Author: Durrani, Pashtana, author. Bralo, Tamara. Published: 2024 Call Number: B DURRANI Format: Books Summary: "Inspired by generations of her family's unwavering belief in the power of education, Pashtana Durrani recognized her calling early in life: to educate Afghanistan's girls and young women, raised in a society where learning is forbidden. In a country devastated by war and violence, heeding that call seemed both impossible and dangerous. Pashtana founded the nonprofit LEARN and developed a program for getting educational materials directly into the hands of girls in remote areas of the country. Her commitment to education has made her a target of the Taliban. Still, she continues to fight for women's education and autonomy in Afghanistan and beyond. Courageous and inspiring, Last to Eat, Last to Learn is the story of how just one person can transform a family, a tribe, a country"--
Author: Keyes, Corey L. M., author. Published: 2024 Call Number: 152.1886 Format: Books Summary: "The Emory University sociologist who coined the term languishing--low-grade mental weariness that affects our self-esteem, relationships, and motivation--explores the rise of this phenomenon and presents a comprehensive guide to flourishing in a world that demands too much. If you're muddling through the day in a fog, often forgetting why you walked into a room . . . If you feel emotionally flattened, lacking the energy to socialize or feel joy in the small things . . . If you feel an inner void--like something is missing, but you aren't sure what . . . Then this book is for you. Languishing--the state of mental weariness that erodes our self-esteem, motivation, and sense of meaning--can be easy to brush off as the new normal, especially since indifference is one of its symptoms. It's not a synonym for depression and its attendant state of prolonged sadness. Languishers are more likely to feel out of control of their lives, uncertain about what they want from the future, and paralyzed when faced with decisions. Left unchecked, languishing not only impedes our daily functioning but is a gateway to serious mental illness and early mortality. Emory University sociologist Corey Keyes has spent his career studying the causes and costs of languishing--the neglected middle child of mental health. Now Keyes has written the first definitive book on the subject, examining the subtle complexities of languishing before deftly diagnosing the larger forces behind its rise: the false promises of the self-help industrial complex, a global moment of intense fear and loss, and a failing healthcare system focused on treating rather than preventing illness. Ultimately, Keyes presents a groundbreaking approach to breaking the cycles keeping us stuck and finding a path to true flourishing. Unlike self-improvement systems offering quick-fix mood boosts, his framework focuses on functioning well: taking simple but powerful steps to hold our emotions loosely, becoming more accepting of ourselves and others, and carving out daily moments for the activities that create cycles of meaning, connection, and personal growth. Languishing is a must-read for anyone tempted to downplay feelings of demotivation and emptiness as they struggle to haul themselves through the day, and for those eager to build a higher tolerance for adversity and the pressures of modern life. We can expand our vocabulary--and, with it, our potential to flourish"--
Author: Perlin, Ross, author. Published: 2024 Call Number: 306.4409 Format: Books Summary: "From the co-director of the Endangered Language Alliance, a captivating portrait of contemporary New York City through six speakers of little-known and overlooked languages, diving into the incredible history of the most linguistically diverse place ever to have existed on the planet. Half of all 7,000-plus human languages may disappear over the next century and-because many have never been recorded-when they're gone, it will be forever. Ross Perlin, a linguist and co-director of the Manhattan-based non-profit Endangered Language Alliance, is racing against time to map little-known languages across the most linguistically diverse city in history: contemporary New York. In Language City, Perlin recounts the unique history of immigration that shaped the city, and follows six remarkable yet ordinary speakers of endangered languages deep into their communities to learn how they are maintaining and reviving their languages against overwhelming odds. Perlin also dives deep into their languages, taking us on a fascinating tour of unusual grammars, rare sounds, and powerful cultural histories from all around the world. Seke is spoken by 700 people from five ancestral villages in Nepal, a hundred of whom have lived in a single Brooklyn apartment building. N'ko is a radical new West African writing system now going global in Harlem and the Bronx. After centuries of colonization and displacement, Lenape, the city's original Indigenous language and the source of the name Manhattan ("the place where we get bows"), has just one fluent native speaker, bolstered by a small band of revivalists. Also profiled in the book are speakers of the Indigenous Mexican language Nahuatl, the Central Asian minority language Wakhi, and the former lingua franca of the Lower East Side, Yiddish. A century after the anti-immigration Johnson-Reed Act closed America's doors for decades and on the 400th anniversary of New York's colonial founding, Perlin raises the alarm about growing political threats and the onslaught of "killer languages" like English and Spanish. Both remarkable social history and testament to the importance of linguistic diversity, Language City is a joyful and illuminating exploration of a city and the world that made it"--
Author: Duhigg, Charles, author. Published: 2024 Call Number: 153.6 Format: Books Summary: "We all know people who seem capable of connecting with almost anyone. They are the ones we turn to for advice, the ones who ask deep questions but also seem to hear what we are trying to say. What do they know about conversation that makes them so special? And what can they tell us about how communication really works? Supercommunicators, Charles Duhigg argues, understand--some by intuition, some by hard-won experience--that there is a science to how human beings connect through words. They understand that whenever we speak, we're actually participating in one of three distinct conversations: What is this really about? How do we feel? And who are we? They know the importance of recognizing--and then matching--each kind of conversation, and how to hear the complex emotions, subtle negotiations and hidden beliefs that color and inform everything we say. Our pasts, our values, our affiliations--our identities--shape every discussion we have, from who will pick up the kids to how we want to be treated at work"--
Author: Rodgers, Jodi, author. Published: 2024 Call Number: 362.1968 Format: Books Summary: A special-education teacher with thirty years of experience working with autistic people gives readers a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the neurodiverse community and looks at ways we can develop more meaningful connections with others. "In How to Find a Four-Leaf Clover, Jodi Rodgers gives us inspiring, heartwarming stories from her years of experience as a teacher and counselor supporting autistic people. While acknowledging our differences, these stories invite us to expand our empathy and compassion for the neurodivergent people in our lives. Throughout, Rodgers explores the powerful impact of embracing neurodiversity and forming meaningful connections with those around us. Each chapter highlights a different story and an aspect of human behavior..." --Amazon.com
Author: Arthur Riley, Cole, author. Published: 2024 Call Number: 248.8089 Format: Books Summary: "A stunning, all-new collection of prayers, poetry, and spiritual practice centering the Black interior world, from the New York Times bestselling author of This Here Flesh and creator of Black Liturgies. In the summer of 2020, Cole Arthur Riley was desperate for a spirituality she could trust. Amidst ongoing national racial violence, the isolation of the pandemic, and a surge of anti-Black rhetoric in many Christian spaces, she began dreaming of a harbor for a more human, more liberating expression of faith. She went on to create Black Liturgies, a digital project that connects spiritual practice with Black emotion, memory, and the Black body. In this book, she deepens the work of that project, bringing together new prayers, letters, poetry, meditation questions, breath practice, and the writings of Black literary ancestors to offer 43 liturgies that can be practiced individually or as a community. With a poet's touch and a sensitivity that has made her one of the most important spiritual voices at work today, Riley invites readers to reflect on their own experiences of wonder, rest, rage, and repair, while also including liturgies for holidays like Lent, Advent, Juneteenth, and Mother's Day. For those healing from spiritual spaces that were more violent than loving; for those who have escaped the trauma of white Christian nationalism, religious homophobia, and transphobia; for anyone asking what it means to be human in a world of both beauty and terror; Black Liturgies is a work of healing and liberation, and a vision for what might be"--
Author: Halpern, Paul, 1961- author. Published: 2024 Call Number: 523.1 Format: Books Summary: "We are obsessed with the multiverse. From blockbuster movies Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Everything, Everywhere, All at Once to television's The Man in the High Castle and Rick and Morty, the idea that there could be an infinite number of universes holding an infinite number of possibilities captivates us. And this fascination is not new - the fascination with these repetitions dates back to the philosophers of ancient Greece. In The Allure of the Multiverse, physicist Paul Halpern examines the theory of the universe we can't seem to let go; in an infinite universe, finite components are bound to repeat their patterns again and again. Halpern traces the multiverse from the ancient Greek debate over cosmic building blocks, to German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's imagined eternal repetition of all events and lives in time, to Albert Einstein's special and general theories of relativity opening the door to the fourth dimension (another way of enlarging reality). All these ideas together culminated in Princeton graduate student Hugh Everett's "Many Words Interpretation," in which all possibilities of existence simultaneously exist. That imaginative idea led to numerous other multiverse notions, including the idea that the universe might be a collection of "bubble universes," each inflated from the primordial stuff of the cosmos. Yet the prospect of such a maddening labyrinth of parallel realities has led other researchers to propose alternatives, such as bouncing universes in multiple dimensions, that are every bit as perplexing. An epic through physics' history, The Allure of the Multiverse explores one of physics' most controversial --yet most persistent--ideas"--
Author: Guthrie, Savannah, author. Published: 2024 Call Number: 248.4 Format: Books Summary: Persuasively renders the evolution of a hard-won religious belief that makes room for imperfection. "Mostly what God does is love you. If we could believe this, really believe this, how different would we be? How different would our lives be? How different would our world be? If you ever struggle with your connection to God (or whether you even feel connected to a faith at all!), you're not alone. Especially in our modern world, with its relentless, never-ending news cycle, we can all grapple with such questions. Do we do that alone, with despair and resignation? Or do we make sense of it with God, and with hope? In these uncertain times, could believing in the power of divine love make the most sense?" --Amazon.com
Author: Kellerman, Jonathan, author. Published: 2024 Call Number: LP F KELLERMA Format: Large print Summary: "LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis sees it all the time: Reinvention’s a way of life in a city fueled by fantasy. But try as you might to erase the person you once were, there are those who will never forget the past . . . and who can still find you. A pool boy enters a secluded Bel Air property and discovers two bodies floating in the bright blue water: Gio Aggiunta, the playboy heir to an Italian shoe empire, and a gorgeous, even wealthier neighbor named Meagin March. A married neighbor. An illicit affair stoking rage is a perfect motive. But a “double” in this neighborhood of gated estates isn’t something you see every day. The house is untouched. No forced entry, no forensic evidence. The case has “that feeling,” and when that happens, Milo turns to his friend, the brilliant psychologist Alex Delaware. As Milo and Alex investigate both victims, they discover two troubled pasts. And as they dig deeper, Meagin March’s very identity begins to blur. Who was this glamorous but conflicted woman? Did her past catch up to her? Or did Gio’s family connections create a threat spanning two continents? Chasing down the answers leads Alex and Milo on an exploration of L.A.’s darkest side as they contend with one of the most shocking cases of their careers and learn that that some secrets are best left buried in the past" --
Author: Albert, Melissa, author. Published: 2024 Call Number: Y ALBERT Format: Books Summary: Teenage Nora uncovers dangerous secrets and eerie local lore surrounding disappearances in her small town, where a teacher and three high school students, including her best friend, go missing. "In the course of a single winter's night, four people vanish without a trace across a small town. Nora's estranged best friend, Becca, is one of the lost. As Nora tries to untangle the truth of Becca's disappearance, she discovers a darkness in her town's past, as well as a string of coded messages Becca left for her to unravel. These clues lead Nora to a piece of local lore: a legendary goddess of forgotten origins who played a role in Nora and Becca's own childhood games. . . ." --Amazon.com
Author: Patel, Sajni, 1981- author. Published: 2024 Call Number: Y PATEL Format: Books Summary: "The legend of Medusa is retold as an empowering feminist tale in an Indian-mythology-inspired world"-- Sixteen-year-old Manisha is no stranger to monsters--she's been running from them for years, from beasts who roam the jungle to the King's army, who forced her people, the naga, to scatter to the ends of the earth. You might think that the kingdom's famed holy temples atop the floating mountains, where Manisha is now a priestess, would be safe--but you would be wrong. Seventeen-year-old Pratyush is a famed slayer of monsters, one of the King's most prized warriors and a frequent visitor to the floating temples. For every monster the slayer kills, years are added to his life. You might think such a powerful warrior could do whatever he wants, but true power lies with the King. Tired after years of fighting, Pratyush wants nothing more than a peaceful, respectable life. When Pratyush and Manisha meet, each sees in the other the possibility to chart a new path. Unfortunately, the kingdom's powerful have other plans. A temple visitor sexually assaults Manisha and pushes her off the mountain into a pit of vipers. A month later, the King sends Pratyush off to kill one last monster (a powerful nagin who has been turning men to stone) before he'll consider granting his freedom. Except Manisha doesn't die, despite the hundreds of snake bites covering her body and the venom running through her veins. She rises from the pit more powerful than ever before, with heightened senses, armor-like skin, and blood that can turn people to stone. And Pratyush doesn't know it, but the "monster" he's been sent to kill is none other than the girl he wants to marry.
Author: Kurian, Vera, author. Published: 2024 Call Number: F KURIAN Format: Books Summary: "There's something sinister under the surface of the idyllic, suburban town of Wesley Falls, and it's not just the abandoned coal mine that lies beneath it. The summer of 1995 kicks off with a party in the mine where six high school students witness a horrifying crime that changes the course of their lives. The six couldn't be more different. Maddy, a devout member of the local megachurch. Kelly, the bookworm next door. James, a cynical burnout. Casey, a loveable football player. Padma, the shy straight-A student. Jia, who's starting to see visions she can't explain. When they realize that they can't trust anyone but each other, they begin to investigate what happened on their own. As tensions escalate in town to a breaking point, the six make a vow of silence, bury all their evidence, and promise to never contact each other again. Their plan works - almost. Twenty years later, Jia calls them all back to Wesley Falls--Maddy has been murdered, and they are the only ones who can uncover why. But to end things, they have to return to the mine one last time"--
Author: Ochs, Sara, author. Published: 2024 Call Number: F OCHS Format: Books Summary: "Five years ago, Cass barely survived a brutal attack that left her family dead. Now a scuba diving instructor in Thailand, she has spent years trying to build a new, anonymous life for herself as one of the Permanents, a group of expats who have claimed the beautiful Thailand destination as their own. The permanents are charming, they're close-knit, and they don't linger on who they were before the island--they're the perfect group for Cass to finally shed her old self. But her dark past is about to catch up with her when Lucy, one of Cass' dive students, turns up dead and she starts getting messages from someone who has discovered who she really is. And that person will stop at nothing until Cass' truth is out and justice has been served"--
Author: Webb, Heather, 1976 December 30- author. Published: 2024 Call Number: F WEBB Format: Books Summary: "1925. London. When Alice Diamond, AKA "Diamond Annie," is elected the Queen of the Forty Elephants, she's determined to take the all-girl gang to new heights. She's ambitious, tough as nails, and a brilliant mastermind, with a plan to create a dynasty the likes of which no one has ever seen. Alice demands absolute loyalty from her "family"--it's how she's always kept the cops in line. Too bad she's now the target for one of Britain's first female policewomen. Officer Lilian Wyles isn't merely one of the first female detectives at Scotland Yard, she's one of the best detectives on the force. Even so, she'll have to win a big score to prove herself, to break free from the "women's work" she's been assigned. When she hears about the large-scale heist in the works to fund Alice's new dynasty, she realizes she has the chance she's been looking for--and the added bonus of putting Diamond Annie out of business permanently"--
Author: Carr, Robyn, author. Published: 2024 Call Number: LP F CARR Format: Large print Summary: "Celebrity cooking show host Marni McGuire has been married--twice. Now in her midfifties, she's single. Happily so. She just needs to convince her pregnant daughter, Bella, of this fact. Similarly single, Marni's best friend and colleague is confident she's content without a man, but both women soon find themselves leading by example as the young intern on their show appears caught in a toxic relationship--and Bella reveals her own marriage maybe isn't built to withstand the stresses of the baby on the way. The realities of modern love are far from easy, but there's no better group to have in your corner than friends who will hold fast in the face of any storm"--
Author: Rich, Roberta, author. Published: 2023 Call Number: PB RICH Format: Books Summary: "A sweeping, New York-set historical novel following a Jewish cigarette girl who moonlights as a spy and attempts to bring justice to her family on the eve of World War II"-- New York City, 1939: At the height of the Great Depression, a time when President Roosevelt is trying to keep America out of World War II, Giddy Brodsky is lucky to have a job as a cigarette girl at a Manhattan jazz club. Nevertheless, she dreams of establishing a cosmetics business and leaving the poverty-stricken Lower East Side tenements behind. She has lived there with her family ever since they fled Russia, forced to emigrate after a group of Cossacks burned down their village, and her memories continue to haunt her. Giddy tries to focus on the future until, during an evening streetcar ride, she thinks she recognizes one of the Cossacks who changed her life forever. Determined to get answers, she enlists the help of Carter van der Zalm, the Chief Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island, who is hunting the same man. He suspects the Russian is involved in an assassination plot that will destroy American and Soviet relations, and he enlists Giddy to moonlight as a spy for him. But when she finally tracks down the man they’re both seeking, she finds herself in the middle of a shocking political conspiracy that changes everything she once held true.
Author: Ryan, Renee, author. Published: 2023 Call Number: F RYAN Format: Books Summary: "Paris, 1940. German tanks rumble through the streets of Paris, forcing frightened citizens to flee. But not everyone has the luxury to leave. Camille Lacroix, a chambermaid at the world-famous Hôtel Ritz, must stay to support her family back home in Brittany. Desperate to earn money, Camille also acts as a lady's maid for longtime guest Vivian Miller, a glamorous American widow--and a Nazi sympathizer. Despite her distrust of the woman, Camille turns to Vivian when her friend and fellow hotel maid Rachel Berman needs help getting out of Paris. It's then that Camille discovers that Vivian is not what she seems. The American has been using her wealth and connections to secretly obtain travel papers for Jewish refugees. While they're hiding Rachel in an underground bunker under a Nazi's nose, a daring escape plan is hatched. But as the net grows tighter, and the Germans more ruthless, Camille's courage will be tested to the extreme..."--Page 4 of cover.
Author: Polier, Julie Civiello, author. Published: 2023 Call Number: 615.822 POLIER Format: Books Summary: Whether you want to soften facial lines, improve the texture of your skin, tone, or fade hyperpigmentation, there is a gua sha technique for all ages and skin types in this empowering guidebook.--adapted from page 4 of cover.
Author: Evans, Richard Paul, author. Published: 2023 Call Number: Y EVANS Format: Books Summary: With Tara still in the clutches of the Elite Elgen Guard Unit the Chasqui and their malevolent leader, the Sovereign Amash, Michael Vey and the Electroclan have no choice but to continue the fierce battle that has been waging since their arrival in Peru. But saving one of their own means battling a onetime teammate, as Jack has turned traitor and joined forces with Amash and his men. At the same time, the clan must work with the Alpha Team to act before the Chasqui can put their plan to destroy the city of Arequipa into motion. And when Taylor makes a bold yet dangerous move to save her sister, the urgency climbs even higher. With so many lives at stake, the Electroclan has no time to waste, and no room for error as they take on this latest growing threat.
Author: Murphy, Nora, 1990- author. Published: 2023 Call Number: F MURPHY Format: Books Summary: "From the author of The Favor, Nora Murphy's The New Mother is a tense suspense novel that builds to a gripping game of cat-and-mouse, as well as a searing exploration of what it means to be a "good" mother..."-- "Isolated. Lonely. Tired. It's hard being The New Mother. Sometimes it's murder. Nothing is simple about being a new mom alone in a new house, especially when your baby is collicky. Natalie Fanning loves her son unconditionally, but being a mother was not all she wanted to be. Enter Paul, the neighbor. Paul provides the lifeline she needs in what feels like the most desperate of times. When Paul is helping with Oliver, calmed by his reassuring, steady presence, Nat feels like she can finally rest. But Paul wants something in return. It’s no coincidence that he has befriended Nat--she is the perfect pawn for his own plan. Will Nat wake up in time to see it?" --Amazon.com
