|
Welcome to the Portlandia Library!
This section is for
Portlandia members and features those library books that we have available for check-out. A tiltle list is included to the left of your page, and each book is listed below with a brief synopsis.
To check-out a library book, please send an email request to Kathie England at least 24 hours before the monthly luncheon.
Better Together
by Robert Putnam
In Better Together Putnam and coauthor Lewis Feldstein tell the inspiring stories of people who are reweaving the social fabric by bringing their own communities together or building bridges to others.
Better Together examines how people across the country are inventing new forms of social activism and community renewal. An arts program in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, brings together shipyard workers and their gentrified neighbors; a deteriorating, crime-ridden neighborhood in Boston is transformed by a determined group of civic organizers; an online "virtual" community in San Francisco allows its members to connect with each other as well as the larger group; in Wisconsin schoolchildren learn how to participate in the political process to benefit their town. As our society grows increasingly diverse, say Putnam and Feldstein, it's more important than ever to grow "social capital," whether by traditional or more innovative means. The people profiled in Better Together are doing just that, and their stories illustrate the extraordinary power of social networks for enabling people to improve their lives and the lives of those around them.
Bowling Alone
by Robert Putnam
Once we bowled in leagues, usually after work — but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolizes a significant social change that Robert Putnam has identified in this brilliant volume, Bowling Alone, which The Economist hailed as "a prodigious achievement."
Drawing on vast new data that reveal Americans' changing behavior, Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from one another and how social structures — whether they be PTA, church, or political parties — have disintegrated. Until the publication of this groundbreaking work, no one had so deftly diagnosed the harm that these broken bonds have wreaked on our physical and civic health, nor had anyone exalted their fundamental power in creating a society that is happy, healthy, and safe.
Like defining works from the past, such as The Lonely Crowd and The Affluent Society, and like the works of C. Wright Mills and Betty Friedan, Putnam's Bowling Alone has identified a central crisis at theheart of our society and suggests what we can do.
On Becoming Fearless
by Arianna Huffington
What are you afraid of? Being assertive? Looking fat? Getting older? Going broke? Are you afraid for your children? Afraid of losing love? Afraid of leading the charge? Whatever your fear, women everywhere confront the same fears every day. Enter Arianna Huffington, bestselling author, Internet entrepreneur, journalist, mother, and one of the most influential people in America. She believes that conquering fear is crucial to living a full life and to making a difference in the world, and in this powerful and daring manifesto, she inspires us to take on the task.
Huffington is fearless but not by nature; she's had to learn to overcome her fears and relies on these hard-won lessons every day. In her own life and in the lives of women she admires, Huffington has again and again encountered moments of extraordinary strength, courage, and resilience. It is from these moments that On Becoming Fearless is built. Huffington shows us how to be bold from the inside out — from feeling comfortable in our own skin to getting what we want in love and at work to changing the world.
In order to live a happy, fulfilling life, we need to reach the point where our fears do not stop us from daring to think new thoughts, take risks, fail, start again, and, ultimately, succeed. Provocative, empowering, and enriched by the voices of remarkable women everywhere, On Becoming Fearless is the road map to a life without fear — a life of truth, love, and freedom.
Women of Courage
by Katherine Martin
Forty women - including Marianne Williamson, Isabel Allende, Dana Reeve, Anita Roddick, Mary Pipher, Judith Orloff, Salle Merrill Redfield, Barbara DeAngelis, Faith Pocorn, Michele Lee, Barbara Brennan, Rita Dove, Sharon Gless, Sarah Weddington, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, Judy Chicago, Brooke Medicine Eagle - describe life-altering moments in which they had to rely on their own inner resources to conquer challenges and find strength and wisdom.
|
