Readers' Nook | Mechanics' Institute

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Readers' Nook

Readers Nook

by
Heather Miles

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FICTION

Guy Gunaratne Mister, Mister : a novel Fic Gunaratne
Gareth Brown The book of doors : a novel Fic Brown
Damon Galgut In a strange room : three journeys Fic Galgut

Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror

C Pam Zhang Land of milk and honey Fic Zhang

Mystery, Suspense, Thrillers, Espionage & Intrigue

Stuart Woods Shakeup Fic Woods
Elly Griffiths The night hawks : a Ruth Galloway mystery Fic Griffiths
Nicholas Petrie The price you pay Fic Petrie
E. C. R. Lorac Two-way murder Fic Lorac
John Bude Death on the Riviera Fic Bude
C. J. Box Three-inch teeth Fic Box

Westerns

Elizabeth Gonzalez James The bullet swallower : a novel Fic Gonzalez James

Comic Books, Graphic Novels & Comic Strips

Soviet humor : the best of Krokodil 741.5 S729 Comics
Kim Weston Carl Barks comics and stories 741.5 B256we Comics

Short Stories

McSweeney's. 72. SS M175
Freeman's. Conclusions SS F877co

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FICTION

Guy Gunaratne Mister, Mister : a novel Fic Gunaratne
Gareth Brown The book of doors : a novel Fic Brown
Damon Galgut In a strange room : three journeys Fic Galgut

Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror

C Pam Zhang Land of milk and honey Fic Zhang

Mystery, Suspense, Thrillers, Espionage & Intrigue

Stuart Woods Shakeup Fic Woods
Elly Griffiths The night hawks : a Ruth Galloway mystery Fic Griffiths
Nicholas Petrie The price you pay Fic Petrie
E. C. R. Lorac Two-way murder Fic Lorac
John Bude Death...

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by
Heather Miles

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NON-FICTION

Arts, Architecture & Crafts
Hamburger eyes : inside Burgerworld 779.092 H199

Biography & Genealogy

William Henry Hill Antonio Stradivari, his life and work : 1644-1737 787.1 S89h

Biography & Genealogy

Tricia Romano The freaks came out to write : the definitive history of the Village Voice, the radical paper that changed American culture 071.4 R759

Business & Economics

Hamilton Nolan The hammer : power, inequality, and the struggle for the soul of labor 331.8 N787
Alex Tapscott Web3 : charting the Internet's next economic and cultural frontier 338.47 T175
Mark Larson Working in the 21st century : an oral history of American work in a time of social and economic transformation 331.0973 L334
Gerald A. Epstein Busting the bankers' club : finance for the rest of us 332.1 E645

Chess

Max Euwe The Hague-Moscow 1948 : match 794.157 E91ha
James Schuyler Your opponent is overrated : a practical guide to inducing errors 794.1 S397
Valeri Bronznik 1.d4--beat the guerrillas! : a powerful repertoire against annoying black sidelines 794.122 B8699
Jon Speelman Moscow marathon : the World Chess Championship 1984 794.157 M89s
M. M. Botvinnik Botvinnik-Smyslov : three world chess championship matches: 1954, 1957, 1958 794.159 B75
Leonid Aleksandrovich. Shamkovich Tactical chess training : 300 brilliant tactical studies from events 1985-1995 794.12 S52
Harry Golombek 4th Candidates' Tournament, 1959 : Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade, September 7th - October 29th 1959 794.157 G627c
Emanuel Lasker The international chess congress St. Petersburg 1909 794.157 L34 2008
Ė. E. Gufelʹd Leonid Stein : master of risk strategy 794.15 S561g
Alexey Dreev I mprove your practical play in the middlegame 794.123 D77
Igor Khmelnitsky Chess exam: matches against chess legends : you vs. Bobby Fischer : play the match, rate yourself, improve your game! 794.12 F52k
Steve Giddins The French Winawer, move by move 794.1225 C15 G45
Evgenny Sveshnikov The complete French advance : the most uncompromising way to attack the French defence 794.1225 C13 S968
Sverre Johnsen The Ruy Lopez : a guide for black 794.1225 C60 J659
Cyrus Lakdawala Anti-Sicilians : move by move 794.1225 B20 L192
Carsten Hansen Sicilian dragon, move by move 795.1225 B70 H249
Neil McDonald The Ruy Lopez 794.1225 C60 M135
C. J. S. Purdy The search for chess perfection. II 794.15 P98 2006

Food & Drink

Jamie Oliver Cook with Jamie : my guide to making you a better cook 641.51 O48c

Health

Andrew Leland The country of the blind : a memoir at the end of sight 362.4 L537

History

Marie Arana Latinoland : a portrait of America's largest and least understood minority 973.0468 A141
Matthew J. Davenport The longest minute : the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 979.461 D247

Law
Richard A. Zitrin Trial lawyer : a life representing people against power 340.092 Z822

Natural Sciences & Mathematics

Carissa Carter The secret language of maps : how to tell visual stories with data 526 C323

Performing Arts & Music

Jason Ruiz Narcomedia : Latinidad, popular culture, and America's war on drugs 791.43 R934

Philosophy, Psychology & Religion

Mark Matousek Lessons from an American stoic : how Emerson can change your life 158.1 M433
Nick Hanauer Corporate bullsh*t : exposing the lies and half-truths that protect profit, power, and wealth in America 174.4 H233
Richard A. Zitrin The moral compass of the American lawyer : truth, justice, power, and greed 174.3 Z822

Social Sciences & Current Events

Kurt Wagner Battle for the bird : Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, and the $44 billion fight for Twitter's soul 302.3 W132
Diarmuid Hester Nothing ever just disappears : seven hidden queer histories 306.76 H588
Kim Cross I n light of all darkness : inside the Polly Klaas kidnapping and the search for America's child 364.154 C951

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by
Heather Miles

E-AUDIOBOOKS

Stuart Woods Choke : a novel
Stuart Woods Dead eyes : a novel
Stuart Woods Dead in the water : a novel
Stuart Woods Dirt
Stuart Woods Heat
Stuart Woods Imperfect strangers
Stuart Woods L.A. times
Stuart Woods Santa Fe rules
Stuart Woods Swimming to Catalina : a Stone Barrington novel
Stuart Woods Worst fears realized
Roxane Gay Bad feminist : essays
Peter Zeihan The end of the world is just the beginning : mapping the collapse of globalization
Giles Tremlett España : a brief history of Spain
Peter Caddick-Adams Fire and steel : The end of world war two in the west
Pekka Hämäläinen Indigenous continent : the epic contest for North America
Chelsea Austin Montgomery-Duban Wächter Inexplicably me : A story of labels, worthiness, and refusing to be boxed in
Frank Basloe Please continue
Philip Kan Gotanda Sisters Matsumoto
Douglas Century The last boss of Brighton : Boris "Biba" Nayfeld and the rise of the Russian mob in America
Orlando Figes The story of Russia
P J Barry Bad axe
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov The cherry orchard
Andreĭ Kurkov Grey bees
Craig Johnson Hell and back
Oscar Wilde Lady Windermere's fan
Alexander McCall Smith A song of comfortable chairs
Jan Morris Thinking again : a diary
Gretchen Heefner The missile next door : the Minuteman in the American heartland
Jean-Luc Bannalec T he Fleur de Sel murders : a Brittany mystery
Arnaldur Indriðason Jar city
Tony Hillerman Skinwalkers
Kathryn S Olmsted The newspaper axis : Six Press Barons Who Enabled Hitler
Bill Lascher The golden fortress : California's border war on Dust Bowl refugees
RJ Patterson Blowback
Ian McEwan Lessons : a novel
Michael Cunningham The hours
Tracy Daugherty Larry McMurtry : a life
Susanna Moore The life of objects : a novel
Padraig Ó Tuama "Poetry unbound : 50 poems to open your world
Lawrence Block When the sacred ginmill closes
Velina Hasu Houston American dreams
Adam Hochschild American midnight : the Great War, a violent peace, and democracy's forgotten crisis
Arthur Miller Death of a salesman
Lucy Prebble Enron
Alan Ayckbourn Living together
Natasha D Trethewey Native guard
Alan Ayckbourn Round and round the garden
Alan Ayckbourn Table manners
Serhiĭ Rudenko Zelensky : a Biography

E-AUDIOBOOKS

Stuart Woods Choke : a novel
Stuart Woods Dead eyes : a novel
Stuart Woods Dead in the water : a novel
Stuart Woods Dirt
Stuart Woods Heat
Stuart Woods Imperfect strangers
Stuart Woods L.A. times
Stuart Woods Santa Fe rules
Stuart Woods Swimming to Catalina : a Stone Barrington novel
Stuart Woods Worst fears realized
Roxane Gay Bad feminist : essays
Peter Zeihan The end of the world is...

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by
Heather Miles

Stuart Woods Chiefs
Stuart Woods Deep lie : a novel
Stuart Woods Run before the wind
Stuart Woods Choke
Stuart Woods Dead eyes
Stuart Woods Dead in the water
Stuart Woods Dirt
Stuart Woods Heat.
Stuart Woods I mperfect Strangers
Stuart Woods L.A. Times A Novel.
Stuart Woods New York Dead
Stuart Woods Orchid beach
Stuart Woods Palindrome
Stuart Woods...

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by
Steven Dunlap

Marie Phillips does for the Gods of the Greek pantheon what Neil Gaiman did for the Norse ones in American Gods. She has written the best fantasy screwball comedy since Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams died.  In Gods behaving badly she borrows the same idea from Pratchett as Gaiman does -- that Gods obtain their power from mortals' belief in them. And since hardly anyone takes Zeus and company seriously anymore, that means very little power indeed. So little that they have to live together in a run-down house in a suburb of London. As they suffer through their low-powered existence, day after tedious day in modern times, two very ordinary and unremarkable mortals find themselves drawn into a practical joke that one God plays on another, leading to a series of events that quickly spiral out of control, putting our very existence in jeopardy. But not to worry -- it's all hilarious.

(Just so you know: if this book were a movie, it would receive an "R" rating if not an NC17. These are the Gods of the Greek pantheon after all).

Marie Phillips does for the Gods of the Greek pantheon what Neil Gaiman did for the Norse ones in American Gods. She has written the best fantasy screwball comedy since Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams died.  In Gods behaving badly she borrows the same idea from Pratchett as Gaiman does -- that Gods obtain their power from mortals' belief in them. And since hardly anyone takes Zeus and company seriously anymore, that means very little power indeed. So little that they have to live together in a run-down house in a suburb of London. As they suffer through their low-powered existence, day after tedious day in modern times, two very ordinary and unremarkable mortals find themselves drawn into a practical joke that one God plays on another, leading to a series of events that quickly spiral out of control, putting our very existence in jeopardy. But not to worry -- it's all...

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by
Steven Dunlap

The Moomin books, that is.

Moomins are white, hippopotamus-like creatures that live in the snowy lands of the Moomin Valley. A creation of a Finnish writer, Tove Jansson, published originally in Swedish, these books have proven very popular with children (and adults) for decades. I first learned of these beloved books when I read a semi-autobiographical book by Stephen Johnson. In a deeply personal account of his troubles overcoming abuse and trauma, he wrote: "As a child, I loved Tove Jansson's Moomintroll books; more recently, as an adult, I've had the pleasure of returning to them and discovering how full of wisdom, compassion, and psychological insight they are." (From Stephen Johnson, How Shostakovich changed my mind, p. 81. 781.1 J630 

Finding these in English translation has proven a bit challenging, but we have some well-regarded adaptations in our collection now.

For a belated Christmas: Christmas comes to Moomin Valley

And in keeping with the season: Moomin and the Ice Festival

And others, such as:

Moomin and the Wishing Star 

Moomin and the Spring Surprise 

We also have a volume of the comic strips:

Moomin: the complete Tove Jansson comic strip 

And for very small children, a book that teaches numbers:

Moomin's Little Book of Numbers 

You can browse the Moomin books under the call number U Jansson in the Universal section on the 2nd floor (formerly called "Children's" we renamed this part of our collection because people of all ages can enjoy many of the books it contains, not just children).

The Moomin books, that is.

Moomins are white, hippopotamus-like creatures that live in the snowy lands of the Moomin Valley. A creation of a Finnish writer, Tove Jansson, published originally in Swedish, these books have proven very popular with children (and adults) for decades. I first learned of these beloved books when I read a semi-autobiographical book by Stephen Johnson. In a deeply personal account of his troubles overcoming abuse and trauma, he wrote: "As a child, I loved Tove Jansson's Moomintroll books; more recently, as an adult, I've had the pleasure of returning to them and discovering how full of wisdom, compassion, and psychological insight they are." (From Stephen Johnson, How Shostakovich changed my mind, p. 81. 781.1 J630 

Finding these in English translation has proven a bit challenging, but we have some well-regarded adaptations in our collection now.

For a belated Christmas: Christmas...

Continue reading...
by
Heather Miles

FICTION

Jonathan Carroll Mr. Breakfast Fic Carroll
Roger Rapoport Searching for Patty Hearst : a novel Fic Rapoport
Helen DeWitt The English understand wool Fic DeWitt
Jen Beagin Big Swiss : a novel Fic Beagin
Benjamín Labatut The maniac Fic Labatut
Rebekah Bergman The museum of human history : a novel Fic Bergman
Sarah Rose Etter Ripe : a novel Fic Etter
Jill Santopolo Stars in an Italian sky Fic Santopolo
Michael O'Donnell Above the fire Fic O'Donnell
Shawn Wong Homebase Fic Wong
Ramona Ausubel The last animal Fic Ausubel
Mark Helprin The oceans and the stars : a sea story, a war story, a love story : the seven battles and mutiny of Athena, Patrol Coastal Ship 15 Fic Helprin
Sebastian Barry Old God's time Fic Barry
Justin Torres Blackouts : a novel Fic Torres
Emily Hauser For the winner : a novel of Jason and the Argonauts Fic Hauser
Lydia Davis Our strangers : stories Fic Davis
Kelly Link White cat, black dog : stories Fic Link
Jamel Brinkley Witness : stories Fic Brinkley

Historical Fiction

Éric Vuillard An honorable exit Fic Vuillard
David Diop Beyond the door of no return Fic Diop
Tom Crewe The new life : a novel Fic Crewe
Tania James Loot Fic James
Elly Griffiths The lantern men : a Ruth
Galloway mystery
Fic Griffiths

Mystery, Suspense, Thrillers, Espionage & Intrigue

Christianna Brand Green for danger Fic Brand
Stuart Woods Desperate measures Fic Woods
Joe R. Lansdale The donut legion Fic Lansdale
Christopher Bollen The lost Americans : a novel Fic Bollen
Kōtarō Isaka The Mantis : a novel Fic Isaka
Stephen Spotswood Murder crossed her mind Fic Spotswood

Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror

Martha Wells System collapse Fic Wells
Daniel Abraham Blade of dream Fic Abraham

Westerns

John Rollin Ridge The life and adventures of Joaquín Murieta, the celebrated California bandit Fic Ridge
Claudia Cravens Lucky Red : a novel Fic Cravens

Comic Books, Graphic Novels & Comic Strips

Keith Knight Dances with sheep : a K chronicles compendium 741.5 K692d Comics
Keith Knight What a long strange strip it's been : yet another K chronicles compendium 741.5 K692 Comics
George Herriman Krazy Kat : the comic art of George Herriman 741.5 H56kr Comics

Short Stories

The best American short stories 2023 SS B56
San Francisco Noir 2 : the classics SS S193

FICTION

Jonathan Carroll Mr. Breakfast Fic Carroll
Roger Rapoport Searching for Patty Hearst : a novel Fic Rapoport
Helen DeWitt The English understand wool Fic DeWitt
Jen Beagin Big Swiss : a novel Fic Beagin
Benjamín Labatut The maniac Fic Labatut
Rebekah Bergman The museum of human history : a novel Fic Bergman
Sarah Rose Etter Ripe : a novel Fic Etter
Jill Santopolo Stars in an Italian sky Fic Santopolo
Michael O'Donnell Above the fire Fic O'Donnell
Shawn Wong Homebase Fic Wong
Ramona Ausubel...

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by
Heather Miles

PRINT BOOKS

NON-FICTION
Applied Sciences

Kelly Weinersmith A city on Mars : can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through? 629.4 W423
Encyclopedia of the horse 636.1 E563

Arts, Architecture & Crafts

Wolfgang Tillmans Wolfgang Tillmans : four books ; Wolfgang Tillmans 1995 ; Burg 1998 ; Truth Study Center 2005 ; Neue Welt 2012 779.092 T577
William Eggleston : mystery of the ordinary 770.92 E297
Roy Strong The artist & the garden 758 S92
Todd Alden The essential René Magritte 750.92 M21a
Pacita Abad 709.2 A116
Picturing Hong Kong : photography 1855-1910. 779.99 P6119

Biography & Genealogy

The Old Gays guide to the good life : lessons learned about love and death, sex and sin, and saving the best for last 792.092 O441
Safiya Sinclair How to say Babylon : a memoir 811.6 S616
Richard E. Grant A pocketful of happiness : a memoir 792.092 G761
Arnold T. Grisham Making a way out of no way : my African American life 332.092 G869
Martha Hodes My hijacking : a personal history of forgetting and remembering 364.154 H687
Anderson Cooper Astor : the rise and fall of an American fortune 974.71 A8599
Mildred Crowl Martin Chinatown's angry angel : the story of Donaldina Cameron 979.461 C182ch
Werner Herzog Every man for himself and God against all : a memoir 792.092 H582e
Merilee Grindle In the shadow of Quetzalcoatl : Zelia Nuttall and the search for Mexico's ancient civilizations 972.01 N979

Business & Economics

J.K. Lasser's your income tax 2024 336.24 J11

Chess

Aleksandr Naftalʹevich Koblent͡s Mikhail Tal : the street-fighting years 794.15 T13ko
Jacob Aagaard A Matter of Endgame Technique 794.124 A112
Herman Grooten Attacking chess for club players : improve your skills to overpower your opponents 794.12 G876
M. I. Dvoret͡skiĭ Studies for practical players : improving calculation and resourcefulness in the endgame 794.124 D98s
M. M. Botvinnik Match for the World Chess Championship, Mikhail Botvinnik - David Bronstein, Moscow 1951 794.159 B75m
Sam Shankland Theoretical rook endgames 794.124 S528

Health

Myatt Murphy The Men's health gym bible 613.7 M978
Arline T. Geronimus Weathering : the extraordinary stress of ordinary life in an unjust society 362.1 G377

History

Gregory Wallance Into Siberia : George Kennan's epic journey through the brutal, frozen heart of Russia 957 W195
Malcolm Margolin The Ohlone way : Indian life in the San Francisco-Monterey Bay Area 970.494 M32
Yahad-In Unum 2010 : broad daylight : testimony extracts 940.5318 Y13b
Peter W. Schroeder Six million paper clips : the making of a children's Holocaust memorial 940.5318 S381
Ussama Samir Makdisi Age of coexistence : the ecumenical frame and the making of the modern Arab world 956 M235
Dennis Carlyle Darling Borrowed time : survivors of Nazi Terezín remember 940.5318 D221

Literature & Writing

James Ijames Fat ham 812.6 I258
Annie Ernaux I remain in darkness 848 E71i
James Tate Hell, I love everybody : the essential James Tate : poems 811 T217h
Alice Walker In search of our mothers' gardens : womanist prose 813 W177i
Timmy Straw The Thomas Salto 811.6 S913
Homer The Iliad 881 H76wil
The best American poetry 2023 811.08 B56
Richard Andersen Powerful writing skills 808 A544
Jean Cocteau Les parents terribles (Indiscretions) 842 C66p
Joanna Biggs A life of one's own : nine women writers begin again 809.8 B592
Lee Gutkind The fine art of literary fist-fighting : how a bunch of rabble-rousers, outsiders, and ne'er-do-wells concocted creative nonfiction 809 G98f

Performing Arts & Music

Caseen Gaines Footnotes : the Black artists who rewrote the rules of the Great White Way 792.089 G142
Karlheinz Stockhausen Stockhausen on music 780.1 S864

Philosophy, Psychology & Religion

Oren Jay Sofer Your heart was made for this : contemplative practices for meeting a world in crisis with courage, integrity, and love 158.12 S681
James C. Zimring Partial truths : how fractions distort our thinking 153.42 Z76

Politics

Gary Gerstle The rise and fall of the neoliberal order : America and the world in the free market era 320.51 G383r
Robert D. Kaplan The tragic mind : fear, fate, and the burden of power 320.01 K17t

Social Sciences & Current Events

Azam Ahmed Fear is just a word 364.152 A286
Max Marshall Among the bros : a fraternity crime story 362.29 M367
Michael E. Mann Our fragile moment : how lessons from Earth's past can help us survive the climate crisis 363.738 M315
Tim Schwab The Bill Gates problem : reckoning with the myth of the good billionaire 361.7 S398
Harry N. MacLean Starkweather : the untold story of the killing spree that changed America 364.152 M163
Alexander Stille The Sullivanians : sex, psychotherapy, and the wild life of an American commune 307.77 S857
Marcus Du Sautoy Around the world in eighty games : from tarot to tic-tac-toe, Catan to Snakes and Ladders, a mathematician unlocks the secrets of the world's greatest games 793 D81

Travel & Geography

Fodor's San Diego. 917.9498 F653
Fiji. 919.61 L847
Jamaica. 917.292 L847
Lonely Planet Mallorca. 914.675
L847
Moon Croatia & Slovenia. 914.97 M818
Rick Steves' Budapest. 914.3912 S848
Thomas H. Hunt Ghost trails to California : with selected excerpts from emigrant journals 917.8 H94

Universal (Children's)

Charlie Mendoza The Ohlone U 979.4 M539

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by
Heather Miles
Continue reading...
by
Heather Miles
Continue reading...