The following titles on our Recent Acquisitions Display are just a few of our new books, which are available at the reference desk in the Dorot Jewish Division. Catalog entries for the books can be found by clicking on their covers.

The following new acquisitions are also available to read online by authenticating with your library card number.

Through Project Muse

Against Autobiography: Albert Memmi and the Production of Theory
Lia Nicole Brozgal, 2013

A Final Reckoning: A Hannover Family's Life and Death in the Shoah
Ruth Gutmann and Kenneth Waltzer, 2014

In the Shadow of Hitler: Alabama's Jews, the Second World War, and the Holocaust
Dan J. Puckett, 2014

Through Oxford Scholarship Online

Are You Not a Man of God?: Devotion, Betrayal, and Social Criticism in Jewish Tradition
Tova Hartman and Charlie Buckholtz, 2014

A Journey of Two Psalms: The Reception of Psalms 1 and 2 in Jewish and Christian Tradition
Susan Gillingham, 2014

Through University Press Scholarship Online (UPSO)

Diasporas of the Mind: Jewish and Postcolonial Writing and the Nightmare of History
Bryan Cheyette, 2014

What was the most viewed image on NYPL's Digital Collections platform in April 2015?

It was a menu.

Specifically, a menu from the Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel, dated January 18, 1969.

How did that happen?

Seems that a little show called Mad Men featured a mention of the Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel in the third episode of this final season. Following the airing of that episode a few weeks ago, Gothamist posted a recap and review titled "Unpacking Last Night's Mad Men: From The Oak Room To Port Authority," featuring some color commentary about the various settings and details in the show. That recap featured a link to the menu above from our Digital Collections, and made that image the most viewed in April 2015.

What sorts of things were the Mad Men characters dining on in January 1969 (or similarly in 1970, where the show's chronology has now arrived)?

• Shrimp Cocktail ($2.10)
• Terrine of Imported Foie Gras ($3.65)
• Sirloin steak (for 2, at $19.70)
• Pot of coffee ($0.70)

Conveniently, you can see all the dishes on the Oak Room menu transcribed via our "What's on the Menu?" transcription tool.

Meanwhile, a close second was a 1910 "Tour Book" from the Automobile Club of America (better browsed via our book viewer). That traffic came via a post on Slate's "Vault" blog (featuring "historical treasures, oddities, and delights") titled "The Complex Series of Symbols Early Motorists Used for Wayfinding," which showcased the fascinating set of symbols used in early motorist route descriptions.

Another popular collection that got a lot of notice last month is our nearly complete set of "The Green Books" from 1936-1967, which was just recently put online.

Digital Curatorial Assistant K Menick described the collection in a blog post, noting how these historical documents highlight the contours of a segregated nation listing "hotels, restaurants, beauty salons, nightclubs, bars, gas stations, etc. where black travelers would be welcome. In an age of sundown towns, segregation, and lynching, the Green Book became an indispensable tool for safe navigation."

That's the story for this month! Check back in a few weeks for more stories from our Digital Collections.

Rosalind is a mare that Gibson can hang his hopes on. The young boy loves exercising horses, and he loves the way that the trotting Standardbred moves. She is all heart, and she responds to her driver's urging with all that she has. Rosalind's trainer takes his time, and he builds up her muscle steadily and surely. She becomes accustomed to the harness and the ways of the racetrack. Rosalind is named for a character in the play, As You Like It.

The racetrack buzzes with the excitement of the horses, jockeys, trainers, grooms and fans. All the people are rooting for their favorite horse. They want their equine to give the race everything and wow the crowds. Rosalind is one of those prized horses. The crowd is electric in its anticipation of the battle between the mare and her arch rival, Ed Lasater. He is her only real challenge, and he has a good chance of winning the Hambletonian. However, Gibson does not doubt his girl; he is going to be the happiest chap alive if she keeps her nose ahead of Ed Lasater's in the famed race. 

Born to Trot by Marguerite Henry, 1950

I love the Marguerite Henry stories, which are about a simpler time and place and the love of horses.

• Books about horses
• Misty of Chincoteague Foundation
• US Trotting Association

Periodically, the MTA posts images to its Flickr Photostream that document workers’ progress on many projects, including the Second Avenue Subway, the 7 Line Extension, and East Side Access project. Side by side with NYPL’s collection of photographs of the construction of New York’s first subway, which opened in 1904, these images provide stark contrast to each other. They are evidence of an industry drastically changed: the methods of construction used, the condition and expressions of the workers, and the scale of the projects differ in striking ways.

The subway is New York City’s central nervous system. The now familiar subway map began to take shape with the opening of the first Interborough Rapid Transit line in 1904. The shape of the subway system as we know it largely developed within its first thirty years of service.

New York’s first successful* subway was built expeditiously. When the contract went out for bidding, it stipulated that “the work was to be done and the road ready for operation in two years.” (1) The contract was won by a company called the Rapid Transit Construction Company, which evolved into the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (the IRT, as New Yorkers would come to know it) (2). This is a contrast to the current Second Avenue Subway project, which broke ground in 2007 and is still under construction.

Abram Hewitt, mayor 1887-1888, earned the nickname “Father of the Subway” by facilitating the legislation, money, and cooperation of several public and private agencies needed for such a large scale project. Hewitt collaborated with the city’s mercantile elite and created the first detailed, workable proposal for an underground rapid transit system. His designs primarily served the function of providing convenient travel for workers and customers to shopping and manufacturing centers in downtown Manhattan (3). In 1891, New York State passed the Rapid Transit Act, which would provide cities with over 1 million inhabitants means for the creation of rapid transit. Groundbreaking for the subway would take place under a different mayor, Robert Van Wyck, in 1900. At the groundbreaking, “there were many well-informed people, including prominent financiers and experienced engineers, who freely prophesied failure” (4). However, when the subway opened on October 27, 1904, it quickly became the travel system of choice for New Yorkers and effectively sped up New York’s development as a world-class metropolis (3).

William B. Parsons is the chief engineer credited for the construction of the first subway (as well as the Hudson Tubes, the East River Tunnels, and the Panama Canal). Parsons’ obituary in the New York Herald Tribune explains that his work on the subway was “an engineering task that had no precedent,” and explains the difficulties of the construction:

Construction techniques are described in detail in The New York subway: its construction and equipment, a promotional item published by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company to celebrate its 1904 opening. The selection of the subway’s initial route was governed largely by the funds available and approved by voters. The work was primarily done by open excavation, also called the “cut-and-cover” system.

The typical subway route (called “road” in this text) was built near the surface with a flat roof and “I” beams for roof and sides and supported between tracks with columns. Not all of the construction took place in a uniform matter, partly due to the views of the different subcontractors who built different sections of the subway simultaneously.

Contractors faced a variety of challenges in building. Natural obstacles included ground water, rock formations, and the former canal for which Canal Street is named. Man-made difficulties included re-routing over 12 miles of sewers, as well as water and gas mains, steam pipes, and electric conduits. Pneumatic tubes used by the Postal Service could not be disturbed and had to be kept carefully aligned.  Also, the street railways which the subway frequently replaced were disassembled to make way for the subway. Construction often ran near the foundations of tall buildings, requiring engineers to ensure the stability of both the buildings and the new subway routes. Another challenge would be encountering certain underground rooms and vaults (such as bank vaults) which sometimes encroached on the new subway’s path. Underpinning the Columbus Monument was particularly difficult.

Drilling was done by a night shift and followed by early morning blasting of rock. A day crew would then remove the debris by mule cart. Several houses were damaged on Park Avenue from blasting irregular rock formations with angled strata. The New York Times reported that despite this hurried and unprecedented construction, relatively few accidents occurred:

The value of human life has changed in modern perceptions. The Times had a different spin on these events when recalling the first subway in a report on the Second Avenue Subway’s progress in August, 2012.

The first underground line was a resounding success. Calls for expansion began immediately. On May 25, 1905 the New York Times ran an article “Subway Extension Plans” which said that the subway “beyond all expectation proved successful, and its operation is so profitable that private capital to the apparent amount of $225,000,000 now appears at the council table of the Rapid Transit Commission competing for the privilege of building many new subway lines extending and completing the present system.” Indeed, the economic impact of good transit remains high according to recent evaluations published in Urban Studies. This is contrasted by the Second Avenue Subway, where phases 2, 3, and 4 of the construction plan are still unfunded. In 1905, The Times advocated that “it would be a good policy also to have competition between the operating companies” and that “new subways may be built by each of the rival bidders.” Indeed, this competition led to rival companies servicing downtown Manhattan extensively and other areas of the city less so.

The Second Avenue Subway has been a proposed but unrealized project since 1929. New York Times Magazine called it “the great failed track New York City has been postponing, restarting, debating, financing,  definancing and otherwise meaning to get in the ground since 1929.” The Great Depression was the first calamity to take the project out of development, and after subway unification in the 1940s,  “one of the TA’s (Transit Authority’s) decisive actions in getting control of the mess it inherited was to shelve the Second Avenue subway plan indefinitely” (Kramer). The Second Avenue Subway line was revitalized in the 1990s, and the final Environmental Impact Report was approved in 2004.

Tunnel making in the past was primarily accomplished with dynamite. Construction of the Second Avenue Subway and other MTA projects primarily use deep tunnel boring methods and a gargantuan tunnel boring machine. This type of construction eliminates disruptions for road traffic, pedestrians, utilities and local businesses that cut-and-cover created. Some, but not all, of the subway stations are still created with cut-and-cover construction. ENR New York specifies the particulars of the engineering project in this article: “New York's Subway System Finally Starting Major Expansion.” The MTA keeps an online list of their milestones in Second Avenue Subway progress. The first section of this line is estimated to open in December, 2016. The 7 Line Extension, originally planned as two further westerly stops on the 7 train, will open its solo new station at 34th Street and 11th Avenue later this year.

A Subway History Reading List

The New York Subway: Its Construction And Equipment: Interborough Rapid Transit, 1904 / with an introduction by Brian J. Cudahy.

722 Miles: The Building Of The Subways And How They Transformed New York / Clifton Hood.

The Routes Not Taken: A Trip Through New York City's Unbuilt Subway System / Joseph B. Raskin.

The Wheels That Drove New York: A History Of The New York City Transit System / Roger P. Roess and Gene Sansone.

The City Beneath Us: Building The New York Subways / New York Transit Museum with Vivian Heller.

Subways: The Tracks that Built New York City / Lorraine B. Diehl.

A Century Of Subways: Celebrating 100 Years Of New York's Underground Railways / Brian J. Cudahy.

Evolution Of New York City Subways: An Illustrated History Of New York City's Transit Cars, 1867-1997 / by Gene Sansone ; with a new foreword by Clifton Hood.

Narrative or creative nonfiction is somewhat newly recognized genre. Naturally, as librarians we have a great appreciation for the research, the primary source documents and interviews, but it is the narrative, the skillful pacing, the phrasing, and the insight that make it read like a thriller that set these books apart from other nonfiction. For this week's readers advisory practice we decided to pay tribute to the talented authors who do this well. We received such a strong response to the call out for favorites that we divided the list into four categories: journalism and social science, travel and adventure, science, and memoir. This is the memoir edition of our salute to great narrative non-fiction.

In the memoir category, Persepolis is a personal account of growing up liberal and female in post-revolution Iran and Elie Weisel's Night describes a boy’s transformation to caretaker of his father in Nazi concentration camps. —Carmen Nigro, Milstein Division

I laughed out loud to Caitlyn Doughty's Smokes Gets in Your Eyes And Other Lessons from the Crematory.  She is a funeral director and YouTube star of the Ask a Mortician series; this book looks at her first couple years of working in the funeral industry. —Lauren Bradley, George Bruce

Brother I Am Dying by Edwidge Danticat is a modern memoir about a Haitian American family. Covering the complex and harrowing accounts of two brothers and their families, Danticat effortlessly recounts their stories over multiple decades and distinct settings. —Jhenelle Robinson, Van Nest

One of the most moving pieces of nonfiction I've ever read is Joe Gould's Secret by Joseph Mitchell.  The story began as a New Yorker profile by Mitchell entitled "Professor Sea Gull." After the piece was published Joe Gould became a celebrity, and his fan mail was delivered to Mitchell's office.  The two men continued to meet over the next several years. The book begins as a profile of one man and morphs into the story of their relationship, and about the secret that Mitchell would not reveal until after Gould's death. —Andrea Lipinski, Kingsbridge

Art Spiegelman's groundbreaking graphic novel Maus blurs the line between art and biography, portraying the Holocaust using comic characters. Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth is a graphic novel that is ostensibly a biography of philosopher Bertrand Russell, but what we get is a surprisingly dramatic and very readable "history of reason for dummies", and we feel really smart after the ride. —Jeremy Megraw, Billy Rose Theater Division

I recommend Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This story of a highly dysfunctional family (alcoholic dad, mentally ill mother) really stayed with me. What could have been a very painful story was brightened by humor and the very real sense that there was love in the family and some of it was downright beautiful. —Danita Nichols, Inwood

This is an intriguing burgeoning genre. Cheryl's Strayed's Wild comes to mind, as well as her Tiny Beautiful Things. Rebuilt by Michael Chorost is an autobiography, but it has elements of this creative nonfiction genre. —Jenny Baum, Jefferson Market

A book that has stayed with me is Patrick Tracey's Stalking Irish Madness: Searching for the Roots of My Family's Schizophrenia. It combines travel (to Ireland!), mental health research and exploration, and history. Tracey ties all of it together with his stories and insights, but offers both the personal and factual aspects of his search in equally engaging manners. —Alexandria Abenshon, Countee Cullen

The pony in this story is plaintive and adorable. He or she grew up and wondered what the future would hold. The pony learned to jump and won blue ribbons at horse shows. Then, he or she refused a very high jump. The girl grew up, and she became too big to ride him or her. So... the pony joined the circus, where he or she leapt through fire. Throughout all of this, the pony wondered what had become of the girl. Soon, with the advent of the Internet and other forms of entertainment, the circus lost its popularity. The pony was auctioned off, and he or she was lucky to become a school pony for kids' riding lessons! This is the life of one Pony of the Americas.

The Lost and Found Pony by Tracy Dockray, 2011

• ASPCA
• Black Beauty
• Books about horses
• Horse Welfare Organizations
• Tracy Dockray's web site

Here’s a brief guide to Jewish books online, including reference works, religious texts and literature. For periodicals, see our Quick Guide to Jewish Periodicals.

Encyclopedias and Reference

Jewish Texts Online

General Online Book Sites

Digital Jewish Collections (Texts and Images)

A recent trend in YA Lit is the fantasy sub-genre: court and political intrigue fantasy. It’s full of all the stuff that makes for great high stakes drama: power, family, politics, love, betrayal, swords, treachery, corruption, duplicity, vengeance, manipulation, secrets, nefarious plots, fighting, revenge, occasionally some dragons and usually, a good healthy dose of flirtation and swoon. All of which puts this fantasy sub-genre totally in my fantasy-reading wheelhouse and if you’re as big a fan of the TV series Game of Thrones as I am and as obsessed with the characters of Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, Sansa and Arya Stark as I am, then it just might be in your wheelhouse too.

The only problem is that so much of it is written with lead female characters. There's plenty of smart, savvy girls outwitting and outfighting the men who underestimate them. However, boys are just as into this genre as well so it’s a shame I couldn’t find more titles full of male characters taking their own shot at destiny. Not that there aren't plent of great male characters in the books below. If you have any titles or series for me, that I’ve missed, please add them in the comments section.

Books listed in alphabetical order:

Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness series) by Tamora Pierce (1983)- In a world where young women are treated more like chattel, 11 year old Alanna decides to trade places with her twin brother and disguise herself as a boy so that she may train as a knight. As she she gets older and progresses with her training, she makes many friends including, Jonathan, the Prince of Tortall, that get her involved in the politics of her kingdom and other neighboring countries. It is the story of her struggle to be true to herself and true to the country she has vowed to protect. Sequels: In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, Lioness Rampant.

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (2015) - In the Martial Empire, a brutal world inspired by ancient Rome, Laia is a scholar living an oppressed, poverty stricken existence with her family. When her brother is arrested for treason, she agrees to go undercover as a slave at a military academy for the rebels who promise to save him. There, she meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier but he wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. Together they will take on an Empire.

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman (2008) - In an Asian inspired world, power belongs to the emperor and the Dragoneyes, 12 men who harness the power of 12 energy dragons. Every year, a dragon picks an apprentice from a pool of 12 year old boys. Eon, a 16 year old girl disguising herself as boy is picked by the once extinct Mirror Dragon. Since there is no Mirror Dragoneye she must serve on the Dragoneye council herself plunging her into the dangerous world of the court. Caught between the emperor and a ruthless lord, Eon must navigate the danger all on her own. Sequel: Eona: The Last Dragoneye.

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes (2012) - Three kingdoms vie for riches and power as they plunge their people into war and chaos. A prophecy talks of a sorceress of unimaginable power, an ancient legend speaks of a ring that gives the wearer mastery over magical elements and a rebel who will betray his own to try and bring about an alliance. The interweaving lives of Princess Lucia, Princess Cleo, Prince Magnus and Jonas, the son of a wineseller, bring us a dark, epic tale of political machinations, revenge, betrayal and forbidden love. Sequels: Rebel Spring and Gathering Darkness.

Fire by Kristin Cashore (2009) - Set in the same world as Graceling, this takes place in the nearby kingdom of the Dells. Lady Fire is the last of her kind, a human-shaped monster of extreme beauty who can control the minds of those around her. Her father, used his powers to throw the kingdom into chaos but Fire only wants to use her power for good. The new King of the Dells, Nash and his brother Prince Brigan may not be able to resist her but neither do they completely trust her. However, now they desperately need Fire’s help to keep the Dells safe from enemies who would take the country to war.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (2011) - Thanks to a precious Godstone in her navel, the plain jane, and scholarly Princess Elisa is said to be “destined” for greatness but so far she’s not shown any promise. She much prefers eating pastries to learning diplomacy. To cement an alliance with a neighboring kingdom, she is married off to an indifferent king but before they can consummate the marriage she is kidnapped by rebels in hopes that the bearer of the Godstone can save them. Sequels: The Crown of Embers and Bitter Kingdom.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore (2008) - In the Seven Kingdoms, some people are born with “graces” or special talents, Katsa’s specialty is killing. Used and abused by her corrupt, royal uncle to be his “enforcer”, she balances this out by doing secret rescue missions where she dispenses her own form of justice. On one such mission she meets a prince named Po, who makes her question everything she has ever known. Sequel: Bitterblue.

Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassins series) by Robin LaFevers (2012) - In 15th century Brittany, Isme, a daughter of the God of Death, escapes an abusive husband for sanctuary at the Convent of St. Mortain. There, along with other daughters, she is trained to be a spy and an assassin. When the young duchess of Brittany requires a protector, Isme is sent to court in the guise of mistress to the duchess’s half-brother and spy-master, Duval. Sequels: Dark Triumph and Mortal Heart.

In the Time of the Dragon Moon by Janet Carey Lee (2015) - In an alternate 1210 A.D., Uma and her father are healers on their native Wilde Island when they’re kidnapped by the infertile, English Queen, Adela Pendragon, so they will treat her with a fertility treatment they’ve developed. The court is a nest of vipers and Adela is prone to fits of madness and when her father dies, Uma must navigate it all on her own - the King’s nephew Jackrun being her only ally. Companion novels: Dragonswood and Dragon’s Keep.

Kiss of Deception by Mary Pearson (2014) - With tensions mounting with their neighboring kingdoms, First Daughter Princess Lia of Morrighan is being forced into an arranged marriage to forge an alliance. Refusing to submit, she escapes the night before the wedding, with her maid Pauline, to a distant fishing village. Unbeknownst to her, she is pursued by both her would-be husband and an assassin who we only know as “Rafe” and “Kaden” and then there’s that pesky problem of “destiny.” Sequel: The Heart of Betrayal, comes out in July.

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder (2007) - About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered a reprieve, become the food taster for the Commander of Ixia. She’ll eat the best meals, sleep in a luxurious room and only risk death if someone is trying to kill the Commander. But there’s a catch, everyday she will be fed a poison by Valek, the Chief of Security and unless she shows up for the daily antidote she’ll die an agonizing death. Caught up in the politics of Ixia, Yelena’s choices become more and more complicated. Sequels: Magic Study and Fire Study.

The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (2006) - Clever Eugenides is the Royal Thief of Eddis and when his country goes to war with the formidable Attolia he will face his biggest challenge yet, stealing a beautiful Queen and if successful, stealing peace as well. The only person perhaps more clever than Eugenides is the Queen herself and It will take all his skills, charm and wit to capture her. Prequel: The Thief. Sequels: The King of Attolia and A Conspiracy of Kings.

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen (2014) - On her 19th birthday, the sheltered and inexperienced Princess Kelsea comes out of exile to take the throne from her morally reprehensible uncle and protect her people from a neighboring kingdom, ruled by an evil sorceress. What she finds is a kingdom awash in corruption and crime and desperately in need of a strong leader willing to stand up to tyranny. Sequel: Invasion of the Tearling, comes out in June.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (2015) - Mare is a poor, Red Blood, destined to serve the Silver Blood elites who have superhuman abilities. During a competition at the palace, Mare unwittingly shows that she has abilities of her own. In order to cover up this secret, she is forced, by the king, to pretend to be a lost Silver Blood daughter and betrothed to one of his sons. But trouble is brewing at court, Red rebels are planning mayhem and Mare needs to trust someone if she’s going to get out alive.

The Ruins of Gorlan (Ranger’s Apprentice series) by John Flanagan (2006) - Set in the kingdom of Araluen, it begins with Will discovering that he’s been rejected from Battleschool and taken as a (reluctant) apprentice by the Rangers to be trained as a spy. Meanwhile, the exiled lord Morganrath, plots his revenge against Araluen and builds an army as he plans to unleash his power against the kingdom. Many many sequels, including: The Burning Bridge, The Icebound Land, The Battle of Skandia and many more.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (2012) - In a world, where dragons and humans uneasily coexist, Seraphina has a secret that could ruin her. As the court’s music mistress, she lives uncomfortably close to the royal family, particularly to Lucien, the crowned princess’s fiance. As tensions mount and politics come into play, Seraphina must balance safe-guarding her secret and helping to keep a fragile peace. Sequel: Shadow Scale.

Throne of Glass by Sarah Maas (2012) - In the treacherous kingdom of Adarlan, Caelena, an assassin, is doing hard time in the salt mines. She’s offered release on condition that she serve as the Crown Prince’s champion during a competition to find a new royal assassin. With her only choices being, freedom and servitude, death or the salt mines Caelena must navigate her new role very carefully. Sequels: Crown of Midnight and Heir of Fire. Companion: The Assassin's Blade. - Summer Reading 2015 title.

The Winner’s Curse by Maria Rutkoski (2014) - As the daughter of a prominent general, Kestrel has been educated in weapons, war and strategy her entire life. Her father respects her keen mind and intellect but she's no soldier. Her aristocratic, best friend wants her to join the social whirl of high society with its parties, pretty dresses and flirtatious boys but Kestrel wants more than that as well. With no clear choice Kestrel is torn. When she impulsively buys a male slave named Arin at a slave auction, she may find that the choice gets made for her. Sequel: The Winner’s Crime.

"WHEN YOU PLAY THE GAME OF THRONES, YOU WIN OR YOU DIE" —Cersei Lannister

Our spring edition of Financial Planning Day for 2015 drew record crowds. Dozens of people lined up in front of SIBL before we even opened the door. They quickly made their way downstairs to sign up for 30-minute one-on-one free coaching and consulting sessions that were offered throughout the day.

They included:

• Financial Counseling provided by The Financial Planning Association of NY
• Credit Crisis Coaching provided by The Community Service Society of NY
• Medicare Counseling provided by The Health Insurance Information, Counseling and Assistance Program (HIICAP)

In addition, hundreds of people filled our classrooms to capacity for the presentations by guest speakers. In some instances we had to project them in another room in order to accomodate an overflow crowd! At least seventy people attended most of the presentations and actively participated in them by asking many (good) questions. Our first set of presentations began at 11:15 am and included:

• Investing Basics: Make Informed Investment Decisions & Avoid Fraud / Alan E. Sorcher, an Assistant Director in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA)
• What Are You Saving For? / Anthea Perkinson, a Certified Financial PlannerTM with Blueprint Financial Planning, LLC,
• Medicare 2015 / Eric Hausman, an Independent Consultant specializing in Medicare Education and Training.

The first round of concurrent database presentations done by our librarians began at 12:30 pm and included demonstrations of:

• Bloomberg,
• Mergent Online,
• Morningstar Library Edition.

While the first two demonstrated databases are available only at SIBL, Morningstar can also be accessed from home with your library card.

The second round of classroom presentations began at 1 pm and included:

• Brokers, Financial Advisors & Financial Planners: How To Pick One / David Mendels, CFP®, the Director of Planning for Creative Financial Concepts, LLC, and a member of the FPA-NY, which provides pro bono financial planning year round at SIBL.
• How to Give a Powerful Elevator Pitch / Steven Davis who has worked as Practice Director in global recruiting firms and as a Career Counselor and Coach with JPMorgan Chase Career Services. Steven offers pro bono career coaching at SIBL each week.
• Social Security: What You Need to Know About Retirement / Everett Lo, Social Security Adminstration's regional executive.

The second and final round of database presentations began at 2:15 pm and it included:

• Bloomberg,
• Standard and Poor's Net Advantage,
• Career Cruising.

Please come to SIBL to use the first two databases listed above while Career Crusing is also available from home with your library card. These database demonstrations were followed by two more rounds of classroom presentations. At 2:45 pm we offered:

• Beyond the Basics: The ABC's Of ETFs VAs & Other Financial Products / Peter Chandler, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s Director of Investor Education,
• The Role of the Federal Reserve in the Economy / Marisa Casellas-Barnes, an associate and program manager in the Outreach and Education department at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,
• Wills and Advance Directives / Stacey Pramer, a volunteer attorney with the Cancer Advocacy and Elderlaw Projects of the City Bar Justice Center, the non-profit section of the New York City Bar Association.

The last round of classroom presentations was offered at 4:15 pm and included:

• The Importance of Asset Allocation in Building a Diversified Portfolio / Erika Safran, CFP®, the founder of Safran Wealth Advisors.
• Home Buyer Workshop / Rev. Dr. Charles Butler, Vice President of the Equitable Development Department for Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement.
• Taking the Mystery Out of Retirement Planning / Robin Paradowski, Benefits Advisor of the U.S. Department of Labor’s New York Regional Office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA).

During the day- long Financial Fair, attendees could receive advice and information from representatives of government agencies and NGOs dealing with financial, legal, and labor issues. In lieu of traveling to offices across the city, visitors were able to approach a desk to chat and pick up free literature from representatives of the following:

• AARP Foundation
• City Bar Justice Center
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
• Department of Labor
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corp
• Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
• Financial Planning Association of New York
• Health Insurance Information, Counseling and Assitance (Medicare)
• New York City Housing Preservation & Development
• NYC Office of Financial Empowerment
• NYS Department of State
• NYPL Job Search Central
• Office of Citywide Health Insurance Access
• Office of New York State Attorney General
• Office of the State Comptroller
• Securities and Exchange Commission
• Social Security Administration
• U.S. Small Business Administration

The next Financial Planning Day will take place in October but you do not have to wait that long to come to SIBL and use our resources, including databases, as well as to participate in our classes, programs and counseling services, including career coaching. See you in October!

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Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has lived and continues to live with passion, vigor, and curiosity.  In her memoir My Beloved World, Sotomayor recounts her childhood living in The Bronxdale Houses, public housing since renamed the Justice Sonia Sotomayor Houses; the death of her father; and her rise through the ranks of the judiciary. It is a huge honor to present Justice Sotomayor on this week's New York Public Library Podcast. She discusses her advice to college students, the importance of community service, and color blindness.

A Bronx native, Sotomayor attended Princeton University and Yale Law School before becoming the 111th appointment to the SOTUS. She suggested that college students find their communities but also challenge themselves to create connections with those of different backgorunds:

“My advice—and I say it in my book—if you're going to college today, in my situation, find your community who's going to support you, but make sure you learn about the other people in your environment. Make friends with people who are different than you. They will teach you valuable things that you can't even anticipate. Sometimes, and for some people, it's how to use a knife and fork. That sounds strange, but it helps. I had a friend teach me how to do interviews. I had no innate knowledge. I had a parent who couldn't help tell me how to do an interview, and I had a friend who in college took me aside and said, 'This is the kind of research you have to do before you go, and you have to have a list of questions prepared. You have to think about the institution and what's it's mission and what is it that attracts you to it so you can articulate your interest in the job. And then you need to manage to talk about the skills you think you're giving them.' All of these things are things I didn't or wouldn't have known, except because I made friends outside my own circle.”

As a college student, Sotomayor began volunteering in Trenton, New Jersey. It's an experience she hopes to see become a part of every student's experience:

“I speak mostly at law schools. I think law schools should force their students to do community service of some type. My model is Columbia Law School, which among the New York schools, first started the mandatory fifty hours of community service while you're in school. They defined community service very broadly, and I think that's a good thing, but they require students to do that, and I think you can't instill in someone who doesn't want to do something a desire, but you can expose people who have no idea of its value to something that they will continue doing, and I think that's what those programs do. They help people understand when you're in the community how good it feels to do something nice and how good it feels to do something meaningful.”

One of Sotomayor's more meaningful contributions to the Court has been her dissent in Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action. When asked if she believes America should be color blind, Justice Sotomayor explained her view in relationship to the case:

“Can America ever be color blind? Can any society? Look, in my dissent in Schuette I wrote about people's unconscious color sensitivity. They see a dark Hispanic and people will talk up to them and talk Spanish to a kid who was born in America and hasn't spoken a word of Spanish in their entire life. You will see a person playing sports who's African American and you expect them, you pick them for your team, because you think they're going to be a great basketball player. And if they flunk the test, how angry are you? But who says that because you're African American you have to be a great basketball player? Those are not color blind assumptions. It's in the nature of our differences that they will always be noticed, sometimes not with bad intent, sometimes with perfectly benign intent, but it will be there, and it shapes those expectations of people, what you know of them or don't know of them is going to shape your reaction to them. So, I don't know that we can ever be color blind, but we can be sensitive enough to pause and say, 'What's motivating me?' Can we reach a point in our society that before people react, they think about where that reaction's coming from? That, I think, will go a long way to making us better able to deal with one another, and I don't think we're quite there yet. Regrettably, the discussion on affirmative action shows that we're not there yet, that we still need to have this conversation and that two groups or groups are so divided on its importance suggests that we just haven't found the right compromise that will show us how to deal with that issue and many involving race in a more progressive and a more productive way.”

You can subscribe to the New York Public Library Podcast to hear more conversations with wonderful artists, writers, and intellectuals. Join the conversation today!

Summer is here! Just kidding, but the past weekend sure felt like it. The sun was out, the temperature was up, and everyone was outside and sharing pictures of spring blossoms and warm-weather snacks on social media.

I was inside… making custard on the stove. The truth is, I've been making ice cream regularly since January, after trying my new hand-cranked ice cream maker for the first time. It's addictive and fun, and the flavors are limitless.

I've made a basic vanilla (with bourbon), earl grey, butter pecan, coconut, and peppermint.

What will be next? I will probably page through one of the many ice cream books and e-books available at The New York Public Library to come up with ideas, and then see what looks good or is in season at the grocery store. But I always have some fresh cream in the fridge now, just in case the icy inspiration strikes.

Most recipes use the same basic structure for either custard-based or egg-free (Philadelphia style) ice cream. You then steep in your herbs, spices, tea or other flavorings before straining the mixture and chilling it. When you get to the end of the churning process, you can add in big crunchy bits, sweet chunks of fruit, or a dash of liqueur.

You might get so into it you decide to open your own establishment, much like Jeni, Big Gay, Ample Hills, Coolhaus, or Ben & Jerry before you. You can find old-timey resources for your business on HathiTrust, or for more modern guides, visit the Science, Industry and Business Library and sign into EBSCO's Business Source Premier with your library card to access resources like this Ice Cream Industry Profile for the United States.

Even if you have dietaryrestrictions or don't own special equipment, there is an ice cream book for you. But will it be enough to resist the siren call of Mr. Softee this summer? Let me know in the comments.

The staff at the New York Public Library loves their city as well as a story that captures what is truly special and wonderful about this place. Here are a few of their favorites.

My all time favorite New York books is The New Yorkers by Cathleen Schine, the story of one New York City block and the connections people make, especially through the Canine residents. You'll recognize your neighbors in this one. —Danita Nichols, Inwood

I recommend Jack Finney's Time and Again, a time travel story with an incredible amount of realism. Also, Helene Wecker's The Golem and the Jinni gives a supernatural twist to the NYC immigration tale and richly describes the Lower East Side and Little Syria. —Carmen Nigro, Milstein Division

Two New York books I love are Holidays on Ice by the the inimitable David Sedaris, particularly the story where he recalls his stint as an elf during Christmas season at Macy's Department store, and Patti Smith's Just Kids, which made me long to be around during the salad days of Downtown Manhattan. —Sherri Machlin, Mulberry Street

E.B. White's Here is New York. It's a love letter to the city. The city has obviously changed a great deal since White wrote this volume in 1949, but it's a testament to what a master stylist he is that it holds up beautifully today. The writing is clear, vivid, and evocative.  —Shana Kimball, NYPL Labs

For New York love, I recommend Paul Auster's New York Trilogy, a haunting meditation on identity, language, and New York as an entropic, postmodern city. Also, Will Eisner's The Contract With God Trilogy is set in Depression-era Bronx. One of the earliest graphic novels (published in 1978), it addresses the grit and poverty of urban life, but ultimately affirms the feeling of community one finds within the city. —Thomas Knowlton, MyLibraryNYC

A Walker in the City is Alfred Kazin's meditative ramble through his childhood memories of Brownsville, Brooklyn of old, a Jewish immigrant neighborhood. Whereas Kazin describes a community and place that insulates itself from New York City as a whole, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and Damned introduces a protagonist who willingly and whole-heartedly allows himself to be swept up and overtaken by the great metropolis.  (For the record, I could have also chosen The Great Gatsby as a book about NYC, but for my money, The Beautiful and Damned is a better novel.) —Wayne Roylance, Selection Team

In regards to works about New York City, you have the moving and memorable novels and short stories and the compelling works of non-fiction, and then you have the reference books. Few reference titles are as deserving of descriptors such as "exhaustive" and "authoritative" as The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909, by Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes. Over 400 years of what makes New York such a unique place! —Billy Parrott, Mid-Manhattan

Eat the City by Robin Shulman. Great narrative about how food—and the people and families who produced it through the centuries—shaped our modern city. There would be no Domino Sugar factory for the hipsters if not for the original sugar families of New York! I also recommend, 5th Avenue, 5 A.M by Sam Wasson. Sure, with Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capotea provides a detailed look at New York,and the glitz and glamour of high society and its patronage of the arts. Last but not least, I recommend, Russ & Daughters: Reflections and Recipes From the House That Herring Built by Mark Russ Federman. It doesn't get any more NYC than the history of perhaps our greatest appetizing store on the LES. Yum! —Leslie Tabor, Associate Director

For thriller-seekers, the Matt Scudder novels of Lawrence Block have great New York atmosphere swirling around hard-boiled tales told by an ex-cop who left the force and swore off booze after causing a young girl's death while drunk. Now he attends AA meetings and makes his living "doing favors for friends" as an unlicensed private eye. One of the best in the series is Eight Million Ways to Die. —Kathie Coblentz, Rare Book Cataloging

One of my favorite things about NYC is sparking up a conversation with someone and just hearing that one unique story such as that time during the blackout or running into Bill Murray in a bar. It is with this I recommend Brandon Stanton's book Humans of New York. He spotlights what is truly great about this city: New Yorkers. —Jaqueline Woolcott, AskNYPL

Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paule Marshall is a great tale of Barbadian immigrants who move to Bedstuy, Brooklyn where the parents' desire to keep their Caribbean culture intact struggles against the culture shock that has affected their two daughters. —Sherise Nicole Pagan, Grand Concourse

Rem Koolhaas' Delirious New York is brimming with delicious facts all about the city and its many special places that make it seem even more alive, crazy, and interesting than its inhabitants. A must-read for a know-it-all New Yorker is Sloane Crosley's collection of essays, I Was Told There'd Be Cake: a series of bizarre tales of as a young woman tries to make her way in New York City. I also loved Open City by Teju Cole: a collage of memory, image, and heartbreak starring our great city. —Nancy Aravecz, Mid-Manhattan

The two stories that continue to resonate with me are Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, a fascinating characterization of New York high society, and David Von Drehle's Triangle: The Fire that Changed America, which chronicles the 1911 disaster.  —Miriam Tuliao, Selection Team

My favorite New York story is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. It's about a young boy's journey to discover something left by his dad after his death on 9/11. I first read this book about three or four years ago, and I still find myself thinking about Oskar all the time.  He is one of my all-time favorite book characters. —Ronni Krasnow, Morningside Heights

Want some fantasy with your NYC? Try Children of the Night by Mercedes Lackey. This supernatural adventure full of vampires (good and bad), rock music, and magic takes place right in the heart of Manhattan.  —Stephanie Whelan, Seward Park

I recommend Forgotten New York by Kevin Walsh. Learn about old and hidden sides of New York City from the man who maintains the wonderful Forgotten New York website and also gives great tours all around New York!  And one of my favorite NYC books of all time is The Other Islands of New York City by Sharon Seitz.  This is a guidebook that made me laugh and cry as I learned even more about the history of this great big city of ours, and it made me want to grab a kayak and go exploring. —Andrea Lipinski, Kingsbridge

The Kate Fansler novels by Amanda Cross are among my favorites. The protagonist, Kate Fansler, is an academic, ardent feminist, and devoted friend living on the Upper West Side. Her home and her life are just the best of what New York living is about. Good character and grace don’t stop evil characters from finding their way into her path. —Virginia Bartow, Rare Book Cataloger

I remember reading Colson Whitehead's The Colossus of New York at LaGuardia Airport in 2003. I was taking my last trip home before moving to New York for good. A selection: "In the morning the streets are owned by bread and garbage trucks. Sanitation engineers swashbuckle to sidewalks after scraps, obscure treasure, hoist up chewed-up bread and crusts the bread trucks left days before. Deliver and pick up." He goes on to describe the dirty slush of winter in an evocative and dare I say, loving way. We're all in this together. —Lauren Lampasone, Digital Experience

Growing up on a farm in the Midwest, I loved reading anything about New York City. To me, Dorothy Parker is the quintessential New York author, known for her sarcastic wit and her place at the Algonquin Round Table. I recommend The Portable Dorothy Parker, a great collection of her stories and verse. The poems are laugh out loud funny. —Lois Moore, Mid-Manhattan

I recommend The Alienist by Caleb Carr: historical fiction, mystery, and crime-thriller set in New York 1896. —Amie Wright, MyLibraryNYC

A book that every New Yorker interested in the city's history needs on the shelf is the monumental Gotham by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, even if only to dip into from time to time. —Elizabeth Waters, Mid-Manhattan

One book that springs to mind for me when I think of New York stories is The New York Cookbook by Molly O'Neill. New York is the kind of place where you can go out for Korean food and stop by the Indian store on the way home to pick up ingredients for that dish  you have been meaning to try, or where one can buy skinned hazelnuts at two in the morning to satisfy an urge to make macaroons as soon as one gets up in the morning. —Margaret Siggillino, St. George

My favorite New York book is The Northern Borough by Lloyd Ultan. This concise narrative of Bronx history dispels many of the negative perceptions of the borough by highlighting its vast contributions to the growth and development of the nation as a whole. —Jean Harripersaud, Bronx Library Center

Brooke is in love with her Chincoteague pony, Foxy. She schools the pony herself, but it is a slow, gradual process. Then, her stepfather unexpectedly announces that he has paid for the girl and her pony to attend Camp Pocomoke for two weeks. Brooke is nervous about fitting in, but Hannah, Livi, and Paige are very friendly, and they make her feel welcome.

Luckily, Brooke's instructor, Robin, allows her to use the office computer to check her email. This way, Brooke can keep in touch with her Pony Post pals: Haley, Maddie, and Nina. The girls live in different parts of the United States, but their love of their Chincoteague ponies bind them together. They created a web site on which they could share beautiful pictures from their fun trail rides and riding and training tips with each other. Brooke is happy to talk with friends that she is established with. She knows that she can count on them for help with any pony dilemmas.

There is a big equine dilemma at Camp Pocomoke this year. Brooke overhears Robin and her boyfriend, Preston, discussing the possibility of selling the farm. The girls brainstorm ideas to get Robin to reconsider. Will Camp Pocomoke even exist for the girls and horses next year?

Blue Ribbon Summer by Catherine Hapka, 2014

• Books about Chincoteague ponies
• Books by Marguerite Henry

The staff at New York Public Library love their city and here are some books for young children, middle graders, and teens they feel deliver all the charm, mystique, and humanity that makes this place great.

Young Children

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is a book that speaks to my inner child about the simplicity of being a kid and enjoying the snow. Peter, the child protagonist, being able to enjoy the feel of the cold snow...crunching against his feet. —Christel Ellis, George Bruce

Travel back to 2003 in Blackoutby John Rocco. If our city can make it through that, we can make it through anything. —Anna Taylor, Children’s Programming

This is New York, by M. Sasek, is gorgeous, timeless picture book about our bustling city and all of its sights and sounds. —Leslie Tabor, Yorkville

I do a Big Apple-themed story time every year, and some of my favorite children's books to share are Subway by Anastasia Suen, New York, Baby!by Ward Jenkins, and Say Hello! by Rachel Isadora. These capture the bustling, vibrant city we live in from a child's perspective. —Susie Tucker Heimbach, Mulberry Street

I recommend Ollie & Moon: Fuhgeddaboudit!, a darling picture book where Ollie and Moon tour the sights of New York City. —Jenny Baum, Jefferson Market

I love When the Beat was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop. It's children's nonfiction, biography, and set in the Bronx 1970s. —Amie Wright, MyLibraryNYC

Black Cat by Christopher Myers is all long angular shadows and with a deep palate of purple, orange, and blue with text so cool you can't help by hear the jazz playing in the background. —Lynn Lobash, Readers Services

Middle Graders

How about some fantasy with your NYC? For kids there's The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh. Take a tour around beloved landmarks as a ghost! A great fantasy adventure that will have you seeing the city from the paranormal perspective. Also, So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane. Britain's not the only place that features aspiring wizards! So much fun to read, with a wildly dark alternate NYC that our heroes must travel to in search of a legendary book… this was the story that made me love urban fantasy. —Stephanie Whelan, Seward Park

From The Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg is one of my all-time New York favorites! Who wouldn't want to run away and live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Adventure, mystery and a good dose of fun. Do you know what snow piles are good for? Hiding behind them, of course! Learn how to be a NYC snow spy with Harriet the Spyby Louise Fitzhugh and solve art mysteries in Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald. —Anna Taylor, Children’s Programming

Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me is one of the best and most legitimate portrayals of NYC I can remember with great characters. Appropriate for kids 9–12. —Carmen Nigro, Milstein Division

Better Nate Than Ever, a middle age novel by Tim Federle, sees New York City through the fresh eyes of a boy who has run away to audition for a Broadway musical. The story is sweet, clever, and relatable if you, too, fled suburbia to pursue a passion or find your tribe. —Kyle Butler, Strategy Office

For a good New York read, I've got to go with Oddkins: A Fable for All Agesby Dean Koontz. I read this as a pre-teen and at first, thought it was kids stuff but the tale of toys created for needy children pulled me. Dark stormy new york street and gothic prose. —Joshua Soule, Spuyten Duyvil

I'm a fan of Slake's Limbo by Felice Holman, which I read in middle school and never forgot. —Jennifer Moakler, New Dorp

Young Adult

In YA, I recommend The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine by April Lurie for a portrait of a fictional New York as seen through Dylan's relationships, drugs, movie sets and basketball. —Jenny Baum, Jefferson Market

I thoroughly enjoyed the YA novel, The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh, which is about a young boy who discovers NYC's underworld, deep within the bowels of Grand Central: a place where those who have died in NYC live on because they are not yet ready (or able) to leave. —Maura Muller, Volunteers Office

I would like to recommend the young adult novel Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston. The novel is set in New York City with many scenes set in Central Park, which serves as a gateway to the faerie's Otherworld. —Lilian Calix, Hamilton Grange

When I was growing up in the ’70s there was very little in the way of books that reflected who I was—a first generation Chinese-American girl living in New York City. My parents spoke Chinese, but I spoke English fluently and very little Chinese. Even today, I speak what I call “Baby Chinese.” I ate NYC public school lunches, so my favorite foods were (and still are) pizza and ice cream, but I had a traditional Chinese dinner each night. I went to “English” school during the week and “Chinese” school on Saturdays. I also LOVED to read and read everything I could get my hands on, but I could never see myself in the books from school or in the library.

I remember reading (and now I’m dating myself even more) the Sue Barton series, all the Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators and Nancy Drews. I remember loving Andy Buckram’s Tin Men by Carol Ryrie Brink, which started my love of science fiction. I flew through the Oz books and cried over books by Frances Hodgson Burnett and Louisa May Alcott. Yes, there were books set in China or about Chinese children, such as Arlene Mosel’s Tikki Tikki Tembo and Claire Huchet Bishop’s The Five Chinese Brothers, but they did not reflect my life. My 4th grade teacher gave me The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck (I was a good reader), but that was definitely not me. I don’t think I got past the first chapter at that point, but I did read it as an adult and enjoyed it. It wasn’t until I was in 7^th grade, when Laurence Yep’s Child of the Owl was published in 1977, that I finally saw myself in a book.

Now, Chinese American kids don’t have to wait years until they can see themselves and their culture reflected in the books they find on the library shelves. The following is just a short list of authors and series that come to mind.

Picture books

• Yin Yang Compestine - D is for Dragon Dance; Crouching Tiger
• Ted Lewin - Big Jimmy's Kum Kau Chinese Take Out
• Grace Lin - very prolific author, the following is just a few of her titles: The Ugly Vegetables, Dim Sum for Everyone, Fortune Cookie Fortunes
• Roseanne Thong - Gai See: what you see in Chinatown; Red is a Dragon; Round is a Mooncake;
• Belle Yang - Hannah is My Name

Easy books

• Grace Lin - Ling and Ting series - a set of twins who look alike, but have very different personalities.
• Fran Manushkin - Katie Woo series - the everyday adventures of a little girl who just happens to be Chinese.

Young Readers

• Andrea Cheng - Year of the Book, Year of the Baby, Year of the Fortune Cookie - stories of Anna and her family and friends.
• Lenore Look - Alvin Ho series - Alvin is afraid of EVERYTHING; Ruby Lu series - confident Ruby is not afraid of anything.
• Grace Lin - Year of the Dog; Year of the Rat; Dumpling Days - the stories of Pacy, a young Taiwanese-American girl.
• Lisa Yee - Bobby vs Girls (Accidentally); Bobby the Brave (Sometimes) - Bobby Ellis-Chan is an average 4^th grader with a former football player for a dad and a GIRL as a best friend.

Novels

• Grace Lin - Where the Mountain Meets the Moon; Starry River of the Sky - Lin takes Chinese folktales and weaves them together into something brand new.
• Wendy Wan-Long Shang - The Great Wall of Lucy Wu - Lucy thinks 6^th grade is going to be perfect until she finds out that her great-aunt is coming from China and she'll have to share her room.
• Lisa Yee - Millicent Min, Girl Genius; Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time - Millicent hides her academic ability to make a friend while also trying to tutor Stanford the school's prize basketball player.
• Laurence Yep - a very prolific author, best known for the titles in his historical fiction series: Golden Mountain Chronicles, which includes Dragonwings& Dragon's Gate; he also wrote the Chinatown Mysteries series.

    四十九日。祭

    严歌苓 著

    9787020097159 

故事从抗日战争时期南京失守开始，讲述了南京被日军侵占的四十九天里，在圣·玛德伦教堂内神职人员、唱诗班女童、未及撤退的伤兵和前往教堂避难的一群风尘女子之间发生的生死传奇。原本泾渭分明老死不相往来的人群，在战火硝烟中因国难家仇结下性命契约；铁蹄下辗转求生的弱小逃亡者、危难关头不弃人间正义的人道主义者、舍生取义的慷慨赴死者惨烈大时代中诸多小人物以鲜血热泪共同谱写了一曲生命祭歌。Dangdang.com

  嫁给美国

   盛林 著

   9787544709927

杭州妹子、都市白领。2007年，机缘巧合，盛林和美国工程师菲利普在网上堕入爱河，成就了一场跨越万水千山的爱情。来到美国之后，在生活的闲暇时间里，开始在网上写作的经历。而用文字直播异域生活，盛林最初的想法，只是想让万里之外一直牵挂她的家人和朋友放心。没想到这些文字在网络上收获网友们一片叫好之声。Dangdang.com 

  老生

   贾平凹作品

   9787020105960 

《老生》以老生常谈的叙述方式记录了中国近代的百年历史。故事发生在陕西南部的山村里，从二十世纪初一直写到今天，是现代中国的成长缩影。书中的灵魂人物老生，是一个在葬礼上唱丧歌的职业歌者，他身在两界、长生不死，他超越了现世人生的局限，见证、记录了几代人的命运辗转和时代变迁。老生是一个不可或缺的精神主线，把四个不同时间、不同地点发生的故事连缀成一部大作。Dangdang.com

  冰河

  余秋雨著

  9787550233430

本书是余秋雨的首部长篇小说，故事发生在中国古代的南方，具备惊人美丽的女子孟河在一次“淑女乡试”中拔得头魁，引来大批追求者，然而她暗中女扮男装，乘船踏上了去京城寻找生父的路途。途中，船只突遇冰雪，不仅被冰封在前后无援的河中，众人也遭遇生死攸关的求生考验。在绝境中，船上的考生金河深夜凿冰救人，却因冻伤无法赶考。孟河为报恩情冒名代考，却中了状元，引出一连串扑朔迷离的意外和磨难，也让她找到了情之所属，留下一段沉香般的爱情传说。Dangdang.com

  老年痴呆症早期信号及防治

   黄世敬

   9787508292533 

本书上篇阐述老年痴呆症的病因、临床表现、诊断与鉴别、治疗及预防调护等基础知识。下篇详细介绍老年痴呆症常见的早期信号：记忆障碍、理解障碍、视空间技能障碍、语言障碍、计算障碍、运动障碍、精神障碍、睡眠障碍等的临床特征、诊断方法、中医医治方案及预防措施。全书内容丰富，科学实用，重点突出早防早治，力求做到使老年人及其家属能重视老年痴呆症的早期发现，早期治疗，力争取得最佳治疗效果。Dangdang.com

  耶路撒冷三千年

   西奥 蒙蒂菲奥里著 ; 张倩红, 马丹静译

   9787513903509

读《耶路撒冷三千年》，了解耶路撒冷的历史，就会明白世界为何演变成今天的模样。耶路撒冷曾被视为世界的中心，是基督教、犹太教和伊斯兰教三大宗教的圣地，是文明冲突的战略要冲，是让世人魂牵梦绕的去处，是惑人的阴谋、虚构的网络传说和二十四小时新闻发生的地方。Dangdang.com

  图解常见病运动疗法 

   洪佳婧

   9787538454703

得了常见病，三分靠治疗，七分靠调养。运动疗法作为纯绿色、最适应自然的健康调养法，在治疗常见病方面有着独特的疗效。本书针对百种常见病，精选了40种“家居式”对症运动疗法，并采用全彩真人图片动作分解演示，更方便零基础读者使用，步步到位，即学即用。在针对常见病的治疗基础上，本书还贴心附加了多种日常运动保健法，从年迈的父母，到年幼的孩子，口齿生津，增强体质，消除疲劳，运动才是最好的药，每一个运动疗法都是护佑全家的金处方。Dangdang.com 

   袁腾飞讲先秦. 上古春秋

    袁腾飞 著

     9787121244247

袁腾飞从上古传说讲起，女娲、伏羲、神农、黄帝、帝喾、尧、舜轮番登场。令人肃然起敬的身世之谜，补天教民的不世之功；夏、商、西周江山更迭，庸王丧邦，圣主治世，小人误国，贤臣辅主；更有春秋五霸争相上位。Dangdang.com

  榮辱之間 : 孔祥熙

   周宗奇著

   9789865696313

位極人臣,  風光一時的蔣中正御用大帳房孔祥熙,  怎麽變成了貪腐集團的首領,  最終避走美國,  病逝異鄉.  Book.com

  落花有意徐志摩 : 心有猛虎, 細嗅薔薇

  馮慧著

  9789865755188 

以徐志摩的生平經歷為經，詩文為緯，再現徐志摩一生中最純淨的自由、愛和美。用細膩優美的筆調，觸碰詩人在理想與現實、飛揚與墮落中冒險的靈魂，感受他在火般激情和水般溫柔的交織中顛簸掙扎。Kingston.com

  在家種菜, 簡單種、隨手摘, 天天吃好菜! : 種菜何必等退休!一個盆栽一坪小陽台,就能種出一 桌好菜!

  昔東妍

  9789861302621 

韓國頂尖園藝高手，完整公開31種最常見的蔬果栽種祕訣
挑苗、鬆土、播種、施肥、育苗、採收完整圖解
不用一塊地，只要用容器，一個盆栽、一坪小陽台，也能種出一桌好菜！
讓你種菜不必等退休！從入門到專業，不用再擔心食材來源從陽台到餐桌，天天有好菜

Kingston.com

  神祕北韓金氏家族回春祕方大公開! : 讓你多活20年的奇蹟解毒法 

  金素妍

  9789866005305

我們身體久久無法根治的頑病如慢性疲勞、便祕、肥胖、腎虛、視力衰退、肌肉痠痛、頭痛、失眠等，都是因為毒素積存在體內的關係。因此，只要從減重、腸道、睡眠、排鈉及皮膚這五種方向來解毒，身體自然就會痊癒，讓你多活20年。本書使用的食材不但隨手可得，效果更是迅速. Kingston.com

Sally Mann comes to Books at Noon next Wednesday, May 13 to discuss her latest work, Hold Still: A Memoir With Photographs. We asked her six questions about what she likes to read.

When and where do you like to read?

I love to imagine reading by the woodstove on snowy afternoons but usually I get to read only after work, in bed, and during my insomniac nights.

What were your favorite books as a child?

The Jack Tales, Charlotte’s Web, The Moonstone, all the Walter Farley, A.A. Milne, and Oz books, The Little Prince.

What books had the greatest impact on you?

As a child you mean? As a child, You Have Seen Their Faces (photo book), The Family of Man (ditto), Black Beauty, Tom Sawyer /Huckleberry Finn—as an adult, probably too many to list.

Would you like to name a few writers out there you think deserve greater readership?

These may be more well-read than I know, but: Shirley Hazzard (Transit of Venus), Wallace Stegner (Angle of Repose), John Williams (Stoner), Anne Tyler maybe? I think she’s brilliant and maybe not as well read as she should be. Peter Taylor (Summons to Memphis and his short stories,) William Styron. Does anyone read Nat Turner anymore? I just did and think it’s pretty great. Kazuo Ishiguro—I guess he’s pretty well known, but I’ll keep him on anyway Tony Horwitz.

What was the last book you recommended?

Shadow Country by Peter Matthieson.

What do you plan to read next?

I’m just finishing up a re-re-re-read of Speak Memory, then I have 2 books by my bed: A Constellation Of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra and Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. Oh, wait! 3 books? Also, a friend sent Something Rich and Strange.

Hurricane Katrina was a disaster that one plucky Pony of the Americas was able to endure. Luckily, there was enough hay and water in her stall to keep her alive until a rescue group could arrive. Then, she moved to a farm where a dog mauled one of her front legs. Initially, the veterinarians were at a loss of what to do, but they decided to amputate her leg below the knee and attach a prosthetic device. Such devices have been used on ponies with some success. It is important to require the equine to walk on the device as soon as possible in order to prevent compensatory injuries of the other front leg.  

Molly learned how to walk and trot on her prosthetic, and she was enjoying life. Her artificial leg even has a smiley face on the bottom of the hoof! The other ponies were a bit curious about Molly's new leg. Molly even got a new job as a therapy pony! Residents of children's hospitals and retirement homes enjoy interacting with the pony. They realize that even animals have hardships, but they can enjoy rich lives.

Molly the Pony: a True Story by Pam Kaster, 2012

• Books about horses
• Resources on prosthetics
• Ortho Pets