It’s the holiday season, and this year Christmas and the beginning of Hanukkah coincide on Dec. 25. During the upcoming holidays or at any time of the year, books make lasting gifts to give or receive, plus they’re easy to wrap, and they don’t break if you drop them. Here are just a few books new and old that I find relevant, entertaining and informative.
Children’s books are popular this year and every year. One that captivated me as a kid in the 1950s was The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek by Evelyn Sibley Lampman. Originally published in 1955 and still popular today, it’s the story of 12-year-old twins, Joey and Joan, who go fossil hunting, and instead of long-dead fossils they discover a living, breathing—and talking—dinosaur, a stegosaurus that they call George. The children and the saurian share adventures and observations that leave readers of all ages misty-eyed but smiling at the end of the dinosaur’s tale.
Astronomer Adam Frank’s The Little Book of Aliens is a concise and refreshingly witty look at the age-old question of life on other worlds. Frank combines solid science and informed speculation into a book that is readable and revealing. His book appealed to me since my initials are E.T., my mom told me to phone home, and I often feel alienated. Readers of The Little Book of Aliens will find the latest scientific information on a subject that has haunted humankind throughout history.
Though written more than 30 years ago, The Worst of Times by Patricia G. Miller is sadly relevant in today’s times of continuing attacks on women’s rights to reproductive freedom. In her book, Miller told the stories of women who endured illegal abortions in the dark days before the procedure became legal, and she reminded readers of women who died after back-alley abortions. Her book from the past could be a chilling portent for the future of women in America.
The 1960s and ‘70s were unforgettable times of politics and culture that still evoke feelings of nostalgia or revulsion from millions of Americans today. The number of books about that memorable era would fill a library. One of the best is Sixties Going On Seventies by Nora Sayre. With a keen reporter’s eye, Sayre brought to life the sights, sounds, smells and sensations of the ‘60s from the perspective of one who was there. Her book takes readers back to those tempestuous times in a style that still crackles with the immediacy of history as it happened.
History’s hand touched Athens in 1961 when two Black students enrolled at the University of Georgia. Robert A. Pratt’s We Shall Not Be Moved: The Desegregation of the University of Georgia is the story of that event. Pratt is a professor of history at the university, and his book is a must-read account of the white supremacy and violence directed against integration at the university.
Not far from Athens, in the town of Monroe in 1946, four African Americans were murdered near the infamous Moore’s Ford Bridge by killers who were never brought to justice. Writer Anthony S. Pitch told the story of that crime in The Last Lynching: How a Gruesome Mass Murder Rocked a Small Georgia Town. Published 70 years after the Moore’s Ford killings, The Last Lynching is a murder mystery that still has no ending.
Bestselling author John Grisham is no stranger to murder mysteries, but the latest book from the prolific writer is all too true. Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions, by Grisham and co-author Jim McCloskey, is a tense and timely collection of 10 stories of innocent citizens caught up in a judicial snare and the long struggles it took to free them from injustice.
On a much lighter note, Ken Jennings—host of the popular game show “Jeopardy”—has just published 100 Places to See After You Die: A Travel Guide to the Afterlife. This mordant but mirthful look at what might be next is sure to appeal to fans of the recent Beetlejuice movie.
During the holidays and every day, books show what writer Sir Richard Steele meant when he wrote, “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”
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