Library Loot ~ Oct 30 to Nov 5

Who Discovered America? : The Untold History of Peopling of the Americas ~ by Gavin Menzies and Ian Hudson, 2013, history

Greatly expanding on his blockbuster 1421, historian Gavin Menzies uncovers the complete untold history of how mankind came to the Americas — offering new revelations and a radical rethinking of the accepted historical record in Who Discovered America?  This book calls into question our understanding of how the American continents were settled, shedding new light on the well-known “discoveries” of European explorers, including Christopher Columbus.  Menzies combines meticulous research and an adventurer’s spirit to reveal astounding new evidence of an ancient Asian seagoing tradition — most notably the Chinese — that dates as far back as 130,000 years ago.  He offers a revolutionary new alternative to the “Beringia” theory of how humans crossed a land bridge connecting Asia and North America during the last Ice Age, and provides a wealth of staggering claims, that hold fascinating and astonishing implications for the history of mankind.

The Fossil Girl: Mary Anning's Dinosaur Discovery ~ by Catherine Brighton, 1999, children's (England), 8/10

It's 1811.  Ten-year-old Mary Anning, her brother Joe, and their widowed mother are eking out a meager existence running a little fossil shop in the seaside town of Lyme Regis.  After a storm wipes out most of the shop’s merchandise, Mary and Joe begin the slow work of restocking the shelves.  They search high and low for fossils, and one day Mary spots a huge eye in a cliff face high above the town. She resolves to bring the creature down — no matter what the risk.  The exciting discovery and recovery of the first complete fossil of an Ichthyosaurus is told in an attractive graphic novel format, perfect for reluctant readers.  For ages 5 to 9.

I'm frustrated with this book because it let's her brother be the one who finds the fossil, not Mary.

Stone Girl, Bone Girl: The Story of Mary Anning ~ by Laurence Anholt, illustrated by Sheila Moxley, 1998, children's (England), 7/10

Mary Anning made an astounding discovery at age 12 when she unearthed the first full skeleton of a giant ichthyosaur in the cliffs above her home in Lyme Regis.  This incident — in which she was helped by a little dog she rescued from a cemetery — was the beginning of a long career that saw Mary become the world’s best-known fossil hunter.  For ages 5 to 8.

These are about a real person.  Mary Anning, born in England in 1799, discovered the full skeleton of an ichthyosaur in the cliffs above her home when she was only 12, a discovery that made her one of the most famous fossil-hunters of her day.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Marg @ The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages us to share titles of books we’ve checked out of the library.  Add your link any time during the week, and see what others got this week.

Remarkable Creatures ~ by Tracy Chevalier, 2010

See the (pale) creatures at the top of this book cover? See the coiled fossil above the title?  These are things that Mary Anning found on the beaches and in the cliffs of Lyme Regis, back in the nineteenth century.  Yet men took credit for her discoveries.

You may wonder why, having found these things, Mary Anning wasn't hailed as the amazing fossil finder she was.  First, she was unlearned.  No, it wasn't a matter of not being bright enough to study science or get into college.  As a matter of fact, she was self-taught.  That's because she was a mere woman and considered, therefore, not capable of such.  It was systemic, with women being denied any chance to learn things like paleontology.  Mary was denied a formal education simply because she was a woman.

Second, she was poor.  She rummaged on the beach for curiosities to sell in her father's shop.  It was a way to supplement her family's meager income, though often she received no compensation at all for showing famous scientists how she could find these fossils.  How many discoveries has the world missed because women were not allowed to be involved?  And how sad is this bit from the book?

"We label the specimens, recording where and when we found them, and display them in cases with glass tops.  We study and compare specimens, and we draw conclusions.  The men write up their theories and publish them in journals, which I may not contribute to myself" (p. 97).

Now we have two books published recently about her.  We are nearing the 200th anniversary of Mary Anning's first major discovery, at the age of 12, in 1811.  Remarkable Creatures, a fictional account of her life, and The Fossil Hunter: Dinosaurs, Evolution, and the Woman Whose Discoveries Changed the World, a journalistic account by Shelley Emling.  I read about this second book in a New York Times article about books on science:  Tale of an Unsung Fossil Finder, in Fact and Fiction.  That's also where I found this picture:

I've already mentioned this book three times recently -- in a teaser, in a list of books for my new discussion group, and yesterday when I wrote about women's history month.  You can be sure, if I talk about a book a lot, that it's a book I like a lot.  I probably won't read The Fossil Hunter unless my library gets a copy, but my rating of Remarkable Creatures is 9 of 10, an excellent book.

Book lover ~ women's history month

 

I'm a book lover who has found some more books I think I'd love.  I went looking for a picture to illustrate this post and found one more perfect than I could have imagined.  I ran across it on a science blog, followed it to this blog, and again to this one, which I couldn't read.  The earliest blog calls the image "literary hug," but I had already saved it as "book lover."  I don't know who the woman is, but I love this picture!  Now that THAT is settled, let me share the books I am lusting after today.  March is women's history month, so all of these books relate to women.

First is a children's book by one of my favorite writers, Laurie Halse Anderson.  Abby (the) Librarian wrote a great review about Independent Dames: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution by Laurie Halse Anderson, illustrated by Matt Faulkner.  Laurie wrote a guest post this week about her writing that has a photo of her cottage "in the forest" (which I've shared here, at the left).  And I ... well, I put Independent Dames on hold at my library, so I'll tell you more about it after I have read it.  This much I do know already, that women did much more during our war for independence than we have been told.  One example:  Paul Revere rode 16 miles to spread the word, but 16-year-old Sybil Ludington rode 40 miles through the night to warn American militia of a British attack.  Why isn't she in our history books?

I found the next one in the March issue of Bookpage (p. 31) and may have to buy it, unless my library has it on order.  Published this month, Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper looks great!  According to Bookpage, wheelchair-bound Melody Brooks has cerebral palsy.  Here's the synopsis from BN.com:

"Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. And there's no delete button. She's the smartest kid in her whole school, but no one knows it. Most people -- her teachers and doctors included -- don't think she's capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows ... but she can't, because Melody can't talk. She can't walk. She can't write. Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind -- that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever. At last Melody has a voice ... but not everyone around her is ready to hear it. From multiple Coretta Scott King Award winner Sharon M. Draper comes a story full of heartache and hope. Get ready to meet a girl whose voice you'll never, ever forget."

The next one is The Madame Curie Complex: The Hidden History of Women in Science by Julie Des Jardins, published March 1st.  I found this photo in an article, appropriately enough, entitled Female scientists undervalued.  This book is about women's contributions to science and how they have been ignored.  Des Jardins said,

"To succeed in men's fields, women couldn't be themselves; they had to perform better than men."

N. Peart ("book gobbler") wrote a review on Amazon.com about this book that says, in part:

"Every day at the bookstore where I work I have to stare at the cover with a photograph of Francis Crick. I do not enjoy it. If you do not know who Francis Crick is then you should read The Madame Curie Complex. Francis Crick is only a small part (ultimately in the history of science a big part) of one of the many stories of men getting credit for women's work and great women scientists who were undermined or not recognized for their scientific successes."

Men taking credit for women's work.  That sounds like what I read in Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier, a book that I need to review soon.  I'll try to write that review in the next day or two, maybe today.  It's a book about Mary Anning, a real woman, who made five major fossil discoveries and inspired the tongue twister "She sells sea shells by the seashore."  That's a picture of Mary Anning at the left.  I posted a teaser about Remarkable Creatures a month ago.

What books have you discovered lately?

Remarkable Creatures ~ a teaser

Remarkable Creatures, a novel by Tracy Chevalier, was published this month.  These quotes show how one of the main characters reacts to remarks about the other main character.

Lord Henley (p. 105): "Besides which, Mary Anning is a female. She is a spare part. I have to represent her, as indeed I do many Lyme residents who cannot represent themselves."

Elizabeth Philpot (p. 106): I was furious at Lord Henley for riding roughshod over scientific discovery; for turning a mystery of the world into something banal and foolish; for throwing my sex back at me as something to be ashamed of. A spare part, indeed.

I'm really enjoying this book so far.

Thoughts about the herstories of women

Forgotten Women: The Scientists ~ by Zing Tsjeng, 2018, women in history, 370 pages

Forgotten Women is a series of books that uncover the lost herstories of influential women who have refused over hundreds of years to accept the hand they've been dealt and, as a result, have formed, shaped, and changed the course of our futures.  From leaders and scientists to artists and writers, the fascinating stories of these women that time forgot are now celebrated, putting their achievements firmly back on the map.

This book celebrates 48 unsung scientific heroines  (the number of Nobel-prize-winning women) whose hugely important, yet broadly unacknowledged or incorrectly attributed, discoveries have transformed our understanding of the scientific world.  From Mary Anning, the amateur paleontologist whose fossil findings changed scientific thinking about prehistoric life and the earth's history to Emmy Noether dubbed "The Mighty Mathematician You've Never Heard Of."  Her theorem is still critical to modern physics.  These are the stories of some truly remarkable women.  There are chapters on:

1. Earth & Universe
2. Biology & Natural Sciences
3. Medicine & Psychology
4. Elements & Genetics
5. Physics & Chemistry
6. Mathematics
7. Technology & Inventions

I helped clean out the apartment of a resident who went into assisted living and took the books she still wants to read with her.  She left furniture and things (like books) for whoever wanted them.  This is one of her books, which I have in carts and crates and boxes, trying to decide which we can use in our Crown Center library when it reopens after the renovation is completed.  This is one of the books that I had on the top of a stack.  Since I've only skimmed it so far, I will share just one random quote:

"To be a revolutionary you have to be a human being.  You have to care about people who have no power." ~ Jane Fonda (p. 307)

BTT (#3) ~ cover

Booking Through Thursday asks us to consider the following:

"CAN you judge a book by its cover?"

Sure. I think we do it all the time. I would never buy a book with that silly cover on the right. I wouldn't even pick it up.



Yet these two covers are the same book, paperback on the left and hardback on the right.  I'd be much more likely to buy the one with oars.  I wrote about these two covers a couple of years ago in my post Do you judge books by their covers?  Check the reader comments on that one.

Here are stories I have written about other notable covers.  I actually bought Alice Walker's Possessing the Secret of Joy because of the cover.  Click the link (above) of the title to read my short post -- and to see that engraved stone more clearly.

Illustrations of extinct creatures on the cover of Tracy Chevalier's novel Remarkable Creatures helped me visualize what the real Mary Anning found in the nineteenth century.  The book was richer for it.  Click the title to read about it.

Below are some other covers I find intriguing, with links to what I wrote about each one:

Barefoot in Baghdad ~ by Manal M. Omar

Sarah's Key ~ by Tatiana de Rosnay

Pink Brain Blue Brain ~ by Lise Eliot

Dogsong ~ by Gary Paulsen

The Higher Power of Lucky ~ by Susan Patron

Amanda/Miranda ~ by Richard Peck