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04/07/2023 - 4:51pm

When you hear the name "Martin Scorsese" does the phrase "screwball comedy" spring to mind? Maybe it should. In 1985, years after establishing himself as one of the great film directors of our time with movies such as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, Scorsese directed an absurdist comedy worthy of the old Ealing comedies of the 1950s. Unlike the screwball comedies of old, however,...

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03/23/2023 - 7:40pm

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FICTION
Parini Shroff The bandit queensl Fic Shroff
Annie Ernaux Do what they say or else Fic Ernaux
Hal Hartley Our lady of the highway Fic Hartley
Josh Riedel Please report your bug here...

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03/23/2023 - 6:09pm

Do you think that the present state of political discourse in the United States has hit an all-time low? Do you think the population has grown irrevocably divided? We hear words like "unprecedented," and "in all of our history," and other hyperbole nearly every time a political commentator opens their mouth. Along with blaming the mess on social media and technology.   Well, read H.L. Mencken on U.S. politics of the 1...

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03/23/2023 - 4:58pm

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NON-FICTION

Arts, Architecture & Crafts
Hebru Brantley Hebru Brantley. 709.2 B735
Thomas E. Crow The artist in the counterculture : Bruce Conner to Mike Kelley and other tales from the edge 701 C953
Aaron Huey Mitakuye oyasin...

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03/23/2023 - 4:43pm

E-AUDIOBOOKS
Joseph Conrad Almayer's folly
Charles Dickens Bleak house
Joseph Conrad Chance : A tale in two parts
Virginia Woolf Four short stories by Virginia Woolf
Walter Scott...

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03/23/2023 - 4:30pm

EBOOKS
Fiction
Virginia Woolf Kew gardens
William Gibson Cyberpunk
Franz Werfel The forty days of Musa Dagh
Anne Brontë The tenant of Wildfell Hall
Benjamin Disraeli...

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03/20/2023 - 4:47pm

Improve your chess calculations : the Ramesh Chess course 794.1 Im78

In practice you can "run through" problems on a chess board to see how a given move will work out. During games, however, it is against the rules to do this. The process of figuring out the results of a given move or series of moves chess players call "calculation." This book pro...

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03/16/2023 - 5:30pm

In the bookstacks of the Mechanics Institute Library, hidden in an almost literal sense, we have many books that, once you find them, can hold you in fascination, to the point of losing track of time. Among these hidden gems we have an annual publication, World Press Photo, that compiles the most compelling and relevant photographs from photojournalists for the yea...

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03/09/2023 - 4:18pm

On February 17, the Institute hosted a Writers’ Lunch discussion about Writing for Contests. One of the main topics was how to find legitimate contests worth one’s time. This brought to our attention the wonderful database of writing contests, grants, and awards maintained by Poets and Writers Magazine. The database includes details about the creative wri...

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03/08/2023 - 5:26pm

The Mechanics Institute Library acquires new books each week. Some you will see on the new books tables, but members often check out some of the most popular books right away. If you do not know how to place a hold on a book, please call us at 415-393-0102 (or send a message to [email protected]). 

 

Non-fiction...

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