October New Books

 

We are more than one month into the school year at PVCC and it is time for some NEW BOOKS! Do you ever wonder why it is that some people can remember directions to the west coast while others get lost on the way to the front door? Dark and magical places : the neuroscience of navigation describes the brain regions that orient us in space and the specialized neurons-place cells and grid cells-that do it. In related brain news, Chatter : the voice in our head, why it matters, and how to harness it advises you that maybe you forgot to buy eggs at the store.  Time to turn around! Are you walking or driving? Matthew Crawford, who is not the Downton Abbey character, but is the author of Why we drive : toward a philosophy of the open road, explores the genius of our everyday practices on the road and  the rewards of 'folk engineering.' Where there is driving, there is auto insurance, and that deer lurking on the side of the road is ready and willing to adjust your insurance rate. He may even have an update on your car warranty, but he cannot use a phone to call you. Anyway, back to Highway robbery : the two-decade battle to reform American's automobile insurance system,  is a first-hand account of the battle to create a better, no-fault system against the opposition of the special interests determined to protect their economic stake in the existing insurance system. 

Time for a paragraph break and a palate-cleanser. Ask a philosopher : answer to your most important and most unexpected questions contains some interesting questions and answers (let's hope they match): What's the Point in Getting Upset About Things We Can't Change? Do Jelly Beans Taste the Same to People Who Like Them and to People Who Dislike Them? Is Time Travel Possible?  One topic - artificial intelligence -  the book does not ask or answer is addressed in two new books: Scary smart : the future of artificial intelligence and how you can save our world and The myth of artificial intelligence : why computers can't think the way we do. Meanwhile, the computers and AI are rearranging the furniture on the internet but you didn't hear that from us. Please do not ask this blog to site sources. 

If you enjoy strafing the aisles at your local grocery store, you may want to look into The secret life of groceries : the dark miracle of the American supermarket. Dark miracle? Sounds like time for a bag of Cheetos and a frozen pizza. If that doesn't sound like your kind of miracle, try Eating to extinction : the world's rarest foods and why we need to save them. Dan Saladino, the author, notes that "If it strikes you that everything is starting to taste the same wherever you are in the world, you're by no means alone." If you would like to check out some interesting new cookbooks, here is a small list:

• The tiny kitchen cookbook : strategies and recipes for creating amazing meals in small spaces
  
• The native Mexican kitchen : a journey into cuisine, culture, and mezcal
  
• New Native kitchen : celebrating modern recipes of the American Indian
• Jew-ish : reinvented recipes from a modern mensch
  
• Cook real Hawaiʻi