Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture by Ellen Ruppel Shell is getting a lot of press these days.  It’s a frank discussion of why we buy junk we don’t need, how prices affect us psychologically, what happened in the past to send us down this path, and how it’s affecting our future.  When a patron asks you for it, steer them towards these as well:

Not Buying It: My Year without Shopping by Judith Levine.  Levine and her partner try to spend an entire year not buying anything but necessities.

Give It Up!: My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less by Mary Carlomagno.  Similar to Levine’s book, Carlomagno gives up one thing per month – drinking, shopping, dessert, even swearing.

Throw Out Fifty Things:  Clear the Clutter, Clear Your Life by Gail Blanke.  Blanke shows you how to stop letting bad purchases clutter your space and your life.

Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businessesby Stacy Mitchell.  A look at how mega-retailers are shrinking the middle class and adding to environmental concerns.

A Year Without “Made in China”: One Family’s True Life Adventure in the Global Economy by Sara Bongiorni.  Bongiorni, her husband, and 2 kids try to spend an entire year not purchasing anything made in China, with fascinating results.

To be fair, you could always add:

The Wal-Mart Revolution: How Big Box Stores Benefit Consumers, Workers, and the Economy by Richard Vedder and Wendell Cox.  Because libraries like to remain fair and balanced, right?

Give Me Something Good to Eat

The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David Kessler is one of those nonfiction books that just took over at my library.  We had to go back to purchase more copies to satisfy the hold list.  Kessler examines how food companies spend big money devising just the right overload of salt, fat, and sugar to trick your brain into craving unhealthy food.  While your patrons are waiting, or, after they’ve read it and they want to learn more, share these titles:

Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines our Health and How to Fight Back by Michelle Simon.  Very similar to Kessler’s book but a bit more serious in tone, Simon explains why we cannot trust food corporations to “do the right thing” and why we need to fight for our health in today’s corporate food culture.  A call to arms, if you will.

Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated Into What America Eats by Steve Ettlinger.  A fascinating look at the science of processed foods – sure to make turn you into a label reader and make you rethink how tasty chemicals can be.

The Gospel of Food: Everything You Think You Know About Food Is Wrong by Barry Glassner. Glassner.  Glassner interviews chefs, chemists, nutritionists, and restaurant critics about the way we eat and what it all means.

All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America? by Joel Berg.  More academic (and a little less readable) than Kessler’s book, Berg has anyalzed 50 years of domestic food policies in the US and investigates the political and economic impact of food insecurity.  For those serious about the subject.

What to Eat by Marion Nestle. Once readers have figured out what not to eat, they’ll want to know what they should be eating.  This is the definitive guide to making healthy and informed choices about food from a famous and acclaimed nutritionist.  Highly readable and entertaining, as well as informative.

The Queen of Fats: Why Omega-3s Were Removed from the Western Diet and What We Can Do to Replace Them by Susan Allport.  While Kessler divulges how bad food is processed to taste good, Allport reveals how good food is processed to take the good things out.  An eye-opening look at why the food we eat today, even natural stuff, is not as good for us as the same food we ate 30 years ago.

An Apple A Day: The Myths, Misconceptions, and Truths About the Foods We Eat by Joseph A. Schwarcz.  Eat fish, it has omega 3′s.  Don’t eat fish, it has mercury! Cook with Teflon pans because you don’t have to add fat – but watch out, the fumes will kill your pets!  Schwarcz looks at today’s top food fears, trends, and questions, giving a scientist’s perspective on what to eat and what to stay away from.