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Internet Bookwatch

Volume 18, Number 1 January 2008 Home | IBW Index

Table of Contents

Reviewer's Choice Theatre/Cinema/TV Shelf Business Shelf
World History Shelf Genealogy Shelf Education Shelf
Pets/Wildlife Shelf Fiction Shelf Cookbook Shelf
Comix/Graphic Novel Shelf Religion/Spirituality Shelf Christian Studies Shelf
Poetry Shelf Art Shelf Biography Shelf
International Studies Shelf Native American Shelf Gaming Shelf
Parenting Shelf Literary Shelf Travel Shelf
Political Science Shelf Library Science Shelf Sports Shelf
Fantasy/SciFi Shelf Library DVD Shelf Music CD Shelf
Audiobook Shelf Writing/Publishing Shelf Science Shelf
Computer Shelf Health/Medicine Shelf Psychology Shelf
Social Issues Shelf Interior Design Shelf Military Shelf
Metaphysical Studies Shelf American History Shelf Language Studies Shelf
Self-Help Shelf Judaic Studies Shelf Martial Arts Shelf
Needlecraft Shelf Music Shelf Nautical Shelf
Fashion Shelf Hunting/Fishing Shelf Agricultural Studies Shelf
Crafts Shelf Automotive Shelf Railroading Shelf
Real Estate Shelf Money/Finance Shelf Buddhist Studies Shelf
Islamic Studies Shelf Architecture Shelf Judicial Studies Shelf
Economics Shelf    


Reviewer's Choice

Funny Business
Allen Rosenshine
Beaufort Books
c/o Author Marketing Experts (publicity)
PO Box 421156, San Diego, CA 92142
9780825305399, $24.95 www.midpointtradebooks.com

Funny Business: Moguls, Mobsters, Megastars, and the Mad, Mad World of the Ad Game is an uproarious anthology of stranger-than-fiction anecdotes from life in the creative world of the advertising business. Author Allen Rosenshine, who worked his way up to CEO of a major advertising corporation, tells of gently breaking bad news to mobsters, schmoozing with stars, warding off attempts to take him for a sucker, and many more madcap adventures. Funny Business is not a "how-to" book for would-be advertisers in the traditional sense; it's a slice-of-life with extra irony on top from an insider's point of view. An incredibly entertaining memoir from cover to cover, Funny Business is sure to delight readers of all walks of life with their recommended daily allowance of wit, wisdom, and mirthful laughter!

Potluck!
Toni Brandeis Streckert
Trails Books
c/o Big Earth Publishing
145 North Commercial Street, Suite 100, Neenah, WI 54956
9781931599887, $16.95 www.bigearthpublishing.com 1-800-258-5830

Wisconsin author and farmer's market enthusiast Toni Streckert has compiled recipes from a series of local church and civic group cookbooks that, taken cumulatively, offer a kind of culinary window into Wisconsin traditions in "Potluck! Home Cooking From Wisconsin's Community Cookbooks". Enhanced with anecdotal stories, these are recipes that range from classic casseroles, to kugels, to mead loaf, to traditional desserts. There are also a great many new favorites that have made their way to Wisconsin tables. From Pepperoni Biscotti; Marinated Melon Salad; Trudy's Beef Burgundy; and Two-Sauce Lasagna; to Hot Sin Apple Bread; Sour Cream Chocolate Cookies; Zucchini Pie; and Dandelion Wine, "Potluck!" offers a wealth of good eating in celebration of Wisconsin's culinary heritage. All Wisconsin family and community library cookbook collections should include a copy of Toni Streckert's "Potluck!"

Golden Legacy
Leonard S. Marcus
Golden Books
c/o Random House
1745 Broadway, New York NY 10019
9780375829963, $40.00 www.randomhouse.com/kids

While this reference was published by the children's arm of Random House, it's reviewed here for its interest to any collector of Golden Books who wants more than a price guide. GOLDEN LEGACY: HOW GOLDEN BOOKS WON CHILDREN'S HEARTS, CHANGED PUBLISHING FOREVER, AND BECAME AN AMERICAN ICON ALONG THE WAY is so much more: it offers a history of the company, its line of books, and those authors and illustrators who created Golden Books, providing the background and depth needed to understand their value. No serious collector's library - especially those catering to Golden Books collectors - should be without it.

The Archimedes Codex
Reviel Netz & William Noel
Da Capo Press
c/o Perseus Publishing Group
11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142
9780306815805, $27.50 www.dacapopress.com

THE ARCHIMEDES CODEX: HOW A MEDIEVAL PRAYER BOOK IS REVEALING THE TRUE GENIUS OF ANTIQUITY'S GREATEST SCIENTIST reveals a medieval prayer book which sold in 1998 for, $2 million at an auction - and nearly a decade later haws been entrusted to experts at Walters Art Museum, who are learning its real value. Its prayers - penned by a Christian monk around 1200 AD - were written over an earlier text - the lost works of Archimedes, the greatest mathematician of antiquity - and here spirituality and science join in a fine survey revealing the manuscript's importance. It's a key study not to be missed by any serious spirituality collection.

Sage-ing While Age-ing
Shirley MacLaine
Atria Books
1230 Avenue of Americas, New York NY 10020
1416550410, $26.00 www.simonsays.com

SAGE-ING WHILE AGE-ING is a survey of the author's life as a thinker and seeker: here she reflects on this journey and the insights it's brought her over the decades, examining the personal and career milestones she's experienced to date. While prior fans of MacLaine's books are the most likely to relish her latest, newcomers also will find it a lively, interesting introspection worthy not only of spiritual libraries but for public library circulation.

Fugitive Denim
Rachel Louise Snyder
W.W. Norton & Company
500 - 5th Avenue, New York NY 10110
9780393061802, $26.95 www.wwnorton.com

FUGITIVE DENIM: A MOVING STORY OF PEOPLE AND PANTS IN THE BORDERLESS WORLD OF GLOBAL TRADE follows the lives and experiences of the globalized network involved in denim production, manufacture and marketing, considering the power of designer jeans marketing around the world and in different countries from Italy to Azerbaijan. In focusing on a single, popular product which has reached around the world, FUGITIVE DENIM succeeds in providing a wide-ranging survey of special interest not just to college-level holdings strong in global marketing and international trade, but to the general-interest lending library.


The Photography Shelf

The Lens Of Time
Cliff White & E. J. (Ted) Hart
University of Calgary Press
2500 University Drive, N.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4
9781552382370, $69.95 www.uofcpress.com 1-800-565-3770

Part of the University of Calgary Press unique 'Parks and Heritage' series focusing on North American national parks and historic sites, "The Lens Of Time: A Repeat Photography Of Landscape Change In The Canadian Rockies" is the collaborative Project of Cliff White and Ted Hart which compares yesteryear black-and-white photographs in side-by-side arrangement with contemporary full color photographs of the same landscapes, taken from the same positional perspectives, and revealing the changes that have taken place during the intervening 125 years. Enhanced with an informed and informative commentary text, "The Lens Of Time" is an enthusiastically recommended addition to professional, academic, and community library collections, and would prove of immense and particular interest to environmental activists and non-specialist general readers with an appreciation of Canadian Rockies landscapes -- then and now!

Photographer's Exposure Handbook
Jack Neubart
Watson-Guptill Publications
770 Broadway, New York NY 10003
9780817459086, $24.95 www.watsonguptill.com

There is no such thing as a 'perfect' exposure: it's up to photographers to thoroughly understand the process and take advantage of the techniques which lend to better photos, which goes far beyond the usual focus on f-stops and shutter speeds. Chapters discuss the basics but also show how to use light and exposure to improve compositions. Both digital and film photographers will find this a top pick, and public libraries catering to amateurs will find it an especially popular lend.

Sailors' Wisdom: Day By Day
Philip Plisson
Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
115 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011
9780810994485, $35.00 www.abramsbooks.com 1-800-759-0190

Comprised of 365 full-color photographs taken by maritime photographer Philip Plisson (whose lifetime body of work includes more than 400,000 photographs and forty books), "Sailors' Wisdom: Day By Day" features memorable images combined with sea-centric comments from a diversity of luminaries ranging from Albert Camus, to William Shakespeare, to Francis Bacon, to Herman Melville. Visually depicted are the oceans of the world in all of their diverse moods, states, and colors. From the sea's dream-like tranquility to its capacity for overwhelming violence, to images of waves and swells, to lighthouses, sails, and boats in an oceanic light, "Sailors' Wisdom: Day By Day" is an original compendium that would grace any personal, academic, or community library collection -- and is especially recommended for non-specialist general readers with an interest in the sea and the ships that sail up it.

Selected Pictures of Chinese Ethnic Groups
State Nationalities Affairs Commission
China Pictorial Publishing House
c/o China Books
360 Swift Ave., Suite 48, South San Francisco, CA 94080
9787800249563, $24.95 www.chinabooks.com

Selected Pictures of Chinese Ethnic Groups is a gorgeous, full-color photographic showcase of people of the 55 minority ethnic groups found in China, from Mongolian, Tibetan, and Korean to Yao, Bai, and Li to Uzbek, Russian, and Tartar, and many more. (The majority ethnic group of China is of course the Han Chinese; their photographic portrayal is left to other books). Images often focus upon unique cultural practices and customs, from marriage ceremonies to traditional dress, food, and celebrations. A handful of basic facts and taboos for each culture are also briefly described, but the core appeal of Selected Pictures of Chinese Ethnic Groups lies in its vibrant and unforgettable imagery. Celebrating peaceful integration and cultural exchange as well as the tapestry that is China itself, Selected Pictures of Chinese Ethnic Groups is a joy simply to page through and highly recommended.

Holding Out And Hanging On
Thomas Neff
University of Missouri Press
2910 LeMone Boulevard, Columbia, MO 65201
9780826217745, $29.95 www.umsystem.edu/upress 1-800-828-1894

The devastation and aftermath of hurricane Katrina brought to light a truly American vulnerability as being one of the worst disasters of our time. But as they years have begun to pass, the plight of the survivors, once so prominent on the evening news and in the speeches of politicians, has faded back into obscurity and neglect. Baton Rouge photographer Thomas Neff seeks to restore public awareness of the continuing necessity for attention to rebuilding the lives and communities that were so badly damaged by compiling his black-and-white photographs, combined with forty-five days of interviews with the people affected by the hurricane in "Holding Out And Hanging On: Surviving Hurricane Kartrina". Showcasing some remarkable people living and trying to rebuild under exceptionally difficult circumstances, as well as photographically documenting the extend of the damages still awaiting the promised attention and resources from state and federal agencies, "Holding Out And Hanging On" is a clarion testament to the enduring human spirit as representative individual stories are told. Simply stated, every community library in the country should have a copy of "Holding Out And Hanging On" in their collections so that the politicians and the people will remember what happened, what was done, and what remains to be done.


The Theatre/Cinema/TV Shelf

Gem of the Ocean
August Wilson
Theatre Communications Group
520 Eighth Avenue, 24th floor, New York, NY 10018-4156
9781559362801, $13.95 www.amazon.com

Broadway theater playwright August Wilson presents Gem of the Ocean, the first play in a ten-play cycle about the African-American experience during the modern twentieth century. Set in 1904 Pittsburgh, Gem of the Ocean follows a long-lived, fierce-willed matriarch and the two men she welcomed into her Hill District home: Solly Two Kings, who was born into slavery and served the Union Army in the Civil War, and Citizen Barlow, a man from Alabama seeking a better life. A richly textured exploration of the challenges faced in adapting to a new environment, no matter how many hardships one faced in the past, Gem of the Ocean is highly recommended.

The Philosophy Of Science Fiction Film
Steven M. Sanders, editor
The University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, KY 40508-4008
9780813124728, $35.00 www.kentuckypress.com 1-800-839-6855

Expertly compiled and edited by Steven M. Sanders (emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Bridgewater State College, Massachusetts), "The Philosophy Of Science Fiction Film" focuses upon science fiction films in terms of their philosophical implications and issues including 'Engimas of Identity and Agency'; 'Extraterrestrial Visitation, Time Travel, and Artificial Intelligence; and Brave Newer World: Science Fiction Futurism. From Deborah Knight and George McKnight's 'What Is It to Be Human? Blade Runner and Dark City'; to Aeon J. Skoble's 'Technology and Ethics in The Day the Earth Stood Still'; to Jerold J. Abrams' 'The Dialectic of Enlightenment in Metropolis, "The Philosophy Of Science Fiction Film" offers erudite insights that are thoughtful and thought-provoking, superb examples of scholarship, and a seminal contribution to the study of science fiction films. "The Philosophy Of Science Fiction Film" is highly recommended for academic library collections, as well as the supplemental reading lists for students and non-specialist general readers with an interest in Cinematic Studies, Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Philosophy.

Clint Eastwood, Actor and Director
Leonard Engel, editor
University of Utah Press
1795 E. South Campus Drive, #101, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-9402
9780874809008, $21.95 www.UofUpress.com

Clint Eastwood, Actor and Director: New Perspectives is an anthology of essays by learned authors discussing Hollywood star Clint Eastwood, who has made a stand-out name for himself as a top-notch director through films such as "Unforgiven" and "Million Dollar Baby". Individual essays include "Mocking Success in 'Every Which Way but Loose'", "Irony as Absolution", "Mystic Moral Miasma in 'Mystic River'", and much more. The essays have a scholarly tone and a perceptive eye toward meticulous analysis of theme; Clint Eastwood, Actor and Director is especially recommended for film studies students and professionals who would learn from Eastwood's work, as well as cerebral Clint Eastwood fans.

A Jesuit Off-Broadway
James Martin, SJ
Loyola Press
3441 North Ashland Avenue, Chicago, IL 60657
DeChant-Hughes Associates (publicity)
1440 North Kingsbury, Chicago, IL 60622
9780829425826, $22.95 www.LoyolaBooks.org 1-800-621-1008

Jesuit priest James Martin presents A Jesuit Off-Broadway: Center Stage With Jesus, Judas, and Life's Big Questions, a memoir recounting the six months during which he served as a theological consultant for the New York theater production of "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot", directed by Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman and starring Sam Rockwell and Eric Bogosian. Even as Martin taught his charges about religion and spirituality, he learned about the amazing labor of love that is the theater, as well as the toll it takes upon a cast and crew to pour their blood, sweat and tears into a successful play. A wondrous journey into two worlds: the world of the stage and the inner world of the humanity's soul-searching questions.

Cinema of Obsession
Dominique Mainon and James Ursini
Limelight Editions
c/o Hal Leonard Corporation
19 West 21st Street Suite 201, New York NY 10010
9780879103477, $24.95 www.halleonard.com

CINEMA OF OBSESSION: EROTIC FIXATION AND LOVE GONE WRONG IN THE MOVIES is an excellent recommendation for any library strong in film studies. It considers film images of love in its many darker sides, from violent obsession and star-crossed love to erotic undertones. Movies are described, analyzed, and include plenty of commentary and analysis in a survey perfect for college-level film studies collections. Black and white photos from movies liberally pepper the survey.

Rescue Me Uncensored
Dennis Leary & Peter Tolan
Newmarket Press
18 East 48th Street, New York, NY 10017
9781557047915, $19.95 www.newmarketpress.com 1-800-669-3903

Featuring an informative preface by Denis Leary and Peter Tolan, "Rescue Me Uncensored: The Official Companion" includes complete episode guides with music playlists of the first four seasons of this popular and successful television drama series. Tolan was nominated for Outstanding Directory for a Drama Series for the first season of 'Rescue Me', and Leary was nominated twice for an Emmy for Outstanding lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role on 'Rescue Me'. Enhanced throughout with a profusion of full color photography of actors and scenes, "Rescue Me Uncensored" features a 'Role Call' of cast members. Of special note is article about 'The Leary Firefighters Foundation'. Also available in a hardcover edition (9781557047922, $29.95), "Rescue Me Uncensored" is especially recommended reading for the programs legions of fans across the country.


The Business Shelf

Private Label
Keith Lincoln & Lars Thomassen
Kogan Page USA
525 South 4th Street, #241, Philadelphia, PA 19147
9780749450274, $39.95 www.koganpage.com 1-800-232-0223

"Private Label; turning The Retail Brand Threat Into Your Biggest Opportunity" is the collaborative work of Keith Lincoln (one of the world's leading authorities and corporate consultants on brands and global trends) and Lars Thomassen (whose 30 year career in advertising includes involvement with developing many major global brands). The focus on the advertising concept of a 'Private Label' that is the basis of a one trillion dollar industry world wide. Readers will learn about the facts and the myths associated with the concept of Private Labels, issues that are directly relevant to the establishing, maintenance, and exploitation of Private Labels, opportunities for brand owners, opportunities for retailers, and the commercial future of Private Labels in a highly competitive and increasingly global marketplace. Informed and informative, "Private Label" is especially recommended reading for entrepreneurs and corporate executives seeking to develop and expand their products as distinctive, premiere, and high-end.

Why We Talk
Bolivar J. Bueno
Creative Crayon Publishers
230 Kings Mall Court, Suite 142, Kingston, NY 12401
Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists (publicity)
2100 Kramer Lane, Suite 300, Austin, TX 78758
9780971481534, $24.95 www.phenixpublicity.com

In "Why We Talk: the Truth Behind Word-of-Mouth", retail advertising and marketing expert Bolivar Bueno (a partner in Nonbox consulting, an Orlando, Florida-based consumer insight think tank) lays out seven principles for creating memorable customer experiences that will prompt those customers to share with their friends and families those favorable impressions that successful commercial transactions produce. Businessmen and marketing directors will learn just what motivates a consumer or a customer to 'spread the word' about a company and its products -- producing an unpaid advertising benefit that can insure a prosperous bottom line to any corporate endeavor. "Why We Talk" is a solidly informative and 'reader friendly' addition to any personal, professional, corporate, academic, or community American Business Studies reference collection or supplemental reading list.

Reaching the Goal
John Arthur Ricketts
IBM Press
Pearson Technology Group
801 East 96th Street, #300, Indianapolis, IN 46240-3759
9780132333122, $29.99 www.ibmpressbooks.com 1-800-428-5331

REACHING THE GOAL: HOW MANAGERS IMPROVE A SERVICES BUSINESS USING GOLDRATT'S THEORY OF CONSTRAINTS explains not only the basics of TOC, but how it improves business performance, using experiences from IBM research to document using TOC in services businesses. From its basic principles to applications in different areas of business, TOC is thoroughly covered including guidelines on how to implement in an existing organizational structure, making this a fine pick for both college-level business libraries and libraries catering to managers.

The 4Cs of Truth in Communications
Isabelle Albanese
Paramount Market Publishing Inc.
950 Danby Road #136, Ithaca, NY 14850
9780978660222, $24.95 www.paramountbooks.com

Any college-level collection strong in business marketing tools needs Isabelle Albanese's The 4Cs of Truth in Communications. It provides an easy guide on how to assess marketing communications efforts - and covers the common pitfalls in such communications. The coverage is barely a hundred pages but the lessons on how to identify and evaluate effective and non-effective communication processes are invaluable.

Working the Skies
Drew Whitelegg
New York University Press
838 Broadway, 3rd floor, New York, NY 10003
9780814794081, $20.00 www.nyupress.org 1-800-996-6987

WORKING THE SKIES: THE FAST-PACED, DISORIENTING WORLD OF THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT is a fine choice not only for any business library focused on careers or aviation choices, but for general-interest collections. It covers the life of the flight attendant, surveying the realities of the modern job, offering experiences of flight attendants past and present, and offering behind-the-scenes stories of their special challenges. It's an excellent, lively survey certain to reach a wide audience.

A Class With Drucker
William A. Cohen, Ph.D.
Amacom
1601 Broadway, New York NY 10019
0814409199, $24.95 www.amacombooks.org

Author William A. Cohen was a struggling young Air Force officer with no academic experience when he entered Drucker's PhD program in management, becoming the first graduate of Drucker's doctoral program. He used his newfound insights to further career and to gain a deeper insight into Drucker's approach and personality: A CLASS WITH DRUCKER reflects his experiences, expanding upon Drucker's lessons, revealing the teacher's personality through personal anecdotes, and providing fine tips on how Drucker's management tools continue to be applied in everyday business circles. Any business library needs A CLASS WITH DRUCKER.

The Go-Giver
Bob Burg & John David Mann
Portfolio
c/o The Penguin Publishing Group
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
Kathryn Hall Publicist (publicity)
PO Box 1486, Ukiah, CA 95482
9781591842002, $19.95 www.us.penguingroup.com 1-800-847-5515

The collaborative effort of Bob Burg (a top sales professional and successful public speaker) and John David Mann (author and business leadership authority), "The Go-Giver: A Little Story About A Powerful Business Idea" is the story of Joe, an ambitious young man who seeks advice from the enigmatic Pindar -- a legendary consultant referred to by his many devotees as 'The Chairman'. Pindar introduces Joe to a series of 'go-givers' that include a successful restaurateur, a corporate CEO, a knowledgeable financial advisor, a real estate broker, and a man known simply as 'The Connector' who brought them all together. Between these men, Joe learns about the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success and discovers how to open himself up to the power of giving as a means of success in business. Deftly written and thoroughly 'reader friendly', "The Go-Giver" is enthusiastically recommended for anyone seeking success in the competitive marketplace of products, services, and ideas, as being informed and informative, as well as inspired and inspiring.

AdWords for Dummies
Howie Jacobson, Ph.D.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5773
9780470152522, $24.99 www.wiley.com 1-800-225-5945

Internet marketing strategist and AdWords coach Howie Jacobson, Ph.D. presents AdWords for Dummies, a user-friendly manual to using Google AdWords to serve one's marketing needs. and attract the right kinds of visitors to one's website. Chapters discuss how to set up a starter edition AdWords account, uncover one's online market, choose the right keywords, craft attractive ads, improve one's ad campaigns through keyword management, follow up on prospects, apply conversion tracking to cut costs, common beginner errors when working with AdWords, and much more. AdWords for Dummies lives up to the solid reputation of the Dummies series by blending professional expertise with a simple and straightforward tutorial anyone can follow. A, $25 Google AdWords gift card rounds out this enthusiastically recommended aid to Internet marketing in the twenty-first century.

The Essential Guide To Workplace Investigations
Lisa Guerin
Nolo Press
950 Parker Street, Berkeley, CA 94710
9781413306910, $39.99 www.nolo.com 1-800-955-4775

One of the responsibilities of employers is to insure a safe and secure workplace. This necessitates dealing with employee accusations of harassment, discrimination, workplace violence, employee theft, and other challenges to the workplace security of employees -- whether the problem is perceived from emanating from management or other employees. Lisa Guerin, an attorney specializing is resolving workplace issues, has written "The Essential Guide To Workplace Investigations: How To Handle Employee Complains & Problems", a 350-page, 'user friendly' instruction manual for managers, human resources professionals, and business owners, on investigating and resolving common workplace issues in a manner that is fair, effective, and in adherence to federal laws and state regulations. Enhanced with an accompanying CD-ROM with forms, sample polices, checklists, and other resources, "The Essential Guide To Workplace Investigations" is an informed and informative, offering step-by-step instructions on deciding whether or not to investigate a complain; taking immediate action if deemed necessary; selecting an investigator; planning the investigation; interviewing; gathering evidence; evaluating the evidence; taking appropriate action; documenting the investigation; and doing follow-up to insure future compliance. Simply stated, "The Essential Guide To Workplace Investigations" is an essential and basic reference for anyone charged with the responsibility of providing employees with a conflict-free work environment.


The World History Shelf

Mosaics in the Eternal City
Michael G. Sundell
Arizona Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies
Arizona State University
P.O. Box 874402, Tempe, AZ 85287-4402
9780866983761, $39.00 www.asu.edu/clas/acmrs 1-480-965-5900

Professor Emeritus of Humanities Michael G. Sundell presents Mosaics in the Eternal City, a scholarly portrait of Rome between 400 and 1300 as gathered through study of the major works of its monumental public visual art that have survived: the mosaics in the apses, on the arches, and on the walls of eight churches. Drawing on recent findings in archaeology, art history, and the history of religion, Mosaics in the Eternal City explores the influence of pagan, Jewish, and Christian traditions on civic identity and public art, as well as the repercussions of religious and political conflicts and the demographic shifts in Rome over time. Written to be accessible to the informed general reader as well as the specialist, Mosaics in the Eternal City is enhanced with sixty-five color and six black-and-white illustrations, including maps, plans, archival drawings, and photographs of architectural and urban sites. A welcome addition to art history shelves.

Use History Like a Tool
Steven Levi
Silver Lake Publishing
3501 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90026
9781563437748, $19.95 www.silverlakepub.com

Use History Like a Tool: An Unconventional Guide To Reading the Past and Managing the Future is a different type of history book - one written to show students and adults alike the real value of history, and the lessons of history that can be applied to daily life. In particular, Use History Like a Tool shows how to tell the difference between positive, forward-thinking change and the endless, repetitive shuffle of stagnation, applying the lessons of history to accurately size up the condition of one's workplace (and possibly determine whether one has any chance of a good future staying in one's current workplace). "Using history as a guide, alas, there is no way to cut back on the weight attendance has in the workplace. Once deadwood is in place, it's hard to remove it. The key is to keep deadwood out of the system. This may mean refraining from hiring someone for a needed position. Think twice about whom you hire, even if it's for a janitorial position." Highly recommended.

The Trail Of 1858
Mark Forsythe & Greg Dickson
Harbour Publishing
PO Box 219, Madeira Park, BC, Canada, V0N 2H0
9781550174243, $26.95 www.harbourpublishing.com 1-604-883-2730

Mark Forsythe is the long-standing host of CBC Radio One's 'BC Alamanc'. Greg Dickson was a journalist and producer at CBC radio and television for more than twenty years. Together they have collaborated to write "The Trail Of 1858: British Columbia's Gold Rush Past. In what was to become British Columbia, the non-aboriginal population was only about 700 in 1858 when gold was discovered along the shores of the Fraser River. Almost overnight some 30,000 prospectors (mostly American) descended upon the landscape and treated the territory as an extension of the United States. The colonial administration in Victoria was overwhelmed and the future of the area as a British possession was in doubt. But by the time the gold rush petered out about a decade after it had begun, the colony of British Columbia had come into existence and its destiny as a province of Canada was assured. "The Trail Of 1858" is the fascinating story of those turbulent times and showcases the personalities and issues through the use of period photography, anecdotal stories, and narratives drawn from fact and memory. The result is a very highly recommended book of Canadian history that is as informed and informative as it is engaging and entertaining.


The Genealogy Shelf

Flemish DNA & Ancestry
Guido Deboeck
Dokus Publishing
3850 North River Street, Arlington, VA 22207
0972552677, $45.00 www.dokuspublishing.com

"Flemish DNA & Ancestry" by Duido Deboeck is a genealogical history of three families down through five centuries utilizing both conventional and genetic genealogical research methods. A seminal genealogical case study illustrating how the new science of genetics can be of immense and practical value as a genealogical research technique, "Flemish DNA & Ancestry" follows the featured families' complicated histories in business, migration, and war. Enhanced with an introduction to the Glanders-Flemish DNA Project, "Flemish DNA & Ancestry" represents the first analysis of actual Flemish DNA records, as well as an informed and informative summary of the deep ancestry of people with Flemish roots. Very highly recommended as an addition to professional and academic library Genealogical Studies reference collections, "Flemish DNA & Ancestry" could well serve as a template for similar genealogical studies of other ethnic lines of decent incorporating the new DNA technologies.

Finding Your Canadian Ancestors
Sherry Irvine & Dave Obee
Ancestry Publishing
360 West 4800 North, Provo, Utah, 48604
978-1-59331-316-6, $18.95 www.theancestrystore.com 1-800-531-1790

"Finding Your Canadian Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide" is a superbly written and organized introduction for novice genealogists on tracing and recording their ancestry using Canadian genealogical resources. The information on Canadian genealogical records is organized by record type and then again according to province. Both government and ecclesiastical records, as well as Aboriginal, Acadian, and Loyalist records, are discussed. Of special note is the information provided about online resources, including the extensive holdings of Library and Archives Canada. Co-authored by genealogical research experts Sherry Irvine and Dave Obee, "Finding Your Canadian Ancestors" is the perfect introduction for aspiring and practicing genealogists wanting to utilize Canadian resources and records for their genealogical researches. Also very highly recommended for personal and genealogical library reference collections are two other specialized genealogical research guidebooks from Ancestry Publishing: David S. Ouimette's "Finding Your Irish Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide" (9781593312930, $14.95) and Kip Sperry's "A Guide To Mormon Family History Sources" (9781593313012, $16.95).

Family Roots Publishing Company
PO Box 830, Bountiful, Utah, 84011-0830
www.familyrootspublishing.com 1-801-949-7259

Genealogist William Dollarhide (co-author of the "Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920 and author of five popular titles in genealogy) has created a new two-volume reference resource, "Census Substitutes & State Census Records". Volume One (1933194375, $32.95, #FR011) covers the Eastern States, while Volume Two (1933194383, $32.95, FR0112) covers the Western States. Taken together, this two volume set covers all the 50 states and Washington, D.C. The descriptive information is organized aby state, with each volume containing historical timelines, bibliographic descriptions of every colonial, territorial, and state census extant and available to genealogical research. Of special note are the hundreds of records that can be used as census substitutes. The Eastern States covers the Old Southwest, New England, Mid-Atlantic States, the Old South, the Old Northwest, and the Central Plains states. The Western States covers Texas, Oklahoma & the Indian Territory, California and Nevada, Alaska and Hawaii, Nuevo Mexico, the Mountain West, and the Oregon Country. A unique and invaluable resource, the two volume "Census Substitutes & State Census Records" is an invaluable contribution to the growing library of genealogical resource material and a core addition to any personal, professional, academic, community, and genealogical library reference collection.


The Education Shelf

Is Literacy Enough?
Catherine E. Snow, Michelle V. Porche, Patton O. Tabors, & Stephanie Ross Harris
Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company
PO Box 10624, Baltimore, MD 21285-0624
9781557669148, $29.95 www.brookespublishing.com 1-800-638-3775

Four literacy experts combine their experience to investigate why strong literacy skills are necessary but no sufficient to ensure students' academic success in Is Literacy Enough?: Pathways to Academic Success for Adolescents. Surveying a group of children from low-income families from preschool through high school, and charting the students' outcomes using test data of language and literacy skills as well as interviews and self-report data of motivation and engagement in a classroom setting, Is Literacy Enough? offers insight and revelations borne directly from controlled and diligent social science. Critical protective and risk factors key to students' success are analyzed, including the presence of academic and motivational support, poverty, whether a student attends multiple schools, family disruption, social-emotional difficulties, and much more. A serious and scientific-minded dissection of the elements necessary to help students reach their full potential, brimming with recommendations to enhance the quality of learning programs for adolescents.

The Courage to Teach
Parker J. Palmer
Jossey-Bass, Inc.
989 Market Street, 5th floor
San Francisco, CA 94103-1741
9780787996864, $27.95 www.josseybass.com 1-800-225-5945

Now in its tenth anniversary edition, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life is the testimony of veteran educator Parker J. Palmer, created to help fellow teachers take heart in the face bureaucratic systems that are sometimes outright hostile, among other obstacles. The Courage to Teach is centered upon the basic premise that truly good teaching comes not merely from technique, but rather is rooted in the identity and integrity of the instructor. Chapters tell of the critical importance of forming a connection with students, forming a positive community network, and the invaluable role of an indomitable spirit within teachers. An accompanying audio CD of a conversation with Parker J. Palmer and associates rounds out the inspirational guide by a passionate professional, for professionals seeking to revitalize their inner fire.

The Exchange Student Survival Kit
Bettina Hansel
Intercultural Press
20 Park Plaza, Suite 1115A, Boston, MA 02116
9781931930314, $21.95 www.interculturalpress.com 1-866-372-2665

The Exchange Student Survival Kit is a solid primer for foreign exchange students and host families alike. Now in a completely revised and updated second edition that includes references to the latest communications technology (e-mail, instant messaging, cell phones, online games, etc.), crucial advice with regard to personal safety, and notes concerning ongoing changes in society and family life that affect travelers, The Exchange Student Survival Kit covers everything from practical packing to learning to identify "red flag" emotions that are likely triggered by culture shock to preparing for reverse culture shock on the trip home. Peppered throughout with anecdotes of young people from various different nations adjusting to a new way of life, The Exchange Student Survival Kit is an absolute "must-read" for any prospective exchange student or host family.

The Homeschooler's Book Of Lists
Sonya Haskins
Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55438
9780764204432, $19.99 www.bethanyhouse.com 1-800-328-6109

Sonya Haskin draws upon her experience and expertise as a mother who homeschools her five children in writing and compiling "The Homeschooler's Book Of Lists". Accessibly organized by academic areas and subjects, there are more than 250 lists that will enable the homeschooling parent to customize and enrich unit studies, encourage and facilitate memorization work, as well as enabling parents to readily answer questions asked by their children in the course of their studies. These 'user friendly' lists about people, dates, mathematical formulas, word origins, etc., will substantially assist the sparking of curiosity and a desire to learn in the student -- and so much more! Enhanced with the inclusion of an accompanying CD that will enable any list in being printed out, "The Homeschooler's Book Of Lists" can be confidently recommended as an invaluable curriculum development aid and supplement for all homeschooling parents.

Teaching Mathematics Meaningfully
David H. Allsopp, Maggie M. Kyger, & LouAnn H. Lovin
Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company
PO Box 10624, Baltimore, MD 21285-0624
9781557668660, $29.95 www.brookespublishing.com 1-800-638-3775

Teaching Mathematics Meaningfully: Solutions for Reaching Struggling Learners is a straightforward guide for mathematics educators of grades K-12 to instructing students challenged by learning disabilities, ADHD, or mild cognitive disabilities. Drawing upon experience-tested, research-based strategies, Teaching Mathematics Meaningfully discusses the common learning characteristics of students with learning difficulties, how to focus on the most important mathematical concepts and get the "big ideas" across, lesson plans and practical tactics for directly addressing students' learning barriers, how to analyze and improve one's own strengths and weaknesses, and much more. A smattering of black-and-white photographs, tables, and sample forms illustrate this step-by-step guide to teaching students what they most need to know about math from simple number operations to algebra, geometry, measurement, data analysis, probability, and more. Highly recommended for any educator responsible for teaching learning-challenged children, whether they teach at a public school, a private school, a summer school, or tutor in a private home.

The Effective Literacy Coach
Adrian Rodgers & Emily M. Rodgers
Teachers College Press
1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027
9780807748015, $23.95 www.tcpress.com 1-800-575-6566

Assistant Professor Adrian Rodgers and Associate Professor Emily M. Rodgers present The Effective Literacy Coach: Using Inquiry To Support Teaching and Learning, a guide that goes a step beyond the nuts and bolts of day-to-day coaching in the search to understand how literacy coaching can breathe renewed life into instructional practice. Offering research-based strategies to improve the teacher-coach connection, The Effective Literacy Coach discusses how to guide group discussions, the art of asking the right question, how to get the most out of one-on-one coaching, and much more. Enthusiastically recommended for remedial reading teachers, whether they work with children, teens, or adults.

The Well-Managed Classroom
Michele Hensley, M.S., Walter Powell, Susan Lamke, & Scott Hartman, M.S.
Boys Town Press
14100 Crawford Street, Boys Town, NE 68010
9781889322919, $24.95 www.boystownpress.org 1-800-282-6657

Now in an updated second edition, The Well-Managed Classroom is a straightforward guide to maintaining a safe and motivational learning environment for young people. Written by authors who have trained teachers and school administrators as well as served the National Resource and Training Center at Girls and Boys Town, The Well-Managed Classroom offers strategies born from time-tested experience. Chapters cover how to connect with students, teach social skills as well as intellectual skills, encourage positive behaviors in students while correcting problem behaviors, partnering with parents and guardians, and much more. "In the event that a student not only refuses to leave the classroom, but also becomes increasingly violent or destructive, your best option is to get everyone else out. Moving students to a hallway, media center, or multipurpose room is preferable to attempting physical restraint or allowing the out-of-control student to show off his or her outrageous behavior in front of peers. Leaving the student alone may help de-escalate the behavior, and you will ensure that no one is at risk of getting hurt." Highly recommended.

Reading Assessment
JoAnne Schudt Caldwell
Guilford Publications, Inc.
72 Spring Street , New York, NY 10012
9781593855796, $28.00 www.guilford.com 1-800-365-7006

Now in a fully updated and expanded second edition, "Reading Assessment: A Primer For Teachers And Coaches" by JoAnne Schudt Caldwell (Associate Dean of the College of Education and Leadership, Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is part of The Guilford Press educational series 'Solving Problems in the Teaching of Literacy'. Professor Caldwell provides classroom teachers and reading coaches with the information and tools they require to engage in the complex process of assessing the reading skills and needs of students. Practical strategies are provided for assessing students' strengths and weaknesses with respect to their literacy; how to properly analyze the evidence gathered through observation and testing; and making appropriate instructional decisions accordingly. Of special note are the sections devoted to new tools for assessing early literacy, guidelines for choosing among these options, high-stakes testing; and alternatives to standardized measures. Enhanced with numerous illustrative examples, professional development activities, and reproducibles, "Reading Assessment" is a critically important instructional and should be a core part of professional and academic library literacy testing and instruction reference collections.

Powerful Writing Strategies For All Students
Karen R. Harris, et al.
Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company
PO Box 10624, Baltimore, MD 21285-0624
9781557667052, $34.95 www.brookespublishing.com 1-800-638-3775

"Powerful Writing Strategies For All Students" is the collaborative effort of academicians and teachers Karen R. Harris, Steve Graham, Linda H. Mason, and Barbara Friedlander. Comprised of thoroughly 'user friendly' curriculum lessons ranging from twenty to 60 minutes each, "Powerful Writing Strategies For All Students" is designed to enable the classroom teacher to advance and enhance their student's writing skills such as constructing essays and writing reports for state competency tests; work with every phase of the writing process from initiation to revision; reinforce new writing strategies and skills through individual practice and in group instruction; develop critical self-regulation skills students can use independently; support effective instruction with step-by-step guidelines and optional scripts; and even train students to use effective mnemonic devices that are easily grasped and remembered. Enhanced with photocopiable support materials including cue cards, graphic organizers, sheets for graphing writing performance, an mnemonic charts, "Powerful Writing Strategies For All Students" is a very strongly recommended as a language arts and literacy curriculum and classroom instruction plan supplemental resource.


The Pets/Wildlife Shelf

The Wild Horses of Shackleford Banks
Carmine Prioli & Scott Taylor
John F. Blair, Publisher
1406 Plaza Drive, Winston-Salem, NC 27103
9780895873347, $16.95 www.blairpub.com 1-800-222-9796

The Wild Horses of Shackleford Banks is a fascinating examination of the wild horse herd that exists on an island at the remote southern end of North Carolina's Outer Banks. This wild animals are protected from direct human intrusion, and their natural herd behavior studied by scientists; at the same time, circumscribed "wilderness management" involving genetic testing and immunocontraception is necessary to prevent the herd from overgrazing its own food supply. Are these animals truly horses, or ponies? Did the originate from horses that were cast off from foundering Spanish galleons, or did they come to the island much more recently? Are they a threat to the island's ecology? Readily accessible to readers of all backgrounds, The Wild Horses of Shackleford Banks offers a sweeping overview of perspectives and theories concerning the herd, the history of how it came to be protected, and why they are popularly beloved among visitors. Black-and-white photographs illustrate this "must-have" for equine fans.

Storey's Barn Guide to Horse Handling and Grooming
Charni Lewis
Storey Publishing
210 Mass MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247
9781580176576, $24.95 www.storey.com 1-800-827-8673

The lay-flat binding and emphasis on visual step-by-step photos makes for an excellent guide to horse handling and grooming in Storey's Barn Guide to Horse Handling and Grooming: Essential Techniques in a Hands-Free Format. From approaching and catching a horse to grooming, braiding, tack and more, tips are presented in clear large-sized photos and illustrations perfect for any newcomer to horse care and management - and perfect for libraries catering to the new or young horse owner, in particular.

Nature's Way
Marion Dusoir Ennes
Cypress House
155 Cypress Street , Fort Bragg, CA 95437
9781879384736, $22.95 www.cypresshouse.com 1-800-773-7782

From 1986 to 1991, first-generation America, mother, socialworker, teacher, community leader, writer, and naturalist Marion Dusoir Ennes wrote essays that were published as feature columns in the New York Hudson Valley newspaper 'The Independent'. Her keen observations and detailed descriptions are exceptional in that she based her commentaries on science and personal values without lapsing into naive sentimentality. Expertly edited by Howard Ennes, the best of those essays has been collected into "Nature's Way: Observations Of A Good Earthkeeper" and made available to a much wider audience of appreciative readers far beyond the confines of the Hudson Valley. Of special note is that each reproduced article features a line drawing of the animal being described and discussed. Informed and informative, "Nature's Way" will prove to be of immense interest to non-specialist general readers with an interest in nature, wildlife, and environmental issues.

Positive Training for Show Dogs
Vicki Ronchette, CPDT
Dogwise Publishing
PO Box 2778, Wenatchee, WA 98807-2778
9781929242467, $14.95 1-800-776-2665 www.dogwisepublishing.com

Author Vicki Ronchette, CPDT has worked with dogs for over twenty-two years. She offers her experience as well as the latest scientific research to dog handlers of all skill and experience levels in Positive Training for Show Dogs: Building a Relationship for Success. A no-nonsense guide to teaching show dogs how to behave in the ring, from raising people-friendly animals from puppyhood to teaching one's dog how to stack or gait to which pieces of equipment to use and more, Positive Training for Show Dogs walks the reader through necessary steps and guidelines with detailed text and numerous black-and-white photographs. Clear enough for novices yet packed with so many tips, tricks, and techniques as to be useful to seasoned professionals, Positive Training for Show Dogs is enthusiastically recommended for show dog owners everywhere.


The Fiction Shelf

The Book of Marie
Terry Kay
Mercer University Press
1400 Coleman Avenue, Macon, GA 31207-0001
9780881460827 1-800-634-2378 www.mupress.org

Written by Georgia Writers Hall of Fame author Terry Kay, The Book of Marie is a novel centered upon the fiftieth reunion of the Overton High School class of 1955. Protagonist Cole Bishop remained friends with high school classmate Marie Fitzpatrick well after graduation, yet has been struck by her surprisingly accurate predictions. Each of them witnessed America itself changing, sometimes violently; in 1962, a young black girl was killed at a civil rights demonstration, and the next day a Georgia home was burned. These and many more events reveal the at time painful tribulations a nation went through, as changes were made in the lives of whites and blacks alike. The Book About Marie is as much about individual bonds and knowing a place as home as it is about the turbulent spectrum of history, and evokes emotion, connection, heartbreak and hope. Highly recommended.

Swords Of Ice
Latife Tekin
Marion Boyars Publishers
24 Lacy Road, London, England, SW15 1NL
Meryl Zegarek Public Relations (publicity)
225 West 108 Street, Suite 901, New York, NY 10025
9789714531350, $14.95 www.marionboyars.com.uk

Translated from the Turkish language by Saliha Paker and Mel Kenne, "Swords Of Ice" by Latife Tekin (a major best-selling Turkish author) is the story of Halilhan Sunteriler, an aspiring entrepreneur who rescues a red Volvo from the scrap heap thinking that this will help him to be successful in his business ventures. Soliciting the help of his friend Gogi, as well as Halilhan's two younger brothers Hazmi and Mesut in this enterprise, the result is a tragi-comic hunt for money in the surreal world of commerce, complicated by unending family struggles, illicit affairs, and insights into the human condition. Part of a trilogy that includes "Dear Shameless Death" and "Berji Kristin: Tales From The Garage Hills" (both of which are also available from Marion Boyars Publishers), "Swords Of Ice" is a work of literary excellence and an exemplary example of contemporary Turkish fiction at its best.

Finesilver's Gold
Ruth Shalett Littman
Micah Publications, Inc.
255 Humphrey St., Marblehead, MA 01945
9780916288532, $18.00 www.micahbooks.com

Finesilver's Gold is a novel about two brave Jewish immigrants, based upon the diaries of the grandparents of author Ruth Littman. Over a hundred years ago, Jacob Finesilver sought to escape conscription into the Czar's army by walking from the Ukraine to the Klondike across the frozen Bering Sea. He nearly died during the perilous journey, and survived only by the kindness of an native Inuit rescuer. A year later, his betrothed braved the same deadly stretch of ice. Together, they marry in a new land and strive to hold on to their Jewish rituals and heritage, in a place where neither of them knows how to discern when Shabbat begins. An engrossing narrative of culture, survival, faith, and love, highly recommended.


The Cookbook Shelf

500 Soups
Susannah Blake
Sellers Publishing
81 West Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04101
9781569069783, $15.95 www.makefun.com 1-800-625-3386

A London-based food writer and editor, Susannah Blake's "500 Soups: The Only Soup Compendium You'll Ever Need" is one cookbook that truly lives up to its title! Featuring five hundred different kinds of soup, each with clear, easy-to-follow instructions that include tips on accompaniments, garnishes and toppings, "500 Soups" also includes an informative and comprehensive introductory section covering all the preparation and cooking in essentials such as soup-making techniques, equipment, soup stocks, and even troubleshooting. With variations on each of the showcased recipes and more than 120 full-color photographs illustrated a diverse variety of savory soups, "500 Soups" is a true gem of a cookbook and a welcome addition to personal and community library collections. It should also be noted that there are five other highly recommended '500' cookbook titles available from Sellers Publishing: "500 Chocolate Delights" (9781569069943, $15.95); "500 Pies & Tarts" (9781569069844, $15.95); "500 Appetizers" (9781569069769, $15.95); "500 Cupcakes" (9781569065976, $15.95); and "500 Cookies" 9781569065921, $15.95).

The Complete Idiot's Guide To The College Diet Cookbook
Shelly Vaughan James
AlphaBooks
c/o New American Library
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014-3658
9781592576807, $16.95 www.idiotsguides.com 1-800-847-5515

In "The Complete Idiot's Guide To The College Diet Cookbook", cookbook author and culinary expert Shelly Vaughan James has compiled a wealth of nutritional information, quick tips for cooking with electric skillets, microwaves, and other small appliances, and easy-to-understand explanations of common cooking terms and techniques with 150 quick and easy-to-make meals, snacks and desserts. Specifically designed for college students (notorious for living off of raman noodles and order-in pizzas), "The Complete Idiot's Guide To The College Diet Cookbook" is an ideal culinary reference for time stressed, budget limited, cramped quarter living students who would appreciate being able to make a Grab-n-Go Burrito, a Grilled Veggie Wrap, a Turkey and White Bean Chili, an Olive and Pimiento Tuna Salad; an Authentic Lasagna Micro-Quick; some No-Bake Peanut Butter Apple Cookies; or an Hawaiian Island Shake. Although specifically intended for the college crowed, "The Complete Idiot's Guide To The College Diet Cookbook" is also ideal for anyone living alone in the big city and wanting to learn how to cook create meals for themselves.

Grill It! Plank It! Wrap It! Smoke It!
Tiffany Haugen
Frank Amato Publications
PO Box 82112, Portland, OR 97282
9781571884169, $19.95 www.amatobooks.com

Spiral bound so as to lay flat on the kitchen counter for ease of use, "Grill It! Plank It! Wrap It! Smoke It!" is a compilation of recipes and culinary instructions for the principle ways of infusing the smoky essence of wood into appetizers, vegetables, meats, seafoods, desserts, marinades, rubs, salsas, and sauces. More than three hundred dishes, ranging from a Mediterranean-Style Sausage; to Cornbread-Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms; to Coconut-Coated Stone-Fruit Wraps; to Sweet Pacific Northwest Almonds & Pecans; to Apple-Smoked Trout with Avocado Cream; to Lemony Spinach Pesto, fill the illustrated pages of this impressive, 'kitchen cook friendly', and enthusiastically recommended cookbook which would make an ideal and unique addition to any family or community library cookbook collection!

Vietnamese Fusion
Chat Mingkwan
The Book Publishing Company
PO Box 99, Summertown, TN 38483
9781570672071, $14.95 www.bookpubco.com 1-800-695-2241

The distinctive local herbs and produce of Vietnamese cuisine has been heavily impacted French, Chinese, and Indian influences with respect ingredients and techniques. Now this culinary tradition has been further influenced and developed by Chat Mingkwan who transforms classic ethnic recipes into gourmet quality vegetarian dishes through utilizing customary Vietnamese seasons and ingredients, but substituting innovative animal-free alternatives for meat or fish in the recipes comprising "Vietnamese Fusion: Vegetarian Cuisine". After informing the kitchen cook about the characteristics of Vietnamese cuisine, soy products, and other ingredients fundamental to Vietnamese dishes including herbs and spices, vegetables and fruits, rice, noodles, wrappers, and seasonings, "Vietnamese Fusion" organizes the recipes themselves into sections on sauces, snacks and appetizers, soups and salads, main dishes, sweets and beverages. The easy -o-follow, step-by-step recipes themselves range from Sot Dau Phong (Peanut Sauce); to Canh Chua Thom (Hot-and-Sour Soup with Pineapple and Tamarind); to Nam Rom Nhung Dam (Mushrooms in Vinegar Fondue); to Banh Goi (Steamed Rice Cakes in Banana Leaves). Enhanced with color photographs of completed dishes, a list of references, mail order sources, an author biography, and an index, "Vietnamese Fusion" is especially recommended for personal and community library multi-ethnic and vegetarian cookbook collections.

The Great American Eat-Right Cookbook
Jeanne Besser and Colleen Doyle, MS, RD
American Cancer Society
250 Williams Street, Atlanta, GA 30303-1002
094423593X, $29.95 www.cancer.org

Healthy Eating can prevent cancer deaths, which is why the American Cancer Society is involved with the publication of The Great American Eat-Right Cookbook, a gathering of over a hundred tasty recipes paired with color photos. From Poached Salmon with Mango Salsa to Pepperonhi Tortilla Piza and Mushroom-Barley Soup, the collection surveys the basic elements of healthy eating, then provides jazzy, innovative new dishes to support healthier habits. Any general-interest collection strong in cookbooks and health will want this.

Quick Fix Meals
Robin Miller
Taunton Press
Box 5507, Newtown, CT 06470-5507
9781561589470, $18.95 www.taunton.com

Home cooking needn't be time-consuming or complicated: not with Robin Miller's QUICK FIX MEALS, echoing her popular Food Network TV show and providing some 200 recipes which cook up in as little time as 15 minutes from start to finish. Full-page color photos liberally pepper recipes such as Grilled Steaks with Peppercorn Melange and Corn-Crusted Flounder with Spicy Pink Beans. Timesaver tips, prep pointers and more keep this an easy, appealing guide any beginning home cook - and many a busy gourmet - will relish. Libraries catering to home cooks will find this a popular lend, backed by the power of the popular TV show.

America's Best Lost Recipes
Cook's Magazine Editors
America's Test Kitchen
17 Station Street, Brookline, MA 02445
9781933615189, $29.95 www.americastestkitchen.com

Over a hundred kitchen-tested (and thus failsafe) heirloom recipes come not from a single source but from almost 3,000 home cooks across the country who participated in the Cook's Country Heirloom Recipe Preservaiton Project, which gathered recipes which had been in family archives for generations. Over 100 of the best old-fashioned dishes represent contest winners, so this is the cream of the crop: from Corn Dodgers to Bops, each recipe is prefaced with cultural history and often includes a color photo for further embellishment.

Lotus Asian Flavors
Teage Ezard
Periplus
c/o Tuttle Publishing
364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon, VT 05759-9436
0794604927, $39.95 www.periplus.com

Teage Ezard's experiments in cuisine has won him international acclaim, and LOTUS ASIAN FLAVORS comes from Malaysian and Thai inspirations from roadside vendors - and from Chinese dim sum. What evolves is a wonderful collection of very different recipes perfect for ethnic-based cookbook collections seeking new directions. Lovely color photos accompany dishes such as Mu Shu Chicken in Lettuce Cups and Sour Fishball Soup with Green Papaya, offering up a host of innovative, fun dishes perfect for avid cooks who already know both basics and traditional fare.

The New Alaskan Cookbook
Kim Severson with Glenn Denkler
Sasquatch Books
119 South Main Street, Suite 400, Seattle, WA 98104-2555
1570612692, $19.95 www.sasquatchbooks.com 1-800-775-0817

Alaskan restaurant critic and food writer Kim Severson, with the assistance of restaurant chef Glenn Denkler, has compiled more than 120 superbly crafted recipes in "The New Alaskan Cookbook: Recipes From The Last Frontier's Best Chefs", each of which reflects the very best of contemporary Alaskan cuisine. Featuring a Recipe List, an informative introduction, information about the chefs who contributed creations are featured, and 'A Not About The Recipes', the dishes are arranged in sections devoted to Appetizers; Soups, Salads and Sandwiches; Entrees; Side dishes and Beverages; Sauces, Stocks, and Other Basics; and Desserts. The thoroughly 'kitchen cook friendly' recipes themselves range from Alaskan Seafood Chowder; Wild Alaska Snapper with Stir-Fry Vegetable Curry and Quick Fried Noodles; Grilled Kodiak Scallops with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce; and Cured Oven-Roasted Duck Breasts with Dried Cherry and Green Peppercorn Sauce; to Roast Cornish hen with King Prawn; Twice-Baked Gorgonzola Potatoes; Sweet Onion Jam; and Yukon Sourdough Bread Pudding. Enhanced with two appendices (The Restaurants and Food Resources), "The New Alaska Cookbook" is a strongly recommended addition to any personal and community library cookbook collection!

Jenny Bristow USA
Jenny Bristow
The Black Staff Press
c/o Dufour Editions, Inc.
PO Box 7, Chester Springs, PA 19425-0007
9780856407895, $32.95 www.dufoureditions.com 1-800-869-5677

A popular television cooking celebrity, Jinny Bristow has a very special ability to effectively combine simple 'kitchen cook friendly' instructions with an anecdotal introduction to her featured dishes showcasing classic American cuisine while utilizing traditional ingredients and techniques in "Jenny Bristow USA". The dishes range from Fresh Herb and Sweetcorn Fritters with Cranberry and Chili Ketchup; Maple-Glazed Chicken Wings; and Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Sweet Ginger, Soy and Spring Onion Glaze; to Rum and Pecan Sauce; Hazelnut and Cappuccino Brownies; and (an all time favorite!) Fruit and Nut Snickerdoodles. Beautifully illustrated throughout with full color photographs of finished dishes, "Jenny Bristow USA" is an enthusiastically recommended addition to any family or community library cookbook collections!

New World Provence
Alessandra Quaglis & Jean-Francis Quaglia
Arsenal Pulp Press
341 Water Street, Suite 200, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6B 1B8
9781551522234, $22.95 www.arsenalpulp.com

There are reasons why French cooking enjoys a world-wide reputation for the excellence of its cuisine. Now the husband-and-wife team of Alessandra and Jean-Francis Quaglia (proprietor-chefs of the immently respected Provence Mediterranean Grill and the Provence Marinaside restaurants in Vancouver, Canada) have compiled "New World Provence: Modern French Cooking For Friends And Family", a cookbook collection featuring an impressive series of simple but elegant recipes specifically designed for the palates and preferences of contemporary North Americans. Graced with beautiful full color photography of finished dishes, "New World Provence" recipes are enhanced with a succinct anecdotal introduction introducing the recipe, which then lists the necessary ingredients and a series of thoroughly 'kitchen cook friendly' instructions for preparing the dish. From such gourmet delicacies as Stewed Squid in Tomato Saffron Sauce, to such hearty fare as Warm Potato Salad with L'Ancienne Mustard Vinaigrette, to impressive entrees like Seared Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine & Peppercorn Jus, to dessert delicacies such as a Lemon Tart, "New World Provence" is an elegant and enthusiastically recommended addition to personal, family, and community library cookbook collections.

The Texas Hill Country Cookbook
Scott Cohen & Marian Betancourt
The Globe Pequot Press
PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437
9780762743759, $24.95 www.globepequot.com 1-800-243-0495

The collaboration of Scott Cohen (Executive Chef of Las Canarias restaurant in San Antonio, Texas and the Pesca restaurant on the River in the Watermark Hotel and Spa) and food critic and author Marian Betancourt, "The Texas Hill Country Cookbook: A Taste Of Provence" is a showcase compendium of French influenced contemporary Texas cuisine. Superbly enhanced throughout with full color images of finished dishes by award winning food photographer Ron Manville, the recipes are organized into chapters dealing with appetizers; salads and sandwiches; fish, meat, and poultry; vegetables and side dishes; desserts; glazes and rubs. Replete with insightful and practical tips for preparing these memorable dishes, of special note are the many suggestions having to do with presentation and plating. From Squash Blossom Roasted Corn Huitlacoche Soup; Young Spinach and Goat Cheese Salad; Roasted Chilean Sea Bass; and Texas Pecan-Crusted Chicken Skewers; to Texas Home Fries; Honey Lavender Ice Cream; Chocolate and Roasted pepper Cheesecake; and Barbecue Pepper Glaze, each of these 'kitchen cook friendly' recipes would grace any dining occasion with gourmet quality meals.

Dinnertime Easy Slow Cooker Recipes
Better Homes & Garden
Meredith Books
1716 Locust Street, Des Moines, IA 50336-0001
9780696236297, $19.95 www.meredithbooks.com 1-800-678-8091

With an enclosed spiral binding permitting its pages to open and lay flat upon a kitchen table or counter, the Better Homes & Garden specialty cookbook, "Dinnertime Easy Slow Cooker Recipes" showcases more than 400 wonderfully delicious, easy to prepare, appetite satisfying, palate pleasing dishes that can be made with minimal effort in a slow cooker or crock pot. Even the most novice of kitchen cooks can successfully prepare a diversity of different dishes using the step-by-step recipes for appetizers and beverages, soups and stews, slow cooked sides, meaty main dishes, poultry entrees, meatless main dishes, desserts, and 'Holiday Make-Aheads'. Of special note is the chapter dedicated to using the slow cooker for 'Small Batch Cooking'. From a Tex-Mex Casserole, to Moroccan Short Ribs, to Turkey Brats In Beer, to a Meatless Shepard's Pie, this simply outstanding cookbook is confidently recommended for personal, family, and community library cookbook collections.

The Prairie Table Cookbook
Bill Kurtis & Michelle M. Martin
Sourcebooks Inc.
1935 Brookdale Road, #139, Naperville, IL 60563
9781402210495, $29.95 www.sourcebooks.com 1-800-432-7444

Featuring more than one hundred recipes contributed by such luminary experts as Chef Charlie Trotter (Charlie Trotter's Restaurant), chef rick Bayloess (Frontera Grill), Executive Chef Paul Katz (Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse), Chef David Burns (Stadium Clube, Wrigley Field), and such legendary feef experts as Will rogers, Gene Autry, Dale Evans, Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius, and dodge City Mayor Jim Sherer, "The Prairie Table Cookbook" offers a culinary wealth of terrific recipes, including some favorites of Native Americans, pioneers, the U.S. Calvary, and trail riding cowboys of the old west. Also included along with the great recipes is the story of the Tallgrass Beef Company, the science underlying the great taste of grass-fed beef, historical photos, anecdotes, and stories drawn from cowboy life. Profusely illustrated throughout, the recipes range from Pemmican; Buffalo Tongue; Beef Jerkey; and Barbecue Style Meatloaf; to Texas Beef Tips; Filet of Beef Bourguignon; Mom's Recipe for Chicken Fried Steak; and Braised Tallgrass Beef Short Ribs Asian-Style with Baby Bok Choy, Shiitake Mushrooms, and Jasimine Rice. For appetite satisfaction, you can't beat the historic, gourmet quality, 'kitchen cook friendly' dishes that comprise "The Prairie Table Cookbook"!

Blokes With Stoves
Margaret Watson
Rain Publishing
2025 Guelph Line, Suite 264, Burlington, Ontario, Canada, L7P 4X4
9781897381113, $17.99 www.rainbooks.com

Spiral bound enabling it to lay out flat on a kitchen counter, "Blokes With Stoves: Hot As You Like It" by Margaret Watson is a collection of terrific recipes that any guy (or gal) with basic kitchen skills can put together and serve up for friends, family, or simply themselves. After an informative and succinct introduction, followed by a glossary of terms in 'First Things First', the chapters are composed of recipes suitable for cooking with children; comfort foods; brunch lunch dishes; hot and spicy items; quick and easy meals; and (it wouldn't be a guy's cookbook without it) barbeque. Of special note are the chapters 'Clean Out the Fridge Day'; 'Out to Impress'; Breakfast in Bed'. The concluding chapter 'Baker's Dozen and a Bit' offers twenty-five pages of culinary delights. Unique, 'user friendly', and suitable for any kitchen cookbook collection, "Blokes With Stoves" is a particularly ideal choice for guys with limited budgets, demanding appetites, and novice kitchen skills!

Cooking With Marie
Marie Hejl
Bright Sky Press
340 South Second Street, Albany, TX 76430
9781933979106, $29.95 www.brightskypress.com 1-866-933-6133

Marie Hejl is a self-taught cook who grew up in a family of two working parents and three hungry brothers. Learning how to cook for her family as a young girl, Marie hosted her first cooking show ('Kid's Cooking') at the age of ten. She went on to host another cooking show as an adult some twenty years later. In "Cooking With Marie On Any Occasion", Marie draws upon her many years of experience and expertise in the kitchen to compile some of her favorite recipes. Each individual recipe is introduced with a brief anecdotal story with the dishes being organized into chapters dedicated to Breakfast, Lunch, Appetizers, Starter Soups and Salads, Side Dishes, Main Courses, and Desserts. Designed specifically for busy young professionals, people who genuinely enjoy entertaining, cooking enthusiasts, newly weds, college kids, guys wanting to impress a date by cooking a special dinner, women who don't feel particularly comfortable in the kitchen, and anyone else who qualifies as a culinary novice, "Cooking With Marie" is an ideal introduction to preparing dishes that are as impressive as they are nutritious, and as 'kitchen cook friendly' as they are appetite satisfying for any and all dining occasions. From a Sunrise Coffee Cake that serves 8, to Curried Chicken Salad Sandwiches which serves 4 to 8, to Simple Sweet Potatoes serving 4, to a Something-To-Celebrate Carrot Cake that serves 10, "Cooking With Marie" will prove to be a very popular and nicely illustrated addition to personal and community library cookbook collections!


The Comix/Graphic Novel Shelf

Age Of Bronze: Betrayal, Part One
Eric Shanower
Image Comics, Inc.
1942 University Avenue, Suite 305, Berkeley, CA 94704
9781582408453, $27.95 www.imagecomics.com

Artist and author Eric Shanower retells the story of the Trojan War in his unique graphic novel series "The Age Of Bronze". Shanower's opus is laid out incorporating the perspectives of both the Greeks and the Trojans. His artwork is visually detailed. His attention to accuracy in historical detail and minutia is truly impressive. His ability to make these historic characters speak in a modern linguistic style but still remain absolutely believable to the reader is the mark of a master storyteller. Complex, definitive, and memorable, Shanower is able to perfectly capture the basic drives, emotions, ambitions, loves, obsessions, jealousies, hardships, and human frailties of all the men and women, from bit players to center stage stars of one of the most popular sagas in all of human literature. As informed and informative as it is engaging and entertaining, "Age Of Bronze: Betrayal, Part One" is the first hardcover volume in this outstanding series and is enthusiastically recommended for school and community library collections, as well as the personal reading lists of history buffs and non-specialist general readers with an interest in this ancient history and the enduring recognizability of the human condition.

Ascend: Special Edition
Keith Arem
PCB Productions Inc.
5150 Amestroy Avenue, Encino, CA 91316
1600101372, $35.00 www.pcbproductions.com

"Ascend" by Keith Arem is the story of Sebastian, a young man who is tragically killed, only to find himself a reluctant draftee in the Purgatory Wars where he is reunited with his deceased brother Gideon -- who has become the most powerful angel in the Legions of heaven and plans to lead a coup to regain their family's power. Realizing he holds the key to ending this war in Heaven, Sebastian must face his brother before Gideon destroys the cycle of life on Earth. A superbly written and original story set in a post-apocalyptic heaven where Angles battle over 'harvested' human souls in the Purgatory Wars, "Ascend: Special Edition is also available in a hard cover edition (1600101380, $75.00), "Ascend: Special Edition" is a strongly recommended addition to personal and community library graphic novel collections and action/adventure fantasy reading lists.

Modern Masters Volume Fourteen: Frank Cho
Eric Nolen-Weathington
TwoMorrows Publishing
10407 Bedfordtown Dr., Raleigh, NC 27614
9781893905849, $14.95 www.twomorrows.com

The latest in TwoMorrows Publishing's tribute series to great comic book artists of today, Modern Masters Volume Fourteen: Frank Cho is an in-depth interview with award-winning Korean-American comic writer and artist Frank Cho, known for his penchant for drawing monkeys, dinosaurs, and beautiful women. Author of the popular comic strip "Liberty Meadows" as well as acclaimed runs on the Marvel comic titles "Shanna the She-Devil", "Spider-Man", and "The Mighty Avengers", among other works, Cho brings a refreshing balance of action, humor, and unabashed love for his work to the comic page. In Modern Masters Volume Fourteen, Cho talks about the pressures to pursue more traditional careers rather than become a comic artist, his efforts to break into the industry, the creators who most influenced him, the creative storytelling process, life, the universe, and everything. "I was all geared to go to the Maryland Institute of Art until I visited the campus... It was a bunch of modern art nonsense - abstract art and splatter paint and weird stuff just for weird's sake. It wasn't an art school, it was basically a playground for pretentious rich kids." Illustrated with black-and-white samples of Cho's work and art pieces that inspired Cho, including some rare sketches from Cho's college days, Modern Masters Volume Fourteen is not only a "must-have" for any fan of Frank Cho's comics; it's pure fun to read for any comic lover.


The Environmental Studies Shelf

Arc Marine
Dawn J. Wright, Michael J. Blongewicz, Patrick N. Halpin, & Joe Breman
ESRI Press
380 New York St., Redlands, CA 92373-8100
9781589480179, $47.95 www.esri.com

Assembled by expert researchers, Arc Marine: GIS for a Blue Planet is an advanced guide to working with marine research data in a geographic information system (GIS) using a new geodatabase model. Intended especially for oceanographers, fishery managers, and other marine scientists and researchers, Arc Marine explains its standardized marine data model (named "Arc Marine", hence the book's title) for ESRI's ArcGIS software. Chapters walk the reader through how to use the data structure to craft research results that lend themselves to quick and easy integration and collaboration with the work of other researchers. Full-color illustrations, including numerous computer screenshots, enhance Arc Marine. A detailed, no-nonsense discussion of an invaluable scientific tool, highly recommended for professionals in the field.


The Religion/Spirituality Shelf

The Prisoner and the Kings
William Sears
Baha'i Publishing
415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091-2844
9781931847414, $12.00 http://books.bahai.us

Bahai teacher William Sears presents The Prisoner and the Kings: How One Man Changed the Course of History, a historical account of the Prophet Bahaullah, founder of the Bahai faith. Between 1867 and 1873, Bahaullah was a solitary prisoner in a Turkish penal colony who wrote a series of letters to kings and emperors, predicting the course of modern history with surprising accuracy. The Prisoner and the Kings examines what Bahaullah's letters have to say about the fall of kingdoms, the decline of religious institutions, all of which happened in his day, as well as what his predictions can tell us about humanity in the twenty-first century. An amazing account sure to fascinate readers of all faiths, especially recommended for Bahai religious history and college library shelves.


The Christian Studies Shelf

The Way of Humility
Andre Louf, OCSO
Lawrence S. Cunningham, translator
Cistercian Publications
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5415
9780879070113, $10.95

Written by Cistercian Abbey monk Andre Louf and smoothly translated from the original French by theology professor Lawrence S. Cunningham, The Way of Humility is a serious-minded essay upon the nature of humility itself. Describing humility as an essential Christian virtue, seeking to reclaim this high quality as respected in ancient sources of the monastic tradition. Drawing upon selected primary texts including writings of the early desert fathers and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, The Way of Humility strives to enlighten the spirit as well as set guidelines for understanding an intangible human quality that nevertheless reflects the divine.

Queen Esther's Reflection
Ann Platz
New Hope Publishers
100 Missionary Ridge, Birmingham, AL 35242-5235
9781596690127, $10.99 www.newhopepublishers.com

Queen Esther's Reflection: A Portrait of Grace, Courage, and Excellence is a thoughtful examination of the role Queen Esther played in God's divine plan, and the lessons that every Christian woman can learn from Queen Esther's ascent to grace. Chapters recount Queen Esther's story, then go on to show how Esther's experiences apply to modern women's lives, especially with regard to tending to one's marriage. Study guide questions for personal or group reflection enhance this wonderful discussion of gracious living for Christian daughters, wives, and mothers.

Ironies of Faith
Anthony Esolen
ISI Books
PO Box 4431, Wilmington, DE 19807-0431
9781933859316, $18.00 www.isibooks.org 1-800-526-7022

Anthony Esolen (Professor of English, Providence College) presents Ironies of Earth: The Laughter at the Heart of Christian Literature, a thoughtful examination of irony in Christian art and life. Ironies of time, power, and love are discussed, as are the insights and interpretations of classic authors: Augustine, Dante, Shakespeare, Tolkien, Mauriac, Milton, Herbert, Hopkins, Dickens, Dostoyevsky, and the anonymous author of the medieval poem "Pearl", among others. Esolen seeks to reveal the qualities of irony that deserve more than simply being pointed out - irony has the potential to transform worldviews and even bring redemptive laughter. A scholarly scrutiny that dares to define the virtually indefinable.

Living Loved
Peter Wallace
Seabury Books
445 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016
9781596270657, $16.00 www.churchpublishing.org 800-242-1918

Vice President of the Atlanta, Georgia Alliance for Christian Media Peter Wallace presents Living Loved: Knowing Jesus as the Lover of Your Soul, a heartfelt tour of Jesus' overflowing love as seen in the scripture of the New Testament. Offering in-depth reflection upon Jesus' words, emphasizing on the glory of knowing, experiencing, and sharing His love, Living Loved quite literally lives up to its title. "When we live in his love, experience it as real, and let it overflow our hearts and spread to others, there can be no doubt that we too are disciples that Jesus loves."

Why I Still Believe the Gospel
Clarence Boomsma
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
2140 Oak Industrial Drive, NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505
9780802827364, $12.00 www.eerdmans.com 1-800-253-7521

Author Clarence Boomsma served as a pastor in the Christian Reformed Church in North America for forty years. Why I Still Believe the Gospel is Boomsma's response to cultural and intellectual challenges to Christianity, as well as an honest accounting of his own crisis of faith. Boomsma's conclusion is that the cornerstone of faith lies in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A simple and straightforward rebuttal to modern denials that the resurrection of Jesus never happened, written with passion and abiding faith, Why I Still Believe the Gospel shines as a testimony directly from the soul.

Introduction to the Bible
Gregory W. Dawes
The Liturgical Press
St. John's Abbey, PO Box 7500, Collegeville, MN 56321-7500
9780814628355, $6.95 www.litpress.org 1-800-858-5450

Author Gregory W. Daws, a senior lecturer in religious studies and philosophy for the University of Otago New Zealand, has created Introduction to the Bible especially for novice students who might be put off by their first glance at the Bible's great length. Discussing how the Old and New Testaments came to be assembled, Introduction to the Bible offers an overview of the biblical history, thereby giving a framework by which the Bibles tales can be better understood, as well as a solid grounding in basic biblical vocabulary and concepts. "The modern biblical interpreter is inclined to judge the correctness of an interpretation by the method through which it is achieved... if one observes certain safeguards in dealing with the text, then one can be confident about one's result. The church fathers and medieval scholars, on the other hand, enjoyed a great freedom when it came to methods of interpretation... at the end of the day an interpretation was judged acceptable primarily on the basis of its content. St. Augustine, for instance, can accept the possibility of many legitimate interpretations, but only if they are all 'in harmony with our faith.'" Highly recommended for novice to intermediate biblical students and scholars.

The Battle for Rights in the United States Catholic Church
Kevin E. McKenna
Paulist Press
997 MacArthur Boulevard, Mahwah, NJ 07430
9780809144938, $19.95 www.paulistpress.com

Catholic collections strong in ministry resources and canon law provide an excellent survey of 19th century U.S. Catholicism, analyzing priest struggles for being both accepted and heard in the wider Catholic world church structure. Chapters survey canon law, Episcopal discipline, uniquely American facets of Catholicism, and more in a college-level analysis perfect for any collection strong in Catholic religion.

Martyr of the Amazon
Roseanne Murphy
Orbis Books
Walsh Building, Box 308, Maryknoll, NY 10545
9781570757358, $18.00 www.orbisbooks.com

The murder in 2005 of an American nun focused world attention on poor formers in the Amazon and their struggles with developers: for it was Sister Dorothy who helped these farmers in their struggles both spiritually and socially - and who died for her ideals, which went beyond Christian advocacy. MARTYR OF THE AMAZON: THE LIFE OF SISTER DOROTHY STANG probes her world, influences and impact and is an excellent biographical survey recommended for any spiritual library.

Introduction to the Prophets
Thomas L. Leclerc
Paulist Press
997 Macarthur Boulevard, Mahwah, N 07430
9780809144921, $27.95 www.paulistpress.com

INTRODUCTION TO THE PROPHETS: THEIR STORIES, SAYINGS AND SCROLLS introduces college students and adults to biblical stories about the prophets and teachings of the prophetic books of the Bible. The author's own background teaching undergrad and adult Bible study courses lends to an outstanding introduction, highly recommended for any college-level spiritual library seeking a fine introduction to the topic.

Wonder Women of the Bible
Brenda Poinsett
New Hope Publishers
100 Missionary Ridge, Birmingham, AL 35242-5235
9781596690943, $14.99 www.amazon.com

Wonder Women of the Bible: Heroes of Yesterday Who Inspire Us Today is an inspirational discussion of notable female figures in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Discussing the biblical stories, including how God chose to involve each heroine in His holy plans, Wonder Women of the Bible offers a springboard of hope and a model for faithful living for Christian women of the modern day. From opening oneself to true wisdom and courage, as the Wise Women of Abel did, to preparing for battle when needed, as Deborah did, to embracing good works, as Dorcas did, Wonder Women of the Bible reveals a myriad of paths to self-improvement in both secular and religious spheres. An enlightening and spiritually uplifting guide.

Cradling My Heart
Cindy Zompetti
Winepress Publishing Group
1730 Railroad Street, Enumclaw, WA 98022
9781414108711, $11.99 www.winepressgroup.com

Author Cindy Zompetti seeks to share her breakthrough revelation in Cradling My Heart, the story of her journey from terrible depression to the peace and solace of God's love. Chapters teach the reader of her "Pain-to-Paper" method, that helped her deal with the suffering of losing her beloved mother, among other traumatic personal events. Written to help other readers let go of negative feelings, gain greater control over their own emotions, and feel the warmth of God's hands cradling one's wounded heart, Cradling My Heart is a spiritually uplifting and welcome addition to Christian household and church libraries.


The Poetry Shelf

O Woolly City
Priscilla Sneff
Tupelo Press
PO Box 539, Dorset, VT 05251
9781932195538, $16.95 www.tupelopress.org 1-800-283-3572

Priscilla Sneff presents O Woolly City, a compilation of brief, free-verse poetry interspersed with moments of stream-of-consciousness writing. Sneff earned the Kenyon Review Poetry Prize for O Wooly City when it was a manuscript; problems with publication have finally been resolved, allowing readers to savor the rich, yearning verses for themselves. Dancing across the fleeting moments of human life and the endless cycles of nature, O Wooly City alights the mind with the keen observations of a scientist and the reflective contemplation of the mystic. "Picture": Having rolled my old glance / Like an agate well out of my twenties, now / I'm wearing a mother's eye, and a broom then a mop / Waltzes past; it is / Hat-clap't with some capstan. O / Mirth! and mistressing that mirror, my / Daughter; her armful of frail sleeve, her face flushed with the warmth.

Stones In Our Pockets
Michael Salcman
Parallel Press
372 Memorial Library
728 State Street, Madison, WI 53575
9781893311947, $10.00, http://parallelpress.library.wisc.edu 1-800-636-0071

A physician, a brain scientist, an essayist on the visual arts, Michael Salcman is also a gifted poet who latest 43-page volume of verse, "Stones In Our Pockets" has been published and made available by Parallel Press. Several of his poems reflect his medical background, others are more philosophical in nature. But all of them are perfectly crafted gems comprising a thoughtful and thought-provoking chapbook of free verse poetry. 'Rilke in the Morning': We imagine dying as drowsiness/and death as dreamless sleep./To wake in the early morning/is not the same as not to sleep--/traffic first, then robins speak/a gray dawn, and small thoughts/like knives, nerve me to boil/water for tea and light a corner/to read an elegy for angels./Who is this pantherine being/who seeks meaning/in the death of roses?/A century of woe blooms/in his garden, a false spring/kills the forsythia. -- Also very highly recommended is Salcman's first published volume of poetry, "The Clock Made of Confetti" (Orchises Press, 2007).

First Things to Hand
Robert Pinsky
Sarabande Books
2234 Dundee Road, Suite 200, Louisville, KY 40205
9781932511345, $9.95 www.sarabandebooks.org 1-800-283-3572

First Things to Hand is a free-verse poetry chapbook by teacher and prizewinning poet Robert Pinsky, contemplating the most elementary of ordinary items yet revealing the distinctions each object sheds upon the multifaceted human experience. Quickly absorbed yet promoting extended contemplation, First Things to Hand reveals the uniqueness within the mundane. "Photograph": Light-inscribed / Likeness // Vulnerable to light, / To the oils of the hand. // The paper sensitive / The dyes ephemeral // The very medium / A trace of absences. // Speed of the years / Speed of the shutter. // The child's father / Crouches level to her // With the camera and so / She crouches too. // Agile the dancer. / Little room // Of the camera, wide / Gaze of exposure- // Shiva the maker / Shiva the destroyer: // The flash of your hammer / Fashions the shelter.

Turkish Pears In August
Robert Bly
Eastern Washington University Press
705 West 1st Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201
9781597660235, $19.95 http://ewupress.ewu.edu 1-800-508-9095

Previously only available to a select group of readers in a limited letterpress edition, the Eastern Washington University Press has republished "Turkish Pears In August: Twenty-Four Ramages", an enthusiastically recommended collection of memorable poetry by the Minneapolis-based poet Robert Bly. 'Ramage' is from the French word 'rameau' and echoed in the English word 'ramify'. Bly created a new poetic form and chose to call it 'Ramage' to signify the sensual, earthy, mystical, and vigorous life force of his new poetry. 'Lovers in the River': Peony blossoms open in starlight. The lovers/Cross the river carefully, secretly, secretly./All night horses stamp on the sandy island./Husbands feel uneasy tonight. Their wives/have gathered with Krishna in the river,/their bodies sweetened by glad bones./While David sings, stars fall into the sea; Uriah/Dies...It is the madness of the dark-faced God.


The Art Shelf

William Aiken Walker
August P. Trovaioli & Roulhac B. Toledano
Pelican Publishing Company
1000 Burmaster Street, Gretna, LA 70053-2246
9781589805095, $50.00 www.pelicanpub.com 1-800-843-1724

William Aiken Walker was born in 1838 in South Carolina and grew up to become one the South's most gifted artists. After serving in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, Walker traveled and painted throughout the South. Then sold his paintings to tourists in cities such as New Orleans, Charleston, and the communities that dotted post-civil war Georgia. Known for his paintings of black Southerners, he was also noted for his lush and vivid landscapes. Now in a new and expanded edition from the Pelican Publishing Company, "William Aiken Walker: Southern Genre Painter" is an informed and informative history of his life and work, enhanced with the inclusion of 157 color illustrations and 58 black-and-white paintings and drawings. A welcome and enthusiastically recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library American Art History reference collections, "William Aiken Walker: Southern Genre Painter" is an ideal memorial tribute to a truly talented 19th century American artist.

Connecting the Dots
Tyree Guyton, artist
Wayne State University Press
The Leonard N. Simons Building
4809 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48201-1309
9780814333204, $60.00 http://wsupress.wayne.edu 1-800-978-7323

Connecting the Dots: Tyree Guyton's Heidelberg Project is the first thorough assembly of writings concerning this Detroit art installation, first created in 1986 by Tyree Guyton with the aim of transforming a decaying neighborhood scarred by crime, prostitution and gangs. With the ordinary materials around him (used toys, car parts, and debris) and his trademark affection for colorful polka dots, Guyton completely metamorphosed several homes and vacant lots on Heidelberg Street into a stunning art environment and one of the city's most well-known tourist attractions. Illustrated with full-color photographs. The transformation did not happen overnight; at first, some of Guyton's staunchest opponents were Detroit's leaders, who bulldozed his art on the claim that the buildings it decorated were safety hazards. Full color photographs illustrate this amazing tour of the power of art and one man's dedication to peacefully fight for a better neighborhood. Highly recommended as an inspirational addition to both public library and private artbook collections.


The Biography Shelf

Forging Fame
Craig Abbott
Northern Illinois University Press
2280 Bethany Road, DeKalb, IL 60115
9780875803760, $34.00 www.niupress.niu.edu 1-815-753-9905

Craig Abott (Professor Emeritus of Northern Illinois University) presents Forging Fame: The Strange Career of Scharmel Iris, the intriguing biography of poet, plagiarist, imposter, and forger Scharmel Iris, whose unusual self-aggrandizing life linked him to wide variety of writers and public figures ranging from T.S. Eliot to Salvador Dali to Eleanor Roosevelt. Forging Fame examines both the mundane details of Iris' life and the grandiose lies that Iris recklessly embraced to bolster his fame and his image of a neglected poetic genius. The result is the biography of a con man that once picked up, cannot easily be put down.

Goddesses, Goddesses
Janine Canan
Regent Press
2747 Regent Street, Berkeley, CA 94705
9781587901294, $16.00

Poet, psychiatrist, and award-winning author Janine Canan presents Goddesses, Goddesses, a memoir comprised of essays recounting her encounters with visionary writers and poets. Among the individuals whose lives touched hers are Iris Murdoch, Else Lasker-Schuler, Marija Gimbutas, James Broughton, Diane Di Prima, Alma Villanueva, Ali Akbar Khan, Mata Amritanandamayi, and more. Poetic snippets written by these illuminating individuals intersperse the thoughtful discussion, fond memories, and moments of epiphany. An enlightening amalgam of reflections upon spirituality, feminism, the Great Mother, and the nature of love itself.

Witnessing History
Jennifer Zeng
Soho Press
853 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
9781569474211, $25.00 www.sohopress.com

Witnessing History: One Chinese Woman's Fight for Freedom is the true-life memoir of Zheng (Jennifer) Zeng, once a graduate of in science at the prestigious Beijing University and granted the honor Communist party membership, who was caught in the crossfire when the government chose to crack down on Falun Gong, the spiritual practice she followed. Sentenced without trial to indefinite term re-education through forced labor, she suffered beatings, electric prods, starvation, and sleep deprivation. After enduring months of being compelled under deplorable conditions to produce goods for sale in the U.S. market, she recanted her beliefs under the rationalization that a forced retraction had no validity. After her release, though, she came to terms with the realization that she had betrayed herself and her principles. Witnessing History is Zheng's own words, offered in testimony of the ordeal she endured and that thousands of other Falun Gong practitioners continue to suffer for their faith, and a necessarily harsh assault on a nation that does not respect civil rights or freedom of religion. Highly recommended.

The Right Place, The Right Time
Donald Peck
Indiana University Press
601 North Morton Street, Bloomington, IN 47404-3797
9780253349149, $24.95 www.iupress.indiana.edu 1-800-842-6796

Orchestral soloist and principal flute emeritus Donald Peck has toured the world with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; The Right Place, The Right Time: Tales of Chicago Symphony Days is his memoir of the inner workings of musical prestige. Packed with true tales of working with some of the greatest musicians and singers in the industry, as well as anecdotes about coping with guest conductors, making recordings, or even accepting "outside jobs" for one's music, The Right Place The Right Time reveals the ups, downs, quirks, and foibles of life as one professional artist among an interdependent team. Peck himself did not so much choose life in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as he was guided to it by fate; The Right Place, The Right Time is his testimony of a life touched by chance and fortune as surely as it was by music.

The Secret Life of a Snowbird
Len Schritter
Five Star Publications, Inc.
1193 392nd Road, Utica, NE 68456
9781589850743, $15.95 www.fivestarpublications.com

The Secret Life of a Snowbird: An Inside Look at Retirement in America's Sunbelt is the delightful memoir of Len Schritter, telling of how he and his wife chose to join tens of thousands of other "snowbirds" and migrate from blizzard-prone Idaho to retirement in sunny Arizona. From Len's introduction to the cult-like ritual of Wednesday night bingo, to the merciless inspections of the resort community's weed police, the ups and downs of Len's adjustment are recounted in gentle vignettes. A tongue-in-cheek accounting marked by insight into retirement community life as only an ex-potato farmer can see it, highly recommended.

The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor
Les Leopold
Chelsea Green Publishing
Box 428, White River Junction, VT 05001
9781933392639, $40.00 www.chelseagreen.com

Blend insights into a CIA-connected labor union, an assassination attempt, and espionage and you have the story of one Tony Mazzocchi, a labor leader whose struggles to reveal toxic exposure of thousands of workers led to a fight that resulted in passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Any college-level holding strong in labor relations history or health issues in the workplace needs this survey of an early safety advocate.

Writing for Love and/or Money
Frank D. Gilroy
Smith & Kraus, Inc.
400 Bedford Street, Suite 322, Manchester, NH 03101
9781575255712, $19.95 www.smithandkraus.com 1-888-282-2881

Pulitzer-winning playwright Frank D. Gilroy presents Writing for Love and/or Money: Outtakes from a Life on Spec, a memoir of his life as a writer and a gambler, his service during World War II, and his double love affairs with failure and success. Composed entirely of brief vignettes strung together into a narrative whole - told in present tense, a technique that emphasizes the feel of the moment - Writing for Love and/or Money recounts the practical difficulties of writing to earn one's daily bread, whether as a journalist, a playwright, or a script writer, and the colorful ups and downs of a life boldly lived. A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrate this unforgettable, flowing life story.


The International Studies Shelf

Cuba: A Global Studies Handbook
Ted A. Henken
ABC-CLIO
PO Box 1911, Santa Barbara, CA 93116-1911
9781851099849, $55.00 www.abc-clio.com 1-800-368-6868

The newest addition to the ABC-CLIO 'Global Studies: Latin America & The Caribbean' series, "Cuba: A Global Studies Handbook", compiled and written by Ted Henken (a Fellow at the Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies, CUNY Graduate Center, new York) and an academic specialist in Cuban Economics) provides a detailed overview of Cuba's geography and history, its economics and development, as well as its institutions, culture and society. Of special note is the Reference Section highlighting key events in Cuban history; significant people, places, and events; Cuban language, food, etiquette, and holidays; Cuba-related organizations, on-line publications, and websites. Enhanced with the inclusion of an extensive bibliography and a detailed index, "Cuba: A Global Studies Handbook" is an especially appropriate addition to academic and community library International Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

Democratizing the European Union
Catherine Hoskyns & Michael Newman, editors
Transaction Publishers
35 Berrue Circle, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8042
9781412805698, $29.95 www.transactionpub.com 1-888-999-6778

Democratizing the European Union: Issues for the Twenty-First Century is an anthology of scholarly essays by learned authors addressing the European Union's "democratic deficit" and ways that might help resolve it. Individual essays include "Reconciling Suprastatism and Accountability: A View from Sweden", "How Democratic is the European Parliament?", "Controlling Monetary Union", "Democratization: A Constitutionalizing Process", and much more. Democratizing the European Union delivers into both abstract theory and modern real-life practice, and is enthusiastically recommended for college library shelves and anyone interested in the current and future state of the EU.

The Lost Years
Charles Enderlin
Other Press
2 Park Avenue, 24th Floor, New York NY 10016
9781590511718, $25.95 www.otherpress.com

THE LOST YEARS: RADICAL ISLAM, INTIFADA, AND WARS IN THE MIDDLE EAST 2001-2006 chronicles the Israeli and Palestinian conflicts and the loss of hope for peaceful resolution, and comes from an author who has met all Israeli and Palestinian leaders and secret negotiators on both sides. It follows the political calculations on both sides and exposes both political and military changes which had disastrous consequences for both sides, giving readers a clear picture of the problems involved in negotiating peace. General-interest libraries as well as those specializing in Middle East issues at the college level will find this an astute, probing analysis drawing together many facts and influences.

Useful Strangers: Ecuador and the United States
Ronn Pineo
University of Georgia Press
330 Research Drive, Athens, GA 30602-4901
0820329711, $24.95 www.ugapress.org

Any college-level collection strong in political histories of Latin American nations needs USEFUL STRANGERS, an in-depth and detailed coverage of changing relations between Ecuador and the U.S. From Ecuador's struggle for independence in the 1820s and 30s to modern times, USEFUL STRANGERS charts changing relationships between the countries, and how U.S. actions have resulted in unintended consequences for both nations. The U.S., Pineo maintains, has often disregarded Ecuador's structure and social divisions, which has fostered much misunderstanding. USEFUL STRANGERS analyzes these failures and re-considers them in light of modern times: political collections will find this an invaluable expose.

Under the Gun in Iraq
Robert Cole as told to Jan Hogan
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, NY 14228-2197
9781591025559, $25.95 www.prometheusbooks.com

Author Robert Cole is a retired police officer and international police trainer, who adds his technical insights to this story of training Iraquis in handling security challenges. His survey of the realities of life in Iraq and the challenges facing local police offers an unusual stark, realistic portrait of daily life in the country, plenty of insights into why traditional Western strategies won't work, and makes for excellent, involving reading suitable not just for military libraries but for any strong in Middle East culture.

Everyday Subversion
Kerry Kathleen Riley
Michigan State University Press
Suite 25, Manly Miles Building
1405 South Harrison Road, East Lansing, MI 48823-5202
9780870138010, $69.95 www.msupress.msu.edu

"Everyday Subversion: From Joking to Revolting In The German Democratic Republic" by independent scholar and researcher Kerry Kathleen Riley, traces the evolution of the grassroots social movement in the former German Demoractice Republic (GDR) and its democratically spirited, ultimately subversive forms of communication that were practiced in resistance to the communist regime that dominated the country and its institutions until the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the eventual reunification of Germany as a truly functioning democracy. A superb body of original scholarship, "Everyday Subversion" is a seminal work enhanced with extensive notes, a selected bibliography, and a comprehensive index, making it an informed and informative, thoughtful and thought-provoking contribution to university and other academic library International Studies reference collections in general, and 20th Century German History supplemental reading lists in particular.


The Native American Shelf

The Rock Art of Arizona
Ekkehart Malotki
Kiva Publishing
21731 East Buckskin Drive, Walnut, CA 91789
9781885772381, $35.00 1-909-595-6833

Arizona is home to one of the largest and most diversity collections of rock paintings and engraving known to archaeology. These artistic expressions and pictographic communications are principally the work of paleo-indians. Author and rock art enthusiast Ekkehart Malotki has compiled more than 384 photographs in "The Rock Art of Arizona: Art For Life's Sake", a 200-page introduction to the functions and meanings of rock art so far as archaeologists can decipher them. Intrinsic works of beauty, often in peril of vandalism, "The Rock Art Of Arizona" is a timely, seminal, and invaluable contribution to the growing library of information on this unique from of human expression. "The Rock Art Of Arizona" is a strongly recommended addition to academic library Native American Studies reference collections, and will prove to be of immense interest to non-specialist general readers with an interest in Native American Art, as well as North American Archaeology.

Silver + Stone
Mark Bahti
Rio Nuevo Publishers
PO Box 5250, Tucson, AZ 85703
9781887896351, $40.00 www.rionuevo.com

Profusely illustrated throughout with full color photography, "Silver + Stone: Profiles Of American Indian Jewelers" by Mark Bahti (a renowned Southwestern scholar, writer and art dealer who drew upon his many years of personal experience and professional expertise) is the story of some sixty-five Native American artisans who have created a distinctive contemporary jewelry that blends tradition and innovation in combining gemstones with the sheen of polished silver. The result is an informed and informative compendium of biographical vignettes that will lead to a broader and more appreciative recognition for the quality and artistry of contemporary Native American jewelry. "Silver + Stone" is a very highly recommended addition to personal, professional, academic, and community library Native American Cultural Studies and Native American Art reference collections and supplemental reading lists.


The Gaming Shelf

Master Point Press
331 Douglas Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5M 1H2, Canada
www.masterpointpress.com

Jim Priebe's DOUBLE ELIMINATION: A BRIDGE MYSTERY (9781897106303, $18.95) is suitable for both general-interest libraries with strong mystery fiction holdings and for collections strong in bridge game books. It builds a mystery blending bridge moves with bodies, revolving around player Art, whose team is sent to help local police solve a bridge-related series of murders. Can Art balance family life and personal needs with a murder investigation? Danny Roth's HOW GOOD IS YOUR BRIDGE? (9781897106327, $18.95) provides a quiz book which allows for an assessment of one's own bridge game, with each chapter including a series of card play problems, allowing readers to assess their own skills while playing. Intermediate bridge players will relish this opportunity to learn new strategies and improve plays. Mark Horton's MISPLAY THESE HANDS WITH ME (9781897106280, $18.95) is for intermediate to advanced bridge players and comes from the lessons of one Terence Reese, one of the greatest bridge writers of all. The focus on logical lines of play that end in failure analyses faulty moves and illustrates common problems. All are top picks for any serious gamer's library or bridge player's collection.

Winner's Guide To Omaha Poker
Ken Warren
Cardoza Publishing
5473 South Eastern Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89119
1580421024, $19.95 www.cardozapub.com 1-800-577-9467

Next to Texas Hold'em, Omaha is acknowledged as the second most popular tournament poker game -- and often rivals Texas Hold'em in popularity among European players. A complex, high-action 'flop' game, Omaha Poker is one of the premier tournaments in the annual World Series of Poker. Now Omaha poker expert Ken Warren draws upon his many years of experience to write the "Winner's Guide To Omaha Poker: The Smart Player's Guide To Winning At Omaha". Warren deftly covers the rules and basics of play; provides more than one hundred illustrative sample hands, has compiled expert tables of Omaha odds, features forty hand selection guidelines and tips, includes forty-one tournament play tips, even offers applicable information on internet play! Of special note are Warren's comments on fundamental and money-making concepts for those seeking to become professional Omaha Poker players. There is even a useful glossary that will prove invaluable to the novice Omaha player. Ken Warren's "Winner's Guide To Omaha Poker" is a fundamental and strongly recommended addition to personal and community library Gaming & Card Playing reference collections.

Girl's Guide To Poker
Eliza Burnett
Hamlyn/Octopus Publishing Group Ltd.
c/o Sterling Publishing Company
387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016-8810
9780600615910, 49.95 www.sterlingpublishing.com 1-800-805-5489

Poker, especially No Limit Texas Hold 'em, is an exclusive province of male players no more. Every local, regional, and national poker tournament is seeing more and more women entering the fray to pit their skills against their fellow players. Indeed, an increasing number of women are following the examples of outstanding female players Annie Duke, Cindy Violette, Kathy Liebert, Jennifer Harman and Clony Gowan in becoming professional poker players and earn their living at Texas Hold 'em in both cash games and tournament play alike. Now poker enthusiast Eliza Burnett has written the "Girl's Guide to Poker" providing a comprehensive introduction to playing Texas Hold 'em, including the terminology and tactics of the game at all of its stages. Readers will learn when and how to call, check, raise, and fold. Often women will have an advantage over their male counterparts with a superior ability to read body language, calculate odds, and compete successfully in what once was a 'man's world'. Readers will learn basic strategy, intermediate strategy, and advanced strategy, how to analyze the game, as well as when, where, and how to go 'All In'. The "Girl's Guide To Poker" should be considered a 'must read' by women wanting to learn about (and try their hand at) the premier poker game that is Texas Hold 'em -- and has much of value for even the more experienced female player!

The Complete Chess Workout
Richard Palliser
Everyman Chess
c/o The Globe Pequot Press
PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437
9781857445329, $29.95 www.globepequot.com 1-800-243-0495

A skilled and prolific chess writer, Richard Palliser is also an International Master with numerous tournament successes and in 2006 became the Join British Rapidplay Champion. Clearly, he brings his many years of experience and expertise to bear in writing "The Complete Chess Workout", a comprehensive training manual for chess tactics that will prove invaluable for aspiring chess players from the novice to the expert. Special note should be made that all of the featured 1200 chess puzzles designed to built chess playing skills have been checked by computer engines. Thoroughly 'player friendly', "The Complete Chess Workout is nicely organized into eight distinct chapters: Warming Up!; Attack!; Opening Tricks and Traps; Skill in the Endgame; Loose Pieces and Overloading; Fiendish Calculation; Test Yourself; and Solutions. A comprehensive course of chess instruction under one cover, "The Complete Chess Workout" truly lives up to its title and will prove to be a welcome addition to personal, academic, and community library chess instruction reference collections.


The Parenting Shelf

Is This A Phase?
Helen F. Neville
Parenting Press
PO Box 75267, Seattle, WA 98125
9781884734632, $22.95 www.parentingpress.com 1-800-992-6657

Featuring charming illustrations by Jenny Williams, "Is This A Phase?: Child Development & Parent Strategies, Birth To 6 Years" by health educator, pediatric advice nurse, inborn temperament specialist and researcher Helen F. Neville is a thoroughly 'parent friendly' guide to common behavioral issues with babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. The advice ranges from having realistic expectations with respect to developmental milestones, to ways of making life easier until various phases are passed through, to reassurance about the range of normal development and when to get help, even instructional advice on how to talk about such issues as sex and death to a child. Of special note are the charts of quick information when a parent is short on time. "Is This A Phase?" is very highly recommended reading for all new (and not-so-new) parents having questions or concerns about kids and their quirks.

Positive Options for Children with Asthma
O.P. Jaggi, M.D., Ph.D.
Hunter House Publishers
PO Box 2914, Alameda, CA 94501-2914
9780897934534, $12.95 www.hunterhouse.com 1-800-266-5592

Positive Options for Children with Asthma: Everything Parents Need to Know is a no-nonsense guide written especially for parents and caretakers of children who suffer from asthma, including severe asthma attacks. Written by asthma expert O.P. Jaggi, Positive Options for Children with Asthma discusses how to create an allergen-free environment, how to pre-empt attacks or lower their intensity, teaching a child about asthma medication and how to use it safely, enhancing a child's immunity and tolerance to allergens, teaching a child effective "belly breathing" technique, helping a child incorporate physical activity into their lives while successfully coping with exercise-induced asthma, and much more. An easy-to-use, absolute "must-have" for anyone responsible for an asthmatic child, and also a very practical guide for asthmatics of any age seeking to learn more about their condition and what to do about it.

Teaching Kids To Care
Bettie B. Youngs, et al.
Hampton Roads Publishing Company
1125 Stoney Ridge Road, Charlottesville, VA 22902
9781571745484, $16.95 www.hrpub.com 1-800-766-8009

The collaborative work of academician Bettie B. Youngs, clinical psychologist and philanthropist Joanne Wolf, business entrepreneur Joani Wafer, and cultural anthropologist Dawn Lehman, "Teaching Kids To Care: Nurturing Character And Compassion" focuses upon assisting parents to instill life-enhancing values into the characters of their children through the repeated practice of caring for others (and for themselves) through the five 'touchstones' of Interdependence, Connection, Perspective, Gratitude, and Inspiration. Of special note are the chapters devoted to 'Inspiring Testimonials from Kids Korps USA Experiences'; 'Kids Korps USA'; and 'Creating a Caring Epidemic in Your Community'. Enhanced with two appendices (Resources for Teaching Kids to Care and Suggested Reading), as well as extensive Endnotes, "Teaching Kids To Care" is thoroughly 'parent friendly' and highly recommended for personal, academic, and community library Parenting Skills Development reference collections and supplemental reading lists.


The Literary Shelf

Kenneth Burke in the 1930s
Ann George and Jack Selzer
University of South Carolina Press
1600 Hampton Street, 5th Floor, Columbia, South Carolina 29208
9781570037009, $49.95 www.sc.edu/uscpress 1-803-777-5243

Ann George (associate professor, Texas Christian University) and Jack Selzer (professor of English, Pennsylvania State University) combine their insight in Kenneth Burke in the 1930s, a thoughtful study of author Kenneth Burke's work during the restless 1930s. Chapters examine how Burke's literary contribution reflected and influenced cultural history, and Burke's philosophy of the literary form. Of especial interest is Burke's association with intellectual communities of his era, including the leftists in the League of American Writers, activist contributors to "Partisan Review", southern Agrarians, the New Critics, and more. A scholarly, in-depth literary analysis of Burke's classic 1930's period work as well as an exploration of the principles and life of the man himself, ideal for college library literary studies shelves. Also highly recommended is Selzer's previous study of Burke, "Kenneth Burke in Greenwich Village: Conversing with the Moderns, 1915-1931".

The Best of Ogden Nash
Linell Nash Smith, Editor
Ivan R. Dee
1332 North Halsted Street, Chicago, IL 60622-2694
1566637031, $28.95 www.ivanrdee.com

Over five hundred verses gathered from a wide collection of Nash's poems results in this, a definitive Nash anthology suitable not just for college-level poetry libraries, but for general-interest lending collections. While published works comprise the bulk of this anthology, some are lesser-known works which came to light in the Nash collection at the University of Texas at Austin, and from family letters and papers, making for an outstanding, rare collection of works essential for any definitive poetry library.

Selected Letters of Aldous Huxley
James Sexton, Editor
Ivan R. Dee
1332 North Halsted Street, Chicago, IL 60622-2694
1566636299, $35.00 www.ivanrdee.com

Any college-level collection strong in Huxley literature needs SELECTED LETTERS: it's a powerful gathering of his personal and intellectual life in letters - most of them published for the first time - and is especially notable in light of the fact that of some ten thousand letters he wrote, only a fraction have previously been published - and that this volume comes nearly forty years after the first appearance of another volume of letters. These here have never been published, providing a fine new collection for any college-level library already strong in Huxley works, who would round out their offerings with nonfiction.

Desert Gothic
Don Waters
University of Iowa Press
119 West Park Road, Iowa City, IA 52242-1000
1587296241, $16.00 www.uiowapress.org 1-800-621-2736

Winner of the 2007 Iowa Short Fiction Award, "Desert Gothic" by Don Waters is a collection of superbly written short stories set against the desert backgrounds of Nevada and Arizona. The characters are memorable, the plots imaginatively original, the language beautifully rendered, and the cumulative effect clearly documenting Waters as a master storyteller. The individual stories comprising this outstanding and very highly recommended anthology include: What to Do with the Dead; Sheets; Mr. Epstein and the Dealer; Dan Buck; Mineral and Steel; Blood Management; Holiday at the Shamrock; The Bulls at San Luis; Little Sins; and Mormon in Heat. "Desert Gothic" is a welcome and impressive addition to personal, academic, and community library Contemporary American Literature collections and supplemental reading lists.

William Maxwell: Early Novels And Stories
Christopher Carduff, editor
The Library of America
14 East 60th Street, New York, NY 10022
9781598530162, $35.00 www.loa.org

The late William Maxwell (1908-2000) served for forty years as an editor at 'The New Yorker' magazine. An Illinois-boarn realist whose literary works provided his readers with 'windows' into small-town midwestern family life of the 1910 and 1920s, Maxwell's own mastery of American prose style was (and remains) unsurpassed by any of his contemporary including Eudora Welty, J. D. Slainger, John Updike, and Alice Munro (all of whom he was a first reader of their fiction in his professional capacity with 'The New Yorker'). Now his four early novels (Bright Centory of Heaven; They Came Like Swallows; The Folded Leaf; and Time Will Darken It) have been collected under one cover, along with nine of his early short stories, and his essay 'The Writer as Illusionist' which he wrote in 1955. "William Maxwell: Early Novels And Stories" is a valued and very strongly recommended addition to community, college, and university American Literature reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

Tending The Heart Of Virtue
Vigen Guroian
Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4314
0195117875, $35.00 www.oup.com/us 1-800-451-7556

First published in 1987, "Tending The Heart Of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken A Child's Moral Imagination" by Vigen Guroian (Professor of Theology and Ethics, Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland) illustrated and illuminates how fair tales and fantasies educate the moral imagination throughout childhood. Now in a new edition from Oxford University Press, a new generation of parents and teachers can benefit from what Professor Guroian has to say about the beneficial ethical and moral implications and embedded teachings in such literary classics as Pinocchio; The Velveteen Rabbit; The Little Mermaid; The Wind in the Willows; Charlotte's Web; Bambi; The Snow Queen; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Princess and the Goblin; and Prince Caspian. Of special note is Professor Guroian's bibliography essay that concludes this seminally informed and informative literary inquiry and study. "Tending The Heart Of Virtue" is a welcome and highly recommended addition to academic and community library reference collections and supplemental reading lists in the fields of Literary Studies, as well as Philosophy & Ethics.


The Travel Shelf

Midwest: Getaway Guide
Rand McNally
Rand McNally & Company
8255 North Central Park, Skokie, IL 60076
9780528939600, $14.95 www.randmcnally.com 1-800-678-7263

Profusely illustrated throughout with full color photography of the people and places highlighted, Rand McNally's "Midwest: Getaway Guide" is the perfect planning guide to what the American Midwest has to offer the traveler, whether the itinerary is for a day-trip, a weekend, or an extended vacation. Embellished with maps enhancing an informed and informative text, "Midwest: Getaway Guide" also features a wealth of festival information for communities in Illinois, Indiana; Iowa, Kentucky; Michigan, Minnesota; Ohio; and Wisconsin. With its detailed articles about exciting destination choices, advice for shopping and dinning; and Rand McNally quality maps, "Midwest: Getaway Guide" is thoroughly 'user friendly' and enthusiastically recommended for personal, family, and community library Travel Resource collections.

Here Be Yaks
Manosi Lahiri
The Intrepid Traveler
PO Box 531, Branford, CT 06405
9781887140720, $17.95 www.intrepidtraveler.com

Here Be Yaks: Travels in Far West Tibet is a travelogue chronicling a group of ordinary people who embarked upon an extraordinary journey to Tibet's Mount Kailash, a peak revered by four faiths. They battled physical exhaustion and altitude sickness on their arduous journey, all to perform the sacred kora (circumambulation) of Mount Kailash and seek religious inspiration. Author Manosi Lahiri was one of this group, searching for consolation after the loss of her ancestors; in the course of journey, she solved a geographic mystery concerning the source of the river Sutlej, a matter that had been contended for centuries. Part adventure, part scholarly narrative, Here Be Yaks is an amazing look at Tibet through a visitor's eyes, and highly recommended.

101 Reasons To Visit Israel
Estie Solomon & Dovid Solomon
Artsy
c/o Stuart Schnee PR
10 Haportzim Street, Jerusalem, Israel
9781934440025, $12.95 stu@stuartschnee.com

A superbly composed collection of photographs which offers a full color panorama of Israel, "101 Reasons To Visit Israel" showcases the beauty of daily life in Israel. Replete with examples of how children live in Israel, how Shabbat and other holidays are celebrated in Israel, the natural landscape and resources of Israel, as well as Israeli cuisine, culture, institutions, and spiritual pursuits, "101 Reasons To Visit Israel" is an ideal and very highly recommended guide for armchair travelers and on-site visitors alike.

The Little Black Book Of Walt Disney World
Rona Gindin
Peter Pauper Press, Inc.
202 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains, NY 10601
9781593598921, $12.95 www.peterpauper.com

Resturant critic and travel writer Rona Gindin's "The Little Black Book Of Walt Disney World" is a pocket-sized, 248-page guide to the many features and aspects of Florida's famous Walt Disney World theme park. Enhanced with illustrations by Kerren Barbas Steckler and the cartography of David Lindroth, "The Little Black Book Of Walt Disney World" includes seven fold-out maps and a wealth of color coded 'insider info' that will prove invaluable for Walt Disney World visitors. In addition to spotlighting landmarks and attractions, local writer Rona Gindin offers practical tips on restaurants, nightlife, shops and hotels throughout Walt Disney World including the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studies, the Animal Kingdom, and Downtown Disney. Of special note are the 'Top Picks' directing visitors to a variety of 'not-to-be-missed' experiences. The inclusion of 'Notes' pages allows for the recording of personal impressions. Portable, informative, superbly organized, and thoroughly 'user friendly', "The Little Black Book Of Walt Disney World" is the perfect itinerary planning guide for anyone preparing for a trip to Walt Disney World!

Utah: The Complete Ski & Snowboard Guide
Michael R. Fine
The Countryman Press
PO Box 478, Woodstock, VT 05091
9780881507423, $19.95 www.countrymanpress.com 1-800-245-4151

A superbly organized and profusely illustrated guide to Alpine, Nordic, and Telemark skiing, along with several other increasingly winter sports such as snowboarding, "Utah: The Complete Ski & Snowboard Guide" by skiing and winter sports enthusiast Michael Fine provides the reader with all the information necessary to enjoy memorable winter athletic activities whether as a recreational weekend or part of an extended winter vacation in the mountains and high valleys of Utah. Accessible organized to be thoroughly 'user friendly', aspiring skiers and winter sports recreationists will learn of each major Utah resorts' terrain type, as well as such amenities as restaurants, rentals, transport, and more. Thirteen Utah destination resorts are showcased and range from the Alta Mountain Resort to the Wolf Mountain Resort. "Utah: The Complete Ski & Snowboard Guide" will prove an invaluable, essential itinerary planning resource for enjoying Utah's winter sports resources and opportunities.

Moon: Walt Disney World & Orlando
Laura Reiley
Moon Handbooks
c/o Avalon Travel Publishing
1400 - 65th Street, Suite 250, Emeryville, CA 94608
9781598800012, $17.95 www.moon.com

Walt Disney World Resort in Florida is some 47 square miles in size. About 30,000 acres (about one-fourth of the property) has been developed, and another quarter designated as a wilderness preserve. It is justifiably considered to be the world's premier theme park. Disney enthusiast and Florida resident Laura Reiley has presented a compact, informationally enriched, and thoroughly 'user friendly' "Walt Disney World & Orlando" guidebook to all of the Disney attractions in all of the Disney 'worlds' (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studies, Disney's Animal Kingdom), as well as two other major recreations in Orland, Florida -- Universal Studios Resort and SeaWorld Orlando. She even includes such lesser known vacation resources as Gatorland and Cypress Gardens Adventure Park. Of special note is the wealth of practical advice, suggestions, and recommendations relevant to planning a trip that is customized to the reader's particular interests, budget, and available time. Enhanced with thirty detailed maps, this newest addition to the impressive Moon Handbooks travel guide series, "Walt Disney World & Orlando" should be considered a 'must' for planning a visit to these popular attractions whether it is as a day trip, a week end, or an extended vacation.

Touring The East Tennessee Backroads
Carolyn Sakowski
John F. Blair, Publisher
1406 Plaza Drive, Winston-Salem, NC 27103
9780895873507, $20.95 www.blairpub.com 1-800-222-9796

Now in a newly revised and expanded second edition, "Touring The East Tennessee Backroads" by travel writer and historian Carolyn Sakowski is an illustrated compilation of driving tours through the scenic and historic landscapes comprising the eastern Tennessee country. There are twelve distinctive 'user friendly' tours laid out, ranging from 'The First Frontier' that includes the Sycamore Shoals, Elizabethton, Wilbur Lake, Watauga Dam, Siam, Gap Creek Road, happy Valley, Milligan, and Johnson City; to 'The Trail of Tears Tour' that includes the Red Clay State Historical Area, Benton, Charleston, Cleveland, Blythe Ferry, Dayton, Pikeville, Fall Creek Fals State Resort Park, Dunlap, Signal Mountain, Jasper, and Lookout Mountain. Enhanced with an appendix, a select bibliography, and an index, "Touring The East Tennessee Backroads" is especially recommended for anyone planning a visit to the East Tennessee country -- and is perfect for the armchair traveler who would like to!

Ancient Greece: An Explorer's Guide
Robert Emmet Meagher & Elizabeth Parker Neave
Interlink Publishing Group
46 Crosby Street, Northampton, MA 01060-1804
9781566566827, $24.00 www.interlinkbooks.com

"Ancient Greece: An Explorer's Guide" is the collaborative work of Robert Emmet Meagher (Professor of Humanities at Hampshire College) and Elizabeth Parker Neave (a travel writer and expert on the Greek islands). Impressively enhanced throughout with a profusion of photographs, maps, site plans, "Ancient Greece: An Explorer's Guide" is the ideal travel planning guide for visiting the sites, and surveying the beauty, and appreciating the history of Greece. Superbly organized, "Ancient Greece: An Explorer's Guide" begins with informative chapters on 'Envisioning and Planning Your Trip';'A Walk through Ancient Greece'; and 'Getting Acquainted with Greece'. Then follows four itineraries that are roughly chronological in history: Minoan Civilization: Crete 1900-1400 B.C.E.; Mycenaean Civilization: The Peloponnese 1500-1100 B.C.E.; Classical Civilization: Athens and Attika 480-336 B.C.E.; and Aegean Civilization: The Cyclades 30000-336 B.C.E. "Ancient Greece: An Explorer's Guide" is an impressive addition for any personal or community library travel guide reference collection, and (being perfect for the 'armchair traveler') is especially recommended for non-specialist general reader contemplating trip to Greece for business or pleasure.


The Political Science Shelf

Coining Corruption
Kurt Hohenstein
Northern Illinois University Press
2280 Bethany Road, DeKalb, IL 60115
9780875803777, $45.00 www.niupress.niu.edu 1-815-753-9905

Author Kurt Hohenstein (Assistant Professor of History, Winona State University) has served as a Research Assisstant on the National Commission on Election Reform. In Coining Corruption: The Making of the American Campaign Finance System, Hohenstein reveals the untold story about the triumphs and pitfalls of political reform. The landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Buckley v. Valeo (1976) defined "corruption" as quid pro quo ("get for giving"), meaning that Congress only had authority over corruption that involved a campaign contributor receiving political favors from the candidate. This limited definition has since curtailed efforts at campaign finance reform, with harsh and unintended consequences - the Buckley decision turned a blind eye to massive differences in funding between individual candidates, and the ability that some candidates have to control communication channels. Coining Corruption follows the evolution of the campaign finance system through the end of the 20th and into the 21st century, with an especial eye toward the ramifications of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2001 and the Supreme Court's decisions in McConnel v. FEC (2001) and Landell v. Sorrell (2006). An eye-opening examination of the history, flaws, and bright points of America's modern political system.

Giuliani: Nasty Man
Edward I. Koch
Barricade Books, Inc.
185 Bridge Plaza North, Suite 308-A, Fort Lee, NJ 07024
9781569803370, $14.95 www.barricadebooks.com 1-800-592-6657

Giuliani: Nasty Man is a collection of articles that Democrat and former New York City mayor Ed Koch wrote about Rudy Giuliani in the late 90's. When Koch first assembled Giuliani: Nasty Man, Rudy was considering running for Senator against Hillary Clinton; now that Rudy has presidential ambitions, Giuliani: Nasty Man is in a new edition revealing Giuliani's darker side. Koch does not shy from acknowledging Giuliani's successes, notably his role in a drastic reversal of the downward crime spiral that took place under Mayor Dinkins' inept watch and his strong leadership in the wake of the September 11th attacks. Yet Giuliani: Nasty Man reveals the side of Giuliani's politics and attitude that is not so photogenic - from his less-than-stellar response to incidents of police killing unarmed immigrant Diallo or sadistically torturing a detainee, to his questionable crackdowns on peaceful dissent, to his hubris in dismissing the positive labors of his predecessors while relentlessly extolling his own. A keen-minded examination of flaws that deserve inspection, especially in a presidential candidate.

Government Public Relations
Mordecai Lee
CRC Press
c/o Taylor & Francis Group
6000 NW Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487
1420062778, $79.95 www.crcpress.com 1-800-272-7737

Every agency and faction of the federal government from the President to the Post Office has a public relations element for the purpose of explaining their policies, spinning bad news, and touted their accomplishments. In a very real season, contemporary politics and governance dictates that public relations is public administration. Organized, compiled, and edited by Mordecai Lee, "Government Public Relations: A Reader" is a compendium of articles, essays, and commentaries that address the theory, practice, and context of government public relations; underscores the importance, value and uses of PR as tools to advance the goals of government; covers the role of PR in media Relations, public reporting responsiveness, out-reach, and crisis management; examines the increasing use of nonprofit agencies to deliver government funded services; considers future trends likely to influence the field of public relations in government; provides an introductory overview, discussion questions, and a list of additional reading for each section; includes an extensive appendix consisting of an annotated bibliography of relevant historical literature; and compiles contemporary writings from international sources. A superb introductory text, "Government Public Relations" is strongly recommended as a core addition to professional, academic, and community library reference collections in the areas of Political Science, Business & Management, and Public Administration.


The Library Science Shelf

Virtual Reference Service
R. David Lankes, et al.
Neal-Schuman Publishers
100 William Street, Suite 2004, New York, NY 10038-4512
9781555705282, $75.00 www.neal-schuman.com 1-866-672-6657

With the coming of the internet, the phenomena of the 'Virtual Library' has become ubiquitous for community, academic, corporate, and governmental libraries and library systems around the world. Compiled and edited by the team of librarians and information technology experts R. David Lankes, Scott Nicholson, Marie l. Radford, Joanne Silverstein, Lynn Westbrook, and Philip Nast, "Virtual Reference Service: From Competencies To Assessment" provides the cutting edge of Virtual Reference Services (VRS), summarizing important research, illustrating VRS principles and practices with real-world case examples and case studies. Of special note are the discussion on programs and tools that libraries can utilize to enhance their current offerings ranging from Instant Messaging, to subject-specific taxonomies enabling virtual medical and health reference support. "Virtual Reference Service" is a key and fundamentally recommended addition Library Science reference collections and library staff member in-house training supplemental reading lists.

Gamers... in the Library?!
Eli Neiburger
ALA Editions
50 East Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611
9780838909447, $42.00 www.alastore.ala.org 1-866-746-7252

Technology manager of the Ann Arbor District Library and lifetime gamer Eli Neiburger presents Gamers... in the Library?! The Why, What, and How of Videogame Tournaments for All Ages, a guide to planning, setting up, and running video game tournaments in a public library in order to earn a place in the hearts and minds of local video game fans. "Games are content too, and as a format, they are in high demand in your community, especially among those pesky nontraditional library users." Chapters discuss why tournaments specifically are a preferable option for incorporating videogames into the library (public game kiosks or unlimited browser-based games foster animosity over the limited resource of access to the game), why it's important to choose one's software before choosing hardware, why serving food can be beneficial (but there's no need for beverages other than ice water), and much more. A tournament based on a game that involves physical activity such as Dance Dance Revolution can even promote exercise and fitness! The step-by-step instructions for successfully hosting a tournament are especially appreciated in this top-notch resource, recommended not only for public libraries but also for anyone seeking to promote social fun and community-building through gaming.


The Sports Shelf

Sport, Physical Activity, and the Law
Neil Dougherty, Alan S. Goldberger, & Linda Jean Carpenter
Sagamore Publishing Company
804 North Neil Street, #100, Champaign, IL 61824
9781571675279, $54.95 www.sagamorepub.com 1-800-327-5557

Written by exercise science professors Neil Dougherty & Linda Carpenter and attorney/sports official Alan Goldberger, an Sport, Physical Activity, and the Law is a no-nonsense, in-depth survey of the American legal system as it applies to sports and physical activity. Now in an updated third edition, Sport, Physical Activity, and the Law covers first, fourth, and fifth amendment issues in sports; legal responsibility for participant safety; legal issues of exclusion versus inclusion; and much more. The text is accessible to readers of all background without being dumbed down, and is especially helpful for its in-depth descriptions of common legal pitfalls. An absolute "must-have" for physical education instructors, sports coaches, and anyone else involved in teaching, conducting, or supervising sports and physical activity, particularly when responsible for minors.

Lombardi And Me
Paul Hornung & Billy Reed
Triumph Books
542 South Dearborn Street, Suite 750, Chicago, IL 60605
9781600780394, $14.95 www.triumphbooks.com

More than thirty-five years after his death, Vince Lombardi is still identified with an almost legendary status with respect to his practices, attitudes and accomplishments coaching the Green Bay Packer football team from 1959 to 1967. Written by Paul Hornung (one of Lombardi's best players) with the assistance of Billy Reed, "Lombardi And Me: Players, Coaches, And Colleagues Talk About the Man And the Myth" offers Packer fans truly insider stories about one of professional football's enduring men of legend as revealed in anecdotal stories obtained through interviews with Bart Starr, Lary Brown, Fuzzy Thurston, Frank Gifford, Sam Huff, Lee Remmel, Willie Davis, George Dixon, Marv Fleming, Bill Cury, Vince Lombardi Jr., and many others. "Lombardi And Me" is a 'must' for all Wisconsin community library collections, and should be considered mandatory reading for Lombardi's legions of fans and admirers who remember the football glory days of the Packers under one of the most successful and charismatic coaches in the history of the game.

Backcountry Skiing
Martine Volken, Scott Schell, Margaret Wheeler
The Mountaineers Books
1001 SW Klickitat Way, Suite 201, Seattle, WA 98134-1161
9781594850387, $19.95 www.mountaineersbooks.org 1-800-553-4453

The collaborative effort of Martine Volken (IFMGA certified Swiss Mountain Guide, founder and owner of Pro Guiding Services and Pro Ski Service of North Bend, Washington); Scott Schell, and certified AMGA Ski Mountaineering Guides Scott Shell and Margaret Wheeler, "Backcountry Skiing: Skills For Ski Touring And Ski Mountaineering" is an informed and informative instructional guide and manual for skiing safely in winter mountain terrains and trails. Aspiring skiers are provided with intermediate to advanced level techniques for ski touring and mountaineering; skills for mastering uphill travel; primers on mountain weather and avalanche safety; practical advice on selecting gear, troubleshooting, and adapting to varying conditions; vital information on constructing emergency shelters and sleds; as well as a wealth of useful tips for wilderness trip planning and navigation. Comprehensive, up-to-date, and thoroughly 'user friendly', "Backcountry Skiing" is strongly recommended for anyone contemplating skiing mountain terrain in winter conditions anywhere in the U.S. and Canada.

The New England League
Charlie Bevis
McFarland & Company Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640
9780786431595, $29.95 www.mcfarlandpub.com 1-800-253-2187

Author Charlie Bevis, a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, presents The New England League: A Baseball History, 1885-1949, an amazing tour of the history of the New England League during the early decades of minor league baseball. Chapters explore the ties baseball had to the regional economy and the textile industry, as well as the groundbreaking first examples of playoffs, night baseball and integration. Chapters are arranged in more or less chronological order, surveying the changes that circulated through the sport every five to ten years, in this absorbing and one-of-a-kind study of baseball's origins, written for lay readers and sport historians alike.


The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf

The Orc King
R. A. Salvatore
Wizards Of The Coast, Inc.
PO Box 707, Renton, WA 98057-0707
9780786943401, $27.95 www.wizards.com 1-800-821-8028

R. A. Salvatore is a master storyteller who particularly excels in the specialized genre of heroic fantasy. His originality and award winning literary talents are once again document with the release of "The Orc King", the first volume in a new trilogy of fantasy adventure involving the orc tribes, the dwarves of Mithral hall, and the struggle of Drizzt Do'Urden to bring about peace in a forgotten realm. A 'must' for Salvatore's legions of fans, "The Orc King" will leave the reader looking eagerly toward the next two installments of his Forgotten Realms 'Transitions' trilogy: "The Pirate King" (October 2008) and "The Ghost King" (October 2009). One happy serendipity is that this hardcover edition of "The Orc King" also features a bibliographic page in the beginning of the book that lists (in their proper order) all of the previously published titles in the Wizard Of The Coast thirteen book series 'The Legend Of Drizzt'; 'The Hunter's Blades Trilogy'; their three part series "The Sellswords'; and the five volumes comprising "The Cleric Quintet' series.


The Library DVD Shelf

Little Women
Koch Vision
$29.98 DVD www.kochvision.com

The mini-series LITTLE WOMEN starring Meredith Baxter-Birney, Susan Dey and William Shatner brings the novel to vivid, contemporary life with the DVD release of a production which originally aired as a two-part NBC min-series in 1978. The TV production earned numerous awards, making this DVD version an essential for any collection strong in DVD classics.

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates
Acorn Media Group
801 Roeder Road, Suite 700, Silver Spring, MD 20910
AMP-9721, $149.99 www.acornmedia.com 1-800-949-8670

Now in a DVD boxed set containing all four seasons of one of the best British mystery series to every come out of the BBC production facilities, "Hetty Wainthropp Investigates" stars the brilliant British actress Patricia Routledge as a 60-something housewife-turned-detective. Her cases range from missing persons to homicides, all of which she tackles with the aid of Geoffrey (her young apprentice in the detective business) and the occasional assistance of her husband Robert. This boxed set not only contains all of the episodes in each of the four seasons of this popular series broadcast over PBS as part of their "Mystery!" programming, it also features a feature-length bonus program (Missing Persons) that served as the pilot episode, as well as an interview with Patricia Routledge, production notes, photo galleries, and cast filmographies. The thirteen discs comprising this enthusiastically recommended and unfailingly entertaining boxed set has a combined running time of 24 hours and 15 minutes.

Farewell Israel
Joel Gilbert, director
MVD Visual
PO Box 280, Oaks, PA 19456
Dan Smith (publicity)
DVD, $14.95 www.highway61ent.com dan@smithpublicity.com

"Farewell Israel: Bush, Iran and the Revolt of Islam" is a informed and informative political documentary discussing the political history of the Islamic religion and culture, and the dire resulting implications for Israel's future. Meticulous and thorough in its correction of common Western misperceptions - for example, the world "salam", mistranslated as "peace", literally means something closer to "truce" - Farewell Israel opens with an overview of Islam, then delves into a lengthy survey of Islamic history from the Prophet Mohammed's era through the rise and fall of an Islamic empire to World War II and the modern day. The last portion of Farewell Israel divests itself of political neutrality, instead forcefully proclaiming director Joel Gilbert's emotionally charged message that modern Islamic culture can only accept Jews living in their midst if they have second-class citizen status, and that modern Islam unilaterally demands the extermination of Jewish political independence. A doomsday scenario for Israel's future is presented, along with the insistence that Israel cannot trade land for peace - instead it is claimed that Israel will never get anything in return for giving up its land. As long as one is careful not to regard future projections, opinions, and political presumptions of the closing scenes as fact, Farewell Israel is an extraordinarily educational historical documentary.


The Music CD Shelf

Lagos By Bus
Aphrodesia
c/o Rock Paper Scissors
511 West 4th Street, Suite 2, Bloomington, IN 47404
Cyber 1039, $15.99 www.aphrodesia.org www.rockpaperscissors.biz

Featuring an Afrobeat, but also drawing substantially on Afro-Cuban music, Ghanalan highlife, and jazz, the San Francisco-based band Aphrodesia offers two women vocalists whose songs alternate from chant to melodic song. With flawless production values, their new CD "Lagos By Bus" features nine outstanding tracks that include: Virgin of the Son God (5:00); White Elephant (3:34); Holy Ghost Invasion (1:55); Bus Drive (7:39); Ago Mado (1:33); Ochun Mi (6:25); Every Day (7:09); Agayu (6:21); and World Under Fire (7:50). Distinctive, rhythmic, original, and memorable, "Lagos By Bus" is a superb addition to personal and community library CD music collections.

New York
Ron Kaplan
Kapland Records
PO Box 742, Aptos, CA 95001
The Creative Service Company (publicity)
4360 Emerald Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80918
CD, $13.47 www.RonKaplan.com www.greatamericansongbook.org

California native and contemporary jazz singer Ron Kaplan has long admired the energy, drive, and exuberance of New York City; his album New York is a tribute to the great, bustling metropolis. Assisting him are a talented assortment of fellow musicians: co-producer, arranger, and pianist Larry Dunlap; bassist Seward McCain and drummer Akira Tana for the rhythm section; and Erik Jekabson on trumpet and Noel Jewkes on saxophone and clarinet for the horn section. This band's unique take on a dozen classic tunes reflecting New York itself makes for an unabashed celebration of all the city's riches. The tracks are New York State of Mind, Jumpin' with Symphony Sid, New York New York/Broadway, Lullaby of Broadway, Take the "A" Train, Drop Me Off in Harlem, Harlem Nocturne, Forty Second Street, Sunday in New York, On Broadway, Give It Back to the Indians, and Manhattan. Highly recommended.

A Face in the Clouds
Marshall Styler
Styler Music
The Creative Service Company (publicity)
4360 Emerald Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80918
ESM0215D, $17.49 www.MarshallStyler.com

A Face in the Clouds is a restful music CD featuring instrumental piano and keyboard accompaniments. The result is an impressionistic, new age music style ideal for relaxation, meditation, yoga, or simply easing the stress away after a hard days' work. The tracks are A Face in the Clouds (6:42), Ballerina on the Bridge (5:50), If I Could Do It All Again (6:15), A Love Like This (5:09), Morning Hyde Park (Austin) (5:20), Ballad of an Abandoned Road (5:56), Midnight Rain (4th and Colorado) (6:34), Orchards, Vineyards, and Wildflowers Waltz (4:56), and Walking Mansfield Dam (5:58). A spiritually uplifting musical experience.

The Masters Return!
Fabian Zone Trio
Consolidated Artists Productions
c/o The Creative Service Company (publicity)
4360 Emerald Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80918
CAP 1010, $14.97 www.christianfabian.com www.jazzbeat.com

Bassist Christian Fabian, pianist Mike Longo, and drummer Lewis Nash, a.k.a. the "Fabian Zone Trio", present The Masters Return!, their latest collaboration recorded live-to-two-track (with the mix happening at the same time and no overdubs) so as to foster improvisation and capture the quintessential moment within the music itself. The result is a lively, one-of-a-kind jazz album sparkling from the unique dynamic that comes from longtime friends and experts intuitively playing to one another's strengths. The tracks are The Wayshowers (4:59), My One and Only Love (6:31), Bebop (4:46), Morning After (4:31), Chameleon (5:27), Summerland (4:32), Willow Weep for Me (4:59), Billies Bounce (3:47), Dear Thaddeus and Roland (4:21), Abian Blue (5:24), All Blues (5:32), and Milestones (5:56). Highly recommended.

Pathfinder
Will Clipman
Canyon Records
3131 West Clarendon Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85017
CR-7075, $15.98 www.canyonrecords.com 1-602-266-7835

Pathfinder is the creation of four-time Grammy nominee Will Clipman, who intermixes exotic wind instruments, light-touched percussion, and vocal chants, and a variety of drums into a blended palette of worldwide influences. Some songs are contemplative; others burst with energy; all are an uplifting listening experience. The tracks are Daybreak (4:38), Ibo Oye (3:52), One Race (3:51), Bodhisattva (2:37), Kona Honu (2:57), Desert Rain (3:30), Thirteenth Moon (3:12), Pathfinder (3:00), Ma Mere La Mer (4:00), Mi Sonora (3:10), Reflecting Pool (2:42), Barefoot in Cholla (3:36), and After the Storm (5:12). Highly recommended listening.

LoveMusik
Ghostlight Records
c/o Miller Wright & Associates, Inc. (publicity)
1650 Broadway, Suite 1210, New York, NY 10019
8-4425, $18.97 www.ghostlightrecords.com www.millerwright.com

LoveMusik is the world premiere CD recording of the Manhattan Theatre Club's new Broadway musical, which has been nominated for four Tony Awards. An epic romance following the complex, globetrotting dynamics between a brilliant German composer and the woman who became his muse and star, as inspired by the real-life letters exchanged between Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, LoveMusik spans the course of twenty-five years. Divided into twenty-seven tracks, LoveMusik is a grand odyssey featuring the highest quality of singing by Michael Cerveris and Donna Murphy, in the starring roles. An absolute "must-have" for any Broadway enthusiast's personal collection.

Nights at the Inn
Dave Tofani Quartet
Solowinds
c/o Mixed Media (publicity)
20 Lockmere Road, Cranston, Rhode Island 02910
SW-1723, $15.99 www.solowinds.com

Nights at the Inn is a new album by former Grammy nominee and saxophone artist Dave Tofani, accompanied by top-notch talent. A variety of pacing adds spice to the tracks, some created by Tofani himself while others pay homage to other master songwriters. All the tracks steeped in the ambience of clubs created especially to experience the heady mood of jazz. The songs are Angelica (4:09), Brushes on the Snare (6:21), A Child Is Born (4:26), You Caught Me (4:11), In a Sentimental Mood (5:37), Trip To Madrid (6:03), All the Things You Are (4:16), I Hear a Rhapsody (7:35), What Is This Thing Called Love (5:22), and Violets for Your Furs (5:55). Highly recommended especially for jazz lovers.

Tara Publications
29 Derby Avenue, Cedarhurst, NY 11516
$16.98 each http://tara.com www.jewishmusic.com 1-800-TARA-400

Three music CD albums from Tara Publications celebrate Jewish heritage and culture with emotionally rousing music. "Thank God It's Shabbat!: Friday Evening at Congregation Beth Yeshurun" (TGIS) is an superbly recording CD showcasing a spirited Shabbat service, packed with modern service music, arranges of traditional melodies, and original compositions, making for an upbeat and involving album of worship. "The Z'mirot Sing-Along" (TM601-2) offers forty Shabbat Z'mirot, flawlessly recorded and enthusiastically sung by the popular Israeli duo "The Gilgalim", is a great listening experience for anyone seeking to learn the traditional songs or simply experience them in the moment. "Jewish Super Party" (TM710-2) is an especially lively compilation featuring twenty-one different Jewish party songs perfect for holiday celebrations, exercise, weddings, or bar/bat mitzvah. All are welcome additions to Jewish music CD collections.

In The Key Of Earth
Marjorie de Muynck
Sounds True Audio
413 South Arthur Avenue, Louisville, CO 80027
M1186D, $17.98 www.soundstrue.com 1-800-333-9185

"In The Key Of Earth is a musical celebration of the planet as a living organism, including its pulse, breath, rhythms, and cycles. a master musician and student of oriental medicine and the healing arts, Marjorie de Muynck bends and reinvents the boundaries of sound and music through the use of harmonics created with acoustic instruments. The overtones and harmonics are a kind of vibratory expressionist abstraction that is at once captivating, symphonic, and inspiring. With a total running time of 60:01, there are four pieces comprising this memorable CD: Pulse (16:24); Light (11:15); Ancient Aquifer (7:22); and Breath (24:57). Flawlessly recorded, "In The Key Of Earth" is a unique and welcome addition to personal and community libraries, and is especially recommended for those who appreciate the metaphysical concept of 'sound healing frequency'.


The Audiobook Shelf

Blazin' Boats & Cows on Fire! The Double CD
Baxter Black
Coyote Cowboy Company
PO Box 2190, Benson, AZ 85602
9780939343508, $24.95 www.baxterblack.com 1-800-654-2550

Blazin' Boats & Cows on Fire! The Double CD is an audiobook anthology of cowboy poetry and tall tales from Baxter Black's book of the same name - also including never before released audio versions of classic Baxter Black vignettes not found in the book, such as "I Know You'll Miss This Man" and "The Flag". Some of the tracks were recorded at a live performance; all have the down-to-earth, one-of-a-kind American Western flair that Baxter Black is so well known for. The 2 CDs feature over two hours of short tales, all of which are a treat to listen to, whether a few or a time or all at once. Highly recommended.

Bimbos Of The Death Sun
Sharyn McCrumb
Recorded Books, LLC
270 Skip Jack Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678
C4215, $56.75 www.recordedbooks.com 1-800-638-1304

"Bimbos Of The Death Sun" is a murder mystery set within the context of a science fiction and fantasy convention. Author Sharyn McCrumb captures what these affairs are like with a detailed precision that resonates with authenticity. For hardcore, dedicated SF&Fantasy fans, some of the characters portrayed will be readily identifiable -- especially the harassed con coordinator, the obnoxious guest author, the social skills deficit guys and gals who dress up in costumes, sing "filk songs", and outside of the convention live the most mundane of personal lives. The "who dunnit" qualities of McCrumb's storytelling skills are simply superb and will engage the listener's total attention from beginning to end. With Recorded Books usual flawless recording qualities, and Ruth Ann Phimister's versatile and expert narration, "Bimbos Of The Death Sun" is a 'must' for any mystery buff or science fiction convention enthusiast -- and certain to be a popular addition to any and all community library audiobook collections.


The Writing/Publishing Shelf

You Are Next In Line
Armiger Jagoe
Capital Books, Inc.
c/o International Publishers Marketing
22841 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166
9781933102603, $12.95 www.capital-books.com 1-800-758-3756

Writing one's life story in the form of a personal memoir or an autobiography can have immense value for benefiting posterity. It can also help the author appreciate or otherwise come to terms with their own life experiences, their choices, their successes and failures, their aspirations and achievements, the people they've known, the places they seen, the events they've experienced. Written especially for those who have no special skills or experience in writing, "You Are Next In Line: Everyone's Guide For Writing Your Autobiography" by Armiger Jagoe is the perfect 'how to' instruction guide and manual for recording a life story that will prove worthwhile reading for friends, for family, and for the generations to come. There is also a genealogical value to writing an autobiography with pertinent dates, descriptive relationships, and the ephemeral minutia that will prove of immense interest to future readers and scholars about us in terms of how we lived, and the kind of world we lived in. "Your Are Next In Line" is especially recommended to the attention of anyone who has ever contemplated leaving a written record of their life story as a memorial testament to their own life and times and memories.

Undoing The Silence
Louise Dunlap
New Village Press
POB 3049, Oakland, CA 94609
Consortium Books Sales & Distribution (distributor)
34 Thirteenth Avenue NE, Suite 101, Minneapolis, MN 55413-1007
9780976605492, $20.01 www.cbsd.com 1-800-283-3572

Louise Dunlap began her career as an activist writing instructor during the Berkeley Free Speech Movement of the 1960s. In "Undoing The Silence: Six Tools For Social Change Writing" she draws upon her more than forty years of experience and expertise to create a kind of instruction manual teaching the reader the power of a personal voice that can enable any citizen to effect change in our society through the use of the written word. Dunlap explains the writing process, using such real-life examples as the peace workers in California, labor organizers in South Africa, community organizers in Boston, and others who have use the written word as an essential instrument for social change and the redress of grievances. "Undoing The Silence' includes practical 'freewriting' techniques, strategies for reaching an intended audiences, innovative exercises for giving and receiving feedback, as well as tactics for rethinking, editing, and rewriting free-flowing drafts. Of immense and immediate value for aspiring writers wanting to effectively engage in the social, political, economic, and cultural issues of the day through the power of the written word in all of its forms and formats, "Undoing The Silence" will prove to be as informed and informative as it is instructively effective.

The Portable Writer's Conference
Stephen Blake Mettee, editor
Quill Driver Books
1254 Commerce Avenue, Sanger, CA 93657
9781884956577, $19.95 www.quilldriverbooks.com 1-800-497-4909

Now in a newly updated edition, The Portable Writer's Conference: Your Guide to Getting Published is a compilation of wisdom from over forty-five editors, agents, and authors, presented to writers from all walks of life seeking publication. From developing a concept pitch to hear an agent say yes, to crafting a professional-quality feature article for a newspaper or magazine, to tips and tricks for running a successful home-based writing business, crafting nonfiction or self-help books, what every author must know about copyright, and much more, The Portable Writer's Conference is a wisdom-laden supplement to getting one's feet wet in the writing profession. Though not a substitute for a straightforward instructional manual to the writing business, The Portable Writer's Conference lives up to its title as a confluence of hard-earned wisdom gathered from expert writers of all backgrounds. Highly recommended.

The Screenwriting Formula
Rob Tobin
Writer's Digest Press
c/o F&W Publications, Inc.
700 East State Street, Iola, WI 54990
9781582974620, $14.99 www.fwpublications.com 1-800-726-9966

When it comes to creating scripts for films and television, professional scriptwriter Rob Tobin's maxim is that 'writing well isn't just a goal, it's a responsibility'. That attitude comes across loud and clear in "The Screenwriting Formula: Why It Works And How To Use It", his deftly written and thoroughly 'user friendly' instruction guide for aspiring screenwriters regardless of the genre they are working in. "The Screenwriting Formula" is nicely organized into three main sections: The Seven Elements (the hero, the flow, enabling circumstances, the opponent, the hero's ally, the life-changing event, jeopardy, combining story elements); The Structure (prologue, act one, act two: parts one and two, act three); The Big Picture (the logline, the outline, high-concept and low-concept stories, a titanic undertaking). Enhanced with the inclusion of two germane appendices (Prewriting Techniques and Adapting Novels to the Screen), "The Screenwriting Formula" is comprehensive, practical, and essential reading for anyone hoping to successful write a screenplay that will measure up to professional standards and commercial viability.

The Mind's Eye
Kevin Clark
Pearson Longman
51 Madison Avenue, 29th floor, New York, NY 10010
9780205498239, $25.33 www.ablongman.com

University academician Kevin Clark holds a Distinguished Teaching Award, as well as a widely published poet. In "The Mind's Eye: A Guide To Writing Poetry", he brings to bear his many years of experience and expertise to provide aspiring poets with a clear, instructive, and occasionally inspiring 'how to' manual and guide to writing clear, engaging poetry. All the elements of poetic expression are covered including imagery, sound, implication, conflict, transformation, lyricism, structure, portraiture, narrative, traditional forms, sequencing, and revision. Featuring more than one hundred skill building exercises in writing poetry, eighty model poems by diverse contemporary poets, a concise summary of at the end of each chapter distilling its main concepts, as well as suggestions for forming poetry-writing groups, arranging poetry readers, and even how to publish poems, "The Mind's Eye" is an ideal instruction manual and guide that will prove invaluable for aspiring poets whether writing for simple self-expression or who have ambitions to being published.

Seniorwriting
Marlys Marshall Styne
Infinity Publishing.com
c/o Buy Books On The Web
1094 New Dehaven Street, #100, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2713
0741442965, $9.95 www.amazon.com

"Seniorwriting: A Brief Guide For Seniors Who Want To Write" by Marlys Marshall Styne is a succinct 81-page instruction manual specifically designed and intended for older men and women wanting to record their thoughts, their memories, their experiences, their observations, and their commentaries for the benefit of themselves, their friends and family, and future generations. Short writing examples and samples are provided based on Marlys Styne's own writing skills, expertise, and personal experience as a retired college English teachers who took up writing an award-winning book at the age of 73. "Seniorwriting" is a non-technical 'how to' manual and guide that is ideal for those who have never written anything before -- and holds much of value for those who have written things earlier in their lives, but who have not done anything along those lines since. There are no rigid rules or straight-laced requirements in "Seniorwriting", only practical advice, inspiring examples, alternative ideas, and motivating choices. If you are a senior and would like to record your thoughts be they simple observations or the next Great American Novel, then give "Seniorwriting" your attention. It will be one of the most rewarding reads you can do!

Ron Carlson Writes a Story
Ron Carlson
Graywolf Press
2402 University Avenue, Suite 203, Saint Paul, MN 55114
9781555974770, $12.00 www.graywolfpress.org 1-651-641-0077

Ron Carlson Writes a Story is an essay by published author Ron Carlson, who has written eight books of fiction as well as short stories that have appeared in "Esquire", "Harper's", "New Yorker", and "GQ" magazines. Offering a wealth of notes, tips, tricks, and techniques for writers, as well as a window into Carlson's personal creative process during his creation of the short story "The Governor's Ball", Ron Carlson Writes a Story is both inspirational and entertaining. Especially recommended for aspiring and novice writers for its insights into the art of creativity.

Write For Life
Sheppard B. Kominars
Cleveland Clinic Press
9500 Euclid Avenue, NA32, Cleveland, OH 44195
9781596240773, $14.95 www.clevelandclinicpress.com 1-216-444-1158

Sheppard B. Kominars began teaching writing in 1956 at Washington College, has been a journal writer for more than fifty years, and has written two previous books on the subject of recovery. In "Write For Life: Healing Body, Mind, And Spirit Through Journal Writing", Kominars draws upon his more than half a century of experience and expertise in the subject to provide a wealth of insights and techniques into the utilization of writing to promote personal transformation, meet life's challenges, and acquire a deeper and more enduring satisfaction in our lives. "Write For Life" offers cogent advice and instruction on using a personal daily journal to confront emotional issues; break through frustrating mental blocks; deal with personal, professional, and medical crisis; renew and define life's meaning and purpose; free up intellectual creativity; and use or dreams and aspiration to build a better life. Although the principle focus of "Write For Life" is on using the material in this superbly written and highly recommended book as a self-help, self-improvement vehicle, there is also an invaluable relevance for aspiring writers who could utilize the keeping of a daily journal to enhance their own literary creativity regardless of the genre in which they are working.

One Year To A Writing Life
Susan M. Tiberghien
Marlowe & Company
c/o Avalon Publishing Group
245 West 17th Street, 11th floor, New York, NY 10011-5300
9781600940583, $15.95 www.marlowepub.com 1-800-788-3123

Susan M. Tiberghien draws upon her years of experience and expertise as a veteran writing instructor, writers' conference speaker, and graduate school lecturer in "One Year To A Writing Life: Twelve Lessons To Deepen Every Writer's Art And Craft". A gifted writer in her own right, Susan Tiberghien covers journal writing, personal essays; opinion and travel essays; short stories (included the 'Short-Short'); dreams and writing; dialogue; folklore, fairy tales, and contemporary tales; poetic prose and the 'Prose Poem'; memoirs and biography; rewriting; and more. Of special note are her chapters on 'The alchemy of Imagination' and 'Writing the Way Home'. Enhanced with a specialized bibliographies and a comprehensive index, " One Year To A Writing Life" is as informed and informative as it is inspired and inspiring -- making it strongly recommended reading for all novice writers and aspiring authors.

Open Your Heart With Writing
Neil M. Rosen
Dream Time Publishing
6860 Gulfport Avenue South, Suite 950, South Pasadena, FL 33707
9781601660084, $14.95 www.dreamtimepublishing.com 1-866-623-6203

Writer, psychologist, academician, and Founder/CEO of eWay Direct (an e-marketing technology company), Neil M. Rosen brings a very special expertise to his advice in "Open Your Heart With Writing: Mastering Life Through Love Of Words". Inspired and inspiring, "Open Your Heart With Writing" was written for the specific purpose of helping people in all walks of life realize what they can achieve in terms of self-help and self-realization through the simple process of writing down their thoughts, their ideas, their observations, their reflections, their stories, poems, and essays. "Open Your Heart With Writing" is not intended as a guide to improving writing skills, nor is it intended as an instruction manual on getting published. Rather it shows how to take fleeting thoughts and cultivate them into richly embellished tales of mystery, drama, history, poetic expression, and even a kind of spiritual nourishment for the soul. Whether writing in a journal or diary format, or simply jotting things down in a convenient notebook, "Open Your Heart With Writing" will enable anyone to have confidence in writing for the simple, helpful, intrinsic joy of it.

How To Publish Your Novel
Ken Atchity, et al.
SquareOne Publishers
115 Herricks Road, Garden City Park, NY, 11040
0757000495, $18.95 www.squareonepublishers.com

An academician, literary manager, and the author of fourteen books (including 'A Writer's Time" and "Writing Treatments That Sell", Ken Atchity (with the assistance of Andrea McKeown, Julie Mooney, and Margaret O'Connor) offers sound, practical, instructive advice for aspiring authors on getting their fiction published in today's highly competitive publishing industry. Beginning with the basics of fiction publishing with respect to various and diverse types of fiction, "How To Publish Your Novel: A Complete Guide To Making The Right Publisher Say Yes" covers everything from finding the right literary representative and/or publisher, crafting an effective plan of action ranging from deciding to self-represent or use a literary agent; to developing a proposal package; to selecting a list of potential publishers; to publishing contracts; to building a career as a professional author, to promoting a published novel. Enhanced with an extensive section of resources including a glossary, specialized bibliographies, lists of writers groups, writer resource websites, and more, "How To Publish Your Novel" is an essential and basic addition to personal and community library Writing/Publishing reference collections.

Release Your Writing
Helen Gallagher
Virtualbookworm.com Publishing
PO Box 9949, College Station, TX 77842
9781602640603, $16.95 www.virtualbookworm.com 1-877-376-4955

A professional freelance writer and the author of "Computer Ease", Helen Gallagher draws upon her many years of experience and expertise in "Release Your Writing: Book Publishing, Your Way!" to provide an informative instruction manual that demystifies the publishing process, addresses the technological issues associated with publishing, and provides a profusion of effective, practical, immediately applicable marketing strategies to insure a book's commercial viability. Effectively organized into three major sections, 'Getting Published' covers contemporary changes in the publishing industry, the self-publishing option, Publish On Demand (POD) companies; and eBooks. 'You, The Word Processor' includes The Time to Write; The Writer's Toolbox; and 'Computer Power Tools'. The third section is devoted to the 'Business of Being a Writer' by focusing on book marketing and promotion, and keeping a book in print and available to the reading public. It should be noted that Helen Gallagher's writing style is conversational and engaging -- making it an ideal format for presenting her observations, ideas, and advice. Enhanced with an appendix listing writing resources, a glossary, and an index, "Release Your Writing" will prove invaluable and instructive reading for aspiring writers who have become published -- either on their own or through an independent publisher.


The Science Shelf

Not Even Wrong
Peter Woit
Basic Books
c/o Perseus Publishing Group
387 Park Avenue South, New York NY 10016-8810
0465092764, $16.95 www.basicbooks.com

Both college-level and general-interest science libraries will appreciate NOT EVEN WRONG: THE FAILURE OF STRING THEORY AND THE SEARCH FOR UNITY IN PHYSICAL LAW. It discusses string theory and provides the view that superstring theory has left the realm of hard, testable scientific inquiry and now resembles science fiction. Chapters survey the underlying foundations of what makes a theory, considering how science needs to make predictions to succeed and examining the overall history and concepts of quantum physics in the process. A lively survey evolves, perfect for both lay readers and would-be scientists alike.

Crime Scene Chemistry for the Armchair Sleuth
Cathy Cobb, Monty L. Fetterolf, Jack G. Goldsmith
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, NY 14228-2197
9781591025054, $26.00 www.prometheusbooks.com

Law enforcement processes depend heavily upon chemistry to analyze crime findings and build cases: that's why CRIME SCENE CHEMISTRY is so important an acquisition for any college-level collection strong in either science or criminology. Chapters follow a chemist and a reserve police officer to examine just how evidence is collected and what happens in the field of forensic chemistry, surveying the testing and analytical processes involved in gathering evidence. It's a 'must' for any serious college-level library strong in either chemistry or criminal science.

The Fabulous Fibonacci Numbers
Alfred S. Posamentier & Ingmar Lehmann
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, NY 14228-2197
9781591024750, $28.00 www.prometheusbooks.com

The most intriguing number pattern in math is the Fibonacci sequence, a pattern which begins with two ones, each succeeding number of which is the sum of the two numbers immediately preceding it. And it's not just a mathematical incongruity, but occurs throughout nature itself, building the case for the mathematical basis of nature itself. Any college-level collection strong in science and nature - and many a public lending library- will find this a fascinating review of the history of the Fibonacci numbers and their applications to everything from nature to art and the stock market.

Introduction to Numerical Analysis Using Matlab
Rizwan Butt
Infinity Science Press
11 Leavitt Street, Hingham, MA 02043
9781934015230, $69.95 www.infinitysciencepress.com

College-level courses strong in numerical analysis as well as those catering to engineers and scientists will appreciate this introduction: the first to present the theory of numerical analysis and the practical justifications of methodology using the latest version of MATLAB. This will also make a fine college-level text for primary or supplemental reading: it provides short programs in MATLAB to be used for scientific applications, surveys MATLAB commands and processes, includes a CD-ROM featuring source code and simulations, and reinforces theory with applications. An outstanding reference.

Ray Tracing From the Ground Up
Kevin Suffern
A.K. Peters Ltd.
888 Worcester Street Suite 230, Wellesley, MA 02482
9781568812724, $84.00 www.akpeters.com

College-level collections strong in engineering and electronics will appreciate this step-by-step description of writing a ray tracer from scratch. Chapters survey the ray-tracing concept, describing the images, sample code, and even linking to a website which contains the samples. Exercises support theory and hands-on application by instructing on adding features to a ray tracer. Any college-level collection strong in advanced information technology needs this.


The Computer Shelf

Linux Firewalls
Michael Rash
No Starch Press
555 DeHaro #250, San Francisco, CA 94107
9781593271411, $49.95 www.nostarch.com

Libraries catering to system administrators will find LINUX FIREWALLS an essential acquisition, discussing the technical aspects of the iptables firewall and Netfilter built into the Linux application. Examples of firewall log analysis, policies, network authorization processes and more compliment chapters that include Perl and C code pieces to help keep a network secure. The result is a fine pick for any programmer's library.

Rapid GUI Programming with Python and QT
Mark Summerfield
Prentice Hall/PTR
c/o Pearson Technology Group
801 East 96th Street, #300, Indianapolis, IN 46240-3759
0132354187, $49.99 www.prenhallprofessional.com 1-800-428-5331

Advanced programmer libraries and any versed in Python in particular will find RAPID GUI PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON AND QT an invaluable guide, covering the mechanics of building GUI applications that run on all major operating systems. From custom widgets to advanced model and view programming, this book's depth and technical detail lend to any serious programming collection.

O'Reilly
1005 Gravenstein Highway, Sebastopol, CA 95472
www.oreilly.com

PC users who would understand the underlying power behind the Windows system will appreciate the weighty, information-packed Preston Gralla Big Book of Windows Hacks (0596528353, $34.99), a coverage packed with time-saving tips and hints. From how to save regularly-used searches to disabling Windows Mail's splash screen, stopping Firefox memory leaks, and backing up Vista hacks, THE BIG BOOK OF WINDOWS HACKS is a 'must' for any collection catering to patrons behind the novice stages. Lee Holmes' WINDOWS POWERSHELL COOKBOOK (0596528493, $49.99) comes from a Powershell team developer who provides hundreds of tested recipes to get Microsoft's new tool working. Over 150 recipes combine with an introduction to the Windows PowerShell scripting language to make for an excellent 'cookbook' packed with code and discussions of how and why it works. It's an excellent technical survey programmers will relish. Jason Brittain and Ian F. Darwin's TOMCAT: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE, 2ND EDITION (0596101066, $39.99) has been updated for the latest version of Tomcat and offers a complete guide to installing the servlet container, from basics of installation to using web applications, securing Tomcat from online intruders, troubleshooting and customizing the program. Any advanced computer collection strong in Java programming needs this. Bryan Costales, George Jansen, and Claus Afsmann with Gregory Neil Shapiro provide the 4th updated edition of SENDMAIL (0596510292, $59.99), a top pick for any advanced programmer's library, especially those featuring books solid on networking. SENDMAIL first appeared in 1993: this version covers 8.10 and 8.14 of the email routing program and is a 'must' for programmers who would keep up with the latest. Chris McNab's NETWORK SECURITY ASSESSMENT (0596510306, $39.99) appears in its second updated edition to cover the protocols for testing network security - by trying to attack it internally. Tricks and tools professional security consultants use to identify and correct risks in Internet-based networks are revealed in chapters covering everything from Windows networking components and Unix RPC services on various platforms to application-level vulnerabilities. Any collection catering to programmers or network managers needs NETWORK SECURITY ASSESSMENT in its latest updated second edition. Mark Lutz's LEARNING PYTHON, 3RD EDITION (0596513984, $39.99) covers the latest edition of Python and includes tips on the program's built-in object types, statements, functions, modules, exceptions and more. College-level collections strong in programming languages in general and Python in particular will appreciate the coverage, written by the world leader in Python training and author of many previous writings on Python since 1992.


The Health/Medicine Shelf

10 Simple Solutions to Chronic Pain
Blake H. Tearnan, Ph.D.
New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
5674 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609
9781572244825, $12.95 www.newharbinger.com

Behavioral medicine expert Blake H. Tearnan, Ph.D. presents 10 Simple Solutions to Chronic Pain: How To Stop Pain from Controlling Your Life, a straightforward guide to the most effective pain management techniques. 10 Simple Solutions to Chronic Pain does not deny the value or unilaterally condemn the use of painkiller drugs, but rather teaches the reader alternative methods that can be used in conjunction with medication, or by themselves. Chapters discuss better ways to communicate with doctors and learn which treatment options are most likely to prove beneficial, enhancing emotional well-being, improving one's sleep, the option of biomedical treatments, changing one's nonproductive beliefs about pain through personal experimentation, and much more. A step-by-step demystification process of pain and one's options for dealing with it, highly recommended.

Cancer
Liz Armstrong, Guy Dauncy, Anne Wordsworth
New Society Publishers
PO Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC, Canada, V0R 1X0
9780865715424, $22.95 www.newsociety.com 1-800-283-3572

Cancer comes in many forms and affects every population demographic. "Cancer: 101 Solutions To A Preventable Epidemic" is the collaborative work of Liz Armstrong (photographer and environmental activist), Guy Dauncey (author and founder of the Solutions Project), and Anne Wordsworth (writer and environmental researcher). The primary focus is upon those environmental poisons and other factors that have so substantially contributed to the growing numbers of cancer cases appearing in America and around the world. The focus is also upon possible solutions to avoiding, preventing, and ameliorating those environmental factors by community activists, healthcare workers, labor unions, city and county municipalities, businesses, state and federal government agencies. Of special note are the ten proposed and specific global solutions to the problems identified. "Cancer: 101 Solutions To A Preventable Epidemic" is very strongly recommended reading for medical professionals, governmental policy makers, environmental activists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in cancer and cancer prevention.

Diets And Dieting
Sander L. Gilman
Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
0415974208, $150.00 www.routledge.com 1-800-634-7064

Written and compiled by cultural historian Sander Gilman (Distinguished Professor of the Liberal Arts and Sciences at Emory University), "Diets And Dieting: A Cultural Encyclopedia" is superbly organized and alphabetically presented encyclopedia comprised of biographies and survey essays covering the scope, history, and culture of diets an dieting. From Robert Atkins and Anorexia, to Fast Food and Globalization, to John Harvey Kellogg and Vegetarianism, "Diets And Dieting" is a wealth of information that offers a unique, comprehensive, informed, informative, 'user friendly', and very highly recommended contribution to personal, professional, academic, and community library Health & Medicine and Cultural Studies reference collections.

The Diabetes Lifestyle Book
Jennifer A. Gregg, Glenn M. Callaghan, Steven C. Hayes
New Harbinger Press
5674 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609
9781572245167, $16.95 www.newharbinger.com 1-800-748-6273

Simply stated, every newly diagnosed diabetic should read and would substantially benefit from "The Diabetes Lifestyle Book" which is the collaborative work of clinical psychologist Jennifer A. Gregg (Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, San Jose State University, San Jose, California), Glenn M. Callaghan (Professor of Psychology, San Jose State University), and Steven C. Hayes (University of Nevada Foundation Professor of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno). The life-style changes that a diabetes diagnosis compels is often daunting and very difficult to sustain until and unless the diabetics are able to face their fears, voice their concerns, and maintain the changes in their diets, activity levels, and medical services required for a long and healthy life. The psychology, the motivation, the mental management techniques that must go along with changes in diet, medication schedules, and exercise programs are fundamental and precisely the 'how to' information and inspiration provided by "The Diabetes Lifestyle Book". No personal diabetes reading list or community library Health & Medicine reference collection should be without a copy of "The Diabetes Lifestyle Book".

Death By Supermarket
Nancy Deville
Barricade Books, Inc.
185 Bridge Plaza North, Suite 308-A, Fort Lee, NJ 07024
9781569803325, $16.95 www.barricadebooks.com 1-800-592-6657

Nancy Deville is a medical writer who became alarmed at the national upward trends regarding obesity and other health problems of the general American public. In her researches she uncovered an unpleasant truth -- the food industry has a significant responsibility for what is happening to American public health. The result of her research is "Dead By Supermarket" in which she reveals the benefits of real food while exposing the health risks of eating factory foods, serial dieting, taking drugs. Of special note is what Deville discovered concerning the intrigue, corruption, and simple ineptness within the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Using sold research to show just how the government and the medical community collude in the propagation of disastrous nutritional advice, "Death By Supermarket" is a vital and necessary call to action on both a personal and a political level. Informed and informative, "Death By Supermarket" needs to be on the Health & Medicine shelves of every community library in the country -- and considered an essential study for health and nutrition advocates, as well as non-specialist general readers with an interest in personal and public health.

Hormone Revolution
Susan M. Lark, MD with Kimberly Day
Portola Press
101 First Street, Los Altos, CA 94022
9780979540905, $28.95 www.portolapress.com

Here's a new way to balance and restore hormones: a book which is based on over thirty years of research combined with clinical experience that shares new treatments and influences on hormone management, from diets and natural hormone substitutes to identifying hormonal symptoms and overcoming common problems. From handling stress and anxiety to sexual dysfunction, HORMONE REVOLUTION: YES, YOU CAN NATURALLY RESTORE & BALANCE YOUR OWN HORMONES promises much - backed by a doctor's experience - to DYI health readers, making it especially recommended for public library lending.

Stay Healthy, Live Longer, Spend Wisely
Davis Liu, MD
Stetho Publishing
Box 254450, Sacramento, CA 95865-4450
0979351200, $24.95 www.davisliumd.com

Thousands die prematurely every year not due to medical errors, but to lack of preventive interventions - and the wrong healthcare choices. Stay Healthy, Live Longer, Spend Wisely tells how to make the right treatment choices, from assessing alternative therapies to locating the right doctor, maximizing doctor visits, and asking for the right screening procedures. It places health care responsibility in the consumer's hands by providing basic details and is suitable for any general-interest lending library strong in consumer health issues.

Living with Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, 2nd Edition
Patricia K. Coyle & June Halper
Demos Publishing
386 Park Avenue South #301, New York NY 10016
1932603476, $24.95 www.demosmedpub.com

Every person living with or caretaking those with Multiple Sclerosis and any public or health library catering to patrons with MS needs this handbook, which focuses on the specific, special challenges of MS and how to handle daily life with a progressive disease. Chapters discuss the physical and psychological challenges of managing MS symptoms and progression, offering a range of insights and tips on treatments and options throughout. It's a 'must' reference for any living with MS.

Your Heart: An Owner's Guide
John A. Elefteriades, MD and Lawrence S. Cohen, MD
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, NY 14228-2197
9781591024514 www.prometheusbooks.com

A professor of surgery and a professor of medicine team up to provide lay readers with a user-friendly guide to heart health, offering the latest on hypertension, high cholesterol, various heart conditions and diseases, and more. Finally here is a guide which takes into account all kinds of influences on heart disease, its progression, and its treatment - and translates the latest research into terms easy for non-medical readers to understand, making this the perfect pick for public lending collections.


The Psychology Shelf

Magical Moments of Change
Lenore Terr
W.W. Norton & Company
500 - 5th Avenue, New York NY 10110
9780393705300, $27.95 www.wwnorton.com

MAGICAL MOMENTS OF CHANGE: HOW PSYCHOTHERAPY TURNS KIDS AROUND comes from a leading child psychiatrist and one of the world's experts on childhood trauma. Here her story of how she dealt with a feral 'wild child' who had been hideously abused is juxtaposed with her insights on child psychiatry and how psychiatry can help troubled young people - even those extremely abused. Supplementing her experiences and analysis are interviews with over thirty of America's top child and adolescent psychiatrist who share their own key moments of dramatic breakthroughs with young patients, making for an excellent pick not just for college-level mental health holdings, but for public lending libraries.


The Social Issues Shelf

Cinica
Daniel Martinez, Ph.D.
Florida Academic Press, Inc.
PO Box 540, Gainesville, FL 32602-0540
9781890357160, $39.95 www.amazon.com

Cinica: Delusions in American Culture is a no-holds-barred, opinionated deconstruction of myths, euphemisms, misperceptions, and social ills as seen by author Daniel Martinez, Ph.D. Sharply denouncing feminism, liberalism, female masturbation (though Martinez consider male masturbation acceptable, explaining the logic behind his double standard at length), lies endemic to religion, criminal behavior, mathematic rounding conventions and much more, Cinica is utterly absorbing whether the reader agrees with Martinez's assertions or not. Entries are listed as informal definitions of terms and phrases, all expressed with witty panache. A one-of-a-kind manifesto that lends itself to being read bit by bit or all at once. "Net Worth of a Capitalist: The difference between what he steals from the general public and what his fellow capitalists steal from him."

In Praise of Prejudice
Theodore Dalrymple
Encounter Books
900 Broadway, Suite 400, New York, NY 10003
9781594032028, $20.00 www.encounterbooks.com 1-800-786-3839

"Is it not true that many prejudices are harmful, cruel, stupid, and vicious? Certainly it is. But... it does not follow that because some prejudices are harmful, we can do without prejudices altogether." In Praise of Prejudice: The Necessity of Preconceived Ideas is an intellectual yet accessible essay by retired physician and psychiatrist Theodore Dalrymple, calling for a re-examination of the knee-jerk belief that every last form of prejudice is inherently bad. Dalrymple instead points out how, in some cases, prejudice is helpful or even necessary to survival. Thirteen-year-old girls are not old enough to fully understand the consequences and responsibility of having children, and some mistakenly choose to become pregnant in hope of having a baby to love; to protect them, it is vital to inculcate them with a prejudice against underage, out-of-wedlock pregnancy until they're old enough to make adult decisions. Many a battered woman has knowingly become involved with a man of bad reputation, in part because she didn't want to prejudge - and later she or her children paid the brutal price. A philosophical treatise that condemns racism and harmful prejudices, even as it observes a common human tendency to replace one prejudice with another as well as the necessity of pre-judgments and preconceived ideas to form any kind of moral system, even something as simple as "thou shalt not kill" (such a proscription against murder, for example, contains the preconceived idea that taking human life is a bad thing). Thoughtful and thought-provoking, "In Praise of Prejudice" is highly recommended reading.

The Great Neighborhood Book
Jay Walljasper
New Society Publishers
PO Box 189, Gabriola Island, British Columbia V0R 1X0, Canada
9780865715813, $19.95 www.newsociety.com

Written by Jay Walljasper, a Senior Fellow of the Project for Public Spaces, The Great Neighborhood Book: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Placemaking is a how-to guide for local communities to improve the quality of life for their residents through building shared bonds. From creating great places to hang out (a park with few hidden spaces and scattered vendors selling refreshments is more likely to deter homeless people and drug dealers from using it), to reducing crime (ordinary people's eyes and physical presence on the street are much more likely to deter crime than iron bars on windows), foster economic vitality (promoting locally grown/cooked/made food is kind to the environment as well as the local economy), and much more. Drawing heavily upon real-life examples in communities that made a measurable positive difference, The Great Neighborhood book blends practicality and inspiration into an uplifting whole and is enthusiastically recommended reading for concerned citizens, neighborhood watch groups, and municipal boards, among many others.

The Arts of Democracy
Casey Nelson Blake, editor
University of Pennsylvania Press
3905 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4011
9780812240290, $49.95 www.upenn.edu/pennpress

The Arts of Democracy: Art, Public Culture, and the State is an anthology of essays by learned authors concerning the historical interplay between the arts, public culture, and the state in modern-day America. Individual contributions include "Norman Rockwell, Public Artist", "Exporting America: The U.S. Propaganda Offensive, 1945-1959", "The Public Display of Religion", and much more. Written in a scholarly tone, with extensive notes, an index, and a handful of black-and-white illustrations, The Arts of Democracy dares to break fresh ground in the vibrant academic confluence between aesthetics and public policy. "The postmodern aesthetic begins with a challenge to realism. It is by no means the only art hostile to realism. Nor is hostility to realism the sole defining feature of the postmodern aesthetic. Nor is all contemporary art postmodern... Important recent forms of art, though markedly different in many ways, nevertheless shared a common way of distrusting realism."

Turning Back the Clock
Umberto Eco
Harcourt
15 East 26th Street, New York NY 10010
9780151013517, $27.00 www.harcourtbooks.com

TURNING BACK THE CLOCK: HOT WARS AND MEDIA POPULISM provides an intellectual's analysis of modern times in a series of essays which originally appeared in the Italian newspapers La Republica and L'Espresso. Slogans and ideas of hot wars and media, progress and racism, changing technology and popular concerns are all analyzed in a lively series of discussions linked to everyday life and media reports, making this a pick not just for the usual college-level collections strong in social issues, but for general interest lending libraries, as well.


The Interior Design Shelf

Art of Decorative Details
Cecil Hayes
Watson-Guptill
770 Broadway, New York NY 100013
0823099741, $29.95 www.watsonguptill.com

Any collection strong in interior design, whether it be for an art library or for a general-interest library catering to homeowners, will relish the colorful ART OF DECORATIVE DETAILS: CREATIVE WAYS TO DESIGN THE HOME OF YOUR DREAMS. It comes from an Afro-American home designer and provides smaller lessons than her first title, focusing on the finer art of detailing and how it can make a big difference in home design qualities. From floors, windows and walls to furniture and fabric, ART OF DECORATIVE DETAILS provides plenty of insights on materials, examples of their application, and color photos to support the lessons.


The Military Shelf

Nightmare on Iwo Jima
Patrick F. Caruso
The University of Alabama Press
PO Box 870380, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0380
9780817354480, $19.95 www.uapress.ua.edu 1-800-621-2736

Now in a new edition with a forward by David G. Rathgeber, Nightmare on Iwo Jima: A Marine in Combat is the true-life memories of author Pat Caruso, who was a green lieutenant in the Marines who rapidly became the company commander when the five officers who ranked above him were killed or wounded in the bloodshed of the Pacific Theater. Unflinchingly honest descriptions of terrible fighting, incredible bravery, and the intense stress of being in constant contact with an implacable enemy characterize Nightmare on Iwo Jima. A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrate this eyewitness account, not for the weak-stomached yet highly recommended.

A Military History of Modern Spain
Wayne H. Bowen and Jose E. Alvarez, editors
Praeger Publishers
c/o Greenwood Publishing Group
88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
9780275993573, $49.95 www.praeger.com

A Military History of Modern Spain: From the Napoleonic Era to the International War on Terror is an anthology of essays by a variety of learned authors that live up to the collection's title. The first chapter discusses the nineteenth century Spanish Army; subsequent chapters discuss the Spanish Military throughout the twentieth century and into the modern-day war on terror, through 2006. Individual essays include "World War I: Unarmed Neutrality", "The Spanish Military During World War II", "Rejoining Europe: From Isolation to Integration, 1945-2006" and much more. Extensively researched, with a bibliography and index, A Military History of Modern Spain is a welcome contribution to international history and college library shelves.

The Greening of the U.S. Military
Robert F. Durant
Georgetown University Press
3240 Prospect Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007
1589011538, $29.95 www.press.georgetown.edu 1-800-246-9606

Defense environmental policy is revealed in an unusual combination of military and environmental history title recommended as a pick for college-level collections strong in either military or environmental history. Here are over 100 interviews and pages of supporting documents, reports, and trade newsletter accounts charting battles both political and military over environmental and resource laws and military interests. Chapters focus on modern efforts to 'green' the military and its processes, and come from a professor of public administration and policy who analyzes security issues and environmental influences on policymaking decisions and processes.

Fubar: Soldier Slang of World War II
Gordon L. Rottman
Osprey Publishing
443 Park Avenue South, New York NY 10016
9781846031755, $15.95 www.ospreypublishing.com

Soldier slang of World War II as colorful and could range from insults to witty sayings: any collection strong in World War II history thus needs FUBAR: SOLDIER SLANG OF WORLD WAR II, a dictionary defining World War II slang from all armed forces sides. From conscripted 'koala' Australian soldiers to identifying a 'Chinese attack', this is loaded with phrases and insights.

Images of Civil War Medicine: A Photographic History
Gordon Dammann, DDS and Alfred Jay Bollet, MD
Demos
386 Park Avenue South, Suite 301, New York NY 10016
9781932603392, $34.95 www.demosmedpub.com

Images taken during the Civil War are presented in a visual encyclopedia concentrating on medical facilities, individual surgeons and Civil War medicine, making it a top pick not only for military libraries and Civil War collections, but for any library covering medical history. From Confederate aspects of Civil War medicine to field hospitals, the role of women in medicine at the time, and the availability and nature of medical supplies, Images of Civil War Medicine: A Photographic History is an excellent visual documentary of the times.

Diary of a Witness, 1940-1943
Raymond-Raoul Lambert
Ivan R. Dee, Publisher
1332 North Halsted Street, Chicago, IL 60622-2694
1566637406, $27.50 www.ivanrdee.com

DIARY OF A WITNESS 1940-43: THE ORDEAL OF THE JEWS OF FRANCE DURING THE HOLOCAUST is one of the most important records of the experience of the Jews of France during the Holocaust, and is a cornerstone 'must' for any collection strong in World War II or Jewish history. It covers three years of the war and presents Lambert's diary, which terminates on the day before his arrest and shipment to Auschwitz, where he and his family died. Entries reveal his efforts protect the Jews of France.

The Warship Mary Rose
David Childs
Chatham Publishing
c/o MBI Publishing
380 Jackson Street Suite 200, Saint Paul MN 55101-3885
9781861762672, $39.95 www.mbipublishing.com

The rising of the Mary Rose in 1982 made headlines and delighted archaeologists - but the Mary Rose holds interest for more than just news hounds or scientists: it held details essential to military buffs, and here her history is revealed in a survey which tells of her construction, famous career, and how she fit into early Tudor politics and events. Written by a Development Director of the Mary Rose Trust and illustrated from the Trust's archives, this is a specialty item highly recommended for any comprehensive world military history library, in particular. Many color illustrations accompany a lively history of King Henry VIII's flagship.


The Metaphysical Studies Shelf

A Wizard's Bestiary
Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and Ash DeKirk
New Page Books
c/o Career Press
3 Tice Road, PO Box 687, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417
9781564149565, $19.99 www.NewPageBooks.com

A Wizard's Bestiary is an amazing, encyclopedia-style reference describing over 1,000 fantastic creatures - far beyond the traditional phoenix, pegasus, unicorn, and dragons to legends such as the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, Chupacabra, and Mokele-Mbembe, to Aataxe, Zyphoeus, and just about every mythological beast in between. Black-and-white woodcuts, engravings, and other images from historical sources illustrate the accessible yet matter-of-fact text, accessible to readers of all backgrounds. A "must-have" for paranormal and magickal bookshelves, as well as anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of fabled creatures.

Lost Lands, Forgotten Realms
Dr. Bob Curran
New Page Books
Box 687, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417
1564149587, $15.99 www.newpagebooks.com

Any new age collection strong in ancient mythology will appreciate LOST LANDS, FORGOTTEN REALMS, a survey of legendary places that turn up in literature. Historian Dr. Bob Curran surveys world literature and famous mythic places from Shangri-La to Lemuria and the Hollow Hills, surveying the historical facts and legends surrounding them. Ian Daniels provides excellent illustrations throughout.

Ashtanga Yoga: Practice & Philosophy
Gregor Maehle
New World Library
14 Pamaron Way, Novato, CA 94949
1577316061, $24.95 www.newworldlibrary.com

ASHTANGA YOGA: PRACTICE AND PHILOSOPHY is the first of its kind covering all eight limbs of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, and comes from a yogi who describes its history, the basic movements, and posture using photos, written instruction and even anatomical illustrations. Details on myth and philosophy accompany insights on techniques and are accented with black and white photos throughout, making for an excellent pick for any new age collection.

Iboga: The Visionary Root of African Shamanism
Vincent Ravalec, Mallendi and Agnes Paicheler
Park Street Press
c/o Inner Traditions
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
1594771766, $18.95 www.parkstpress.com

New age collections strong in visionary plants and African shaman rituals will be intrigued by the very specific discussions of iboga, which has been suppressed by the FDA since the 1960s and which provides the power to break addictions. The followers of the Bwiti religion know well its many attributes, which are surveyed here in an overview of the traditions, techniques and spirituality of African shamans and iboga's use in their world.

The Psychic Life of Abraham Lincoln
Susan B. Martinez, Ph.D.
New Page Books
Box 687, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417
1564149668, $24.99 www.newpagebooks.com

Lincoln saw his death in dreams, consulted oracles, and knew at age 22 that he'd become President of the U.S.: despite the evidence historians have dismissed his psychic involvements. But his rose to power coincided with a rise in interest in spiritualism, and this chronicle of his psychic side, which includes precognitive dreams, trance-like states, and even White House seances, is enhanced by the deathbed memoir of his favorite medium and charts his many clairvoyant incidents and psychic interests. New age libraries will consider it a 'must have' acquisition.

Sacred Symbols of the Dogon
Laird Scranton
Inner Traditions
Box 388, Rochester, VT 05767
1594771340, $18.95 www.innertraditions.com

In THE SCIENCE OF THE DOGON Scranton demonstrated the cosmological structure described in the myths of the Dogon parallels modern science, with illustrations often representing scientific diagrams of today. SACRED SYMBOLS OF THE DOGON continues the exploration for collections interested in early spirituality or Egyptian hieroglyphic language: here the Dogon symbols are revealed in a discussion of ancient Egyptian languages and scientific parallels sure to interest any New Age collection interested in scientific foundations of early Egyptian history.

Riding Into Your Mythic Life
Patricia Broersma
New World Library
14 Pamaron Way, Novato, CA 94949
157731574X, $23.95 www.newworldlibrary.com

Horses are here defined as mythic creatures, and RIDING INTO YOUR MYTHIC LIFE comes from a therapeutic riding instructor who has developed her theories in over twenty years of working with horses and children with special needs, developing horse camps for teens and adults alike. RIDING INTO YOUR MYTHIC LIFE is for horse enthusiasts and therapists alike, and will appeal to any collection strong in new age theory or equestrian interests.

The Temple of High Witchcraft
Christopher Penczak
Llewellyn Publications
2143 Wooddale Drive, Woodbury, MN 55125-2989
9780738711652, $19.95 www.llewellyn.com

The fourth volume in Christopher Penczak's series on witchcraft, TEMPLE OF HIGH WITCHCRAFT: CEREMONIES, SPHERES AND THE WITCHES' QABALAH introduces a focus on ceremonial magick, offering teachers which correspond to the element of air and guide users in basic concepts, history, and skills in a series of overviews, introductions and informal to formal lessons covering symbols, elementals, pathworking and much more. The conclusion is a ritual initiation using witchcraft traditions, making this a top 'must have' pick for any collection strong in Wiccan concepts and practices.


The American History Shelf

Atlas Of African-American History
James Ciment
Facts On File, Inc.
c/o Infobase Publishing
132 West 31st Street, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10001
www.factsonfile.infobasepublishing.com
9780816067138, $85.00 1-800-322-8755

Featuring 31 color and 113 black-and-white photographs, 73 maps, 30 line illustrations and graphs, numerous box features and chronologies, this newly revised and expanded edition of James Ciment's "Atlas Of African-American History" provides highschool and college students with a visually rich volume of history with respect to the experience and contributions of African Americans from their first introduction as slaves in the 16th century down through their emancipation in the mid-19th century, to their accomplishments and difficulties throughout the 20th century. An impressively definitive body of scholarship, "Atlas Of African-American History" should be a fundamental part of every academic and community library American History and Black Studies reference collection.

The History Buff's Guide to the Presidents
Thomas R. Flagel
Cumberland House Publishing
431 Harding Industrial Drive, Nashville, TN 37211
9781581826135, $16.95 www.cumberlandhouse.com

Americans have named all kinds of public places after presidents and these and other facts are compiled in a lively exploration of the controversies and fame surrounding many a U.S. president. Other careers, hobbies, the biggest spenders and pardoners, and relatives alike receive note in a lively format of key people, places and events perfect for any trivia buff or student of presidential history - and many a leisure reader.

Mysterious America
Loren Coleman
Paraview
c/o Pocket Books
1230 Avenue of Americas, New York NY 10020
1416527362, $14.00 www.simonandschuster.com

MYSTERIOUS AMERICA: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO THE NATION'S WEIRDEST WONDERS, STRANGEST SPOTS, AND CREEPIEST CREATURES recommended for both general-interest and American history libraries. It focuses on the unexpected in American history, covering such stuff of legends as the Minnesota Iceman, Lake Champlain monster, phantom panthers in eastern North America, and more. It's a lively, fun read a wide audience will find compelling.

Putting "America" on the Map
Seymour I. Schwartz
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, NY 14228-2197
9781591025139, $29.95 www.prometheusbooks.com

In 1507 a German cartographer working in Saint Die crated a world map for included the newly-discovered Western Hemisphere land masses for the first time, calling them "America' to honor one Amerigo Vespucci, who had been credited with setting foot on South American soil before Columbus. From this error did 'America' become the accepted name of the land mass - amid centuries of controversy since. The map was lost for four centuries before it was discovered in 1901 in a German castle - and finally purchased by the Library of Congress for some, $10 million - and this history of the map brings to life its colorful background in a fine recommendation for any college-level collection strong in world history.

The Billy the Kid Reader
Frederick Nolan
University of Oklahoma Press
2800 Venture Drive, Norman, OK 73069
9780806138497, $29.95 www.oupress.com 1-800-627-7377

There have been numerous books and films devoted to Billy the kid - but he still remains an elusive figure. Here historian Fredrick Nolan provides a synthesis of information surrounding Billy the Kid, offering up some of the best articles - some no longer in print - to provide a well-rounded version of not only the realities and history behind the figure, but how legends evolved around him from fictionalized accounts. An excellent addition for any in-depth American history shelf.

Defending the West
Ibn Warraq
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, NY 14228-2197
9781591024842, $29.95 www.prometheusbooks.com

DEFENDING THE WEST: A CRITIQUE OF EDWARD SAID'S ORIENTALISM is the first in-depth critique of a work that for three decades has received nearly unanimous recommendation and discussion. Said's thesis was that the Western image of the East was biased by colonialist attitudes and racism: this reconsideration offers a powerful rebuttal to college-level audiences, surveying misinterpretations in Said's original survey of scholarly literature and providing college-level collections strong in history and culture with a fine reinterpretation. Collections housing Said's work need this rebuttal.


The Language Studies Shelf

It's Not What You Sign, It's How Your Sign It
Jack Hoza
Gallaudet University Press
800 Florida Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002-3695
9781563683527, $49.95 http://gupress.gallaudet.edu 1-800-621-2736

Written by Jack Hoza (Director of the Sign Language Interpretation Program at the University of New Hampshire, Manchester) It's Not What You Sign, It's How Your Sign It: Politeness In American Sign Language is an analysis of linguistic strategies employed by ASL signers as compared to English speakers, with regard to the social variables of specific contexts. Chapters contrast requests in ASL and English, rejections in ASL and English, the interconnection between fluency and politeness, and much more. A scholarly text ideal for intermediate to advanced linguistic students and scholars, It's Not What You Sign, It's How You Sign It is a welcome contribution to language and communication studies shelves.

Lots Of Languages
Susan A. Worline
Infini Press
1120 Avenue of the Americas, 4th floor, New York, NY 10036
Master Communications (publicity)
4480 Lake Forest Drive, Suite 302, Cincinnati, OH, 45242-3726
9781932457056, $19.95 www.infinipress.com

Holding a Masters Degree in the field of Education, Susan Worline became frustrated and the expense involved with purchasing several language dictionaries, books and CDs in preparation of becoming an English as a second language (ESL) teacher. This frustration resulted in her writing "Lots Of Languages: Phrasebook & Reference". Thoroughly 'user friendly' and featuring a 'Reader's Pronunciation Guide' in plain English, "Lots Of Languages" enables the expression of more than two hundred essential phrases in seventeen different languages. The languages include Arabic, Brazilian, Portuguese, Chinese, Farsi, French, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Hmong, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, and Vietnamese. Just 96-pages, "Lots Of Languages" is specifically recommended as an instructional reference and curriculum supplement for teachers, tutors, and language students. It will also prove to be of immense and practical value for travelers and tourists as well.

Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin
Nicholas Ostler
Walker & Company
175 - 5th Avenue, New York NY 10110
080271515X, $27.95 www.walkerbooks.com

From high school through college-level collections into the public library arena, Nicholas Ostler's AD INFINITUM is a lively history of Latin which traces concurrent developments in the fields of linguistics, politics, world history and more, providing an enthusiastic survey which is far easier reading than the subject would seem to promise. Nicholas Ostler is chairman of the Foundation for Endangered Languages, and charts the appearance and progress of Latin from its roots to its demise.


The Self-Help Shelf

Say Goodbye to Your PDI
Stan Kapuchinski, M. D.
Health Communications, Inc.
3201 S.W. 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442-8190
9780757306150, $14.95 www.hcibooks 1-800-441-5569

Say Goodbye to Your PDI (Personality Disordered Individual): Recognize People Who Make You Miserable and Eliminate Them From You Life Is Good! is a no-nonsense guide to identifying people who are toxic, or beyond toxic - so engrossed in their own needs (which no mortal can satisfy, such as "make me the center of attention at all times"), set in their ways, and oblivious to the needs of others that there is no reasoning with them and nothing positive to be gained from interacting with them. Types of PDIs covered including passive-aggressive "blamers", the histrionic personality disorders characterized by emotional and erratic personalities, the smooth-talking anti-social con men and sociopaths, the unstable borderline personality disorders, and the egotistical narcissistic personality disorders. Peppered cover to cover with true-life examples of destructive individuals and practical advice for minimizing or eliminating contact with them, Say Goodbye to Your PDI is highly recommended.

The Open-Focus Brain
Les Fehmi, Ph.D. and Jim Robbins
Trumpeter Books
c/o Shambhala Publications, Inc.
300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA 02115
9781590303764, $22.95 www.shambhala.com 1-800-733-3000

Neurofeedback pioneer Les Fehmi, Ph.D. and award-winning journalist Jim Robbins present The Open-Focus Brain: Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body, a straightforward guide to reducing stress, enhancing performance, and even helping to manage pain through simple mental exercises anyone can do. Too many of us have become overly invested in "narrow-focus attention", the tense, survival-mode of laser-like focus and hypervigilance that promotes chronic stress if overused. "Open focus" is a much more relaxed and less taxing form of paying attention. Knowing when to apply the different types of attention is crucian to improving health and enjoying life more. Because of its practical "how-to" methodology and easy-to-follow recommendations, The Open-Focus Brain is highly recommended for readers of all walks of life, from college students to businessmen to busy parents.

The New Science of Getting Rich
Wallace D. Wattles
Atria Books
1230 Avenue of Americas, New York NY 10020
1582701881, $11.95 www.simonsays.com

Becoming rich involves more than talent or chance: it comes as a result of doing things in a specific manner - a natural law, called The Law of Attraction, which has been discussed in other books. THE SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH was written around this idea nearly a hundred years ago: this NEW SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH has been updated for modern times to include both the original text and a revision for the 21st century. It deserves ongoing recommendation for any collection strong in self-help, business or spirituality.

Facing the Lion, Being the Lion
Mark Nepo
Conari Press
65 Parker Street Suite 7, Newburyport, MA 01950
1573243159, $17.95 www.redwheelweiser.com

FACING THE LION, BEING THE LION: FINDING INNER COURAGE WHERE IT LIVES comes from a poet and teacher who offers many examples of courage and surveys some of the crushing effects of life and how to overcome them. From first-person experiences and lessons learned from other philosophers and teachers to historical references and case histories, FACING THE LION, BEING THE LION is packed with insights.


The Judaic Studies Shelf

Disguised as Clark Kent
Danny Fingeroth
Continuum
80 Maiden Lane, New York NY 10038
9780826417671, $24.95 www.continuum-books.com

DISGUISED AS CLARK KENT: JEWS, COMICS, AND THE CREATION OF THE SUPERHERO comes from a comics industry veteran who explores the backgrounds of famous superheroes and their creators - who, as it turns out, were largely young American Jewish men from Eastern European backgrounds. The focus on the hero icon in history, Jewish history and culture, and the comics industry as a whole thus makes for a strong recommendation not just for Judaic studies collections, but for any collection strong in either comics or cultural icons and analysis.


The Martial Arts Shelf

The Martial Arts of Ancient Greece
Kostas Dervenis and Nektarios Lykiardopoulos
Destiny Books
1 Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
9781594771927, $19.95 www.destinybooks.com

Any in-depth collection strong in martial arts history needs The Martial Arts of Ancient Greece: a survey of early hand-to-hand combat and a comparison to how they are practiced today. Artifacts depict these scenes in a step-by-step series of motifs capturing position and method: step-by-step photos of modern practitioners accompany these early depictions allowing for a rare cross-comparison of methods and history.


The Needlecraft Shelf

Soft + Simple Knits For Little Ones
Heidi Boyd
North Light Books
c/o F&W Publications, Inc.
700 East State Street, Iola, WI 54990
9781581809657, $19.99 www.fwpublications.com 1-800-726-9966

Featuring more than forty-five delightful and easy-to-make knitted garments for preschool children, "Soft + Simple Knits For Little Ones" by needlecraft and knitting expert Heidi Boyd is an impressive compilation of superbly illustrated instructions and patterns ranging from a Peek-a-Boo Bear Stroller Blanket, to a Fuzzy Bolero Sweater, to an Animal Applique Tote. Enhanced with sage and practical advice on choosing the right yarn, to assembling the required tools, to learn knitting basics, "Soft + Simple Knits For Little Ones" is thoroughly 'user friendly' and an especially ideal reference for beginning needlecrafters wanting to knit a very special garment for a very special little person!

Son Of Stitch 'N Bitch
Debbie Stoller
Workman Publishing Company
708 Broadway, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10003-9555
9780761146179, $15.95 www.workman.com 1-800-722-7202

Compiled and organized by needlecraft expert Debbie Stoller, "Son Of Stitch 'N Bitch: 45 Projects To Knit & Crochet For Men" provides 'guy-vetted and approved' make-it-yourself knitting and crochet projects that were either designed by male knitters or by women using men as design partners. here is a compendium of forty-five projects ranging from sweaters, scarves, and socks, to mittens, vests, and accessories. Profusely illustrated with color photography, the step-by-step instructions are thoroughly 'user friendly' and will result in needlecrafted garments that will prove especially ideal for those very special gift giving occasions. Of special note is the advice provided on such dangerous questions as 'what's your favorite color', getting size information without giving away your intent, not including a guy in the process of yarn or other material selections, and avoiding 'the curse of the boyfriend sweater'. "Son Of Stitch 'N Bitch" is an ideal and unique selection to add to personal Needlecraft reference collections.

A Maryland Sampling
Gloria Seaman Allen
Maryland Historical Society
201 West Monument Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-4674
Alan C. Hood & Company (distributor)
PO Box 775, Chambersburg, PA 17201
0938420984, $75.00 www.hoodbooks.com 1-888-844-9433

A former curator and then director of the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum in Washington, D.C., Gloria Seaman Allen brings to bear her considerable years of experience and expertise in "A Maryland Sampling: Girlhood Embroidery 1738-1860". A beautifully illustrated history of Maryland samplers and pictorial embroideries that were the instructed obligation of young girls who were thereby able to showcase their needlecraft skills and abilities. Now these samplers are highly prized among collectors and antiques dealers. Allen focuses specifically on Maryland and how needlework traditions from its 18th and early 19th century English, German, and French settlers were carried on down through the end of the American Civil War. A truly seminal work of painstaking scholarship, "A Maryland Sampling" is especially recommended as an addition to academic library American Cultural History reference collections, and to the attention of needlecrafters, as well as Americana collectors and dealer.

The Quilter's Workbook
Editorial Staff
Landauer Corporation
3100 NW 101st Street, Suite A, Urbandale, IA 50322
9780979371103, $26.00 www.landauercorp.com 1-800-557-2144

Enhanced with a refillable 3-ring binding, "The Quilter's Workbook" was created by the editors at Landauer to be the perfect organizer for dedicated quilters. Featured are quilt reference cards; tabbed dividers for easy reference; a total of 48 pages of lined paper for quilting notes; 32 pages of graph paper for quilting designs; 6 top loading poly-vinyl pouches for organizing quilting materials; and 4 plastic zipper pouches for storage. "The Quilter's Workbook" features include: Fabric Know-How (including preparing fabrics for quilting); The Color Wheel; Rotary Cutting Basics; Piecing Blocks (both patchwork and hand piecing); Learning Applique Basics (including both machine and hand appliques); Assembling a Quilt Top (straight-set, diagonal set, and borders); Finishing the Quilt; a Quick-Pieced Block Gallery; and a Hand or Machine Appliqued Block Gallery. The addition of a glossary, an index, and a resources list make "The Quilter's Workbook" a perfect addition to personal and professional Needlecraft collections.

Just for the Frill of It
Sonya Nimri
Watson-Guptill Publications
770 Broadway, New York NY 10003
0823099970, $12.95 www.watsonguptill.com

Most clothes become outdated, too small, or too worn to keep - but don't send the lot to Goodwill just yet; not with Sonya Nimri's book in hand. JUST FOR THE FRILL OF IT offers up a host of renovation ideas for transforming clothing and is especially recommended for any handy with a needle and thread. Simple sewing, gluing and embellishing can turn an outdated old garment into a fine and eye-catching new work, and JUST FOR THE FRILL OF IT covers all the options. Step-by-step projects guide on how to achieve professional-quality renovations in a pick recommended for any library strong in needlework titles.

Super Stitches Knitting
Karen Remingway
Watson-Guptill Publications
770 Broadway, New York NY 10003
0823099571, $19.95 www.watsonguptill.com

Beginning knitters and public library lending collections catering to them will welcome Super Stitches Knitting, a how-to guide and stitch directory which features handy lay-flat binding for easy use, tips on how to choose needles and yarn, diagrams and instructions for all the basics, and plenty of color photos. Diagrams fully explain each knitting application, making this a top pick for any newcomer.

Cool Crocheted Hats
Linda Kopp
Lark Books
c/o Sterling Publishing Company
387 Park Avenue, New York NY 10016
157990839X, $24.95 www.larkbooks.com

Crocheters who are looking for new projects and variations on old themes will welcome the colorful, contemporary project ideabook that is COOL CROCHETED HATS. It offers a range of stylish hats in a fine new collection with a seasonal focus, taking adventure of new types of yarn and modern styles to promote a series of projects quite different from yesteryear's crochet ideas. Any needlework collection strong in crochet projects will find this a popular pick.

Martingale & Company
20205 - 144th Avenue NE, Woodinville, WA 98072-9478
www.martingale-pub.com

Jeanne Figueroa and Lisa Quan's FIG TREE QUILTS: HOUSES (9781564777409, $27.95) comes from the design team behind Fig Tree Quilts and packs in a gathering of house-themed designs: some 14 projects which display both pieced and appliqued houses. Full-page patterns accompany color photos and easy designs beginners will find accessible and fun. Laurie Bevan's LICKETY-SPLIT QUILTS FOR LITTLE ONES (9781564777218, $24.95) offers fifteen large, beginner-friendly quilts for kids which use butterfly, duck, star and other quilt-block motifs. These are very easy projects and lend to both baby's bed and improving basic quilter skills. Joe Hesch and Frankie Seme's POSTERIZE IT! (9781564777454, $19.95) tells how to make a small photo into a large, poster-size reproduction, how to print it in sections, and sew the sections back together. Five projects require little more than the 'posterizing' features already present on an inkjet printer, and printable fabric. Julie Popa's YOUNG AT HEART QUILTS (9781564776815, $24.95) offers up fifteen designs to add zip to modern decor with new twists on easily-stitched quilts. Bold colors make for a fine blend of simple patchwork and raw-edge applique in an excellent creative presentation. Mary Hickey's COMFORT AND JOY: 14 QUILTS FOR CHRISTMAS (9781564777638, $27.95) offers up pieced and appliqued projects featuring angels, snowmen, and stars. There are lap quilt, table runners and more in this holiday collection, which features traditional designs and lovely seasonal presentations. Debby Ware's BERETS, BEANIES, AND BOOTIES (9781564778307, $12.95) is a slim, easy beginner's guide to knitting fun designs for a baby. The simplest, easiest knitting stitches are presented in four easy patterns featuring cute little hats, booties and clothes for baby gifts. All these will make wonderful library additions promising ready lending to collections specializing in needlework books. And for the walls comes several fine wall calendars: QUILT CALENDAR 2008 (9781564778093, $16.95) provides a dozen fun quilts and step-by-step patterns in a fine wall calendar profiling bed quilts, lap quilts and table quilts from recent That patchwork Place books - plus full-color pullout instruction booklets for reproducing them. AWARD-WINNING QUILTS 2008 CALENDAR (9781564778116, $12.95) features 12 months of full-color quilts from the International Quilt Association. Excellent gift-giving choices for avid quilters.


The Music Shelf

The Magnificent Guitar of Jorge Morel
John McClellan & Deyan Bratic
Mel Bay Publications
PO Box 66, Pacific, MO 63069
9780786677245, $29.95 www.melbay.com 1-800-863-5229

Jorge Morel is a gifted Argentinean guitarist and "The Magnificent Guitar of Jorge Morel: A Life Of Music" combines biographical elements, anecdotal commentaries, and examples of sheet music that combine to tell the personal story of a truly legendary musician who composed and performed through good times and bad. Twenty-one of Maestro Morel's greatest compositions and arrangements (nine of which appear here for the first time) make "The Magnificent Guitar of Jorge Morel" a definitive work by co-authors John McClellan (one of America's premier guitarists, educators, and writers) and Deyan Bratic (who is in his own right an accomplished guitarist) that can be confidently and enthusiastically recommended for personal, professional, academic, and community library reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

Miles Davis, Miles Smiles, and the Invention of Post Bop
Jeremy Yudkin
Indiana University Press
601 N. Morton Street, Bloomington, IN 47404
9780253219527, $19.95 http://iupress.indiana.edu 1-800-842-6796

Written by music professor Jeremy Yudkin, Miles Davis, Miles Smiles, and the Invention of Post Bop is a thoughtful exploration of jazz sensation Miles Davis' contribution to music of the mid-1960s, with an especial focus upon the evolution of the new style of "post bop". From the story of trumpeter Davis' life and creative works, to his confrontation of both personal and musical problems, to his legacy for future generations, Miles Davis, Miles Smiles and the Invention of Post Bop leaves no stone unturned. Occasional passages of musical notation intersperse this thoughtful commentary, rounded out by extensive notes. Highly recommended especially for American music history and college music studies shelves.


The Nautical Shelf

Celestial Navigation in the GPS Age
John Karl
Paradise Cay Publications
PO Box 29, Arcata, CA 95518-0029
9780939837755, $24.95 www.paracay.com 1-800-736-4509

Written by physicist, pilot, sailor, and fifty-year veteran of celestial navigation John Karl, Celestial Navigation in the GPS Age is a practical guide to the skill and science of celestial navigation for offshore navigators. Compact without being abridged, Celestial Navigation in the GPS Age is tailor-written for the modern era of computers, calculators, and online resources. Though the traditional methods of "working a sight" is covered, the meat of Celestial Navigation in the GPS Age carefully instructs the reader in the use of a simple and inexpensive scientific calculator. From the basics of coordinates, to sun sight reductions and lunar distance sights, to sextant adjustments and altitude corrections, and an exhaustive wealth of appendices, Celestial Navigation in the GPS Age is an absolute "must-have" for offshore navigators and a readily accessible self-teaching tool.

Lessons From My Good Old Boat
Donald Launer
Sheridan House Inc.
145 Palisade Street, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
9781574092509, $23.95 www.sheridanhouse.com 1-888-743-7425

Author Donald Launer, who has held a U.S. Coast Guard license for over 25 years and served as a contributing editor to "Good Old Boat" magazine, pens his nautical wisdom and experience in Lessons From My Good Old Boat. A solid all-around primer to the art of sailing, Good Old Boat covers everything from sails and rigging to navigation, the hull, the cabin, sailing life and culture, to issues of winter storage. Black-and-white photographs and diagrams add a strong visual aid to this handy and user-friendly guide, enthusiastically recommended for aspiring sailors everywhere.


The Fashion Shelf

Dressed To Rule
John E. Vollmer
University of Alberta Press
Ring House 2, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2E1
9781551952147, $29.95 www.uap.ualberta.ca

Among its aristocracy, Chinese clothing is an art form distinctively traceable down through the centuries. In Dressed To Rule: 18th Century Court Attire In The Mactaggart Art Collection, John E. Vollmer (an internationally known curator and well regarded scholar in Asian art, textiles, costumes, decorative arts and design) focuses upon Chinese court dress dating from the Quin dynasty (1644-1911) back through the 13th century Jin dynasty. The examples are taken from the renowned Mactaggart Art Collection housed at the University of Alberta. Enhanced with more than fifty color photographs showcasing the garments provided as examples, period portraits, and details from a rare hand scroll illustrating the Chinese emperor's tour of cities along the Grand Canal, "Dressed To Rule" provides interested readers with an informed and informative overview of the importance, relevance, and utilization of clothing to represent imperial status, prestige, and position. A seminal contribution, "Dressed To Rule" is a strongly recommended addition to personal, professional, and academic library Chinese Culture, Chinese History, and Textile History reference collections and supplemental reading lists.


The Hunting/Fishing Shelf

The Pocket Deer Hunting Guide
Steve Carpenteri
Stoeger Publishing
17603 Indian Head Highway, Suite 200, Accokeek, MD 20607-2501
9780883173312, $7.95 www.stoegerpublishing.com

In "The Pocket Deer Hunting Guide: Successful Hunting With A Rifle Or Shotgun", author and avid deer hunter Steve Carpenteri draws upon his more than forty years of experience and expertise to create an invaluable, practical, and thoroughly 'user friendly' reference guide that is ideal for the novice and of significant utility for even the experienced hunter. A concise 168-page pocket-sized instructional reference book, "The Pocket Deer Hunting Guide" is packed from cover to cover with useful information and facts that every deer hunter needs -- but might not recall when actually in the field and in mid-hunt. Step-by-step information about hunting the most popular big game animal, this is a guide that covers all the essentials for a successful and enjoyable hunt. Whether going into the field on a first hunt, or continuing a generational hunting experience, "The Pocket Deer Hunting Guide" is as an informed and informative, superbly organized and enthusiastically recommended precursor and accompaniment.


The Agricultural Studies Shelf

Breeding Major Food Staples
Manit S. Kang & P.M. Priyadarshan, editors
Blackwell Publishing
c/o Wiley-Blackwell
350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148
9780813818351, $169.99 www.blackwellpublishing.com 1-800-216-2522

The collaborative work of Manit S. Kang (Vice Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University) & P.M. Priyadarshan (a plant breeder at the Rubber Research Institute of India), "Breeding Major Food Staples" is comprised of a number of informed and informative essays by agricultural scholars and researchers offering state-of-the-art technical information on improving yield and quality of key crops through combining traditional and cutting-edge plant breeding techniques. "Breeding Major Food Staples" is organized into three major sections. The first section provides basic information applicable to all crops. The second section focuses upon cereal and oil/protein crops. The third section addresses carbohydrate suppliers in the form of root crops and the banana. Of special note are the individual chapters 'Crop Breeding Methodologies: Classic and Modern'; 'Soybean Breeding Achievements and Challenges'; and 'Breeding Potato as a Major Staple Crop'. An impressive body of scholarship, "Breeding Major Food Staples" should be considered a fundamental cornerstone acquisition for all academic library Agriculture Studies reference collections.


The Crafts Shelf

Period Ship Modelmaking
Philip Reed
Naval Institute Press
291 Wood Road, Annapolis, MD 21402
9781591146759, $42.95 www.navalinstitute.org 1-800-233-8764

Making ship models has been a popular pastime as old as the history of sailing. "Period Ship Modelmaking: An Illustrated Masterclass" by award-winning and professional modelmaker Philip Reed is a beautifully illustrated and instructive introduction into building early to mid-19th century full masted sailing vessels. Of special note are the chapters dedicated to "The Masterclass" and "The Model Gallery". Enhanced with a chapter of "Materials and Tools" and a thematically appropriate bibliography of suggested reading, Informed and informative, "Period Ship Modelmaking" is an ideal addition to personal and community library instructional and informational reference collections for aspiring and practicing model ship builders and hobbyists..

Seed Beat Stitching
Beth Stone
Kalmbach Publishing Company
21027 Crossroads Circle, Waukesha, WI 53186
9780871162526, $19.95 www.kalmbachbooks.com 1-800-533-6644

"Seed Bead Stitching: Creative Variations On Traditional Techniques" by needlecraft and beadcraft expert Beth Stone offers aspiring beaders with easy-to-follow, superbly illustrated, step-by-step, do-it-yourself instructions through the process of creating stylish jewelry with seed beads. Readers will learn how to make distinctive and unique jewelry pieces (including necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and rings) using the peyote stitch, the brick stitch, the right-angle wave, the spiral rope, the St. Petersburg chain, and more. Informed, informative, and thoroughly 'user friendly', "Seed Beat Stitching" is an enthusiastically recommended addition to personal and community library instructional reference collections.


The Automotive Shelf

Hot Rod Roots
Dain Gingerelli, editor
Motorbooks
c/o MBI Publishing Company
380 Jackson Street, Suite 200, St. Paul, MN 55101-3885
9780760328187, $34.95 www.mbipublishing.com 1-800-458-0454

Deftly edited by Dain Ginerelli, "Hot Rod Roots: A Tribute To The Pioneers" is profusely illustrated with images selected from the more than 20 photographs and thousands of hours of videotaped interviews with the people and cars that broke records on drag strips and in dry lake beds with their ingeniously adapted motor vehicles that transformed discarded car bodies, flatheads, and four-bangers into the American automotive phenomena that would become universally recognized as the 'hot rod'. Comprised of informed and informative essays by seven experts, "Hot Rod Roots" covers such diverse issues as hot rodding and World War II, belly tanks and other speed related changes, track roadster racing, and drag racing, the spreading popularity of hot rods through magazines and car shows. Of special note are A. B. Shuman's essay 'From Out of the East' and Mark A. Morton's 'Hot Rod Heritage'. Simply stated, "Hot Rod Roots" is a 'must read' for anyone who has every owned, worked on, ridden in, or spent their youth admiring the great American hot rod!


The Railroading Shelf

North American Railroad Bridges
Brian Solomon
Voyageur Press
380 Jackson Street, Suite 200, St. Paul, MN 55101
9780760325278, $36.95 www.mbipublishing.com 1-800-458-0454

Superbly illustrated throughout with color photography, "North American Railroad Bridges" by railroad historian Brian Solomon focuses upon railroad bridges and trestles that have been a feature (and often a quite dramatic feature) of the American landscape for the past century. Each particular bridge, whether traversing rivers or roadways, creeks or canyons, were individually engineered for a particular terrain and were of varied construction methodologies including trussells, trestles, viaducts (both stone and steel), suspension, and even with movable spans. The informed and informative text is highlighted with landmark patent drawings, period postcards, as well as modern photography by some of today's best rail photographers. The result is a wealth of information and a book that can be confidently recommended for community libraries in general, and railroad buffs in particular!


The Real Estate Shelf

Buying a House on a Shoestring
Piper Nichole
Career Press Inc.
PO Box 687, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417
9781564149398, $14.99 www.careerpress.com 1-800-227-3371

Buying a House on a Shoestring: Find and Purchase the Home of Your Dreams Without Breaking the Bank lives up to its title and then some. Award-winning journalism writer with real estate training Piper Nichole walks the reader through the home-buying process step by step, from how to assess one's finances to improving and understanding one's credit to smart house-hunting, making the offer, selecting the best mortgage, being mindful of one's legal rights, and much more. An equally methodical, easy-to-follow home-selling guide round out this solid primer that takes the mystery out of the work needed to secure one's dream dwelling.


The Money/Finance Shelf

The Credit Repair Handbook
John Ventura
Kaplan Publishing
1 Liberty Plaza, 24th floor, New York, NY 10006
9781427755025, $19.95 www.kaplanpublishing.com 1-800-223-2336

The ability to borrow money at reasonable rates of interest is a critically important aspect of personal finance and fiscal well-being. Millions of people, ever year, find themselves blocked from pursuing their personal financial goals because of a bad credit history resulting in low credit scores. This can handicap them in many unexpected ways including being denied a job or being turned down for insurance. A bad credit record occur through the non-payment of debt, but also from such unforeseen circumstances as being the victim of an identity theft, divorce, medical bills, and job loss. A bankruptcy attorney and Director of the Texas Consumer Complain Center at the University of Houston Law School, John Ventura writes with a very special expertise as he offers the reader germane and accessible information and advice for understanding what a credit history is and how it affects people; how to correct problems in a credit history; how to qualify for new credit after experiencing severe financial difficulty; how to raise a credit score; the imperative necessity of avoiding credit-repair scams; as well as how to protect against identity theft and minimize its effect. Of special note is what Ventura has to advise about avoiding future money trouble. Practical, 'user friendly', comprehensive, and immediately applicable, "The Credit Repair Handbook" should be considered a critically important instructional reference for anyone having difficulty with their own credit history -- and a fundamentally necessary addition to all community library Money & Finance reference collections.


The Buddhist Studies Shelf

Mapping the Dharma
Paul Gerhards
Parami Press
13023 NE Hwy 99, Ste. 7, #193, Vancouver, WA 98686-2767
9780977977406, $15.95 www.paramipress.com

Mapping the Dharma: A Concise Guide to the Middle Way of the Buddha is an easy-to-use atlas of nearly one hundred key concepts of Buddhism. Accessible to Buddhist practitioners and curious lay readers alike, Mapping the Dharma offers straightforward explanations of concepts such as "The Eightfold Path", "The Ten Perfections", "The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination", and much more. Simple diagrams and page cross-references further enhance the ease with which Mapping the Dharma can quickly be internalized. An invaluable "Cliff's Notes"-style primer enthusiastically recommended for novice students, scholars, and practitioners of the Middle Way.

Introduction To Tibetan Buddhism
John Powers
Snow Lion Publications
PO Box 6483, Ithaca, NY 14851
9781559392822, $22.95 www.SnowLionPub.com 1-800-950-0313

Now in a newly revised and expanded edition, "Introduction To Tibetan Buddhism" by John Powers is a comprehensive and informative introduction that covers a wide range of topics including Tibetan Buddhist history, doctines, meditation practices, schools, religious festivals, and major historical figures. Of special not in this revised edition are the expanded discussions of recent Tibetan history and tanta, and significant new publications in the field. Articulate, superbly organized and presented, "Introduction To Tibetan Buddhism" is thoroughly 'reader friendly' and an excellent, highly recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library Buddhist Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.


The Islamic Studies Shelf

The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, author
William C. Chittick, editor
World Wisdom
1501 East Hillside Drive, Bloomington, IN 47401
9781933316383, $24.95 www.worldwisdom.com

The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr is a carefully selected anthology of scholarly writings key to understanding the philosophy Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a leading world-wide spokesman for moderate Islam. Embracing the value of traditional belief practices while keeping an open albeit critical mind with regard to modern developments, Nasr writes about the dilemma of keeping one's faith in a multi-religious world, philosophical and spiritual aspects of Islam, and the valuable role tradition has played since the beginning of human consciousness. "Along with providing a sound basis for ethics, perhaps the most important role of religion in the understanding of the roots of the environmental crisis... is that religion possesses an extensive doctrine about the natural world in which we live." Highly recommended as an invaluable contribution to Islamic studies and religious philosophy shelves.


The Architecture Shelf

Architecture Of The Absurd
John Silber
The Quantuck Lane Press
c/o W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
9781593720278, $27.50 www.wwnorton.com 1-800-233-4830

"Architecture Of The Absurd: How 'Genius' Disfigured A Practical Art" by academician John Silber (who was named an honorary member of the American Institute of Architecture in 2002) is an expose of how some very well known architects disregarded or had disdain for their clients, their budgets, and the people who would have to live and/or work within their architectural creations. By 'absurd' as applied to architecture, Silber means buildings designed in a blatant disregard for the needs of the building and is to be found in structures ranging from student centers and music halls, to corporate headquarters and commercial buildings, to libraries and museums. Profusely illustrated with color photography, Silber's informed and informative text draws upon his personal experience and expertise gained as a builder, a client, and a candid critique of contemporary architecture. Thoughtful and thought-provoking, "Architecture Of The Absured" is a work of seminal and compelling scholarship that should be a part of every personal, professional, academic, and community library Architectural Studies reference collection and contemporary architecture supplemental reading list.


The Judicial Studies Shelf

Powers Of Attorney Simplified
Daniel Sitarz
Nova Publishing Company
1103 West College Street, Carbondale, IL 62901
National Book Network (distributor)
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Lanham, MD 20706
9781892949400, $24.95 www.novapublishing.com

On the faculty of Southern Illinois university in Carbondale, Illinois, Danial Sitarz is an experienced business attorney and has authored more than two dozen legal and small business books. He therefore brings considerable expertise to the latest addition to the Nova Publishing Company's 'Law Made Simple' series in "Powers Of Attorney Simplified" in which he provides the non-specialized general reader with a comprehensive guide to the use of powers of attorney and the legal forms (valid in all fifty states and Washington D.C.) associated with them. The legal authorities including: Limited Power of Attorney; Durable Power of Attorney; health Care power of Attorney; general Power of Attorney; Unlimited power of Attorney; Advance Health Care Directives, and more. The forms are on an accompanying CD and can be easily filled in and printed out on any home or office computer. Thoroughly 'user friendly' from beginning to end, "Powers Of Attorney Simplified" is a confidently recommended addition to personal and community library reference collections.


The Economics Shelf

The New Service Economy
Luis Rubalcaba
Edward Elgar Publishing
9 Dewey Court, Northampton, MA 01060-3815
9781845425852, $135.00 www.e-elgar.com 1-800-390-3149

Written by Luis Rubalcaba (Associate Professor of Economic Policy, University of Alcal, Madrid, Spain), The New Service Economy: Challenges and Policy Implications for Europe is a serious-minded assessment of the modern challenges involved in the new global economy, including dynamic changes in employment, productivity, innovation, and competitiveness. Especial focus is placed upon the case of European services, as compared and contrasted to America. Chapters discuss the historical and anthropological origin of the service economy, the globalization of services and offshoring, policy implications for the European Union, and much more. "Increased innovation and productivity are needed in order to meet the new competitive requirements arising out of globalization. Services have been, and still are, active agents of globalization, although they themselves face the challenges of competitiveness. Services are starting to copy the relocation trends that have characterized manufacturing industry for the past thirty years. Services-offshoring is emerging strongly, although the statistics might lead us to think that it is not a very significant and generalized phenomenon." Supported by extensive scientific research, graphs, and notes, The New Service Economy is an utterly indispensable addition to college and graduate-level economic studies shelves, rife with insights into the rapidly changing modern world and the resulting implications especially for Europe.


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Diane C. Donovan, Editor
Midwest Book Review
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Oregon, WI 53575-1129
phone: 1-608-835-7937
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