Library Research: My Perfect Read: Jeff Snavely

Jeff Snavely

Jeff Snavely, with his favorite books, in an outdoor setting.

I'm a lifelong nonfiction reader―I've always enjoyed learning about a wide variety of topics through nonfiction, biographies, memoirs and travel writing. I enjoy fiction (especially historical fiction and sci-fi) and do read it occasionally, but my long list of unread nonfiction usually comes first.

After a 20-year career as a Washington, D.C. military musician (clarinetist in the Air Force & Navy bands) I pursued a Master's degree in library science from Catholic University. I have a few years' experience in elementary school libraries and now enjoy helping people of all ages find books at the Sherwood Regional library.

As a musician I've read many music biographies (rock, jazz, classical) and my other interests include: the arts, business, technology, travel, history, current events and any other books that look interesting!

My wife reads lots of nonfiction as well so we often recommend recently enjoyed books to each other and discover things that we might not have picked ourselves. Having this experience at home helps me share book ideas with others as you never know what books you may enjoy―especially books on topics you may not have picked yourself.

Genres of Interest:

Nonfiction
Memoirs
Biographies
Travel (memoirs, adventure etc.)
Business & Technology
Humor

Juvenile Fiction

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai (a powerful immigrant story for upper grades & adults)

Young Adult

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco Stork (novel about autism)
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Under a War-Torn Sky by L.M. Elliott (action-packed WWII Historical Fiction)
This kid can fly: it's about ability (not disability) by Aaron Philip (teen autobiography about Cerebral Palsy)

Biographies & Memoirs

Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale (Steven Spielberg's 2002 movie of the same name was based on this book)
Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence by Paul Feig (Humor by a Hollywood writer, director & actor)
The Suitcases by Anne Hall Whitt (a powerful story of three sisters' experiences in orphanages and foster care after the Great Depression)
Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi (a powerful story by a tennis champ who hated tennis -- a great read even if you don't like tennis)
The Mutt: How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself by Rodney Mullen (world-champion, innovator and self-professed nerd shares his powerful story)
iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon, How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It by Steve Wozniak
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman (teaching English & studying martial arts in China)
True Notebooks: A Writer's Year at Juvenile Hall by Mark Salzman
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
Mozart and the Whale: An Asperger's Love Story by Jerry Newport
The journal of best practices: a memoir of marriage, Asperger syndrome and one man's quest to be a better husband by David Finch
The king and I: the uncensored tale of Luciano Pavoratti's rise to fame by his manager, friend, and sometime adversary by Herbert Berslin
A Thousand Days in Venice: An Unexpected Romance by Marlena de Blasi

Nonfiction

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steve Levitt & Stephen Dubner
Busting Vegas by Ben Mezrich
Straight Flush: The True Story of Six College Friends Who Dealt Their Way to a Billion-Dollar Online Poker Empire -- and How It All Came Crashing Down... by Ben Mezrich
The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music by Steve Lopez
Best. State. Ever.: A Florida Man Defends His Homeland by Dave Barry (Humor)
The Red Market: On the Trail of the World's Organ Brokers, Bone Theives, Blood Farmers, and Child Traffickers by Scott Carney
Everything Bad is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter by Steven Johnson
Free: the future of a radical price by Chris Anderson
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King
The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way by Amanda Ripley
Empire Building: The Remarkable Real-Life Story of Star Wars by Garry Jenkins

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel
ISBN: 9780525657323
Publication Date: 2023-06-27
A crazy story and a fun read!
Riding the Bus with My Sister by Rachel Simon
ISBN: 9781455526161
Publication Date: 2013-03-05
An emotional journey as the author learns to live with and embrace her sister's intellectual disability by spending time in her world.
A Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm
ISBN: 9781639362837
Publication Date: 2022-08-09
A look inside the dark underbelly of server and immigrant life in Paris.
The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers
ISBN: 9781101947319
Publication Date: 2018-01-30
Reads like an action/adventure movie but also really interesting to learn about high-end coffee production.
Show Me the Honey by Dave Doroghy; Rick Hansen (Foreword by)
ISBN: 9781771513227
Publication Date: 2020-04-28
Beekeeping is hard! The author recounts his many trials learning to create a healthy hive.
The Temporary European by Cameron Hewitt
ISBN: 9781609522049
Publication Date: 2022-02-01
If you are a Rick Steves fan you will love this - Cameron has been Rick's right-hand man for 20+ years and shares great stories from his travels and work researching & writing guidebooks and working on the TV show.
The Baroness by Hannah Rothschild
ISBN: 9780307961983
Publication Date: 2013-03-19
A fascinating story of a rebellious Rothschild woman. If you are a jazz fan you may have heard of Pannonica but even if you aren't the story is very engaging.
Sideways on a Scooter by Miranda Kennedy
ISBN: 9781400067862
Publication Date: 2011-04-26
A window into real life in urban India through the eyes of a young woman trying to make her way as a writer.
Muppets in Moscow by Natasha Lance Rogoff
Call Number: 791.457 LanceRo 2022
ISBN: 9781538161289
Publication Date: 2022-10-17
A fascinating journey into Russia in the mid-1990's after the fall of the Soviet Union. The making of the show was a constant battle against old Soviet attitudes & culture, political unrest, an uncertain business environment, and much more. Unlike any other book you will read and filled with interesting and emotional situations.
Invisible Storm by Jason Kander
Call Number: B Kander
ISBN: 9780358658962
Publication Date: 2022-07-05
A powerful story of service, the resulting mental health issues the author faced, his workaholic push into politics while avoiding these issues, and his final acceptance of them and his recovery process. A well-written and very engaging book - highly recommended.
London's Number One Dog-Walking Agency by Kate MacDougall
Call Number: 636.7 MacDoug 2021
ISBN: 9780063059788
Publication Date: 2021-07-06
MY AMAZON REVIEW:
5 stars -- Exceptionally well-written & engaging - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
I read a lot of memoirs, biographies and nonfiction. This is a heartfelt journey of a young woman in her late 20's making a career change from her hated desk job to starting a business and all the craziness it entails with walkers, clients and dogs.
Her writing drew me in instantly as her use of words, ideas and observations are emotional, thoughtful, entertaining and self-deprecating. I found myself lingering over certain sentences to let them sink in.
I encourage everyone to read this book or at least read a few sample pages - it is different from most in its thoughtfulness but is also highly entertaining. I loved reading about her many issues with hiring & managing dog-walkers (some unusual characters), dealing with crazy demanding clients and the never-ending situations that arise when working with dogs.
I also loved the London setting - I found myself looking up mentioned locations on Google maps, and she uses many British phrases and references that give the book a lot of fun foreign character.
Rot, Riot, and Rebellion by Rex Bowman; Carlos Santos
ISBN: 9780813934709
Publication Date: 2013-08-13
History so crazy you couldn't make it up! This page-turner is a short easy read about all the trouble Jefferson faced founding his radical new university (UVA in Charlottesville) and the horrible behavior of the early students.
Seoul Man by Frank Ahrens
ISBN: 9780062405241
Publication Date: 2016-08-16
A fascinating cultural memoir of an American working for Hyundai Motors in Seoul in 2011-13. As expected, the author must navigate many cultural challenges at work and personal challenges with his new wife (working as a US diplomat) and new baby.
The Velvet Rope Economy by Nelson D. Schwartz
ISBN: 9780385543088
Publication Date: 2020-03-03
Covers a wide range of topics (sports stadiums, health care, college admissions, theme parks, cruises, airports, etc.) and explores the increasing gap between the upper & lower ends of the market.
Every Day Is a Gift by Tammy Duckworth
ISBN: 9781538718506
Publication Date: 2021-03-30
Tammy Duckworth's life story is an amazing and powerful story that is hard to put down. After an unusual and difficult childhood she becomes a Blackhawk helicopter pilot through sheer force of will and hard work. After being shot down in Iraq she writes about her recovery, her work on supporting wounded veterans and eventual entry into politics. Highly recommended.
Trade Is Not a Four-Letter Word by Fred P. Hochberg
ISBN: 9781982127367
Publication Date: 2020-01-14
Learn about why trade is necessary, desirable, and a net benefit for our country. A great way to become more informed vs. the soundbites and fear-mongering used by politicians when talking about trade.
The Secret Life of Groceries by Benjamin Lorr
Call Number: 381.456 Lorr 2020
ISBN: 0553459414
Publication Date: 2021-11-09
A must-read for the chapter on long-haul trucking! The author rides along with a long-time driver who describes the terrible way the trucking industry treats drivers.
The rest of the book covers a variety of interesting topics about the food industry.
Secondhand by Adam Minter
ISBN: 9781635570106
Publication Date: 2019-11-12
A behind-the-scenes look at secondhand trade around the world.
Reading Behind Bars: A True Story of Literature, Law, and Life as a Prison Librarian by Jill Grunenwald
Call Number: 365.66 G 2019
ISBN: 1510737065
Publication Date: 2019-07-02
A light & humorous window into a world most of us only learn about through TV & movies. Grunenwald shares her experiences as a young woman working in an all-male minimum security prison.
Factfulness by Hans Rosling; Ola Rosling; Anna Rosling Rönnlund
ISBN: 9781250107817
Publication Date: 2018-04-03
(From Amazon description) “One of the most important books I’ve ever read―an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.”―Bill Gates
"Factfulness is a hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases."―Former U.S. President Barack Obama
When asked simple questions about global trends―what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school―we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers. In Factfulness, Professor of International Health and global TED phenomenon Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens. They reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective―from our tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse).
It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real concerns. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most.
Everybody Lies by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
ISBN: 9780062390851
Publication Date: 2017-05-09
(From Amazon description) In this groundbreaking work, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, a Harvard-trained economist, former Google data scientist, and New York Times writer, argues that much of what we thought about people has been dead wrong. The reason? People lie, to friends, lovers, doctors, surveys—and themselves.

However, we no longer need to rely on what people tell us. New data from the internet—the traces of information that billions of people leave on Google, social media, dating, and even pornography sites—finally reveals the truth. By analyzing this digital goldmine, we can now learn what people really think, what they really want, and what they really do. Sometimes the new data will make you laugh out loud. Sometimes the new data will shock you. Sometimes the new data will deeply disturb you. But, always, this new data will make you think.

Everybody Lies combines the informed analysis of Nate Silver’s The Signal and the Noise, the storytelling of Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, and the wit and fun of Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s Freakonomics in a book that will change the way you view the world. There is almost no limit to what can be learned about human nature from Big Data—provided, that is, you ask the right questions.
The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner
ISBN: 9780060744861
Publication Date: 2006-05-23
The powerful memoir of a single father raising his toddler son while homeless. The author goes on to become a successful financial business owner and this book was turned into a film in 2006 starring Will Smith.
13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened In Benghazi by Mitchell Zuckoff
ISBN: 9781455582273
Publication Date: 2014-09-09
(From Amazon description)
The harrowing, true account from the brave men on the ground who fought back during the Battle of Benghazi.
13 Hours presents, for the first time ever, the true account of the events of September 11, 2012, when terrorists attacked the US State Department Special Mission Compound and a nearby CIA station called the Annex in Benghazi, Libya. A team of six American security operators fought to repel the attackers and protect the Americans stationed there. Those men went beyond the call of duty, performing extraordinary acts of courage and heroism, to avert tragedy on a much larger scale. This is their personal account, never before told, of what happened during the thirteen hours of that now-infamous attack.

13 Hours sets the record straight on what happened during a night that has been shrouded in mystery and controversy. Written by New York Times bestselling author Mitchell Zuckoff, this riveting book takes readers into the action-packed story of heroes who laid their lives on the line for one another, for their countrymen, and for their country.

13 Hours is a stunning, eye-opening, and intense book―but most importantly, it is the truth. The story of what happened to these men―and what they accomplished―is unforgettable.
The Royal Art of Poison: Filthy Palaces, Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicine, and Murder Most Foul by Eleanor Herman
ISBN: 9781250140869
Publication Date: 2018-06-12
(From Amazon description)
The story of poison is the story of power. For centuries, royal families have feared the gut-roiling, vomit-inducing agony of a little something added to their food or wine by an enemy. To avoid poison, they depended on tasters, unicorn horns, and antidotes tested on condemned prisoners. Servants licked the royal family’s spoons, tried on their underpants and tested their chamber pots.

Ironically, royals terrified of poison were unknowingly poisoning themselves daily with their cosmetics, medications, and filthy living conditions. Women wore makeup made with mercury and lead. Men rubbed turds on their bald spots. Physicians prescribed mercury enemas, arsenic skin cream, drinks of lead filings, and potions of human fat and skull, fresh from the executioner. The most gorgeous palaces were little better than filthy latrines. Gazing at gorgeous portraits of centuries past, we don’t see what lies beneath the royal robes and the stench of unwashed bodies; the lice feasting on private parts; and worms nesting in the intestines.

In The Royal Art of Poison, Eleanor Herman combines her unique access to royal archives with cutting-edge forensic discoveries to tell the true story of Europe’s glittering palaces: one of medical bafflement, poisonous cosmetics, ever-present excrement, festering natural illness, and, sometimes, murder.
Boy Born Dead: A Story of Friendship, Courage, and Triumph by David Ring; John Driver; David Wideman
ISBN: 0801019451
Publication Date: 2016-08-02
(From Amazon description)
Few American epics of tragedy, intrigue, friendship, and faith will entertain and challenge the soul like the narrative inspired by the events in the real life of David Ring―a boy literally born dead who survives with sobering consequences. Living with the harsh realities of cerebral palsy, Ring faces impossible odds yet stumbles into an improbable life of inspiration and influence in the small, unassuming town of Liberty, Missouri, in the 1960s.

As a teenage boy, Ring finds himself tragically orphaned and being shuffled about to various homes. Along this journey, he faces secret, unspeakable atrocities that eventually plunge him into the depths of depression and attempted suicide. But amid the harsh troubles of life, he encounters another boy his age named David, the son of a local pastor. Their unlikely friendship begins on the rocks, but eventually develops into something extraordinary and unique that alters the trajectory of both of their lives―and the whole town of Liberty―forever.
Ghost Boy: The Miraculous Escape of a Misdiagnosed Boy Trapped Inside His Own Body by Martin Pistorius
ISBN: 9781400205837
Publication Date: 2013-11-19
(From Amazon description)
New York Times bestseller. They all thought he was gone. But he was alive and trapped inside his own body for ten years.

In January 1988 Martin Pistorius, aged twelve, fell inexplicably sick. First, he lost his voice and stopped eating. Then he slept constantly and shunned human contact. Doctors were mystified. Within eighteen months he was mute and wheelchair-bound. Martin's parents were told an unknown degenerative disease left him with the mind of a baby and less than two years to live.

Martin was moved to care centers for severely disabled children. The stress and heartache shook his parents’ marriage and their family to the core. Their boy was gone. Or so they thought.

Ghost Boy is the heart-wrenching story of one boy’s return to life through the power of love and faith.
Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars by Nathalia Holt
ISBN: 0316338923
Publication Date: 2016-04-05
The riveting true story of the women who launched America into space.

In the 1940s and 50s, when the newly minted Jet Propulsion Laboratory needed quick-thinking mathematicians to calculate velocities and plot trajectories, they didn't turn to male graduates. Rather, they recruited an elite group of young women who, with only pencil, paper, and mathematical prowess, transformed rocket design, helped bring about the first American satellites, and made the exploration of the solar system possible.

For the first time, Rise of the Rocket Girls tells the stories of these women―known as "human computers"―who broke the boundaries of both gender and science. Based on extensive research and interviews with all the living members of the team, Rise of the Rocket Girls offers a unique perspective on the role of women in science: both where we've been, and the far reaches of space to which we're heading.

"If Hidden Figures has you itching to learn more about the women who worked in the space program, pick up Nathalia Holt's lively, immensely readable history, Rise of the Rocket Girls."―Entertainment Weekly
The Queen of Katwe: One Girl's Triumphant Path to Becoming a Chess Champion by Tim Crothers
ISBN: 9781501127182
Publication Date: 2016-09-06
(From Amazon description)

The astonishing true story of Phiona Mutesi―a teenage chess prodigy from the slums of Uganda.

One day in 2005 while searching for food, nine-year-old Ugandan Phiona Mutesi followed her brother to a dusty veranda where she met Robert Katende.
Katende, a war refugee turned missionary, had an improbable dream: to empower kids in the Katwe slum through chess―a game so foreign there is no word for it in their native language. Laying a chessboard in the dirt, Robert began to teach. At first children came for a free bowl of porridge, but many grew to love the game that―like their daily lives―requires persevering against great obstacles. Of these kids, one girl stood out as an immense talent: Phiona.
By the age of eleven Phiona was her country’s junior champion, and at fifteen, the national champion. Now a Woman Candidate Master―the first female titled player in her country’s history―Phiona dreams of becoming a Grandmaster, the most elite level in chess. But to reach that goal, she must grapple with everyday life in one of the world’s most unstable countries.
―Also a movie released in 2016
Killing the SS : the hunt for the worst war criminals in history by Bill O'Reilly & Martin Dugard
ISBN: 9781250165541
Publication Date: 2018-10-09
O'Reilly and Dugard's "Killing" series is a great accessible way to learn about history. Put aside any political or personal opinions you may have of O'Reilly―this series features straightforward history with no political bias or agenda.

(From the Amazon description)
Killing the SS is the epic saga of the espionage and daring waged by self-styled "Nazi hunters." This determined and disparate group included a French husband and wife team, an American lawyer who served in the army on D-Day, a German prosecutor who had signed an oath to the Nazi Party, Israeli Mossad agents, and a death camp survivor. Over decades, these men and women scoured the world, tracking down the SS fugitives and bringing them to justice, which often meant death.

Written in the fast-paced style of the Killing series, Killing the SS will educate and stun the reader.
Other subjects in the "Killing" series include: Lincoln, Reagan, Jesus, Patton, England, Kennedy, Crazy Horse, and "The Rising Sun" (WWII Japan).
Bend, not break : a life in two worlds by Ping Fu; Mei Mei Fox
ISBN: 9781591845522
Publication Date: 2012-12-31
(From Amazon description)
Ping Fu knows what it’s like to be a child soldier, a factory worker, and a political prisoner. To be beaten and raped for the crime of being born into a well-educated family. To be deported with barely enough money for a plane ticket to a bewildering new land. To start all over, without family or friends, as a maid, waitress, and student.

Ping Fu also knows what it’s like to be a pioneering software programmer, an innovator, a CEO, and Inc. magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year. To be a friend and mentor to some of the best-known names in technology. To build some of the coolest new products in the world. To give speeches that inspire huge crowds. To meet and advise the president of the United States.

It sounds too unbelievable for fiction, but this is the true story of a life in two worlds.
Monsieur Mediocre : one American learns the high art of being everyday French by John von Sothen
ISBN: 9780735224834
Publication Date: 2019-05-07
(From Amazon description)
A hilarious, candid account of what life in France is actually like, from a writer for Vanity Fair and GQ. Americans love to love Paris. We buy books about how the French parent, why French women don't get fat, and how to be Parisian wherever you are. While our work hours increase every year, we think longingly of the six weeks of vacation the French enjoy, imagining them at the seaside in stripes with plates of fruits de mer.

John von Sothen fell in love with Paris through the stories his mother told of her year spent there as a student. And then, after falling for and marrying a French waitress he met in New York, von Sothen moved to Paris. But fifteen years in, he's finally ready to admit his mother's Paris is mostly a fantasy. In this hilarious and delightful collection of essays, von Sothen walks us through real life in Paris―not only myth-busting our Parisian daydreams but also revealing the inimitable and too often invisible pleasures of family life abroad.

Relentlessly funny and full of incisive observations, Monsieur Mediocre is ultimately a love letter to France―to its absurdities, its history, its ideals―but it's a very French love letter: frank, smoky, unsentimental. It is a clear-eyed ode to a beautiful, complex, contradictory country from someone who both eagerly and grudgingly calls it home.
Endurance : a year in space, a lifetime of discovery by Scott Kelly
ISBN: 9781524731595
Publication Date: 2017-10-17
(From Amazon description)
The veteran of four space flights and the American record holder for consecutive days spent in space, Scott Kelly has experienced things very few have. Now, he takes us inside a sphere utterly hostile to human life. He describes navigating the extreme challenges of long-term spaceflight—the devastating effects on the body, the isolation from everyone he loves and the comforts of Earth, the pressures of constant close cohabitation, and the catastrophic risks of depressurization or colliding with space junk. But perhaps the most haunting challenge is that of being unable to help should tragedy strike at home, something Kelly knows about firsthand.

Kelly's humanity, compassion, humor, and passion resonate throughout, as he recalls his rough-and-tumble New Jersey childhood and the youthful inspiration that sparked his astounding career
The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston; Mario Spezi
Call Number: 364.1523 P 2008
ISBN: 9780446581196
Publication Date: 2008-06-10
True crime to the extreme! Both authors become targets of the investigation while they are researching and writing about the Monster of Florence serial killer.
(from Amazon description):
Like one of Preston's thrillers, The Monster of Florence, tells a remarkable and harrowing story involving murder, mutilation, and suicide-and at the center of it, Preston and Spezi, caught in a bizarre prosecutorial vendetta.

I work part-time as an information librarian at the Sherwood Regional library. Please allow a few days for me to get back to you as I'm not at work every day.

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