Inyo County Free Library - New Acquisitions
September 2023 - November 2023
These are books and media new to the library and cataloged by the Inyo County Free Library.
Additional information about each title can be found in the catalog (click on the title). For older acquisition lists choose from Select another list. To request any of these titles please contact your local library branch.
Non-Fiction | Computer science, information & general worksPhilosophy & psychologyReligionSocial sciencesLanguageScienceTechnologyArts & recreationLiteratureHistory & geography |
The day the world stops shopping: how ending consumerism saves the environment and ourselves By MacKinnon, J. B. Publishing Date: [2021] Classification: 300 Call Number: 339.47 MAC "We can't stop shopping. And yet we must. This is the consumer dilemma. The economy says we must always consume more: even the slightest drop in spending leads to widespread unemployment, bankruptcy, and home foreclosure. The planet says we consume too much: in America, we burn the earth's resources at a rate five times faster than it can regenerate. And despite efforts to 'green' our consumption--by recycling, increasing energy efficiency, or using solar power--we have yet to see a decline in global carbon emissions. Addressing this paradox head-on, acclaimed journalist J. B. MacKinnon asks, What would really happen if we simply stopped shopping? Is there a way to reduce our consumption to earth-saving levels without triggering economic collapse? At first this question took him around the world, seeking answers from America's big-box stores to the hunter-gatherer cultures of Namibia to communities in Ecuador that consume at an exactly sustainable rate. Then the thought experiment came shockingly true: the coronavirus brought shopping to a halt, and MacKinnon's ideas were tested in real time. Drawing from experts in fields ranging from climate change to economics, MacKinnon investigates how living with less would change our planet, our society, and ourselves. Along the way, he reveals just how much we stand to gain: An investment in our physical and emotional wellness. The pleasure of caring for our possessions. Closer relationships with our natural world and one another. Imaginative and inspiring, The Day the World Stops Shopping will embolden you to envision another way"--provided by publisher. |
NEW RELEASE By Kidder, Tracy Publishing Date: [2023] Classification: 300 Call Number: 362.592 KID "When he graduated from Harvard Medical School, Jim O'Connell was asked by the medical school Dean to spend one year setting up a program to care for the homeless population in Boston. It became Jim O'Connell's life calling, to help people known as "rough sleepers." For the past three decades, Dr. O'Connell has run the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program, which he helped to create. Affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital, the program includes clinics and a van on which Dr O'Connell and his staff ride through the Boston streets at night, offering outreach of medical care, socks, soup, and friendship to a marginalized community"-- |
By Ricca, Brad Publishing Date: 2018 Classification: 300 Call Number: 362.82 RIC In 1917, on the day before Valentine's Day, eighteen-year-old Ruth Cruger disappeared. When the police gave up, a mysterious woman in black vowed to find her. Mrs. Sherlock Holmes tells the true story of Grace Humiston, the detective and lawyer who turned her back on New York society life to become one of the nation's greatest crime fighters during an era when women were rarely involved with investigations. After agreeing to take the sensational Cruger case, Grace and her partner, the hardboiled detective Julius J. Kron, navigated a dangerous web of secret boyfriends, two-faced cops, underground tunnels, rumors of white slavery, and a mysterious pale man, in a desperate race against time. Grace's motto "Justice for those of limited means" led her to strange cases all over the world. From defending an innocent giant on death row to investigating an island in Arkansas with a terrible secret, from the warring halls of Congress to a crumbling medieval tower in Italy, Grace solved crimes in between shopping at Bergdorf Goodman and being marked for death by the sinister Black Hand. Grace was appointed the first female U.S. district attorney in history and the first female consulting detective to the New York Police Department. Despite her many successes in social justice, at the height of her powers Grace began to see chilling connections in the cases she solved, leading to a final showdown with her most fearsome adversary of all. Mrs. Sherlock Holmes is a biography of this singular woman the press nicknamed after fiction's greatest detective. Her poignant story reveals important clues about the relationship between missing girls, the media, and the real truth of crime stories. The great mystery of Grace's life -- and the haunting twist ending of the book -- is how one woman could become so famous only to disappear from history completely. |
NEW RELEASE Trail of the lost: the relentless search to bring home the missing hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail By Lankford, Andrea Publishing Date: 2023 Classification: 300 Call Number: 363.2336 LAN "From an award-winning former law enforcement park ranger and investigator, this female-driven true crime adventure follows the author's quest to find missing hikers along the Pacific Crest Trail by pairing up with an eclectic group of unlikely allies"-- |
The secret life of groceries: the dark miracle of the American supermarket By Lorr, Benjamin Publishing Date: [2020] Classification: 300 Call Number: 381.4564 LOR "In the tradition of Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore's Dilemma, an extraordinary investigation into the human lives at the heart of the American grocery store. What does it take to run the American supermarket? How do products get to shelves? Who sets the price? And who suffers the consequences of increased convenience end efficiency? In this alarming exposé, author Benjamin Lorr pulls back the curtain on this highly secretive industry. Combining deep sourcing, immersive reporting, and compulsively readable prose, Lorr leads a wild investigation in which we learn: The secrets of Trader Joe's success from Trader Joe himself/ Why truckers call their job "sharecropping on wheels;" What it takes for a product to earn certification labels like "organic" and "fair trade;" The struggles entrepreneurs face as they fight for shelf space, including essential tips, tricks, and traps for any new food business; The truth behind the alarming slave trade in the shrimp industry. The result is a page-turning portrait of an industry in flux, filled with the passion, ingenuity, and exploitation required to make this everyday miracle continue to function. The product of five years of research and hundreds of interviews across every level of the industry, The Secret Life of Groceries delivers powerful social commentary on the inherently American quest for more and the social costs therein"-- |
By Bruchac, Joseph Publishing Date: c1995 Classification: 300 Call Number: 398.24 BRU Mythical stories drawn from the legends of eighteen Native American tribes illustrate the importance of plants. |
NEW RELEASE On the origin of time: Stephen Hawking's final theory By Hertog, Thomas Publishing Date: [2023] Classification: 500 Call Number: 523.12 HER "Stephen Hawking's closest collaborator offers the intellectual superstar's final thoughts on the cosmos--a dramatic revision of the theory that made him the heir to Einstein's legacy. Perhaps the biggest question Stephen Hawking tried to answer in his extraordinary life was how the universe could have created conditions so perfectly hospitable to life. Pondering this mystery led Hawking to study the big bang origin of the universe, but his early work ran into a crisis when the math predicted many big bangs producing a multiverse--countless different universes, most far too bizarre to harbor life. Holed up in the theoretical physics department at Cambridge, Stephen Hawking and his friend and collaborator Thomas Hertog worked shoulder to shoulder for twenty years on a new quantum theory of the cosmos. As their journey took them deeper into the big bang, they were startled to find a deeper level of evolution in which the physical laws themselves transform and simplify until particles, forces, and even time itself fades away. Once upon a time, perhaps, there was no time. This led them to a revolutionary idea: the laws of physics are not set in stone but are born and co-evolve as the universe they govern takes shape. On the Origin of Time takes the reader on a quest to understand questions bigger than our universe, peering into the extreme quantum physics of black holes and the big bang and drawing on the latest developments in string theory. As Hawking's final days drew near, the two collaborators developed a final theory proposing their radical new Darwinian perspective on the origins of our universe. Hertog offers a striking new vision that ties together more deeply than ever the nature of the universe's birth with our existence. This new theory profoundly transforms the way we think about our place in the order of the cosmos and may ultimately prove Hawking's biggest legacy"-- |
The story of Earth: the first 4.5 billion years, from stardust to living planet By Hazen, Robert M Publishing Date: 2012 Classification: 500 Call Number: 550 HAZ In this radical new approach to Earth's biography, senior Carnegie Institution researcher and national bestselling author Robert M. Hazen reveals how the co-evolution of the geosphere and biosphere--of rocks and living matter--has shaped our planet into the only one of its kind in the Solar System, if not the entire cosmos. |
NEW RELEASE The heat will kill you first: life and death on a scorched planet By Goodell, Jeff Publishing Date: 2023 Classification: 500 Call Number: 551.5 GOO "The Heat Will Kill You First is about the extreme ways in which our planet is already changing. It is about why spring is coming a few weeks earlier and fall is coming a few weeks later and the impact that will have on everything from our food supply to disease outbreaks. It is about what will happen to our lives and our communities when typical summer days in Chicago or Boston go from 90F to 110F. A heatwave, Goodell explains, is a predatory event--one that culls out the most vulnerable people. But that is changing. As heatwaves become more intense and more common, they will become more democratic. As an award-winning journalist who has been at the forefront of environmental journalism for decades, Goodell's new book may be his most provocative yet, explaining how extreme heat will dramatically change the world as we know it"-- |
NEW RELEASE The power of trees: how ancient forests can save us if we let them By Wohlleben, Peter Publishing Date: 2023 Classification: 500 Call Number: 577.3 WOH "From the international bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees. An illuminating manifesto on ancient forests: how they adapt to climate change by passing their wisdom through generations, and why our future lies in protecting them. In his beloved book The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben revealed astonishing discoveries about the social networks of trees and how they communicate. Now, in The Power of Trees, he turns to their future, with a searing critique of forestry management, tree planting, and the exploitation of old growth forests. As human-caused climate change devastates the planet, forests play a critical role in keeping it habitable. While politicians and business leaders would have us believe that cutting down forests can be offset by mass tree planting, Wohlleben offers a warning: many tree planting campaigns lead to ecological disaster. Not only are these trees more susceptible to disease, flooding, fires, and landslides, we need to understand that forests are more than simply a collection of trees. Instead, they are ecosystems that consist of thousands of species, from animals to fungi and bacteria. The way to save trees, and ourselves? Step aside and let forests--which are naturally better equipped to face environmental challenges--heal themselves. With the warmth and wonder familiar to readers from his previous books, Wohlleben also shares emerging scientific research about how forests shape climates both locally and across continents; that trees adapt to changing environmental conditions through passing knowledge down to their offspring; and how old growth may in fact have the most survival strategies for climate change. At the heart of The Power of Trees lies Wohlleben's passionate plea: that our survival is dependent on trusting ancient forests, and allowing them to thrive."-- |
By Kaufmann, Obi Publishing Date: [2020] Classification: 500 Call Number: 577.3097 KAU "From the author of The California Field Atlas comes a major work that not only guides readers through the Golden State's forested lands, but also presents a profoundly original vision of nature in the twenty-first century. The Forests of California features an abundance of Obi Kaufmann's signature watercolor maps and trail paintings, weaving them into an expansive and accessible exploration of the biodiversity that defines California in the global imagination. Expanding on the style of the Field Atlas, Kaufmann tells an epic story that spans millions of years, nearly one hundred species of trees, and an astonishing richness of ecosystems. Kaufmann seeks to create nothing less than a new understanding of the more-than-human world, and the lessons in this book extend well beyond California's borders"-- |
NEW RELEASE Brave the wild river: the untold story of two women who mapped the botany of the Grand Canyon By Sevigny, Melissa L. Publishing Date: [2023] Classification: 500 Call Number: 578.0979 SEV "The riveting tale of two pioneering botanists and their historic boat trip down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon. In the summer of 1938, botanists Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter set off to run the Colorado River, accompanied by an ambitious and entrepreneurial expedition leader, a zoologist, and two amateur boatmen. With its churning waters and treacherous boulders, the Colorado was famed as the most dangerous river in the world. Journalists and veteran river runners boldly proclaimed that the motley crew would never make it out alive. But for Clover and Jotter, the expedition held a tantalizing appeal: no one had yet surveyed the plant life of the Grand Canyon, and they were determined to be the first. Through the vibrant letters and diaries of the two women, science journalist Melissa L. Sevigny traces their daring forty-three-day journey down the river, during which they meticulously cataloged the thorny plants that thrived in the Grand Canyon's secret nooks and crannies. Along the way, they chased a runaway boat, ran the river's most fearsome rapids, and turned the harshest critic of female river runners into an ally. Clover and Jotter's plant list, including four new cactus species, would one day become vital for efforts to protect and restore the river ecosystem. Brave the Wild River is a spellbinding adventure of two women who risked their lives to make an unprecedented botanical survey of a defining landscape in the American West, at a time when human influences had begun to change it forever"-- |
NEW RELEASE The good virus: the amazing story and forgotten promise of the phage By Ireland, Tom Publishing Date: 2023 Classification: 500 Call Number: 579.26 IRE How a mysterious, super-powerful--yet long-neglected--microbe rules our world and can rescue our health in the age of antibiotic resistance. |
By Drori, Jonathan Publishing Date: 2018 Classification: 500 Call Number: 582.16 DRO Trees are one of humanity's most constant and most varied companions. From India's sacred banyan tree to the fragrant cedar of Lebanon, they offer us sanctuary and inspiration--not to mention the raw materials for everything from aspirin and silk to space shuttles and telephone lines. In Around the World in 80 Trees, Jonathan Drori uses plant science to illuminate how trees play a role in every part of human life, from the romantic to the regrettable. Stops on the trip include the lime trees of Berlin's Unter den Linden boulevard, which intoxicate amorous Germans and hungry bees alike, the swankiest streets in nineteenth-century London, which were paved with Australian eucalyptus wood, and the redwood forests of California, where the secret to the trees' soaring heights can be found in the properties of the tiniest drops of water. Each of these strange and true tales--populated by self-mummifying monks, tree-climbing goats and ever-so-slightly radioactive nuts--is illustrated by Lucille Clerc, taking the reader on a journey that is as informative as it is beautiful. --amazon.com. |
Close to shore: a true story of terror in an age of innocence By Capuzzo, Mike Publishing Date: ©2001 Classification: 500 Call Number: 597.3516 CAP Describes how, in the summer of 1916, a lone great white shark headed for the New Jersey shoreline and a farming community eleven miles inland, attacking five people and igniting the most extensive shark hunt in history. |
Life list: a woman's quest for the world's most amazing birds By Gentile, Olivia Publishing Date: 2009 Classification: 500 Call Number: 598.072 GEN Features the saga of Phoebe Snetsinger, a wife, mother, and birdwatcher. |
Hansen's field guide to the birds of the Sierra Nevada By Hansen, Keith Publishing Date: [2021] Classification: 500 Call Number: 598.0979 HAN "Identify and learn about over two hundred and fifty birds of the Sierra Nevada"-- |
By Robbins, Anthony Publishing Date: 2022 Classification: 600 Call Number: 610 ROB Transform your life or the life of someone you love with Life Force -- the newest breakthroughs in health technology to help maximize your energy and strength, prevent disease, and extend your health span -- from Tony Robbins, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Money: Master the Game. What if there were scientific solutions that could wipe out your deepest fears of falling ill, receiving a life-threatening diagnosis, or feeling the effects of aging? What if you had access to the same cutting-edge tools and technology used by peak performers and the world's greatest athletes? In a world full of fear and uncertainty about our health, it can be difficult to know where to turn for actionable advice you can trust. Today, leading scientists and doctors in the field of regenerative medicine are developing diagnostic tools and safe and effective therapies that can free you from fear. In this book, Tony Robbins, the world's #1 life and business strategist who has coached more than fifty million people, brings you more than 100 of the world's top medical minds and the latest research, inspiring comeback stories, and amazing advancements in precision medicine that you can apply today to help extend the length and quality of your life. This book is the result of Robbins going on his own life-changing journey. After being told that his health challenges were irreversible, he experienced firsthand how new regenerative technology not only helped him heal but made him stronger than ever before. Life Force will show you how you can wake up every day with increased energy, a more bulletproof immune system, and the know-how to help turn back your biological clock. This is a book for everyone, from peak performance athletes, to the average person who wants to increase their energy and strength, to those looking for healing. Life Force provides answers that can transform and even save your life, or that of someone you love. |
NEW RELEASE Eve: how the female body drove 200 million years of human evolution By Bohannon, Cat Publishing Date: 2023 Classification: 600 Call Number: 613.0424 BOH "In Eve, Cat Bohannon answers questions scientists should have been addressing for decades. With boundless curiosity and sharp wit, Bohannon covers the past 200 million years to explain the specific science behind the development of the female sex. Eve is not just a sweeping revision of human history, it's an urgent and necessary corrective for a world that has focused primarily on the male body for far too long. Bohannon's findings, including everything from the way C-sections in the industrialized world are rejiggering women's pelvic shape to the surprising similarities between pus and breast milk, will completely change what you think you know about evolution . . . and women. A 21st-century update of Our Bodies, Ourselves, Eve offers a paradigm shift in our thinking about what the female body is and why it matters"-- |
The secret to superhuman strength By Bechdel, Alison Publishing Date: 2021 Classification: 600 Call Number: 613.7 BEC From the author of Fun Home, a graphic memoir about a lifelong love affair with exercise, set against a hilarious chronicle of fitness fads. The author delivers a deeply layered story of her fascination, from childhood to adulthood, with every fitness craze to come down the pike: from Jack LaLanne in the 60s ("Outlandish jumpsuit! Cantaloupe-sized guns!") to the existential oddness of twenty-first century spin class. Readers will see their athletic (or semi-active) pasts flash before their eyes through an ever-evolving panoply of running shoes, bicycles, skis, and sundry other gear. But the more Bechdel tries to improve herself, the more her self appears to be the thing in her way. She turns for enlightenment to Eastern philosophers and literary figures, including Beat writer Jack Kerouac, whose search for self-transcendence in the great outdoors appears in moving conversation with the author's own. This gifted artist - and not-getting-any-younger exerciser - comes to a soulful conclusion. The secret to superhuman strength lies not in six-pack abs, but in something much less clearly defined: facing her own non-transcendent but all-important interdependence with others. -- Adapted from publisher's description. |