Now and Then Old Worlds Unfurl

co-authored by Susan Barney Jones ’76

Jones and co-author Emily Calhoun ask if parallel lives can intersect — then enumerate the ways theirs have: family lives, professional interests, commitment to a public ethic, and love of nature. “We have recognized over the 15 years we have been meeting as friends and writers, we have come to speak with different voices about our worlds. Through the process of bringing our poetry together and forging intersections among our words, we have experienced the convergence of our parallel lives,” Jones says. Their book of poems is a testament to that. Published by Poetry Partners Press, 2014.

The Drunken Spelunker’s Guide to Plato

by Kathy Giuffre, associate professor of sociology

Take the philosophy of Plato, add Pabst Blue Ribbon, throw in a mix of oddball, dive-bar regulars and you get Giuffre’s debut novel. Based on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave from “The Republic,” here the Cave is a dive bar in a small Southern town and the prisoner is tomboy Josie, new to town, tending bar, falling for bad boys, and seeking a path for herself. Falling in and out of love, and searching for something larger, Josie uses philosophy to guide her. Published by John F. Blair Publishers, 2015.

Easy-Cut Baby Quilts

co-authored by McB Smith McManus ’99

A quilting partnership started years ago when the co-authors met at work. Together and separately, they have created quilts, tutorials, and projects for fans, friends, family, and community members. They design quilts as a team: McManus takes on the piecing, while co-author E.B. Updegraff does   the quilting — and they share the task of shopping for and selecting fabrics. The book features nine quilts for babies  with pre-cuts, panels, full-size templates and complete instructions that enable the reader to make a quilt in a day or a weekend. Published by Landauer Publishing LLC.

Sunsets of Tulum

by Ray Bartlett ’93

Bartlett, a travel writer specializing in Mexico, Japan, South Korea, and the U.S., takes readers to Mexico’s Riviera Maya in his debut novel. Reed Haflinger and his aloof wife, Laurel, take an impromptu vacation, but it’s not the reconnection Reed was hoping for. When his wife departs early for home, he stays at the resort, where a brief interaction with a female traveler changes Reed, forcing him to decide whether to venture out of his comfort zone, or accept that he will always let life pass him by.

Published by Barrel Fire Press, 2015.

The Brain Electric

by Malcolm Gay ’95

Detailing the race among neuroscientists to merge the mind with machines, the book is part life-altering cure, part science fiction, part Defense Department dream. On the cusp of decoding brain signals that govern motor skills, neuroscientists are developing brain-computer technologies that will enable paraplegics and wounded soldiers to move prosthetic limbs and manipulate computers and other objects through thought alone. These fiercely competitive scientists are vying for government and venture capital funding, prestige, and wealth. The book was featured on NPR’s “Weekend Edition” and Scientific American MIND recently called it “one of the most fascinating books you will ever read.” Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015.

Spiritual Steps on the Road to Success

by Linda Seger ’67

Subtitled “Gaining the Goal Without Losing Your Soul,” the book provides advice for creating personal success based on spiritual values. Sharing experiences and insights gained through her own spiritually based and highly successful career, Seger says, “When I started to find success as an entrepreneur, script consultant, seminar leader, and author,  I found the spiritual issues and challenges associated with success were quite different from the ones I had confronted in my struggle finding my way. I hadn’t seen a book from  this perspective, so I wanted to explore these issues.” The book recently won a Gold Medal Illumination Book Award. Published by Haven Books, 2015.

We Gotta Get Out of This Place: Soundtrack of the Vietnam War

co-authored by Craig Werner ’74

Werner and co-author Doug Bradley place popular music at the heart of the American experience in Vietnam, exploring how and why U.S. troops turned to music as a way of  coping with the war and connecting to each other and the world back home. Different songs resonated with different veterans, depending on when, where, and what they did in Vietnam. For some veterans it was Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’,” for others it was Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze,” and for countless others it was the song that gives the book its title. Rolling Stone named it number one on its “10 Best Music Books  of 2015.” Also included is a piece by Vietnam veteran Jay Maloney ’75. Published by the University of Massachusetts Press, 2015.

The Innovative Mindset: 5 Behaviors for Accelerating Breakthroughs

co-authored by Elena Imaretska ’05

Imaretska and co-author John Sweeney use their scientific understanding of how human behavior is influenced and improv expertise to create simple but groundbreaking tools and behaviors to spark innovation and transform organizations. They introduce the “Big 5” behaviors designed to accelerate breakthroughs — listening, deferring judgment, reframing, declaring, and jumping in. Filled with real-world examples of innovative behavior by everyone from progressive mayors to insurance company execs to Benedictine nuns, the book helps identify what is needed in order to become more innovative. Published by Wiley, 2015.

American Alpine Journal

and

Accidents in North American Mountaineering

edited by Erik Rieger ’12
The 2015 editions of these journals mark the third set of publications Rieger has worked on as editor and art director. Published annually since 1929, the American Alpine Journal documents the world’s most significant climbs. In the latest edition, readers hear from Kevin Jorgeson on the Dawn Wall, David Allfrey on the hardest wilderness wall in America, and Kilian Jornet on the new Denali speed record. The journal also takes an in-depth look at the history and climbing potential of Cloud Peak in Wyoming; unveils little-known mountains in Alaska, Russia, Kenya, Nepal, and Patagonia; and features inspiring destinations closer to home. Accidents in North American Mountaineering, published annually since 1948, reports on the year’s most significant and educational climbing accidents. In each case, it analyzes what went wrong, helping climbers prevent or survive similar situations in the future.

Published by Mountaineers Books and the American Alpine Club, 2015.

Paris in Winter

by David Coggins ’69

Subtitled “An Illustrated Memoir,” the book combines fanciful ink and watercolor drawings by Coggins with vignettes about his family’s annual New Year’s sojourns to Paris, which they’ve been taking for almost 20 years. This memoir of poetic, lighthearted stories highlights   the family’s passion for art, food, fashion, and social life. Coggins is the author and illustrator of the travel memoir, “The Nostalgic Heart,” which received an Independent Publisher Book Award. Additionally, his eight-volume set  of daybooks, published under the pseudonym Robert Carolina, is in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Published by powerHouse  Books, 2015.

This Thing Called Music: Essays in Honor of Bruno Nettl

co-edited by Vicki Levine, professor of music

Co-editor Levine also is a contributor of one of the 35 essays in the book, authoring “Regional Songs in Local and Translocal Spaces: The Duck Dance Revisited.” For scholars in the field of musicology and related areas, the search for music — in its vastly complex and diverse forms throughout the world — characterizes the lifetime of reflection and writing by Bruno Nettl, the leading ethnomusicologist of the past generation. The essays represent the many dimensions of musical meaning, addressing some of the most critically important areas of music scholarship today. Published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers as part of the “Europea: Ethnomusicologies and Modernities” series, 2015.

Mind Over Murder

audio book narrated by Cindy Piller ’68

Piller narrates this 6-hour, 41-minute book by author Evelyn David, opening with the line “I don’t think you were this paranoid before we got married; I would have noticed. And believe me, it would have been a deciding factor in my decision to hook up with you.” The last time the police knocked on psychic Valentine Zalmanzig Cohen’s door they ignored her advice and the wrong man ended up in prison for murder. Five years later the knock comes again: Another couple has been killed in the same house. Available from Amazon audible.

Ten Surefire Ways to Transform Troubled Youth

co-authored by André Zarb-Cousin  ’72

Zarb-Cousin and co-author Jeannette Holtham share a decade’s worth of insights from working with more than 4,000 at-risk youth in prisons, detention centers, and alternative high schools. Featuring real-life stories, this book is aimed at parents, grandparents, teachers, school counselors, probation officers, correctional officers, and others who care for youth who are headed down the path toward drug and alcohol addictions, early sex and its related consequences, and violence. Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014.

Managing the Graduate School Experience

co-authored by Kim Rossman Muchnick ’88 Knowledge is power, and this book provides graduate students with the power to help them understand and complete a graduate degree, regardless of how the degree is offered — online or on-campus. Subtitled “From Acceptance to Graduation and Beyond,” the book encourages students to take control of the graduate school process as much as possible and negotiate with faculty and the administration regarding all aspects of the program. The book is succinct and to the point; a chapter titled “Can I Really Get a Ph.D.?” discusses the impact of study on family life, time management, learning types, and reasons for wanting a Ph.D. Published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2015.

Juniors

by Kaui Hart Hemmings ’98

Hemmings, author of the 2007 best-selling “The Descendants,” uses Hawaii as the setting for her first young adult novel. Part mainlander, part Hawaiian, Lea feels uncertain where she fits in after her mother accepts a job offer in upscale Kahala and Lea enrolls in a prestigious school midyear. As in “The Descendants,” Hemmings explores intergenerational family complexities and contradictions, secrets and revelations. Hawaii, Hemmings’ home turf,  comes to life with details, including tensions among natives and newcomers, locals and vacationers. Kirkus Review calls the book “Wryly funny, generous-hearted, garnished with sun, surfing, and shave ice — a genuinely literary beach read.” Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2015.