Nonfiction
Once in a great city : a Detroit story
David Maraniss
977.434 /Maraniss
Nonfiction, History
"As David Maraniss captures it with power and affection, Detroit summed up America's path to music and prosperity that was already past history. It's 1963 and Detroit is on top of the world. The city's leaders are among the most visionary in America: Grandson of the first Ford; Henry Ford II; influential labor leader Walter Reuther; Motown's founder Berry Gordy; the Reverend C.L. Franklin and his daughter, the amazing Aretha; Governor George Romney, Mormon and Civil Rights advocate; super car salesman Lee Iacocca; Mayor Jerome Cavanagh, a Kennedy acolyte; Police Commissioner George Edwards; Martin Luther King. It was the American auto makers' best year; the revolution in music and politics was underway. Reuther's UAW had helped lift the middle class. The time was full of promise. The auto industry was selling more cars than ever before and inventing the Mustang. Motown was capturing the world with its amazing artists. The progressive labor movement was rooted in Detroit with the UAW. Martin Luther King delivered his 'I Have a Dream' speech there two months before he made it famous in the Washington March. Once in a Great City shows that the shadows of collapse were evident even then. Before the devastating riot. Before the decades of civic corruption and neglect, and white flight. Before people trotted out the grab bag of Rust Belt infirmities-- from harsh weather to high labor costs-- and competition from abroad to explain Detroit's collapse, one could see the signs of a city's ruin. Detroit at its peak was threatened by its own design. It was being abandoned by the new world. Yet so much of what Detroit gave America lasts"--
Styled : secrets for arranging rooms, from tabletops to bookshelves
Emily Henderson
747 /Henderson
Nonfiction, Home
Henderson helps you determine your style and then provides tips on how to show off those design inclinations in your home. Styled doesn’t call for a complete overhaul. Small changes in rearranging furniture or adding a few elements like a rug or a lamp can go a long way to transform a room. -Anne M
The millionaire and the bard : Henry Folger's obsessive hunt for Shakespeare's first folio
Andrea E. Mays
822.33 /Z/Mays
Nonfiction, History
"Today it is the most valuable book in the world. Recently one sold for over five million dollars. It is the book that rescued the name of William Shakespeare and half of his plays from oblivion. The Millionaire and the Bard tells the miraculous and romantic story of the making of the First Folio, and of the American industrialist whose thrilling pursuit of the book became a lifelong obsession." --
Added by Jason
Habitat : the field guide to decorating
Lauren Liess
747 /Liess
Nonfiction, Home
Lauren Liess’ Habitat uses nature as inspiration in home design. Her rooms are sophisticated, but also simple, comfortable, and achievable. Habitat works through explaining the basics of interior design, offering advice on lighting, color combinations, and accessories. -Anne M
Musicophilia : tales of music and the brain
Oliver W Sacks
781.11 /Sacks
Nonfiction, Health
Oliver Sacks explores the place music occupies in the brain and how it affects the human condition. In Musicophilia, he shows us a variety of what he calls "musical misalignments." Among them: a man struck by lightning who suddenly desires to become a pianist at the age of forty-two; an entire group of children with Williams syndrome, who are hypermusical from birth; people with "amusia," to whom a symphony sounds like the clattering of pots and pans; and a man whose memory spans only seven seconds - for everything but music. Dr. Sacks describes how music can animate people with Parkinson's disease who cannot otherwise move, give words to stroke patients who cannot otherwise speak, and calm and organize people who are deeply disoriented by Alzheimer's or schizophrenia.
Added by Jason
Elements of style : designing a home and a life
Erin T Gates
747 /Gates
Nonfiction, Home
"From the star blogger and designer Erin Gates, Elements of Style is a fresh, approchable interior design book that shows how designing a home is also a method of personal expression and self-discovery. Drawing on her 10 years of experience running her own design firm, Erin combines practical, honest design advice and gorgeous professional photographs and illustrations with personal essays about lessons she has learned while designing her own home and her own life--the first being: none of our homes or lives are perfect. She reveals the disasters she confronted in her own kitchen renovation, her struggles with anorexia, her epic fight with her husband over a plexiglass table, and her secrets for starting a successful blog. Organized by rooms in the home, Elements of Style is brimming with design inspiration and ideas as well as advice on practical matters like choosing kitchen counter materials, dressing a bed with pillows, hanging a curtain rod, and decorating a nursery without using pink or blue. The book also contains a Foreword by Erin's husband, Andrew, and an extensive Resource Guide"--
Need to surround yourself with a little more glamor? The Elements of Style by Erin Gates is your best bet. This book shows off Gates’ personality from beautiful, dramatic dining rooms to elegant, yet serene bedrooms. If you are interested in adding bold prints and lush rugs to your abode, this book is for you. -Anne M
The telling room : a tale of love, betrayal, revenge, and the world's greatest piece of cheese
Michael Paterniti
641.373 /Paterniti
Nonfiction, Travel
In the picturesque village of Guzmán, Spain, in a cave on the edge of town, there is a cramped limestone chamber known as "the telling room." This is where villagers have gathered for centuries to share their stories and secrets--usually accompanied by copious amounts of wine. It was here, in the summer of 2000, that Michael Paterniti found himself listening to a Spanish cheesemaker as he spun an odd and compelling tale about a piece of cheese. Made from an old family recipe, Ambrosio's cheese was reputed to be among the finest in the world, and was said to hold mystical qualities. But then, Ambrosio said, things had gone horribly wrong. Paterniti was hooked. Soon he was fully embroiled, relocating his young family to Guzmán in order to chase the truth about this fairy tale-like place. What he ultimately discovers is nothing like the idyllic fable he first imagined. Instead, he's sucked into the heart of an unfolding mystery, a blood feud that includes accusations of betrayal and theft, death threats, and a murder plot.--From publisher description.
Added by Jason
Can't we talk about something more pleasant?
Roz Chast
BIOGRAPHY Chast, Roz
Graphic Novels, Nonfiction
A graphic memoir by a long-time New Yorker cartoonist celebrates the final years of her aging parents' lives through four-color cartoons, family photos and documents that reflect the artist's struggles with caregiver challenges.
Added by Jason
English decoration : timeless inspiration for the contemporary home
Ben Pentreath
747.0942 /Pentreath
Nonfiction, Home
In English Decoration, London-based architectural and interior designer Ben Pentreath presents a major new survey of the best of the English style. Eighteen homes, many of which have never been previously photographed, provide the source material for his wide-ranging investigation of this classic look. The houses include Ben's own homes in London and West Dorset, alongside those of Earls and artists, writers and architects, book designers and gardeners. The book is arranged room by room and Entrance Halls, Living Rooms, Kitchens and Dining Rooms, Bedrooms and Bathrooms are considered in turn, together with simple Rooms of Utility and spectacular Rooms of Display. The book begins with an essay on the English style in decoration and ends with a style directory, helping you to achieve the look wherever you live.
Perhaps you would prefer to go traditional? For this, check out Ben Pentreath’s English Decoration, inspired by British manor houses and country cottages. Some of Pentreath’s work isn’t practical for us Iowans; there is an entire chapter on “Rooms of Display.” Nonetheless, there are some beautiful color combinations and intriguing room arrangements -Anne M
The psychopath test : a journey through the madness industry
Jon Ronson
616.8582 /Ronson
Nonfiction
"In this madcap journey, a bestselling journalist investigates psychopaths and the industry of doctors, scientists, and journalists who study them"--Provided by publisher.
Added by Jason
Like many northern cities in the era, the 1960's is a decade when politicians, business leaders, and residents make decisions that lead their city to sink or swim. In Detroit, small wounds begin to fester. -Anne M