Top Ten Non-Fiction Downloads from BARD in August
Audio Described Tour of the Thomas Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress (DB121189)
By: The Library of Congress
This accessible virtual tour of the Thomas Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, was developed by the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled from a tour designed by the Informal Learning Office and Professional Learning & Outreach Initiatives. This virtual tour was created for individuals with visual impairments and others who may not be able to visit the Library in person. Completed in 1897, this amazing example of architecture, artistry and craftsmanship was a crown jewel of the young capital city. Experience the highlights of this magnificent building in this guided tour which includes audio descriptions of the building’s striking exterior, grand rooms and detailed ornamentation.
Life Unseen: A Story of Blindness (DB120671)
By: Selina Mills
Imagine a world without sight. Is it dark and gloomy? Is it terrifying and isolating? Or is it simply a state of not seeing, which we have demonised and sentimentalized over the centuries? And why is blindness so frightening? In this fascinating historical adventure, Broadcaster and author Selina Mills takes us on a journey through the history of blindness in Western Culture to discover that blindness is not so dark after all. Inspired by her own experience of losing her sight as she forged a successful journalistic career, Life Unseen takes us through a personal and unsentimental historical quest through the lives, stories and achievements of blind people – as well as those sighted people who sought to patronize, demonize and fix them. From the blind poet Homer, through the myths and moralising of early medieval culture to the scientific and medical discoveries of the Enlightenment and modern times, the story of blindness turns out to be a story of our whole culture.
By: Daniel G. Amen
366 Days to a Better Brain, Mind, and Life! In Change Your Brain Every Day psychiatrist and clinical neuroscientist Daniel Amen, MD, draws on over 40 years’ of clinical practice with tens of thousands of patients to give you the most effective daily habits he has seen that can help you improve your brain, master your mind, boost your memory, and make you feel happier, healthier, and more connected to those you love. Incorporating Dr. Amen’s tiny habits and practices over the course of a year will help you: Manage your mind to support your happiness, inner peace, and success. Develop lifelong strategies for dealing with whatever stresses come your way. Create an ongoing sense of purpose in a way that informs your daily actions. Learn major life lessons Dr. Amen has gleaned from studying hundreds of thousands of brain scans.
All The Leaves Are Brown: How The Mamas & the Papas Came Together and Broke Apart (DB121003)
By: Scott G. Shea
Few songs have captured the contradictions and ambiguities of the 1960s as memorably as ‘California Dreamin’,’ the iconic folk music single that catapulted The Mamas & the Papas into rock and roll history. In All The Leaves Are Brown, author Scott Shea details how John Phillips, Denny Doherty, Michelle Phillips, and ‘Mama Cass’ Elliot became standard-bearers for California counterculture, following their transformation from folk music wannabes to rock sensations and chronicling the tumultuous events that followed their unexpected success. Drawing on new interviews with former bandmates, session musicians, family members, and many others, All The Leaves Are Brown, is a layered, revelatory tale of overnight stardom and its many pitfalls.
The Foot Book: The Complete Guide to Caring for Your Feet and Ankles (DB118190)
By: Jonathan D. Rose
Two leading experts walk you through everything you need to know about how to take care of your foot, ankle, and toenails and handle problems that may come up. This book provides guidance on how to recognize and care for issues, including medications, exercises, inserts (orthotics), and surgery.
By: Bettany Hughes
An immersive, awe-inspiring tour of the ancient sites that kindle our imagination and afford us a glimpse into our shared history. For millennia, the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World have been known for their aesthetic sublimity, ingenious engineering, and sheer, audacious magnitude. Guiding us through it is historian Bettany Hughes, who has travelled to each site to uncover the latest archaeological discoveries and bring these monuments and the distinct cultures that built them back to breathtaking life. Spellbinding and full of insight, The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is a journey into the indomitable ambition and creativity of the human spirit.
By: Erik Larson
On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter. Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter – a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals. Lincoln himself wrote that the trials of these five months were “so great that, could I have anticipated them, I would not have believed it possible to survive them.” At the heart of this suspense-filled narrative are Major Robert Anderson, Sumter’s commander and a former slave owner sympathetic to the South but loyal to the Union; Edmund Ruffin, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who stirs secessionist ardor at every opportunity; and Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of a prominent planter, conflicted over both marriage and slavery and seeing parallels between them. In the middle of it all is the overwhelmed Lincoln, battling with his duplicitous secretary of state, William Seward, as he tries desperately to avert a war that he fears is inevitable-one that will eventually kill 750,000 Americans. Drawing on diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers, and plantation records, Larson gives us a political horror story that captures the forces that led America to the brink-a dark reminder that we often don’t see a cataclysm coming until it’s too late.
By: Robert D. Lesslie
Twenty-five years in the ER could become a resume for despair, but for Dr. Robert D. Lesslie it’s a foundation for inspiring tales of angels who are friends, nurses, doctors, patients, strangers, or those unseen but clearly present “others” in the midst of trial.
The Last Ride of the Pony Express: My 2,000-Mile Horseback Journey into the Old West (DB120801)
By: Will Grant
While in operation during the 1860s, the Pony Express carried letter mail on a blistering ten-day schedule between Missouri and San Francisco, running through a vast and mostly uninhabited wilderness. To this day, the Pony Express is irrefutably the greatest display of American horsemanship to ever color the pages of a history book. Inspired by what he had read about the service, Grant decided to ride the train himself with his two horses, from one end to another. Here he shares encounters with the ranchers, farmers, historians, and businessmen who populate the trail. His exploits on horseback offer an intimate portrait of how the West has evolved from the rough and tumble 19th century to the present.
Deadly Little Secrets: The Minister, His Mistress, and a Heartless Texas Murder (DB115296)
By: Kathryn Casey
With Deadly Little Secrets, Casey once again explores the dark side of the Lone Star State, offering a riveting true story of a murderous Texas preacher responsible for the cold-blooded slaying of the mother of his children. Meticulously researched and spellbindingly told, Deadly Little Secrets pulls back the curtain on the horrific crimes of a supposed man of God who was more devoted to the Devil, and it demonstrates why such true crime luminaries as Edgar® Award winner Carleton Stowers and Gregg Olsen are confirmed Kathryn Casey fans.
