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Showing posts from March, 2016

Marching into Microhistory!

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Microhistory (the first nonfiction genre we're exploring this year) is a special branch of history, looking intensively at a very small area of study - on a single subject, for instance, or a single social movement. Rather than a general, inclusive look at the past, then, microhistories tend to be narrowly focused - giving the author (and the reader) the opportunity to dive deep into minutia that would bog down a work on a broader scale. Microhistories are also an excellent way for fiction readers to branch into nonfiction, as they tend to have more of a narrative feel to them. The "hero" of the story might be an inanimate object, an abstract idea, or even a revolution - but it is a single thing, with a steady thread weaving throughout the work. Our Main Read this month was chosen by our third Readers Advisor Sherlock Holmes, so the topic won't be much of a surprise to those familiar with his retirement years activities. Check it out: Robbing the Bees: A Biogra