Two Nonfiction Titles

I know that not everyone loves fiction best like me, so I'm working on reading some nonfiction titles for those of you who like to keep it real.  In many of the Scholastic orders last year, I kept seeing the title Bloody Times: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the Manhunt for Jefferson Davis in the catalogs, so when I saw MCPL had it available through their Overdrive E-book checkout system, I knew I wanted to read it.  In this book, James L. Swanson takes us through Lincoln's last days and the end of the Civil War.  It was fascinating to learn facts I never really knew about President Lincoln's funeral and what happened to Jefferson Davis (the president of the Confederacy) after the war.  If the Civil War is a topic that interests you, I would highly recommend reading more about it.  James Swanson also wrote Chasing Lincoln's Killer, which is currently sitting on my shelf waiting for me to get to it.  I'll let you know more about that one once I get to it.

When I was looking on the Overdrive system at their nonfiction titles for checkout, this next title & cover caught my eye:  Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy.  I had never heard of the Triangle Fire and wanted to know more about it.  This was a devastating fire in a clothing manufacturing factory that took place in 1911.  It was the most disastrous workplace disaster in lives lost in New York until the 9/11 tragedy in 2001.  This book gives an incredible history of immigration into the United States, particularly that of Southern Italians and Russian Jews in the late 1800's and early 1900's.  It gives an incredible history of the fight for safety in the workplace.  It was a short read, but was packed full of fascinating historical details.  I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a nonfiction title to read.

If you didn't see the update on our En Fuego Facebook page, I have a new puppy at my house.  She is keeping me from doing quite as much reading, and hopefully explains the time lapse between posts about what I have managed to read.  I'm trying to teach her to be a reader too, but so far she just wants to chew up whatever I'm reading and we can't have that!  Meet Gracie.  I'll make a reader out of her yet - or at least a dog who sits quietly on my lap while I do my reading!  Until next time...keep reading!