The Cure

This week's book spine poem is:

The Cure

The emperor of all maladies
White coat, black hat
deadly choices
Seeking the cure
Lotions, potions, pills and magic

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee; 616.994 M953e
Mukerherjee’s book is for those who want an in-depth, back to ancient history look at the history of cancer.

White Coat, Black Hat: Adventures on the Dark Side of Medicine by Carl Elliot; 174.2951 E46w
“Physician Carl Elliott traces for the first time the evolutionary path of the new direction in health care, revealing the dangerous underbelly of the beast that has emerged--a beast that sacrifices old-style doctoring to fit the values of consumer capitalism.” Provided by publisher.

Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All by Paul Offit; 614.47 O32d
Those who are skeptical about vaccinating their children need to read this book that is a cautionary look at what can happen if vaccinations are stopped.

Seeking the Cure: A History of Medicine in America by Ira Rutkow; 610 R977s
People like Cotton Mather, Benjamin Franklin, James Garfield, and Joseph Lister are some of the famous people included in this comprehensive history of medicine in the United States.

Lotions, Potions, Pills, and Magic: Health Care in Early America by Elaine Breslaw; 362.109 B842l
Like the title Seeking the Cure, this book contains a history of medicine in the United States; this title, however, focuses on medicine during the fledgling years of the new nation.

Book Spine Poetry Returns

In honor of April being National Poetry Month, we bring back our series of book spine poems. Today's installment is:

It Doesn't Add Up!

Zero

Zilch

Broke

You don't say!

Show me the numbers

Zero by Kathryn Otoshi. JF O

Otoshi cleverly covers issues like bullying and accepting oneself while (painlessly) introducing children to the concept of numbers.

Zilch: The Power of Zero in Business by Nancy Lublin. 658 L929z

The CEO of the non-profit agency Do Something shares her insights on how businesses, both for-profit and non-profit, can thrive by doing more with less.

Broke: What Every American Business Must Do to Restore Our Financial Stability and Protect our Future by John Mumford. 658 M962b

Mumford, a consultant who assists failing companies, advises corporate leaders about how transforming their companies can restore the U.S. economy.

You Don't Say: Navigating Nonverbal Communication Between the Sexes by Audrey Nelson, with Susan K. Golant.  302.222 N424y

According to the authors, 90% of our communication is translated through non-verbal cues. That means we need to watch what we say and how we say it.

Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten by Stephen Few.  658.45 F432s

Mr. Few has some tips and tricks to help novice and proficient presenters convey data graphically without distorting the information or confusing the audience.

April is...30 Days of Poetry

April is National Poetry Month.

2014 National Poetry Month Poster

Started in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets (poets.org), National Poetry Month is a way to celebrate poetry and its place in American culture. Ever think about how much a part of our culture poetry really is? Think for a minute about some of the idioms we use:

• When someone gets a payback for something bad he has done, we call it "poetic justice."
• When someone ignores rules or plays loose with facts we sometimes call it "poetic license."
• When someone speaks eloquently or in a rhythmic manner we often say that person "waxes poetic."
• When an athlete performs her sport flawlessly, we say that she is "poetry in motion."

"Poetry is the journal of the sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the air.  Poetry is a search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable.  Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away."–Carl Sandburg

During the month of April, the Library and Learning Resource Center will celebrate National Poetry Month by posting on this blog and other social media sites a book spine poem every weekday. A book spine poem is simply arranging books in a stack in which the titles become the lines of a poem. Here is a sample of one of last year's book spine poems about a cow's life:

Join us throughout April as we celebrate National Poetry Month.