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History and Current Events March 2018
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Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon
by Jeffrey Kluger
In Apollo 8, acclaimed science writer Jeffrey Kluger provides a you-were-there reading experience as he recounts the preparations that culminated in the first manned flight to the moon. Drawing on his interviews with crew members Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders, as well as the NASA Oral History Project and other records, Kluger enriches the personal and technical details of the mission with facets of the Cold War-era politics that spurred the race to the moon. Space flight aficionados won't want to miss Kluger's "laudable storytelling" (Publishers Weekly).
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The line becomes a river
by Francisco Cantú
An award-winning writer and former agent for the U.S. Border Patrol describes his upbringing as the son of a park ranger and grandson of a Mexican immigrant, who, upon joining the Border Patrol, encountered the violence and political rhetoric that overshadows life for both migrants and the police.
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| A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America by T. Christian Miller and Ken ArmstrongWhat it's about: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong examine the ways in which rape cases are investigated in the United States. Rather than looking at sexual assaults as a whole, the authors focus on one particular case, that of a teenage victim who was accused of false reporting, resulting in an eye-opening look at how cases can be handled, mishandled, and later resolved.
Is it for you? Readers with an interest in women’s rights, true crime, and criminal justice will want to check this one out |
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The monk of Mokha
by Dave Eggers
The best-selling author of The Circle traces his upbringing as a Yemeni-American in San Francisco and his dream of resurrecting the ancient art of cultivating, roasting and importing Yemeni coffee, an endeavor that is challenged by the brutal realities of Yemen's 2015 civil war.
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Focus on: Business and Economics
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| Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah BergerWhat it's about: Author Jonah Berger has drawn on detailed research to discuss why some trends, products, and ideas take off -- and some don’t. He identifies six key ingredients that work together to promote word-of-mouth popularity and uses real-world examples (the "hit" song "Friday," the Atkins diet, Apple products) as evidence. Surprisingly, he argues that the Internet has less influence than you might expect.
Related reading: Try Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan Heath. |
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| Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael LewisWhat it's about: At the outset, Flash Boys exposes how post-crisis Wall Street was rigged through computerized stock exchanges. However, the heart of this exciting narrative is the four “Wall Street guys” who figured this out separately -- working independently at different firms -- and then banded together to reform the financial markets.
Reviewers say: Bestselling author Michael Lewis does a “superb job of explicating the inexplicable in his lucid, absorbing account” (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local -- and Helped... by Beth MacyWhat it's about: In the mid-1990s, when Chinese companies began flooding American markets with cheaper goods, furniture-making was one of the hardest hit industries. But John Bassett III of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture refused to bow to pressure, fighting to keep his employees through increased efficiency and legal maneuvers, and even traveling to China to expose price-fixing practices.
Why you should read it: Beyond the furniture industry, Factory Man is also a vivid portrait of small-town Bassett, Virginia, and its fascinating inhabitants. |
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| The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter by David SaxWhat it's about: Just when you think the world has been overtaken by digital content and products, statistics arrive showing sales of tangible goods like vinyl records are up -- way up. But why? Journalist David Sax examines the surprising reasons why some consumers opt to limit their screen time and purchase printed books, Moleskine notebooks, and film cameras instead.
Reviewers say: “Compulsively readable” (Booklist). |
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| This Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle to Save America's Middle Class by Elizabeth WarrenWhat it is: Outspoken and impassioned U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren shares her views on how the American middle class is under siege -- and offers strategies on how to save it. She shares the story of her own working-class family in 1960s Oklahoma and discusses why things have changed since the 1980s. Warren also describes her battles in the U.S. Senate on behalf of the shrinking middle class.
Further reading: Saving Capitalism by Robert Reich. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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