Five New Books

Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention
Author: Manning Marable
Publisher: Viking
Call Number BP223.Z8 L57636 2011
Synopsis:
To retell the life of Malcolm X is to rewrite some of the myths and events of his life, including the mysteries surrounding his assassination, and how his life and death continue to impact current events

Vigotsky in Perspective
Author: Ronald Miller
Publisher: Cambridge
Call Number BF109.V95 M55 2011
Synopsis from book: 
Lev Vygotsky has acquired the status of one of the grand masters in psychology...Ronald Miller argues that Vygotsky is increasingly being 'read' and understood through secondary sources and that scholars have claimed Vygotsky as the foundational figure for their own theories, eliminating his most distinctive contributions and distorting his theories. Miller peels away the accumulating layers of commentary to provide a clearer understanding of how Vygotsky built and developed his artuments.

Your Church in Rhythm: The Forgotten Dimensions of Seasons and Cycles
Author: Bruce Miller
Publisher: Baker Book House
Call Number BV652.M555 2011
Synopsis from book flap:
I n this groundbreaking book, Bruce B. Miller introduces the concept of rhythm as a powerful approach to church life. Every ministry flows in rhythms in the stages of a church's life cycle and in regular cycles annually, monthly, weekly, but how can leaders maximize the God-given rhythms of life?
Miller challenges the idea of a balanced church-trying to have it all, all the time. Typically church leaders try to have every ministry moving full speed ahead at every point in time and inevitably feel guilty if any one aspect (worship, ministries, or outreach) is neglected. In place of the elusive search for balance, Miller proposes rhythm: flowing in seasons and cycles. Churches, like people, need to give priority to different purposes and ministries at different times.
A healthy church will find ways to harmonize with created and providential rhythms. Churches, as all organisms and organiza-tions, develop through stages, experience seasons, and live in the cycles of creation (days and years).

A History of the World in 100 Objects
Author: Neil MacGregor
Publisher: Viking
Call Number GN740.M16 2011
Synopsis:
What does an Indus Seal or a solid gold cape mean to the study of history?  The author picks 100 objects and identifies their archeological and historical significance. His choices cover the gamut of man's existence on the earth from primitive axes to the credit card.
UPDATE:  Neil MacGregor gives a TED talk (approx. 22 minutes) about one of the objects and its impact.



Forbidden
Authors: Ted Dekker & Tosca Lee
Publisher: Center Street
Call Number PS3554.E43 F67 2011
Synopsis:
If you are a fan of previous books by Ted Dekker, you probably have already read this new series in "The Books of Mortals."  If you have never read a book by Ted Dekker, prepare for a world of adventure throughout time in a quest for eternal life.

Unaccustomed Earth--American Literature

Title: Unaccustomed Earth
Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
Call Number: PS3562.A316U53 2008

Pages: 333 pgs.
ISBN: 978-0-307-26573-9

Review: From Booklist
*Starred Review* Following her thoughtful first novel, The Namesake (2003), which has been made into a meditative film, Lahiri returns to the short story, the form that earned her the Pulitzer Prize for her debut, Interpreter of Maladies (1999). The tight arc of a story is perfect for Lahiri’s keen sense of life’s abrupt and painful changes, and her avid eye for telling details. This collection’s five powerful stories and haunting triptych of tales about the fates of two Bengali families in America map the perplexing hidden forces that pull families asunder and undermine marriages. “Unaccustomed Earth,” the title story, dramatizes the divide between immigrant parents and their American-raised children, and is the first of several scathing inquiries into the lack of deep-down understanding and trust in a marriage between a Bengali and non-Bengali. An inspired miniaturist, Lahiri creates a lexicon of loaded images. A hole burned in a dressy skirt suggests vulnerability and the need to accept imperfection. Van Eyck’s famous painting, The Arnolfini Marriage, is a template for a tale contrasting marital expectations with the reality of familial relationships. A collapsed balloon is emblematic of failure. A lost bangle is shorthand for disaster. Lahiri’s emotionally and culturally astute short stories (ideal for people with limited time for pleasure reading and a hunger for serious literature) are surprising, aesthetically marvelous, and shaped by a sure and provocative sense of inevitability. --Donna Seaman