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Librarians' Non-Fiction Picks: 2016

January 7, 2017 | madame librarian

The following Adult non-fiction titles were chosen as CPL librarians' favorites of 2016. Check them out today!

Raising the floor : how a universal basic income can renew our economy and rebuild the American dream by Andy Stern
Also available in: e-book

Advances in technology are creating the next economy and enabling us to make things/do things/connect with others in smarter, cheaper, faster, more effective ways. But the price of this progress has been a de-coupling of the engine of prosperity from jobs that have been the means by which people have ascended to (and stayed in) the middle class. Andy Stern, the former president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) spent four years traveling the country and asking economists, futurists, labor leaders, CEOs, investment bankers, entrepreneurs, and political leaders to help picture the U.S. economy 25 to 30 years from now. He vividly reports on people who are analyzing and creating this new economy--such as investment banker Steve Berkenfeld; David Cote, the CEO of Honeywell International; Andy Grove of Intel; Carl Camden, the CEO of Kelly Services; and Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children's Zone. Through these stories, we come to a stark and deeper understanding of the toll technological progress will continue to take on jobs and income and its inevitable effect on tens of millions of people. But there is hope for our economy and future. The foundation of economic prosperity for all Americans, Stern believes, is a universal basic income. The idea of a universal basic income for all Americans is controversial but American attitudes are shifting. Stern has been a game changer throughout his career, and his next goal is to create a movement that will force the political establishment to take action against s
omething that many on both the right and the left believe is inevitable. Stern's plan is bold, idealistic, and challenging--and its time has come.
 

SPQR : a history of ancient Rome by Mary Beard

Ancient Rome was an imposing city even by modern standards, a sprawling imperial metropolis of more than a million inhabitants, a "mixture of luxury and filth, liberty and exploitation, civic pride and murderous civil war" that served as the seat of power for an empire that spanned from Spain to Syria. Yet how did all this emerge from what was once an insignificant village in central Italy? In S.P.Q.R., world-renowned classicist Mary Beard narrates the unprecedented rise of a civilization that even two thousand years later still shapes many of our most fundamental assumptions about power, citizenship, responsibility, political violence, empire, luxury, and beauty.

Look What's in Large Print: January 2017

January 6, 2017 | madame librarian

If the font is bigger, it stands to reason the book will be bigger as well, right? That large print titles seemingly defy basic logic makes this one of the most prevalent misconceptions. In fact, large print titles are often the same size or smaller than their hardcover or trade paperback counterparts and weigh about the same as a traditional hardcover book. The common reaction to learning this fact is, “Well, to be the same size or smaller, they must be abridged.” This is also false. The magic here lies in the combination of printing on a thinner, higher quality paper and laying out the text to maximize the use of white space.

Shoot [large print] by Loren D. Estleman

Valentino, a mild-manner film archivist at UCLA and sometime film detective, is at the closing party for the Red Montana and Dixie Day museum when he is approached by no less than his hero and man-of-the-hour Red Montana, western film and television star. Red tells Valentino that he is being blackmailed over the existence of a blue film that his wife, now known throughout the world as the wholesome Dixie Day and the other half of the Montana/Day power couple, made early in her career. With Dixie on her deathbed, Red is desperate to save her the embarrassment of the promised scandal, and offers Valentino a deal-find the movie, and he can have Red's lost film, Sixgun Sonata, that Red has been hiding away in his archives. Don't accept, and the priceless reel will go up in flames. Feeling blackmailed himself, Valentino agrees and begins to dig. In the surreal world of Hollywood, what is on screen is rarely reality. As he races to uncover the truth before time runs out, his heroes begin their fall from grace. Valentino desperately wants to save Sixgun Sonata-- but at what cost?.

The name of God is mercy [large print] : a conversation with Andrea Tornielli by Francis
Also available in: e-book

"In his first official book published as Pope, in celebration of his Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis here addresses all humanity in an intimate and personal dialogue. At the center of this book is the subject closest to his heart--mercy--which has long been the cornerstone of his faith and is now the central teaching of his papacy. These pages resonate with a desire to reach all those souls who are looking for meaning in life, a road to peace and reconciliation, and the healing of physical and spiritual wounds"--Amazon.com.

Murder Will Out: January 2017

January 4, 2017 | madame librarian

The Mystery Writers of America have announced Max Allan Collins and Ellen Hart as the 2017 Grand Masters, an award that recognizes “the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing and was established to acknowledge important contributions to this genre, as well as for a body of work that is both significant and of consistent high quality.” It is the highest honor the association bestows.

Better dead by Max Allan Collins

Better Dead: The latest Nathan Heller Thriller from Max Allan Collins! It's the early 1950's. Joe McCarthy is campaigning to rid America of the Red Menace. Nate Heller is doing legwork for the senator, though the Chicago detective is disheartened by McCarthy's witch-hunting tactics. He's made friends with a young staffer, Bobby Kennedy, while trading barbs with a potential enemy, the attorney Roy Cohn, who rubs Heller the wrong way. Not the least of which for successfully prosecuting the so-called Atomic Bomb spies, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. When famous mystery writer Dashiell Hammett comes to Heller representing a group of showbiz and literary leftists who are engaged in a last minute attempt to save the Rosenbergs, Heller decides to take on the case. Heller will have to play both sides to do this, and when McCarthy also tasks Heller to find out what the CIA has on him, Heller reluctantly agrees. His main lead is an army scientist working for the C.I.A. who admits to Heller that he's been having misgivings about the work he's doing and elliptically referring to the Cold War making World War II look like a tea party. And then the scientist goes missing.

Return to Perdition by Max Allan Collins
Also available in: video

In the 1970s, Michael Satariano, Jr., returns to the United States from a Laos prison camp and is told that his whole family has been killed by mobsters and that he was listed as a casualty of the Vietnam War. Sent by the Justice Department to infiltrate organized crime and assassinate certain people, Michael is set on a road that will lead him to love and to Perdition, Kansas, where his family legacy lies waiting for discovery.

If You Like Robert Ludlum try...

January 3, 2017 | madame librarian

If you enjoy reading Robert Ludlum's suspenseful stories, you may enjoy these authors as well.

The Delta solution : an international thriller by Patrick Robinson
Also available in: e-book | audiobook | e-audiobook

The Delta Solution is an action-packed novel dealing with the Somali pirates operating off the southerly reaches of the lawless East African republic on the Indian Ocean. For the past three years, these heavily armed tribal brigands have been capturing and holding for ransom massive cargo ships, especially oil tankers, and violently demanding millions of dollars for their return. Pirating out of the tiny Somalian village of Haradheere has become a very lucrative, dangerous business, so much so that the village has its own Stock Exchange with a reputed $78 million cash, all in crisp $100 bills, in the town vault. And each time an owner pays big for the return of their ship, the pirates immediately do it again, enraging the Pentagon more and more by the day. That is, until the "Somali Marines" make a big mistake, seizing at gun point two United States ships and demanding a $15 million ransom for their return. Hero Mack Bedford, previously encountered in Diamondhead and Intercept, is deployed to SEAL Team 10 to form The Delta Platoon. His objective: obliterate the Somali Marines in the middle of the Indian Ocean, at all costs, once and for all.

The 14th colony by Steve Berry
Also available in: e-book | audiobook | large print

What happens if both the president and vice-president-elect die before taking the oath of office? The answer is far from certain--in fact, what follows would be nothing short of total political chaos. Shot down over Siberia, ex-Justice Department agent Cotton Malone is forced into a fight for survival against Aleksandr Zorin, a man whose loyalty to the former Soviet Union has festered for decades into an intense hatred of the United States. Before escaping, Malone learns that Zorin and another ex-KGB officer, this one a sleeper still embedded in the West, are headed overseas to Washington D.C. Inauguration Day--noon on January 20th--is only hours away. A flaw in the Constitution, and an even more flawed presidential succession act, have opened the door to disaster and Zorin intends to exploit both weaknesses to their fullest. Armed with a weapon leftover from the Cold War, one long thought to be just a myth, Zorin plans to attack. He's aided by a shocking secret hidden in the archives of America's oldest fraternal organization--the Society of Cincinnati--a group that once lent out its military savvy to presidents, including helping to formulate three invasion plans of what was intended to be America's 14th colony--Canada. In a race against the clock that starts in the frozen extremes of Russia and ultimately ends at the White House itself, Malone must not only battle Zorin, he must also confront a crippling fear that he's long denied, but which now jeopardizes everything. Steve Berry's trademark mix of history and speculation is all here in this provocative new thriller.

Savvy Seniors: January 2017

January 3, 2017 | madame librarian

It's January, it's cold, and most likely the streets are icy.  A good time to sit back and watch a movie from the wonderful collection at Canton Public Library.

A foreign field [videodisc]

A group of nostalgic World War II veterans revisit the shores of Normandy, recounting the events that impacted their lives.

The gathering storm [videodisc]

In the mid-1930's the great politician and orator Winston Churchill was out of favor with the English people and struggling to make his voice heard. Wrestling with his personal demons, a lonely but defiant Churchill attempts to warn the world of the impending gloom surrounding Hitler's Germany.

Year 2016 Top Movie Picks

January 3, 2017 | SuzyQ
Anomalisa [videodisc]

Michael Stone, husband, father and noted author, travels to Cincinnati to speak at a customer service conference. But once he's separated from the routine of his daily life, a chance encounter helps him to realize just what, and whom, he's been missing.

Anthropoid [videodisc]

Based on the extraordinary true story of Operation Anthropoid, the code name for the secret Czechoslovakian mission to assassinate Nazi SS officer Reinhard Heydrich. Heydrich, the main architect behind the Final Solution to the Jewish question, was the Reich's third in command and the leader of Nazi forces in Czechoslovakia.

Bridge of spies [videodisc]

An American insurance lawyer is recruited by the CIA to rescue an American pilot detained in the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Staff Picks--Best Children's and Teen Audiobooks 2016

December 29, 2016 | Michelle
Echo [sound recording] : a novel by Pam Munoz Ryan

"Starred Review."--Kirkus.

Salt to the sea [sound recording] : a novel by Ruta Sepetys

Racing to freedom with thousands of other refugees as Russian forces close in on their homes in East Prussia, Joana, Emilia, and Florian meet aboard the doomed ship Wilhelm Gustloff and are forced to trust each other in order to survive.

Winter [sound recording] by Marissa Meyer

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana. Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won't approve of her feelings for her childhood friend--the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn't as weak as Levana believes her to be and she's been undermining her stepmother's wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that's been raging for far too long.

Staff Picks--Best Kids Graphic Novels 2016

December 29, 2016 | Michelle
Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

Catrina and her family have moved to the coast of Northern California for the sake of her little sister, Maya, who has cystic fibrosis--and Cat is even less happy about the move when she is told that her new town is inhabited by ghosts, and Maya sets her heart on meeting one.

Love : the lion by Frederic Brremaud

A young lion wanders the Serengeti in search of a pride.

The fox and the star by Coralie Bickford-Smith

Staff Picks--Best Children's Fiction 2016

December 29, 2016 | Michelle
The inquisitor's tale, or, the three magical children and their holy dog by Adam Gidwitz

Crossing paths at an inn, thirteenth-century travelers impart the tales of a monastery oblate, a Jewish refugee, and a psychic peasant girl with a loyal greyhound, the three of whom join forces on a chase through France to escape persecution.

The biggest poutine in the world by Andrée Poulin

For his twelfth birthday, Thomas decides to build the biggest poutine in the world so he can get his name into the Guinness World Records and possibly convince his estranged mother to come home.

The girl who drank the moon by Kelly Regan Barnhill

"An epic fantasy about a young girl raised by a witch, a swamp monster, and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, who must unlock the powerful magic buried deep inside her. Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian. Xan rescues the abandoned children and delivers them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey. One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this enmagicked girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. To keep young Luna safe from her own unwieldy power, Xan locks her magic deep inside her. When Luna approaches her thirteenth birthday, her magic begins to emerge on schedule--but Xan is far away. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Soon, it is up to Luna to protect those who have protected her--even if it means the end of the loving, safe world she's always known. The acclaimed author of The Witch's Boy has created another epic coming-of-age fairy tale destined to become a modern classic"--.

Staff Picks-- Best Children's Nonfiction Books of 2016

December 29, 2016 | Marianne

The following children's nonfiction titles were chosen as CPL librarians' favorites of 2016. Check them out today!

Ada's ideas : the story of Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer by Fiona Robinson

A picture book biography of mathematician Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer, by the award-winning author/illustrator Fiona Robinson.

Cloth lullaby : the woven life of Louise Bourgeois by Amy Novesky

Shares the childhood of the famous artist as she apprenticed in her family's tapestry shop and was inspired by her mother's work as a weaver.

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