Reader's Corner: Psychology & Sociology
Looking for a good book to read but don't know where to start? This guide covers popular, award-winning, and just plain great nonfiction and fiction genres and books.
Staff Picks
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by
The author of the widely praised Wordslut analyzes the social science of cult influence: how cultish groups from Jonestown and Scientology to SoulCycle and social media gurus use language as the ultimate form of power. What makes "cults" so intriguing and frightening What makes them powerful The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we're looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join--and more importantly, stay in--extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me Amanda Montell's argument is that, on some level, it already has . . . Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of "brainwashing." But the true answer has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. In Cultish, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear--and are influenced by--every single day. Through juicy storytelling and cutting original research, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities "cultish," revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven's Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. Incisive and darkly funny, this enrapturing take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of "cultish" everywhere.
Call Number: P301.5.P75 M66 2021Publication Date: 2021-06-15
Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City by
"Destined to become one of the classics of the genre" (Newsweek), the riveting, unforgettable story of a girl whose indomitable spirit is tested by homelessness, poverty, and racism in an unequal America--from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Andrea Elliott of The New York Times LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH AWARD *ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times * ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, NPR, Library Journal Invisible Child follows eight dramatic years in the life of a girl whose imagination is as soaring as the skyscrapers near her Brooklyn shelter. Dasani was named after the bottled water that signaled Brooklyn's gentrification and the shared aspirations of a divided city. In this sweeping narrative, Elliott weaves the story of Dasani's childhood with the history of her family, tracing the passage of their ancestors from slavery to the Great Migration north. As Dasani comes of age, the homeless crisis in New York City has exploded amid the deepening chasm between rich and poor. Dasani must guide her siblings through a city riddled by hunger, violence, drug addiction, homelessness, and the monitoring of child protection services. Out on the street, Dasani becomes a fierce fighter to protect the ones she loves. When she finally escapes city life to enroll in a boarding school, she faces an impossible question: What if leaving poverty means abandoning your family, and yourself? By turns heartbreaking and inspiring, Invisible Child tells an astonishing story about the power of resilience, the importance of family, and the cost of inequality. Based on nearly a decade of reporting, Invisible Child illuminates some of the most critical issues in contemporary America through the life of one remarkable girl.
Call Number: HV4506.N6 E45 2021Publication Date: 2021-10-05
Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * In her latest book, Brené Brown writes, "If we want to find the way back to ourselves and one another, we need language and the grounded confidence to both tell our stories and be stewards of the stories that we hear. This is the framework for meaningful connection." In Atlas of the Heart, Brown takes us on a journey through eighty-seven of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and an actionable framework for meaningful connection, she gives us the language and tools to access a universe of new choices and second chances--a universe where we can share and steward the stories of our bravest and most heartbreaking moments with one another in a way that builds connection. Over the past two decades, Brown's extensive research into the experiences that make us who we are has shaped the cultural conversation and helped define what it means to be courageous with our lives. Atlas of the Heart draws on this research, as well as on Brown's singular skills as a storyteller, to show us how accurately naming an experience doesn't give the experience more power--it gives us the power of understanding, meaning, and choice. Brown shares, "I want this book to be an atlas for all of us, because I believe that, with an adventurous heart and the right maps, we can travel anywhere and never fear losing ourselves."
Call Number: BF637.S4 B794 2021Publication Date: 2021-11-30
What Happened to You?: Concersations on Trauma, Resilence, and Healing by
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Our earliest experiences shape our lives far down the road, and What Happened to You? provides powerful scientific and emotional insights into the behavioral patterns so many of us struggle to understand. "Through this lens we can build a renewed sense of personal self-worth and ultimately recalibrate our responses to circumstances, situations, and relationships. It is, in other words, the key to reshaping our very lives."--Oprah Winfrey This book is going to change the way you see your life. Have you ever wondered "Why did I do that?" or "Why can't I just control my behavior?" Others may judge our reactions and think, "What's wrong with that person?" When questioning our emotions, it's easy to place the blame on ourselves; holding ourselves and those around us to an impossible standard. It's time we started asking a different question. Through deeply personal conversations, Oprah Winfrey and renowned brain and trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry offer a groundbreaking and profound shift from asking "What's wrong with you?" to "What happened to you?" Here, Winfrey shares stories from her own past, understanding through experience the vulnerability that comes from facing trauma and adversity at a young age. In conversation throughout the book, she and Dr. Perry focus on understanding people, behavior, and ourselves. It's a subtle but profound shift in our approach to trauma, and it's one that allows us to understand our pasts in order to clear a path to our future--opening the door to resilience and healing in a proven, powerful way.
Call Number: RC552.T7 P47 2021Publication Date: 2021-04-27
Dirty Work: Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Equality in America by
A groundbreaking, urgent report from the front lines of "dirty work"--the work that society considers essential but morally compromised Drone pilots who carry out targeted assassinations. Undocumented immigrants who man the "kill floors" of industrial slaughterhouses. Guards who patrol the wards of the United States' most violent and abusive prisons. In Dirty Work, Eyal Press offers a paradigm-shifting view of the moral landscape of contemporary America through the stories of people who perform society's most ethically troubling jobs. As Press shows, we are increasingly shielded and distanced from an array of morally questionable activities that other, less privileged people perform in our name. The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn unprecedented attention to essential workers, and to the health and safety risks to which workers in prisons and slaughterhouses are exposed. But Dirty Work examines a less familiar set of occupational hazards: psychological and emotional hardships such as stigma, shame, PTSD, and moral injury. These burdens fall disproportionately on low-income workers, undocumented immigrants, women, and people of color. Illuminating the moving, sometimes harrowing stories of the people doing society's dirty work, and incisively examining the structures of power and complicity that shape their lives, Press reveals fundamental truths about the moral dimensions of work and the hidden costs of inequality in America.
Call Number: HM821 .P668 2021Publication Date: 2021-08-17
My Body by
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "My Body offers a lucid examination of the mirrors in which its author has seen herself, and her indoctrination into the cult of beauty as defined by powerful men. In its more transcendent passages . . . the author steps beyond the reach of any 'Pygmalion' and becomes a more dangerous kind of beautiful. She becomes a kind of god in her own right: an artist." --Melissa Febos, The New York Times Book Review A "MOST ANTICIPATED" AND "BEST OF FALL 2021" BOOK FOR * VOGUE * TIME * ESQUIRE * PEOPLE * USA TODAY * CHICAGO TRIBUNE * LOS ANGELES TIMES * SHONDALAND * ALMA * THRILLEST * NYLON * FORTUNE A deeply honest investigation of what it means to be a woman and a commodity from Emily Ratajkowski, the archetypal, multi-hyphenate celebrity of our time Emily Ratajkowski is an acclaimed model and actress, an engaged political progressive, a formidable entrepreneur, a global social media phenomenon, and now, a writer. Rocketing to world fame at age twenty-one, Ratajkowski sparked both praise and furor with the provocative display of her body as an unapologetic statement of feminist empowerment. The subsequent evolution in her thinking about our culture's commodification of women is the subject of this book. My Body is a profoundly personal exploration of feminism, sexuality, and power, of men's treatment of women and women's rationalizations for accepting that treatment. These essays chronicle moments from Ratajkowski's life while investigating the culture's fetishization of girls and female beauty, its obsession with and contempt for women's sexuality, the perverse dynamics of the fashion and film industries, and the gray area between consent and abuse. Nuanced, fierce, and incisive, My Body marks the debut of a writer brimming with courage and intelligence.
Call Number: HQ1150 .R38 2021Publication Date: 2021-11-09
Psychology & Sociology Booklists in the BPL Online Catalog
- Psych: Popular Non-FictionPopular Non-Fiction books involving the study of psychology.
- Finding Happiness & Peace: 15 Self Help Titles to Brighten Your lifeFor most people the key to happiness seems to be an elusive dream. However, these books can help you find balance in your life, which in turn, will bring peace and happiness within yourself. Borrow one of these books today and find the happiness you crave.
- Changing Your Habits: 16 Books to Help You Improve Your lifeHabits define who we are and sometimes, when they're the right habits, they can help us become better people, whether it's cutting down on alcohol, remembering to floss your teeth, clearing your clutter, eating right, or jump starting your career. Check out one of these books today and improve your habits!
- Introverted: 14 Books For Those Who Prefer a Quiet WorldAre you an introvert struggling to survive in an extrovert world? These books will help you shine as an introvert, whether it's at work, school, church, or home. Borrow one today and learn what it really means to be a quiet individual.
- Work It: 13 Motivational Books to Improve Your Life and CareerLearn new skills, be more productive, and become an empowered leader with these engaging end of summer reads. Whether you're returning to the office or the classroom, this list of business memoirs, career guides, and inspirational books will jumpstart your motivation so you can start fall off on the right foot!
- Don't Worry, Be HappyWant to be happy, or at least slightly less miserable? Check out these suggestions on how to be happy. Release the power of happiness in you!
- Sex and Relationships: 14 Nonfiction TitlesWhether you're just starting out on the relationship path or are neck deep in marriage, these titles can help you figure things out from consent, boundaries, and good communication to revitalizing your sex life and discovering polyamory.
- Books on Mental HealthIn this booklist you will find general books about the mental health field as well as books about specific illnesses such as: Addiction, Antisocial Personality DIsorder, Anxiety, Autism spectrum disorders, Bipolar Disease, Borderline Personality Disorder, Depression, Eating Disorders, Multiple Personality Disorder, Munchausen Syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Schizophrenia. Included in this list are both general non-fiction works, memoirs, and fiction novels.
- Aspie Superpowers : Books about Aspergers and other Autism Spectrum DisordersThis is a list of books and other materials that discuss autism and autism-related conditions. The focus is on what they entail and ways to address issues in everyday life as well as the unique experiences of those "living on the spectrum." List curated by Katie Devine, Research Librarian.
- Human Rights Reading List"To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity"- Nelson Mandela. View this list for books involving injustice or inhumane acts across the globe and in history.
- Planning for Community: Urban Design in the 21st CenturyAs more and more people move into cities, architects, urban designers, and town planners are looking at ways to design cities that make them attractive to live in, foster a sense of community among residents, and are sustainable. To learn more about both past and present theories, issues, and projects in urban development, check out some titles from the list below.