The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google

Nicholas Carr begins with a history lesson on electricity...how it evolved from water wheels to utilities that centralized production and transmission. The result was a shift in how business could be conducted, and the eventual rise of the middle class in America. Carr compares that water wheel to early computer systems used by single companies, and predicts how the shift to Internet-based networks (the World Wide Computer) may impact all of society. I found his analysis of the effects of YouTube, Wikipedia, Flickr, and the like fascinating!

"Carr's book is persuasive, well-researched, authoritative and convincing. He's reasonable in his conclusions and moderate in his extrapolations. This is an exceedingly good book. " --Techworld

"The first serious examination of 'Web 2.0' in book form." --The Register

The Big Switch is available in print at the SPL.

The Troubleshooter's Guide to Do-It-Yourself Genealogy

The sub-title says it all--Creative Techniques for Overcoming Obstacles, Removing Roadblocks & Unlocking Your Family History! Written for the intermediate genealogist, W. Daniel Quillen’s latest book demystifies some sources likely overlooked by even experienced researchers. By the time I was finished, the book was sprouting a headdress of yellow sticky notes, and I’d made plans to check out alien registration records, passport applications, and land grants, to name just a few. Quillen even devotes chapters to comparing different types of family tree software and subscription databases, and he ends every chapter with a helpful checklist. The book was published in 2010, so the appendix listing books and websites is up-to-date.

The Troubleshooter's Guide is available in print through Interlibrary Loan, but I may just have to buy a copy of my own!

When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present

The book opens in 1960 with a secretary, sent to court to pay her boss' speeding fine, not allowed to carry out her mission because she's wearing slacks. From clothing to careers, education to athletics, civil rights movement to anti-war movement, When Everything Changed focuses on the women, famous and not, who worked to advance the cause of gender equality.
Having lived through the time period, I found the stories compelling. I may not have recognized all of the sexist attitudes as such at the time, because they were the norm, but I was delighted when a classmate at SHS challenged the dress code by wearing jeans to school. (Two days later, many of us had jumped on the bandwagon; The female teachers weren't far behind.) I think the book would also be of interest to younger folk who may not often think about a time, not so long ago, when female doctors were scarce and when a woman needed her husband's permission to apply for a credit card.

Author Gail Collins is a New York Times columnist. In 2001 she became the first woman ever appointed editor of the Times' editorial page. When Everything Changed is available on CD at the SPL and in print through interlibrary loan.

Film connection: "Mona Lisa Smile"...Check out the "What Women Wanted in 1953" special feature on the DVD (also available at the SPL.)

The Checklist Manifesto

In The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, Atul Gawande describes the surprising power of the checklist in our increasingly complicated world. His examples, from performing surgery to flying an airplane or building a skyscraper, illustrate how listing critical steps, working as a team, and scheduling communication at crucial points can dramatically improve the outcome of complex tasks. Far from a self-help book, this is an absorbing read...Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Outliers) says of The Checklist Manifesto, "It has been years since I read a book so powerful and so thought-provoking."

Atul Gawande is a surgeon, Harvard professor, and staff writer for The New Yorker. The Checklist Manifesto is available in print at the SPL and on CD through interlibrary loan.

Schooled x 2

While catching up on some of the popular children's lit, I came across two books with the same title. Both are fun, breezy reads, fine for a day at the beach...The first is for middle schoolers, the second's for adults.

Schooled by Gordon Korman
Capricorn Anderson and his grandmother, Rain, are the last residents of Garland Community, a commune begun in the '60s. When Rain winds up in the hospital and Cap must attend public middle school for the first time, his ignorance of pop culture makes him an easy target. I particularly like the shifting point of view as various characters take turns telling the story.
Gordon Korman wrote his first book at age twelve, and many of the dozens he's produced since then are well-liked middle school reads.

Schooled can be found at Sherwood...Look for it in our fall display of stories dealing with bullying, along with The Revealers, Bystander, The Girls, Secret Identity, The Truth About Truman School, and others.

Schooled by Anisha Lakhani
Columbia grad Anna Taggert can barely make ends meet in her new job, teaching at a prestigious private middle school in Manhattan. Before long, she learns the secret of her colleagues' affluence...tutoring. Sporting Chanel bags ("Coach is so public school.") and moving to a Madison Avenue apartment gain Anna the respect of her students and their families. Her dilemma? Anna's uncomfortable doing her private students' work for them, but she's come to enjoy and rely upon the $250/hour income.

Like her main character, Anisha Lakhani is a Columbia alumna. She taught English at the Dalton School in Manhattan. Schooled is available in print through the SPL's interlibrary loan service.