Non-fiction of every description …

San Francisco: A 3D Keepsake Cityscape

Illustrated by Charlotte Trounce
Candlewick Press. $8.99 (Rating: Very Good)

An unusual guide to San Francisco’s special attractions, this foldout, attractive cut-paper book opens accordion style to show the sights you’ll want to see on a trip to San Francisco.

On one side is the Gold Gate Bridge, the glass Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, Alamo Square and the famous Painted Victorians, curvy Lombard Street, the Palace of Fine Arts, Pier 39 and the infamous Alcatraz Island.

On the foldout’s other side you’ll find Fisherman’s Wharf, Coit Tower, Chinatown, the towering Transamerica Pyramid, the downtown Museum of Modern Art and the S. F. Giants’ home, AT&T Park.

A brief paragraph accompanies each scene and explains something about what you are viewing, plus there’s a small map of the city that highlights which section of San Francisco you’ll find these attractions. The foldout also comes with its own slipcase to keep it safe.

Not only is this a nice memento of the city, but it is also perfect for sharing with visitors before you whisk them up to San Francisco for a day of sightseeing. They’ll get a nice introduction to these famous attractions before you view them up close and personal.

Shouting Won’t Help: Why I — and 50 Million Other Americans – Can’t Hear You

By Katherine Bouton
Picador. $16 (Rating: Good)

As you’ll discover when you read this book, hearing loss is on the increase in this country. Presently about 48 million Americans suffer some degree of hearing loss. More than half these individuals are under 55 years of age. And, like the author of this book, many of these individuals experienced the sudden loss of hearing early in adulthood and the cause is a mystery.

A former editor at “The New York Times,” Katherine Bouton began to lose her hearing when she was thirty years old. In this well-written and deeply felt narrative, she looks at this widespread and often misunderstood phenomenon that affects about 17 percent of the population.

As she recounts her own journey into deafness and then her return to hearing through the miracle of technology, Bouton explains what it is like to be deaf from an insider’s perspective. In doing so she also touches base with doctors, audiologists, neurobiologists and others seeking both causes and cures for the condition.

Weaving her story along with the accounts from others suffering from a loss of hearing, Bouton has created a very informative and heartfelt story of this invisible disability that touches so many families.

This is a must read book for those with hearing loss as well as anyone who has a family member, friend or employee dealing with the challenges associated with this all too common situation.

Women of Steel and Stone: 22 Inspirational Architects, Engineers, and Landscape Designers

By Anna M. Lewis
Chicago Review Press. $19.95 (Rating: Excellent)

There are some fields that appear to be female unfriendly because you never hear of the successes the women who enter them have achieved. Anna Lewis is determined to bring to the forefront the women who have made a name for themselves in architecture, engineering and landscape design.

The group of nine architects includes Julia Morgan, Norma Merrick Sklarek, the first black woman made a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and Marilyn Jordan Taylor, dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Design.

The seven engineers discussed range from Emily Warren Roebling, who assumed her husband’s duties when he became ill and saw the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge project, to Ruth Gordon Schnapp, the first woman licensed structural engineer in California.

Of the six women with extended biographies in the landscape architect section, two standouts are Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, who designed the landscapes of many high-profile buildings in both Canada and the United States, and Martha Schwartz, whose innovative design projects span 20 countries and four continents.

In addition to the featured women, there is additional information about other women who worked in each of these three areas plus a listing of the top American undergraduate and graduate programs in each field.

Part of the “Women of Action” series, this book is designed for readers in their early teens but any individual interested in women’s accomplishments in these fields will find this an entertaining read.

The Ordinary Acrobat: A Journey Into the Wondrous World of Circus, Past and Present

By Duncan Wall
Vintage. $16.95 (Rating: Excellent)

If you are in the mood for a good circus book, you’ll find Duncan Wall’s charming firsthand account of his plunge into the world of the modern circus very entertaining. Along the way the author not only offers a nostalgic look back to the old days when attending a circus was more of a family ritual, but he also offers a look into the present Cirque du Soleil-fueled phenomenon.

After visiting his first nouveau cirque as a college student in Paris, the Wisconsin native was hooked. His obsession resulted in signing up for the competitive training program at France’s Ecole Nationale des Arts di Cirque.

What happens next when this young American becomes engaged in a demanding regimen of tumbling, trapeze, juggling and clowning is quite a remarkable story.

There are plenty of thrills and spills, outsized personalities and even a few surprises in this personal history of circus life and how this entertainment institution has evolved over the years.

The book also features eight pages of color photos that picture this change over the years. The only downside to this excellent book is the rather small print the publisher elected to use. It will be a little hard on aged eyes so that will slow what would have been a fast read down a bit. No matter, though. This will just prolong the enjoyment of what will be a very pleasurable read.

Jerry Bruckheimer: When Lightning Strikes Four Decades of Filmmaking

By Michael Singer
Disney Editions. $60 (Rating: Excellent)

Since he released his first film in the early 1970s Jerry Bruckheimer has influenced film making in innumerable ways. His blockbusters range from “Flashdance,” “Glory Road” and “Top Gun” to “Pearl Harbor” and the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series.

Bruckheimer has also been the driving force behind a number of Hollywood notables like Johnny Depp, Nicholas Cage, Eddie Murphy and Denzel Washington. He has also nurtured an equally impressive group of seasoned directors including Paul Schrader, Michael Mann and Tony Scott.

This over-sized pictorial is filled with page upon page of photos of this producer’s work. Along with a short narrative, it chronicles a body of work that is as remarkable as it is groundbreaking. These breathtaking color photos tell the story of a very special career and, as you’ll see, there’s a lot to say, hence the length of the book.

Granted this book is a bit pricy, but after paging through it, you’ll agree it is worth every penny.