Nonfiction

Magic, the Gathering : the visual guide book cover

Magic, the Gathering : the visual guide

Jay Annelli

793.93 /Magic
Nonfiction, Fantasy

"Magic: The Gathering is a fantastical Multiverse of mystical beings, fabled realms, and mythical creatures. Dominating all are the mighty sorcerers known as planeswalkers. To be a planeswalker is to be powerful beyond measure--a wizard who can bend magic to their will and step through the veil of reality itself. These fearsome mages cross between the planes of existence, battling to save others or to destroy them, to fight darkness or to create it. Magic: The Gathering Visual Dictionary illuminates the wondrous worlds they traverse, reveals their arcane lore, weapons, artifacts, and spells, and recounts their legendary exploits. Produced in close collaboration with Wizards of the Coast and featuring never before published profiles of new planes, such as Strixhaven and Kaldheim, this book is the first time MTG's key characters and locations are showcased in one sumptuous, indispensable, and up-to-date guide to its vast and expanding Multiverse" --

Brian's picture

If you've read any of my other reviews, you know that I'm a huge nerd. One of my many geeky interests is Magic: The Gathering. Even though I've played the game for 30 years, I don't know a lot of the lore. This book filled me in and also displayed card art in big, beautiful fashion. -Brian

Fake meat : real food for vegan appetites book cover

Fake meat : real food for vegan appetites

Isa Chandra Moskowitz

641.56362 /Moskowitz
Nonfiction, Cookbooks

Demonstrates how to make vegan meats at home in a collection of 125 recipes sure to satisfy every kind of meat craving, from fried chicken to pepperjack cheese steaks.

Melody's picture

DIY Fake Meat? Yes, please! I'm a big fan of Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Her vegan restaurant, Modern Love Omaha, is on my list of must-visits each time I'm in the city. I even like to stay at the hotel within walking distance to the place, and have been known to get takeout from there two nights in a row. (Her chickpea chick'n cutlet is my husband's favorite.) This book holds the secret to some of those delicious dishes. I can't wait to make my own seitan again! -Melody

Sacred Britannia : the gods and rituals of Roman Britain book cover

Sacred Britannia : the gods and rituals of Roman Britain

Miranda J. (Miranda Jane) Aldhouse-Green

200.9361 /Aldhouse-Green
Nonfiction, History, Religion, Political

Two thousand years ago, the Romans sought to absorb into their empire what they regarded as a remote, almost mythical island on the very edge of the known world - Britain. The expeditions of Julius Caesar and the invasion of AD 43 brought fundamental and lasting changes to the island. Not least among these was a pantheon of new Classical deities and religious systems, along with a clutch of exotic eastern cults including Christianity. But what of Britannia and her own home-grown deities? What cults and cosmologies did the Romans encounter and how did they in turn react to them? Under Roman rule, the old gods were challenged, adopted, adapted, absorbed and re-configured. In this fresh and innovative new account, Miranda Aldhouse-Green balances literary, archaeological and iconographic evidence (and scrutinizes their shortcomings and how we interpret them) to illuminate the complexity of religion and belief in Roman Britain, and the two-way traffic of cultural exchange and interplay between imported and indigenous cults. Despite the remoteness of this period, on the threshold between prehistory and history, many of the forces, tensions, ideologies and issues of identity at work are still relevant today.

Candice's picture

This book is literally as the blurb says--it describes the religious atmosphere of Britain when the Romans blasted onto the scene, and uses various historical accounts and archaeological finds to give evidence. If that's your thing, then you'll love it! It can lean a little to the technical side, and assumes the reader might have a slight comfort level reading socio-archaeological articles, but the information is presented in nice, small bites so you don't get lost in the details. If deep British history is your cup of tea, and you don't need a lot of color photos to spice up the info, then you won't be disappointed. -Candice

How to read a rock : our planet's hidden stories book cover

How to read a rock : our planet's hidden stories

J. A. Zalasiewicz

552 /Zalasiewicz
Nonfiction, Science

"Rocks are time machines and the keepers of our history. This guide is a geological field trip through Earth's incredible rock formations and the stories they hold"--

Melody's picture

What a beautiful book! The cover lures you in and keeps its promise of providing detailed photos and illustrations. This is an example of excellent book design, IMHO. We had a rock-based advent calendar this last December and I enjoyed learning about the stones with my family. This book takes a deeper look into the science of rock formation. A top pick for geology lovers! -Melody

Celebrate with me! : recipes, crafts, and holiday fun from around the world book cover

Celebrate with me! : recipes, crafts, and holiday fun from around the world

j394.2 Gladwin
Nonfiction

"This joyful collection of recipes, crafts, and activities celebrates holidays around the world."--Back cover

Mari's picture

This book has a beautifully illustrate two-page spread for each popular from around the world, including a craft or activity and an easy recipe for a family to create together. I love the contributor for each holiday is a chef, artist or designer who share their favorite traditions, and that the book provides so many opportunities for kids to do hands-on activities to learn about that holiday! -Mari

Seen and unseen : what Toyo Miyatake, Dorothea Lange, and Ansel Adams' photographs reveal about the Japanese American incarceration book cover

Seen and unseen : what Toyo Miyatake, Dorothea Lange, and Ansel Adams' photographs reveal about the Japanese American incarceration

Elizabeth Partridge

j940.547273 Partridge
Nonfiction, Literary Nonfiction, Picture Books, History, Art / Art History

"Legendary photographers Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams all photographed the Japanese American incarceration, but with different approaches and different results. This nonfiction picture book for middle-grade readers examines the Japanese-American incarceration and the complexity of documenting it through the work of these three photographers"--

Casey's picture

Seen and Unseen is a must-read. An incredible marriage of photography, literary nonfiction, scrapbooking, illustration, survivor stories, and US History, Partridge and Tamaki use various media to bring Japanese American incarceration to light. This is suggested reading for all families, middle-graders, young adults, and adults, especially those interested in or affected by WWII. Seen and Unseen would be a great gift as well! -Casey

Polar bear book cover

Polar bear

Candace Fleming

j599.786 Fleming
Kids, Nonfiction, Animals

As spring approaches in the Arctic, a mother polar bear and her two cubs tentatively emerge from hibernation to explore the changing landscape. When it is time, she takes her cubs on a forty-mile journey, back to their home on the ice. Along the way, she fends off wolves, hunts for food, and swims miles and miles.

Anne W's picture

What an informative yet emotional, beautifully-illustrated nonfiction picture book about a mother polar bear and her cubs! Mother bears are incredibly capable creatures - you won't doubt it after devouring this edge-of-your-seat book describing the long journey of a bear family's first year. A great read-aloud with gorgeous Arctic-landscape illustrations! -Anne W

Slenderman : online obsession, mental illness, and the violent crime of two Midwestern girls book cover

Slenderman : online obsession, mental illness, and the violent crime of two Midwestern girls

Kathleen Hale

364.1523 /Hale
Nonfiction, True Crime

"The first full account of the Slenderman stabbing, a true crime narrative of mental illness, the American judicial system, the trials of adolescence, and the power of the internet. On May 31, 2014, in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, Wisconsin, two twelve-year-old girls attempted to stab their classmate to death. Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier's violence was extreme, but what seemed even more frightening was that they committed their crime under the influence of a figure born by the internet: the so-called "Slenderman." Yet the even more urgent aspect of the story, that the children involved suffered from undiagnosed mental illnesses, often went overlooked in coverage of the case. Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls tells that full story for the first time in deeply researched detail, using court transcripts, police reports, individual reporting, and exclusive interviews. Morgan and Anissa were bound together by their shared love of geeky television shows and animals, and their discovery of the user-uploaded scary stories on the Creepypasta website could have been nothing more than a brief phase. But Morgan was suffering from early-onset childhood schizophrenia. She believed that she had been seeing Slenderman for many years, and the only way to stop him from killing her family was to bring him a sacrifice: Morgan's best friend Payton "Bella" Leutner, whom Morgan and Anissa planned to stab to death on the night of Morgan's twelfth birthday. Bella survived the attack, but was deeply traumatized, while Morgan and Anissa were immediately remanded into jail, and the severity of their crime meant that they would be prosecuted as adults. There, as Morgan continued to suffer from worsening mental illness after being denied antipsychotics, her life became more and more surreal. Slenderman is both a page-turning true crime story and a search for justice"--

Candice's picture

This is a thorough, very readable account of the Slenderman-related crime that happened in Wisconsin, in 2014. The author has done their research, and is able to add a lot of great detail due to the interviews they had with involved persons. The gentle focus on mental illness is welcomed, as it brings so much to light here. Also especially interesting is the background on the whole Creepypasta/Slenderman thing, which, to be honest, was a bit of a mystery to me. Adults will like this, but some higher-reading young adults with a judicious interest might as well. -Candice

Legendary and mythical guidebook : super deluxe edition book cover

Legendary and mythical guidebook : super deluxe edition

Whitehill, Simcha, author.

j793.93 Pokemon
Nonfiction

"The new Pokémon are here, and kids gotta catch 'em all! This updated guidebook features the unique and mysterious new Galar region Pokémon from the hit new games for Nintendo Switch, Sword & Shield."--

Casey's picture

Added by Casey

The universe in you : a microscopic journey book cover

The universe in you : a microscopic journey

Chin, Jason, 1978- author.

ON ORDER BOOK
Nonfiction, Science

"A book exploring the world of the very small, delving deep into the microscopic spaces just beneath our skin"--

Casey's picture

Added by Casey