Freakonomics: Rejuvenating the Self-Destructive Global Economy


Dan Nathaniel Brown - 2006
    

Broke: Hardship and Resilience in a City of Broken Promises


Jodie Adams Kirshner - 2019
    What do the spending cuts and limited resources do to the lives of city residents? In Broke, Jodie Adams Kirshner follows seven Detroiters as they navigate life during and after their city's bankruptcy. Reggie loses his savings trying to make a habitable home for his family. Cindy fights drug use, prostitution, and dumping on her block. Lola commutes two hours a day to her suburban job. For them, financial issues are mired within the larger ramifications of poor urban policies, restorative negligence on the state and federal level and—even before the decision to declare Detroit bankrupt in 2013—the root causes of a city’s fiscal demise.Like Matthew Desmond’s Evicted, Broke looks at what municipal distress means, not just on paper but in practical—and personal—terms. More than 40 percent of Detroit’s 700,000 residents fall below the poverty line. Post-bankruptcy, they struggle with a broken real estate market, school system, and job market—and their lives have not improved.Detroit is emblematic. Kirshner makes a powerful argument that cities—the economic engine of America—are never quite given the aid that they need by either the state or federal government for their residents to survive, not to mention flourish. Success for all America’s citizens depends on equity of opportunity.

Writing Gordon Lightfoot: The Man, the Music, and the World in 1972


Dave Bidini - 2011
    As musicians across Canada prepare for the nation's biggest folk festival, held on Toronto Island, a series of events unfold that will transform the country politically, psychologically--and musically. As Bidini explores the remarkable week leading up to Mariposa, he also explores the life and times of one of the most enigmatic figures in Canadian music: Gordon Lightfoot, the reigning king of folk at the height of his career. Through a series of letters, Bidini addresses Lightfoot directly, questioning him, imagining his life, and weaving together a fascinating, highly original look at a musician at the top of his game. By the end of the week, the country is on the verge of massive change and the '72 Mariposa folk fest--complete with surprise appearances by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and yes, Lightfoot--is on its way to becoming legendary.

Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After


John Van der Kiste - 2015
    From there he joined the ever-popular Move, then helped form the groundbreaking Electric Light Orchestra. After co-founder Roy Wood left in 1972, Lynne turned what had been a struggling rock and classical fusion into one of Britain s most consistently successful and popular acts. Following a run of hit singles, albums, and sell-out concerts throughout the world, he laid the group to rest in 1986 and combined a solo career as an artist and producer with membership of the ultimate supergroup, the Traveling Wilburys. His production credits include Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Del Shannon, George Harrison, and even the Beatles on their two final singles in the mid- 90s. Jeff Lynne: The Electric Light Orchestra, Before and After is the first-ever biography of one of the most prolific and highly regarded performers of the last fifty years. Rich in backstage anecdotes of overheated orchestras, frontmen rivalries, tour mishaps, cross-group partnerships, unlikely collaborations, and self-imposed exile from the stage in the quest for inspiration, this book will leave fans and general readers delighted and inspired by a career at the epicentre of twentieth-century rock. ** This electronic edition contains 35 photographs **

Half-Breed


Maria Campbell - 1973
    At 15 she tried in vain to escape by marrying a white man, only to find herself trapped in the slums of Vancouver—addicted to drugs, tempted by suicide, close to death. But the inspiration of her Cree great-grandmother, Cheechum, gives her confidence in herself and in her people, confidence she needs to survive and to thrive.Half-Breed offers an unparalleled understanding of the Métis people and of the racism and hatred they face. Maria Campbell's story cannot be denied and it cannot be forgotten: it stands as a challenge to all Canadians who believe in human rights and human dignity.

Rebellion Is the Circle of a Lover's Hands/Rebelió


Martín Espada - 1990
    Poems in English and Spanish that discuss what it means to be Puerto Rican in the United States today.

The Central Park Five: A Chronicle of a City Wilding


Sarah Burns - 2011
    Within days, five black and Latino teenagers confess to her rape and beating. In a city where urban crime is at a high and violence is frequent, the ensuing media frenzy and hysterical public reaction is extraordinary. The young men are tried as adults and convicted of rape, despite the fact that the teens quickly recant their inconsistent and inaccurate confessions and that no DNA tests or eyewitness accounts tie any of them to the victim. They serve their complete sentences before another man, serial rapist Matias Reyes, confesses to the crime and is connected to it by DNA testing.Intertwining the stories of these five young men, the police officers, the district attorneys, the victim, and Matias Reyes, Sarah Burns unravels the forces that made both the crime and its prosecution possible. Most dramatically, she gives us a portrait of a city already beset by violence and deepening rifts between races and classes, whose law enforcement, government, social institutions, and media were undermining the very rights of the individuals they were designed to safeguard and protect.

House of Dreams: The Life of L. M. Montgomery


Liz Rosenberg - 2018
    When she was fourteen years old, Maud wrote in her journal, "I love books. I hope when I grow up to be able to have lots of them." Not only did Maud grow up to own lots of books, she wrote twenty-four of them herself as L. M. Montgomery, the world-renowned author of Anne of Green Gables. For many years, not a great deal was known about Maud’s personal life. Her childhood was spent with strict, undemonstrative grandparents, and her reflections on writing, her lifelong struggles with anxiety and depression, her "year of mad passion," and her difficult married life remained locked away, buried deep within her unpublished personal journals. Through this revealing and deeply moving biography, kindred spirits of all ages who, like Maud, never gave up "the substance of things hoped for" will be captivated anew by the words of this remarkable woman.

Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space


Amanda Leduc - 2020
    After all, the ogre never gets the princess. And since fairy tales are the foundational myths of our culture, how can a girl with a disability ever think she'll have a happy ending?By examining the ways that fairy tales have shaped our expectations of disability, Disfigured will point the way toward a new world where disability is no longer a punishment or impediment but operates, instead, as a way of centering a protagonist and helping them to cement their own place in a story, and from there, the world. Through the book, Leduc ruminates on the connections we make between fairy tale archetypes—the beautiful princess, the glass slipper, the maiden with long hair lost in the tower—and tries to make sense of them through a twenty-first-century disablist lens. From examinations of disability in tales from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen through to modern interpretations ranging from Disney to Angela Carter, and the fight for disabled representation in today's media, Leduc connects the fight for disability justice to the growth of modern, magical stories, and argues for increased awareness and acceptance of that which is other—helping us to see and celebrate the magic inherent in different bodies.

An American Covenant: A Story of Women, Mysticism, and the Making of Modern America


Lucile Scott - 2020
    For just as long, they’ve been subjugated and ridiculed. Today, women and others across the nation are once again turning to their mystic powers to #HexThePatriarchy and help fight the forces that seem bent on relegating them to second-class citizenry.Amid this tumult, Lucile Scott looks to the past and the stories of five women over three centuries to form an ancestral spiritual coven: Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans; Cora L. V. Scott, nineteenth-century Spiritualist superstar; Helena Blavatsky, mother of Theosophy; Zsuzsanna Budapest, feminist witch and founder of Dianic Wicca; and Marianne Williamson, presidential candidate and preacher of the New Age Gospel of Love. Each, in their own ways, defied masculine preconceptions about power.A scathing queer feminist history and a personal quest for transcendence, An American Covenant opens our eyes to the paths forged by women who inspired the nation in their own times—and who will no longer be forgotten or silenced in ours.

The Right to the City: Social Justice and the Fight for Public Space


Don Mitchell - 2003
    Efforts to secure the American city have life-or-death implications, yet demands for heightened surveillance and security throw into sharp relief timeless questions about the nature of public space, how it is to be used, and under what conditions. Blending historical and geographical analysis, this book examines the vital relationship between struggles over public space and movements for social justice in the United States. Don Mitchell explores how political dissent gains meaning and momentum--and is regulated and policed--in the real, physical spaces of the city. A series of linked cases provides in-depth analyses of early twentieth-century labor demonstrations, the Free Speech Movement and the history of People's Park in Berkeley, contemporary anti-abortion protests, and efforts to remove homeless people from urban streets.

French Taste: Elegant Everyday Eating


Laura Calder - 2009
    Laura Calder reminds us that we don’t have to commit to mastering the entire canon of French cuisine to make a delectable chocolate mousse or a sole amandine. And just because we’re in the mood for coq au vin doesn’t mean we have to start dinner with a foie gras terrine and end with Grand Marnier souffl�. We can integrate a French dish into the menus already in our repertoire -- serve coq au vin as a main course, with gingerbread or ice-cream sundaes for dessert. Why not?French Taste is all about simplicity. If we get too caught up in the “how to” of French cooking, we miss the point. Yes, French cuisine has given the world impressive recipes and techniques, but the most valuable things the French have to offer when it comes to food are a sense of how to eat with joyful abandon, how to make food look as beautiful as it tastes and how to take time to enjoy good food in good company.

From This Moment On


Shania Twain - 2011
    But in this extraordinary autobiography, Shania reveals that she is so much more. She is Eilleen Twain, one of five children born into poverty in rural Canada, where her family often didn't have enough food to send her to school with lunch. She's the teenage girl who helped her mother and young siblings escape to a battered woman's shelter to put an end to the domestic violence in her family home. And she's the courageous twenty-two-year-old who sacrificed to keep her younger siblings together after her parents were tragically killed in a car accident.Shania Twain's life has evolved from a series of pivotal moments, and in unflinching, heartbreaking prose, Shania spares no details as she takes us through the events that have made her who she is. She recounts her difficult childhood, her parents' sudden death and its painful aftermath, her dramatic rise to stardom, her devastating betrayal by a trusted friend, and her joyful marriage to the love of her life. From these moments, she offers profound, moving insights into families, personal tragedies, making sense of one's life, and the process of healing. Shania Twain is a singular, remarkable woman who has faced enormous odds and downfalls, and her extraordinary story will provide wisdom, inspiration, and hope for almost anyone.

#Notyourprincess: Voices of Native American Women


Lisa Charleyboy - 2017
    In the same style as the best-selling Dreaming in Indian, #NotYourPrincess presents an eclectic collection of poems, essays, interviews, and art that combine to express the experience of being a Native woman. Stories of abuse, humiliation, and stereotyping are countered by the voices of passionate women making themselves heard and demanding change. Sometimes angry, often reflective, but always strong, the women in this book will give teen readers insight into the lives of women who, for so long, have been virtually invisible.

Some Things I Did for Money


Stephanie Georgopulos - 2015
    Equal parts comical and cringe-inducing, Some Things I Did for Money is an honest reflection on the way we define work and what it means to be rich.Most of Stephanie Georgopulos's odd jobs now fall under the umbrella of writing and editing. Her work has been featured in The Guardian, Glamour, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, and more. She edits the Human Parts collection on Medium.com and delivers weekly vignettes about growing up on the internet to people's inboxes, like magic! Find her on Twitter at @omgstephlol.Cover design by Hannah Perrine Mode.Spot illustrations by Alex Cannon.