, it is best to read the Introduction first to understand the rest of the book. Recommended for readers interested in archaeology, ancient history, and/or literature.  Request this item

The Riddle of the Labyrinth

The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code by Margalit Fox Summary: In the tradition of Simon Winchester and Dava Sobel, The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code tells one of the most intriguing stories in the history of language, masterfully blending history, linguistics, and cryptology with an elegantly wrought narrative. When famed archaeologist Arthur Evans unearthed the ruins of a sophisticated Bronze Age civilization that flowered on Crete 1,000 years before Greece’s Classical Age, he discovered a cache of ancient tablets, Europe’s earliest written records. For half a century, the meaning of the inscriptions, and even the language in which they were written, would remain a mystery.                                              Award-winning New York Times journalist Margalit Fox's riveting real-life intellectual detective story travels from the Bronze Age Aegean—the era of Odysseus, Agamemnon, and Helen—to the turn of the 20th century and the work of charismatic English archeologist Arthur Evans, to the colorful personal stories of the decipherers. These include Michael Ventris, the brilliant amateur who deciphered the script but met with a sudden, mysterious death that may have been a direct consequence of the decipherment; and Alice Kober, the unsung heroine of the story whose painstaking work allowed Ventris to crack the code. Angie's Comments: An interesting look into finding and deciphering Linear B, the writing found on Crete. Fox is especially interested in the work Alice Kober did, which eventually led to its decipherment by Michael Ventris. I enjoyed the discussion of how to decipher unknown writing from an unknown language. I can’t believe how much time people spent on Linear B, especially the lengths that Alice Kober went to. Recommended for readers of ancient history and/or code-breaking.  Request this item

I am Maru

I am Maru by mugumogu Summary: Maru, the mischievous male Scottish Fold cat, is an international YouTube sensation—an adorable ball of fur with a penchant for finding remarkably cozy hiding places. Compiled by Maru’s owner, the user-named mugumogu, I Am Maru celebrates the unique abilities of this unforgettable feline contortionist with photographs and text, in English and Japanese. Cat lovers everywhere and readers who made Dewey, Zooborns, and I Can Has Cheezburger phenomenal hits will be delighted to get to know better this endearing celebrity cat with a big personality and an enormous established online fanbase. Angie's Comments: I am Maru is a cute look at the famous Internet cat Maru. This gives an insider look into the beginnings of Maru, and there are lots of photographs of the good-looking cat. The captions are great. Having seen some Maru (and now Maru and Hana) videos, this book was a treat. Recommended for cat lovers.  Request this item

Gorgon

Gorgon: Paleontology, Obsession, and the Greatest Catastrophe in Earth's History by Peter D. Ward Summary: The gorgons ruled the world of animals long before there was any age of dinosaurs. They were the T. Rex of their day until an environmental cataclysm 250 million years ago annihilated them—along with 90 percent of all plant and animal species on the planet—in an event so terrible even the extinction of the dinosaurs pales in comparison. For more than a decade, Peter Ward and his colleagues have been searching in South Africa’s Karoo Desert for clues to this world: What were these animals like? How did they live and, more important, how did they die? In Gorgon, Ward examines the strange fate of this little known prehistoric animal and its contemporaries, the ancestors of the turtle, the crocodile, the lizard, and eventually dinosaurs. He offers provocative theories on these mass extinctions and confronts the startling implications they hold for us. Are we vulnerable to a similar catastrophe? Are we nearing the end of human domination in the earth’s cycle of destruction and rebirth? Gorgon is also a thrilling travelogue of Ward’s long, remarkable journey of discovery and a real-life adventure deep into Earth’s history. Angie's Comments: Gorgon is about the animals and the extinction, but mostly it is about Ward’s adventures in South Africa. As a look at fieldwork and the changing of South Africa, it is a great book. It is amazing the lengths people go for their passion, and the hardship that their spouses endure. There is not much discussion about gorgons, or even the extinction. Recommended for readers interested in learning about the lives of archaeologists and geologists, with some information about the Permian-Triassic extinction.  Request this item

Animal Magnetism

Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis Summary: Sunshine, Idaho, is a small and sunny town—the perfect home for man and beast. Well, maybe not for man, as pilot-for-hire Brady Miller discovers when his truck is rear-ended by what appears to be Noah’s Ark. As the co-owner of the town’s only kennel, Lilah Young has good reason to be distracted behind the wheel—there are puppies, a piglet, and a duck in her Jeep. But, she doesn’t find it hard to focus on the sexy, gorgeous stranger she’s collided with. Lilah has lived in Sunshine all her life, and though Brady is just passing through, he has her abandoning her instincts and giving in to a primal desire. It’s Brady’s nature to resist being tied down, but there’s something about Lilah and her menagerie—both animal and human—that keeps him coming back for more… Angie's Comments: Animal Magnetism is the first book in the Animal Magnetism series by Jill Shalvis. As it starts off with a pig, duck, and two puppies, there are definitely animals! And between Brady and Lilah, there is definitely some magnetism. There is not a lot of a plot, but there is a lot of pets. It is a fun, friend- and pet-filled romance. Recommended for romance readers who like small towns and animals. Request this item

The Secret Life of Germs

The Secret Life of Germs: Observations and Lessons from a Microbe Hunter by Philip M. Tierno Summary: They're everywhere. Silent and invisible to the naked eye, they're on everything we touch, eat, breathe -- on every single inch of our skin. And despite the remarkable advances of science, germs are challenging medicine in ways that were unimaginable just a decade ago. Due to an explosion of infections never before reported in modern history and a new germ horror story surfacing every week, it's no small wonder that we're frightened -- and that antibacterial soaps are a billion-dollar business. Now, renowned microbiologist Philip Tierno cuts through the media hype with the compulsively readable Secret Life Of Germs, revealing exactly where the greatest threats may be hiding.  The Secret Life Of Germs provides an inside view of this fascinating and elegantly ordered microscopic world -- from the common cold, E. coli, and Lyme disease to encephalitis, mad cow disease, and anthrax. It takes readers on a historical survey of the culprits of disease and explores the effect that they -- and the scientists who study them -- have had on our world.  Rising above the common scare-tactic techniques used by many authors, Dr. Tierno's message is an optimistic one. Recognizing that humans are more often than not the main spreaders of disease, he offers numerous protective response strategies -- health and hygiene tips for inside and outside the home, advice on food safety, and pointers on human contact -- to stop the transmittal. Filled with practical and enlightening information, The Secret Life Of Germs is an engaging book that will keep readers mesmerized while helping them stay healthy. Angie's Comments: There are some practical tips for keeping yourself and others healthy. It is interesting to read some of Dr. Tierno’s future scenarios in light of Ebola and SARS. I have noticed that I have been washing my hands more thoroughly after reading this book! Recommended for people who want more knowledge about germs and how to stay healthy. Request this item