The Shallows; What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains

By Nicholas Carr
"Carr, author of The Big Switch (2007) and the much-discussed Atlantic Monthly story "Is Google Making Us Stupid?", is an astute critic of the information technology revolution. Here he looks to neurological science to gauge the organic impact of computers, citing fascinating experiments that contrast the neural pathways built by reading books versus those forged by surfing the hypnotic Internet, where portals lead us on from one text, image, or video to another while we're being bombarded by messages, alerts, and feeds. This glimmering realm of interruption and distraction impedes the sort of comprehension and retention "deep reading" engenders, Carr explains. And not only are we reconfiguring our brains, we are also forging a "new intellectual ethic," an arresting observation Carr expands on while discussing Google's gargantuan book digitization project. What are the consequences of new habits of mind that abandon sustained immersion and concentration for darting about, snagging bits of information? What is gained and what is lost? Carr's fresh, lucid, and engaging assessment of our infatuation with the Web is provocative and revelatory. "Booklist Reviews"
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The Facebook Effect; The Inside Story Of The Company That Is Connecting The World

By David Kirkpatrick
"This business history and biography of Facebook's founders, especially visionary Mark Zuckerberg, chronicles Facebook's surprising Ivy League beginnings in a Harvard University dormitory and how it spread to other college campuses and high school audiences before opening up to the general public. Despite Facebook's phenomenal growth, Zuckerberg claimed the goals were to increase networking and the sharing of information among individuals. Zuckerberg's vision, however, has made him and his fellow founding innovators multibillionaires, yielded Facebook competitive advantage and economies of scale, and made Zuckerberg one of the youngest CEOs of a company with such a large market capitalization."(LJ Reviews)


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More Guns, Less Crime; Understanding Crime and Gun-Control Laws

By John R. Lott, Jr.

"On its initial publication in 1998, John R. Lott’s More Guns, Less Crime drew both lavish praise and heated criticism. More than a decade later, it continues to play a key role in ongoing arguments over gun-control laws: despite all the attacks by gun-control advocates, no one has ever been able to refute Lott’s simple, startling conclusion that more guns mean less crime. Relying on the most rigorously comprehensive data analysis ever conducted on crime statistics and right-to-carry laws, the book directly challenges common perceptions about the relationship of guns, crime, and violence. For this third edition, Lott draws on an additional ten years of data—including provocative analysis of the effects of gun bans in Chicago and Washington, D.C—that brings the book fully up to date and further bolsters its central contention."   (Publisher Description) Check Our Catalog

Killer Politics; How Big Money And Bad Politics Are Destroying The Great American Middle Class

"The host of MSNBC's The Ed Schultz Show outlines his philosophies on the endangered middle class, covering topics from health care and education to international economic policies and global energy independence."  (Publisher Description)
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To Save America; Stopping Obama's Secular-Socialist Machine

By Newt Gingrich

"Argues that the Obama administration is committed to a secular-socialist ideology that threatens traditional American values, citing examples of big-government corruption and offering strategies for replacing failed policies."   (Publisher Description) Check Our Catalog

The Butterfly Mosque; A Young Woman's Journey To Love And Islam

By Willow Wilson
"Wilson's illuminating memoir offers keen insights into Islamic culture, distinguishing carefully between the radical fundamentalists who hate the West and the majority of peaceful Muslims. An eye-opening look at a misunderstood and often polarizing faith, Wilson's memoir is bound to spark discussion." ( Booklist Reviews)
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Somewhere Inside; One Sister's Captivity In North Korea and The Other's Fight To Bring Her Home

By Laura and Lisa Ling
"In 2009, Laura Ling, a reporter with Current TV, traveled with a film crew to the region of China that bordered on North Korea to report on defections, particularly of women who were later forced into arranged marriages or sex slavery. The crew momentarily crossed into North Korea, and Ling and Euna Lee, her editor and translator, were captured. Given the hostilities between North Korea and China and a recent critical documentary on North Korea by Laura's sister, journalist Lisa Ling, the women knew they were in for an ordeal. Laura was beaten during the capture, and the women were held in isolation and faced meager meals, cold, and little medical treatment. In the U.S., Lisa and her family prayed and called on powerful contacts, including Al Gore and Bill Richardson, to win the women's release. During the time of their captivity, North Korea conducted a nuclear test and fired off missiles, increasing tensions with the U.S. and UN. The women were eventually tried for attempting to overthrow the government and sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp, but through behind-the-scenes maneuvering and negotiations with prickly North Korea, they were finally released after five months in captivity. This memoir alternates between the sisters, with Laura recalling the escalating peril of her capture and imprisonment and Lisa recalling heightened worries as weeks dragged into months. A riveting story of captivity and the enduring faith, determination, and love of two sisters." (Booklist Reviews)
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