Niche Books
Some really good books don’t appeal to large numbers of readers. These books are either too specific or too detailed or even about an obscure subject that few people are interested enough to read about. Many of the books still deserve notice, however, so I am going to list a few that sound incredibly good. I’m not saying that I’ll read them all, but I would actually like to. So, if your interest falls into any of the following catagories, delve a little further in. It could be a book for you:
for the dedicated Bird Watcher —The Feather Wars by James McCommons
We are all worried about the decline of birds–in our backyards, the beach and everywhere! Many modern day factors contribute to the decline, but most people don’t know about a time in American history when the decline was more obvious and rapid than now. People overhunted birds for sport, food and fashion until finally a few conservation minded folks stepped up and said STOP! This book tells the fascinating story of the early environmtalists who started a crusade that is still raging.
for the Movie Buff —-The Last Kings of Hollywood by Paul Fischer
To those of you who may think ‘they don’t make movies like they used to’, you are going to love this book. It tells the story of a trio of movie makers whose works we all love. Those movie makers are: George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg. And you know their movies!! Did you know these three men were also very gook friends? The book tells us about their relationship and the behind the scenes stories we probably have never heard.
for the ‘wanna be’ reporter —- Starry and the Restless: Three Women Who Changed Work, Writing and the World by Julia Cooke
You will be WOWED when you read about Martha Gelhorn, Emily Hahn and Rebecca West. These three women were journalists who lived during much of the 20th Century and had adventures that you will not believe! So many adventures!! They traveled the globe and left their imprint on much of history.
The Typewriter and the Guillitine by Mark Braude is another book about a journalist. In this book, the journalist is Janet Flanner, the New Yorker’s first Paris correspondent whose incredible experiences make for a very interesting biography. Flanner was in Paris in the 1930’s and covered the case of seriel killer Eugen Weidmann. Reviewers have likened Braude’s writing to that of Eric Larsen’s Devil in the White City because he tackles two stories in one. The story is about Weidmann, but it is more about Flanner and Paris and the forces necessitating World War II.
for those who love ‘all things New York City’ —– Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
In the spring of 2007, Kathleen Rooney uncoverred the intriguing hisotry of Margaret Fishback, a poet and ad writer who was born in Washington, D.C. and spent her career in New York City. Fishback began her first job with Macy’s in 1926. While the book is based on Fishback, Rooney’s character Lillian Boxfish is the one who takes us all over New York City as an octogenarian who knows her way around the neighborhood as well as all of the people who lilve in it. New York Times book reviewer Carmela Cluraru writes, “Lilliam’s wide-ranging meditations are reason enough to read this charming novel, but it’s also like taking a street-level tour through six decades of New York.”