Posts tagged with non-fiction in Blog Lost in the Stacks

Reading Austen in America is an in-depth study of Jane Austen's earliest American readers. Author Juliette Wells focuses on the 1816 Philadelphia edition of Emma, the only edition of one of Austen's works to be published in the U.S. during her lifetime. Only six copies of this edition are known to exist today. Wells writes about the lives of the original owners of these copies, and their reactions to Austen's novels and characters. Later she discusses two transatlantic friendships that developed through a mutual love of Austen's works.

Written by leading authorities in their given fields, each volume in Oxford University Press' What Everyone Needs to Know(tm) series offers a balanced and authoritative primer on complex current event issues and countries.

Jane Austen in Performance is a study of Jane Austen's enduring popularity, from the 19th century to the present day. Author Marina Cano discusses such topics as the use of Jane Austen by the women's suffrage movement, Austen's popularity during and immediately after World War I, film and theatrical adaptations of her works, and fan fiction based on her novels.

In this book, Michigan State University School of Journalism students cover a range of topics related to faculty behavior that can be stumbling blocks for student learning and civil discourse on today's diverse campuses.

This delightful little book, which can be read in one sitting, is a diary kept by novelist and literary editor Diana Athill during a visit to Florence in 1947. She writes about the sights of Florence, the delicious food she ate, and the people she met there.

April Blood tells the story of a plot to assassinate Lorenzo de' Medici, unofficial ruler of Renaissance Florence. Although nonfiction, it reads like a political thriller. The book is not just the story of the murder plot. It includes many details of life in Renaissance Florence, including the political system, banking, and the arranging of marriages.

Art historian and University of Michigan graduate Molly M. Lindner discusses the Vestal Virgins, priestesses who were among the most honored women of ancient Rome. At the heart of the book is a catalog of the surviving sculpture portraits of the Vestals. Lindner discusses how the sculptures can tell us more about the Vestals than written evidence can, and she writes about the Vestals' influence on other Roman women.

The library has resources to help prepare for the graduate or professional school application process.

Rise of the Rocket Girls profiles multiple generations of women working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from the 1940s to present. The book highlights gender-based challenges as well as scientific ones, and accessibly explains engineering concepts. Readers who loved Hidden Figures will not be disappointed by this book.

Historian Catherine Fletcher tells the fascinating story of Alessandro de' Medici, the first Duke of Florence and arguably the first person of African descent to rule a European state.