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New Books for Children
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SUPER HEROES (descriptions from books unless otherwise noted)
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Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four 4 Digest by
Marvel Comics
- All adventure, all action, for all ages! Join
Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch and the Thing
for a wild ride of all-new, unforgettable exploits.
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- Avengers And Power Pack Assemble!
Digest
by Mark Sumerak
- Hot on the heels of their adventure with the
X-Men, Power Pack returns for another titanic team-up... and this
time, it's Earth's Mightiest Heroes leading the charge!
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Captain America and the Falcon
by Jack Kirby
- The King keeps Cap's quests coming with
menaces from deep in space and deeper in the human soul! Even
the evil of the Red Skull might pale before the fearsome
Bio-Fanatic! Plus: Magneto and a rarely seen batch of evil
mutants! Featuring the Falcon and Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D.!
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Spider-Man – Marvel Age Series by
Marvel Comics
- Spidey strikes back!
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AUDIO BOOKS
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Lilly's Big Day and Other Stories by Kevin
Henkes;
- performed by
Christine
Ebersole
and
Richard
Thomas
- Nine stories of the exploits of Henkes's
beloved, fiercely independent girl mouse Lilly and her friends.
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In Aunt Giraffe's Green Garden & The
Red Frogs Wore Red Suspenders
- by Jack
Prelutsky
- Listen to these exuberant poems and meet
people and animals in such far-flung places as Minot, Minneapolis,
Tuscaloosa, Tucumcari, and the Grand Canyon. Smell the tall flowers
in Aunt Giraffe's garden, sip juice with a big blue goose, eat
oodles of noodles with some poodles, and much, much more!
Jack Prelutsky is the nation's
first Children's Poet Laureate. He has filled more than forty books
of verse with his inventive wordplay, including the national
bestsellers Scranimals and The New Kid on the Block.
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Enemy Spy by Wendelin
Van
Draanen; performed by Daniel
Young
- Nolan Byrd
single-handedly saved his school from the
bullydom of Alvin "Bubba" Bixby. He posted proof
of Bubba's exploits on the Web at
Shredderman.com. Now Shredderman is the school
hero! But since Shredderman's identity is a
secret, everyone still treats Nolan like . . . a
nerd. But inside this nerd beats a superhero's
heart—one dedicated to truth and justice. So
when a vandal spray-paints graffiti around
town—and even on his teacher's van!—Nolan
decides that tracking down the tagger is a job
for Shredderman. But while he's trying to trap
the tagger, the tagger is trying to pin the
blame on Shredderman! Can Nolan turn the tables
back around before his secret identity is
revealed?
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The Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick; performed by Jeff
Woodman
- Orphan, clock keeper, and
thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train
station, where his survival depends on secrets and
anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks
with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man
who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's
undercover life, and his most precious secret, are
put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured
notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a
hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the
backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding
mystery.
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FICTION
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Keeping Score
by Linda Sue Park
- An engaging novel about a
girl who doesn't play baseball, a team that doesn't
win, and a war that isn't a war. Even those readers
who think they don't care about baseball will be
drawn into the world of the true and ardent fan. A
captivating story that will delight those who are
already keeping score.
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Warriors: Outcast
by Erin
Hunter
- The wild cats have flourished
in their new home on the banks of the lake for
several seasons, and the Clans are growing strong
and healthy with new kits. The time has come for
three kits of ThunderClan to become
apprenticesHollypaw, Jaypaw, and Lionpaw spring from
a strong legacy: children of Squirrelflight and
Brambleclaw, two of the noblest ThunderClan
warriors, and grandchildren of the great leader
Firestar himself. All three young cats possess
unusual power and talent and seem certain to provide
strength to the Clan for the next generation.
- But there are dark secrets
around the three, and a mysterious prophecy hints at
trouble to come. An undercurrent of rage is rising
against those who are not Clanborn, and the warrior
code is in danger of being washed away by a river of
blood. All the young cats' strength will be needed
if the Clans are to survive.
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Gregor and the Code of Claw
(Underland
Chronicles, Book 5)
by Suzanne
Collins
- The fifth and final installment
in the Underland Chronicles brings everything together
in epic scale, as foretold by The Prophecy of Time. This
prophecy contains two lines that everybody has been
hiding from Gregor, the twelve year old New Yorker now
known as the Warrior. As you can see, a grim fate awaits
our hero - or does it? As readers of the series will
know by now, the prophecies of Bartholomew of Sandwich
are sometimes open to many interpretations, but as this
one seems pretty cut and dried, Gregor has to make the
decision to stay in the Underland, or return to the
relative safety of the Overland. Several factors limit
his options, and this would have been a very short book
had he chosen to flee, but things get even more
complicated with the arrival of another member of the
family down below, bearing bad tidings of those above.
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PICTURE
BOOKS
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- Michael's Golden Rules
- by
Deloris Jordan, Roslyn M. Jordan; illus. Kadir Nelson;
intro. Michael Jordan
- The story, about two boys--one white
and one black--who hope their baseball team will make the
play-offs, provides the backdrop for Michael's 10 rules of
good sportsmanship, which include "Be a team player" and
"Learn from your mistakes." What really scores is the
artwork. The many close-ups and rich, vibrant colors make
this ideal for reading to a group of baseball fans.
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The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians
by Carla Morris;
illus. Brad
Sneed
- This humorous tale of a curious young
boy and his single-minded quest for knowledge is a heartfelt
and affectionate tribute to librarians everywhere.
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Mahalia Mouse Goes to College
by John Lithgow, John; illus.
Igor
Oleynikov
- Mahalia Mouse and her family live
underneath Dunster House, an old Harvard dormitory. Foraging
for food for her younger brothers and sisters, Mahalia gets
trapped in a backpack and then finds herself inside a
classroom far from home. Mahalia, intrigued by the lecture,
starts attending classes and soon becomes a full-time
student -- all the while wondering about the fate of her
family. But when graduation day finally arrives, Mahalia has
a wonderful surprise waiting for her. Written as part of his
keynote address at Harvard's commencement, this latest book
from John Lithgow (class of '67) incorporates his trademark
witty rhymes and includes a CD of him reading the text at
the commencement. Mahalia's story has an inspiring message
for graduates or anyone whose success is worthy of
celebration.
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DVDs
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Arthur and the Invisibles
starring Highmore, Freddie
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Happily
N'Ever After starring Paul J. Bolger,
Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie
Prinze, Jr., George Carlin, Andy Dick, Michael McShane
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The
Sandlot: Heading Home starring William
Dear, Luke Perry, Danny Nucci,
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Charlotte's Web starring Gary
Winick,
Dakota
Fanning,
Julia
Roberts
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Everyone's Hero starring Christopher
Reeve,
Jake T.
Austin, Rob
Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, William H. Macy
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New Books for Young Adults
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FICTION
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The Luxe
by Anna Godbersen
With a quote from The Age of Innocence as an epigraph and an
enthusiastic blurb from the creator of Gossip Girl on its
back cover, this lavishly produced debut makes no secret of its twin
influences. The story opens in 1899 with the funeral of Elizabeth
Holland, a well-bred beauty said to have plunged to her death in the
Hudson River. The narrative then travels back several weeks, tracing
the relationships and events that have led to the somber assembly.
This tangled web includes not one but two sets of star-crossed
lovers; an upstairs/downstairs romance; a scheming social climber; a
bitter servant girl; and oodles of money, all set in a Edith Wharton
via Hollywood vision of Old New York. The dialogue has its clunky
moments, and the plot twist that drives the tale is telegraphed from
the very start, but readers caught up in the fancy dress intrigue
are unlikely to mind much: it’s all part of the dishy fun. Needless
to say, the ending paves the way for at least one sequel. Ages
14-up. (Dec.)
- Publishers Weekly
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Healing Water: A Hawaiian Story
by Joyce Moyer Hostetter
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- Things will never be the same for
thirteen-year-old Pia, now that he has leprosy. He will be sent off
to the island of Molokai to die with others who have the same
condition, ripped from the arms of his ohana, his family. No more
comfort from his mother and sister, nor from the only father figure
he's ever known, Kamaka. Since even Kamaka has shunned him, and
because the island of outcasts is a place with no law, Pia quickly
learns to harden his heart, and to do what he must to survive for as
long as he can.
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- This is the story of the neglect and
abandonment of people, the loss of a beloved culture, and the
strength of a young boy facing extreme obstacles. But most of all,
this is a story of forgiveness and hope. Joyce Moyer Hostetter,
author of Blue, tells another historical tale of an epidemic
that once clutched the very souls of the inflicted and spun their
lives out of control. She shows the strength and determination that
can rise from those tossed into the worst imaginable conditions and
she doesn't hide the ugliness that unfolds with it. It's a balanced
story that explores a specific time and place with obvious accuracy
and integrity, and it's woven around the personal experiences of one
brave but lost boy. Strong writing and a uniquely captivating story!
- Julie M. Prince
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Don't Get It Twisted: A Del Rio Bay
Clique Novel by Paula Chase
- Mina Mooney's parents are killing her social
life. It's time to fight back...
- Mina's fantasy has finally come true. Craig
Simpson--the hottest guy at Del Rio Bay High--has just invited her
to the biggest bash of the year. There's just one hitch: her parents
aren't down with letting Mina date a boy they know nothing about.
Now she has thirteen days to give her parents a crash course in
Craig, or else figure out how to get her fine self to the
soiree--without alerting mom and pops. Whatever she decides, she's
going to need reinforcements. Unfortunately, her peeps are caught up
in their own twists and turns. Jacinta's boyfriend has been getting
on her nerves about spending so much time in `burbville, while rich
and sheltered Kelly just might kick it with Angel, a cute,
slick-talking hustler from the projects. And ever since JZ made
varsity basketball, his mind has been glued to the game instead of
schoolwork, which means his dad might make him drop all sports. As
for Mina, if she doesn't succeed in enlisting the help of her
friends--and fast--her social life just might hit skid row. A
fast-paced novel about loyalty, love, and friendship, Don't Get It
Twisted shows what it takes to have a blast while breaking all the
rules.
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Amazon.com
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Sweethearts
by Sara Zarr
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children, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were both social
outcasts. They were also one another's only friend. So when Cameron
disappears without warning, Jennifer thinks she's lost the only
person who will ever understand her. Now in high school, Jennifer
has been transformed. Known as Jenna, she's popular, happy, and
dating, everything "Jennifer" couldn't be---but she still can't
shake the memory of her long-lost friend. When Cameron suddenly
reappears, they are both confronted with memories of their shared
past and the drastically different paths their lives have taken.
From the National Book Award nominated author of Story of a
Girl, Sweethearts is a story about the power of memory, the
bond of friendship, and the quiet resilience of our childhood
hearts.
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Amazon.com
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- Beastly
by
Alex Finn
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- I am a beast. A beast. Not quite wolf or
bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks
upright—a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from
every pore. I am a monster. You think I'm talking fairy tales?
No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It's no
deformity, no disease. And I'll stay this way
forever—ruined—unless I can break the spell. Yes, the spell, the
one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn
me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I'll tell
you. I'll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you
wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect
life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly . . .
beastly.
- Amazon.com
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By Venom's Sweet Sting
(Hallowmere)
by Tiffany Trent
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- Taking place over their sophomore year, It
Had to Be You unveils the secrets behind the hot and sultry
summer that Blair, Serena, and Nate's love triangle begins--and
there's a lot more to this story than anyone realizes. Find out how
Blair first snagged Nate, why Serena really left for boarding
school, and how the legendary Gossip Girl column began.
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Amazon.com
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- Unwind by Neal Shusterman
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- In a society where unwanted teens are
salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that
would "unwind" them Connor's parents want to be rid of him because
he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut
orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth,
as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance,
and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions
make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in
the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday,
they can't be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their
hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen
seems far, far away. In Unwind, Boston Globe/Horn Book
Award winner Neal Shusterman challenges readers' ideas about life --
not just where life begins, and where it ends, but what it truly
means to be alive.
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Amazon.com
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Spanking Shakespeare
Jake Wizner (Author), Richard Ewing (Illustrator)
- Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, September
24, 2007
"Bold and bawdy ... exceptionally funny and smart."
Shakespeate Shapiro has always hated his name. His parents bestowed
it on him as some kind of sick joke when he was born, and his life
has gone downhill from there, one embarrassing incident after
another. Entering his senior year of high school, Shakespeare has
never had a girlfriend, his younger brother is cooler than he is,
and his best friend's favorite topic of conversation is his bowel
movements.
But Shakespeare will have the last laugh. He is chronicling every
mortifying detail in his memoir, the writing project each senior at
Shakespeare's high school must complete. And he is doing it
brilliantly. And, just maybe, a prize-winning memoir will bring him
respect, admiration, and a girlfriend . . . or at least a prom date.
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Amazon.com
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NON FICTION
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Restless Virgins
by Abigail
Jones
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- An honest, intimate look at
the lives of today's teens—told through the true experiences
of friends at a New England prep school Established in 1798,
Milton Academy has a proud history of achievement. It has
educated artists and CEOs; it has produced a long line of
distinguished scholars and dignitaries; and it has
shepherded students through the world of high-pressure
academics for generations. Since its founding, the public
face of Milton had always been one of integrity and pride .
. . until a sex scandal rocked the campus and made headlines
in the spring of 2005. Restless Virgins is the
riveting real-life story of a group of seniors who were
there as the "incident" (as it came to be called) unfolded.
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Amazon.com
- Boys Adrift:
The Five Factors Driving the
Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young
Men by Leonard Sax, M.D.
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- Family physician, research
psychologist, and acclaimed author of Why Gender Matters,
Leonard Sax reveals the truth about what's driving the decline
of American boys--and what parents can do about it.
Parents, teachers, and mental health
professionals are worried about boys. But until now, no one has
come up with good reasons for their decline--and, more
important, with workable solutions to reverse this troubling
trend. Now, family physician and research psychologist Dr.
Leonard Sax delves into the scientific literature and draws on
his vast clinical experience to propose an entirely original
view of why boys and young men are failing in school and at
home. He argues that a combination of social, cultural, and
biological factors is creating an environment that is literally
toxic to boys, ranging from environmental estrogens to the
over-prescription of ADHD drugs. And he presents practical
solutions--from new ways of controlling boys' use of video
games, to innovative (and workable) education reforms.
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- Math Doesn't Suck by Danica
McKellar
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- A groundbreaking book that uses hip
and entertaining examples to teach middle-school girls and
their parents how to master many of the tough concepts that
are introduced in middle school – the time when young girls
begin to shy away from math.
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- Starplus News Blog
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- GRAPHIC NOVELS
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- Stop in to see what's
new!
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New Books for Adults
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FICTION
- A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled
Hosseini
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- Hosseini's follow-up to his best-selling
debut, The Kite Runner (2003) views the plight of
Afghanistan during the last half-century
through the eyes of two women. Mariam is the illegitimate
daughter of a maid and a businessman, who is given away in
marriage at 15 to Rasheed, a man three times her age; their
union is not a loving one. Laila is born to educated, liberal
parents in Kabul the night the Communists take over Afghanistan.
Adored by her father but neglected in favor of her older
brothers by her mother, Laila finds her true love early on in
Tariq, a thoughtful, chivalrous boy who lost a leg in an
explosion. But when tensions between the Communists and the
mujahideen make the city unsafe, Tariq and his family flee to
Pakistan. A devastating tragedy brings Laila to the house of
Rasheed and Mariam, where she is forced to make a horrific
choice to secure her future. At the heart of the novel is the
bond between Mariam and Laila, two very different women brought
together by dire circumstances. Unimaginably tragic, Hosseini's
magnificent second novel is a sad and beautiful testament to
both Afghani suffering and strength. Readers who lost themselves
in The Kite Runner will not want to miss this unforgettable
follow-up.
- From Booklist
Copyright © American Library
Association.
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The
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Walls,
who spent years trying to hide her childhood experiences,
allows the story to spill out in this remarkable
recollection of growing up. From her current perspective as
a contributor to MSNBC online, she remembers the poverty,
hunger, jokes, and bullying she and her siblings endured,
and she looks back at her parents: her flighty,
self-indulgent mother, a Pollyanna unwilling to assume the
responsibilities of parenting, and her father, troubled,
brilliant Rex, whose ability to turn his family's
downward-spiraling circumstances into adventures allowed his
children to excuse his imperfections until they grew old
enough to understand what he had done to them--and to
himself. His grand plans to build a home for the family
never evolved: the hole for the foundation of the "The Glass
Castle," as the dream house was called, became the family
garbage dump, and, of course, a metaphor for Rex Walls'
life. Shocking, sad, and occasionally bitter, this
gracefully written account speaks candidly, yet with
surprising affection, about parents and about the strength
of family ties--for both good and ill.
From Booklist Copyright ©
American Library Association.
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- Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
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- Bestseller Picoult (My Sister's Keeper)
takes on another contemporary hot-button issue in her
brilliantly told new thriller, about a high school shooting.
Peter Houghton, an alienated teen who has been bullied for years
by the popular crowd, brings weapons to his high school in
Sterling, N.H., one day and opens fire, killing 10 people.
Flashbacks reveal how bullying caused Peter to retreat into a
world of violent computer games. Alex Cormier, the judge
assigned to Peter's case, tries to maintain her objectivity as
she struggles to understand her daughter, Josie, one of the
surviving witnesses of the shooting. The author's insights into
her characters' deep-seated emotions brings this
ripped-from-the-headlines read chillingly alive.
- From Publishers Weekly Copyright ©
Reed Business Information
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- The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim
Edwards
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- David Henry's life was turning out as he
hoped. He was a doctor, married to a beautiful woman, Nora, with
a baby on the way. But everything changed overnight because of
one fateful decision. On a winter evening in 1961, a blizzard
brewing, Nora goes into labor. Due to the weather, they could
only make it to the clinic, not the hospital, and only Caroline,
the nurse, arrived to help deliver the baby. David delivers his
own child, a perfectly healthy son. But when Nora continues her
labor, David realizes she is carrying twins; and the second
child, a girl, is born with Down syndrome. Wanting to protect
his wife from the devastating news, David gives the child to
Caroline to take to an institution, asking her never to reveal
the secret. Caroline takes the baby and disappears. Unfolding
the plot over the course of 25 years, Edwards tells a moving
story of two families bound by a secret that both eats away at
relationships and eventually helps to create new ones.
- From Booklist Copyright © American
Library Association
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- Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
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- Here is the novel Russo was born to
write. Coursing with humor and humanity, the sixth novel by
the bard of Main Street U.S.A. gives full expression to the
themes that have always been at the heart of his work: the
all-important bond between fathers and sons, the economic
desperation of small-town businesses, and the lifelong feuds
and friendships that are a hallmark of small-town life.
Following a trio of best friends who grew up in upstate
Thomaston, New York, over 50 years, the novel captures some
of the essential mysteries of life, including the
unanticipated moments of childhood that will forever define
one's adulthood. Louis Charles ("Lucy") Lynch has spent his
entire life in Thomaston, married for 40 years to his wife,
Sarah, and finally living in the rich section of town,
thanks to the success of his father's convenience stores.
Long planning a trip to Venice, he tries in vain to
communicate with the couple's best friend, Bobby Marconi,
now a world-famous painter living in Venice. Meanwhile, the
irascible ex-pat, now approaching 60 and suffering from
night terrors, is still chasing women, engaging in
fistfights, and struggling to complete his latest painting.
Russo slowly and lovingly pieces together rich, multilayered
portraits not only of the principals but also of their
families, and, by extension, their quintessentially American
town. It is a seamless interweaving of childhood memories
(sometimes told from three points of view), tragic incidents
(the town river, once the lifeblood of local industry, has
become a toxic stew that is poisoning residents), and
unforgettable dialogue that is so natural, funny, and
touching that it may, perhaps, be the best of Russo's many
gifts.
- Joanne Wilkinson From Booklist
Copyright © American Library Association
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- The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin
Hamid
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- Hamid's second book (after Moth Smoke) is
an intelligent and absorbing 9/11 novel, written from the
perspective of Changez, a young Pakistani whose sympathies,
despite his fervid immigrant embrace of America, lie with the
attackers. The book unfolds as a monologue that Changez delivers
to a mysterious American operative over dinner at a Lahore,
Pakistan, cafe. Pre-9/11, Princeton graduate Changez is on top
of the world: recruited by an elite New York financial company,
the 22-year-old quickly earns accolades from his hard-charging
supervisor, plunges into Manhattan's hip social whirl and
becomes infatuated with Erica, a fellow Princeton graduate
pining for her dead boyfriend. But after the towers fall,
Changez is subject to intensified scrutiny and physical threats,
and his co-workers become markedly less affable as his beard
grows in ("a form of protest," he says). Erica is committed to a
mental institution, and Changez, upset by his adopted country's
"growing and self-righteous rage," slacks off at work and is
fired. Despite his off-putting commentary, the damaged Changez
comes off as honest and thoughtful, and his creator handles him
with a sympathetic grace.
- From Publishers Weekly Copyright ©
Reed Business Information
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- NONFICTION
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- Einstein by Walter Isaacson
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- As a scientist, Albert Einstein is
undoubtedly the most epic among 20th-century thinkers. Albert
Einstein as a man, however, has been a much harder portrait to
paint, and what we know of him as a husband, father, and friend
is fragmentary at best. With Einstein: His Life and Universe,
Walter Isaacson brings Einstein's experience of life, love, and
intellectual discovery into brilliant focus. The book is the
first biography to tackle Einstein's enormous volume of personal
correspondence that heretofore had been sealed from the public,
and it's hard to imagine another book that could do such a
richly textured and complicated life as Einstein's the same
thoughtful justice. Isaacson is a master of the form and this
latest opus is at once arresting and wonderfully revelatory.
- Anne Bartholomew (Amazon.com)
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- Coldest Winter by David Halberstam
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- David Halberstam's magisterial and thrilling
The Best and the Brightest was the defining book for the Vietnam
War. More than three decades later, Halberstam used his unrivalled
research and formidable journalistic skills to shed light on another
dark corner in our history: the Korean War. The Coldest Winter is a
successor to The Best and the Brightest, even though in historical
terms it precedes it. Halberstam considered The Coldest Winter the
best book he ever wrote, the culmination of forty-five years of
writing about America's postwar foreign policy.
- from Amazon.com
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- The War: An Intimate History, 1941 – 1945
by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns
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- The vivid voices that speak from these pages
are not those of historians or scholars. They are the voices of
ordinary men and women who experienced—and helped to win—the most
devastating war in history, in which between 50 and 60 million lives
were lost.
Focusing on the citizens of four towns— Luverne, Minnesota;
Sacramento, California; Waterbury, Connecticut; Mobile, Alabama;—The
War follows more than forty people from 1941 to 1945. Woven largely
from their memories, the compelling, unflinching narrative unfolds
month by bloody month, with the outcome always in doubt. All the
iconic events are here, from Pearl Harbor to the liberation of the
concentration camps—but we also move among prisoners of war and
Japanese American internees, defense workers and schoolchildren, and
families who struggled simply to stay together while their men were
shipped off to Europe, the Pacific, and North Africa. Enriched by
maps and hundreds of photographs, including many never published
before, this is an intimate, profoundly affecting chronicle of the
war that shaped our world.
- from Amazon.com)
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- The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin
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- Bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin takes you
into the chambers of the most important—and secret—legal body in our
country, the Supreme Court, and reveals the complex dynamic among
the nine people who decide the law of the land. Just in time for the
2008 presidential election—where the future of the Court will be at
stake—Toobin reveals an institution at a moment of transition, when
decades of conservative disgust with the Court have finally produced
a conservative majority, with major changes in store on such issues
as abortion, civil rights, presidential power, and church-state
relations. Based on exclusive interviews with justices themselves,
The Nine tells the story of the Court through personalities—from
Anthony Kennedy's overwhelming sense of self-importance to Clarence
Thomas's well-tended grievances against his critics to David
Souter's odd nineteenth-century lifestyle. There is also, for the
first time, the full behind-the-scenes story of Bush v. Gore—and
Sandra Day O'Connor's fateful breach with George W. Bush, the
president she helped place in office.
The Nine is the book bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin was born to
write. A CNN senior legal analyst and New Yorker staff writer, no
one is more superbly qualified to profile the nine justices.
- from Amazon.com)
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- Age of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan
-
- Alan Greenspan shares the story of his life
first simply with an eye toward doing justice to the extraordinary
amount of history he has experienced and shaped. But his other goal
is to draw readers along the same learning curve he followed, so
they accrue a grasp of his own understanding of the underlying
dynamics that drive world events. In the second half of the book,
having brought us to the present and armed us with the conceptual
tools to follow him forward, Dr. Greenspan embarks on a magnificent
tour de horizon of the global economy. He reveals the universals of
economic growth, delves into the specific facts on the ground in
each of the major countries and regions of the world, and explains
what the trend-lines of globalization are from here. The
distillation of a life's worth of wisdom and insight into an elegant
expression of a coherent worldview, The Age of Turbulence will stand
as Alan Greenspan's personal and intellectual legacy.
from Amazon.com
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- The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
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- Teasing out the consequences of a simple
thought experiment—what would happen if the human species were
suddenly extinguished—Weisman has written a sort of pop-science
ghost story, in which the whole earth is the haunted house. Among
the highlights: with pumps not working, the New York City subways
would fill with water within days, while weeds and then trees would
retake the buckled streets and wild predators would ravage the
domesticated dogs. Texas’s unattended petrochemical complexes might
ignite, scattering hydrogen cyanide to the winds—a "mini chemical
nuclear winter." After thousands of years, the Chunnel, rubber
tires, and more than a billion tons of plastic might remain, but
eventually a polymer-eating microbe could evolve, and, with the
spectacular return of fish and bird populations, the earth might
revert to Eden.
- The New Yorker Copyright © 2007
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- Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of
Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus
Luttrell
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- On a clear night in late June 2005, four U.S.
Navy SEALs left their base in northern Afghanistan for the
mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or kill a
notorious al Qaeda leader known to be ensconced in a Taliban
stronghold surrounded by a small but heavily armed force. Less then
twenty-four hours later, only one of those Navy SEALs remained
alive. This is the story of fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, the
sole survivor of Operation Redwing, and the desperate battle in the
mountains that led, ultimately, to the largest loss of life in Navy
SEAL history. But it is also, more than anything, the story of his
teammates, who fought ferociously beside him until he was the last
one left-blasted unconscious by a rocket grenade, blown over a
cliff, but still armed and still breathing. Over the next four days,
badly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell fought off six al Qaeda
assassins who were sent to finish him, then crawled for seven miles
through the mountains before he was taken in by a Pashtun tribe, who
risked everything to protect him from the encircling Taliban
killers.A six-foot-five-inch Texan, Leading Petty Officer Luttrell
takes us, blow-by-blow, through the brutal training of America's
warrior elite and the relentless rites of passage required by the
Navy SEALs. He transports us to a monstrous battle fought in the
desolate peaks of Afghanistan, where the beleaguered American team
plummeted headlong a thousand feet down a mountain as they fought
back through flying shale and rocks. In this rich , moving chronicle
of courage, honor, and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers one of
the most powerful narratives ever written about modern warfare-and a
tribute to his teammates, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their
country.
- From Amazon.com
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New
Reference Resources
-
- Local History Titles
- Where They Fell, Rochester
area soldiers who fought in the Civil War
- by Bob Marcotte
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- "A fascinating account of
Rochester's participation in the war... beautifully
illustrated with maps, drawings and photos and includes
letters and diaries of Rochester soldiers."
- From publisher description
- Joe Wilson and the Rise of
Xerox by Charles D. Ellis
-
- "Transforming family-owned Haloid
Corp., which struggled in the shadow of hometown Eastman
Kodak, into the globally recognized Xerox is an amazing
accomplishment. But as Ellis's biography of Joe Wilson
attests, Wilson's achievements ranged more widely and
went much deeper than many gave him credit for. He
contends that Wilson embodied all of the qualities that
leadership management books celebrate: integrity,
foresight and the ability to inspire people to perform." Copyright ©
Publisher's Weekly
- Erie Canal Legacy:
Architectural Treasures of the Empire State
by Andy Olenick and Richard Reisem
-
- "This book of photography is a
memorable tour of the historic architecture in the
cities, towns, villages and hamlets that mushroomed
along the Erie Canal. Lavishly illustrated with 270-full
color photographs, the book also offers brief anecdotal
histories of sites on the 363-mile waterway."
- From publisher description
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