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04/27/2023 - 6:31pm

The Mechanics Institute Library acquires new books each week. You will find some on the new books tables, but members often check out some of the most popular books right away. If you do not know how to place a hold on a book, please call us at 415-393-0102 (or send a message to [email protected]). 

 

Non-fiction 

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04/27/2023 - 6:28pm

Do you like art? History? Cinema? This unclassifiable film takes you on a trip through Russian history by following historical figures from one gallery to another in the Hermitage Museum -- and all in one continuous 96 minute take! (the first feature film ever created in a single take). 

 

The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia is, after the Louvre in Paris, the 2nd largest museu...

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04/22/2023 - 4:40pm

It was fun to read this article by Suzie Dundas about the revival of an historic lager-style beer from the Truckee area by contemporary brewing company Good Wolf Brewing Company. The original brewer, Boca Brewing Company, had a brief connection to the Mechanics’ Institute back in the 19th century. 

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04/22/2023 - 4:17pm

Members sometimes ask a staff member what book they are reading at the moment. In my case, I explain that, well, it is hard to say. As I am primarily a non-fiction reader, I tend to use the “rule of three.” I may read just a few chapters in one book, then switch to reading one or two chapters in a different book, and move on to the next title. Then I make my way back to the first book.

Given the wide brea...

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04/21/2023 - 3:58pm

In olden times when we watched videos at home using these strange, now antiquated, machines called "VHS players," I decided to rent this mini-series to give me something to do on a long, rainy weekend. I planned to watch it over the course of 2-3 days. Instead, I binge-watched it continuously, one episode after another, straight through until well after midnight on the first night. I could not stop watching. 

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04/17/2023 - 6:08pm

Dead Space (2023) is a remake of the original 2008 video game Dead Space made by Motive Studio. It is a single player survival horror video game set in the 26th century where you play as Issac Clarke, an engineer tasked with investigating a distress signal coming from the planetary mining vessel called the USG Ishimura. The game is a cross between Event Horizon, a movie starring Sam Neil and Laurence Fishburne, in...

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04/17/2023 - 6:02pm

Do not look for a plot in this movie – you will not find one. Do not look for excitement either. You will not find any in this quietly beautiful, slow-paced, and thoughtful film. Disregard all summaries or descriptions, you find on the DVD container (or online). I have no idea what they're talking about or if the people who wrote these even saw the movie. 


Two survivors of the battlefields of the First...

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04/17/2023 - 5:24pm

PRINT BOOKS
NON-FICTION
Applied Sciences
Anna Ploszajski Handmade : a scientist's search for meaning through making 620.11 P723
Bruce W. Holsinger On parchment : animals, archives, and the making of culture from Herodotus to the digital age 676 H756
Judith M. Taylor...

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04/17/2023 - 5:11pm

PRINT BOOKS
FICTION
Charlotte Brontë Jane Eyre Fic Brontë
Willie Carr Love and avocados : Buell and Lloyd adventure Fic Carr
Ann-Helén Laestadius Stolen : a novel Fic Laestadius
Pilar Quintana Abyss...

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