Category: Book of the Day

The Library Reminds You: The Importance of Protection

Between the slogans letting you know that “It’s worth waiting for,” or conversely to “wrap it up, every time,” the concern over sexually transmitted diseases is very real!  That’s why we’re dropping the Knowledge Hammer on you in the form of a disturbingly thick book, Sex, Sin, & Science: A History of Syphilis in America. This takes on the relationship between science, religion, sexual education, and social stereotypes of contracting a disease like syphilis.  You’ll get to find out how long Old Joe (slang for syphilis!) has been around, from pilgrims to modern day.

Overall, it’s an excellent study of sociology, medical science, and even religious studies, as written by a medical expert, John Parascandola, not seen below.

Graduation Approaches: Make Your Portfolio Stand Out

Congratulations to everyone about to graduate from JCCC! If you’re getting ready to enter the workforce, it can never hurt to do a little extra prep on that resume. With that in mind, you might want to hit up a book like this new title, Putting Together Professional Portfolios.  Flipping through a book like this can help make an impression in this competitive market.  Another resource that can help is the campus’s Career Services Center. The experts working up there have tons of information to help you, whether you’re just starting college or on your way out!

It’s About Time To Feature Another Audio Romance…

On the off chance you enjoy ro-MANCE novels, or the chance you enjoy audio books, I try to annually feature an audio romance novel.

BEHOLD THE FIERY PASSION OF Blood Born, a book so hot, it took two authors. Actually, I don’t know that bit about it being “so hot”, but its description starts with

When the human and the vampire worlds collide, there will be hell to pay.

Oh yeah, its one of those.  Vampires, humans, sexy sexy romance as read by Vanessa Hart, prominent romance audio book reader. With finals on the way and people in need of leisurely escape, now might be the time to give an audio book, a romance, or an audio romance a shot.

The Civil Rights Movement in Kansas

I wasn’t educated in Kansas, but most of the Civil Rights discussions we had in school focused on the deep South. A book like today’s Book of the Day, Dissent in Wichita: The Civil Rights Movement in the Midwest by Gretchen Cassel Eick, is beneficial to those intrested in what the attitudes towards race and events of the movement looked like right here in Kansas. The focus of this book serves as a reminder that important activities in the prime of the Civil Rights Movement happened well outside of the more prevalently documented cases in places like Alabama or Mississippi.  With interviews of witnesses and activists, this book can bring added demension to race relations and the Civil Rights Movements of the 1950s through 70s.

Do You Watch Those Shows About Hoarders?

I do. I confess, it makes me look around at all my stuff and want to get rid of a good portion of it.And “stuff” is the perfect word for it, so says the book Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost and Gale Steketee. Since they’re two of the leading researchers on hoarding, this book is an excellent account of the incredibly debilitating condition of being unable to part with anything, from clothes to trash. One account even shows a pair of rich brothers who have to keep buying expensive art until there’s no room in their apartments to even sleep. Hopefully this book can provide some insight a disability that seems to be increasingly in the spotlight.

Miles Davis and Changing Music

Kind of Blue was recorded quickly by Miles Davis’s group, and the result would influence music well beyond the genre of jazz. Going backwards to show its roots and forward to define its influence, Blue Moment: Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue and the Remaking of Modern Music‘s author Richard Williams expands what one can take from this legendary album.  Good for music fans of any kind, as well as American-history buffs.

The Breaking Up of India

Some of the most long-term effects of British colonization can be seen in India.  The book, The Partition of India by Ian Talbot and Gurharpal Singh, looks at the separation of India that occurred in 1941, as the British relocated many communities and created, among other things, what has become Pakistan.  The book tells of the events leading up to it, the effects it had, and the long term violence, political, and identity problems that have resulted from it.

Black Soldiers, Racism, and World War I

Black Soldiers in Jim Crow Texas: 1899-1917 is an historical look at the racism African American troops encountered in Texas during their service to the United States between the times of the Spanish-American War to World War I. Following four different regiments of black soldiers, author Garna L. Christian compiles many unique resources to describe the different obstacles presented to them within their own nation. From clashing with white Texans to Hispanic populations, life was anything but easy for these soldiers.  Its an interesting look at military history and race relations in the United States at the turn of the century.

I Heard it was Earth Day

So the only new book we added to the catalog today that was relevant to Earth Day was actually about biological warfare… Not quite the upper we were hoping for.

So digging back a little to earlier this month, I found this gem: 100% Renewable: Energy Autonomy in Action, edited by Peter Droege. This book takes a comprehensive look at what we need to do to make all of our energy-using necessities and conveniences independent from non-renewable resources. From buildings to power to city structure to transportation: Droege shows the measures necessary to ensure our species sustainability.

So read a book like this, or plant a tree, or hug Ed Begley, Jr., and have a great Earth Day!

Leading Academic Change

Faculty chairs are a new thing at JCCC, so there’s still some realizing that needs to take place about what the job can entail.  So grabbing a book like today’s BotD, Leading Academic Change: Essential Roles for Departmental Chairs by Ann F. Lucas (and friends), can only help. The library is currently creating LibGuides for this and other faculty-related concerns, which will appear in the Education section when available. There are, of course, tons of resources in there for students, as well, so hit up our LibGuides for some quality readers advisory and subject-based reference!