Books
Jane Austen at 250
Selections to celebrate Jane Austen's 250th birthday.
Pride and prejudice : an annotated edition
By Austen, Jane, 1775-1817.
Selections to celebrate Jane Austen's 250th birthday.
Jane Austen at home : a biography
By Worsley, Lucy, author.
Selections to celebrate Jane Austen's 250th birthday.
Sense and sensibility
By Austen, Jane, 1775-1817, author.
Selections to celebrate Jane Austen's 250th birthday.
Wild for Austen : a rebellious, subversive, and untamed Jane
By Looser, Devoney, 1967- author.
Selections to celebrate Jane Austen's 250th birthday.
Top Checkouts of 2025
The most checked out books at Mechanics' Institute Library in 2025.
James : a novel
By Everett, Percival, author.
"From Percival Everett-a recipient of the NBCC Lifetime Achievement Award and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Booker Prize, and numerous PEN awards-comes James, a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond. While many narrative set pieces of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river's banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin...), Jim's agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light. Brimming with the electrifying humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a "cult literary icon" (Oprah Daily), and one of the most decorated writers of our lifetime, James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first century American literature"--
We solve murders
By Osman, Richard, 1970- author.
"A brand new mystery. An iconic new detective duo. And a thrilling new murder to solve ... Solving murders. It's a family business"--
The lost and the found : a true story of homelessness, found family, and second chances
By Fagan, Kevin (Reporter), author.
"An award-winning journalist and Pulitzer Prize nominee who has covered homelessness for decades and spent extensive time on the streets for his reporting, Fagan experienced it himself as a young man and brings a deep understanding to the crisis. He introduces us to Rita and Tyson, telling the deeply moving story of two unhoused people rescued by their families with the help of Fagan's reporting, and their struggle to pull themselves out of homelessness and addiction, ending with both enormous tragedy and triumph. But [this book] is not just a story of individuals experiencing homelessness--it is also a compelling look at the link between homelessness and addiction, and [a] commentary on housing and equality"--
Abundance
By Klein, Ezra, 1984- author.
To trace the history of the twenty-first century so far is to trace a history of unaffordability and shortage. After years of refusing to build sufficient housing, America has a national housing crisis. After years of limiting immigration, we don't have enough workers. Despite decades of being warned about the consequences of climate change, we haven't built anything close to the clean-energy infrastructure we need. Ambitious public projects are finished late and over budget-if they are ever finished at all. The crisis that's clicking into focus now has been building for decades-because we haven't been building enough. Abundance explains that our problems today are not the results of yesteryear's villains. Rather, one generation's solutions have become the next generation's problems. Rules and regulations designed to solve the problems of the 1970s often prevent urban-density and green-energy projects that would help solve the problems of the 2020s. Laws meant to ensure that government considers the consequences of its actions have made it too difficult for government to act consequentially. In the last few decades, our capacity to see problems has sharpened while our ability to solve them has diminished. Progress requires facing up to the institutions in life that are not working as they need to. It means, for liberals, recognizing when the government is failing. It means, for conservatives, recognizing when the government is needed. In a book exploring how we can move from a liberalism that not only protects and preserves but also builds, Klein and Thompson trace the political, economic, and cultural barriers to progress and propose a path toward a politics of abundance. At a time when movements of scarcity are gaining power in country after country, this is an answer that meets the challenges of the moment while grappling honestly with the fury so many rightfully feel.--
Table for two : fictions
By Towles, Amor, author.
"The millions of readers of Amor Towles are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter fiction: six stories set in New York City and a novella in Los Angeles. The New York stories, most of which are set around the turn of the millennium, take up everything from the death-defying acrobatics of the male ego, to the fateful consequences of brief encounters, and the delicate mechanics of comprise which operate at the heart of modern marriages. In Towles's novel, Rules of Civility, the indomitable Evelyn Ross leaves New York City in September, 1938, with the intention of returning home to Indiana. But as her train pulls into Chicago, where her parents are waiting, she instead extends her ticket to Los Angeles. Told from seven points of view, "Eve in Hollywood" describes how Eve crafts a new future for herself--and others--in the midst of Hollywood's golden age. Throughout the stories, two characters often find themselves sitting across a table for two where the direction of their futures may hinge upon what they say to each other next. Written with his signature wit, humor, and sophistication, Table for Two is another glittering addition to Towles's canon of stylish and transporting historical fiction"--
The amateur's mind : turning chess misconceptions into chess mastery
By Silman, Jeremy, author.
The Amateur's Mind takes the student on a journey through his own mind and returns him to the chess board with a wealth of new-found knowledge and the promise of a significant gain in strength. Most amateurs possess erroneous thinking processes that remain with them throughout their chess lives. These flaws in their mental armour result in stinging defeats and painful reversals. Books can be bought and studied, lessons can be taken -- but in the end, these elusive problems always prove to be extremely difficult to eradicate. Seeking a solution to this dilemma, Mr. Silman wrote down the thoughts of his students while they played actual games, analysed them, and catalogued the most common misconceptions that arose. He then eradicated those mental traps by offering advice, rules of conduct and strategy, and penetrating psychological insight. This second edition greatly expands on the information contained in the popular first edition. In particular, the addition of twenty-six tests and their detailed explanations, add more than one hundred pages of instruction-rich material.
Marble Hall murders : a novel
By Horowitz, Anthony, 1955- author.
"Editor Susan Ryeland has left her Greek island, her hotel and her Greek boyfriend, Andreas, in search of a new life back in England. Freelancing for a London publisher, she's given the last job she wants: working on an Atticus Pünd continuation novel called Pünd's Last Case. Worse still, she knows the new writer. Eliot Crace is the troubled grandson of legendary children's author Miriam Crace who died twenty years ago. Eliot is convinced she was murdered--by poison. To her surprise, Susan enjoys reading the manuscript which is set in the South of France and revolves around the mysterious death of Lady Margaret Chalfont, days before she was about to change her will. But when it is revealed that Lady Margaret was also poisoned, alarm bells begin to ring. The more Susan reads, the clearer it becomes that Eliot has deliberately concealed clues about his grandmother's death inside the book. Desperately, Susan tries to prevent Eliot from putting himself in harm's way--but his behavior is becoming increasingly erratic. Another murder follows . . . and suddenly Susan finds herself to be the number one suspect. Once again, the real and the fictional worlds have become dangerously entangled. And if Susan doesn't solve the mystery of Pünd's Last Case, she could well be its next victim"--
The expert of subtle revisions : a novel
By Menger-Anderson, Kirsten, author.
In Half Moon Bay, California, 2016, a young woman waits for her father's sailboat to arrive at port. They have agreed to meet on this day and time. Yet he never shows. He has told her this event might come. And if it did, she was ready. Go to the library in Berkeley, find a certain book, follow the instructions. But what if the instructions lead to more questions than answers? In 1933, a young man arrives in Vienna to begin a new post as a professor of mathematics at the university. There he finds himself part of the Engelhardt Circle, a group of intellectuals that have recently been targeted by a growing, anti-academic mob. The circle includes the preeminent minds of their time and a cast of characters desperate to get invited into their midst, many of whom will stop at nothing to get there. As fascism rises, and polarization increases, moderate voices are drowned out. There are whispers of a machine, a music box, which can transport someone through time. But no one can confirm if it's a rumor or true. And the only people who know firsthand are not talking. --
The emperor of gladness : a novel
By Vuong, Ocean, 1988- author.
"A year in the life of a wayward young man in New England who, by chance, becomes the caretaker for an eighty-two-year-old widow living with dementia, powering a story of friendship, loss, and how much we're willing to risk to claim one of life's most treasured mercies: a second chance"--
Intermezzo : a novel
By Rooney, Sally, author.
"An exquisitely moving story about grief, love, and family, from the global phenomenon Sally Rooney"--
Breath : the new science of a lost art
By Nestor, James, author.
"No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how resilient your genes are, how skinny or young or wise you are, none of it matters if you're not breathing properly. There is nothing more essential to our health and wellbeing than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat 25,000 times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences. Science journalist James Nestor travels the world to figure out what went wrong with our breathing and how to fix it. Why are we the only animals with chronically crooked teeth? Why didn't our ancestors snore? Nestor seeks out answers in muddy digs of ancient burial sites, s
Staff Picks
Books, music, and movie recommendations from Mechanics' staff
The only rule is it has to work : our wild experiment building a new kind of baseball team
By Lindbergh, Ben, author.
CJ's pick
Living downtown : the history of residential hotels in the United States
By Groth, Paul Erling.
Myles' pick
Babel : or the necessity of violence : an arcane history of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
By Kuang, R. F. (Rebecca F.), author.
Picked by Andy, Program Director
A line in the world : a year on the North Sea coast
By Nors, Dorthe, 1970- author.
Picked by Justin, Library Intern
New Fiction
See more new fiction in our catalog
The proving ground
By Connelly, Michael, 1956- author.
"Following his "resurrection walk" and need for a new direction, Mickey Haller turns to public interest litigation, filing a civil lawsuit against an artificial intelligence company whose chatbot told a sixteen-year-old boy that it was okay for him to kill his ex-girlfriend for her disloyalty. Representing the victim's family, Mickey's case explores the mostly unregulated and exploding AI business and the lack of training guardrails. Along the way he joins up with a journalist named Jack McEvoy, who wants to be a fly on the wall during the trial in order to write a book about it. But Mickey puts him to work going through the mountain of printed discovery materials in the case. McEvoy's digging ultimate delivers the key witness, a whistleblower who has been too afraid to speak up. The case is fraught with danger because billions are at stake. It is said that machines became smarter than humans on the day in 1997 that IBM's Deep Blue defeated chess master Garry Kasparov with a gambit called "the knight's sacrifice." Haller will take a similar gambit in court to defeat the mega forces of the AI industry lined up against him and his clients"--
Venetian vespers
By Banville, John, author.
Everything was a puzzle, everything a trap set to mystify and hinder me. 1899. As the new century approaches, English hack-writer Evelyn Dolman marries Laura Rensselaer, the daughter of a wealthy American plutocrat. But in the midst of a mysterious rift between Laura and her father, Evelyn's plans of a substantial inheritance are thrown into doubt. As the unhappy newlyweds travel to Venice at Palazzo Dioscuri--the ancestral home of the charming but treacherous Count Barbarigo--a series of seemingly otherworldly occurrences exacerbate Evelyn's already frayed nerves: is it just the sea mist blanketing the floating city or is he losing his mind?
The eleventh hour : a quintet of stories
By Rushdie, Salman, author.
"Rushdie turns his extraordinary imagination to life's final act with a quintet of stories that span the three countries in which he has made his work--India, England, and America--and feature an unforgettable cast of characters. "In the South" introduces a pair of quarrelsome old men--Junior and Senior--and their private tragedy at a moment of national calamity. In "The Musician of Kahani," a musical prodigy from the Mumbai neighborhood featured in Midnight's Children uses her magical gifts to wreak devastation on the wealthy family she marries into. In "Late," the ghost of a Cambridge don enlists the help of a lonely student to enact revenge upon the tormentor of his lifetime. "Oklahoma" plunges a young writer into a web of deceit and lies as he tries to figure out whether his mentor killed himself or faked his own death. And "The Old Man in the Piazza" is a powerful parable for our times about freedom of speech. Do we accommodate ourselves to death, or rail against it? Do we spend our "eleventh hour" in serenity or in rage? And how do we achieve fulfillment with our lives if we don't know the end of our own stories? The Eleventh Hour ponders life and death, legacy and identity with the penetrating insight and boundless imagination that have made Salman Rushdie one of the most celebrated writers of our time"--
Twice : a novel
By Albom, Mitch, 1958- author.
"When he is eight years old, Alfie Logan discovers the magical ability to get a second chance at everything. He can undo any moment and live it again. The one catch: he must accept the consequences of his second try--for better or worse. He grows up correcting his mistakes and saving himself from adolescent embarrassments. He even takes foolishly dangerous risks, just to see what it's like to come close to death, before tapping back to safety. Eventually, Alfie turns his gift to his love life, studying his crushes and going back to make himself more appealing. In time, he falls deeply in love with Gianna, the woman he believes is the one. He seems to find contentment. But as the years pass, Alfie's eye begins to wander. Which is when he learns a lone caveat to his power: once he undoes a love, that person can never fall in love with him again. Knowing if he gives into to temptation, he will risk losing what he has with Gianna, Alfie makes a choice that changes his life forever. The book begins many years later, after an ailing Alfie is arrested for allegedly cheating and winning millions at a casino roulette wheel. As a curious detective interrogates him, he slowly uncovers Alfie's incredible story, and its most unlikely conclusion"--
Wreck : a novel
By Newman, Catherine, 1968- author.
"The acclaimed bestselling author of Sandwich is back with a wonderful novel, full of laughter and heart, about marriage, family, and what happens when life doesn't go as planned. If you loved Rocky and her family on vacation on Cape Cod, wait until you join them at home two years later. (And if this is your first meeting with this crew, get ready to laugh and cry--and relate.) Rocky, still anxious, nostalgic, and funny, is living in Western Massachusetts with her husband Nick and their daughter Willa, who's back home after college. Their son, Jamie, has taken a new job in New York, and Mort, Rocky's widowed father, has moved in. It all couldn't be more ridiculously normal . . . until Rocky finds herself obsessed with a local accident that only tangentially affects them--and with a medical condition that, she hopes, won't affect them at all. With her signature wit and wisdom, Catherine Newman explores the hidden rules of family, the heavy weight of uncertainty, and the gnarly fact that people--no matter how much you love them--are not always exactly who you want them to be"--
On the calculation of volume. III
By Balle, Solvej, 1962- author.
"Tara's November 18th transforms when she discovers that she is no longer alone in her endless autumnal day. For she has met someone who remembers, and who knows as well as she does that 'it is autumn, but that we're not heading into winter. That spring and summer will not follow. That the reds and yellows of the trees are here to stay. That yesterday doesn't mean the seventeenth of November, that tomorrow means the eighteenth, and that the nineteenth is a day we may never see.' Where Book I and II focused on a single woman's involuntary journey away from her life and her loved ones and into the chasm of time, Book III brings us back into the realm of companionship, with all its thrills, odd quirks, and a sense of mutual bewilderment at having to relearn how to exist alongside others in a shared reality. And then of course, what of Tara's husband Thomas, still sitting alone day after day, entirely unawares, in their house in Clarion-sous-Bois, waiting for his wife to return? Blending poetry and philosophical inquiry with rich reflections on our discombobulating times, Balle's On the Calculation of Volume asks us to consider: What is a single person's responsibility to humanity and to the preservation of this world?"--
No longer human
By Dazai, Osamu, 1909-1948, author.
"Tells the poignant and fascinating semi-autobiographical story of a young man who is caught between the breakup of the traditions of a northern Japanese aristocratic family and the impact of Western ideas. Oba Yozo's attempts to reconcile himself to the world around him begin in early childhood, continue through high school, where he becomes a 'clown' to mask his alienation, and eventually lead to a failed suicide attempt as an adult. Without sentimentality, he records the casual cruelties of life and its fleeting moments of human connection and tenderness."--Publisher
A guardian and a thief
By Majumdar, Megha, author.
In a near-future Kolkata ravaged by floods and decay, Ma is preparing to leave for a new life in America with her young daughter, Mishti, and her aging father, Dadu. Their visas and passports finally secured, they’re just days away from joining Ma’s husband in Michigan-- until Ma’s purse, holding all their precious documents, is stolen. The theft shatters their hopes and alters their lives forever. The story unfolds from two perspectives: Ma’s desperate struggle to recover what’s lost and Boomba’s, the impoverished thief whose act of survival sets tragedy in motion. Through their intertwined fates, Megha Majumdar delivers a powerful and compassionate portrait of love, loss, and endurance amid poverty and corruption in a world on the brink of collapse.
Queen Esther : a novel
By Irving, John, 1942- author.
"Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on boardthe ship to Portland, Maine; her mother is murdered by anti-Semites in Portland. Dr. Larch knows it won't be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther; in fact, he won't find any family who'll adopt her. When Esther is fourteen, soon to be a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows, a philanthropic New England family with a history of providing foster care for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren't Jewish, but they despise anti-Semitism. Esther's gratitude for the Winslows is unending; even as she retraces her roots back to Vienna, she never stops loving and protecting the Winslows. In the final chapter, set in Jerusalem in 1981, Esther Nacht is seventy-six"--
With friends like these : a novel
By Lee, Alissa, author.
"Harvard promised them everything. Ambitious futures, peers who pushed each other toward their absolute best, and an education that would open doors for the rest of their lives. And though they startedout as roommates, Sara, Bee, Dina, Allie, Wesley, and Claudine soonbecame family. They had their whole bright lives ahead of them--until their senior year, when a shocking tragedy changed everything. Twenty years later, five of the roommates still indulge in a secret tradition they've kept alive since their campus days: the Circus, a harmless elimination-style 'killing' game played across the private rooms and hidden alleys of New York City. The game is a nod to their younger selves and a tribute to the sixth roommate they lost too young. But this year, Sara wants out of the game--until she discovers there is a small fortune awaiting the winner of this final round. As the Circus unfolds, Sara begins to suspect that the others aren't playing by the rules, and as the danger turns real and the old friends start pointing fingers, she discovers that even those closest to herharbor secrets of their own...secrets that could kill"--
New Non-fiction
Book of lives : a memoir of sorts
By Atwood, Margaret, 1939- author.
In her long-awaited memoir, celebrated author Margaret Atwood--creator of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments--turns her storytelling brilliance on her own life. Raised in the wild forests of northern Quebec by independent, science-minded parents, Atwood recalls a childhood that was both lonely and full of wonder. She traces her journey from those early days to her rise as one of the world's most influential writers, revealing the moments and inspirations behind her most famous works. Blending personal history, literary insight, and encounters with remarkable people, Atwood offers a witty, reflective, and deeply human portrait of a life devoted to words and imagination.
The gales of November : the untold story of the Edmund Fitzgerald
By Bacon, John U., 1964- author.
On the fiftieth anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald's sinking, the bestselling author of The Great Halifax Explosion tells the definitive story of the "Mighty Fitz."
Sofia Coppola archive : 1999-2023
By Coppola, Sofia, 1971- author, artist, interviewee.
"Archive is the first book by Sofia Coppola, covering the entirety of her singular and influential career in film. Constructed from Coppola's personal collection of photographs and ephemera, including early development work, reference collages, influences, annotated scripts, and unseen behind-the-scenes documentation, it offers a detailed account of all eight of her films to date. Mapping a course from The Virgin Suicides (1999), through Lost in Translation (2003) and Marie Antoinette (2006), to The Beguiled (2017) and her upcoming feature Priscilla (fall 2023), exploring Priscilla Presley's early years at Graceland, this luxurious volume reflects on one of the defining and most unmistakable cinematic oeuvres of the twenty-first century. An art book personally edited and annotated throughout by Coppola, Archive offers an intimate encounter with her methods, references, and collaborators and an unprecedented insight into her working processes. Accompanying the highly personal images and texts from Coppola's archive is an extended interview with renowned film journalist Lynn Hirschberg discussing the remarkable oeuvre they reflect"--
The Anthony Bourdain reader : new, classic, and rediscovered writing
By Bourdain, Anthony, author.
"Anthony Bourdain represented many things to many people--and he had many sides. But no part of his identity was more important to him, and more long-lasting, than that of a writer. The Anthony Bourdain Reader is a collection of his best and most fascinating writing, and touches on his many pursuits and passions, from restaurant life to family life to the "low life," from TV to travel through places like Vietnam, Buenos Aires, Paris, and Shanghai. The Anthony Bourdain Reader is also a showcase for new and never-before-seen material, like diary entries from Bourdain's first trip to France as a teenager and "It's Cruel and Unforgiving Terrain," a piece on the New York restaurant scene, as well as unpublished short fiction like "I Quit MyJob Yesterday" and chapters from No New Messages, his unfinished novel. These newly discovered pieces all contribute to give the fullest picture of the man behind the books."--
A livable future is possible : confronting the threats to our survival
By Chomsky, Noam author.
"In these illuminating interviews conducted by C.J. Polychroniou, Noam Chomsky yet again shares his brilliant insights on an array of struggles and challenges facing humanity. A Livable Future is Possible addresses artificial intelligence and the potential for such programs to surpass humans in cognitive awareness; what lies ahead for a world engulfed in a deadly climate crisis; the rise of neo-Fascism internationally, and why we should organize across borders to confront it; the striking similarities between Trump and Biden's foreign policies; and a number of other critical issues gripping the planet. Noam Chomsky has been an incomparable model of moral clarity and intellectual courage during his many decades as a scholar and critic. He is the most cited living scholar. One would be hard-pressed to find a more influential voice than Chomsky's in the West. A Livable Future is Possible is not only an urgent and informative resource, it is a call-to-action for those hoping to help carry the torch of one of history's greatest minds"-- Provided by publisher.
Against the machine : on the unmaking of humanity
By Kingsnorth, Paul, 1972- author.
"How a force that's hard to name, but which we all feel, is reshaping what it means to be human. In Against the Machine, novelist, poet, and essayist Paul Kingsnorth presents a wholly original--and terrifying--account of the technological-cultural matrix enveloping all of us. With masterful insight into the spiritual and economic roots of techno-capitalism, Kingsnorth reveals how the Machine, in the name of progress, has choked Western civilization, is destroying the Earth itself, and is reshaping us in its image. From the First Industrial Revolution to the rise of artificial intelligence, he shows how the hollowing out of humanity has been a long game--and how your very soul is at stake. It takes effort to remain truly human in the age of the Machine. ...Kingsnorth reminds us what humanity requires: a healthy suspicion of entrenched power; connection to land, nature and heritage; and a deep attention to matters of the spirit. Prophetic, poetic, and erudite, Against the Machine is the spiritual manual for dissidents in the technological age" --Amazon.
Shot ready
By Curry, Stephen, 1988- author.
"Shot Ready is a powerful distillation of Stephen Curry's transformative philosophy of success-centered on preparation, constant improvement, creativity, connection, mindfulness, and joy-delivered in his incomparable voice and style. Stunningly designed and illustrated with more than 100 gorgeous photographs, Shot Ready is an intimate narrative and a practical blueprint for any reader who wants to unlock their own potential"--
Bread of angels
By Smith, Patti, author.
"God whispers through a crease in the wallpaper, writes Patti Smith in this indelible account of her life as an artist. A post-World War II childhood unfolds in a condemned housing complex described in Dickensian detail: consumptive children, vanishing neighbors, an infested rat house, and a beguiling book of Irish fairy tales. We enter the child's world of the imagination where Smith, the captain of her loyal and beloved sibling army, vanquishes bullies, communes with the king of tortoises, and searches for sacred silver pennies. The most intimate of Smith's memoirs, Bread of Angels takes us through her teenage years when the first glimmers of art and romance take hold. Arthur Rimbaud and Bob Dylan emerge as creative heroes and role models as Smith starts to write poetry, then lyrics, merging both into the iconic recordings and songs such as Horses and Easter, "Dancing Barefoot" and "Because the Night." She leaves it all behind to marry her one true love, Fred "Sonic" Smith, with whom she creates a life of devotion and adventure on a canal in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, with ancient willows and fulsome pear trees. She builds a room of her own, furnished with a pillow of Moroccan silk, a Persian cup, inkwell and fountain pen. The couple spend nights in their landlocked Chris-Craft studying nautical maps and charting new adventures as they start their family. As Smith suffers profound losses, grief and gratitude are braided through years of caring for her children, rebuilding her life, and, finally, writing again-the one constant on a path driven by artistic freedom and the power of the imagination to transform the mundane into the beautiful, the commonplace into the magical, and pain into hope. In the final pages, we meet Patti Smith on the road again, the vagabond who travels to commune with herself, who lives to write and writes to live"--
Water mirror echo : Bruce Lee and the making of Asian America
By Chang, Jeff, author.
"More than a half-century after his passing, Bruce Lee is as towering a figure to people around the world as ever. On his path to becoming a global icon, he popularized martial arts in the West, became a bridge to people and cultures from the East, and just as he was set to conquer Hollywood once and for all, he died of cerebral edema at age thirty-two. It's no wonder that Bruce Lee's legend has only bloomed in the decades since. Yet, in so many ways, his legend has eclipsed the man. Forgotten is the stark reality of the baby boy born in segregated San Francisco, who spent his youth in war-ravaged, fight-crazy Hong Kong. Forgotten is the curious teenager who found his way back to America, where he embraced West Coast counterculture and meshed it with the Asian worldviews and philosophies that reared him. Forgotten is the man whose very presence broke barriers and helped shape the idea of what being an Asian in America is, at the very dawn of Asian America. Water Mirror Echo-a title inspired by Bruce Lee's own way of moving, being and responding to the world-is a page-turning and powerful reminder. At the helm is Jeff Chang, the award-winning author of Can't Stop Won't Stop, whose writing on culture, politics, the arts and music have made him one of the most acclaimed and distinctive voices of our time. In his hands, Bruce Lee's story brims with authenticity. Now, based on in-depth interviews with Lee's closest intimates, thousands of newly available personal documents, and featuring dozens of unseen photographs from the family's archive, Chang does the nearly impossible. He reveals the man behind the enduring iconography and stirringly shows Lee's growing fame ushering in something that's turned out to be even more enduring: the creation of Asian America"-- Provided by publisher.
It girl : the life and legacy of Jane Birkin
By Meltzer, Marisa, author.
Jane Birkin was synonymous with chic. Her effortless style and artistic legacy have been immortalized through her music and film career. And, of course, she was the inspiration behind one of the world's most coveted bags, the Herm̈s Birkin. But who was the real woman behind the it girl? Now, New York Times bestselling author Marisa Meltzer sheds new light on Birkin's enigmatic life and explores her profound influence on generations in a rigorously reported biography unlike any other. It Girl paints a vivid portrait of Birkin and her profound legacy, from her early years in 1960s London to her rise as a beloved celebrity in France, detailing personal challenges, her relationships with creative powerhouses, and the duality of her public and private selves. Based on interviews and deep archival research, Meltzer re
Country Life's book of dogs : from countryside to hearthside, at home with our four-legged friends
By Stamp, Agnes, author.
If anyone builds it, everyone dies : why superhuman AI would kill us all
By Yudkowsky, Eliezer 1979- author.
Why fascists fear teachers : public education and the future of democracy
By Weingarten, Randi, author.
Rebel queen : the Cold War, misogyny, and the making of a grandmaster
By Polgar, Susan, 1969- author.
Dark renaissance : the dangerous times and fatal genius of Shakespeare's greatest rival
By Greenblatt, Stephen, 1943- author.
Historic Mechanics' Institute looks like a library, feels like a library with so much to offer with its fine collection and provoking programming. This gem is not to be missed. - Peter Wiley, Chairman Emeritus, John Wiley and Sons
Mechanics' Institute Library has over 100,000 circulating materials in its collection and continues to grow. We serve the general reader with a wide, diverse, and eclectic collection covering a vast array of subjects and interests.
See a selection of our collection below and visit our Catalog to explore even more.