Here are the latest additions to our DVD collection:
Blade Runner 2049
Crooked House
The Foreigner
God’s Own Country
Goodbye Christopher Robin
Happy Death Day
Hollow in the Land
It
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Last Flag Flying
Marshall
Mark Felt : The Man Who Brought Down the White House
Passengers
Thank You for Your Service
You may browse the entire DVD collection via the library catalog.
Brown, Brené. Braving the wilderness : the quest for true belonging and the courage to stand alone. Random House, 2017.
Divisions seem to define the current cultural moment for many of us. Instead of seeing each other’s similarities, we focus on the ways in which we are different. This skewed focus leads to loneliness and a lack of interpersonal connection. People are seeking answers in an effort to heal the pain caused by this unhappiness.
In her new book, Braving the Wilderness, author Brené Brown tackles this tough issue with clear advice and surprising suggestions. In this follow-up to her bestselling Rising Strong and Daring Greatly, Brown points to the idea of true belonging as the solution to creating lasting relationships with others. She defines true belonging as being consistently true to who you are, your values, and your beliefs, even when it is difficult to do so and you find yourself standing alone. She further describes this paradox using the framework of a Maya Angelou quote: “You are only free when you realize you belong no place—you belong every place—no place at all.” Occupying this place of true belonging, in which you are authentic even when it creates discomfort, brings one into what Brown calls “the wilderness”: a place that is unforgiving yet sacred, dangerous yet breathtaking.
With the destination defined, Brown gives the reader the tools to reach the wilderness where true belonging lies through her BRAVING acronym: boundaries, reliability, accountability, vault, integrity, non-judgment, and generosity. These seven elements of trust are the keys for a person to find both true belonging with themselves and to foster authentic connection with others that can not only withstand, but dismantle, the barriers that make us feel isolated from one another.
Through clear writing, relatable personal anecdotes, and pertinent research data, Braving the Wilderness guides the reader through difficult terrain with grace. However, it stops short of diving into the underlying causes of our cultural divisions. Readers of Brown’s previous works will also find some data reused in this concise and approachable introduction to authenticity and self-trust in troubled times.
Braving the Wilderness is also available as an eBook on OverDrive, an audiobook on OverDrive, and on Notable Business Books Kindles at the Ford Library.
Happy Valentine’s Day to you. From our hearts to yours, our gift is 10 classic audiobooks that you can download to your own device from OverDrive.
Here is a list of Duke students’ most beloved audiobooks:
The Big Short by Michael Lewis
Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
Deep Work by Cal Newport
Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance
Good To Great by Jim Collins
Mindset by Carol Dweck
Option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
The Originals by Adam Grant
Spark Joy by Marie Kondo
Talk Like Ted by Carmine Gallo
© Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.
Ariely, Dan, et al. Dollars and sense : how we misthink money and how to spend smarter. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2017.
In Dollars and Sense: How We Misthink Money and How to Spend Smarter, Dan Ariely, bestselling author and James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University, teams up with Jeff Kreisler, attorney, author and comedian, to examine our irrational thinking and behavior with respect to money. While written for a general audience, the book references numerous scholarly studies and provides complete notes to undergird the authors’ observations and analysis. It is divided into three sections: how we define money, how we (mis)-assess value, and how we can think more clearly about money.
Part One lays out some basic characteristics of money and a couple of complicating factors in thinking wisely about it. The authors define money as a common good that is general, divisible, fungible and storable, and they remind their readers of the principles of opportunity costs and relative value. While these characteristics and principles are straightforward, they probably aren’t the first things we think of when we consider our finances.
Part Two is the bulk of the book and here the authors lay out the myriad ways in which human beings think unwisely about money — everything from avoiding the pain of paying, to overvaluing what we already have, to looking only at price to determine value. They also point out how much of our modern financial system has responded by doubling down on our unwise thinking to divide us from our hard-earned money in the easiest and most painless ways. This section is sobering and could be downright depressing, since, by being human, every reader will have fallen into one of more of these unwise thought processes. However, the saving grace of the book here and throughout is its humor, much of it self-deprecating. This humor provides the reader with a sense of common ground and with the comfort that even the experts are not immune from a slick sales pitch.
Part Three explores what we can do to mitigate the effects of our magical thinking about money. While we can never be — nor want to be — completely rational about money, there are things we can do to think more wisely about it. The authors point out what should matter in our decisions — opportunity cost, true benefit, and real pleasure — and what should not — sale prices or ease of payment among others. They provide suggestions for how we as individuals can think correctly and exercise forethought and self-control, and for how we as a society could transform our financial systems and use new technology to help us act more wisely.
In sum, Ariely and Kreisler present the sober truth about our irrational ways with money in a humorous and engaging book that is thought-provoking and hopefully, behavior-changing.
Dollars and Sense is also available as an audiobook on OverDrive, as an eBook on OverDrive, and on Notable Business Books Kindles at the Ford Library.