What's On My Nightstand?

RHC Nightstand Event

Gretchen Schneider — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:30:08 +0000

Fiction

The Bee Season
by Myla Goldberg

“Eliza Naumann, a seemingly unremarkable nine-year-old, expects never to fit into her gifted family: her autodidact father, Saul, absorbed in his study of Jewish mysticism; her brother, Aaron, the vessel of his father’s spiritual ambitions; and her brilliant but distant lawyer-mom, Miriam. But when Eliza sweeps her school and district spelling bees in quick succession, Saul takes it as a sign that she is destined for greatness. In this altered reality, Saul inducts her into his hallowed study and lavishes upon her the attention previously reserved for Aaron, who in his displacement embarks upon a lone quest for spiritual fulfillment. When Miriam’s secret life triggers a familial explosion, it is Eliza who must order the chaos.

Myla Goldberg’s keen eye for detail brings Eliza’s journey to three-dimensional life. As she rises from classroom obscurity to the blinding lights and outsized expectations of the National Bee, Eliza’s small pains and large joys are finely wrought and deeply felt. Not merely a coming-of-age story, Goldberg’s first novel delicately examines the unraveling fabric of one family. The outcome of this tale is as startling and unconventional as her prose, which wields its metaphors sharply and rings with maturity. The work of a lyrical and gifted storyteller, Bee Season marks the arrival of an extraordinarily talented new writer” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

Gilgamesh : a new rendering in English verse
by David Ferry
“Gilgamesh is one of the most powerful men in Iraq. A king, a demi-God and a fearsome tyrant, he thrives on the shame and suffering of his subjects, robbing them of their innocence to fuel his lust. But when the Gods turn against him, an almighty battle of will ensues, and a defiant Gilgamesh is forced to learn love, friendship, empathy and, in the end, mortality.

[This is] A new verse rendering of the great epic of ancient Mesopotamia, one of the oldest works in Western Literature. Ferry makes Gilgamesh available in the kind of energetic and readable translation that Robert Fitzgerald and Richard Lattimore have provided for readers in their translations of Homer and Virgil” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

The Little Friend
by Donna Tartt

“In a small Mississippi town, Harriet Cleve Dusfresnes grows up in the shadow of her brother, who—when she was only a baby—was found hanging dead from a black-tupelo tree in their yard. His killer was never identified, nor has his family, in the years since, recovered from the tragedy. For Harriet, who has grown up largely unsupervised, in a world of her own imagination, her brother is a link to a glorious past she has only heard stories about or glimpsed in photograph albums.

Fiercely determined, precocious far beyond her twelve years, and steeped in the adventurous literature of Stevenson, Kipling, and Conan Doyle, she resolves, one summer, to solve the murder and exact her revenge. Harriet’s sole ally in this quest, her friend Hely, is devoted to her, but what they soon encounter has nothing to do with child’s play: it is dark, adult, and all too menacing. A revelation of familial longing and sorrow,The Little Friend explores crime and punishment, as well as the hidden complications and consequences that hinder the pursuit of truth and justice. A novel of breathtaking ambition and power, it is rich in moral paradox, insights into human frailty, and storytelling brilliance” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

The Poisonwood Bible
by Barbara Kingsolver

“In 1959, Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist, takes his four young daughters, his wife, and his mission to the Belgian Congo — a place, he is sure, where he can save needy souls. But the seeds they plant bloom in tragic ways within this complex culture.

Set against one of the most dramatic political events of the twentieth century — the Congo’s fight for independence from Belgium and its devastating consequences — here is New York Times-bestselling author Barbara Kingslover’s beautiful, heartbreaking, and unforgettable epic that chronicles the disintegration of family and a nation” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

Nonfiction

Many Lives, Many Masters
by Brian Weiss

“As a traditional psychotherapist, Dr. Brian Weiss was astonished and skeptical when one of his patients began recalling past-life traumas that seemed to hold the key to her recurring nightmares and anxiety attacks. His skepticism was eroded, however, when she began to channel messages from the ‘space between lives,’ which contained remarkable revelations about Dr. Weiss’ family and his dead son. Using past-life therapy, he was able to cure the patient and embark on a new, more meaningful phase of his own career” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog
by John Grogan

“John and Jenny had just begun their life together. They were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wiggly yellow furball of a puppy. Life would never be the same.

[This book] Follows the life story of an exuberant Labrador retriever who gets into perpetual trouble and experiences a range of adventures, from shutting down an entire beach to guarding a seventeen-year-old neighbor after a stabbing attack” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

Psychiatric Aspects of Jataka Stories
by D.V.J. Harischandra

“Teachings of the greatest mind-healer of all time, the Buddha, has fascinated Dr. Harischandra since childhood. Through Buddhist literature and psychiatry he has realized that mental abnormalities which plague modern man have been vividly describedin the ancient Jataka Stories, a part of Buddhist literature over2500 year old. This realization and 32 years of clinical psychiatry have culminated in this book” (rediff.com).

-posted by Gretchen Schneider

DP Nightstand Event, Nonfiction Titles

Gretchen Schneider — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:11:33 +0000

This Spring during orientation many faculty, staff, and administrators met to discuss what they are reading or have recently read at our “What’s On Your Nightstand” events. Here are the nonfiction titles discussed at DP’s event. Next week I will also post the titles from the RHC event.

Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family
by Condoleezza Rice

“Condoleezza Rice has excelled as a diplomat, political scientist, and concert pianist. Her achievements run the gamut from helping to oversee the collapse of communism in Europe and the decline of the Soviet Union, to working to protect the country in the aftermath of 9-11, to becoming only the second woman – and the first black woman ever — to serve as Secretary of State. But until she was 25 she never learned to swim. Not because she wouldn’t have loved to, but because when she was a little girl in Birmingham, Alabama, Commissioner of Public Safety Bull Connor decided he’d rather shut down the city’s pools than give black citizens access.

Throughout the 1950′s, Birmingham’s black middle class largely succeeded in insulating their children from the most corrosive effects of racism, providing multiple support systems to ensure the next generation would live better than the last. But by 1963, when Rice was applying herself to her fourth grader’s lessons, the situation had grown intolerable. Birmingham was an environment where blacks were expected to keep their head down and do what they were told — or face violent consequences. That spring two bombs exploded in Rice’s neighborhood amid a series of chilling Klu Klux Klan attacks. Months later, four young girls lost their lives in a particularly vicious bombing.

So how was Rice able to achieve what she ultimately did? Her father, John, a minister and educator, instilled a love of sports and politics. Her mother, a teacher, developed Condoleezza’s passion for piano and exposed her to the fine arts. From both, Rice learned the value of faith in the face of hardship and the importance of giving back to the community. Her parents’ fierce unwillingness to set limits propelled her to the venerable halls of Stanford University, where she quickly rose through the ranks to become the university’s second-in-command. An expert in Soviet and Eastern European Affairs, she played a leading role in U.S. policy as the Iron Curtain fell and the Soviet Union disintegrated. Less than a decade later, at the apex of the hotly contested 2000 presidential election, she received the exciting news – just shortly before her father’s death – that she would go on to the White House as the first female National Security Advisor.

As comfortable describing lighthearted family moments as she is recalling the poignancy of her mother’s cancer battle and the heady challenge of going toe-to-toe with Soviet leaders, Rice holds nothing back in this remarkably candid telling. This is the story of Condoleezza Rice that has never been told, not that of an ultra-accomplished world leader, but of a little girl — and a young woman — trying to find her place in a sometimes hostile world and of two exceptional parents, and an extended family and community, that made all the difference” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

The Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry)
by Siva Vaidyanathan

“Siva Vaidhyanathan examines the ways we have used and embraced Google–and the growing resistance to its expansion across the globe. He exposes the dark side of our Google fantasies, raising red flags about issues of intellectual property and the much-touted Google Book Search. He assesses Google’s global impact, particularly in China, and explains the insidious effect of Googlization on the way we think. Finally, Vaidhyanathan proposes the construction of an Internet ecosystem designed to benefit the whole world and keep one brilliant and powerful company from falling into the ‘evil’ it pledged to avoid” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

Life Itself: A Memoir
by Roger Ebert

“Roger Ebert is the best-known film critic of our time. He has been reviewing films for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967, and was the first film critic ever to win a Pulitzer Prize. He has appeared on television for four decades, including twenty-three years as cohost of Siskel & Ebert at the Movies.

In 2006, complications from thyroid cancer treatment resulted in the loss of his ability to eat, drink, or speak. But with the loss of his voice, Ebert has only become a more prolific and influential writer. And now, for the first time, he tells the full, dramatic story of his life and career.

Roger Ebert’s journalism carried him on a path far from his nearly idyllic childhood in Urbana, Illinois. It is a journey that began as a reporter for his local daily, and took him to Chicago, where he was unexpectedly given the job of film critic for the Sun-Times, launching a lifetime’s adventures.

In this candid, personal history, Ebert chronicles it all: his loves, losses, and obsessions; his struggle and recovery from alcoholism; his marriage; his politics; and his spiritual beliefs. He writes about his years at the Sun-Times, his colorful newspaper friends, and his life-changing collaboration with Gene Siskel. He remembers his friendships with Studs Terkel, Mike Royko, Oprah Winfrey, and Russ Meyer (for whom he wrote Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and an ill-fated Sex Pistols movie). He shares his insights into movie stars and directors like John Wayne, Werner Herzog, and Martin Scorsese.

This is a story that only Roger Ebert could tell. Filled with the same deep insight, dry wit, and sharp observations that his readers have long cherished, this is more than a memoir – it is a singular, warm-hearted, inspiring look at life itself” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

The Mind’s Own Physician: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama on the Healing Power of Meditation
by Jon Kabat-Zinn PhD and Richard Davidson PhD

“By inviting the Dalai Lama and leading researchers in medicine, psychology, and neuroscience to join in conversation, the Mind & Life Institute set the stage for a fascinating exploration of the healing potential of the human mind. The Mind’s Own Physician presents in its entirety the thirteenth Mind and Life dialogue, a discussion addressing a range of vital questions concerning the science and clinical applications of meditation: How do meditative practices influence pain and human suffering? What role does the brain play in emotional well-being and health? To what extent can our minds actually influence physical disease? Are there important synergies here for transforming health care, and for understanding our own evolutionary limitations as a species?

Edited by world-renowned researchers Jon Kabat-Zinn and Richard J. Davidson, this book presents this remarkably dynamic interchange along with intriguing research findings that shed light on the nature of the mind, its capacity to refine itself through training, and its role in physical and emotional health” (from Amazon.com).

Paris Was Ours: Thirty-two Writers Reflect on the City of Lights
edited by Penelope Rowlands

“This collection of thirty two essays about Paris showcases the thoughts and feeling of writers such as Alice Kaplan, David Sedaris, Davis Lebovitz, Zoé Valdéz and Joe Queenan about the City of Lights. The works vary stylistically and discuss love, remembrance, youth, the arts and politics among other topics. The collection is edited by Penelope Rowlands, a journalist and critic who has lived in Paris” (from Amazon.com).

The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
by Deborah Blum

“Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Deborah Blum follows New York City’s first forensic scientists to discover a fascinating Jazz Age story of chemistry and detection, poison and murder.

Deborah Blum, writing with the high style and skill for suspense that is characteristic of the very best mystery fiction, shares the untold story of how poison rocked Jazz Age New York City. In The Poisoner’s Handbook Blum draws from highly original research to track the fascinating, perilous days when a pair of forensic scientists began their trailblazing chemical detective work, fighting to end an era when untraceable poisons offered an easy path to the perfect crime.

Drama unfolds case by case as the heroes of The Poisoner’s Handbook – chief medical examiner Charles Norris and toxicologist Alexander Gettler – investigate a family mysteriously stricken bald, Barnum and Bailey’s Famous Blue Man, factory workers with crumbling bones, a diner serving poisoned pies, and many others. Each case presents a deadly new puzzle and Norris and Gettler work with a creativity that rivals that of the most imaginative murderer, creating revolutionary experiments to tease out even the wiliest compounds from human tissue. Yet in the tricky game of toxins, even science can’t always be trusted, as proven when one of Gettler’s experiments erroneously sets free a suburban housewife later nicknamed “America’s Lucretia Borgia” to continue her nefarious work.

From the vantage of Norris and Gettler’s laboratory in the infamous Bellevue Hospital it becomes clear that killers aren’t the only toxic threat to New Yorkers. Modern life has created a kind of poison playground, and danger lurks around every corner. Automobiles choke the city streets with carbon monoxide; potent compounds, such as morphine, can be found on store shelves in products ranging from pesticides to cosmetics. Prohibition incites a chemist’s war between bootleggers and government chemists while in Gotham’s crowded speakeasies each round of cocktails becomes a game of Russian roulette. Norris and Gettler triumph over seemingly unbeatable odds to become the pioneers of forensic chemistry and the gatekeepers of justice during a remarkably deadly time. A beguiling concoction that is equal parts true crime, twentieth-century history, and science thriller, The Poisoner’s Handbook is a page-turning account of a forgotten New York” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

A Simple Act of Gratitude: How Learning to Say Thank You Changed My Life
by John Kralik

“Just when his dearest life dreams seemed to have slipped beyond his reach, Kralik was struck by the belief that his life might become at least tolerable if, instead of focusing on what he didn’t have, he could find some way to be grateful for what he had. He set the goal of writing 365 thank-you notes in the coming year.

Personal and uplifting, …Kralik’s inspiring memoir [is] about how the seemingly ordinary act of writing thank you notes led him out of hopelessness and into [the] fulfillment of lifelong dreams” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

Steve Jobs
by Walter Isaacson

“Based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs conducted over two years–as well as interviews with more than 100 family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues–Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading
by Nina Sankovitch

“After the death of her sister, Nina Sankovitch found herself caught up in grief, dashing from one activity to the next to keep her mind occupied. But on her forty-sixth birthday she decided to stop running and start reading. There were obligations she couldn’t put on hold – a husband, four kids, three cats, and piles of dirty laundry – but everything else would have to wait.

Sankovitch devoted herself to reading a book a day: one year of magical reading in which she found joy, healing, and wisdom. With grace and deep insight, Sankovitch weaves together poignant memories from her family’s history with the unforgettable lives of the characters she reads about. She finds a lesson to be learned in each book, ultimately realizing the ability of a good story to console, inspire, and open our lives to new places and experiences – reading as therapy.

In an era when we are constantly bombarded by technology and instant gratification is the norm, Tolstoy and the Purple Chair is a reminder of the wisdom to be found in books and proof of the all-encompassing power and delight of reading. Thoughtful, accessible, and moving, this book will touch the bibliophile in all of us” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
by Laura Hillenbrand

“On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit. Telling an unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

-posted by Gretchen Schneider

Fiction Titles from the DP Nightstand Event

Gretchen Schneider — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:21:50 +0000

This Spring during orientation many faculty, staff, and administrators met to discuss what they are reading or have recently read at our “What’s On Your Nightstand” events. Here are the fiction titles discussed at DP’s event. In the next few weeks I will also post the nonfiction titles from the DP event and the titles from the RHC event.

The Buddha in the Attic
by Julie Otsuka

This book “is a tour de force of economy and precision, a novel that tells the story of a group of young women brought over from Japan to San Francisco as ‘picture brides’ nearly a century ago.

In eight incantatory sections,The Buddha in the Attic traces their extraordinary lives, from their arduous journey by boat, where they exchange photographs of their husbands, imagining uncertain futures in an unknown land; to their arrival in San Francisco and their tremulous first nights as new wives; to their backbreaking work picking fruit in the fields and scrubbing the floors of white women; to their struggles to master a new language and a new culture; to their experiences in childbirth, and then as mothers, raising children who will ultimately reject their heritage and their history; to the deracinating arrival of war.

In language that has the force and the fury of poetry, Julie Otsuka has written a singularly spellbinding novel about the American dream” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

Cutting for Stone
by Abraham Verghese

“Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon. Orphaned by their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.

Moving from Addis Ababa to New York City and back again, Cutting for Stone is an unforgettable story of love and betrayal, medicine and ordinary miracles – and two brothers whose fates are forever intertwined (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

Explosive Eighteen
by Janet Evanovich

“Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum’s life is set to blow sky high when international murder hits dangerously close to home, in this dynamite novel by Janet Evanovich. Before Stephanie can even step foot off Flight 127 Hawaii to Newark, she’s knee deep in trouble. Her dream vacation turned into a nightmare, and she’s flying back to New Jersey solo. Worse still, her seatmate never returned to the plane after the L.A. layover. Now he’s dead, in a garbage can, waiting for curbside pickup. His killer could be anyone. And a ragtag collection of thugs and psychos, not to mention the FBI, are all looking for a photograph the dead man was supposed to be carrying.

Only one other person has seen the missing photo – Stephanie Plum. Now she’s the target, and she doesn’t intend to end up in a garbage can. With the help of an FBI sketch artist Stephanie re-creates the person in the photo. Unfortunately the first sketch turns out to look like Tom Cruise, and the second sketch like Ashton Kutcher. Until Stephanie can improve her descriptive skills, she’ll need to watch her back. Over at the bail bonds agency things are going from bad to worse. The bonds bus serving as Vinnie’s temporary HQ goes up in smoke. Stephanie’s wheelman, Lula, falls in love with their largest skip yet. Lifetime arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt moves into Stephanie’s apartment. And everyone wants to know what happened in Hawaii? Morelli, Trenton’s hottest cop, isn’t talking about Hawaii. Ranger, the man of mystery, isn’t talking about Hawaii. And all Stephanie is willing to say about her Hawaiian vacation is . . . It’s complicated” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

The Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick

“Caldecott Honor artist Brian Selznick’s lavishly illustrated debut novel is a cinematic tour de force not to be missed!

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” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

The Marriage Plot
by Jeffrey Eugenides

It’s the early 1980s—the country is in a deep recession, and life after college is harder than ever. In the cafés on College Hill, the wised-up kids are inhaling Derrida and listening to Talking Heads. But Madeleine Hanna, dutiful English major, is writing her senior thesis on Jane Austen and George Eliot, purveyors of the marriage plot that lies at the heart of the greatest English novels.

As Madeleine tries to understand why “it became laughable to read writers like Cheever and Updike, who wrote about the suburbia Madeleine and most of her friends had grown up in, in favor of reading the Marquis de Sade, who wrote about deflowering virgins in eighteenth-century France,” real life, in the form of two very different guys, intervenes. Leonard Bankhead—charismatic loner, college Darwinist, and lost Portland boy—suddenly turns up in a semiotics seminar, and soon Madeleine finds herself in a highly charged erotic and intellectual relationship with him. At the same time, her old “friend” Mitchell Grammaticus—who’s been reading Christian mysticism and generally acting strange—resurfaces, obsessed with the idea that Madeleine is destined to be his mate.

Over the next year, as the members of the triangle in this amazing, spellbinding novel graduate from college and enter the real world, events force them to reevaluate everything they learned in school. Leonard and Madeleine move to a biology Laboratory on Cape Cod, but can’t escape the secret responsible for Leonard’s seemingly inexhaustible energy and plunging moods. And Mitchell, traveling around the world to get Madeleine out of his mind, finds himself face-to-face with ultimate questions about the meaning of life, the existence of God, and the true nature of love.

Are the great love stories of the nineteenth century dead? Or can there be a new story, written for today and alive to the realities of feminism, sexual freedom, prenups, and divorce? With devastating wit and an abiding understanding of and affection for his characters, Jeffrey Eugenides revives the motivating energies of the Novel, while creating a story so contemporary and fresh that it reads like the intimate journal of our own lives (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
by William Goldman

“William Goldman’s modern fantasy classic is a simple, exceptional story about quests—for riches, revenge, power, and, of course, true love—that’s thrilling and timeless.

Anyone who lived through the 1980s may find it impossible—inconceivable, even—to equate The Princess Bride with anything other than the sweet, celluloid romance of Westley and Buttercup, but the film is only a fraction of the ingenious storytelling you’ll find in these pages. Rich in character and satire, the novel is set in 1941 and framed cleverly as an ‘abridged’ retelling of a centuries-old tale set in the fabled country of Florin that’s home to ‘Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passions’” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
by Paul Torday

“Dr. Alfred Jones is a henpecked, slightly pompous middle-aged scientist at the National Centre for Fisheries Excellence in London when he is approached by a mysterious sheikh about an outlandish plan to introduce the sport of salmon fishing into the Yemen. Dr. Jones refuses, but the project, however scientifically absurd, catches the eye of British politicians, who pressure him to work on it.

His diaries of the Yemen Salmon Project, from beginning to glorious, tragic end, form the narrative backbone of this novel; interspersed throughout are government memos, e-mails, letters, and interview transcripts that deftly capture the absurdity of bureaucratic dysfunction. With a wickedly wonderful cast of characters—including a weasel-like spin doctor, a missing soldier and his intrepid fiancée, and Dr. Jones’s own devilish wife—Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is the whimsical story of an unlikely hero who discovers true love, finds himself first a pawn and then a victim of political spin, and learns to believe in the impossible” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

Sarah’s Key
Tatiana de Rosnay

“Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family’s apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.

Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France’s past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah.

Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl’s ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d’Hiv’, to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah’s past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.
Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

-posted by Gretchen Schneider

Virtuous Businesses

Gretchen Schneider — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:53:40 +0000

The library recently received some books on businesses that try to make a difference in today’s society and how they go about doing so. Come check them out!

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
by Tony Hsieh

“Pay brand-new employees $2,000 to quit
Make customer service the responsibility of the entire company-not just a department
Focus on company culture as the #1 priority
Apply research from the science of happiness to running a business
Help employees grow-both personally and professionally
Seek to change the world
Oh, and make money too . . .

Sound crazy? It’s all standard operating procedure at Zappos, the online retailer that’s doing over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales annually. After debuting as the highest-ranking newcomer inFortunemagazine’s annual “Best Companies to Work For” list in 2009, Zappos was acquired by Amazon in a deal valued at over $1.2 billion on the day of closing.

In DELIVERING HAPPINESS, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh shares the different lessons he has learned in business and life, from starting a worm farm to running a pizza business, through LinkExchange, Zappos, and more. Fast-paced and down-to-earth, DELIVERING HAPPINESS shows how a very different kind of corporate culture is a powerful model for achieving success-and how by concentrating on the happiness of those around you, you can dramatically increase your own” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

Merchants of Virtue: Herman Miller and the Making of a Sustainable Company
by Bill Birchard

“Merchants of Virtue is about a band of people who determined to make their company a good global citizen. Herman Miller has been looking at some of the critical questions of our time – for the past 35 years: can business be sustainable? In an age where sustainability is key to future success, businesses must incorporate new strategies in order to give them the competitive edge. But, can employees in global companies make great products, take care of the environment, benefit society, and make good money – all at the same time? The answer, as in so many stories of people working together, comes down to a principle of management.

At Herman Miller, sustainability triumphs because people commit and recommit themselves to the guiding light of company values and in turn changed the world of business. Here author Bill Birchard goes deep inside the organization to find out how Herman Miller has been accomplishing this goal – from the individuals who have become passionate about this topic – to the designers who incorporate ideas of sustainability into every product they create. Birchard shares not only the stories – but the details of how this remarkable effort has been accomplished” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

Start Something That Matters
by Blake Mycoskie

Blake talks in his book about how people can become entrepreneurs and still stick to their values and work towards a cause that matters to them. “Known as the founder of TOMS Shoes and as a contestant on The Amazing Race, Mycoskie uses his experience with TOMS, as well as interviews with leaders of non-profits and corporations, to convey valuable lessons about entrepreneurship, transparency of leadership, and living by one’s values” (Enriched Content Provided by Syndetics).

The Influencing Machine

Gretchen Schneider — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:07:31 +0000

The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media
Written by Brooke Gladstone
Illustrated by Josh Neufeld

Brooke Gladstone is an intrepid reporter, and the cohost and managing editor of the radio show “On the Media.” The Influencing Machine is a comic book about the history of the media, and so much more.

Gladstone draws her title from psychology, and the first recorded case of a patient claiming that she, and everyone around her, were being controlled by an unseen machine. As the patient’s treatment progressed, the so-called “influencing machine” could not be separated from the patient’s own identity. Says Gladstone, so it is with the media, our politics, our world view, and ourselves.

Yes, the media controls us. But we control it too. She traces this dance from its beginnings in ancient Rome up to the present day, melding history, science, philosophy, and pop culture to produce a book that covers all the contradictions and complexity of our relationship with the news, with so-called facts, with ourselves, and with each other. And it’s fun – enjoy!

-posted by Jamie Bourne

Post NaNoWriMo Workshops

Gretchen Schneider — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:25:47 +0000

Congratulations to all of our NaNoWriMo* participants and winners. Whether you wrote 1,000 words or crossed the finish line at 50,000 or more, we are proud of you. You are all novelists! Now that you have written the rough draft of a novel (or the majority of one), what do you do next? Let us help you by attending one or both of our post-NaNoWriMo workshops.

I Wrote a Novel. Now What?

When: Tuesday, December 6th, 11 am – 2 pm
Where: Oakton Community College Library Classroom 2418, Des Plaines

Congratulations! You are no longer a “one day” novelist, you are now a novelist! Join us for our first post-NaNo workshop where we’ll help you get started on rewriting, revising, and editing your novel. We’ll share resources for writers, as well as tips and tricks to help maintain all that momentum you built up in November.

Oh, and we’ll probably do a little celebrating. We just wrote novels, after all!

Spread the Love

When: Tuesday, December 13th, 11 am – 2 pm
Where: Oakton Community College Library Classroom 2418, Des Plaines

In our last workshop of the 2011 NaNoWriMo season we’ll share resources and tips to help you get your novel published. Whether you plan on seeking an agent, or if self-publishing is more your style, this will be a can’t-miss workshop for Oakton WriMos. You just sacrificed a month of your life for this book, not to mention all the time you’ll put into revising it, so you might as well spread the love and get it published. Besides, we know you’ll donate a signed first edition to the Oakton library once you’re a famous author, right?

*NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

NaNoWriMo Weeks 4-5

Gretchen Schneider — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:54:59 +0000

November 20^th-30^th are the final days of NaNoWriMo*. Come join the writing fun with the RaiderWriMos here at Oakton. All our Write-Ins and Write-Ins/Workshops are held in Oakton Community College’s Library Classroom, Room 2418 at the Des Plaines Campus.

Week 4 Write-In

Tuesday, November 22^nd: 12:00 to 1:30 PM

Final Days Write-In/Workshop: Please, No Autographs

Tuesday, November 29^th: 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM

The end is near! You’re feeling great about your novel. You’ve written more words in three weeks than you’ve ever written before. Maybe you’re still trying to play catch up, but that is OKAY because you still have a week, and you are not going to quit now. Come to this important write-in, and then join us as we host our last during writing 30-minute workshop to discuss common Week 4 challenges and share tips for thriving this week, and finishing your draft.

Down-to-the-Wire Write-In/Celebration

Wednesday, November 30^th: 3:35 to 5:00 PM

This is it! You’ve survived the month, and now it’s time for our final write-in of the 2011 NaNoWriMo season. Join us as we eek out those last few words to reach our goal, and do some much-deserved celebrating together. After all, you have just written a novel! A NOVEL!!!! It’s time to celebrate!

Check out our NaNoWriMo LibGuide for more information on NaNoWriMo, Oakton Library’s NaNoWriMo workshops and write-ins, and helpful resources for our budding NaNoWriMo novelists.

Interested in joining? The Library is pleased to host a series Write-ins and workshops led by Lori Oster, Assistant Professor of English at Oakton to help people write their novel.

NaNoWriMo Week 3

Gretchen Schneider — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:35:58 +0000

November 13^th-19^th is the third week of NaNoWriMo*. Come join the writing fun with the RaiderWriMos here at Oakton. All our Write-Ins and Write-Ins/Workshops are held in Oakton Community College’s Library Classroom, Room 2418 at the Des Plaines Campus.

Week 3 Write-Ins

Wednesday, November 16^th: 12:30 to 1:30 PM
Wednesday, November 16^th: 4 to 5 PM

Week 3 Write-In/Workshop: I WILL Survive!

Thursday, November 17^th: 12:00 to 3:00 PM

You’ve made it through half a month of frantic writing, and now you’re starting to feel really good
about finishing this thing. So what if you’re behind by 10,000 words? You still have time to make it
up! Whether you’re ahead or desperately trying to catch up, chances are you’ll emerge from Week 2
feeling really good about your decision to be a WriMo. Stick around after this write-in for a 30-
minute workshop to discuss common Week 3 challenges and share tips for thriving this week.

Check out our NaNoWriMo LibGuide for more information on NaNoWriMo, Oakton Library’s NaNoWriMo workshops and write-ins, and helpful resources for our budding NaNoWriMo novelists.

Interested in joining? The Library is pleased to host a series Write-ins and workshops led by Lori Oster, Assistant Professor of English at Oakton to help people write their novel.

NaNoWriMo: Week 2 Write-Ins & Workshops

Gretchen Schneider — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:53:31 +0000

It’s the second week of NaNoWriMo*. It’s not too late to join the fun with the RaiderWriMos here at Oakton. All our Write-Ins and Write-Ins/Workshops are held in Oakton Community College’s Library Classroom, Room 2418 at the Des Plaines Campus.

Week 2 Write-Ins

Wednesday, November 9th: 12:30 to 1:30 PM
Wednesday, November 9th: 4 to 5 PM

Week 2 Write-In/Workshop: What the Heck Was I Thinking?!

Thursday, November 10th: 12:00 to 3:00 PM

So you survived the first week on sheer excitement and strong coffee. Week 2 hits with a bang, and
you look up from your laptop and ask yourself “What the heck was I thinking? Am I crazy?” You
are not alone, welcome to the Week 2 reality check. We’ll finish this write-in with a 30-minute
workshop to discuss common Week 2 challenges and share tips for thriving this week. And you can
thrive, nay, you will thrive, so stick with us!

Check out our NaNoWriMo LibGuide for more information on NaNoWriMo, Oakton Library’s NaNoWriMo workshops and write-ins, and helpful resources for our budding NaNoWriMo novelists.

Interested in joining? The Library is pleased to host a series Write-ins and workshops led by Lori Oster, Assistant Professor of English at Oakton to help people write their novel.

Write-In/Workshop: Woohoo! I’m Writing a Novel!

Gretchen Schneider — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:04:34 +0000

Date: Thursday, November 3rd
Time: 12:30—1:30 pm
Location: Library Classroom 2418, Des Plaines Campus

Join us at this NaNoWriMo* Write-In where you can add to your daily word count and attend a brief 30-minute workshop at the end to discuss common Week 1 challenges and share tips for thriving this week.

Check out our NaNoWriMo LibGuide for more information on NaNoWriMo, Oakton Library’s NaNoWriMo workshops and write-ins, and helpful resources for our budding NaNoWriMo novelists.

Interested in joining? The Library is pleased to host a series Write-ins and workshops led by Lori Oster, Assistant Professor of English at Oakton to help people write their novel.