2010. 2. 27 NEW ARRIVALS

The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy (Hardcover)

AUTHOR: Bill Simmons

GENRE: Sports

There is only one writer on the planet who possesses enough basketball knowledge and passion to write the definitive book on the NBA. Bill Simmons, the from-the-womb hoops addict known to millions as ESPN.com’s Sports Guy, is that writer. And “The Book of Basketball” is that book.

Nowhere in the roundball universe will you find another single volume that covers as much in such depth as this wildly opinionated and thoroughly entertaining look at the past, present, and future of pro basketball. From the age-old question of who actually won the rivalry between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to the one about which team was truly the best of all time, Simmons opens - and then closes, once and for all - every major pro basketball debate. Then he takes it further by completely reevaluating not only how NBA Hall of Fame inductees should be chosen but how the institution must be reshaped from the ground up, the result being the pyramid: Simmons’ one-of-a-kind, five-level shrine to the 96 greatest players in the history of pro basketball. And ultimately he takes fans to the heart of it all, using a conversation with one NBA great to uncover that coveted thing: the secret of basketball.

Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend (Hardcover)

AUTHORS: James S. Hirsch

GENRE: Sports

Authorized by Willie Mays and written by a New York Times best-selling author, this is the definitive biography of one of baseball’s immortals. Mays is perhaps best known for “The Catch,” his breathtaking over-the-shoulder grab in the 1954 World Series. But he was a transcendent figure who received standing ovations in enemy stadiums and who, during the turbulent civil rights era, urged understanding and reconciliation. More than his records, his legacy is defined by the pure joy that he brought to fans and the loving memories that have been passed to future generations so they might know the magic and beauty of the game. With meticulous research, and drawing on interviews with Mays himself as well as with close friends, family, and teammates, Hirsch presents a complex portrait of one of America’s most significant cultural icons.

The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun (Hardcover)

AUTHOR: Gretchen Rubin

GENRE: Self-Improvement

What if you could change your life without really changing your life? On the outside, Gretchen Rubin had it all - a good marriage, healthy children and a successful career - but she knew something was missing.

Determined to end that nagging doubt, she set out on a yearlong quest to learn how to better enjoy the life she already had. “The Happiness Project” is the engaging, relatable and inspiring result of the author’s 12-month adventure in becoming a happier person. Written with a wicked sense of humor and sharp insight, Rubin’s story will inspire readers to embrace the pleasure in their lives and remind them how to have more fun.

Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime (Hardcover)

AUTHOR: John Heilemann

GENRE: Politics

In “Game Change,” John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, two of America’s leading political reporters, use their unrivaled access to pull back the curtain on the Obama, Clinton, McCain and Palin campaigns. Based on hundreds of interviews with the people who lived the story, Game Change is a reportorial tour de force that reads like a fast-paced novel. Character-driven and dialogue-rich, replete with extravagantly detailed scenes, it’s an intimate portrait of some of the most powerful and fascinating figures in American life - the occasionally shocking, often hilarious, ultimately definitive account of the campaign of a lifetime.