Bookshelf

(Medford, Mass.: Polity Press, 2018).
The author, emeritus dean of the library and professor of history at the College of New Rochelle, introduces the social and political theories of Alexis de Tocqueville, a French diplomat, political scientist, and historian best known for his works Democracy in America and The Old Regime and the Revolution. By examining essential themes — including Tocqueville’s long-overlooked economic ideas and social reform proposals — Schleifer “sheds fresh light on the enduring relevance of Tocqueville’s writings and why his reflections on democracy continue to be so pertinent, especially in these troubled times,” noted one reviewer.

(Ann Arbor: Hosta Press, 2020)

The Snow Queen is the story of a boy’s friendship with a lonely, ostracized woman who shows him the kindness and understanding missing in his life. Although he can’t fully understand the reasons for their connection, the boy realizes they are somehow alike. Set nearly 30 years later, November Door finds the two unlikely friends from first play reunited when the man returns to his childhood home. The reader learns what’s become of both characters who’ve carried their scars into adulthood and old age. Pratt is the author of numerous works, including most recently the novels Todd Sweeney, the Fiend of Fleet High and Wallaçonia.

(Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2020)
Dolly Parton’s success as a performer and pop culture icon often overshadows her achievements as a songwriter. According to the publisher, “Hamessley’s expert analysis and Parton’s characteristically straightforward input inform this comprehensive look at the process, influences, and themes that have shaped the superstar’s songwriting. Hamessley reveals how Parton’s loving, hardscrabble childhood in the Smoky Mountains provided the musical language, rhythms, and memories of old-time music that resonate in so many of her songs. Hamessley further provides an understanding of how Parton combines her cultural and musical heritage with an artisan’s sense of craft and design to compose eloquent, painfully honest, and gripping songs about women’s lives, poverty, heartbreak, inspiration, and love.”

(New York: Penguin, 2018).
One Pomporromp grandchild will take it all: a large estate, an important title, a fancy castle. And most of all: unlimited magical powers. Who will win Wizardmatch? With themes of gender equality, favoritism, and sibling rivalry, Kirkus calls this novel for young readers “a stirring yet comedic look at the importance of family.”

(New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2018).
The author is CEO of Kronos, a global provider of workforce management and human capital management cloud solutions used within more than 35,000 organizations in more than 100 countries. According to one reviewer, his book “takes readers step-by-step through principles and practices that have helped Kronos win and grow mainly by inspiring its own workers to realize their full potential and having each other’s backs. Kronos’s bottom-line success is proof positive that Ain’s commitment to creating a satisfying, challenging and kind work environment is a very hard-nosed business strategy indeed. WorkInspired shows us all how to execute it.”

(Seattle: Marrowstone Press, 2018).
Weltner’s latest book of poetry was inspired while he was reading a lot of Horace and Vergil, ancient Greek lyric and tragic poetry, and ancient Chinese poetry. “Many poems, haiku-like, begin in a landscape that branches quickly into primal terrain, textual and sensual, where the past weaves its spell into a present always on the cusp of slipping away.”

(Other Press, 2019).The winner of numerous honors, including a Kirkus Reviews Best Biography of 2019, this book delves into the life of the French philosopher and writer Denis Diderot, best known for his work creating the first comprehensive Encyclopédie. However, as the author notes on his website, “[Diderot’s] most daring writing took place in the shadows. Thrown into prison for his atheism in 1749, Diderot decided to reserve his best books for posterity — for us, in fact. In the astonishing cache of unpublished writings left behind after his death, Diderot challenged virtually all of his century’s accepted truths, from the sanctity of monarchy, to the racial justification of the slave trade, to the norms of human sexuality.”

(New York: Hachette, 2018).
Drawing from 25 years of experience in both conventional psychology and alternative methods, the author offers advice for seeing the teen years as an opportunity for growth and positive relationship changes. Santangelo, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, asserts that “parents have a far greater impact on conflict with their teen than they may realize, metaphorically handing parents back the power to shift the situation to harmony.”

(New York: Routledge, 2018)
The author examines how, despite the intertwined histories of Africa and Europe, space and place remain racialized, impacting everyday experiences among African Italians, immigrants, and refugees. One reviewer praised Merrill for taking aim at “Italian common sense concerning race, while passionately foregrounding the lives of African migrants and ­Afro-Italians who daily navigate the deadly politics of exclusion.”

(New York: Oxford University Press, 2018)
The advertising industry has used dance to sell items long before iPods. The author, a professor of dance at California State University, Long Beach, presents an analysis of dance commercials to illustrate how the art form informs and reflects U.S. culture. One reviewer noted, “Written with playful enthusiasm, this book demonstrates how dance matters in contexts of commodities, marketplace, and the social lives of American consumption across three generations.”