Tempting Titles: New Nonfiction 800 - 999, Biographies

We get to the end of the Dewey Decimal system and we add the 92s, biographies. Hope you're tempted to read some of them. Tell our book selectors what new books you're reading and who and what you'd like to read about if we don't have it.

800 Literature

The Triumph of the Thriller: how cops, crooks, and cannibals captured popular fiction by Patrick Anderson.

The reviews laud his thesis, but point out that he may not like your favorite thriller writer. It's “for the reader who isn’t a thriller fan but is curious about this enormously popular genre ..” Publishers Weekly.

Waltzing Again: new and collected conversations with Margaret Atwood edited by Earl G. Ingersoll

...author and poet Margaret Atwood, on interviewing: "I don't mind 'being interviewed' any more than I mind Viennese waltzing-that is, my response will depend on the agility and grace and attitude and intelligence of the other person." Atwood fills her dance card with these 21 interviews, dropping nimble observations on her interviewers (Joyce Carol Oates among them) regarding the nature of writing. Publishers Weekly

Thomas Hardy by Claire Tomalin

“ … touching biography of the mild-mannered provincial architect from Dorchester who created seething novels about inequity and thwarted ambition. Kirkus, starred review.


900 History, Travel

The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family by: Martha Raddatz

The personal stories of U.S. soldiers caught in a deadly 2004 ambush in Sadr City that the author believes marked a turning point, when the war’s mission shifted from peacekeeping and nation-building to battling an insurgency. ABC News Chief White House correspondent Raddatz, who has reported frequently from Iraq, displays a compassionate heart in her first book, which is also notable for its cinematic narrative structure. .... She tells their backstories, describes their experiences in high school, their marriages, their parents …. Two-thirds of the way through, a surprise—the story of the death of Casey Sheehan, son of antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan. Kirkus 2007

The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America’s Deadliest Avalanche by: Gary Krist

In February of 1910, two trains set out to cross the Cascade Mountains of Washington state, steaming from Spokane to Seattle through the remote Stevens Pass. That the Great Northern Railway could build and maintain such a route was heralded as an example of man's triumph over nature—but nature had not yet begun to fight. Within hours, both trains would become trapped in the middle of the stark and desolate pass, caught by a snowstorm greater than any recorded to that day. By the time the ordeal was over, both trains lay crushed by a massive avalanche, and nearly 100 passengers, crew and railroad workers lay dead under the snow. … tells their story and the story of those few who survived, as well as that of the railroad men who struggled to free the trains only to have their efforts thwarted—and their wisest choice turned into the worst mistake of all. BookPage Reviews.


92 Biographies

Woman of Uncertain Character: The Amorous And Radical Adventures of My Mother Jennie (Who Always Wanted to Be a Respectable Jewish Mom) by Her Bastard Son
by Sigal, Clancy

Gritty prose worthy of any classic noir film propels this engaging, often tender memoir of a larger-than-life woman and her self-deprecating but accomplished son, who still misses their shared adventures. PW Reviews 2006 March

Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery
by Metaxas, Eric

Metaxas tells Wilberforce's story with a charm and energy reminiscent of a favorite history professor, painting a captivating picture of this era of social reform that revolutionized the world. BookPage Reviews March

Tempting Titles: New Nonfiction 600 - 799

Our trip through the Dewey Decimal system continues with the 600s and 700s. More tomorrow.

600 Health, Technology, Business

The Skinny: how to fit into your little black dress forever: the eat-what-you-want way to lose weight and keep it off by Melissa Clark and Robin Aronson

The brilliance of this fun-to-read munching manifesto is its ability to adapt itself to the vagaries of real-world eating; the writer-editor authors understand the temptations of workaday life and lazy weekends and provide practical tips that allow even dieting dropouts a bit of the leeway they crave. PW Annex Reviews

Final exam: a surgeon’s reflections on mortality by Pauline Chen

Numerous articles and books have shown that many physicians do not know how to treat terminally ill patients appropriately and humanely. Some physicians, in fact, use extreme and futile medical interventions to treat dying patients, with little regard to their costs, the pain and suffering they cause, or even the patients' own wishes. Chen, a young Asian American transplant surgeon, further addresses this profound paradox of medicine—a profession premised on caring for the ill that systematically depersonalizes the dying—by compiling her own experiences dealing with death and dying. Library Journal 9/1/06.

Unstrange Minds: remapping the world of autism by Roy Richard Grinker

... a book that ranks with Uta Frith's Autism: Explaining the Enigma as one of the great general books on autism. Library Journal, January 2007 #1.

The boy who was raised as a dog: and other stories from a child psychiatrist’s notebook: what traumatized children can teach us about loss, love, and healing by Bruce D. Perry and Maia Szalavitz

In beautifully written, fascinating accounts of experiences working with emotionally stunted and traumatized children, child psychiatrist Perry educates readers about how early-life stress and violence affects the developing brain. He learns that to facilitate recovery, the loss of control and powerlessness felt by a child during a traumatic experience must be counteracted. Publishers Weekly, January

A Twist of the Wrist: quick flavorful meals with ingredients from jars, cans, bags, and boxes by Nancy Silverton.

Silverton was one of the first of the new generation of artisan bakers, and her La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles has a national reputation. She…began to discover the range of high-quality prepared products increasingly available even in supermarkets, and she embarked on a mission to develop sophisticated but quick and easy recipes that take advantage of them. Highly recommended. Library Journal, February 2007

“They Call Me Naughty Lola”: personal ads from the London Review of Books edited by David Rose

See how other book lovers describe themselves. From the summary in the catalog: "this collection of personal ads from the young, old, fat, bald, healthy, ill, rich, and poor hoping they can find true love, or at the very least, someone to call them Naughty Lola." Like many recent books in the library online catalog, there are first chapter excerpts. Don't miss them.

Mommy millionaire: how I turned my kitchen table idea into a million dollars and how you can, too by Kim Lavine

Founder and president of Green Daisy Inc., she tells how she converted a comfy pillow she invented into a successful company, sharing poignant insights about her challenges and growth. Lavine seamlessly weaves her journey of discovery with checklists, links, resources and how-tos drawn from her experience. Starred Review Publishers Weekly, December 2006)

700 - Art, architecture, entertainment, sports

Taj Mahal: passion and genius at the heart of the Moghul empire, by Diana and Michael Preston.

The Taj Mahal (1631), one of the Seven Wonders of the World, has been beautifully exalted in the hands of the Prestons. a reliable source for readers wanting to understand the splendor of the Taj Mahal in historical context. Library Journal

Photo by Sammy Davis, Jr., by Burt Boyar.

Boyar, (who co-wrote with his wife, Jane, three autobiographies with Davis), now offers these beautiful archival snapshots that Davis took of his friends, family and acquaintances. The photos… are rare shots of his father dancing onstage as part of the Will Mastin Trio; fun, candid snapshots as only a close friend can take of Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, James Dean, Nat "King" Cole and Marilyn Monroe; of politicians he associated with, like Robert Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr.; and photos of his one-time wife May Britt and their three children, Tracey, Jeff and Mark. Publishers Weekly, February

Opening Day: the story of Jackie Robinson's first season by Jonathan Eig.

An entertaining and equitable examination of Jackie Robinson’s groundbreaking rookie season. Baseball fans will delight in a detailed account of the ’47 Dodgers-Yankees World Series and revel in the portraits of some of baseball’s more interesting characters

Tempting Titles - New Nonfiction 300 - 599

Today’s Tempting Titles include the 300s, 400s, and 500s. More tomorrow.
Click on a title or a picture to find it in the catalog. On order if not already in GPL.

300 Social Sciences

Babyproofing Your Marriage: How to Laugh More, Argue Less, and Communicate Better as Your Family Grows by Cockrell, Stacie / O'Neill, Cathy / Stone, Julia / Martin, Larry (ILT)

Though their admittedly 'pseudo-scientific' research seems to have come mainly from interviewing friends, family and people on the street, they arrive at some reasonable solutions to how couples can keep their marriages fresh and stimulating amid armloads of dirty diapers and screeching babies. Publishers Weekly (Dec. 2006)

Grave Matters: a journey through the modern funeral industry to a natural way of burial by Mark Harris

Harris's case for an eco-friendly burial is also an argument for a graceful and productive afterlife...this practical, powerful and affirming book succeeds as a survey of burial methods, a collection of true stories and a resource guide. Publishers Weekly (Jan. 2007)

Excuse Me, but I Was Next: how to handle 100 manners dilemmas by Peggy Post
Here are solutions for the art of small talk, retorts to the top ten nosy questions, ways of finessing 'name amnesia,' and adoption etiquette, in concise Q&A format...the focus on universal real-life situations makes this book a classic. Library Journal (November 2006)

400 Language

Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dog: the quirky history and lost art of diagramming sentences by Kitty Burns Florey.

Taz, the blog dog, says: It comes down to this: If you don’t think someone can sniff out the meaning in a sentence then don’t bark it out. If you want to spend all that time figuring out how to make a diagram of what that nun’s dog was trying to say without knowing what the dog was really communicating then why call "Hawrf! Hawrf!" just “barking”? (See Emotional Lives of Animals below.)

And, this from Florey's essay of the same title in Harper’s, December, 2004, available with a library card through the Glendale Public Library database, Infotrac: "Mostly we diagrammed sentences out of a grammar book, but sometimes we were assigned the task of making up our own, taking pleasure in coming up with wild Proustian wanderings that--kicking and screaming--had to be corralled, harnessed, and made to trot into the barn in neat rows."

So you see then, diagramming sentences is a lot like herding. Reading how to do either is fun if you’re a working, herding reader or writer. Good book. You liked Eats, Shoots, and Leaves? You may also like this charming work of a former copy editor and novelist. The title doesn’t say it all. It’s even funnier than you’d expect

500 Science

The Emotional Lives of Animals: a leading scientist explores animal joy, sorrow, and empathy – and why they matter by Marc Bekoff and Jane Goodall.

Demonstrating the far-reaching implications for readers’ relationships with any number of living beings, Bekoff’s book is profound, thought-provoking and even touching. Publisher's Weekly.

Taz, the blog dog says: What I’ve been telling you. Hawrf! Hawrf!

Plutonium: a history of the world's most dangerous element, by Jeremy Bernstein

Running through a spectrum of Nobel prize winners, [Bernstein] grippingly portrays the race to develop the first nuclear weapon during World War II as well as the interplay among the global personalities involved. Library Journal.

Tempting Titles: New Nonfiction 000 - 299

Here, in Dewey Decimal order as they would be on the shelves, are recent titles new to the collection, highlighted by the librarians who selected them.

000 – Computers, Generalities

Microsoft Windows Vista simplified by Paul McFedries

This updated version of one of the bestselling Visual books of all time…serves as a gentle introduction to Windows Vista that caters to readers whose learning style makes them more comfortable being shown rather than told. (catalog summary)

MySpace unraveled : a parent's guide to teen social networking from the directors of BlogSafety.com by Larry Magid and Anne Collier.

To help you understand MySpace, the authors step you through how to set up and personalize a MySpace account and how to manage an online social life. Then they look at how young people are changing the Internet and how to guide them as they navigate the social Web. (Back cover)

100 Philosophy, Psychology

Everything I need to know, I learned from a chick flick by Kimberly Potts

In this quick, absorbing tongue-in-cheek reference, Potts draws important life lessons ("family is where the heart is," "living well is the only revenge") from more than 60 Hollywood "chick flicks," a term she uses loosely enough to include Clueless, Coal Miner's Daughter and Carrie. PW Annex Reviews, 2007.

200 Religion

The Dalai Lama: man, monk mystic by Mayank, Chhaya

This… authorized biography by an Indian journalist who did his research homework and had access to the Dalai Lama…provides valuable information about a man whose human character is not nearly as well known as his exotic spiritual image. Publishers Weekly Reviews, November 2006, #2

The Talking Book: African Americans and the Bible by Allen Dwight Callahan

…this informative …volume… examines how the music and literature of black Americans are shot through with biblical images. [The author] also traces the theme of exile through the plays of August Wilson and the novels of James Baldwin, and he considers the central place of the name of Jesus in black folklore, belles lettres, and hip-hop. From W. E. B. Du Bois to Toni Morrison, black writers have invoked Jesus to signify "the suffering of black people." Callahan's investigations will doubtless interest students of African-American religion. PW Annex Reviews

Tomorrow 300-599, the next day 600 – 799, and finally 800 – 999 and Biographies.