Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Non-fiction books

OK, I'm back, with everyone all fed and watered!

Cast a quick glance around the shelves--any of these do?

-Simon Singh, "The Code Book" (history of codes and ciphers, around the world)

-John MacPhee--anything really, he's so wonderful--how 'bout "Looking for a Ship" about the merchant marine

-Paul Collins, "Sixpence House" (life in a city o'books, in Wales)

-TE Carhart, "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" (American in Paris gets to know the world of the French atelier--lots of music, history of pianos, tradition of European craftsmanship)

-Richard Fortey, "Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum" (former senior palaeontologist in London's NHM tells behind-the-scenes tales of the artifacts collected and the characters who work there)

-along those same lines, Thomas Hoving wrote a couple of books about the Metropolitan Museum of Art--titles something like Making the Mummies Dance, and King of the Confessors

-Witold Rybczynski, again almost anything because he's great, maybe try "The Most Beautiful House in the World" (architecture in history and social aspects of architecture)

-Thomas Livingstone, "Tommy's War: A First World War Diary" (Glasgow shipping clerk in 1913 starts diary, complete with charming sketches--a picture of life at the time, and how the Great War changed everything)

-Roger Ebert, "Scorsese" (a great critic writes the life of a great director)

-Anthony Lane, "Nobody's Perfect" (a collection of film reviews by a critic who "writes the way Astaire dances")

-travel writing by Bruce Chatwin or Paul Theroux

-art history by Simon Schama (there's a wonderful one about the Dutch gilded age, whose title I can't remember, nor can I lay my hands on the book right this minute--think I loaned it out)

-not to get all political on you, but Barack Obama's "Dreams from my Father" is beautifully written, no matter which side of the aisle you're on

-not to get all religious on you, either, but Obama's fellow Punahou alum Kathleen Norris has written some wonderfully well-written books about spirituality ("Dakota" and "The Cloister Walk" are my favourites)

-AJ Jacobs, "The Know-It-All" (funny guy reads the entire Encyclopedia Britannica and reports back on his findings)

-David Bodanis, "The Secret House: Extraordinary Science of an Ordinary Day" (science about everyday life--pillow mites, electrical fields in your lightbulbs, etc.)

-Harpo Marx (how can I resist?), "Harpo Speaks" (autobiography of the nicest man ever to work in Hollywood)

Dunno--we've got thousands of books here, but thought some of these looked more likely than others for a 13 yo.

Cheers!

minnie

PS Oh, oh, oh--Patrick Leigh Fermor! There's no travel writer quite like him--such adventures!