The poisoner's handbook : murder and the birth of forensic medicine in jazz age New York

 by Deborah Blum. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Blum (science journalism, Univ. of Wisconsin) has cleverly packaged her account of the birth of forensic medicine by addressing the use and detection of various poisons in the early 20th century. The setting is the Prohibition era, when the death toll rose with the widespread distribution of bootleg liquor containing lethal methyl alcohol and the addition of poisons deliberately added by federal government regulation to make alcohols undrinkable. Blum focuses on New York City's first chief medical examiner, Charles Norris, and his colleague, longtime chief toxicologist Alexander Gettler. Norris was relentless in his advocacy for the new profession, often railing against government policies (or the lack thereof) that allowed unregulated poisons to be blithely used in industrial products, cosmetics, and medicinals despite injuries and deaths. Gettler was the consummate workaholic professional, meticulously testing and developing new techniques for extracting the remnants of poisons in corpses. Blum interlaces true-crime stories with the history of forensic medicine and the chemistry of various poisons. VERDICT This readable and enjoyable book should appeal to history buffs interested in medicine, New York City, or the early 20th century generally. And of course scientists and true-crime aficionados will also enjoy it. Highly recommended. --Library Journal. (Check Catalog)

The patience stone : sang-e saboor

 by Atiq Rahimi. The patience stone, according to Persian folklore, is a small black stone that absorbs what people confide in it. Filmmaker Rahimi (Earth and Ashes) casts as the stone a person, one of the two nameless characters in this allegorical tale. Everything takes place in one room in the modest home of a fundamentalist Islamic war hero who lies comatose. His wife cleans him, moistens his open eyes, and feeds him a sugar/salt solution through a drip. She is distraught with her husband's state, the plight of her two young daughters, and the unnamed conflict going on outside her home. After talking politely to her husband and saying endless prayers, she gradually comes to pour out a fierce treatise on women's place in society, love, sex, marriage, and war. Verdict Rahimi's lyric prose is simple and poetic, and McLean's translation is superb. With an introduction by Khaled Hosseini, this Prix Goncourt-winning book should have a profound impact on the literature of Afghanistan for its brave portrayal of, among other things, an Afghan woman as a sexual being. --Library Journal. (Check Catalog)

The whale : in search of the giants of the sea

 by Philip Hoare. First published in Britain in 2008 as Leviathan and the winner of the prestigious BBC Samuel Johnson Prize, this gracefully written exploration of why whales fascinate us combines science, literature, history, and personal reflections. The author is a British writer of biographies of Noel Coward and Oscar Wilde and an enthusiastic traveler to such whale-related locales as Nantucket, MA, and Mystic, CT. His discussions of whale biology, physiology, and migration are interspersed with quotes from Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, excerpts from well-written accounts of 19th-century whaling voyages, and stories of present-day whale-watching trips, adding rich background. The illustrations, detailed index, and brief glossary add reference value. VERDICT Alexandra Morton's Listening to Whales and Trevor Norton's Underwater To Get Out of the Rain are other examples of books that center on the authors' personal relationships to the marine world. Fans of those titles as well as of Richard Ellis's Men and Whales will enjoy. Sure also to appeal to whale enthusiasts without a formal science background. --Library Journal. (Check Catalog)

The midnight house

 by Alex Berenson. Berenson's (The Faithful Spy) latest ingeniously plotted and fast-paced story again offers superspy John Wells, who is called upon by shifty CIA superiors to investigate the systematic murders of members of a now-disbanded supersecret interrogation team known as the Midnight House. Our well-equipped hero deduces that both the dead interrogators and agency executives harbored an extraordinarily dangerous political secret as well as participated in various forms of financial corruption. The story features emotionally affecting and high-action scenes in vividly portrayed settings; memorable characters contribute to the reader's comprehension of how the CIA's overseas "rendition" program may have been of enormous benefit to national security but also grossly immoral and personally destructive to its participants, terror suspects and interrogators alike. Verdict Arguably Berenson's best thriller yet, this outstanding novel stands on the top rung of commercial spy fiction. --Library Journal. (Check Catalog)

American voyeur : dispatches from the far reaches of modern life

by Benoit Denizet-Lewis. Denizet-Lewis deftly combines journalism and sociology in these 16 articles originally published in such sources as New York Times Magazine, Spin, and Slate. Focusing on youth culture, sex, and sexual identity (often gay and lesbian), the thirtysomething reporter demonstrates a flair for what he calls immersion journalism or wait(ing) around for people to be themselves. In practice, this means patiently establishing an emotional rapport with people as disparate as homeless gay teens in San Francisco's Castro District and prepubescent extreme-sport athletes who are fielding more commercial endorsements than they can count. The resulting reports are insightful, entertaining, and often thought provoking, especially those that most nearly approach sociology, e.g., the author's investigation of the Down Low subculture (African American men living as heterosexuals while secretly having sex with other men), the lives of young gay married couples in Massachusetts, and contemporary teen dating habits and sexual practices. Whether his subjects are occasionally superficial or (more often) substantive, Denizet-Lewis himself is always an engaging and well-informed guide to some of the farther reaches of contemporary American culture. --Booklist. (Check Catalog)

Roses

by Leila Meecham. It's been almost 30 years since the heyday of giant epics in the grand tradition of Edna Ferber and Barbara Taylor Bradford, but Meacham's debut might bring them back. This story of two founding families in a small East Texas town spans the 20th century. When Mary Toliver inherits her family's cotton plantation, Somerset, in 1916, it tears apart her family; her mother turns to alcohol, and her brother leaves. Mary's obsession with Somerset even causes her to lose the love of her life, timber magnate Percy Warwick. By the time she's 85, Mary is determined that the family curse will not continue and, despite her grandniece's love of Somerset, plans for the plantation to be sold after her death. Mary Toliver and Percy Warwick can't share anything more than friendship, but Mary's actions might allow Rachel to see past Somerset to the man who loves her. Verdict Readers who like an old-fashioned saga will devour this sprawling novel of passion and revenge. --Library Journal (Check Catalog)

Intellectuals and society

by Thomas Sowell. The influence of intellectuals is not only greater than in previous eras but also takes a very different form from that envisioned by those like Machiavelli and others who have wanted to directly influence rulers. It has not been by shaping the opinions or directing the actions of the holders of power that modern intellectuals have most influenced the course of events, but by shaping public opinion in ways that affect the actions of power holders in democratic societies, whether or not those power holders accept the general vision or the particular policies favored by intellectuals. Even government leaders with disdain or contempt for intellectuals have had to bend to the climate of opinion shaped by those intellectuals. Intellectuals and Society not only examines the track record of intellectuals in the things they have advocated but also analyzes the incentives and constraints under which their views and visions have emerged. One of the most surprising aspects of this study is how often intellectuals have been proved not only wrong, but grossly and disastrously wrong in their prescriptions for the ills of society-- and how little their views have changed in response to empirical evidence of the disasters entailed by those views. --Publisher (Check catalog)

The summer we fell apart : a novel

by Robin Antalek. The arrival of Miriam, a Swiss high school student, in the Haas household is actually a minor incident in the scope of this story. The true focus is on each of the Haas siblings-Kate, Finn, George, and Amy-and to some extent their always distracted parents, Marilyn, the B-movie actress, and Richard, the one-hit-wonder playwright. An odd bunch of individuals, this family together forms a mostly dysfunctional and tentative unit. What would-be fifth sibling Miriam brings to their existence is intermittent-she's sometimes the accepted outsider, and, for handsome and tragic Finn, she is someone who loves him and tries to save him from self-destruction. The narrative shifts from sibling to sibling, allowing each character to present his or her perspective and life situation. In the final pages, Marilyn is given the same opportunity. Readers learn how the children have coped with minimal parental intervention and later see them as adults struggling to make their own way. Verdict Debut author Antalek provides a captivating look at a modern family over the course of 15 years. Her memorable characters are ultimately likable despite their flaws. Strongly recommended. --Library Journal. (Check Catalog)

Half the sky : turning oppression to opportunity for women worldwide

by Nicholas D. Kristof. Kristof and WuDunn, the first married couple ever both to win Pulitzer Prizes for journalism, here expose the brutal horrors endured by millions of women throughout Asia and Africa, putting names and faces to these individuals and their suffering. They argue that the key to change is social entrepreneurs who can empower at the grassroots level through such means as education and microloans. With her soothing delivery, actress/narrator Cassandra Campbell (The School of Essential Ingredients) avoids sensationalizing this already dramatic material, whose accounts of gang rape, forced prostitution, and childbirth injuries make for painful but essential adult listening. Strongly recommended. (Check Catalog)

Ordinary thunderstorms : a novel

by William Boyd. In his ninth novel, award-winning British author Boyd (Restless) seamlessly fuses a picaresque tale with the threatening storms of a thriller. Climatologist Adam Kindred, in London for a job interview, strikes up a dinner conversation with Dr. Philip Wang, director of a medical trial seeking a cure for childhood asthma. When Wang leaves behind his briefcase, Adam tracks him down, only to find that the doctor has just been murdered. With the killer still in the flat, Adam flees for his life, thus beginning his descent into London's underworld, where he will lose his identity, possessions, job, and reputation. Drawn inadvertently into a complex conspiracy involving pharmaceutical giants, he will need guile, tenacity, and the privileged information found in Wang's dossier to survive. On Adam's heels, Thames River cop Rita Nashe has her own family problems, as does Ingram Fryzer, a pharma CEO struggling to handle his disintegrating health while facing a furtive takeover of his company. VERDICT Not just for thriller fans, this engaging blend of trickery, danger, and human eccentricity will appeal to readers who enjoy not only John Grisham but also John Irving. --Library Journal. (Check catalog)

Rosalie Edge: hawk of mercy : the activist who saved nature from the conservationists

by Dyan Zaslowski. Like the prophets of old, Rosalie Edge confronted and complained to effect needed change among the conservationists of her day. She made the comfortable, those holding on to the status quo, a bit uncomfortable. With the help of secret insiders, she uncovered many clear cases of corruption. Having learned successful battle strategies from her engagements in the suffrage movement, Edge rose from relative obscurity to correct the course of misguided conservation from the Depression to the Cold War era. So many quotes could be used to characterize Edge's work and impact, but the one most needed today is: "We have always found prudence to be a featherweight in the balance of our decisions." Much like John Muir, Edge lacked a scientific background based on formal training; like Gifford Pinchot, she was from a privileged family. Edge fought against the use of systemic poisons before Rachel Carson did. Unlike these well-known founders of the American environmental movement, Edge's story is largely unknown but certainly no less important. Writer/journalist Furmansky uncovers a true treasure and teaches readers a valuable lesson: one person can make a difference. Summing Up: Highly recommended. --Choice (Check catalog)

Olive Kitteridge

by Elizabeth Strout. Thirteen linked tales from Strout (Abide with Me, etc.) present a heart-wrenching, penetrating portrait of ordinary coastal Mainers living lives of quiet grief intermingled with flashes of human connection. The opening "Pharmacy" focuses on terse, dry junior high-school teacher Olive Kitteridge and her gregarious pharmacist husband, Henry, both of whom have survived the loss of a psychologically damaged parent, and both of whom suffer painful attractions to co-workers. Their son, Christopher, takes center stage in "A Little Burst," which describes his wedding in humorous, somewhat disturbing detail, and in "Security," where Olive, in her 70s, visits Christopher and his family in New York. Strout's fiction showcases her ability to reveal through familiar details-the mother-of-the-groom's wedding dress, a grandmother's disapproving observations of how her grandchildren are raised-the seeds of tragedy. Themes of suicide, depression, bad communication, aging and love, run through these stories, none more vivid or touching than "Incoming Tide," where Olive chats with former student Kevin Coulson as they watch waitress Patty Howe by the seashore, all three struggling with their own misgivings about life. Like this story, the collection is easy to read and impossible to forget. Its literary craft and emotional power will surprise readers unfamiliar with Strout. --Publishers Weekly. (Check Catalog)

The checklist manifesto : how to get things right

by Atul Gewande. That humblest of quality-control devices, the checklist, is the key to taming a high-tech economy, argues this stimulating manifesto. Harvard Medical School prof and New Yorker scribe Gawande (Complications) notes that the high-pressure complexities of modern professional occupations overwhelm even their best-trained practitioners; he argues that a disciplined adherence to essential procedures-by ticking them off a list-can prevent potentially fatal mistakes and corner cutting. He examines checklists in aviation, construction, and investing, but focuses on medicine, where checklists mandating simple measures like hand washing have dramatically reduced hospital-caused infections and other complications. Gawande gets slightly intoxicated over checklists, celebrating their most banal manifestations as promethean breakthroughs ("First there was the recipe, the most basic checklist of all," he intones in a restaurant kitchen). He's at his best delivering his usual rich, insightful reportage on medical practice, where checklists have the subversive effect of puncturing the cult of physician infallibility and fostering communication and teamwork. (After writing a checklist for his specialty, surgery, he is chagrined when it catches his own disastrous lapses.) Gawande gives a vivid, punchy exposition of an intriguing idea: that by-the-book routine trumps individual prowess. --Publisher's Weekly. (Check Catalog)

Winter garden

by Kristin Hannah. The Whitson family is rocked by the sudden death of patriarch Evan, a warm, loving man who doted on his two adult daughters, Meredith and Nina, and his reserved Russian wife, Anya. Meredith, who runs the family business, and Nina, a photojournalist whose job takes her to war zones around the world, have never been able to connect with their cold, forbidding mother. When Anya begins to act strangely, Meredith thinks she belongs in a nursing home, but Nina decides to try to fulfill her father's dying wish and get her mother to tell her and Meredith the elaborate fairy tales she used to share with them. Anya is initially reluctant, but once she begins, Nina realizes these tales are actually the story of Anya's life in Stalinist Leningrad. Meredith and Nina decide to attempt to uncover the truth about their mother's tragic past in the hope of understanding her, and themselves. Though the novel starts off fairly maudlin, it evolves into a gripping read, although it's a tearjerker. Hannah's previous books, including Firefly Lane (2008) and True Colors (2009), are tailor-made for book clubs, and her audience should find plenty to discuss in this equally enthralling entry. --Booklist (Check catalog)

The happiness project : or why I spent a year trying to sing in the morning, clean my closets, fight right, read Aristotle, and generally have more fu

by Gretchen Craft Rubin. Rubin is not an unhappy woman: she has a loving husband, two great kids and a writing career in New York City. Still, she could-and, arguably, should-be happier. Thus, her methodical (and bizarre) happiness project: spend one year achieving careful, measurable goals in different areas of life (marriage, work, parenting, self-fulfillment) and build on them cumulatively, using concrete steps (such as, in January, going to bed earlier, exercising better, getting organized, and "act[ing] more energetic"). By December, she's striving bemusedly to keep increasing happiness in every aspect of her life. The outcome is good, not perfect (in accordance with one of her "Secrets of Adulthood": "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good"), but Rubin's funny, perceptive account is both inspirational and forgiving, and sprinkled with just enough wise tips, concrete advice and timely research (including all those other recent books on happiness) to qualify as self-help. Defying self-help expectations, however, Rubin writes with keen senses of self and narrative, balancing the personal and the universal with a light touch. Rubin's project makes curiously compulsive reading, which is enough to make any reader happy. --Publisher's Weekly. (Check catalog)