Spinning the Law: Trying Cases in the Court of Public Opinion by Kendall Coffey

High-profile courtroom dramas fascinate our nation, especially when they concern the rich and famous. And while the American public has come to realize that the spin factor is a prime ingredient in political tactics and marketing campaigns, many are unaware of the strategies for shaping public opinion when it comes to major courtroom battles.

This behind-the-scenes analysis of media strategies presents intriguing and often entertaining insights into what they do not teach in law schools or journalism classes. As the lead counsel in some of the country’s most notable cases and a savvy legal commentator with hundreds of television appearances, author Kendall Coffey brings a distinctive combination of depth as a legal practitioner and experience as a media analyst to this illuminating, provocative, and practical book.

He begins with a historic election fraud trial, relying on his personal experience with the basics of law spin. He then masterfully guides the reader through an abbreviated, engrossing tour of spinning cases through the ages — including the trials of Socrates and Joan of Arc, as well as the Charles Lindbergh kidnapping case. Modern cases include the author’s firsthand experiences in the international Elian Gonzalez controversy — and his thoughts on the possible overwhelming effect that that controversy had on Florida in the 2000 presidential election between Gore and Bush.

Coffey also examines the most famous cases of recent times — those of Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant, Martha Stewart, Scott Peterson, and former governor “Rod” Blagojevich.

Along the way, Coffey exposes many of the myths associated with the law, debunking assumptions about legal concepts ranging from circumstantial evidence and cooperating witnesses to so-called prosecutors’ vendettas.

Coffey’s many entertaining examples and engaging explanations make this book ideal reading for everyone fascinated by celebrity legal problems: all of us who make up the court of public opinion.

Spinning the Law from Prometheus Books is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World by Lisa Bloom

Girlfriends, what is happening to us? Lisa Bloom asks.

In Think, Bloom reveals the stark paradoxes that American girls and women are living today, including:

• We are excelling in education at every level but are likewise obsessing over celebrity lifestyles and tabloid media, leaving many of us unable to name a single branch of government — but nearly all of us can name at least one Kardashian.
• We are outperforming our male counterparts in employment in urban areas for the first time in history, yet spending more time and money on our appearances, including electing life-endangering plastic surgery in record-breaking numbers.

In a culture that continually rewards beauty over brains, it’s no wonder that straight-A high school girls believe “it’s more important to be hot than smart” as they giggle into television cameras that they don’t know how many sides a triangle has, nor in which country Mexico City is located.

All of these factors have left Bloom wondering: How did we get from the Equal Pay Act and Title IX to celebutainment and Botox, and — more importantly – what can we do about it?

Bloom offers the solution, and it involves one simple word: THINK.

In this provocative, entertaining, and thoroughly researched book, Bloom illuminates specific steps to reclaiming our brains, regaining focus, and taking charge of our lives. As a working mom who appreciates the value of time, Bloom first revels how rethinking some common but outdated practices can give us more time to breathe and engage our minds. Next, Bloom details how to use these newfound hours more meaningfully by turning away from reality shows and toward compelling and substantive news sites, magazines and books (reading list included), reconnecting with our communities, and becoming more thoughtful and proactive contributors to local, national, and global causes.

Packed with thought-provoking, revelatory points that will get your gray matter growing again, Think is delivered in a no-nonsense, straight-talk manner that will make you laugh, squirm, and question yourself — and most importantly — make you start thinking again.

Think from Vanguard Press is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

So focused in our day to day work we often overlook the big picture that surrounds our lives. When it hits though, the realization of our existence conjures difficult questions. Who am I? Where am I going? What am I doing all of this for? This week we’re shining a light on four books that awaken sleeping souls to worlds both within and around the self in their own unique ways.

Transitions: How Women Embrace Change and Celebrate Life by Abigail Brenner

Abigail Brenner, M.D., author of Transitions: How Women Embrace Change and Celebrate Life, is a board certified psychiatrist currently in private practices as well as an ordained interfaith minister who helps people design, create, and perform personally meaningful rituals. She is also author of  SHIFT: How to Deal When Life Changes, and the co-author of The Essential Guide To Baby’s First Year, to be released April 2011. Transitions: How Women Embrace Change and Celebrate Life from CreateSpace is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry

From Brunonia Barry, the New York Times bestselling author of The Lace Reader, comes an emotionally compelling novel about finding your true place in the world.

A respected Boston psychotherapist, Zee Finch has come a long way from a motherless childhood spent stealing boats. But the actions of a patient throw Zee into emotional chaos and take her back to places she thought she’d left behind.

The Map of True Places from HarperCollins is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Blessed: Living A Grateful Life by Ellen Michaud

Sometimes we just need to stop for a moment and absorb the quiet moments in the world around us–to take a deep breath and appreciate the things in life that make us thankful and bring us joy. Blessed: Living a Grateful Life is a call to do just that. In this heartfelt collection of her online columns from Diane, the flagship magazine of the Curves women’s fitness center organization, author Ellen Michaud reminds us of the everyday blessings that surround us, but we all tend to overlook.

Blessed: Living A Grateful Life from Reader’s Digest is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Into My Father’s Wake by Eric Best

From Eric Best, a solo sailing odyssey and journey of personal discovery in which the author, a former journalist and Wall street strategist, comes to terms with his dead father and learns the meaning of forgiveness.

Into My Father’s Wake from CreateSpace is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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What Will Happen to Me? by Howard Zehr

“Sometimes when I’m alone, I sit there and look up and close my eyes and think, ˜If he were here, what would happen? ˜ I would have had my full life. It’s just half now.” These sobering words from teenager Cassandra are typical of the devastating accounts included in Zehr and Amstutz’s portraits of American children who have at least one incarcerated parent. Zehr’s portraits are compassionate and ennobling and, though often cursory, the text from the children and caregivers is heartbreaking and thought-provoking. What Will Happen To Me? from Good Books is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Midnights with the Mystic by Cheryl Simone

A series of intimate conversations with a wise guru is a compelling idea. How many times have each of us wished for answers to life’s deep questions? In Midnights with the Mystic, Cheryl Simone relates her personal experience of learning at the feet of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, India’s most sought-after mystic. Midnights with the Mystic from Hampton Roads is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Breath of God by Jeffrey Small

In 1887, a Russian journalist made an explosive discovery in a remote Himalayan monastery only to be condemned and silenced for the heresy he proposed. His discovery vanished shortly thereafter.

Now, graduate student Grant Matthews journeys to the Himalayas in search of this ancient mystery. But Matthews couldn’t have anticipated the conspiracy of zealots who would go to any lengths to prevent him from bringing this secret public. Soon he is in a race to expose a truth that will change the world’s understanding of religion. A truth that his university colleagues believe is mere myth. A truth that will change his life forever—if he survives. Breath of God from West Hills Press is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.