Welcome back to PPL Picks! While fiction can get very weird (especially in horror and speculative fiction), nonfiction is nothing to sneeze at with regard to its capability to be deeply strange! Today, Nonfiction Enthusiast and Connoisseur of the Bizarre Marnie Dewdney is sharing some of her favorite nonfiction picks that she says are "Stranger than Fiction!"
The Weird but True! Series from National Geographic Kids (See librarian or look at our website below for call numbers!) – Based on National Geographic Kids Magazine’s popular feature “Weird but True,” this awesome book series is a collection of fun, strange facts about our incredible world that sound almost too outrageous to be real! This treasure trove of fascinating, wacky facts encompasses such a broad range of topics that you or the young people in your life are guaranteed to find something truly weird!
Loch Ness Monster by Marie Pearson (J 001.944 PEARSON) – This brief, but exciting nonfiction book about the legend of the Loch Ness Monster serves as a fun introduction into the world of cryptozoology—the field of study that researches creatures who are rumored to exist despite no substantial evidence proving them to be real. It’s all good fun, though, and this book will teach you all about the legendary “Nessie’s” theoretical origins, its sightings, and what kind of creature it could possibly be!
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach (571.0919 ROACH) – Mary Roach has her finger on the pulse of the bizarre science about our weird world and beyond! Earlier this year we recommended Fuzz, her hilarious nonfiction title about animals breaking human laws, and now we’re recommending her stellar book about the ins and outs of space travel! From an examination into how the severe isolation of extraterrestrial travel affects the human psyche to the ways the human body interacts with the technology and empty environment of space, discover the horrors and wonders of this vast expanse just beyond the tiny, celestial rock we call home.
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach (611 ROACH) – Mary Roach strikes again! In her dryly humorous style, Roach explores the many ways cadavers have benefitted medical and forensic science, as well as all the touchy ethical dilemmas people throughout history have encountered when conducting these experiments. Dead bodies may not be able to do much on their own, but with the help of scientists, surgeons, and doctors who study them, they’ve been taken to the skies, out to space, and through innumerable scientific experiments to answer, among other complex things, a common question: What’s the deal with human anatomy, anyway?
Underwater Wild: My Octopus Teacher’s Extraordinary World by Craig Foster & Ross Frylinck (577.7809 FOSTER 2021) – This fantastic book from the creators of Academy Award-nominated Netflix Original documentary My Octopus Teacher follows free-diver Ross Frylinck years after Craig Foster’s life-changing experience with the eponymous Octopus Teacher. Frylinck’s initial skepticism regarding Foster’s experience begins to shed, and he too becomes a student of the aquatic wild. Track the surprising behaviors of marine life alongside Foster and Frylinck in this unforgettable journey complete with breathtaking photography on par with the original film.
Three Identical Strangers (DVD 174.28 THREEID) – In New York at the dawn of the 1980s, three young men cross paths by happenstance and, though complete strangers, recognize each other as identical triplets. Ecstatic to reunite despite never having been aware that they had been divided, they gained not only fame, but the kinship of fraternity. When the astounding revelation behind their stolen bonds unravels, their lives—and our understanding of human nature—shifts a paradigm that reveals the startling dichotomy between nature and nurture.
It just gets stranger from here! Visit https://peoria.polarislibrary.com/polaris/ to take a look at these Strange Nonfiction picks and more!
Original source can be found here.
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