Library Displays & Special Days

The Exquisite Machine by Sian E. Harding How science is opening up the mysteries of the heart, revealing the poetry in motion within the machine. Your heart is a miracle in motion, a marvel of construction unsurpassed by any human-made creation. It beats 100,000 times every day-if you were to live to 100, that would be more than 3 billion beats across your lifespan. Despite decades of effort in labs all over the world, we have not yet been able to replicate the heart's perfect engineering. But, as Sian Harding shows us in The Exquisite Machine, new scientific developments are opening up the mysteries of the heart. And this explosion of new science-ultrafast imaging, gene editing, stem cells, artificial intelligence, and advanced sub-light microscopy-has crucial, real-world consequences for health and well-being. Harding-a world leader in cardiac research-explores the relation between the emotions and heart function, reporting that the heart not only responds to our emotions, it creates them as well. The condition known as Broken Heart Syndrome, for example, is a real disorder than can follow bereavement or stress. The Exquisite Machine describes the evolutionary forces that have shaped the heart's response to damage, the astonishing rejuvenating power of stem cells, how we can avoid heart disease, and why it can be so hard to repair a damaged heart. It tells the stories of patients who have had the devastating experiences of a heart attack, chaotic heart rhythms, or stress-induced acute heart failure. And it describes how cutting-edge technologies are enabling experiments and clinical trials that will lead us to new solutions to the worldwide scourge of heart disease.

Broken Hearts by David S. Jones A history illustrating the complexity of medical decision making and risk. Still the leading cause of death worldwide, heart disease challenges researchers, clinicians, and patients alike. Each day, thousands of patients and their doctors make decisions about coronary angioplasty and bypass surgery. In Broken Hearts David S. Jones sheds light on the nature and quality of those decisions. He describes the debates over what causes heart attacks and the efforts to understand such unforeseen complications of cardiac surgery as depression, mental fog, and stroke. Why do doctors and patients overestimate the effectiveness and underestimate the dangers of medical interventions, especially when doing so may lead to the overuse of medical therapies? To answer this question, Jones explores the history of cardiology and cardiac surgery in the United States and probes the ambiguities and inconsistencies in medical decision making. Based on extensive reviews of medical literature and archives, this historical perspective on medical decision making and risk highlights personal, professional, and community outcomes.

Heart Attack by Curtis Rimmerman There is no other medical center more qualified to write a book on this subject. The Cleveland Clinic Heart Center has been selected as the best Heart Center in America, according to U.S. News & World Report's annual survey for the past 11 years. Our doctors are leaders in cardiology, cardiac surgery, cardiothoracic anesthesia, and research into the heart and its diseases. No heart program has more experience, more knowledge and better access to technology. As medical pioneers, The Clinic developed cardiac angiography and the coronary artery bypass. Told through case histories, and fully illustrated, this guide --written by heart specialists who understand what the patients are going through -- addresses the myths associated with heart disease.

The Harvard Medical School Guide to Men's Health by Harvey B. Simon (Editor) From the editor of the enormously popular Harvard Men's Health Watch, comes the ultimate, state-of-the-art guide to help men achieve--and maintain--optimum health. Charts & graphs throughout.

Healing Through Exercise by Jorg Blech InHealing Through Exercise, internationally bestselling science writer Jörg Blech sets out the actual physiological effects of exercise: it triggers the growth of new brain cells, induces stem cells in blood vessels, and reverses symptoms of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Doctors are now using exercise to combat common ailments such as heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, and depression. Every one of us--whether a healthy athlete, a patient seeking to overcome a chronic disease, or a person desiring a longer, more mentally active life--can use the new and important information in this book.

Conversations on Love by Natasha Lunn "This book might just change your life" ―Sunday Times 'Wise, wonderful, moving and brilliant... will leave your heart in a much better place" ―Stylist After years of feeling that love was always out of reach, journalist Natasha Lunn set out to understand how relationships work and evolve over a lifetime. She turned to authors and experts to learn about their experiences, as well as drawing on her own, asking: How do we find love? How do we sustain it? And how do we survive when we lose it? In Conversations on Love she began to find the answers: Dolly Alderton on vulnerability Stephen Grosz on accepting change Candice Carty-Williams on friendship Lisa Taddeo on the loneliness of loss Diana Evans on parenthood Emily Nagoski on the science of sex Alain de Botton on the psychology of being alone Esther Perel on unrealistic expectations Roxane Gay on redefining romance and many more...

Love by Simon May Love—unconditional, selfless, unchanging, sincere, and totally accepting—is worshipped today as the West's only universal religion. To challenge it is one of our few remaining taboos. In this pathbreaking and superbly written book, philosopher Simon May does just that, dissecting our resilient ruling ideas of love and showing how they are the product of a long and powerful cultural heritage. Tracing over 2,500 years of human thought and history, May shows how our ideal of love developed from its Hebraic and Greek origins alongside Christianity until, during the last two centuries, "God is love" became "love is God"—so hubristic, so escapist, so untruthful to the real nature of love, that it has booby-trapped relationships everywhere with deluded expectations. Brilliantly, May explores the very different philosophers and writers, both skeptics and believers, who dared to think differently: from Aristotle's perfect friendship and Ovid's celebration of sex and "the chase," to Rousseau's personal authenticity, Nietzsche's affirmation, Freud's concepts of loss and mourning, and boredom in Proust. Against our belief that love is an all-powerful solution to finding meaning, security, and happiness in life, May reveals with great clarity what love actually is: the intense desire for someone whom we believe can ground and affirm our very existence. The feeling that "makes the world go round" turns out to be a harbinger of home--and in that sense, of the sacred.

In Love by Amy Bloom NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A powerful memoir of a love that leads two people to find a courageous way to part--and a woman's struggle to go forward in the face of loss--that "enriches the reader's life with urgency and gratitude" (The Washington Post) "A pleasure to read . . . Rarely has a memoir about death been so full of life. . . . Bloom has a talent for mixing the prosaic and profound, the slapstick and the serious."--USA Today ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Publishers Weekly ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, USA Today, Real Simple, Prospect (UK), She Reads, Kirkus Reviews Amy Bloom began to notice changes in her husband, Brian: He retired early from a new job he loved; he withdrew from close friendships; he talked mostly about the past. Suddenly, it seemed there was a glass wall between them, and their long walks and talks stopped. Their world was altered forever when an MRI confirmed what they could no longer ignore: Brian had Alzheimer's disease. Forced to confront the truth of the diagnosis and its impact on the future he had envisioned, Brian was determined to die on his feet, not live on his knees. Supporting each other in their last journey together, Brian and Amy made the unimaginably difficult and painful decision to go to Dignitas, an organization based in Switzerland that empowers a person to end their own life with dignity and peace. In this heartbreaking and surprising memoir, Bloom sheds light on a part of life we so often shy away from discussing--its ending. Written in Bloom's captivating, insightful voice and with her trademark wit and candor, In Love is an unforgettable portrait of a beautiful marriage, and a boundary-defying love. Shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize

This Is My Brain in Love by I. W. Gregorio A Schneider Family Book Award winner!  A Bank Street Best Book of the Year! Told in dual narrative, This Is My Brain in Love is a stunning YA contemporary romance, exploring mental health, race, and, ultimately self-acceptance, for fans of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter and Emergency Contact. Jocelyn Wu has just three wishes for her junior year: To make it through without dying of boredom, to direct a short film with her BFF Priya Venkatram, and to get at least two months into the year without being compared to or confused with Peggy Chang, the only other Chinese girl in her grade.   Will Domenici has two goals: to find a paying summer internship, and to prove he has what it takes to become an editor on his school paper. Then Jocelyn's father tells her their family restaurant may be going under, and all wishes are off. Because her dad has the marketing skills of a dumpling, it's up to Jocelyn and her unlikely new employee, Will, to bring A-Plus Chinese Garden into the 21st century (or, at least, to Facebook). What starts off as a rocky partnership soon grows into something more. But family prejudices and the uncertain future of A-Plus threaten to keep Will and Jocelyn apart. It will take everything they have and more, to save the family restaurant and their budding romance.  

The Women's Heart Book by Fredric J. Pashkow; Charlotte Libov In this revised edition of the originally published, highly successful guide to womens heart health, an internationally renowned cardiologist, Dr. Pashkow, and a survivor of open heart surgery, Charlotte Libov, cover every aspect of heart care, heart surgery, and the prevention of heart disease. Drawing from their combined experience, the authors offer information on calculating the risk for heart disease; detecting congenital defects; what a pregnant woman needs to know; and state-of-the art treatments, surgery, and drug therapies. In addition, the book features an effective diet and exercise life-plan.

King of Hearts by G. Wayne Miller Few of the great stories of medicine are as palpably dramatic as the invention of open-heart surgery, yet, until now, no journalist has ever brought all of the thrilling specifics of this triumph to life. This is the story of the surgeon many call the father of open-heart surgery, Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, who, along with colleagues at University Hospital in Minneapolis and a small band of pioneers elsewhere, accomplished what many experts considered to be an impossible feat- He opened the heart, repaired fatal defects, and made the miraculous routine. Acclaimed author G. Wayne Miller draws on archival research and exclusive interviews with Lillehei and legendary pioneers such as Michael DeBakey and Christiaan Barnard, taking readers into the lives of these doctors and their patients as they progress toward their landmark achievement. In the tradition of works by Richard Rhodes and Tracy Kidder, King of Hearts tells the story of an important and gripping piece of forgotten science history.

Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart by Alice Walker The Pulitzer Prizewinning author of The Color Purple, Possessing the Secret of Joy, and The Temple of My Familiar now gives us a beautiful new novel that is at once a deeply moving personal story and a powerful spiritual journey. In Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart, Alice Walker has created a work that ranks among her ?nest achievements: the story of a woman's spiritual adventure that becomes a passage through time, a quest for self, and a collision with love. Kate has always been a wanderer. A well-published author, married many times, she has lived a life rich with explorations of the natural world and the human soul. Now, at fifty-seven, she leaves her lover, Yolo, to embark on a new excursion, one that begins on the Colorado River, proceeds through the past, and flows, inexorably, into the future. As Yolo begins his own parallel voyage, Kate encounters celibates and lovers, shamans and snakes, memories of family disaster and marital discord, and emerges at a place where nothing remains but love. Told with the accessible style and deep feeling that are its author's hallmarks, Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart is Alice Walker's most surprising achievement.

What Is Given from the Heart by Patricia C. McKissack; April Harrison (Illustrator) CORETTA SCOTT KING - JOHN STEPTOEILLUSTRATORAWARD FOR NEW TALENTWINNER This final, magnificent picture book from three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner and Newbery Honor author Patricia McKissack is a poignant and uplifting celebration of the joy of giving. "Misery loves company,"" Mama says to James Otis. It's been a rough couple of months for them, but Mama says as long as they have their health and strength, they're blessed. One Sunday before Valentine's Day, Reverend Dennis makes an announcement during the service-- the Temples have lost everything in a fire, and the church is collecting anything that might be useful to them. James thinks hard about what he can add to the Temple's ""love box,"" but what does he have worth giving? With her extraordinary gift for storytelling, McKissack--with stunning illustrations by Harrison--delivers a touching, powerful tale of compassion and reminds us all that what is given from the heart, reaches the heart.

A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney New York Times Bestseller * New Yorker Best Books of 2022 * Entertainment Weekly Best Books of 2022 * USA Today Best Books of 2022 * Time 100 Must-Read Books of 2022 * Mother Jones Books We Needed in 2022 * People Fall Must Read * 2022 BuzzFeed Fall Reading Pick * New York Post Best Books of 2022 * New York Times Editors' Choice This is the story of what happens when you lose a child, and everything you discover about life in the process, by the star of the Amazon Prime series Catastrophe. In 2018, Rob Delaney's two-year-old son, Henry, died of a brain tumor. A Heart That Works is Delaney's intimate, unflinching, and at times fiercely funny exploration of Henry's beautiful, bright life and the devastation of his loss--from the harrowing illness to the vivid, bodily impact of grief and the blind, furious rage that followed through to the forceful, unstoppable love that remains. In the madness of his grief, Delaney grapples with the fragile miracle of life, the mysteries of death, and the question of purpose for those left behind. Profound, painful, full of emotion, and bracingly honest, Delaney's memoir offers solace to those who have faced devastation and shows us how grace may appear even in the darkest times.

Thriving with Heart Disease by Wayne M. Sotile; Nieca Goldberg (Foreword by); Robin Cantor-Cooke (As told to); Wayne Sotile "Not only can you survive with heart disease, you can actually thrive with it for many, many years. If you cope well and follow the advice I give you in this book, you can live as long as you would if you didn't have the illness."-- from Chapter One, "Begin the Journey"In this landmark volume, Wayne M. Sotile, Ph.D., breaks the story that every heart patient needs to know: In many cases, it's how you deal with the illness and not the condition of your heart that will determine how completely you recover, or if you recover at all. If you're one of the 61 million Americans diagnosed with heart illness -- whether you've had a heart attack, high blood pressure, angina, or surgery -- the program in this book can extend your life and might even save it.Many books have dealt with the physical aspects of cardiovascular illness, but Thriving with Heart Disease is the first to offer patients and their loved ones a program for coping with the emotional and psychological side effects that can ravage relationships and throw families into disarray. Dr. Sotile's extraordinary success with cardiac patients attests to his belief that living with heart disease is not a temporary adjustment but a journey you take one moment at a time toward the healthy life you were meant to live, surrounded by the people you love.Based on the experiences of thousands of patients at Wake Forest University's Cardiac Rehabilitation Program -- the nation's first mind-body center for living well with heart illness -- Dr. Sotile's program provides step-by-step instructions on how to establish a robust, new normal life for you and the people you care about, whether you're a parent with young children, a mature adult with grandchildren, or a single man or woman whose family is a devoted network of friends.Written with warmth and humor and filled with news of the latest research into the links between heart and brain, body and soul, Thriving with Heart Disease is the book that every heart patient needs to read. It's not a diet book, an exercise book, or a cookbook. It is the first self-help manual to guide heart patients and their loved ones through the psychological side effects they're likely to experience and onto the path to vibrant, new normal lives.

Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang; LeUyen Pham (Illustrator) An NPR Best Book of the Year A Kirkus Best Book of the Year A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year A Booklist Best Book of the Year A Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year A Horn Book Best Book of the Year A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year Graphic novel superstars Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham join forces in this heartwarming rom-com about fate, family, and falling in love. She was destined for heartbreak. Then fate handed her love. Val is ready to give up on love. It's led to nothing but secrets and heartbreak, and she's pretty sure she's cursed--no one in her family, for generations, has ever had any luck with love. But then a chance encounter with a pair of cute lion dancers sparks something in Val. Is it real love? Could this be her chance to break the family curse? Or is she destined to live with a broken heart forever?

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER "The pages brim with tenderness and an appreciation for what we had and who we were. I could not have loved it more."--Ann Patchett "One of the most moving and intelligent time travel novels I have ever read. Nostalgic, wise, funny, and filled with love."--Gabrielle Zevin "The kind of book that will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you call the people you love. Exceptional."--Emily Henry What if you could take a vacation to your past?         With her celebrated humor, insight, and heart, beloved New York Times bestseller Emma Straub offers her own twist on traditional time travel tropes and a different kind of love story. On the eve of her fortieth birthday, Alice's life isn't terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn't exactly the one she expected. She's happy with her apartment, her romantic status, and her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But her father is ailing, and it feels to her as if something is missing. When she wakes up the next morning, she finds herself back in 1996, reliving her sixteenth birthday. But it isn't just her adolescent body that shocks her, or seeing her high school crush--it's her dad, the vital, charming, forty-something version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, some past events take on new meaning. Is there anything that she would change if she could?

Love, Inc by Laurie Essig The notion of "happily ever after" has been ingrained in many of us since childhood--meet someone, date, have the big white wedding, and enjoy your well-deserved future. But why do we buy into this idea? Is love really all we need?     Author Laurie Essig invites us to flip this concept of romance on its head and see it for what it really is--an ideology that we desperately cling to as a way to cope with the fact that we believe we cannot control or affect the societal, economic, and political structures around us. From climate change to nuclear war, white nationalism to the worship of wealth and conspicuous consumption--as the future becomes seemingly less secure, Americans turn away from the public sphere and find shelter in the private. Essig argues that when we do this, we allow romance to blind us to the real work that needs to be done--building global movements that inspire a change in government policies to address economic and social inequality. 

Heart Disease by Regis A. de Silva Disease conditions that affect the human heart and the methods used to diagnose and treat them are all covered in one concise volume. Written by a past president of the Boston Chapter of the American Heart Association, Heart Disease is a comprehensive account of the leading cause of death in the West. Sequential chapters describe the structure and function of the heart, the various disease states, and the treatments for each major disease. In addition, the book examines the vast array of diagnostic tests and the most advanced treatments available, from basic drugs for prevention such as aspirin to transplants and artificial hearts. Dr. de Silva, who teaches at Harvard Medical School, also covers historical aspects of heart disease, discoveries about the structure and function of the heart, and the ways in which heart disease can be diagnosed and treated. Underlying conditions that affect the heart are described and linked to the treatments and devices used to correct disease conditions.