Archives de catégorie : Nonfiction

TOXIC FEMININITY IN THE WORKPLACE de Ginny Hogan

The first book on the special relationship between female coworkers and gender dynamics in the workplace to hit the market in a comedic gifty way

TOXIC FEMININITY IN THE WORKPLACE
by Ginny Hogan
Morrow Gift, September 2019

Talented humorist Ginny Hogan explores themes of sexism, workplace gender dynamics, and the challenges facing women at work (particularly in STEM fields) with disarming wit. Toxic Femininity includes fun short pieces (such as, “I’m Not A Sexist; I Also Ask My Male Colleagues If They’re Menstruating” and “How Silicon Valley Created The Perfect Meritocracy If You Specifically Happen To Be A Young, Straight, Well-Educated White Man”), true-false and multiple choice quizzes (including: “Are You Too Aggressive, or « Are You Politely Stating Your Opinion?” and Are You a True Feminist, a Male Feminist, a Feminist Just to Get Laid, or a Loaf of Bread?”), and even some surrealist essays (such as “A Woman From The Year 3018 Visits a Tech Startup” and “The Noise-Canceling Headphone’s Lament”). Toxic Femininity is a book that can be enjoyed in little sips or in one long drink.
The variety of the pieces and the illustrations make a lovely and gifty package—this product is perfect for a mentor encouraging her mentees, a big sister preparing her little sister for the work place, or shoring up your best friend after a rough day.
A conversation piece as much as a gift, the humorous nature of the work makes it possible to face topics that can be difficult to tackle head on; and we hope that this book will be able to serve not just as a gift but as a jumping off point for those hard-to have conversations that are a part of every work place environment.

Ginny Hogan is an NYC-based stand up comic and writer. She is a contributor to the New Yorker and McSweeney’s, and she’s the editor of the comedy blog Little Old Lady. She got her start as a data scientist in the mayonnaise industry, and since then she has tried to turn some of the uglier parts of the tech industry into comedy.

Le retour de Randall Munroe avec HOW TO!

Après le succès international de WHAT IF? (« Et si…? », éditions Flammarion) et THINGS EXPLAINER, le créateur de XKCD revient avec un guide éminemment scientifique qui donne des conseils extravagants sur comment faire des choses simples… de manière absurde et compliquée!
Le livre sera publié simultanément le 3 septembre 2019 par Riverhead aux Etats-Unis, John Murray au Royaume Uni, Penguin Verlag en Allemagne et Spectrum aux Pays Bas.

Cliquez ici pour voir l’article publié par Entertainment Weekly

For any task you might want to do, there’s a right way, a wrong way, and a way so monumentally bad that no one would ever try it. How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems is a guide to the third kind of approach. It’s the world’s least useful self-help book.

It describes how to cross a river by removing all the water, outlines some of the many uses for lava around the home, and teaches you how to use experimental military research to ensure that your friends will never again ask you to help them move.

With text, charts, and stick-figure illustrations, How To walks you through useless but entertaining approaches to common problems, using bad advice to explore some of the stranger and more interesting science and technology underlying the world around us.

THE WAR FOR KINDNESS de Jamil Zaki

A Stanford psychologist offers a bold new understanding of empathy, and shows how we can expand our circle of care, even in these divisive times

THE WAR FOR KINDNESS
Building Empathy in a Fractured World
by Jamil Zaki
Crown, June 2019

Empathy is in short supply. Isolation and tribalism are rampant. We struggle to understand people who aren’t like us, but find it easy to hate them. Studies show that we are less caring than we were even thirty years ago. In 2006, Barack Obama said that the United States is suffering from an “empathy deficit.” Since then, things only seem to have gotten worse. It doesn’t have to be this way. In this groundbreaking book, Jamil Zaki argues that empathy is not a fixed trait—something we’re born with or not—but rather a skill that we can all strengthen through effort. Drawing on both classic and cutting-edge research, including experiments from his own lab, Zaki shows how we can harness this new mindset to overcome toxic cultural divisions. He also tells the stories of people who are living these principles—fighting for kindness in the most difficult of circumstances. We meet a former neo-Nazi who is now helping extract people from hate groups, ex-prisoners discussing novels with the judge who sentenced them, Washington police officers changing their culture to decrease violence among their ranks, and NICU nurses fine-tuning their empathy so that they don’t succumb to burnout. Written with clarity and passion, The War for Kindness is an inspiring call to action. The future may depend on whether we accept the challenge.

Jamil Zaki is a professor of psychology at Stanford University and the director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic.

DAS BLAUE WUNDER de Frauke Bagusche

A marine biologist dives down with us into the mysterious world of the oceans

DAS BLAUE WUNDER
(The Blue Miracle)
by Frauke Bagusche
Ludwig, May 2019
256 pages, With a 16-page 4c image section

There are amazing things going on under water: at night the sea mysteriously sparkles, the tiniest of organisms (plankton) have the greatest power, and the fish are by no means taciturn but instead communicate loudly with one another. Marine biologist Frauke Bagusche has some fascinating tales to tell – stories of the smallest and the largest living creatures in the world. She explains where the smell comes from that tickles our nostrils while we are walking along the beach; what causes the sparkle we see in the water at night; and why the sea steers not only our emotions but also our destiny and that of the entire planet. Her account, in which she explores her own intimate relationship with the sea, is based both on the results of the latest scientific research and her personal experience. Because no matter where we are, we are bound to the blue miracle with every breath we take.

Frauke Bagusche, born in 1978, is a marine biologist. After gaining her doctorate at the University of Southampton in England she was responsible for marine biological stations on the Maldives and sailed 9,500 kilometres across the Atlantic from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean in order to draw attention to the litter pollution of the oceans. She gives lectures and holds seminars on subjects connected with marine biology.

THE LOVE PRISON MADE (AND UNMADE) d’Ebony Roberts

With echoes of Just Mercy and An American Marriage, THE LOVE PRISON MADE (AND UNMADE) is a remarkable memoir of a woman who falls in love with an incarcerated man, and the toll prison takes not only on those behind bars, but on their families and relationships

THE LOVE PRISON MADE (AND UNMADE)
My Story
by Ebony Roberts
Amistad, July 2019

Ebony’s parents were high school sweethearts and married young. By the time Ebony was born, the marriage was disintegrating. The little girl witnessed her parents’ brutal verbal and physical fights, fueled by her father’s alcoholism. Then her father tried to kill his mother. At five, Ebony was sexually assaulted. When she tried to tell, her voice was not heard.

Growing up, those experiences drastically affected the way Ebony viewed herself and set the pattern for her future romantic relationships. Despite being an intelligent, educated, and strong-minded woman, she was drawn to bad-boys: men who cheated; men who verbally abused her; men who disappointed her. Fed up, she cut off her hair and swore to wait for the partner God chose for her.
Then she met Shaka Senghor. Though she felt an intense spiritual connection, Ebony struggled with the idea that this man behind bars for murder could be the good love God wanted for her. Through letters and visits, she and Shaka fell deeply in love. After he was released they had a son, and Shaka was embraced by Oprah Winfrey and wrote a New York Times bestselling memoir. Their lives had been transformed—the worst should have been behind them.
But Shaka’s release was the beginning of the end of their love story. Traumatized by having doors shut in his face, Shaka became depressed and emotionally detached. His struggles to adjust to freedom would irrevocably damage their relationship.
The Love Prison Made (and Unmade) is heartfelt and insightful. It reveals powerful lessons about love, sacrifice, courage, and forgiveness; of living your highest principles and learning not to judge someone by their worst acts. Ultimately, it is a stark reminder of the emotional cost of American justice on human lives—the partners, wives, children, and friends—beyond the prison walls.

A former school administrator, Ebony Roberts is a writer, educator, activist, and researcher. She has taught at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. She recently served as program director for #BeyondPrisons, an organization designed to uplift the voices of those impacted by the criminal justice system. She received her BA in Social Relations and Psychology, and a Ph.D in Educational Psychology from Michigan State University.