Friday, May 31, 2013

Resilient Leadership






Duggan, Bob and Moyer, Jim. Resilient Leadership: Navigating the Hidden Chemistry of Organizations. West Conshohocken, PA: Infinity Publishing, 2009.

Call no.: FDC 302.35 D879r

Whiskey Beach






Roberts, Nora. Whiskey Beach. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2013.

Call No.: F ROB

Publisher's Description: For more than three hundred years, Bluff House has sat above Whiskey Beach, guarding its shore—and its secrets. But to Eli Landon, it’s home…

A Boston lawyer, Eli has weathered an intense year of public scrutiny and police investigations after being accused of—but never arrested for—the murder of his soon-to-be-ex wife.


He finds sanctuary at Bluff House, even though his beloved grandmother is in Boston recuperating from a nasty fall. Abra Walsh is always there, though. Whiskey Beach’s resident housekeeper, yoga instructor, jewelry maker, and massage therapist, Abra is a woman of many talents—including helping Eli take control of his life and clear his name. But as they become entangled in each other, they find themselves caught in a net that stretches back for centuries—one that has ensnared a man intent on reaping the rewards of destroying Eli Landon once and for all…

Thursday, May 30, 2013

The High Impact Leader



Avolio, Bruce J. and Luthans, Fred. The High Impact Leader. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006.

Call no.: FDC 158.4 Av73h

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

The Speed of Trust






Covey, Stephen M. R. The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything. New York: Free Press, 2008.

Call no.: FDC 174.4 C838s

Publisher's Description: With nearly 750,000 copies in print, this instant classic shows that establishing trust is “the one thing that changes everything” (Marcus Buckingham, coauthor of Now, Discover Your Strengths ) in both business and life.

Trust, says Stephen M.R. Covey, is the very basis of the new global economy, and he shows how trust—and the speed at which it is established with clients, employees, and constituents—is the essential ingredient for any high–performance, successful organization.

For business leaders and public figures in any arena, The Speed of Trust offers an unprecedented and eminently practical look at exactly how trust functions in our every transaction and relationship—from the most personal to the broadest, most indirect interaction—and how to establish trust immediately so that you and your organization can forego the time–killing, bureaucratic check–and–balance processes so often deployed in lieu of actual trust.

Burgess Boys






Strout, Elizabeth. The Burgess Boys. New York: Random House, 2013.

Call No.: F STR

Publisher's Description: Elizabeth Strout “animates the ordinary with an astonishing force,” wrote The New Yorker on the publication of her Pulitzer Prize–winning Olive Kitteridge. The San Francisco Chronicle praised Strout’s “magnificent gift for humanizing characters.” Now the acclaimed author returns with a stunning novel as powerful and moving as any work in contemporary literature.

Haunted by the freak accident that killed their father when they were children, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their Maine hometown of Shirley Falls for New York City as soon as they possibly could. Jim, a sleek, successful corporate lawyer, has belittled his bighearted brother their whole lives, and Bob, a Legal Aid attorney who idolizes Jim, has always taken it in stride. But their long-standing dynamic is upended when their sister, Susan—the Burgess sibling who stayed behind—urgently calls them home. Her lonely teenage son, Zach, has gotten himself into a world of trouble, and Susan desperately needs their help. And so the Burgess brothers return to the landscape of their childhood, where the long-buried tensions that have shaped and shadowed their relationship begin to surface in unexpected ways that will change them forever.

With a rare combination of brilliant storytelling, exquisite prose, and remarkable insight into character, Elizabeth Strout has brought to life two deeply human protagonists whose struggles and triumphs will resonate with readers long after they turn the final page. Tender, tough-minded, loving, and deeply illuminating about the ties that bind us to family and home, The Burgess Boys is Elizabeth Strout’s newest and perhaps most astonishing work of literary art.

Librarian's Review: [One of our librarians received an advanced e-galley of this title for review. The following are her comments.] This is the story of the Burgess family. The two sons, Jim and Bob, are attorneys in New York. Their sister Susan still resides in Shirley Falls, Maine, their hometown. They are haunted by an accident which occurred when they were children, leaving their father dead. Bob has always felt inferior to his brother, partly as a repercussion to the traumatic event from childhood. The family comes together to defend Susan's son who is charged with a hate crime against the Somalis in the area. The characters are well-drawn, and the book is well-written. I should have loved it more than I did. I simply failed to connect with the characters. The author used some mild profanity in a few places. The biggest problem for me was that instead of using the word and moving on, she seemed to make sure that the reader noticed she was using the curse words and repeated them multiple times in rapid succession. I read an advanced electronic galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Communicating Emotion






Planalp, Sally. Communicating Emotion: Social, Moral, and Cultural Processes. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Call no.: FDC 302.2 P692c

Publisher's Description: The central argument of this book is that emotion is meaningful and meaning is emotional. The modern world is forcing us to understand emotion in order to cope with new problems such as road rage and epidemic levels of depression, as well as age-old problems such as homicide, genocide and racial tension. This book draws on scholarly research to address, explain and legitimize the role that emotion plays in everyday interaction and in many of the pressing social, moral, and cultural issues that we face today.

Monday, May 27, 2013

The Leadership Challenge

Newly received for the Faculty Development Center:

Kouzes, James M. and Posner, Barry Z. The Leadership Challenge: How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995.

Call no.: FDC 658.4 K849l

Midnight at Marble Arch






Perry, Anne. Midnight at Marble Arch. New York: Ballantine Books, 2013.

Call No.: F PER

Publisher's Description: In this superbly accomplished new Charlotte and Thomas Pitt adventure, Anne Perry takes us beneath the glittering surface of wealthy Victorian society into a nightmare world of fear and intimidation, where women are too often blamed for the violent attacks against them, and powerful men take what they want, leaving others to pay the price.

The horrifying rape and apparent suicide of Catherine Quixwood, wife of a wealthy merchant banker, falls outside the new jurisdiction of Special Branch head Thomas Pitt, but so pervasively offensive are the rumors about the victim that Pitt quietly takes a hand in the investigation.

Yet even with the help of his ingenious wife, Charlotte, and his former superior, Victor Narraway, Pitt is stumped. Why did high-minded, cultured Catherine choose not to accompany her husband to a grand party on the night of her demise? Why did she dismiss all her servants for the evening and leave the front door unlocked? What had been her relationship with the young man seen frequently by her side at concerts and art exhibits? And what can be done to avenge another terrible crime: the assault on Angeles Castelbranco, beloved teenage daughter of the Portuguese ambassador?

As an ordinary policeman, Pitt had once entered London’s grand houses through the kitchen door. Now, as a guest in those same houses, can he find the steel in his soul to challenge the great men of the world with their crimes? The path to the truth takes him in deeply troubling directions, from the lofty world of international politics and finance to his own happy home, where his own teenage daughter, Jemima, is coming of age in a culture rife with hidden dangers.

In this rich, emotionally charged masterpiece, Anne Perry exposes yet another ugly secret of Victoria’s proud empire. And in a courtroom battle of unparalleled brilliance, we thrill at the chance to witness a massive wrong righted.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

The Enneagram






Rohr, Richard and Ebert, Andreas. The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective. New York: Crossroad Publishing, 2009, c2001.

Call no.: FDC 248.2 R636e

Publisher's Description: Richard Rohr and Andreas Ebert's runaway bestseller unveils the dynamic, personal evolution that the Enneagram offers. This updated resource discusses the applications of the ancient tool for discernment and reveals the harmony between its principles and the core truths of Christian thought.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Nudge






Thaler, Richard H. and Sunstein, Cass R. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Rev. and exp. ed. New York: Penguin, 2009.

Call no.: FDC 330.019 T327n

Publisher's description: Nudge is about choices—how we make them and how we can make better ones. Drawing on decades of research in the fields of behavioral science and economics, authors Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein offer a new perspective on preventing the countless mistakes we make—ill-advised personal investments, consumption of unhealthy foods, neglect of our natural resources—and show us how sensible “choice architecture” can successfully nudge people toward the best decisions. In the tradition of The Tipping Point and Freakonomics, Nudge is straightforward, informative, and entertaining—a must-read for anyone interested in our individual and collective well-being.

Publisher's book page: http://www.us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780143115267,00.html?Nudge_Richard_H._Thaler#

Friday, May 24, 2013

Casey

William J. Casey was the director of the CIA during the Iran-Contra Scandal. Read all about his life from his days as a spy in World War II through the top post of his career.

Persico, Joseph E. Casey : From the OSS to the CIA. New York: Penguin Books, 1991.

Call no.: 327.12092 C268p

The Borgias: The Hidden History






Meyer, G. J. The Borgias: The Hidden History. New York: Bantam Books, 2013.

Call No.: 942 M

Publisher's Description: They burst out of obscurity in Spain not only to capture the great prize of the papacy, but to do so twice. Throughout a tumultuous half-century—as popes, statesmen, warriors, lovers, and breathtakingly ambitious political adventurers—they held center stage in the glorious and blood-drenched pageant known to us as the Italian Renaissance, standing at the epicenter of the power games in which Europe’s kings and Italy’s warlords gambled for life-and-death stakes.

Five centuries after their fall—a fall even more sudden than their rise to the heights of power—they remain immutable symbols of the depths to which humanity can descend: Rodrigo Borgia, who bought the papal crown and prostituted the Roman Church; Cesare Borgia, who became first a teenage cardinal and then the most treacherous cutthroat of a violent time; Lucrezia Borgia, who was as shockingly immoral as she was beautiful. These have long been stock figures in the dark chronicle of European villainy, their name synonymous with unspeakable evil.

But did these Borgias of legend actually exist? Grounding his narrative in exhaustive research and drawing from rarely examined key sources, Meyer brings fascinating new insight to the real people within the age-encrusted myth. Equally illuminating is the light he shines on the brilliant circles in which the Borgias moved and the thrilling era they helped to shape, a time of wars and political convulsions that reverberate to the present day, when Western civilization simultaneously wallowed in appalling brutality and soared to extraordinary heights.

Stunning in scope, rich in telling detail, G. J. Meyer’s The Borgias is an indelible work sure to become the new standard on a family and a world that continue to enthrall.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

History of Morristown

Want to read about the early history of nearby Morristown? Check out our new book in Special Collections:

Tennessee Historical Records Survey. History of Morristown, 1787-1936. Morristown, Tenn.: Morristown Cemetery Restoration and Preservation Committee, 2009. Rpt. of 1940 ed.

 Call no.: T976.8923 H629t

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Mountain Boys to Admirals

You might not think a college in the heart of Appalachia would be a likely location for a Navy V-12 program during World War II, but Berea College in Kentucky had such a program.

Shipp, Robert H. Mountain Boys to Admirals: The Berea College Navy V-12 Program in World War II. Berea, Ky.: Berea College Printing Services, 2007.

Call no.: T 359.007 Sh64m

Daddy's Gone A Hunting






Clark, Mary Higgins. Daddy's Gone A Hunting. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2013.

Call No.: F CLA

Publisher's Description: In her latest novel Mary Higgins Clark, the beloved, bestselling “Queen of Suspense,” exposes a dark secret from a family’s past that threatens the lives of two sisters, Kate and Hannah Connelly, when the family-owned furniture firm in Long Island City, founded by their grandfather and famous for its fine reproductions of antiques, explodes into flames in the middle of the night, leveling the buildings to the ground, including the museum where priceless antiques have been on permanent display for years.


The ashes reveal a startling and grisly discovery, and provoke a host of suspicions and questions. Was the explosion deliberately set? What was Kate—tall, gorgeous, blond, a CPA for one of the biggest accounting firms in the country, and sister of a rising fashion designer—doing in the museum when it burst into flames? Why was Gus, a retired and disgruntled craftsman, with her at that time of night? What if someone isn’t who he claims to be?

Now Gus is dead, and Kate lies in the hospital badly injured and in a coma, so neither can tell what drew them there, or what the tragedy may have to do with the hunt for a young woman missing for many years, nor can they warn that somebody may be covering his tracks, willing to kill to save himself . . .

Step by step, in a novel of dazzling suspense and excitement, Mary Higgins Clark once again demonstrates the mastery of her craft that has made her books international bestsellers for years. She presents the reader with a perplexing mystery, a puzzling question of identity, and a fascinating cast of characters—one of whom may just be a ruthless killer . . .

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Heirs to Misfortune

In a gift collection, the library received a book about an East Tennessee family that migrated to Texas. Written in a novel style, the book contains the history of one of the longest-lasting land disputes in American history. The book contains numerous photographs and reproductions of documents.

Bradshaw, Steve and Duncan, Joyce. Heirs to Misfortune : The Pelham Humphries Legacy. Johnson City, Tenn.: Overmountain Press, 1987.

Call no.: 929.2 H889br

Monday, May 20, 2013

East Tennessee State University

Interested in learning about the history of East Tennessee State University. Check out the recent gift book we received. It is located in special collections.

Williams, Frank B. East Tennessee State University : A University's Story, 1911-1980. Johnson City, Tenn.: East Tennessee State University Press, 1991.

Call no.: T 378.76897 W671e

Ordinary Grace






Krueger, William Kent. Ordinary Grace. New York: Atria, 2013.

Call No.: F KRU

Publisher's Description: “That was it. That was all of it. A grace so ordinary there was no reason at all to remember it. Yet I have never across the forty years since it was spoken forgotten a single word.”
 

New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961. The Twins were playing their debut season, ice-cold root beers were selling out at the soda counter of Halderson’s Drugstore, and Hot Stuff comic books were a mainstay on every barbershop magazine rack. It was a time of innocence and hope for a country with a new, young president. But for thirteen-year-old Frank Drum it was a grim summer in which death visited frequently and assumed many forms. Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder.

Frank begins the season preoccupied with the concerns of any teenage boy, but when tragedy unexpectedly strikes his family— which includes his Methodist minister father; his passionate, artistic mother; Juilliard-bound older sister; and wise-beyond-his-years kid brother— he finds himself thrust into an adult world full of secrets, lies, adultery, and betrayal, suddenly called upon to demonstrate a maturity and gumption beyond his years.

Told from Frank’s perspective forty years after that fateful summer, Ordinary Grace is a brilliantly moving account of a boy standing at the door of his young manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him. It is an unforgettable novel about discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Women Saints






Compton, Madonna Sophia, et al. Women Saints: 365 Daily Readings. New York: Crossroad Publishing, 2006.

Call no.: FDC 270.092 C739w

Publisher's Description: Daily inspiration from women of great spirit. Madonna Sophia Compton recounts the mysterious and faith-filled lives of women saints—from St. Germaine Cousin, the humble, French shepherd with a withered hand, to the world-renown Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Mountaineers and Rangers

The library has received a book about forest management in the Southern Appalachian region.

Mastran, Shelley Smith and Lowerre, Nan. Mountaineers and Rangers : A History of Federal Forest Management in the Southern Appalachians, 1900-81. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 1983.

Call no.: T 333.75 M395m

Chapters include:

  • Conservation movement comes to the Southern mountains
  • National forests organized in Southern Appalachians
  • The Depression and the New Deal
  • The Civilian Conservation Corps
  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway
  • World War II through the fifties: from FDR to JFK
  • Federal development of the Southern Appalachians, 1960-81
  • Recreational development of the Southern Appalachians, 1960-81

Friday, May 17, 2013

Upper Laurel and Her People

The library has received as a gift a book about the Madison County, North Carolina community of Upper Laurel.  It contains sketches of families in the community, including the English, Tipton, Willis, Porche, Phillips, and Putnam families as well as information on the community itself.  It is located in our Special Collections.

Brittain, Delia Tipton. Upper Laurel and Her People. Ill. by Gerry Girard. Mars Hill, N.C.: Southern Appalachian Center, Mars Hill College, 1987.

Call no.: T 975.6875 B777u

Starting Now






Macomber, Debbie. Starting Now. New York: Ballantine Books, 2013.

Call No.: F MAC

Publisher's Description: Debbie Macomber returns to Seattle’s beloved Blossom Street in this heartfelt tale of friendship, renewal, and discovering what’s truly important in life.

For years Libby Morgan dreamed only of making partner in her competitive, high-pressure law firm. She sacrificed everything for her career—her friends, her marriage, her chance at creating a family. When her boss calls Libby into his office, she assumes it will finally be good news, but nothing can prepare her for the shocking reality: She’s been let go and must rebuild her entire life . . . starting now.

With no job prospects in sight, Libby reaches out to old friends and spends her afternoons at A Good Yarn, the local knitting store. There she forms a close bond with Lydia, the sweet-natured shop owner; Lydia’s spirited teenage daughter, Casey; and Casey’s best friend, Ava, a shy yet troubled girl who will shape Libby’s future in surprising and profound ways.

As A Good Yarn becomes a second home—and the women a new kind of family—Libby relishes the different person she’s become. She even finds time for romance with a charming and handsome doctor who seems to be her perfect match. But just as everything is coming together, Libby must make a choice that could forever change the life she holds so dear.

Warmly told and richly textured, Starting Now is filled with the promise of new beginnings and the unending delights of companionship and love.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Tinsel Tales





Tinsel Tales: Favorite Christmas Stories from NPR. Minneapolis, Minn.: HighBridge Audio, 2010.

Call no.: ACD 232-233

Description: Ho ho ho! Here’s what to listen to while driving to the mall, wrapping gifts, entertaining friends, or relaxing in front of a crackling holiday fire.

In Scott Simon’s modern version of the Christmas story, Jesus is born in an abandoned factory near Cleveland and the Three Wise Persons bring Chipotle gift cards. Claudia Sanchez gives a Latin accent to “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” Barbara Bradley Hagerty explores what Christmas means for the boy choristers of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. (Hint: Handel.) In a treasured 1974 recording, humorist, author, radio personality, and blacklisting victim John Henry Faulk tells of “the wonderfulest Christmas in the United States of America.” A son believed missing in action during WWII is found in time for his family to celebrate the holiday. And a Vietnam veteran tells Weekend Edition Sunday about a “Silent Night” that brought hope to patients in a military hospital.

And that’s just the star-topped tip of the tree. Each year, listeners tune into NPR for holiday offerings of all kinds: funny, touching, insightful, and surprising. Now anyone can listen anytime to these evergreen delights.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Tapestry of Fortunes






Berg, Elizabeth. Tapestry of Fortunes. New York: Random House, 2013.

Call No.: F BER

Publisher's Description: In this superb new novel by the beloved author of Open House, Home Safe, and The Last Time I Saw You, four women venture into their pasts in order to shape their futures, fates, and fortunes.

Cecilia Ross is a motivational speaker who encourages others to change their lives for the better. Why can’t she take her own advice? Still reeling from the death of her best friend, and freshly aware of the need to live more fully now, Cece realizes that she has to make a move—all the portentous signs seem to point in that direction.

She downsizes her life, sells her suburban Minnesota home and lets go of many of her possessions. She moves into a beautiful old house in Saint Paul, complete with a garden, chef’s kitchen, and three housemates: Lise, the home’s owner and a divorced mother at odds with her twenty-year-old daughter; Joni, a top-notch sous chef at a first-rate restaurant with a grade A jerk of a boss; and Renie, the youngest and most mercurial of the group, who is trying to rectify a teenage mistake. These women embark on a journey together in an attempt to connect with parts of themselves long denied. For Cece, that means finding Dennis Halsinger. Despite being “the one who got away,” Dennis has never been far from Cece’s thoughts.

In this beautifully written novel, leaving home brings revelations, reunions, and unexpected turns that affirm the inner truths of women’s lives. “Maybe Freud didn’t know the answer to what women want, but Elizabeth Berg certainly does,” said USA Today. Elizabeth Berg has crafted a novel rich in understanding of women’s longings, loves, and abiding friendships, which weave together into a tapestry of fortunes that connects us all.

Innovations in Sustainable Agriculture






Reynolds, Laura and Nierenberg, Danielle. Innovations in Sustainable Agriculture: Supporting Climate-Friendly Food Production. (Worldwatch Report ; 188). Washington, D.C.: Worldwatch Institute, 2012.

Call no.: 631.5 R335i

Publisher's Description: Higher temperatures and unpredictable weather events are disrupting lifesustaining agriculture in many parts of the world, derailing efforts to reduce hunger and poverty in the world’s poorest regions. Because agriculture relies on healthy soil, adequate water, and a delicate balance of gases in the atmosphere, farming is the human endeavor most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. At the same time, agriculture is a major driver of humancaused climate change, contributing anywhere from 25 to 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.


The good news is that agriculture, when done sustainably, holds an important key to mitigating climate change. The United Nations estimates that the global agricultural sector could potentially reduce and remove 80 to 88 percent of the carbon dioxide that it currently produces. Practices such as using animal manure rather than artificial fertilizer, planting trees on farms to reduce soil erosion, and growing food in cities all hold huge potential for shrinking agriculture’s environmental footprint and mitigating the damaging effects of climate change.
 
By tapping into the multitude of climate-friendly farming practices that already exist, agriculture can continue to supply food for the human population, as well as income for the world’s 1.3 billion farmers. Climate-friendly agriculture also can play a critical role in the global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the mitigation of climate change.


Publisher's Book Page: http://www.worldwatch.org/bookstore/publication/worldwatch-report-188-innovations-sustainable-agriculture-supporting-climate-f

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Iron Knights






Blaker, Gordon A. Iron Knights: The U.S. 66th Armored Regiment in WWII. (Stackpole Military History Series.) Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole, 2008.

Call no.: 940.541273 B584i

Publisher's Description:


  • Combat history of the U.S. Army's oldest armored regiment
  • Tank battles in North Africa, Sicily, Normandy, and the Battle of the Bulge
  • The 66th Armored Regiment is still active today and has served in Iraq 


  • From its baptism of fire in the mud of the Western Front in 1918 to its triumphant march into Berlin in July 1945, this is the story of the U.S. 66th Armored Regiment. It was the only American heavy tank unit to see combat in World War I, and between the two wars, the regiment served as a laboratory for new ideas and equipment. After training under Gen. George S. Patton, the 66th distinguished itself in numerous battles during World War II, earning six battle streamers for the unit and a Medal of Honor for one of its officers.
     


    Publisher's Book Page: http://www.stackpolebooks.com/productdetails.cfm?sku=3470&isbn=9780811734707&title=iron-knights

    Monday, May 13, 2013

    No Way Back







    Gross, Andrew. No Way Back. New York: Morrow, 2013.

    Call No.: F GRO

    Publisher's Description: Wendy Gould is an attractive, happy suburban mom, and an experienced ex-cop. A chance meeting with a stranger in a hotel ends when the man is murdered and she's the only witness, forcing her to run from rogue federal agents determined to keep her silent, even if it means killing her. Things only get worse when the authorities—the wrong ones—find their way to her door, giving her no recourse but to flee from her only safe haven.


    Lauritzia Velez, meanwhile, is a devoted nanny. She's also a woman with a deadly secret that has driven her into hiding until she can prove her innocence.

    Scared and alone, these two women with nothing in common will eventually join forces and embark on a dangerous odyssey to find the truth and save their lives. It's a desperate hunt that leads them into a nefarious web of treachery, lies, and corruption involving drug lords, arms dealers, and shadowy figures in the highest echelons of government.

    A breathtaking tale featuring two strong, sympathetic women who must rely on each other to take down powerful, lethal forces, No Way Back is a riveting tale full of twists and thrilling surprises from the bestselling author who is "coming up on the rails behind Harlan Coben and Lee Child" (Evening Standard, U.K.).

    Buried Lives






    Tarter, Michele Lise and Bell, Richard, eds. Buried Lives: Incarcerated in Early America. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2012.

    Call no.: 365.973 B916t

    Publisher's Description:  Buried Lives offers the first critical examination of the experience of imprisonment in early America. These interdisciplinary essays investigate several carceral institutions to show how confinement shaped identity, politics, and the social imaginary both in the colonies and in the new nation. The historians and literary scholars included in this volume offer a complement and corrective to conventional understandings of incarceration that privilege the intentions of those in power over the experiences of prisoners.

    Considering such varied settings as jails, penitentiaries, almshouses, workhouses, floating prison ships, and plantations, the contributors reconstruct the struggles of people imprisoned in locations from Antigua to Boston. The essays draw upon a rich array of archival sources from the seventeenth century to the eve of the Civil War, including warden logs, petitions, execution sermons, physicians' clinical notes, private letters, newspaper articles, runaway slave advertisements, and legal documents. Through the voices, bodies, and texts of the incarcerated, Buried Lives reveals the largely ignored experiences of inmates who contested their subjection to regimes of power.


    Publisher's Book Page: http://www.ugapress.org/index.php/books/buried_lives/

    Sunday, May 12, 2013

    The Language of God






    Collins, Francis S. The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. New York: Free Press, 2006.

    Call no.: FDC 215 C693l

    Publisher's Description: An instant bestseller, The Language of God provides the best argument for the integration of faith and logic since C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity .

    It has long been believed that science and faith cannot mingle. Faith rejects the rational, while science restricts us to a life with no meaning beyond the physical. It is an irreconcilable war between two polar-opposite ways of thinking and living. Written for believers, agnostics, and atheists alike, The Language of God provides a testament to the power of faith in the midst of suffering without faltering from its logical stride. Readers will be inspired by Collin’s personal story of struggling with doubt, as well as the many revelations of the wonder of God’s creation that will forever shape the way they view the world around them.

    Saturday, May 11, 2013

    White House Diary






    Carter, Jimmy. White House Diary. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2010.

    Call no.: 973.926 C245w

    Publisher's Description: The edited, annotated diary of President Jimmy Carter—filled with insights into his presidency, his relationships with friends and foes, and his lasting impact on issues that still preoccupy America and the world.
    Each day during his presidency, Jimmy Carter made several entries in a private diary, recording his thoughts, impressions, delights, and frustrations. He offered unvarnished assessments of cabinet members, congressmen, and foreign leaders; he narrated the progress of secret negotiations such as those that led to the Camp David Accords. When his four-year term came to an end in early 1981, the diary amounted to more than five thousand pages. But this extraordinary document has never been made public—until now.

    By carefully selecting the most illuminating and relevant entries, Carter has provided us with an astonishingly intimate view of his presidency. Day by day, we see his forceful advocacy for nuclear containment, sustainable energy, human rights, and peace in the Middle East. We witness his interactions with such complex personalities as Ted Kennedy, Henry Kissinger, Joe Biden, Anwar Sadat, and Menachem Begin. We get the inside story of his so-called “malaise speech,” his bruising battle for the 1980 Democratic nomination, and the Iranian hostage crisis. Remarkably, we also get Carter’s retrospective comments on these topics and more: thirty years after the fact, he has annotated the diary with his candid reflections on the people and events that shaped his presidency, and on the many lessons learned.

    Carter is now widely seen as one of the truly wise men of our time. Offering an unprecedented look at both the man and his tenure, this fascinating book will stand as a unique contribution to the history of the American presidency.

    Publisher's Book Page: http://us.macmillan.com/book.aspx?isbn=9780374280994

    Friday, May 10, 2013

    Secrets from the Past






    Bradford, Barbara Taylor. Secrets from the Past. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2013.

    Call No.: F BRA

    Publisher's Description: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a powerful and emotional novel about one woman’s quest to uncover long-buried secrets about her family--secrets she will stop at nothing to uncover, no matter the consequences. At thirty, American photojournalist Serena Stone has already made a name for herself with her unique and dramatic coverage of wars in the Middle East, following in her famous father’s footsteps.  But after his unexpected death in France, she ends her job at the renowned photo news agency, weary of years of danger.  Leaving the front lines behind, Serena returns to New York where she starts work on a biography of her celebrated father.  When Serena discovers that her former lover Zachary North is in trouble overseas, she's forced to leave the safety of her new life, and head back to a place she was trying to escape...and her life will never be the same again. As she brings Zac back to health in Venice, she discovers a shocking secret in the archives of her late father’s work.  It is a secret that will propel her back to war-torn Libya, risking her life looking for clues that she hopes will piece together the mystery surrounding her parents’ marriage and the part of their life together that she never knew.


    Well-kept secrets, passionate love, obsession, betrayal, redemption, and the power of the past to control the future propel Secrets from the Past, the explosive new novel from The New York Times bestselling author Barbara Taylor Bradford

    Trout






    Kunerth, Jeff. Trout: A True Story of Murder, Teens, and the Death Penalty. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2012.

    Call no.: 364.152 K962t

    Publisher's Description:  A haunting tale of teenage murderers, mistaken identity, and a brutal justice system.

    On a cool Pensacola night in January 1991, just a few minutes before midnight, three teenagers pulled up to the Trout Auto Parts store. Patrick Bonifay, his body coursing with adrenaline, entered the store clad in a ski mask carrying a loaded gun, intent on carrying out a poorly laid plan. Little did he know that it was his life--as well as the lives of his companions--that was about to be forever changed.
    Bonifay, Clifford Barth, and Eddie Fordham were hired to kill Daniel Wells by Robin Archer, who blamed Wells for losing his job nine months prior. The plan was orchestrated by the then-twenty-seven-year-old Archer, who allegedly promised his seventeen-year-old nephew, Patrick, a suitcase full of money after the job was done. But Wells had called in sick that night, and an innocent man was covering his shift.
    In this shocking and thought-provoking volume, Jeff Kunerth recounts the events of that fateful night, the swift investigation of the murder, the trials and sentencing of the teens, and their subsequent lives within the Florida court and penal systems. Kunerth uses the story of the Trout Auto Parts murder and the lives of these boys to explore varying aspects of troubled adolescence, impulsive actions lasting but moments, and the national trend of trying juveniles as adults in court.
    They were boys every teenager can identify with and circumstances every parent fears. Their story provides a disturbing, sad, and compelling inside look at the dynamics of individuals--not yet adults, but no longer children--who commit senseless, impulsive crimes. Trout is that rare book that continues to haunt you long after you've finished reading it.

    Publisher's Book Page: http://upf.com/book.asp?id=KUNER003

    Thursday, May 09, 2013

    The Creation of the State of Israel






    Immell, Myra, ed. The Creation of the State of Israel. (Perspectives on Modern World History.) Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010.

    Call no.: J 956.9404 C860i

    Publisher's Book Page: http://www.gale.cengage.com/servlet/ItemDetailServletCr?region=9&imprint=070&titleCode=GPMWHL&cf=p&type=3&id=246028

    Wednesday, May 08, 2013

    Life After Life






    Atkinson, Kate. Life After Life. New York: Little, Brown, 2013.

    Call No.: F ATK

    Publisher's Description: What if you could live again and again, until you got it right?

    On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born to an English banker and his wife. She dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual. For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in a variety of ways, while the young century marches on towards its second cataclysmic world war.

    Does Ursula's apparently infinite number of lives give her the power to save the world from its inevitable destiny? And if she can -- will she?

    Darkly comic, startlingly poignant, and utterly original -- this is Kate Atkinson at her absolute best.

    Tocqueville's Discovery of America



    Damrosch, Leo. Tocqueville's Discovery of America. 1st paperback ed. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011.

    Call no.: 973.56 D189t

    Publisher's Description: Alexis de Tocqueville is more quoted than read; commentators across the political spectrum invoke him as an oracle who defined America and its democracy for all times. But in fact his masterpiece, Democracy in America, was the product of a young man’s open-minded experience of America at a time of rapid change. In Tocqueville’s Discovery of America, the prizewinning biographer Leo Damrosch retraces Tocqueville’s nine-month journey through the young nation in 1831–1832, illuminating how his enduring ideas were born of imaginative interchange with America and Americans, and painting a vivid picture of Jacksonian America.

    Damrosch shows that Tocqueville found much to admire in the dynamism of American society and in its egalitarian ideals. But he was offended by the ethos of grasping materialism and was convinced that the institution of slavery was bound to give rise to a tragic civil war.

    Drawing on documents and letters that have never before appeared in English, as well as on a wide range of scholarship, Tocqueville’s Discovery of America brings the man, his ideas, and his world to startling life.

    Publisher's Book Page: http://us.macmillan.com/tocquevillesdiscoveryofamerica/LeoDamrosch

    Tuesday, May 07, 2013

    The Mountain Within






    Von Stiegel, Herta and Smith, Gina. The Mountain Within: Leadership Lessons and Inspiration for Your Climb to the Top. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011.

    Call no.: 658.4 St52m

    Publisher's Description: In July 2008, international business executive Herta von Stiegel led a group of disabled people to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for charity. The story was captured in the award-winning documentary The Mountain Within—and now the expedition has inspired this remarkable work, which blends the gripping tale with powerful leadership lessons and conversations with many of the world’s most influential business leaders:

    • Kay Unger
    • Sung-Joo Kim
    • Dr. Joachim Faber
    • Baroness Scotland of Asthal
    • Marsha Serlin
    • Dr. Karl (Charly) and Lisa Kleissner
    • Martha (Marty) Wikstrom
    • Sam Chisholm
    • Minister Mohamed Lotfi Mansour
    • Karin Forseke
    • President and Lt. General Seretse Khama Ian Khama
    • Christie Hefner
    • Abeyya Al-Qatami
    • Hon. Al Gore and David Blood
    • Dr. Mohamed “Mo” Ibrahim
    Life may be full of obstacles, but it is the mountain within that most often needs to be conquered. No matter your challenges or where you are on your climb to the top, this unique work helps you become a resilient leader capable of guiding your team to achieve even the most challenging goal.


    Publisher's Book Page: http://www.mhprofessional.com/product.php?isbn=0071773061

    Monday, May 06, 2013

    The Golden Egg







    Leon, Donna. The Golden Egg. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2013.

    Call No.: F LEO

    Publisher's Description: Over the years, the best-selling Commissario Guido Brunetti series has conquered the hearts of mystery lovers all over the world. Brunetti is both a perceptive investigator and a principled family man, and through him, Leon has explored Venice in all its aspects: its history, beauty, food, and social life, but also its crime and corruption.

    In The Golden Egg, as the first leaves of autumn begin to fall, Vice Questore Patta asks Brunetti to look into a minor violation committed by the mayor’s future daughter-in-law. Brunetti has no interest in helping his boss amass political favors, but he has little choice but to comply. Then Brunetti’s wife, Paola, comes to him with a request of her own. The mentally handicapped man who worked at their dry cleaners has just died of a sleeping pill overdose, and Paola loathes the idea that he lived and died without anyone noticing him, or helping him.

    To please his wife, Brunetti investigates the death, and is surprised to find nothing on the man: no birth certificate, no passport, no driver’s license, no credit cards. As far as the Italian government is concerned, he never existed. And yet, there is the body. As secrets unravel, Brunetti suspects an aristocratic family might be somehow connected to the death. But why would anyone want this sweet, simple-minded man dead?

    Librarian's Review: [Note: One of our librarians was privileged to receive an advance e-galley of this book to review. These were her comments.] Brunetti is put on an insignificant case regarding vending laws, but his wife Paola has a request for Brunetti. She learned that a deaf handicapped boy who had worked at the dry cleaners has died from an overdose of sleeping pills. She thinks it strange that no one has taken notice. Brunetti begins looking into the boy's past and discovers that there is no record of his having ever been born and that there are none of the usual records to even show he exists. When his mother is questioned, she claims the papers were stolen in a burglary. Brunetti systematically works through his discoveries until he understands how the boy and his mother were able to survive with what appeared to be no source of income. I found this an interesting read, but it wasn't totally absorbing, and I wouldn't really classify it as a mystery in the traditional sense of the word. I prefer Brunetti when he's investigating a murder and traveling around the canals of Venice. I received an electronic galley of this book for review purposes from NetGalley.

    Social Media for Social Good






    Mansfield, Heather. Social Media for Social Good: A How-To Guide for Nonprofits. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012.

    Call no.: 658.872 M317s

    Publisher's Description: “Web 3.0” is already here. Is your nonprofit ready? With Social Media for Social Good, it will be . . . even if you’re so behind that you’re not sure what “Web 3.0” means.


    As a nonprofit, you’re most likely used to working at a disadvantage. Recent economic factors have required many organizations to slash budgets, implement staff cuts, and depend upon volunteers or already overworked nonprofit staff to manage their social media and mobile technology campaigns.

    Luckily, the dedication of your staff and volunteers, when combined with the wisdom presented in this book, is all that your nonprofit needs to harness the power of social media. Give your team a wealth of Web wisdom to match its passion, and you’ll quickly discover that the playing field suddenly seems a whole lot more even and that social media success lies literally at your fingertips.

    Enter Heather Mansfield. When it comes to nonprofit communications, she is the social media expert. Nonprofits and social media are her passions, and she loves to make them work together. That’s why communications staff at organizations like the National Wildlife Federation, the National Peace Corps Association, Safe Kids, TechSoup.org, and Operation Homefront, to name a few, are among her devoted fans. What Mansfield has taught them, you’ll learn in Social Media for Social Good—from basic best practices to advanced strategies that are guaranteed to keep your supporters engaged and growing in numbers. Learn how to:
    • Inspire fans, followers, and friends to transition from passive interest to active involvement in supporting your mission
    • Implement an integrated communications and fundraising strategy that maximizes the ROI of your nonprofit’s website and blog, e-newsletter, social networking communities, video and digital photography libraries, and mobile technology campaigns
    • Understand and navigate legal and privacy issues
    • Use social media and mobile technology to nurture current donors—and build your list of new donors
    • Track and report the effectiveness of your efforts
    Imagine the kind of nonprofit communications and fundraising success your organization could achieve if only you had the resources. Social Media for Social Good gives you the tools to stop imagining—and start doing.


    Publisher's Book Page: http://www.mhprofessional.com/product.php?isbn=007177081X

    Sunday, May 05, 2013

    Flesh-And-Blood Jesus






    Russ, Dan. Flesh-and-Blood Jesus: Learning to Be Fully Human from the Son of Man. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2008.

    Call no.: FDC 232.904 R910f


    Saturday, May 04, 2013

    No Way Out



    Weiss, Mitch and Maurer, Kevin. No Way Out: A Story of Valor in the Mountains of Afghanistan. New York: Berkley Caliber, 2012.

    Call no.: 958.104 W436n

    Publisher's Description: It seemed like an impossible mission right from the start.

    A Special Forces team planned to land in an enemy-held valley, scale a steep mountain in Afghanistan to surprise and capture a terrorist leader.

    But before they found the target, the target found them...

    The team was caught in a deadly ambush that not only threatened their lives, but the entire mission. The elite soldiers fought for hours, huddled on a small rock ledge as rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine gun fire rained down on them. With total disregard for their own safety, they tended to their wounded and kept fighting to stay alive.

    When the battle finally ended, ten soldiers had earned Silver Stars- the Army's third highest award for combat valor. It was the most Silver Stars awarded to any unit in one battle since Vietnam.
    Based on dozens of interviews with those who were there, No Way Out is a compelling narrative of an epic battle that not only tested the soldiers' mettle but serves as a cautionary tale: Be careful what you ask a soldier to do because they will die trying to accomplish their mission.

    Publisher's Book Page: http://www.us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780425245262,00.html?No_Way_Out_Mitch_Weiss#

    Friday, May 03, 2013

    Life After Life






    Jones, Dan. The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England. New York: Viking, 2013.

    Call No.: 920 J

    Publisher Description: The first Plantagenet king inherited a blood-soaked kingdom from the Normans and transformed it into an empire stretched at its peak from Scotland to Jerusalem. In this epic history, Dan Jones vividly resurrects this fierce and seductive royal dynasty and its mythic world. We meet the captivating Eleanor of Aquitaine, twice queen and the most famous woman in Christendom; her son, Richard the Lionheart, who fought Saladin in the Third Crusade; and King John, a tyrant who was forced to sign Magna Carta, which formed the basis of our own Bill of Rights. This is the era of chivalry, of Robin Hood and the Knights Templar, the Black Death, the founding of Parliament, the Black Prince, and the Hundred Year’s War. It will appeal as much to readers of Tudor history as to fans of Game of Thrones.

    American Pandemic






    Bristow, Nancy K. American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.

    Call no.: 614.518 B776a

    Publisher's Description: Between the years 1918 and1920, influenza raged around the globe in the worst pandemic in recorded history, killing at least fifty million people, more than half a million of them Americans. Yet despite the devastation, this catastrophic event seems but a forgotten moment in the United States.

    American Pandemic offers a much-needed corrective to the silence surrounding the influenza outbreak. It sheds light on the social and cultural history of Americans during the pandemic, uncovering both the causes of the nation's public amnesia and the depth of the quiet remembering that endured. Focused on the primary players in this drama--patients and their families, friends, and community, public health experts, and health care professionals--historian Nancy K. Bristow draws on multiple perspectives to highlight the complex interplay between social identity, cultural norms, memory, and the epidemic. Bristow has combed a wealth of primary sources, including letters, diaries, oral histories, memoirs, novels, newspapers, magazines, photographs, government documents, and health care literature. She shows that though the pandemic caused massive disruption in the most basic patterns of American life, influenza did not create long-term social or cultural change, serving instead to reinforce the status quo and the differences and disparities that defined American life.

    As the crisis waned the pandemic slipped from the nation's public memory. The helplessness and despair Americans had suffered during the pandemic, Bristow notes, was a story poorly suited to a nation focused on optimism and progress. For countless survivors, though, the trauma never ended, shadowing the remainder of their lives with memories of loss. This book lets us hear these long-silent voices, reclaiming an important chapter in the American past.

    Publisher's Book Page: http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/HistoryAmerican/19001945/?view=usa&ci=9780199811342

    Thursday, May 02, 2013

    Easy Writing Skills Step-By-Step






    Longknife, Ann and Sullivan, K. D. Easy Writing Skills Step-By-Step: Mastering High-Frequency Skills for Writing Proficiency--FAST!  New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012.

    Call no.: 808.042 L862e

    Publisher's Description: Take it step-by-step for writing success!

    The quickest route to learning a subject is through a solid grounding in the basics. So what you won't find in "Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step" is a lot of endless drills. Instead, you get a clear explanation that breaks down complex concepts into easy-to-understand steps, followed by highly focused exercises that are linked to core skills--enabling learners to grasp when and how to apply those techniques. This book features: Large step-by-step charts breaking down each step within a process and showing clear connections between topics and annotations to clarify difficulties Stay-in-step panels show how to cope with variations to the core steps Step-it-up exercises link practice to the core steps already presented Missteps and stumbles highlight common errors to avoid

    You can master writing as long as you take it "Step-by-Step"!

    Wednesday, May 01, 2013

    The Hills Remember






    Still, James. The Hills Remember: The Complete Short Stories of James Still. Ed. by Ted Olson. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2012.

    Call no.: 813.52 St54hi

    Publisher's Description: James Still remains one of the most beloved and important writers in Appalachian literature. Best known for his acclaimed novel River of Earth (1940), the Alabama native and adopted Kentuckian left an enduring legacy of novels, stories, and poems during his nearly seventy year career.

    The Hills Remember: The Complete Short Stories of James Still honors the late writer by collecting all of Still’s short stories, including his stories from On Troublesome Creek (1941), Pattern of a Man and Other Stories (1976), and The Run for the Elbertas (1980), as well as twelve prose pieces originally published as short stories and later incorporated into River of Earth. Also included are several lesser-known stories and ten never-before-published stories. Recognized as a significant writer of short fiction in his day—many of his stories initially appeared in The Atlantic and The Saturday Evening Post and were included in The O. Henry Memorial Award Stories and The Best American Short Stories collections—Still’s short stories, while often overshadowed in recent years by his novels and poetry, are among his most enduring literary works. Editor Ted Olson offers a reassessment of Still’s short fiction within the contexts of the author’s body of work and within Appalachian and American literature. Compiling all of James Still’s compelling and varied short stories into one volume, The Hills Remember is a testament to a master writer.

    Publisher's Book Page: http://www.kentuckypress.com/live/title_detail.php?titleid=2409