Staff Recommendation Corner: “Because I said so!”

Title: Because I said so! : the truth behind the myths, tales and warnings every generation passes down to its kids

Author: Ken Jennings

Call Number: AG243 .J47 2012 (Popular Reading Collection, 4^th floor)  

Reviewed by: Hadas Livnat

Review: Did you know that drinking 8 glasses of water a day can actually be BAD for you? Ken Jennings looks at common myths and parental “wisdom” to divine the truth behind them in short 0.5-1 page examination for each topic. An amusing, sometimes eye-opening read.

4/5 stars

Staff Recommendation Corner: “Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture”

Title: Cheap : The High Cost of Discount Culture

Author: Ellen Ruppel Shell

HF5429.215.U6 S54 2009  (Popular Reading Collection, 4th floor)

Reviewed by: Hadas Livnat

Review: Ellen Ruppel Shell exposes how being able to obtain a lot of low-price stuff, whether it’s clothes, food, furnishing or any other items, comes at a heavy environmental and human costs. The pervasive notion that “more is better” and “cheaper is better” lowers the standard of living in the form of the excess of easily discarded (because cheaply made and easily broken) items. Food for thought.

4/5 stars

Staff Recommendation Corner: “The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains”

Title: The Shallows : What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains

Author: Nicholas Carr.

QP360 .C3667 2010  (Popular Reading Collection, 4th floor)

Reviewed by: Hadas Livnat

Review: Carr argues that the format by which we absorb information is important, since neural paths in the brain re-wire in response to the specific format of information-conveying tools. He examines the resulting effects on our brains when we read information online and when we read it through the printed book. Carr’s argument is that the online environment as detrimental to our brains since it destroys concentration, and cites studies to support his theory. A thought-provoking and entertaining book.

4/5 stars

Staff Recommendation Corner: “Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies”

Title: Guns, Germs, and Steel : The Fates of Human Societies

Author: Jared Diamond

HM206 .D48 1997  (General Collection, 5th floor)

Reviewed by: Hadas Livnat

Review: In this Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Jared Diamond provides a fascinating insight into the geographical and environmental factors that influence information-sharing between societies, and consequently the development of technologies such as agriculture, writing and tools of war; ultimately leading, as Diamond illustrates, to the conquest of an entire Inca army by a few horse-mounted European soldiers.

5/5 stars