February's theme for this years Reading Challenge is "Fact and Fiction". The cynics might say that covers every book in the history of mankind. They are probably right.
The books we reviewed this week are definitely factual. Margaret tackled a book that tries to set the facts straight about one of Australia's iconic "bad boys", Ned Kelly. Many rumours abound about the fate of Mr Kelly's remains, but Craig Cormik's volume tries to sort fact from fiction.
Meanwhile, Sharon reviewed a book that is literally about facts - it is a collection of facts in the grand tradition of encyclopedias and how-to books of yesteryear.
What have you read?
Margaret Morris read Ned Kelly Under the Microscope [electronic resource] : Solving the Forensic Mystery of Ned Kelly's Remains, edited by Craig Cormick.
When Ned Kelly was buried in the Old Melbourne Gaol cemetery, rumours emerged of Kelly's skull being used as a paperweight by staff. For a time it was displayed at the gaol museum, from where it was eventually stolen in 1978.
His body also went missing. After being transferred to a graveyard at Pentridge Prison in 1929, its exact location became unknown until 2002, when the bones of prisoners were uncovered at the site during redevelopment. This triggered a larger excavation that, in 2009, uncovered many more coffins. One of them was likely to be Ned Kelly's body.
Publicity around the search to identify his body led to the return of the skull – and a long scientific process to try to identify and reunite Ned Kelly's remains. Anthropology, odontology, DNA studies, metallurgical analysis of the Kelly gang's armour, and archaeological digs at Pentridge Prison and Glenrowan are all covered in this text. It is illustrated throughout with photographs taken during the forensic investigation and supplemented with historical images. It also includes police perspectives on Ned Kelly. DNA taken from the bones were later matched with that of a living descendant, Leigh Olver of Melbourne, the great-grandson of Kelly's sister, Ellen.
The author won the 2014 Australian Science Communicator's Unsung Hero of Science Communication award. This book was the fourth one he had published that year. Nearly 400 books have been written about Ned Kelly his untimely death. Cormick asks in the Preface “Do we really need another Ned Kelly book?” His answer was “as long as it has something new to say”.
Australian author, fact, non-fiction, ebook with unlimited access
Sharon Bryan read The Dangerous Book for Boys (Australian Edition), by Conn and Hal Iggulden.
When I was a kid, whenever we had time in the school library, no matter what I was supposed to be doing there I would eventually gravitate to one of the extreme ends. You'd often find me up in the 900s, looking at history and geography (I loved books with maps in them, in particular), or I'd be down in the 030s, pouring through the encyclopaediae and fact books. Oh, yes, there's an entire section of the Dewey Decimal system dedicated to collections of facts.
World Books and Encyclopaedia Britannica were my go-to books. But then, I am the girl who was given a set of Charlie Brown 'Cyclopedias for my birthday one year. Comics and random facts - is it any wonder I became a librarian when I grew up?
The Dangerous Book for Boys is very much the kind of book I would have devoured as a child. It is full of facts and "how to" information. You can find out about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the kings and queens of England and Scotland, the Laws of Cricket and how to make a bow and arrow. There are instructions for navigating by the stars, a whole chapter on insects and spiders, and plans for making a go-kart. There's even a couple of sections on grammar, explaining parts of speech and sentence construction. There's a chapter on pirates with a diagram of pirate flags, for crying out loud! It's like they wrote this book for me.
It's a glorious book, and any kid (of any age) worth their salt would spend hours trawling through it.
So, of course, I'm well annoyed at the "For Boys" bit, and the chapters that are titled things like "Five Knots Every Boy Should Know". Just like I'm quite annoyed by the chapter on girls. It's quite short, and basically involves one key piece of advice: "just get them into a conversation about themselves."
Although, I do agree with this one:
Non-fiction, c032 IGG, author I haven't read before.
The books we reviewed this week are definitely factual. Margaret tackled a book that tries to set the facts straight about one of Australia's iconic "bad boys", Ned Kelly. Many rumours abound about the fate of Mr Kelly's remains, but Craig Cormik's volume tries to sort fact from fiction.
Meanwhile, Sharon reviewed a book that is literally about facts - it is a collection of facts in the grand tradition of encyclopedias and how-to books of yesteryear.
What have you read?
Margaret Morris read Ned Kelly Under the Microscope [electronic resource] : Solving the Forensic Mystery of Ned Kelly's Remains, edited by Craig Cormick.
His body also went missing. After being transferred to a graveyard at Pentridge Prison in 1929, its exact location became unknown until 2002, when the bones of prisoners were uncovered at the site during redevelopment. This triggered a larger excavation that, in 2009, uncovered many more coffins. One of them was likely to be Ned Kelly's body.
Publicity around the search to identify his body led to the return of the skull – and a long scientific process to try to identify and reunite Ned Kelly's remains. Anthropology, odontology, DNA studies, metallurgical analysis of the Kelly gang's armour, and archaeological digs at Pentridge Prison and Glenrowan are all covered in this text. It is illustrated throughout with photographs taken during the forensic investigation and supplemented with historical images. It also includes police perspectives on Ned Kelly. DNA taken from the bones were later matched with that of a living descendant, Leigh Olver of Melbourne, the great-grandson of Kelly's sister, Ellen.
The author won the 2014 Australian Science Communicator's Unsung Hero of Science Communication award. This book was the fourth one he had published that year. Nearly 400 books have been written about Ned Kelly his untimely death. Cormick asks in the Preface “Do we really need another Ned Kelly book?” His answer was “as long as it has something new to say”.
Australian author, fact, non-fiction, ebook with unlimited access
Sharon Bryan read The Dangerous Book for Boys (Australian Edition), by Conn and Hal Iggulden.
World Books and Encyclopaedia Britannica were my go-to books. But then, I am the girl who was given a set of Charlie Brown 'Cyclopedias for my birthday one year. Comics and random facts - is it any wonder I became a librarian when I grew up?
The Dangerous Book for Boys is very much the kind of book I would have devoured as a child. It is full of facts and "how to" information. You can find out about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the kings and queens of England and Scotland, the Laws of Cricket and how to make a bow and arrow. There are instructions for navigating by the stars, a whole chapter on insects and spiders, and plans for making a go-kart. There's even a couple of sections on grammar, explaining parts of speech and sentence construction. There's a chapter on pirates with a diagram of pirate flags, for crying out loud! It's like they wrote this book for me.
It's a glorious book, and any kid (of any age) worth their salt would spend hours trawling through it.
So, of course, I'm well annoyed at the "For Boys" bit, and the chapters that are titled things like "Five Knots Every Boy Should Know". Just like I'm quite annoyed by the chapter on girls. It's quite short, and basically involves one key piece of advice: "just get them into a conversation about themselves."
Although, I do agree with this one:
"Avoid being vulgar. Excitable bouts of wind-breaking will not endear you to a girl, just to pick one example." (127)Fortunately, girls have been reading things "for boys" from time immemorial. Boys are less willing to read things titled "for girls", though, which is why I've long harboured the desire to write a book full of sport, action, adventure and science and call it "the girly book of girly things." Just because.
Non-fiction, c032 IGG, author I haven't read before.
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