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Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Patron Non-Fiction Picks: Books to Broaden Your Mind

Posted by EPL Patrons


Very informative! This book will make you long to travel in Mr. Bryson’s footsteps.

Left to Tell by Immaculee Libagizee.  A moving account of a young woman's miraculous survival of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.  A truly humbling read that takes the reader on a spiritual journey of faith.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.  A wonderful look at a man's life and his lessons while he is facing the end.  These are lessons that apply to everyone, not just people at the end of life. Actually quite uplifting.

Radical Homemakers by Shannon Hayes.  An interesting read that explores the decision of some people to reject the predominant consumer culture and return to a more self-sufficiency home-based lifestyle that values family, community, social justice, and environmental sustainability.   I would recommend  this book to anyone who has ever wondered if there is a different way to live within our culture besides the dominant consumption driven ideas.

The Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala. A beautifully written account of the December 26th tsunami in Java.  The author survived, but her family did not.  She suffers survivor's guilt and recounts her years of recovery and painful return to a normal life.

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink.  A good book to help you think about who you are and what you want in life.  The author suggests that we do the things we do, not because of rewards and punishments, but because of our personality.  If we truly examine who we are and what we want, we can do amazing things and lead happier lives.

The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan.  Both of these books will make you think about what you eat, where your food comes from and the impact of your eating decisions.  Your food affects your life, but it also affects politics, the economy and the world.  Do we really know what is in our food?  There is a lot of interesting information and I couldn't put either book down until I was done.  I recommend both, but liked The Omnivore's Dilemma a bit more.

On Looking: Eleven Walks With Expert Eyes by Alexandra Horowitz.  The author took  the same walk, but with a variety of different people who were experts in different things.  Each person - and a dog- noticed different things.  The book teaches us to look carefully at the world around us.  Even though the world may seem the same day to day, there is always something new to see and learn.

For the other titles shown in the image above, visit our previous post on Non-Fiction Books To Get You Moving.

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