On The Shelf: Delving into books from the Adult Nonfiction Collection

This column was submitted by Evangeline Cessna, Local History Librarian at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library.

This week’s column features new adult nonfiction titles.

Structural engineer Roma Agrawal looks at seven of the building blocks of engineering in her book, “Nuts & Bolts.” The nail, the wheel, the spring, the magnet, the lens, the string and the pump are the most basic elements of structural engineering that have evolved from ancient Egypt to modern skyscrapers. By exploring an array of intricate modern technologies such as dishwashers, spacesuits, microscopes, suspension bridges and breast pumps, Agrawal makes surprising connections and explains how these devices work using her hand-drawn illustrations. In preindustrial Britain, nails were so precious that their export to the colonies was banned. The washing machine displayed at the industrial fair in 1898 Chicago was the only machine on display designed by a woman. The wheel’s history starts with pottery and leads us through India’s independence movement where making clothes using a spinning wheel was an act of civil disobedience. This book attempts to reveal the hidden building blocks of our modern world, shed light on their origins and illustrate how they have fundamentally changed how we live.

Bill Perkins’, “Die With Zero” gives readers a “common-sense guide to living rich instead of dying rich.” You work hard, save your money and look forward to financial freedom when you retire, however, you may feel the only thing you wasted along the way is your life. Don’t worry Perkins presents a provocative and practical guide on how to get the most out of your money and your life essentially rescuing you from over-saving and under-living. Perkins will teach you to plan for optimizing your life, stage by stage, so you are fully aware and enjoying what you have worked and saved for. You’ll learn how to maximize your lifetime memorable moments with “time-bucketing,” how to convert your earnings into priceless memories by following your “net worth curve,” and how to navigate decisions about whether to invest in or delay, a meaningful adventure. Perkins uses his own life experiences as well as the inspiring stories and cautionary tales of others to make his case for living large.

Wesley P. Gilliam edits the latest edition of the “Mayo Clinic Guide to Pain Relief.”  This is for those who are tired of living with chronic pain and want to live a full, meaningful life. This comprehensive guide explains how pain develops, how it can become chronic and what you can do to bring relief from the effects of chronic pain. You’ll find practical and easy-to-understand
information to help you regain function so that you can live a more active, productive and comfortable life. You will get all the latest information on pain science and chronic pain management, including the brain’s role in the experience of pain, how behaviors and beliefs affect pain, the benefits and risks of medications, exercise as part of management and balance and moderation as key habits. These science-based methods can help you start living a better life today.

“Home Ec for Everyone,” is by Sharon and David Bowers. Did you remember your scissors? This book offers the satisfaction of learning how to cook, sew, clean and more the same way it used to be taught in Home Ec class. Containing illustrated step-by-step instructions and chars, lists and handy graphics, this book offers 118 practical life skills. Learn everything from frosting the perfect birthday cake to fixing a zipper to whitening a dingy T-shirt and packing a suitcase the right way. All of this is relayed in plain, nontechnical language for any level learner. No matter how simple the task, you’ll have a feeling of accomplishment that you can’t get from an app or a device.

Also, from Sharon and David Bowers is “Shop Class for Everyone.” Did you remember your goggles? There was a time when almost every high school offered Shop class where students learned to use the circular saw or rewire a busted lamp—all while learning to be self- reliant. This book offers anyone who may have missed this vital class a crash course in these practical life skills. Chocked full of illustrated step-by-step instructions, charts, lists and graphics on how to plaster a wall, build a bookcase from scratch, unclog a drain and change a flat tire (on a car or a bike). Plain and simple language allows any level of DIYer to understand. No matter how simple the task, you will have a confidence boosting sense of accomplishment that you won’t get from any app or device.

America’s Test Kitchen has released the newest edition of their cookbook with almost 2,000 recipes. “The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2024,” is an archive of every recipe that has been on every episode of the public television’s top-rated cooking show. Also included are the iconic top-rated equipment and ingredient recommendations from every new testing and tasting review. These recipes also include the test kitchen’s handy notes and tips along with comprehensive shopping guides to show readers which ingredients the ATK team prefers. This comprehensive and hefty cookbook is well worth a read.