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Seen Read Heard
Books
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Curious? Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life
This book uses science, story and practical exercises to demonstrate how to begin cultivating curiosity and to develop a concrete plan for building relationships, improving health, identifying strengths and discovering meaning in life—even during times of loss and adversity. The greatest opportunities happen, the author says, when we are open to new experiences and relish the unknown. (William Morrow, 2009)
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April and Oliver: A Novel
In this debut novel, two inseparable childhood friends, Oliver and April, are reunited following the sudden death of April’s brother. Oliver attempts to “save” April from her grief, but it becomes apparent that he has some demons of his own. Library Journal praised the novel’s “sharp, savvy storytelling.” (Grand Central Publishing, 2009)
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Living Waters: Reading the Rivers of the Lower Great Lakes
Living Waters relays the stories of the often endangered, sometimes resilient, rivers, creeks, ponds and springs of New York and Canada that largely determine the health of the lower Great Lakes. Wooster discovers ancient names and bubbly sources, while calling attention to the destruction caused by heavy industry, persistent toxins, land mismanagement and ignorance. (SUNY Press, 2009)
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The Devil Gets His Due: The Uncollected Essays of Leslie Fiedler
For more than 50 years, Leslie A. Fiedler (1917– 2003), Samuel L. Clemens Professor of English at UB, played a pivotal role in the development of American literary culture. These essays reacquaint readers with the depth and breadth of his achievements. They also showcase Fiedler’s pioneering of an egalitarian canon that encompassed both “high” and popular literature. (Counterpoint, 2008)
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Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology
This collection of 26 original stories is centered on Asian American superheroes and blends whiz-bang action, wry satire and thoughtful commentary. The result is a groundbreaking anthology about a community too often overlooked by the cultural mainstream. (New Press, 2009)
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Is God a Delusion? A Reply to Religion's Cultured Despisers
Is God a Delusion? addresses the philosophical underpinnings of the recent proliferation of popular books attacking religious beliefs. It focuses primarily on charges leveled by recent critics that belief in God is irrational. “Neither polemical nor defensive, [Reitan] writes primarily as a logician, rather than a believer,” says Publishers Weekly. (Wiley- Blackwell, 2008)
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The Sociology of Sports: An Introduction
This volume emphasizes the positive aspects of sports, and how they affect and are affected by the mores, values and culture of a nation. This sociological exploration moves from violence, gender, race, religion and economics to the role of sports in high school and college life. Included is a brief history of sports from antiquity to the present. (McFarland, 2009)
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Unmarried with Children: The Complete Guide for Unmarried Families
Each year in the U.S., 1.25 million babies are born to unmarried parents. Unmarried with Children offers vital information and support for single mothers, couples who parent together and couples who share children but are no longer involved with each other. Topics covered include custody concerns, paternity issues, adoption laws and children’s rights. Brette McWhorter Sember has written more than 20 books, including many self-help titles on legal or family concerns. (Adams Media, 2008)
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Deploying the VMware Infrastructure
This book covers a hot topic in computer science—server virtualization technology. While most current VMware books are heavily technical, this volume is geared to those who are relatively new to virtualization and may need a guideline to write or devise deployment strategies and use-cases. Deploying the VMware Infrastructure will also be of interest to managers and architects who wish to refresh their virtualization knowledge. (Sage, 2008)
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Inland Empire Planning Perspectives
The author, emeritus professor at California State University, San Bernardino, presents 46 of his columns written over the past two decades for newspapers in the area of southern California known as the “Island Empire.” The purpose is to explain local governments’ responsibility in policymaking and planning administration during a time when populations in southern California soared, freeway traffic became increasingly congested, and urban crime and social problems continued to proliferate. (Wildside Press, 2009)
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Goodbye Tissues
These poems engage in avant-garde practice of intervention into and doctoring of works by Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin and Thomas Aquinas. Poems here write with and against notions of possession in exploration of patterns of how we learn, consume and make. Deborah Meadows is a faculty member at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. (Shearsman Books, 2009)
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Organizational Performance in a Nutshell
This book provides a comprehensive framework for understanding questions like why one organization thrives while another struggles for survival, despite both operating in the same industry. Through the information presented, Organizational Performance in a Nutshell promises new thinking about organizational effectiveness. (Information Age Publishing, 2009)
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The Universe, Is It Guiding Our Lives?
This book questions whether we are the creation of a divine plan and if humanity is meant to serve a greater purpose. The author shares his own life experiences in exploring these questions. His previous book, Children of Our Own War: A Boy’s Journey (AuthorHouse, 2006), draws on his boyhood to present a young boy’s experiences of family life during World War II and the postwar era. (AuthorHouse, 2009)
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Take Back the Earth: The Dumb, Greedy Incompetents Have Trashed It
A finalist in the Indie Excellence 2007 Book Awards, Take Back the Earth explores some of the environmental disasters of our time, namely, war and industrial pollution. Robert S. Swiatek offers suggestions for making the planet more habitable. Swiatek says that he kept the text short so that people would read it and take note, while at the same time enjoying his humorous, yet enlightening approach. Midwest Book Review calls Take Back the Earth “an ideal choice for readers concerned about the environment.” (Swiatek Press Inc., 2008)
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Putting on the Brakes: Understanding and Taking Control of Your ADD or ADHD (Second Edition)
Putting on the Brakes: Understanding and Taking Control of Your ADD or ADHD is the essential ADHD resource offering kids, their parents and professionals need-to-know tips and techniques to manage attention disorders. Loaded with practical ways to improve organizational, focusing, studying and homework skills, the book gives kids with ADHD the tools for success in and out of school. It also contains more strategies for making friends, controlling emotions and being healthy. (Magination Press, 2008)
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Financial Success in Mental Health Practice: Essential Tools and Strategies for Practitioners
This book is intended to teach mental health practitioners the nuts and bolts of the business of running a private practice. These skills are not taught in graduate school, and it is only by trial and error that practitioners learn the financial aspects of running a private practice, the authors contend. Steven Walfish is a licensed psychologist in independent practice in Atlanta, GA. Jeffrey E. Barnett is a licensed psychologist in independent practice in Arnold, MD. (American Psychological Association, 2008)
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Analyzing Friction in the Design of Rubber Products and Their Paired Surfaces
Taking a mechanistic approach that emphasizes the physical behavior of rubber as it slides, Analyzing Friction in the Design of Rubber Products and Their Paired Surfaces integrates the engineering and scientific evidence demonstrating that the laws of metallic friction do not apply to rubber. The book also presents a newly developed, scientifically based unified theory of rubber friction that incorporates a fourth basic rubber force: surface deformation hysteresis. In sum, the book is supported by extensive analytical evidence and details what rubber friction is and why it behaves the way it does. (CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group, 2008)
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The Noble American, Souvenirs of Spain
The Noble American: Souvenirs of Spain is a literary work that offers a candid look at the current state-of-affairs in the U.S., while postulating that life is an unending battle between reality and idealism. In fact, the book encompasses two short novels that are filled with intellectual curiosity, subtle irony and the aesthetic imagery of Spanish America. The result is a vivid depiction of how the self-contradictory American soul embodies both the blessings and curses of impossible dreams. (AuthorHouse, 2009)
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A Comparative Investigation of Economic Systems & Corresponding Environmental Effects
This volume presents a cross-cultural analysis of various economic/subsistence systems of several cultures and the environmental characters their systems produce. Interdependent/procuring cultures maintain biodiversity, low levels of pollution and low population. Independent/producing cultures, on the other hand, tend to have less biodiversity, big populations and higher levels of pollution, the authors argue. Given increasing exploitation of limited resources, burgeoning human population and ever-increasing environmental dangers, this book sheds light on the possibility of succeeding, rather than failing, in human obligations to the planet. (iUniverse, 2006)
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Changes: A Memoir
This memoir describes the author’s early life in independent Lithuania, the first Russian occupation and the beginning of communist genocide. It goes on to describe the beginning of the Russo-German war and subsequent life under Nazi occupation and persecution. In 1944, the family withdrew to the west, lived in Innsbruck, where it was exposed to Allied air raids. Following the war, the author’s family moved to Augsburg, Germany; after four years in a displaced persons camp, Gamziukas traveled to the U.S. and settled in Buffalo, where he learned English and earned bachelor’s and medical degrees from UB. The book contains the author’s description of his early medical training as a house officer at the now defunct Deaconess Hospital in Buffalo. (Gamziukas Publishing, 2008)
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When I Fall In Love
This 2008 collection of classic pop-jazz songs is available for download on amazon.com, itunes.com, emusic.com and other online retailers. Hear the artist performing songs from the 1920s to 1960s at reverbnation.com/markweber.
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Niagara
This 2009 CD offers relaxing instrumental music inspired by the Niagara River and surrounding countryside. Guitars, violin, fretless bass, birds and various percussion instruments from around the world combine to create a lush musical journey from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The CD is available for purchase from CD Baby and iTunes.
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Genkin Philharmonic
This 2007 CD is the first phase compilation of an ongoing effort known as the Genkin Philharmonic, a ten-piece, avant-garde/progressive rock band inspired by Frank Zappa and heavy on horns and rhythms. The CD showcases the musical talents of 15 UB students and recent graduates of the UB Department of Music. Though “Genkin” was a credit-bearing class at UB, it served as a launching ground for young musicians aspiring to further their performing careers. Members of the band have gone on to graduate school at Yale University and Mannes College of Music. Others now live in New York City, performing with cutting-edge artists of all genres. Jon Nelson, UB associate professor of music, continues to direct the Genkin Philharmonic, which provides an opportunity to study and perform contemporary music drawing on diverse genres. Genkin Philharmonic is available at cdbaby.com.
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Mark Cohen Live in Concert at the Towne Crier Café
This 2009 DVD presents Mark Cohen at a recent concert held at the Towne Crier Cafe in Pawling, NY, not far from New York City, where he opened for Richie Havens. Cohen closed his performance with a song called “Buffalo,” which Cohen wrote and originally recorded on one of his albums for Folkways Records. It was conceived more than 35 years ago in Greenwich Village while Cohen was preparing to take a train to Buffalo. It was later released on CD. “Cohen’s songs are rich in gorgeous sounds and rich in insights,” writes Michael Lydon, founding editor of Rolling Stone.
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