Renee Mazin, Virginia Bynum, and Janet Fabio
Archaeologists believe the older you get, the more interesting you become! Here in SaddleBrooke, we are full of interesting people who may choose to visit one of our SaddleBrooke Community Libraries to dig into the past. We have fiction and nonfiction titles plus DVDs that will get you into historical sites without even getting dirty!
Since many of you may have traveled widely, it’s time to go beneath the surface of where you’ve been with some of these novels. Destination Egypt explorations include The Stolen Queen, by Davis, and What the River Knows, by Ibanez. If you have been to the UK, check out North’s The Bog Queen, Griffiths’ The Last Remains, and Cussler’s Celtic Empire. Johansen explores Southeast Asia in The Survivor.
Check out the nonfiction sections of the libraries to read about astonishing archaeological discoveries. The true stories behind these adventures can be found in the National Geographic book Lost Cities, Ancient Tombs: 100 Discoveries That Changed the World and The Lost Tomb: And Other Real-Life Stories of Bones, Burials, and Murder. For the discovery of early human species, try Almost Human and Cave of Bones. If you want to know how some of the “ancient” people lived in different parts of the world, there are some titles for that, too: Egypt: The Good Kings, The Oldest Book in the World, and A World Beneath the Sands.
The Southwest collection at DesertView Library is a great place to learn more about ancient cultures of the Southwestern U.S. Nonfiction books include The Lost World of the Old Ones, The Archaeology of Ancient Arizona, and In Search of the Old Ones: Exploring the Anasazi World of the Southwest. Those Who Came Before is available as a book and on DVD. Individual sites are covered in Chaco: A Cultural Legacy, and in DVDs titled Mesa Verde: Legacy of Stone and Spirit, and Canyon de Chelly. If these books and videos inspire you to get out and explore ancient sites, pick up Hiking Ruins Seldom Seen, Ancient Southwest: A Guide to Archaeological Sites, Ancient Ruins and Rock Art of the Southwest, Puebloan Ruins of the Southwest, or Rock Art of Arizona. Many of the travel guides for Arizona and the Southwest also include information on ancient cultures and visiting archaeological sites.
For fiction set in the Southwest and national parks, you can learn about the past under your feet in Preston’s Nora Kelly series, books by Scott Graham, Henderson’s The Vanishing Kind, and even a children’s book, Ancient Dwellings of the Southwest. Kathy Reich’s series chronicles the mysteries of Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist.
All of these books and videos can be reserved for quick pick-up through the library catalog. Use the easy link on the website sblibraries.com.
The libraries are able to provide these great resources only because of funding from Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries. If you’re not already a member, learn more at sbfsl.org.