Books
Historic Mechanics' Institute looks like a library, feels like a library with so much to offer with its fine collection and provoking programming. This gem is not to be missed. - Peter Wiley, Chairman Emeritus, John Wiley and Sons
Mechanics' Institute Library has over 100,000 circulating materials in its collection and continues to grow. We serve the general reader with a wide, diverse, and eclectic collection covering a vast array of subjects and interests.
See a selection of our collection below and visit our Catalog to explore even more.
Monster Movies at Mechanics'
Monsters at Mechanics' Institute Library.
Les yeux sans visage = Eyes without a face
Dr. Génessier, a renowned surgeon, causes his beautiful daughter Christiane's face to be horribly mutilated in a car accident. To make his daughter whole, Dr. Génessier enlists his assistant Louise in a devious plot: she follows and befriends beautiful young women, so the doctor can remove their faces in painstaking operations, to graft onto Christiane. Sadly, her body rejects the new faces, and so she wears an emotionless mask to cover up her scars. Dr. Génessier's genuine feelings of love and guilt are balanced by his astonishing arrogance and hubris, pressing the moral and legal limits of science for a single, selfish interest. The results are surely going to be disastrous, and deadly.
Poltergeist
The Freeling family is a typical middle class family living in the peaceful Cuesta Verde Estates. Steve, his wife Diane, 16-year-old daughter Dana, 8-year-old Robbie, and 5-year-old Carol Ann live in a tract house. Soon strange things begin to happen around the house; the pet canary dies, mysterious storms occur, and Carol Ann is summoned to the TV set, where a strange shaft of green light hits her and causes the room to shake. As the curious events continue, Carol Ann is repeatedly drawn to the television, where she begins to talk to "the TV people." Soon Carol Ann is sucked into a closet, disappearing from this reality plane. Unable to find his daughter, Steve consults Dr. Lesh, a para-psychologist from a nearby college. Lesh finds that the paranormal phenomena is so strong in the Freelong household she is unable to deal with it and sends for clairvoyant and professional exorcist Tangina to examine the house in hopes of finding Carol Ann. Tangina makes a horrifying discovery: Carol Ann is alive and in the house, but is being held on another spectral plane.
The thing
A research team at a remote research station in Antarctica finds an alien being that has fallen from the sky and has remained buried in the snow for over 100,000 years. Unfrozen and unleashed, it creates havoc and terror as it changes forms and becomes one of them.
Frankenstein : the legacy collection
Frankenstein: Dr. Frankenstein creates a true monster from dead human parts, but it gets out of control and into trouble. Bride of Frankenstein: Dr. Frankenstein agrees to help create a new creature, a woman, to be the companion of the monster. Son of Frankenstein: Wolf Frankenstein, the doctor's son, returns with his wife to claim his inheritance. Ghost of Frankenstein: Ygor resurrects Frankenstein's monster and brings him to the original doctor's son, Ludwig, for help. House of Frankenstein: Dracula, the Wolf Man and the Frankenstein monster exact revenge upon their many enemies.
Shaun of the dead
Life is going nowhere for Shaun. He spends his life in his local pub, The Winchester, with his best mate Ed, has issues with his mum and neglects his girlfriend Liz. When Liz dumps him Shaun finally decides to get his life in order. he must win back the heart of his girlfriend, repair his relationship with his mum and face up to the responsibilities of adulthood. Unfortunately, THE DEAD are returning to life and attempting to eat the living. For the newly inspired Shaun, this is just another obstacle.
Sleepy Hollow
In this version of Washington Irving's classic tale, Ichabod Crane is an eccentric investigator sent to Sleepy Hollow to probe a series of murders allegedly committed by a headless horseman.
30 days of night
The residents of an Alaskan town that is plunged into darkness for 30 days straight head south for the winter. When a group of vampires comes in, looking to feed on the town's remaining inhabitants, it's up to them to survive the night!
Staff Picks
Books, music, and movie recommendations from Mechanics' staff
Babel : or the necessity of violence : an arcane history of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
By Kuang, R. F. (Rebecca F.), author.
Picked by Andy, Program Director
A line in the world : a year on the North Sea coast
By Nors, Dorthe, 1970- author.
Picked by Justin, Library Intern
New Fiction
See more new fiction in our catalog
A guardian and a thief
By Majumdar, Megha, author.
In a near-future Kolkata ravaged by floods and decay, Ma is preparing to leave for a new life in America with her young daughter, Mishti, and her aging father, Dadu. Their visas and passports finally secured, they’re just days away from joining Ma’s husband in Michigan-- until Ma’s purse, holding all their precious documents, is stolen. The theft shatters their hopes and alters their lives forever. The story unfolds from two perspectives: Ma’s desperate struggle to recover what’s lost and Boomba’s, the impoverished thief whose act of survival sets tragedy in motion. Through their intertwined fates, Megha Majumdar delivers a powerful and compassionate portrait of love, loss, and endurance amid poverty and corruption in a world on the brink of collapse.
The black wolf
By Penny, Louise, author.
"Several weeks ago, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec and his team uncovered and stopped a domestic terrorist attack in Montréal, arresting the person behind it. A man they called the Black Wolf. But their relief is short-lived. In a sickening turn of events, Gamache has realized that that plot, as horrific as it was, was just the beginning. Perhaps even a deliberate misdirection. One he fell into. Something deeper and darker, more damaging, is planned. Did he, in fact, arrest the Black Wolf, or are they still out there? Armand is appalled to think his mistake has allowed their conspiracy to grow, to gather supporters. To spread lies, manufacture enemies, and feed hatred and division. Still recovering from wounds received in stopping the first attack, Armand is confined to the village of Three Pines, leading a covert investigation from there. He must be careful not to let the Black Wolf know he has recognized his mistake. In a quiet church basement, he and his senior agents Beauvoir and Lacoste pore over what little evidence they have. Two notebooks. A few mysterious numbers on a tattered map of Québec. And a phrase repeated by the person they had called the Grey Wolf. A warning... 'In a dry and parched land, where there is no water.' Gamache and his small team of supporters realize that for the Black Wolf to have gotten this far, they must have powerful allies, in law enforcement, in industry, in organized crime, in the halls of government. From the apparent peace of his little village, Gamache finds himself playing a lethal game of cat and mouse with an invisible foe who is gathering forces and preparing to strike"--Inside jacket flap.
The impossible fortune
By Osman, Richard, 1970- author.
"The unmissable new mystery in the Thursday Murder Club series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Richard Osman"-- Provided by publisher.
Buckeye
By Ryan, Patrick, 1965- author.
In Bonhomie, Ohio, a stolen moment of passion, sparked in the exuberant aftermath of the Allied victory in Europe, binds Cal Jenkins, a man wounded not in war but by his inability to serve in it, to Margaret Salt, a woman trying to obscure her past. Cal's wife, Becky, has a spiritual gift: She is a seer who can conjure the dead, helping families connect with those they've lost. Margaret's husband, Felix, is serving on a Navy cargo ship, out of harm's way--until a telegram suggests that the unthinkable might have happened. Later, as the country reconstructs in the postwar boom, a secret grows in Bonhomie--but nothing stays buried forever in a small town. Against the backdrop of some of the most transformative decades in modern America, the consequences of that long-ago encounter ripple through the next generation of both families, compelling them to reexamine who they thought they were and what the future might hold. Sweeping yet intimate, rich with piercing observation and the warmth that comes from profound understanding of the human spirit, Buckeye captures the universal longing for love and for goodness.
What we can know : a novel
By McEwan, Ian, author.
2014: At a dinner for close friends and colleagues, renowned poet Francis Blundy honors his wife's birthday by reading aloud a new poem dedicated to her, 'A Corona for Vivien'. Much wine is drunk as the guests listen, and a delicious meal consumed. Little does anyone gathered around the candlelit table know that for generations to come people will speculate about the message of this poem, a copy of which has never been found, and which remains an enduring mystery. 2119: Just over one hundred years in the future, much of the western world has been submerged by rising seas following a catastrophic nuclear accident. Those who survive are haunted by the richness of the world that has been lost. In the water-logged south of what used to be England, Thomas Metcalfe, a lonely scholar and researcher, longs for the early twenty-first century as he chases the ghost of one poem, 'A Corona for Vivian'. How wild and full of risk their lives were, thinks Thomas, as he pores over the archives of that distant era, captivated by the freedoms and possibilities of human life at its zenith. When he stumbles across a clue that may lead to the elusive poem's discovery, a story is revealed of entangled loves and a brutal crime that destroy his assumptions about people he thought he knew intimately well.
The Picasso heist
By Patterson, James, 1947- author.
A $100 million painting. A previously unknown Picasso is discovered in the attic of a French villa. Everyone wants to possess it. Filthy-rich Manhattan art people. Organized crime bosses. Power-hungry government officials. A notorious forger. A glamorous twenty-two-year-old art thief. Only one person knows how to take it. She's the rival none of the power players see coming.
The widow
By Grisham, John, author. aut http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut
"Simon Latch is a lawyer in rural Virginia, making just enough to pay his bills while his marriage slowly falls apart. Then into his office walks Eleanor Barnett, an elderly widow in need of a new will. Apparently, her husband left her a small fortune, and no one knows about it. Once he hooks the richest client of his career, Simon works quietly to keep her wealth under the radar. But soon her story begins to crack. When she is hospitalized after a car accident, Simon realizes that nothing is as it seems, and he finds himself on trial for a crime he swears he didn't commit: murder. Simon knows he's innocent. But he also knows the circumstantial evidence is against him, and he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. To save himself, he must find the real killer..."--
Exiles : a novel
By Coile, Mason, 1968- author.
"A terrifying locked-room mystery from the author of William--this time set on a remote outpost on Mars. The human crew sent to prepare the first colony on Mars arrives to find the new base half-destroyed and the three robots sent to set it up in disarray--the machines have formed alliances, chosen their own names, and picked up some disturbing beliefs. Each must be interrogated. But one of them is missing. In this barren, hostile landscape where even machines have nightmares, the astronauts will need to examine all the stories--especially their own--to get to the truth."
King Sorrow : a novel
By Hill, Joe, author.
"Arthur Oakes is a reader, a dreamer, and a student at Rackham College, Maine, renowned for its frosty winters, exceptional library, and beautiful buildings. But his idyll -- and burgeoning romance with Gwen Underfoot -- is shattered when a local drug dealer and her partner corner him into one of the worst crimes he can imagine: stealing rare books from the college library. Trapped and desperate, Arthur turns to his closest friends for comfort and help. Together they dream up a wild, fantastical scheme to free Arthur from the cruel trap in which he finds himself. Wealthy, irrepressible Colin Wren suggests using the unnerving Crane journal (bound in the skin of its author) to summon a dragon to do their bidding. The others -- brave, beautiful Alison Shiner; the battling twins Donna and Donovan McBride; and brainy, bold Gwen -- don't hesitate to join Colin in an effort to smash reality and bring a creature of the impossible into our world. But there's nothing simple about dealing with dragons, and their pact to save Arthur becomes a terrifying bargain in which the six must choose a new sacrifice for King Sorrow every year -- or become his next meal." --
The loneliness of Sonia and Sunny : a novel
By Desai, Kiran, 1971- author. aut http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut
"When Sonia and Sunny first glimpse each other on an overnight train, they are immediately captivated, yet also embarrassed by the fact that their grandparents had once tried to matchmake them, a clumsy meddling that only served to drive Sonia and Sunny apart. Sonia, an aspiring novelist who recently completed her studies in the snowy mountains of Vermont, has returned to her family in India, fearing she is haunted by a dark spell cast by an artist to whom she had once turned for intimacy and inspiration. Sunny, a struggling journalist resettled in New York City, is attempting to flee his imperious mother and the violence of his warring clan. Uncertain of their future, Sonia and Sunny embark on a search for happiness together as they confront the many alienations of our modern world. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is the sweeping tale of two young people navigating the many forces that shape their lives: country, class, race, history, and the complicated bonds that link one generation to the next. A love story, a family saga, and a rich novel of ideas, it is the most ambitious and accomplished work yet by one of our greatest novelists"-- Provided by publisher.
The secret of secrets : a novel
By Brown, Dan, 1964- author.
"Robert Langdon, esteemed professor of symbology, travels to Prague to attend a groundbreaking lecture by Katherine Solomon--a prominent noetic scientist with whom he has recently begun a relationship. Katherine is on the verge of publishing an explosive book that contains startling discoveries about the nature of human consciousness and threatens to disrupt centuries of established belief. But a brutal murder catapults the trip into chaos, and Katherine suddenly disappears along with her manuscript. Langdon finds himself targeted by a powerful organization and hunted by a chilling assailant sprung from Prague's most ancient mythology. As the plot expands into London and New York, Langdon desperately searches for Katherine . . . and for answers. In a thrilling race through the dual worlds of futuristic science and mystical lore,
New Non-fiction
Country Life's book of dogs : from countryside to hearthside, at home with our four-legged friends
By Stamp, Agnes, author.
Throughout its 125-year history, Country Life has chronicled our love affair with dogs. This elegantly designed volume features seventy breeds based on Royal Kennel Club classifications: hounds, working dogs, terriers, gundogs, herding dogs, toys, and utility. Each breed profile includes modern and archival photographs along with history, anecdotes, and lore. Here we see the romance of English country living through a canine lens. From Jilly Cooper and her rescue greyhound to Trudie Styler’s wolfhounds and many famous country estates, such as Badminton House, Belvoir Castle, Castle Howard, and Holkham Hall—as well as the Royal Family with their dogs at Balmoral, Windsor Castle, and Highgrove—the book offers an intimate look at Britain’s stately houses, gardens, and gorgeous countryside. Most of today’s breeds originated in Britain or were codified by the Royal Kennel Club, as covered by Country Life from its inception. The book poignantly raises awareness about breeds that are today considered vulnerable to extinction, such as the winsome Norwich terrier, the stout bull terrier, or the resolute otterhound, currently ranked most endangered. Also included are non-native breeds that have long associations with the Royal Family or the nobility—such as Pomeranians, Queen Victoria’s lifelong passion, and pugs, native to China but long an aristocratic favorite. --
We the people : a history of the U.S. Constitution
By Lepore, Jill, 1966- author.
From the best-selling author of "These Truths" comes "We the People," a stunning new history of the U.S. Constitution, for a troubling new era.
107 days
By Harris, Kamala, 1964- author.
"For the first time, and with surprising and revealing insights, Kamala Harris tells the story of one of the wildest and most consequential presidential campaigns in American history. Your Secret Service code name is Pioneer. You are the first woman in history to be elected vice president of the United States. On July 21, 2024, your running mate, Joe Biden, announces that he will not be seeking reelection. The presidential election will occur on November 5, 2024. You have 107 days. From the chaos of campaign strategy sessions to the intensity of debate prep under relentless scrutiny and the private moments that rarely make headlines, Kamala Harris offers an unfiltered look at the pressures, triumphs, and heartbreaks of a history-defining race. With behind-the-scenes details and a voice that is both intimate and urgent, this is more than a political memoir -- it's a chronicle of resilience, leadership, and the high stakes of democracy in action. Written with candor, a unique perspective, and the pace of a page-turning novel, 107 Days takes you inside the race for the presidency as no one has ever done before." --
If anyone builds it, everyone dies : why superhuman AI would kill us all
By Yudkowsky, Eliezer 1979- author.
In 2023, hundreds of AI luminaries signed an open letter warning that artificial intelligence poses a serious risk of human extinction. Since then, the AI race has only intensified. Companies and countries are rushing to build machines that will be smarter than any person. And the world is devastatingly unprepared for what would come next. For decades, two signatories of that letter -- Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares -- have studied how smarter-than-human intelligences will think, behave, and pursue their objectives. Their research says that sufficiently smart AIs will develop goals of their own that put them in conflict with us -- and that if it comes to conflict, an artificial superintelligence would crush us. The contest wouldn't even be close. How could a machine superintelligence wipe out our entire species? Why would it want to? Would it want anything at all? In this urgent book, Yudkowsky and Soares walk through the theory and the evidence, present one possible extinction scenario, and explain what it would take for humanity to survive. The world is racing to build something truly new under the sun. And if anyone builds it, everyone dies.
Capital : critique of political economy. Volume 1
By Marx, Karl, 1818-1883, author.
"A major new translation of the explosive book that transformed our world. Karl Marx (1818-1883) was living in exile in England when he embarked on an ambitious, multivolume critique of the capitalist system of production. Though only the first volume saw publication in Marx's lifetime, it would become one of the most consequential books in history. This magnificent new edition of Capital is a translation of Marx for the twenty-first century. It is the first translation into English to be based on the last German edition revised by Marx himself, the only version that can be called authoritative, and it features extensive commentary and annotations by Paul North and Paul Reitter that draw on the latest scholarship and provide invaluable perspective on the book and its complicated legacy. At once precise and boldly readable, this translation captures the momentous scale and sweep of Marx's thought while recovering the elegance and humor of the original source. Despite the world historical significance of Karl Marx's Das Kapital, there have been only three English translations of the nineteenth-century work. One rendering from the 1930s has long been out of print. The remaining two include an 1887 translation by Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling and a 1976 edition translated by Ben Fowkes. While of tremendous historical importance and impact, both have shortcomings as translations: the Moore-Aveling edition uses Victorian diction and quite literal translations, while the Fowkes edition blunts Marx's creative turns of phrase. In this wholly new, commissioned translation, Paul North and Paul Reitter draw on their deep knowledge of German intellectual history and literary culture to produce a fluid and imaginative reading edition of Capital: Volume I. While remaining faithful to the original text, Reitter uses colloquial English to replicate Marx's plainspoken style. Translator's and editors' notes by both North and Reitter provide valuable context for more obscure passages (such as nineteenth-century currency debates and technological references). An introductory preface by Wendy Brown and an epilogue that explains the substantive differences between the original English and French translations by William Clare Roberts enhance the scholarly apparatus"--
How to think about AI : a guide for the perplexed
By Susskind, Richard, 1961- author.
"People are confused about what artificial intelligence is, what it can and cannot do, what is yet to come, and whether AI is good or bad for humanity and civilisation -- whether it will provide solutions to mankind's major challenges or become our gravest existential threat. There is also ongoing debate how we should regulate AI and where we should draw moral boundaries on its use. In How to Think About AI, Richard Susskind draws on his experience of working on AI since the early 1980s. For Susskind, balancing the benefits and threats of artificial intelligence -- saving humanity with and from AI -- is the defining challenge of our age. He explores the history of AI and possible scenarios for its future. His views on AI are not always conventional. He positions ChatGPT and generative AI as no more than the latest chapter in the ongoing story of AI and claims we are still at the foothills of developments. He argues that to think responsibly about the impact of AI requires us to look well beyond today's technologies, suggesting that not yet invented technologies will have far greater impact on us in the 2030s than the tools we have today. This leads Susskind to discuss the possibility of conscious machines, remarkable new AI-enabled virtual worlds, and the impact of AI on the evolution of human beings" --
Good things : recipes and rituals to share with people you love
By Nosrat, Samin, author.
"Samin Nosrat has always had a complicated relationship with recipes. How, she wondered, can a recipe be anything more than a snapshot-an attempt to define the undefinable? How can ever it capture the feeling of experiencing something in person? In Good Things, she makes peace with this paradox, offering more than 125 of her favorite recipes-simply put, the things she most loves to cook for herself and for friends-and infusing them with all the beauty and care you would expect from Samin Nosrat. As she says, "Once I hand them off to you, they are no longer mine. They're yours, to do with as you please. And maybe, in the act of receiving, a little thread of connection will be woven between me and each of you." Good Things is an essential, joyful guide to cooking and living, whether you're looking for a comforting, creamy tomato soup to console a struggling friend, seeking a deeper sense of connection in your life, or hosting a dinner for ten in your too-small dining room. Here you'll find go-to recipes for ricotta custard pancakes, chicken braised with apricots and harissa, a crunch, tingly Calabrian chili crisp, super-chewy sky-high focaccia, and a decades-in-the-making, childhood-evoking yellow cake. Along the way, you'll also find plenty of tips, techniques, and lessons from the person Alice Waters called "America's next great cooking teacher," from how to buy olive oil (check the harvest date) to when to splurge (salad dressing is where you want to use your best ingredients) to the one acceptable substitute for Parmigiano Reggiano (Grana Padano, if you must)."--
Pronoun trouble : the story of us in seven little words
By McWhorter, John H., author.
"The nature of language is to shift and evolve-but every so often, a new usage creates a whole lot of consternation. These days, pronouns are throwing curve balls, and it matters, because pronoun habits die hard. If you need a refresher from eighth grade English: pronouns are short, used endlessly, and serve to point and direct, to orient us as to what is meant about who. Him, not her. Me, not you. Pronouns get a heavy workout, and as such, they become part of our hardwiring. To mess with our pronouns is to mess with us. But many of today's hot button controversies are nonsense. The singular "they" has been with us since the 1400s and appears in Shakespeare. In fact, many of the supposedly iron-clad rules of grammar are up for debate (Billy and me went to the store is perfectly acceptable!), and with tasty trivia, unexpected twists, and the weird quirks of early and contemporary English, McWhorter guides readers on a journey of how our whole colle
Why fascists fear teachers : public education and the future of democracy
By Weingarten, Randi, author.
Rebel queen : the Cold War, misogyny, and the making of a grandmaster
By Polgar, Susan, 1969- author.
Dark renaissance : the dangerous times and fatal genius of Shakespeare's greatest rival
By Greenblatt, Stephen, 1943- author.
Such great heights : the complete cultural history of the indie rock explosion
By DeVille, Chris, author.
Wild for Austen : a rebellious, subversive, and untamed Jane
By Looser, Devoney, 1967- author. aut http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut
Coming up short : a memoir of my America
By Reich, Robert B., author. aut http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut
Project mind control : Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the tragedy of MKULTRA
By Lisle, John (Historian), author. aut http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut