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Internet Bookwatch

Volume 19, Number 1 January 2009 Home | IBW Index

Table of Contents

Reviewer's Choice Antiques/Collectibles Shelf Art Shelf
Architecture Shelf Comix/Graphic Novel Shelf Cookbook Shelf
Military Shelf Native American Shelf American History Shelf
Black Studies Shelf Social Issues Shelf Pets/Wildlife Shelf
World History Shelf Photography Shelf Needlecraft Shelf
Audiobook Shelf Metaphysical Studies Shelf Self-Help Shelf
Business Shelf Economics Shelf Biography Shelf
Travel Shelf Computer Shelf Health/Medicine Shelf
Nautical Shelf Writing/Publishing Shelf Science Shelf
Calendar Shelf Hobby Shelf Theatre/Cinema/TV Shelf
Fiction Shelf Political Science Shelf Literary Shelf
Education Shelf Christian Studies Shelf Parenting Shelf
Judaic Studies Shelf Sports Shelf Library Science Shelf
Religion/Spirituality Shelf Human Sexuality Shelf Philosophy Shelf
Poetry Shelf Gaming Shelf Environmental Studies Shelf
Library DVD Shelf Library CD Music Shelf International Studies Shelf
Psychology Shelf Women's Studies Shelf Dance Shelf
Money/Finance Shelf Jobs/Careers Shelf Mystery/Suspense Shelf
Gardening Shelf Criminology Shelf  


Reviewer's Choice

This Water Goes North
Dennis Weidemann
Manitenahk Books
2633 Granite Road, Fitchburg, WI 53711
9780979685200, $21.95, www.thiswatergoesnorth.com

Few people have the gall to drop everything in the name of adventure. "This Water Goes North" is the story of a group of friends who dared to travel well over a thousand miles in nothing more than beat up boats and their wits. From Iowa to the Hudson bay, the story reads like an adventure novel, but is a true-life story, which makes it all the more intriguing, and may inspire readers to take a few risks themselves in the name of adventure. "The Water Goes North" is very much recommended, enthralling reading.

A Fair Chance in the Race of Life
Brian H. Greenwald and John Vickrey Van Cleve, editors
Gallaudet University Press
800 Florida Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002-3695
9781563683954, $34.95 http://gupress.gallaudet.edu 1-800-621-2736

Edited by historians Brian H. Greenwald and John Vickrey Van Cleve, A Fair Chance in the Race of Life: The Role of Gallaudet University in Deaf History is an anthology of essays by learned authors scrutinizing the 150+ year history of Gallaudet University, a singularly prominent institution of deaf culture and learning. Individual essays include "The Women of Kendall Green: Coeducation at Gallaudet 1860-1910", "The Struggle to Educate Black Deaf Schoolchildren in Washington, D.C.", "A Fair Chance in the Race of Life: Thoughts on the 150th Anniversary of the Founding of the Columbia Institution", and many more. A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrate this amazing look at Gallaudet's contributions to history, as well as the turbulence of cultural and equality issues that affected him as surely as the rest of the nation. Especially recommended reading for anyone intrigued by the history and evolution of deaf culture.

Pecans
Jane Manaster
Texas Tech University Press
PO Box 41037, Lubbock, TX 79409-1037
9780896726406, $19.95, www.ttup.ttu.edu

Pecans are an American treat and one of the sweetest nuts one will find. "Pecans: The Story in a Nutshell" traces the story of this wonderful nut from its earliest uses by the native Americans to the modern day pecan pies, pecan rolls, and just plain pecans. Describing everything form the plant itself, how the animal and plant kingdoms make use of the tree, and how the pecan tree came to be so widely grown. Enhanced with many pecan-based recipes, "Pecans: The Story in a Nutshell" is a must for anyone who has wondered about these sweet nuts.

Hunting the American West
Richard Rattenbury
Boone and Crockett Club
250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801
9780940864603, $49.95 www.booneandcrockettclub.com

This illustrated history of big-game hunting in the 19th century West pairs a fine narrative using writings of original participants with insights on early sport hunting techniques used among different peoples in the West. From evolving equipment and technology to both solitary hunters and group efforts, HUNTING THE AMERICAN WEST is a fine survey packed with vintage photos and perfect for any library strong in hunting history and sport.

Blunder
Zachary Shore
Bloomsbury USA
175 - 5th Avenue, New York NY 10010
1596912421, $25.00 www.bloomsburyusa.com

BLUNDER: WHY SMART PEOPLE MAKE BAD DECISIONS examines the social, political, and psychological history of bad decision-making, considering how mistakes can both teach and hinder progress. Blunders can have a large impact but rigid thinking can lead to self-defeating processes. Chapters consider these thought patterns and provides important insights perfect for any general-interest lending library.

The Complete Guide to Robert's Rules of Order Made Easy
Rita Cook
Atlantic Publishing Company
1405 SW 6th Avenue, Ocala, FL 34474-7014
9781601382597, $19.95 www.atlantic-pub.com

Robert's Rules of Order is an established code used in political meetings and was adopted as a parliamentary method in the U.S. with most clubs and governments participating. This outlines the traditional rules for quorums, amendments, and debates and can be easily used for conferences, meetings, and seminars, considering how to use the Rules in conjunction with new technology and online environments for maximum effect. An essential key for any business looking for 21st century strategies.

Diners, Drive-Ins, Dives: An All-American Road Trip
Guy Fieri with Ann Volkwein
William Morrow
10 East 53rd Street, New York NY 10022
9780061724886, $19.95 www.harpercollins.com

Part lively travelogue and part cookbook, Guy Fieri's culinary history celebrates America's most colorful diners and dives - and accompanies his popular TV show. Recipes blend with black and white photos and memorabilia for a survey packed with fun stories and fine dishes, bringing the Food Network star's experiences and colorful observations to life. Any general lending collection strong in American culture and culinary history needs this.

The Best of Instructables V. 1
Make Magazine Editors
O'Reilly
1005 Gravenstein Hwy North, Sebastopol, CA 95472
9780596519520, $34.99 www.oreilly.com

Learn how to paint with electronic graffiti, create science fiction costumes, and put together bento box lunches through a series of projects from the popular DIY website. The Instructables community includes over 350,000 makers around the world who here share their step-by-step popular project instructions. Articles offer tips on how to make the most of technical projects, are accompanied by color photos and artist comments, and make for a powerful set of fine DIY projects - over 120. Very highly recommended for any general-interest library.

Deadly Decisions
Christopher Burns
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, NY 14228-2197
9781591026600, $26.98 www.prometheusbooks.com

DEADLY DECISIONS: HOW FALSE KNOWLEDGE SANK THE TITANIC, BLEW UP THE SHUTTLE, AND LED AMERICA INTO WAR comes from an author seasoned on information management technology and tells of how group behavior, brain biology and the search for 'virtual truth' collaborate to provide evidence and assumptions about reality which prove dead wrong. Blending history with issues of critical thinking and technology assessment, DEADLY DECISIONS is a top pick for any college-level collection strong in history, social science or psychology.


The Antiques/Collectibles Shelf

A Passion for Sea Glass
C.S. Lambert
Down East Books
PO Box 679, Camden, ME 04843
978892727071, $30.00 www.downeastbooks.com, 1-800-685-7962

Amy A. Wilton provides the stunning photos for A PASSION FOR SEA GLASS, a survey of major sea glass collectors and the workshops of artisans who use the glass to provide everything from sea-glass windows to mosaics, ornaments and more. It compliments Lambert's 2001 coverage SEA GLASS CHRONICLES, which covered collection and identification of such glass, and adds a new dimension of usage and conversion making this a fine guide for any art or photography collection.

Matchbox Toys 1947-2007: 5th Edition
Dana Johnson
Collector Books
Box 3009, Paducah, KY 42002-3009
9781574325881, $29.95 www.collectorbooks.com

Any library strong in toy collecting guides will find MATCHBOX TOYS a 'must' for their collection. It packs in the latest values with small color photos throughout for clear identification of these toys, offering insights on different patterns and toy markers. It covers a range of years and changes and is a collector's key reference on the topic.

Modern Guns, 17th Edition
Russell and Steve Quertermous
Collector Books
P.O. Box 3009, Paducah, KY 42002-3009
9781574326031, $19.95 www.collectorbooks.com

The 17th Edition of MODERN GUNS: IDENTIFICATION AND VALUES offers a completely revised version to add value to the hallmark reference that's been a mainstay in the gun collecting world since its first appearance in 1978. It provides the latest detail and current information on all kinds of guns, offering thousands of values and thousand of black and white photos of all kinds of guns from handguns to rifles. Very highly recommended indeed.

Collector Books
P.O. Box 3009, Paducah, KY 42002-3009
www.collectorbooks.com

David Longest's handbook Antique Santa Claus Collectibles (9781574326130, $29.95) arrived too late for Christmas mention but is a year-round reference for any avid collector of Christmas ornaments, figurines, and decorations. The focus is on Santa Claus alone, narrowing the choices and allowing for plenty of color photos paired with the latest identification guides. Any collection offering narrowed specialty focus - particularly holiday references - will find this a key title. Diane McClure Jones & Rosemary Jones' ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COLLECTIBLE CHILDREN'S BOOKS: IDENTIFICATION AND VALUES (9781574325751, $29.95) offers book lists by both author and series, the latest values, and color photos of selected books. The result is a fine survey perfect for any library catering to either general collectors or specializing in children's literature. It packs in the top collectibles and adds a healthy dose of publishing history insights to boot. C. Dianne Zweig's HOT COTTAGE COLLECTIBLES FOR VINTAGE HOME STYLES (9781574326062, $29.95) offers a lovely collector's guide to the furniture and home embellishments of 'cottage style' home decor. From artistic print cards and vanity mirrors to porch and cabin furnishings and needlework embellishments, the range of cottage style collectibles is covered in an outstanding value guide for any specialty collecting collection.


The Art Shelf

A Caledon Sketchbook
Richard B. Nevitt
The Porcupine's Quill
68 Main Street, Erin, ON N0B 1T0, Canada
9780889843103, $18.95

All one needs to craft beautiful imagery is a pen and paper. "A Caledon Sketchbook" is an anthology of work from Richard B. Nevitt, offering his personal sketches of the topography of the Caledon Hills, translating the true beauty o f the region through the power of only black and white ink and paper drawings. Fans of nature sketches should not miss "A Caledon Sketchbook."

Egyptian Wall Painting
Francesco Tiradritti, author
Sandro Vannini, photographer
Abbeville Press
137 Varick Street, Suite 504, New York, NY 10019-1105
www.abbeville.com 1-800-343-4499
9780789210050, $150.00 (unslipcased)
9780789210081, $175.00 (slipcased)

Egyptologist and museum exhibition creator Francesco Tiradritti presents Egyptian Wall Painting, an informative coffee-table compendium discussing two-dimensional art in ancient Egypt, particularly their role in a complex code designed to maintain "Maat" (interpreted as Cosmic Order, Truth-Justice, or Universal Harmony). Stunningly illustrated with full-color photography throughout of priceless Egyptian relics and artworks, Egyptian Wall Painting is exhaustively detailed and comprehensive in its minute analysis of everything history and archaeology have to say about the creation, materials, history, and societal role of these breathtaking ancient works. A scholarly account that is nonetheless accessible to lay readers, "Egyptian Wall Painting" is highly recommended for both archaeological and art book collections, and an absolute "must-have" for every Egypt-ophile!

The Art of Polymer Clay Millefiori Techniques
Donna Kato
Watson Guptill Publications
770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003-9535
www.wgpub.com, 1-800-451-1741
0823099180, $19.95 www.watsonguptill.com

In Venetian glassmaking slender rods of molten glass are shaped and cut into patterns, the result called 'millefiori', 'then thousand flowers'. This survey by artist Donna Kato shows how to recreate such designs in polymer clay, providing a survey of dozens of techniques and pairing them with more than fifty millefiori artists' products. Color photos of millefiori and cutting and shaping techniques makes for a title highly recommended for any crafts collection, especially those catering to jewelry artists.

Masters of Bamboo
Melissa Rinne
Asian Art Museum
200 Larkin Street, San Francisco CA 94102
Tuttle Publishing (distributor)
364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon, VT 05759-9436
9780939117406, $25.00 www.tuttlepublishing.com

Bamboo artists are profiled in a fine survey of bamboo art that includes discussions of artist backgrounds, basket-making history, and a major Asian Art Museum exhibition packed with varied examples of masterful bamboo construction items. These illustrate different techniques and provide lively, involving keys to the varied products and results of using bamboo. Highly recommended: a fine survey suitable for both art libraries and those centering on Asian culture and arts.

Renaissance
Christopher Masters
Merrell Publishers Limited
740 Broadway, Suite 1202, New York, NY 10003
1858944481, $49.95 www.merrellpublishers.com

The Renaissance throughout Europe is a fine time of political and social change - and one of the least understood eras, regarded as a 'rebirth' of ancient Roman culture in the world. Christopher Masters' RENAISSANCE isn't just a recap of old material: it's a major new study of the Renaissance throughout northern Europe and explores his the arts reflected influences from a range of cultures from medieval Europe and the Islamic world alike. Gorgeous color illustrations by a range of artists from different eras make RENAISSANCE a powerful presentation.

Ironwork Today 2: Inside & Out
Jeffrey B. Snyder
Schiffer Publishing
4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310
9780764330643, $50.00 www.schifferbooks.com

Hundreds of lovely color photos display iron artwork from modern artist-blacksmiths, contrasting a range of styles and options and adding introductions to the artists and their works. The result is a 'must' for any college-level library strong in ironworking art or modern art in general, offering an unparalleled examination of the latest ironworking results.

The Golden Age of Spain, Painting, Sculpture, Architecture
Joan Sureda, author
The Vendome Press
1334 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021
Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (distributor)
115 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011
www.abramsbooks.com, 1-800-759-0190
9780865651982, $85.00, pgs. 304, 215 full-color illustrations

Discovering new facts about art, history and the influence of the times enhances our appreciation for the artists, their creations, and the circumstances that shaped, influence, and inspired them. In a time when New World gold and Christianity were to influence the next 200 years of artists and their art after Columbus's discovery of the New World in 1492, one of the most compelling factors were those of wealthy patrons who desired lavish and inspirational works which are now known and appreciated around the world. The collaborative work of Joan Sureda, a Professor of Art History a the University of Barcelona, former Director of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona, member of the Experts Committee at many museums including the Museo del Prado, "The Golden Age of Spain, Painting, Sculpture, Architecture" is a profusely illustrated, exceptionally informative, and impressively presented art history. Sureda has drawn upon him having previously published many books on art in Spanish to create an enduring and seminal contribution to the history of Spanish artists. Featuring Jose de Ribera's Immaculate Conception, El Greco's Toledo and Diego Velazquez's Las Meninas this truly beautiful collection, brings to art history enthusiasts the first book in English to explore Golden Age painting alongside sculpture and architecture to give a complete portrait of Spain's Golden Age. "The Golden Age of Spain, Painting, Sculpture, Architecture" is strongly recommended for all academic and community library collections, art enthusiasts, students and non-specialist general readers who appreciate the diverse artists contributing to the culture of Spain at its zenith.


The Architecture Shelf

From Control to Design
Tomoko Sakamoto, editor
Actar D
575 Prospect Street, Lakewood, NJ 08701
8496540790, $39.95

Good designs are from an understanding and mastery of many different disciplines. "From Control to Design: Parametric/Algorithmic Architecture" takes an examination of the Parametric and Algorithmic design styles along without architectural practices and explains them fully. A solid companion to any student of architecture's studies, "From Control to Design" is a strong choice.

The Infrastructural City
Kazys Varnelis, editor
Actar D
158 Lafayette Street, 5th floor, New York, NY 10013
9788496954250, $42.00 www.actar.com

The Infrastructural City: Networked Ecologies in Los Angeles is a collection of photography, essays, and maps that examines infrastructure as a means of mapping place in the city and affecting change through architecture. Using the problems of Los Angeles as a focal point, since Los Angeles is a city where the infrastructure can no longer support is plans and has necessarily appropriated architecture to serve its purpose, The Infrastructural City spells out key transformations in the city and alerts prospective architects to potential dilemmas. "Like the freeways before them, wireless networks hold out the promise to spatially liberate the citizen by connecting the city without undermining the autonomy of the individual citizen... However, this new infrastructure is no longer a part of a regional plan; rather it is carved out by private corporations competing for market share. These are commercial enterprises, which by their very nature are competitive yet redundant." A worthy compendium of invaluable theoretical and practical concepts, and a highly recommended contribution to college and professional architectural studies libraries.

Inspired By Nature: Minerals
Alejandro Bahamon and Patricia Perez
W.W. Norton
500 - 5th Avenue, New York NY 10110
9780393732603, $35.00 www.wwnorton.com

Students of architecture and college-level art libraries catering to them will find Inspired By Nature: Minerals to be a powerful discussion of building and geology. It surveys new building designs, major project challenges in blending with cityscapes and construction specs alike, blending color photos of completed projects with drawings and renditions of exteriors and interiors alike. It's an outstanding survey for any involved in architectural design specs.


The Comix/Graphic Novel Shelf

Bleach Official Character Book Souls
Tite Kubo
Viz Communications Inc.
295 Bay Street, San Francisco, CA 94133
9781421520537, $14.99 www.viz.com 1-800-394-3042

Printed right-to-left (in order to keep the integrity of its "unflipped art") and in black-and-white (with a handful of color pages and a bonus set of color stickers and mini-poster), Bleach Official Character Book Souls is not a graphic novel per se, but rather a companion volume to the action-packed, wildly popular "Bleach" manga and anime series about "Soul Reapers", guardians who escort human souls to their destination, battle evil spirits, and maintain balance in the spirit realm. Packed with exhaustive information on the characters, storyline summaries of "Bleach" volumes 1-21, a bonus manga story, the original "Bleach" one shot, and an interview with Tite Kubo, Bleach Official Character Book Souls is a "must-have" for any serious collector of the series and the perfect catch-up guide for anyone just getting into the latest "Bleach" manga or anime episodes.

The Soddyssey
Batton Lash
Exhibit A Press
4657 Cajon Way, San Diego, CA 92115
9780981551906, $17.95, www.exhibitapress.com

Swamp Monsters have legal troubles too. "The Soddyssey: And Other Tales of Supernatural Law" delves into the one thing effective against all supernatural creatures, at least in these regards, lawyers. Laugh out loud funny, it's a reprint of several issues of the comic book series 'Wolff & Byrd', a legal team specializing in the supernatural. A new spin on both horror, fantasy, and the courtroom drama, "The Soddyssey" is an enthusiastically recommended pick for humor and graphic novel fans.

Charley's War: Return to the Front
Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun
Titan Books
144 Southwark Street, London SE1 OUP, UK
9781845767969, $19.95 www.titanbooks.com

UK comics writer Pat Mills and artist Joe Colquhoun provide a fine military graphic novel highly recommended for any military library and many a collection specializing in graphic novels. In 1916 one Charley lies about his age to enlist and flight on the battlefields of France. Recovering after battle, Charley has been resting in the UK and returns to the front lines only to find some of his comrades are as dangerous as the Germans they are fighting. Lovely detail makes for an unusually well done, complex story.


The Cookbook Shelf

Fresh from the Garden Cookbook
Ann Lovejoy, author
Robin Bachtler Cushman, photographs
Sasquatch Books
119 South Main Street, Suite 400, Seattle, WA 98104-2555
157061427X, $22.95 www.sasquatchbooks.com 1-800-775-0817

Featuring eye-catching color photography, Fresh from the Garden Cookbook is a compendium of recipes by organic gardener Ann Lovejoy, filled with more than 100 ideas for using up bountiful harvests from one's garden (or from local farmer's markets)! Recipes are classified by the season of the ingredients used, and include delicacies ranging from Savory Acorn Squash in winter to Shrimp and Pea Stir-Fry in spring, Fresh Tomato Pie in summer, and Ginger Pork with Pears in the fall. Step-by-step instructions make Fresh from the Garden Cookbook easy to use, and enthusiastically recommended for anyone interested in making the most out of what they grow.

Preggatinis: Mixology for the Mom-to-Be
Natalie Bovis-Nelsen
The Globe Pequot Press
PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437
9781599214542, $16.95 www.globepequot.com 1-800-243-0495

Illustrated with color photography sure to whet one's thirst, Preggatinis: Mixology for the Mom-to-Be is a most remarkable guide to mixing delicious non-alcoholic drinks, perfect not only for pregnant (or soon-to-be pregnant!) women, but also for anyone who prefers their cocktails without intoxicants. Preggatinis are not the same as syrupy, so-called "mocktails"; they are composed of freshly squeezed juices, fresh fruit or vegetables, herbs, and homemade syrups, and thus usually feature nutrition as well as great taste! Best of all, there are "de-virginize" options for these drinks, perfect for dads, nonpregnant friends, and anyone else interested in enjoying a preggatini with an extra kick. From "Berry Cherry Blossom" to "Hot Buttered Mum's Rum" and "Pomegranate Cooler", these drinks are sure to delight the palate of all tasters. Highly recommended, especially as a baby shower gift.

The Military Wives' Cookbook
Carolyn Quick Tillery
Cumberland House Publishing
431 Harding Industrial Drive, Nashville, TN 37211
9781581826722, $22.95 www.cumberlandhouse.com

This gathering of recipes, stories and vintage photos considers the history and unique contributions of the wives of America's military families, using a menu format for chapters pairing stories and recipes from different eras of history. From international foods families learned to enjoy around the world to military wives' experiences, THE MILITARY WIVES' COOKBOOK includes everything from Red Velvet Cake to Green Beans with Corn on the Cob, and is a fine basic blend of history and cookbook for any military library and many a public library lending collection.

Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China
Fuchsia Dunlop
W.W. Norton & Company
500 - 5th Avenue, New York NY 10110
9780393066579, $24.95 www.wwnorton.com

Food writer Fuchsia Dunlop went to live in China as a student in 1994 and decided to eat anything she was offered, no matter how strange or bizarre. This memoir recalls her changing relationship with China and its food, her apprenticeship at China's best Sichuan cooking school where she's the only foreign student in a class of nearly fifty young Chinese men, and her discussions of the Chinese way of eating. Part travelogue and part culinary memoir, Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China is an outstanding recommendation for any library strong in Chinese culture and cuisine.


The Military Shelf

Attack Transport
Kenneth H. Goldman
University Press of Florida
University of Florida, 15 Northwest 15th Street, Gainesville, FL 32611-2079
9780813032740, $29.00 www.upf.com 1-800-226-3822

Attack Transport: USS Charles Carroll in World War II is the true story of the USS Charles Carroll, a ship that the US Navy took command of on August 13, 1942 through the Maritime Act. Originally built to carry passengers and cargo through Gulf of Mexico trade routes to South America, the USS Charles Carroll (a.k.a. "Lady Chuck") became an important part of the war effort, including offensive maneuvers such as the landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy. Written by the son of one of the USS Charles Carroll's junior officers (a man who saved many important historical documents, invasion maps, convoy position orders, enemy force assessments, and more primary resources useful for conducting research), Attack Transport is enhanced with a handful of black-and-white photographs and an enthusiastically recommended to World War II naval history shelves.

Shoestring Soldiers
Andrew Iarocci
University of Toronto Press
10 St. Mary Street, Suite 700, Toronto, ON M4Y 2W8
9780802098221, $50.00, www.utpublishing.com

Canada has for much of its existence served under the British Commonwealth, and when the United Kingdom went to war for World War I, the Canadians were right behind them. "Shoestring Soldiers: The 1st Canadian Division At War, 1914-1915" takes a look at the history of the first division of Canadians sent overseas to fight the Germans. Discussing their challenges stemming from unpreparedness of Canada for military conflict and how the nation started to overcome this to become a more respected division throughout the war, it's a seminal piece of Canadian military history. Heavily researched with scholarly opinions, and enhanced with appendixes, annotations, indexes, and a bibliography, "Shoestring Soldiers" is a must for any community or college library collection with a focus on Canada's military history.

Shooting the Messenger: Political Impact of War Reporting
Paul L. Moorcraft and Philip M. Taylor
Potomac Books
22841 Quicksilver Drive, Dulles, VA 20166-2012
9781574889475, $29.95 www.potomacbooksinc.com

The author is both a veteran war correspondent and a think tank director, and is in the perfect position to discuss the interface between soldiers and civilian reporters covering conflicts in SHOOTING THE MESSENGER. From journalistic obligations and performance under fire to the military's manipulation of journalists and the gap between reality and representation, this will prove an invaluable title for any collection strong in either military history, military issues, or journalism studies.

Osprey Publishing
443 Park Avenue South, New York NY 10016
www.ospreypublishing.com

First published in 1963, William Glikerson's FROM ROCKS TO ROCKETS: ARMS AND ARMIES THROUGH THE AGES (9781846034237, $14.95) offers an amusing history of armies through the ages for new audiences with a fine set of drawings and a lively tongue-in-cheek historical survey. All ages will appreciate the very simple historical overview paired with hilarious color illustrations, making this a pick for all kinds of libraries. A range of wargaming experts contribute to DECLINE AND FALL: BYZANTIUM AT WAR (9781846034022, $19.95), a gaming companion to 'Field of Glory'. It's Book 7 in the 'Field of Glory' series for historical miniatures and offers the original rulebook with organizational charts for hundreds of troop types, complete with maps and overviews. Steven J. Zaloga's UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES: ROBOTIC AIR WARFARE 1917-2007 (9781846032431, $17.95) offers a detailed survey of the design, development and history of warfare machinery through the ages. From the early development of the technology to how it's changed combat over the years, UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES is an excellent addition to military libraries, as is other series titles from Osprey. Some new arrivals include Robert Forsyth's JAGDGESCHWADER 7 'NOWOTNY' (9781846033209, $25.95), a survey of the revolutionary ME 262 jet fighter which proved a shocking challenge to Allied air supremacy for a long time, Pier Paolo Battistelli's PANZER DIVISIONS: THE EASTER FRONT 1941-43 (9781846033384, $25.95), telling of the historic 1941 German attack of the USSR and the Panzer Divisions deployed along the Eastern Front, Gordon L. Rottman's US ARMY LONG-RANGE PATROL SCOUT IN VIETNAM 1965-71 (9781846032509, $18.95), surveying the Long-Range Patrol Scouts who were inserted deep inside hostile territory to report on the VC movements, Dr. Nigel Thomas and Laszlo Pal Szabo's THE ROYAL HUNGARIAN ARMY IN WORLD WAR II (9781846033247, $17.95), telling of a little-known World War II army in Hungary which fought a deadly battle for the capital Budapest, and Gordon L. Rottman and Akira Takizawa's WORLD WAR II JAPANESE TANK TACTICS (9781846032349, $18.95), appears for the first time in the English language, using original Japanese sources to detail the battles and strategies of the Imperial Japanese Army's tank units. Excellent military library picks, all.


The Native American Shelf

Finding Chief Kamiakin
Richard D. Scheuerman and Michael O. Finley, authors
John Clement, photography
WSU Press
PO Box 645910, Pullman, WA 99164-5910
9780874222975, $34.95 www.wsupress.wsu.edu 1-800-354-7360

Finding Chief Kamiakin: The Life and Legacy of a Northwest Patriot is the true-life story of Chief Kamiakin (1800-1877), a Native American leader of the Yakama, Palouse, and Klickitat tribes of the Columbia Plateau. He would experience the cataclysmic influx of waves of white settlers, forever changing the way his people lived; he may be best known for reluctantly signing the Yakima Treaty of 1855. Yet he retained the will to oppose threats to his people's freedom and traditional ways. Black-and-white and a handful of beautiful color photographs illustrate this gorgeous and in-depth biographical account, sure to intrigue scholars and lay readers alike. A welcome addition to Native American biography and history shelves.

Forgotten Fights
Gregory F. Michno and Susan J. Michno
Mountain Press Publishing Company
PO Box 2399, Missoula, MT 59806
0878425497, $28.00 www.mountainpress.com

FORGOTTEN FIGHTS: LITTLE-KNOWN RAIDS AND SKIRMISHES ON THE FRONTIER, 1823 TO 1890 details over three hundred lesser-known but significant conflicts of the western Indian Wars, describing skirmishes between Indians and the U.S. Army and bringing into focus the smaller-scale skirmishes that contributed to the Indian Wars. Vivid accounts provide enlightening stories of the lesser-publicized battles of the Indian Wars in the riveting chronicle.

The Choctaws in Oklahoma
Clara Sue Kidwell
University of Oklahoma Press
2800 Venture Drive, Norman, OK 73069
9780806140063, $19.99, www.oupress.com

A people displaced, a people whose history has been hard to track. "The Choctaws in Oklahoma: From Tribe to Nation, 1855-1970" attempts to draw the lines connecting the past of this Native American tribe from their wrongful displacement back in the mid nineteenth century to over one hundred years later. A story of how a tribe tries to stay true to its heritage when everything around them tries to change them, "The Choctaws in Oklahoma" is both saddening and intriguing about the cruelty and resolve of human nature.


The American History Shelf

Whitewater: The People, Their Stories, & The History
Carol M. Anderson
Western Reflections Publishing Company
PO Box 1149, Lake City, CO 81235
9781932738698, $45.00 www.westernreflectionspub.com 970-994-0110

Whitewater: The People, Their Stories, & The History is a historical chronicle and tribute of the Whitewater community in Mesa County, Colorado, first settled in 1882. Covering the early 1880's through the 1950s, Whitewater combines historical data, vintage black-and-white photographs, memorable stories of community residents, and more into a picturesque glimpse into everyday Whitewater life, with particular interest paid to the stories of prominent local families. At its heart an anthology of primary sources and firsthand testimonies supporting the overall historical narrative, Whitewater: The People, Their Stories, & The History is a welcome addition to American West history shelves.

Unearthing Ancient America
Frank Joseph, editor
New Page Books
c/o The Career Press
3 Tice Road, PO Box 687, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417
9781601630315, $15.99, www.newpagebooks.com

America is not new. America has been here for as long as the rest of the world. "Unearthing Ancient America: The Lost Sagas of Conquerors, Castaways, and Scoundrels" covers the history of the country before the Europeans ever set foot here . . . or so we thought. Incidents abound baffle historians, such as a Christian temple showing up, dated a century before we believed a Christian laid eyes on the country. "Unearthing Ancient America" is filled with enthralling facts about the history that most Americans never knew that was there.

Loyal but French
Mark Paul Richard
Michigan State University Press
Manly Miles Building, Suite 25, 1405 South Harrison Road, East Lansing, MI 48823-5245
9780870138379, $34.95 www.msupress.msu.edu

Mark Paul Richard (Coordinator of the Canadian Studies program at the State University of New York-Plattsburgh and Associate Professor of History and Canadian Studies) presents Loyal but French: The Negotiation of Identity by French-Canadian Descendants in the United States, a thoughtful study of French-Canadian Americans. From Catholic French-Canadian immigrants into Protestant territory in 1850 to the assimilation of Franco-Americans during and after the World War II era, to issues of identity in the modern day, Loyal but French explores how Franco-Americans aligned their politics, contributed to the effort for worker's rights, and much more. Loyal but French is a scholarly, heavily researched study, that nonetheless remains accessible to readers of all backgrounds. Especially recommended for college library collections.

With a True God Bless
Suzanne Meredith
Heritage Books
100 Railroad Ave., Suite 104, Westminster, MD 21157-4826
9780788444715, $18.50, www.heritagebooks.com

A grand divide that separated a nation and forced men to leave their homes. "With a True God Bless" is a look at the personal impact on Americans during the civil war, collecting personal letters between both men and women on the battle field and the home fronts on both sides of the bloody conflict. A vivid picture of the American mindset during this tumultuous era, "With a True God Bless" is a must for any American Civil War collection.

Reconstruction: People and Perspectives
James M. Campbell and Rebecca J. Fraser, Editors
ABC-CLIO
PO Box 1911, Santa Barbara, CA 93116-1911
9781598840216, $85.00 www.abc-clio.com

Joining others in the 'Perspectives in American Social History' series is Reconstruction: People and Perspectives, a guide to the history and course of Reconstruction on the former Confederate states. Any high school to college-level library strong in American history will find this an excellent blend of essays and documents charting the experiences of a wide range of ordinary Americans in the South. A top pick for any collection strong in Civil War era history.

Pueblos, Spaniards, and the Kingdom of New Mexico
John L. Kessell
University of Oklahoma Press
2800 Venture Drive, Norman, OK 73069
9780806139692, $24.95 www.oupress.com 1-800-627-7377

Written by John L. Kessell (Professor Emeritus of History, University of New Mexico) Pueblos, Spaniards, and the Kingdom of New Mexico is a narrative history of the seventeenth century of New Mexico, accurately portraying the tension between the Pueblo Indians and Spanish colonizers. Chronicling history through the relation of linked, lesser-known true stories, Pueblos, Spaniards, and the Kingdom of New Mexico offers its own interpretation and analysis of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the Spanish reconquest in the 1690s, and much more. A welcome addition to Native American and New Mexico state history shelves, especially recommended for public library collections.


The Black Studies Shelf

Liberation and the Cosmos
Barbara A. Holmes
Fortress Press
PO Box 59304, Minneapolis, MN 55459-0304
9780800663193, $20.00, www.fortresspress.com

What kind of conversations ensue beyond the grave? "Liberation and the Cosmos: Conversations with the Elders" is a fictionalized discussion between several noted black thinkers such as Thurgood Marshall, W.E.B. DuBois, and Martin Luther King, Jr . . . The roundtable discussion covers black rights and its many speakers from different eras weighing in their opinions on black liberation. "Liberation and the Cosmos" is highly recommended reading for anyone who wants to study the history of black liberation.

New York Noir: The History of Black New York
Little Dizzy Home Video
c/o Greenleaf & Associates
vicki@greenleafandassociates.com
$14.99 www.littledizzyhomevideo.com

New York Noir: The History of Black New York is a documentary on DVD examining the history of New York's African-American people and culture from the early 1600s to the modern day. From civil rights to politics, business, military heroes, the Harlem renaissance and more, New York Noir offers a survey of all aspects of life with especial tribute paid to the many contributions African-Americans have made. A thoughtful and engaging presentation, highly recommended especially for public library DVD collections.

Western Echoes of the Harlem Renaissance
Cynthia Davis and Verner D. Mitchell, Editors
University of Oklahoma Press
2800 Venture Drive, Norman, OK 73069
9780806139753, $19.95 www.oupress.com

Western Echoes of the Harlem Renaissance: The Life and Writings of Anita Scott Coleman reveals Coleman's life and rise as Afro-American writer living not in New York but mostly in the Southwest and West. Her reflections and writings represent a rare look at Afro-American life in these areas and offers an anthology of her writings far broader than other collections, blending her stories, essays, poems and some rare pieces hardly published since their initial appearance. College-level collections strong in Afro-American history and literature need this.

African Americans in Science
Charles W. Carey, Jr.
ABC-CLIO
PO Box 1911, Santa Barbara, CA 93116-1911
9781851099986, $195.00 www.abc-clio.com

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN SCIENCE: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PEOPLE AND PROGRESS is an excellent two-volume reference for either high school or college-level collections covering the essential scientific contributions of blacks from colonial to modern times. From details on over 100 leading scientists, institutions and organizations dedicated to helping Afro-American scientists to issue-centered entries on important topics and the role of historically black colleges in providing opportunities in the sciences, this is an excellent reference for any studying Afro-American contributions in general, or science in particular.


The Social Issues Shelf

Homeland Insecurity
Terry D. Turchie & Kathleen M. Puckett
History Publishing Company
PO Box 700, Palisades, NY 10964
9781933909332, $25.95

A department dedicated to the security of our country sounds like an excellent idea on paper, but in practice, it has problems. "Homeland Insecurity: How Washington Politicians Made America Less Safe" is a highly critical piece attacking the incompetence of Washington and their blunders which have made America less safe since the tragic events of September 11th, 2001. Focusing its persecution on twelve politicians who reside on both sides of political spectrum, it calls their motivations into question, making "Homeland Insecurity" a highly recommended piece of writing, a must read for those who are trying to figure out what's wrong with today's Washington.

War Without End
Michael Schwartz
Haymarket Books
4015 N. Rockwell St., Chicago, IL 60618
9781931859547, $16.00, www.haymarketbooks.org

Terror is a concept, not a nation. So how does the United States win its war on Terror? "War Without End: The Iraq War in Context" is a critical examination of the long running war on Iraq. Arguing that the ongoing United States occupation of Iraq is doing far more harm than good, inciting civil war and unrest within the country. Criticizing the government's motives and how a thirst for oil and not spreading democracy may be pushing the war, "War Without End" is a solid and recommended read for political readers.

The Social Security and Medicare Handbook
V.R. Leonard
Atlantic Publishing Company
1210 S.W. 23rd Place, Ocala, FL 34474-7014
9781601381323 , $24.95 www.atlantic-pub.com

Learn how the social security and Medicare systems work with the latest guide to them, which includes provisions of the Social Security Act, regulations issued under the Act, and recent court decisions. The web of services and options are quite complex, but this handbook provides an excellent overview of the system and covers all the basics of how to become insured, how to file a claim, and different parts of Medicare coverage. Libraries will find it an excellent basic reference.

How Globalization Spurs Terrorism
Fathali M. Moghaddam
Praeger Security
88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
9780313344800, $44.95 www.praeger.com/psi

Increasing globalization encourages terrorism, and the idea of 'one world' fuels violence: that's the concept in How Globalization Spurs Terrorism, which analyzes modern Islamic terrorism in the context of increasing world connections. Modern terrorism is different and new because of its reliance on new technologies and world links - both of which offer threats to the collective Muslim identity. Chapters analyze this threat, contrasting globalization's realities and threats with its impact on bringing together groups which had no previous history of large-scale contact. College-level libraries strong in global studies will find this a fine acquisition.

Gryphon House
10726 Tucker Street, Beltsville, MD 20705
www.ghbooks.com

Kathy Charner, et.al.'s THE GIANT ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LESSON PLANS FOR CHILDREN 3 TO 6 (9780876590683, $34.95) offers over 250 lesson plans created by teachers for teachers, providing a new addition to the GIANT Encyclopedia series of lesson plans. Each lesson plan comes with learning objectives, a group activity, snack ideas, assessment strategies and play ideas, and is a treasure trove of ideas teachers will relish. Kathy Hastings, Cathy Clemons and April Montgomery's DAILY PRESCHOOL EXPERIENCES FOR LEARNERS AT EVERY LEVEL (9780876590102, $29.95) offers 100 days of plans for learning center activities for preschoolers at all levels. These plans are arranged by theme into 20 units including morning activities, vocabulary words, extension activities, daily reviews, and more. The attention to three developmental levels: beginning, developing and experienced learners makes for a key acquisition. Rebecca Isbell's THE COMPLETE LEARNING CENTER BOOK (9780876590645, $39.95) tells how to use 40 unique and traditional approaches to enrich a learning center environment. This updated edition includes a cd-rom of letters to send home, graphics, and icons for each center, and holds new assessment tools and updated literacy facets as well as nine completely new learning centers in outdoor drama, sign shop, small motor, car wash and more. All are fine picks for learning center teachers and collections catering to them.

Corwin Press
2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.corwinpress.com

Bertie Kingore's DEVELOPING PORTFOLIOS FOR AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT, PREK-3 (9781412954839, $23.95) is written for early childhood educators and provides a handbook on how to use portfolios for assessment, offering techniques for combining portfolios with traditional measurements to design more appropriate instruction for young children. From easy instructions for developing such portfolios to methods for gathering and assessing data, it's a must for any early education library. Eugenia Mora-Flores' WRITING INSTRUCTION FOR ENGLISH LEARNERS: A FOCUS ON GENRE (9781412957298, $28.95) discusses how to expose students to various genres of written text, and is one of the most powerful approaches to guiding development in writing. It combines strategies to foster writing development across genres for English learners in grades 2-8, and is based on the author's extensive experience as a writing instructor. Approaches involve teaching narrative and persuasive writing alike with techniques for using the process writing model to lead students through drafts, revising, and polished results. James Bellanca's 200+ ACTIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES AND PROJECTS FOR ENGAGING STUDENTS' MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES, 2ND EDITION (9781412968850, $40.95) offers an updated edition of ACTIVE LEARNING HANDBOOK FOR THE MULTIPLE INTELLGENCES CLASSROOM with over 200 research-based activities and projects for increasing student motivation and on-task learning in K-12 classrooms. Step-by-step directions for each activity and checklists of tips and procedures lend to an invaluable reference. Michael A. Scaddan's 40 ENGAGING BRAIN-BASED TOOLS FOR THE CLASSROOM (9781412949149, $30.95) provides brain-compatible instruction for K-12 classrooms in a resource advising teachers on how the brain, mind and body function in the learning process. The latest brain research findings are provided in a set of some 40 brain-friendly tools for improving learning and test results. All are top picks education collections will welcome.

Redleaf Press
10 Yorkton Court, Saint Paul MN 55117
www.redleafpress.org

Dave Riley, et.al.'s SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT: CONNECTING SCIENCE AND PRACTICE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD SETTINGS (9781933653303, $24.95) presents time-tested activities that teachers know help children learn, showing how research studies help teachers identify why and how socialization methods work. From helping children foster interpersonal relationships and develop socially acceptable habits to problem-solving skills, this focus on early childhood development is a fine pick. Lisa Burman's ARE YOU LISTENING? FOSTERING CONVERSATIONS THAT HELP YOUNG CHILDREN LEARN (9781933653464, $27.95) comes from an experienced elementary school teachers and educational consultant and offers child-centered teaching methods based on making conversation a part of a child's daily routine. Examples of dialogues between teachers and children offers focus and information for teachers on how to listen more, direct conversations with kids, and encourage children's group and individual participation. Perfect for early education classroom directors who would promote an interactive classroom environment goal.


The Pets/Wildlife Shelf

Dog: Pure Awareness
Margot Lasher
Twilight Times Books
PO Box 3340, Kingsport, TN 37664
9781606191378, $16.95

Could dogs be modern humanities link to the spirituality of nature that they've long since lost? "Dog: Pure Awareness" argues that dogs, not affected by human culture in their own minds, have a pure spirituality that humans use to link themselves to a more untainted understanding of the real world. Looking at dogs as true members of a family and some people's best friends, "Dog: Pure Awareness" takes a unique and riveting study of master and pet and offers much food for thought.

Dogs
Desmond Morris
Trafalgar Square Books
PO Box 257, North Pomfret, VT 05053
9781570764103, $29.95, www.tralfalgarbooks.com

Dogs come in so many shapes in sizes, that keeping track of them all is a difficult endeavor indeed. "Dogs: The Ultimate Dictionary of Over 1,000 Dog Breeds" covers the countlessly diverse canine species and the details that separate them from one another. Dividing them by type and breed, each entry details each breed's description, traditional purpose, and many entries are accompanied by a simple black and white sketch of the hound. "Dogs" is an ideal reference for anyone whose job revolves around the canine, or for any dog lover who values his or her knowledge of man's best friend.

Puppy Intensive Care
Myra Savant-Harris R.N.
Dogwise Publishing
403 South Mission Street, Wenatchee WA 98801
9781929242245, $29.95 www.dogwisepublishing.com 1-800-776-2665

Black-and-white photographs illustrate Puppy Intensive Care: A Breeder's Guide to Care of Newborn Puppies is an in-depth how-to manual written especially for breeders, though aspiring veterinarians may also find it a useful reference. Chapters discuss in depth how to prepare and use all the tools that one needs to give a puppy the best possible chance of survival, even if it is born midnight on a weekend or holiday when the local vet's office is closed. Statistically, roughly thirty percent of puppies born die in infancy; with the proper equipment and knowledge to remedy environmental factors (as opposed to genetic factors, about which little can be done) this can ideally be reduced to ten percent. Chapters cover how to build and maintain a warming box, how to properly use a bulb syringe on newborn puppies, umbilical cord care, why puppies must ingest colostrum (an immunity boosting substance produced by the mother) or a suitable substitute early on, how to treat a sick newborn pup if veterinary care is not immediately available, remedying a puppy that becomes chilled or dehydrated, and much more. "If your puppy isn't breathing well, assume that he has large amounts of body fluid in his lungs, throat and nasal passages... FIRST, use the bulb syringe on the back of the throat; NEVER suction the nostrils before the throat. Syringing the nostrils first will cause the puppy to take a breath, inhaling fluids into his lungs". A 30-minute DVD accompanies this absolute must-have for anyone expecting a litter of puppies.

Handbook of Veterinary Pharmacology
Walter H. Hsu
Wiley-Blackwell
350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148
9780813828374 www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell

Any vet school or practicing vet needs Handbook of Veterinary Pharmacology: it's a guide to pharmacology concepts and commonly used veterinary drugs and provides an easy outline format to allow for quick access to drug information. Easy line drawings showing the mechanisms of action and study questions are included at the end of each chapter, with details on drug dosages, drug therapy for different domestic species, and clear diagrams. Perfect for students and practicing vets seeking a quick reference.


The World History Shelf

Victoria Underfoot
Brenda Clark, Nicole Kilburn, & Nick Russell, editors
Harbour Publishing
PO Box 219, Madeira Park, BC, V0N 2H0, Canada
9781550174199, $24.95, www.harbourpublishing.com

History sits beneath everyone, but only a few have the guts to explore it. "Victoria Underfoot: Excavating a City's Secrets" looks at the city of Victoria in British Columbia and its excavators, people who would typically not be expected to be seen in an urban area, still dwelled in the modern day. History such as rum runners, centuries old gardens and homes give a picture to the yet unrecorded history of the grand fathers and great grandfathers of today's people. "Victoria Underfoot" is a must for anyone who views a century ago as interesting as a millennium ago.

Mennonite Women in Canada
Marlene Epp
University of Manitoba Press
c/o University of Michigan Press
1405 South Harrison Rd., Rm 25 East Lansinh, MI 48823-5245
9780887557064, $26.95, www.umanitoba.ca/uofmpress

The Mennonites are for, whatever reasons, viewed as strange by their neighboring cultures. But it doesn't mean they don't contribute greatly to society. "Mennonite Women in Canada: A History" takes a scholarly examination of these people and what they have brought to the Canadian people and have altered the course of Canadian history. Covering over two hundred years, drawing parallels to the advancement of secular women's rights, and much more, "Mennonite Women in Canada" is an ideal piece of history focusing on this under-recognized group.

Saladin
Hannes Mohring
The Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218
978080189929, $20.00, www.press.jhu.edu

Even the European Christians of the Middle Ages, not the most Enlightened group, acknowledged his nobility. "Saladin: The Sultan and His Times, 1138-1193" is a biography of this vital figure of the Crusades, who stood against the European invasion and fought back not with hatred, but the need for communication with his European opponents, and more. Saladin is one of the most revered figures in Middle Eastern history, his rule having strong influence even in today's world. " Saladin" is a must read for those learning of Middle Eastern tradition.

Hungary
C.A. Macartney
Aldine Transaction
c/o Transacation Publishers
35 Berrue Circle, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8042
9780202361987, $29.95, www.transactionpub.com

Hungary is a country with a long and rich history, but is sadly neglected when one looks at European history. "Hungary: From Ninth Century Origins to the 1956 Uprising" traces the country's over millennium of history to until its fairly recent revolution in 1956. A work of skilled scholarship, Macartney tells the nation's history in a remarkably readable manner, giving readers something to enjoy as they learn and become intrigued with Hungarian history. Tackling the many quirks of Hungarian culture as well, "Hungary" is a must for any European history fan.

Tragedy at Second Narrows
Eric Jamieson
Harbour Publishing
PO Box 219, Madeira Park, BC, Canada, V0N 2H0
9781550174519, $32.95 www.harbourpublishing.com 1-800-667-2988

Tragedy at Second Narrows: The Story of the Ironworks Memorial Bridge is the true-life story of the shocking collapse of the Vancouver bridge at the crossing that is now known as the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge. On June 17, 1958, a new bridge in the process of being created gave way, killing eighteen workers. It would take no less than a Royal Commission to unearth who was responsible for the lethal errors and what went wrong - a perfect storm mismanagement, engineering design flaws, lack of proper cross-checking and project supervision, and low-quality materials. Author Eric Jamieson interviewed survivors of that fateful day as well as conducting exhausting research; the result is a fact-filled analysis that nonetheless reads smoothly. Highly recommended for college library collections, Tragedy at Second Narrows should be a "must-read" for all prospective engineers, as it illustrates hierarchical and procedural flaws that can literally cost lives in any engineering project.

Siena: City of the Virgin
Titus Burckhardt
World Wisdom Inc.
1501 E. Hillside Drive, Bloomington, IN 47401
9781933316598, $22.95 www.worldwisdom.com

Siena, Italy was home of St. Bernardino and St. Catherine and renowned for its architectural splendor and religious devotion. Titus Burckhardt's history of Siena comes with his own color photos of the city and its countryside: some 28 color and 40 black and white reproductions of medieval and early Renaissance icons, paintings and sculptures capture the spiritual sentiments of its times and makes for a fine collection recommended for either art history or spiritual collections.


The Photography Shelf

Twilight Visions in Egypt's Nile Delta
Ann Parker, photography
Muhammad Afifi Matar, text
Ferial J. Ghazoul, translator
The American University in Cairo Press
c/o International Publishers Marketing
22841 Quicksilver Drive, Dulles, VA 20166
9789774161865, $39.95 www.aucpress.com 1-800-758-3756

Award-winning American photographer Ann Parker presents Twilight Visions in Egypt's Nile Delta, a stunningly beautiful compendium of silhouette images of people, vehicles, and animals following their daily routine along a road passing through a typical village in the modern-day Egyptian Nile Delta. A glimpse of tradition amid one of the oldest farming areas of the world, the images range from a tractor plodding along to a woman escorting her daughter and carrying a basket on her head, to a young goat suckling at its mother's teat. The images of Twilight Visions in Egypt's Nile Delta have no captions, but accompanying autobiographical essays by poet Muhammad Afifi Matar, who was born and grew up in a similar Delta village, add depth and insight into these beautiful images. A wondrous and standout addition to photography shelves, highly recommended.

Digital Photography from the Ground Up
Juergen Gulbins
Rocky Nook
26 West Mission Street Suite 3, Santa Barbara, CA 93101-2432
9781933952178, $34.95 www.rockynook.com

Digital technology has revitalized interest in photography, and this guide to digital photography will help novices get started with the basics of modern photography and discussions of how imaging occurs in digital cameras. From the basics of composition to image editing and archiving images, this is an in-depth course of basics perfect for any library seeking a course in book form.

Amherst Media
PO Box 586, Buffalo, NY 14226
www.amherstmedia.com

Tamara Lackey's THE ART OF CHILDREN'S PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY (9781584282402, $34.95) provides lighting techniques for studio and location shots alike and shows how to organize a children's photo business and photoshoot and how to produce superior photos. Excellent image examples accompany clear tips for gaining superior results from difficult subjects. William B. Folsom and James P. Goodridge's EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY HANDBOOK (9781584282419, $34.95) tells how to document all sizes of events, from bar mitzvahs to ribbon cuttings, parades to tournaments and sports events. A team of professional photographers reviews the steps needed to obtain money from event photography, and how to establish a thriving business based on documenting events. All are top picks for photography libraries.

The Photoshop CS4 Companion for Photographers
Derrick Story
O'Reilly
1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472
9780596521936, $24.99 www.oreilly.com

Photographers often feel overwhelmed by Photoshop's many options, and The Photoshop CS4 Companion for Photographers helps photographers make basic adjustments, paring down topics to cover just the essentials of common operations, not every possible Photoshop feature. From recipes for retouching portraits and swapping colors to refining images with masking and using Adobe Camera Raw, THE PHOTOSHOP CS4 COMPANION FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS is a top pick for any photography library.


The Needlecraft Shelf

Carry Alongs
Carrie A. Sullivan
Krause Publications
700 East State Street, Iola, WI 54990-0001
9780896896567, $19.99 www.fwpublications.com 1-800-726-9966

Carry Alongs: 15 Crochet Handbags & Purses for Every Occasion is a step-by-step guide to crafting contemporary carryalls, drawstring designs, shoulder bags, and evening purses. Featuring projects ranging in required skill from beginner to advanced, as well as schematics and measurements for each handbag, Carry Alongs is a solid guide for crafting professional-quality projects. Full color illustrations and diagrams throughout make Carry Alongs easy to use. Highly recommended for any needlecrafter interested in creating beautiful and practical gifts.

Seams to Me: 24 New Reasons to Love Sewing
Anna Maria Horner
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5773
9780470259269, $24.99 www.wiley.com

Ten original paper patterns are included a fine collection of unique projects ranging from a sideways squares skirt and a prairie blouse to a child's 'bo peep' skirt and a cup apron. Color photos and vivid designs will appeal to both beginners and veteran sewers with unusual projects and easy step-by-step directions. Libraries strong in original needlework projects will find this a popular pick.

Krause Publications
700 East State Street, Iola, WI 54990-0001
www.fwpublications.com, 1-800-726-9966

A free cd-rom with templates accompanies RaNae Merrill's SIMPLY AMAZING SPIRAL QUILTS (0896896536 , $29.99), a survey of basic techniques for spiral quilting with variations on four types of spirals. From changing direction and choosing colors to complete projects and a colorful display of options, any quilter seeking to learn the author's unique in-spiralling designs will welcome this. Joanie Zeier Poole's JOANNIE'S QUILTING ELEMENTS: 7 SIMPLE STEPS TO NAVIGATE AND STITCH (0896896501, $29.99) tells how to use a free-motion machine to take quilting to a different level. Seven easy steps teach how to navigate and stitch wonderful quilting designs, showing how to begin and end stitches, handle quilts in a machine, and work with either continuous-line, continuous-outline or continuous-object designs. Quilting libraries will find it a unique and popular lend.

More Fabulous Flowers: Mini-Quilts in Dimensional Applique
Sharon K. Baker
Martingale & Company
20205 - 144th Avenue NE, Woodinville, WA 98072-8478
9781564778192, $26.95 www.martingale-pub.com

Locate 20 new flower designs in a followup to Sharon K. Baker's FABULOUS FLOWERS, telling how to create dimensional flowers in a quilting environment. From adding beads and yarns to making floral arrangements through different combinations, More Fabulous Flowers: Mini-Quilts in Dimensional Applique is a fine blend of patterns, color photos and easy materials and application discussions.


The Audiobook Shelf

The Ships of Earth
Orson Scott Card, author
Stefan Rudnicki, narrator
Blackstone Audiobooks
PO Box 969, Ashland, OR 97520
9781433218866, $90.00 www.BlackstoneAudio.com 1-800-729-2665

Veteran audiobook narrator Stefan Rudnicki reads The Ships of Earth, an unabridged audiobook rendition of the third volume of the "Homecoming" epic science fiction saga, by multiple Hugo and Nebula award winning author Orson Scott Card. In The Ships of Earth, the artificial intelligence guardian of the planet Harmony that is the Oversoul is gradually failing, and due to its decline, Harmony's human colonists are degenerating into a state of endless war and conquest. The remnants of the Oversoul has called a group of sixteen refugees from the fallen city of Basilica to an abandoned spaceport, and now Wetchik, Nafai, and their family must cross desert wastes, guided by the Oversoul, to prepare the hidden interstellar ships to fly again. But not all present have opted for exile, and their resentment could potentially sabotage the mission. An enthralling saga of destiny, highly recommended. 10 CDs, approximately 13 hours.

Hachette Audio
237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
www.hachettebookgroupusa.com, www.hachetteaudio.com

When he was nearly five years old Cory Friedman woke up with an uncontrollable urge to shake his head - the beginnings of a series of tics and involuntary utterances resulting in thirteen years of medications and treatments. With medical science confused and trying drugs that added more conditions and complications, James Patterson and Hal Friedman's AGAINST MEDICAL ADVICE (1600243657, $34.98) tells of Cory's struggle to survive against all odds, and receives a powerful narration by theater performer Kevin Collins. Kate Atkinson's CASE HISTORIES (1600245005, $24.98) receives speech and drama-trained narrator Susan Jameson's warm and evocative performance as it tells of three cases in which a private detective's investigations uncover some startling connections and impossible answers. It's a riveting, unusual murder mystery with many different and satisfying twists and turns.

Brilliance Audio
c/o Brilliance Corporation
PO Box 887, Grand Haven, MI 49417
www.brillianceaudio.com, 1-800-854-7859
www.brilliance.com

Mel Foster lends a fine acting expertise to his narration of another classic Pern story in Anne McCaffrey's ALL THE WEYRS OF PERN (1423357353, $29.99); this revolving around a long-held dream of totally eradicating Thread from the world of Pern. An ancient colonist's artificial intelligence system holds news and hope for the besieged peoples of Pern in this riveting fantasy novel, especially recommended for prior Pern readers. Halima Bashir's TEARS OF THE DESERT (1423367839, $38.95) receives Rosalyn Landor's fine acting voice and many years of experience in stage and theatre as it tells of Halima, born into a small Sudanese desert tribe with a fine intellect and gift for study. With her love of learning and father's support she studies medicine and becomes her village's first formal doctor - but becomes involved in harrowing politics and social issues when Arab militias savage assault her village. Her courage could change lives - and take her own - in this gritty memoir perfect for any audio collection strong in contemporary global issues. Sam Wyly's 1,000 DOLLARS & AN IDEA (1423366506, $29.95) offers a rags-to-riches story of a business wizard whose work is to create and build companies. Sam Wyley's memoir surveys how he expanded companies in technology, retail and investments over the last forty-five years, surveying how the self-made billionaire's early years prepared him for thriving. Margaret Truman's MURDER INSIDE THE BELTWAY (1423367154, $32.99) receives Patrick Girard Lawler's smooth and classically trained stage voice as it captures the drama of one Rosalie, a Washington DC call girl found bludgeoned to death in her apartment. An investigation during a Presidential re-election involves Washington candidates and a kidnapped daughter in this tense thriller, recommended for any audio library strong in audiobook mysteries.


The Metaphysical Studies Shelf

The Astrology of Self-Discovery
Tracy Marks
Ibis Press
c/o Red Wheel, Weiser, & Conari
65 Parker Street, Suite 7, Newburyport, MA 01950
9780892541362, $18.95, www.redwheelweiser.com

The stars have been guiding humankind throughout its history. "The Astrology of Self-Discovery: An In-Depth Exploration of the Potentials Revealed in Your Birth Chart" is a new and revised edition of the famed volume on astrology. Explaining the beliefs laid out within them and how they can be used to explore one's inner nature and possibly plot out one's future in order to better prepare them, it's a solid primer on the subject that starting readers will find hard to beat. "The Astrology of Self-Discovery" is the ideal manual on astrology.

Darwin's Mistake
Dr. Hans J. Zillmer
Frontier Publishing
c/o Adventures Unlimited Press
PO Box 74, Kempton, IL 60946
193188207X, $19.95 www.adventuresunlimitedpress.com 1-815-253-6390

Darwin's Mistake postulates radical hypotheses - that Darwin's theory of evolution was ultimately false; dinosaurs and humans once co-existed; and the Earth's crust is relatively young. A handful of black-and-white illustrations enhance this shocking account, which draws upon the author's own participation in multiple excavations and assorted recent findings that appear to support claims that flatly contradict the latest modern scientific theory. "There is evidence that at one time in the past, there was one unified language in the world. My theory could solve this mystery: One original people created by gods would also have shared one language. After all living spaces were colonized, the languages went on to develop independently from each other... The Bible's depiction of the building of the Tower of Babel, an illustration of experienced language confusion, fits into this concept." Darwin's Mistake is ultimately not just about propounding theories, but also about learning to think critically of the established scientific community's claims - for example, "microevolution" is acknowledged to possibly exist, but "macroevolution", or gigantic changes such as the development of the ability of flight or the ability to breathe air instead of water, remain largely unexplained. A surprisingly thoughtful read, recommended for anyone interested in taking a closer, skeptical look at common (and esoteric) beliefs about natural history.

The Reality Overload
Annie Le Brun
Inner Traditions
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
9781594772443, $16.95 www.InnerTraditions.com

The basic problems of the modern world result from reality overload, an invasive homogenization of modern life that elevates consumption goals and conformity and creates a situation of too much information. The author links many modern ills to this information overload fact, discussing relationships between ecology, human actions, and the abandonment of the magical realm and dreams in her THE REALITY OVERLOAD: THE MODERN WORLD'S ASSAULT ON THE IMAGINAL REALM, a pick for both new age and philosophy collections.

Soft Stone Publishing
3674 Barham Boulevard, Suite #L315, Los Angeles, CA 90068
www.AskKRS.com

Two new audio CDs by stress and wellness expert KRS Edstrom are perfect for relieving tension. "Everyday Meditation: A Mini-Retreat to Calm the Mind & Nourish the Soul" (9781886198197, $16.95, 40 minutes) blends soothing words, soft musical background, and meditation techniques into a harmonic whole. A wonderful guide to not only relaxation, but also the mental benefits of mindful meditation to increase awareness and fully exult in the everyday wonders of life. "Sounds of Serenity: Musical Meditations & Nature's Chorus (9781886198203, $16.95, 44 minutes) is a gentle composition of musical meditations suitable for playing in the background at any time - in the car, while at work, mealtimes, or simply when resting. Sounds of nature enhance the lilting, flowing music in this herbal massage for the soul. Both are highly recommended for anyone interested in a little help to more fully unwind.


The Self-Help Shelf

Positive Directions
John Ryder
Morgan James
1225 Franklin Avenue, Suite 325, Garden City, NY 11530-1693
9781600373657, $27.95, www.morganjamespublishing.com

Stress is all in your head, so your head should be able to manage it, right? "Positive Directions: Shifting Polarities to Escape Stress and Increase Happiness" is a guide to positive thinking to help people increase their contentment in life simply by thinking much more positively and for the future. Saying that continued pessimism spreads to more aspects of life, and that many studies show that optimists live longer, "Positive Directions" is the positive vibe that many need to succeed in everyday life.

Fly Away Fear
Elaine Iljon Foreman & Lucas Van Gerwen
Karnac Books
c/o Stylus Publishing
PO Box 605, Herdon, VA 20172-0605
9781855755802, $19.95, www.karnacbooks.com

Being thousands of miles in the air is a scary thought . . . but it's entirely manufactured. "Fly Away Fear: Overcoming Your Fear of Flying" is a collection of tips and advice on overcoming this common, understandable, but illogical fear. Flying is statistically the safest way to travel, and Foreman & Gerwen offers many tips for overcoming one's illogical fear and embracing this fast and safe way of traversing the globe. "Fly Away Fear" is a solid and recommended read for those who don't want to fear aviation anymore.

Overworked, Overwhelmed, & Underpaid
Louis Barajas
Thomas Nelson
PO Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214
9781595551665, $15.99, www.thomasnelson.com

Very few people in the world think they are paid what they deserve. "Overworked, Overwhelmed, & Underpaid: Simple Steps to Go From Stress to Success!" is a book focusing on these individuals who spend most of their life working, and when they aren't doing that, panicking over the work they failed to or need to do. Barajas tells of his advice on how to turn their lives around from overwhelming stress to happy contentment with life with solid tips and tricks. "Overworked, Overwhelmed, & Underpaid" is a highly recommended book for any who are on the brink of losing it due to their career.

Relationships That Work
David B. Wolf
Mandala Publications
17 Paul Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903
1601090153, $14.95 www.mandala.org

RELATIONSHIPS THAT WORK: THE POWER OF CONSCIOUS LIVING surveys transformative communication efforts and the lessons and wisdom of becoming a better communicator. Its strategies and principles discusses everything from overt and covert agreements between people to the process of making and fostering conscious habits. New age and general self-help/self-improvement library collections will find it an intriguing, hopeful survey.

Seven Strategies for Positive Aging
Robert D. Hill
W.W. Norton
500 - 5th Avenue, New York NY 10110
9780393705232, $17.95 www.wwnorton.com

This innovative approach to aging is designed to promote well-being in later life and provides strategies organized into seven chapters on how to learn, discover sources of wisdom, strengthen relationships, and more. The idea is to blend general life paths into keys to staying positive and upbeat during challenging times, and here examples of real people and their different, successful approaches provide role models for inspiration.


The Business Shelf

5 Steps to Expert
Paul G. Schempp
Davies-Black Publishing.
1055 Joaquin Road, 2nd Floor, Mountain View, CA 94043
9780891061144, $22.95, www.5stepstoexpert.com

Natural prodigies are rare, but one doesn't need to be one to be an expert. "5 Steps to Expert: How to Go from Business Novice to Elite Performer" is a guide to learning and mastering one's business from being a beginner all the way to the mastery of one's craft. Outlining the many parts on the road to mastery, and how to wisely apply it, "5 Steps to Expert" is a must for any businessman who is just starting out in an unfamiliar field.

Emotional Intelligence for Managing Results in a Diverse World
Lee Gardenswartz, Jorge Cherbosque, & Anita Rowe
Davies-Black Publishing
1055 Joaquin Road, 2nd Floor, Mountain View, CA 94043
9780891062554, $32.95, www.daviesblack.com

Frustration is in plenty of supply when dealing with the hectic avenues of business. "Emotional Intelligence for Managing Results in a Diverse World: The Hard Truth about Soft Skills in the Workplace" is a guide to keeping one's cool when dealing with all the problems and stress that comes with it. Encouraging business people to increase their EQ and empathy with their business partners and clients, "Emotional Intelligence for Managing Results in a Diverse World" is a must for anyone who doesn't want to lose a client based on petty things like hurt feelings.

Strategic Alliances
Steve Steinhilber
Harvard Business Press
60 Harvard Way, Boston, MA 02163
9781422125885, $18.00, www.harvardbusinesspress.org

Without friends, few people will ever get anywhere. "Strategic Alliances: Three Ways to Make Them Work" is a business guide which takes a look at and emphasizes the value of strategy in the world of business. A part of the memo to the CEO series, it's aimed at business leaders who are the most vital in forging the alliances in the world of business. A good alliance is the difference between prosperity and bankruptcy, and "Strategic Alliances" is a surefire way to start one's partnership-making skills.

The Global Brand
Nigel Hollis
Palgrave MacMillan
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
Jane Wesman Public Relations (publicity)
322 Eighth Avenue, Suite 1702, New York, NY 10001
9780230606227, $24.95, www.palgrave.com

A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but a brand by another name won't sell nearly as well. "The Global Brand: How to Create and Develop Lasting Brand Value in the World Market" is a complete and comprehensive analysis to crafting an ideal brand to push one's product in today's very highly competitive world where only a few brand names seemingly monopolize every field. Laying out the many challenges face and looking at some success and failure stories in today's world, "The Global Brand" is a must for anyone who wants to be an expert at crafting a brand for their business.

Proving Continuous Improvement with Profit Ability
Russ Jones
American Society for Quality Press (ASQP)
600 N. Plankinton Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53203
9780873897426, $42.00, www.asq.org

It's one thing to turn a profit, or improve one's business, but doing both is a bit more tricky. "Proving Continuous Improvement with Profit Ability" is a business book dedicated to finding the things one needs to do to have profit while still improving one's business. With plenty of tips on increasing sales, cutting losses, efficiency, maximizing profit and creating a harmonious business environment, it's a well thought out business manual from a great business mind in Russ Jones. "Proving Continuous Improvement with Profit Ability" is a solid choice for any business looking to move on up without breaking the bank.

Secrets of Social Media Marketing
Paul Gillin
Quill Driver Books
2006 South Mary, Fresno, CA 93721
1884956858, $15.95 www.quilldriverbooks.com

SECRETS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: HOW TO USE ONLINE CONVERSATIONS AND CUSTOMER COMMUNITIES TO TURBO-CHARGE YOUR BUSINESS! is a powerful, cutting-edge survey for any business library catering to marketers and business owners who wish to learn the new social media method of promoting brands and generating business. It's for newcomers to the topic and offers chapters on everything from podcasting and social networks such as Second Life to using web browsers and identifying on-line sales influencers.

How to Manage People
Michael Armstrong
Kogan Page
525 S. 4th Street, #241, Philadelphia, PA 19147
9780749452414, $17.95 www.koganpage.com

HOW TO MANAGE PEOPLE is a new book surveying key ideas on motivating people and teams. It presents author Michael Armstrong's knowledge on how to manage teams and staff members and how to get the best results from people, and offers managers a clear and comprehensive course of action. Any business library catering to managers needs this.

In the Land of Difficult People
Terrence L. Gargiulo and Gini Graham Scott, Ph.D.
Amacom
1601 Broadway, New York NY 10019-7420
0814400299, $19.95 www.amacombooks.org

24 fables taken from around the world illustrate 'best practice' ideas for handling difficult people at work. Unlike the usual Western approach, this book provides analysis of different cultural and social reactions to difficulty, and juxtaposes the folk stories with a brief analysis discussing organizational habits that adversely affect organizations at all levels. A lively, intriguing format, this will be enjoyed by both business and general-interest libraries.

Protecting Your Business in a Pandemic
Geary W. Sikich
Praeger
88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
9780313346026, $44.95 www.praeger.com

PROTECTING YOUR BUSINESS IN A PANDEMIC: PLANS, TOOLS, AND ADVICE FOR MAINTAINING BUSINESS CONTINUITY is for business managers and owners who would understand pandemics and how they disrupt business functions - and how to re-organize a business with safeguards against major disruptions. From local to global reactions to pandemic reports to economic impacts on business, it offers a blend of assessment tools, exercises and applications key to developing a business continuity plan.


The Economics Shelf

Knowledge, Organizational Evolution, and Market Creation
Gita Sud de Surie
Edward Elgar Publishing
9 Dewey Court, Northampton, MA 01060-3815
9781847204561, $115.00 www.e-elgar.com 1-800-390-3149

Gita Sud de Surie (Assistant Professor in the School of Business, Adelphi University) presents Knowledge, Organizational Evolution, and Market Creation: The Globalization of Indian Firms from Steel to Software, a scholarly examination of the remarkable emergency of Indian multinational businesses. Comparing firms in the "old economy" (steel-making, manufacturing, automotive components, and heavy machinery) to institutions of the "new economy" (software, biotechnology, etc.), Knowledge, Organization, and Market Creation in an astute study that especially focuses upon the invaluable qualities of entrepreneurship and distributed innovation. "Indian firms also adopted a pragmatic approach and used real options heuristics to expand the scale of their operations in incremental steps by creating knowledge components that could be exchanged for complementary resources and capabilities. As Indian biotechnology and software firms gained international recognition, entrepreneurship acquired legitimacy, thus helping to create an environment that nurtures and stimulates entrepreneurial capabilities. Exhaustively researched, and featuring appendices packed with additional tables and statistics of hard data, Knowledge, Organizational Evolution, and Market Creation is especially recommended for college library business and economic studies shelves.

Discover Your Inner Economist
Tyler Cowen
Plume
c/o Penguin Publishing Group
375 Hudson Street, New York NY 10014-3658
9780452289635, $15.00 www.penguin.com

Plenty of books discuss economic thinking - but how many discuss how to apply such thinking to nontraditional topics? Here one of America's foremost economists examines everyday life and how economic reasoning applies to everyday events. From keys to successful daily interactions to assessing risk, outcome, and financial pros and cons, Discover Your Inner Economist is a powerful pick for both school and general-interest libraries alike.


The Biography Shelf

Smart Blonde
Stephen Miller
Omnibus Press
c/o Music Sales Corporation
257 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010
9781846097607, $19.95, www.omnibuspress.com

Blonde has rarely ever equaled smarts. "Smart Blonde" is a brand-new biography of the legendary singer and business woman. The Nashville belle made her fortune and fame all by herself, despite looking like her IQ was about the same as her shoe size. A remarkable story of a woman who has it all, brains, beauty, and fortune, and how she made it to the point solely by her own merits and no place else. Touching on the singer's personal life, relationships, "Smart Blonde" is a dissection of what drives Mrs. Parton through her life.

From a Gnat to an Eagle
Nathan Rutstein
Baha'i Publishing
415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091
9781931847469, $18.00, www.books.bahai.us

Not many would throw down the bat in order to fight for equality. "From a Gnat to an Eagle: The Story of Nathan Rutstein" tells of someone who just that. Pegged to be a potential Major League Baseball player, Nathan Rutstein had little previous exposure to academia before he entered college on a baseball scholarship. Choosing eventually instead to become a lawyer and campaign for civil rights, rooting his beliefs in the Baha'i faith. "From a Gnat to an Eagle" is solidly recommended reading, saying you never know what you may end up doing.

You Are Not Forgotten
Evelyn Grubb & Carol Jose
Vandamere Press
PO Box 149, St. Petersburg, FL 33731
9780918339713, $27.95, www.vandamere.com

As lost soldier's numbers grow higher and higher, it grows ever easier to forget about the people and only think of them as statistics. "You Are Not Forgotten: A Family's Quest for Truth and the Founding of the National League of Families" chronicles the story of one war widow who spent more than eight years unsure of the status of her dear husband. The event led her to found the National League of Families, a group for the families of soldiers. With a foreword from famed diplomat Henry Kissinger, "You Are Not Forgotten" is well worth reading.

The Elfish Gene
Mark Barrowcliffe
Soho Press
853 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
9781569475225, $25.00, www.sohopress.com

Geeks, nerds, dweebs . . . today they rule the world, but what truly lies in the past for these kids who girls didn't want to be anywhere near? "The Elfish Gene: Dungeons, Dragons, and Growing Up Strange" is the memoir of someone who was in no way the cool kid, someone who instead of doing normal things like defacing public property or having teen pregnancy scares, spent his hours believing he was an elf who went around stabbing dwarves in the face. Detailing the life of a D&D nerd, it's a picture to be looked at from the other side, revealing that only minor differences separate one type of nerd from another. "The Elfish Gene" is riveting reading, an excellent pick for memoir collections.

Game Widow
Wendy Kays
Synergy Books
PO Box 80107, Austin, TX 78758
Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists
2100 Kramer Lane, Suite 300, Austin, TX 78758 (publicity)
9781934454268, $14.95, www.synergybooks.net

Video games can be much fun, but too much of anything is a bad thing. "Game Widow" draws on the stories of spouses whose relationships have taken quite the beating due to the others excessive gaming habits. With much advice for neglected spouses who are dealing with either relationships broken beyond repair or having hope for recovery, "Game Widow" is support that many women need when it feels like they've been thrown aside for a video game.

Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?
Charlise Lyles
Gray & Company, Publishers
1588 E. 40th St., Cleveland, OH 44103
9781598510416, $14.95, www.grayco.com

Blacks and whites sharing the same schools are a foregone conclusion in the modern day, but as recent as forty years ago, major challenges were faced. "Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?: From the Projects to Prep School" is her story of arriving in an extreme majority white prep school during such a time it was completely unheard of. Facing a new set of challenges while maintaining a desire to learn, Lyles' story is a moving one indeed. "Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?" is a solid piece on those who faced challenges during the civil rights era.

CBS's Don Hollenbeck
Loren Ghiglione
Columbia University Press
61 West 62nd Street, New York, NY 10023
9780231144964, $29.95, www.columbia.edu

Are you now, or have you ever been a communist? A chilling phrase that lead an era. "CBS's Don Hollenbeck: An Honest Reporter in the Age of McCarthyism" tells the stories of one of the few people in the mainstream media of the time to stand against the witch hunt that was launched during the dawn of the Cold War. Hollenbeck fought hard to be fair and honest about how he felt about the McCarthy Communist hunt, and for his efforts, he was fired from several major networks, divorced thrice, and assaulted endlessly by radical conservatives towing the McCarthy line. A tragedy of a good man's life destroyed for simply standing up for what's right, "CBS's Don Hollenbeck" is a solid piece of media history, enthusiastically recommended.

Godfather of the Revolution
Tom Ambrose
Peter Owen Publishers
73 Kenway Road, London, SW5 0RE Canada
Dufour Editions (distributor)
PO Box 7, Chester Springs, PA 19425
9780720613018, $34.95

When the Americans were casting off the oppression of the British, little did they know they were inspiring another country to cast off the chains. "Godfather of the Revolution: The Life of Philippe Egalite Duc D'Orleans" tells of this man who led the notorious French Revolution, an event which both changed France for the better and the worst in the long run. The revolutionary led no quiet life, as his story and life are filled to the brim with adventure, including several intriguing stories not directly related to the French Revolution. "Godfather of the Revolution" is a must read biography.

Marpeck
Walter Klassen & William Klassen
Herald Press
616 Walnut Avenue, Scottsdale, PA 15683-1999
9780836194234, $32.99, www.heraldpress.com

The idea of a separate church and state was not a concept created by the founding of America. "Marpeck: A Life of Dissent and Conformity" is the biography of one of the earliest crusaders for this principle, Pilgram Marpeck. Covering his time and life and how he became one of the most important figures in his era of the Protestant Reformation and its influences which greatly impact the western world even today, it is an important reference for any discussion of historical philosophy. Enhanced with a comprehensive contents list for easy quick reference, "Marpeck" is a must for religious biography collections of any sort.

Conquistadors of the Useless
Lionel Terray
The Mountaineers Books
1001 SW Klickitat Way, Suite 201, Seattle, WA 98134
9781594851117, $21.95, www.mountaineersbooks.org

Not just anyone has it in them to take on the more modern adventure of mountain climbing. "Conquistadors of the Useless" is the autobiography of French adventurer Lionel Terray, telling of his long and eventful life. Born in 1921, he began his adventuring at only the age of twelve and let up very rarely until a freak accident caused his death at forty-four years of age. An edition updated with much more information on the man who revolutionized post-World War II Mountain climbing, "Conquistadors of the Useless" is a must for any mountain climber who wants to embrace the activity's history.

Short and Sweet
Jerry Maren with Steve Cox
Cumberland House
431 Harding Industrial Drive, Nashville, TN 37211
9781581825435, $24.95 www.cumberlandhouse.com

Deserving of ongoing mention, SHORT AND SWEET: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE LOLLIPOP MUNCHKIN tells of a midget who represented the Lollipop Guild in the classic Wizard movie, and who opens his archives after 70 years in show business. A wealth of color photos from his achievements accompanies the story of his rise to fame and his encounters with stars from Lucille Ball to the Marx Brothers in this vivid memoir, recommended for any general-interest lending library.


The Travel Shelf

Camino Footsteps
Kim and Malcolm Wells
Fremantle Press
c/o International Specialized Book Services
920 Northeast 58th Avenue, Suite 300, Portland, OR 97213
9781921361258, $35.00 www.isbs.com 1-800-944-6190

Illustrated with stunning color photography on almost every page, Camino Footsteps: Reflections on a Journey to Santiago de Compostela is an eye-catching travelogue of one couple's journey along the ancient path from St. Jean Pied de Port in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, also known as the Way of St. James, which has been traversed by tens of thousands of pilgrims since medieval times. Camino Footsteps reflects upon the rich history of the architecture and the wonderfully beautiful landscapes along the way, as well as the spiritual aspects of this ancient and revered pilgrimage. A "must-have" for armchair travelers, Camino Footsteps is surely the next best thing to making the voyage in person.

Your First Cruise
T. Brian Chatfield
Atlantic Publishing Company
1405 S.W. 6th Avenue, Ocala, FL 34474-7014
9781601381514, $24.95 www.atlantic-pub.com

Set sail on a cruise and discern all the savvy details in advance, from tipping to itineraries, with a book that is based on information from 11 of the largest cruise companies. The book helps consumers understand differences between cruise lines and offered programs, helping readers compare the different cruise lines and understand what will happen on a first cruise. A fine choice for any library strong in travel; especially collections catering to seniors.

Alyson Books
245 West 17th Street, Suite 1200, New York, NY 10011
www.alyson.com

"The Out Traveler" magazine presents a new travel guide series, created to be "the standard in gay travel" - compact, paperback guides written specifically with the interests of the LGBT community in mind. "The Out Traveler: Hawaii" (9781593500733, $15.95) addresses such questions as "Do gay guys surf?", warns against common faux pas such as constantly referring to gay people as "mahu" (the word is commonly used to refer to local men in drag, who may not be gay), and includes a fascinating history of how same-sex relationships have been an integral part of native Hawaiian culture for centuries. "The Out Traveler: New York City" (9781593500665, $15.95) gives a brief summary of the history of gay culture NYC as well as lists of well-known annual LGBT events and much more. Both guides are packed with information on nightlife, institutions with gay-friendly ratings, gay (and non-gay) activities, helpful websites, comprehensive maps, and just about everything that anyone who is LGBT could find useful. A "must-have" series for any LGBT traveler, whether on business or pleasure - though heterosexual travelers are sure to find them fascinating and informative as well.


The Computer Shelf

PHP and MySQL Web Development, 4th Edition
Luke Welling and Laura Thomson
Addison-Wesley
c/o Pearson Education
801 East 96th Street, 3rd floor, Indianapolis, IN 46240-3759
www.awprofessional.com 1-800-428-5331
9780672329166, $49.99 www.informit.com/aw

The 4th updated edition of PHP AND MYSQL WEB DEVELOPMENT is a pick for any advanced developer's library following these open-source technologies. It's a scripting language designed to enable developers to create functional Web applications quickly, and pairing a web database that integrates well with PHP with the tool for added impact. From examples of common tasks to tips on making a shopping cart, generating PDF documents and images, and managing email, PHP and MySQL Web Development is a top pick for any advanced developer's collection - and even includes a CD-ROM of invaluable information.

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

Any web programmer seeking to learn Ajax will find Rebecca M. Riordan's HEAD FIRST AJAX (9780596515782, $44.99) a user-friendly course in interactive web application programming and the many opportunities offered by Ajax. The actual look of the book is different: it uses the latest findings in cognitive science and learning theory to blend cartoons, drawings, charts, and graphic images into the process, making for a far easier learning method. David Sawyer McFarland's JAVASCRIPT (Pogue Press, 9780596515898, $39.99) provides a structured series of programs designed to help Java programmers customize code. From avoiding common errors to saving time with prewritten code, JAVASCRIPT: THE MISSING MANUAL is a winner. Any library strong in web page design will find these popular lends. Brian Jepson, Ernest E. Rothman and Rich Rosen's MAC OSX FOR UNIX GEEKS, 4TH EDITION (9780596520625, $34.99) now covers Leopard and offers a fine survey of the 'geekier' side of Mac OS X. This book bridges Apple's Darwin OS and traditional Unix systems, offering insights on how to perform common Unix tasks in Mac OS X's different environment. Learn how to compile code, install open source software through Fink and MacPorts, and more. Barbara Brundage's PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 7: THE MISSING MANUAL (9780596521332, $44.99) is for any who would get the most out of Photoshop. It offers jargon-free explanations of processes, demonstrates tools the pros use, tells how to back up and share photos online, and surveys organization and display basics. Any library catering to Photoshop users will find this an essential, key acquisition.


The Health/Medicine Shelf

What Helped Me Get Through
Julie K. Silver, editor
American Cancer Society
250 Williams Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30303-1002
Media Buzz (publicity)
62 Atherton Road, Brookline, MA 02446
1604430044, $17.95, www.cancer.org

Cancer is nothing one can get through without learning a valuable life lesson. "What Helped Get Me Through: Cancer Survivors Share Wisdom and Hope" is a collection of wit and wisdom from those who have defeated one of life's greatest challenges in cancer. With advice ranging from the most devastating diagnosis, to the long, grueling fight one must face, to final recovery and much more, "What Helped Get Me Through" is an absolute must for anyone facing this monster or have relatives who have to fight the fight.

The Food-Mood Connection
Gary Null
Seven Stories Press
140 Watts Street, New York, NY 10013
9781583227886, $24.95, www.sevenstories.com

You are what you eat applies to more than physical fitness. "The Food-Mood Connection: Nutritional and Environmental Approaches to Mental Health and Physical Wellbeing" is a book discussing the possibility that many mental disorders are strongly affected by what the afflicted eat in their day to day lives. Explaining that the nutrition and chemicals brought into the body cause many different reactions and changes throughout, it's a theory based in science and applicable to one's everyday life. "The Food-Mood Connection" is something to consider when trying to increase one's overall mental and physical health.

Natural Flexibility
Charles Kenny, MD
Hatherleigh Press
5-22 46th Avenue, Suite 200, Long Island City, NY 11101
9781578262847, $16.95 www.hatherleighpress.com 1-800-528-2550

Dr. Charles Kenny presents Natural Flexibility: The New Risk-Free Alternative to Stretching, a guide to exercises designed to increase flexibility in a safer manner than traditional stretching, which carries risk of injury. Also included are exercises for rehabilitation from injury, neck and back pain, enhancing specific sports and fitness activities, and a special section designed expressly for trainers, coaches, physical therapists, physicians, and health professionals. Black-and-white photographs illustrate the steps of each exercise or routine, all of which can be done in the privacy of one's home with no special equipment. A "must-have" addition to the shelf of anyone enjoying the benefits of an active lifestyle.

Conquering Eating Disorders
Sue Copper & Peggy Norton
Seal Press
1700 Fourth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710
9781580052603, $16.95, www.sealpress.com

Modern society has wrongfully taught some girls that triple digit weight of any sort is fat. "Conquering Eating Disorders: How Family Communication Heals" discusses the horrible reality of eating disorders very frankly. Bad body image is a leading cause, and many teens speak out and give their frank reasons, however distorted, why they do the things that they do. With much advice for parents, family, and friends to help a loved one overcome their harmful delusion, "Conquering Eating Disorders" is a must for parents who fear that this debilitating problem could affect their children.

Food and Nutrition in America
Sari Edelstein & Collaborators
Jones and Bartlett Publishers
40 Tall Pine Drive, Sudbury, MA 01776
9780763754082, $68.95, www.jbpub.com

If there's no food, there's nothing. "Food and Nutrition in America: Food Insecurity, Biotechnology, Food Safety, and Bioterrorism" is an educational book looking to discuss the security of America's food supply in the modern day, with the rising wave of terrorism, new bioengineering, and much more. Chapters discuss in depth topics like America's overall safety when it comes to its food, food-borne illness, regulations, holes in the defense of America's food, and other threats that lie in wait to cause the country trouble with its most valued resource. "Food and Nutrition in America" is an invaluable discussion peace for those intrigued with both agricultural science and politics.

The Indian Spa
Kim Inglis
Talisman
c/o Tuttle Publishing
364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon, VT 05759-9436
9789810593537, $39.95 www.tuttlepublishing.com

THE INDIAN SPA is the first of its kind to consider the many wellness therapies that originated in India, offering a synthesis and analysis of the country's four major healing systems - Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Tibetan traditional medicine, as well as naturopathy, yoga, meditation and more. Essays cover alternative health processes and therapies and provide both history and outlines of treatments, making this an outstanding choice for any new age or health collection.

Moments of Truth in Genetic Medicine
Susan Lindee
Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218-4363
0801891019, $25.00 www.press.jhu.edu

Susan Lindee's original study explores the history of ideas and disciplines that interacted to turn genetic medicine from a marginal field in the mid-1950s to the foundations of biomedicine it is today. Moments of Truth in Genetic Medicine offers a fine survey of the work of geneticists, discussing social issues, public doubts and awareness, historic technological breakthroughs, and more. It's a 'must' for any health library concerned with health history, particularly at the college level.

Physiology at a Glance, 2nd Edition
Jeremy Ward & Roger Linden
John Wiley
c/o Blackwell Publishing
2121 State Avenue, Ames, IA 50014-8300
www.blackwellpublishing.com, 1-800-216-2522
9781405177238, $36.95 www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell

Students studying physiology as a course or for a degree will find PHYSIOLOGY AT A GLANCE, 2ND EDITION to be a fine survey in full color with a new table of normal physiological values and updates in many different areas. Text and diagrams cover all key components of physiology and are key to any student's course of study, making it an important pick for any college-level library strong in health science.

Remembering Yesterday, Caring Today: Reminiscence in Dementia Care
Pam Schweitzer and Errollyn Bruce
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Box 960, Herndon, VA 20172-0960
9781843106494, $45.00 www.jkp.com

Any health library strong in dementia care 'best practice' guides will welcome this focus on the tool of reminiscence and its ability to support people with dementia. From how it works to stimulate communication to how professionals and family members alike can use reminiscence to maximum effectiveness both at the group and individual level, this is a key acquisition for any working with dementia patients - and their loved ones.


The Nautical Shelf

Inshore Navigation
Tom Cunliffe
Wiley Nautical
111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030
9780470753897, $29.95 www.wileynautical.com

The second updated edition of Tom Cunliffe's classic is written with the idea of a 'quick start', reviewing the basics of navigation and coverings all the foundations of using charts, GPS, plotting a fix, working out navigation and more. He's one of Britain's leading experts on yacht navigation and is also an instructor examiner and consultant: his jump start and background teaching navigation will delight beginning sailors and collections catering to them.

The Folkboat Story
Dieter Loibner
Sheridan House
145 Palisade Street, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
9781574092745, $29.95 www.sheridanhouse.com

The Folkboat's classic elegance has lasted six decades, and here Dieter Loibner describes its history, surveying a classic and old Nordic Folkboat design that produces equally good results whether from wood or fiberglass. Its history and legends make for a lively survey perfect for nautical libraries; especially those seeking in-depth coverage of the construction and operation of unusual boats.


The Writing/Publishing Shelf

Word Power
John Fleming
University Press of America
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706
9780761838043, $34.00, www.univpress.com

Words have power, and a grand vocabulary is a sure way to let someone know you aren't just any old dullard. "Word Power: A Dictionary of Fascinating Learned Words and Phrases for Vocabulary Enrichment" is, if one were to simplify it to the most simple of terms, a dictionary. However, its content focuses on a wider range of words from slang to archaic words to the obscene to even deeply scientific terms. "Word Power" is a must for anyone who wants to paint a picture with the English language and wants all the colors available.

The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins
Robert Hendrickson
Facts On File, Inc.
c/o Infobase Publishing
132 West 31st Street, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10001
9780816069668, $95.00 www.factsonfile.infobasepublishing.com 1-800-322-8755

Now in an updated and expanded fourth edition, The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins is a massive reference jam-packed with definitions and origins of more than 15,000 words and expressions. From "all gussied up" to "zoot suit", each entry offers plain, no-nonsense information about the history and usage of each phrase (or the best known theories of the phrase's origin). Highly recommended especially for public library reference collections. "Zombie was originally the snake god worshiped in West Indian voodoo ceremonies based upon the worship of the python god in West Africa. Since dead people were said to be brought to life in these ceremonies, such imagined corpses shuffling along half dead and half alive were called zombies. By the 1920s this word naturally became applied to any oafish 'dummy' without much intelligence or spirit. It is also the name of a cocktail that makes one feel like a zombie."

2009 Writer's Market
Robert Lee Brewer, Editor
Writer's Digest Books
4700 East Galbriath Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236
F&W Publications, Inc. (distributor)
700 East State Street, Iola, WI 54990
www.fwpublications.com, 1-800-726-9966
1582975418, $29.99 www.writersdigest.com/books

Written by writers for writers, this 2009 edition of Writer's Market packs in over 700 new listings plus interviews and provides the latest contact information and submission guidelines for over 3,500 markets from literary magazines and theatres to greeting card companies and book publishers. The latest information and submission guidelines is accompanied by interviews with Amy Silverstein and others, updated pay rate charts for pros, and tabbed pages for quick and easy location of info. Every lending library at the public or high school forward level must have this.

Clean, Well-Lighted Sentences
Janice Bell
W.W. Norton
500 - 5th Avenue, New York NY 10110
9780393067712, $21.95 www.wwnorton.com

CLEAN, WELL-LIGHTED SENTENCES: A GUIDE TO AVOIDING THE MOST COMMON ERRORS IN GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION is for any who know they want to write, but who aren't confident in the use of grammar and punctuation. The most common errors in American sentences are covered from a teacher who holds over thirty-five years in a variety of university and business teaching settings, and appear in chapters easy to access and understand. Any library catering to ESL students or high school to college-level users will find this a light, accessible read.


The Science Shelf

The Migration of Ideas
Roberto Scazzieri & Raffaella Simili
Science History Publications
c/o Watson Publishing International
PO Box 1240, Sagamore Beach, MA 02562-1240
9780881353976, $40.00, www.shpusa.com

How do ideas gather and become greater ideas? "The Migration of Ideas" takes a scholarly look at the most important aspect of scientific advancement. Ideas and innovation and how they move between people and advance current technology and create new technology is the focus, and insights to what facilities and what hampers flow of ideas throughout the war, such things as the internet or censorship. "The Migration of Ideas" is intriguing reading about the many factors that affect the world's progress in the field of technology.

The Unfinished Game
Keith Devlin
Basic Books
c/o Perseus Books Group
Eleven Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142
9780465009107, $24.95 www.basicbooks.com 1-800-242-7737

Mathematician Keith Devlin presents The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern, the true story of how Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat exchanged a series of meticulous letters in the 1600's that would lay the groundwork for modern probability theory, used today in everything from the insurance industry to job markets and safety evaluations of cars and planes. Even though The Unfinished Game addresses mathematical concepts, the text strives to be accessible to readers of all backgrounds. The astounding true story of how revolutionary scientific concepts were born unfolds. Highly recommended, especially for public and college library collections.

The Super-Organism
Bert Holldobler and E.O. Wilson
W.W. Norton
500 - 5th Avenue, New York NY 10110
9780393067040, $55.00 www.wwnorton.com

In their first major collaboration since THE ANTS, two renowned biologists provide a fine in-depth look at the social evolution of insect societies in THE SUPER-ORGANISM: THE BEAUTY, ELEGANCE, AND STRANGENESS OF INSECT SOCIETIES. Superorganisms are colonies of individuals knit by cooperation and complex communication: they work in tightly knit colonies held together by cooperation and are the nonhuman equivalent of a society. This review of the nature of insect superorganisms and their impact makes for a powerful and in-depth survey recommended for any college-level science and nature library.

Science and Technology in Modern European Life
Guillaume De Syon
Greenwood Press
88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
9780313337680, $49.95 www.greenwood.com

High school to college-level libraries strong in either science and technology or modern European life will find Science and Technology in Modern European Life an excellent history and review of how science and technology affects and changes modern European society today. From urban and rural agriculture and the growth of industrial machines to navigating the world and handling war, chapters provide an excellent historical and social history.

Bretz's Flood
John Soennichsen
Sasquatch Books
119 S. Main St. #400, Seattle, WA 98104
1570615055, $23.95 www.sasquatchbooks.com

BRETZ'S FLOOD: THE REMARKABLE STORY OF A REBEL GEOLOGIST AND THE WORLD'S GREATEST FLOOD provides a biography of one J. Harlen Bertz, a history and geology survey discussing how he devised a revolutionary new geology theory based on little more than observation and hypothesis. Beretz was a former high school science teacher then a professor: he hypothesized that a catastrophic flood had scoured the land, and he provided papers documenting a deluge of proof for this ideas. Any science library strong in geology will find it a winner.


The Calendar Shelf

That Patchwork Place
c/o Martingale & Company
20205 - 144th Avenue, NE, Woodinville, WA 98072-8478
www.martingale-pub.com, 1-800-426-3126

2009 AWARD-WINNING QUILTS FEATURING QUILTS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL QUILT ASSOCIATION (9781564778994, $12.95) offers 12 months of exceptional winning quilt designs from the International Quilt Association, from geometric patterns to landscapes, flowers and more. Quilters will enjoy a fine wall calendar filled with different, involving quilting designs. QUILT CALENDAR 2009 (9781564778666, $16.95) holds a dozen quilts from recent That Patchwork Place books, each with step-by-step directions in one wall calendar presentation. Quilts from popular designers offer color pullout instruction booklets in a combination of instructional and monthly inspiration. Both are powerful new calendars perfect for avid quilters.


The Hobby Shelf

Designing & Building Multi-Deck Model Railroads
Tony Koester
Kalmbach Publishing Company
21027 Crossroads Circle, Waukesha, WI 53186
www.kalmbachbooks.com 1-800-533-6644
9780890247419, $19.95 www.KalmbachBooks.com

Featuring more than 185 color illustrations and photographs, Designing & Building Multi-Deck Model Railroads: How to Get More Out of Your Space is an in-depth, step-by-step walkthrough for serious model railroad enthusiasts. The text offers helpful overall advice as well as minutely specific recommendations, stressing that creating an elaborate multi-deck railroad ultimately entails more compromise as compared to a single-deck design. Experienced model railroad builders will welcome the technical detail of this solid how-to manual.


The Theatre/Cinema/TV Shelf

The Soul of Screen Writing
Keith Cunningham
Continuum
80 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038
9780826428691, $29.95, www.continuum-books.com

The difference between a good movie and a great movie is effort and soul. "The Soul of Screen Writing: On Writing, Dramatic Truth, and Knowing Yourself" is a guide for improving one's screenplay by infusing the core of the story and its characters with the human voice and enthusiasm that takes a movie into legendary status. Advising against the formulaic writing many screen writers fall into, "The Soul of Screen Writing" is motivating and highly recommended reading for any aspiring screen writer.

Harmony + Dissent
R. Bruce Elder
Wilfrid Laurier University Press
75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, Canada, N2L 3C5
9781554580286, $85.00, www.wlupress.wlu.ca

Films can do much more than just entertain. "Harmony + Dissent: Film and Avant-garde Art Movements in the Early Twentieth Century" is a scholarly examination of the first half of the twentieth century and its films, focusing on the philosophical, spiritual, and political ideals presented in these early films which the new technology of moving pictures and used them as a vehicle for their messages. From the occult to the advancement of technology, many ideas were advanced. Enhanced with appendixes, indexes, and professional opinions, "Harmony + Dissent" is a solid acquisition for community and college library film collections.

American Cinema of the 1960s
Barry Keith Grant
Rutgers University Press
100 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8099
9780813542195, $24.95, www.rutgerspress.rutgers.edu

Art imitates life, and art imitating the life of the 1960s was intriguing indeed. "American Cinema of the 1960s: Themes and Variations" brings a scholarly eye to the films of the 1960s and discusses the wide range of messages reflecting a wide range of messages that society was being exposed to and discussing at the time. Ten essays give intelligent insight on every thing from independent film to documentary to the big Hollywood films of the era. "American Cinema of the 1960s" is a microscope of the microscope that the films of the time served to be.

Your Screenplay Sucks!
William M. Akers
Michael Wiese Productions
3940 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Suite 1111, Studio City, CA 91604
9781932907452, $19.95, www.mwp.com

In any field of writing, something without polish is simply going to be terrible. "Your Screenplay Sucks! 100 Ways to Make It Great" is a guide to applying that polish to increase its chances of being accepted and turning one's vision from writing on paper into a major motion picture. Each flaw in one's writing stands out like a sore thumb, greatly decreasing the appeal of the work; and "Your Screenplay Sucks!" will teach readers how to remedy such problems.

The Shifting Definitions of Genre
Lincoln Geraghty and Mark Jancovich
McFarland & Company
Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640
9780786434305, $35.00 www.mcfarlandpub.com

THE SHIFTING DEFINITIONS OF GENRE: ESSAYS ON LABELING FILMS, TELEVISION SHOWS AND MEDIA provides a survey of genre meanings and their changes over the years, offering thirteen essays considering genre marketing in different film groups and categories. From specific genres for different types of films to concepts of history and genre identification, this college-level survey is recommended for any library strong in media studies.


The Fiction Shelf

Aurora Crossing
Karl H. Schlesier
Texas Tech University Press
PO Box 41037, Lubbock, TX 79409-1037
9780896726369, $27.95, www.ttup.ttu.edu

The gods of most cultures are never straight with humanity. "Aurora Crossing" is a novel set in the nineteenth century, following a tribe of the Nez Perce, particularly one John Seton. Drawn into a vicious war, he soon begins to ponder the future of his culture and their legacy at the same time. Offering a native American perspective of one of America's darkest acts against its own people, "Aurora Crossing" is very much highly recommended reading for anyone intrigued by native American culture.

Sawney Beane
Frieda Gates
Cambridge House Press
c/o Sterling & Ross Publishers
115 W. 29th St., 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10001
9780981453606, $14.95, www.camhousepress.com

Sometimes legends can be true. However, this also means the scary stories one reads as a child can also be so. "Sawney Beane: The Abduction of Elspeth Cumming" takes off the legend of the Sawney Beane clan in Scotland, and tells the story of Elspeth Cumming as she is kidnapped by the ragged band of thugs and held against her well. A historical fiction account of her endeavor, her story is riveting reading, as "Sawney Beane" is sure to keep its readers glued to the pages.

Lost in the Wild
Ryan Jacobson
Adventure Publications
820 Cleveland St. S, Cambridge, MN 55008
1591930901, $7.95, www.adventurepublications.net

Camping with one's family is fun. Being chased down by wolves, who view you as dinner? Not so much. "Lost in the Wild" is a choose your own adventure book with a simply printed yet clear goal of survival. Set in the forest during a family camping trip, the sister is suddenly missing in need of help. The protagonist, implied to be the reader and written in second person, must save their sister and themselves from the vicious wilderness. "Lost in the Wild" is a definite treat for elementary school readers who want a little fright in their interactive fiction.

20 Tales of California
Hector Lee
Rayve Productions
PO Box 726, Windsor, CA 95492
9781877810725, $12.95, www.rayvepro.com

California is a state with as long and captivating history as its parent country. Now in a newly revised edition, "20 Tales of California: A Rare Collection of Western Stories" draws heavily from the folklore and legend that has seeded in California from the days of the Native Americans encountering the Spanish Conquistadors. Touching on a wide range of topics in its history ranging from the southernmost tip to the border of Oregon, these tales shed a new light on the history of California. "20 Tales of California" is a must for any fiction enthusiast with an interest in Californian history.

My Fathers' Daughter
Teresa Marotta
Crary Publications
405 Lehman Street, Las Vegas, NV 89110
9780974343884, $15.95 www.CraryPublications.com

Set in South Carolina, "My Fathers' Daughter" is an engaging historical novel that takes place in the late 1800s after the expulsion of Native Americans from the eastern shores of the nation to an inhospitable west, through the end of the American Civil War. It's the story of Amelia, a young woman who upon the death of her father sets out to find a half-sister she had previously been unaware of. Amelia joins with a trapper who is more hindrance than help, mistreating her at every opportunity. Along the way there are heroes -- and the need for one. "My Father's Daughter" is a riveting novel that combines romance with mystery with frontier adventure. The result is solid entertainment from first page to last. "My Father's Daughter" is especially recommended for personal reading lists and community library fiction collections.


The Political Science Shelf

Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way
Jeff Blodgett & Bill Lofy
University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290, Minneapolis, MN 55401
9780816653331, $22.95, www.upress.umn.edu

Modern politics has become more than about the issues; it has become something that calls for strategy and selling, turning many campaigns into something that resemble a business, but dealing with ideas instead of money. "Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way: A Comprehensive Guide for Candidates & Campaign Workers" is what it says it is, methods and motives that have proved successful for well over two hundred candidates who have taken office using the contents of the book. Collected from some combined centuries of political experience, "Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way" is a must for any politician who wants to be as informed as possible for their election.

We, The Anarchists!
Stuart Christie
AK Press
674-A 23rd Street, Oakland, CA 94612-1163
9781904859758, $17.95, www.akpress.org

Organized Anarchism seems like an oxymoron, but much can be learned from their beliefs. "We, The Anarchists! A Study of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI 1927-1937)" is a look at the growth of this political organization in Spain which called for not smaller, more, or better government, but no government at all. Explaining their beliefs and what they did to press their opinions in Spanish society on the brink of a civil war, "We, The Anarchists!" is a solidly recommended read for any historian with a focus on politics.

Deleting the State
Aeon J. Skoble
Open Court Publishing
70 East Lake Street, Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60601
081269614X, $29.95 www.opencourtbooks.com

Is the state a necessary evil, or can its problems be overcome? Aeron J. Skoble's philosophical examination DELETING THE STATE: AN ARGUMENT ABOUT GOVERNMENT offers an analysis of various arguments about the state that traces all debates down to the idea that mutual warfare would emerge in the absence of political authority. High school to college-level libraries strong on both philosophy and political debates will find this holds many thought-provoking considerations.

Dumbocracy
Marty Beckerman
The Disinformation Company, Ltd.
163 Third Avenue, Suite 108, New York, NY 10003
9781934708064, $16.95, www.disinfo.com

Sometimes it seems a functional brain isn't needed to become a politician. "Dumbocracy: Adventures with the Loony Left, the Rabid Right, and Other American Idiots" is Marty Beckerman's war on the idiocy that so infests the American political landscape. Pulling no punches, he attacks all the horrendous extremes and calls them out for what they are with the biting humor and satire that the rational reader will love. "Dumbocracy" is a must read for anyone who sees current politics as one elaborate joke.


The Literary Shelf

Hunger and Thirst
Nancy Cary
San Diego City Works Press
c/o Sunbelt Publications
1256 Fayette Street, El Cajon, CA 92020
9780981602042, $12.95, www.cityworkspress.org

What fuels humanity is often ignored, but should be celebrated like anything else. "Hunger and Thirst: Food Literature" is a collection of essays, short fiction, and poetry dedicated to food and drink and how these two subjects, done daily but rarely discussed, drive the world around us and deftly impact the world. "Hunger and Thirst" is riveting and entertaining using a literally everyday subject matter, making for a solid read indeed.

Encyclopedia of Hispanic-American Literature
Luz Elena Ramirez
Infobase Publishing
132 West 21st Street, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10001
9780816060849, $75.00

A growing force in the country, Hispanic America has made many contributions to many fields, including literature. "Encyclopedia of Hispanic-American Literature" takes a look at the major contributions to the world of literature by Hispanic Americans. Covering the many different forms fo literature from novels, plays, poetry, short fiction, biographical and much more, it offers synopses and a critical discussion of each of the featured pieces. It also includes biographies of major Hispanic writers and looks at cultural aspects and how they've influenced their writings. "Encyclopedia of Hispanic-American Literature" is a must for any American literature collection.

John Donne: The Reformed Soul
John Stubbs
W.W. Norton
500 - 5th Avenue, New York NY 10110
9780393333664, $18.95 www.wwnorton.com

John Donne emerged as one of the world's greatest English poets from his former status as a buccaneer, capturing the paradoxes of his times and offering satirical visions of hell, powerful meditations in verse, and more. His psychological state and literary impact are explored in a striking biography merging social and literary insights: a key acquisition for any college-level library including studies of past poets.

Conrad's Heart of Darkness
Allan Simmons
Continuum
80 Maiden Lane #704, New York NY 10038
9780826489340, $16.95 www.continuum.com

An overview of the novel HEART OF DARKNESS joins others in Continuum's 'Character Studies' series and offers discussions of the narrative structure and narrators key to the text's reading. High school to college-level students of Conrad will find this a powerful exploration of the themes and ideas of this classic text, and a 'must' for comprehensive study.


The Education Shelf

Instruction and Assessment for Struggling Writers
Gary A. Troia, editor
The Guilford Press
72 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012
9781593859923, $48.00 www.guilford.com 1-800-365-7006

Instruction and Assessment for Struggling Writers: Evidence-Based Practices is an anthology of essays by learned authors about the challenges of helping students in grades K-12 who have difficulties with writing. Essays include "Self-Efficacy and Procrastination in the Writing of Students with Learning Disabilities", "Connecting Reading and Writing Instruction for Struggling Learners", "Teaching Composition to Students with Learning Disabilities: Scientifically Supported Recommendations", and more. An index rounds out this scholarly resource of strategies, research, and practical experience in helping students who find writing skills a challenge to learn.

Unlock the Mystery to Math
RJ Toftness
RJ Publishing
554 N. Mariposa Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90004
9780982146903, $18.95

Unlock the Mystery to Math: Discover Why You Failed in Math is an educational self-help books for students age eight to eighty who are struggling with mathematics. During the author's years of tutoring children, teenagers, and adults, he encountered a recurring problem with lack of familiarity with the basics of math. The basics haven even been systematically removed from textbooks since the mid-1960s - but mathematics requires knowledge of the basics as a foundation to more advanced study. Unlock the Mystery to Math walks the readers through a solid understanding of the basics, with tips and tricks to get a better handle on this often challenging subject. Chapters cover arithmetic (including fractions and decimals) and the fundamentals of algebra, geometry, calculus and more. With special attention paid to helping readers learn precisely where they failed in math and how to remedy their grades, Unlock the Mystery to Math is a solid primer presented in an informal, easy-to-understand writing style. Simple black-and-white illustrations and diagrams pepper this superb primer enthusiastically recommended for public school libraries and as an aid to tutors, as well as private use among individuals seeking to improve their performance in math.

Everywhere All the Time
Matt Hern
AK Press
674-A 23rd Street, Oakland, CA 94612-1163
9781904859833, $17.95, www.akpress.org

Public education can be a wonderful thing, if it's done right . . . "Everywhere All the Time: A New Deschooling Reader" sets out to offer readers and parents alternatives to the traditional public education system and its problems. Scholarly dissecting modern education and what it does wrong, it does not leave any established alternative, such as private or home-schooling, completely untouched in its criticism. "Everywhere All the Time" is well worth reading for anyone who questions the value of modern education.

Academic Cultures
Sean P. Murphy
Modern Language Association
26 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10004-1789
9781603290012, $37.50, www.mla.org

Teaching is not a one-size fits all thing. Many educators do their job in many different ways. "Academic Cultures: Professional Preparation and the Teaching Life" takes a widespread look at education and the very different applications of it at vastly different levels. With stories ranging from the opinions of a PhD teaching a public high school class, teaching in rural areas, finding one's voice when one is not quite senior enough to be immediately respected, and much more, it's a wide sampling of many voices of Academia. Enhanced with a bibliography and index, "Academic Cultures" is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the mind of an educator.

I'd Rather Teach Peace
Colman McCarthy
Orbis Books
PO Box 308, Maryknoll, NY 10545
9781570757624, $16.00

Peace isn't a course offered in today's public schools, but maybe it should be. "I'd Rather Teach Peace" is the story of Colman McCarthy, drafted to become a public school teacher for writing, but instead sought to teach a course on peace and how to use it in everyday life and for the future. Chronicling one semester of this historic course, "I'd Rather Teach Peace" is a must read for any educator or education administrator.

Teaching Geography
Phil Gersmehl
The Guilford Press
72 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012
9781593857158, $45.00, www.guilford.com

When many Americans can't find their own state on the map, it's a sign that geography instruction needs some improvement. Now in a fully updated second edition, "Teaching Geography" is an invaluable resource for those who want to teach geography in the most effective way possible to help combat the stereotype that American children are stupid. With much advice and tips ranging from the most elementary kindergarten lessons all the way up to the lessons the senior year of high school. With more than a hundred activities presented and a CD-ROM with many educational materials, "Teaching Geography" is a geography teacher of any level's best friend.


The Christian Studies Shelf

Leading the Assembly in Prayer
Michael J. Begolly
Resource Publications
160 E. Virginia St., Suite #290, San Jose, CA 95112-5876
9780893906740, $24.95

Leadership is a skill to be applied to many aspects of life, including the spiritual. Now in a newly updated and revised edition, "Leading the Assembly in Prayer: A Practical Guide for Lay and Ordained Presiders" is an advice manual for church leaders who want to more effectively lead their congregations when it comes to the serene and personal time of prayer. With much advice on the differences when dealing with different audiences from children to funeral mourners, "Leading the Assembly in Prayer" is a must for any church leader who wants to be the best at what they do.

Restoring Integrity in Baptist Churches
Thomas White, Jason G. Duesing, & Malcolm B. Yarnell III
Kregel Academic & Professional
PO Box 2607, Grand Rapids, MI 49501
9780825441134, $18.99

Some say integrity is something that has taken quite the beating in modern society. "Restoring Integrity in Baptist Churches" is a collection of wise, Christian minds on the current decline of church attendance nation wide and the fall of moral values in America. Speaking on membership, Baptist principles, Discipline, and how to spread the values to a congregation, "Restoring Integrity in Baptist Churches" is a must for heads of Baptist churches.

Meeting St. Paul Today
Daniel J. Harrington
Loyola Press
3441 N. Ashland Avenue, Chicago, IL 60657
9780829427349, $12.95, www.loyolapress.com

Who was Paul, the apostle who preached most of Jesus's word after his death? "Meeting St. Paul Today: Understanding the Man, His Mission, and His Message" takes a look at the man behind the words. Tracing his history from before he met Jesus to his activities after the Crucifixion which did much to advance the word of his mentor, "Meeting St. Paul Today" is a must for those who want to learn everything they can about the dominant religion of the western world.

Finding Calcutta
Mary Poplin
Veritas Forum Book
c/o Intervarsity Press
PO Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426
9780830834723, $15.00, www.books.ivpress.com

Mother Teresa was a great inspiration to many Catholics. "Finding Calcutta" is the story of a woman whose desire to meet the potential saint was so strong, she volunteered to serve under her in the slums of Calcutta. Telling her story of traveling to Calcutta, meeting Mother Teresa, and what she was inspired to do to help the poor and needy, "Finding Calcutta" is inspirational and a strong choice for any religious memoir collection.

Salt of the Earth
Bernice Maher Mooney and Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald
University of Utah Press
1795 East South Campus Drive, #101, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9402
9780874808810, $29.95 www.uofupress.com 1-800-773-6672

Utah may be best known as the central seat of the Church of Latter-day Saints, but Catholicism has also been an integral part of the state's history dating all the way back to the American Revolution. Now in a newly updated and revised edition, "Salt of the Earth: The History of the Catholic Church in Utah, 1776-2007" is a thoughtful and heavily researched look at the contributions that Catholicism and Catholics have made to Utah, the histories of individual bishops, the growth of the diocese, and the lives of individual Catholics who made their own unique contributions to Utah's spiritual legacy. Written by the archivist emerita of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City Bernice Maher Mooney and the vicar general of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald, Salt of the Earth is an informative, highly accessible account, illustrated with scattered black-and-white photographs. A welcome addition to Utah and American religious history shelves.


The Parenting Shelf

Babies with Down Syndrome
Susan J. Skallerup, editor
Woodbine House
6510 Bells Mill Rd., Bethesda, MD 20817
9781890627553, $18.95, www.woodbinehouse.com

Different needs can confuse many parents on what to do with their child in difficult situations. Now published in a newly revised and updated edition, "Babies with Down Syndrome: A New Parents' Guide" is a guide focused on giving new parents everything they need to deal with their child who has been afflicted with Down Syndrome. Equipping them with a good array of information on daily life, development, education, the law, and so much more, it reinforces the idea that just like with any child, being informed is the best course of action. "Babies with Down Syndrome" is a must for any parents who have an infant with this unfortunate disorder.


The Judaic Studies Shelf

The Zohar
Rav Micheal Laitman
Laitman Kabbalah Publishers
1057 Steeles Avenue West, Suite 532, Toronto, ON M2R 3X1, Canada
9781897448090, $30.00, www.kabbalah.info

There is more wisdom to the Judaic religion than simply the Torah and the Talmud. "The Zohar: Annotations to the Ashlag Commentary" is a scholarly examination of the most formerly secret of Judaic texts for use with another set of sage Jewish writings in the Kabbalah. The Zohar itself focuses on one's relationship with God from religious, spiritual, and philosophical perspectives. A must for anyone who weighs much thought into the great intellectual subject of religion, "The Zohar" is not just for Rabbis anymore.


The Sports Shelf

Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook
Nancy Clark
Human Kinetics
1607 North Market Street, PO Box 5076, Champaign, IL 61825-5076
9780736074155, $19.95, www.humankenetics.com

High activity lives call for high activity diets. Now in a newly expanded and updated fourth edition, "Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook: The #1 Nutrition Resource for Active People" is a health guide for those, who at first glance, wouldn't seem to need it. Highly active people need more energy to get through their days, or face malnutrition, exhaustion, and high stress just like anybody else when they don't eat enough for their activities. With much advice on doing the right amount and not eating to excess, "Nancy Clark's Sports Nutritional Guidebook" is a definite consideration for those who do more than sit on the couch all day.

The Graphical Player 2009
John Burnson & writers from "Heater" magazine
ACTA Publications
5559 West Howard Street, Skokie, IL 60077
9780879463724, $21.95 www.actapublications.com 1-800-397-2282

The Graphical Player 2009 is a stunning compendium of statistical information about nine hundred major and minor league baseball players - in the form of black-and-white graphs! Each page is crammed full of black-and-white visual statistics about four players, punctuated with a very brief text summary of the player's performance. Compiled by John Burnson and his crew from the weekly baseball magazine "Heater", Graphical Player displays three years of daily trends, highlighted with Graphical Organizations that give an overview of where each team stands and where it's going. A treasury for the hardest of hardcore baseball plans, especially anyone who enjoys fantasy baseball leagues as a hobby.

Time-Out
Dov Moshe Lipman
Devora Publishing
40 East 78th Street, Suite 16D, New York, NY 10021
9781932687965, $16.95, www.devorapublishing.com

Sports and Spirituality don't seem like natural matches, but there's a good deal of philosophical cross over. "Time-Out: Sports Stories As a Game Plan for Spiritual Success" takes the lessons one gains from the world of competitive sports and tries to apply many of them onto the religious lessons one must learn when dealing the Judaic tradition. An approach to learning the Torah that a young reader or simply lapsed adult can easily understand, "Time-Out" is a solid gift for anyone who wants to give the gift of spirituality.


The Library Science Shelf

Teen Spaces, second edition
Kimberly Bolan
ALA Editions
50 East Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611
9780838909690, $36.00 www.alastore.ala.org 1-866-746-7252

Now in an updated second edition featuring a companion website with supplemental materials and success stories of YA librarians across the globe, Teen Spaces: The Step-by-Step Library Makeover is a straightforward guide to creating areas sure to appeal to teens in one's library. Black-and-white diagrams offer clear visual layouts and suggested designs; Teen Spaces walks one through designing and proposing a budget, working with architects and designers, visual merchandising ("the effort to make a library attractive and effective in its presentation of materials and services, as a means to increase use and circulation") and much more. Extended appendices, a list of resources, and a recommended vendor list round out this easy-to-use, no-nonsense guide highly recommended for YA librarians. "One important lesson that came out of this research is that, as librarians (and adults), we make the incorrect assumption that kids are web savvy and have the necessary skills to successfully use our websites. Many librarians teach information literacy - helping teens determine so-called bad information, while also assessing resources for high quality information. When working with teenagers in the virtual world, adults must continually focus on the assessment aspect of information literacy because it is consistently where teens fall short. This is especially true of Internet resources."

Professional Liability Issues for Librarians and Information Professionals
Paul D. Healey
Neal-Schuman Publishers
100 William Street, Suite 2004, New York, NY 10038
9781555706098, $85.00, www.neal-schuman.com

If someone takes a book on chemistry from a library, uses it to create a bomb, and kills someone else with that bomb, could legal action be taken against the library? "Professional Liability Issues for Librarians and Information Professionals" is a complete and comprehensive manual for information professionals when dealing with the law of liability. While the above example is stretching it, the general concept in today's world where people sue others at the drop of a hat makes caution important. "Professional Liability Issues for Librarians and Information Professionals" goes over the wide range of situations a librarian may face, their rights in each one, and how to defend themselves from lawsuits ranging from the frivolous to the serious. Enhanced with ability audits, indexes, and glossaries, "Professional Liability Issues for Librarians and Information Professionals" is an absolute must have for any library or company involved in the business of information.

Booktalking Bonanza
Betsy Diamant-Cohen & Selma K. Levi
American Library Association
50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611
9780838909652, $40.00, www.alastore.ala.org

It's all in the presentation, as they say. "Booktalking Bonanza: Ten Ready-to-Use Multimedia Sessions for the Busy Librarian" is a guide for librarians to inspire them and push them to turn their booktalk meetings from mere discussion groups to huge presentations that draw their audience in to enjoy books like any other media. With tips and tricks on drawing in wide demographics from young children to centurions, the book is a braintrust of two award-winning expert librarians for this topic. "Booktalking Bonanza" is a must for librarians who regularly hold booktalk meetings.

Information Today Inc.
143 Old Marlton Pike Road, Medford NJ 08055
www.infotoday.com

Lori Bell and Rhonda B. Trueman edit VIRTUAL WORLDS, REAL LIBRARIES (9781573873611, $39.50), designed to help librarians and educators understand multi-user virtual environments and how to incorporate them into a user setting. The authors and over twenty contributors describe projects in Second Life and other virtual worlds, show how teaching and discussion groups as well as other programs can translate to a virtual environment, and provide an involving survey of changing user needs in the computer arena. A fascinating, lively survey. Pamela MacKellar's THE ACCIDENTAL LIBRARIAN (9781573873383, $29.50) is for any librarian doing the job without benefit of a formal degree. It covers what may have been missed in formal library education, discusses how those with such training stay current in their profession, and comes from a mentor of 'accidental librarians'. Tips, examples, and exercises abound in a recommendation for any college-level library science or general business collection.


The Religion/Spirituality Shelf

Well Seasoned Living Winter
Vicki Kessler
ACTA Publications
5559 W. Howard Street, Skokie, IL 60077-2621
9780879463588, $19.95, www.actapublications.com

Winter, although a time of seclusion, cold, and death in much of nature, can be a time of growth nonetheless for people. "Well Seasoned Living Winter: A Guided Journal for Increasing Your Enjoyment of Everyday Life" is a combination poetry and photography book encouraging people to take their yearly lives and reflect upon them during the cold season of the year. With many philosophical questions and space for people to weigh their answers, "Well Seasoned Living Winter" is a worthwhile buy for anyone who wants to measure the mental worth of their year.

This Little Light
Michael O'Neill McGrath
Orbis Books
Walsh Bldg, PO Box 308, Maryknoll, NY 10545
9781570757914, $20.00, www.orbisbooks.com

Lessons in spirituality are best learned from the wise. "This Little Light: Lessons in Living from Sister Thea Bowman" consists of lessons from one whom many regard as a very inspiring and powerful woman. Thea Bowman stood against many, many obstacles, but through it all, her faith helped her endure anything and everything. "This Little Light" is a story that anyone who believes in God can learn a lot from.

Jewish Christian Dialogue
Alan L. Berger & David Patterson
Paragon House
1925 Oakcrest Avenue, Suite 7, St. Paul, MN 55113-2619
9781557788566, $19.95, www.paragonhouse.com

If any two major religions in the world are more fundamentally alike than any other, they're Christianity and Judaism. But even they are very different. "Jewish Christian Dialogue: Drawing Honey From the Rock" is a scholarly examination of the modern day relationship between the two religions, including their long and storied history. Discussing the issues one by one and tackling everything from the Holocaust to the Passion of the Christ, "Jewish Christian Dialogue" is highly thought provoking and a must read for any theologian, amateur or professional.

What Americans Really Believe
Rodney Stark
Baylor University
One Bear Place, #97363, Waco, TX 76798-7363
Blanco & Peace Enterprises (publicity)
359 W. Chicago Avenue, Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60610
9781602581784, $24.95, www.baylorpress.com

All too often, conservative politicians will claim America is a Christian nation. But do the numbers back up their claim? "What Americans Really Believe" is a scholarly and far reaching study on a number of subjects ranging from politics to faith to the paranormal, to even the value of civil service. The surveys presented are quite intriguing and a look into the true American mindset when it comes to how their minds work. "What Americans Really Believe" is quite intriguing, highly entertaining, and educational.

Catherine of Siena
Thomas McDermott
Paulist Press
997 Macarthur Boulevard, Mahwah, NJ 07430
9780809145478, $27.95, www.paulistpress.com

Many thoughts from many people make up much of any type of belief today. "Catherine of Siena: Spiritual Development in Her Life and Teaching" examines the life of the woman, and the teachings of this lesser known but highly important spiritual leader of the fourteenth century. In a time where women were still not thought of much more than property and rarely had a voice in the church, she made her mind hold value. Enhanced with indexes, bibliography, and comprehensive notes, "Catherine of Siena" is solid and highly recommended reading for any religious scholar.


The Human Sexuality Shelf

How to Get Hot Women Into Bed
Ed West
Amorta Press
c/o Ulysses Press
PO Box 3440, Berkeley, CA 94703
9781569756683, $12.95, www.ulyssespress.com

Everyone has seen it, the normal, non-model looking guy finding a super model who looks to be completely out of his league. "How to Get Hot Women Into Bed: Ultimate Seduction Techniques for Real Guys" is a book for tips and tricks to help one master the art form of becoming a pick up artist and finding what women really want in men. With plenty of ideas and advice for even the most slovenly average Joe, "How to Get Hot Women Into Bed" is worth reading for anyone who wants to turn their luck around.


The Philosophy Shelf

A Beginner's Guide to Philosophy
Dominique Janicaud
Pegasus Books
45 Wall Street, Suite 1021, New York, NY 10005
9781605980010, $18.95 www.pegasusbooks.com 1-800-272-0945

French philosopher Dominique Janicaud presents A Beginner's Guide to Philosophy, which introduces readers to the basics of Western philosophy. From the stylings of pre-Socratic thinkers to the work of Plato and Aristotle, to an overview of more modern philosophers such as Descartes, Nietzsche, Kant, and Hegel, A Beginner's Guide to Philosophy touches upon the quandaries that have hounded thinkers throughout history: the existence of God, the meaning of life, human nature, and the question of what true freedom is. "If not all acts are free in the same way, should freedom itself depend on the degree of enlightenment it brings? Or is every man essentially free in so far as he is a man? If this is the case, we must not simply identify the capacity for being free with the enactment of freedom. We still don't know how freedom can be made concrete in the world." Accessible to readers of all backgrounds, A Beginner's Guide to Philosophy is a superb primary text perfect for self-directed study.

In Praise of the Common
Cesare Casarino & Antonio Negri
University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290, Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520
9780816647439, $24.95 www.upress.umn.edu

"In Praise of the Common" began as a conversation between Marxist political philosopher and intellectual Antonio Negri and literary critic Cesare Casarino. It evolved into the most complete review of Negri's work published. Included are five dialogue exchanges discussing how Negri's thoughts and philosophy grew and changed over the decades, as well as two essays by Casarino that examine Negri's most recent work and contrast it with the work of other prominent thinkers. "Today, there is nothing marginal about poverty - which is why the harder they try to ghettoize it, the more impossible they find it to do so. This is poverty in exodus: this is a poverty, for example, that escaped from the Third World and entered the First World, but was then reimpoverished and once again 'third-worldized' in the First World, etc. The point is that as the poor go through this series of movements, passages, and transformations, they always carry along with them - in their minds and bodies - not only the tools that will enable them to work wherever they go but also the capacity to resist." An excellent addition to philosophical studies shelves, that does not shy away from modern, hot-button global issues.

An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue
Francis Hutcheson
Liberty Fund, Inc.
8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300, Indianapolis, IN 46250-1684
9780865977747, $12.00

Some concepts have been debated for centuries. "An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue" is a reprinting and revised edition of Enlightenment philosopher Francis Hutcheson and his argument on human nature against the many other philosophers of the era. Arguing for the internal sense of humans towards concepts of what is beautiful and the difference between right and wrong, "An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue" is an Enlightenment classic, and solid look into how the human mind may work.


The Poetry Shelf

Twenty One Sonnets
Gabriel Fitzmaurice, author
Brenda Fitzmaurice, illustrator
Salmon Poetry
c/o Dufour Editions, Inc.
PO Box 7, Chester Springs, PA 19425-0007
9781903392683, $23.95 www.dufoureditions.com 1-800-869-5677

Irish teacher, author, and poet Gabriel Fitzmaurice presents Twenty One Sonnets, an anthology of rhyming poetry in the classical format. Black-and-white illustrations by Brenda Fitzmaurice enhance this thoughtful, fluid anthology. "Dad": A man before his time, he cooked and sewed, / Took care of me - and Mammy in her bed, / Stayed in by night and never hit the road. / I remember well the morning she was dead / (I'd been living up in Arklow - my first job, / I hit the road in patches coming home), / He came down from her room, began to sob / "Oh Gabriel, Gabriel, Mam is gone". / He held me and I told him not to cry / (I loved her too, but thought this not the place - / I went up to her room, cried softly "Why?" / Then touched her head quite stiffly, no embrace). / Now when the New Man poses with his kid, / I think of all the things my father did.

The New North
Chris Agee, editor
Wake Forest University Press
PO Box 7333, Winston-Salem, NC 27109
9781930630352, $19.95, www.wfu.edu/wfupress

Blending the contemporary and the classic, "The New North: Contemporary Poetry from Northern Ireland" attempts to paint a vivid picture through verse of Northern Ireland, its politics, its people, and of course, its poetry. Succeeding in its mission with excellent work, "The New North" is a must for anyone who wants to better understand the country. "Skeffingtons" by Damian Smyth: "Or Skivvitons, as our own talking had it,/the ospidal, antiticks, turmits, loo-warm tea,/step-leathers, grewhouns and the vit,/a universe took shape with every estimate.//These words were like jerkins worn inside out:/still working for their keep and doing well, with scars and stitches, nips and tucks,/swapping the big world's pattern for their own.

Mixturao
Tato Laviera
Arte Publico
University of Houston, 452 Cullen Performance Hall, Houston, TX 77204-2004
9781558855243, $12.95, www.artpublicopress.com

America has no official language, and has never had one. "Mixturao: And Other Poems" is Tato Laviera's fifth collection of poetry. This volume is dedicated to celebrating the diverse and complex compilation that is America and its own unique language, which although still primarily English, embraces Spanish and other languages as times go by. "Mixturao" entertains as well as invokes thought in readers, recommended.

Miscreants
James Hoch
W.W. Norton
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
9780393333107, $14.95, www.wwnorton.com

With much acclaim and wide publication, James Hoch brings readers his second anthology of poetry with "Miscreants". Focusing on the concept of the outsider and his many faces, he also embraces the classics fondly. "Miscreants" is a unique look into the common villain of society, whose rarely truly as such. "Crop Circle": As if checking his own/sobriety, my father, stepping//heel-toe, measured out/a tetherball court in the center//of the yard, then, leaning/on a ladder, hammered//a metal pole in the ground/with the blunt side of an axe.

Acting Lessons
John Lehman
Parallel Press
372 Memorial Library, 728 State Street, Madison, WI 53575
9781934795040, $10.00 http://parallelpress.library.wisc.edu 1-800-636-0071

Acting Lessons is a flat-spined poetry chapbook by magazine publisher and "Wisconsin People & Ideas" poetry editor John Lehman. Written in a unique style that resembles stream-of-consciousness prose more than lyrical poetry, Acting Lessons analyzes the nuances of everyday life with a discerning eye. A thoughtful work, sure to induce the reader to ponder its musings at length. "'Two Years Later: I'm playing a trombone in my college / marching band. It's after the half-time / show and I'm trying to reach my brother / on a cell phone. I frantically search / for his number. It isn't listed under my / contacts nor in an address book (which / I also happen to have). I'm supposed / to meet him somewhere, but I'm here / instead. The crowd is on its feet cheering. / Then I wake up and remember he is dead."

Twigs & Knucklebones
Sarah Lindsay
Copper Canyon Press
PO Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368
9781556591648, $15.00, www.coppercanyonpress.org

One doesn't need a paintbrush to create art. "Twigs & Knucklebones" is the work of an accomplished and skilled poet in Sarah Lindsay, with several volumes of poetry under her belt. Focusing on drawing vivid image with verse and offering some witty insights, "Twigs & Knucklebones" is a solid and very recommended poetry read. "More Than Water": She was only putting things in her song/to make it longer--/"Dolly doll,/ I love you more than playing battle,/I love you more than apricots,/I love you more than my yellow dress,/I love you more than fish,/I love you more than water--"/but her mother slapped her mouth, twice./She didn't know why, then,/or why they served so little for supper/and stared at the dish/as though it might be angry./She hadn't been in the fields to see/the line of mud, like a dead snake,/shrinking in the water-ditches.


The Gaming Shelf

The Championship Hold'Em Satellite Strategy
Tom McEnvoy & Brad Daugherty
Cardoza Publishing
5473 S. Eastern Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89119
1580422136, $22.95, www.cardozabooks.com

Before you enter a major poker tournament, you have to qualify. "The Championship Hold'Em Satellite Strategy" is a guide for poker players who are just at the threshold of the poker big leagues and are seeking to earn their way up by winning some big money at these satellite games. Covering everything from limit to no-limit hold em and other satellite variants, Envoy and Daugherty impart their own championship wisdom, making "The Championship Hold'Em Satellite Strategy" a must have for satellite players.

Top Chef: The Game
Brighter Minds Media, LLC
600 Lakeview Plaza Blvd., Suite D, Worthington, OH 43085
$19.95 www.brightermindsmedia.com

Rated E for Everyone by the ESRB, Top Chef: The Game is a computer game on CD-ROM compatible with Windows and the Macintosh. Based on the hit culinary competition television show, and featuring the voices of host Padma Lakshmi and head judge Tom Colicchio, Top Chef: The Game allows players of all kitchen skill and experience levels to compete against fifteen worthy opponents in 30 quickfire and 15 elimination challenges. The player must choose the right ingredients and balance their flavors, all while keeping a close eye on the clock, in this fast-paced cooking competition simulation. Especially recommended for anyone who has enjoyed games like "Cooking Mama" but is interested in playing a title with stiffer competition!


The Environmental Studies Shelf

Stop Global Warming
Laurie David
Fulcrum Publishing
4690 Table Mountain Drive, Suite 100, Golden, CO 80403
9781555916992, $12.95, www.fulcrumbooks.com

Global Warming has far worse implications than simply one or two degrees warmer throughout the year. Now in a newly updated and expanded edition, "Stop Global Warming: The Solution is You!" is a call for everyday people to become bigger and more contributing activists in everyday life. Inspiring grassroots action and what everyone can do to push environmentalism to the bigger issue it is supposed to be, Laurie David lays out why in simple and profound prose. "Stop Global Warming" is a must for anyone who wants to be a part of the solution.

The Holy Earth
L.H. Bailey
Michigan State University Press
1405 South Harrison Road, Suite 25 Manly Miles Building, East Lansing, MI 48823-5202
9780870138324, $14.95, www.msupress.msu.edu

Environmentalism is not a thing exclusive to the second half of the twentieth and twenty-first century. Even at the turn of the century, people sensed something wrong. "The Holy Earth" takes a look at one of the loudest yet relatively unknown voices of early environmentalism in Liberty Hyde Bailey. Touching on his early writings and words, it's intriguing to see one of the first environmentalist minds in action. "The Holy Earth" is much recommended to any environmentalist who appreciates his cause's history.

Crosscurrents North
Marybeth Holleman & Anne Coray
Snowy Owl Books
c/o University of Alaska Press
PO Box 756240, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6240
9781602230224, $26.95, www.uaf.edu/uapress

The largest state in the country, Alaska's natural state has more to offer than its stereotypical tundra. "Crosscurrents North: Alaskans of the Environment" is a large collection of essays and poems based on the natural beauty that Alaska brings to the table with its large wilderness and massive assortment of wild animals that provoke much inspiration into its writers. With a foreword by late former governor Jay Hammond, "Crosscurrents North" is a beautiful tribute to the wonderful wilderness of Alaska.


The Library DVD Shelf

WALL-E Classroom Edition
Disney Educational Productions
114 Fifth Avenue, 14th floor, New York, NY 10011
$49.95 www.DisneyEducation.com 1-800-759-0190

WALL-E Classroom Edition is a special classroom edition of Disney/Pixar's latest computer-animated feature film, which includes public performance rights, a printable teacher's guide, and exclusive bonus features created to reinforce educational concepts. The movie itself stars the charming WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class), a humble robot with a powerful message about the importance of being a responsible steward of the environment. Educational themes present in the DVD include a look at the effects of gravity on the human body, both in earth and space, and an amazing examination of modern day robots. A delightful presentation that shows rather than tells its story, WALL-E Classroom Edition rated G for General Audiences, and is suitable for science and nature students from kindergarten on up. 98 minutes, color.

Which Fork Do I Use?
Learning ZoneXPress
PO Box 1022, Owatonna, MN 55060
157175704X, $49.95 www.learningzoneexpress.com 1-888-455-7003

Which Fork Do I Use? is an educational DVD about formal etiquette, designed for viewers in sixth grade and up. An etiquette expert gives students basic advice about good manners suitable for use on a date, a job interview, or any special occasion. An excellent supplement for home economics classroom education, highly recommended for both school and public library collections. 22 minutes, closed captioned, teaching materials included.

Naruto The Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom
Viz Communications Inc.
295 Bay Street, San Francisco, CA 94133
$29.98 www.viz.com 1-800-394-3042

Presented in its original uncut version, Naruto the Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom is the third full-length motion picture on DVD featuring characters from the smash hit shonen manga (high-action Japanese comics) and anime series Naruto. Set in a fantastic world without guns, where disciples of countless different (including many supernatural) forms of ninjitsu are the most elite scouts, fighters, mercenaries, and defenders, the Naruto series follows the adventures of the titular young man who, despite his cursed past as the living seal to a multi-tailed fox demon, remains bright and eager in his determined quest to become the greatest ninja of all. In Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom, Naruto, the capable female ninja Sakura, and Kakashi ally with Rock Lee to carry out their latest assignment, the protection of Prince Michiru and his son Hikaru as they return home to the Crescent Moon Kingdom. Unfortunately, working for royalty is more of a headache than any of them guessed! Prince Michiru indulges his son shamelessly, even buying the young boy a circus, and Naruto can barely handle both the prince and his new saber-toothed tiger friend. But the action shifts into high gear once the Land of the Moon is reached; Naruto and his friends are thrust into the crucible of a villainous rebellion. The welfare of an entire kingdom is on the line, in this exciting saga of strength, supernatural powers, and heart! Special features include a movie booklet insert, audio commentary, and an interview with the Japanese producers. A "must-have" for Naruto fans, and a fine introduction to this high-impact series for anyone who's never read the manga or seen the anime before. 2 DVDs, 95 minutes, Japanese and English audio, widescreen, recommended for teen and older viewers due to violence.

The Spirit Moves Part 1, 2, & 3
Filmed by Mura Dehn
Dancetime Publications
70 West 87th St., Suite 1B, New York, NY 10024-3566
$59.95 each /, $165.00 set www.dancetimepublications.com

Produced, directed, edited, and narrated by European filmmaker Mura Dehn, The Spirit Moves: A History of Black Social Dance on Film, 1900-1986 is a two-hour documentary, now available on a set of three DVDs. Part 1: Jazz Dance from the Turn of the Century to 1950 (45 min.) was filmed at the Savoy Ballroom of Harlem in the 1950s, and features demonstrations of ragtime and jazz dances by well-known artists including James Berry, Pepsi Bethel, Teddy Brown, and more. Dances shown include the Cakewalk, Charleston, Black Bottom, Susie Q, Shake Blues, Gutbucket Blues, Trunky Doo, Big Apple, and aerial Lindy Hop. Part 2: Savoy Ballroom of Harlem, 1950s (30 min.) features footage of dancing by the general public, though the personalities of Al Minns and Leon James also make an appearance. Dances shown include Bebop, Lindy, Shim Sham, Charleston, and an aerial Lindy contest for the Harvest Moon Ball Championships. Part 3: Postwar Era (40 min. ) is filmed at P.S. 28 (Brooklyn) and the Palladium (New York) and focuses on dances from the "Bebop Era". Dance demonstrations include the Flying Home Harlem Style, Bebop improvisations, the Mombo, and an Applejack Challenge. Prominent dancers in Part 3 include Sugar Sullivan, Jack Asquiew, Leroy Appens, and more. A seminal appreciation of the evolution of African-American dance in urban America, The Spirit Moves Parts 1, 2, & 3 is a must-have for any serious American dance history DVD collection.

The New Dance Group Gala Historical Concert Retrospective 1930s - 1970s
Dancetime Publications
70 West 87th St., Suite 1B, New York, NY 10024-3566
$59.95 www.dancetimepublications.com

The New Dance Group Gala Historical Concert Retrospective 1930s - 1970s is a 2-disc DVD set of a special one-time concert, performed in 1993, consisting of a historic retrospective of "The New Dance Group" from the 1930's to the 1970's. Eighteen recreated dances and excerpts displayed the diverse accomplishments of the New Dance Group across the span of forty years, including "Lynchtown" by Modern Dance founder Charles Weidman, "Folksay" by Sophie Maslow, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" by Pearl Primus, and much more. Further enhancing the DVD are mini-interviews with the choreographers, and an educational nine-page brochure. A treasury of modern dance history, highly recommended especially for public library collections. 160 minutes.

Acacia
8515 Georgia Avenue, Suite 650, Silver Spring, MD 20910
www.AcaciaCatalog.com

Two new fitness DVDs from Acacia are sure to get one's blood pumping. "Cardio For Beginners" ($14.99, 60 minutes, widescreen) with ECA World Fitness Presenter of the Year Petra Kolber is a set of mix-and-match cardio workouts - two 10-minute and two 20-minute segments to choose from. A bonus booklet with suggestions for maximizing one's workout and eight bonus moves on take-along perforated cards round out this high-energy, easy-to-use workout. "Dance and Be Fit: Lower Body Burn" ($14.99, 50 minutes, widescreen) with world-class dance teacher Kimberly Miguel Mullen proffers two 20-minute dance-based workouts with especial emphasis on strengthening the physique of one's lower body (plus a 5 minute warm up and a 5 minute cool down). The total package is a solid cardiovascular workout perfect for slimming down hips and thighs, as well as increasing flexibility and shedding stress. Both DVDs are excellent additions to any exercise shelf, brimming with infectious enthusiasm for getting and staying fit.

Best of Filipino Food, Volume 1
DC Entertainment
3807 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 335, Los Angeles, CA 90010
Victory Multimedia (distribution)
460 Hindry Ave., Unit D, Inglewood, CA 90301
$14.95 www.dcefilms.com

Best of Filipino Food, Volume 1 is a cooking instructional DVD that walks viewers through the creation of some of the most popular regional cuisine of the Philippines. From Kare-Kare to Shrimp in Coconut Milk, Pinkabet, Leche Flan, and more, Best of Filipino Food Volume 1 covers a wide array of meat and seafood dishes, as well as a few vegetable dishes, snacks, and desserts. Highly recommended for cooks of all skill and experience levels who are interested in making and sampling Philippine delicacies, and a welcome addition to public library DVD shelves. 150 minutes.


The Library CD Music Shelf

Scheherazade
Al Conti
Shadowside Music Publishing, Inc.
The Creative Service Company (publicity)
4360 Emerald Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80918
$13.99 www.alconti.net

Titled after the legendary Arabian heroine who stopped a sultan's slaughter of his brides by marrying him and telling him an unfinished story each night, so that he would spare her the next day to hear the end of the story, Al Conti's "Scheherazade" is a musical album composed to weave its own, instrumental interpretation of Scheherazade's legend. The songs each embody a stage of her journey, from traveling to the sultan's palace to sharing passion with him, finding a quiet place in the gardens during the day to think up each new tale, and finally teaching the sultan's cold heart how to love once more. The haunting music bears a Middle Eastern influence from exotic instruments such as the hurdy gurdy, udu, sitar, tablas, and tribal drums, seamlessly blended with contemporary Western instruments such as piano, violin, cello, and acoustic guitar. A feast for the auditory senses, passionate, wondrous, and highly recommended as a gift for music lovers as well as for public library music CD collections. The tracks are Daughter of the City (4:41), Desert Nights (5:54), Shahryar (4:36), Seven Veils to Midnight (5:11), Dunyazad (4:53), A Thousand Tales (4:41), Palace Gardens (5:19), Gold and Spices (5:09), Eternal Majesty (6:03), and Heart Triumphant (4:45). 51 minutes, 23 seconds.

At Last
Ann Hampton Callaway
Telarc International
23307 Commerce Park Road, Cleveland, OH 44122
c/o Miller Wright & Associates, Inc. (publicity)
1650 Broadway, Suite 1210, New York, NY 10019
$18.98 www.millerwright.com

Vocalist and songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway presents At Last, a music CD collection of "love songs for grownups". Performances of beloved jazz standards and pop culture songs as well as a few original tunes blended into a seamless whole. Bringing the music to life along with Callaway are pianist Ted Rosenthal, bassist Jay Leonhart, and drummer Victor Lewis, and various guest musicians. A joy to listen to, "At Last" also makes a romantic Valentine's Day gift. The tracks are What Is This Thing Called Love? (4:44), Comes Love (4:57), Carey (4:46), At Last (5:30), Spain (6:35), Lazy Afternoon (6:19), Landslide (4:59), Save A Place For Me (5:23), Over the Rainbow (6:03), Finding Beauty (4:55), and On My Way To You (4:36).


The International Studies Shelf

Iran's Long Reach
Suzanne Maloney
United States Institute of Peace Press
1200 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
9781601270337, $14.95, www.usip.org

As scary as it is, much of the Muslim world looks to Iran for leadership much as much of the Western world looks to the United States. "Iran's Long Reach: Iran as a Pivotal State in the Muslim World" is an honest and frank examination of Iran's political system and its high influence on the world of Islam. More importantly, it studies what it means for today's America and how Iraq's foreign policy is quickly making it a major power regardless of its intents on the world stage. "Iran's Long Reach" is a must for anyone who wants to fully understand Iran.

Ancient Tibet
Dharma Publishing
2425 Hillside Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704
0898001374, $30.00

A land absorbed by the communist Chinese, Tibet has a history as ancient as any other Chinese nation. "Ancient Tibet" turns to this civilization's ancient culture and heritage drawing on the thousands of years of recorded history for this most sacred place for the Buddhist religion. Tracing both the political and cultural history of the region, it paints a picture of one of the most religious regions on the planet and lays out the basics of understanding its people. A great first step for those who wish to further study Tibet, "Ancient Tibet" is very highly recommended reading.


The Psychology Shelf

Conquering Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Victoria Lemle Beckner & John B. Arden
Fair Winds Press
c/o Quayside Publishing Group
100 Cummings Center, Suite 406-L, Beverly, MA 01915
9781592333097, $16.99, www.fairwindspress.com

Letting one's life be controlled by one traumatic event is no way to live. "Conquering Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: The Newest Techniques for Overcoming Symptoms, Regaining Hope, and Getting Your Life Back" is a guide for the afflicted in dealing with the anxieties related to such things so that they can get their life back on track. With much advice on improving one's mood, building supportive relationships, and getting over the event, "Conquering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" is an excellent pick for those who don't want to be defined by an event.

Jung Uncorked Book Three
Daryl Sharp
Inner City Books
Box 1271, Station Q, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4T 2P4
9781894574242, $25.00 www.innercitybooks.net 1-416-927-0355

The third volume in Zurich-trained analyst Daryl Sharp's ongoing series dedicated to analyzing the writings and legacy of legendary psychologist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), Jung Uncorked Book Three presents additional essays and analyses of Jung's Collected Works volumes 1 to 9i. Though these are the same volumes that book one of the series covered, Jung Uncorked Book Three offers additional insights from a conservative or "classical" Jungian's perspective. "The guiding principle is this: Be the one through whom you wish to influence others. Mere talk is hollow. There is no trick, however artful, by which this simple truth can be evaded in the long run. The fact of being convinced, and not the things we are convinced of - that is what has always, and at all times, worked a change in others." An excellent supplementary addition to reference shelves pertaining to the history and philosophical foundations of psychology in general, and Jung's works in particular, especially recommended (along with Jung Uncorked Book One and Book Two) as a companion to Jung's Collected Works.

The Fundamentalist Mind
Stephen Larsen
Quest Books
306 W. Geneva Road, PO Box 270, Wheaton, IL 60187-0270
The Theosophical Publishing House (distributor)
PO Box 270, Wheaton, IL 60189-0270
9780835608503, $24.95, www.questbooks.net

You're either democrat or republican. Pro-Choice or Pro-Life. There is no in between. "The Fundamentalist Mind: How Polarized Thinking Imperils Us All" take a look at the belief in extremes in American society and discussing the problems such opinions create in modern society. Fundamentalism is the target, and Larsen attacks it in its many forms, ranging from religion, to political fundamentalists, and even scientists are not innocent from this thinking. Suggesting a middle path and to open one's mind, "The Fundamentalist Mind" is an interesting treatise on extremes.


The Women's Studies Shelf

Your Truest Self
Janice Lynne Lundy
Sorin Books
c/o Ave Maria Press
PO Box 428, Notre Dame, IN 46556-0428
9781933495125, $18.95, www.sorinbooks.com

What are you, really? "Your Truest Self: Embracing the Woman You Are Meant to Be" is a guide for women to finding their true purpose in life to empower themselves for dealing with everything that's thrown at them. Offering advice and spiritual guidance from personal experience and wisdom from many mentors she's had, she passes on the sage knowledge to the reader in fine fashion. "Your Truest Self" is very much recommended reading for any woman who wants to embrace their spirituality more fully.

Women. Period.
Julia Watts & Collaborators
Spinsters Ink
PO Box 242, Midway, FL 32343
9781883523947, $15.95, www.spinstersink.com

The monthly visitor, Aunt Flo, That time . . . Periods have been plaguing women (and sometimes men indirectly) for as long as humanity existed. "Women. Period" is a collection of poems, memoirs, and other pieces discussing this universal experience for all women and its implications of their life. Speaking of its many woes and the occasional joy it can bring, "Women. Period." discusses womankind and makes for very intriguing reading.


The Dance Shelf

Ballet Beginnings for Children
Rosemary Boross
Princeton Book Company
614 Route 130 Highstown, NJ 08520
9780871272898, $24.95, www.dancehorizons.com

Ballet can prove to be a great way to get exercise and learn coordination at any age, especially as young children. "Ballet Beginnings for Children: Pre-School Movement Fundamentals for Ages 3 and 4" is a guide for both parents and ballet instructors who deal with children. Formed from a master with many years of experience, Rosemary Boross imparts her wisdom onto readers and lays forth many proven teaching strategy. Enhanced with two CDs with music geared toward the age group doing ballet dancing, "Ballet Beginnings for Children" is a solid manual, recommended for any instructor.

New Dance
Doris Humphrey
Princeton Book Company
614 Route 130, Hightstown, NJ 08520
9780871273079, $24.95 www.dancehorizons.com

New Dance: Writings on Modern Dance is an anthology of essays, lectures, and notes revealing the muse behind the choreography created by modern dance founder Doris Humphrey (1895-1958). Including notes made before and during the creation of forty-one of her dances, and even an interview in which Humphrey speaks her own mind, New Dance is an invaluable glimpse into her contributions to the evolution of an art form. "[Q:] 'What is your opinion of pantomime and dramatic action as sources for dance movement?' DH: 'I think both are wonderful as long as they are translated into movement, the danger being, of course, that the transition remains incomplete. Done by a master, I like pantomime.'" A worthy and highly recommended addition to modern dance history and reference shelves.


The Money/Finance Shelf

The Personal Bankruptcy Toolkit
Daniel Sitarz, attorney-at-law
Nova Publishing Company
1103 West College St., Carbondale, IL 62901
National Book Network (distributor)
4501 Forbes Blvd. Ste. 200, Lanham, MD 20706
9781892949424, $29.95 www.novapublishing.com

The Personal Bankruptcy Toolkit is a straightforward, easy-to-use guide to filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which enables a person cancel debts and keep a significant portion of their property, without retaining an expensive lawyer. Chapter 7 is also known as "liquidation bankruptcy"; it involves declaring all of one's assets to the court and allowing a bankruptcy trustee to take possession of one's non-exempt property and use it to pay off one's creditors as much as possible. (Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, which allows people with regular income to pay off their secured debts over a timeframe, is an option for those with a steady income who want to be sure of keeping their house or other property tied to a secured debt). The Personal Bankruptcy Toolkit notes that if Bankruptcy Court determines that a debtor's income level is sufficient to pay off their debts, then the debtor may be involuntarily forced to file for Chapter 13 instead of Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The Personal Bankruptcy Toolkit is specifically geared to Chapter 7, and is packed cover to cover with official federal bankruptcy forms, approved credit counseling agencies (beware common scams!), approved debtor education agencies, warnings of common pitfalls, definitions of important terms, and much more. An accompanying Windows and Mac compatible CD-ROM with PDF files of the forms rounds out this user-friendly, easy-to-follow guide. An absolute "must-have" for anyone considering or filing for Chapter 7 protection.


The Jobs/Careers Shelf

We Hug in the Hallways Here
Roger Wenschlag
Beaver's Pond Press
7104 Ohms Lane, Suite 101, Edina, MN 55439
9781592982622, $19.95 www.BeaversPondPress.com 1-952-829-8818

We Hug in the Hallways Here is a guide to finding the right company culture to suit one's needs - or learning how to adjust to the organizational culture one is currently in. We Hug in the Hallways Here breaks down work-related styles and personalities into four basic types: the "high D" which emphasizes rising to meet new challenges, the "high I" which does best when cooperating with people who are enthusiastic and interactive, the "high S" who prioritize calm and effective cooperation, and the "high C" who puts extra importance on weighing pros and cons to make the right decision before acting. Above all, We Hug in the Hallways Here recommends learning to be adaptable, since no work environment is likely to purely require only one of the four types. A valuable guide and resource for anyone in or about to enter today's complex and challenging career world.


The Mystery/Suspense Shelf

Illegally Dead
Joan Donaldson-Yarmey
Sumach Press
1415 Bathurst Street #202, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5R 3H8
9781894549745, $16.95, www.sumachpress.com

You would think dead bodies would be something easy to avoid. "Illegally Dead" follows travel writer Elizabeth Oliver who is hot on the trails of a new article when she by happenstance finds a skeleton in a septic tank. Bad habits die hard as she soon finds herself once more doing more research on the subject than she ought to be doing. "Illegally Dead" follows her amateur detective-esque ways as she cracks the case in this riveting mystery.


The Gardening Shelf

Defiant Gardens
Kenneth I. Helphand
Trinity University Press
1 Trinity Place, San Antonio, TX 78212-7200
9781595340450, $29.95, www.trinity.edu/tupress

Death and misery all around, but there are things to remind us that there is always hope. "Defiant Gardens: Making Gardens in Wartime" are stories of people, who in spite of their terrible surroundings, build gardens in places where one would least expect. With stories telling of Jewish couples building gardens in the ghettos of Germany, French soldiers sowing gardens outside the trenches, and even modern American soldiers offering Baghdad plant life, "Defiant Gardens" is a moving tale that history buff and gardening enthusiast alike will enjoy.


The Criminology Shelf

History & Crime
Barry S. Godfrey, Paul Lawrence, & Chris A. Williams
Sage Publications
2455 Teller Rd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
9781412920803, $39.95, www.sagepublications.com

Crime has been around as long as society has and people have been policing it in their own ways ever since. "History & Crime: Key Approaches to Criminology" takes a look at the long rivalry between crime and those who combat it. The history spans the ages and covers the statistics and everything from white-collar crime to prisons and explains the changes each has made as time has marched on. Enhanced with glossaries, indexes, and more.


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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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