The dark forest

By Liu, Cixin

Publishing Date: 2015

Classification: SF

Call Number: SF

"With the scope of Dune and the rousing action of Independence Day, this near-future trilogy is the first chance for English-speaking readers to experience this multple-award-winning phenemonenon from China's most beloved science fiction author. In Dark Forest, Earth is reeling from the revelation of a coming alien invasion--in just four centuries' time. The aliens' human collaborators may have been defeated, but the presence of the sophons, the subatomic particles that allow Trisolaris instant access to all human information, means that Earth's defense plans are totally exposed to the enemy. Only the human mind remains a secret. This is the motivation for the Wallfacer Project, a daring plan that grants four men enormous resources to design secret strategies, hidden through deceit and misdirection from Earth and Trisolaris alike. Three of the Wallfacers are influential statesmen and scientists, but the fourth is a total unknown. Luo Ji, an unambitious Chinese astronomer and sociologist, is baffled by his new status. All he knows is that he's the one Wallfacer that Trisolaris wants dead"--

A darker shade of magic

By Schwab, Victoria

Publishing Date: 2015

Classification: SF

Call Number: SF

"From V.E. Schwab, the critically acclaimed author of Vicious, comes a new universe of daring adventure, thrilling power, and parallel Londons, beginning with A Darker Shade of Magic. Kell is one of the last Travelers--magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes--as such, he can choose where he lands. There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there's Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne--a place where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London...but no one speaks of that now. Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see--a dangerous hobby, and one that has set him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations, first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces him to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure. But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive--and that is proving trickier than they hoped. "--

NEW RELEASE

The knowledge illusion: why we never think alone

By Sloman, Steven A.

Publishing Date: 2017

Classification: 100

Call Number: 153.42 SLO

"Two cognitive scientists explain how the human brain relies on the communal nature of intelligence and knowledge, constantly gathering information and expertise stored outside our mind and bodies, to overcome its shortcomings of being error prone, irrational and often ignorant,"--NoveList.

NEW RELEASE

Option B: facing adversity, building resilience, and finding joy

By Sandberg, Sheryl

Publishing Date: 2017

Classification: 100

Call Number: 155.9 SAN

"From Facebook's COO and Wharton's top-rated professor, the #1New York Timesbest-selling authors ofLean InandOriginals:a powerful, inspiring, and practical book about building resilience and moving forward after life's inevitable setbacks. After the sudden death of her husband, Sheryl Sandberg felt certain that she and her children would never feel pure joy again. "I was in 'the void,'" she writes, "a vast emptiness that fills your heart and lungs and restricts your ability to think or even breathe." Her friend Adam Grant, a psychologist at Wharton, told her there are concrete steps people can take to recover and rebound from life-shattering experiences. We are not born with a fixed amount of resilience. It is a muscle that everyone can build. Option B combines Sheryl's personal insights with Adam's eye-opening research on finding strength in the face of adversity. Beginning with the gut-wrenching moment when she finds her husband, Dave Goldberg, collapsed on a gym floor, Sheryl opens up her heart--and her journal--to describe the acute grief and isolation she felt in the wake of his death. But Option B goes beyond Sheryl's loss to explore how a broad range of people have overcome hardships including illness, job loss, sexual assault, natural disasters, and the violence of war. Their stories reveal the capacity of the human spirit to persevere. and to rediscover joy. Resilience comes from deep within us and from support outside us. Even after the most devastating events, it is possible to grow by finding deeper meaning and gaining greater appreciation in our lives. Option B illuminates how to help others in crisis, develop compassion for ourselves, raise strong children, and create resilient families, communities, and workplaces. Many of these lessons can be applied to everyday struggles, allowing us to brave whatever lies ahead. Two weeks after losing her husband, Sheryl was preparing for a father-child activity. "I want Dave," she cried. Her friend replied, "Option A is not available," and then promised to help her make the most of Option B. We all live some form of Option B. This book will help us all make the most of it"--

The dream of enlightenment: the rise of modern philosophy

By Gottlieb, Anthony

Publishing Date: [2016]

Classification: 100

Call Number: 190 GOT

"Western philosophy is now two and a half millennia old, but much of it came in just two staccato bursts, each lasting only about 150 years. In his landmark survey of Western philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance, The Dream of Reason, Anthony Gottlieb documented the first burst, which came in the Athens of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Now, in his sequel, The Dream of Enlightenment, Gottlieb expertly navigates a second great explosion of thought, taking us to northern Europe in the wake of its wars of religion and the rise of Galilean science. In a relatively short period--from the early 1640s to the eve of the French Revolution--Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, and Hume all made their mark. The Dream of Enlightenment tells their story and that of the birth of modern philosophy. As Gottlieb explains, all these men were amateurs: none had much to do with any university. They tried to fathom the implications of the new science and of religious upheaval, which led them to question traditional teachings and attitudes. What does the advance of science entail for our understanding of ourselves and for our ideas of God? How should a government deal with religious diversity--and what, actually, is government for? Such questions remain our questions, which is why Descartes, Hobbes, and the others are still pondered today"--dust jacket flap.

A little history of religion

By Holloway, Richard

Publishing Date: [2016]

Classification: 200

Call Number: 200.9 HOL

In an era of hardening religious attitudes and explosive religious violence, this book offers a welcome antidote. Richard Holloway retells the entire history of religionfrom the dawn of religious belief to the twenty-first centurywith deepest respect and a keen commitment to accuracy. Writing for those with faith and those without, and especially for young readers, he encourages curiosity and tolerance, accentuates nuance and mystery, and calmly restores a sense of the value of faith. Ranging far beyond the major world religions of Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism, Holloway also examines where religious belief comes from, the search for meaning throughout history, todays fascinations with Scientology and creationism, religiously motivated violence, hostilities between religious people and secularists, and more. Holloway proves an empathic yet discerning guide to the enduring significance of faith and its power from ancient times to our own.--INSIDE FLAP.

The handy mythology answer book

By Leeming, David Adams

Publishing Date: [2015]

Classification: 200

Call Number: 201.3 LEE

"Stories centuries in the making, and many centuries worth of stories, are an integral part of modern society. Whether modern or ancient, every culture has its myths. Mythology forms our understanding of our origin, history, and traditions. They tell of our heroes and deities. Myths are vehicles for understanding religion, for learning language, and for understanding society, but they can often be difficult to understand and confusing. The Handy Mythology Answer Book examines and explains, in plain English, numerous myths and mythology. From the ancient Greek and Roman to Egypt and Babylon, from Native North American Indian to Celtic, Middle Eastern, Indian, Asian, African, and the lesser known myths from around the world, The Handy Mythology Answer Book has them covered. Whether it is the modern retelling of a classic myth or an ancient story about a Norse god, this helpful resource demystifies the myth, looks at different archetypes and motifs, and even shows how myths help explain our existence and institutions. It answers nearly 600 questions and offers fun facts about the treachery and violence, the inspirational and epic, the supernatural monsters and heroic mortals found in mythology, such as How and when did myths originate? What are the three primary myth types? What is the nature of Creation Myths? How can myths be compared to dreams? Why do humans tell myths? What was the Egyptian Book of the Dead? How is the epic of Gilgamesh like later epics? Why is the biblical flood story so like the Babylonian flood myth? What was the myth of Theseus, the Labyrinth, and the Minotaur? What are the Homeric Hymns? How and why are the Odyssey and the Iliad so different from each other? What is the popular appeal of the Odyssey? Did the Greeks see these myths as religion or as entertainment? What was the background myth of the Oedipus plays? What was the nature of Roman mythology during the Roman Republic? What was the Metamorphosis? How did Christian narrative and tradition fit into and come to dominate the Roman mythological tradition? How is Celtic culture and mythology related to the culture and mythology of Greek, Roman, and other cultures? How did the Vedas contribute to Hindu mythology? Who invented Chinese writing? What was the Aztec pantheon? What is the story of the Cherokee Grandmother Sun? Who are some Native American tricksters? What is the story of Schrödinger's Cat? How did Freud use myths? How is myth used in politics? A glossary of commonly used terms and an appendix of parallel mythology exploring universal themes, motifs, and archetypes from across various cultures further explains the world of mythology. "--

The new gods

By Cioran, E. M.

Publishing Date: 2013

Classification: 200

Call Number: 210 CIO

Dubbed "Nietzsche without his hammer" by literary critic James Wood, the Romanian philosopher E. M. Cioran is known as much for his profound pessimism and fatalistic approach as for the lyrical, raging prose with which he communicates them. Unlike many of his other works, such as On the Heights of Despair and Tears and Saints, The New Gods eschews his usual aphoristic approach in favor of more extensive and analytic essays. Returning to many of Cioran's favorite themes, The New Gods explores humanity’s attachment to gods, death, fear, and infirmity, in essays that vary widely in form and approach. In "Paleontology" Cioran describes a visit to a museum, finding the relatively pedestrian destination rife with decay, death, and human weakness. In another chapter, Cioran explores suicide in shorter, impressionistic bursts, while "The Demiurge" is a shambolic exploration of man’s relationship with good, evil, and God. All the while, The New Gods reaffirms Cioran's belief in "lucid despair," and his own signature mixture of pessimism and skepticism in language that never fails to be a pleasure. Perhaps his prose itself is an argument against Cioran's near-nihilism: there is beauty in his books.- (Chicago Distribution Center)

The wisdom books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes : a translation with commentary

Publishing Date: c2010

Classification: 200

Call Number: 223.077

Presents a modern translation of the Books of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament, and provides annotations and commentary for each verse.

NEW RELEASE

Pontius Pilate: deciphering a memory

By Schiavone, Aldo

Publishing Date: 2017

Classification: 200

Call Number: 226.092 SCH

Groundbreaking in its analysis and evocative in its narrative exposition, Pontius Pilate is an absorbing portrait of a man who has been relegated to the borders of history and legend for over two thousand years.

The American miracle: divine providence in the rise of the republic

By Medved, Michael

Publishing Date: [2016]

Classification: 200

Call Number: 277.3 MED

In this book, "bestselling author and radio host Michael Medved recounts some of the most significant events in America's rise to prosperity and power, from the writing of the Constitution to the Civil War. He reveals a record of improbabilities and amazements that demonstrate what the Founders always believed: that events unfolded according to a master plan, with destiny playing an unmistakable role in lifting the nation to greatness."--From dust jacket.

Take this bread: a radical conversion

By Miles, Sara

Publishing Date: c2007

Classification: 200

Call Number: 277.3 MIL

Raised as an atheist, Sara Miles lived an enthusiastically secular life. Then early one morning, for no earthly reason, she wandered into a church. "I was certainly not interested in becoming a Christian," she writes, "or, as I thought of it rather less politely, a religious nut." But she ate a piece of bread, took a sip of wine, and found herself radically transformed. The sacrament of communion has sustained Miles ever since, in a faith she'd scorned, in work she'd never imagined.--From publisher description.

NEW RELEASE

Martin Luther: renegade and prophet

By Roper, Lyndal

Publishing Date: [2017]

Classification: 200

Call Number: 284.1092 ROP

This definitive biography reveals the complicated inner life of the founding father of the Protestant Reformation, whose intellectual assault on Catholicism ushered in a century of upheaval that transformed Christianity and changed the course of world history. On October 31, 1517, so the story goes, a shy monk named Martin Luther nailed a piece of paper to the door of the Castle Church in the university town of Wittenberg. The ideas contained in these Ninety-five Theses, which boldly challenged the Catholic Church, spread like wildfire. Within two months, they were known all over Germany. So powerful were Martin Luther's broadsides against papal authority that they polarized a continent and tore apart the very foundation of Western Christendom. Luther's ideas inspired upheavals whose consequences we live with today. But who was the man behind the Ninety-five Theses? Lyndal Roper's magisterial new biography goes beyond Luther's theology to investigate the inner life of the religious reformer who has been called "the last medieval man and the first modern one." Here is a full-blooded portrait of a revolutionary thinker who was, at his core, deeply flawed and full of contradictions. Luther was a brilliant writer whose biblical translations had a lasting impact on the German language. Yet he was also a strident fundamentalist whose scathing rhetorical attacks threatened to alienate those he might persuade. He had a colorful, even impish personality, and when he left the monastery to get married ("to spite the Devil," he explained), he wooed and wed an ex-nun. But he had an ugly side too. When German peasants rose up against the nobility, Luther urged the aristocracy to slaughter them. He was a ferocious anti-Semite and a virulent misogynist, even as he argued for liberated human sexuality within marriage. A distinguished historian of early modern Europe, Lyndal Roper looks deep inside the heart of this singularly complex figure. The force of Luther's personality, she argues, had enormous historical effects -- both good and ill. By bringing us closer than ever to the man himself, she opens up a new vision of the Reformation and the world it created and draws a fully three-dimensional portrait of its founder. - Publisher.

Thank you for being late: an optimist's guide to thriving in the age of accelerations

By Friedman, Thomas L.

Publishing Date: [2016]

Classification: 300

Call Number: 303.483 FRI

A field guide to the twenty-first century shares strategies for surviving today's hectic technological, environmental, and economic challenges, contrasting present-day environments with the working model of an earlier generation.

The wild and the wicked: on nature and human nature

By Hale, Benjamin

Publishing Date: [2016]

Classification: 300

Call Number: 304.2 HAL

"Most of us think that in order to be environmentalists, we have to love nature. Essentially, we should be tree huggers -- embracing majestic redwoods, mighty oaks, graceful birches, etc. We ought to eat granola, drive hybrids, cook tofu, and write our appointments in Sierra Club calendars. Nature's splendor, in other words, justifies our protection of it. But, asks Benjamin Hale in this provocative book, what about tsunamis, earthquakes, cancer, bird flu, killer asteroids? They are nature, too. For years, environmentalists have insisted that nature is fundamentally good. In The Wild and the Wicked, Benjamin Hale adopts the opposite position -- that much of the time nature can be bad -- in order to show that even if nature is cruel, we still need to be environmentally conscientious. Hale argues that environmentalists needn't feel compelled to defend the value of nature, or even to adopt the attitudes of tree-hugging nature lovers. We can acknowledge nature's indifference and periodic hostility. Deftly weaving anecdote and philosophy, he shows that we don't need to love nature to be green. What really ought to be driving our environmentalism is our humanity, not nature's value. Hale argues that our unique burden as human beings is that we can act for reasons, good or bad. He claims that we should be environmentalists because environmentalism is right, because we humans have the capacity to be better than nature. As humans, we fail to live up to our moral potential if we act as brutally as nature. Hale argues that despite nature's indifference to the plight of humanity, humanity cannot be indifferent to the plight of nature."--Publisher's description.

The dog by the cradle, the serpent beneath: some paradoxes of human-animal relationships

By Ritter, Erika

Publishing Date: [2009], ©2009

Classification: 300

Call Number: 304.27 RIT

In a recent survey, 70% of respondents identified their family pet as "a member of the family." Even as these animals are revered as loved ones, the meat, fish, and dairy industries continue to thrive. Speaking to this disparity, Dog by the Cradle, the Serpent Beneath addresses this fascinating subject. Using interviews with philosophers, scientists, farmers, poets, and commentators, Ritter explores our complicated, and often inconsistent, relationship to the animal world. - (Perseus Publishing)

Our kids: the American Dream in crisis

By Putnam, Robert D.

Publishing Date: 2015

Classification: 300

Call Number: 305.5 PUT

"A groundbreaking examination of the growing inequality gap from the bestselling author of Bowling Alone: why fewer Americans today have the opportunity for upward mobility. It's the American dream: get a good education, work hard, buy a house, and achieve prosperity and success. This is the America we believe in--a nation of opportunity, constrained only by ability and effort. But during the last twenty-five years we have seen a disturbing "opportunity gap" emerge. Americans have always believed in equality of opportunity, the idea that all kids, regardless of their family background, should have a decent chance to improve their lot in life. Now, this central tenet of the American dream seems no longer true or at the least, much less true than it was. Robert Putnam--about whom The Economist said, "his scholarship is wide-ranging, his intelligence luminous, his tone modest, his prose unpretentious and frequently funny"--offers a personal but also authoritative look at this new American crisis. Putnam begins with his high school class of 1959 in Port Clinton, Ohio. By and large the vast majority of those students--"our kids"--went on to lives better than those of their parents. But their children and grandchildren have had harder lives amid diminishing prospects. Putnam tells the tale of lessening opportunity through poignant life stories of rich and poor kids from cities and suburbs across the country, drawing on a formidable body of research done especially for this book. Our Kids is a rare combination of individual testimony and rigorous evidence. Putnam provides a disturbing account of the American dream that should initiate a deep examination of the future of our country"--

Blood at the root: a racial cleansing in America

By Phillips, Patrick

Publishing Date: [2016]

Classification: 300

Call Number: 305.8009 PHI

"A gripping tale of racial cleansing in Forsyth County, Georgia and ... testament to the deep roots of racial violence in America ... Patrick Phillips breaks the century-long silence of his hometown and uncovers a history of racial terrorism that continues to shape America in the twenty-first century"--

Braiding sweetgrass

By Kimmerer, Robin Wall

Publishing Date: 2013

Classification: 300

Call Number: 305.897 KIM

"An inspired weaving of indigenous knowledge, plant science, and personal narrative from a distinguished professor of science and a Native American whose previous book, Gathering Moss, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing. As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowing together to reveal what it means to see humans as "the younger brothers of creation." As she explores these themes she circles toward a central argument: the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgement and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the world. Once we begin to listen for the languages of other beings, we can begin to understand the innumerable life-giving gifts the world provides us and learn to offer our thanks, our care, and our own gifts in return"--

Resilient life: the art of living dangerously

By Evans, Brad

Publishing Date: 2014

Classification: 300

Call Number: 320.01 EVA

What does it mean to live dangerously? This is not just a philosophical question or an ethical call to reflect upon our own individual recklessness. It is a deeply political issue, fundamental to the new doctrine of 'resilience' that is becoming a key term of art for governing planetary life in the 21st Century. No longer should we think in terms of evading the possibility of traumatic experiences. Catastrophic events, we are told, are not just inevitable but learning experiences from which we have to grow and prosper, collectively and individually. Vulnerability to threat, injury and loss has to be accepted as a reality of human existence. In this original and compelling text, Brad Evans and Julian Reid explore the political and philosophical stakes of the resilience turn in security and governmental thinking. Resilience, they argue, is a neo-liberal deceit that works by disempowering endangered populations of autonomous agency. Its consequences represent a profound assault on the human subject whose meaning and sole purpose is reduced to survivability. Not only does this reveal the nihilistic qualities of a liberal project that is coming to terms with its political demise. All life now enters into lasting crises that are catastrophic unto the end. - (WILEY)