Return to home
page Book Reviews, Book Lover Resources, Advice for Writers and Publishers
Home / California Bookwatch

California Bookwatch

Volume 5, Number 2 February 2010 Home | CALBW Index

Table of Contents

Reviewer's Choice Art Shelf Music Shelf
Science Shelf Audiobook Shelf Journalism Shelf
Philosophy Shelf Automotive Shelf Cookbook Shelf
Architecture Shelf Gardening Shelf Metaphysical Studies Shelf
Self-Help Shelf Martial Arts Shelf Computer Shelf
Hobby/Crafts Shelf Education Shelf Psychology Shelf
Parenting Shelf Needlecraft Shelf Health/Medicine Shelf
Money/Finance Shelf Business Shelf Jobs/Careers Shelf
Photography Shelf Gaming Shelf Sports Shelf
Hunting/Fishing Shelf Biography Shelf Pets/Wildlife Shelf
Railroading Shelf African-American Studies Shelf Social Issues Shelf
Theatre/Cinema/TV Shelf Fantasy/SciFi Shelf Military Shelf
Comix/Graphic Novel Shelf Travel Shelf World History Shelf
American History Shelf Antiques/Collectibles Shelf Religion/Spirituality Shelf
Mystery/Suspense Shelf Archaeology Shelf California Shelf


Reviewer's Choice

Way of the Peaceful Warrior Classic Edition
Dan Millman
New World Library
14 Pamaron Way, Novato, CA 94949
9781932073256, $24.95 www.newworldlibrary.com

The Classic Edition of WAY OF THE PEACEFUL WARRIOR: A BOOK THAT CHANGES LIVES appears in a lovely hardcover for the first time since the book's initial publication in 1980, offering readers a fine spiritual odyssey telling of the author's own journey. His path to happiness offers many possibilities and reflections for others and this new gift edition will make a solid pick for libraries and individual giving alike.

Shiprocked
Steve Conway
Dufour Editions Inc.
Box 7, Chester Springs, PA 19425
9781905483624, $22.95 www.dufoureditions.com

Shiprocked: Life on the Waves with Radio Caroline offers a memoir by a Phantom FM DJ who spent years on Radio Caroline, the pirate radio ship. His life was full of storms, drama, and a pirate radio ship's struggle for survival. The station still runs today on satellite. Its heyday comes to life, here, in a lively read perfect for any general-interest collection.

The Visual Miscellaneum
David McCandless
Collins Design
10 E. 53rd St., New York NY 10022-5299
9780061748363, $26.99 www.collinsdesignbooks.com

The Visual Miscellaneum: A Colorful Guide to the World's Most Consequential Trivia offers a fine lighthearted sourcebook to trivia - everything from circles that show the reach of world religions and causes of death in the 20th century to dictator's wives and ailments you can't avoid. Visual maps, charts, and images are key to the fun presentation, a pick for trivia buffs and general lending libraries alike.

Frank Lloyd Wright in Pop-Up
Roland Lewis
Thunder Bay Press
c/o Advanced Marketing Group
13475 Danielson Street, Suite 140, Poway, CA 92064-8850
www.thunderbaybooks.com
1607100088, $24.95 www.thunderbaybooks.com

Frank Lloyd Wright in Pop-Up is an amazing gift choice, offering architectural masterpieces by Wright represented in pop-up replicas of buildings accompanied by notes on the structure's history, design and construction. Five different facets of Wright's life and works are covered in a lovely oversized title perfect for display and learning.

How to Be Famous
Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt
Grand Central Publishing
237 Park Avenue, New York NY 10017
9780446555913, $19.99 www.hachettebookgroup.com

HOW TO BE FAMOUS: OUR GUIDE TO LOOKING THE PART, PLAYING THE PRESS AND BECOMING A TABLOID FIXTURE is a fine survey by a 'power couple' whose wild life has made headlines for years. Fans of the two as well as those who hate them will find this an intriguing ten-step plan covering their rise to fame. Highly recommended for any general-interest lending library.

Dogtown: Death and Enchantment in a New England Ghost Town
Elyssa East
Free Press
1230 Avenue of Americas, New York NY 10020
9781416587040, $26.00 www.simonandschuster.com

Dogtown: Death and Enchantment in a New England Ghost Town tells of a place that captured the author's attention - a town whose history was steeped in witchcraft, slavery and pirates and a 25-year-old murder. Originally inspired by the paintings of landscape artist Marsden Hartley, East was drawn to the town and here blends her personal story with the 25-year-old murder of a school teacher and the town's unique history. A captivating blend of memoir, American history and true crime expose.


The Art Shelf

From Autos to Architecture
David Gartman
Princeton Architectural Press
37 East 7th St., New York NY 10003
9781568988139, $60.00 www.papress.com

From Autos to Architecture: Fordism and Architectural Aesthetics in the 20th Century comes from a sociologist who provides a social history linking Fordist mass production and industrial architecture in America to European designer developments. It crosses disciplines from art and architecture to economics and world history to provide a scholarly survey of architecture and social conflicts, and is a pick for any college-level arts or social history collection.

Animals and Objects in and Out of Water
Jay Ryan
Akashic Books
Box 1456, New York NY 10009
9781933354927, $22.95 www.akashicbooks.com

Animals and Objects in and Out of Water: Posters by Jay Ryan 2005-2008 packs in full-page color images of posters representing the author's latest prints since his first collection, packing in over a hundred of his most flotationally challenged prints from a three-year period and including original drawings, photos, and notes on each of the posters. The result is a fine survey perfect for any library strong in poster art.

Phonesex
Phillip Toledano
Twin Palms Publishers
Box 10229, Santa Fe, NM 87504
9781931885744, $50.00 www.twinpalms.com

A phone sex operator must understand a caller's unspoken and spoken wants - and fulfill them by creating a fantasy encounter with the client. Such encounters are all words and no images - which makes Phillip Toledano's PHONESEX collection of photos so intriguing. His photos of phone sex operator were taken in their homes and often in the rooms they worked, and are accompanied by their notes on how they work. An intriguing, eye-opening dialogue emerges in a photo collection recommended not just for college-level arts libraries but for social issues shelves alike.

Hue
Kelly Wearstler
AMMO Books
Box 412402, Los Angeles, CA 90041
9781934429358, $49.95 www.ammobooks.com

HUE is a 'must have' for any library strong in modern interior design, offering a lush showcase of Kelly Wearstler's most recent projects and designs for hotels, restaurants, reports, and fine residences alike. From her examination of neoclassical designs to contemporary color schemes and insights for small spaces, this packs full-page color photos with a fine examination of one interior designer's style and approach to color and interior space.

Fan Letters to a Stripper: A Patti Waggin Tale
Bob Brill
Schiffer
4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310
9780764333293, $49.99 www.schifferbooks.com

Fan Letters to a Stripper: A Patti Waggin Tale tells of a 1940s and 50s strip artist who was athletic, performing routines few others could do and gaining a reputation for her unique style and for being one of the friendliest performers in burlesque. This gathers letters of her fans and juxtaposes them with her own writings and photos of her on stage and at home, making for a fine collection any arts library will find popular.

Marie-Louise Von Motesiczky
Ines Schlenker
Hudson Hills Press
Box 205, Manchester, VT 05354
9781555953225, $150.00 www.hudsonhills.com

Marie-Louise Von Motesiczky: 1906-1966: A CATALOGUE RAISONNE OF THE PAINTINGS tells of an artist whose works were produced over a period of seven decades and range from a small oil painting produced when she was 17 to works from the 1990s, shortly before her death. Over 300 paintings - mostly portraits, self-portraits and still-lifes, and several hundred of her drawings pack a catalog of her entire painted oeuvre alongside letters, diaries, and modern photos. Any college-level art library must have this extensive survey: it reviews her life and career and a key period in European art development and is a 'must' for any collection strong on art history.

Welcome to Espain
Jordi Bernado
Actar D
158 Lafayette St., 5th Floor, New York NY 10013
9788496954168, $59.95 www.actar-d.com

Welcome to Espain explores Spanish plays and scenes, offering sometimes-startling color images of Spanish culture in an oversized presentation perfect for any college-level arts library strong in international contemporary photography in general and Spanish theatre in particular. It focuses on 20th century playwrights who have brought the ridiculous onto stage, offering an outstanding selection of eye-catching images. College-level photography, theatre and Spanish culture collections will relish Bernado's unique eye.


The Music Shelf

Travelin' Man
Tom Weschler and Gary Graff
Painted Turtle/Wayne State University Press
Detroit, Michigan 48201
9780814334591, $27.95 http://wsupress.wayne.edu

TRAVELIN' MAN: ON THE ROAD AND BEHIND THE SCENES WITH BOB SEGER offers a fine foreword by John Mellencamp and offers a coverage by an author who spent more than ten years in the Bob Seger camp working as his tour manager and photographing his gigs. His behind-the-scenes photos and accounts offer visual and verbal documentation of musician Bob Seger's recording, performing and life, and is a top pick for any library covering rock music performers.

The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers
Jocelyn R. Neal
Indiana University Press
601 N. Morton St., Indianapolis, IN 47404-3797
9780253220820, $21.95 www.iupress.indiana.edu

Any library strong in country music history and legends will consider The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers a mainstay. It provides a song-by-song analysis of the songs of Jimmie Rodgers, pairing an analysis of the songs with a survey of country music history and the singers who chose Jimmie Rodgers' music. The result is a powerful and well-detailed analysis key to any country music collection.

Born Country
Randy Owen with Allen Rucker
HarperOne
10 E. 53rd St., New York NY 10022
9780061673153, $15.99 www.harperone.com

Randy Owen was songwriter and lead singer for the country group Alabama, but his autobiography here is as much a story of faith and family as it is of music involvements. BORN COUNTRY: HOW FAITH, FAMILY, AND MUSIC BROUGHT ME HOME tells of Owen's rural Alabama roots, share-cropper farm heritage, and his experiences with superstar status and how he held on to his Christian values through it all. Country music collections will welcome his story.

Paul McCartney: A Life
Peter Ames Carlin
Touchstone Books
1230 Avenue of Americas, New York NY 10020
9781416562092, $26.00 www.simonandschuster.com

Paul McCartney: A Life examines Beatles musician Paul McCartney's life and times, from how he picked up an acoustic guitar after losing a parent to how his talents evolved. This is built on years of research and interviews with friends, bandmates and collaborators and provides insights not to be found elsewhere in more general Beatles titles - and thus key to any popular music collection.

The Gramophone Classical Music Guide 2010
Presto Classical/Music Sales Corp
257 Park Avenue S., New York NY 10010
9781847720825, $24.95 www.prestoclassical.co.uk

The weighty, exhaustive Gramophone Classical Music Guide 2010 is a top pick for any collector of classic music whether it be on CD, DVD or as a download. Over 3,000 timely reviews of currently available CDs include over 400 recordings added just this year, major DVD coverage to include opera and historic recordings as well as documentaries, details of downloadable music and the best sites to locate them, and composer artist indexes. A 'must' for any classical or serious music library and many a general-interest collection catering to music buyers.

The Impossible Dream
Anthony Reynolds
Jawbone
1700 4th St., Berkeley, CA 94710
9781906002251, $19.95 www.jawbonepress.com

Deserving of ongoing recommendation for music libraries is THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM: THE STORY OF SCOTT WALKER AND THE WALKER BROTHERS. It presents the charged story of the U.S. counter-strike to the British invasion music of the mid-60s, telling of brothers who became one of the world's biggest bands of 1966-67. A 'must' for any American music history library.


The Science Shelf

Roadside Geology of Minnesota
Richard W. Ojakangas
Mountain Press
1301 S. Third St. West, Box 2399, Missoula, MT 59806
9780878425624, $26.00 www.mountain-press.com

Roadside Geology of Minnesota offers a geologic survey not just of Minnesota's famous lakes, but the plate collisions and volcanoes that offer a much more active portrait of a state that was once one of the most geologically active areas on the continent. Through a survey of the state's unique geologic features, this offers a blend of science and travelogue perfect for Minnesota residents and travelers to the state.

The Smart Grid
Clark W. Gellings, P.E.
Fairmont Press/CRC
700 Indian Trail, Lilburn, GA 30047
9781439815748, $125.00 www.fairmontpress.com

The Smart Grid: Enabling Energy Efficiency and Demand Response offers a survey of power systems and grid management perfect for college-level collections strong in energy management issues. From how sensors and communication technologies can be combined into a new continually adjusting 'smart' grid system to how integration of intelligent systems can achieve better energy efficiency and manage costs, this comes from a Vice President of Technology at the Electric Power Research Institute and offers the depth of analysis needed for college collections.

Dreaming the Biosphere
Rebecca Reider
University of New Mexico Press
1312 Basehart Road SE, Albuquerque NM 87106-4363
9780826346735, $39.95 www.unmpress.com

Dreaming the Biosphere: The Theater of All Possibilities is for any library interested in Biosphere 2, and offers insights on a project once abandoned and now a University of Arizona research center marking one of the largest ecology experiments ever conducted. The history of Biosphere 2, its pros and cons, and its transformations come alive in a history key to any library strong in ecological research in general and Biosphere 2 events in particular.

The Tree Rings' Tale
John Fleck
University of New Mexico Press
1312 Basehart Road SE, Albuquerque NM 87106-4363
9780826347572, $21.95 www.unmpress.com

The Tree Rings' Tale: Understanding Our Changing Climate is intended for advanced elementary to middle school readers but is reviewed here for its importance to all ages in explaining the science of tree rings - which had not been developed when adventurer John Wesley Powell made his epic voyages down the Colorado River in 1969, 71 and 72. In linking his biography with the evolution of climate science, THE TREE RINGS' TALE provides a powerful survey of climate science's relationship to all other scientific disciplines.

Negotiating Environment and Science
Richard J. Smith
RFF
1616 P Street NW, Washington DC 20036
9781933115702, $27.50 www.rffpress.org

Negotiating Environment and Science: An Insider's View of International Agreements, from Driftnets to the Space Station tells of the author's nine years in the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, during which he drafted some of the most important international agreements on environmental safety in our times. His survey illustrates the changes in diplomatic focus over the past two decades from security agreements to global environmental cooperative efforts, and makes for a powerful pick for any political science or science library.


The Audiobook Shelf

Open: An Autobiography
Andre Agassi
Random House Audio
1745 Broadway, New York NY 10019
9780739358566, $32.00 www.randomhouseaudio.com

Erik Davies, an actor and screen personality, provides a vivid a fine reading to the autobiography of a gifted tennis pro. From his background as a ninth-grade dropout, his teen years would change the face of tennis and shock the world, leading him to become an overnight sensation. His story is a pick for any general-interest library.

Sandman Slim
Richard Kadrey
Brilliance Audio
1441800395, $34.99 www.brillianceaudio.com

SANDMAN SLIM receives a fine reading by MacLeod Andrews, who has performed in numerous stage productions and whose fine voice lends drama to this supernatural fantasy of one James Stark who spent eleven years in Hell as a hitman before landing in a different kind of hell on earth in Los Angeles. Libraries will find the suspense outstandingly well done.

Return to the Hundred Acre Wood
David Benedictus
Penguin Audio
375 Hudson St., New York NY 10014
9780143145073, $19.95 www.penguin.com

Return to the Hundred Acre Wood is for all ages and offers a charming set of stories based on A.A. Milne's magic world. Pooh and his friends have never stopped playing there - and ten stories capture new Pooh adventures in the spirit of Milne's finest. The entire family will find this intriguing and fun.


The Journalism Shelf

The Complete Front Pages 1851-2009
New York Times
Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
151 West 19th Street, New York, NY 10011
9781579128258, $60.00 http://www.bdlev.com

Any New York resident or fan of the Times must have The Complete Front Pages 1851-2009. It provides a century and a half of history as reported on the Times front pages, providing facsimile pages for over 300 important dates, news summaries, and original essays by Times writers. Three DVD-ROMs for running on Mac or PC environments alike contain every front page ever printed in this outstanding collection, a 'must' for any newspaper or history library.

My Paper Chase
Harold Evans
Little, Brown & Company
c/o Hachette Book Group
237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
9780316031424, $27.99 www.hachettebookgroup.com

MY PAPER CHASE: TRUE STORIES OF VANISHED TIMES is a memoir from one known for his legendary career in journalism and publishing and tells how he entered the industry. He left school at 15 as wartime Britain was being hammered by the Germans and became a reporter for a tiny newspaper, beginning a long career in journalism and newspaper reporting. His long career observes many milestones and keys of newspaper history and thus is a top pick for any serious library strong in journalism.

A Bomb in Every Issue
Peter Richardson
New Press
38 Greene St., New York NY 10013
9781595584397, $25.95 www.thenewpress.com

A Bomb in Every Issue: How the Short, Unruly Life of Ramparts Magazine Changed America is the first book to tell of the short life of Ramparts, originally founded as a Catholic literary quarterly that evolved to become the leftist publication of its times committed to civil rights and antiwar movements. This magazine made a strong impact on its readers and this history is key for any library strong in journalism or social issues.


The Philosophy Shelf

Supervillains and Philosophy
Ben Dyer, Editor
Open Court
Box 300, Peru, IL 61354-0300
9780812696691, $19.95 www.opencourt.com

Supervillains and Philosophy adds to a strong series linking popular culture, TV and film with philosophical analysis and is a fine survey for any collection catering to comic book fans who want to introduce philosophical thinking into the mix. From the basics of what's needed to become a supervillain to connections between good and evil, power and connections between power and corruption, and more, this offers insights on a scale modern young readers can readily absorb.


The Automotive Shelf

Designing and Tuning High-Performance Fuel Injection Systems
Greg Banish
CarTech
39966 Grand Ave., North Branch, MN 55056
9781932494907, $24.95 www.cartechbooks.com

Designing and Tuning High-Performance Fuel Injection Systems offers tips on fuel injection systems and tuning, offering details on combustion, pros and cons of standalones, setups, calibration, timing maps and more. Screen shots of calibration processes supplement charts and color photos throughout in a top pick for any auto repair library.

Muscle Car Interior Restoration Guide
Daniel Strohl
Cartech
39966 Grand Ave, North Branch MN 55056
9781932494983, $29.95 www.cartechbooks.com

Muscle Car Interior Restoration Guide is a 'must' for any automotive library. It tells how to return a muscle car's interior to original or like-new condition, providing an expert's advice on the process and covering instrumental panel and dashboard restoration, firewall, steering wheel, and pedal as well as carpet, door panels and convertible tops. Any library catering to auto restoration buffs will find this a rare and popular, specific pick.

Old School Customs
Alan Mayes
Motorbooks
c/o Quayside Publishing Group
400 First Avenue North, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55401
9780760334577, $35.00 www.motorbooks.com

OLD SCHOOL CUSTOMS: TOP TRADITIONAL CUSTOM CAR BUILDERS is an ongoing, top recommendation for any library strong in car design legends and history. It features the work of some 14 customizers who are still creating and restoring custom cars, and packs in color photos and detailed descriptions in an outstanding survey any car enthusiast will relish.


The Cookbook Shelf

B. Smith Cooks Southern-Style
Barbara Smith
Scribner
1230 Avenue of Americas, New York NY 20030
9781416553540, $35.00 www.simonandschuster.com

B. Smith Cooks Southern-Style is a top pick for any Southern cooking collection and comes from a famous African-American restaurateur and author who packs her book with the best. From Warm Cabbage Cashew Apple Slaw to Bourbon Street Bread Pudding with Sweet Bourbon Sauce, this is a top recommendation, peppered with color photos throughout.

Cleaving
Julie Powell
Little, Brown
237 Park Avenue, New York NY 10017
9780316003360, $24.99 www.hachettebookgroup.com

CLEAVING: A STORY OF MARRIAGE, MEAT, AND OBSESSION comes form the author of JULIE AND JULIA and offers a different food-oriented tale: this one surveying the world of butchery. Julie's work as an apprentice at a family-owned butcher shop in the Catskills brings hard physical work and an experience that forces her to change her own life and troubled heart in this outstanding story, suitable for any general lending library.

The Silver Spoon: Pasta
Silver Spoon
Phaidon Press
180 Varick St., 14th Floor, New York NY 10014
9780714857268, $39.95 www.phaidon.com

The Silver Spoon: Pasta packs in a fine survey of the most popular pasta dishes from The Silver Spoon Restaurant, along with hundreds of new dishes from all corners of Italy, collected by the same team and published in English for the first time. The result is a gorgeous presentation packed with color photos throughout and presenting dishes easy for home cooks to duplicate. Very highly recommended as a library 'staple'.

Michael Symon's Live to Cook
Michael Symon with Michael Ruhlman
Clarkson Potter
1745 Broadway, New York NY 10019
9780307453655, $35.00 www.clarksonpotter.com

Michael Symon's Live to Cook: Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen starts off with the contention "If I can't finish a dish in two pans, I won't do it." It tells of a Food Network chef's determination to make great food more accessible for home cooks without simplifying the food or process, and it includes tips for better shopping, including 'five things you should never buy'. From how to use salt to sharing dishes beloved by his Greek-Italian-Eastern European parents, this is packed with color photos and delightful recipes and tips perfect for any general lending library.

My Nepenthe
Romney Steele
Andrews McMeel
1139 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106
0740779141, $35.00 www.andrewsmcmeel.com

MY NEPENTHE: BOHEMIAN TALES OF FOOD, FAMILY AND BIG SUR provides a fine gathering of stories from the famous California restaurant in Big Sur, considering a sixty-year-old family-run establishment. Written by the owner's granddaughter who grew up at the restaurant, MY NEPENTHE supplements over eighty recipes from the family archives with a review of the history, stories and experiences of the establishment. Color photos of people, places and foods round out the offerings.

Coco
Ferran Adria, et.al.
Phaidon Press
180 Varick St., 14th Floor, New York NY 10014
9780714849546, $49.95 www.phaidon.com

COCO: 10 WORLD-LEADING MASTERS CHOOSE 100 CONTEMPORARY CHEFS examines modern culinary movers and shakers from all corners of the globe, from a cafe in Taipei and a sandwich shop in Portland Oregon to a mobile ice cream van in London. The 100 chefs chosen for this book have created inventive cuisines with new techniques as well as creating traditional dishes with fresh, local produce, and packs in recipes, menus, and chef reflections in a pick especially recommended for culinary collections.

All Cakes Considered
Melissa Gray
Chronicle Books
680 - 2nd St., San Francisco CA 94107
9780811867818, $24.95 www.chroniclebooks.com

ALL CAKES CONSIDERED tells of a woman who every Monday brings a different cake to the office for her colleagues at NPR to enjoy. Hers are never made with a cake mix, no canned frosting creations and these directions offer an extensive cake variety perfect for any who would learn to hone baking skills and produce exceptional results. Color photos abound in a recommendation for any cookery collection.


The Architecture Shelf

Yankee Modern: The Houses of Estes/Twombly
William Morgan
Princeton Architectural Press
37 East 7th St., New York NY 10003
9781568988177, $40.00 www.papress.com

Any library strong in architectural history needs Yankee Modern: The Houses of Estes/Twombly. It packs in nearly two decades of work produced by a Rhode Island-based firm that builds modestly sized and geometrically precise homes unique to New England locales. From sliding barn doors to standing-seam metal roofs, these are outstanding displays of originality and choice and powerful picks for any architectural collection.

Creating Curb Appeal
Michelle Valigursky & Lisa Vail
Schiffer
4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310
9780764332784, $24.99 www.schifferbooks.com

Creating Curb Appeal offers rich color photos by Theresa M. Grant and a guide to creating personality for the outside of a home. Architectural styles and design schemes are presented in over 300 color photos and text covering lighting, color, landscaping, and more. Accompanying the visual details are tips on the products and professionals involved in creating curb appeal for a home. Highly recommended for any library catering to architects or home remodelers.


The Gardening Shelf

The American Meadow Garden
John Greenlee
Timber Press
133 S.W. 2nd Ave, Suite 450, Portland, OR 97204-3527
9780881928716, $34.95 www.timberpress.com

The American Meadow Garden: Creating a Natural Alternative to the Traditional Lawn is a key acquisition for homeowners tired of the expense and ecological disaster of maintaining a lawn. It tells how to create a natural alternative that works - a meadow that's actually a mini-ecosystem in which grasses blend with colorful perennials to form a wildlife-friendly and attractive environment. Color photos throughout and specific keys to design and sustainability make this is a fine pick for any general lending library.


The Metaphysical Studies Shelf

There Is Life After Death
Roy Abraham Varghese
New Page Books
Box 687, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417
9781601630957, $15.99 www.newpagebooks.com

There Is Life After Death: Compelling Reports From Those Who Have Glimpsed the After-Life comes from an expert on science-religion debates and blends eyewitness accounts with data from sources around the world and throughout history. It provides the basics for an average reader to understand a blend of science and eyewitness accounts, creating a spiritual survey perfect for new age and spirituality collections alike.

Divine Soul Mind Body Healing and Transmission System
Dr. Zhi Gang Sha
Atria Books
1230 Avenue of Americas, New York NY 10020
9781439183298, $49.95 www.simonandschuster.com

Divine Soul Mind Body Healing and Transmission System offers another contribution to Dr. Sha's spiritual Soul Power series, includes a CD bonus featuring an excerpt of the second movement of the Soul Symphony of Yin Tang, co-created by him. Any interested in removing mind and body blockages and practicing Dr. Sha's spiritual techniques for healing must have this.

Buddha's Brain
Rick Hanson, Ph.D. with Richard Mendius, MD
New Harbinger Publications
5674 Shattuck Ave., Oakland, CA 94609
9781572246959, $17.95 www.newharbinger.com

BUDDHA'S BRAIN: HAPPINESS, LOVE & WISDOM provides a self-help guide blending neuroscience with spiritual and new age wisdom, using the latest research to show how to stimulate and strengthen your brain for a deeper spiritual life and a greater sense of inner confidence. Practical tools and skills make for an excellent survey in a guide perfect for new age collections.


The Self-Help Shelf

Transform Your Life Through Handwriting
Vimala Rodgers
Sounds True Audio
413 South Arthur Avenue, Louisville, CO 80027
9781591797159, $29.95 www.soundstrue.com

Two CDs, a guidebook, a blank journal and 29 cards lend to a kit offering a complete course for creating practical changes in life through handwriting adjustment. Making purposeful shifts in handwriting can 'reprogram' a psyche - and this shows exactly how in a fine in-depth course perfect for spirituality and gift-giving.


The Martial Arts Shelf

Taekwondo: A Path to Excellence
Doug Cook
YMMA Publications
Box 480, Wolfboro, NH 03894
9781594391286, $14.95 www.ymaa.com

Taekwondo: A Path to Excellence is a pick for any library strong in martial arts and spiritual connections. It follows Taekwondo's path and development, drawing connections between the martial arts choices and the Way. From linking movement to harmony and life rhythms to developing traditional and non-traditional strength, this is a far wider-ranging title than just another martial arts survey.


The Computer Shelf

Core Data
Marcus S. Zarra
Pragmatic Programmers
9781934356326, $32.95 www.pragprog.com

CORE DATA tells how to move from Core Data basics from Apple to advanced configurations, covering all aspects of a full-featured application based on the Mac OS X Core Data API. Chapters cover common applications, pros and cons, common pitfalls, and how to boost performance using Core Data on desktop and iPhone alike. Also included are numerous 'recipes' for unusual situations, making this a top reference for any in-depth computer library.

Deploying and Troubleshooting Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Mark Gress, CCIE and Lee Johnson
Cisco Press
800 E. 96th St., Indianapolis, IN 46240
1587058146, $65.00 www.ciscopress.com

Deploying and Troubleshooting Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers is the only complete guide to deploying, running and troubleshooting wireless networks with Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers, and comes from two of the top Cisco wireless support professionals. Advanced collections strong in Cisco technology will find this packed with keys to wireless network solutions, showing the basic of using Cisco WLC troubleshooting tools in a wireless environment. It's the first to offer training for the new CCIE Wireless Exam and is a 'must' for any serious computer collection.

Sams Teach Yourself Java in 24 Hours
Rogers Cadenhead
Sams
c/o Pearson Technology Group
801 East 96th Street, #300, Indianapolis, IN 46240-3759
www.mcp.com
0672330768, $34.99 www.informit.com/sams

Sams Teach Yourself Java in 24 Hours offers a step-by-step series of lessons to help master the skills needed to create desktop and web programs and even a browser game in Java. Each lesson builds on what you've already learned and offers color figures and visual instructions key to learning Java programming. Any beginning Java programmer's collection needs this.

Design Patterns
Erich Gamma, et.al.
Addison Wesley
c/o Pearson Technology Group
801 East 96th Street, #300, Indianapolis, IN 46240-3759
0201633612, $59.99 www.informit.com/opengl

DESIGN PATTERNS: ELEMENTS OF REUSABLE OBJECT-ORIENTED SOFTWARE is a key reference for any college-level computer library covering object-oriented technology. It will appeal to object designers and developers, covering the roles patterns can play in systems and referencing well-engineered patterns developers can apply to specific applications sets. From how these applications work in real-world settings to code that shows how it may be implemented in C++ and other languages, DESIGN PATTERNS is packed with important references.

Digital Inclusion
Michael Crandall and Karen Fisher
Information Today
143 Old Marlton Pike, Medford, NJ 08055
9781573873734, $59.50 www.infotoday.com

Digital Inclusion: Measuring the Impact of Information and Community Technology is both a case study and a blueprint for how to use research to foster digital inclusion. Examples of the impact successful community technology providers have had on individual users offer a model for educating policy makers and offers suggestions for concrete implementation. Highly recommended.

The Non-Designer's Presentation Book
Robin Williams
Peachpit Press
1249 - 8th St., Berkeley, CA 94710
0321656210, $24.99 www.peachpit.com

The Non-Designer's Presentation Book: Principles for Effective Presentation Design explains the four basic principles of good design as applied to digital presentations and adds four more specific to slides. From how to plan, arrange and outline a presentation to tips for charts, graphs and video, this packs in presentation rules - and tells when to ignore them.

Building Social Web Applications
Gavin Bell
O'Reilly
1005 Gravenstein Hwy N., Sebastopol, CA 95472
9780596518752, $34.99 www.oreilly.com

BUILDING SOCIAL WEB APPLICATIONS offers a different approach to social web marketing and teaches web developers how to build a web application based on different concepts of social networking. From determining who will be drawn to the site and how they will interact with it to creating visual designs and managing visitor identities for maximum interaction and benefit, BUILDING SOCIAL WEB APPLICATIONS is a pick for any programming collection.

Succeeding with Agile
Mike Cohn
Addison Wesley
c/o Pearson Technology Group
801 East 96th Street, #300, Indianapolis, IN 46240-3759
0321579364, $49.99 www.informit.com/signatureseries

Succeeding with Agile: Software Development Using Scrum offers a definitive classic guide to starting with Scrum and agile. Tips, real-world case studies drawn from the author's experience helping hundreds of software organizations, and 'things to try now' sections based on his advice offer practical, quick ways of coming up to speed fast. Advanced computer collections will relish this.

The Book of Xen
Chris Takemura and Luke S. Crawford
No Starch Press
555 DeHaro #250, San Francisco CA 94107
9781593271862, $49.95 www.nostarch.com

The Book of Xen explores the open source virtualization tool for system administrators, explaining everything needed to use Xen effectively from installation and networking to memory management and storage. From troubleshooting its common problems to fine-tuning Xen systems, this is a 'must' for any computer library catering to systems administrators and open source users.

Debug It!
Paul Butcher
Pragmatic Programmers
P.O. Box 293325, Lewisville, TX 75029-3325
9781934356289, $34.95 www.pragprog.com

DEBUG IT! FIND, REPAIR, AND PREVENT BUGS IN YOUR CODE is for professional programmers who want to use new tools and approaches to tackling code bugs. Here secrets of professional debuggers covers all stages of bug life cycles, from making easy debugging software to detection, diagnosis and fix. Approaches show how to use software to hone in on real issues in code, and offer keys to working with support staff and developing more efficient methods. Any library catering to professional programmers must have this.


The Hobby/Crafts Shelf

N Scale Railroading, second edition
Marty McGuirk
Kalmbach Books
21027 Crossroads Circle, Waukesha, WI 53186
9780890247730, $19.95 www.kalmbachbooks.com

The second updated edition of N Scale Railroading offers model railroaders a fine how-to guide to getting started, and is a pick for any library catering to beginners. From layout and maintaining and weathering locomotives to building benchwork and laying track, this provides keys to buildings, structures and tracks alike at the small N scale size, and will appeal to modelers with limited space and libraries catering to hobbyists.


The Education Shelf

Talking, Listening, and Teaching
Thomas S.C. Farrell
Corwin Press
2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
9781412962698, $23.95 www.corwinpress.com

Talking, Listening, and Teaching: A Guide to Classroom Communication shows how important it is for teachers to monitor classroom communication patterns and resolve problems, discussing what kinds of questions generate positive discussions, how to give feedback to students, and how nonverbal communication affects the classroom. Teachers - and libraries catering to them - need this.

Talk to Me, Baby!
Betty S. Bardige
Paul Brookes Publishing
Box 10624, Baltimore, MD 21285-0624
9781557669773, $24.95 www.brookespublishing.com

Talk to Me, Baby! How You can Support Your Children's Language Development covers the six stages in a young child's language development from infant babbling to early literacy skills, drawing important connections between these learning stages and adult ability to support them. From fun and easy activities that use a child's innate curiosity to how to talk to children of different backgrounds and temperaments and how to understand what language barriers kids face, this is a key resource for any early childhood library.

The Visionary Director, second edition
Margie Carter and Deb Curtis
Redleaf Press
10 Yorkton Court, St. Paul, MN 55117
9781605540207, $44.95 www.redleafpress.org

The Visionary Director: A Handbook for Dreaming, Organizing, and Improvising in Your Center is a 'must' for any early education library. It appears in its second edition to reflect the latest best practices and blends in new requirements for early childhood programs. From frameworks for organizing work and clarifying principles and strategies to examples of how to translate values into center practices, this is a director's bible of facts.


The Psychology Shelf

The Five Ways We Grieve
Susan A. Berger
Trumpeter/Shambhala
300 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, MA 02115
9781590306970, $26.95 www.shambhala.com

The Five Ways We Grieve: Finding Your Personal Path to Healing after the Loss of a Loved One isn't just another book on grief management: it offers practical advice on healing and uses five 'types' to describe how different people respond to major loss differently. In breaking down the griever by personality types, this uses research results and anecdotes from working with the bereaved over a ten-year-period to explore the different approaches. Any general lending library needs this.

The Behavioral Neuroscience of Adolescence
Linda Spear
W.W. Norton
500 - 5th Avenue, New York NY 10110
9780393705423, $40.00 www.wwnorton.com

The Behavioral Neuroscience of Adolescence is a pick for college-level collections strong in psychology and psychotherapy, and offers the latest research on developmental changes in the adolescent brain and how they change our understanding of adolescent behaviors. The neuroscience of the adolescent brain considers how brain changes linked to behavior change the approach and nature of adolescent therapy, making this a pick for college libraries strong in psychotherapy approaches and science.

The Last of His Mind
John Thorndike
Ohio University Press
19 Circle Drive, The Ridges, Athens, GA 45701
9780804011228, $24.95 www.ohioswallow.com

The Last of His Mind: A Year in the Shadow of Alzheimer's comes from a managing editor of Life who at age 92 in the space of six months stopped reading, writing or carrying on detailed conversations. His one wish was to remain in his home - and his son John left his own home and moved in to help care for him in the face of Alzheimer's. His son's final year with his father offers a candid survey of the disease's progression and makes for a survey perfect for any general lending library.


The Parenting Shelf

Help Your Child or Teen Get Back on Track
Kenneth H. Talan, MD
Jessica Kingley Publishers
400 Market St., Suite 400, Philadelphia, PA 19106
9781843108702, $24.95 www.jkp.com

Help Your Child or Teen Get Back on Track: What Parents and Professionals Can Do for Childhood Emotional and Behavioral Problems offers specific self-help interventions and discussion of the kinds of professional help available for kids with emotional and behavioral problems. From understanding differences between normal disruption and that which needs professional intervention to trying not to predict a child's future, this is packed with invaluable tips.


The Needlecraft Shelf

Colours from Nature: A Dyer's Handbook
Jenny Dean
Search Press
Wellwood, North Farm Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England TN2 3DR
www.searchpress.com
9781844484683, $19.95 www.amazon.com

Colours from Nature: A Dyer's Handbook offers a basic treatise on how to prepare and use natural dyes on a range of fibers. Over 100 colors are covered with directions on using traditional dyes and dyes from more common plants. Any involved in using yarns and hand-dying fabrics and materials will find this specific and well detailed.

Mostly Mittens, revised edition
Charlene Schurch
Martingale & Company
20205 - 144th Ave NE, Woodinville, WA 98072-8478
9781564779298, $24.99 www.martingale-pub.com

The revised, updated edition of MOSTLY MITTENS: ETHNIC KNITTING DESIGNS FROM RUSSIA offers patterns developed by Russia's Komi people and passed down visually from knit pieces. It includes the author's original designs plus new versions of several mittens in a collection packing in patterns for 35 pairs of mittens plus four traditional hats. A fine pick for any knitter's library!

Color by Kristin
Kristin Nicholas
Sixth & Spring Books
233 Spring St., New York NY 10013
1933027835, $24.95 www.sixthandspringbooks.com

Color by Kristin: How to Design Your Own Beautiful Knits offers over twenty-five patterns that can easily be customized, from a patchwork baby afghan and mother-daughter mittens to slipper socks for the family and a tote for knitting supplies. Sidebars of stitches needed accompany full-page color photos of each project and charts and notes for its completion.

Grace Helen Mowat and the Making of Cottage Craft
Diana Rees and Ronald Rees
Goose Lane
330-500 Beaverbrook Court, Fredericton NB Canada E38 5X4
9780864925329, $19.95 www.gooselane.com

Grace Helen Mowat and the Making of Cottage Craft tells of how one woman looked upon traditional rural crafts as cash crops for the farm women of Charlotte County, New Brunswick, back in 1911. Unmarried and with limited means, she commissioned a handful of women to make rugs according to her designs -and thus birthed the Arts and Crafts movement of Cottage Craft. Any library strong in needlework history will welcome this.

One-Yard Wonders
Rebedca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins
Storey Publishing
210 MassMoca Way, North Adams, MA 01247
9781603424493, $20.95 www.storey.com

ONE-YARD WONDERS is a fine gathering of projects that can be made with just one yard of fabric. Perfect for year-round gift-giving, it features over 100 projects that can be done in just a few hours using patterns and a range of modern fabrics. A section of usable pattern pieces makes this not so much a library lend as a personal needleworker's fine reference.

Luxe Knits
Laura Zukaite
Lark Books
c/o Sterling Publishing Company
387 Park Avenue South, New York NY 10016
9781600592836, $24.95 www.larkbooks.com

LUXE KNITS: COUTURE DESIGNS TO KNIT & CROCHET provides over twenty projects using traditional stitch patterns the author has reinterpreted in new ways. All garments include design drawings by the author, many have schematics, and all of them offer approaches knitters can use to build on their skills. From African textiles used to reinterpret the smocking stitch for a new texture and colors to a herringbone purse design, color photos of completed projects accompany clear directions. A 'must' for any knitter's collection, its designs are to be found nowhere else.

Crazy Modern Quilts
Kim Schaefer
C&T Publishing
Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94569
9781571206220, $19.95 www.ctpub.com

Crazy Modern Quilts offers over twenty easy pieced projects to compliment any decor with sizes ranging from wall and lap quilts to table runners and placemats and directions using easy straight-line piecing. Sidebars of materials and easy directions on piecing and construction make for an easy presentation perfect for any general needlework library.

Fabric Embellishing: The Basics & Beyond
Ruth Chandler, et.al.
Landauer Publishing
3100 NW 101st St. Suite A, Urbandale, IA 50322
9780981804033, $29.95 www.landauercorp.com

Fabric Embellishing: The Basics & Beyond offers over a hundred fifty pages covering over fifty fabric embellishing techniques and features a large photo of an embellished 'workbook' page that invites readers to try the technique, then add personal style. Step-by-step sequences are accompanied by a photo or illustration and a list of tools and materials, making for an outstanding coverage.


The Health/Medicine Shelf

Diary of an Exercise Addict
Peach Friedman
Globe Pequot Press
Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437
9780762748969, $21.95 www.globepequot.com

Diary of an Exercise Addict tells of a young Southern woman who set out to change her life - by beating herself into shape, running ten miles a day and taking in as little as 800 calories. She fell from 146 to 100 pounds in three months. Her struggle with exercise bulimia charts a rapidly growing eating disorder and follows a six-year ordeal. Any medical or general lending library will find this an absorbing memoir.

We Feel Fine
Sep Kamvar and Jonathan Harris
Scribner
1230 Avenue of Americas, New York NY 10020
9781439116838, $30.00 www.simonandschuster.com

We Feel Fine: An Almanac of Human Emotion offers fruit from the website www.wefeelfine.org, an exploration of human emotion that gathers feelings from across the internet. Here thousands of authors around the world share their emotions with computer programs gathering the data on over 12 million feelings on the net. Paired with color photos throughout, it's a winner.

Herbs for Home Treatments
Anna Newton
Green Books
Foxhole, Dartington, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EB, England
www.greenbooks.co.uk
9781900322423, $24.95 www.amazon.com

Herbs for Home Treatments: A Guide to Using Herbs for First Aid and Common Health Problems provides a fine, comprehensive guide to the use of herbal remedies to cure common ailments. From how to create your own tinctures and oils to increasing physical and mental stamina and keeping basic herbs at home, this offers a concise and outstanding reference for any home health collection.

What to Eat During Cancer Treatment
Jeanne Besser et.al.
American Cancer Society
250 Williams St NW, Atlanta, GA 30303-1002
1604430052, $19.95 www.cancer.org

What to Eat During Cancer Treatment offers a comfort-food cookbook for people undergoing cancer treatment, offering recipes organized not by type but by side effect. From dishes for nausea and diarrhea to those for sore mouth and difficulty swallowing or taste alterations, this packs in dishes high in nutrition and appeal alike. Any undergoing cancer treatment needs this.


The Money/Finance Shelf

ADD and Your Money
Stephanie Moulton Sarkis, Ph.D. and Karl Klein, JD
New Harbinger Publications
5674 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609
9781572247079, $18.95 www.newharbinger.com

ADD and Your Money could also have been reviewed in our 'Health' section for its tips relating to ADD management, but is considered here because the self-help focus is on money management, not health. It takes ADD tendencies and links them to financial pitfalls directly related to ADD symptoms, offering a system for keeping track of bills, creating budgets, and other challenges the ADD personality finds particularly difficult. It's a top pick for any library where ADD patrons seek keys to everyday living.


The Business Shelf

Companies We Keep
John Abrams
Chelsea Green
Box 428, White River Junction, VT 05001
9781603580007, $17.95 www.chelseagreen.com

COMPANIES WE KEEP: EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP AND THE BUSINESS OF COMMUNITY AND PLACE offers a blend of memoir and new business model, revising a 2005 classic to include a broader focus on employee ownership and workplace democracy. It's a philosophical and practical guide to the basic foundations of employee ownership, from challenging growth goals to practicing community entrepreneurism, and continues to be a classic pick for any business or social issues library.

Chocolate Fortunes
Lawrence L. Allen
Amacom
1601 Broadway, New York NY 10019-7420
9780814414323, $27.95 www.amacombooks.org

CHOCOLATE FORTUNES: THE BATTLE FOR TH HEARTS, MINDS, AND WALLETS OF CHINA'S CONSUMERS tells the story of how an oppressed communist state became a powerful, modern market-driven socialist economy with millions of China's people turned into consumers of anything exotic or different. The implications for the chocolate industry were staggering, as thirty years ago the majority of China's population had never eaten a piece of chocolate. CHOCOLATE FORTUNES provides a lively survey of chocolate's marketing around the world in general and to the Chinese in particular. Business libraries will welcome this.

The Next Big Thing
William Higham
Kogan Page
525 S. 4th St., #241, Philadelphia, PA 19147
9780749454500, $29.95 www.koganpage.com

Changing consumer patterns of behavior have a strong impact on global commerce and consumer trends affect all market sectors. THE NEXT BIG THING: SPOTTING AND FORECASTING CONSUMER TRENDS FOR PROFIT is the first book to consider how consumer trends are influenced, how to spot them, and how to use that advance warning system to make changes that increase competitive edges. These patterns are evident before they reach the mainstream - and business library patrons need this information.

Stimulated!
Andrew Pek and Jeannine McGlade
Greenleaf Book Group
4425 Mo Pac South #600, Austin, TX 78735
9781929774500, $21.95 www.gbgpress.com

STIMULATED! HABITS TO SPARK YOUR CREATIVE GENIUS AT WORK offers fine insight into competition, innovation and change and explores five habits that can help you release your creativity. From using new insights from the world and developing a creative, stimulating environment to committing to new and bold ideas and understanding the creative effort, this is packed with insights and inspiration - and perfect for business libraries and general collections alike.

The Million Dollar Financial Advisor
David J. Mullen Jr.
Amacom
1601 Broadway, New York NY 10019-7420
0814414729, $30.00 www.amacombooks.org

The Million Dollar Financial Advisor: Powerful Lessons and Proven Strategies from Top Producers comes from an author with some 20 years management experience who offers all financial advisors the opportunity to learn from best business practices. Extensive interviews with fifteen top advisors who generate between, $2 and, $7 million annually make for a key set of insights into the common bonds in their unique approaches. Any business or investment library will find this stands out in the crowd of achievement guides.

The Social Media Marketing Book
Dan Zarrella
O'Reilly
1005 Gravenstein Hwy N., Sebastopol, CA 95472
9780596806606, $19.99 www.oreilly.com

The Social Media Marketing Book offers a survey that includes the history and culture of each social media type, exploring methods used to trigger viral marketing successes, analyzing marketing tactics for specific goals, and showing how to plan and implement campaigns and measure results. From setting campaign goals to evaluating key performance indicators, this is a pick any business library should have.

The Trouble With Markets
Roger Bootle
Nicholas Brealey Publishing
3-5 Spafield St., London EC1R 4QB, UK
9781857885378, $29.95 www.nicholasbrealey.com

The Trouble With Markets: Saving Capitalism from Itself explores economics and the future of the market system, offering an economist's analysis of market potentials in general and the free-market ideal in particular. Chapters cover market cycles and how to survive downturns in a title key to understanding changing markets and capitalism, perfect for college-level business collections.


The Jobs/Careers Shelf

Agile Career Development
Mary Ann Bopp, Diana A. Bing, and Sheila Forte-Trammell
IBM Press
c/o Pearson Technology Group
801 East 96th Street, #300, Indianapolis, IN 46240-3759
0137153643, $39.99 www.ibmpressbooks.com

Agile Career Development: Lessons and Approaches from IBM offers a key to building career development processes that address future business needs and develop employee expertise to meet these directions. From empowering employees to control their own careers to promoting colleagues teaching collaboration, this is a fine additional to any business library catering to managers looking at company and employee growth.


The Photography Shelf

The Best Camera is the One That's With You
Chase Jarvis
New Riders
c/o Pearson Technology Group
801 East 96th Street, #300, Indianapolis, IN 46240-3759
0321684788, $19.99 www.newriders.com

Chase Jarvis is known as a visionary photographer, and here provides a fine set of images shot with his iPhone. From vivid spectrum photo shoots to cultural icons, oddities, and everyday life, this collection of artistic iPhone photos proves that iPhone users can achieve stunning, creative results from a phone camera in a collection recommended for any photography library.

Success with Wildlife Photography
Steve & Ann Toon
Photographers' Institute Press
9781861085542, $22.95 www.pipress.com

Success with Wildlife Photography is a fine pick for any who would create lovely wildlife photos and striking, beautiful wildlife images. From choosing the best camera for one's needs and the accessories to capture professional shots to tips and tricks to increase chances of capturing wildlife, this comes from two photographers who have a decade of experience and who provide professional insights on everything from equipment to composition, using photos from around the world as examples. Any photography library needs this.

From Camera to Computer
George Barr
Rocky Nook
26 W. Mission St. #3, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
9781933952376, $39.95 www.rockynook.com

FROM CAMERA TO COMPUTER: HOW TO MAKE FINE PHOTOGRAPHS THROUGH EXAMPLES, TIPS, AND TECHNIQUES deserves ongoing mention as a top pick applying practice to the theory of producing photographic art works. It follows the author's process, from the initial search for subjects to refining composition and editing images. Proof sheets and works-in-progress accompany polished images and offer specifics on image editing from a pro interested more in creating fine art than mass production.

Jerry D's Extreme Makeover Techniques for Digital Glamour Photography
Bill Hurter
Amherst Media
Box 586, Buffalo, NY 14226
9781584282686, $34.95 www.AmherstMedia.com

Jerry D's Extreme Makeover Techniques for Digital Glamour Photography offers professional photographers a fine set of guidelines on how to create glamour images that bring out the best in photos. From detailed makeup techniques for sculpting the face for the camera to eliminating wrinkles and blemishes, manipulating shadows via computer, and soft-focus effects, this packs in outstanding 'before and after' shots perfect for any professional polished results.


The Gaming Shelf

Real World Modo
Wes McDermott
Focal Press
30 Corporate Dr. #300, Burlington, MA 01803
9780240811994, $49.95 www.focalpress.com

REAL WORLD MODO: IN THE TRENCHES WITH MODO offers advanced 3D and graphics libraries a powerful exploration of Modo 401. Learn its 3D techniques, principles, UV mapping, animation, lighting and rendering in a guide to creating professional games and using the power of Modo 401. Libraries strong in game and 3D programming must have this.

Beginning Game Programming
John Hattan and Drew Sikora, Editors
Course Technology
20 Channel Center St., Boston, MA 02210
9781598638059, $39.99 www.courseptr.com

Beginning Game Programming: A GameDev.net Collection, is the second in a series of books published in collaboration with GameDev.net, the online gamer networking community, and offers the best introductory programming articles that have appeared there over the past decade. Any library catering to beginning game programmers must have this: it's packed with details on everything from coding best practices and graphics to debugging and scripting.

Collaborative Online Game Creation
Nanu Swamy and Naveena Aswadhati
Charles River Media
c/o Course Technology
20 Channel Center St., Boston, MA 02210
1598405605, $39.99 www.courseptr.com

Collaborative Online Game Creation tells how to build custom Flash games online, showing game developers how to use a browser-based rich media application GameBrix to achieve online game goals. All the basics for creating and sharing browser-based games are covered here, making for a top pick for any gamer's library.

My Favorite 52
Larry Cohen
Master Point Press
331 Douglas Avenue, Toronto Ontario Canada M5M 1H2
9781897106488, $19.95 www.masterpointpress.com

My Favorite 52 is for any library strong in intermediate to advanced bridge playing and provides a collection of the successful bridge playing author's favorite personal moments. More than 60 deals important to him in some way, or technically interesting, are presented in an interactive style allowing readers to understanding the bidding and playing process. From the pros and cons of different options to winning actions, this packs in a lively survey perfect for bridge playing audiences.


The Sports Shelf

Comeback 2.0: Up Close and Personal
Lance Armstrong
Simon and Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas, 14th fl., New York, NY 10020
9781439173145, $27.99 www.simonandschuster.com

Elizabeth Kreutz's color photos capture cyclist Lance Armstrong in motion as he re-enters the competitive world after recovering from cancer that metastasized throughout his body. From behind-the-scenes exercises and preparations to cycling to family portraits, COMEBACK 2.0 charts all aspects of his return and is a winner.

Pendleton Round-Up at 100
Michael Bales and Ann Terry Hill
University of Oklahoma Press
2800 Venture Drive, Norman, OK 73069
9780882407739, $60.00 www.oupress.com

Pendleton Round-Up at 100: Oregon's Legendary Rodeo moves beyond historical non-fiction and reads like a novel as it provides a history of a rodeo that began in 1910 and shaped a community. Lavish photos and history will attract any rodeo fan or rural library collection, and makes for an outstanding survey recommended not just for Oregon history collections but for any library interested in American West history and culture.


The Hunting/Fishing Shelf

Measuring and Scoring North American Big Game Trophies, third edition
Elden Bucknet, et.al., Updaters
Boone & Crockett Club
250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801
9780940864634, $29.95 www.booneandcrockettclub.com

Measuring and Scoring North American Big Game Trophies is a pick for any hunting library and comes in its third edition to provide a quick reference to hunters. Hunting lodges and rural collections alike will find this a definitive manual for any who would learn the Club's big game measuring system, offering the latest techniques about methods of scoring native North American big game.


The Biography Shelf

Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman
Matt Stone and Preston Lerner
Motorbooks
400 - 1st Avenue North #300, Minneapolis, MN 55401
9780760337066, $30.00 www.motorbooks.com

Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman blends biography with insights into motorsports, covering his years as a driver and race tam owner and charting his rise to fame, his famous partnership with Carl Haas, and more. Motorjournalists Matt Stone and Preston Lerner use trackside stories and interviews with those who knew Paul Newman as a race car driver to provide a colorful portrait blending personal stories with photos throughout.

Mark Donohue: Technical Excellence at Speed
Michael Argetsinger
David Bull Publishing
4250 East Camelback Road #K150, Phoenix, AZ 85018
9781935007029, $39.95 www.bullpublishing.com

Mark Donohue: Technical Excellence at Speed offers a fine blend of biography and survey of American motor racing history, offering coverage of a driver whose on- and off-track skills allowed him to win with cars that held inherent disadvantages. Years of research and interviews contributes to a survey of Donohue's life and career and makes for a top pick for any motorsports history library.

Jacques Cousteau: The Sea King
Brad Matsen
Pantheon
1745 Broadway, New York NY 10019
9780375424137, $27.95 www.pantheonbooks.com

Jacques Cousteau: The Sea King provides a powerful biography of the seafaring naturalist, following his early days as a pilot in the French Navy until an accident forced him to recover by swimming to build his strength. His inventions, increasing passion for undersea exploration, and growing reputation that led to the gift of his world-famous boat Calypso makes for a vivid story, hard to put down.

Paul Coelho: A Warrior's Life
Fernando Morais
HarperOne
c/o HarperCollins
10 E. 53rd St., New York NY 10022
9780061718885, $26.99 www.harperone.com

Paul Coelho: A Warrior's Life provides an authorized biography of the author of THE ALCHEMIST and covers his entire life, from his birth in Brazil and survival against all odds to his struggles with mental illness, prison time, and more. He rediscovered his faith in 1986 as he walked a medieval pilgrim's route between France and Spain, and this life-changing experience would result in writings that achieved world-wide recognition. Any library where Paul Coelho's writings are popular must have this.

Everything Will Be All Right
Douglas Wallace
Greenleaf Book Group
Box 91869, Austin, TX 78709
9781608320042, $21.95 www.greenleafbookgroup.com

Everything Will Be All Right provides a moving memoir for any general lending library, telling of a child determined to free himself from his family's long history of poverty. Abused by an alcoholic, unemployed father, the author and his seven siblings barely survived childhood - and was determined to make major changes in his own life. Faith, courage and determination combines in a powerful, inspirational guide.

Morning Sun
Merrick Alpert
Lyons Press
Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437
9781599219295, $16.95 www.lyonspress.com

MORNING SUN provides a strong autobiography as it tells of a son's search for a long-lost father. Merrick Alpert was six when his father abandoned their family, changing their lives. His journey to law school and a historic race for the White House is detailed along with his search to heal old wounds and confront the past in this powerful saga of family, perfect for any general lending library.

Saving Ben
Dan E. Burns
University of North Texas Press
1155 Union Circle #311336, Denton, TX 76203-5017
1574412698, $22.95 www.unt.edu/untpress

SAVING BEN: A FATHER'S STORY OF AUTISM tells of a three-year-old child's regression as an infant into autism and his slow recovery as a young adult. His father relates struggles with medical providers, the school system, and extended family alike as it tells of Ben's struggles to recovery against all odds. Highly recommended for any health or general collection.

The Talented Miss Highsmith
Joan Schenkar
St. Martin's Press
175 - 5th Ave, New York NY 10010
9780312303754, $40.00 www.stmartins.com

The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith tells of a woman who has created charged novels and influenced classic films like The talented Mr. Ripley. Her life is as involved as her writing and comes to life here in a definitive, weighty biography perfect for libraries who find Patricia Highsmith a popular author. From her love of women and a few men to her long self-exile in Europe, this uses her journals, love letters, and intimate friends to create an outstanding survey of her life and times.


The Pets/Wildlife Shelf

Manual of Small Animal Soft Tissue Surgery
Karen M. Tobias
Wiley-Blackwell
9780813800899, $89.99 www.wiley.com

Manual of Small Animal Soft Tissue Surgery explains the tips and tricks experienced surgeons use to make small animal surgery easier, faster and more successful. Common surgical procedures are covered in a title organized by procedure type, packed with close-up color photos, and offering tips for preoperative management and postoperative concerns. Small animal vets at all stages - and college-level libraries catering to veterinary students - need this.

Gallop to Freedom
Frederic Pignon & Magali Delgado with David Walser
Trafalgar Square
Box 257, Howe Hill Rd, N. Pomfret, VT 05053
9781570764202, $29.95 www.trafalgarbooks.com

Gallop to Freedom: Training Horses with the Founding Stars of Cavalia tells of a world packed with magic and horses telling of the evolution of the author's Six Golden Principles in horse relationships. From establishing limits of behavior and gaining animal respect while communicating with equines, this offers an approach tested on the authors' own animals and is a 'must' for any equine library.

The Oriole Book
Nancy Flood
Stackpole Books
5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
9780811735971, $19.95 www.stackpolebooks.com

THE ORIOLE BOOK: BEHAVIOR & HABITS - is a 'must' for any who would attract an oriole to their feeder. It provides identification tips, nesting and migration information, and explicit surveys of an oriole year, including tips on how to accommodate and please them. Any library catering to birders needs this.


The Railroading Shelf

Death Rode the Rails
Mark Aldrich
Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218
9780801894022, $35.00 www.press.jhu.edu

DEATH RODE THE RAILS; AMERICAN RAILROAD ACCIDENTS AND SAFETY, 1828-1965 is a 'must' for any transportation history shelf. It provides economics and transportation history libraries at the college level with a specific study of railroad history, showing how small accidents played a critical role in the evolution of a risk society. A range of train accidents from local to spectacular shows how railroad safety evolved from a blend of economics, technological advancements and public awareness alike.

Iron Trails of North America 1978-2008
Robert W. Burns
Schiffer
1880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310
9780764332623, $49.99 www.schifferbooks.com

Iron Trails of North America 1978-2008 is the result of thirty years of rail photography by the author and offers a fine collection based on a combination of chance encounters and extensive efforts. Each color photo is accompanied by a historic survey telling of the modern trains that captivate onlookers and their colorful past. Any railroad history library needs this.


The African-American Studies Shelf

Knights of the Razor
Douglas Walter Bristol, Jr.
Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218
9780801892837, $50.00 www.press.jhu.edu

KNIGHTS OF THE RAZOR: BLACK BARBERS IN SLAVERY AND FREEDOM offers a fine survey of black barbers who barbered in antebellum St. Louis - and who enjoyed an uncommon privilege of free speech with the white clients they shaved. This untold story of black barbers in North and South from the American Revolution to World War I is key for any college-level collection strong in civil rights history.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time
John A. Rich, MD, MPH
Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218
9780801893636, $24.95 www.press.jhu.edu

WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME: TRAUMA AND VIOLENCE IN THE LIVES OF YOUNG BLACK MEN provide an account of the author's personal search to find sense as a physician in the physical and mental trauma of young black men in the inner city. Such men are overwhelmingly the victims and perpetrators of violent crime in the U.S. - Rich, a black man who grew up in relatively safety and comfort, reached many of these young crime victims in the course of his work. Their stories offer key insights into the social issues affecting the Afro-American community.


The Social Issues Shelf

Environmental Justice, second edition
David E. Newton
ABC-CLIO
Box 1911, Santa Barbara, CA 93116-1911
9781598842234, $55.00 www.abc-clio.com

The second updated edition of ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE is a pick for college-level libraries and joins others in the Contemporary World Issues series. It provides some strong connections between environmentalism and civil rights, considering patterns of exposure to environmental problems by minorities and the major evolution of the environmental justice movement of the last three decades. College-level libraries strong in either environmental or social justice issues will find this a top reference.

The Real Global Warming Disaster
Christopher Booker
Continuum
80 Maiden Lane #704, New York NY 10038
9781441110527, $29.95 www.continuum.com

The Real Global Warming Disaster offers a blend of scientific, political and social history in telling how in the 1980s a group of scientists came to believe that mankind faced catastrophe from runaway global warming. This story of the science of global warming weaves this with political decision-making processes and an analysis of scientific evidence behind the theory that CO2 is causing a world-threatening rise in temperatures - a theory being challenged. It exposes the myth that global warming theory is supported by a 'consensus of the world' top climate scientists' - and offers valuable food for debate and thought for any science or political history library.

The Sustainable Network
Sarah Sorensen
O'Reilly
1005 Gravenstein Hwy North, Sebastopol, CA 95472
9780596157036, $29.99 www.oreilly.com

THE SUSTAINABLE NETWORK: THE ACCIDENTAL ANSWER FOR A TROUBLED PLANET offers a fine survey considering the global network and how to realize its power. From examples of how the sustainable network offers examples of how it's already inducing change. From roles market and political forces play to how networks can be improved to make even more of an impact on environmental, economic and social conditions, THE SUSTAINABLE NETWORK is a 'must' for any library strong in social issues and technology.

LGBTQ America Today: An Encyclopedia
John C. Hawley, Editor
Greenwood Press
88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
9780313339905, $349.95 www.greenwood.com

LGBTQ America Today: An Encyclopedia provides a powerful 3-volume set of A to Z detailed references that are more article collections than brief encyclopedia entries. From lesbian autobiography and authors to Asian American feminism, individuals key to LGBTQ community events, drag queens, political campaigns and social issues, this is an extensive survey that's a 'must' for any college-level library strong in LGBTQ social issues and reference collections.

Clowns and Rats Scare Me
Cary Clack
Trinity University Press
San Antonio, TX 78212
1595340378, $16.95 www.trinity.edu/upress

Clowns and Rats Scare Me belongs in any library strong in public affairs and politics, offering essays gathered from some 13 years worth of columns by Cary Clack. From seeking a return to normal after 9/11 to why Malcolm X was feared in America, Clowns and Rats Scare Me is packed with fine insights perfect for high school to college-level classroom debate.


The Theatre/Cinema/TV Shelf

Free for All
Kenneth Turan and Joseph Papp
Doubleday & Company
c/o Random House
1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
9780767931687, $39.95 www.doubleday.com

FREE FOR ALL: JOE PAPP, THE PUBLIC, AND THE GREATEST THEATER STORY EVER TOLD provides a definitive history of the New York Shakespeare festival and Public Theatre. Kenneth Turan interviews nearly 160 people in the course of his project with producer Joseph Papp to work on a definitive oral history: when Papp abruptly stopped publication, Turan refused to abandon the project. His perseverance results in an outstanding survey key to any library strong in stage history.

Dangerously Funny
David Bianculli
Touchstone Books
c/o Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of Americas, New York NY 10020
9781439101162, $24.99 www.simonandschuster.com

Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is a fine survey by a veteran television critic who offers a complete story of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour's rise and fall. Timed to the 50th anniversary of the Smothers duo and the 40th anniversary of the sudden removal of their show by CBS, DANGEROUSLY FUNNY details the rise of their career and the politics influencing their show. Any film and TV library and many a general-interest collection needs this.


The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf

Torch of Freedom
David Weber & Eric Flint
Baen Books
Box 1403, Riverdale, NY 10471
9781439133057, $26.00 www.baen.com

Torch of Freedom: Keepers of the Flame offers a fine story of the slavemasters of Mesa who plot against the star Kingdom of Manticore and the newly liberated slave planet of Torch. Assassins, top secret organizations, interplanetary terrorism, and more make for a powerful story of political intrigue perfect for any military-oriented science fiction library.

Sword of Avalon
Diana L. Paxson
ROC Books
375 Hudson St., New York NY 10014
9780451462923, $24.95 www.penguin.com

Sword of Avalon offers another contribution to the ongoing Avalon series begun by Marion Zimmer Bradley, and will find its place alongside any of her Avalon novels. Here the Lady of Avalon flees traitors who threaten herself and her unborn child, a heir of Avalon, only to find the traitors suspect the lost heir is still alive. Anderle loses track of the boy - but her visions tell her he will return, and will be faced with a dangerous dual world challenge in this powerful fantasy, packed with strong twists and turns of plot.

Shadowland
Alyson Noel
St. Martin's Press
175 - 5th Avenue, New York NY 10010
9780312590444, $17.99 www.stmartins.com

SHADOWLAND provides a sequel to the best-seller Evermore, a part of The Immortals series, and though it's directed to young adult readers it will reach many an adult searching for a powerful paranormal fantasy. In Evermore Ever meets the mysterious Damen and finds herself drawn to him while exploring her new psychic abilities, and in Blue Moon they can be together - but in danger. In SHADOWLAND, Damen is in desperate danger and Ever searches for an anecdote to his condition. Any library where the others are popular must have this.

Imager's Challenge
L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
TOR Books
175 - 5th Avenue, New York NY 10010
9780765321268, $27.99 www.tor-forge.com

IMAGER'S CHALLENGE is a pick for any collection that has the Imager prior titles and finds them popular, offering a new pick in the Imager series that deserves ongoing mention and recommendation. IMAGER'S CHALLENGE takes up after the conclusion of IMAGER and tells of Rhenn, still recovering from his injuries and preparing for his new duties as imager liaison to the Civil Patrol. Swift action and political intrigue mark an exciting novel Modesitt readers will relish.

The Silver Mage
Katharine Kerr
Daw Books Inc.
375 Hudson St., New York NY 10014
9780756405878, $24.95 www.dawbooks.com

THE SILVER MAGE represents Book Four of The Silver Wyrm series and concludes the entire Deverry saga: thus is especially recommended for libraries finding the prior Deverry titles popular lends. Here the Horsekin are assembling along Dar's northern border when the Dwrgi folk and dragons come to Dar's aid, tipping the balance in their favor. Fast action and tension contribute to an outstanding fantasy's conclusion.

A History of the Doc Savage Adventures
Robert Michael 'Bobb' Cotter
McFarland & Company
Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640
9780786441358, $55.00 www.mcfarlandpub.com

A History of the Doc Savage Adventures in Pulps, Paperbacks, Comics, Fanzines, Radio and Film is a 'must' for any serious library offering Doc Savage adventure analysis. It provides a review of the adventure series, considering historical events, changing readership interests, and its horror and science fiction elements. Artwork from covers and illustrations as well as original art are surveyed in an outstanding analysis perfect for college-level libraries.

The Road to Amber - V. 6
Roger Zelazny
NESFA Press
Box 809, Framingham, MA 01701
1886778817, $29.00 www.nesfa.org/press

Concluding the multivolume collected stories series is Volume 6, the last, including writings from the final five years of his career in the early 1990s. Stories such as 'Godson' and two more Wild Cards stories join a linked sequence of five Amber stories leading to planned but unwritten Amber novels, creating a unified synthesis of his works. David G. Grubbs, Christopher Kovacs, and Ann Crimmins edit this excellent series which should be a 'must' for any science fiction library already strong in Zelazny titles.


The Military Shelf

Nuclear Dawn
James P. Delgado
Osprey
400 Hahn Road, Westminster, MD 21157
9781846033964, $24.95 www.ospreypublishing.com

NUCLEAR DAWN: THE ATOMIC BOMB FROM THE MANHATTAN PROJECT TO THE COLD WAR is a 'must' for any military library and for general history collections strong in World War II and nuclear bomb history. It offers a fully illustrated book surveying the development of the bomb, from early attempts to tests and advances in technology. An added bonus: it considers how the U.S. Air Force had to development capacity to deliver the weapons and considers the sites where such developments took place.

Special Ops 1939-1945
British Special Operations
Zenith Press
c/o Quayside Publishing Group
400 First Avenue North, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55401
9780760337516, $17.00 www.zenithpress.com

Special Ops 1939-1945 is compiled from authentic documents issued by the British SOE and American OSS and provides details on the training and techniques of Allied agents operating behind enemy lines during World War II. Military collections specializing in World War II or covert operations will find this packed with strategy and warfare operations and offers details on secret agent approaches, gadgets, and techniques.

MASH Angels
Richard C. Kirkland
Burford Books
32 Morris Ave, Springfield, NJ 07081
9781580801584, $18.95 www.burfordbooks.com

MASH ANGELS: TALES OF AN AIR-EVAC HELICOPTER PILOT IN THE KOREAN WAR provides a fine account perfect for any library strong in Korean war history and events. If provides a personal account of danger and heroism from one of the pilots who pioneered the use of helicopters for battlefield medical evacuation, telling of his front-line experience rescue flying and military medicine challenges. A 'must' for any military library strong in Korean War accounts.


The Comix/Graphic Novel Shelf

Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years
Charles M. Schulz
Andrews McMeel Publishing
1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106-2109
9780740785481, $75.00 www.amuniversal.com

The 60th anniversary of the Peanuts phenomenon is celebrated with an expansive tribute detailing the strip and its characters over six decades. Quotes from Charles Schulz reveal how he was inspired to produce - and was in turn inspired by - Peanuts, while over 500 pages of strips - including many full-color Sundays - appear in a keepsake volume packaged in a deluxe slipcase. A gorgeous presentation, this is a pick for comics and graphic novel libraries and Peanuts collectors alike.

Captain Action: The Original Super-Hero Action Figure, second edition
Michael Eury
TwoMorrows Publishing
10407 Bedfordtown Dr., Raleigh, NC 27614
9781605490175, $39.95 www.twomorrows.com

Captain Action: The Original Super-Hero Action Figure has been newly expanded into a color hardcover and provides comics libraries with an excellent history of the comic book hero who was able to assume the identities of 13 fe4amous super-heroes. Two hundred photos pack a second updated edition offering a history and including photos of nearly every Captain Action product ever released.

GrailPages
Steven Alan Payne
TwoMorrows Publishing
10407 Bedfordtown Dr., Raleigh, NC 27614
1605490156, $15.95 www.twomorrows.com

GRAILPAGES: ORIGINAL COMIC BOOK ART AND THE COLLECTORS covers comic art from the 60s and 70s and offers a survey of the hobby of comic art collecting overall. While this could've been featured in our 'collectors shelf' section, it's reviewed here for its wealth of stories and personal memoirs from collectors around the world, offering covers and panel pages by a range of comic artists.

Abstract Comics: The Anthology
Andrei Molotiu, Editor
Fantagraphics Books
7563 Lake City Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115
9781606991572, $39.99 www.fantagraphics.com

Abstract Comics: The Anthology is the first collection of comics that combine concepts of visual abstraction in a comic strip form. Here 'stories' from a range of underground comic legends and artists offer a range of insights on how comics and abstract art an meld in the graphic arena. Any library strong in artistic comics representation will find this packed with fine examples in black and white and color.


The Travel Shelf

Monterey & Carmel
Ann Marie Brown
Moon Handbooks
1700 - 4th Street, Berkeley, CA 94710
9781566919951, $16.95 www.moon.com

Monterey & Carmel is a powerful handbook that offers independent travelers a range of plans for organizing a trip to California's Monterey area. From detailed maps and 'must' activities and sights to restaurants, accommodations, and more, this guidebook is packed with at-a-glance sidebars, maps, and everything needed to arrange a successful trip.

Winter Hikes of Western Washington
Craig Romano
The Mountaineers Books
1001 SW Klickitat Way, Suite 201, Seattle, WA 98134-1161
9781594852718, $15.95 www.mountaineersbooks.org

Winter Hikes of Western Washington offers a fine card set offering a range of winter hikes in a deck. Each card features roundtrip distances, elevations, route information, difficulty rating and color images as the deck covers some 50 hikes which are both accessible and relatively snow-free even in the center of Washington's winter months.


The World History Shelf

A Dragon's Head and a Serpent's Tail
Kenneth M. Swope
University of Oklahoma Press
2800 Venture Drive, Norman, OK 73069
9780806140568, $34.95 www.oupress.com

A Dragon's Head and a Serpent's Tail: Ming China and the First Great East Asian War, 1592-1598 is for any college-level library strong in Asian history and culture. It offers the first full-length scholarly study in English of this conflict, uses Korean, Japanese and Chinese sources, and corrects the Japan-centered perspective of previous accounts. A 'must' for any scholarly Asian history library.

A Thousand Years of Pirates
William Glikerson
Tundra Books
65 Sherbourne St., 5th Floor, Toronto ON M5A 2P9 Canada
9780887769245, $32.95 www.tundrabooks.com

A Thousand Years of Pirates comes from a sailor, painter and historian who has written numerous books on nautical topics and who here provides all ages with a lively survey of pirate history. Fine pirate paintings in full color accompany a lively in-depth survey of their lives and times in a general-interest title recommended for any library.

The World's Bloodiest History
Joseph Cummins
Fair Winds Press
1592334024, $19.99 www.fairwindspress.com

The World's Bloodiest History: Massacre, Genocide and the Scars They Left on Civilization offers a new book discussing mankind's most inhumane moments. History libraries will find this offers a sobering look at some of the most destructive acts of violence in history, pairing black and white photos with historical insights on how these events came to pass.


The American History Shelf

American Pop
Bob Batchelor, Editor
Greenwood Press
88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
9780313344107, $375.00 www.greenwood.com

The 4-volume set AMERICAN POP: POPULAR CULTURE DECADE BY DECADE is a winning pick, beginning with 1900 and covering American popular culture in thirty-year increments in each volume. Any general interest or American history collection will find this a fine, accessible reference, pairing black and white photos with timelines of popular culture events. From fashion and sports to travel and advertising, AMERICAN POP is an outstanding reference set for any popular culture library.

Culture Club
Katherine Wolff
University of Massachusetts Press
PO Box 429, Amherst, MA 01004
www.umass.edu/umpress
9781558497146, $26.95 www.umass.edu/umpress

CULTURE CLUB: THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF THE BOSTON ATHENAEUM tells of a literary club called the Anthology Society and its successor, the Boston Athenaeum, that began as a repository for books and works of art but grew to attract major American literary figures. More than a library, it served as a starting point for ground-breaking theories of cultural authority and American identity. CULTURE CLUB tells this history through a series of episodes and offers a fine picture of the politics and social interactions surround the institution. College-level American history and literary collections need this.


The Antiques/Collectibles Shelf

Jewelry & Gems: The Buying Guide, seventh edition
Antoinette Matlins, PG & A.C. Bonanno, FGA, PG, ASA
GemStone Press
Box 237, Woodstock, VT 05091
0943763711, $19.99 www.gemstonepress.com

Jewelry & Gems: The Buying Guide is for any general lending library where patrons are interested in insider secrets to buying jewelry. This has been completely revised and expanded in a new seventh edition to provide new gems, designs, and prices in a survey key to any informed consumer purchase.

Gem Identification Made Easy, fourth edition
Antoinette Matlins, PG & A.C. Bonnano, FGA, ASA, MGA
GemStone Press
Box 237, Woodstock, VT 05091
0943763592, $36.99 www.gemstonepress.com

Gem Identification Made Easy: A Hands-On Guide to More Confident Buying & Selling appears in a new fourth edition that's been expanded and updated to offer the latest in gem identification techniques. It's aimed not to the professional but to the novice, and provides a key to using three simple, pocket-size instruments that together cost under, $200. Any who would regularly identify gems needs this guide.

The Official Vintage Guitar Price Guide 2010
Alan Greenwood & Gil Hembree
Hal Leonard Incorporated
P.O. Box 13819, Milwaukee, WI 53213
9781884883217, $29.95 www.halleonard.com

The Official Vintage Guitar Price Guide 2010 is a 'must' for any library strong in vintage guitar price guides. It's published annually by Vintage Guitar magazine and offers the latest prices and market analysis on thousands of vintage and r4ecent-model guitars, amps, basses and more, packing in over 1,000 photos and examining the collectible instrument market for professional players and collectors alike. A team of experts lends authority and direction to a powerful reference.

Antique & Vintage Fashions 1745-1979: A Collector's Guide
Barbara Johnson, Ph.D.
Collector Books
Box 3009, Paducah, KY 42002-3009
9781574326161, $29.95 www.collectorbooks.com

Antique & Vintage Fashions 1745-1979: A Collector's Guide packs in good-sized color photos of collectible vintage fashions, arranging them by era and including the latest values. Collectors of fashion pieces will find this packed with not just photos and values but clear descriptions accompanied by sidebars of information on common fashion styles and trends of the times. Any library dealing in antiques or fashion guides will love this.


The Religion/Spirituality Shelf

Testament
Jean Meslier
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, NY 14228-2119
9781591027492, $32.00 www.prometheusbooks.com

TESTAMENT; MEMOIR OF THE THOUGHTS AND SENTIMENTS OF JEAN MESLIER offers the first English translation of the complete work by Michael Shreve, presenting an early 18th century manifesto that shocked the establishment and influenced progressive thinkers from Voltaire to Diderot. His work helped release anarchy that led to the French Revolution and eventually to the works of Karl Marx, and is a pick for any spirituality or world history library.


The Mystery/Suspense Shelf

Tragedy at Two
Ann Purser
Berkeley Prime Crime
375 Hudson St., New York NY 10014
9780425230060, $23.95 www.penguin.com

TRAGEDY AT TWO provides a fine Lois Meade mystery and the second in a series revolving around a working-class wife and mother who is also part amateur sleuth in a small English village. A fatal beating, a murder investigation, and Lois' involvement in clearing her own daughter makes for a fine survey packed with satisfying twists and turns of plot and perfect for any mystery library.

Mr. Monk in Trouble
Lee Goldberg
Obsidian
c/o Penguin Publishing Group
375 Hudson St., New York NY 10014
9780451229052, $22.95 www.penguin.com

Mr. Monk in Trouble provides a satisfying mystery based on the USA Network Television series and tells of Monk and Natalie, who go into the California gold country to investigate the murder of a retired cop who was working at a museum in a small frontier town. Add a legendary unsolved train robbery from 1962 to the mix and you have an outstanding set of twists and turns of plot.

Desert Lost
Betty Webb
Poisoned Pen Press
6962 E. 1st Ave. #103, Scottsdale, AZ 85251
9781590586815, $24.95 www.poisonedpenpress.com

Desert Lost provides a fine Lena Jones mystery recommended for prior fans and newcomers alike, and tells of a P.I. who discovers the body of a woman connected to a polygamy cult in Arizona. Her investigation into the cult turns up some disturbing patterns - and a search for the dead woman's lost son leads her further into danger and into new clues of the identity of Lena's own biological parents in this fine thriller.


The Archaeology Shelf

Archaeology and Landscape in the Mongolian Altai: An Atlas
Esther Jacobson-Tepfer, et.al.
ESRI Press
380 New York St., Redlands, CA 92373-8100
9781589482326, $79.95 www.esri.com

Archaeology and Landscape in the Mongolian Altai: An Atlas is the first book to examine the Mongolian Altai in any language. While it's a specialty item, it's a top pick for any college-level library strong in archaeology in general and Mongolia in particular, offering GIS-based maps by James Meacham offering precise views to accompany discussion of sites, settlements, migratory routes, and ancient history and culture.


The California Shelf

California the Beautiful
Galen Rowell
Welcome Books
6 West 18th St., New York NY 10011
9781599620749, $19.95 www.welcomebooks.com

Peter Beren edits this gorgeous collection CALIFORNIA THE BEAUTIFUL: SPIRIT AND PLACE, pairing some eighty-five images from the photographer Galen Rowell with the voices of some fifty California writers from Maya Angelou to Ray Bradbury and Henry Miller. A lovely, keepsake edition for any California collection.

Wheels of Change
Kevin Nelson
Heyday Books
Box 9145, Berkeley, CA 94709
9781597141130, $24.95 www.heydaybooks.com

WHEELS OF CHANGE: FROM ZERO TO 600 M.P.H.: THE AMAZING STORY OF CALIFORNIA AND THE AUTOMOBILE is a key to any library strong in California history and culture. The auto, perhaps more than in other states, is a symbol not just of transportation but of power and social standing. WHEELS OF CHANGE focuses on California auto history, from engineering wizards and designers to gearheads and car racers. This social history of cars offers key links between auto industry icons and California development and lifestyle.


James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI 53575-1129
phone: 1-608-835-7937
e-mail: mbr@execpc.com
e-mail: mwbookrevw@aol.com
http://www.midwestbookreview.com

Diane C. Donovan, Editor & Senior Reviewer
12424 Mill Street, Petaluma, CA 94952
phone: 1-707-795-4629
e-mail: donovan@sonic.net


Copyright ©2001

Site design by Williams Writing, Editing & Design