DUELING WITH KINGS is
the first book written by this longtime sports and news journalist, Daniel
Barbarisi. Subtitled “High Stakes, Killer Sharks, and the Get-Rich Promise of
Daily Fantasy Sports,” this text relays his investigative work and attempts to
master Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS). As one colleague commented, “it’s all about
the money; so appropriate to have Ben Franklin on the cover.” Barbarisi concentrates
on events of 2015 and 2016, relaying the controversies and massive ad campaigns
associated with DraftKings and FanDuel. Increased visibility led to concerns
about rigged games and legal challenges, especially in New York and Barbarisi
interviews key players. He also chronicles his own efforts and adventures with
the “sport,” introducing readers to other players with names like Oreo,
Underjones, and Beep. DUELING WITH KINGS was recently reviewed in
The Wall Street Journal (“How to Swim with the Daily Fantasy Sharks”) and is well-written, sharing
statistics like this: 1.3% of DFS players took in 91% of the winnings in the
first half of the 2015 baseball season. 
THE CRAVING MIND by
Judson Brewer deals with a high interest topic for our students and faculty. Just recently, we were circulating a New York
Times article which dealt with addiction (“Are Teenagers Replacing Drugs with Smartphones?”). Brewer is a psychiatrist and
neuroscientist who has studied addictions (Trigger. Behavior. Reward.) for
two decades in addition to pioneering work on mindfulness. He subtitles the
text “From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love – Why We Get Hooked and How We Can
Break Bad Habits.” Chapters cover the dopamine hit and discuss various addictions
(to technology, ourselves, distraction, etc.), concentration, flow, and resilience.
Published by Yale University Press, this
scholarly work is completely indexed and filled with references. It includes a Mindfulness Personality Type survey also available online through the University of
Massachusetts. Much to ponder here. And it fits well with the recent FAN speaker (Family Action Network) Adam Alter, who wrote Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked.
NEVER OUT OF SEASON by
Rob Dunn was actually a bit scary to read since it talks about sustainable agriculture
and various issues impacting crops and successful future harvests. There is a
terrific excerpt about bananas available online through Wired magazine; other sections of the book examine
the potato blight and cacao and chocolate, for example. Dunn, a professor in the Department of
Applied Ecology at North Carolina State University, also extols the value of
diversity and seed banks which have been established. Library Journal calls NEVER OUT
OF SEASON “accessible,” “comprehensible,” and “recommended for anyone interested
in agriculture, agricultural history, food science, or general biology.” I concur – look for it on our shelves soon. 
