New Books for January 2020
The Philosophy Bible by
This is a concise, comprehensive guide that covers the main schools of thought from the Ancient Chinese philosophies of Confucius and Lao Tzu; Ancient wisdom from Aristotle, Plato, Zeno and Pythagoras; through to those most influential of philosophers studied the world over -- Hegel, Marx, Descartes, Kant, Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein. It also discusses the "big questions", such as: What is truth? What kind of person is it good to be? What do we know and how do we know it? It considers the relationship between philosophy and religion, and the problem of morality. The book takes a two-pronged approach that looks at the chronological development of philosophical thought and the people behind the different schools of thinking. These definitive guides to their subjects together have sold over three million copies worldwide. Their success is undoubtedly owed to the comprehensiveness and quality of content, for an excellent price, and the smaller size is nonetheless filled with 400 illustrations.
24/6 by
In 24/6, Tiffany Shlain explores how turning off screens one day a week can work wonders on your brain, body, and soul. Internet pioneer and renowned filmmaker Tiffany Shlain takes us on a provocative and entertaining journey through time and technology, introducing a strategy for living in our 24/7 world: turning off all screens for twenty-four hours each week. This practice, which she's done for nearly a decade with her husband and kids (sixteen and ten), has completely changed their lives, giving them more time, productivity, connection, and presence. She and her family call it "Technology Shabbat." Drawn from the ancient ritual of Shabbat, living 24/6 can work for anyone from any background. With humor and wisdom, Shlain shares her story, offers lessons she has learned, and provides a blueprint for how to do it yourself. Along the way, she delves into the neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, and history of a weekly day of rest across cultures, making the case for why we need to bring this ritual back. A compelling personal story and a fascinating, far-reaching examination of the complex world we've created, 24/6 is a call to rebalance ourselves and our society.
Directorate S by
Winner of the 2018 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction Longlisted for the 2018 National Book Award for Nonfiction From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ghost Wars, the epic and enthralling story of America's intelligence, military, and diplomatic efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11 Prior to 9/11, the United States had been carrying out small-scale covert operations in Afghanistan, ostensibly in cooperation, although often in direct opposition, with I.S.I., the Pakistani intelligence agency. While the US was trying to quell extremists, a highly secretive and compartmentalized wing of I.S.I., known as "Directorate S," was covertly training, arming, and seeking to legitimize the Taliban, in order to enlarge Pakistan's sphere of influence. After 9/11, when fifty-nine countries, led by the U. S., deployed troops or provided aid to Afghanistan in an effort to flush out the Taliban and Al Qaeda, the U.S. was set on an invisible slow-motion collision course with Pakistan. Today we know that the war in Afghanistan would falter badly because of military hubris at the highest levels of the Pentagon, the drain on resources and provocation in the Muslim world caused by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and corruption. But more than anything, as Coll makes painfully clear, the war in Afghanistan was doomed because of the failure of the United States to apprehend the motivations and intentions of I.S.I.'s "Directorate S". This was a swirling and shadowy struggle of historic proportions, which endured over a decade and across both the Bush and Obama administrations, involving multiple secret intelligence agencies, a litany of incongruous strategies and tactics, and dozens of players, including some of the most prominent military and political figures. A sprawling American tragedy, the war was an open clash of arms but also a covert melee of ideas, secrets, and subterranean violence. Coll excavates this grand battle, which took place away from the gaze of the American public. With unsurpassed expertise, original research, and attention to detail, he brings to life a narrative at once vast and intricate, local and global, propulsive and painstaking. This is the definitive explanation of how America came to be so badly ensnared in an elaborate, factional, and seemingly interminable conflict in South Asia. Nothing less than a forensic examination of the personal and political forces that shape world history, Directorate S is a complete masterpiece of both investigative and narrative journalism.
Samurai by
The idea of the sword-wielding samurai, beholden to a strict ethical code and trained in deadly martial arts, dominates popular conceptions of the samurai. As early as the late seventeenth century, they were heavily featured in literature, art, theater, and even comedy, from the Tale of the Heike to the kabuki retellings of the 47 Ronin. This legacy remains with us today in the legendary Akira Kurosawa films, the shoguns of HBO's Westworld, and countless renditions of samurai history in anime, manga, and video games. Acknowledging these common depictions, this book gives readers access to the real samurai as they lived, fought, and served. Much as they capture the modern imagination, the samurai commanded influence over the politics, arts, philosophy and religion of their own time, and ultimately controlled Japan from the fourteenth century until their demise in the mid-nineteenth century. On and off the battlefield, whether charging an enemy on horseback or currying favor at the imperial court, their story is one of adventures and intrigues, heroics and misdeeds, unlikely victories and devastating defeats. This book traces the samurai throughout this history, exploring their roles in watershed events such as Japan's invasions of Korea at the close of the sixteenth century and the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. Coming alive in these accounts are the samurai, both famed and ordinary, who shaped Japanese history.
I Am Cyrus by
Improbable, if not impossible. How could a people who'd been scattered for two millennia reestablish a homeland on their ancient soil? Against all odds, an irresistible desire to return grew in courageous Jewish men and women who set out to rebuild their decimated homeland. Help came first through Great Britain's pledge to restore Palestine to the Jews. Britain, however, nearly reneged on that promise just as the Jews faced the Nazi Holocaust. Near the end of WWII, an unlikely man rose to the presidency of the United States. Harry S. Truman, a farmer and failed business owner, would decide not only the fate of Jewish survivors but also the future of their homeland. As a vote approached in the fledgling United Nations, pressure mounted. Truman slammed the White House doors shut to all who wanted to discuss Jewish statehood. Could anyone persuade the most powerful man in the world to reconsider? I Am Cyrus tells the epic story of Israel's rebirth--promises made, promises broken, and ultimately the fulfillment of the ancient prophecy that this people would indeed return to their Promised Land. Check out the book trailers at: https: //youtu.be/J0BOeDbxpic https: //youtu.be/ESezckRGmQk
A Concise History of Mexico by
This concise history looks at Mexico from political, economic, and cultural perspectives, portraying Mexico's struggle to break out of the colonial past and assert its viability as a sovereign state in a competitive world. In this third edition, Hamnett adds new material on Mexico's regional and international roles as they have emerged in the twenty-first century, including membership of supra-national organizations (including and moving beyond NAFTA), the Mexican drug war between government officials and gangs, and the immigration and border crises within the United States. He also discusses Mexico's relationship to the outside world, particularly its efforts to broaden the range of political and commercial associations, especially with European countries, the rest of Latin America, and the Pacific Rim through trade agreements with supra-national organizations.
The National Team by
Caitlin Murray has written about soccer for the New York Times, ESPN, Fox Sports, and Yahoo Sports. She covered the 2015 and 2019 World Cups for the Guardian, following the U.S. team through both tournaments. Her work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press, NBC, the Buffalo News, the Oregonian, and many other publications. She graduated with a degree in journalism from the State University of New York College at Buffalo. A native of Buffalo, New York, she now resides in Portland, Oregon. Follow her at caitlinmurraysoccer.com and @caitlinmurr.
Saudi, Inc by
The Saudi Royal family and Aramco leadership are, and almost always have been, motivated by ambitions of long-term strength and profit. They use Islamic laws, Wahhabi ideology, gender discrimination, and public beheadings to maintain stability and their own power. Underneath the thobes and abayas and behind the religious fanaticism and illiberalism lies a most sophisticated and ruthless enterprise. Today, that enterprise is poised to pull off the biggest IPO in history. Over more than a century, fed by ambition and oil wealth, al Saud has come from nothing to rule as absolute monarchs, a contrast with the world around them and modernity itself. The story starts with Saudi Arabia's founder, Abdul Aziz, a lonely refugee embarking on a daring gambit to reconquer his family's ancestral home--the mud-walled city of Riyadh. It takes readers almost to present day, when the multinational family business has made al Saud the wealthiest family in the world and on the cusp of a new transformation. Now al Saud and its family business, Aramco, are embarking on their most ambitious move: taking the company public.
Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists by
August 26, 2020, marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted American women the right to vote. And while suffrage has been a critical win for women's liberation around the world, the struggle for women's rights has been ongoing for thousands of years, across many cultures, and encompassing an enormous variety of issues. Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists is a fun, fascinating, and full-color exploration of that important history, tracing its roots from antiquity to show how 21st-century feminism developed. Along the way, you'll meet a wide range of important historical figures and learn about many political movements, including suffrage, abolition, labor, LGBT liberation, the waves of feminism, and more.
Sexual Citizens by
A groundbreaking study that transforms how we see and address the most misunderstood problem on college campuses: widespread sexual assault. The fear of campus sexual assault has become an inextricable part of the college experience. Research has shown that by the time they graduate, as many as one in three women and almost one in six men will have been sexually assaulted. But why is sexual assault such a common feature of college life? And what can be done to prevent it? Drawing on the Sexual Health Initiative to Foster Transformation (SHIFT) at Columbia University, the most comprehensive study of sexual assault on a campus to date, Jennifer S. Hirsch and Shamus Khan present an entirely new framework that emphasizes sexual assault's social roots--transcending current debates about consent, predators in a "hunting ground," and the dangers of hooking up. Sexual Citizens is based on years of research interviewing and observing college life--with students of different races, genders, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Hirsch and Khan's landmark study reveals the social ecosystem that makes sexual assault so predictable, explaining how physical spaces, alcohol, peer groups, and cultural norms influence young people's experiences and interpretations of both sex and sexual assault. Through the powerful concepts of "sexual projects," "sexual citizenship," and "sexual geographies," the authors offer a new and widely-accessible language for understanding the forces that shape young people's sexual relationships. Empathetic, insightful, and far-ranging, Sexual Citizens transforms our understanding of sexual assault and offers a roadmap for how to address it.
Jay-Z by
JAY-Z: Made in America is the fruit of Michael Eric Dyson's decade of teaching the work of one of the greatest poets this nation has produced, as gifted a wordsmith as Walt Whitman, Robert Frost and Rita Dove. But as a rapper, he's sometimes not given the credit he deserves for just how great an artist he's been for so long. This book wrestles with the biggest themes of JAY-Z's career, including hustling, and it recognizes the way that he's always weaved politics into his music, making important statements about race, criminal justice, black wealth and social injustice. As he enters his fifties, and to mark his thirty years as a recording artist, this is the perfect time to take a look at JAY-Z's career and his role in making this nation what it is today. In many ways, this is JAY-Z's America as much as it's Pelosi's America, or Trump's America, or Martin Luther King's America. JAY-Z has given this country a language to think with and words to live by.
Drugs, Money, and Secret Handshakes by
In the warped world of prescription drug pricing, generic drugs can cost more than branded ones, old drugs can be relaunched at astronomical prices, and low-cost options are shut out of the market. In Drugs, Money and Secret Handshakes, Robin Feldman shines a light into the dark corners of the pharmaceutical industry to expose a web of shadowy deals in which higher-priced drugs receive favorable treatment and patients are channeled toward the most expensive medicines. At the center of this web are the highly secretive middle players who establish coverage levels for patients and negotiate with drug companies. By offering lucrative payments to these middle players (as well as to doctors and hospitals), drug companies ensure that inexpensive drugs never gain traction. This system of perverse incentives has delivered the kind of exorbitant drug prices - and profits - that everyone loves except for those who pay the bills.
Choked by
Nothing is as elemental, as essential to human life, as the air we breathe. Yet around the world, in rich countries and poor ones, it is quietly poisoning us. Air pollution prematurely kills seven million people every year, including more than one hundred thousand Americans. It is strongly linked to strokes, heart attacks, many kinds of cancer, dementia, and premature birth, among other ailments. In Choked, Beth Gardiner travels the world to tell the story of this modern-day plague, taking readers from the halls of power in Washington and the diesel-fogged London streets she walks with her daughter to Poland's coal heartland and India's gasping capital. In a gripping narrative that's alive with powerful voices and personalities, she exposes the political decisions and economic forces that have kept so many of us breathing dirty air. This is a moving, up-close look at the human toll, where we meet the scientists who have transformed our understanding of pollution's effects on the body and the ordinary people fighting for a cleaner future. In the United States, air is far cleaner than it once was. But progress has failed to keep up with the science, which tells us that even today's lower pollution levels are doing real damage. And as the Trump administration rips up the regulations that have brought us where we are, decades of gains are now at risk. Elsewhere, the problem is far worse, and choking nations like China are scrambling to replicate the achievements of an American agency--the EPA--that until recently was the envy of the world. Clean air feels like a birthright. But it can disappear in a puff of smoke if the rules that protect it are unraveled. At home and around the world, it's never been more important to understand how progress happened and what dangers might still be in store. Choked shows us that we hold the power to build a cleaner, healthier future: one in which breathing, life's most basic function, no longer carries a hidden danger.
History of the Vikings and Norse Culture by
The story of the Norse begins with the first ancient tribes during the early Nordic Stone Age. There originated the Nordic Ax Culture when primitive Norsemen create their first stone battle axes. An incredible evolution of an innovative and progressive culture that groomed legendary warriors whose voices still roar out today.Take a journey into the Age of Viking Expansion where Ragnar Lothbrok, Rollo, Erik the Red, and many other famous Vikings take you on a ride into the very Halls of Valhalla.Learn about Norse culture, marriage customs, baby naming ceremonies, and the sacrificial blóts used in spiritual and religious observances. Explore legendary Norse such as the Jómsvíkings, Varangian, and Rus'. The Vikings played ball and board games and had their own form of martial arts called Glima. Explore knowledge and technology specific to a culture that was shaped by a people who were able to reach great distances across seas beyond their homelands. A battle ferocious people who were unmatched by their opponents. There's a whole new world of understanding about the ancient vikings has been opened up by new archaeological discoveries and studies. New findings that lead to new questions about the Jötnar, often called frost giants.There were many shared technologies between the Ancient Norse, the Inuit and other Native American aborigines. Viking explorers have long interacted and traded with many people and cultures afar. Were ancient Norse already in contact with early Native Americans? See for yourself with new information about the Norse that was once lost in time.
Spies of No Country by
"Wondrous . . . Compelling . . . Piercing." --The New York Times Book Review Award-winning writer Matti Friedman's tale of Israel's first spies has all the tropes of an espionage novel, including duplicity, betrayal, disguise, clandestine meetings, the bluff, and the double bluff--but it's all true. Journalist and award-winning author Matti Friedman's tale of Israel's first spies reads like an espionage novel--but it's all true. The four agents at the center of this story were part of a ragtag unit known as the Arab Section, conceived during World War II by British spies and Jewish militia leaders in Palestine. Intended to gather intelligence and carry out sabotage operations, the unit consisted of Jews who were native to the Arab world and could thus easily assume Arab identities. In 1948, with Israel's existence hanging in the balance, these men went undercover in Beirut, where they spent the next two years operating out of a newsstand, collecting intelligence and sending messages back to Israel via a radio whose antenna was disguised as a clothesline. Of the dozen spies in the Arab Section at the war's outbreak, five were caught and executed. But in the end, the Arab Section would emerge as the nucleus of the Mossad, Israel's vaunted intelligence agency. Spies of No Country is about the slippery identities of these young spies, but it's also about the complicated identity of Israel, a country that presents itself as Western but in fact has more citizens with Middle Eastern roots and traditions, like the spies of this narrative. Meticulously researched and masterfully told, Spies of No Country is an eye-opening look at the paradoxes of the Middle East.
We Stand Divided by
From National Jewish Book Award Winner and author of Israel, a bold reevaluation of the tensions between American and Israeli Jews that reimagines the past, present, and future of Jewish life Relations between the American Jewish community and Israel are at an all-time nadir. Since Israel's founding seventy years ago, particularly as memory of the Holocaust and of Israel's early vulnerability has receded, the divide has grown only wider. Most explanations pin the blame on Israel's handling of its conflict with the Palestinians, Israel's attitude toward non-Orthodox Judaism, and Israel's dismissive attitude toward American Jews in general. In short, the cause for the rupture is not what Israel is; it's what Israel does. These explanations tell only half the story. We Stand Divided examines the history of the troubled relationship, showing that from the outset, the founders of what are now the world's two largest Jewish communities were responding to different threats and opportunities, and had very different ideas of how to guarantee a Jewish future. With an even hand, Daniel Gordis takes us beyond the headlines and explains how Israel and America have fundamentally different ideas about issues ranging from democracy and history to religion and identity. He argues that as a first step to healing the breach, the two communities must acknowledge and discuss their profound differences and moral commitments. Only then can they forge a path forward, together.
1919: the Year That Changed America by
WINNER OF THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 1919 was a world-shaking year. America was recovering from World War I and black soldiers returned to racism so violent that that summer would become known as the Red Summer. The suffrage movement had a long-fought win when women gained the right to vote. Laborers took to the streets to protest working conditions; nationalistic fervor led to a communism scare; and temperance gained such traction that prohibition went into effect. Each of these movements reached a tipping point that year. Now, one hundred years later, these same social issues are more relevant than ever. Sandler traces the momentum and setbacks of these movements through this last century, showing that progress isn't always a straight line and offering a unique lens through which we can understand history and the change many still seek.
How to Play Video Games by
Forty original contributions on games and gaming culture What does Pokémon Go tell us about globalization? What does Tetris teach us about rules? Is feminism boosted or bashed by Kim Kardashian: Hollywood? How does BioShock Infinite help us navigate world-building? From arcades to Atari, and phone apps to virtual reality headsets, video games have been at the epicenter of our ever-evolving technological reality. Unlike other media technologies, video games demand engagement like no other, which begs the question--what is the role that video games play in our lives, from our homes, to our phones, and on global culture writ large? How to Play Video Games brings together forty original essays from today's leading scholars on video game culture, writing about the games they know best and what they mean in broader social and cultural contexts. Read about avatars in Grand Theft Auto V, or music in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. See how Age of Empires taught a generation about postcolonialism, and how Borderlands exposes the seedy underbelly of capitalism. These essays suggest that understanding video games in a critical context provides a new way to engage in contemporary culture. They are a must read for fans and students of the medium.
The Triumph of Injustice by
Even as they became fabulously wealthy, the ultra-rich have had their taxes collapse to levels last seen in the 1920s. Meanwhile, working-class Americans have been asked to pay more. The Triumph of Injustice presents a forensic investigation into this dramatic transformation, written by two economists who revolutionized the study of inequality. Eschewing anecdotes and case studies, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman offer a comprehensive view of America's tax system, based on new statistics covering all taxes paid at all levels of government. Their conclusion? For the first time in more than a century, billionaires now pay lower tax rates than their secretaries. Blending history and cutting-edge economic analysis, and writing in lively and jargon-free prose, Saez and Zucman dissect the deliberate choices (and sins of indecision) that have brought us to today: the gradual exemption of capital owners; the surge of a new tax avoidance industry, and the spiral of tax competition among nations. With clarity and concision, they explain how America turned away from the most progressive tax system in history to embrace policies that only serve to compound the wealth of a few. But The Triumph of Injustice is much more than a laser-sharp analysis of one of the great political and intellectual failures of our time. Saez and Zucman propose a visionary, democratic, and practical reinvention of taxes, outlining reforms that can allow tax justice to triumph in today's globalized world and democracy to prevail over concentrated wealth.
Practice Makes Perfect: Complete English All-In-One for ESL Learners by
Publisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product. Get seven times the language-learning expertise for the price of one book! More than two million students have turned to the Practice Makes Perfect series for a trusted guide to help build their language-learning skills. And, now this bestselling brand offers you all of the tools you need to improve your English in one value-packed workbook. Featuring seven titles in one volume, Practice Makes Perfect: Complete English All-in-One for ESL Learners provides a solid foundation of verbs, vocabulary and grammar, and conversational structures. This one-stop resource includes thorough explanations that are reinforced by hundreds of hands-on practice exercises to help you build the skills you communicate in English with confidence. A comprehensive index makes it easy to reference all grammar explanations throughout the book, making this an ideal resource for beginning and advanced beginning students who want to improve their English language competency. Practice Makes Perfect: Complete English All-in-One for ESL Learners features: * Seven titles in one convenient volume: English Grammar for ESL Learners; English Sentence Builder; English Verbs; English Pronouns and Prepositions; English Verb Tenses Up Close; Intermediate English Grammar for ESL Learners; and English Conversation * An integrated approach that allows you to study at your own level and develop language skills at your own pace * More than 300 exercises, in a variety of formats, plus a comprehensive answer key * Glossary to all key grammar concepts presented in the book
Classical Chinese for Everyone by
In just thirteen brief, accessible chapters, this engaging little book takes "absolute beginners" from the most basic questions about the language (e.g., what does a classical Chinese character look like?) to reading and understanding selections from classical Chinese philosophical texts and Tang dynasty poetry. " An outstanding introduction to reading classical Chinese . Van Norden does a wonderful job of clearly explaining the basics of classical Chinese, and he carefully takes the reader through beautifully chosen examples from the textual tradition. An invaluable work." --Michael Puett, Harvard University
So You Want to Move to Canada, Eh? by
Laugh as you learn about America's friendly northern neighbor with this step-by-step guide to Canadian customs, pop culture, and slang -- perfect for anyone who's considered moving to (or just visiting) maple leaf country. Written by New York Times bestselling author (and born-and-bred Canuck) Jenn McCartney, this comprehensive guide will teach you everything you need to know about Canada, including: History Bewildering residency rules, demystified Unique laws and customs Contributions to the arts and pop culture (Celine Dion, Margaret Atwood, Justin Bieber) Colorful slang, explained Creative doodles, helpful charts, and fun graphs Hilarious and honest, this guide will delight your politically disgruntled father, nudge your bleeding-heart neighbor to hit the road, and inspire you to plan for (or daydream about) your own Canadian getaway.
The Measure of Our Lives by
At once the ideal introduction to Toni Morrison and a lovely and moving keepsake for her devoted readers: a treasury of quotations from her work. With a foreword by Zadie Smith. "She was our conscience. Our seer. Our truthteller." --Oprah Winfrey This inspirational book juxtaposes quotations, one to a page, drawn from Toni Morrison's entire body of work, both fiction and nonfiction--from The Bluest Eye to God Help the Child, from Playing in the Dark to The Source of Self-Regard--to tell a story of self-actualization. It aims to evoke the totality of Toni Morrison's literary vision. Its compelling sequence of flashes of revelation--stunning for their linguistic originality, keenness of psychological observation, and philosophical profundity--addresses issues of abiding interest in Morrison's work: the reach of language for the ineffable; transcendence through imagination; the self and its discontents; the vicissitudes of love; the whirligig of memory; the singular power of women; the original American sin of slavery; the bankruptcy of racial oppression; the complex humanity and art of black people. The Measure of Our Lives brims with elegance of style and mind and moral authority.
The Yellow House by
Winner of the 2019 National Book Award for Nonfiction ANew York Times Bestseller Named a Notable Book of the Year by theNew York Times Book Review Named one of the "10 Best Books of 2019" by theNew York Times Book Review,Seattle Times, Chicago Public Library, theChicago Tribune, andSlate Named a Best Book of 2019 by theWashington Post, NPR'sBook Concierge, NPR's Fresh Air, theGuardian,BookPage, New York Public Library, andShelf Awareness Named a Best Memoir of the Decade byLitHub A brilliant, haunting and unforgettable memoir from a stunning new talent about the inexorable pull of home and family, set in a shotgun house in New Orleans East. In 1961, Sarah M. Broom's mother Ivory Mae bought a shotgun house in the then-promising neighborhood of New Orleans East and built her world inside of it. It was the height of the Space Race and the neighborhood was home to a major NASA plant--the postwar optimism seemed assured. Widowed, Ivory Mae remarried Sarah's father Simon Broom; their combined family would eventually number twelve children. But after Simon died, six months after Sarah's birth, the Yellow House would become IvoryMae's thirteenth and most unruly child. A book of great ambition, Sarah M. Broom'sThe Yellow House tells a hundred years of her family and their relationship to home in a neglected area of one of America's most mythologized cities. This is the story of a mother's struggle against a house's entropy, and that of a prodigal daughter who left home only to reckon with the pull that home exerts, even after the Yellow House was wiped off the map after Hurricane Katrina.The Yellow House expands the map of New Orleans to include the stories of its lesser-known natives, guided deftly by one of its native daughters, to demonstrate how enduring drives of clan, pride, and familial love resist and defy erasure. Located in the gap between the "Big Easy" of tourist guides and the New Orleans in which Broom was raised,The Yellow House is a brilliant memoir of place, class, race, the seeping rot of inequality, and the internalized shame that often follows. It is a transformative, deeply moving story from an unparalleled new voice of startling clarity, authority, and power.
The Brain Book by
"There is something almost magical about a beautiful, colorful, well-illustrated book... It is definitely a useful special topic book in upper middle school and high school." --National Science Teachers Association Recommends "This volume is so much more than a beautifully illustrated coffee table book, it is both fascinatingly detailed and extraordinarily readable. No reference library, or lover of good books, should be without a copy." --Vancouver Sun The Brain Book is a fascinating exploration of the most complex organ in the human body. Composed of billions of nerve cells, the brain controls our thoughts, movements, behavior and emotions and much more. This comprehensive, approachable and richly illustrated book explores such diverse topics as how we sense the world, consciousness and memory, disease and disorder, the aging brain, and spinal injury repair. Research moves fast in science and much has been learned since the book was first published in 2012. This new edition includes: Redesigned and captions updated throughout More than 100 new photographs added Text reviewed in detail and updated to reflect the most up-to-date research and novel therapies Genetic control of brain development Genetic control of language Spinal cord injury Drug abuse Stem cell therapy to treat brain disease Williams syndrome. Hundreds of color images, including stunning 3D illustrations and scans, reveal the intricate workings of the brain and show the incredible details beyond what the eye can usually see. Clearly written in an accessible tone, The Brain Book demystifies the fascinating and complex workings of the brain. It is a one-stop reference for understanding the brain and an essential selection for all schools and libraries, and for anyone who wants to further explore the intricacies of this incredible organ.
Handprints on Hubble by
The first American woman to walk in space recounts her experience as part of the team that launched, rescued, repaired, and maintained the Hubble Space Telescope. The Hubble Space Telescope has revolutionized our understanding of the universe. It has, among many other achievements, revealed thousands of galaxies in what seemed to be empty patches of sky; transformed our knowledge of black holes; found dwarf planets with moons orbiting other stars; and measured precisely how fast the universe is expanding. In Handprints on Hubble, retired astronaut Kathryn Sullivan describes her work on the NASA team that made all of this possible. Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space, recounts how she and other astronauts, engineers, and scientists launched, rescued, repaired, and maintained Hubble, the most productive observatory ever built. Along the way, Sullivan chronicles her early life as a "Sputnik Baby," her path to NASA through oceanography, and her initiation into the space program as one of "thirty-five new guys." (She was also one of the first six women to join NASA's storied astronaut corps.) She describes in vivid detail what liftoff feels like inside a spacecraft (it's like "being in an earthquake and a fighter jet at the same time"), shows us the view from a spacewalk, and recounts the temporary grounding of the shuttle program after the Challenger disaster. Sullivan explains that "maintainability" was designed into Hubble, and she describes the work of inventing the tools and processes that made on-orbit maintenance possible. Because in-flight repair and upgrade was part of the plan, NASA was able to fix a serious defect in Hubble's mirrors--leaving literal and metaphorical "handprints on Hubble." Handprints on Hubble was published with the support of the MIT Press Fund for Diverse Voices.
The Psychology Bible by
The Psychology Bible presents more than an introduction to the discipline. It is applicable to anyone and everyone and we are all curious about why we think and feel the way we do. The topics include: The history of psychology, the "science of the mind" Biographies of the most influential psychologists of our times The ordinary people who made great contributions to psychology The theories that shaped society and the experiments that changed the world Fascinating psychological phenomena, such as Freudian Slips and False Memory How to use psychology to feel happier, manage anger, tell when someone is lying, encourage someone to stop smoking, improve your memory, and much more. These definitive guides to their subjects together have sold over three million copies worldwide. Their success is undoubtedly owed to the comprehensiveness and quality of content, for an excellent price, and the smaller size is nonetheless filled with 400 illustrations.
Cold War in the Islamic World by
For four decades Saudi Arabia and Iran have vied for influence in the Muslim world. At the heart of this ongoing Cold War between Riyadh and Tehran lie the Sunni-Shia divide, and the two countries' intertwined histories. Saudis see this as a conflict between Sunni and Shia; Iran's rulingclerics view it as one between their own Islamic Republic and an illegitimate monarchy.This foundational schism has played out in a geopolitical competition for dominance in the region: Iran has expanded its influence in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, while Saudi Arabia's hyperactive crown prince, Muhammad bin Salman, has intervened in Yemen, isolated Qatar and destabilized Lebanon.Dilip Hiro examines the toxic rivalry between the two countries, tracing its roots and asking whether this Islamic Cold War is likely to end any time soon.
The Promise of Canada by
What does it mean to be a Canadian? What great ideas have changed our country? An award-winning writer casts her eye over 150 years of Canadian history. "Our country owes its success not to some imagined tribal singularity but to the fact that, although its thirty-five million citizens do not look, speak or pray alike, we have learned to share this land and for the most part live in neighbourly sympathy." --Charlotte Gray, from the Preface of The Promise of Canada On the eve of Canada's sesquicentennial celebrations comes a richly rewarding new book from acclaimed historian Charlotte Gray about what it means to be Canadian. Readers already know Gray as an award-winning biographer, a writer who has brilliantly captured significant individuals and dramatic moments in our history. Now, in The Promise of Canada, she weaves together masterful portraits of nine influential Canadians, creating a unique history of the country over the past 150 years. What do these people--from George-Étienne Cartier and Emily Carr to Tommy Douglas, Margaret Atwood, and Elijah Harper--have in common? Each, according to Charlotte Gray, has left an indelible mark on our country. Deliberately avoiding a "top down" approach to our history, Gray has chosen people whose ideas have caught her imagination, ideas that over time have become part of our collective conversation. She also highlights many other Canadians, past and present, who have added to the ongoing debate over how we see ourselves, arguing that Canada has constantly reimagined itself in every generation since 1867. Beautifully illustrated with evocative black and white images and colourful artistic visions of our country, The Promise of Canada is a fresh take on our history that offers fascinating insights into how we have matured and yet how--150 years after Confederation and beyond--we are still a people in progress. Charlotte Gray makes history come alive as she opens doors into our past, our present and our future, inspiring and challenging readers to envision the Canada they want to live in.
The Third Bank of the River by
Following doctors and detectives, environmental activists and indigenous tribes, Chris Feliciano Arnold's The Third Bank of the River traces the history of the Amazon from the arrival of the first Spanish flotilla to the drones that are now mapping unexplored parts of the forest. During the 2014 world cup, an isolated Amazon tribe emerged from the rain forest on the misty border of Peru and Brazil, escaping massacre at the hands of loggers who wanted their land. A year later, in the jungle capital of Manaus, a bloody weekend of reprisal killings inflamed a drug war that has blurred the line between cops and kingpins. Both events reveal the dual struggles of those living in and around the world's largest river. As indigenous tribes lose their ancestral culture and territory to the lure and threat of the outside world, the question arises of how best to save isolated tribes: Keep them away from the modern world or make contact in an effort to save them from extinction? Grounded in rigorous firsthand reporting and in-depth research, The Third Bank of the River reveals a portrait of Brazil and the Amazon that is complex, bloody, and often tragic.* For readers of Gomorrah and The Lost City of Z
Boys and Sex by
The author of the groundbreaking New York Times bestsellers Girls & Sex and Cinderella Ate My Daughter now turns her focus to the sexual lives of young men, once again offering "both an examination of sexual culture and a guide on how to improve it" (Washington Post). Peggy Orenstein's Girls & Sex broke ground, shattered taboos, and launched conversations about young women's right to pleasure and agency in sexual encounters. It also had an unexpected effect on its author: Orenstein realized that talking about girls is only half the conversation. Boys are subject to the same cultural forces as girls--steeped in the same distorted media images and binary stereotypes of female sexiness and toxic masculinity--which equally affect how they navigate sexual and emotional relationships. In Boys & Sex, Peggy Orenstein dives back into the lives of young people to once again give voice to the unspoken, revealing how young men understand and negotiate the new rules of physical and emotional intimacy. Drawing on comprehensive interviews with young men, psychologists, academics, and experts in the field, Boys & Sex dissects so-called locker room talk; how the word "hilarious" robs boys of empathy; pornography as the new sex education; boys' understanding of hookup culture and consent; and their experience as both victims and perpetrators of sexual violence. By surfacing young men's experience in all its complexity, Orenstein is able to unravel the hidden truths, hard lessons, and important realities of young male sexuality in today's world. The result is a provocative and paradigm-shifting work that offers a much-needed vision of how boys can truly move forward as better men.
Mandarin Chinese for Beginners by
This user-friendly guide to the basics helps you learn how to speak Chinese quickly and easily by drawing parallels with something you already know--English. Chinese is a fascinating language that can seem impossibly difficult to learn at first, but is relatively easy if you focus on the spoken aspect. This revised edition contains new dialogues, cultural notes, IT and social media vocabulary, and new manga illustrations. This book is designed for everyone who wants to learn to speak and understand colloquial Chinese--whether it is for business, pleasure, or travel to China. A lighthearted guide that brings Chinese to life in a down-to-earth fashion,Mandarin Chinese for Beginners makes language learning fun. Real-life dialogues and situations help you to converse with confidence Sentence pattern exercises and drills help to reinforce what you are learning Native-speaker audio recordings enable you to pronounce Chinese vocabulary accurately Interesting notes, idioms, sayings and poems introduce you to Chinese culture Mandarin Chinese for Beginners contains lots of extra hints and tips drawn from the authors' many years of experience in teaching the language to foreigners. Answer keys for the exercises are provided, and an "Extend Your Vocabulary" section in each chapter helps you to remember and understand more words that you'd think possible.
Don't Read Poetry by
An award-winning poet offers a brilliant introduction to the joys--and challenges--of the genre In Don't Read Poetry, award-winning poet and literary critic Stephanie Burt offers an accessible introduction to the seemingly daunting task of reading, understanding, and appreciating poetry. Burt dispels preconceptions about poetry and explains how poems speak to one another--and how they can speak to our lives. She shows readers how to find more poems once they have some poems they like, and how to connect the poetry of the past to the poetry of the present. Burt moves seamlessly from Shakespeare and other classics to the contemporary poetry circulated on Tumblr and Twitter. She challenges the assumptions that many of us make about "poetry," whether we think we like it or think we don't, in order to help us cherish--and distinguish among--individual poems. A masterful guide to a sometimes confounding genre, Don't Read Poetry will instruct and delight ingénues and cognoscenti alike.
Trust Exercise by
WINNER OF THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION NATIONAL BESTSELLER "Electrifying" (People)* "Masterly" (The Guardian)* "Dramatic and memorable" (The New Yorker)* "Magic" (TIME)*"Ingenious" (The Financial Times)* "A gonzo literary performance" (Entertainment Weekly)* "Rare and splendid" (The Boston Globe)* "Remarkable" (USA Today)*"Delicious" (The New York Times)* "Book groups, meet your next selection" (NPR) In an American suburb in the early 1980s, students at a highly competitive performing arts high school struggle and thrive in a rarified bubble, ambitiously pursuing music, movement, Shakespeare, and, particularly, their acting classes. When within this striving "Brotherhood of the Arts," two freshmen, David and Sarah, fall headlong into love, their passion does not go unnoticed--or untoyed with--by anyone, especially not by their charismatic acting teacher, Mr. Kingsley. The outside world of family life and economic status, of academic pressure and of their future adult lives, fails to penetrate this school's walls--until it does, in a shocking spiral of events that catapults the action forward in time and flips the premise upside-down. What the reader believes to have happened to David and Sarah and their friends is not entirely true--though it's not false, either. It takes until the book's stunning coda for the final piece of the puzzle to fall into place--revealing truths that will resonate long after the final sentence. As captivating and tender as it is surprising, Susan Choi'sTrust Exercise will incite heated conversations about fiction and truth, and about friendships and loyalties, and will leave readers with wiser understandings of the true capacities of adolescents and of the powers and responsibilities of adults.
Calculus Simplified by
An accessible, streamlined, and user-friendly approach to calculus Calculus is a beautiful subject that most of us learn from professors, textbooks, or supplementary texts. Each of these resources has strengths but also weaknesses. In Calculus Simplified, Oscar Fernandez combines the strengths and omits the weaknesses, resulting in a "Goldilocks approach" to learning calculus: just the right level of detail, the right depth of insights, and the flexibility to customize your calculus adventure. Fernandez begins by offering an intuitive introduction to the three key ideas in calculus--limits, derivatives, and integrals. The mathematical details of each of these pillars of calculus are then covered in subsequent chapters, which are organized into mini-lessons on topics found in a college-level calculus course. Each mini-lesson focuses first on developing the intuition behind calculus and then on conceptual and computational mastery. Nearly 200 solved examples and more than 300 exercises allow for ample opportunities to practice calculus. And additional resources--including video tutorials and interactive graphs--are available on the book's website. Calculus Simplified also gives you the option of personalizing your calculus journey. For example, you can learn all of calculus with zero knowledge of exponential, logarithmic, and trigonometric functions--these are discussed at the end of each mini-lesson. You can also opt for a more in-depth understanding of topics--chapter appendices provide additional insights and detail. Finally, an additional appendix explores more in-depth real-world applications of calculus. Learning calculus should be an exciting voyage, not a daunting task. Calculus Simplified gives you the freedom to choose your calculus experience, and the right support to help you conquer the subject with confidence. · An accessible, intuitive introduction to first-semester calculus · Nearly 200 solved problems and more than 300 exercises (all with answers) · No prior knowledge of exponential, logarithmic, or trigonometric functions required · Additional online resources--video tutorials and supplementary exercises--provided
Galaxies by
A sweeping tour of the galaxies, from our Milky Way to infinity. Galaxies are glittering islands in the Universe, interwoven in the web of Dark Matter. From Earth's mountaintops enormous telescopes peer deep beyond the Milky Way, while space telescopes locate majestic images, and through seemingly miraculous technology, capture them for us to look at and learn with amazement. Featuring the most recent, best, and even startling images with detailed captions highlighting accessible text, Galaxies shows the restless universe beyond our atmosphere. Photographs are from more than 30 of the world's largest ground-based telescopes, including the largest to date, the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile. It will not be until 2025 that an even larger telescope, the Giant Magellan Telescope, will join its neighbor in the mountains of Chile and open a wider window into the dark Universe. Images are also featured from the Hubble Space Telescope, which has continued to operate long past its expected life and to astound and astonish stargazers worldwide. Here is the glory of the galaxies: The Milky Way, our Galaxy -- Stellar Nurseries, Stars and Planets, When Stars Die; In the Heart of the Milky Way; Mapping the Milky Way Our Galactic Neighborhood -- The Magellanic Clouds; the Andromeda Galaxy; The Triangulum Galaxy; Satellite Galaxies How far away are the stars? The Gallery of Galaxies -- Spiral Galaxies; Barred Spiral Galaxies; Elliptical, Lenticular and Dwarf Galaxies; Dark Matter; The Expanding Universe Monsters and Black Holes -- Twisting Galaxies; Colliding Galaxies; Active Galactic Nuclei and Quasars; Supermassive Black Holes; Giant Eyes for the Sky Clusters of Galaxies -- Cosmic Clusters; Gravitational Lensing; Dark Forces; The Large-scale Structure of the Universe; Looking Back in Time Birth and Evolution -- At the Edge of Space and Time; The First Galaxies; The Beginning of the Universe; Dark Energy; Cosmology.
What We Know about Climate Change by
An updated edition of a guide to the basic science of climate change, and a call to action. The vast majority of scientists agree that human activity has significantly increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere--most dramatically since the 1970s. Yet global warming skeptics and ill-informed elected officials continue to dismiss this broad scientific consensus. In this updated edition of his authoritative book, MIT atmospheric scientist Kerry Emanuel outlines the basic science of global warming and how the current consensus has emerged. Although it is impossible to predict exactly when the most dramatic effects of global warming will be felt, he argues, we can be confident that we face real dangers. Emanuel warns that global warming will contribute to an increase in the intensity and power of hurricanes and flooding and more rapidly advancing deserts. But just as our actions have created the looming crisis, so too might they avert it. Emanuel calls for urgent action to reduce greenhouse gases and criticizes the media for downplaying the dangers of global warming (and, in search of "balance," quoting extremists who deny its existence). This edition has been updated to include the latest climate data, a discussion of the earth's carbon cycle, the warming hiatus of the first decade of this century, the 2017 hurricanes, advanced energy options, the withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, and more. It offers a new foreword by former U.S. Representative Bob Inglis (R-SC), who now works on climate action through his organization RepublicEN.
Will AI Replace Humanity by
Artificial Intelligence, which once felt like a far-off futuristic fantasy, is now changing everyday life. The past sixty years have witnessed astonishing bursts of growth in the field of AI--the science and computational technologies that teach machines to sense, learn, reason, and act. AI is already altering our lives in ways that benefit health, productivity, and entertainment. Are we on the threshold of an AI-dominated world in which humans will no longer be necessary?Broken down into the past, present, and future of AI, Will AI Replace Us? gives the reader what they need to know in order to form an opinion about the revolutionary advances in technology. University of California, San Francisco, neuroscientist Dr. Shelly Fan expertly explains all sides of the debate, making the relevant science approachable for readers. Accompanying her intelligent text are numerous illustrations that add a compelling and informative visual element. Timely and relevant, Will AI Replace Us? is an important read in the Digital Age.
Kill Reply All by
Want to Marie Kondo your digital life and develop a more tactful approach to technology? By a leading tech and digital culture journalist, Kill Reply All is a guide to tidying it all up. How do you reply to your colleague's weird email? What would Emily Post say about your Tinder profi le? And just how do you know if you're mansplaining? In this irreverent journey through the murky world of digital etiquette, Wired's Victoria Turk provides an indispensable guide to minding our manners in a brave new online world, and making peace with the platforms, apps, and devices we love to hate. The digital revolution has put us all within a few clicks, taps, and swipes of one another. But familiarity can breed contempt, and while we're more likely than ever to fall in love online, we're also more likely to fall headfirst into a raging fight with a stranger or into an unhealthy obsession with the phones in our pockets. If you've ever encountered the surreal, aggravating battlefields of digital life and wondered why we all don't go analog, this is the book for you.