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Popular Culture January 2018
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| Present at the Creation: My Life in the NFL and the Rise of America’s Game by Upton BellWhat it is: the memoir of a man who grew up with professional football.
Why you might like it: Upton Bell's father was Bert Bell, the legendary NFL Commissioner who propelled football's popularity just after World War II. Bell himself was the youngest general manager ever hired, for the New England Patriots, before becoming a journalist.
Why you might like it: Football fans will devour Bell's insider view of significant events in the NFL's history. |
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100 Songs
by Bob Dylan
This carefully curated collection of the American music icon’s lyrics spans the beginning of his career to the present day, exploring the depth, breadth and magnitude of the Nobel Laureate’s incredible range through the entirety of his career so far.
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Standing Strong
by Teresa Giudice
The Real Housewives of New Jersey star and best-selling author of Turning the Tables chronicles the tumultuous year after her release from prison, marked by her challenges as a single mother, her mother's passing and her father's severe health setback.
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Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Ultimate Visual History
by Michael Klastorin
Published to coincide with the sci-fi classic’s 40th anniversary, and created in conjunction with Sony Pictures and Amblin Entertainment, a fully authorized behind-the-scenes book explores the creation, production and legacy of this iconic film, bringing together a gorgeous collection of on-set photography, concept art, storyboards and more.
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Pink Floyd All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track
by Jean-Michel Guesdon
A comprehensive history of Pink Floyd's studio time describes the origin of their nearly 200 released songs and provides details on the instruments used, along with behind-the-scenes dramas from their 1967 debut and beyond the 1985 departure of Roger Waters.
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The Walking Dead: The Official Cookbook and Survival Guide
by Lauren Wilson
Inspired by the hit AMC zombie show, this cookbook provides recipes for replicating (non-zombie) meals featured on the show, including foods and drinks inspired by characters and locations, such as “Carl’s Pudding” and “Hershel’s Spaghetti.”
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| Gold Dust Woman: A Biography of Stevie Nicks by Stephen DavisWhat's inside: This unauthorized biography pulls from interviews with singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks as well as her friends, family, and others in the music industry. Ordered chronologically, it traces Nicks' upbringing, her path to Fleetwood Mac, and her creation of a solo career.
Try this next: the oral history Fleetwood Mac on Fleetwood Mac.
Reviewers say: "All you ever wanted to know about Fleetwood Mac's mesmerizing frontwoman" (People Magazine). |
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| The First Major: The Inside Story of the 2016 Ryder Cup by John FeinsteinWhat it's about: The Ryder Cup is one of the few team-based championships in golf, a sport that usually focuses on individual players. In 2016, the American team won in a dramatic, hard-fought battle that ended an eight-year losing streak.
Why you might like it: Providing plenty of backstory -- both about the Cup and the players -- sportswriter John Feinstein once again provides an exciting, insightful account of the sport he loves. |
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| Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches by John HodgmanWhat it is: Offbeat and self-deprecating essays from a rueful middle-aged man with a well-developed funny bone. The ups and downs of summers in Massachusetts and Maine provide plenty of fodder.
Why you might like it: You love actor and writer John Hodgman, enjoy hearing about travel disasters, or don't always care for all the responsibilities of adulthood -- even if it's a pretty privileged one. |
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Highbrow, Lowbrow, Brilliant, Despicable: Fifty Years of New York Magazine
by New York Magazine
Combines groundbreaking magazine archive pieces with new material in an oversized, full-color celebration of New York magazine's first half century, citing contributions by notables ranging from Nora Ephron and Tom Wolfe to Gloria Steinem and Kurt Anderson while drawing on insider interviews to document the magazine's publication history.
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Call of Duty WWII Field Manual
by Micky Neilson
Printed as an official combat-issued handbook, this collector’s item for fans of the immersive and thrilling video game series, Call of Duty, provides statistics on and the history of the games' vehicles, weapons, battleground and essential units.
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Ice Bowl '67: The Packers, the Cowboys, and the Game That Changed the NFL
by Chuck Carlson
For those players who remain, the scars still run deep when it comes to the infamous “Ice Bowl,” played December 31, 1967, between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys. There are players even today who suffer the ravages of frostbite and lung damage from a game many of the players never thought should have been played. As one player said, “It was just too damn cold. Who plays football in that weather?”
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Breaking Bad: A Cultural History
by Lara C. Stache
This book focuses on Breaking Bad’s fascinating characters and complex story lines, while also looking at how the program challenges viewers and analyzes what did and did not work. The author explores how the show grapples with themes of morality, legality, and anti-drug rhetoric—features that contributed to the show’s cultural significance.
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Guillermo Del Toro's the Devil's Backbone
by Simon Abrams
A visual guide to the classic, modern chiller in which a ghost helps a young orphan uncover the dark secrets that lead to his death provides the definitive account to making the film, from directors’ notes and musings to the haunting designs, concept art and unit photography.
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Justice League: The Art of the Film
by Abbie Bernstein
Inspired by Superman's selfless act, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans – Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash – to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions. Packed with stunning concept art, sketches, costume detail, stills, and behind-the-scenes shots from the set, this book is an invaluable insight into the world of Justice League.
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Star Trek : The Book of Lists
by Chip Carter
Spanning the epic science fiction franchise’s fifty-one-year history, a breathtaking collection of the most compelling Star Trek facts and trivia, including events from both on and off-screen, available in 100 concise lists.
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| Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News by Kevin YoungWhat it's about: Tracing the history of American hoaxes and humbugs from the days of P.T. Barnum to the frauds and flimflammery of today, Bunk is an illuminating exploration of the roles of stereotype, suspicion, and prejudice as factors that shape and support fraudulent activities.
Why you might like it: You want to understand Rachel Dolezal, James Frey, Lance Armstrong, and others with a flexible definition of the truth.
Book buzz: With "fake news" now a buzzword, this National Book Award longlisted title seems to have been published at exactly the right time. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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