New Architecture Books

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Some beautiful architecture books have recently found their way to our shelves. Here's just a few:


Click for availability and more information Alvar Aalto Houses , by Jari Jetsonen & Sirkkaliisa Jetsonen
 
During the course of a career spanning more than fifty years, Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto designed nearly one hundred single-family houses. Aalto, also known for his furniture and glassware, worked in a distinctive style that blended modernism and traditional vernacular architecture. This book presents twenty-six of Aalto's innovative residences,from small summer homes and postwar standardized housing to large housing complexes for industrial commissions, built between the 1920s and the 1960s. 


Click for availability and more information The Edwardian Country House: a social and architectural history, by Clive Aslet
 
The magnificent country houses built in Britain between 1890 and 1939 were the last monuments to a vanishing age. Many of these great mammoths of domestic architecture were unsuited to the changes in economic and social priorities that followed the two world wars, and rapidly became extinct. Those that survive, however, provide tangible evidence of the life and death of an extraordinarily prosperous age. Originally published in 1980, long out of print and now thoroughly revised and re-illustrated, this book recounts the architectural and social history of the era, describing the clients, the architects, the styles and accoutrements of the country houses. The people who could afford them had grown rich by exploiting the new economic opportunities of the age, and the houses they built in the years before the First World War reflect the desire for two contrasting ways of life. The social country house was the setting for the opulent world associated with Edward VII. The romantic country house was simpler, more genuinely rural, for those who wanted to be in closer contact with the countryside and the vanishing rural crafts, or who wanted an idyll of the past that did not suggest the world of the motor car. These traditions lost coherence after the war, and the period ended with a number of spectacular, and often eccentric, houses. Some of the most remarkable were those that not only replicated the look of old buildings, but used genuinely old materials and even incorporated whole Tudor buildings moved from other places. 


Click for availability and more information Everything All At Once : the film and software projects of MOS , by Michael Meredith
 
In less than a decade, Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample have emerged as two of architecture's most daring experimenters. Their New York City-based studio MOS is home to an unusually eclectic band of collaborators for whom new media technologies offer not simply better means of presentation, but rather become the radical tools necessary to create groundbreaking architecture. By exchanging plans and sections for software and film, MOS eschews the static forms of traditional architecture in favor of a working technique that is inventive and playful. Everything All at Once showcases over twenty-five projects on screen and in built form. 


Click for availability and more information Great Houses of London, by James Stourton; photographs by Fritz von der Schulenburg
 
The great houses of London represent one of the marvels of English architecture and yet they are almost entirely unknown. They are for the most part disguised behind sober facades but their riches within are astonishing. From the romantic 17th century Ashburnham House, nestling in the shadow of Westminster Abbey, through the splendid 18th century aristocratic palaces of the West End, to the curious and quirky arts and crafts houses of Holland Park and Kensington, to the cool modernist houses of Hampstead and the exuberant post-modern interiors of the last thirty years, every house has its own story to tell. 


Click for availability and more information Houses of the Presidents: childhood homes, family dwellings, private escapes, and grand estates , by Hugh Howard; original photography by Roger Straus III
 
This book offers a unique tour of the houses and day-to-day lives of America's presidents, from George Washington's time to the present. Author Hugh Howard weaves together personal, presidential, and architectural histories to shed light on the way our chief executives lived. Original photography by Roger Straus III brings the houses and furnishings beautifully to life. From Jefferson's Monticello to Reagan's Rancho del Cielo, with fascinating and surprising stops between and beyond, Houses of the Presidents presents a fascinating alternative history of the American presidency. 


Click for availability and more information Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis: intensities , by Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, David J. Lewis
 
Since the release of their best-selling monograph Opportunistic Architecture in 2007, New York City-based Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis has picked up a National Design Award from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum while continuing to produce work featuring their unique combination of programmatic wit, material fabrication, and construction. Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis: Intensities presents twenty new built and speculative projects ranging from small installations to interior home and office transformations to large cultural institutions and urban renewal plans. The firm's signature drawings and process shots reveal the methods behind their remarkably diverse works. 


Click for availability and more information Le Corbusier Redrawn: the houses , by Steven Park
 
Le Corbusier was the most significant architect of the twentieth century. Every architecture student examines the Swiss master's work. Yet, all too frequently, they rely on reproductions of faded drawings of uneven size and quality. Le Corbusier Redrawn presents the only collection of consistently rendered original drawings (at 1:200 scale) of all twenty-six of Le Corbusier's residential works. Using the original drawings from the Le Corbusier Foundation's digital archives, architect Steven Park has beautifully redrawn 130 perspectival sections, as well as plans, sections, and elevations of exterior forms and interior spaces. These remarkable new drawings-which combine the conceptual clarity of the section with the spatial qualities of the perspective-not only provide information about the buildings, they also help students experience specific works spatially as they learn to critically examine Le Corbusier's works. 


Click for availability and more information Magni Modernism , by James Magni
 
James Magni's highly sophisticated, modern home design is highly sought after the world over and showcased here for the first time. Magni Modernism displays the designer's sensibilities through 14 private residences found in such diverse locales as Beverly Hills, Mexico City, Jackson Hole, Aspen, and Moscow. With elegant restraint, Magni's interiors complement the architecture of these magnificent homes, reflecting his training as an architect and spotlighting the buildings' dramatic lines, open spaces, and spectacular views. From the limestone walls of a penthouse in Mexico City to the dark wood and concrete of a home in the mountains of Jackson Hole, each residence is beautifully captured in photographs and accompanied with text by design writer Marc Kristal. 


Click for availability and more information Overdrive: L.A. constructs the future, 1940-1990 , by edited by Wim de Wit and Christopher James Alexander
 
From 1940 to 1990, Los Angeles rapidly evolved into one of the most populous and influential industrial, economic, and creative capitals in the world. During this era, the region was transformed into a laboratory for cutting-edge architecture. Overdrive: L. A. Constructs the Future, 1940-1990 examines these experiments and their impact on modern design, reframes the perceptions of Los Angeles's dynamic built environment, and amplifies the exploration of the city's vibrant architectural legacy. The drawings, models, and images highlighted in the Overdrive exhibition and catalogue reveal the complex and often underappreciated facets of Los Angeles and illustrate how the metropolis became an internationally recognized destination with a unique design vocabulary, canonical landmarks, and a coveted lifestyle. This investigation builds upon the groundbreaking work of generations of historians, theorists, curators, critics, and activists who have researched and expounded upon the development of Los Angeles. In this volume, thought-provoking essays shed more light on the exhibition's narratives, including Los Angeles's physical landscape, the rise of modernism, the region's influential residential architecture, its buildings for commerce and transportation, and architects' pioneering uses of bold forms, advanced materials, and new technologies.

2013 James Beard Foundation Winners

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We're mixing it up a bit this week and instead of the usual new releases, we're featuring the books that have been awarded prizes by the James Beard Foundation. Beard Awards are the highest honor for food and beverage professionals working in North America. The awards are presented each spring at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Here are a list of this year's award winning books:

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Cookbook of the Year


Click for availability and more information Gran Cocina Latina : the food of Latin America, by Maricel E. Presilla; photography by Gentl & Hyers/Edge; illustrations by Julio Figueroa
 
Gran Cocina Latina unifies the vast culinary landscape of the Latin world, from Mexico to Argentina and all the Spanish-speaking countries of the Caribbean. In one volume it gives home cooks, armchair travelers, and curious chefs the first comprehensive collection of recipes from this region. An inquisitive historian and a successful restaurateur, Maricel E. Presilla has spent more than thirty years visiting each country personally. She's gathered more than 500 recipes for the full range of dishes, from the foundational adobos and sofritos to empanadas and tamales to ceviches and moles to sancocho and desserts such as flan and tres leches cake. 


American Cooking

Click for availability and more information Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking , by Nathalie Dupree & Cynthia Graubart; photographs by Rick McKee; with a foreword by Pat Conroy
 
Dupree and Graubart make it easy to learn the techniques for creating the South's fabulous cuisine. From basics such as cleaning vegetables and scrubbing a country ham, to show-off skills like making a soufflé and turning out the perfect biscuit-all are explained and pictured with clarity and plenty of stories that entertain. Traditional Southern recipes and ingredients are also given modern twists to make them relevant for today's healthy lifestyle. With more than 750 recipes and 650 variations, making a perfect pie crust, a heavenly biscuit, mouthwatering vegetables, or crispy fried chicken is attainable for any home cook. The recipes and directions are easily accessible to kitchen novices as well as seasoned cooks-there is plenty here for everyone. 


Baking & Dessert

Click for availability and more information Flour Water Salt Yeast: the fundamentals of artisan bread and pizza , by Ken Forkish
 
In Flour Water Salt Yeast, Forkish translates his obsessively honed craft into scores of recipes for rustic boules and Neapolitan-style pizzas, all suited for the home baker. Forkish developed and tested all of the recipes in his home oven, and his impeccable formulas and clear instructions result in top-quality artisan breads and pizzas that stand up against those sold in the best bakeries anywhere. Whether you're a total beginner or a serious baker, Flour Water Salt Yeast has a recipe that suits your skill level and time constraints: Start with a straight dough and have fresh bread ready by supper time, or explore pre-ferments with a bread that uses biga or poolish. If you're ready to take your baking to the next level, follow Forkish's step-by-step guide to making a levain starter with only flour and water, and be amazed by the delicious complexity of your naturally leavened bread. Pizza lovers can experiment with a variety of doughs and sauces to create the perfect pie using either a pizza stone or a cast-iron skillet. 


Beverage

Click for availability and more information Wine Grapes: a complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours , by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding, José Vouillamoz
 
An book for every wine lover, from some of the world's leading wine experts. Where do wine grapes come from and how are grape varieties related to one another? What is the historical background of each one? Where are they grown? What sort of wines do they make? Using cutting-edge DNA analysis and detailing almost 1,400 distinct grape varieties, this book examines grapes and wine as never before. Here is a complete, alphabetically presented profile of all grape varieties of relevance to the wine lover, charting the relationships between them and including unique and astounding family trees, their characteristics in the vineyard, and--most important--what the wines made from them taste like. 


Focus on Health

Click for availability and more information The New Way to Cook Light: fresh food & bold flavors for today's home cook , by Scott Mowbray & Ann Taylor Pittman
 
Inspired by fresh, local ingredients and infused with bold, authentic flavors, this book is a celebration of healthy cooking and eating in America today. The more than 400 recipes, tips, and techniques in this book represent the new way to cook light--fresh, healthy, and local. This collection contains recipes that are as fun and satisfying to cook as they are to eat. 


General Cooking

Click for availability and more information Canal House Cooks Every Day, by Hamilton & Hirsheimer
 
From the award-winning authors of the Canal House Cooking series, their first comprehensive collection of recipes by home cooks for home cooks. This compilation celebrates the everyday practice of simple cooking and the enjoyment of eating. The authors use the best seasonal ingredients available to cook every day. Their recipes reflect the seasons, their appetites, their cravings, the occasions, and/or the demands of feeding their own busy families. This instant classic includes recipes for dishes as simple as a lunch of splendid summer tomato sandwiches or crackers spread with preserved lemon butter with smoked salmon and fresh chives to more complex meals like braised chicken with wild mushrooms and fine egg noodles.


International

Click for availability and more information Jerusalem: a cookbook, by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi
 
Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi explore the vibrant cuisine of their home city--with its diverse Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities. Both men were born in Jerusalem in the same year--Tamimi on the Arab east side and Ottolenghi in the Jewish west. This stunning cookbook offers 120 recipes from their unique cross-cultural perspective, from inventive vegetable dishes to sweet, rich desserts. 


Photography

Click for availability and more information What Katie Ate: recipes and other bits & pieces , by Katie Quinn Davies
 
After spending more than a decade as an art director working for some of the top design studios in Ireland, the United States, and Australia, Katie Quinn Davies refocused her creativity towards food and lifestyle photography and created a blog called What Katie Ate. Showcasing her extraordinary eye, this debut cookbook is a unique combination of food diary and how-to, with tips and tricks, photographs, recipes, and stories. Sharing more than one hundred simple culinary recipes drawn from Katie's travels, dinner party cooking and foodie haunts, the book emphasizes seasonal ingredients and irresistible flavors. Perfect for entertaining, this cookbook minimizes the time spent in the kitchen and maximizes the time spent enjoying the meal with friends and family. 


Reference & Scholarship

Click for availability and more information The Art of Fermentation : an in-depth exploration of essential concepts and processes from around the world, by Sandor Ellix Katz; foreword by Michael Pollan
 
The most comprehensive guide to do-it-yourself home fermentation ever published. Sandor Katz presents the concepts and processes behind fermentation in ways that are simple enough to guide a reader through their first experience making sauerkraut or yogurt, and in-depth enough to provide greater understanding and insight for experienced practitioners. While Katz expertly contextualizes fermentation in terms of biological and cultural evolution, health and nutrition, and even economics, this is primarily a compendium of practical information--how the processes work; parameters for safety; techniques for effective preservation; troubleshooting; and more. With full-color illustrations and extended resources, this book provides essential wisdom for cooks, homesteaders, farmers, gleaners, foragers, and food lovers of any kind who want to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for arguably the oldest form of food preservation, and part of the roots of culture itself. 


Single Subject

Click for availability and more information Ripe: a cook in the orchard , by Nigel Slater; photography by Jonathan Lovekin
 
Britain's foremost food writer returns to the garden in this sequel to Tender, his volume on vegetables. With a focus on fruit, Ripe is equal parts cookbook, primer on produce and gardening, and affectionate ode to the inspiration behind the book--Slater's forty-foot backyard garden in London. Intimate, delicate prose is interwoven with recipes in this lavishly photographed cookbook. Slater offers more than 300 dishes, both sweet and savory. With a personal, almost confessional approach to his appetites and gustatory experiences, Slater has crafted a book that will gently guide you from the garden to the kitchen, and back again. 


Vegetable Focused & Vegetarian

Click for availability and more information Roots: the definitive compendium with more than 225 recipes, by Diane Morgan; foreword by Deborah Madison ; photographs by Antonis Achilleos
 
This is a comprehensive guide and collection of recipes using root vegetables. Discover the fascinating history and lore of 29 major roots, their nutritional content, how to buy and store them, and more, from the familiar (beets, carrots, potatoes) to the unfamiliar (jicama, salsify, malanga) to the practically unheard of (cassava, galangal, crosnes). It also features more than 225 recipes; salads, soups, side dishes, main courses, drinks, and desserts--that bring out the earthy goodness of each and every one of these intriguing vegetables. From Andean tubers and burdock to yams and yuca, this essential culinary encyclopedia lets dedicated home cooks achieve a new level of taste and sophistication in their everyday cooking. 


Writing & Literature

Click for availability and more information Yes, Chef: a memoir, by Marcus Samuelsson
 
"It begins with a simple ritual: Every Saturday afternoon, a boy who loves to cook walks to his grandmother's house and helps her prepare a roast chicken for dinner. The grandmother is Swedish, a retired domestic. The boy is Ethiopian and adopted, and he will grow up to become the world-renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson. This book is his love letter to food and family in all its manifestations. Marcus Samuelsson was only three years old when he, his mother, and his sister--all battling tuberculosis--walked seventy-five miles to a hospital in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Adaba. Tragically, his mother succumbed to the disease shortly after she arrived, but Marcus and his sister recovered, and one year later, they were welcomed into a loving middle-class white family in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was there that Marcus's new grandmother, Helga, sparked in him a lifelong passion for food and cooking with her pan-fried herring, her freshly baked bread, and her signature roast chicken. From a very early age, there was little question what Marcus was going to be when he grew up. Yes, Chef chronicles Marcus Samuelsson's remarkable journey from Helga's humble kitchen to some of the most demanding and cutthroat restaurants in Switzerland and France, from his grueling stints on cruise ships to his arrival in New York City, where his outsize talent and ambition finally come together at Aquavit, earning him a coveted New York Times three-star rating at the age of twenty-four. But Samuelsson's career of "chasing flavors," as he calls it, had only just begun--in the intervening years, there have been White House State dinners, career crises, reality show triumphs and, most important, the opening of the beloved Red Rooster in Harlem. At Red Rooster, Samuelsson has fulfilled his dream of creating a truly diverse, multiracial dining room--a place where presidents and prime ministers rub elbows with jazz musicians, aspiring artists, bus drivers, and nurses. It is a place where an orphan from Ethiopia, raised in Sweden, living in America, can feel at home. With disarming honesty and intimacy, Samuelsson also opens up about his failures as a man--the price of ambition, in human terms--and recounts his emotional journey, as a grown man, to meet the father he never knew. Yes, Chef is a tale of personal discovery, unshakable determination, and the passionate, playful pursuit of flavors--one man's struggle to find a place for himself in the kitchen, and in the world


New Children's Book

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Here's a list of new and noteworthy books that have recently landed in the Children's room. Many thanks to librarians Deirdre Sullivan and Lauren Mendoza for putting together the list.

Picture Books


Click for availability and more information The Black Rabbit, written and illustrated by Philippa Leathers
 
Rabbit woke to a beautiful sunny day. Everywhere he goes, a giant "Black Rabbit" follows him. The Black Rabbit stays right beside him when he's still, and runs just as fast as he does everywhere Rabbit goes. The watercolor and ink illustrations (combined digitally) are adorable, making this a cute story to share with little ones who will no doubt be shouting out who the "Black Rabbit" really is. 


Click for availability and more information The Dark, by Lemony Snicket ; illustrated by Jon Klassen
 
Are you afraid of the dark? Lazlo was. But the dark was not afraid of Lazlo. Cleverly written by Lemony Snicket with illustrations by Caldecott winner Jon Klassen (This is Not My Hat). Lazlo and the dark live in the same house, although the dark lives mostly in the basement, in corners, closets, and behind the shower curtain. This witty picture book for children grades K and up tells what happens when Lazlo visits the dark. It turns out that just as we need closets for shoes and shower curtains to keep the bathroom floor dry, we also need the dark.


Click for availability and more information Picture A Tree, by Barbara Reid
 
"There is more than one way to picture a tree" begins Barbara Reid's new picture book. Share this book with a little one to open their imagination and appreciation of nature. Barbara Reid uses plasticine clay that is shaped and pressed onto illustration board and painted for special effects. The result is pages of illustrations rich with color and texture. Readers discover that by using their imagination, trees can be a tunnel, a pirate ship, a clubhouse, a friend and more. Read aloud to toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarteners, then take a walk outside to look at the trees. What do you see? 


Children's Fiction


Click for availability and more information Hero On A Bicycle, by Shirley Hughes
 
Author Shirley Hughes presents a World War II adventure proving that in extraordinary circumstances, people are capable of extraordinary things. Italy, 1944: Florence is occupied by Nazi forces. The Italian resistance movement has not given up hope, though -- and neither have thirteen-year- old Paolo and his sister, Costanza. As their mother is pressured into harboring escaping POW's, Paolo and Costanza each find a part to play in opposing the German forces. Both are desperate to fight the occupation, but what can two siblings -- with only a bicycle to help them -- do against a whole army? Middle-grade fans of history and adventure will be riveted by the action and the vividly evoked tension of World War II. Grade 5 and up. 


Click for availability and more information Rump: the true story of Rumpelstiltskin , by Liesl Shurtliff
 
This is the story of Rump, who feels his destiny is to discover his full name. What was the name his mother whispered to him as he was born, just before she took her last breath? When Rump turns twelve, he discovers he may have a different destiny before him in this poor village, a destiny that may have something to do with his ability to turn straw....into gold. But with the magic comes a curse, and Rump will go on a quest to find his true name to break free. Grade 4 and up. 


Non-Fiction


Click for availability and more information Batter Up!: history of baseball, by Dona Herweck Rice
 
From Time for Kids, Batter Up! History of Baseball is a great introduction for second and third graders. Readers will learn (and most definitely share with their grown-ups) interesting facts about one of America's favorite pastimes, presented with very appealing photos and graphics. Includes a timeline of the changing rules, facts about famous players, a brief history of Little League and more. 


Click for availability and more information Look Up!: bird-watching in your own backyard, by Annette LeBlanc Cate
 
Though not a field guide, this is a fun introduction to bird watching and bird drawing. Cate gives great tips on how to find birds, where to search and includes funny "do" and "don't" tips among her advice including "don't sit on poison ivy". The illustrations are part graphic novel, part sketch book and are very inviting, while the layout of the book provides great information without sounding like a textbook. Look Up! might inspire a new hobby, or a fun afternoon of bird watching for the reader. Grade 3 and up. 


Click for availability and more information 13 Painters Children Should Know , by Florian Heine
 
13 Painters is the new acquisition in the "Children Should Know" series of art books by Prestel Publishing. Featuring thirteen painters from a variety of historical periods and styles, this book demonstrates just how interesting and exciting art can be. Each painter is presented in double-page spreads that feature beautiful reproductions and interesting facts. Greenwich Library also has 13 Optical Illusions Children Should Know and 13 American Artists Children Should Know from the series. Grade 4 and up.

New Photography Books

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Now here are a few things until the weather warms up a bit. Maybe one of Brian Eno's ambient records might be a good soundtrack while browsing.


Click for availability and more information Balthazar Korab: architect of photography , by John Comazzi
 
No one captured the midcentury modernism of the Mad Men era better than Balthazar Korab. As one of the period's most prolific and celebrated architecture photographers, Korab captured images as graceful and elegant as his subjects. His iconic photographs for master architects immortalized their finest works, while leaving his own indelible impact on twentieth century visual culture. In this illustrated biography, the first dedicated solely to his life and career, author John Comazzi traces Korab's circuitous path to a career in photography. 


Click for availability and more information Coming into Fashion: a century of photography at Condé Nast , by Nathalie Herschdorfer
 
Condé Nast launched the careers of many great photographers. The discovery of most of the biggest names in fashion photography and the nurturing of their talent can rightly be credited to that visionary publisher. Condé Nast himself was gifted at spotting future stars and by surrounding himself with the very best and most creative he placed Vogue magazine, along with other titles such as Glamour, at the forefront of the photographic avant-garde and propelled them to positions of great social and cultural influence. This volume, the result of unprecedented access to the empire's archives, reaches back to 1910. The list of photographers included in this treasury is impressive. Edward Steichen, Cecil Beaton, Irving Penn, Helmut Newton, Patrick Demarchelier, Ellen von Unwerth, and Mario Testino are just some of the figures who, working with masterful art directors, created a legacy that left its mark on the history of photography and is being built upon in the present day. 


Click for availability and more information The Disappearance of Darkness: photography at the end of the analog era, by Robert Burley
 
Over the past decade, photographer Robert Burley has traveled the world documenting the abandonment and destruction of film-based photography, namely, the factories where film was produced and the labs that developed it. Burley's atmospheric large-format photographs transport viewers to rarely seen sites where the alchemy of the photographic process was practiced over the last century, from the Polaroid plant in Waltham, Massachusetts to the Kodak-Pathé plant in Chalon-sur-Saône, France, the birthplace in 1827 of photography itself. As both fine art and documentary, this book is a reflection on the resilience of traditional art forms in the digital era and a vital commemoration of a century-old industry that seems to have disappeared overnight. 


Click for availability and more information Faking It: manipulated photography before Photoshop, by Mia Fineman
 
Photographic manipulation is a familiar phenomenon in the digital era. What will come as a revelation to readers of this wide-ranging book is that nearly every type of manipulation we associate with Adobe's now-ubiquitous Photoshop software was also part of photography's predigital repertoire, from slimming waistlines and smoothing away wrinkles to adding people to (or removing them from) pictures, not to mention fabricating events that never took place. Indeed, the desire and determination to modify the camera image are as old as photography itself--only the methods have changed. By tracing the history of manipulated photography from the earliest days of the medium to the release of Photoshop 1.0 in 1990, Mia Fineman offers a corrective to the dominant narrative of photography's development, in which champions of photographic "purity," such as Paul Strand, Edward Weston, and Henri Cartier-Bresson, get all the glory, while devotees of manipulation, including Henry Peach Robinson, Edward Steichen, and John Heartfield, are treated as conspicuous anomalies. Among the techniques discussed on these pages--abundantly illustrated with works from an international array of public and private collections--are multiple exposure, combination printing, photomontage, composite portraiture, over-painting, hand coloring, and retouching. The resulting images are as diverse in style and motivation as they are in technique. \


Click for availability and more information Laundromat, by Snorri Bros.
 
Laundromats are as varied as the people inside. They often reflect the social, cultural, and economic fabric of the neighborhood they reside in (announcements, flags, and symbols displayed often reveal something about their mainly mom-and-pop owners), yet they additionally possess a story of commercial storefront design, inspired and mundane: the trend date of awning design and lettering; the poster advertising for cleaning; the refreshment options for adults and their charges. Neighborhood laundromats are one of the last holdouts of the disappearing storefronts of New York City as small shops are driven out of business by chains and venture-capital initiatives. Like the beloved Korean green grocer/bodega/Arab deli, someday soon there could be far fewer of these ugly ducklings, and another genuine element of New York's street life will be...washed away. Laundromat was photographed from 2008 to 2012 and represents all five New York boroughs and most of its neighborhoods. 


Click for availability and more information Leica: witness to a century, by Alessandro Pasi; English translation by Jay Hyams
 
This revised English-language edition celebrates the 100-year history of the fine, portable camera created by a German engineer named Oskar Barnack in 1913. The volume contains plenty of Leica-made images made by world-famous photographers as well as pictures of the camera itself as it evolved. The text, interwoven with the images, sets the political and cultural context of the camera and its use over the decades.

Click for availability and more information More Than Human, by Tim Flach
 
Award-winning photographer Tim Flach has spent years inquiring into the essential bond we have with animals. Now he presents the culmination of a career-long endeavor. The book showcases a menagerie of creatures--pandas, tigers, bats, lions, orangutans, cobras, bullfrogs, chimpanzees, wolves, porcupines, elephants, owls, armadillos, among many others--as they have never been seen before. 


Click for availability and more information Reconstructing the View : the Grand Canyon photographs of Mark Klett and Byron Wolfe, by Mark Klett & Byron Wolfe
 
Using landscape photography to reflect on broader notions of culture, the passage of time, and the construction of perception, photographers Mark Klett and Byron Wolfe spent five years exploring the Grand Canyon for their most recent project, Reconstructing the View. The team's landscape photographs are based on the practice of rephotography, in which they identify sites of historic photographs and make new photographs of those precise locations. Klett and Wolfe referenced a wealth of images of the canyon, ranging from historical photographs and drawings by William Bell and William Henry Holmes, to well-known artworks by Edward Weston and Ansel Adams, and from souvenir postcards to contemporary digital images drawn from Flickr. The pair then employed digital postproduction methods to bring the original images into dialogue with their own. 


Click for availability and more information Terrywood, by Terry Richardson
 
Terrywood is the Richardson's vision of everything that Hollywood has meant and continues to mean in the public imagination: grand-scale glitz, big-budget glamour-and of course the awards ceremonies, in homage to which Terry Richardson produced a series of ten award statuettes for the show, fashioned in his own bespectacled likeness. These works and all of the photographs included in the exhibition are reproduced here, alongside documentation of the year-long process of planning the exhibition, and coverage of the opening night. This volume compiles all of the photographs from his 2012 show Terrywood, held at the OHWOW gallery in Los Angeles. 


Click for availability and more information Vivian Maier: out of the shadows , by Richard Cahan & Michael Williams
 
This volume is the first attempt to put Vivian Maier's work in context and create a moving portrait of her as an artist. Though she created more than 10,000 negatives during her lifetime, only a few of them were ever seen by others. Shortly after her death in 2009, the first group of her unseen photographs--gritty with humanity and filled with empathy and beauty--were shown online. What followed was a firestorm of attention, catapulting Maier from previous obscurity to being labeled as one of the masters of street photography. Her work has appeared in numerous museum exhibits and a feature-length documentary on her life and art has already been planned.

New Gardening Books

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Winter is finally over and it's time to think about your garden. This list of new gardening books has something for everyone; books for beginners and experts, a gardening memoir, books on garden design and books about growing vegetables...and more.


Click for availability and more information the backyard parables, by Margaret Roach
 
After ruminating on the bigger picture in her memoir And I Shall Have Some Peace There, Margaret Roach has returned to the garden, insisting as ever that we must garden with both our head and heart. Roach uses her fundamental understanding of the natural world, philosophy, and life to explore the ways that gardening saved and instructed her, and meditates on the science and spirituality of nature, reminding her readers and herself to keep on digging.


Click for availability and more information Designing Gardens, by Arabella Lennox-Boyd with Caroline Clifton-Mogg
 
The first part of this book explores Arabella Lennox-Boyd's philosophy and establishes the principles of her approach to design: the importance of relating the garden not only to the landscape but also to the spirit of the house and the individuality of the owner; how to establish the bare bones of a design, enclosing garden rooms, and opening up garden space; how to use vertical structures to best effect; and how to clothe bare bones with plants appropriate to the type of garden. Design ideas for everything from paving and pergolas to perennial plantings are featured, captured in Andrew Lawson's atmospheric images and Lennox-Boyd's plans. The second part of the book looks in detail at more than 20 very different gardens, many these are private and never photographed before. 


Click for availability and more information A Garden Makes a House a Home, by Elvin McDonald
 
This features twenty-five residential gardens from every region across the United States, presented by veteran shelter magazine garden editor Elvin McDonald.



Click for availability and more information Gardening By Cuisine: an organic-food lover's guide to sustainable living , by Patti Moreno
 
Patti Moreno has devised a unique plan for creating low-maintenance organic "cuisine gardens" that produce the vegetables, fruits, and herbs people love and eat. She supplies dozens of easy plans, plus a generous collection of simple, delicious recipes and menus that will make the most of any garden's bounty.

Click for availability and more information Kiss My Aster: a graphic guide to creating a fantastic yard totally tailored to you, by Amanda Thomsen
 
A hilarious, interactive guide to designing an outdoor space that is exactly what you want. Combining entertaining illustrations with laugh-out-loud text, Amanda Thomsen lays out the many options for home landscaping and invites you to make the choices. Whether you want privacy hedges, elegant flower beds, a patio for partying, a food garden, a kids' play space, a pond full of ducks, or all of the above, you'll end up with a yard you'll adore. Forget about doing it the "right" way: Do it your way! 


Click for availability and more information Powerhouse Plants: 510 top performers for multi-season beauty, by Graham Rice
 
Gardeners, like everyone, are too short on time and money to waste either on plants that only look good for a few weeks. You want hardworking, eye-catching plants that provide beauty for multiple seasons. You want powerhouse plants -- plants with colorful spring flowers and summer fruits, or summer fruits and fall foliage, or summer flowers, fall foliage and winter stems ... or any combination of two or more of these desirable features. Like flowering dogwood that boasts summer flowers and fall fruit and foliage. Or honeysuckle that has fragrant spring flowers, summer and fall foliage, and fall fruit. 


Click for availability and more information The Professional Design Guide to Green Roofs, by Karla Dakin, Lisa Lee Benjamin & Mindy Pantiel
 
Until recently, most green rooftop gardens were little more than variations on sedum mats on four inches of soil. Now, designers are creating cutting-edge green roofs that focus not only on critical environmental issue like heat, storm management, and ecosystem development, but also on the aesthetics, offering beautiful, livable, sustainable landscapes. This book is a comprehensive exploration of rooftop garden design and the process behind it. It covers everything landscape architects and garden designers need to know to create a beautiful garden in the sky. 


Click for availability and more information The Speedy Vegetable Garden , by Mark Diacono and Lia Leendertz
 
Typically, vegetable gardening is about the long view: peas sown in spring aren't harvested until summer, and tomatoes started indoors in February can't be eaten until July. But it's not true for all plants. Some things can be planted and eaten in weeks, days, even hours. The Speedy Vegetable Garden highlights more than 50 quick crops, with complete information on how to sow, grow, and harvest each plant, and sumptuous photography that provides inspiration and a visual guide for when to harvest. In addition to instructions for growing, it also provides recipes that highlight each crop's unique flavor. 


Click for availability and more information Storey basics starting seeds: how to grow healthy, productive vegetables, herbs, and flowers from seed, by Barbara W. Ellis*
 
Growing plants from seeds isn't difficult; it just takes a little know-how. Now, gardeners of any experience level can get a jump on the growing season with this concise, straightforward guide. Expert gardener Barbara Ellis provides the basic information that you need and teaches you foolproof starting techniques for a variety of vegetables, herbs, and flowers.

New Poetry Books in Celebration of National Poetry Month

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npm2013_logo.jpgInaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month is now held every April, when schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets throughout the United States band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. To help celebrate, here is a list of some new books of poetry that have recently hit our shelves.










Click for availability and more information Bean Spasms, collaborations by Ted Berrigan & Ron Padgett ; illustrated & drawings by Joe Brainard
 
Originally published in 1967 by Kulchur Press in an edition of 1,000, and out-of-print for more than 40 years, Bean Spasms is a book many have heard about but relatively few have seen, and which--until now--has been shrouded in legend. The text is comprised of collaborations between poets Ted Berrigan and Ron Padgett, with further writings, illustrations and cover by artist and writer Joe Brainard. The three began collaborating in 1960, and kept a folder of their works titled "Lyrical Bullets" (a humorous homage to the well-known collaboration between Coleridge and Wordsworth, "Lyrical Ballads"). As Ron Padgett describes, in his introduction to this new facsimile edition, their collaborations included "plays, a fictitious correspondence, a picaresque novel, goofy interviews and poems of various types and lengths, as well as mistranslations and parodies of each others work and the work of others." 


Click for availability and more information City of Rivers, by Zubair Ahmed
 
This is what the folks at Rumpus.net have to say about this debut poetry collection: "The poems in Zubair Ahmed's debut collection, City of Rivers, are not exceptional because he is a twenty-three year old engineering student at Stanford; they are exceptional because he is a dedicated craftsman with a developed artistic vision and voice, regardless of age. History has taught us that excellence in poetry can come early in life, or much later (see A.R. Ammons or a more contemporary example in Claudia Emerson). While I imagine one of the reasons readers might find themselves interested in City of Rivers will be due to Ahmed's relatively young age, such readers will invariably find themselves more interested in exploring the range of his vision and the confidence he seems to have hammered into every one of his sharp, stoic lines." This is published by the tastemakers at McSweeney's.


Click for availability and more information Collected Poems, by May Swenson, edited by Langdon Hammer
 
In celebration of the centenary of May Swenson's birth, The Library of America presents a one-volume edition of all of the poems that Swenson published in her lifetime--from her first collection Another Animal (1954) to the innovative shaped poems of Iconographs (1970) to her final work In Other Words (1987)--as well as a selection of previously uncollected work. The collection reveals the sweeping compass of Swenson's curiosity: nature poems display her keen observation of wildlife; exuberant and erotic love poems celebrate beauty and passion; place poems record her travels to the American Southwest, France, and Italy and her residence in New York City and Sea Cliff, Long Island; verse "analyses" investigate baseball, wave motion, the DNA molecule, bronco busting, James Bond movies, and the first walk on the moon. While preserving the order of publication, this volume presents the author''s final or definitive versions of these poems. Substantive textual variants and title changes are detailed in the notes to the volume. 


Click for availability and more information Exit, Civilian: poems , by Idra Novey
 
In her second collection, Idra Novey steps in and out of jails, courthouses, and caves to explore what confinement means in the twenty-first century. From the beeping doors of a prison in New York to cellos playing in a former jail in Chile, she looks at prisons that have opened, closed, and transformed to examine how the stigma of incarceration has altered American families, including her own. Novey writes of the expanding prison complex that was once a field and imagines what's next for the civilians who enter and exit it each day.


Click for availability and more information Fast Animal, by Tim Seibles
 
A finalist for the 2012 National Book Award for poetry. Jen Bervin of Undertow Magazine loved it, dubbing it "one of the best books I've read recently." Here's the rest of her review.



Click for availability and more information In time: poets, poems, and the rest , by C. K. Williams
 
Not a collection of poetry but rather a "meditation on poetic subjects" from the Pulitzer Prize winning poet. In the book he also reflects on such forebears as Philip Larkin and Robert Lowell. The book's innovative middle section, the author extracts short essays from interviews into an alphabetized series of reflections on subjects ranging from poetry and politics to personal accounts of his own struggles as an artist. The seven essays of the final section branch into more public concerns. Written in his lucid, powerful, and accessible prose, Williams's essays are characterized by reasoned and complex judgments and a willingness to confront hard moral questions in both art and politics.


Click for availability and more information Mayakovsky's Revolver , by Matthew Dickman
 
At the center of Mayakovsky's Revolver is the suicide of Matthew Dickman's older brother. Bobby Elliott in his blog post on the Huffington Post calls it "a book of dark and reeling poems." Evan Hanson takes things further in his review on thethepoetry.com. THis book and Hanson's review are thought provoking. 


Click for availability and more information Night Thoughts: 70 dream poems & notes from an analysis , by Sarah Arvio
 
In a "self-interview" on the Best American Poetry blog, Sarah Arvio explains the background of her latest book of poetry in which she studied her dreams over a ten year period. The poems, in the form of irregular sonnets, describe her dreamworld. 


Click for availability and more information Red doc> , by Anne Carson
 
A continuation of the author's Autobiography of red, following the characters in later life, but in a different style and with changed names. The notoriously private poet was recently profiled in the New York Times Magazine. During the course of the profile she gives insights into this book as well as her approach to poetry writing. 


Click for availability and more information Special Powers and Abilities: poems, byRaymond McDaniel
 
Inspired by The Legion of Super-Heroes, a comic series about a group of teenage superheroes in the future, McDaniel's poems morph superheroes into religious and mythological narratives. Jacob Canfield over at the Hooded Utilitarian takes a closer look at the book.

Play Ball! New Baseball Books.

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Although it still feels sort of like winter, a new baseball season is nearly upon us. For at least one day, everyone is still in contention. Below are a few new titles to whet the appetite of the baseball purists among us.


Click for availability and more information The Baseball Trust: A History of Baseball's Antitrust Exemption, by Stuart Banner
 
Legal historian Stuart Banner illuminates the series of court rulings that resulted in one of the most curious features of our legal system-baseball's exemption from antitrust law. It provides a history of the game as seen through the prism of an extraordinary series of courtroom battles, ranging from 1890 to the present. The book looks at such pivotal cases as the 1922 Supreme Court case which held that federal antitrust laws did not apply to baseball; the 1972 Flood v. Kuhn decision that declared that baseball is exempt even from state antitrust laws; and several cases from the 1950s, one involving boxing and the other football, that made clear that the exemption is only for baseball, not for sports in general. He reveals that for all the well-documented foibles of major league owners, baseball has consistently received and followed antitrust advice from leading lawyers, shrewd legal advice that eventually won for baseball a protected legal status enjoyed by no other industry in America.



Click for availability and more information The Bird: the life and legacy of Mark Fidrych , by Doug Wilson
 
The first biography of the eccentric pitcher, rookie All-Star starter, 70's pop icon, and first athlete on the cover of Rolling Stone. Through extensive interviews and meticulous research, the author recounts Fidrych's meteoric rise from Northborough, Massachusetts, to the big leagues, his heartbreaking fall after a torn knee ligament and then rotator cuff, his comeback attempts with the Tigers and in the Red Sox system, and one unforgettable night when The Bird pitched a swan song for the Pawtucket Red Sox against future star Dave Righetti in a game that remains part of local folklore. Finally, Wilson captures Fidrych's post-baseball life and his roles in the community, tragically culminating with his death in a freak accident in 2009. 


Click for availability and more information Chicago Cubs: Where Have You Gone?: Ernie Banks, Andy Pafko, Ferguson Jenkins, and other Cubs greats, by Fred Mitchell
 
Newly revised and updated, this exciting book catches up with more than 50 former Cubs players including Ferguson Jenkins, Dickie Noles, Milt Pappas and Don Zimmer,letting fans know where their heroes have gone and what they have been up to since capturing their full attention at Wrigley Field. As a former (and successfully rehabilitated) Cubs fan, this book brings back many memories, mostly of the sad and tragic variety. But, it is full of insight and good humor. and much more enjoyable now that  I've moved on. 


Click for availability and more information Francona: the Red Sox years , by Terry Francona and Dan Shaughnessy
 
From 2004 to 2011, Terry Francona managed the Boston Red Sox, perhaps the most scrutinized team in all of sports. During that time, every home game was a sellout. Every play, call, word, gesture--on the field and off--was analyzed by thousands. And every decision was either genius, or disastrous. In those eight years, the Red Sox were transformed from a cursed franchise to one of the most successful and profitable in baseball history--only to fall back to last place as soon as Francona was gone. Now the decorated manager opens up for the first time about his tenure in Boston, unspooling the narrative of how this world-class organization reached such incredible highs and dipped to equally incredible lows. But through it all, there was always baseball, that beautiful game of which Francona never lost sight. 


Click for availability and more information Game of My Life: New York Yankees: memorable stories of Yankees baseball , by Dave Buscema
 
In a book that's very similar in concept to the Cubs title above, some of the biggest names to ever don the pinstripes are captured in personal portraits here, from Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera to Don Mattingly, Reggie Jackson, Ron Guidry, and all the way back to Yogi Berra and Tommy Henrich. Along with taking readers behind the scenes of the greatest moments in Yankees history--from Bucky Dent's home run to David Wells's perfect game--the book offers a glimpse of what helped the stars reach their peak. This is a great opportunity for Yanks fans to revel in their team's many years of success. 


Click for availability and more information Hank Greenberg: baseball star, Jewish hero, American legend , by John Rosengren
 
Baseball in the 1930s was more than a national pastime; it was a cultural touchstone that galvanized communities and gave a struggling country its heroes despite the woes of the Depression. Hank Greenberg, one of the most exciting sluggers in baseball history, gave the people of Detroit a reason to be proud. But America was facing more than economic hardship. With the Nazis gaining power across Europe, political and social tensions were approaching a boiling point. As one of the few Jewish athletes competing nationally, Hank Greenberg became not only an iconic ball player, but also an important and sometimes controversial symbol of Jewish identity and the American immigrant experience. When Hank joined the Detroit Tigers in 1933, they were headed for a dismal fifth-place season finish. The following year, with Hank leading the charge, they were fighting off the Yankees for the pennant. As his star ascended, he found himself cheered wherever he went. But there were other noises also. On and off the field, he met with taunts and anti-Semitic threats. Yet the hardship only drove him on to greater heights, sharing the spotlight with the most legendary sluggers of the day, including Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, and Lou Gehrig. This biography is an intimate account of the man's life on and off the field. It is a portrait of integrity and triumph over adversity.


Click for availability and more information Inside the Baseball Hall of Fame : the national baseball hall of fame and museum, foreword by Brooks Robinson
 
A lavishly photographed tour of the Baseball Hall of Fame's greatest treasures provides authoritative coverage of such subjects as FDR's "Green Light Letter," the Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day Trophy and the shoes worn by "Shoeless" Joe Jackson during the infamous 1919 World Series.This is excellent to thumb through between innings. 


Click for availability and more information Total Mets: the definitive encyclopedia of the New York Mets, by David Ferry
 
Published in conjunction with the franchise's 50th anniversary, this is the definitive historical and statistical compendium for the ball club. Spanning the team's entire history--from their inception in 1962, through the World Series championships of 1969 and 1986, and right up to the most current squads--this volume is loaded with features that include season recaps of every Mets season, statistics and highlights for every game in franchise history, team and individual records in every major statistical category, and biographies for every Mets player. This may help you make it through a season that looks less than encouraging. 


Click for availability and more information Trading Bases: a story about Wall Street, gambling, and baseball (not necessarily in that order), by Joe Peta
 
After the fall of Lehman Brothers, Joe Peta was out of a job. He found a new one but lost that, too, when an ambulance mowed him down. In search of a way to cheer himself up while he recuperated in a wheelchair, Peta started watching baseball again, as he had growing up. That's when inspiration hit: Why not apply his outstanding risk-analysis skills to improve on sabermetrics, the method made famous by Moneyball--and beat the only market in town, the Vegas betting line? Why not treat MLB like the S&P 500? Peta shows how to subtract luck--in particular "cluster luck," as he puts it--from a team's statistics to best predict how it will perform in the next game and over the whole season. His baseball "hedge fund" returned an astounding 41 percent in 2011--and has never been down more than 5 percent. Peta takes readers to the ballpark in San Francisco, trading floors and baseball bars in New York and sports books in Vegas, all while tracing the progress of his wagers. Often humorous, occasionally touching, and with a wink toward the sheer implausibility of the whole project, Trading Bases is all about the love of critical reasoning, trading cultures, risk management, and baseball. And not necessarily in that order.


Click for availability and more information Who's on Worst?: the lousiest players, biggest cheaters, saddest goats and other antiheroes in baseball history, by Filip Bondy
 
A whimsical celebration of professional baseball's lowest-achieving players and contributors draws on extensive research to provide richly detailed stories profiling batters who fell below the "Mendoza Line," managers who led losing teams in spite of steroids and more, in a volume complemented by top-ten worst lists.

New Books on Business and Economics

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Click for availability and more information Bull By The Horns: fighting to save Main Street from Wall Street and Wall Street from itself, by Sheila Bair
 
In her account of how the US government dealt with the financial mess at the core of the Great Recession, Bair, the chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) from 2006-2011, dispels myths and gives her account of the key players' roles. Bair, who grew up on "main street" in rural Kansas, shares her belated qualms about the bank bailouts, and revelations regarding how the government and the big banks' regulator worked to protect them against greater regulation.


Click for availability and more information The Coming Prosperity: how entrepreneurs are transforming the global economy, by Philip Auerswald
 
Auerswald argues that it is time to overcome the outdated narratives of fear that dominate public discourse and to grasp the powerful momentum of progress. Acknowledging the gravity of today's greatest global challenges--like climate change, water scarcity, and rapid urbanization--Auerswald emphasizes that the choices we make today will determine the extent and reach of the coming prosperity. To make the most of this epochal transition, he writes, the key is entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs introduce new products and services, expand the range of global knowledge networks, and, most importantly, challenge established business interests, maintaining the vitality of mature capitalist economies and enhancing the viability of emerging ones. 


Click for availability and more information Contagious: why things catch on, by Jonah Berger
 
Why do people talk about certain products and ideas more than others? Why are some stories and rumors more infectious? And what makes online content go viral? Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger has spent the last decade answering these questions. He's studied why New York Times articles make the paper's own Most E-mailed List, why products get word of mouth, and how social influence shapes everything from the cars we buy to the clothes we wear to the names we give our children. In this book, Berger reveals the secret science behind word-of-mouth and social transmission. Discover how six basic principles drive all sorts of things to become contagious, from consumer products and policy initiatives to workplace rumors and YouTube videos. Contagious combines groundbreaking research with powerful stories. Learn how a luxury steakhouse found popularity through the lowly cheese-steak, why anti-drug commercials might have actually increased drug use, and why more than 200 million consumers shared a video about one of the seemingly most boring products there is: a blender. If you've wondered why certain stories get shared, e-mails get forwarded, or videos go viral, Contagious explains why, and shows how to leverage these concepts to craft contagious content. This book provides a set of specific, actionable techniques for helping information spread--for designing messages, advertisements, and information that people will share. Whether you're a manager at a big company, a small business owner trying to boost awareness, a politician running for office, or a health official trying to get the word out, Contagious will show you how to make your product or idea catch on.


Click for availability and more information The Founders and Finance: how Hamilton, Gallatin, and other immigrants forged a new economy, by Thomas K. McCraw
 
In 1776 the United States government started out on a shoestring and quickly went bankrupt fighting its War of Independence against Britain. At the war's end, the national government owed tremendous sums to foreign creditors and its own citizens. But lacking the power to tax, it had no means to repay them. The Founders and Finance is the first book to tell the story of how foreign-born financial specialists--immigrants--solved the fiscal crisis and set the United States on a path to long-term economic success. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Thomas K. McCraw analyzes the skills and worldliness of Alexander Hamilton (from the Danish Virgin Islands), Albert Gallatin (from the Republic of Geneva), and other immigrant founders who guided the nation to prosperity. Their expertise with liquid capital far exceeded that of native-born plantation owners Washington, Jefferson, and Madison, who well understood the management of land and slaves but had only a vague knowledge of financial instruments--currencies, stocks, and bonds. The very rootlessness of America's immigrant leaders gave them a better understanding of money, credit, and banks, and the way each could be made to serve the public good.


Click for availability and more information Global Tilt: Leading your business through the great economic power shift , by Ram Charan
 
The global tilt is nothing less than an irreversible shift of economic power--jobs, wealth, and market opportunities--from a small part of the world to its entirety. It is improving the lives of millions of people around the world, and while it is creating immense opportunities, it is disrupting the world as you know it with dizzying speed. In Global Tilt, Charan gives business leaders the guidance they need to succeed in a tilted world, including gaining an edge by cutting through the complexity of demographics, different forms of government, and even the global financial system, to identify "unstoppable trends" better and sooner than others. Charan discusses challenging your reliance on core competence and the incremental improvement that results. Instead, look "outside-in" and "future-back," determine the capabilities you need to build, and muster the psychological fortitude to make occasional strategic bets that can potentially alter the competitive landscape. For a brief overview, read this recent interview from The Economic Times" with Charan where he discusses discusses the "Global Tilt."


Click for availability and more information The Impact Equation: are you making things happen or just making noise?, by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith
 
Brogan and Smith offer guidelines for getting customer attention and building community online through social media and social networks. Rather than offering technical details on how to use social media, the authors instead explain how to build ideas, how to move the ideas through a platform so they will be seen and discussed, and how to build a strong human element around those ideas so that people know you care about their participation. You can watch the authors discuss the book on their YouTube channel .


Click for availability and more information Indispensable: when leaders really matter, by Gautam Mukunda
 
Harvard Business School professor Gautam Mukunda offers afresh look at how and when individual leaders really can make a difference. By identifying and analyzing the hidden patterns of their careers, and by exploring the systems that place these leaders in positions of power, Indispensable sheds new light on how we may be able to identify the best leaders and what lessons we can learn, from both the process and the result. Profiling a mix of historic and modern figures?from Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln to Winston Churchill and Judah Folkman?and telling the stories of how they came to power and how they made the most important decisions of their lives, Indispensable reveals how, when, and where a single individual in the right place at the right time can save or destroy the organization they lead, and even change the course of history. 


Click for availability and more information Leading So People Will Follow, by Erika Andersen
 
Exploring the 6 leadership characteristics that inspire followers to fully support their leaders, and featuring examples from forward-thinking organizations as Apple and MTV Networks, Andersen, a popular Forbes blogger and renowned leadership coach provides a proven framework that creates loyalty, commitment and results.


Click for availability and more information The Org: the underlying logic of the office, by Ray Fisman and Tim Sullivan
 
The world is full of organizational cynics. Look around, look in the mirror. We sit in our cubes, adjust our chairs, sharpen our pencils and stare at our computer screens with the sense that we're immersed in dysfunction. We could, we're sure, do a far better job of running things if we were given the chance. But we know we won't get the chance and so sink into doubt, distrust, and pessimism. But it doesn't have to be that way. Authors Ray Fisman and Tim Sullivan take readers through the logic of organizations using basic economic principles as their guide. Examining why organizations exist in the first place, The Org explores the tradeoffs that every corporation faces-from how to select members to how to inspire and discipline them-and then looks at the components of the whole structure from cubicle dwellers to CEOs. Using the tools of organizational economics, The Org provides readers with a concrete, logical, and practical way of thinking about how organizations ought to work. The insights unearthed in The Org may surprise you and may also explain how, with a few tweaks, the dysfunctional nature of today's office may nonetheless provide the ideal structure for getting the job done. More from the authors on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" here


Click for availability and more information The Physics of Wall Street: a brief history of predicting the unpredictable, by James Owen Weatherall
 
A Harvard scholar challenges popular beliefs to argue that mathematical models can provide solutions to current economic challenges, citing the pivotal historical contributions of physicists to Wall Street while explaining that the economic meltdown of 2008 was based on a misunderstanding of scientific models rather than on the models themselves. 


Click for availability and more information Vested: how P&G, McDonald's, and Microsoft are redefining winning in business relationship , by Kate Vitasek and Karl Manrodt with Jeanne Kling
 
What do Procter and Gamble, Microsoft, McDonald's and The Department of Energy have in common? They have all recently implemented a vested relationship with their partners and suppliers, leading to innovation and a better bottom line. Here the authors show how P&G partnered with Jones Lang LaSalle to manage over 14 million feet of facilities in 60 countries and how the Minnesota Department of Transportation turned tragedy into success after the I35 bridge crumbled into the water by rebuilding the bridge with state-of-the-art design under budget in less time than anticipated. Working with partners is the future of business. 


Click for availability and more information The Zen of Steve Jobs, by written by Caleb Melby; concept, design, and illustration by Jess3
 
An illustrated depiction of Steve Jobs' friendship with Zen Buddhist Kobun Chino Otogawa and the impact it had on Jobs' career. Their time together was integral to the big leaps that Apple took later on with its product design and business strategy. Was the revolutionary circular scroll wheel on the Apple iPod inspired by kinhin, the Zen practice of walking in circles while meditating? Told using stripped down dialogue and bold calligraphic panels, The Zen of Steve Jobs explores how Jobs might have honed his design aesthetic via Eastern religion before choosing to identify only what he needs and leave the rest behind.

New Cookbooks

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Tired of cooking the same things all the time? Do you want to branch out and try some new recipes? Here is a sample of new cookbooks that have just arrived. Bon Appetit!




Click for availability and more information Baking Out Loud, by Hedy Goldsmith
 
The Food Network-featured executive pastry chef of Michael's Genuine Food & Drink presents a collection of recipes inspired by popular supermarket treats, from Red Velvet Twinks and Chocolate Caramel Peanut Bars to Dunk in Da Trunk Cookies and Banana Toffee Panini. 


Click for availability and more information Clean Eating for Busy Families: get meals on the table in minutes with simple & satisfying whole-foods recipes you & your kids will love, by Michelle Dudash, R.D
 
Clean Eating for Busy Families takes the challenge out of putting delicious food on the family table on a nightly basis by providing you with a clear plan for dinner success. With streamlined weekly grocery lists, simple-yet-delicious recipes, and practical tips for healthy family eating, you'll find it a cinch to trade in that uninspired takeout for wholesome meals that don't just put your tummy to ease, but your mind too. 


Click for availability and more information Cooking With Love: real comfort food from Carla's kitchen, by Carla Hall with Genevieve Ko
 
Carla Hall is co-host of ABC's daily lifestyle series The Chew. Carla first won the hearts of fans nationwide on Bravo's Top Chef. When she returned for Top Chef All-Stars, she went on to win Fan Favorite with her warmth, enthusiasm, and delicious food. In this book, she serves up more than 100 fantastic recipes that revolutionize comfort food by using fresh ingredients in her twists on tried-and-true classics. 


Click for availability and more information The Epicurious Cookbook , by Tanya Steel
 
Organized seasonally and by meal type, The Epicurious Cookbook offers everything from 30-minute weeknight dinners to weekend warrior show-stoppers. Also included are comfort food favorites, small dishes perfect for parties and plenty of repertoire-building mains and sides, plus breakfasts, breads, and desserts. Throughout are Epicurious member suggestions for tweaking recipes, ideas for menu planning, smart substitutions, and homespun recipes from dozens of Epicurious members newly tested for this cookbook. 


Click for availability and more information Gran's Kitchen: recipes from the notebooks of Dulcie May Booker , compiled by Natalie Oldfield
 
Seventy-six of the best tried-and-true homemade recipes from a bygone era, lovingly selected from the notebooks of 95-year-old Dulcie May Booker. This edition, Compiled by her granddaughter, talented foodie Natalie Oldfield, Gran's Kitchen is sure to satisfy the current interest in traditional cookery in a very personal way. A little of the old, a little new, it is full of simple, comforting, and easy-to-make cakes, breakfasts, dinners, and desserts, as well as her secrets to award-winning baking and preserving. Not only is this book a beautiful cookbook, but it is also filled with wonderful family love and community spirit. 


Click for availability and more information The Hamptons & Long Island homegrown cookbook : local food, local restaurants, local recipes, by Leeann Lavin
 
Profiles twenty-seven of the well-known chefs and restaurant owners of the region and the farmers who supply them with fresh ingredients, with seventy-five recipes for seasonal dishes. 


Click for availability and more information The Latin Road Home : savoring the foods of Ecuador, Spain, Cuba, Mexico, and Peru, by Jose Garces
 
The essential book for experiencing the joy of sitting down to dinner in a Latin household. Capture the vibrant regional flavors of Latin America and Spain with ease in your home kitchen with Jose Garces as your guide. 


Click for availability and more information Now Eat This! Italian: favorite dishes from the real mamas of Italy, all under 350 calories, by Rocco DiSpirito
 
Weight-conscious food lovers no longer need to deprive themselves of the ever-popular cuisine of Italy. In his signature style, Rocco DiSpirito has recreated 100 classic Italian recipes to be healthy and low in calories and fat-yet still full of flavor. After traveling to Italy and perfecting the dishes side-by-side with the chefs who make them best-the Italian mamas-he offers sinful pastas, sauces, and desserts you never thought you could eat while keeping healthy. 


Click for availability and more information Real Snacks : make your favorite childhood treats without all the junk, by Lara Ferroni
 
Imagine homemade Twinkies, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, and Cheez-Its made in your own kitchen, even with gluten-free and vegan variations. Make your favorite snacks with whole grains and natural sweeteners full of wonderful flavors and nutrients not artificial colors and preservatives. Lara Ferroni shows you how with this collection of 50 nostalgic childhood treats that satisfy your junk food cravings, but without all the junk. Gluten free and vegan options are included for every recipe. 


Click for availability and more information Sweet Paris : a love affair with Parisian pastries, chocolate and desserts, by Michael Paul
 
More than just a cookbook, this is a sweet-toothed guide to Paris. With more than thirty distinctly Parisian recipes, ranging from tarts and macarons to madeleines and chocolates, let your taste buds do the walking. A sophisticated design and stunning images help to make this book a timeless keepsake that will be cherished for years to come. 


Click for availability and more information Try This at Home, by Richard Blais
 
From Bravo's Top Chef All-Stars winner Richard Blais comes his very cool debut cookbook for home cooks looking to up their game with more excitement in the kitchen. This is accessible and fun, and includes the signature recipes, flavor combinations, and cooking techniques that have made him such a popular chef.


Click for availability and more information Vietnamese Home Cooking, by Charles Phan
 
When Charles Phan opened his now- legendary restaurant, The Slanted Door, in 1995, he introduced American diners to a new world of Vietnamese food: robustly flavored, subtly nuanced, authentic yet influenced by local ingredients, and, ultimately, entirely approachable. In this same spirit of tradition and innovation, Phan presents a landmark collection based on the premise that with an understanding of its central techniques and fundamental ingredients, Vietnamese home cooking can be as attainable and understandable as American, French, or Italian.

Noteworthy New CD's

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If you're a music fan but haven't been up to the second floor of the library in a while, you may want to stop by next time you're here. Our compact disc collection offers something for everyone. Below are a few titles that we find especially interesting but there is much much more where these came from.


Click for availability and more information A&M Records 50: the Anniversary Collection, by Various Artists
 
A three-disc, 60-song set that takes the listener through the hits that turned a tiny artist-driven imprint into one of the most important, era-defining names in popular music. This collection features something for everyone, from Burt Bacharach to Barry White to Soundgarden. 


Click for availability and more information Parklive: Live in Hyde Park 12th August, 2012, by Blur
 
This live double cd set commemorates Blur's reunion show that marked the closing of the London summer Olympics. By most accounts, this show was a huge success that has cemented Blur as a critical and culturally essential part of England's musical history. And to some, this was the best part of the Olympics. Here's a link to the album trailer if you want a quick taste.


Click for availability and more information Live at the Bowl '68, by The Doors
 
wo years after the Beatles rolled out the hits for the final time further up the West Coast at Candlestick Park -- and over a year into a Rolling Stones touring hiatus -- the Doors played a set at the Hollywood Bowl that is widely regarded to be their finest ever captured. it's clear from this recording that they were keen to impress the 18,000 people who filled the Bowl on July 5, 1968. It's a tight, musically impressive, well-paced set that falls at that sweet spot in the Doors' career, between the laid-back hesitancy of early club performances and the often overblown, strident, and bluesy improvisation of later gigs. It is also a bit of a technical marvel. This restoration makes dramatic improvement audio quality,and has made previously unreleased songs from the performance available for the first time. Technical glitches had prevented three songs from being included in previous versions, but thanks to the restoration process, the concert can now be seen in its entirety, complete with the previously missing performances of "Hello, I Love You," "Caravan" and "The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat). 


Click for availability and more information Trouble Man, by Marvin Gaye
 
A funky blacksploitation soundtrack from 1972, conceived and composed by Marvin himself and served up with some occasional vocals that work beautifully with the album's cool instrumental grooves. It's Gaye's only soundtrack and film score and shouldn't be missed. 



Click for availability and more information Bop! Bang! Boom!, by Grant Geissman
 
Grant Geissman's lengthy career as a guitarist and composer started in the early '70s. His résumé includes the guitar solo on flugelhornist Chuck Mangione's 1978 hit single "Feels So Good," a discography of around 15 albums as leader and compositions for TV such as the theme for the CBS comedy Two And A Half Men. Bop! Bang! Boom! is the final installment of a trilogy. It features a strong core band plus guest appearances from Geismann's friends and colleagues including saxophonist Tom Scott, guitarists Larry Carlton and Albert Lee, and Brian Wilson collaborator Van Dyke Parks, on accordion and runs the stylistic gamut from Latin and bebop to blues. 


Click for availability and more information Palindrome Hunches, by Neil Halstead
 
This is the perfect dreary weather album. These songs are so quiet and beautiful that it makes me want to put on a big rumpled sweater and give everyone a hug.This record was was recorded live in a weekend at a music room in a UK primary school and it has that cozy feeling. With more than just a nod to the legendary Nick Drake, former Mojave 3 and Slowdive leader Halstead has made a record that is just the most recent in a long line of  brilliant traditional British folk music. 


Click for availability and more information The Gift, Deluxe edition, by The Jam
 
It's true that the band weren't quite up to the top of their game by the time this, their final record, came around but it's also true that even a less than perfect record by The Jam was still better than %90 of most other records. Originally released in March of 1982, it found the band moving further towards the R&B sound that they had been dabbling in since their early records. This 30th anniversary 2cd edition features the original album plus rounds up non-album tracks of the period, including the 12-inch version of Precious and the swansong Beat Surrender EP. It also includes some demo recordings of several songs from the album. And, if that isn't enough for you, there is also a "super deluxe" edition, which features 3 cd's, 1 DVD and a few other things. 


Click for availability and more information The Complete Studio Recordings, by Roxy Music
 
Whether you are new to Roxy Music or just want to re-visit their work, this 10 cd is a good place to visit. Includes each of the eight Roxy Music studio albums released in the ten year period of 1972-1982, on CD plus two discs of bonus tracks containing tracks previously unavailable on CD. Each album has been taken back to its original form. They are housed in a swanky black box that will probably look awesome in your apartment.


Click for availability and more information The Essential, by Mindy Smith
 
Best of collection from the critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Mindy Smith featuring songs from three of her Vanguard Records studio albums.

Listening to the music of Mindy Smith, you get the sense that this is a woman who has been well prepared for adversity or at least has found a way to deal with it when it arises. As the thirteen songs on this collection reveal, ever since the release of her auspicious 2004 debut album, One Moment More, Smith has fearlessly put herself on the line in her writing, confronting her questions and troubles with songs that are impeccably crafted and indelibly intimate. From the liner notes by Alan Light 


Click for availability and more information Bish Bosch, by Scott Walker
 
This is not for the meek of heart. A troubling, disturbing but brilliant album that could only come from the mind of Scott Walker. It features drums and guitars and other passing references to rock music, but its deepest roots are in the dissonant, turn-of-the century compositions by Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg, with a dash of Kurt Weill thrown in for good measure. Don't try this at home, kids.

Recent Comments

  • From Science Fiction, "New Science Fiction Books" :
    Ed: Thanks Stephen. Looking forward especially to reading "Bowl of Heaven" read more

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