Libraries offer free relief in tough economic times.
Your school library has a lot to offer for completing your homework, but did you know we also have some fiction available too? You can search for fiction and non-fiction here.
You can also use this Worldcat search to find books at your local public library or your local campus library.
- Elaine Settergren, Online Librarian
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Scary Stories @ your library
Image reproduced from Project Gutenberg: The Raven and other SelectionsThe library has all the scary stories you could wish for! Please search our Book Catalog for books and e-books that will haunt you.
Classics:
- The Raven and other Selections by Edgar Allan Poe
- The legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
- The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- Dracula by Bram Stoker
Other "scary" treats:
- Be afraid, be very afraid : the book of scary urban legends by Jan Harold Brunvand
- Fear : a cultural history by Joanna Bourke
- The essential Stephen King a ranking of the greatest novels, short stories, movies, and other creations of the world's most popular writer by Spignesi
- Evil : inside human violence and cruelty by Roy F. Baumeister
- Good and evil: an absolute conception by Raimond Gaita
And MORE!
Happy Halloween!
-Elaine Settergren, Online Librarian
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Book Spotlight: Richfield Collection
Review of Postmodernism for Beginners by Jim Powell, Illustrated by Joe Lee
“Postmodern” is a word that gets used in many different places and in different ways, but do you know what it means? Books about Postmodernism tend to be full of very dense, difficult language, but the Beginners series seeks to demystify and explain complex ideas and people. (If you like the book’s style, check your local public library for other books in the series – there are dozens!) Powell and Lee’s presentation of the foundations and concepts that have shaped Postmodernism and how it relates to our everyday lives is supplemented with pictures and examples you’ll actually be able to wrap your head around. Do not, however, assume that this will be a very easy read, or a short one – you may need to have one of our libraries’ dictionaries of philosophy or Wikipedia on hand if you can’t tell Nietzsche from Freud, but you’ll come away with a much clearer understanding of what “postmodern” means, and how it applies to you.
This book can be found in the Richfield Circulating Collection 149.97 POW.
--Read and reviewed by Mary Burns
“Postmodern” is a word that gets used in many different places and in different ways, but do you know what it means? Books about Postmodernism tend to be full of very dense, difficult language, but the Beginners series seeks to demystify and explain complex ideas and people. (If you like the book’s style, check your local public library for other books in the series – there are dozens!) Powell and Lee’s presentation of the foundations and concepts that have shaped Postmodernism and how it relates to our everyday lives is supplemented with pictures and examples you’ll actually be able to wrap your head around. Do not, however, assume that this will be a very easy read, or a short one – you may need to have one of our libraries’ dictionaries of philosophy or Wikipedia on hand if you can’t tell Nietzsche from Freud, but you’ll come away with a much clearer understanding of what “postmodern” means, and how it applies to you.This book can be found in the Richfield Circulating Collection 149.97 POW.
--Read and reviewed by Mary Burns
Monday, April 14, 2008
Book Spotlight: Richfield Collection
Review of Rapunzel’s Daughters: what women's hair tells us about women's lives by Rose Weitz.Have you ever wondered if you were the only one who has issues with your hair? Believe me, you’re not! This book is filled with women’s stories of how their hair has affected and been a part of their lives. There is a short history of how we got to the point of being obsessed with our hair, and then the author moves quickly on to talk about how hair, and lack of hair, can affect our lives and our relationships. She discusses the culture of the salon and how women can communicate to the world through their hair. Hair is an important part of our lives and the author helps us understand the ‘why’ behind it. Whether your hair is long, short or non-existent, this book has something for you. It may even make you feel better about your own hair. This book can be found in the Richfield Circulating Collection 391.5 WEI.
--Read and reviewed by Erica Nutzman
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Book Spotlight: Brooklyn Center Collection
Review of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith.
This is the first book in a fiction series that follows the adventures of Precious Ramotswe, the only female detective in Gaborone, Botswana. Mma. Ramotswe uses her keen instincts to solve case after case, from mysteries involving witch doctors and missing children to the private detective staple - cheating spouses. Each chapter brings to life the beautiful details of Botswana: the Kalahari desert, diamond mines, acacia trees, and redbush tea. There’s also a frightening encounter with a cobra that will have you at the edge of your seat! The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency is charming, and easy to read. Check it out today!
This book can be found in the Brooklyn Center Circulating Collection 823.914 MCC.
--Read and reviewed by Carrie Brooks
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
2.25.08 St. Cloud Book Display
Every two weeks, the St. Cloud
All economic activity is rooted in the energy economy, which means a substantial portion of the current world economy is linked to the production and distribution of oil. But what will happen, Roberts asks, when the well starts to run dry? Walking readers through the modern energy economy, he suggests that grim prospect may not be as far off as we'd like to think and points out how political unrest could disrupt the world's oil supply with disastrous results. But that could be the least of our worries; some of Roberts's most persuasive passages describe an almost inevitable future shaped by global warming, especially as rapidly industrializing countries like China begin to replicate the pollution history of the U.S. Some signs of hope are visible, he believes, especially in Europe, but the stumbling progress of potential alternatives such as hydrogen power or fuel cells is additional cause for concern. And though the current administration's energy policy gets plenty of criticism, Roberts (a regular contributor to Harper's) saves some of his harshest barbs for American consumers, described as "the least energy-conscious people on the planet." If the government won't create stricter fuel efficiency standards, he argues, blame must be placed equally on our eagerness to drive around in gas-guzzling SUVs and on corporate lobbying. Stressing the dire need to act now to create any meaningful long-term effect, this measured snapshot of our oil-dependent economy forces readers to confront unsettling truths without sinking into stridency. This book may very well become for fossil fuels what Fast Food Nation was to food or High and Mighty to SUVs. – Publishers Weekly
The current St. Cloud book display is themed “All About the Oil Industry.”
The End of Oil by Paul Roberts / 333.79 ROB
All economic activity is rooted in the energy economy, which means a substantial portion of the current world economy is linked to the production and distribution of oil. But what will happen, Roberts asks, when the well starts to run dry? Walking readers through the modern energy economy, he suggests that grim prospect may not be as far off as we'd like to think and points out how political unrest could disrupt the world's oil supply with disastrous results. But that could be the least of our worries; some of Roberts's most persuasive passages describe an almost inevitable future shaped by global warming, especially as rapidly industrializing countries like China begin to replicate the pollution history of the U.S. Some signs of hope are visible, he believes, especially in Europe, but the stumbling progress of potential alternatives such as hydrogen power or fuel cells is additional cause for concern. And though the current administration's energy policy gets plenty of criticism, Roberts (a regular contributor to Harper's) saves some of his harshest barbs for American consumers, described as "the least energy-conscious people on the planet." If the government won't create stricter fuel efficiency standards, he argues, blame must be placed equally on our eagerness to drive around in gas-guzzling SUVs and on corporate lobbying. Stressing the dire need to act now to create any meaningful long-term effect, this measured snapshot of our oil-dependent economy forces readers to confront unsettling truths without sinking into stridency. This book may very well become for fossil fuels what Fast Food Nation was to food or High and Mighty to SUVs. – Publishers Weekly
Addicted to Oil by Ian Rutledge / 338.2728 RUT
As even George W. Bush acknowledged in his 2006 State of the Union, America is dangerously "addicted to oil". In Addicted to Oil, Ian Rutledge explores the political, economic and social ramifications of the motorization of the US economy and examines the ways in which America's dependence on the car has created oil needs which have heavily influenced US foreign policy. Rutledge argues that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was primarily an attempt to create a pliant and dependable oil protectorate in that troubled region which would underwrite the soaring demand from America's hyper-motorized consumers. – from the publisher
A Thousand Barrels a
Second by Peter Tertzakian / 338.2728 TER
The coming "break point" Tertzakian describes--more a period than a moment, really--is the next 5 to 10 years, during which rising oil prices and market volatility will force structural changes in how we extract and expend energy. Both a chronicle of previous break points and their consequences--including the shifts from whale oil to kerosene lighting, coal- to oil-fueled navies, and steam to electric engines--and a carefully considered economic analysis of our present conundrum, this book offers no magic-bullet solution to the increasingly uncomfortable primacy of petroleum as the world's fuel of choice. Nor is it as alarmist as its title suggests, although Tertzakian harbors no illusions about the discomfort the next decades will bring. Rather, his cost-benefit analysis points toward pursuing a plurality of minor incremental solutions (mostly familiar, like smaller cars and biodiesel) as the next major fuel source (sorry, probably not hydrogen) emerges. Refreshingly measured and pragmatic, this account also is illuminating as a quick historical primer of the oil industry.- Brendan Driscoll, Booklist
Oil on the Brain / by Lisa Margonelli 338.2728 MAR
Margonelli has written about the culture and economy of energy for publications such as Wired, Discover, Salon, and the San Francisco Chronicle. In the summer of 2003, she started hanging out at independent gas stations, where owners might clear pennies per gallon of gas, surviving on impulse sales of junk food and soda. Her journey takes us up the delivery chain, spending a typical day with a tanker truck driver, hanging out with suppliers, touring refineries, and seeing what life is like at an oil rig. Whether visiting "wildcatters" in Texas, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the Gulf of Mexico, or the oil pit at the New York Mercantile Exchange, Margonelli charms her way into the good graces of insiders to report on the vast petroleum network. Her voyage takes us to Venezuela, Chad, Nigeria, and ultimately the Persian Gulf, where she spends time at the Salmon oil fields in Iran. Filled with rich history, industry anecdotes, and politics, Margonelli's book brings a deeper appreciation of the complicated and often tenuous process that we take for granted. - David Siegfried, Booklist
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Book Spotlight: Richfield Collection
Review of Temples, Tombs & Hieroglyphs: a popular history of ancient Egypt by Barbara Mertz .
This book is a fantastic introduction to the culture of Ancient Egypt. It is clearly written, fast-paced, and reads like a novel (the author is also a novelist!). It starts with the first glimmers of civilization, moves through the time of the pyramids, instability, and spends time discussing the heretic pharaoh, Akhenaton and his son (?) Tutankhamun. The author includes excerpts of ancient writings that have been translated from papyri, and discusses what they can tell us about life at the time. She describes the first “Egyptologists” and their discoveries and blunders. There is a lot we don’t know about Ancient Egypt, but this book is a good overview of 3000 years of Egyptian history.
This book can be found in the Richfield Circulating Collection 932 MER.
--Read and reviewed by Erica Nutzman
This book is a fantastic introduction to the culture of Ancient Egypt. It is clearly written, fast-paced, and reads like a novel (the author is also a novelist!). It starts with the first glimmers of civilization, moves through the time of the pyramids, instability, and spends time discussing the heretic pharaoh, Akhenaton and his son (?) Tutankhamun. The author includes excerpts of ancient writings that have been translated from papyri, and discusses what they can tell us about life at the time. She describes the first “Egyptologists” and their discoveries and blunders. There is a lot we don’t know about Ancient Egypt, but this book is a good overview of 3000 years of Egyptian history.This book can be found in the Richfield Circulating Collection 932 MER.
--Read and reviewed by Erica Nutzman
Thursday, January 10, 2008
1.12.08 St. Cloud Book Display
Every two weeks, the St. Cloud campus has a book display. If you go to a different GU/MSB campus, you are always free to check out our books through the school's inter-campus loan system.
The current book display is themed "Great American Writers."
The Coup / by Ernest Hemingway
813.54 UPD
Kush--the imaginary African nation of John Updike's wildly inventive tale--is a large, land-locked, drought-ridden territory whose ruler, one Colonel Hakim Félix Ellelloû, has four wives, a silver Mercedes, and a fanatic aversion to all things American. The United States, however, won't leave Kush alone, which annoys the good colonel no end--and makes for a novel off extraordinary humor and passion, a brilliant work of the imagination from one of our finest storytellers. -- Publisher
Meridian / by Alice Walker
813.54 WAL
...Meridian is a poignant and powerful story of the American South in the 1960s and of one woman who risks her life for the people she loves.
Meridian Hill, a courageous young activist, creates peace and understanding by dedicating herself heart and soul to her civil rights work, touching the lives of all those she meets even when her health begins to deteriorate. With the old rules of Southern society collapsing around her, Meridian fights a lonely battle to reaffirm her own humanity--and that of all her people. -- Publisher
Across the River and into the Trees / by Ernest Hemingway
813.52 HEM
In the fall of 1948, Ernest Hemingway made his first extended visit to Italy in thirty years. His reacquaintance with Venice, a city he loved, provided the inspiration for Across the River and into the Trees, the story of Richard Cantwell, a war-ravaged American colonel stationed in Italy at the close of the Second World War, and his love for a young Italian countess. A poignant, bittersweet homage to love that overpowers reason, to the resilience of the human spirit, and to the worldweary beauty and majesty of Venice, Across the River and into the Trees stands as Hemingway's statement of defiance in response to the great dehumanizing atrocities of the Second World War. -- Publisher
Modest Gifts / by Norman Mailer
811.54 MAI
Modest Gifts is full of what the author calls "casual pleasures"--witty, naughty, and surprisingly tender verse and art. Lust, seduction, betrayal, jealousy, and even the banality of cocktail party chatter are depicted with humor, affection, and above all, honesty. Here is an aspect of Norman Mailer unknown to many: lighthearted, prankish, whimsical, and often gentle, playfully sketching the intimate urban world that surrounds us. Modest, funny, and true, each poem and drawing shows a new side of one of the greatest writers of our time. -- Publisher
by Brent Schauer
The current book display is themed "Great American Writers."
The Coup / by Ernest Hemingway813.54 UPD
Kush--the imaginary African nation of John Updike's wildly inventive tale--is a large, land-locked, drought-ridden territory whose ruler, one Colonel Hakim Félix Ellelloû, has four wives, a silver Mercedes, and a fanatic aversion to all things American. The United States, however, won't leave Kush alone, which annoys the good colonel no end--and makes for a novel off extraordinary humor and passion, a brilliant work of the imagination from one of our finest storytellers. -- Publisher
Meridian / by Alice Walker813.54 WAL
...Meridian is a poignant and powerful story of the American South in the 1960s and of one woman who risks her life for the people she loves.
Meridian Hill, a courageous young activist, creates peace and understanding by dedicating herself heart and soul to her civil rights work, touching the lives of all those she meets even when her health begins to deteriorate. With the old rules of Southern society collapsing around her, Meridian fights a lonely battle to reaffirm her own humanity--and that of all her people. -- Publisher
Across the River and into the Trees / by Ernest Hemingway813.52 HEM
In the fall of 1948, Ernest Hemingway made his first extended visit to Italy in thirty years. His reacquaintance with Venice, a city he loved, provided the inspiration for Across the River and into the Trees, the story of Richard Cantwell, a war-ravaged American colonel stationed in Italy at the close of the Second World War, and his love for a young Italian countess. A poignant, bittersweet homage to love that overpowers reason, to the resilience of the human spirit, and to the worldweary beauty and majesty of Venice, Across the River and into the Trees stands as Hemingway's statement of defiance in response to the great dehumanizing atrocities of the Second World War. -- Publisher
Modest Gifts / by Norman Mailer811.54 MAI
Modest Gifts is full of what the author calls "casual pleasures"--witty, naughty, and surprisingly tender verse and art. Lust, seduction, betrayal, jealousy, and even the banality of cocktail party chatter are depicted with humor, affection, and above all, honesty. Here is an aspect of Norman Mailer unknown to many: lighthearted, prankish, whimsical, and often gentle, playfully sketching the intimate urban world that surrounds us. Modest, funny, and true, each poem and drawing shows a new side of one of the greatest writers of our time. -- Publisher
by Brent Schauer
Monday, December 31, 2007
12.31.08 St. Cloud Book Display
Every two weeks, the
The current
How to Say It for Women / by Phyllis Mindell 650.1 MIN
Phyllis Mindell, an acclaimed expert on professional communications, shows women how to transform themselves by transforming their language; shed weak words, phrases, and gestures; empower themselves to win attention and respect; and get their ideas across with confidence and power.
Perhaps the best teacher of how the power of language can transform is an unexpected one:
As part of Prentice Hall Press's highly successful How to Say It tm series, How to Say It tm for Women is packed with practical tips, techniques, and examples that arm women to grapple with every communication issue, from choosing the right word or sentence to speaking, reading, writing, leading, dressing, and interviewing effectively. Readers will learn how to: shun words that weaken messages and make women invisible; sail through interviews; assess and develop leadership skills; say NO, kindly but firmly; respond appropriately to slurs, insults, and harassment; say the one winning word that gets people to follow directions.
True stories about women in every field, along with quotes from Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Carla Hills, Amelia Earhart, Elizabeth Dole and others, enable women to tap the power of words to persuade, motivate, establish authority, and make a difference-- without sacrificing their integrity, their compassion, or their femininity.-- Publisher
Are Men Necessary? / by Maureen Dowd 305.3097DowNew York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Dowd (Bushworld: Enter at Your Own Risk) presents her funny, biting, and incisive take on women's place in American society today. In the style of her columns, Dowd's writing races along as she presents academic studies on the Y chromosome and on the relationship between a woman's IQ and the odds she will marry, alongside essays on popular culture where she considers, for example, how society moved from Gloria Steinem and "no-makeup" feminism to Desperate Housewives and Botox injections. Dowd ponders why girls dominate in high school but women fail to dominate in the adult world; why the three network news anchor jobs were again filled by white men; and why Hillary Rodham Clinton had to be a victim to become a senator. Her long journalism career and her
Necessary Dreams / by Anna Fels 305.4 FEL
Despite the Huge Advances Women Have Made in Recent Decades, their ambitions are still undermined in subtle ways. Parents, teachers, bosses, and institutions all give less encouragement to women than men, and women still grow up believing that they must defer to men in order to be seen as feminine. If their ambition does survive into adulthood, too often those ambitions must be downsized or abandoned when they become wives and mothers. As a result, women-unlike men-continually have to reshape their goals and expectations.
Yet expressing ambition, pursuing it, and getting recognition for one's accomplishments is critical to identity and happiness. In this groundbreaking work, Anna Fels draws on extensive research and years of her psychiatric practice to offer an original and deeply useful examination of ambition in women's lives. In the process, she illuminates just what is necessary for women to articulate-and fulfill-their dreams. -- PublisherWomen and Equality in the Workplace / by Janet Zollinger Giele and Leslie F. Stebbins 331.4 GIE
An expert guide to women's quest for fairness in the workplace, marking the great legal and social advances as well as continuing inequalities. -- Publisher
By Neil Vig
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
12.8.07 St. Cloud Book Display
Every two weeks, the St. Cloud campus has a book display. If you go to a different GU/MSB campus, you are always free to check out our books through the school's inter-campus loan system.
You probably haven't had time to read books for fun during this quarter. This is your time to do it!
Our library has many novels to choose from. The current book display is themed "Excellent English Fiction." All the books are penned by British writers.
A Tale of Two Cities / by Charles Dickens 823.8 DIC
First published in 1859, A Tale of Two Cities is one of Dickens's most famous and popular novels. This stirring tale, set in the late eighteenth century against the backdrop of the French Revolution, is a novel for all generations. Filled with adventure and love, revolution and terror, it transports the reader to a time of political upheaval and solutions by guillotine. -- Publisher
The Body in the Library / by Agatha Christie 823.919 CHR
A young, blond woman is found dead on the floor of Colonel and Mrs. Bantry’s library. Nobody seems to know who the woman is, let alone how she wound up murdered in the Bantry’s home. Jane Marple is called in and the chase is on. -- Publisher
The End of the Affair / by Graham Greene 823.912 GRE
"This is a record of hate far more than of love," writes Maurice Bendrix in the opening passages of The End of the Affair. And it is a strange hate indeed that compels him to set down the retrospective account of his adulterous affair with Sarah Miles--a hate bred of a passion that ultimately lost out to God. -- Publisher
The Painted Veil / by W. Somerset Maugham 823.912 MAU
Set in England and Hong Kong in the 1920s, The Painted Veil is the story of the beautiful but love-starved Kitty Fane. When her husband discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic. Stripped of the British society of her youth and the small but effective society she fought so hard to attain in Hong Kong, she is compelled by her awakening conscience to reassess her life and learn how to love. -- Publisher
by Brent Schauer
You probably haven't had time to read books for fun during this quarter. This is your time to do it!
Our library has many novels to choose from. The current book display is themed "Excellent English Fiction." All the books are penned by British writers.
A Tale of Two Cities / by Charles Dickens 823.8 DICFirst published in 1859, A Tale of Two Cities is one of Dickens's most famous and popular novels. This stirring tale, set in the late eighteenth century against the backdrop of the French Revolution, is a novel for all generations. Filled with adventure and love, revolution and terror, it transports the reader to a time of political upheaval and solutions by guillotine. -- Publisher
The Body in the Library / by Agatha Christie 823.919 CHRA young, blond woman is found dead on the floor of Colonel and Mrs. Bantry’s library. Nobody seems to know who the woman is, let alone how she wound up murdered in the Bantry’s home. Jane Marple is called in and the chase is on. -- Publisher
The End of the Affair / by Graham Greene 823.912 GRE"This is a record of hate far more than of love," writes Maurice Bendrix in the opening passages of The End of the Affair. And it is a strange hate indeed that compels him to set down the retrospective account of his adulterous affair with Sarah Miles--a hate bred of a passion that ultimately lost out to God. -- Publisher
The Painted Veil / by W. Somerset Maugham 823.912 MAUSet in England and Hong Kong in the 1920s, The Painted Veil is the story of the beautiful but love-starved Kitty Fane. When her husband discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic. Stripped of the British society of her youth and the small but effective society she fought so hard to attain in Hong Kong, she is compelled by her awakening conscience to reassess her life and learn how to love. -- Publisher
by Brent Schauer
Monday, December 3, 2007
New Books!
The Library's added over 300 new books last month!!! Wow! Take a look at a couple of the highlights or go ahead and search the catalog. We're working hard to add new books every month. If you have feedback or questions about library books, please contact your campus librarian.
Happy Reading!!!
- by Elaine Settergren
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