Washoe County Library System

"Wish you knew exactly what to say in awkward social situations? Do you want a formula for charisma? Do you want to know exactly what to say to your boss, your date, or your mother-in-law? You need to know how people work. As a human behavior investigator,VanessaVanEdwardsstudies the hidden forces that drive our behavior patterns in her lab--and she's cracked the code. InCaptivateshe shares a wealth ofvaluable shortcuts, systems and behavior hacks...

"Picking up where The Tipping Point leaves off, respected journalist Lee Daniel Kravetz's Strange Contagion is a provocative look at both the science and lived experience of social contagion. In 2009, tragedy struck the town of Palo Alto: A student from the local high school had died by suicide by stepping in front of an oncoming train. Grief-stricken, the community mourned what they thought was an isolated loss. Until, a few weeks...

"Before the critically acclaimed novels Await Your Reply and You Remind Me of Me, Dan Chaon made a name for himself as a renowned writer of dazzling short stories. Now, in Stay Awake, Chaon returns to that form for the first time since his masterly Among the Missing, a finalist for the National Book Award. In these haunting, suspenseful stories, lost, fragile, searching characters wander between ordinary life and a psychological shadowland. They...

After their son, Bukhosi, disappears in the chronic turmoil of modern Zimbabwe, Abednego and Agnes Mlambo receive help from their enigmatic lodger, Zamani.

The global icon is an omnipresent but poorly understood element of mass culture. This book asks why audiences around the world have embraced particular iconic figures, how perceptions of these figures have changed, and what this tells us about transnational relations since the Cold War era. Prestholdt addresses these questions by examining one type of icon: the anti-establishment figure. As symbols that represent sentiments, ideals, or something else...

Authors Gilovich and Ross describe the most useful insights from social psychology that may help you understand why people behave the way they do, and use that knowledge to understand and influence the people in your life.

"When it comes to politics, we often perceive our own beliefs as fair and socially beneficial, while seeing opposing views as merely self-serving. But in fact most political views are governed by self-interest, even if we usually don't realize it. Challenging our fiercely held notions about what motivates us politically, this book explores how self-interest divides the public on a host of hot-button issues, from abortion and the legalization of marijuana...

Team Human is a manifestoa fiery distillation of preeminent digital theorist Douglas Rushkoffs most urgent thoughts on civilization and human nature. In one hundred lean and incisive statements, he argues that we are essentially social creatures, and that we achieve our greatest aspirations when we work togethernot as individuals. Yet today society is threatened by a vast antihuman infrastructure that undermines our ability to connect. Money, once...

"Estrangement from a family member is one of the most painful life experiences. It is devastating not only to the individuals directly involved--collateral damage can extend upward, downward, and across generations, More than 65 million Americans suffer such rifts, yet little guidance exists on how to cope with and overcome them. In this book, Karl Pillemer combines the advice of people who have successfully reconciled with powerful insights from...