New Nonfiction titles for July 2008

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Somewhere in Heaven: The Remarkable Love Story of Dana and Christopher Reeve
Christopher Andersen

Traces the inspirational story of the late celebrity couple’s early marriage, describing their passionate shared years prior to Christopher’s paralyzing accident as based on interviews with people who knew them best.


More info: Book Details | Catalog Link | Purchase from Amazon
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A Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-Foot-8, 170-Pound, 43-Year-Old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL
Stefan Fatsis

The author of Word Freak recounts his experience of becoming a placekicker for the Denver Broncos, an effort during which he gained rare access to top NFL players, coaches, and facilities while enduring the grueling process of professional-level athletics training.


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Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World
David Maraniss

An account of the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome reveals the competition’s unexpected influence on the modern world, in a narrative synopsis that pays tribute to such athletes as Cassius Clay and Wilma Rudolph while evaluating the roles of Cold War propaganda, civil rights, and politics.


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Black Wave: A Family's Adventure at Sea and the Disaster That Saved Them
John Silverwood

A couple describes how they took two years off to embark on an extraordinary sea voyage with their four children and the disaster off the coast of Manuae that transformed their peaceful idyll into a desperate fight for survival.


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My Custom Van: And 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays that Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face
Michael Ian Black

A volume of irreverent essays by the comedian from The State and Stella considers such topics as why salami is the world’s greatest lunch meat and what Billy Joel would be thinking on his way to a party where there would be a piano.


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Books: A Memoir
Larry McMurtry

In an intimate and intriguing memoir, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lonesome Dove recounts his lifelong love affair with books, from his largely “bookless” boyhood and discovery of literature as a young man, to the evolution of his writing career and his passion as a book collector who opens bookstores of rare and collectible volumes.


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My Incredibly Wonderful, Miserable Life: An Anti-Memoir
Adam Nimoy

An unconventional self-portrait by the son of “Star Trek” celebrity Leonard Nimoy describes his experiences growing up in his father’s shadow and the midlife descent into drug addiction that cost him his marriage and prompted numerous career changes.


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Gaspipe: Confessions of a Mafia Boss
Philip Carlo

An intimate first-person profile of the world of a convicted mafia head includes coverage of such topics as the order he received to murder John Gotti, the intricate relationship between La Cosa Nostra and the Russian mafia, and the mafia’s role in America’s unions and drug networks.


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Love as a Way of Life: Seven Keys to Transforming Every Aspect of Your Life
Gary Chapman

A follow-up to the best-selling The Five Love Languages reveals the seminal role of spiritual insight and understanding in our daily lives and sheds new light on the qualities that help us express and respond to love—kindness, patience, forgiveness, humility, courtesy, giving, and honesty—as well as the obstacles and misunderstandings that undermine relationships.


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Walking Ollie: Or, Winning the Love of a Difficult Dog
Stephen Foster

A British novelist—and novice pet owner—chronicles his decision to adopt a puppy, a decision that led to his new life with Ollie, a willful, moody, skittish canine with a definite displeasure at being told what to do.


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From Baghdad to America: Life Lessons from a Dog Named Lava
Jay Kopelman

A follow-up to From Baghdad, With Love describes the lieutenant colonel’s experiences at the side of his canine best friend at home, where they met the woman who became the author’s wife, adjusted to life after his service in Iraq, and learned key lessons about everyday survival.


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Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer
Tim Stark

An eloquent tribute to the contemporary farming life describes the author’s journey from Brooklyn government consultant and unsuccessful writer to an organic farmer whose Eckerton Hill Farm does hundreds of thousands of dollars of business raising chili peppers, microgreens, and heirloom tomatoes.


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Lost on Planet China: The Strange and True Story of One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation, or How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid
J. Maarten Troost

The author chronicles his odyssey in China, from the urban megalopolises of Beijing and Shanghai to the desolate wastes of the Gobi desert and the distant mountains of Tibet, as he describes the cultural wonders and strange perils he encountered.


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Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China
Jen Lin-Liu

An unforgettable culinary tour of modern-day China describes the author’s decision to enroll in a local Beijing cooking school, her progress from cooking student to intern at a chic Shanghai restaurant, the colorful characters she meets along the way, and China’s culinary heritage and modern-day cuisine, accompanied by thirty-two authentic recipes.


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The Man on Mao's Right: From Harvard Yard to Tiananmen Square, My Life Inside China's Foreign Ministry
Ji Chaozhu

A vivid memoir of life at the center of modern Chinese history describes growing up in the U.S. after fleeing the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s, his return to China in the wake of independence, rise in the Chinese political world, career as a translator and aide to Mao, views of recent Chinese history and leadership, and service as a diplomat.


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The Way of the World: a Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism
Ronald Suskind

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Washington insider makes predictions about what he believes will be an unprecedented national security crisis stemming from the growing nuclear capabilities of anti-American nations. By the author of The Once Percent Doctrine.


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A Path Out of the Desert: A Grand Strategy for America in the Middle East
Kenneth Pollack

Argues that the political repression, economic stagnation, and cultural conflict in the Middle East are the greatest threat to America’s long-term peace and prosperity and proposes a new U.S. strategy designed to encourage reform in the region.


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The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals
Jane Mayer

A provocative study of how the U.S. made disastrous, self-destructive decisions in pursuit of terrorism around the globe in the wake of 9/11 reveals how these actions not only violated the Constitution and American values, but also hampered efforts to bring down Al Qaeda, seriously damaging the nation’s moral and political standing in the world.


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The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America
Jim Marrs

The author of the best-selling Rule by Secrecy outlines controversial evidence that the Nazis have been secretly planning a return to power in the United States, tracing how a covert society of Nazis escaped to America in 1945 and has been practicing the philosophies of occult scholar Otto Rahn.


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