Nancy McGee

I confess that I have a preference for reading non-fiction books. I like real stories, and I like to learn something and experience adventures undertaken by others, especially in natural surroundings. So here are a few of our new books you might like if you have the same reading preferences.

“Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon,” is authored by science journalist Melissa Sevigny. She recounts how Lois Jotter and Elzada Clover stood up to the misogyny of the times to become botanists. They underwent great risks running the Colorado River to be the first to survey and catalog the plants in the Grand Canyon. The women were truly trailblazers in their determination during the summer of 1938 to take on the dangerous 600 mile, 43-day boat expedition through the Grand Canyon, collecting and preserving 500 plant specimens. A map and photographs enhance this intriguing selection.

“The Last Ride of the Pony Express: My 2,000-Mile Horseback Journey into the Old West,” is a chronicle of Will Grant’s modern-day ride retracing the old pony express route. Readers who like American history, horses, and westerns will enjoy being an armchair adventurer in this narrative. Grant spends five months on his ride retracing the mail route from Missouri to California, as opposed to the grueling 10 days that the Express riders endured. His partners on the trail were two horses that he thoughtfully and carefully chose, Chicken Fry and Badger. He vividly describes the landscape, people, and animals he meets, and juxtaposes old West with the modern-day, including the hazards then and now.

If you read and enjoyed Lawrence Anthony’s “The Elephant Whisperer,” and Francoise Malby-Anthony’s bestseller, “An Elephant in My Kitchen,” then you will want to check out, “The Elephants of Thula Thula.” Francoise and her late husband founded the Thula Thula game reserve in 1998 in South Africa. She continues to run and expand the reserve and wildlife rehabilitation center and consequently has more stories of happiness and heartbreak to share about the elephant herd and other animal inhabitants and their caretakers.

“Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt’s Ancient Temples from Destruction,” chronicles the life and accomplishments of a little-known French archaeologist. Lynne Olson brings Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt out of the shadows of history for her courageous efforts that saved many of Egypt’s ancient monuments from ending up underwater when the Aswan High Dam was built. Her childhood fascination with Egyptology culminated in a distinguished career of preserving and keeping many Egyptian treasures from leaving the country. Most notably, she led the international campaign that financed and accomplished the difficult task of dismantling many fragile temples and moving them up the Nile to be rebuilt on higher ground.

Attention armchair adventurers, archaeology enthusiasts, history and literary buffs! There are some captivating non-fiction books currently on the shelves of the Smiley Library’s New Book Section especially for you.

“The Ship Beneath the Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance,” is written by maritime archaeologist Mensun Bound, the director of the successful expedition that found the sunken Endurance. Bound shares accounts of his team’s attempt to locate the ship in 2019, the actual discovery in 2022, and also interweaves the story of Shackleton’s ill-fated Antarctic expedition of 1914/1915. The wreck was located 10,000 feet under the Weddell Sea 100 years to the day after Shackleton’s death. Photographs add to the captivating narrative, including pictures of the undersea wreck.

Photographs also beautifully enhance Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson’s “Tutankhamun’s Trumpet: Ancient Egypt in 100 Objects from the Boy King’s Tomb.” One hundred years after Howard Carter discovered and excavated the elaborate tomb in 1922, Wilkinson highlights a select few of the more than 5,000 artifacts recovered, and uses those as a basis for discussing Egyptian history, civilization, and a glimpse of the human experience of Tutankhamun’s world. Some of the items included are a golden chariot, food, jewelry, games, weapons, shaving tools, and a silver trumpet.

“Gentleman Bandit: The True Story of Black Bart, the Old West’s Most Infamous Stagecoach Robber,” is by bestselling author and historian John Boessenecker. Charles Boles was born in England in 1829, but later lived in San Francisco as a wealthy and educated socialite. The respectable company he kept had no idea that this genteel, non-drinking man was actually the very successful stagecoach robber that eluded authorities for many years. Charles, aka Black Bart, committed 32 stagecoach robberies, never stealing from the passengers, only taking the mail and Wells Fargo strongboxes. A careless mistake led to his arrest in 1883 and imprisonment in San Quentin. He pulled off a few more holdups after his release and then disappeared in 1888, leaving a mystery as to his demise.

“Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe” explores the possible causes of the unexplained early death of the famed literary master of the macabre by taking a close look at his difficult life. Author Mark Dawidziak challenges some of the myths of Poe’s life and theories about what befell him in the unexplained three days prior to his demise.

A.K. Smiley Public Library has a few new and interesting book selections about some mostly obscure women in American history. Since March is Women’s History Month, what better time could there be to check them out?

“Brave Hearted:  The Women of the American West 1836-1880,” was written by historian Katie Hickman. Using letters, diaries, and journals, she shares the experiences of women who played a part in settling the western frontier. Some of the accounts include the first white woman to cross the Rocky Mountains on her missionary journey, slaves in search of freedom, displaced Native American women, a survivor of the Donner party, a battlefield heroine, Olive Oatman, who was held captive by the Mohave, and wives who endured grueling cross-country journeys.

Another fascinating narrative highlighting the resilience and fortitude of women in the early colonization of the American South, is Joan DeJean’s “Mutinous Women: How French Convicts Became Founding Mothers of the Gulf Coast.” La Mutine set sail from France in 1719 with a hold full of women prisoners, many falsely accused of crimes, that were being exiled to colonial Louisiana. More than half of these women did not survive the journey, but many of them prospered. They married and raised families, owned properties and businesses, and some of them even became quite wealthy. DeJean follows their lives through various records for their marriages, births, deaths, and financial successes.

“Revolutionary Women: 50 Women of Color Who Reinvented the Rules,” by Ann Shen, contains short biographies of exceptional women of color and their accomplishments in various fields, some of them well-known and others that certainly deserve recognition. The format of the book is categorized into areas of art, equity, excellence, exploration, expression, identity, and knowledge. Brief chronologies, quotations, and the author’s art help to highlight the women and their accomplishments.

Look for these books and others on our Women’s History book display located near the Reference Desk.

2023 has arrived and A.K. Smiley Public Library is here to help you make, and hopefully, keep your New Year’s resolutions. Regardless of your optimistic plans for the year, we have books and other resources for you!

Do you want to read more, save money, and enjoy some free programs? Visiting the Library can help with all of these! We have books, e-books, audiobooks, and movies available for check out, and free wi-fi. California State Library Parks Passes are also available for check out that will allow you free parking at many of the California State Parks. There are some excellent databases to utilize in the Library, or from home with your library card. Review our databases on the e-databases tab at www.akspl.org. There you will find access to newspapers, magazines, job searches and skills, medical information, computer skills, research sites, movie streaming, DMV practice tests, Ancestry, foreign language instruction, and more.

There is a section in the Library with books and audiobooks for learning foreign languages, and books for reading in foreign languages. There are also selections for adults, children, and babies to learn sign language.

Our Adult Literacy Program helps adults who need to improve their reading and writing skills. There are opportunities for adults to tutor learners in this program, as well.

Our Youth Services Department offers free programs for young readers and teens. There are story times, reading rewards programs, movies, book clubs, crafting, and other fun events. Teens should watch for upcoming Virtual Reality events. Stay informed by frequently checking the Young Readers’ Room webpage.

Adult programs include special presentations in music, history, computer classes, and more. There are book clubs and reading rewards programs. The Friends of the Library has a book store downstairs for purchasing gently-used books, movies, CDs, and other items. Operated by volunteers, money raised by the Friends of the Library help sponsor many of the Library’s programs, and provides funding for our new book purchases.

The Heritage Room and Lincoln Memorial Shrine are available for research and have special events relating to regional history, Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, and the nearly completed Museum of Redlands.

Whether your resolutions have to do with self-improvement, exercise, mental health, eating healthier, a new hobby, travel, gardening, entertaining, religion, getting your finances or affairs in order, or more playing and laughing, we have books and other resources for that, and more!

Happy New Year!

This article is usually about the new books at Smiley Library, however, since Halloween is creeping closer, let’s have a look at some goosebump-related items in the library that may have a little dust on them. Yes, there are plenty of scary movies and books to choose from, but we also have books about the people that were involved with writing, directing, and starring in these creative works. Come in and learn more about the people lurking behind the scenes….

“Psycho” fans may be interested in “The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense,” by Edward White, one of several selections about Alfred Hitchcock and his movies.

Stephen King has authored many hair-raising books, including “The Shining.” To learn more about the inner workings of King’s creativity, check out “Bare Bones: Conversations on Terror.” “The Shining” is also an unforgettable movie, and you can read up on the producer/director in “Stanley Kubrick: A Biography,” by Vincent LoBrutto. Can’t think of that movie without Jack Nicholson’s creepy performance? Look for “Five Easy Decades: How Jack Nicholson Became the Biggest Movie Star in Modern Times,” by Dennis McDougal, downstairs in the biography section.

An actor remembered for his spine-tingling role as Hannibal Lecter is featured in “Anthony Hopkins: The Unauthorized Biography,” by Michael Feeney Callan. A graphic novel of the famed Dracula actor is also on our shelves “Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood’s Dracula,” by Koren Shadmi. Another legendary performer with a lengthy resume of horror movies and a sinister voice is explored in “Vincent Price: The Art of Fear,” by Denis Meikle.  A biography of the host with the deadpan voice from television’s “Twilight Zone” is “Serling: The Rise and Twilight of Television’s Last Angry Man,” by Gordon F. Sander.

Finally, here’s a selection about a female film pioneer who was pushed into obscurity by others who took credit, but the movie creature she created still gives me the shivers. “The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick.”

There are many other selections to choose from in our beautiful 124-year-old building. Pay us a visit, but beware of those past lives rumored to still linger in the stacks!