Bookshelf

(Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2022).
This book tells the untold stories of ordinary people who did extraordinary things in defense of liberty and freedom. “On D-Day, when transport planes dropped paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions hopelessly off-target into marshy waters in northwestern France, the 900 villagers of Graignes welcomed them with open arms,” notes the publisher. “These villagers — predominantly women — provided food, gathered intelligence, and navigated the floods to retrieve the paratroopers' equipment at great risk to themselves. When the attack by German forces on 11 June forced the overwhelmed paratroopers to withdraw, many made it to safety thanks to the help and resistance of the villagers.” This book is the author/historian’s 13th and is especially close to his heart. His father was one of the D-Day paratroopers.

(Lake Mary, Fla.: Impact Publishing, 2022).
In this powerful memoir, Bressler reveals the devastating secrets of his childhood that range from surviving sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, to escaping the addiction to which he succumbed at a young age. “Through a transformational story that emphasizes the importance of dismantling the victim mentality, Bressler challenges his readers to venture through the pain of their past so that they might take radical responsibility for their future,” notes the publisher.

(New York: SelectBooks, 2022).
Global warming, gun violence, political animosity, economic insecurity, COVID-19. Given these uncertain and troubling times, it’s no surprise that anxiety levels are high. In his latest book, Meade offers a solution — the Transcendental Meditation program as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. “This may at first seem like a novel approach to the issue, but studies on the effects of Transcendental Meditation on the mental states of its practitioners have been ongoing for over 50 years, and the findings are conclusive: Transcendental Meditation can have a real and powerful positive impact on our mental health, especially in terms of mitigating anxiety, stress, and depression,” notes the author, who has taught the practice to thousands in places ranging from his Los Angeles home to Tanzania, South Korea, and Nepal.

(Albuquerque, N.M.: High Road Books/University of New Mexico Press, 2022).
From the publisher: “I Got Mine: Confessions of a Midlist Writer is the memoir of Nichols’ extraordinary life, as seen through the lens of his writing. Everything that went into making him a writer and eventually found an outlet in his work — his education, family, wives, children, friends, enemies, politics, and place — is told from the point of view of his daily practice of writing. Beginning with his first novel, The Sterile Cuckoo, published in 1965 when he was just 24, Nichols shares his highs and lows: his ambivalent relationship with money; his growing disenchantment with the hypocrisy of capitalism; and his love-hate relationship with Hollywood — including the years-long struggle of working with director Robert Redford on the film version of The Milagro Beanfield War, which was filmed around Truchas and featured many of Nichols’ northern New Mexico neighbors. Throughout I Got Mine Nichols spins a shining thread connecting his lifelong engagement with progressive political causes, his passionate interest in and identification with ordinary people, and his deep connection to the land.”

(Chicago: Why Not Books, 2022).
After his daughter’s accused murderer is found not guilty, Bart Steele decides to seek justice his own way … but at what cost? “In this tale of revenge, justice, denial, and redemption, Bart moves into his new life as an avenger,” the publisher notes. “An ever-faithful follower of local crime news, he dedicates himself to righting other wrongs, giving other families the closure he so craved.” In this fast-paced thriller with a surprise ending, Bart faces pressure from the police and criminals alike as he navigates his vigilante lifestyle.

(New York: Knopf/Penguin Random House, 2021).
Named a “book to read” by Fortune magazine, this book explores not only the future of where we work, but how we work. “Based on groundbreaking reporting and interviews with workers and managers around the world, Out of Office illuminates the key values and questions that should be driving this conversation: trust, fairness, flexibility, inclusive workplaces, equity, and work-life balance,” the publisher notes. “Above all, they argue that companies need to listen to their employees – and that this will promote, rather than impede, productivity and profitability.” Warzel writes the newsletter “Galaxy Brain” for The Atlantic, where he is a contributing writer.

(New York: Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins, 2022).
From the author of the Case Closed series and three other books for young readers comes the first in a new middle-grade fantasy series. “Full of action, adventure, and friendship, a team of five girls must stop a powerful villain by finding their mythical familiars,” notes the publisher. Beautifully illustrated by Mirelle Ortega, this book invites readers to join these dynamic girls with mysterious powers as they fight to earn their “Mythies” and save their home, Terrafamiliar.

(Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2022).
The publisher notes: “The same men and women who offered profound advancements in European understanding of the human condition — and laid the foundations of the Scientific Revolution — were also obsessed with controlling that condition and the wider natural world. Tracing early modern artisanal practice, Mackenzie Cooley shows how the idea of race and theories of inheritance developed through animal breeding in the shadow of the Spanish Empire. While one strand of the Renaissance celebrated a liberal view of human potential, another limited it by biology, reducing man to beast and prince to stud. ‘Race,’ Cooley explains, first referred to animal stock honed through breeding. To those who invented the concept, race was not inflexible, but the fragile result of reproductive work. As the Spanish empire expanded, the concept of race moved from nonhuman to human animals. Cooley reveals how, as the dangerous idea of controlled reproduction was brought to life again and again, a rich, complex, and ever-shifting language of race and breeding was born.”

(Lewiston, N.Y.: Mellen Press, 2021).

In this book, the author has compiled the important terms, laws, and information on the political life of Guyana. Andaiye, the late Guyanese gender rights activist, wrote in the foreword: “A Political Glossary of Guyana is pioneering work. There has been no previous recorded attempt at compiling a similar glossary in the country, although there have been earlier reference books of different kinds … best of all, it is designed to be of use not only to students and teachers in a range of disciplines including Caribbean studies and political science, but to the very many of us outside academia who do not have the skills to dig up information for ourselves from dust-filled documents and memories.”

(Boston: Beacon Press, 2022).
Meet Sadia, a bright, spirited Somali Bantu teenager who rebels against her formidable mother; Ali, an Iraqi translator who creates a home with a divorced American woman but is still traumatized by war; and Mersiha, a hard-working Bosnian who dreams of opening a café.