The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future

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"From one of the world's leading economists, a political call to action in defense of equality and human rights. Nobel laureate Stiglitz (Economics/Columbia Univ.; Freefall: America, Free Markets and the Sinking of the World Economy, 2010, etc.) insists that increasing inequality in the United States stems from a breakdown of the country's political and economic systems. The failure to hold any banker accountable for actions that contributed to the recent economic crisis is a prime symptom of the case."  (Kirkus Reviews)

Counted Out: Same-Sex Relations and Americans' Definitions of Family

By Brian Powell          Find This Book

"When state voters passed the California Marriage Protection Act (Proposition 8) in 2008, it restricted the definition of marriage to a legal union between a man and a woman. The act s passage further agitated an already roiling debate about whether American notions of family could or should expand to include, for example, same-sex marriage, unmarried cohabitation, and gay adoption. But how do Americans really define family? The first study to explore this largely overlooked question, Counted Out asks men and women of different ages, races, religions, and socioeconomic backgrounds to share their opinions on what counts as family and what doesn t. The book examines these currents in public opinion to assess their policy implications and to predict how Americans definitions of family may change in the future."  (Publisher Description)

The Obamians: The Struggle Inside the White House to Redefine American Power

By James Mann          Find This Book
"Our current foreign policy is overshadowed by the wars begun during the George W. Bush administration and the antiwar legacy of the George McGovern presidential campaign, with politics on the Right and the Left swinging between those two positions. The Obama administration, with the aid of an inner circle of relatively unknown advisors, has attempted to carve out space between those poles, according to foreign correspondent Mann. Obama has demonstrated a willingness to use military force (ordering the killing of Osama bin Laden) but a caution in getting too deeply involved in military campaigns (authorizing limited air strikes in support of European action in Libya). Mann offers historic perspective on U.S. foreign policy through the Cold War era, Vietnam War, Reagan presidency, and current war on terrorism. Drawing on interviews with hundreds of prominent government officials, Mann offers a behind-the-scenes look at policy deliberations in the White House, Pentagon, State Department, and CIA as foreign policy is debated in the context of domestic issues and geopolitics and U.S. policy adjusts to the reality of limited resources. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The author of the 2004 best-selling Rise of the Vulcans, which profiled President Bush's advisors, here turns his analytical power on the Obama administration in a book that will receive full promotional support on air, online, and in print."  (Booklist)

How to Watch the Olympics: The Essential Guide to the Rules, Statistics, Heroes, and Zeroes of Every Sport

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"With the 2012 summer Olympics in London to begin in late July, Goldblatt (sports columnist, BBC radio) and Acton ("The Man Who Touched the Sky") provide readers with a fine choice for informed viewing. The competitions to be seen in this year's summer Olympics are presented here in chapters arranged alphabetically by sport. Chapters include schedule details for London, counts of athletes and potential medal contenders this time around, Olympic records by event, and counts of past champions by country. The authors explain each sport in clear terms with sections such as "Why Watch Archery?" and "The Finer Points" of fencing. They also provide a brief history of each sport, both as a game and as an Olympic competition. They include a section on discontinued Olympic sports, such as tug of war and cricket. Charming, stick-figure illustrations by Belinda Evans, along with black-and-white photographs, effectively infuse the text and help explain techniques and rules. VERDICT Affordable, portable, and informative, this accessible and fun book is highly recommended for Olympics watchers everywhere. While the focus on the London Olympics will become out of date, the book will remain of future use for explaining rules, histories, and nuances of the competitions." (Library Journal)

End This Depression Now!

By Paul Krugman               Find This Book

"Krugman (Fuzzy Math), winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics, takes an edifying and often humorous journalistic approach to the current economic crisis in this accessible and timely study. Rather than provide a mere postmortem on the 2008 collapse (though relevant history lessons are provided), Krugman aims to plot a path out of this depression. He maintains that "We are suffering from a severe overall lack of demand;" as every purchase is also a sale, everyone's income is someone's spending, and few are currently spending. This "paradox of thrift," when everyone cuts back and tries to pay off old debt at the same time, ensures a stagnant economya when no new debt is issued, the cycle continues, for one man's debt is another man's asset. Krugman suggests, then, that "the government spend where the private sector won't," a la FDR's workers' programs during the Great Depression. The problem, of course, arises when politics enters the equationa some view government intervention as a gateway to socialism, whereas others can't agree on appropriate "shovel-ready" projects to spend money on. Krugman has consistently called for more liberal economic policies, but his wit and bipartisanship ensure that this book will appeal to a broad swath of readersa from the Left to the Right, from the 99% to the 1%"  (Publishers Weekly)

As Texas Goes...: How the Lone Star State Hijacked the American Agenda

By Gail Collins             Find This Book

""What happens in Texas doesn't stay in Texas anymore." That truth is delivered by the "New York Times" columnist and best-selling author Collins, who always thought of the country as two liberal coasts flanking a Republican heartland (she herself is from Ohio). Lately, she has come to understand that the country's entire political agenda has been set by Texas, where a conservative ideology supporting deregulation, lowered environmental protections, tax cuts, and a states' rights approach has been championed by George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, and now Rick Perry and has been thrust on the entire nation. To understand what's going on here, we need to look at Texas. All set to raise both cheers and hackles."  (Library Journal)