STAFF REVIEW

by Nicole Fowles Communications Coordinator

This spring, jump into nonfiction! While many people can feel intimidated by nonfiction, when it’s told in a narrative style like these titles, I find it highly entertaining, accessible, and one of my favorite genres to read.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson decides that he wants to hike the Appalachian Trail –some of the most breathtaking terrain in America stretching from Georgia to Maine. So he does what most people (should) do for such a physically taxing adventure and over-prepares. Stephen Katz takes a different approach and joins Bryson with the clothes on his back, a backpack containing some chips and other “basic necessities,” and time on his hands. Together the two embark on a 2,200-mile journey full of hilarious and heartfelt experiences, additional quirky characters, and a story that will live on as one of the best in humor travelogue lore.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

This story beautifully contrasts the glory of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair with the dark horrors of a nearby serial killer. Larson manages to seamlessly weave the otherwise unrelated stories of the World’s Fair architect, Daniel Burnham, and the architect of the “Castle of Horrors,” H. H. Holmes. Packed with detail and dialogue, it’s easy to become so enraptured in the story that you forget you’re reading a true account. One especially fun piece of Larson’s writing is the Epilogue, where he describes his meticulous research methods, using libraries, newspapers, archives and rare book collections to truly see the first-hand account of what was happening from 1891-1897.

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach

Unlike Bryson and Larson, author Mary Roach doesn’t always tell a linear narrative story. She is known as “America’s funniest science writer” because she chooses a subject (nature, the body, death) and asks questions that no one else will ask, giving you the full story of that subject in a way you’ve never experienced. Packing for Mars explores the strange universe of space travel and life without gravity. Roach literally gets into her subject matter by visiting NASA and sharing some of the lesser known parts of astronauts – from Space Shuttle toilet training to all the way to a space capsule crash test. You will laugh as much as you will learn.