LibGuides: Booklists for Adults & Teens: Linkable Non-Fiction Lists

tai chi qigong

World Tai Chi & Qigong Day

April 26

While most of these listings link by default to a print copy, many are available in other formats (eBook and eAudiobook). Don't forget to check the catalog by title or author if you prefer digital!

Qigong

The Way of Qigong by Kenneth S. Cohen Qigong is an integrated mind-body healing method that has been practiced with remarkable results in China for thousands of years. The Chinese have long treasured qigong for its effectiveness both in healing and in preventing disease, and more recently they have used it in conjunction with modern medicine to cure cancer, immune system disorders, and other life-threatening conditions. Now in this fascinating, comprehensive volume, renowned qigong master and China scholar Kenneth S. Cohen explains how you too can integrate qigong into your life--and harness the healing power that will help your mind and body achieve the harmony of true health.
Heal Yourself with Qigong by Suzanne B. Freidman Qigong (pronounced chee-gung) is an ancient Chinese practice consisting of physical movements, meditation, creative visualization, and breathing exercises to help revitalize the body and heal the spirit. Similar to tai chi, qigong cultivates vital life-force energy in the body for better health, heightened energy, and longevity. Its powerful benefits have been known in China for thousands of years. This unique book presents over 100 easy, five-minute qigong exercises designed to target specific health issues, from strengthening an aching back and reducing stress to improving sexual function and boosting energy. You can use this book to quickly find the best qigong exercises to target your particular physical and mental health needs.Heal Yourself with Qigong allows you to customize routines, making it ideal for both experienced practitioners and those new to qigong. Choose and combine from these four sections: Instant energy boosters Exercises for restoring physical vitality Emotion-balancing techniques Practices for calming the spirit
Energy Warriors by Bob Ellal; Lawrence Tan As cancer rates continue to grow and stress-related illnesses are intensifying, Bob Ellal provides an outstanding example of the human capacity for courage and overcoming crisis. A four-time cancer survivor, inEnergy Warriors he encourages his readers to find inner strength by drawing on something deeper during impossible times. He shares his personal experience that by deploying the ancient Chinese art and science of Qigong to balance body and mind, one is able to make better decisions in meeting challenges. Bob Ellal's story is accompanied by a Qigong manual by co-author Lawrence Tan, a martial arts master, who presents an introduction to Qigong and provides simple and practical exercises to guide the reader toward alleviating cancer and crisis in their own lives.
QiGong Illustrated by Christina Barea Strengthen your body. Strengthen your mind. Each year, millions of people worldwide discover qigong and the incredible healing power of qi. Now, with Qigong Illustrated, you can too. Qigong Illustrated is a step-by-step guide complete with detailed instructions and full-color photo sequences of the most effective movements, exercises, and traditional routines, including Daoist Five, Eight Silk Brocade, and Turning and Winding the Belt Vessel. Centered on the three essential components of qigong (body, mind, and breath), Qigong Illustrated's straightforward, highly visual approach is the quickest and most effective way to experience the physical and mental benefits of each routine, such as improving your posture, strengthening your body, and reducing tension. You will also learn to put together an effective qigong flow and combine routines to address your health and fitness needs. Whether you are completely new to qigong or have practiced for years, Qigong Illustrated will accompany you step by step on the path to better health and self-awareness. This is the exercise guide that you will turn to time and time again.

Tai Chi

Tai Chi--The Perfect Exercise by Arthur Rosenfeld The host of PBS's Longevity Tai Chi and leading Western Tai Chi master Arthur Rosenfeld offers a groundbreaking guide to the myriad mental and physical benefits of this ancient martial art, including easing chronic pain and illness, dealing with stress, and resolving conflicts more easily. Are you looking to develop your mind as well as your body? look no further than tai chi.
The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi by Peter Wayne; Mark L. Fuerst Conventional medical science confirms what Tai Chi masters have known for centuries- regular practice leads to longer life, more vigor and flexibility, better balance and mobility, and a sense of well-being. Cutting-edge research from Harvard Medical School now also supports the long-standing claims that Tai Chi has a beneficial impact on the health of the heart, bones, nerves and muscles, immune system, and the mind. This research also provides insight into the underlying physiological mechanisms that explain how Tai Chi works. Dr. Peter Wayne, a longtime Tai Chi teacher and a researcher at Harvard Medical School, developed the simplified program in this book, similar to protocols that have been scientifically demonstrated to work in a number of clinical trials, and which is suited to people of all ages and can be done in just a few minutes a day. The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi includes- .The basic program, illustrated by 52 halftones of the author .Practical tips for integrating Tai Chi into everyday activities .A readable introduction to the traditional principles of Tai Chi as viewed through the lens of medical science .How Tai Chi can improve work productivity, enhance creativity, and boost sports performance
ChiRunning by Danny Dreyer; Katherine Dreyer The revised edition of the bestselling ChiRunning, a groundbreaking program from ultra-marathoner and nationally-known coach Danny Dreyer, that teaches you how to run faster and farther with less effort, and to prevent and heal injuries for runners of any age or fitness level. In ChiRunning, Danny and Katherine Dreyer, well-known walking and running coaches, provide powerful insight that transforms running from a high-injury sport to a body-friendly, injury-free fitness phenomenon. ChiRunning employs the deep power reserves in the core muscles, an approach found in disciplines such as yoga, Pilates, and T'ai Chi. ChiRunning enables you to develop a personalized exercise program by blending running with the powerful mind-body principles of T'ai Chi: -Get aligned: Develop great posture and reduce your potential for injury while running, and make knee pain and shin splints a thing of the past. -Engage your core: Shift the workload from your leg muscles to your core muscles, for efficiency and speed. -Add relaxation to your running: Learn to focus your mind and relax your body to increase speed and distance. -Make it a Mindful Practice: Maintain high performance and make running a mindful, enjoyable life-long practice. It's easy to learn. Transform your running with the ten-step ChiRunning training program.
Chi Marathon by Danny Dreyer; Katherine Dreyer From the authors of the bestselling Chi Running, a game-changing training guide for injury-free long distance running. In Chi Marathon, Danny Dreyer, creator of the revolutionary ChiRunning program, highly respected running coach, and accomplished distance runner, takes a whole-body approach to long-distance running--much like T'ai Chi--making ease and efficiency of movement the prime goal of one's training. Chi Marathon is the first book to focus not on building stamina first (though that is covered here) but on how to run all those miles without harming your body. A staggering 80 to 90 percent of marathoners face injuries during their training. This book debunks the myth that marathoners need to push through and beyond pain, and presents a technique-based plan for pain- and injury-free, high-performance half and full marathons. Chi Marathon also shows how to improve your performance by developing your own race-specific training plan tailored to your event, and will help you cross the finish line feeling strong no matter your age, body type, or running ability. -Run a marathon or half marathon free of pain and injury -Transform your racing with the training triad: form, conditioning, and mastery -Tap into your chi, an energy source more powerful and enduring than muscles -Teach your mind and body to work together as a team and master your event This is the book that distance runners have been waiting for. With Chi Marathon you can enjoy the run and feel confident no matter the distance.

bird

April 26 is National Go Birding Day

Check out a Beginning Birding Kit from a library near you!

While most of these listings link by default to a print copy, many are available in other formats (eBook and eAudiobook). Don't forget to check the catalog by title or author if you prefer digital!

Sibley's Birding Basics by David Allen Sibley From the renowned author of theNew York Timesbest sellerThe Sibley Guide to Birds,a comprehensive, beautifully illustrated guide to identifying birds in the field. Sibley's Birding Basics is an essential companionfor birders of all skill and experience levels. With Sibley as your guide, learn how to interpret what the feathers, the anatomical structure, the sounds of a bird tell you. When you know the clues that show you why there's no such thing as, for example, "just a duck" birding will be more fun, and more meaningful. An essential addition to the Sibley shelf! The Sibley Guide to BirdsandThe Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behaviorare both universally acclaimed as the new standard source of species information. And now David Sibley, America's premier birder and best-known bird artist, turns his attention to the general characteristics that influence the appearance of all birds, unlocking the clues to their identity. In 200 beautifully rendered illustrations and 16 essays, this scientifically precise volume distills the essence of Sibley's own experience and skills, providing a solid introduction to "naming" the birds.Birding Basicsreviews how one can get started as a birder-the equipment necessary, where and when to go birding, and perhaps most important, the essential things to look for when birds appear in the field-as well as the basic concepts of bird identification and the variations that can change the appearance of a bird over time or in different settings. Sibley also provides critical informationon the aspects of avian life that differ from species to species- feathers (color, arrangement, shape, molt), behavior and habitat, and sounds.
Stan Tekiela's Birding for Beginners: Southwest by Stan Tekiela Find Joy in the Beauty and Wonder of Birds Birding is among the most popular outdoor activities--especially in the Southwest, where hundreds of different bird species can be seen and observed. Now is the perfect time to join the fun and let our feathered friends astonish and inspire you. Award-winning author, naturalist, and wildlife photographer Stan Tekiela has written best-selling bird identification guides for almost every state. In Stan Tekiela's Birding for Beginners: Southwest, he provides the information you need to become a skilled birder in Arizona, southern Nevada, New Mexico, west Oklahoma, west Texas, and Utah. The first section of the book presents "how to" information. Learn the basics of bird feeders. Get to know your birdseed. Create a bird-friendly yard--and even make your own bird food with do-it-yourself recipes. The book's second section is an identification guide, featuring 53 Southwestern birds that are most likely to be seen at your backyard feeder or near your home. The species are organized by color, making it simple to identify what you see. If you spot a yellow bird, go to the yellow section to discover what it is. Each bird gets a full-page photograph with notations about key field marks, or identification characteristics. The full-color photos are paired with information ranging from the bird's nest and eggs to favorite foods, as well as Stan's fascinating naturalist notes. Give birding a try, and get started with the guidance of an expert. You'll be amazed by how much joy birds can bring, and you'll have a lifetime to enjoy them.
All Things Reconsidered by Deepak Chopra Roger Tory Peterson's unique perspective on birding comes to life in these highly personal narratives. Here he relates his adventures during a lifetime of birding and traveling the world to observe and record nature. Though Peterson was widely known for his illustrations, this collection reminds us to reconsider his accomplishments as a photographer, for Peterson was nearly as passionate about photography as he was about painting. The essays and photographs included here were carefully selected by Bill Thompson III, the editor of Bird Watcher's Digest, which ran the column "All Things Reconsidered" during the last twelve years of Peterson's life.
Birding Hot Spots of Central New Mexico by Judy Liddell From pine forest to desert scrub, from alpine meadow to riparian wetland, Albuquerque and its surrounding area in New Mexico offer an appealing variety of wildlife habitat. Birders are likely to see more than two hundred species during a typical year of bird-watching. Now, two experienced birders, Judith Liddell and Barbara Hussey, share their intimate knowledge of the best places to find birds in and around this important region. Covering the Rio Grande corridor, the Sandia and Manzano Mountains, Petroglyph National Monument, and the preserved areas and wetlands south of Albuquerque (including crane and waterfowl haven Bosque del Apache), Birding Hotspots of Central New Mexico offers twenty-nine geographically organized site descriptions, including maps and photographs, trail diagrams, and images of some of the birds and scenery birders will enjoy. Along with a general description of each area, the authors list target birds; explain where and when to look for them; give driving directions; provide information about public transportation, parking, fees, restrooms, food, and lodging; and give tips on availability of water and picnic facilities and on the presence of hazards such as rattlesnakes, bears, and poison ivy. The book includes a "helpful information" section that discusses weather, altitude, safety, transportation, and other local birding resources. The American Birding Association's code of birding ethics appears in the back of the book, along with an annotated checklist of 222 bird species seen with some regularity in and around Albuquerque.  
Of a Feather by Scott Weidensaul From the moment Europeans arrived in North America, they were awestruck by a continent awash with birds--great flocks of wild pigeons, prairies teeming with grouse, woodlands alive with brilliantly colored songbirds. Of a Feather traces the colorful origins of American birding: the frontier ornithologists who collected eggs between border skirmishes; the society matrons who organized the first effective conservation movement; and the luminaries with checkered pasts, such as Alexander Wilson (a convicted blackmailer) and the endlessly self-mythologizing John James Audubon. Scott Weidensaul also recounts the explosive growth of modern birding that began when an awkward schoolteacher named Roger Tory Peterson published A Field Guide to the Birds in 1934. Today birding counts iPod-wearing teens and obsessive "listers" among its tens of millions of participants, making what was once an eccentric hobby into something so completely mainstream it's now (almost) cool. This compulsively readable popular history will surely find a roost on every birder's shelf.
How to Know the Birds by Ted Floyd Become a better birder with brief portraits of 200 top North American birds. This friendly, relatable book is a celebration of the art, science, and delights of bird-watching. How to Know the Birds introduces a new, holistic approach to bird-watching, by noting how behaviors, settings, and seasonal cycles connect with shape, song, color, gender, age distinctions, and other features traditionally used to identify species. With short essays on 200 observable species, expert author Ted Floyd guides us through a year of becoming a better birder, each species representing another useful lesson- from explaining scientific nomenclature to noting how plumage changes with age, from chronicling migration patterns to noting hatchling habits. Dozens of endearing pencil sketches accompany Floyd's charming prose, making this book a unique blend of narrative and field guide. A pleasure for birders of all ages, this witty book promises solid lessons for the beginner and smiles of recognition for the seasoned nature lover.
City Birding by Kenn Kaufman; Mark Allison; Marie. Winn; Ann Zwinger Stories by: Kenn Kaufman, Clay Sutton, Marie Winn, Ann Zwinger, Paul A. Johnsgard, Kim Todd, John Nichols, Judith A. Toups, Mark S. Garland, Paul Kerlinger, Julie Zickefoose, Lawrence Kilham, Curtis Badger, Nikki Weinstein, James Gorman, Michael Harwood, Mary Durant The waterways of New York-New Jersey, the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel-Bridge, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the French Quarter of New Orleans--all unlikely spots for birdwatching. For the careful observer, however, these urban locations and others like them can be settings for memorable birding experiences. In this unique book, some of the country's best-known birders observe birds in places where thriving bird life comes as a surprise. Funny, informative, and thought-provoking, the true stories collected here demonstrate the amazing adaptability of birds, which sometimes seem to thrive in almost any setting humans create: city parks, busy marinas, cemeteries, sewage lagoons. They also illustrate the vulnerability of the natural world in an increasingly man-made environment, and show how the excitement of birdwatching can exist in the most unexpected places.
The Beginner's Guide to Birding by Nate Swick This book isn't for a birder. It's for the huge audience of people who hike, maybe have bird feeders, and generally enjoy nature. With this book, the naturalist will discover an incredible and rewarding new adventure in the beautiful world of birds. The book is packed with easy and fun activities and information about birds, how to find them and their part in the nature around us. The information in this book will not only help you identify and learn more about birds, but you'll have a blast doing it. Nate Swick of the American Birding Association, has compiled chapters upon chapters of interesting, unique and informative birding knowledge, followed by activities that use the skills you learned. So not only will you learn things like what kind of birds you're looking at around the neighborhood, how to decipher different bird calls, and how to bring the birds to your backyard, but you'll complete fun activities like creating a list of the most popular birds in your area, creating a sound map of bird calls, and making a feeder for your backyard.
Better Living Through Birding by Christian Cooper NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Central Park birder Christian Cooper takes us beyond the viral video that shocked a nation and into a world of avian adventures, global excursions, and the unexpected lessons you can learn from a life spent looking up. "Wondrous . . . captivating."--Ed Yong, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of An Immense World Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal Christian Cooper is a self-described "Blerd" (Black nerd), an avid comics fan and expert birder who devotes every spring to gazing upon the migratory birds that stop to rest in Central Park, just a subway ride away from where he lives in New York City. While in the park one morning in May 2020, Cooper was engaged in the birdwatching ritual that had been a part of his life since he was ten years old when what might have been a routine encounter with a dog walker exploded age-old racial tensions. Cooper's viral video of the incident would send shock waves through the nation. In Better Living Through Birding, Cooper tells the story of his extraordinary life leading up to the now-infamous incident in Central Park and shows how a life spent looking up at the birds prepared him, in the most uncanny of ways, to be a gay, Black man in America today. From sharpened senses that work just as well at a protest as in a park to what a bird like the Common Grackle can teach us about self-acceptance, Better Living Through Birding exults in the pleasures of a life lived in pursuit of the natural world and invites you to discover them yourself. Equal parts memoir, travelogue, and primer on the art of birding, this is Cooper's story of learning to claim and defend space for himself and others like him, from his days at Marvel Comics introducing the first gay storylines to vivid and life-changing birding expeditions through Africa, Australia, the Americas, and the Himalayas. Better Living Through Birding recounts Cooper's journey through the wonderful world of birds and what they can teach us about life, if only we would look and listen.
Slow Birding by Joan E. Strassmann A one-of-a-kind guide to birding locally that encourages readers to slow down and notice the spectacular birds all around them. Many birders travel far and wide to popular birding destinations to catch sight of rare or "exotic" birds. In Slow Birding, evolutionary biologist Joan E. Strassmann introduces readers to the joys of birding right where they are. In this inspiring guide to the art of slow birding, Strassmann tells colorful stories of the most common birds to be found in the United States-birds we often see but might not have considered deeply before. For example, northern cardinals thrive in the city, where they are free from predators. White brows on a male white-throated sparrow indicate that he is likely to be a philanderer. This essential guide to the fascinating world of common, everyday birds features- detailed portraits of individual bird species and the scientists who have discovered and observed themadvice and guidance on what to look for when slow birding, so that you can uncover clues to the reasons behind specific bird behaviorsbird-focused activities that will open your eyes more to the fascinating world of birds Slow Birding is the perfect guide for the birder looking to appreciate the beauty of the birds right in their own backyard, observing keenly how their behaviors change from day to day and season to season.
Birding Without Borders by Noah Strycker Traveling to 41 countries in 2015 with a backpack and binoculars, Noah Strycker became the first person to see more than half the world's 10,000 species of birds in one year. In 2015, Noah Strycker set himself a lofty goal: to become the first person to see half the world's birds in one year. For 365 days, with a backpack, binoculars, and a series of one-way tickets, he traveled across forty-one countries and all seven continents, eventually spotting 6,042 species--by far the biggest birding year on record. This is no travelogue or glorified checklist. Noah ventures deep into a world of blood-sucking leeches, chronic sleep deprivation, airline snafus, breakdowns, mudslides, floods, war zones, ecologic devastation, conservation triumphs, common and iconic species, and scores of passionate bird lovers around the globe. By pursuing the freest creatures on the planet, Noah gains a unique perspective on the world they share with us--and offers a hopeful message that even as many birds face anuncertain future, more people than ever are working to protect them.  
Lost among the Birds by Neil Hayward Early in 2013 Neil Hayward was at a crossroads. He didn't want to open a bakery or whatever else executives do when they quit a lucrative but unfulfilling job. He didn't want to think about his failed relationship with "the one" or his potential for ruining a new relationship with "the next one." And he almost certainly didn't want to think about turning forty. And so instead he went birding.Birding was a lifelong passion. It was only among the birds that Neil found a calm that had eluded him in the confusing world of humans. But this time he also found competition. His growing list of species reluctantly catapulted him into a Big Year--a race to find the most birds in one year. His peregrinations across twenty-eight states and six provinces in search of exotic species took him to a hoarfrost-covered forest in Massachusetts to find a Fieldfare; to Lake Havasu, Arizona, to see a rare Nutting's Flycatcher; and to Vancouver for the Red-flanked Bluetail. Neil's Big Year was as unplanned as it was accidental: It was the perfect distraction to life.Neil shocked the birding world by finding 749 species of bird and breaking the long-standing Big Year record. He also surprised himself: During his time among the hummingbirds, tanagers, and boobies, he found a renewed sense of confidence and hope about the world and his place in it.
Sparrow Envy by J. Drew Lanham "You are a rare bird, easy to see but invisible just the same." That thought is close at hand in Sparrow Envy: Field Guide to Birds and Lesser Beasts, as renowned naturalist and writer J. Drew Lanham explores his obsession with birds and all things wild in a mixture of poetry and prose. He questions vital assumptions taken for granted by so many birdwatchers: can birding be an escape if the birder is not in a safe place? Who is watching him as he watches birds? With a refreshing balance of reverence and candor, Lanham paints a unique portrait of the natural world: listening to cicadas, tracking sandpipers, towhees, wrens, and cataloging fellow birdwatchers at a conference where he is one of two black birders. The resulting insights are as honest as they are illuminating.
A Siege of Bitterns by Steve Burrows Newly appointed police inspector Domenic Jejeune doesn't mind ruffling a few feathers to flush out suspects in the brutal murder of a renowned ecological activist.2015 Arthur Ellis Award -- Winner, Best First Novel * Globe and Mail 100: Best Books of 2014 * 2015 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize -- Shortlisted, Best MysteryInspector Domenic Jejeune's success has made him a poster boy for the U.K. police service. The problem is Jejeune doesn't really want to be a detective at all; he much prefers watching birds.Recently reassigned to the small Norfolk town of Saltmarsh, located in the heart of Britain's premier birding country, Jejeune's two worlds collide when he investigates the grisly murder of a prominent ecological activist. His ambitious police superintendent foresees a blaze of welcome publicity, but she begins to have her doubts when Jejeune's most promising theory involves a feud over birdwatching lists. A second murder only complicates matters.To unravel this mystery, Jejeune must deal with unwelcome public acclaim, the mistrust of colleagues, and his own insecurities. In the case of the Saltmarsh birder murders, the victims may not be the only casualties.
Call Number: Adult Fiction
The Singing Life of Birds by Donald Kroodsma Listen to birds sing as you’ve never listened before, as the world-renowned birdsong expert Donald Kroodsma takes you on personal journeys of discovery and intrigue. Read stories of wrens and robins, thrushes and thrashers, warblers and whip-poor-wills, bluebirds and cardinals, and many more bird. Learn how each acquires its songs, how songs vary from bird to bird and place to place, how some birds' singing is especially beautiful or ceaseless or complex, how some do not sing at all, how the often quiet female has the last word, and why. Hear a baby wren and the author’s own daughter babble as each learns its local dialect. Listen to the mockingbird by night and by day and count how many different songs he can sing. Marvel at the exquisite harmony in the duet of a wood thrush as he uses his two voice boxes to accompany himself. Feel the extraordinary energy in the songs just before sunrise as dawn’s first light sweeps across this singing planet. Hear firsthand the unmistakable evidence that there are not one but two species of marsh wrens and two species of winter wrens in North America. Learn not only to hear but to see birds sing in the form of sonagrams, as these visual images dance across the pages while you listen to the accompanying CD. Using your trained ears and eyes, you can begin your own journeys of discovery. Listen anew to birds in your backyard and beyond, exploring the singing minds of birds as they tell all that they know. Join Kroodsma not only in identifying but in identifying with singing birds, connecting with nature’s musicians in a whole new way.
Birds Art Life by Kyo Maclear A writer's search for inspiration, beauty, and solace leads her to birds in this intimate and exuberant meditation on creativity and life--a field guide to things small and significant. When it comes to birds, Kyo Maclear isn't seeking the exotic. Rather she discovers joy in the seasonal birds that find their way into view in city parks and harbors, along eaves and on wires. In a world that values big and fast, Maclear looks to the small, the steady, the slow accumulations of knowledge, and the lulls that leave room for contemplation. A distilled, crystal-like companion to H is for Hawk, Birds Art Life celebrates the particular madness of chasing after birds in the urban environment and explores what happens when the core lessons of birding are applied to other aspects of art and life. Moving with ease between the granular and the grand, peering into the inner landscape as much as the outer one, this is a deeply personal year-long inquiry into big themes: love, waiting, regrets, endings. If Birds Art Life was sprung from Maclear's sense of disconnection, her passions faltering under the strain of daily existence, this book is ultimately about the value of reconnection--and how the act of seeking engagement and beauty in small ways can lead us to discover our most satisfying and meaningful lives.
A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching by Rosemary Mosco Part field guide, part history, part ornithology primer, and altogether fun. Fact: Pigeons are amazing, and until recently, humans adored them. We've kept them as pets, held pigeon beauty contests, raced them, used them to carry messages over battlefields, harvested their poop to fertilize our crops--and cooked them in gourmet dishes. Now, with The Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching, readers can rediscover the wonder. Equal parts illustrated field guide and quirky history, it covers behavior: Why they coo; how they flock; how they preen, kiss, and mate (monogamously); and how they raise their young (on chunky pigeon milk). Anatomy and identification, from Birmingham Roller to the American Giant Runt to the Scandaroon. Birder issues, like what to do if you find a baby pigeon stranded in the park. And our lively shared story together, including all the things we've taught them--Ping-Pong, for example. "Rats with wings?" Think again. Pigeons coo, peck and nest all over the world, yet most of us treat them with indifference or disdain. So Rosemary Mosco, a bird-lover, science communicator, writer, and cartoonist (and co-author of The Atlas Obscura Explorer's Guide for the World's Most Adventurous Kid) is here to give the pigeon's image a makeover, and to help every town- and city-dweller get closer to nature by discovering the joys of birding through pigeon-watching.  
National Geographic Backyard Guide to the Birds of North America by Jonathan Alderfer; Paul Hess Essential for the millions of Americans who watch and feed birds in their backyards--whether experienced birders or new birding enthusiasts--from the experts at National Geographic and co-author of the popular and perennial best seller Field Guide to the Birds of North America. No matter where you live--in the country, city, a high-rise or house--this handy guide will quench your curiosity about the feathered creatures in your midst. It features 150 of the most common and interesting birds likely to be observed at backyard feeders, nesting nearby or just migrating through. An indispensable visual index of all 150 species appears on the inside front and back laminated covers, making identification a snap. Beginning with Backyard Basics, an easy-to-follow, richly illustrated presentation on observing and identifying birds--with tips on attracting and feeding your favorite birds, birdhouses, and bird-friendly landscapes to entice nesting--the book is full of National Geographic's iconic field guide images and maps. Core species on everyone's list--such as robins, woodpeckers, bluebirds and chickadees--are featured in two-page spreads including practical tips with additional imagery. Sidebars captivate with interesting and little known facts.
Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder by Julia Zarankin When Julia Zarankin saw her first red-winged blackbird at the age of thirty-five, she didn't expect that it would change her life. Recently divorced and auditioning hobbies during a stressful career transition, she stumbled on birdwatching, initially out of curiosity for the strange breed of humans who wear multi-pocketed vests, carry spotting scopes and discuss the finer points of optics with disturbing fervour. What she never could have predicted was that she would become one of them. Not only would she come to identify proudly as a birder, but birding would ultimately lead her to find love, uncover a new language and lay down her roots. Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder tells the story of finding meaning in midlife through birds. The book follows the peregrinations of a narrator who learns more from birds than she ever anticipated, as she begins to realize that she herself is a migratory species: born in the former Soviet Union, growing up in Vancouver and Toronto, studying and working in the United States and living in Paris. Coming from a Russian immigrant family of concert pianists who believed that the outdoors were for "other people," Julia Zarankin recounts the challenges and joys of unexpectedly discovering one's wild side and finding one's tribe in the unlikeliest of places. Zarankin's thoughtful and witty anecdotes illuminate the joyful experience of a new discovery and the surprising pleasure to be found while standing still on the edge of a lake at six a.m. In addition to confirmed nature enthusiasts, this book will appeal to readers of literary memoir, offering keen insight on what it takes to find one's place in the world.
Listening to a Continent Sing by Donald Kroodsma A birdsong expert's poignant and beautifully illustrated memoir of a bicycle journey across America with his son Join birdsong expert Donald Kroodsma on a ten-week, ten-state bicycle journey as he travels with his son from the Atlantic to the Pacific, lingering and listening to our continent sing as no one has before. On remote country roads, over terrain vast and spectacular, from dawn to dusk and sometimes through the night, you will gain a deep appreciation for the natural symphony of birdsong many of us take for granted. Come along and marvel at how expressive these creatures are as Kroodsma leads you west across nearly five thousand miles--at a leisurely pace that enables a deep listen. Listening to a Continent Sing is also a guided tour through the history of a young nation and the geology of an ancient landscape, and an invitation to set aside the bustle of everyday life to follow one's dreams. It is a celebration of flowers and trees, rocks and rivers, mountains and prairies, clouds and sky, headwinds and calm, and of local voices and the people you will meet along the way. It is also the story of a father and son deepening their bond as they travel the slow road together from coast to coast. Beautifully illustrated throughout with drawings of birds and scenes and featuring QR codes that link to audio birdsong, this poignant and insightful book takes you on a travel adventure unlike any other--accompanied on every leg of your journey by birdsong.
The World of Birds by Jonathan Elphick The ultimate illustrated, authoritative reference to the avian world. Written by a highly regarded ornithologist and natural history expert and sumptuously illustrated throughout with photographs and illustrations, The World of Birds is a comprehensive and authoritative guide to every aspect of bird life and a concise survey of the world's orders and families. Jonathan Elphick begins by defining the distinguishing features of birds before going on to describe their evolution since the age of the dinosaurs. With the aid of fact boxes and clear photographs, he then explores in greater detail each of the significant elements of bird life. Topics include: bird biology including anatomy, walking and swimming, plumage, calls and songs flight techniques and styles food and feeding bird lifestyles and social relationships breeding, growth and development bird geography and habitats the mysteries of migration. He also considers human attitudes towards birds through the ages. The book contains a comprehensive survey of the world's birds (including extinct species), detailing every one of the 29 orders and each of the approximately 200 families. Reflecting the latest classification changes to the Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World, it explains how birds are classified and provides an outline of the system of classification. With special photography from award-winning wildlife photographer David Tipling, this book is a unique insight into the world of birds and essential reading for all ornithologists, bird watchers and natural history enthusiasts.
Conversations with Birds by Priyanka Kumar A 2023 Firecracker Award Finalist An Apple November 2022 Best Book of the Month "Birds are my almanac. They tune me into the seasons, and into myself." So begins this lively collection of essays by acclaimed filmmaker and novelist Priyanka Kumar. Growing up at the feet of the Himalayas in northern India, Kumar took for granted her immersion in a lush natural world. After moving to North America as a teenager, she found herself increasingly distanced from more than human life and discouraged by the civilization she saw contributing to its destruction. It was only in her twenties, living in Los Angeles and working on films, that she began to rediscover her place in the landscape--and in the cosmos--by way of watching birds. Tracing her movements across the American West, this stirring collection of essays brings the avian world richly to life. Kumar's perspective is not that of a list keeper, counting and cataloguing species. Rather, from the mango-colored western tanager that rescues her from a bout of altitude sickness in Sequoia National Park to ancient sandhill cranes in the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, and from the snowy plovers building shallow nests with bits of shell and grass to the white-breasted nuthatch that regularly visits the apricot tree behind her family's casita in Santa Fe, for Kumar, birds "become a portal to a more vivid, enchanted world." At a time when climate change, habitat loss, and the reckless use of pesticides are causing widespread extinction of species, Kumar's reflections on these messengers from our distant past and harbingers of our future offer luminous evidence of her suggestion that "seeds of transformation lie dormant in all of our hearts. Sometimes it just takes the right bird to awaken us."
Atlas of Rare Birds by Dominic Couzens Captivating stories of the very rare--birds not seen for centuries, birds brought back from the brink of extinction--illustrated with color photographs and maps. This book offers a guide to some of the rarest birds in existence, with maps that show where to find them. Focusing on fifty captivating stories of the very rare, it describes remarkable discoveries of species not seen for centuries and brought back from the brink of extinction, successes like the Seychelles Magpie-Robin and the California Condor. The book is organized around key groups of species, with each species the subject of its own mini-chapter; we learn about the five most amazing tales of island endemics, the five most bizarre cases of a bird's becoming threatened, and other astonishing tales of bird life. Atlas of Rare Birds is an accessible, readable, and visually appealing take on the serious subject of threatened birds and possible extinction--a timely topic because of increasing concerns about climate change and habitat destruction. The atlas format--featuring 200 color photographs and 61 color maps--shows the global nature of the problem and brings together the many strands of the concerted bird conservation effort taking place on every continent. Atlas of Rare Birds is published in association with BirdLife International, the world's largest global alliance of bird conservation organizations.
The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman "Lovely, celebratory. For all the belittling of 'bird brains,' [Ackerman] shows them to be uniquely impressive machines . . ." --New York Times Book Review  "A lyrical testimony to the wonders of avian intelligence." --Scientific American An award-winning science writer tours the globe to reveal what makes birds capable of such extraordinary feats of mental prowess   Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. According to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. In The Genius of Birds, acclaimed author Jennifer Ackerman explores their newly discovered brilliance and how it came about. As she travels around the world to the most cutting-edge frontiers of research, Ackerman not only tells the story of the recently uncovered genius of birds but also delves deeply into the latest findings about the bird brain itself that are shifting our view of what it means to be intelligent. At once personal yet scientific, richly informative and beautifully written, The Genius of Birds celebrates the triumphs of these surprising and fiercely intelligent creatures. Ackerman is also the author of Birds by the Shore: Observing the Natural Life of the Atlantic Coast. 
Birds of the Photo Ark by Noah Strycker For avian enthusiasts, from armchair observers to dedicated life-listers, this brilliant book from acclaimed National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore celebrates the beauty of all birds, great and small. This elegantly packaged celebration of birds from around the world unites incredible animal portraits from Joel Sartore's distinguished National Geographic Photo Ark project with inspiring text by up-and-coming birder Noah Strycker. It includes hundreds of species, from tiny finches to charismatic eagles; brilliant toucans, intricate birds of paradise, and perennial favorites such as parrots, hummingbirds, and owls also make colorful appearances. Everyone who cares about birds--from the family with a bird feeder outside the kitchen window to the serious birder with a life list of thousands--will flock to this distinctive and uplifting book.
Birds of Prey of the West by Brian K. Wheeler Birds of Prey of the West and its companion volume, Birds of Prey of the East, are the most comprehensive and authoritative field guides to North American birds of prey ever published. Written and lavishly illustrated with stunning, lifelike paintings by leading field-guide illustrator, photographer, and author Brian Wheeler, the guides depict an enormous range of variations of age, sex, color, and plumage, and feature a significant amount of plumage data that has never been published before. The painted figures illustrate plumage and species comparisons in a classic field-guide layout. Each species is shown in the same posture and from the same viewpoint, which further assists comparisons. Facing-page text includes quick-reference identification points and brief natural history accounts that incorporate the latest information. The range maps are exceptionally accurate and much larger than those in other guides. They plot the most up-to-date distribution information for each species and include the location of cities for more accurate reference. Finally, the guides feature color habitat photographs next to the maps. The result sets a new standard for guides to North America's birds of prey. Lavishly illustrated with stunning, lifelike paintings Written and illustrated by a leading authority on North American birds of prey Depicts more plumages than any other guide Concise facing-page text includes quick-reference identification points Classic field-guide layout makes comparing species easy Large, accurate range maps include up-to-date distribution information Unique color habitat photographs next to the maps
National Wildlife Federation®: Attracting Birds, Butterflies, and Other Backyard Wildlife, Expanded Second Edition by David Mizejewski From renowned National Wildlife Federation naturalist and TV host David Mizejewski comes a new book to show you how to create a magical ecosystem right in your backyard! Invite beautiful songbirds, colorful butterflies, buzzing bees and other fascinating wildlife by nurturing a wildlife habitat garden. With more than 200 high-quality photographs, lists of the best native plants to support wildlife and 17 gardening projects the whole family can enjoy, from building bird houses to creating garden ponds, Attracting Birds, Butterflies, and Other Backyard Wildlife, Expanded Second Edition is a must-have resource for nature enthusiasts, gardeners, and animal lovers.

bat

International Bat Appreciation Day

April 17

While most of these listings link by default to a print copy, many are available in other formats (eBook and eAudiobook). Don't forget to check the catalog by title or author if you prefer digital!

Bat House Builder's Handbook by Merlin D. Tuttle; Donna L. Hensley The definitive source for bat house information. Based on research conducted by BCI, it contains the results from the first-of-its-kind study on bat house occupancy. Includes plans, mounting suggestions, tips for experimentation, research findings, frequently asked bat house questions, and information about bats most likely to use bat houses.
Bats by Tony Hutson With nearly 1,000 species worldwide, bats constitute one of the largest groups of mammals. They are also the world's only truly flying mammals and can form colossal aggregations. Yet despite their vast numbers and a wide distribution between the Arctic Circle and the tip of South America, we have only recently begun to understand much about their lives and their remarkable mastery of the night skies. This intriguing study contains a fascinating collection of photographs gathered from around the world. Its text conveys all the latest research about the lifecycles, conservation, and extraordinary qualities of these too often misunderstood creatures.
Bats by M. Brock Fenton; Nancy B. Simmons There are more than 1,300 species of bats--or almost a quarter of the world's mammal species. But before you shrink in fear from these furry "creatures of the night," consider the bat's fundamental role in our ecosystem. A single brown bat can eat several thousand insects in a night. Bats also pollinate and disperse the seeds for many of the plants we love, from bananas to mangoes and figs.             Bats: A World of Science and Mystery presents these fascinating nocturnal creatures in a new light. Lush, full-color photographs portray bats in flight, feeding, and mating in views that show them in exceptional detail. The photos also take the reader into the roosts of bats, from caves and mines to the tents some bats build out of leaves. A comprehensive guide to what scientists know about the world of bats, the book begins with a look at bats' origins and evolution. The book goes on to address a host of questions related to flight, diet, habitat, reproduction, and social structure: Why do some bats live alone and others in large colonies? When do bats reproduce and care for their young? How has the ability to fly--unique among mammals--influenced bats' mating behavior? A chapter on biosonar, or echolocation, takes readers through the system of high-pitched calls bats emit to navigate and catch prey. More than half of the world's bat species are either in decline or already considered endangered, and the book concludes with suggestions for what we can do to protect these species for future generations to benefit from and enjoy. From the tiny "bumblebee bat"--the world's smallest mammal--to the Giant Golden-Crowned Flying Fox, whose wingspan exceeds five feet, A Battery of Bats presents a panoramic view of one of the world's most fascinating yet least-understood species.
Bats of the World by Gary L. Graham; Fiona A. Reid (Illustrator) Bats are some of the most intriguing-and ecologically important-animals on earth. In this handsomely illustrated guide, you will learn about: - The natural history and evolution of bats - Important identifying features - Habitats, migration patterns, and common mating practices - The status of various endangered bat species Perfect for both experienced and novice bat watchers, Bats of the World is an invaluable resource for understanding the significance of bats in our world.
Bats of the Rocky Mountain West by Rick A. Adams; Wendy Smith (Illustrator) The book begins with a general discussion of bat biology and evolution as well as regional physiography and zoogeography. In addition, Adams describes -- based on the results of extensive research -- the behaviour and ecology of the 31 species of bats found in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Naturalists and biologists alike will benefit from the detailed species descriptions, colour photographs and illustrations, distribution maps, and echolocation sonograms. A unique and valuable reference for professional bat biologists, naturalists, and wildlife enthusiasts interested in the conservation and ecology of bats in the region.
The Secret Lives of Bats by Merlin Tuttle A lifetime of adventures with bats around the world reveals why these special and imperiled creatures should be protected rather than feared. From menacing moonshiners and armed bandits to charging elephants and man-eating tigers, Merlin Tuttle has stopped at nothing to find and protect bats on every continent they inhabit. Enamored of bats ever since discovering a colony in a cave as a boy, Tuttle saw how effective photography could be in persuading people not to fear bats, and he has spent his career traveling the world to document them. Few people realize how sophisticated and intelligent bats are. Tuttle shares research showing that frog-eating bats can identify frogs by their calls, that vampire bats have a social order similar to that of primates, and that bats have remarkable memories. Bats also provide enormous benefits by eating crop pests, pollinating plants, and carrying seeds needed for reforestation. They save farmers billions of dollars annually and are essential to a healthy planet. Sharing highlights from a lifetime of adventure and discovery, Tuttle takes us to the frontiers of bat research and conservation and forever changes the way we see these poorly understood yet fascinating creatures.
Owls Aren't Wise and Bats Aren't Blind by Warner Shedd Did you know that "flying" squirrels are incapable of true flight? Were you aware that opossums don't "play dead," as in the common folk saying "playing possum"? In this fascinating and gorgeously illustrated new book, wildlife expert and enthusiast Warner Shedd, former executive for the National Wildlife Federation, uncovers the scientific realities obscured by our numerous long-held misconceptions of wild animals. Setting the most tenacious of these age-old superstitions against evidence that he and other biologists and naturalists have gleaned from careful observation and investigation, Shedd refutes such popular myths as beavers can fell trees in a desired direction, gray squirrels remember where they bury nuts, wolves howl at the moon, and cougars are an endangered species. In addition to dispelling misinformation, Owls Aren't Wise & Bats Aren't Blind presents some fascinating facts about the animals that many of us encounter in our own backyards or walking across the road as we drive in our cars. For instance, did you know that a porcupine is actually a large rodent, and that its protective quills are really specialized hairs numbering about 30,000 per animal? That means that a typical porcupine has about 140 quills per square inch! Shedd also uses humorous anecdotes to show us how funny (and educational) it can be when animals themselves defy our mistaken beliefs about them. Casting new light on the old tenet that ravens can be taught to mimic the human voice, Warner Shedd tells of a scientist who spent six years teaching a raven to cry "nevermore," after the haunting raven in the famous Edgar Allan Poe poem. Shedd further explains that recent research indicates that ravens only mimic if they have the desire to do so. Owls Aren't Wise & Bats Aren't Blind covers more than thirty North American species--some as familiar as the common toad, others as elusive as the lynx. And Shedd captivates the reader as only an experienced naturalist could, with detailed, accurate information on such varied wildlife as muskrats, herons, brown bears, crows, armadillos, and coyotes--to name only a few. Owls Aren't Wise & Bats Aren't Blind grew out of Warner Shedd's desire to share biologically sound information and counter erroneous folklore about wild animals. By arming his readers with knowledge, Shedd hopes to promote a more informed and respectful view of many North American wildlife species and ultimately encourage the scientific management and conservation of all our native wildlife.
The Sun and the Moon by Matthew Goodman The Sun and the Moon tells the delightful, entertaining, and surprisingly true story of how in the summer of 1835 a series of articles in the Sun , the first of the city’s "penny papers,” convinced the citizens of New York that the moon was inhabited. Six articles, purporting to reveal the lunar discoveries made by a world-famous British astronomer, described the life found on the moon--including unicorns, beavers that walked upright, and, strangest of all, four-foot-tall flying man-bats. The series quickly became the most widely circulated newspaper story of the era. And the Sun , a brash working-class upstart less than two years old, had become the most widely read newspaper in the world. Told in richly novelistic detail, The Sun and the Moon brings the raucous world of 1830s New York City vividly to life--the noise, the excitement, the sense that almost anything was possible. The book overflows with larger-than-life characters, including Richard Adams Locke, author of the moon series (who never intended it to be a hoax at all); a fledgling showman named P.T. Barnum, who had just brought his own hoax to New York; and the young writer Edgar Allan Poe, who was convinced that the moon series was a plagiarism of his own work. An exhilarating narrative history of a city on the cusp of greatness and a nation newly united by affordable newspapers, The Sun and the Moon may just be the strangest true story you’ve ever read.
The Pollinator Victory Garden: How to Attract and Support Bees, Beetles, Butterflies, Bats, and Other Pollinators by Kim Eierman You can create a beautiful landscape that attracts and supports many different species of pollinators.
Wildlife Watching in America's National Parks by Gary W. Vequist; Daniel S. Licht From the Great Smoky Mountains to Point Reyes National Seashore, America's national parks are home to some of nature's great wildlife spectacles. Here, Gary W. Vequist and Daniel S. Licht, two veterans of the National Park Service, focus on twelve animals that have been imperiled and at risk, but are now protected within the National Park System. Showcasing one species for each month of the year, including gray wolf, black bear, prairie dog, sea turtle, bison, bats, salmon, elk, beaver, American alligator, gray whale, and bald eagle, Vequist and Licht pair each premier species with a featured park, adding information about other parks where the species may also be readily seen and identifying other animals to look for in the same habitat--animals that prey, are preyed upon, or exist side by side with the focal species. Beyond being a guide to observing these remarkable animals, Wildlife Watching in America's National Parks, as the title implies, is also a book about America's national parks. Reminding Americans why national parks are truly our "best idea" and encouraging readers to go find out why, these career wildlife specialists stress that it is "impossible to fathom America without these animals and without the parks in which they reside." Nature lovers, travelers, and outdoor hobbyists of all types will be enthralled by this inside view of America's wildlife and the breathtaking photographs of places they inhabit. List of Wildlife and Parks Featured: Yellowstone National Park: Gray Wolf Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Black Bear Badlands National Park: Prairie Dog Dry Tortugas National Park: Sea Turtle Theodore Roosevelt National Park: Plains Bison Carlsbad Caverns National Park: Bats Olympic National Park: Pacific Salmon Buffalo National River: Rocky Mountain Elk Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Beaver Everglades National Park: American Alligator Point Reyes National Seashore: Gray Whale
New Mexico Book of the Undead: by Ray John de Aragon New Mexico is a land of shadow and mystery. From the old coal mines near Raton and the isolation of Isleta Pueblo to the peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and beyond, ghouls and spirits lie in wait. Witches transform into vampire bats, werewolves howl and the undead rise with the light of the moon. La Llorona walks the banks of rivers and roads, her legendary and mournful cries terrifying any who cross her path. They are stories passed down by the fearless Comancheros, devoted Franciscan monks, fierce ciboleros and others to the present day as warnings of the evil in the world. In a captivating exploration of New Mexico's most fearful tales, Ray John de Aragon recounts stories from the state's rich and spine-chilling cultural folklore.
Nocturne by Traer Scott Whether fierce, cuddly, startling, mysterious, or some indefinable combination of all of the above, nocturnal animals never fail to fascinate. In Nocturne: Creatures of the Night, celebrated animal photographer Traer Scott takes the viewer on a journey through nighttime in the animal kingdom, revealing some of nature's most elusive creatures. Bats, big cats, flying squirrels, tarantula, owls, kangaroo mice, giant moths, sloth, several species of snakes, and a Madagascar hissing cockroach are only a few of the animals illuminated in these lushly detailed portraits. Seventy-five full-color photographs of forty different species are accompanied by informed but accessible descriptions of each animal's habits and habitats, and an introduction provides personal insight into how Scott captures her astonishing images. Nocturne is a compelling view of the rarely seen darkness dwellers who populate the night.
Wildlife Heroes by Julie Scardina; Jeff Flocken With one-third of known species being threatened with extinction, wildlife conservationists are some of the most important heroes on the planet, and Wildlife Heroes profiles the work of 40 of the leading conservationists and the animals and causes they are committed to saving, such as Belinda Low (zebras), Iain Douglas-Hamilton (elephants), Karen Eckert (sea turtles), S.T. Wong (sun bear), Steve Galster (wildlife trade), and Wangari Maathai (habitat loss). Since we all should have an interest in conservation, there is a chapter providing information on ways people can get involved and make a difference. Chapter introductions are by author Kuki Gallmann, actor Ted Danson, actress Stefanie Powers, Congressman Jay Inslee, and TV personality Jack Hanna.
The Darkness Manifesto by Johan Eklöf; Elizabeth DeNoma (Translator) Named a Best Book of 2023 by Scientific American This timely and captivating look at the hidden impact of light pollution is "rich in revelation and insight...lyrical" (The Wall Street Journal) and urges us to cherish natural darkness for the sake of the environment, our own well-being, and all life on earth. How much light is too much light? Satellite pictures show our planet as a brightly glowing orb, and in our era of constant illumination, light pollution has become a major issue. The world's flora and fauna have evolved to operate in the natural cycle of day and night. But in the last 150 years, we have extended our day--and in doing so have forced out the inhabitants of the night and disrupted the circadian rhythms necessary to sustain all living things, including ourselves. In this "well-researched and surprisingly lyrical" (The New Statesman, UK) book, Swedish conservationist Johan Eklöf urges us to appreciate natural darkness, its creatures, and its unique benefits. He ponders the beauties of the night sky, traces the errant paths of light-drunk moths and the swift dives of keen-eyed owls, and shows us the bioluminescent creatures of the deepest oceans. As a devoted friend of the night, Eklöf reveals the startling domino effect of diminishing darkness: insects, dumbfounded by streetlamps, failing to reproduce; birds blinded and bewildered by artificial lights; and bats starving as they wait in vain for insects that only come out in the dark. For humans, light-induced sleep disturbances impact our hormones and weight, and can contribute to mental health problems like chronic stress and depression. The streetlamps, floodlights, and neon signs of cities are altering entire ecosystems, and scientists are only just beginning to understand their long-term effects. The light bulb--long the symbol of progress and development--needs to be turned off. "Urgent...vivid...eye-opening" (Publishers Weekly), and ultimately encouraging, The Darkness Manifesto outlines simple steps that we can take to benefit ourselves and the planet. In order to ensure a bright future, we must embrace the darkness.
Nature Anatomy by Julia Rothman See the world in a whole new way! Acclaimed illustrator Julia Rothman combines art and science in this exciting and educational guide to the structure, function, and personality of the natural world. Explore the anatomy of a jellyfish, the inside of a volcano, monarch butterfly migration, how sunsets work, and much more. Rothman's whimsical illustrations are paired with interactive activities that encourage curiosity and inspire you to look more closely at the world all around you. Nature Anatomy is the second book in Rothman's Anatomy series - you'll love Nature Anatomy Notebook, Ocean Anatomy, Food Anatomy, and Farm Anatomy, too!
Call Number: eBook
House Guests, House Pests by Richard Jones Today we live in snug, well-furnished houses surrounded by the trappings of a civilised life. But we are not alone - we suffer a constant stream of unwanted visitors. Our houses, our food, our belongings, our very existence are under constant attack from a host of invaders eager to take advantage of our shelter, our food stores and our tasty soft furnishings.From bats in the belfry to beetles in the cellar, moths in the wardrobe and mosquitoes in the bedroom, humans cannot escape the attentions of the animal kingdom. Nature may be red in tooth and claw, but when it's our blood the bedbugs are after, when it's our cereal bowl that's littered with mouse droppings, and when it's our favourite chair that collapses due to woodworm in the legs, it really brings it home the fact that we and our homes are part of nature too.This book represents a 21st century version of the classic Mediaeval bestiary. It poses questions such as where these animals came from, can we live with them, can we get rid of them, and should we? Written in Richard Jones's engaging style and with a funky-retro design, House Guests, House Pests will be a book to treasure.
Vampiro by David E. Brown Zoologist David Brown has sifted through the mythology of the vampyre to present a picture of the vampire bat in true-life form. For both bat-specialists and non-biologists alike.
Bat Biology and Conservation by Thomas H. Kunz (Editor); Paul A. Racey (Editor) Accounting for nearly a quarter of living mammal species, bats are the focus of large-scale research efforts in almost every field of biology and have become increasingly recognized for their importance to discussions of vertebrate biodiversity and conservation. The past three decades have seen enormous strides in the field of chiropteran biology, largely due to advances in technology, observational techniques, and analytical methods. Presenting the most recent research and synthetic reviews of more than thirty-five of the world's leading authorities on bats, Bat Biology and Conservation discusses bat phylogeny and evolution, functional morphology, echolocation, and conservation biology. Several contributors focus on long-standing problems in bat systematics and illustrate the value of well-substantiated phylogenetic hypotheses for understanding diverse biological patterns. Others emphasize the importance of investigating both form and function and consider how morphological and ecological constraints influence flight, mastication, and the sensory systems used in echolocation. Still others consider the conservation status of bats in every part of the world and discuss the protection of both roosting and foraging habitats. As the loss of natural habitats and their species continues unabated, this book documents efforts to investigate bats in both tropical and temperate ecosystems. It is an essential reference not only for bat scientists but also for conservation biologists and those working with other mammalian groups.

columnist

National Columnists' Day

April 18

This day is also Ernie Pyle Remembrance Day. Honor the Pulitzer Prize winning war correspondent's memory with a special tour of his house!

While most of these listings link by default to a print copy, many are available in other formats (eBook and eAudiobook). Don't forget to check the catalog by title or author if you prefer digital!

Ernie's America: The Best of Ernie Pyle's 1930's Travel Dispatches by David Nichols (editor) A companion volume to the highly popular Ernie's War, here is a delightful collection of newspaper columns written during the famed journalist's travels through America from 1935 to 1942.
The Right Call by Sally Jenkins An NPR best book of the year * New York Times bestseller The Washington Post sportswriter and New York Times bestselling author of the "fascinating" (The Wall Street Journal) The Real All Americans presents a love letter to the extraordinary coaches and athletes she has covered over the years and the actionable principles of excellence they embody. Sportswriter Sally Jenkins has spent her entire adult life observing and writing about great coaches and athletes. With her engaging and expert prose, she has helped shape the way we view these talented sports icons. But somewhere along the line, she realized, they had begun to shape her. Now, she presents the astonishing inner qualities in these same people that pushed them to overcome pressure, elevate their performances, and discover champion identities. Based on years of observing, interviewing, and analyzing elite coaches and playmakers, such as Bill Belichick, Peyton Manning, Michael Phelps, and more, Jenkins reveals the seven principles behind success: -Conditioning -Practice -Discipline -Candor -Culture -Resilience -Intention Discover how you can apply these same principles to your life and become your own champion. Colorful, inspirational, and accessible, The Right Call is the one stop shop for anyone wanting to learn how to effectively elevate themselves to greatness.
Opinions by Roxane Gay From beloved and bestselling author Roxane Gay, "a strikingly fresh cultural critic" (Washington Post) comes an exhilarating collection of her essays on culture, politics, and everything in between. Since the publication of the groundbreaking Bad Feminist and Hunger, Roxane Gay has continued to tackle big issues embroiling society--state-sponsored violence and mass shootings, women's rights post-Dobbs, online disinformation, and the limits of empathy--alongside more individually personalized matters: can I tell my co-worker her perfume makes me sneeze? Is it acceptable to schedule a daily 8 am meeting? In her role as a New York Times opinion section contributor and the publication's "Work Friend" columnist, she reaches millions of readers with her wise voice and sharp insights. Opinions is a collection of Roxane Gay's best nonfiction pieces from the past ten years. Covering a wide range of topics--politics, feminism, the culture wars, civil rights, and much more--with an all-new introduction in which she reflects on the past decade in America, this sharp, thought-provoking anthology will delight Roxane Gay's devotees and draw new readers to this inimitable talent.
I Wouldn't Do That If I Were Me by Jason Gay The Wall Street Journal columnist and bestselling author of Little Victories takes a humorous and insightful look at life in the face of overwhelming societal change that we never anticipated--from the effects on parenthood, marriage, friendship, work, and play to all other aspects of the strange lives we find ourselves living. Like many of us, Jason Gay didn't see this coming: a reshaped world, on edge, often stuck at home, questioning everything, trying to navigate a digital landscape that changes how we think, parent, coach, and live. With a series of topical and interconnected personal pieces, Gay comically takes on this new state of being, looking for the optimism and joy in the face of discouragement. He embarks on a rowdy ride with his son to the Daytona 500, weeks before lockdown. He confides his hilariously banal texts with his wife. He allows his mom to kidnap the family cat. From the modest thrills of Little League parenting to reckoning with the impending death of a close friend, Gay's essays run the gamut of modern life and he approaches it all with humility, grace, and more than a few laughs.
From Strength to Strength by Arthur C. Brooks INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The roadmap for finding purpose, meaning, and success as we age, from bestselling author, Harvard professor, and the Atlantic's happiness columnist Arthur Brooks. Many of us assume that the more successful we are, the less susceptible we become to the sense of professional and social irrelevance that often accompanies aging. But the truth is, the greater our achievements and our attachment to them, the more we notice our decline, and the more painful it is when it occurs. What can we do, starting now, to make our older years a time of happiness, purpose, and yes, success? At the height of his career at the age of 50, Arthur Brooks embarked on a seven-year journey to discover how to transform his future from one of disappointment over waning abilities into an opportunity for progress. From Strength to Strength is the result, a practical roadmap for the rest of your life. Drawing on social science, philosophy, biography, theology, and eastern wisdom, as well as dozens of interviews with everyday men and women, Brooks shows us that true life success is well within our reach. By refocusing on certain priorities and habits that anyone can learn, such as deep wisdom, detachment from empty rewards, connection and service to others, and spiritual progress, we can set ourselves up for increased happiness. Read this book and you, too, can go from strength to strength.
The Beauty of Dusk by Frank Bruni From New York Times columnist and bestselling author Frank Bruni comes a wise and moving memoir about aging, affliction, and optimism after partially losing his eyesight. One morning in late 2017, New York Times columnist Frank Bruni woke up with strangely blurred vision. He wondered at first if some goo or gunk had worked its way into his right eye. But this was no fleeting annoyance, no fixable inconvenience. Overnight, a rare stroke had cut off blood to one of his optic nerves, rendering him functionally blind in that eye--forever. And he soon learned from doctors that the same disorder could ravage his left eye, too. He could lose his sight altogether. In The Beauty of Dusk, Bruni hauntingly recounts his adjustment to this daunting reality, a medical and spiritual odyssey that involved not only reappraising his own priorities but also reaching out to, and gathering wisdom from, longtime friends and new acquaintances who had navigated their own traumas and afflictions. The result is a poignant, probing, and ultimately uplifting examination of the limits that all of us inevitably encounter, the lenses through which we choose to evaluate them and the tools we have for perseverance. Bruni's world blurred in one sense, as he experienced his first real inklings that the day isn't forever and that light inexorably fades, but sharpened in another. Confronting unexpected hardship, he felt more blessed than ever before. There was vision lost. There was also vision found.
Every Goddamn Day by Neil Steinberg A daily celebration of Chicago's history, both known and obscure, and always entertaining.   Every day in Chicago is a day to remember. In a city so rich with history, every day is the anniversary of some storied historical or cultural moment, whether it's the dedication of the Pablo Picasso sculpture downtown on August 15, or the arrest of Rod Blagojevich at his Ravenswood home on December 9, or a fire that possibly involved a cow on October 8.   In Every Goddamn Day, acerbic Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg takes the story of the city, pares away the dull, eat-your-peas parts, and provides 366 captivating daily readings in what makes Chicago Chicago and America America. It calls upon a wide cast of characters, from Oscar Wilde to Muhammad Ali, from Emma Goldman to Teddy Roosevelt, and from Richard M. Daley to Fred Hampton, to create a compelling narrative that can be read at a sitting or in a yearlong series of daily doses.   From New Year's Day to New Years' Eve, Steinberg takes us on a vivid and entertaining tour, illuminating the famous, obscure, tragic, and hilarious elements that make each day in Chicago memorable.  
Bad Sex by Nona Willis Aronowitz Named a Most Anticipated Book by Bustle, Esquire, Nylon, and The Millions "Intimate, thoughtful, and accessible to anyone struggling with the persistent, maddening inequities of contemporary sex." -Rebecca Traister, New York Times bestselling author of Good and Mad From Teen Vogue sex and love columnist Nona Willis Aronowitz, a blend of memoir, social history, and cultural criticism that probes the meaning of desire and sexual freedom today. At thirty-two years old, everything in Nona Willis Aronowitz's life, and in America, was in disarray. Her marriage was falling apart. Her nuclear family was slipping away. Her heart and libido were both in overdrive. Embroiled in an era of fear, reckoning, and reimagining, her assumptions of what "sexual liberation" meant were suddenly up for debate. In the thick of personal and political turmoil, Nona turned to the words of history's sexual revolutionaries-including her late mother, early radical pro-sex feminist Ellen Willis. At a time when sex has never been more accepted and feminism has never been more mainstream, Nona asked herself- What, exactly, do I want? And are my sexual and romantic desires even possible amid the horrors and bribes of patriarchy, capitalism, and white supremacy? Nona's attempt to find the answer places her search for authentic intimacy alongside her family history and other stories stretching back nearly two hundred years. Stories of ambivalent wives and unchill sluts, free lovers and radical lesbians, sensitive men and woke misogynists, women who risk everything for sex-who buy sex, reject sex, have bad sex and good sex. The result is a brave, bold, and vulnerable exploration of what sexual freedom can mean. Bad Sex is Nona's own journey to sexual satisfaction and romantic happiness, which not only lays bare the triumphs and flaws of contemporary feminism but also shines a light on universal questions of desire.
Everything I Know about Love by Dolly Alderton New York Times Bestseller "There is no writer quite like Dolly Alderton working today and very soon the world will know it." --Lisa Taddeo, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Three Women "Dolly Alderton has always been a sparkling Roman candle of talent. She is funny, smart, and explosively engaged in the wonders and weirdness of the world. But what makes this memoir more than mere entertainment is the mature and sophisticated evolution that Alderton describes in these pages. It's a beautifully told journey and a thoughtful, important book. I loved it." --Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love and City of Girls The wildly funny, occasionally heartbreaking internationally bestselling memoir about growing up, growing older, and learning to navigate friendships, jobs, loss, and love along the ride When it comes to the trials and triumphs of becoming an adult, journalist and former Sunday Times columnist Dolly Alderton has seen and tried it all. In her memoir, she vividly recounts falling in love, finding a job, getting drunk, getting dumped, realizing that Ivan from the corner shop might just be the only reliable man in her life, and that absolutely no one can ever compare to her best girlfriends. Everything I Know About Love is about bad dates, good friends and--above all else-- realizing that you are enough. Glittering with wit and insight, heart and humor, Dolly Alderton's unforgettable debut weaves together personal stories, satirical observations, a series of lists, recipes, and other vignettes that will strike a chord of recognition with women of every age--making you want to pick up the phone and tell your best friends all about it. Like Bridget Jones' Diary but all true, Everything I Know About Love is about the struggles of early adulthood in all its terrifying and hopeful uncertainty.
Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran From the New York Times bestselling author of How to Be a Woman and Moranthology comes a collection of Caitlin Moran's award-winning London Times columns that takes a clever, hilarious look at celebrities, society, and the wacky world we live in today--including three major new pieces exclusive to this book. When Caitlin Moran sat down to choose her favorite pieces for her new book, she realized that they all shared a common theme--the same old problems and the same old ass-hats. Then she thought of the word 'Moranifesto', and she knew what she had to do... Introducing every piece and weaving her writing together into a brilliant, seamless narrative--just as she did in Moranthology--Caitlin combines the best of her recent columns with lots of new writing unique to this book as she offers a characteristically fun and witty look at the news, celebrity culture, and society. Featuring strong and important pieces on poverty, the media, and class, Moranifesto also focuses on how socially engaged we've become as a society. And of course, Caitlin is never afraid to address the big issues, such as Benedict Cumberbatch and duffel coats. Who else but Caitlin Moran--a true modern Renaissance woman--could deal with topics as pressing and diverse as the beauty of musicals, affordable housing, Daft Punk, and why the Internet is like a drunken toddler? Covering everything from Hillary Clinton to UTIs, Caitlin's manifesto is an engaging and mischievous rallying call for our times.
Profit and Punishment by Tony Messenger In Profit and Punishment, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist exposes the tragedy of modern-day debtors prisons, and how they destroy the lives of poor Americans swept up in a system designed to penalize the most impoverished. "Intimate, raw, and utterly scathing" -- Heather Ann Thompson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Blood in the Water "Crucial evidence that the justice system is broken and has to be fixed. Please read this book." --James Patterson, #1 New York Times bestselling author As a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Tony Messenger has spent years in county and municipal courthouses documenting how poor Americans are convicted of minor crimes and then saddled with exorbitant fines and fees. If they are unable to pay, they are often sent to prison, where they are then charged a pay-to-stay bill, in a cycle that soon creates a mountain of debt that can take years to pay off. These insidious penalties are used to raise money for broken local and state budgets, often overseen by for-profit companies, and it is one of the central issues of the criminal justice reform movement. In the tradition of Evicted and The New Jim Crow, Messenger has written a call to arms, shining a light on a two-tiered system invisible to most Americans. He introduces readers to three single mothers caught up in this system: living in poverty in Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, whose lives are upended when minor offenses become monumental financial and personal catastrophes. As these women struggle to clear their debt and move on with their lives, readers meet the dogged civil rights advocates and lawmakers fighting by their side to create a more equitable and fair court of justice. In this remarkable feat of reporting, Tony Messenger exposes injustice that is agonizing and infuriating in its mundane cruelty, as he champions the rights and dignity of some of the most vulnerable Americans.
The Correspondents by Judith Mackrell The riveting, untold history of a group of heroic women reporters who revolutionized the narrative of World War II--from Martha Gellhorn, who out-scooped her husband, Ernest Hemingway, to Lee Miller, a Vogue cover model turned war correspondent. "Thrilling from the first page to the last." --Mary Gabriel, author of Ninth Street Women "Just as women are so often written out of war, so it seems are the female correspondents. Mackrell corrects this omission admirably with stories of six of the best...Mackrell has done us all a great service by assembling their own fascinating stories." --New York Times Book Review On the front lines of the Second World War, a contingent of female journalists were bravely waging their own battle. Barred from combat zones and faced with entrenched prejudice and bureaucratic restrictions, these women were forced to fight for the right to work on equal terms with men. The Correspondents follows six remarkable women as their lives and careers intertwined: Martha Gellhorn, who got the scoop on Ernest Hemingway on D-Day by traveling to Normandy as a stowaway on a Red Cross ship; Lee Miller, who went from being a Vogue cover model to the magazine's official war correspondent; Sigrid Schultz, who hid her Jewish identity and risked her life by reporting on the Nazi regime; Virginia Cowles, a "society girl columnist" turned combat reporter; Clare Hollingworth, the first English journalist to break the news of World War II; and Helen Kirkpatrick, the first woman to report from an Allied war zone with equal privileges to men. From chasing down sources and narrowly dodging gunfire to conducting tumultuous love affairs and socializing with luminaries like Eleanor Roosevelt, Picasso, and Man Ray, these six women are captured in all their complexity. With her gripping, intimate, and nuanced portrait, Judith Mackrell celebrates these courageous reporters who risked their lives for the scoop.
I Hate Running and You Can Too by Brendan Leonard BRENDAN LEONARD HATES RUNNING. He hates it so much that he once logged fifty-two marathon-length runs in fifty-two weeks. Now he's sharing everything he's learned about the sport so that you can hate it too. Packed with wisdom, humor, attitude, tips, and quotes--and more than sixty illuminating charts--I Hate Running and You Can Too delivers a powerful message of motivation from a truly relatable mentor. Leonard nails the love-hate relationship most runners have with the sport. He knows the difficulty of getting off the couch, teaches us to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, embraces the mix of running with walking. And he shares all that he's learned--celebrating the mantra of "Easy, light, smooth, and fast," observing that any body that runs is a runner's body. Plus Leonard knows all the practical stuff, from training methods to advice for when you hit a setback or get injured. Even the answer to that big question a lot of runners occasionally ask: Why? Easy: Running helps us understand commitment, develop patience, discover self-discipline, find mental toughness, and prove to ourselves that we can do something demanding. And, of course, burn off that extra serving of nachos.
The Age of Entitlement by Christopher Caldwell A major American intellectual makes the historical case that the reforms of the 1960s, reforms intended to make the nation more just and humane, instead left many Americans feeling alienated, despised, misled--and ready to put an adventurer in the White House. Christopher Caldwell has spent years studying the liberal uprising of the 1960s and its unforeseen consequences. Even the reforms that Americans love best have come with costs that are staggeringly high--in wealth, freedom, and social stability--and that have been spread unevenly among classes and generations. Caldwell reveals the real political turning points of the past half century, taking readers on a roller-coaster ride through Playboy magazine, affirmative action, CB radio, leveraged buyouts, iPhones, Oxycontin, Black Lives Matter, and internet cookies. In doing so, he shows that attempts to redress the injustices of the past have left Americans living under two different ideas of what it means to play by the rules. Essential, timely, hard to put down, The Age of Entitlement is a brilliant and ambitious argument about how the reforms of the past fifty years gave the country two incompatible political systems--and drove it toward conflict.
The Art of Noticing by Rob Walker A thought-provoking, gorgeously illustrated gift book that will spark your creativity and help you rediscover your passion with "simple, low-stakes activities [that] can open up the world."--The New York Times Welcome to the era of white noise. Our lives are in constant tether to phones, to email, and to social media. In this age of distraction, the ability to experience and be present is often lost: to think and to see and to listen. Enter Rob Walker's The Art of Noticing--an inspiring volume that will help you see the world anew. Through a series of simple and playful exercises--131 of them--Walker maps ways for you to become a clearer thinker, a better listener, a more creative workplace colleague, and finally, to rediscover what really matters to you.
The Old-Fashioned by Robert Simonson; Daniel Krieger (Photographer) A complete history of one of the world's most iconic cocktails--now the poster child of the modern cocktail revival--with fifty recipes for classic variations as well as contemporary updates. No single cocktail is as iconic, as beloved, or as discussed and fought-over as the Old-Fashioned. Its formula is simple- just whiskey, bitters, sugar, and ice. But how you combine those ingredients-in what proportion, using which brands, and with what kind of garnish-is the subject of much impassioned debate. The Old-Fashioned is the spirited, delightfully unexpected story of this renowned and essential drink- its birth as the ur-cocktail in the nineteenth century, darker days in the throes of Prohibition, re-ascension in the 1950s and 1960s (as portrayed and re-popularized by Don Draper on Mad Men), and renaissance as the star of the contemporary craft cocktail movement. Also featured are more than forty cocktail recipes, including classic variations, regional twists, and contemporary updates from top bartenders around the country. All are accessible, delicious, and elegant in their simplicity, demonstrating the versatility and timelessness of the Old-Fashioned formula. With its rich history, stunning photography, and impeccable recipes, The Old-Fashioned is a celebration of one of America's greatest bibulous achievements. It is a necessary addition to any true whiskey-or cocktail-lover's bookshelf, and destined to become a classic on par with its namesake beverage.
Zine by Pagan Kennedy Back in print for the first time in a decade, this is the hilarious autobiography of a pioneer of the 1990s zine movement. A young woman named Pagan, having just graduated from a writing program at a very prestigious university, is left with a single burning question: Now what? She then takes an unusual step by deciding to invent her new self--the one the public will know--by starting her own magazine, one that will be written, created, and star none other than herself.
The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson This beloved New York Times bestselling memoir from "Ask Amy" is a warm and moving true story of second chances in a tiny upstate New York town. Dear Amy, First my husband told me he didn't love me. Then he said he didn't think he had ever really loved me. Then he left me with a baby to raise by myself. Amy, I don't want to be a single mother. I told myself I'd never be divorced. And now here I am -- exactly where I didn't want to be! My daughter and I live in London. We don't really have any friends here. What should we do? Desperate Dear Desperate, I have an idea. Take your baby, get on a plane, and move back to your dinky hometown in upstate New York -- the place you couldn't wait to leave when you were young. Live with your sister in the back bedroom of her tiny bungalow. Cry for five weeks. Nestle in with your quirky family of hometown women -- many of them single, like you. Drink lots of coffee and ask them what to do. Do your best to listen to their advice but don't necessarily follow it. Start to work in Washington, D.C. Start to date. Make friends. Fail up. Develop a career as a job doula. Teach nursery school and Sunday School. Watch your daughter grow. When she's a teenager, just when you're both getting comfortable, uproot her and move to Chicago to take a job writing a nationally syndicated advice column. Do your best to replace a legend. Date some more. Love fiercely. Laugh with abandon. Grab your second chance -- and your third, and your fourth. Send your daughter to college. Cry for five more weeks. Move back again to your dinky hometown and the women who helped raise you. Find love, finally. And take care. Amy
The Joy of Syntax by June Casagrande Language columnist June Casagrande presents a fun and breezy guide to everything a grown-up interested in grammar needs to know. When it comes to grammar, it seems like everyone--even die-hard word nerds--feel they "missed something" in school. The Joy of Syntax picks up where sixth grade left off, providing a fresh foundation in English syntax served up by someone with an impressive record of making this otherwise inaccessible subject a true joy. With simple, pithy information on everything from basic parts of speech and sentence structure to usage and grammar pitfalls, this guide provides everything you need to approach grammar with confidence.
Messy by Tim Harford "Utterly fascinating. Tim Harford shows that if you want to be creative and resilient, you need a little more disorder in your world." --Adam Grant, New York Times-bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take "Engrossing." --New York Times From the award-winning columnist and author of the national bestseller The Undercover Economist comes a provocative big idea book about the genuine benefits of being messy: at home, at work, in the classroom, and beyond. Look out for Tim's next book, Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy. Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives celebrates the benefits that messiness has in our lives: why it's important, why we resist it, and why we should embrace it instead. Using research from neuroscience, psychology, social science, as well as captivating examples of real people doing extraordinary things, Tim Harford explains that the human qualities we value - creativity, responsiveness, resilience - are integral to the disorder, confusion, and disarray that produce them. From the music studio of Brian Eno to the Lincoln Memorial with Martin Luther King, Jr., from the board room to the classroom, messiness lies at the core of how we innovate, how we achieve, how we reach each other - in short, how we succeed. In Messy, you'll learn about the unexpected connections between creativity and mess; understand why unexpected changes of plans, unfamiliar people, and unforeseen events can help generate new ideas and opportunities as they make you anxious and angry; and come to appreciate that the human inclination for tidiness - in our personal and professional lives, online, even in children's play - can mask deep and debilitating fragility that keep us from innovation. Stimulating and readable as it points exciting ways forward, Messy is an insightful exploration of the real advantages of mess in our lives.
Why Didn't You Tell Me? by Carmen Rita Wong An immigrant mother's long-held secrets upend her daughter's understanding of her family, her identity, and her place in the world in this powerful and dramatic memoir "Riveting . . . [Wong] tells her story in vivid conversational prose that will make readers feel they're listening to a master storyteller on a long car trip. . . . Hers is a hero's journey."--The New York Times Book Review ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: PopSugar, Kirkus Reviews My mother carried a powerful secret. A secret that shaped my life and the lives of everyone around me in ways she could not have imagined. Carmen Rita Wong has always craved a sense of belonging: First as a toddler in a warm room full of Black and brown Latina women, like her mother, Lupe, cheering her dancing during her childhood in Harlem. And in Chinatown, where her immigrant father, "Papi" Wong, a hustler, would show her and her older brother off in opulent restaurants decorated in red and gold. Then came the almost exclusively white playgrounds of New Hampshire after her mother married her stepfather, Marty, who seemed to be the ideal of the white American dad. As Carmen entered this new world with her new family--Lupe and Marty quickly had four more children--her relationship with her mother became fraught with tension, suspicion, and conflict, explained only years later by the secrets her mother had kept for so long. And when those secrets were revealed, bringing clarity to so much of Carmen's life, it was too late for answers. When her mother passed away, Carmen wanted to shake her  soul by its shoulders and demand: Why didn't you tell me? A former national television host, advice columnist, and professor, Carmen searches to understand who she really is as she discovers her mother's hidden history, facing the revelations that seep out. Why Didn't You Tell Me? is a riveting and poignant story of Carmen's experience of race and culture in America and how they shape who we think we are.
Downsizing the Family Home by Marni Jameson; Mark Brunetz (Foreword by) "This is essential reading for anyone clearing out your own or a loved one's home. . . . invaluable." --The Wall Street Journal It's a rite of passage almost no one will escape: the difficult, emotional journey of downsizing your or your aging parents' home. Here, nationally syndicated home columnist Marni Jameson sensitively guides readers through the process, from opening that first closet, to sorting through a lifetime's worth of possessions, to selling the homestead itself. Using her own personal journey as a basis, she helps you figure out a strategy and create a mindset to accomplish the task quickly, respectfully, rewardingly--and, in the best of situations, even memorably. Throughout, she combines her been-there experience with insights from national experts--antiques appraisers, garage-sale gurus, professional organizers, and psychologists--to offer practical wisdom and heartwarming advice so you know with certainty what to keep, toss or sell. Winner of: the 2017 Gold National Mature Media Award; the 2017 Silver EXCEL Award in the General Audience Book category; the 2016 Silver Nautilus Award; and the 2016 Bronze National Mature Media Award!  
The Game Must Go On by John Klima On December 7, 1941, as the battleships of Pearl Harbor smoldered, one of the most powerful athletes in America, Detroit Tigers MVP Hank Greenberg, made a tumultuous decision-to leave the baseball field for the field of war. His decision left baseball's place during the war uncertain as more and more ballplayers, famous and unknown alike, put off their careers to go into the fight. President Roosevelt was faced with a difficult decision: stop all of professional baseball for the good of the victory, but, in doing so, risk losing a vital part of morale. He decided that, whatever it took, THE GAME MUST GO ON. This is the story of American baseball history during World War II-of both the players who left to join the war and of the ones who struggled to keep the game alive on the home front. Taking the place of the big shots turned soldiers, sailors, and combat pilots were misfit replacement players. While Greenberg represented the player who served, Pete Gray symbolized the player who stayed. He was a one-armed outfielder who overcame insurmountable odds to become a professional athlete. John Klima drops us straight into 1941-1945. Culminating in the 1945 pennant race where Greenberg and Gray's paths memorably crossed, Klima shows us how World War II made the country come of age and took baseball with it. This is the story of how the games we play changed because of the battles we fought.
Dirt by William Bryant Logan "You are about to read a lot about dirt, which no one knows very much about." So begins the cult classic that brings mystery and magic to "that stuff that won't come off your collar." John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Saint Phocas, Darwin, and Virgil parade through this thought-provoking work, taking their place next to the dung beetle, the compost heap, dowsing, historical farming, and the microscopic biota that till the soil. Whether William Bryant Logan is traversing the far reaches of the cosmos or plowing through our planet's crust, his delightful, elegant, and surprisingly soulful meditations greatly enrich our concept of "dirt," that substance from which we all arise and to which we all must return.
It Ended Badly by Jennifer Wright A history of heartbreak-replete with beheadings, uprisings, creepy sex dolls, and celebrity gossip-and its disastrously bad consequences throughout time Spanning eras and cultures from ancient Rome to medieval England to 1950s Hollywood, Jennifer Wright's It Ended Badly guides you through the worst of the worst in historically bad breakups. In the throes of heartbreak, Emperor Nero had just about everyone he ever loved-from his old tutor to most of his friends-put to death. Oscar Wilde's lover, whom he went to jail for, abandoned him when faced with being cut off financially from his wealthy family and wrote several self-serving books denying the entire affair. And poor volatile Caroline Lamb sent Lord Byron one hell of a torch letter and enclosed a bloody lock of her own pubic hair. Your obsessive social media stalking of your ex isn't looking so bad now, is it? With a wry wit and considerable empathy, Wright digs deep into the archives to bring these thirteen terrible breakups to life. She educates, entertains, and really puts your own bad breakup conduct into perspective. It Ended Badly is for anyone who's ever loved and lost and maybe sent one too many ill-considered late-night emails to their ex, reminding us that no matter how badly we've behaved, no one is as bad as Henry VIII.
If You Ask Me by Mary Jo Binker (Editor); Eleanor. Roosevelt Experience the "heartwarming, smart, and at times even humorous" (Woman's World) wisdom of Eleanor Roosevelt in this annotated collection of the candid advice columns that she wrote for more than twenty years. In 1941, Eleanor Roosevelt embarked on a new career as an advice columnist. She had already transformed the role of first lady with her regular press conferences, her activism on behalf of women, minorities, and youth, her lecture tours, and her syndicated newspaper column. When Ladies Home Journal offered her an advice column, she embraced it as yet another way for her to connect with the public. "If You Ask Me" quickly became a lifeline for Americans of all ages. Over the twenty years that Eleanor wrote her advice column, no question was too trivial and no topic was out of bounds. Practical, warm-hearted, and often witty, Eleanor's answers were so forthright her editors included a disclaimer that her views were not necessarily those of the magazines or the Roosevelt administration. Asked, for example, if she had any Republican friends, she replied, "I hope so." Queried about whether or when she would retire, she said, "I never plan ahead." As for the suggestion that federal or state governments build public bomb shelters, she considered the idea "nonsense." Covering a wide variety of topics--everything from war, peace, and politics to love, marriage, religion, and popular culture--these columns reveal Eleanor Roosevelt's warmth, humanity, and timeless relevance.
Foreverland by Heather Havrilesky "One of the first honest, moving and funny portrayals of a solid marriage I have ever read." --Jessica Grose, The New York Times A Best Book of 2022 from The New Yorker and Chicago Tribune An illuminating, poignant, and savagely funny examination of modern marriage from Ask Polly advice columnist Heather Havrilesky If falling in love is the peak of human experience, then marriage is the slow descent down that mountain, on a trail built from conflict, compromise, and nagging doubts. Considering the limited economic advantages to marriage, the deluge of other mate options a swipe away, and the fact that almost half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce anyway, why do so many of us still chain ourselves to one human being for life? In Foreverland, Heather Havrilesky illustrates the delights, aggravations, and sublime calamities of her marriage over the span of fifteen years, charting an unpredictable course from meeting her one true love to slowly learning just how much energy is required to keep that love aflame. This refreshingly honest portrait of a marriage reveals that our relationships are not simply "happy" or "unhappy," but something much murkier--at once unsavory, taxing, and deeply satisfying. With tales of fumbled proposals, harrowing suburban migrations, external temptations, and the bewildering insults of growing older, Foreverland is a work of rare candor and insight. Havrilesky traces a path from daydreaming about forever for the first time to understanding what a tedious, glorious drag forever can be.
Hola Papi by John Paul Brammer LGBTQ advice columnist John Paul Brammer writes a "wise and charming" (David Sedaris) memoir-in-essays chronicling his journey from a queer, mixed-race kid in America's heartland to becoming the "Chicano Carrie Bradshaw" of his generation. "A master class of tone and tenderness." --The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) "Should be required reading." --Los Angeles Times The first time someone called John Paul (JP) Brammer "Papi" was on the gay hookup app Grindr. At first, it was flattering; JP took this as white-guy speak for "hey, handsome." But then it happened again and again...and again, leaving JP wondering: Who the hell is Papi? Soon, this racialized moniker became the inspiration for his now wildly popular advice column "¡Hola Papi!," launching his career as the Cheryl Strayed for young queer people everywhere--and some straight people too. JP had his doubts at first--what advice could he really offer while he himself stumbled through his early twenties? Sometimes the best advice comes from looking within, which is what JP does in his column and book--and readers have flocked to him for honest, heartfelt wisdom, and more than a few laughs. In this hilarious, tenderhearted book, JP shares his story of growing up biracial and in the closet in America's heartland, while attempting to answer some of life's most challenging questions: How do I let go of the past? How do I become the person I want to be? Is there such a thing as being too gay? Should I hook up with my grade school bully now that he's out of the closet? Questions we've all asked ourselves, surely. ¡Hola Papi! is "a warm, witty compendium of hard-won life lessons," (Harper's Bazaar) for anyone--gay, straight, and everything in between--who has ever taken stock of their unique place in the world.
Eat, Drink and Remarry by Margo Howard Despite her many years of offering relationship advice as a syndicated columnist--not to mention her pedigree as the daughter of the woman the world revered as Ann Landers-- Margo Howard had to walk down the aisle four times before getting it right. Now the outspoken and witty Howard shares the sometimes rueful, always optimistic story of her adventures in pursuit of the perfect mate. Eat Drink and Remarry is the candid, funny no-holds-barred memoir of Howard's enduring belief in marriage as an institution--despite the often contrary evidence of her own experience. As she chronicles the courtships, marriages, dalliances and divorces that shaped her adulthood, she recalls people and events that left their mark on her life, including her famous (and frank) mother her children and a host of colleagues, from prize-winning journalists and scientists to Hollywood stars. Eat, Drink and Remarry is an endearing book about second (and third and fourth) chances, about the sometimes cockeyed optimism of love and about finding what's right for you--no matter how long it takes.