Staff Recommendations
Eileen Ybarra
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Men explain things to me
by Solnit, Rebecca,
June 22, 2015
Call Number: 301.412 S688
Written through a feminist lens, this book is a series of short essays--most of them meditations on how men and women relate to each other. What is most striking to me about this book, is the simplicity and cogency with which Rebecca Solnit presents how women are sometimes treated inequitably and discriminatorily in the public sphere. She speaks to the struggle for gender equality in a simple, non- preachy, eloquent manner, at times humorously as well. The title of the book is taken from the opening essay that originally was published in 2008. Not long after the essay was... Read Full Review
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Midnight in Mexico : a reporter's journey through a country's descent into the darkness
by Corchado, Alfredo.
January 6, 2014
Call Number: 351.7650972 C793
This book is an intriguing mix of personal memoir, Mexican drug trade reporting, and a historical overview of Mexico in the late 20th century. This book is also much more than those things too: the author, Alfredo Corchado, navigates his heartache and longing for a Mexico that no longer exists, a place where he was born and where his family decided to leave in order to find a better life in the U.S. when he was just a child. Interwoven throughout these explorations of U.S. and Mexican identities and histories, there is this alarming fact that kicks off the book: Alfredo... Read Full Review
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The burning air
by Kelly, Erin, 1976-
November 25, 2013
Call Number:
The MacBrides, a well-educated upper class English family, have gathered together for a weekend at their country estate to mourn their matriarch’s untimely and sudden death from cancer. All the MacBride children are grown and have brought along their children, spouses, and assorted significant others for this weekend gathering. The eldest daughter, Sophie, is a thirty something woman recovering from a severe case of post-partum depression and a nearly broken marriage. It is a tense, and sad gathering and even more anxiety is thrown in when Sophie’s brother brings along a new... Read Full Review
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The Jersey sting : a true story of corrupt pols, money-laundering rabbis, black market kidneys, and the informant who brought it all down
by Sherman, Ted, 1953-
May 21, 2013
Call Number: 364.38 S553
In a fascinating true crime tale of financial deception, betrayal, fraud and political corruption The Jersey Sting recounts a long joint investigation between the then New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office of Chris Christie and the FBI. The linchpin of this investigation was Solomon Dwek, an FBI informant who eventually netted dozens involved in a web of government corruption and money laundering throughout New Jersey. Many New Jersey politicians and rabbis from the New Jersey and New York Hasidic and Sephardic Jewish communities were taken down. Even a kidney transplant... Read Full Review
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People who eat darkness : the true story of a young woman who vanished from the streets of Tokyo and the evil that swallowed her up
by Parry, Richard Lloyd.
April 17, 2013
Call Number: 364.952 P265
Lucie Blackman’s body was missing for months before the Tokyo police found her. In fact, it initially took gargantuan efforts on her father's and sister’s part in creating publicity for Lucie’s case, in hopes that she would be found. At one point, even then UK Prime Minister Tony Blair publicly entreated the Tokyo police to quickly find Lucie. The truth of Lucie’s untimely death, and the truth about the person who killed her, would ruin a family and expose inadequacies and inner workings of the Tokyo police department and the Japanese criminal legal... Read Full Review
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Babylon : Mesopotamia and the birth of civilization
by Kriwaczek, Paul.
September 24, 2012
Call Number: 935.8 K92 2012
For a sweeping, epic and vivid historical survey of ancient Mesopotamia, this book by Paul Kriwaczek is a great choice. Kriwaczek takes the reader through a deftly written overview of the various cultures, emperors and kings that swept through the Mesopotamian region over the course of centuries. Specifically, he covers the years 4000-700 BCE. This is not an academic or dry text, but rather a book that makes the daily lives of many people of that time come alive, not only in descriptions of the rulers and elite classes, but also in the descriptions of the average person. The author also... Read Full Review
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Finding Chandra : a true Washington murder mystery
by Higham, Scott
September 26, 2011
Call Number: 364.9753 H638
What makes this book especially compelling is that the authors provide complex portrayals of the many people involved in the case - not only the victim Chandra Levy, but also her family, the various lawyers, FBI and D.C. Police investigators assigned to her case, and former congressman Gary Condit, who was the main focus of the initial investigation. This book also reveals the numerous mistakes made during the original murder investigation.The authors, who are also reporters for the Washington Post, describe personalities, psychological motivations, and a chain of a events that are... Read Full Review