Good Reads & Views

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell
Nonfiction

In David and Goliath, bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell tackles the subject of why bigger isn't always better. The book is divided into three sections. First, Gladwell discusses why advantages and disadvantages aren't always what they seem - sometimes (as in the case of class sizes) an advantage can actually be a disadvantage and vice versa. Next, he writes about the concept of a "desirable difficulty," or why having some adversity in life can be integral to one's success. Finally, he covers the limits of power, or why having the upper hand doesn't always equate to victory. As always, Gladwell makes connections between academic studies and real life in a way that makes the statistics entertaining. The audiobook is beautifully narrated by the author.

 

The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities by Will Allen
Nonfiction

In this memoir, MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Will Allen tells the inspiring true story of the Milwaukee urban farm he developed by cashing in his retirement fund. After a professional basketball career and success in the corporate world, he took on the challenge of addressing several issues in one fell swoop: the urban food desert, public health, racism, and unemployment. The One Book, One Batavia 2014 selection.

The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media by Brooke Gladstone
Nonfiction

Not a graphic novel reader? No problem. This book still might be for you. Gladstone, a journalist herself, examines the history and current state of journalism. She provides several new lenses through which a person can view the media, and it makes reading/watching/listening to the news even more interesting after reading about the various types of bias (it’s more than just political) and thinking about how objective a journalist could (and should) be. Gladstone’s narrative voice is casual, which fits the format. Graphic nonfiction—it’s education in comic book format, folks!

Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein
Nonfiction

Some parents, especially mothers, might take offence with parts of this book, but it is nevertheless a thought provoking look at what we are doing to our girls. The focus here is on how girls are pre-conditioned to act female, with an emphasis on “looking pretty” and behaving like the pink obsessed princesses we espouse them to be. The author is the mother of a daughter herself and uses humor and personal insight to confront her own conflicting feelings on how far to go in combating the “girlie-girl” culture influence.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Nonfiction

Considering the title, it is somewhat ironic that this book has created quite a buzz. Written by a confessed introvert who used to work in a decidedly extrovert environment, the reader gets a thoughtful examination of the often second-class status that introverts hold in these not-so-quiet times of take-charge extroverts. Combining the life stories of real people with past and current research, the author makes the point that introverts have been greatly undervalued, to the detriment of society as a whole. She suggests that the over-exuberance of the last decade - driven by extroverts and their often short-sighted thinking and over-emphasis on teamwork – might have had something to do with the near-collapse of our economy in 2008. Introverts, who shun the spotlight and have a tendency to listen, ask questions, and think before they speak, might have made different decisions. An affirming ego boost to all introverts and a mighty good read for those extroverts who know introverts and would like to understand them more.

Stages of Senior Care: Your Step-By-Step Guide to Making the Best Decisions by Paul and Lori Hogan
Nonfiction

This comprehensive and well-organized guide provides a plethora of information and advice about the range of possible care situations faced by the elderly. The stages are: Aging in Place, Family Care, Senior Centers and Adult Care Centers, Nonmedical Care at Home, Medical Care at Home, Retirement and Independent Living Communities, Assisted Living, Skilled Nursing Homes, Hospice Care. It also covers the role of the caregiver, family relationships (and conflicts), financial planning, and funeral/bereavement issues. The authors are experienced advocates for seniors, and are the founders of Home Instead Senior Care, the world's largest provider of nonmedical care for seniors.

The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar
153.83 IYE

An award-winning book that explores the choices we make, why we make them, how different cultures go about making them, and how we feel about them. Is choice always liberating and does it always make us feel more in control? Or can not having a choice make us feel more secure and relaxed? Do we really make choices based on what we think we want, or are there other influences at play? Iyengar uses many studies, some her own, to demonstrate why having a lot of choices isn’t necessarily the road to contentment and satisfaction.

Frontier Illinois by James E. Davis
977.303 DAV

Focusing primarily on the decades from the 1790s to the 1850s when Illinois was settled and frontier conditions gradually disappeared, Davis provides a fascinating and highly readable account based on correspondence, diaries, and other personal papers in over seventy manuscript collections in the Chicago Historical Society, the Illinois State Historical Library, and other repositories; along with contemporary newspapers and periodicals; and hundreds of previous studies in published histories and journal articles.  Going far beyond politics, government, and economics, he shows what life was like for early settlers as they established farms and villages, initially near rivers and forested areas in what became the southernmost counties, before they ventured further into the prairies with the help of steel plows and gradually filled northern counties after the opening of the Erie Canal and the rapid growth of Chicago and railroad networks.  Chapters discuss conflicts over issues such as ethnicity, religion, and slavery between former Southerners, Yankees from the Northeast, and immigrants as the Civil War era approached; and the impact of railroads at a time in the 1850s when Illinois was the state with the second largest number of miles of track.  A final chapter discusses "Changing Ecology, Evolving Society."  Davis is an Emeritus Professor of History and Geography at Illinois College in Jacksonville.

Snark: a polemic in seven fits (It's Mean, It's Personal, and It's Ruining Our Conversation) by David Denby
306.0207 DEN

Starting from the fictional animal species in Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark (1876), Denby sets out to define the indefinable concept of “snark.” He provides many examples of what is (Perez Hilton) and what is not (John Stewart).This is an intelligent and witty work that describes a currently rampant phenomenon which straddles the line between satire and bad-mannered cut-downs.

True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society by Farhad Manjoo
177.3 MAN

How can so many people who live in the same place see the world so differently? From the Swift Boat to 9/11 to the 2004 election and beyond, we now look for “facts” which feel true instead of asking ourselves whether the “facts” are actually true or not. This book examines how and why we believe what we do, and what the consequences of our behavior will be for society. Fascinating and frightening.