Nonfiction
Before becoming a U.S. senator, Josh Hawley taught for a time in law school, where he met male students who lacked confidence, direction, and motivation. Those encounters, reinforced by today’s dire statistics about the failures of young men, motivated this call for a restoration of manly virtues. Deploying classical and biblical principles, he urges young men to embrace such values as courage, family, and faith and challenges them to become better fathers, husbands, workers, and leaders.
Art
Best known as a legendary music producer, Rick Rubin is also known for helping artists in all genres connect with creativity at its deepest levels. With scores of achievements in music to his credit, he has now created a luminous first book. Each chapter reads like an insightful meditation, offering wisdom gleaned from a lifetime. Whether an artist, musician, writer, or noncreative—the power to create is in every one of us. This narrative will reawaken that spirit and bring moments of exhilaration.
Archeology
In January 1982, an archeological survey at a New York construction site found the remains of a buried ship―an old one. It dated to the early 18th century. A 28-day dig, described in the book, was hastily arranged and proved to be an urban adventure worthy of an Indiana Jones movie. The archeologists not only had to fight time and February weather but also contended with picket lines and gang violence. This is a delightful book, offering adventure, mystery, and history with touches of comedy and tragedy.
History
It was one of the most destructive hurricanes in U.S. history. The Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 destroyed the coastal city in Texas, leaving thousands dead. Larson takes the reader on the destructive journey of the hurricane seen through the eyes of Isaac Cline, a local weatherman, who worked to warn the city. It’s a powerful account that discusses how the hurricane changed how we track storms and how it altered the destiny of Galveston―known then as the New York of the South.
Classics
In this memoir, colored by the horrors of World War I, Graves records his life as a youth before the war, his time on the front and the wounds he received, the psychological damage he suffered, and his life afterward into his early 30s. Critics today regard his autobiography as one of the great pieces of literature produced by this horrific conflict, not only for its descriptions of life in the trenches but for its insights, often bitter, regarding the disillusionment that followed that war.
For Kids
When a vain emperor is led to believe that the finest outfit has been created for him with invisible materials on an empty loom, he steps out in his underwear believing that it must be so. His courtiers and his subjects, protecting themselves, go along with the obvious falsehood. Only an innocent child declares the truth. It’s a timely tale indeed.
