You'll find book suggestions below which tie into many current topics.  We welcome suggestions of topics you would like more information on, so feel free to call us at 403-2070, and let us know what you would like to see addressed on this list.   Information about current events is also available to you with your Champaign Library card in our databases.  You can read the Wall Street Journal, many other news journals, or do further research on current topics.  For assisstance using our databases you can reach us at 403-2070.

Gods Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church By Weigel, George 2005-11 - HarperCollins Publishers 9780066213316 Check Our Catalog IN THE NEWS The detention of butler Paolo Gabriele, one of the few members of the papal household, capped one of the most convulsive weeks in recent Vatican history and threw the Holy See into chaos as it enters a critical phase in its efforts to show the world it's serious about complying with international norms on financial transparency. THE BOOK From the bestselling author of "Witness to Hope" comes an inside account of the election of Pope Benedict XVI and an unflinching view of the Catholic Church at the dawn of a new era. added 5/27 …More

Toward a True Kinship of Faiths: How the World's Religions Can Come Together By Dalai Lama Author Bstan-Dzin-Rgya 2010-05 - Harmony 9780385525053 Check Our Catalog IN THE NEWS Republican Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed a bill aimed at keeping state courts and agencies from using Islamic or other non-U.S. laws when making decisions, his office said on Friday, drawing criticism from a national Muslim group. THE BOOK The Dalai Lama addresses one of the most important issues of the time: the polarization of the world along religious lines. His exploration recognizes commonalities but at the same time is fully mindful of the significant differences that continue to exist. added 5/27 …More

After Etan: The Missing Child Case That Held America Captive By Cohen, Lisa R. 2009-05 - Grand Central Publishing 9780446582513 Check Our Catalog IN THE NEWS Police said Pedro Hernandez, a 51-year-old, churchgoing father described by some friends as quiet and timid, had given an emotional confession earlier in the week to luring the little boy away from his school bus stop with a promise of a soft drink, and then strangling him in the basement of a convenience store where he had been working as a stock clerk. THE BOOK A former "60 Minutes" producer unravels the full story of Etan Patz--a six-year-old boy who disappeared in 1979. Cohen reveals his family's desperate search, the heroic efforts to bring the kidnapper to justice, and the investigation into a decades-long mystery. added 5/27 …More

The AIDS Conspiracy: Science Fights Back By Nattrass, Nicoli 2012-03 - Columbia University Press 9780231149129 Check Our Catalog IN THE NEWS A curtain falls on one act and rises on another. Such has been the continuous narrative for Magic Johnson, who 20-plus years after receiving what was feared to be an immutable death sentence is not only alive but seemingly larger than life. THE BOOK Since the early days of the AIDS epidemic, many bizarre and dangerous hypotheses have been advanced to explain the origins of the disease. In this compelling book, Nicoli Nattrass explores the social and political factors prolonging the erroneous belief that the American government manufactured the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to be used as a biological weapon, as well as the myth's consequences for behavior, especially within African American and black South African communities. Nattrass identifies four symbolically powerful figures ensuring the lifespan of AIDS denialism: the hero scientist (dissident scientists who lend credibility to the movement); the cultropreneur (alternative therapists who exploit the conspiratorial move as a marketing mechanism); the living icon (individuals who claim to be living proof of AIDS denialism's legitimacy); and the praise-singer (journalists who broadcast movement messages to the public). Nattrass also describes how pro-science activists have fought back by deploying empirical evidence and political credibility to resist AIDS conspiracy theories, which is part of the crucial project to defend evidence-based medicine. 5/19 …More

The Wichita Divide: The Murder of Dr. George Tiller and the Battle Over Abortion By Singular, Stephen 2011-04 - St. Martin's Press 9780312625054 Check Our Catalog IN THE NEWS A popular new piece of abortion legislation may eventually end up in front of the Supreme Court as federal courts have disagreed over whether it violates the Constitution. The law—versions of which have passed in Oklahoma, North Carolina and Texas—mandates that before a woman is allowed to obtain an abortion, doctors must give her an ultrasound, describe the procedure out loud and display the images for her. Five other states are considering similar bills, while six more already require the ultrasound before an abortion, although they don't insist upon the out loud description or the showing of images to patients. THE BOOK A "New York Times"-bestselling author offers an in-depth account of the life and death of controversial Kansas doctor George Tiller, the battle over abortion, and the new American civil war. 5/15 …More

On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System By Paulson, Henry M., Jr. Foreword by Frank, Barney 2011-02 - Business Plus 9780446561945 Check Our Catalog IN THE NEWS Just hours after a top JPMorgan Chase executive retired in the wake of a stunning $2 billion trading loss, President Obama told the hosts of ABC’s “The View” that the bank’s risky bets exemplified the need for Wall Street reform. THE BOOK Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury from 2006 until 2009 and former CEO of Goldman Sachs, provides an insider's account of the race to save the world's financial institutions from certain disaster. added 5/14 …More

Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II By Kurson, Robert 2005-05 - Ballantine Books 9780345482471 Check Our Catalog IN THE NEWS A World War II airplane belonging to Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) has been found in the Sahara Desert nearly 70 years after it crash landed THE BOOK The Perfect Storm is a true tale of riveting adventure in which two weekend scuba divers risk everything to solve a great historical mystery-and make history themselves. For John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, deep wreck diving was more than a sport. In the fall of 1991, not even these courageous divers were prepared for what they found 230 feet below the surface, in the frigid Atlantic waters sixty miles off the coast of New Jersey: a World War II German U-boat, its ruined interior a macabre wasteland of twisted metal, tangled wires, and human bones-all buried under decades of accumulated sediment. added 5/14   …More

Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency After 9/11 By Goldsmith, Jack 2012-03 - W. W. Norton & Company 9780393081336 Check Our Catalog IN THE NEWS President Obama officially starts re-election campaign in Columbus, Ohio emphasizing economoy and measures in counterterrorism, especially Bin Laden raid.   THE BOOK The surprising truth behind Barack Obama's decision to continue many of his predecessor's counterterrorism policies. …More

Throwaway Players: The Concussion Crisis from Pee Wee Football to the NFL By Culverhouse, Gay 2011-08 - Behler Publications 9781933016702 Check Our Catalog IN THE NEWS Junior Seau's family will let researchers study the former NFL linebacker's brain for evidence of trauma, San Diego Chargers chaplain Shawn Mitchell said Friday. Since news broke that the former Chargers linebacker killed himself Wednesday with a gunshot to the chest, there has been speculation about whether repeated hits to his head over his 20-year pro career could have been a contributing factor. THE BOOK The NFL insists players know they're playing a dangerous game, but players never see the deteriorated mental capacities of their former heroes. Throwaway Players is former Tampa Bay Buccaneers president Gay Culverhouse’s story of the broken bodies and lost souls of the men who have left the locker room and what remains after the cheering subsides. Focused on making money rather than the well-being of their players, this is the dark side of football the NFL doesn't want fans to see. Additionally, high schools, colleges, and independent sports organizations have little oversight when choosing player’s equipment. This breeds a new generation of kids suffering from multiple concussions and damaged lives. Throwaway Players offers guidance to parents navigating the world of competitive sports as well as advocacy and resources for athletes often left in the dark about appropriate procedures for treating injuries, especially head traumas. Throwaway Players is essential reading for any parent, athlete, and sports fan. 5/4 …More

Seal Target Geronimo: The Inside Story of the Mission to Kill Osama Bin Laden By Pfarrer, Chuck 2011-11 - St. Martin's Press 9781250006356 Check Our Catalog IN THE NEWS The death of Osama bin Laden at the hands of U.S. Navy commandos a year ago was a setback to al-Qaeda, but the Islamic terror organization remains a potent threat around the world, intelligence experts say. "It's on the defensive, but it's far from defeated," said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer now at the Brookings Institution, a think tank. The raid by SEALs removed America's No. 1 fugitive and cracked the mythic status he held among followers for eluding the reach of a world superpower. Bin Laden had been hiding for years in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, when a team of SEALs arrived by helicopter and killed him May 2, 2011. THE BOOK On May 2, 2011, at 1:03 a.m. in Pakistan, a satellite uplink was sent from the town of Abbottabad crackling into the situation room of the White House in Washington, D.C.: "Geronimo, Echo, KIA." These words, spoken by a Navy SEAL, put paid to Osama bin Laden's three-decade-long career of terror. SEAL Target Geronimo is the story of Bin Laden's relentless hunters and how they took down the terrorist mastermind, told by Chuck Pfarrer, a former assault element commander of SEAL Team Six ... After talking to members of the SEAL team involved in the raid, Pfarrer shares never-before-revealed details of the historic raid and the men who planned and conducted it in an exclusive boots-on-the-ground account of what happened during each minute of the mission--both inside the building and outside. …More

A Single Roll of the Dice: Obama's Diplomacy with Iran By Parsi, Trita 2012-01 - Yale University Press 9780300169362 Check Our Catalog IN THE NEWS The Islamic Republic of Iran said  that it has the ability to position a naval vessel within three miles of the East Coast of the United States. “The power of our naval forces is such that we have a presence in all the waters of the world and, if needed, we can move to within three miles of New York,” Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said Tuesday during a speech to the students of the University of Yazd in Iran. His remarks were quoted by an Iranian student news agency. THE BOOK Have the diplomatic efforts of the Obama administration toward Iran failed? Was the Bush administration's emphasis on military intervention, refusal to negotiate, and pursuit of regime change a better approach? How can the United States best address the ongoing turmoil in Tehran? This book provides a definitive and comprehensive analysis of the Obama administration's early diplomatic outreach to Iran and discusses the best way to move toward more positive relations between the two discordant states. 4/28 …More