Non-Fiction for Adults

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Biography

BR74485, EB74485 Like a lampshade in a whorehouse: my life in comedy by Phyllis Diller with Richard Buskin. 3 v. of braille. Born to elderly parents in Lima, Ohio, in 1917, Phyllis Ada Driver was blessed with neither beauty nor wealth, and then married a selfish ne'er-do-well (who became the "Fang" in her comic monologues) at 20 and had five children. Nearly 40 when she began her performing career, Diller turned a knack for relentless self-deprecation into a nightclub act. Eventually shedding her dud husband, Diller became a superstar - and the first one to go public about her plastic surgery. Strong language. Some descriptions of sex. Some descriptions of violence. 2006.

BR73910, EB73910 Relative stranger: a life after death by Mary Loudon. 4 v. of braille. The author's quest to find her sister Catherine, a schizophrenic, in Catherine's home, in her last hospital room, her paintings, her letters, her clothes. But in facing the truths about Catherine's life and death, she asks hard questions about sanity, family responsibility, love, and about what it means to say that a life is - or is not - worth living. 2006.

BR73906, EB73906 Of this earth: a Mennonite boyhood in the boreal forest by Rudy Wiebe. 3 v. of braille. Author Wiebe describes the vanished world of Speedwell, Saskatchewan, an isolated, poplar-forested, mostly Mennonite community - and Rudy's first home. Too young to do heavy work, Rudy witnessed a way of life that was soon to disappear, including clearing the stony land and digging wells, and remembers sorrow at the death of a beloved sister and the sweet discovery of the power of reading. Some descriptions of sex and some strong language. 2006.

Cookbooks

BR74750 Cooking with feeling and other useful senses: adaptive culinary techniques for the visually impaired by Deborah DeBord. 5 v. of braille. Deborah DeBord, an experienced blind cook, shares and describes 180 adaptive culinary techniques for the visually impaired. Contains original recipes and recipes donated by some of America's outstanding chefs and restaurateurs. 1998.

BR74749 Chicken, Turkey, Beef, Pork Recipes from Fix-it and forget-it 5-ingredient favorites: comforting slow-cooker recipes by Phyllis Pellman Good. 4 v. of press braille. With 359 slow cooker recipes for chicken, turkey, pork and beef main dishes, this cookbook offers convenience and comfort to anyone faced with a too-full life and hungry people to feed. Includes recipes for cranberry chicken and maple-glazed turkey, beef Stroganoff, and ham and cheese casserole. 2007.

Disabilities

BR74024, EB74024 To the left of inspiration: adventures in living with disabilities by Katherine Schneider. 2 v. of braille. Millions of North Americans have chronic illnesses or disabilities requiring them to make accommodations in their lives. The author, a psychologist who has been blind since birth, hopes to help this adjustment with her own humorous life stories, as well as provide understanding of what life is really like for those with disabilities. 2006.

BR73746, EB73746 The judgment of Paris: the revolutionary decade that gave the world Impressionism by Ross King. 8 v. of braille. The author of "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling" traces the rivalry of two French artists of opposing schools during a time of social and political upheaval. Describes events occurring between 1863 and 1874 as world-renowned Ernest Meissonier and upstart �douard Manet vied for exhibition space and fame. 2006.

Food

BR74755 Wine basics for dummies by Ed McCarthy. 2 v. of braille. If you've ever been overwhelmed in a wine shop, or confronted with a wine list, fret no more! With this book at your fingertips, you no longer have to worry about selecting, storing, and serving a great bottle of wine. Discover hot to understand wine styles, navigate a wine list, and match wine with food. Chock full of tips, this guide will give you the confidence to really enjoy all or any aspects of wine. In no time at all, you'll be a true expert! 2005. (For dummies)

General non-fiction

BR74580, EB74580 The gatekeepers: inside the admissions process of a premier college by Jacques Steinberg. 4 v. of braille. In the fall of 1999, New York Times education reporter Jacques Steinberg was given the opportunity to observe the admissions process at prestigious Wesleyan University. Over the course of nearly a year, Steinberg accompanied admissions officer Ralph Figueroa on a tour to assess and recruit the most promising students in the country. The Gatekeepers follows a diverse group of prospective students as they compete for places in the nation's most elite colleges. 2002.

Health

BR73706, EB73706 Healing with whole foods: Asian traditions and modern nutrition : third edition by Paul Pitchford. 19 v. of braille. A guide to the theory and practice of Chinese medicine. With facts about green foods such as spirulina and blue-green algae and information about the "regeneration diets" used by cancer patients and arthritics, it is also an accessible primer on nutrition. Includes more than 300 mostly vegetarian, nutrient-packed recipes. 2002.

BR74405, EB74405 The land newly found: eyewitness accounts of the Canadian immigrant experience by Norman Hillmer, J.L. Granatstein. 7 v. of braille. A collection of first-hand accounts from the frontiers of Canadian immigration history, drawn from letters, newspapers, and reportage, and ranging from the 18th century to the present. They reveal the hardships and heartbreak, hard work and happiness of people beginning their lives anew, from war brides and home children to refugees and boat people. Also looks at the politicians, policy-makers, and public who witnessed their arrival. 2006.

BR73652, EB73652 Ghost empire: how the French almost conquered North America by Philip Marchand. 6 v. of braille. French North America, a country that might have been but never materialized, inspired Marchand to seek its traces, using the explorations of La Salle in the 1680s as a guide. He writes a regular travelogue to a dozen-plus sites of French colonial forts and settlements, then adds in reflections of habitant culture, its Catholicism and its relations with Indians. Marchand also includes his own ruminations on his Catholic faith and his reconnection with his French Canadian ancestry. Some descriptions of sex, explicit descriptions of violence, and some strong language. 2005.

BR74751 It's not on the keyboard!: typing special characters and foreign languages in Word by Anna Dresner. 1 v. of braille. Accents, the copyright symbol, alphabets such as Cyrillic - if you use a screen reader or braille display and need to type characters that aren't on the standard keyboard, this booklet will help! The author covers working in a foreign language, typing special characters, making shortcut keys for symbols and many tips that make typing easy. 2008.

BR74752 A pocketful of sound: a quick-start and buyer's guide to accessible book and music players by Anna Dresner. 2 v. of braille. Anna Dresner describes and compares many of the most popular accessible music and book players, including the Zen Stone; iPods; players running Rockbox; the Olympus DS-30, Ds-40, and DS-50; the Victor Stream; the Icon; and many others. She uses the same checklist for each product, so you can quickly compare their features. You'll learn how to get the most out of your player with detailed descriptions, basic instructions for use, and tips for power users. 2008.

BR74376, EB74376 The lonely patient: how we experience illness by Michael Stein. 2 v. of braille. Despite years of medical training and practice, only when his brother-in-law Richard was diagnosed with a rare cancer did internist Stein contemplate the psychological effects of illness. During the next eight years, as Richard fought a losing battle, Stein witnessed how he and other patients dealt with chronic and terminal illnesses and how caretakers and loved ones were affected. He compares it to living in a strange, new place in which one experiences four emotional stages: betrayal, terror, loss, and loneliness. 2007.

Personal finance

BR74753 Real U guide to bank accounts & credit cards by Ilyce R Glink. 1 v. of braille. This "Real U Guide" has everything you need to know to open your first checking account, apply for your first credit cards, and handle both so that there's still some money left in your wallet at the end of the month. Specially adapted for visually-impaired readers, it starts with the basics: credit cards, debit cards, monthly statements, interest rates and then covers blindness specific issues like accessible ATMs and statements, and the best personal finance software. c2004. (Real U guides)

BR73954, EB73954 Late wife: poems by Claudia Emerson. 1 v. of braille. A woman explores her disappearance from one life and reappearance in another as she addresses her former husband, herself, and her new husband in a series of epistolary poems. Though not satisfied in her first marriage, she laments vanishing from the life she and her husband shared for years. She then describes the unexpected joys of solitude during her recovery and emotional convalescence. Finally, in a sequence of sonnets, she speaks to her new husband, whose first wife died from lung cancer. Pulitzer Prize winner for poetry. 2005.

Science

BR73547, EB73547 The alchemy of love and lust: discovering our sex hormones and how they determine who we love, when we love, and how often we love by Theresa L. Crenshaw. 6 v. of braille. Identifies the role our hormones play in the different sexual stages, exploring the age-old concept of chemistry between the sexes and how hormones can determine the course of human relationships. Functions as both an encyclopedia of our attachment-related hormones, telling us exactly what they are and exactly what modern science thinks they do, and a guide to what we can do to get them to keep functioning the way we want them to. Descriptions of sex. 1996.

Social problems

BR74258, EB74258 28: stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolen. 5 v. of braille. Stories of Africans and AIDS, including Andualam Ayalew, a commando who was kicked out of the army after testing positive for HIV, but came back to teach his former comrades about using condoms, and Agnes Munyiva, a prostitute for 30 years, who does not have HIV. Her natural immunity has brought doctors and researchers from all over the world to study her. 28 stories symbolize the estimated 28 million HIV-infected people in Africa. Some descriptions of sex. Some descriptions of violence. Some strong language. 2007.

War

BR74038, EB74038 For honour's sake: the War of 1812 and the brokering of an uneasy peace by Mark Zuehlke. 6 v. of braille. In the Canadian imagination, the War of 1812 looms large: it was a war in which British and Indian troops prevailed in almost all of the battles, Americans were unable to hold any of the land they fought for, and Canadians burned down the White House. Competing American claims insist that it was they who were triumphant. The truth lies somewhere in the middle, as revealed in this look at the war's major battles and the dramatic negotiations in Ghent that brought it to an unsatisfactory end for both sides. Some descriptions of violence. c2006.

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