For several hours a week, I work at the Huntley Library re-shelving items. During this process, opportunity presents itself for me to peruse materials I’d not see while looking on my own. Very often I say to myself, oh, that looks interesting … and then I keep it or jot down the info. I’ll share some with you that pique my interest.
TED Talks: official TED guide to public speaking
Chris Anderson
808.51 AND
You may want to skim this book while considering it as a gift for someone you know who is constantly focused on their cell phone, unable to string together two sentences together without saying “um, like…awesome.” Or do you have a millennial in your family looking for a job/promotion/investor? Or are you in charge of something here at Sun City, which requires YOU present an idea/report to your board or committee or membership? From the back cover: “The TED talk has reinvented the art of rhetoric for the 21st century.” This 2016 book presents not a set of rules, but rather a set of tools, offered to help you speak with clarity and panache.
The Franklin Affair
Jim Lehrer
FIC LEH
Of course this author’s name is familiar, but I checked the photo on the inside back cover to be sure it’s the same editor/anchor of the famed PBS Newshour show. Yep, and this 2005 story is his 15th novel! Set in 21st century Washington, the plot involves Benjamin Franklin and some Revolutionary War spies/intrigue. The back cover says it’s “delightful” and “historically savvy.”
Chicago’s Grand Hotels: Palmer House, The Drake, The Hilton
Robert Allegrini
977.311 ALL
Some photographer had a brilliant idea, which became the front cover for this collection of black & white photos that delightfully unfold a 20th century history of Chicago and these famous, grand hotels and urban resorts. With more pictures than text, you can be reminded of people and events spanning from the ‘20s right up to 2000. Did you know the Palmer House was the first fire-proof hotel and the first to have telephones in every room? Did you used to watch E.R. on TV? The hospital heliport on that show was actually the roof top heliport of the Hilton-Chicago. Where were you in June 1996? Princess Diana was staying at The Drake. You’ll probably find this an interesting album even if you are not from Chicago.
Barn Find Road Trip
Tom Cotter
629.222 COT
I thought of my brother the second I saw this book. He is always talking about getting a “muscle” car or something from the 60s, even though it does not look to me as if there is room in his garage. This book is a real-life treasure hunt with three guys in search of old collector cars in any condition ideally hidden in some barn under a tarp. They traveled 2,700 miles in 14 days cruising highways and byways, knocking on doors, quizzing county sheriffs, searching for “junk” cars that could be made road-worthy again. One of the three guys is a professional photographer, so the color photos are stories in themselves.
