True Stories Make Great Books
Nonfiction Titles Address Distinct Areas of Life
As the weather warms up, many turn to love stories as their reading material of choice. There’s a time and place for “chick lit” but for those who prefer more meat in their reads, summer reading can still be atwitter with love. The real world is full of amazing stories so try out some nonfiction books.
Feeding a Yen by Calvin Trillin (Random House, 2003)
Here is a man who likes his food. Like other foodies out there, Trillin has strong food-place associations and this collection is broken into 14 essays dedicated to longings for a specific food in a specific place, whether it is peppers in Spain, barbeque in Kansas City, ceviche in Ecuador, or posole in Taos. Trillin is not a chef and there are no recipes, it’s just one long and humorous ode of love to food. Readers will be hungry by the end of the book.
Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading by Maureen Corrigan (Vintage, 2007)
Anyone who has every gotten lost in a story will relate to this book. As NPR’s book reviewer, Corrigan is short and to the point with her insights; not quite so in her book. The lists of books are wonderful and she relates autobiographical stories to books she loves, and each themed section somehow ties back to literature. Who a person is impacts what they like to read. For readers who enjoy learning something about others’ life histories as well as their reading suggestions, this is a great book.
The Secret Life of Lobsters by Trevor Corson (Harper Perennial, 2004)
This book is simultaneously informative and entertaining. The subtitle - How fishermen and scientists are unraveling the mysteries of our favorite crustacean – sums up the book. Since a lobster with drawn butter is going to be quite expensive this summer, try learning all about them, and maybe get an idea about why the price fluctuates. By providing an up close look at Maine’s Little Cranberry Island and its inhabitants – human and lobster – Corson will peak reader’s interest in all kinds of aspects involving lobsters. For the record, Corson and the majority of scientists and lobstermen interviewed for the book all enjoy a good lobster dinner.
One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer by Nathaniel C. Fick (Mariner Books, 2005)
This illuminating memoir about a Marine Corps officer offers a vividly distinct perspective on fighting in the military. Fick was reconnaissance officer in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and he gives well-written insights into both preparing for and being in battle. At its heart, the book is a love story to the Marines: the Corps as a whole, the individual men, and the country it represents. No matter what your feelings are about the Iraq war, if you are interested in the thoughts of the men and women there, you should read this book.
The $64 Tomato by William Alexander (Algonquin Books, 2006)
An entertaining gardening memoir is the perfect addition to any summer reading list. Alexander combines advice (let the stupid groundhog be) with experience (you’ll never get rid of marigolds) as he describes his ill-fated attempts to cultivate the perfect vegetable garden. Any gardener with obsessive tendencies – and that should be just about all of them – will laugh out loud at Alexander’s descriptions of “how one man nearly lost his sanity, spent a fortune, and endured an existential crisis in the quest for the perfect garden.”
Each of these authors truly loves his or her subject, and whether you are reading on the beach, a plane, your backyard, or living room chair, you'll feel the love.
Real life makes for amazing stories
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