Cape Wind; Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics And The Battle For Our Energy Future On Nantucket Sound

By Wendy Williams
"Williams and Whitcomb, both journalists and Cape Cod residents, have written a caustic firsthand report of the political maneuvers involving Cape Wind, a proposed wind energy project. In 2001, Boston energy entrepreneur Jim Gordon proposed building America's first offshore wind farm in Nantucket Sound using 130 wind turbines to produce 420 megawatts of renewable energy for the Cape Cod region. Because the Northeast lacks indigenous fossil fuels and has an aging electrical grid, Gordon thought his wind farm would be welcomed. Instead, using the NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) argument, some of America's most wealthy residents living on the cape's south shore and others with Nantucket connections, including Sen. Edward Kennedy and former Gov. Mitt Romney, launched a well-funded opposition. A grassroots backlash by those who perceived this interference as a hijacking of the democratic process responded, and the Cape Wind battle was under way. This well-written and well-researched work shows the challenges of evolving past our reliance on fossil fuels and is recommended for all New England libraries and all alternate energy collections.—Eva Lautemann, Georgia Perimeter Coll. Lib., Clarkston"  (LJ Reviews)
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The Promise; President Obama, Year One

By Jonathan Alter
"Given the gravity of the financial crisis of 2008, the worst since the Great Depression, President Obama began his administration even before he was sworn in. Alter's assessment of Obama's first year, traditionally seen as setting the tone of a presidency, begins with cleaning up the legacy of the Bush administration (propping up the financial sector and bailing out the automobile industry) but focuses on the particular challenges facing Obama (dealing with the huge expectations of liberal Democrats and the staunch opposition of conservative Republicans). The urgency of the time compelled a push to staff up quickly, and Alter chronicles the process that led to an overreliance on former Clinton appointees. Alter analyzes Obama's savvy and zenlike calm through escalating crises, from continued conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan through the truculence of some among his own party on the issue of health care reform, Obama's priority despite warnings of its political toxicity. Among the promises kept: initating an end to the military's don't ask–don't tell policy, investment in high-speed rail, and support for national school reform. Among the promises "broken" or not yet realized: immigration reform, financial regulation, and job creation. Alter, a senior editor at Newsweek, offers a fast-paced, penetrating look at the new administration and the president as he struggles to reconcile the promises espoused during the campaign and the realities of governing." (Copyright 2009 Booklist Reviews)
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War

By Sebastian Junger
"War is insanely exciting.... Don't underestimate the power of that revelation," warns bestselling author and Vanity Fair contributing editor Junger (The Perfect Storm). The war in Afghanistan contains brutal trauma but also transcendent purpose in this riveting combat narrative. Junger spent 14 months in 2007–2008 intermittently embedded with a platoon of the 173rd Airborne brigade in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, one of the bloodiest corners of the conflict. The soldiers are a scruffy, warped lot, with unkempt uniforms, they sometimes do battle in shorts and flip-flops, and a ritual of administering friendly beatings to new arrivals, but Junger finds them to be superlative soldiers. Junger experiences everything they do, nerve-racking patrols, terrifying roadside bombings and ambushes, stultifying weeks in camp when they long for a firefight to relieve the tedium. Despite the stress and the grief when buddies die, the author finds war to be something of an exalted state: soldiers experience an almost sexual thrill in the excitement of a firefight, response Junger struggles to understand, and a profound sense of commitment to subordinating their self-interests to the good of the unit. Junger mixes visceral combat scenes, aptly aware of his own fear and exhaustion, with quieter reportage and insightful discussions of the physiology, social psychology, and even genetics of soldiering. The result is an unforgettable portrait of men under fire. (PW Reviews)
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Influence; How Women's Soaring Economic Power Will Transform Our World For The Better

By Maddy Dychtwald
"Dychtwald, a demographer and marketing executive, provides a riveting exploration of female economic emancipation in the 21stcentury as unprecedented numbers of women all over the world are becoming financially powerful enough to stand on their own and tip global power balances: individually, as their attitudes toward money changes; in the home; in the work place; and in society at large, as gender gaps in health and education in even the poorest nations are narrowing. Dychtwald shows how women are upending the status quo in corporate America through this rapid economic shift and offers a welcome, more micro look with her five "money profiles"—archetypal ways that modern women relate to their money, how financially self-confident they feel, and what they expect their money to do for them. She provides fascinating glimpses of women from all corners of the globe who are taking advantage of this change, from Uganda to Northern California, and her rousing and well-researched book contains valuable insight into a pivotal movement that holds vast and heartening advancements."  (PW Reviews)


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Saturday Is For Funerals

By Unity Dow
"During the height of the AIDS epidemic in Botswana, nearly every Saturday was devoted to burials of family or friends. In an interesting format, Dow, a judge, novelist, and native of Botswana, leads off each chapter with personal accounts of the effect of AIDS in her country. In the last part of each chapter, Essex, a Harvard professor and a longtime AIDS researcher, provides the medical background to enhance the reader's understanding of each story; a glossary helps further clarify the medical concepts. The narratives provide a human touch and convincingly illustrate the tremendous impact of AIDS on women, children, infants, friends, family, and culture. While Botswana was hard-hit by the AIDS epidemic, it has provided a successful model for other countries by taking a proactive approach to dealing with the disease. VERDICT Recommended for readers interested in a real-life look at the impact of this horrific disease." (LJ Reviews)
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The Woman Who Fell From The Sky; An American Journalist In Yemen

By Jennifer Steil
"When newspaper editor Steil first arrived in Yemen to teach a three-week journalism workshop at the Yemen Observer newspaper, she had no idea what she was getting herself into or how it would change her life. Here, she chronicles her adventures during what would become a yearlong stay in Sanaa, Yemen, as she learns to deal with a foreign culture in which women are seen only in burkas, her male staff is often busy chewing khat (a legal stimulant), and getting to the truth is not as simple as it would seem. Readers will enjoy Steil's wonderful attitude about trying new experiences, her joy in meeting people, and how her life totally changed when she least expected it (she fell in love with the married British ambassador). VERDICT A delightful and straight-talking story of one American woman living, working, and finding friendship and love in a Muslim country. Highly recommended for interested memoir readers as well as journalism, Middle Eastern, and women's studies students. " (LJ Reviews)
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Country Driving; A Journey Through China From Farm To Factory

By Peter Hessler
"In 2001, Hessler, the Beijing correspondent for the New Yorker, acquired a Chinese driver's license and embarked on a seven-year odyssey that took him from one end of the country to the other. He charts the changes the automobile has brought to China (in 2001, the country's population was 1.2 billion, but it had only about one-fifth the cars and buses of the U.S. and more than twice as many traffic fatalities). Personal driving, whether for commuting or recreation, is relatively new to the country, and such seemingly innocuous matters as the paving of a rural road can dramatically and sometimes catastrophically, affect both the countryside and the residents' way of life. It's strange for Western readers to think of such a technologically advanced country as China undergoing massive upheavals due to something as mundane (to us) as automobiles, but China is experiencing now what the U.S. experienced decades ago: increased tourism from its own citizens and an emptying-out of rural regions as residents pursue jobs in urban centers. A fascinating and frequently surprising look at China from a very unusual perspective."  (Booklist Reviews)
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Power Grab; How Obama's Green Policies Will Steal Your Freedom

By Christopher Horner
"...From appointing “czars” and depressing America’s economy through onerous regulations, to stripping you of your freedom through invasive “Green” measures, Horner shows how Obama and the liberals in Congress don’t just want to run the government; they want to run your life—and make you, your children, and grandchildren pay for it. Horner reveals how the Obama administration wants to impose mandates, raise taxes, and even subjugate our authority to international organizations such as the United Nations.
From determining which kind of energy is “clean” or “sustainable,” to subjecting us to extreme and unrealistic environmental treaties, to forcing us to comply with useless and economically detrimental cap-and-trade legislation, Horner reveals an out-of-control government that will make America—and the lives of its citizens—worse."  (Publisher Description)
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