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The Storytelling Animal

The Storytelling Animal

How Stories Make Us Human

by Jonathan Gottschall

Hardcover, 248 pages, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $24, published April 10 2012 | purchase
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  • The Storytelling Animal
  • How Stories Make Us Human
  • Jonathan Gottschall

Explores the latest beliefs about why people tell stories and what stories reveal about human nature, offering insights into such related topics as universal themes and what it means to have a storytelling brain.

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What a Plant Knows

What a Plant Knows

A Field Guide to the Senses

by Daniel Chamovitz

Hardcover, 177 pages, Farrar Straus & Giroux, $23, published May 22 2012 | purchase
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  • What a Plant Knows
  • A Field Guide to the Senses
  • Daniel Chamovitz

Paralleling the human senses, the author explores the secret lives of various plants, from the colors they see to whether or not they really like classical music to their ability to sense nearby danger.

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The Violinist's Thumb

The Violinist's Thumb

And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, As Written by Our Genetic Code

by Sam Kean

Hardcover, 400 pages, Little Brown & Co, $25.99, published July 17 2012 | purchase
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  • The Violinist's Thumb
  • And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, As Written by Our Genetic Code
  • Sam Kean

The best-selling author of The Disappearing Spoon discusses DNA, the building block of life, describing how genes can explain why JFK's skill was bronze, Einstein was a genius and why people with exceptional thumb flexibility can become world-class violinists.

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The First 20 Minutes

The First 20 Minutes

Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer

by Gretchen Reynolds

Hardcover, 266 pages, Penguin Group USA, $25.95, published April 26 2012 | purchase
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  • The First 20 Minutes
  • Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer
  • Gretchen Reynolds

The New York Times "Phys Ed" columnist counsels casual and serious exercisers on the latest understandings about the mental and physical aspects of a fitness program, sharing recommendations for current "best practices for a range of goals."

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Birdseye

Birdseye

The Adventures Of A Curious Man

by Mark Kurlansky

Hardcover, 251 pages, Random House Inc, $25.95, published May 8 2012 | purchase
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  • Birdseye
  • The Adventures Of A Curious Man
  • Mark Kurlansky

A profile of eccentric genius inventor Clarence Birdseye chronicles how his innovative fast-freezing process revolutionized the food industry and American agriculture.

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Breasts

Breasts

A Natural and Unnatural History

by Florence Williams

Hardcover, 338 pages, W W Norton & Co Inc, $25.95, published May 7 2012 | purchase
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  • Breasts
  • A Natural and Unnatural History
  • Florence Williams

Draws from the fields of anthropology, biology, and medicine to describe the life cycle of the human female breast, from puberty to pregnancy to menopause, and discusses the organ's modern susceptibility to toxins and disease.

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Mr. Hornaday's War

Mr. Hornaday's War

How a Peculiar Victorian Zookeeper Waged a Lonely Crusade for Wildlife That Changed the World

by Stefan Bechtel

Hardcover, 254 pages, Random House Inc, $26.95, published May 15 2012 | purchase
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  • Mr. Hornaday's War
  • How a Peculiar Victorian Zookeeper Waged a Lonely Crusade for Wildlife That Changed the World
  • Stefan Bechtel

Recounts the life of the conservationist, who spent his life protecting wildlife as a taxidermist and museum collector; as the founder and first director of the National Zoo; as director of the Bronx Zoo; and as an author.

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Learning from the Octopus

Learning From The Octopus

How Secrets From Nature Can Help Us Fight Terrorist Attacks, Natural Disasters, And Disease

by Rafe Sagarin

Hardcover, 284 pages, Perseus Books Group, $26.99, published March 27 2012 | purchase
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  • Learning From The Octopus
  • How Secrets From Nature Can Help Us Fight Terrorist Attacks, Natural Disasters, And Disease
  • Rafe Sagarin

An ecologist applies his knowledge to the study of security and disaster prevention, arguing that the natural world can provide better strategies for averting catastrophe than the ones found in our bureaucratic system of agencies and experts.

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A Rich Spot of Earth

A Rich Spot of Earth

Thomas Jefferson's Revolutionary Garden at Monticello

by Peter J. Hatch

Hardcover, 263 pages, Yale Univ Press, $35, published April 24 2012 | purchase
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  • A Rich Spot of Earth
  • Thomas Jefferson's Revolutionary Garden at Monticello
  • Peter J. Hatch

Peter Hatch traces the history of Thomas Jefferson's vegetable garden, which has been painstakingly restored by the author, from the artichokes and asparagus first planted in 1770 through the horticultural experiments of Jefferson's retirement years.

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Engines of Change

Engines of Change

A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars

by Paul Ingrassia

Hardcover, 395 pages, Simon & Schuster, $30, published May 1 2012 | purchase
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  • Engines of Change
  • A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars
  • Paul Ingrassia

Chronicles the history reflected by fifteen iconic car models to discuss how automobiles reflect key cultural shifts as well as developments in such areas as manufacturing, women's rights, and environmental awareness.

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Memoir of a Debulked Woman

Memoir of a Debulked Woman

Enduring Ovarian Cancer

by Susan Gubar

Hardcover, 296 pages, W W Norton & Co Inc, $24.95, published April 30 2012 | purchase
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  • Memoir of a Debulked Woman
  • Enduring Ovarian Cancer
  • Susan Gubar

A woman living with ovarian cancer describes her experience going through debulking surgery, during which parts or whole organs in the lower abdomen are removed, and searches for understanding and offers hope and support to other people in need.

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The Defining Decade

The Defining Decade

Why Your Twenties Matter and How to Make the Most of Them Now

by Meg, Ph.D. Jay

Hardcover, 241 pages, Grand Central Pub, $22.99, published April 17 2012 | purchase
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  • The Defining Decade
  • Why Your Twenties Matter and How to Make the Most of Them Now
  • Meg, Ph.D. Jay

A clinical psychologist describes why she believes the years between ages 20-29 can be the most defining decade of adulthood and offers tips on making the most of work and relationships during this still-formative time in a person's life.

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Drop Dead Healthy

Drop Dead Healthy

One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection

by A.J. Jacobs

Hardcover, 402 pages, Simon & Schuster, $26, published April 10 2012 | purchase
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  • Drop Dead Healthy
  • One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection
  • A.J. Jacobs

In Drop Dead Healthy, author A.J. Jacobs attempts to become the healthiest man in the world. Structuring his life around a deluge of diets and fitness regimens that often contradict each other, he experiences the logical conclusion of our culture's health obsessions.NPR Bestseller

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The Best Care Possible

The Best Care Possible

A Physician's Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life

by Ira Byock, M.D.

Hardcover, 320 pages, Penguin Group USA, $26, published March 15 2012 | purchase
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  • The Best Care Possible
  • A Physician's Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life
  • Ira Byock, M.D.

A palliative care doctor on the front lines of hospital care illuminates one of the most important and controversial ethical issues of our time on his quest to transform care through the end of life. It is harder to die in this country than ever before. Statistics show that the vast majority of Americans would prefer to die at home, yet many of us spend our last days fearful and in pain in a healthcare system ruled by high-tech procedures and a philosophy to "fight disease and illness at all cost." Dr. Ira Byock, one of the foremost palliative-care physicians in the country, argues that end-of-life care is among the biggest national crises facing us today. In addressing the crisis, politics has trumped reason. Dr. Byock explains that to ensure the best possible care for those we love — and eventually ourselves — we must not only remake our healthcare system, we must also move past our cultural aversion to talking about death and acknowledge the fact of mortality once and for all. Dr. Byock describes what palliative care really is, and — with a doctor's compassion and insight — puts a human face on the issues by telling richly moving, heart-wrenching, and uplifting stories of real people during the most difficult moments in their lives. Byock takes us inside his busy, cutting-edge academic medical center to show what the best care at the end of life can look like and how doctors and nurses can profoundly shape the way families experience loss. Like books by Atul Gawande and Jerome Groopman, The Best Care Possible is a compelling meditation on medicine and ethics told through page-turning, life or death medical drama. It is passionate and timely, and it has the power to lead a new kind of national conversation.

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Mating in Captivity

Mating in Captivity

Unlocking Erotic Intelligence

by Esther Perel

Paperback, 244 pages, HarperCollins, $13.99, published November 1 2007 | purchase
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  • Mating in Captivity
  • Unlocking Erotic Intelligence
  • Esther Perel

A guide for loving couples who are looking to renew sexual passion in their lives explains how societal taboos and ideals about domestic equality have compromised the healthy expression of eroticism in today's relationships, in a resource that explains how to overcome personal constraints for greater intimacy. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.

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Imagine

Imagine

How Creativity Works

by Jonah Lehrer

Hardcover, 256 pages, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $26, published March 19 2012 | purchase
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  • Imagine
  • How Creativity Works
  • Jonah Lehrer

An examination of the new science of creativity explains how it involves distinct thought processes that can be tapped by anyone, revealing the practices of successful companies and creative individuals while considering how to use scientific principles to increase creativity.NPR Bestseller

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The Undead

The Undead

Organ Harvesting, the Ice-Water Test, Beating-Heart Cadavers-How Medicine Is Blurring the Line Between Life and Death

by Dick Teresi

Hardcover, 350 pages, Random House Inc, $26.95, published March 13 2012 | purchase
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  • The Undead
  • Organ Harvesting, the Ice-Water Test, Beating-Heart Cadavers-How Medicine Is Blurring the Line Between Life and Death
  • Dick Teresi

A timely and provocative examination of why the process of death declaration has become blurred in a world where advanced technology and organ harvesting play roles in health care draws on the expertise of medical experts, hospice workers and others while evaluating how death has been determined throughout history.

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