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The stick: a history, a celebration, an elegy
By Bruce Dowbiggin. 2001
Consider the London schoolteacher whose basement is a treasure trove of old sticks, the Calgary handyman who turns broken ones…
into children's furniture, or the NHL owner whose rec room floor is made of hockey sticks. The hockey stick, from the earliest ones carved from tree-roots by the Mi'kmaqs of Nova Scotia to today's scientifically precise models, is an iconic symbol of the place that gave it birth, a tangible bit of Canadian culture, a link to Canada's past. Dowbiggin introduces us to the people and legends of the distinctly Canadian stick. 2001.The physics of hockey
By Alain Haché. 2002
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to play hockey, but consider this: the same universal principles that sent…
men to the moon also go into launching a slapshot, crashing into the boards, accelerating across the blue line, or cutting down a shooter's angle. The author, a physicist, explores and explains the science behind the game, including how a sharpened blade glides on ice, or why Bobby Hull's slapshot zipped through the atmosphere so much faster than his modern counterparts' did. Haché even includes explanations on how a Zamboni works. 2002.The milk lady of Bangalore: an unexpected adventure
By Shoba Narayan. 2018
When Shoba Narayan, a writer and cookbook author who had lived for years in Manhattan, moves back to Bangalore with…
her family, she befriends the milk lady, from whom she buys fresh milk every day. These two women from very different backgrounds bond over not only cows, considered holy in India, but also family, food, and life. After Narayan agrees to buy her milk lady a new cow (she needs one and Narayan can afford it, so why not?), they set off looking for just the right cow. What was at first a simple economic transaction becomes something much more complicated, though never without a hint of slapstick. 2018.Getting a life: the social worlds of geek culture
By Benjamin Woo. 2018
Comic book superheroes, fantasy kingdoms, and futuristic starships have become inescapable features of today’s pop-culture landscape, and the people we…
used to deride as “nerds” or “geeks” have ridden their popularity and visibility to mainstream recognition. Yet these conventionalized representations of geek culture typically ignore the real people who have invested time and resources to make it what it is. Woo recentres our understanding of geek culture on the everyday lives of its participants, drawing on fieldwork in comic book shops, game stores, and conventions. He shows how geek culture is a set of interconnected social practices that are associated with popular media and argues that typical depictions of mass-mediated entertainment as something that isolates and pacifies its audiences are flawed because they do not account for the conversations, relationships, communities, and identities that are created by engaging with the products of mass culture. 2018. "What is a nerd?" -- Talk nerdy to me: the meaning of geek culture -- Taking geek culture seriously: a practice-theoretic account -- Values and virtues: what is best in life? -- Careers: boldly going on -- Making communities from mass culture -- Institutions: building worlds between production and consumption -- The limits of participation -- The geek, the bad, and the ugly --The last whalers: three years in the far Pacific with a courageous tribe and a vanishing way of life
By Doug Bock Clark. 2019
Journalist Doug Bock Clark tells the stunning inside story of the Lamalerans, an ancient tribe of 1,500 hunter-gatherers who live…
on a volcanic island so remote it is known by other Indonesians as "The Land Left Behind." They have survived for centuries by taking whales with bamboo harpoons, but now are being pushed toward collapse by the encroachment of the modern world. 2019.Young Leafs: the making of a new hockey history
By Gare Joyce. 2017
Auston Matthews made history on October 12, 2016 by becoming the first player in the modern game to score four…
goals in his NHL debut. It was a momentous occasion for the talented young All-Star, but it was equally important for his newly adopted city and its storied, century-old team. That night marked the dawn of a new era for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team had a long and colourful history, and it had always been foundational to the city's image. But years of losing seasons had tarnished the team's reputation and left even the most diehard fans questioning their loyalty. It seemed that each passing year brought more of the same: more mediocrity, more heartbreak, more disappointment. But the team's management had a plan, one that would take them where others feared to go: a total rebuild. Piece by piece, they were assembling a group of young, talented players who would reshape the team. 2017.Les Canadiens, de 1910 à nos jours
By Allan Turowetz, Chrys Goyens, Jean Prévost, Dominique Boucher, Sylvie Robert. 1986
The flakes of winter
By Stan Fischler. 1992
Road games: a year in the life of the NHL
By Roy MacGregor. 1993
Journalist MacGregor covered the 1992-93 NHL season for "The Ottawa Citizen." The season turned out to be one of the…
NHL's most controversial. MacGregor covers Alan Eagleson's legal troubles and allegations that the Ottawa Senators deliberately "tanked it" to secure the first pick in the 1993 draft. It was also the season that saw the rise of European stars like Teemu Selanne and Pavel Bure, and when Mario Lemieux fought back from Hodgkin's disease to win the scoring title. Some strong language. 1993.Hockey fight in Canada: the big media faceoff over the NHL
By David Shoalts. 2018
In late 2013, Canadians were intrigued to learn the NHL chose Rogers as its exclusive national broadcaster over both CBC…
and Rogers'̉ bitter rival, Bell Canada. The decision was met with equal parts fascination, shock and anger. When CBC rank-and-file employees came to believe their leaders missed a chance to hold on to at least a part of Hockey Night in Canada, a move that could have saved some of their jobs, their disappointment turned to outrage. This is also a story of great irony, as the win also proved to be costly for the victor in the first years. 2018.The making of home: the 500-year story of how our houses became our homes
By Judith Flanders. 2014
Flanders traces the evolution of the house from the sixteenth to the early twentieth century across northern Europe and America,…
showing how the homes we know today bear only a faint resemblance to homes though history. What turned a house into a home? Why did northwestern Europe, a politically unimportant, sociologically underdeveloped region of the world, suddenly became the powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution, the capitalist crucible that created modernity? While investigating these important questions, Flanders uncovers the fascinating development of ordinary household items--from cutlery, chairs and curtains, to fitted kitchens, plumbing and windows--while also dismantling many domestic myths.JAY-Z: Made in America
By Michael Eric Dyson. 2019
"If you want the definitive treatment of a man who took it from Marcy Projects to the White House with…
wit, wisdom, and talent, and changed hip hop along the way, look no further than this insightful, brilliant and moving book." -Common JAY-Z is America at its scrappy, brash, irreverent, soulful, ingenious best: as transcendent a cultural icon as Frank Sinatra, as adventurous a self-made billionaire as Mark Zuckerberg, as gifted a poet as Walt Whitman. As he reaches the half-century mark, logs thirty years as a recording artist, becomes the genre's first billionaire, reigns as an elder statesman in a field teeming with artists half his age, and continues to make relevant rap records that chart-and that chart an artistic and political response to revived racism and renewed hostility to blackness-it is an auspicious time to examine JAY-Z's ideas, gifts and impact, to take measure of his stride as a cultural colossus. And there is no one better suited to the task than Michael Eric Dyson, who has investigated and championed hip hop, and the work of JAY-Z, as a critical American art form, for decades.Love Thy Neighbor
By Ayaz Virji. 2019
A powerful true story about a Muslim doctor's service to small-town America and the hope of overcoming our country's climate…
of hostility and fear. In 2013, Ayaz Virji left a comfortable job at an East Coast hospital and moved to a town of 1,400 in Minnesota, feeling called to address the shortage of doctors in rural America. But in 2016, this decision was tested when the reliably blue, working-class county swung for Donald Trump. Virji watched in horror as his children faced anti-Muslim remarks at school and some of his most loyal patients began questioning whether he belonged in the community. Virji wanted out. But in 2017, just as he was lining up a job in Dubai, a local pastor invited him to speak at her church and address misconceptions about what Muslims practice and believe. That invitation has grown into a well-attended lecture series that has changed hearts and minds across the state, while giving Virji a new vocation that he never would have expected. In Love Thy Neighbor, Virji relates this story in a gripping, unforgettable narrative that shows the human consequences of our toxic politics, the power of faith and personal conviction, and the potential for a renewal of understanding in America's heartland.Monsieur Mediocre: One Man's Journey to Becoming Real French
By John Von Sothen. 2019
A hilarious, candid account of what life in France is actually like, from a writer for Vanity Fair and GQ…
Americans love to love Paris. We buy books about how the French parent, why French women don't get fat, and how to be Parisian wherever you are. While our work hours increase every year, we think longingly of the six weeks of vacation the French enjoy, imagining them at the seaside in stripes with plates of fruits de mer. John von Sothen fell in love with Paris through the stories his mother told of her year spent there as a student. And then, after falling for and marrying a French waitress he met in New York, von Sothen moved to Paris. But fifteen years in, he's finally ready to admit his mother's Paris is mostly a fantasy. In this hilarious and delightful collection of essays, von Sothen walks us through real life in Paris-not only myth-busting our Parisian daydreams but also revealing the inimitable and too often invisible pleasures of family life abroad. Relentlessly funny and full of incisive observations, Monsieur Mediocre is ultimately a love letter to France-to its absurdities, its history, its ideals-but it's a very French love letter: frank, smoky, unsentimental. It is a clear-eyed ode to a beautiful, complex, contradictory country from someone who both eagerly and grudgingly calls it home.Problem with Everything: My Journey Through the New Culture Wars
By Meghan Daum. 2019
From "one of the most emotionally exacting, mercilessly candid, deeply funny, and intellectually rigorous writers of our time" (Cheryl Strayed,…
author of Wild) comes a seminal new book that reaches surprising truths about feminism, the Trump era, and the Resistance movement. You won't be able to stop thinking about it and talking about it. In the fall of 2016, acclaimed author Meghan Daum began working on a book about the excesses of contemporary feminism. With Hillary Clinton soon to be elected, she figured even the most fiercely liberal of her friends and readers could take the criticisms in stride. But after the election, she knew she needed to do more, and her nearly completed manuscript went in the trash. What came out in its place is the most sharply-observed, all-encompassing, and unputdownable book of her career. In this gripping new work, Meghan examines our country's most intractable problems with clear-eyed honesty instead of exaggerated outrage. With passion, humor, and most importantly nuance, she tries to make sense of the current landscape-from Donald Trump's presidency to the #MeToo movement and beyond. In the process, she wades into the waters of identity politics and intersectionality, thinks deeply about the gender wage gap, and tests a theory about the divide between Gen Xers and millennials. This signature work may well be the first book to capture the essence of this era in all its nuances and contradictions. No matter where you stand on its issues, this book will strike a chord.The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini
By Joe Posnanski. 2019
Award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Joe Posnanski enters the world of Harry Houdini and his legions of…
devoted fans in an immersive, entertaining, and magical work on the illusionist's impact on American culture-and why his legacy endures to this day. Harry Houdini. Say his name and a number of things come to mind. Escapes. Illusions. Magic. Chains. Safes. Live burials. Close to a century after his death, nearly every person in America knows his name from a young age, capturing their imaginations with his death-defying stunts and daring acts. He inspired countless people, from all walks of life, to find something magical within themselves. This is a book about a man and his extraordinary life, but it is also about the people who he has inspired in death. As Joe Posnanski delves into the deepest corners of Houdini-land, visiting museums (one owned by David Copperfield), attractions, and private archives, he encounters a cast of unforgettable and fascinating characters: a woman who runs away from home to chase her dream of becoming a magician; an Italian who revives Houdini's most famous illusion every night; a performer at the Magic Castle in Los Angeles who calls himself Houdini's Ghost; a young boy in Australia who, one day, sees an old poster and feels his life change; and a man in Los Angeles whose sole mission is life has been to keep the legend's name alive. Both a personal obsession and an odyssey of discovery, Posnanski draws inspiration from his lifelong passion for and obsession with magic, blending biography, memoir, and first-person reporting to examine Harry Houdini's life and legacy. This is the ultimate journey to uncover why this magic man endures, and what he still has to teach the world about wonder.Wolfpack
By Abby Wambach. 2019
"Abby is a relatable revolutionary-with WOLFPACK, she inspires the confidence, leadership and sisterhood we all so desperately need right now."-Amy…
Schumer This program is read by the author. Based on her inspiring, viral 2018 commencement speech to Barnard College's graduates in New York City, New York Times bestselling author, two-time Olympic gold medalist and FIFA World Cup champion Abby Wambach delivers her empowering rally cry for women to unleash their individual power, unite with their pack, and emerge victorious together. Abby Wambach became a champion because of her incredible talent as a soccer player. She became an icon because of her remarkable wisdom as a leader. As the co-captain of the 2015 Women's World Cup Champion Team, she created a culture not just of excellence, but of honor, commitment, resilience, and sisterhood. She helped transform a group of individual women into one of the most successful, powerful and united Wolfpacks of all time. In her retirement, Abby's ready to do the same for her new team: All Women Everywhere. In WOLFPACK, Abby's message to women is: We have never been Little Red Riding Hood. We Are the Wolves. We must wander off the path and blaze a new one: together. She insists that women must let go of old rules of leadership that neither include or serve them. She's created a new set of Wolfpack rules to help women unleash their individual power, unite with their Wolfpack, and change the landscape of their lives and world: from the family room to the board room to the White House. - Make failure your fuel: Transform failure to wisdom and power. - Lead from the bench: Lead from wherever you are. - Champion each other: Claim each woman's victory as your own. - Demand the effing ball: Don't ask permission: take what you've earned. In Abby's vision, we are not Little Red Riding Hoods, staying on the path because we're told to. We are the wolves, fighting for a better tomorrow for ourselves, our pack, and all the future wolves who will come after us. More praise for WOLFPACK: "WOLFPACK is a must-read for all of us determined to teach our kids there are no limits. It's a manifesto for everyone trying to lead-whether it's a team, a company, a family, or a meaningful life."-Serena Williams "I would follow Abby Wambach into any battlefield. I would follow her not because she is a bold leader (although she is one), but because she leads from BESIDE women, not from AHEAD of us...Abby Wambach is what the next level of women's revolution will look like, and I'm DOWN."-Elizabeth Gilbert, bestselling author of Eat, Pray, LoveWhite Negroes: When Cornrows Were in Vogue ... and Other Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation
By Lauren Michele Jackson. 2019
Explores how trends started in black communities are co-opted then turned into white profit and how this appropriation continues to…
uphold economic, political, and social inequality. In White Negroes, cultural commentator, essayist, and scholar Lauren Michele Jackson explores trends started in Black communities that have caught on and become cool, hugely popular and lucrative, but that exclude Black communities once mainstream audiences and mainstream dollars latch on. The consequences of this phenomenon can be easy to miss, as it is so ingrained in our consumer habits. Yet over and over, Black intellectual property is converted into white profit - one hashtag, hair style, music genre, and dance move at a time. This, Jackson argues, plays a role in keeping Black people from achieving economic, political, and social equity. Weaving together media scholarship and cultural critique, Jackson re-situates cultural appropriation as more than just a new buzzword. It is, she contends, simply another chapter in the long history of whiteness thriving at the expense, stolen labor and ingenuity of Black people. Further, her interrogation and exposure of the interracial antagonism resting on the other side of appropriation unravels behavior that feels normal only because it is common. Piercing, audacious, and bursting with pop-culture touchstones, White Negroes introduces a bold new voice in Jackson. Her debut is both a love letter to the creativity of Black folks and an urgent call for more thoughtful consumption by those who consider themselves "allies."Nine Lessons I Learned from My Father
By Murray Howe. 2019
A GLOBE AND MAIL BESTSELLER As a child, Murray Howe wanted to be like his father. He was an adult…
before he realized that didn't necessarily mean playing hockey. Gordie Howe may have been the greatest player in the history of hockey, but greatness was never defined by goals or assists in the Howe household. Greatness meant being the best person you could be, not the best player on the ice. Unlike his two brother, Murray Howe failed in his attempt to follow in his father's footsteps to become a professional athlete. Yet his failure brought him to the realization that his dream wasn't really to be a pro hockey player. His dream was to be his father. To be amazing at something, but humble and gracious. To be courageous, and stand up for the little guy. To be a hero. You don't need to be a hockey player to do that. What he learned was that it was a waste of time wishing you were like someone else. When Gordie Howe passed away in 2016, it was Murray who was asked to deliver the eulogy. Nine Lessons I Learned from My Father takes the reader through the hours Murray spent writing the words that would give shape to his father's leagcy-the hours immediately after his hero's death, as he gathers his thoughts and memories, and makes sense of what his remarkable father meant to him. The result is nine pieces of wisdom, built out of hundreds of stories, that show us the man behind the legend and give us a glimpse of what we can learn from this incredible life.Born into It: a fan's life /
By Jay. Baruchel. 2018
It's no secret that Jay Baruchel is a die-hard fan of the Montreal Canadiens. He talks about the team at…
every opportunity, wears their gear proudly in interviews and on the street, appeared in a series of videos promoting the team, and was once named honorary captain by owner Geoff Molson and Habs tough guy Chris Nilan. As he has said publicly, "I was raised both Catholic and Jewish, but really more than anything just a Habs fan." Baruchel's lifelong memories as a Canadiens' fan explode on the page in a collection of hilarious, heartfelt and nostalgic stories that draw on his childhood experiences as a homer living in Montreal and the enemy living in the Maple Leaf stronghold of Oshawa, Ontario. Knuckles drawn, and with the rouge, bleu et blanc emblazoned on just about every piece of clothing he owns, Baruchel shares all. Bestseller. 2018.