Book Review: White Bread

What's the best thing since sliced bread? It just might be this book. White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf not only tells the history of factory bread production but reveals the social causes for and responses to industrial-made bread. It might sound like a dry topic, but the writing is never dull and the book is filled with fascinating observations and facts, from early vegetarian movements (led by Sylvester Graham, whose name was later given to the cracker, in the early 1800s) to the rise of enriched white flour (a post-Depression effort to improve Americans' nutrition in anticipation of World War II) to the shipment of American grain around the world (a Cold War tactic to lure drought-stricken European countries away from Communism). Modern gluten-free diets have their predecessor in the anti-bread trend of the 1920s, and today's fascination with old-fashioned baking is the mirror of the early-20th-century love of the newfound science and technology that produced the first industrial bread. Whether you love or loathe white bread, you won't look at it quite the same way again. -Michelle (Sunset)

Summer Reading Programs

Now through July 28 - Summer Reading!

For kids - "Read, Play, Win!" Children birth to age 18 can earn prizes by reading 50 pages or listening to a book being read for 15 minutes. All kids who start the program will receive a voucher for a ticket to a Diamondbacks' game.  Co-sponsored by The Arizona Republic and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

For teens - "Cultivate Your Mind." Teens age 12-18 can win prizes including a voucher for a free Chipotle burrito, and drawings for other prizes such as movie passes and gift cards. Four Kindle Fires will be raffled off at the end of the teen program. Sponsored by Chipotle restaurants.

For adults - "Reading Never Gets Old, Celebrate Arizona." Read five books to enter a drawing for an annual membership to the Phoenix Art Museum or the Desert Botanical Gardens.

Each branch of the Chandler Public Library will host many free programs for all ages in conjunction with the summer reading programs.  Please check the library website at www.chandlerlibrary.org, or call the library at 480-782-2800.

New Arrivals

New fiction at the Chandler Library:

Her Highness the Traitor by Susan Higginbotham
In 1553, during the confusion following the death of Henry VIII's only son, Lady Jane Grey was crowned and ruled England for nine days. This novel tells the story of the two women whose ambition drove them to put their children on the throne.

Redshirts by John Scalzi
To Star Trek fans, "redshirts" are the nameless, easily expendable members of the crew who always find themselves killed while visiting strange new worlds. What happens when Ensign Andrew Dahl finds himself on a spaceship with a similar reputation for losing members of its away teams?

New nonfiction

The Cost of Hope by Amanda Bennett
A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter uses her skills as an investigator to determine the price of saving a life in this memoir of her husband's battle with cancer.

Full Body Burden by Kristen Iversen
A history of growing up in small town near Rocky Flats, site of a secret nuclear weapons plant, and what happens when one woman begins to ask questions.

Retro Reads: The $30,000 Bequest

The Fosters, a reasonably well-off couple living in a small town in the west, are stunned by sudden news from their only living relative. This relative promises the couple a gift of $30,000 in his will, provided the Fosters make no inquiry regarding his death and do not attend his funeral. The relative makes this promise "not for love, but because money had given him most of his troubles and exasperations, and he wished to place it where there was good hope that it would continue its malignant work."

Mark Twain's classic works satirize the society of his time and beyond. The Fosters are only too recognizable as they struggle to keep their eagerness under control while reading the obituaries, argue over how to spend the money, and dream up ever more ambitious plans for the riches they don't have yet. Will their marriage survive the stress? Will their sanity?

You can find The $30,000 Bequest and hundreds of other classic books in our Always Available ebook collection, part of the Greater Phoenix Digital Library. Download them to your home computer or transfer them to an EPUB-compatible reader. You will need to download Adobe Digital Editions to access the ebooks. For the Always Available books, you will need to click the Download button, then save the file to your computer (make note of its location). Open Adobe Digital Editions, then choose Library - Add item to library. The Always Available classic ebooks do not expire and do not count against your checkout limit, so you can check out as many as you want and keep them for as long as you want.
-Michelle (Sunset)