Mantis, Umphrey’s McGee (Sci Fidelity Records). The jam band’s first album to feature material never previously performed on the road, the CD highlights the sextet’s progressive rock sound and, as Rolling Stone said, “some of their slickest and most ambitious tunes yet.” Founded in 1997 at Notre Dame, the group includes Brendan Bayliss ’98, Joel Cummins ’98 and Ryan Stasik ’99.
Meditations of Hope and Healing, Heather Pacholke, M.D., ’95 (Healing Hands Meditations). “Picture yourself in a quiet, peaceful place. . . . Focus on relaxing your mind and body.” Using soft words and music, the meditations here, voiced by Pacholke, who specializes in the treatment of cancer, offer positive visualization inspired by Scripture. Bruce Weeks ’86MFA designed the CD cover.
A Course Called Ireland: A Long Walk in Search of a Country, a Pint, and the Next Tee, Tom Coyne ’97, ’99MFA (Gotham Books). The author of Paper Tiger and A Gentleman’s Game played 900 holes of golf on 35 of Ireland’s links during a four-month trek around the country. As the exercise-averse golfer walks the magnificent land, he discovers a country of tasty lasagna, great storytellers, lots of weddings and even a few relatives.
Starvation Lake: A Mystery, Bryan Gruley ’79 (Touchstone). Gus Carpenter has left his failed dreams behind to return to his northern Michigan hometown and run the local newspaper. When pieces of a wrecked snowmobile wash up near the town, he begins to investigate the murder of his former hockey coach and uncovers the town’s dangerous secrets. Booklist hails the “depth and poignancy” of this debut novel.
Business Wise Guide: 80 Powerful Insights You Can’t Learn in Business School, Mark O. Hubbard ’72 (Corby Books). Learning through the years that “obvious lessons . . . aren’t always so common in business practice,” the author here showcases common-sense concepts, illustrated with powerful real-life stories, to help readers navigate the world of business. Hubbard is co-founder of Notre Dame’s Tom Dooley Society.
A Trash Hauler in Vietnam: Memoir of Four Tactical Airlift Tours, 1965-1968, Bill Barry ’73 (McFarland). The cargo ranged from elephants to dancing girls to heavy equipment, and the daily U.S. airlift operations in Vietnam ranged from routine to risky. Based on his old flight logs and personal memories, the author recounts his four tours and the changing tactics of the war effort over time.
Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History, and the Wonder of Childbirth, Dr. Mark Sloan ’75 (Ballantine Books). The author has attended more than 3,000 births, including those of his own children. Here he weaves science and history through a memoir of childbirth and its attendant beauty (and pain), offering amazing stories and medical information that ranges from hilarious to revelatory to heartbreaking.
The Emotion Behind Money: Building Wealth from the Inside Out, Julie Murphy Casserly ’05MBA (Beyond Your Wildest Dreams). “[E]ach of us has our own unique and personal relationship with money,” the author says. Here she offers advice and anecdotes on how the interplay of personal, emotional and financial attitudes can be understood and transformed to create financial well-being.
Crave: Why You Binge Eat and How to Stop, Cynthia M. Bulik ’82 (Walker & Company). The director of the Eating Disorders Program at the University of North Carolina shares proven techniques on overcoming food cravings. The author discusses the signs of the disorder, various profiles of binge eaters (including the midnight, the angry and the buffet binger), how to gain control over binge triggers and a variety of treatment plans.
Spade & Archer: The Prequel to Dashiell Hammett’s ‘The Maltese Falcon’, Joe Gores ’53 (Alfred A. Knopf). The Hammett estate authorized the writing of this prequel, which expands the story of detective Sam Spade and his agency partner, Miles Archer. The hard-boiled tale shows Spade at the beginning of his career and takes the reader down the gritty streets of San Francisco in the 1920s, where, as Publisher’s Weekly says, the author “captures Hammett’s spare style and tone perfectly.”
See also Choices in brief.