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Calling bullshit : the art of skepticism in a data-driven world / by Bergstrom, Carl T.,author.; West, Jevin D.(Jevin Darwin),1977-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The world is awash in bullshit, and we're drowning in it. Politicians are unconstrained by facts. Science is conducted by press release. Startup culture elevates bullshit to high art. These days, calling bullshit is a noble act. Based on Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West's popular course at the University of Washington, Calling Bullshit is a modern handbook to the art of skepticism. Bergstrom, a computational biologist, and West, an information scientist, catalogue bullshit in its many forms, explaining and offering readers the tools to see through the obfuscations, deliberate and careless, that dominate every realm of our lives. They instruct readers to ask: Who is saying it? How do they know? What do they have to gain by persuading me? Are the numbers or results too good or too dramatic to be true? Is the claim comparing like with like or apples and oranges? Is it confirming your personal bias? In this lively guide to everything from misleading statistics to "fake news," Bergstrom and West help you recognize bullshit whenever and wherever you encounter it--in data, in conversation, even within yourself--and explain it to your crystal-loving aunt or casually racist uncle. Now more than ever, calling bullshit is crucial to a properly functioning community, whether it be a circle of friends, a network of academics, or the citizenry of a nation"--
Subjects: Skepticism.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The talented Mr. Varg / by McCall Smith, Alexander,1948-author.;
"In the second installment in the best-selling Detective Varg Novels, Ulf and his team investigate a notorious lothario--a wolf of a man whose bad reputation may, much to his chagrin, be all bark and no bite. The Department of Sensitive Crimes, renowned for taking on the most obscure and irrelevant cases, led by Ulf Varg, their best detective, is always prepared to take on an investigation, no matter how complex. So when Ulf is approached by the girlfriend of Trig Oloffson, who claims her beau (the infamous bad boy of Swedish letters) is being blackmailed, Ulf is determined to help. It turns out that this wild bear of a man may be more of a teddy. And while Swedes are notoriously tolerant, finding out that their beloved rough and tumble ink slinger is more likely to use a pen than a sword ... well, there are limits. Even for the Swedish. The case requires all of Ulf's concentration, but he finds himself distracted by his brother's questionable politics and meteoric rise within the Moderate Extremist Party and by his own constant attraction to his married co-worker Anna. When Ulf is then tasked with looking into a group of dealers exporting wolves that seem decidedly domestic, it will require all of his team's investigative instincts and dogged persistence to put these matters to bed"--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Humorous fiction.; Police; Extortion;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 2
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The puzzle box : a novel / by Trussoni, Danielle,author.;
It is the Year of the Wood Dragon, and the ingenious Mike Brink has been invited to Tokyo, Japan, to open the legendary Dragon Box. The box was constructed during one of Japan's most tumultuous periods, when the samurai class was disbanded and the shogun lost power. In this moment of crisis, Emperor Meiji locked a priceless Imperial secret in the Dragon Box. Only two people knew how to open the box--Meiji and the box's sadistic constructor--and both died without telling a soul what was inside or how to open it. Every twelve years since then, in the Year of the Dragon, the Imperial family holds a clandestine contest to open the box. It is devilishly difficult, filled with tricks, booby traps, poisons, and mind-bending twists. Every puzzle master who has attempted to open it has died in the process. But Brink is not just any puzzle master. He may be the only person alive who can crack it. His determination is matched only by that of two sisters, descendants of an illustrious samurai clan, who will stop at nothing to claim the treasure. Brink's quest launches him on a breakneck adventure across Japan, from the Imperial Palace in Tokyo to the pristine forests of Hakone to an ancient cave in Kyushu. In the process, he discovers the power of Meiji's hidden treasure, and--more crucially--the true nature of his extraordinary talent.
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Novels.; Boxes; Man-woman relationships; Puzzles; Quests (Expeditions); Secrecy; Sisters;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Deck the hounds [sound recording] / by Rosenfelt, David,author.; Gardner, Grover,narrator.; Macmillan Audio (Firm),publisher.;
Read by Grover Gardner."Reluctant lawyer Andy Carpenter doesn't usually stop to help others, but seeing a dog next to a homeless man inspires him to give the pair some money to help. It's just Andy's luck that things don't end there. Soon after Andy's encounter with them, man and dog are attacked in the middle of the night on the street. The dog defends its new owner, and the erstwhile attacker is bitten but escapes. But the dog is quarantined and the man, Don Carrigan, is heartbroken. Andy's wife Laurie can't resist helping the duo after learning Andy has met them before ... it's the Christmas season after all. In a matter of days Don and his dog Zoey are living above Andy's garage and become two new additions to the family. It's not until Andy accidentally gives away his guest's name during an interview that things go awry; turns out Don is wanted for a murder that happened two years ago. Don not only claims he's innocent, but that he had no idea that he was wanted for a crime he has no knowledge of in the first place. It's up to Andy to exonerate his new friend, if he doesn't get pulled into the quagmire first. David Rosenfelt's signature wit, charm, and cleverness are back again in this most exciting installment yet"--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Audiobooks.; Carpenter, Andy (Fictitious character); Lawyers; Homeless persons; Murder; Vindication; Dogs; Christmas;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Turbo twenty-three / by Evanovich, Janet,author.;
In the heart of Trenton, N.J., a killer is out to make sure someone gets his just desserts. Larry Virgil skipped out on his latest court date after he was arrested for hijacking an eighteen-wheeler full of premium bourbon. Fortunately for bounty hunter Stephanie Plum, Larry is just stupid enough to attempt almost the exact same crime again. Only this time he flees the scene, leaving behind a freezer truck loaded with Bogart ice cream and a dead body--frozen solid and covered in chocolate and chopped pecans. As fate would have it, Stephanie's mentor and occasional employer, Ranger, needs her to go undercover at the Bogart factory to find out who's putting their employees on ice and sabotaging the business. It's going to be hard for Stephanie to keep her hands off all that ice cream, and even harder for her to keep her hands off Ranger. It's also going to be hard to explain to Trenton's hottest cop, Joe Morelli, why she is spending late nights with Ranger, late nights with Lula and Randy Briggs--who are naked and afraid--and late nights keeping tabs on Grandma Mazur and her new fella. Stephanie Plum has a lot on her plate, but for a girl who claims to have "virtually no marketable skills," these are the kinds of sweet assignments she does best.
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Plum, Stephanie (Fictitious character); Women private investigators; Women detectives; Women bounty hunters; Murder;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 2
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A blood red morning / by Pryor, Mark,1967-author.;
"In this unputdownable WWII series, Paris detective Henri Lefort, must solve a complex case when a man is murdered on the policeman's own doorstep. January 1941: It's cold and still dark when Paris Detective Henri Lefort wakes up to an empty apartment, irritated with his roommate for not even starting the coffee. Irritation turns to suspicion when he starts his walk to work and spots a large blood stain in front of the building. At the office his boss, chief of homicide, is incredulous that Henri didn't hear the gunshot that killed a man right outside his apartment. On the plus side, this means that Henri isn't a witness and can investigate the case. It first appears that the dead man is a nobody - but Henri soon finds out he's a nobody with a classified police file. Henri confronts his bosses and then the Germans, but is stonewalled. So he turns his investigation to the other tenants in his building. Coincidentally, each resident claims ignorance. When Henri learns that the dead man was a German agent, he must face the real possibility that one of his friends and neighbors is a killer. It's his job to find the truth no matter what, but when he does he faces the biggest dilemma of his career - whether in times like these the rules of justice should be, just sometimes, trumped by the rules of war"--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Novels.; Detectives; Murder; Police; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The year of the horses : a memoir / by Maum, Courtney,1978-author.;
Includes bibliographical references."At the age of thirty-seven, Courtney Maum finds herself in an indoor arena in Connecticut, moments away from stepping back into the saddle. For her, this is not just a riding lesson, but a last-ditch attempt to pull herself back from the brink even though riding is a relic from the past she walked away from. She hasn't been on or near a horse in over thirty years. Although Courtney does know what depression looks like, she finds herself refusing to admit, at this point in her life, that it could look like her: a woman with a privileged past, a mortgage, a husband, a healthy child, and a published novel. That she feels sadness is undeniable, but she feels no right to claim it. And when both therapy and medication fail, Courtney returns to her childhood passion of horseback riding as a way to recover the joy and fearlessness she once had access to as a young girl. As she finds her way, once again, through the physical and emotional landscapes of riding, Courtney becomes reacquainted with herself not only as a rider but as a mother, wife, daughter, writer, and woman. Alternating timelines and braided with historical portraits of women and horses alongside history's attempts to tame both parties, The Year of the Horses is an inspiring love letter to the power of animals-and humans-to heal the mind and the heart"--
Subjects: Autobiographies.; Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Maum, Courtney, 1978-; Depression, Mental; Horsemanship; Horsemen and horsewomen; Human-animal relationships.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Wildswept / by Randolph, Octavia,author.;
"Duty versus Desire. The Peace between the Saxons and Danes has collapsed. Viking forces led by the war-lord Haesten strike at will across borders. One more push will destroy Wessex. The Danish warriors settled under the Dane-law are tempted to join with these new invaders, wiping clear the game board as they seek full dominance of Angle-land. Sidroc, having witnessed his son Hrald's victory at Four Stones, undertakes the perilous return to Gotland, a journey shadowed by the spirit of his long-dead uncle Yrling. Before his father's eyes Hrald has won the garrison fortress of Turcesig, but can he keep it? Ceric, the son of Ceridwen, rides with AElfred's ambitious son, Prince Eadward, in their wild pursuit of the invaders. After distinguishing himself in the field Ceric receives a startling order from the King, sending him to Four Stones. There Ashild and her mother AElfwyn contend with the dual claims of duty and desire, and each come face to face with their past - and their future. At Kilton in Wessex the young lord Edwin, just sixteen, is overwhelmed at the challenges before him both as a warrior and as a man. Yet he is unexpectedly entrusted with a secret which could shatter all he holds dear. The fortresses of Kilton and Four Stones. What binds them together now threatens to tear them apart."--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Novels.; Anglo-Saxons; Vikings;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The bear and the nightingale : a novel / by Arden, Katherine,author.;
"At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn't mind--she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse's fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil. After Vasilisa's mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa's new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows. And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa's stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for marriage or confinement in a convent. As danger circles nearer, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed--this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse's most frightening tales."--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Fantasy fiction.; Good and evil; Magic; Spirits; Villages; Young women;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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The sea elephants / by Akella, Shastri,author.;
"For fans of Shuggie Bain and A Burning, a queer coming-of-age novel set in 1990s India, about a young man who joins a traveling theater troupe. Shagun knows he will never be the kind of son his father demands. After the sudden deaths of his beloved twin sisters, Shagun flees his own guilt, his mother's grief, and his father's violent disapproval by enrolling at an all-boys boarding school. But he doesn't find true belonging until he encounters a traveling theater troupe performing the Hindu myths of his childhood. Welcomed by the other storytellers, Shagun thrives, easily embodying mortals and gods, men and women, and living on the road, where his father can't catch him. When Shagun meets Marc, a charming photographer, he seems to have found the love he always longed for, too. But not even Marc can save him from his lingering shame, nor his father's ever-present threat to send him to a conversion center. As Shagun's past begins to engulf him once again, he must decide if he is strong enough to face what he fears most, and to boldly claim his own happiness. Utterly immersive and spellbinding, The Sea Elephants is both dark and beautiful, harrowing and triumphant. An ode to the redemptive joys of art, Shastri Akella's debut novel is a celebration of hard-won love-of others and for ourselves"--
Subjects: Bildungsromans.; Gay fiction.; Novels.; Boarding schools; Fathers and sons; Gay men; Traveling theater;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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