RHC’s Fall Nightstand Event
During the Fall “What’s on Your Nightstand” event at the Skokie campus, the following books were discussed.
Remember, if Oakton doesn’t own the book or our copy is checked out, you can order a copy to be sent from one of our consortium libraries for FREE! Most books take less than a week to arrive.
The Western Herbal Tradition: 2000 Years of Medicinal Plant Knowledge
by Graeme Tobyn, Alison Denham, & Margaret Whitelegg
“The Western Herbal Tradition provides a comprehensive and critical exploration of the use of plant medicines through 2000 years of history from Dioscorides to the present day. It follows each of the 27 herbs through a wide range of key sources from European, Arabic and American traditions including Greek, Roman and Renaissance texts. A rich discussion of the historical texts is balanced with current application and research.
The herbs have been selected on the basis of common use by practising herbalists. Each illustrated monograph contains:
- Species, identification and botanical description
- A study of the characterisation and medicinal use of the plants consistently drawn from featured herbals which includes the authors’ own translations from the Latin
- Assessment of past and current texts in the transmission of herbal knowledge
- Consideration of traditional therapeutics, including humoral and physiomedical approaches
- Suggestions towards a modern experiential approach through Goethean methodology
- Current evidence on pharmacological constituents
- Review of evidence on safety
- Recommendations for internal and external uses, prescribing and dosage” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Growing and Using the Healing Herbs
by Gaea and Shandor Weiss
“Explore the heritage of healing herbs with this richly illustrated study that examines more than 60 plants, their properties, benefits, and how and when to plant them” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Illegal : Reflections of an Undocumented Immigrant
by José Ángel N.
“A day after N. first crossed the U.S. border from Mexico, he was caught and then released onto the streets of Tijuana. Undeterred, N. crawled back through a tunnel to San Diego, where he entered the United States forever. Illegal: Reflections of an Undocumented Immigrant is his timely and compelling memoir of building a new life in America. Authorial anonymity is required to protect this life.
Arriving in the 1990s with a 9th grade education, N. traveled to Chicago where he found access to ESL classes and GED classes. He eventually attended college and graduate school and became a professional translator.
Despite having a well-paying job, N. was isolated by a lack of official legal documentation. Travel concerns made big promotions out of reach. Vacation time was spent hiding at home, pretending that he was on a long-planned trip. The simple act of purchasing his girlfriend a beer at a Cubs baseball game caused embarrassment and shame when N. couldn’t produce a valid ID. A frustrating contradiction, N. lived in a luxury high-rise condo but couldn’t fully live the American dream. He did, however, find solace in the one gift America gave him—his education.
Ultimately, N.’s is the story of the triumph of education over adversity. In Illegal he debunks the stereotype that undocumented immigrants are freeloaders without access to education or opportunity for advancement. With bravery and honesty, N. details the constraints, deceptions, and humiliations that characterize alien life ‘amid the shadows'” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Outlander
by Diana Gabaldon
“In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon—when she innocently touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an ‘outlander’—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of our Lord…1743.
Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire’s destiny in soon inextricably intertwined with Clan MacKenzie and the forbidden Castle Leoch. She is catapulted without warning into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life …and shatter her heart. For here, James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a passion so fierce and a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire…and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives” (Descriptive content provided by Barnes&Noble).
Walking the Himalayas
by Levison Wood
“…, following in the footsteps of the great explorers, Levison recounts the beauty and danger he found along the Silk Road route of Afghanistan, the Line of Control between Pakistan and India, the disputed territories of Kashmir and the earth-quake ravaged lands of Nepal. Over the course of six months, Wood and his trusted guides trek 1,700 gruelling miles across the roof of the world.
Packed with action and emotion, Walking the Himalayas is the story of one intrepid man’s travels in a world poised on the edge of tremendous change” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
-posted by Kevin Purtell
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