Sara

  1. Gulp

    Staff Pick Review:
    Wed, Jun 12, 2013
    Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, by Mary Roach
    Link to this book

    I had long heard of Mary Roach's titles but never tried one. Gulp fell into my lap when a coworker heard about it and placed it on hold for me, figuring I would like it. I can see why Mary Roach's writing is so popular: she mixes great, science-y information with a fantastic sense of humor that is typically presented in tongue-in-cheek or dry asides as well as side-splitting footnotes.

  2. Popcorn

    Staff Pick Review:
    Wed, Apr 17, 2013
    Popcorn
    Link to this book

    This recipe book is separated into “Savory” and “Sweet” sections, as well as an “And More” section that incorporates popcorn into meals (I have never done anything from that last section).  The very beginning of the book talks a little about popping corn, including how to make your own microwave popcorn in paper lunch bags if you don’t own a popper or don’t like to make it on the stovetop.

     

  3. The Immigrant Advantage

    Staff Pick Review:
    Wed, Feb 20, 2013
    The Immigrant Advantage
    Link to this book

    The Immigrant Advantage recounts 7 separate cultural traditions observed by some members of immigrant groups after coming to America: the Vietnamese Money Club; the Mexican Cuarentena; South Asian Assisted Marriage; Korean and Chinese Afterschools; West Indian Multigenerational Households; Barrio Stoops, Sidewalks, and Shops; and Vietnamese Monthly Rice.

  4. The Mind

    Staff Pick Review:
    Wed, Dec 26, 2012
    The Mind, edited by John Brockman
    Link to this book

    The Mind is very similar in structure to one of my earlier staff picks: Future Science. Editor John Brockman presents contributions from some of the world’s leading scientists on the workings of the brain and aspects of human consciousness, development, memory, and learning.

     

  5. Redirect

    Staff Pick Review:
    Mon, Nov 19, 2012
    Redirect: the surprising new science of psychological change (2011)
    Link to this book

    This is definitely one of my favorites; it is not, however, a self-help book (if you peruse Amazon reviews, many readers’ expectations were defied and disappointed by that fact – most likely due to a misinterpretation of the sub-title). Rather, Redirect presents the practice of story-editing to effect successful interventions in personal and social issues.

  6. The Flavor Bible

    Wed, Oct 10, 2012
    The Flavor Bible
    Link to this book

    One night I was preparing dinner from a recipe and, tasting it, realized it needed something. I added an ingredient to a small portion of it – an ingredient I didn’t particularly like – and found it was the perfect flavor foil. This was a particularly favorable feat because I did not even consult my copy of The Flavor Bible but, instead, mentally retrieved its explanation of balancing flavors and considered how I could emphasize or ‘push’ the existing taste to a brighter level.

  7. Artemis Fowl series

    Mon, Sep 3, 2012
    Artemis Fowl (series)
    Link to this book

    This summer the latest and most-likely last (hopefully not!) installment of the Artemis Fowl series, by Eoin Colfer (pronounced Owen), was released. The 8 books follow Artemis’ adventures with the Fairy world: dwarves, trolls, goblins, centaurs, pixies, and more; they all live under the earth’s surface but pop up every now and then. Artemis is a young, criminal mastermind, determined to steal Fairy gold to fund the search for his missing father and to refill the family fortune’s rapidly emptying coffers.

  8. 4 books: Restrictive Eating & Women's Self-Denial

    Wed, Jul 25, 2012
    Unbearable Lightness, by Portia de Rossi
    Going Hungry: writers on desire, self-denial, and overcoming anorexia
    Gaining: the truth about life after eating disorders
    Appetites: why women want
    Link to this book

    I frequently read in subject ‘clumps.’ Upon reading an interesting fact or blurb, I typically search for more books and articles in that area until my interest has run its course. In this case, what sparked my inquiry into restrictive eating disorders was, for me, a very unusual source.

  9. American Pie

    Mon, Jun 18, 2012
    American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza (2003)
    Link to this book

    Peter Reinhart is a major American authority and writer on bread baking. I came across American Pie several years ago while searching the Library catalog for anything else by Reinhart. Since I regularly made homemade pizza, it immediately appealed to me. A week later I purchased my own copy.

  10. Future Science

    Wed, May 9, 2012
    Future Science: Essays from the Cutting Edge (2011)
    Link to this book

    Future Science is the first installment in what editor Max Brockman hopes will be an annual collection; it consists of essays by young scientists who, for the first time, are presenting to a general reading audience the scientific hypotheses they are pursuing in their scholarly research. Nearly every essay is accessible (I skipped 2 of the 18 due to lack of interest).

  11. Good Graces

    Mon, Apr 2, 2012
    Good Graces (2011)
    Link to this book

    While technically this isn't a favorite read, I long had been looking forward to reading the sequel to the 2010 Fox Cities Reads book selection, Whistling in the Dark, by Lesley Kagen.

  12. Quiet

    Wed, Feb 22, 2012
    Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
    Link to this book

    Introverts are often indirectly told that their very way of being is a ‘condition’ or a ‘shell’ out of which they need to emerge. Susan Cain explores the fallacy of this and other beliefs about the introverted temperament in her fascinating book Quiet: The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking. Introversion is a preference for environments that are not overstimulating; many introverts are even quite sensitive to sights, sounds, smells, pain, and coffee. Extroverts recharge their batteries by socializing, while introverts recharge by being alone.

  13. The Language of Flowers

    Mon, Jan 16, 2012
    The Language of Flowers (2011)
    Link to this book

    Victoria is a young woman whose only way of connecting with others is through a language no one knows. When Victoria was 10, Elizabeth, one of her foster mothers, shared with her the near-forgotten language of flowers: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, red roses for love… thistles for hate and distrust of human beings.

  14. The Psychopath Test

    Wed, Dec 7, 2011
    The Psychopath Test : A Journey Through the Madness Industry (2011)
    Link to this book

    In The Psychopath Test, journalist and filmmaker Jon Ronson delves into the definition of insanity, eventually coming to question the methods that are currently utilized for diagnosing psychopaths –- methods which, in many cases, require nothing more than a score of 30 or more on a 20-point checklist of characteristics common to psychopaths: things like glib and superficial charm, grandiosity, manipulative behavior, and lack of remorse.

  16. Patrick F. McManus' outdoor humor

    Wed, Sep 21, 2011
    Patrick F. McManus
    Link to this book

    If you consider yourself an outdoorsperson or know someone who loves hunting, fishing, camping or outdoor gear, you will likely enjoy the humor of Patrick F. McManus. His life stories and musings are a mix of truth and exaggeration featuring many memorable characters, like mountain-man-old-timer Rancid Crabtree, and Crazy Eddie Muldoon: a great child-inventor who always had a new, 'good idea' of how to 'surprise' his parents. ("And guess what, Pat! You get to test the deep sea diving outfit! Don't that sound fun?!")

  17. The Myth of Sanity

    Mon, Aug 15, 2011
    The Myth of Sanity: Divided Consciousness and the Promise of Awareness (2002)
    Link to this book

    Explores the prevalence of Dissociative Identity Disorder, popularly known in its most extreme form as multiple personality disorder. Dr. Stout, a psychological trauma specialist, conveys how small things we interpret as distraction, spacing out, or situational fatigue are physiologically and behaviorally not different from an abused individual’s experience of dissociation or hypnotic trance.

  18. The Stolen Child

    Wed, Jul 6, 2011
    The Stolen Child (2006)
    Link to this book

    Hobgoblins kidnap Henry Day when he is 7 years old, leaving an imposter in his place. Each Henry tries to adjust to his new life. Living in the forest with other stolen children who are also waiting to switch places, the 'real' Henry struggles to piece together fragmented memories of who he was. Meanwhile, the 'imposter' continually fears discovery and cannot forget that he is living a life that doesn’t belong to him; he eventually seeks out the truth of who he was before he too had been stolen and exiled to live in the forest as a hobgoblin (long before he stole Henry's life).

  19. The Heart and the Fist

    Tue, May 31, 2011
    The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SE
    Link to this book

    Greitens, a Rhodes Scholar and humanitarian whose work took him to Rwanda, Albania, Mexico, India, Croatia, Bolivia, and Cambodia, recounts his unexpected decision to join the Navy SEALS. “We can certainly donate money and clothing, and we can volunteer in the refugee camps. But in the end these acts of kindness are done after the fact. They are done after people have been killed, their homes burned, their lives destroyed. Yes, the clothing, the bread, the school; they are all good and they are all much appreciated.

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