Category Archives: Nonfiction

300B: Not “Infidel” or “Stolen Lives”

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The book I’m looking for was published between 2000 and 2007, is nonfiction and was written by a woman ( a lawyer or a politician?) from the Middle East about her life, including her imprisonment for her ” radical” views.   The author was interviewed on NPR by Terry Gross ( looked there without success) and there was a short ( on the last page) interview with her in the NYTimes magazine section ( and I contacted the editor) around the same time.

The book is not “Infidel” or “Stolen Lives”.

I’m hoping you can help.  Thank you in advance.

299I: Social insect lifecycle in cartoons

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I had this book in the 1950s. It was almost certainly British, though I got it from family who left India after the war when Indian independence made the British no longer welcome. It is a nonfiction children’s book describing the life cycle of wasps and ants, and possibly other social insects. It is illustrated with line drawings of the insects, rather in Aubrey Beardsleys style. I remember the picture of a newly hatched queen holding a dagger (looking rather like Cruella de Ville) as she kills all the other grubs so that she rules the nest. Also the rather foppish drones returning to the nest after the nuptial flight and being denied access by the workers.

 

299D: An illustrated non-fiction book of dog breeds from the 70s or 80s

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This was a perhaps slightly oversized paperback book with illustrations of different dog breeds.  I believe the cover had a green border. I’ve been been poking around online to see if I could find an old copy with no luck.  So far the closest thing I’ve found that’s similar are the illustrations from How Why Wonder Books Dogs Wild Animals Irving Robbin Martin Keen, 1962.

The illustrations were grouped in a certain way on the page, similar to these (but it wasn’t these books):

 

It’s not impossible that our paperback was a reprint of a 1960s book.  There were no photographs in the book, and very little (if any) information about the care of dogs.  It wasn’t very wordy.  We got it at a garage sale in Michigan in the 1980s.

295R: Sandy

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This book is titled “Sandy” or “Sandie” I believe.   It’s a story (real-life) written by a doctor about the death from his wife, Sandy (born as Alexandra) from cancer.  I think she must have died in about 1967 or 1968.  She had a 3 year old son called Alexander.     I read the book sometime between 1978-1982 when I was younger.   I’ve always wondered if I could find a copy of it and all my research has come up with nothing.   It’s possible I have some of the details wrong.  I got the book out of the Rochester, NY Public Library at the time.  It was in hard-cover.  I am sure that it was published by a “reputable” publisher.   I have searched for “cancer narratives” to no avail.

294K: Cut-out model airplanes

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I do not know the title or author of this book.  The cut-out “book” came out sometime around 1940-1945, I believe.  It was about 8 1/2″ by 11″, possibly bigger, and perhaps 3/8″ thick.  The book contained cut-out WWII era airplanes in full color, perhaps two pagers per plane.  When assembled they had a 3D presentation e.g. the fuselages were cylindrical and the wings’ surfaces were curved.  They were not intended to be “flown” like a glider.  They were surprisingly realistic when assembled.

291X: A voyage aboard a research vessel

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The book I am looking for is about the oceans. I read in in the late 1970s. It was written by a man who was participating in an ocean voyage aboard a research vessel. I think he may have been a Canadian, and the book may have been published via McGill University. He described the oceans as having four levels, each level’s current went counter to the level above or below it.

Thanks and good luck. I would love to read this book again.

291I: WWII drawings and cartoons

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This was a large (maybe a foot tall) book of drawings from the WWII era that belonged to my father, a WWII veteran. I think some of it was actual cartoons with dialog but what I remember most was wordless cartoon-like sketches/line drawings. There was (I think a full page) drawing of a bunch of soldiers in a huge room full of cots, with high ceilings and tall windows The soldiers were mostly half dressed, some playing cards, some sleeping, some (I think) cooking over little stoves. The general feeling was of a room in a huge mansion in Europe taken over to house soldiers. It was an amusing image but had no words. Another wordless picture was a line of army vehicles driving along a road with lots of people on the roadside including at least one man wearing a turban and a loin cloth and (I think) nothing else squatting at the side of the road. It felt like India. I looked at this book dozens of times over 50 years ago (it was old then and falling apart), but those are the only two drawings that really remain in my memory. I think, but I’m not at all certain, that the whole book was the work of one artist. I think, but again am not at all sure, that it was a paperback.

I would so love to see this book again, to have it. It fascinated me then and has haunted me for years. I’ve tried other on-line forums with no luck.