Have you ever picked up a nonfiction book to look at just for fun? These books, available from the JMRL catalog, are both visual and informative. Check one out and learn some little-known, interesting facts to share with your friends!
Brolliology by Marion Rankine – A fun, illustrated history of the umbrella’s place in life and literature that surprises us with the crucial role that the oft-overlooked umbrella has played over centuries, and not just in keeping us dry.
Magnitude: The Scale of the Universe by Kimberly K. Arcand – A book featuring full-color illustrations and infographics throughout that takes readers on an expansive journey to the limits of size, mass, distance, time and temperature in our universe.
Wonders Beyond Numbers by Johnny Ball – A history of mathematics explains how every breakthrough in math has represented an important step forward that both builds on the work of others and illuminates the importance of numbers, shapes and patterns in the world around us.
The Book of Barely Imagined Beings by Caspar Henderson – In the spirit of medieval bestiaries, presents a series of bizarre creatures that actually exist, including the honey badger, giant squid, axolotl, zebrafish, water bear, and yeti crab.
Go Figure: Things You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know by Tom Standage – Presents a compendium of miscellaneous information on a variety of social, economic, scientific, and political topics, including why half the population of Korea has two surnames and how bitcoin mining works.
Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe – The creator of the popular webcomic “xkcd” uses line drawings and common words to provide simple explanations for how things work, including microwaves, bridges, tectonic plates, the solar system, the periodic table, helicopters, and other concepts.
Illustrated Compendium of Amazing Animal Facts by Maya Säfström – This collection of surprising and amusing animal facts, beautifully illustrated by a Swedish artist, features interesting information such as: ants don’t sleep, ostriches can’t walk backwards and starfish don’t have brains.
Atlas Obscura by Joshua Foer – Offers a tour of the world’s most unique and amazing places, highlighting natural wonders, weird and magical structures, and mind-boggling events from around the globe, from New Zealand to Turkmenistan to Virginia.