Books that look good to me, for one reason or another.Everytime I see something that catches my eye, I'll blog it. Gary Duke, Richland librarian.
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Book Sparks
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. If you are one of them, this book has the power to permanently change how you see yourself. Passionately argued and impressively researched, Quiet shows how dramatically our culture undervalues introverts and identifies -- based on the latest psychology and neuroscience -- the advantages of being one.
Friday, May 05, 2006
The Next Generation
Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers
"The book is a landmark study of the religious attitudes and practices of American teenagers. While the study demonstrates that there is a strong correlation between religious commitment and positive social behavior, there are also disturbing trends related to this theologically illiterate generation of teens who primarily think of God as their private butler." -- from the flyleaf. BL 625.47 S63 2005
Learning to Live in an Electronic World
New Media: The Reference Shelf
Substantive essays exploring components of the new media: the Internet, blogs, open-source software, podcasts, liberal education, blogs in the classroom, wikis and the hugely popular world of gaming. QA 76.575 N477 2006
Sunday, October 30, 2005
The Need to Reassert Core American Values
Who Are We? the Challenges to America's National Identity
Other civilizations from around the world are having a huge impact on the United States and the distinct culture instituted by our forefathers is being eroded. E 169.12.H78 2004
Monday, April 18, 2005
Teaching Techniques for Science Teachers and Others
Teaching Tips: Innovations in Undergraduate Science Instruction
Although this book is directed at science teachers, many of the techniques would work in any class. Put together by the Society for College Science Teachers, it's a "quick-read compilation of members' most effective and engaging teaching techniques." Three sections: Pedagogical Practices, Assessment Activities (QEP folks, take note), and Content Challenges. Q 183.3 A1 T44 2004
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
The Superiority of the Printed Word
Drowning in the Current :: Books not Blogs
This is the first link I've ever created in this blog. I usually post only original items here. But this was so good ... and it praises the merits of real live books. I couldn't resist !
Monday, March 14, 2005
How toTeach To and With the Heart
An Imaginative Approach to Teaching
I decided a long time ago that good teaching is good teaching: whether it's in front of a class of sixth graders or a room full of retirees. "Author [Kieran Egan] clearly demonstrates how knowledge comes to life in the students' minds if it is introduced in the context of human hopes, fears, and passions." -- From the flyleaf. LB 1025.3 E37 2005
Saturday, February 26, 2005
I've Gotta Read This One...
Bob Dylan. Chronicles. Volume One.
After reading only a few passages, I'm hooked. This strange, interesting man can write prose too. ML 420 D98 A3 v.1 2004
What's Wrong With Dictatorship at the Office?
The Future of Work:How the New Order of Business Will Shape Your Organization, Your Management Style, and Your Life
"[Thomas W.] Malone argues that a convergence of technological and economic factors -- particularly the rapidly falling cost of communication -- is enabling a change in business organizations as profound as the shift to democracy in governments. " (flyleaf). HD 31 .M2867
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
American Commercialism Is a Gigantic, Socializing Force
Born to Buy : The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture
This from Barbara Ehrenreich. " We worry about so many dangers to our children --drugs, perverts, bullies-- but seldom notice the biggest menace of all: the multibillion-dollar marketing effort aimed at turning the kids into oversexed, status-obsessed, attention-deficient little consumers. Like her earlier books, Juliet Schor's Born to Buy is a brilliant expose' and call to action." HF 5415.33 U6 S355 2004
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Looking for Beauty in Unexpected Places: Modern Art for the Common "Student"
Why a Painting Is Like a Pizza : A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Modern Art
Among other things, author Nancy Heller answers the really important questions about contemporary and abstract art like: a) How can you tell whether the thing in the corner is a modern sculpture or a humidity monitor? or b) Which end is up? How can you tell? And more than that. "Nancy Heller's wonderful book arrives in the nick of time. Destined to be a classic of public education, it is lucid, engaging, and ingenious, leading the reader through the difficulties and strategies of avant-garde art. Intended for the general audicence, this book is also must reading for teachers, throughout the humanities, which have become distracted by jargon and ideology. Heller is an inspiring role model for university scholars, who must recover and renew their central mission of teaching." -- Camille Paglia. N6490 H42
Thursday, March 04, 2004
How Cell Phones, Pagers and PDAs are Shaping Modern Culture
Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution
Smart Mobs are dynamic groups of people who can act together cooperatively even if they are complete strangers. Howard Rheingold shows how this phenomenon is coming on strong. HM 851 R47 2003.
How to Think Philosophically About Any Subject
Thinking It Through: An Introduction to Contemporary Philosophy
Kwame Appiah in Thinking it Through, teaches what it means to do philosophy in our time and why it matters. Eschewing a historical approach, he deals directly with classic problems (God,mind-body, etc.) primarily as a way of instructing us in the thinking ways of philosophers. "Appiah shows us not only what philosophers have thought but how they think, giving us examples we might use in our own attempts to navigate the complex issues that confront any reflective person in the 21st century." Chapters on Mind, Knowledge, Language, Science, Morality, Politics, Law, Metaphysics, and Philosophy. BD 21 A68 2003.
Do You Know What Theory Underlies Your Own Teaching?
Learning Theories: A to Z
In Learning Theories, David Leonard names over 500 learning theory terms and provides substantive descriptions. Each term is identified as to which of the primary learning theories it relates to: cognitivism, constructivism, behaviorism, humanism, or organizational learning. In addition there is an excellent annotated list of selected scholarly books and articles on the subject. LB 15 .L4695 2002.
He's Serious About Humor (Really)
Humor As an Instructional Defibrillator: Evidence-Based Techniques in Teaching and Assessment
In Humor as an Instructional Defibrillator, Ronald Berk takes on a difficult task and, as it appears, does a teriffic job with it. Notice the subtitle: "Evidence Based." This guy talks seriously about a way to be funny usefully... so that students learn the material. "Presents numerous evidence-based humor techniques lumped into four categories: (1) forms that rely on in class delivery, (2) forms that can be inserted in print course materials, (3) print and nonprint forms that can be used on a course Web site, and (4) forms that can be incorporated into any course tests." (flyleaf) LB 1027 .B472 2002.
A Challenge toThink Beyond the Boundaries of Nation-States
One World: The Ethics of Globalization
In One World, Peter Singer covers four main issues: climate change, the role of the World Trade Organization, human rights and humanitarian intervention, and foreign aid. BJ 1500 G56 S56 2002.
How the Modern Age is Rewiring Your Mind
The New Brain
"The New Brain is the story of technology and biology converging to influence the evolution of the human brain." (flyleaf). Among the significant questions Dr. Restak deals with are: What happens in our brains when the image replaces language as the primary means of communication? QP 355.2 R47.
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
A Ranking of the Best People Ever
Human Accomplishment: The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences, 800 B.C. to 1950
Authored by Charles Murray, controversial author of The Bell Curve. A statistical analysis of 4,002 scientists and artists across three millenium best known to encyclopedia editors. According to the NYT Book Review "if we sliced away Murray's staistical apparatus and looked at the "Human Accomplishment" as one of man's now-slender essays on the nature of greatness? It would...be fun read."
