Introduction In the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing, Susannah Charleson clipped a photo from the newspaper: an exhausted canine handler, face buried in the fur of his search-and-rescue dog. A dog lover and pilot with search experience herself, Susannah was so moved by the image that she decided to volunteer with a local canine [...]
Archive of posts tagged Nonfiction
The Power of Half by Kevin Salwen & Hannah Salwen
About the Book It all started when fourteen-year-old Hannah Salwen had a eureka moment. Seeing a homeless man in her neighborhood at the same instant she spotted a man driving a glistening Mercedes, she said, “Dad, if that man had a less nice car, that man there could have a meal.” Until that day, the [...]
Dreaming in Hindi by Katherine Russell Rich
A Reading Group Guide Dreaming in Hindi by Katherine Russell Rich Introduction At a time when her life seemed to be crashing, Katherine Russell Rich took on a writing assignment in India, where she was seduced by the idea of trying to speak Hindi. In a rash moment, she decided she would go live and [...]
Woven on the Wind and Leaning into the Wind edited by Linda M. Hasselstrom, Gaydell Collier, and Nancy Curtis
Downloadable Guide for Group Discussion and Classroom Use Both Books The editors of these groundbreaking collections, all three of whom are ranch women, used to joke about the West’s stereotypical images and perennial popularity. As Deirdre Stoelzle points out in her essay “The Curtsy” (Leaning into the Wind), “The fake cowboys are the ones [...]
Woven on the Wind and Leaning into the Wind edited by Linda M. Hasselstrom, Gaydell Collier, and Nancy Curtis
Downloadable Guide for Group Discussion and Classroom Use Both Books The editors of these groundbreaking collections, all three of whom are ranch women, used to joke about the West’s stereotypical images and perennial popularity. As Deirdre Stoelzle points out in her essay “The Curtsy” (Leaning into the Wind), “The fake cowboys are the ones [...]
February House by Sherill Tippins
“A deliciously readable . . . story of young artists trying to become themselves.” — New York Times Book Review About the Book Bombs were exploding in London. War stories filled the newspapers. World War II had begun in Europe, and nobody knew what would happen next. During this dark time, a group of [...]
Nature Noir by Jordan Fisher Smith
About the Book “Gracefully weaves scenes and stories with context, history and reflection, in ways recalling the best of John McPhee.” —Los Angeles Times A nature book unlike any other, Jordan Fisher Smith’s startling account of fourteen years as a park ranger thoroughly dispels our idealized visions of life in the great outdoors. Instead [...]
Lincoln's Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk
Selected as a Best Book of the Year by the New York Times, Washington Post Book World, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Recipient of an Abraham Lincoln Institute Book Award and a forWard Award from the National Mental Health Association About the Book In his award-winning book, Lincoln’s Melancholy, Joshua Wolf [...]
The End of Oil by Paul Roberts
About the Book The situation is alarming and irrefutable: Within thirty years, even by conservative estimates, we will have burned our way through most of the oil that is readily available to us. Already, the costly side effects of dependence on fossil fuel are taking their toll. Even as oil-related conflict threatens entire nations, [...]
Mapping Human History by Steve Olson
Questions for Discussion Questions to think about and answer before reading the book: What is race? What is ethnicity? What is nationality? What race are you? What ethnicity are you? What nationality are you? What do your answers to these questions mean to you personally? What role does race play in your life? Why [...]
