Arcadia Public Library

When artifacts from Japanese families sent to internment camps during World War II are uncovered during renovations at a Seattle hotel, a man embarks on a quest that leads to memories of growing up Chinese in a city rife with anti-Japanese sentiment.

Who invented beds? When did we start cleaning our teeth? How old are wine and beer? Which came first: the toilet seat or toilet paper? What was the first clock? Every day, from the moment our alarm clock wakes us in the morning until our head hits our pillow at night, we all take part in rituals that are millennia old. Structured around one ordinary day, A Million Years in a Day reveals the astonishing origins and development of the daily practices...

"A nonfiction "biography" of the bicycle, an everyday object that has become ubiquitous, starting with its possible origins after the eruption of Mount Tambora and up through modern bicycles to suit every rider"--

"A nonfiction 'biography' of glasses, an everyday object that has become ubiquitous, starting with the discovery of the magnifying properties of glass through the development of the eye chart, plastic lenses, and contact lenses"--