2018 Book Recommendations

Community of Readers 2018 Book Recommendations

Title: Queen & Country

Author:  Rucka, Greg

Call No:  PN6728.Q44 R83 2007  

Location: 1st FL Graphic Novels Collection Books

Synopsis: In this first collection, readers are introduced to the thrilling and often-times devastating world of international espionage as SIS field agent Tara Chase is sent all over the world in service to her Queen & Country; all the while Director of Operations Paul Crocker walks a narrow tightrope between his loyalty to his people and the political masters that must be served!

Title: Tower of Dawn

Author:  Maas, Sarah J

Call No: MC NAUGHTON

Location: 1st FL McNaughton

Synopsis: Next installment of Throne of Glass series.  The story follows Chaol Westfall on his sweeping journey to a distant empire.  Chaol Westfall has always defined himself by his unwavering loyalty, his strength, and his position as the Captain of the Guard. But all of that has changed since the glass castle shattered, since his men were slaughtered, since the King of Adarlan spared him from a killing blow, but left his body broken.  His only shot at recovery lies with the legendary healers of the Torre Cesme in Antica--the stronghold of the southern continent's mighty empire. And with war looming over Dorian and Aelin back home, their survival might lie with Chaol and Nesryn convincing its rulers to ally with them.  But what they discover in Antica will change them both--and be more vital to saving Erilea than they could have imagined.

Title: Cartoons in hard times : the animated shorts of Disney and Warner Brothers in depression and war 1932-1945 

Author:  Mollet, Tracey Louise

Call No:  NC1766.U52 W3735 2017  

Location:  2nd FL Fine Arts Collection Books

Synopsis: Cartoons in Hard Times provides a comprehensive analysis of the short subject animation released by the Walt Disney and Warner Brothers from 1932 and 1945, one of the most turbulent periods in Unites States history. Through a combination of content analysis, historical understanding and archival research, this book sheds new light on a hitherto unexplored area of animation, suggesting the ways in which Disney and Warner Brothers animation engaged with historical, social, economic and political changes in this era. The book also traces the development of animation into a medium fit for propaganda in 1941 and the changes in characters, tone, music and narrative that took place to facilitate this transition. Animation transformed in this era from a medium of entertainment, to a socio-political commentator before finally undertaking government sponsored propaganda during the Second World War.

Title: American nations : a history of the eleven rival regional cultures of North America

Author:  Woodard, Colin

Call No:  E98.F39 W66 2012

Location: 2nd FL Humanities Library Books

Synopsis: An endlessly fascinating look at American regionalism and the eleven nations that continue to shape North America According to award-winning journalist and historian Colin Woodard North America is made up of eleven distinct nations each with its own unique historical roots In American Nations he takes readers on a journey through the history of our fractured continent offering a revolutionary and revelatory take on American identity and how the conflicts between them have shaped our past and continue to mold our future From the Deep South to the Far West to Yankeedom to El Norte Woodard reveals how each region continues to uphold its distinguishing ideals and identities today with results that can be seen in the composition of the U S Congress or on the county-by-county election maps of presidential elections

Title: The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard

Author:  Leonard, Elmore

Call No:  PS3562.E55 A6 2007 

Location: 2nd FL Humanities Library Books

Synopsis: No author has ever written more evocatively of the dusty, gutsy heyday of the American West than Elmore Leonard. This complete collection of his thirty-one Western tales will thrill lovers of the genre, his die-hard fans, and everyone in between. From his very first story ever published "The Trail of the Apache” through five decades of classic Western tales, The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard demonstrates the superb talent for language and gripping narrative that has made Leonard one of the most acclaimed and influential writers of our time.

Title: 500 handmade books : inspiring interpretations of a timeless form

Author:  Tourtillott, Suzanne J. E.

Call No: Z246 .A14 2008 

Location: 2nd FL Social Science Library Books

Synopsis: Interest in bookbinding and the related arts has exploded in the past decade, inspiring artists to explore the unlimited possibilities of the form—and delighting collectors, crafters, and gallery owners. Lark’s Cover to Cover has been a bestseller for more than ten years, and this new and provocative on-the-page gallery, richly illustrated with hundreds of breathtaking photographs, will appeal to that same large and discerning audience. They’ll appreciate the artistry of a finely tooled leather cover, embellished with traditional gold-leaf lettering; the intricacy of an exotic Ethiopian binding with a show-stopping open spine; and others that resemble mysterious puzzle boxes, or that curl, hang, and swirl. The sublimely talented contributors all put their finest work on display: Jeanne Germani’s Cloudspeak showcases her own handmade papers, made from such varied materials as recycled denim, thistle, and other plant matter. Chris Bivin’s codex-style volume features curious, tiny, found objects. One of Laura Wait’s untitled pieces utilizes a handsome raised-cord binding to connect a pair of stained-cedar covers with abstract aluminum letterforms attached.

Title: Achieving Our Country : Leftist Though in Twentieth-Century America

Author:  Rorty, Richard

Call No: HN90.R3 R636 1999

Location: 2nd FL Social Science Library Books

Synopsis: Rorty contrasts two views of America: those of the Old Left and of the New Left. The Old Left he associates with Walt Whitman's "American Dream" and John Dewey's idea of an ever-evolving secular society of varied, autonomous agents whose evils are remediable because they result from failures of imagination. The New Left he associates with spectators who damn America for such past "atrocities" as slavery, the massacre of Indians, and the Vietnam War. Rorty claims that the Old Left was stubbornly reformist, whereas the New Left collaborates with and thereby empowers the Right by supplanting real politics with cultural issues. He urges the New Left to understand that our national character has not been settled but is still being formed.

Title: House of Leaves

Author:  Danielewski, Mark

Call No: PS3554.A5596 H68 2000  

Location: 2nd FL Humanities Library Books

Synopsis: A photographer decides to create a film document of his family moving into a new home. The project runs smoothly until the interior dimensions of the house turn out to be larger than the exterior. Over time, a maze of passageways appear and disappear, perhaps inhabited by an unseen malevolent creature. Equipped with cameras, a team tries to explore the shifting labyrinth, but they are forced out after the expedition proves deadly. But what they have managed to film is a critical success, generating thousands of pages of analysis. Years later, a trunk of these documents fall into the hands of a young man after the curious death of a neighbor. He finds that the dimensions of his own life may not be as fixed as he once imagined, and that he might also be pursued by an unknown entity.

Title: Navy SEALs : The Complete History

Author:  Dockery, Kevin

Call No:  VG87 .D63 2004

Location: 3rd FL Science & Technology Library Books

Synopsis: In Navy SEALs : The Complete History, author Kevin Dockery has combined his three critically acclaimed volumes - Navy SEALs: A History of the Early Years, Navy SEALs: The Vietnam Years, and Navy SEALs: Post-Vietnam to the Present - into one, comprehensive omnibus edition. Written with the cooperation of the UDT/SEAL Museum, this is the definitive history of the SEALs from their early days as WWII combat swimmers, to their legendary status in Vietnam and Desert Storm, through their trials in Grenada, Bosnia, and Afghanistan-to their continuing role as America's ultimate counter-terrorist strike force.