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December 2008
In This Issue
Letter to My Daughter
Hot, Flat & Crowded
The Secret Pleasures of Menopause
Planet Google
The Fighting Canadians
Called Out of Darkness
The Worrywart's Companion
The Tyranny of Oil
Martha Stewart's Cooking School
Acedia & Me
Magic When You Need It
The Hungry Scientist Handbook
Quick Links
Join Our Mailing List!
Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou

Publisher: Random House
Pub Date: Sep 23 2008
ISBN-10: 1400066123
ISBN-13: 978-1400066124
Biography & Memoir
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For a world of devoted readers, a much-awaited new volume of absorbing stories and inspirational wisdom from one of our best-loved writers.

Dedicated to the daughter she never had but sees all around her, Letter to My Daughter reveals Maya Angelou's path to living well and living a life with meaning. Told in her own inimitable style, this book transcends genres and categories: guidebook, memoir, poetry, and pure delight.

Here in short spellbinding essays are glimpses of the tumultuous life that led Angelou to an exalted place in American letters and taught her lessons in compassion and fortitude: how she was brought up by her indomitable grandmother in segregated Arkansas, taken in at thirteen by her more worldly and less religious mother, and grew to be an awkward, six-foot-tall teenager whose first experience of loveless sex paradoxically left her with her greatest gift, a son.

Like the rest of her remarkable work, Letter to My Daughter entertains and teaches; it is a book to cherish, savor, re-read, and share.
Hot, Flat & Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution & How It Can Renew America by Thomas L. Friedman

Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
Publication Date: Sep 8 2008
ISBN-10: 0374166854
ISBN-13: 978-0374166854
Economics / Environment


Thomas L. Friedman's phenomenal number-one bestseller The World Is Flat has helped millions of readers to see the world in a new way. In his brilliant, essential new book, Friedman takes a fresh and provocative look at two of the biggest challenges we face today: America's surprising loss of focus and national purpose since 9/11; and the global environmental crisis, which is affecting everything from food to fuel to forests. In this groundbreaking account of where we stand now, he shows us how the solutions to these two big problems are linked--how we can restore the world and revive America at the same time.

Friedman explains how global warming, rapidly growing populations, and the astonishing expansion of the world's middle class through globalization have produced a planet that is "hot, flat, and crowded." Already the earth is being affected in ways that threaten to make it dangerously unstable. In just a few years, it will be too late to fix things--unless the United States steps up now and takes the lead in a worldwide effort to replace our wasteful, inefficient energy practices with a strategy for clean energy, energy efficiency, and conservation that Friedman calls Code Green.
The Secret Pleasures of Menopause by Christiane Northrup

Publisher: Hay House
Publication Date: Sep 17 2008
ISBN-10: 1401922376
ISBN-13: 978-1401922375
Health & Wellness
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The Secret Pleasures of Menopause is a groundbreaking book that is long overdue. Christiane Northrup, M.D., delivers a breakthrough message that will help millions and millions of perimenopausal and menopausal women understand that at menopause: life has just begun! It is the beginning of a very exciting and fulfilling time, full of pleasure beyond your wildest dreams.

Dr. Northrup believes that it's time for you to step forward and learn to enjoy the best years of your life. Even though studies show that menopause doesn't decrease libido or sexual satisfaction, the majority of menopausal women aren't experiencing the pleasure and satisfaction that is their birthright. It is a long-held misconception that menopause signals "the beginning of the end," and nothing could be further from the truth.

In this fascinating book, Dr. Northrup candidly guides you toward experiencing life after 50 as the most pleasurable time of your life!
Planet Google: One Company's Audacious Plan to Organize Everything We Know by Randall Stross

Publisher: Free Press
Publication Date: Sep 23 2008
ISBN-10: 141654691X
ISBN-13: 978-1416546917
Business / Computers
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Based on unprecedented access he received to the highly secretive "Googleplex," acclaimed New York Times columnist Randall Stross takes readers deep inside Google, the most important, most innovative, and most ambitious company of the Internet Age. His revelations demystify the strategy behind the company's recent flurry of bold moves, all driven by the pursuit of a business plan unlike any other: to become the indispensable gatekeeper of all the world's information, the one-stop destination for all our information needs. Will Google succeed? And what are the implications of a single company commanding so much information and knowing so much about us?

The more offerings Google adds, and the more ubiquitous a presence it becomes, the more dependent its users become on its services and the more information they contribute to its uniquely comprehensive collection of data. Will Google stay true to its famous "Don't Be Evil" mantra, using its power in its customers' best interests?

Stross's access to those who have spearheaded so many of Google's new initiatives, his penetrating research into the company's strategy, and his gift for lively storytelling produce an entertaining, deeply informed, and provocative examination of the company's audacious vision for the future and the consequences not only for the business world, but for our culture at large.
The Fighting Canadians by David J. Bercuson

Publisher: Harper Collins Canada (Sep 29 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0002007347
ISBN-13: 978-0002007344
War History / Canada
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One of Canada's top military experts takes a fresh look at our proud regimental heritage--a must-have book for all Canadians with a connection to the armed forces.

Regimental fighting units, suggests historian David J. Bercuson, do something that no other group can: they nurture their members as they proceed into the unnatural world of war, putting their lives on the line for the lives of others. Regiments are constructed clans, with proud histories and traditions that are impenetrable to outsiders but essential to the morale of those who are a part of their ranks.

This comprehensive regimental history is a lively, fascinating chronicle of tradition, achievement and sometimes catastrophe. Through the eyes of many prominent regiments, Bercuson looks at the broader culture of bonding and loyalty that is underappreciated outside of the military, yet second nature within it. Anyone with an interest in Canada's rich military history or a personal connection to the soldiers who have fought for this country--past or present--will appreciate this stirring account of Canada's frontline forces.
Called Out of Darkness: a Spiritual Confession by Anne Rice
     
Publisher: Knopf Canada
Publication Date: Oct 7 2008
ISBN-10: 0307397599
ISBN-13: 978-0307397591
Biography & Memoir   
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An intimate memoir of Anne Rice's Catholic girlhood, her unmaking as a devout believer, and her return to the Church - what she calls a decision of the heart.

Moving from her New Orleans childhood in the 1940s and '50s, with all its religious devotions, through how she slowly lost her belief in God, Called Out of Darkness also recounts Anne's years in radical Berkeley, where she wrote Interview with the Vampire (a lament for her lost faith) and where she came to admire the principles of secular humanists. She writes about loss and alienation (her mother's drinking, the deaths of her young daughter and later, her husband); about the birth of her son, Christopher; and about how, after 38 years as an atheist, she once again came to believe in Christ. Anne Rice makes a spiritual confession that is a celebration: a brilliant, subtle exploration of the journey through life that allows one to answer the call out of darkness.
The Worrywart's Companion: 21 Ways to Soothe Yourself & Worry Smart by Beverly Potter

Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Publication Date: Aug 14 2008
ISBN-10: 0071602135
ISBN-13: 978-0071602136
Health & Wellness
 

Worry smarter and reclaim the joy in your life!

Do you lie awake at night agonizing over things that could happen? Do you automatically expect the worst? Have you worried obsessively about things only to have everything turn out okay? Instead of worrying yourself sick, let the The Worrywart's Companion show you how to worry smart and soothe yourself so that you can think more clearly, deal with the worry at hand, and then let it go.

Try these simple ideas and start worrying smarter right now:
  • Talk to yourself the way a friend would.
  • Take a warm bath.
  • Practice underreacting.
  • Imagine a happy ending.
  • Do a good deed.
  • Watch a funny movie.
With these tips and many more, you will be able to release yourself from worry and learn to enjoy every moment--no matter where your life takes you.
The Tyranny of Oil: The World's Most Powerful Industry and What We Must Do to Stop It by Antonia Juhasz
 

Publisher: Harper Collins Canada
Publication Date: Sep 29 2008
ISBN-10: 0061434507
ISBN-13: 978-0061434501
Industry / Economics
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As oil prices-and public outrage-skyrocket, Antonia Juhasz, a leading industry critic and expert on corporations and globalization, gives us the hardest-hitting exposé of the oil industry in decades. In The Tyranny of Oil she investigates the true state of the U.S. oil industry-uncovering its virtually unparalleled global power.
 
Drawing on considerable historical research, Juhasz explores the parallels between today's companies and Standard Oil, the most powerful corporation of the early twentieth century, whose stranglehold on the economy and government was broken only by the vision and persistence of activists and like-minded politicians. We are in a similar position today, she argues, with powerful opportunities available for ordinary Americans to come together, reclaim their voices, and shore up our nation's crumbling democratic foundation.

A tool for meaningful change that blends history, original investigative research and reporting, candid interviews with key insiders, and a unique focus on activism.
Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook by Martha Stewart


Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Publication Date: Oct 21 2008
ISBN-10: 0307396444
ISBN-13: 978-0307396440
Food & Drink


Imagine having Martha Stewart at your side in the kitchen, teaching you how to hold a chef's knife, select the very best ingredients, truss a chicken, make a perfect pot roast, prepare every vegetable, bake a flawless pie crust, and much more.

Never before has Martha written a book quite like this one. Arranged by cooking technique, it's aimed at teaching you how to cook, not simply what to cook. Delve in and soon you'll be roasting, broiling, braising, stewing, sautéing, steaming, and poaching with confidence and competence. In addition to the techniques, you'll find more than 200 sumptuous, all-new recipes that put the lessons to work, along with invaluable step-by-step photographs to take the guesswork out of cooking. You'll also gain valuable insight into equipment, ingredients, and every other aspect of the kitchen to round out your culinary education.

Featuring more than 500 gorgeous color photographs, Martha Stewart's Cooking School is the new gold standard for everyone who truly wants to know his or her way around the kitchen.
Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks & a Writer's Life by Kathleen Norris

Publisher: Riverhead
Publication Date: Sep 16 2008
ISBN-10: 1594489963
ISBN-13: 978-1594489969
Biography / Memoir
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In this penetrating theological memoir, Norris (The Cloister Walk) details her relationship with acedia, a slothful, soul-weary indifference long recognized by monastics. Norris is careful to distinguish acedia from its cousin, depression, noting that acedia is a failure of the will and can be dispelled by embracing faith and life, whereas depression is not a choice and often requires medical treatment. This is tricky ground, but Norris treads gingerly, reserving her acerbic crankiness for a section where she convincingly argues that despite Americans' apparently unslothful lives, acedia is the undiagnosed neurasthenia of our busy age.

Much of the book is taken up with Norris's account of her complicated but successful marriage, which ended with her husband's death in 2003. The energy poured into this marriage, Norris argues, was as much a defiant strike against acedia as her spiritual discipline of praying the Psalms. Filled with gorgeous prose, generous quotations from Christian thinkers across the centuries and fascinating etymological detours, this discomfiting book provides not just spiritual hope but a much-needed kick in the rear. --- Publisher's Weekly
Magic When You Need It: 150 Spells You Can't Live Without
by Judika Illes

Publisher: Weiser Books
Publication Date: Sep 1 2008
ISBN-10: 1578634199
ISBN-13: 978-1578634194
New Age & Occult
Many spells and charms can take days or even weeks to complete. In Magic When You Need It, Judika Illes offers a collection of super-powered magic to help you right now. Is your career in a slump? Are you being visited by ghosts? Short on cash? This book can help with these problems and more. Divided into four sections: Money and Career; Love, Sex, Marriage, and Children; Home; and Trouble, Magic When You Need It offers 150 spells to help you fi nd a job, meet your soul mate, protect your home, and many more common (and not so common) predicaments. Using simple instructions and ingredients that can be found in your pantry, combined with easy to find magical oils and botanicals, Illes blends Old World and modern magic to provide the reader with safe, effective magical remedies for many of life's troubles. Carry this book in your purse, your car, or keep it on your kitchen counter for accessible magic year round.
The Hungry Scientist Handbook: Electric Birthday Cakes, Edible Origami, and Other DIY Projects for Techies, Tinkerers, and Foodies by Patrick Buckley & Lily Binns

Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Publication Date: Sep 15 2008
ISBN-10: 0061238686
ISBN-13: 978-0061238680
Food & Drink / Science
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The Hungry Scientist Handbook brings DIY technology into the kitchen and onto the plate. It compiles the most mouthwatering projects created by mechanical engineer Patrick Buckley and his band of intrepid techie friends, whose collaboration on contraptions started at a memorable 2005 Bay Area dinner party and resulted in the formation of the Hungry Scientist Society-a loose confederation of creative minds dedicated to the pursuit of projects possessing varying degrees of whimsy and utility.

Featuring twenty projects ranging from edible origami to glowing lollipops, cryogenic martinis to Tupperware boom boxes, the book draws from the expertise of programmers, professors, and garden-variety geeks and offers something to delight DIYers of all skill levels.

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