|
Notable Non-fiction August 2017
|
|
|
|
New and Recently Released
|
|
|
If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look On My Face?by Alan AldaAlan Alda has been on a decades-long journey to discover new ways to help people communicate and relate to one another more effectively. If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? is the warm, witty, and informative chronicle of how Alda found inspiration in everything from cutting-edge science to classic acting methods. Drawing on improvisation training, theater, and storytelling techniques from a life of acting, and with insights from recent scientific studies, Alda describes ways we can build empathy, nurture our innate mind-reading abilities, and improve the way we relate and talk with others. Exploring empathy-boosting games and exercises, If I Understood You is a funny, thought-provoking guide that can be used by all of us, in every aspect of our lives—with our friends, lovers, and families, with our doctors, in business settings, and beyond.
|
|
|
White Working Class : Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America by Joan WilliamsAround the world, populist movements are gaining traction among the white working class. Meanwhile, members of the professional elite―journalists, managers, and establishment politicians―are on the outside looking in, left to argue over the reasons. White Working Class is a blunt, bracing narrative that sketches a nuanced portrait of millions of people who have proven to be a potent political force. For anyone stunned by the rise of populist, nationalist movements, wondering why so many would seemingly vote against their own economic interests, or simply feeling like a stranger in their own country, White Working Class will be a convincing primer on how to connect with a crucial set of workers―and voters.
|
|
|
I Like Ike : The Presidential Election of 1952 by John Robert GreeneIn the first book to analyze the 1952 election in its entirety, political historian John Robert Greene looks in detail at how Stevenson and Eisenhower faced demands that they run for an office neither originally wanted. He examines the campaigns of their opponents—Harry Truman, Robert Taft, and others. Richard Nixon’s famous “Checkers Speech,” Joseph McCarthy’s anti-Communist campaign, and television as a new medium for news and political commercials—each figured in the election in its own way. I Like Ike is a compelling account of how an America fearful of a Communist threat elected a war hero and brought an end to twenty years of Democrat control of the White House. In an era of political ferment, it also makes a timely and persuasive case for the importance of the election of 1952 not only to the Eisenhower Administration, but also to the development of presidential politics well into the future.
|
|
|
The End of Theory : Financial Crises, the Failure of Economics, and the Sweep of Human Interaction by Richard M. BookstaberOur economy may have recovered from the Great Recession--but not our economics. In The End of Theory, Richard Bookstaber, one of the world's leading risk managers, discusses why the human condition and the radical uncertainty of our world renders the standard economic model useless for dealing with financial crises. What model should replace it? None. Instead, Bookstaber argues for a new approach called agent-based economics, one that takes as a starting point the fact that we are humans, not the optimizing automatons that standard economics assumes we are. Bookstaber's groundbreaking paradigm promises to do a far better job at preventing crises and managing those that break out. Sweeping aside the historic failure of twentieth-century economics, The End of Theory offers a novel and innovative perspective, along with a more realistic and human framework, to help prevent today's financial system from blowing up again.
|
|
|
The Ends of the World : Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions by Peter Brannen Our world has ended five times: it has been broiled, frozen, poison-gassed, smothered, and pelted by asteroids. Many scientists now believe that the climate shifts of the twenty-first century have analogs in these five extinctions. Using the visible clues these devastations have left behind in the fossil record, The Ends of the World takes us inside “scenes of the crime,” from South Africa to the New York Palisades, to tell the story of each extinction. Brannen examines the fossil record and introduces us to the researchers on the front lines who, using the forensic tools of modern science, are piecing together what really happened at the crime scenes of the Earth’s biggest whodunits. Part road trip, part history, and part cautionary tale, The Ends of the World takes us on a tour of the ways that our planet has clawed itself back from the grave, and casts our future in a completely new light.
|
|
|
The Pride of the Yankees : Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic by Richard SandomirIn honor of the 75th anniversary of the classic film Pride of the Yankees, an award-winning sports columnist for the New York Times describes the full, behind-the-scenes story of how the film came to be created. Using original scrips, letters, memos, and other rare documents, Richard Sandomir tells the behind-the-scenes story of how a classic was born. There was the so-called Scarlett O'Hara-like search to find the actor to play Gehrig; the stunning revelations Elanor Gehrig made to the scriptwriter Paul Gallico about her life with Lou; the intensive training Cooper underwent to learn how to catch, throw, and hit a baseball for the first time; and the story of two now-legendary Hollywood actors in Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright whose nuanced performances endowed the Gehrigs with upstanding dignity and cemented the baseball icon's legend.
|
|
|
Woolly : The True Story of the Quest To Revive One of History's Most Iconic Creatures by Ben MezrichScience fiction becomes reality in this Jurassic Park-like story of the genetic resurrection of an extinct species—the woolly mammoth—by bestselling author Ben Mezrich. “With his knack for turning narrative nonfiction into stories worthy of the best thriller fiction” (Omnivoracious), Ben Mezrich takes us on an exhilarating true adventure story from the icy terrain of Siberia to the cutting-edge genetic labs of Harvard University. A group of young scientists, under the guidance of Dr. George Church, the most brilliant geneticist of our time, works to make fantasy reality by sequencing the DNA of a frozen woolly mammoth harvested from above the Arctic circle, and splicing elements of that sequence into the DNA of a modern elephant. Will they be able to turn the hybrid cells into a functional embryo and bring the extinct creatures to life in our modern world?
|
|
|
The Unwomanly Face of War : An Oral History of Women in World War II by Svetlana AleksievichIn The Unwomanly Face of War, Alexievich chronicles the experiences of the Soviet women who fought on the front lines, on the home front, and in the occupied territories. These women—more than a million in total—were nurses and doctors, pilots, tank drivers, machine-gunners, and snipers. They battled alongside men, and yet, after the victory, their efforts and sacrifices were forgotten. Alexievich traveled thousands of miles and visited more than a hundred towns to record these women’s stories. Together, this symphony of voices reveals a different aspect of the war—the everyday details of life in combat left out of the official histories. Translated by the renowned Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, The Unwomanly Face of War is a powerful and poignant account of the central conflict of the twentieth century, a kaleidoscopic portrait of the human side of war.
|
|
Monday, August 21 The All-American Solar Eclipse 10:00 a.m. The first 20 people in the library get a free pair of glasses to view the solar eclipse! Viewing in New Jersey begins at 1:22, with peak coverage at 2:44. We'll be live-streaming the event in the library! Tuesday, September 12 Alzheimer's Education 6:30 p.m. An educational workshop that will provide tips for making powerful connections. Enroll online or at the library. Wednesday, September 13 Online Travel Planning 1:00 p.m. Learn the best websites and apps to book filghts, hotels, and rental cars. Find the best restaurants, sights to visit, and tours. Find the lowest fares, real-time flight status, directions, language help and more! Wednesday, September 13 Tiny Desserts 6:30 p.m. Pam is back this time, fashioning small but delicious bite-sized desserts. Enroll online or at the library.
|
Wednesdays, October 4, 11, & 25 The Protestant Reformation - Three-Part Series 6:30 p.m. At the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, Dr. Lou Mitchell will present a three-part series on the events leading to this 16th-century religious, political, intellectual, and cultural upheaval. Wednesday, October 11 Intro to Microsoft Publisher 1:00 p.m. Learn how to use the versatile program Microsoft Publisher to create quick publications, newsletters, flyers, and more. BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Wednesday, October 18 Creating Your Family's Personal History 6:30 p.m. You've taken a stab at organizing your family history, but it's overwhelming. What to do? Katie Murphy of Univoice History offers tips and strategies for family history projects that you can actually complete. Enroll online or at the library. Thursday, October 19 History RepEATs Itself 12:00-2:00 p.m. Sample a variety of different foods from the Cranbury Women's Club and Historical Society's cookbooks.
|
|
Cranbury Public Library
23 North Main Street ~
Cranbury, NJ 08512 ~ Phone: 609-655-0555 ~ Contact Us
|
|
|