More Davids Than Goliaths; A Political Education

By Harold Ford Jr.
"Harold Ford Jr. has long distinguished himself as a charismatic, results-oriented politician with fresh ideas. His career began at age 26 after he won his father’s Congressional seat, serving his Tennessee district for ten years. He stepped into the national spotlight with his electric keynote at the 2000 Democratic National Convention, and in 2006 his reputation was further shaped during the closest Senate race in Tennessee’s history, which he lost. Ford feels passionately that our country’s best days are ahead, and in More Davids Than Goliaths, he presents his mission statement for America. "  (Publisher Comment)

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Playing Our Game; Why China's Rise Doesn't Threaten The West

By Edward Steinfeld
"Contrary to the perception that China's rise as a superpower is a threat to America, Steinfeld (political science, Massachusetts Inst. of Technology; Forging Reform in China) argues that the opposite is true: China's growth not only solidifies America's trade dominance but democratizes China, forcing the authoritarian regime to "play by the rules" of American trade diplomacy. Even though the majority of Chinese products are assembled for export to the West, elements of those products are bought from the West: American global production has increased since China's liberalization of its economy. Although both Chinese and Americans benefit from China's global integration, the implications for China's social and economic development are enormous, as the majority of its citizens earn so much less than Americans, with few luxuries or a social safety net, and the country's most talented researchers are gravitating to the West. VERDICT A superb analysis of the political economies of China and the United States, dispelling some of the myths of China's rise as a superpower. Recommended for all interested in globalization and Chinese-American global relations.-"  (LJ Reviews)
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A Short History Of Celebrity

By Fred Inglis
"With breathtaking range and panache, A Short History of Celebrity provides a keenly observed interpretation of the emergence of modern transatlantic popular culture. At once learned and accessible, Inglis's vivacious prose reveals the contradictions of icons as diverse as Joshua Reynolds and Lord Byron, the Beatles and Bob Dylan. His insights into the popular heroes of art, literature, the stage and screen (including television), as well as politics and public life, enable us to appreciate continuities that stretch across two-hundred-and-fifty years."--Richard D. Brown, professor emeritus,
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The Obama Diaries

By Laura Ingraham

Conservative talk-radio maven and bestselling author Laura Ingraham writes a satirical send-up of the first year of the Obama administration. (Publisher Description)  Check Our Catalog

Four Fish; The Future Of The Last Wild Food

By Paul Greenberg
"Journalist Greenberg focuses on bass, salmon, tuna, and cod-though not exactly in a Cod sort of way-to reveal the devastating environmental impact of commercial fishing and fish farming. What if soon there are no fish left in the sea? Read it and weep." (LJ Reviews)
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Hamlet's Blackberry: A Practical Philosophy For Building The Good Life In A Digital Age

                        By William Powers

"Our discombobulated Internet Age could learn important new tricks from some very old thinkers, according to this incisive critique of online life and its discontents. Journalist Powers bemoans the reigning dogma of "digital maximalism" that requires us to divide our attention between ever more e-mails, text messages, cellphone calls, video streams, and blinking banners, resulting, he argues, in lowered productivity and a distracted life devoid of meaning and "depth." In a nifty and refreshing turn, he looks to ideas of the past for remedies to this hyper-modern predicament: to Plato, who analyzed the transition from the ancient technology of talking to the cutting-edge gadgetry of written scrolls; to Shakespeare, who gave Hamlet the latest in Elizabethan information apps, an erasable notebook; to Thoreau, who carved out solitary spaces amid the press of telegraphs and railroads. The author sometimes lapses into mysticism—"In solitude we meet not just ourselves but all other selves"—and his solutions, like the weekend-long "Internet Sabbaths" he and his wife decreed for their family, are small-bore. But Powers deftly blends an appreciation of the advantages of information technology and a shrewd assessment of its pitfalls into a compelling call to disconnect."   ((PW Reviews)
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The Cheapskate Next Door; The Surprising Secrets Of Americans Living Happily Below Their Means

By Jeff Yeager
"Yeager (The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches) is back with another energetic, likably eccentric lesson on living happily well below your means. Interviewing a variety of self-professed cheapskates, he finds—despite a diversity of lifestyles, backgrounds, and beliefs— common practices and philosophies when it came to money; their knowledge of how to live on less has insulated them from the economic crash. He presents their tips on frugal living in grocery shopping, entertainment, and sensible parenting, but the real value is in Yeager's persuasive argument that an onset of "Spending Anxiety Disorder" is good for our wallets, our communities, and the environment. If we change the way we think about "want" vs. "need," we can focus our time and attention on the truly valuable things—family, charity, passions, the early retirement that will make enjoying them longer possible—and if we consume sparingly, thoughtfully, and fully, our possessions will not consume us. Yeager and his "Miser Advisers" are proof that living more frugally isn't about sacrifice—it's about making choices every day to live a better, happier, more thoughtful life with less." (PW Reviews)
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