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Volume 17, Number 4 April 2007 Home | IBW Index

Table of Contents

Reviewer's Choice Music Shelf World History Shelf
International Studies Shelf Political Science Shelf Theatre/Cinema Shelf
Health/Medicine Shelf Social Issues Shelf Art Shelf
Military Shelf Environmental Studies Shelf Computer Shelf
Judicial Studies Shelf Language Studies Shelf American History Shelf
Cookbook Shelf Religion/Spirituality Shelf Metaphysical Studies Shelf
Writing/Publishing Shelf Pets/Wildlife Shelf Gardening Shelf
Interior Design Shelf Audiobook Shelf Library Video/DVD Shelf
Literary Shelf Science Shelf Antiques/Collectibles Shelf
Native American Shelf Anthropology Shelf Genealogy Shelf
Buddhist Studies Shelf Philosophy Shelf Archaeology Shelf
Photography Shelf Gaming Shelf Martial Arts Shelf
Needlecraft Shelf Architecture Shelf Library Science Shelf
Education Shelf Christian Studies Shelf Business Shelf
Jobs/Careers Shelf Mystery/Suspense Shelf Crafts Shelf
Graphic Novel Shelf Poetry Shelf Psychology Shelf
Travel Shelf Sports Shelf Judaic Studies Shelf
Biography Shelf Library CD Music Shelf Economics Shelf
Hunting/Fishing Shelf Civil War Shelf  


Reviewer's Choice

The Perfect Wedding Dress
Philip Delamore
Firefly Books
P.O. Box 1338, Ellicott Station, Buffalo, NY 14205
1554071305 $24.95 www.fireflybooks.com

The Perfect Wedding Dress is more than a history or consumer's survey: it packs a sourcebook of design ideas with inspirations for a made-to-measure gown, discussing body shapes, fabrics which work best for wedding dresses, and other kinds of options such as suits. Over 300 photos of modern brides display both vintage and contemporary choices, offering plenty of idea resources perfect for public library lending collections.

Women's Tales: Four Leading Israeli Jewelers
Davira Taragin and Alex Ward
Hudson Hills Press
Box 205, Manchester, VT 05254
1555952704 $50.00 www.hudsonhills.com

WOMEN'S TALES is a 'must' acquisition for any serious, definitive college-level collection on jewelry history in general or Israeli women's studies in particular: it represents the first documentation of Israeli women jewelers and is a collaboration between the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Racine Art Museum in Wisconsin. As such, it accompanies a touring exhibition presenting four leading women jewelers' works, and packs in full-page color photos of pieces as well as biographical and artistic background essential to any thorough coverage of modern Israeli art.

Leadership: Theory and Practice
Peter G. Northhouse
Sage Publications
2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
141294161X $51. 95 www.sagepublications.com

Written by professor of Communication Peter G. Northhouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice a solid guide written especially for students in upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in Management, Leadership, Education, Public Administration, Social Work, Psychology, Communication, and any other field that requires strong leadership and management qualities. Chapters cover trait-based, skill-based, style-based, and situational approaches to leadership, as well as leadership according to different cultural norms and much more. Now in a revised and expanded fourth edition with a two-color layout, an Instructor's Resources CD with PowerPoint slides, test banks, writing assignments, and chapter reviews, Leadership: Theory and Practice works superbly as a course supplement or as a self-teaching tool.

Inconvenient Stories
Jeffrey Wolin
Umbrage Editions
515 Canal Street, New York, NY 10013
1884167616, $40.00 www.umbragebooks.com 1-212-965-0197

Featuring an informative essay by Rod Stemmons (Director of the Museum of Contemporary Photography) and an Afterword by Senator Richard G. Lugar (U.S. Senator for Indiana), Jeffrey Wolin's "Inconvenient Stories: Vietnam War Veterans" pairs brief biographical sketches with full color photos of a series of Vietnam War veterans who endured the horrors of that divisive war and came home to a troubled America that wanted to forget that national tragedy and the men who fought it out in our name. What the reader is so aptly presented are small, personalized snap-shots of a long-lost conflict – but one that has resonating lessons whose suppression or wilful disregard has led us into continued military quagmires that are today giving birth to a new generation of veterans. "Inconvenient Stories: Vietnam War Veterans" is important, informative, and timely reading – telling stories that should not be forgotten so that contemporary conflicts and future military engagements and their aftermath be taken with a great deal more candor, national discussion, and competency that was the Vietnam War.

Nolo Press
950 Parker Street, Berkeley, CA 94710
www.nolo.com

These important new titles are top reference picks any serious library should have. While some of their information is held in other books, the advantage here is a format easier to use than most, packed with authoritative detail from authors who are professionals, and in a reference designed to appeal to the widest possible audience. Tax attorney Frederick W. Daily provides the 10th updated edition of TAX SAVVY FOR SMALL BUSINESS (1413305296, $36.99), which packs in the latest tax updates and details on deductions, ownership structures, IRS bookkeeping requirements, and more. It combines a complete strategy approach with insights no business, whether big, medium or small, can afford to miss. For instruction on reference software choose Shae Irving, J.D.'s edited QUICKEN WILLMAKER PLUS 2007 (141330527X, $49.99), blending an interactive cd-rom with tips on how to create customized legal documents without having to learn the legal jargon associated with them. The cd-rom works well with a book covering everything from legal wills and powers of attorney to finance managing and powers of attorney. DEEDS FOR CALIFORNIA REAL ESTATE by Mary Randolph, J.D. (1413306217, $27.99) is another excellent updated guide: this to choosing the right kind of deed, creating it, then filing it with a county recorder. Step-by-step instructions for so doing have been updated in this latest 7th edition to include the latest forms and reflect the most recent legal changes. Reference libraries will find these popular lends while many a consumer won't want to be without them.

Instant Creativity
Brian Clegg and Paul Birch
Kogan Page
525 South 4th Street #241, Philadelphia PA 19147
0749448679 $17.95 www.kogan-page.co.uk

INSTANT CREATIVITY: SIMPLE TECHNIQUES TO IGNITE INNOVATION & PROBLEM SOLVING provides an action kit of exercises designed to enhance creativity. From identifying common problems and approaches to generating ideas to learning how to tap into creative energy, some seventy techniques are outlined, with feedback and variations throughout. An excellent tool for uncovering not only personal but business creativity, INSTANT CREATIVITY is a top pick for both general interest and business libraries alike.

The Perfect Wedding Dress
Philip Delamore
Firefly Books
Box 1338, Ellicott Station, Buffalo, NY 14205
1554071305 $24.95 www.fireflybooks.com

If you're seeking a sourcebook of wedding dress design options, look no further than The Perfect Wedding Dress: in addition to providing full-page photos of brides in all modes of wedding attire, it surveys the construction and styles which make some dresses a 'fit' for wearers, from classic to modern, trains and veils to sleeves and necklines. Over 300 photos of modern brides accompany discussions of all the options: public libraries will find this a popular lend

Complete Guide to Successful Event Planning
Shannon Kilkenny
Atlantic Publishing Company
1405 S.W. 6th Avenue, Ocala, FL 34474-7014
0910627924 $39.95 www.atlantic-pub.com

If a reference to planning events is needed you can't do better than Complete Guide to Successful Event Planning, a pick for planners and public libraries alike. Here's all the basics for planning all kinds of events, from seminars, receptions, weddings, dances, reunions and retreats. From money-saving tips and identifying and reaching target markets to choosing dates and designing events, it covers all aspects from budget to set-up and beyond. A few other guides cover this topic lightly – if you want the depth, Complete Guide to Successful Event Planning is the item of choice.

Masonic Temples
William D. Moore
University of Tennessee Press
293 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-0325
1572334967 $34.95 www.utpress.org 1-800-621-2736

MASONIC TEMPLES provides an excellent introduction to the structures American Freemasons erected over the sixty-year period from 1870 to 1930, analyzing their design, construction, and history and considering the surrounding milieu of Masonic sects and American culture of the times. This is a pivotal title recommended for any collection which already holds some more general Masonic titles: it offer analysis of four sets of Masonic ritual spaces and provides fine details on Masonic beliefs, rituals and architecture.

Images: A Reader
Sunil Manghani, Arthur Piper & Jon Simons
Sage Publications
2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
141290045X $45.95 www.sagepublications.com

IMAGES; A READER is a key resource for academics and others studying images and their interpretation: it gathers some 80 key readings from disciplines ranging from literature and science to cultural studies and art, surveying the history of images from the Bible to the present and blending classic treatments with recent new research on the topic. College-level collections, whether art history holdings or cultural studies collections, will find it intriguing.

Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com 1-800-955-9659

The Linford Western Library is a series of superbly produce, large print, paperback western novels published by the British firm of F. A. Thorpe and distributed in the United States through Ulverscroft. Five of their latest titles (and guaranteed to please fans of novels set in the American frontier) include Tom Benson's "The Land Grabbers" (9781846175831); Jake Douglas' "Sound of Gunfire" (9781846175855); Terry Murphy's "Broken Star" (9781846175879); Owen G. Iron's "The Drifter's Revenge" (9781846175862); and David Bingley's "Lawman's Lament" (9781846175848). Each of these thrilling sagas of the Old West is present in a large print format, making them especially ideal additions to community libraries wanting to add to their Large Print book collections books that would have a special appeal to older male readers who would benefit from a large print text. Community librarians with a responsibility for developing large print collections would be well advised to visit the Ulverscroft website at www.ulverscroftusa.com and request their free publications catalog with a complete listing of thousands of large print titles in all genres and categories, fiction and non-fiction alike.


The Music Shelf

Ireland's Best Tin Whistle Tunes For Children
Harry Long
Mel Bay Publications
PO Box 66, Pacific, MO 63069
1857201558, $43.99 www.melbay.com 1-800-863-5229

Expertly compiled by Harry Long, "Ireland's Best Tin Whistle Tunes For Children" features guitar chords and an accompanying CD while showcasing the music for 110 Irish tunes, traditional songs, and musical numbers for Christmas. Each entry is graded on the basis of difficulty making this compendium of Irish music ideal for use with primary school music classes and individual Irish traditional music instruction. From 'The Star of County Down', to Emma's Farewell to Cortown', to 'The Tara Jig', to 'The Milliner's Daughter', these superbly presented pieces are especially 'kid friendly' compositions and arrangements that are especially recommended for personal, family, school, and community library Irish Music collections. Also very highly recommended from Mel Bay Publications are two other Irish 'tin whistle' music book/CD titles: "Ireland's Best Tin Whistle Tunes 1" (WM 1325) and "Ireland's Best Tin Whistle Tunes 2" (WM 1374).

The Great Drummers of R&B, Funk & Soul
Jim Payne
Mel Bay Publications
PO Box 66, Pacific, MO 63069
0786673036, $19.95 www.melbay.com 1-800-863-5229

As told by the drummers themselves, "The Great Drummers of R&B, Funk & Soul" is an illustrated history of their lives and their bands as compiled, organized and edited by author and music authority Jim Payne. Their stories are told through the means of interviews, biographical sketches, discographies, and historic photos. Among the featured drummers are Earl Palmer, Jabo Starks, Clyde Stubblefield, Roger Hawkins, Al Jackson Jr., Greg Errico, Maurice White, and Ray Torres. Enhanced with an impressive bibliography and a comprehensive index, "The Great Drummers of R&B, Funk & Soul" is a 247-page compendium of invaluable, inherently fascinating, informed and informative information that will appeal as 'must reading' for anyone who has every thrilled to the music and performances of Little Richard; Fats Domino; James Brown; Wilson Pickett; Aretha Franklin; Otis Redding; Booker T & the Mgs; Tower of Power; Sly & the Family Stone; Earth, Wind & Fire. "The Great Drummers of R&B, Funk & Soul" is a core addition to personal, academic, and community library 20th Century American Music History reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

A New History of Jazz
Alyn Shipton
Continuum
c/o T&T Clark and Reference
80 Maiden Lane, Suite 704, New York, NY 10038
0826417892 $35.00 www.continuumbooks.com 1-800-561-7704

Now in a newly revised and updated edition, A New History of Jazz is the award-winning chronicle of the evolution of this widely beloved form of music, as told by music author, publisher, editor, and critic Alyn Shipton. From the precursors to the first jazz tunes, to variations regional styles, to the "big picture" of the jazz scene that is so easily lost amid tracing its popularity in underground clubs, to the unique and colorful individuals who espoused jazz, to the migration of jazz worldwide, A New History of Jazz strives above all to be comprehensive in its chronicling. Written in a highly detailed yet accessible tone, A New History of Jazz will prove as invaluable to curious lay readers and music scholars alike. Especially recommended for college library and music history shelves.

Here, There and Everywhere
Geoff Emerick
Gotham Books
c/o Penguin Publishing Group
375 Hudson Street, New York NY 10014-3657
1592402690 $15.00 www.penguin.com

HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE: MY LIFE RECORDING THE MUSIC OF THE BEATLES comes from Grammy winner and recording industry legend Geoff Emerick, who provides behind-the-scenes insights related to the years he spent at EMI Studios at Abbey Road working with the band on some of their key albums. He was their main recording engineer for Revolver, and his work with the band lends important insights into their collaborative efforts and personalities perfect for Beatles fans – even those who already have many books on the group and its members.

Tchaikovsky: A Listener's Guide
Daniel Felsenfeld
Amadeus Press
c/o Hal Leonard
512 Newark Pompton Turnpike, Pompton Plains, NJ 07444
1574671340 $27.95 www.amadeuspress.com

Tchaikovsky was a composer of lovely melodies rooted in his personal angst: TCHAIKOVSKY: A LISTENER'S GUIDE blends prose to music by offering two accompanying cds from classical music cd publisher Naxos to accompany author Daniel Felsenfeld's exploration of his most notable works. The pairing of text from a music writer and composer with the master pieces of an artist makes for a particularly involving production perfect for newcomers to Tchaikovsky's works. Perfect for high school-level music libraries or any general lending collection handling cds and text alike.

Other People's Property
Jason Tanz
Bloomsbury
175 – 5th Avenue, Suite 300, New York NY 10010
1596912731 $24.95 www.bloomsburyusa.com

OTHER PEOPLE'S PROPERTY; A SHADOW HISTORY OF HIP HOP IN WHITE AMERICA could also have appeared in our 'Social Issues' section but is reviewed here for its focus on the obstacles that stand between producers and consumers of rap music: a very different approach than your usual music book covering the history of rap and the evolution of rapsters. It blends a personal story of growing up in a racially divided America with cultural analysis and music insights: while this approach might defy easy categorization, it does make for a hard-hitting analysis which will reach not only college-level collections strong in social issues and music, but the general-interest public and libraries with holdings strong in ethnic issues debates.

Get Media Airplay
Rick Davis
Hal Leonard
19 West 21st Street Suite 201, New York NY 10010
1423413083 $12.95 www.hallleonard.com

GET MEDIA AIRPLAY addresses one of the most common challenges musicians face in promoting their music: exposure. From learning how to expose demos to the radio and video market to playing at public events and obtaining corporate connections, GET MEDIA AIRPLAY offers a wealth of inspirational tips on how to obtain the exposure that gains contracts. No musician should be without it – and no general-interest collection should miss it.


The World History Shelf

The Banquet
Ken Albala
University of Illinois Press
1325 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820-6975
0252031334 $40.00 www.press.uillinois.edu 1-800-545-4703

Professor of History Ken Albala presents The Banquet, an examination of the tradition of fine and extravagant dining in Western Europe during 1520-1660. During this era, banquets were used to display a host's wealth and power, gather nobles from disparate places together, and disseminate political propaganda; The Banquet explores the evolving nuances of this practice and trends such as the increased use of dairy products, a move toward lighter meats such as veal and chicken, refinement of aesthetic senses and aromatics, and other style progressions notable in their parallel of other aspects of Renaissance art and culture. Though scholarly in tone, The Banquet is surprisingly accessible to readers of all backgrounds curious about what the Renaissance aristocracy ate and how they ate it; notes, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index round out this fascinating contribution to Renaissance and culinary history shelves.

Secret Societies
Una Birch, author
James Wasserman, editor
Ibis Press
c/o Nicolas-Hays, Inc.
PO Box 540206, Lake Worth, FL 33454-0206
0892541326 $18.95 www.nicolashays.com

Secret Societies: Illuminati, Freemasons and the French Revolution is a reprinting of historian Una Birch's classic treatise, originally published in 1911, with extensive annotations, an introduction, biographical sketches, and a history of the French Revolution by James Wasserman. The core of Secret Societies focuses upon links between the fierce violence and lasting societal changes wrought by the French Revolution and the roles that mysterious, clandestine organizations such as the Freemasons and the Illuminati may have played in the transformation. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it, and so Secret Societies explores what lessons can be drawn from the Revolution and applied to modern times, as well as the question as to whether secret societies exert influence upon the world, and if so how much. A venerable classic, now in a more accessible form than ever before.

Murder in Marrakesh
Jonathan G. Katz
Indiana University Press
601 N. Morton Street, Bloomington, IN 47404
0253348153 $29.95 http://iupress.indiana.edu

Written by Jonathan G. Katz (Professor of History, Oregon State University), Murder in Marrakesh: Emile Mauchamp and the French Colonial Adventure is a chronicle of events leading up to and following the ruthless murder of Emile Mauchamp, a young French doctor serving in Morocco in the years leading up to World War I. Mauchamp, though a dedicated public servant, was also an ardent French patriot; rumors flew about that he was a spy. He was slaughtered by a mob and his possessions plundered; his death became the opportunity for an increased military presence that would transform Morocco forever. Murder in Marrakesh examines all sides of the historic case, including reflections on French-Moroccan relations, colonial pride, and conflict between civilizations. A serious-minded, heavily researched, yet highly readable account revealing hard-learned lessons of history.

Famous First Facts
Joseph Nathan Kane, Steven Anzovin, & Janet Podell
H.W. Wilson
950 University Avenue, Bronx, NY 10452
0824210654 $185.00 www.hwwilson.com

Now in an updated sixth edition with roughly 1,000 new entries and a few new black-and-white images, Famous First Facts is a massive hardcover compendium of amazing achievements, discoveries, and events in world history. More than 7,500 entries total stretch from 10,000 B.C. (earliest human artifacts found in America) through 2006 A.D. Featuring multiple entry indexes by year, subject, day, name, or geographical area, and organized into 16 sections on subjects ranging from social and scientific realms to technology, arts, sports, religion, literature, and much more, Famous First Facts remains a solid reference especially recommended for public and school libraries. A sample famous first fact: in 1658 New Amsterdam (now New York City), the first police force was employed, consisting of eight men.

Hidden History
Brian Haughton
New Page Books
3 Tice Road, PO Box 687, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417
1564148971 $17.99 www.newpagebooks.com 1-800-227-3371

Written by archaeologist and devote of the esoteric Brian Haughton, Hidden History: Lost Civilizations, Secret Knowledge, and Ancient Mysteries is an amazing survey of mystic places, people, events and structures throughout history. From clues to the true identity of the Queen of Sheba, to ongoing debates concerning the Great Sphinx, to the Irish Newgrange megalith hundreds of years older than the Giza Pyramid and Stonehenge, to evidence for the origins of the Greek myth concerning the Minotaur, each chapter sheds new light on ancient quandaries of human history. A scattering of black-and-white photographs illustrate this fantastic volume; though highly speculative at times, Hidden History is sure to be a treat for anyone with a taste for ancient fables, wonders, and conundrums.

Poverty in World History
Steven M. Beaudoin
Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
0415254590 $19.95 www.routledge.com 1-800-634-7064

Written by Steven M. Beaudoin (Associate Professor of History, Centre College, Kentucky), Poverty in World History is a scholarly, serious-minded examination of one of human civilization's most enduring social problems. Applying particular focus upon the era from 1500 A.D. to the modern day, Poverty in World History scrutinizes the global economic issues affecting poverty, with particular emphasis upon globalization as the key to understanding poverty throughout world history. Chapters discuss innovations in early modern poverty relief, the interplay between poverty, morality, and the state, the recent Green Revolution (the creation of new hybrid strains of rice and wheat that have effectively tripled food production worldwide) and the resulting shift in relative poverty levels from starvation-poverty to severe-yet-less-mortal circumstances most of today's poor live in, and much more. Highly recommended, and an absolute "must-read" for social scientists and anyone curious about the dynamic underpinning mechanisms of global inequality.

World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia
Cyprian P. Blamires
ABC-CLIO
Box 1911, Santa Barbara, CA 93116-1911
1576079406 $185.00/set www.abc-clio.com

It's easy to look at fascist Italy or Nazi Germany and identify these nations as the sole source of fascist thinking – but fascism has influenced Western Europe beyond and between the major wars and appeals to various groups to this day. WORLD FASCISM: A HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA probes the ideology's contentions, nationalist forces, leaders, doctrines, and key events with 500 A-Z reference entries of contributions from an international staff of over 100 experts on history and fascism. It will find a place in any serious high school to college-level reference collection.

Barbary Pirate
Greg Bak
Sutton Publishing
Phoenix Mill, Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 2BU, UK
0750943505 www.suttonpublishing.co.uk www.amazon.com

BARBARY PIRATE: THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF JOHN WARD, THE MOST INFAMOUS PRIVATEER OF HIS TIME tells of a sailor who led a mass desertion in 1603, stole a civilian vessel and defected to the ottoman Empire's Tunis outpost, where he led a piracy campaign that made him the most feared privateer of his times. His many adventures and exploits became legend, and BARBARY PIRATE here separates legend from fact in a lively treatment perfect not just for history holdings but for general-interest public libraries.

Thinking with Objects
Domenico Bertoloni Meli
Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218-4363
0801884276 $29.95 www.press.jhu.edu

THINKING WITH OBJECTS: THE TRANSFORMATION OF MECHANICS IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY is a pick for college-level collections strong on both science and history: it examines the changes which took place in mechanics during the 18th century, considering major texts from Galileo, Descartes and others as it surveys the shift from the study and theory to the applications of mechanics. Domenico Meli is a history and philosophy professor: his study is a recommended survey for any class strong in science history.


The International Studies Shelf

Global Perspectives On The United States
David Levinson & Karen Christensen
Berkshire Publishing Group
314 Main Street, Suite 12, Great Barrington, MA 01230
1933782064, $275.00 www.berkshirepublishing.com

A two volume, non-artisan survey drawing upon contributions by experts which include government officials, academic scholars, business professionals, and ordinary citizens from around the world, "Global Perspectives On The United States: A Nation By Nation Survey" is an impressively informed and informative general resource surveying and analyzing the role and image of the United States from the viewpo0ints of the peoples and nations of the world. Featuring 140 articles that have been knowledgeably compiled and collaboratively edited by David Levinson and Karen Christensen, "Global Perspectives On The United States" highlights the complications and contradictions that are basic components of a range of viewpoints the peoples and societies of other countries have towards America in matters and issues that range from economics, to jurisprudence, to cultural norms, to social concerns. A strongly recommended and core addition to academic and community library International Studies reference collections, "Global Perspectives On The United States" is enhanced with the addition of more than 150 sidebars and photographs, statistical tables, biographies, a world map, a timeline of key events, and a list of general resources for further information on perspectives regarding the United States.

Historical Dictionary of Iran
John H. Lorentz
Scarecrow Press
4501 Forbes Boulevard #200, Lanham, MD 20706
0810853302 $99.00 www.scarecrowpress.com 1-800-462-6420

Any college-level holding strong in Middle Eastern courses needs the newly updated and expanded second edition of Historical Dictionary of Iran: it provides reviews of specific events, movements, political and social groups and peoples in Iran, covering 1800 to present with a special emphasis and providing twice as many cross-referenced dictionary entries as in the first volume, revising many historical sources and topics. A top reference for any in-depth collection where students study Middle Eastern countries and issues.

Pakistan: A Global Studies Handbook
Yasmeen Naz Mohiuddin
ABC-CLIO
Box 1911, Santa Barbara, CA 93116-1911
1851098011 $55.00 www.abc-clio.com

Any high school or college-level library serious about world study references should have Pakistan: A Global Studies Handbook in their collection. It surveys the history, culture, politics and social issues of the country offering a basic reference of the people, places and events which are essential to know, and a series of articles which reinforces facts about the nation's peoples. PAKISTAN considers the foundations and institutions of the country: it provides the specifics missing from more general regional titles and thus is an essential pick for any comprehensive reference library.


The Political Science Shelf

A Power Governments Cannot Suppress
Howard Zinn
City Lights Publishers
261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133
0872864758 $16.95 www.citylights.com

Written by historian, playwright, and World War II veteran Howard Zinn, A Power Governments Cannot Suppress is a scathing attack against America's political and ethical failings, using examples of atrocities America perpetuated in history - from massacres in Vietnam to abuses of Chinese immigrant labor workers to complicity in the genocide of East Timor and much more - to add context to current ills such as the extended toll of the war in Iraq. "There is no certainty as to what would happen in our absence [in Iraq]. But there is absolute certainty about the result of our presence - escalating deaths on all sides." Zinn is firmly anti-death penalty and decries its usage as well. Of especial interest in A Power Governments Cannot Suppress is the author's denouncement of a disturbing tendency to compartmentalize the Holocaust, to forget the millions of non-Jews that were executed along with 6 million Jews, and worse, neglect the occurrence of modern acts of genocide thereby betraying the memory of victims of the Holocaust genocide. A strident call to action, speaking out against governmental and human misdeeds, and vociferously encouraging the reader to stand up and take action..

Political Philosophy
Adam Swift
Polity
c/o Blackwell Publishing
350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148
0745635326 $26.95 www.blackwellpublishing.com 1-800-216-2522

Now in a revised and expanded second edition featuring a new chapter specifically about democracy, Political Philosophy: A Beginners' Guide for Students and Politicians by Adam Swift (Fellow in Politics and Sociology, Balliol College) is a highly accessible text for students, lay readers, and novice political philosophers concerning basic political principles that are used to govern society. Chapters describe and discuss philosophical constructs such as social justice, liberty, equality, community, and democracy, and especially dissect common misperceptions and assumptions concerning the denotative meaning of certain principles and labels. Laden with examples designed to prompt the reader to think long and hard concerning what political concepts such as "social justice" truly mean, Political Philosophy is enthusiastically recommended not just for students, but for anyone seeking to prepare themselves to cast a well-informed vote in elections.

Ethical Realism
Anatol Lieven and John Hulsman
Pantheon Books
c/o Random House
1745 Broadway, 17th floor, New York, NY 10019
0375424458 $22.00 www.pantheonbooks.com 1-800-726-0600

America faces a more complicated world than ever, but both political parties have failed to develop a foreign policy to address the increasing crises overseas. ETHICAL REALISM: A VISION FOR AMERICA'S ROLE IN THE WORLD hones in on the fallacies and repair of America's foreign policy, making it a top recommendation for college-level collections and public libraries alike. The authors call for a revamped foreign policy which takes advantage of America's real strengths and weaknesses, explaining how the U.S. can achieve morality overseas through a blend of common sense and ethical realism as set out by Reinhold Niebuhr and others.


The Theatre/Cinema Shelf

101 Original One-Minute Monologues
Glenn Alterman
Smith & Kraus, Inc.
300 Bedford Street, Building B, Suite 213, Manchester, NH 03101
157525431X $11.95 1-800-895-4331

Award-winning playwright Glenn Alterman presents his seventh book of original monologues in 101 Original One-Minute Monologues (Volume 3 of the 60 Seconds to Shine series), created especially for actors who are more and more often given one-minute auditions in which to showcase their talents. There are monologues here for men and women, ranging in tone from dramatic to comedic to seriocomedic. Many of the monologues cover topical subjects, and an introduction offers suggestions for choosing and presenting the right one at an audition. Enthusiastically recommended for practicing and aspiring actors everywhere. A sample dramatic monologue of an adult son lambasting his father for being rude to an attendant: "Does that make you feel strong, Dad, huh? Important? How could you? That poor guy takes so much pride in what he does. It may not be much, but to him, to him it's everything! So maybe he didn't go to college, or even high school, but what he does here... He's got his dignity, Dad, and you just tried to take it away from him. The way you talked to him just now, like he was nothing. Maybe handing out towels in a men's room isn't as prestigious as being a big CEO, but... You know, y'know, let's forget dinner, Dad. Suddenly, suddenly I lost my appetite."

Sinascape
Gary G. Xu
Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group
4501 Forbes Blvd., Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706
0742554503 $24.95 1-800-462-6420

Associate professor of Chinese, comparative literature, cinema studies, and criticism Gary Xu applies knowledge gained from his working relationship with filmmakers in Sinascape: Contemporary Chinese Cinema, a comprehensive examination of transnational Chinese-language films of the turn of the millennium. Sinascape applies its sharp-eyed focus to spotting trends and interpreting aspects in Chinese cinema, and uses examples of popular Chinese movies to illustrate its points, but should not be confused with a grand catalog of Chinese films. Movies dissected at length in the essays include "Hero, House of Flying Daggers", "Devils on the Doorstep", "My Camera Doesn't Lie", "Kung Fu Hustle", "Goodbye, Dragon Inn", "Millennium Mambo", and "Hollywood Hong Kong". Occasional black-and-white photographs, a bibliography, and an index round out this guide recommended for cinema students and philosophically inclined fans of Chinese cinema.

Estonian Animation
Chris Robinson
Indiana University Press
601 North Morton Street, Bloomington, IN 47404-3797
0861966678 $24.95 www.iupress.indiana.edu 1-800-842-6796

Estonian Animation: Between Genius & Utter Illiteracy is a one-of-a-kind, extensively researched examination of Estonia's acclaimed animation scene from the first 1930's experiments to the creation of puppet and cel animation studios during the Soviet era to Estonian animation's amazing international success during the post-Soviet era. Estonian Animation is especially noteworthy for its inclusion of the recent discovery of films by four 1960's animation pioneers previously unknown to both Estonian and international animation historians. Black-and-white as well as full color photographs and screenshots illustrate this conversational, smoothly narrated history, accessible to animation fans of all backgrounds. Enthusiastically recommended for international animation cinema buffs.

It's Time
Luke Durant Jr. & Tina Imperial-Trainor
American Literary Press
8019 Belair Rd Suite 10, Baltimore, MD 21236
1561679577 $14.95 www.americanliterarypress.com

IT'S TIME is a fine drama, written in script form, about abuse, murder and love, weaving the lives of four childhood friends into a play perfect for stage. Use IT'S TIME to see through the eyes of a director, to understand how a full length movie is directed, and to create a working drama which can be reproduced by high school students and actors in the public realm alike.

The Film Director Prepares
Myrl A. Schreibman
Lone Eagle
c/o Watson Guptill Publishing
770 Broadway, New York NY 10003
1580650678 $21.95 www.watsonguptill.com

THE FILM DIRECTOR PREPARES: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO DIRECTING FOR FILM & TV comes with a cd of shot examples and is written by a director and producer who covers the entire filmmaking process from script analysis to post-production. It's an outstanding step-by-step coverage of the film producer's role in making films, from creating storyboards and shot-lists to breaking down different kinds of shots and covering scenes and camera techniques. Perfect for film libraries catering to drama students and would-be producers and directors.

Digital Filmmaking 101, 2nd Edition
Dale Newton & John Gaspard
Michael Wiese Productions
3940 Laurel Canyon Blvd Suite 1111, Studio City CA 91604
1932907238 $26.95 www.mwp.com

From script to screen, all angles of a low-budget digital feature production are surveyed for students of drama in DIGITAL FILMMAKING 101, which offers tips for both feature-length and short digital productions. Chapters examine trends in film festivals, consider basic scene setup and soliciting talent 'for free', and more. It's a wealth of information key to any low-budget production, making it a pick not only for college-level film holdings and general-interest libraries, but for possible classroom assignment.


The Health/Medicine Shelf

Avoiding Cancer One Day at a Time
Lynne Eldridge, M.D. & David Borgeson, MS, MPT
Beaver's Pond Press, Inc.
7104 Ohms Lane, Suite 216, Edina, MN 55439-2129
1592981593 $19.95 www.beaverspondpress.com www.bookhousefulfillment.com

"In 2004, the medical world was shaken a bit when scientists found a link between the incidence of breast cancer and antibiotic use... There has been much debate about this study, but given the increasing resistance of microbes to antibiotics, it generates further concern over the overuse of antibiotics in the United States." Written by Lynne Eldridge, M.D. and David Borgeson, MS, MPT, Avoiding Cancer One Day at a Time: Practical Advice for Preventing Cancer is a health and wellness guide to preventing cancer through avoiding carcinogens and implementing lifestyle and diet practices that can reduce cancer risk. From a healthy sex life to the right amount of sleep to maintaining a proper weight, choosing one's medications carefully, and much more, Avoiding Cancer One Day at a Time covers reasonable, practical strategies with a strong benefit for overall health. Written in plain terms for lay readers, Avoiding Cancer One Day at a Time is highly recommended for its solid health and lifestyle improvement advice.

Medicine Hands
Gayle MacDonald, MS, LMT
Findhorn Press
305a The Park, Findhorn, Forres IV36 3TE, Scotland
c/o Independent Publishers Group
814 N. Franklin St., Chicago, IL 60610
1844090906 $29.95 www.findhornpress.com

Now in a newly revised and enlarged edition, Medicine Hands: Massage Therapy for People with Cancer is an in-depth guide to using massage to lessen the deleterious effects of chemotherapy and radiation, relieve pain, and improve overall quality of life for cancer patients. Written by massage therapist Gayle MacDonald, Medicine Hands is intended especially for fellow massage therapists, offering years of professional experience and wisdom concerning techniques, learning to assess the needs of patients, special considerations for therapy upon patients with common side effects of cancer, children living with cancer, or patients nearing the moment of death. Extensive references, black-and-white photographs, and plain-spoken, highly accessible writing style distinguish this enthusiastically recommended supplemental resource for massage professionals everywhere.

Cancer is a Word, Not a Sentence
Dr. Robert Buckman
Firefly Books
155 East 34th Street #5B, New York NY 10016
1554072344 $19.95 www.fireflybooks.com

Finally: a cancer guide for those newly diagnosed which offers up tips and advice for surviving the acceptance of the diagnosis in Cancer is a Word, Not a Sentence: A Practical Guide to Help You Through The First Few Weeks. The diagnosis begins a process which involves many choices and a steep learning curve; but it isn't usually one so time-driven as to prevent making informed decisions and getting more information on options. This book offers a clear survey of what cancer is, what a diagnosis means, and how to gain control of the medical system as a whole. It's a book which needs to be in any general-interest library as well as many a specialty health collection.

Human Body: A Visual Guide
Beverly McMillan
Firefly Books
155 East 34th Street #5B, New York NY 10016
1554071887 $29.95 www.fireflybooks.com

Plenty of books have been written about the human body; but this offers far more visual detail than most – including x-rays, diagrams and charts of the body in motion, close-ups from electron microscopes, scientific illustration and more. It's the blend of visuals with the information which makes complex scientific concepts, such as the interaction between skeleton and muscles, so clear, making this a solid pick for high school to general-interest libraries who may have either less comprehensive or less exciting competitors already on hand.

Pilates Pregnancy Guide
Lynne Robinson
Firefly Books
155 East 34th Street #5B, New York NY 10016
1554071690 $24.95 www.fireflybooks.com

Pilates author Lynne Robinson works with Registered Physiotherapist Jacqueline Knox on Pilates Pregnancy Guide, a unique program packed with exercises for mothers-to-be. Each chapter focuses on pregnancy's changes, relating it to specific workouts and exploring how readers should feel after a workout at each stage of a pregnancy. Step-by-step color photos on every page demonstrate Pilates workout moves while text explains these moves and their attributes, making this a perfect guide for mothers-to-be and any library catering to women's health.

Peripheral Neuropathy
Norman Latov, MD, Ph.D.
Demos Publishing
386 Park Avenue South, New York NY 10016
193260359X $19.95 www.demosmedpub.com

Patients who suffer from peripheral neuropathy – numbness, weakness and pain – as well as loved ones who want to help receive an easy handbook on the causes and treatment options for neuropathy. From drug therapies and foot care to management of chronic pain and nerve damage at all stages, PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY is an excellent, easy guide to understanding all the options – and a recommended pick for any general lending library, as diabetes and its concurrent health issues – like neuropathy – is on the rise.

Drawing from Within
Lisa D. Hinz
Jessica Kingsley Productions
400 Market Street, Suite 400, Philadelphia, PA 19106
1843108224 $24.95 www.jkp.com

Drawing from Within: Using Art to Treat Eating Disorders is a fine reference for practitioner who wish to explore the therapeutic use of art with clients with eating disorders. Art therapy has been successfully used as intervention with this client group: chapters cover themes which can embrace programs, offering suggestions for creating and implementing exercises and translating results to therapy. It's the hands-on application of theory to results which makes DRAWING FROM WITHIN so essential for any working with clients with eating disorders – and for college-level libraries strong in psychology.

Congenital Disorders Sourcebook
Sandra J. Judd, Editor
Omnigraphics
615 Griswold Street, Detroit, MI 48226
0780809459 $78.00 www.omnigraphics.com

The second, updated edition of Congenital Disorders Sourcebook adds to the 'Health Reference Series', offering consumers a wealth of the latest information and research on the prevention and treatment of birth defects. Chapters explain conditions, survey historic treatment options and new alternative paths being explored, and explain terminology and facts, offering bibliographic references at each chapter's conclusion. Health collections at the college and public library levels will find it a welcome reference addition.

Webster's New Explorer Medical Dictionary
Merriam-Webster
Federal Street Press
25-13 Old Kings Highway North #277, Darien, CT 06820
159695020X $10.98 www.federalstreetpress.com

The price tag of this hardcover reference is so low as to represent an unbelievable bargain – especially for over 800 pages of the latest medical definitions which includes a section on signs and symbols and provides general-interest consumers with over 37,000 entries and 2,000 new terms. From brand-name medicines and generics to bacteria genus and anatomical definitions, WEBSTER'S NEW EXPLORER MEDICAL DICTIONARY is packed with reference details perfect for either home or public lending libraries.

Shattered Nerves
Victor D. Chase
Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21218-4363
0801885140 $27.50 www.press.jhu.edu

Shattered Nerves: How Science is Solving Modern Medicine's Most Perplexing Problem explores a new and blossoming medical frontier: that of neural implants which are enabling vision, hearing and movement in patients who have been blind, deaf and even paralyzed. Personal interviews blend with research to draw important links between the science involved and the lives of those affected, with chapters exploring boundaries between restoration and enhancement and considering both physical and psychological consequences of restoring damaged brain functions. This outstanding survey of brain research frontiers is not only a top pick for health collections, but for many a general-interest lending library.


The Social Issues Shelf

Not for Sale
David Batstone
HarperSanFrancisco
153 Sacramento Street Suite 500, San Francisco CA 94111
0061206717 $14.95 www.harpercollins.com

Slavery ended in the Civil War – or did it? Actually there's a thriving modern business in slavery: some 200,000 people live enslaved in the U.S. today – that's the hard-hitting message of NOT FOR SALE: THE RETURN OF THE GLOBAL SLAVE TRADE AND HOW WE CAN FIGHT IT. These people have been sold into slave labor and prostitution within this country and others: Batstone traveled to five continents to investigate human trafficking and documents here both victims and slave trade rings.

The Dark Side of the Internet
Paul Bocij
Praeger Publishers
88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 05881
027598575X $44.95 www.praeger.com

Internet's promises also lead to new threats as terrorists recruit new members and raise money from internet scams and psychological manipulation. THE DARK SIDE OF THE INTERNET: PROTECTING YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY FROM ONLINE CRIMINALS helps readers recognize the danger signs of internet threats, from spyware to auctions and cyberstalking. Each topic receives in-depth history, overviews of 'how' and discussions of recovery, fraud, and protection measures. A 'must' not just for college-level collections strong in social issues or crime prevention, but for any general-interest library.


The Art Shelf

The Rembrandt Book
Gary Schwartz
Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
115 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011
0810943174, $65.00 www.abramsbooks.com 1-800-759-0190

Compiled and written by one of the world's leading experts on the life and work of Rembrandt von Rijn as part of the 400th anniversary of his birth, "The Rembrandt Book" is a 384-page compendium of biography and history of the Dutch master's life and art. Beautifully and visually enhanced with 700 full-color illustrations, "The Rembrandt Book" also provides interested readers with an introduction and analysis of all the various controversies and debates over Rembrandt in terms of just how many paintings and drawings can be accurately and definitively attributed to him. A core addition to personal, community, art school, and academic library Art History reference collections, "The Rembrandt Book" is most especially recommended to the attention of art historians, art students, art enthusiasts, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the colorful life and personal mysteries involving one of Europe's most famous and influential painters.

Andy Warhol Portraits
Tony Shafrazi, editor
Phaidon Press
180 Varick Street, 14th floor, New York, NY 10014
0714846678, $69.95 www.phaidon.com

Andy Warhol is one of the best known American artists of the 1960s and renowned for his uncoventional life and art as well as is enduring influence on American pop culture. An influence that continues down to the present time several decades after his death. Famous for his iconic images of Marilyn Monroe and Campbell Soup Cans, he also made art out of the facial images of political, social, entertainment, sports, and music celebrities of his day. This particular body of his work has been compiled and edited by Tony Shafrazi, who enhances this 320-page coffee table art book with 350 color illustrations and informative essays by art critic Carter Ratcliff and art historian Robert Rosenblum. The men and women whose images were made immortal by Warhol range from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Giorgio Armani, Truman Capote, Jimmy Carter, Joan Collins, Clint Eastwood, Herman Hesse, Alfred Hitcock, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Lenin, Robert Mapplethorpe, Liza Minnelli, Princess Diana, Yves Saint Laurent, O.J. Simpson, Elizabeth Taylor, Tennessee Williams, Natalie Wood, Mao Zedong, and hundreds of others. An important contribution to academic library 20th Century American Art History reference collections, "Andy Warhol Portraits" is a 'must' for the personal collections of Warhol's legions of admirers.

The Jesuits And The Arts: 1540-1773
John W. O'Malley, SJ, et al.
Saint Joseph's University Press
3600 City Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19131
0916101525, $70.00 www.sju.edu/sjupress

Meticulously compiled and deftly edited by the team of John W. O'Malley, SJ (Distinguished Professor of Church History at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, Cambridge, Massachusetts), Gauvin Alexander Bailey (Associate Professor of Renaissance and Baroque Art at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts), and Giovanni Sale, SJ (Direct of the Jesuit Historical Institute in Rome, Italy), "The Jesuits And The Arts: 1540-1773" is a beautifully illustrated historical survey of the Jesuit's artistic enterprise in Europe, North America, South America, and Asia from the foundation os the Society of Jesus in 1540 to its suppression in 1773. Of special note is John O'Malley's introductory essay "The Cultural Mission of the Society of Jesus" which lays the Jesuit involvement with the arts in historical perspective. A second essay describes the tension between the Jesuits and Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (the imperious patron of Gesu – the Jesuit's most important church in Rome). Richard Bossel provides an informed and informative architectural tour of Jesuit churches, chapels, schools, residences, and meeting halls throughout Europe. Gauvin Baily provides a wealth of information on the influence of Italian painting upon Jesuit art. Heinrich Peiffer discusses Jesuit iconography. An important and core addition to academic library Art History and Jesuit Studies reference collections, "The Jesuits And The Arts: 1540-1773" is an impressive compendium of erudite scholarship that is as accessible to the non-specialist general reader with an interest in art history, as it is of seminal value to students of Jesuit history and their influence on Catholic church art and architecture.

An Introduction to Painting Landscapes
Ted Gould
Chartwell Books, Inc.
c/o Book Sales, Inc.
114 Northfield Avenue, Edison, NJ 08837
0785803939 $12.90 www.amazon.com

Practicing artist and tutor Ted Gould presents An Introduction to Painting Landscapes is an instructional and practical guide for artists of all experience levels, though familiarity with the most basic fundamentals of art is presumed. Chapters cover the materials and equipment needed, basic painting techniques for different media, sketching, handling the complexities of color and light, issues of composition, and more. Full color illustrations on every page walk the reader through the creation process, and give examples of techniques discussed. An excellent, hands-on guide.

Marylyn Dintenfass: Paintings
Lily Wei
Hudson Hills Press
3556 Main Street, Manchester, VT 05254
1555952798 $50.00 www.hudsonhills.com

Marylyn Dintenfass is a leading artist known internationally for her paintings and prints. She blends minimalist techniques with abstract imagery and her modular grid-based sculptures have appeared around the world and gained her much recognition. Marylyn Dintenfass: Paintings comes with some seventy full-page color plates and is accompanied by New York curator Lily Wei's essay on painting. Its revealing images are a 'must' for any serious art library seeking representation of acclaimed modern artists, especially those working in minimalist and abstract forms.


The Military Shelf

Lucky Thirteen
Ken Wiley
Casemate
1016 Warrior Road, Suite C, Drexel Hill, PA 19026
193203353X $32.95 www.casematepublishing.com 1-610-853-9131

Author Ken Wiley tells of his service in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II in Lucky Thirteen: D-Days in the Pacific with the U.S. Coast Guard in World War II, a military memoir in first-person perspective. Wiley was only 17 when he enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1943; in the Pacific Theater, he was given responsibility of commanding "Lucky Thirteen", his own Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel. His task was to shuttle troops and supplies form the transport to the beaches, often while under fire and during inclement weather conditions. He served in campaigns for the Marshall Islands, the Marianas, the Philippines, and Okinawa. Lucky Thirteen recounts beach combat, kamikazes and suicide boats, sniper fire, and dangerous jungle river expeditions as well as sad tales of lost loves, friends made and lost, and humorous accounts of shipboard life. A personable and engaging tale of World War II from an oft-overlooked point of view.

The Wolves of World War II
Hans Thiel, author
Ivan Fehrenbach, translator & editor
McFarland & Company
PO Box 611, Jefferson NC 28640
0786429712 $29.95 www.mcfarlandpub.com 1-800-253-2187

The Wolves of World War II: An East Prussian Soldier's Memoir of Combat and Captivity on the Eastern Front is the true-life story of author and East Prussian farmer Hans Thiel, who was conscripted into military service on September 1944, close to the end of World War II. Thiel felt a troubled resignation toward the Nazi Party, yet feared that the end of the war would result in utter destruction for his nation. Taken prisoner by Soviet forces, Thiel endured for three years as a postware prisoner, held first by the Red Army then transferred to camps under Polish control. The Wolves of World War II covers agrarian life during the war, Thiel's combat experience, and the harshness and atrocities inflicted upon postwar prisoners in retaliation for German military war crimes. A handful of black-and-white photographs and maps illustrate this stark, unflinchingly honest account.

Of Men and Material
Gary J. Schmitt & Thomas Donnelly, editors
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
1150 Seventeenth Street, NW Washington DC 20036
084474249X $20.00 www.aei.org/books

Co-edited by American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Gary J. Schmitt and resident AEI fellow and "Armed Forces Journal" contributing editor Thomas Donnelly, Of Men and Material: the Crisis in Military Resources is a collection of scholarly essays discussing a very real problem - the erosion of cores strength in American military forces. From the billions of dollars spent on operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, to the under-replenishment of military equipment, to the difficulty in successfully recruiting sufficient warm bodies for the Army and Marine Corps, the United States military has undergone a "hollow buildup" with dangerous shortfalls. The essays are "Numbers Matter", "Protracted Wars and the Army's Future", "Age and Indifference Erode U.S. Air Power", "Number and Capabilities: Building a Navy for the Twenty-First Century", and "The Marine Corps: A Hybrid Force for a Hybrid World". Each underscores key weaknesses and sizeable gaps between America's strategic ends and military means, and exhorts difficult choices that must be made soon given the current rate of expending resources while failing to properly replenish them. Highly recommended.

The Road to Unafraid
Captain Jeff Struecker with Dean Merrill
Westbow Publishing
c/o Thomas Nelson
Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214
0849900603 $19.99 www.thomasnelson.com

In 1993 author Jeff Struecker went to Somalia as part of an elite military force and found himself on a suicide mission to rescue a band of downed soldiers. At once a story of courage, military experience and survival, THE ROAD TO UNAFRAID also serves as a model for spiritual strength and thus is especially recommended for any spiritual collection.

Letters from the Front Lines: Iraq and Afghanistan
Rear Admiral Stuart Franklin Platt, USN Ret. With Duffrey Sigurdson
Granville Island Publishing
c/o Greenleaf Book Group LP
4425 Mopac South, Suite 600, Austin TX 78735
1894694481 $24.95 www.GranvilleIslandPublishing.com

Any who would wonder at the lives and experiences of Americans overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan will want Letters from the Front Lines, a collection of letters from men and women in uniform serving in these countries. The letters capture experiences of the front lines and were handwritten communications that used to be the only source of communication before email. Any who would wish for a 'you are there' experience of the war will find plenty of insight in these poignant writings, a 'must' for both military and public library holdings.

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

These excellent military history guides are top picks for any comprehensive military history library, offering specifics on strategy and military issues you won't find in your usual general-interest title. Mark Lardas' AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIER IN THE CIVIL WAR (1846030927, $17.95) surveys the history of the U.S. Colored Troops who fought bravely during the war. Chapters consider their transition from slave to warrior to free man and provide insights on how they fought the war, and their lives thereafter. Black and white drawings and photos throughout supplement details. Nic Fields' ROME'S SAXON SHORE: COASTAL DEFENCES OF ROMAN BRITAIN AD 250-500 (1846030943, $16.95) provides a technical survey of the design, history and technology of key fortresses and defensive systems of early Roman Britain, making it a pick for military collections and libraries strong in early history. The 'Saxon Shore' forts of Britain are among the most impressive monuments of the Roman occupation of the British Isles: their ruins are part of today's British landscape and their history is surveyed here with maps, photos and black and white and color illustration throughout. Shlomo Aloni's ISRAELI F-15 EAGLE UNITS IN COMBAT (1846030471, $20.95) joins others in the 'Osprey Combat Aircraft' series to narrow the focus on the Israeli F-15 Eagle Unit, bought in the mid-1970s to secure Israeli air superiority in the region for decades. The history of these aircraft, their engagements, and their crews is supplemented with black and white and color photos throughout.

Building Parent Involvement Through the Arts
Michael Sikes
Corwin Press
2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
1412936837 $29.95 www.corwinpress.com

Teachers seeking activities and projects to build classrooms and schools will find Building Parent Involvement Through the Arts: Activities and Projects That Enrich Classrooms and Schools an outstanding survey. It shows how to build a rich cultural arts program parents can participate in, from dance and theater to visual arts, music and folk art. From lesson plans and worksheets to project and activity ideas, Building Parent Involvement Through the Arts is an inspirational hands-on program any elementary-level teacher or teacher's library will relish.

West Point to Pearl Harbor
Dick Spangler
Dorrance Publishing Company, Inc.
701 Smithfield Street, 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
0805972048 $36.00 www.dorrancebookstore.com

WEST POINT OF PEARL HARBOR is military autobiography at its best, telling of a child's memories of the Japanese attack, its effect upon the Spangler family and the survivors of Pearl Harbor, and the lasting lessons from that attack. The private journals of the author's father's life, including letters written between his parents, compliment these eyewitness accounts of surviving soldiers and sailors, making for a vivid presentation liberally peppered with black and white photos throughout.

The Red Arrows Story
Peter R. March
Haynes/Sutton Publishing
Phoenix Mill, Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2BU, UK
0750944463 $12.95 www.suttonpublishing.co.uk www.amazon.com

The Red Arrows have received acclaim as the RAF's most famous aerobatic display team and have an international following, so THE RED ARROWS STORY is a top pick for any serious military aviation collection and many a public library holding. Its slim appearance masks a virtual treasure trove of information, from vintage black and white photos and history to contemporary modern color shots of the Red Arrows in aerial action. A 'must' for any serious military aviation collection!

Osprey Publishing
443 Park Avenue South Suite 806, New York, NY 10016
www.ospreypublishing.com

These new additions to Osprey's in-depth military history titles add to the ancient history 'Fortress' and more modern 'New Vanguard' series titles offering specialized, in-depth insights for military history collections. Steven J. Zaloga's US FIELD ARTILLERY OF WORLD WAR II (1846030617, $15.95) tells of a new generation of field artillery weapons and tactics born in the 1930s and used in World War II. With vintage photos and plenty of technical detail, US FIELD ARTILLERY OF WORLD WAR II provides a fine survey essential to any in-depth coverage of the equipment and strategies of the times. Stephen Turnbull's THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA 221 BC-AD 1644 (1846030048, $16.95) examines the history of the most famous fortification in the world, considering the realities, myths, and military history of how the wall was conceived, built, and patrolled. Chapters survey its defensive measures and provide plenty of vintage illustration, maps and more. Randy E.M. Foster's VIETNAM FIREBASES 1965-73: AMERICAN AND AUSTRALIAN FORCES (1846031036, $16.95) considers artillery fire support bases of the Freeworld forces, surveying their use as troop shelters and command centers, their defense, and their key strategic role during the war. Serious military libraries will want all these histories.

Russia and Postmodern Deterrence
Stephen J. Cimbala and Peter Jacob Rainow
Potomac Books Inc.
22841 Quicksilver Drive, Dulles, VA 20166
1574888145 $24.00 www.potomacbooksinc.com

Adding to the 'Issues in 21st Century Warfare' series is Russia and Postmodern Deterrence, a survey which provides insights on post-communist Russia's social, cultural and political changes and what this means for military options and deterrence. Chapters provide plenty of military and social history on all sides, analyzing interactions between world powers and major events and insecurities affecting their choices. It's a recommended pick for any college-level collection strong in military history or Russian/Soviet social issues.

Greenhill Books
c/o MBI Publishing
380 Jackson Street Suite 200, St. Paul, MN 55101-3885
www.mbipublishing.com

Saul David's THE DEFENSE OF LUCKNOW: T.F. WILSON'S MEMOIR OF THE INDIAN MUTINY, 1857 (185367723X, $29.95) offers insights on a surprising battle which revolved around rifle lubricant. Told by Staff Officer T.F. Wilson, it tells of troops who rose up against their colonial masters and covers the siege of Lucknow, defended by under 2,000 men. Specialty military collections will find it invaluable. Digby Smith's CHARGE! GREAT CAVALRY CHARGES OF THE NAPOLEONIC WARS (1853677221, $24.95) will also appeal to specialty military holdings in focusing on the cavalry charges of the Napoleonic Wars at a time when cavalry ruled the battlefield. Battles could be decided solely on mastering of cavalry: chapters here focus on key battles and consider offensive and defensive strategies within the cavalry routine. Gareth Glover's FROM CORUNNA TO WATERLOO (1853677094, $39.95) provides the letters and journals of two Napoleonic Hussars from 1801-1816 and is also a top pick for any specialty library emphasizing Napoleonic history and battles. Any studying the era in depth will find these writings from participants who wrote home regularly and described both events and their feelings to be most enlightening and essential for capturing the conflicts and sentiments of the times. All will prove top acquisitions for serious, in-depth military reference collections.

Osprey Publishing
443 Park Avenue South Suite 806, New York NY 10016
www.ospreypublishing.com

Larry Hama's FIGHT TO THE DEATH: THE BATTLE OF GUADALCANAL (1846030609, $9.95) isn't your usual military survey of events: it is presented in a graphic novel format, and captures the facts of battle into a presentation filled with fictionalized adventure. More so than most nonfiction standard histories it brings to life the events and drama of Guadalcanal and is especially recommended for students just learning about events who will appreciate the intimacy and events of the graphic novel format. The same is achieved in Steve White's DAY OF INFAMY: ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR (1846030595, $9.95), which provides a colorful graphic novel focusing on Pearl Harbor events. These histories will also appeal to young adults studying the facts of military history – this audience will find a much more accessible format and history, here. Jon Stanaway's 475TH FIGHTER GROUP (1846030439, $22.95) joins others in the 'Aviation Elite Units' series to focus on a superior fighting force, the pet project of an air force chief which made headlines from its entry into combat in August 1943 until the war's end. Vintage black and white photos compliment color plane specs and history in a detailed survey of special interest to military aviation collections. Dr. Stephen Bull's WORLD WAR II JUNGLE WARFARE TACTICS (1846030692, $17.95) describes and illustrates the course of the Allies as they struggled against Japanese strongholds in the pacific. Wartime training documents and front-line memoirs of action spice a survey of these battles and bring history to life. Kenneth W. Estes' US ARMY SOLDIER: BAGHDAD 2003-04 (1846030633, $17.95) charts modern war experience in showing how Baghdad fell under US control and how stabilization attempts were made. It's an important guide for any who would understand the progress of U.S. military efforts in the region. John Sayen's US ARMY INFANTRY DIVISIONS 1944-45 (1846031192, $23.95) reviews the organization, tactics, and military doctrine of the U.S. Infantry from 1944-45, surveying a period when many major changes were made to an army structure which resisted changes. All divisions are outlined and resources and changes surveyed in a specialty title recommended for any in-depth World War II collection. Ken Ford's THE RHINE CROSSINGS: 1945 (1846030269, $18.95) covers the last major battle of World War II in a region which no invading army had crossed since Napoleon's forces. The history of these last battle strongholds comes to life in a survey filled with black and white vintage photos and detailed discussions of crossing tactics and logic. Clayton Donnell's THE FORTS OF THE MEUSE IN WORLD WAR I (1846031141, $16.95) tells of new forts built around the cities of Liege and Namur, known as the 'forts of the Meuse'. It was a huge project which produced over twenty modern forts to defend strategic gaps and transportation arteries: any collection strong in World War 1 strategy needs to understand this project's history and evolution. D. Lindholm and D. Nicolle's THE SCANDINAVIAN BALTIC CRUSADES 1100-1500 (1841769886, $15.95) covers the weaponry, armor and ships of the expeditions of the Scandinavian Catholics against the pagans to the east of the Baltics. This is a specialty coverage indeed and so will be limited to collections strong in early military history – but little has been written about this phase of the medieval Crusades and so it's a key pick.

The Deserter's Tale
Joshua Key as told to Lawrence Hill
Atlantic Monthly Press/Grove
841 Broadway, New York NY 10003
0871139545 $23.00 www.groveatlantic.com

When Joshua Key enlisted in the Army it was with a belief in his country and government. It wasn't until he was sent to Iraq that his convictions were shaken: once he realized the war he was fighting wasn't against the terrorists he had expected – and once he saw Iraqi civilians being beaten and killed for no provocation, he determined to leave and never return. His decision to desert recounts human rights abuses, issues of responsibility, and a family man and patriot who decided he could no longer serve his country. A hard-hitting autobiography which offers first-hand observations from the unusual perspective of a deserter.


The Environmental Studies Shelf

Pharsalia: An Environmental Biography of a Southern Plantation
Lynn A. Nelson
University of Georgia Press
330 Research Drive, Athens, GA 30602-4901
0820326275 $39.95 www.ugapress.org

Pharsalia is a plantation located in piedmont Virginia – one of the best-documented sites of its kind thanks to papers and records left by the Massie family owners. These enable PHARSALIA to be presented here as a case study of how white southern plantation owners employed capitalistic methods to cement their ideas of independence. Any college-level holding strong in Southern history or regional environmental history will find PHARSALIA key to understanding the southern conservation movement as it follows its owners' agricultural pursuits and environmental assessments.

Canada and Arctic North America: An Environmental History
Graeme Wynn
ABC-CLIO
Box 1911, Santa Barbara, CA 93116-1911
1851094377 $85.00 www.abc-clio.com

With all the attention focused on environmental issues and the decline of Arctic conditions, a book like Canada and Arctic North America: An Environmental History proves an essential 'must' for any college-level or specialty collection focusing on Northern Hemisphere environmental conditions, politics, and science. Part of the 'Nature and Human Societies' collection, it offers an environmental history surveying interactions between people and the land in Canada and North America, from the effects of logging and the drive for new energy sources to the effects of modernization. A 'must' for any serious collection offering in-depth environmental histories.


The Computer Shelf

The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook, second edition
Randolph Hock
Cyberage Books
c/o Information Today Inc.
143 Old Marlton Pike, Medford, NJ 08055
0910965765 $24.95 www.infotoday.com 1-800-300-9868

Now in a fully updated and expanded second edition, The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook: A Guide for the Serious Searcher is a solid guide for anyone who uses the Internet for research, including librarians, students, teachers, writers, business professionals, and just about anyone looking for reliable information on anything. Chapters cover how to efficiently glean information from sources ranging from newsgroups and forums to online reference texts, images, audio, and video; tools specific for shopping and product finding; publishing tools such as blogging and podcasting resources; and much more. An extremely handy resource for anyone interested in expanding their internet use beyond what Google will show, and enthusiastically recommended for anyone ready to embrace the modern Information Age.

Book of Javascript, 2nd Edition
Thau
No Starch Press
555 DeHaro Suite 250, San Francisco CA 94107
1593271069 $39.95 www.nostarch.com

There are many books on the market which focus on JavaScript shortcuts and web applications – but this is different. It focuses on real-world examples and uses these as the starting point for explaining just how these scripts work, how to make them more efficient, and how to tweak scripts to produce the desired results. From working with cookies and alarms to learning from events and using them to tailor user actions, BOOK OF JAVASCRIPT presents the next level in Java efficiency and is a recommendation for any Java programmer or computer library reference section.

2007 'Missing Manual' titles
Pogue Press
c/o O'Reilly & Associations
1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472
www.oreilly.com

Four new 'Missing Manual' books honed for 2007 are picks any program owner should have. Matthew MacDonald's EXCEL 2007 (0596527594, $39.99) and ACCESS 2007 (0596527608, $34.99) offers updated coverages of the latest 2007 MS Office programs, using a chatty style packed with information easy to absorb. Chapters use scenarios from common problems and tasks to create a foundation of program knowledge and move smoothly from introductory features for novices to discussions of more complex ideas for advanced users or those who just want to get up and running quickly with the latest version. E.A. Vander Veer's POWERPOINT 2007 (0596527381, $29.99) achieves the same for Powerpoint – exploring the program's tools and special new features; while Chris Grover's WORD 2007 (059652739X, $29.99) covers the latest in Word features. These books should not only have been 'in the box' with the software – they shouldn't be omitted from any library strong in computer references.

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

Over a hundred free and open source programming tools and frameworks are packed into James Avery & Jim Holmes's Windows Developer Power Tools (0596527543 $59.99), a reference perfect for programmers and documentors, including tools for over twenty common Windows and .NET software tasks and lists which pair the right tool with the right job. This is not a pick for amateurs, but for seasoned developers who have some background already but need a more definitive reference to selecting and using tools. Danny Goodman's DYNAMIC HTML: THE DEFINITIVE REFERENCE (0596527403, $59.99) is likely to be the only in-depth reference you'll need for years down the line on the subject: web programmers working in Javascript and libraries strong in basic advanced computer references will find over 1,000 pages packed with details on the latest web specs and browser featured, covering HTML, XHTML, CSS and more. Handy cross-references allow for instant lookup of attributes and interrelated items, while appendixes offer plenty of supplementary reference material suitable for the most sophisticated web page builds. W. Curtis Preston's BACKUP & RECOVERY (0596102461, $49.99) offers solid hands-on keys to backing up data and recovering from a systems crash – all without using commercial software. From Linux and Windows and Mac OS systems, it surveys backup tools, open-source resources, criteria for evaluating systems and operations, and lessons and tricks to overcome common obstacles, making it a system administrator's top desk reference as well as a pick for libraries catering to this audience. These are basic references any serious computer collection needs.

Ajax on Rails
Scott Raymond
O'Reilly
1005 Gravenstein Hwy North, Sebastopol, CA 95472
0596527446 $39.99 www.oreilly.com

Web programmers who want to use Ajax in conjunction with Ruby on Rails for maximum website impact will love AJAX ON RAILS, which shows how to use both to build high-performance web sites. From using RJS to generate JavaScript in Ruby templates to building easy applications and building versatility into an Ajax application, AJAX ON RAILS is a top design pick for any who have the foundations 'down' and who want to move to the next level, making it a fine pick for any serious programming library holding.

Pogue Press
c/o O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
1005 Gravenstein, Hwy N., Sebastopol, CA 95472-2811
$19.99 each, www.missingmanuals.com www.oreilly.com 1-800-998-9938

O'Reilly's new 'For Starters' missing manuals are even more accessible to newcomers than the general 'missing manuals' titles: each offers a fast-paced, easy tutorial with a focus on the basics for using each program right out of the box. These lessons are often learned the hard way – by trial and error – so 'For Starters' enables readers to get up and running much more efficiently, covering program features using screen examples, templates, and more. Chris Grover's WORD 2007 (0596528302), Matthew McDonald's ACCESS 2007 (05965288337), EXCEL 2007 (0596528329), E.A. Vander Veer's POWERPOINT 2007 (0596528310), and WINDOWS VISTA (0596528264) are all top picks for any computer library catering to beginners.

Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook, 2nd Edition
Randolph Hock
CyberAge Books
143 Old Marlton Pike, Medford, NJ 08055
0910965765 $24.95 www.infotoday.com

The second updated edition of Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook, a reference to internet searching, is a top pick for any serious researcher who would use the internet for more than casual surfing. It covers not just search engine strategies but directories, portals, reference sources, newsgroups and more, covering all the basics on how to uncover Internet content and assess it for quality purposes. From students to librarians and researchers, EXTREME SEARCHER'S INTERNET HANDBOOK is a top, recommended pick updating all details on conducting professional, comprehensive research on the net.


The Judicial Studies Shelf

Media Law
Duncan Bloy
Sage Publications
2455 Teller, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
1412911206 $29.95 www.sagepublications.com

MEDIA LAW is a course text or a reference any college-level student of media studies and law will find most accessible. It covers all the modern issues in media, from privacy and restrictions to freedom of expression and recent case decisions, offering up summaries and insights designed to supplement existing texts for the course. Any student will find this insider's guide essential to understanding media law concepts and issues.


The Language Studies Shelf

Signing Fun
Penny Warner
Gallaudet University Press
800 Florida Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002-3695
1563682923 $19.95 http://gupress.Gallaudet.edu 1-800-621-2736

Written by child development instructor Penny Warner, Signing Fun: American Sign Language Vocabulary, Phrases, Games, & Activities is a guide to learning American Sign Language for readers age 11 and up. Each handsign is illustrated with cheerful and cartoony black-and-white pictures. Presenting 441 useful signs for a variety of favorite topics, practice sentences with everyday phrases, games and activities for practicing signs, tips on how to sign or fingerspell, use numbers, and communicate with deaf people, Signing Fun is highly recommended as an excellent beginner's book and vocabulary builder for learning ASL.

The Latin Centered Curriculum
Andrew A. Campbell
Non Nobis Press
c/o Memoria Press
4105 Bishop Lane, Louisville, KY 40218
1930953712, $17.95 www.memoriapress.com

"The Latin Centered Curriculum: Home Schooler's Guide To A Latin-Centered Classical Education" was specifically written and designed by Andrew A. Campbell (a practicing homeschooler who holds advanced degrees in Germanic Literature and Languages, with a speciality in Medieval Studies) to enable parents and teachers a ready and 'user friendly' manual for providing children with the basic principles of a Latin and Greek oriented classical education. Beginning with a brief history of the modern classical movement, Campbell goes on to examine the predominate role of Latin in a classical western education and how the various parts of a classical curriculum come together into a coherent whole. Covering Latin, Greek, and Logic, Campbell also addresses English studies, classical studies, Christian and modern studies, mathematics and science. More than offering theories of classical education, Campbell provides commentary and an overview of a practical curriculum that can be readily implemented at home or in the classroom. "The Latin Centered Curriculum" is especially appropriate for Christian parents wanting to acquire a substantial understanding of just what is involved with providing their homeschooled child with a classical education. Also very highly recommended from Memoria Press as ideal curriculum materials for the study of Latin and Greek is their "Famous Men of Rome" series ($39.95, for grades 3 and up); their "Famous Men of the Middle Ages" set ($16.95), the "D'Aularies' Greek Myths" series ($45.00, for grades 3 and up); and the comb-bound Horatius at the Bridge Guide" ($14.95). Homeschooling parents who are considered developing a classical education based curriculum for their children would be well advised to visit the Memoria Press website at http://www.memoriapress.com for a full listing of all their curriculum materials, supplements and online courses.

A Man About A Dog
Nigel Rees
Collins UK/Trafalgar Square, Dist.
North Pomfret, VT 05053
0007214537 $29.95 www.trafalgarsquarebooks.com

A MAN ABOUT A DOG: EUPHEMISMS & OTHER EXAMPLES OF VERBAL SQUEAMISHNESS offers up over two thousand examples of euphemisms which rely on word plays and the art of mincing words. An A-Z dictionary of expressions and sayings provides lively and fun reference perfect for trivia fans and any who enjoy surveys of the oddities and ironies of the English language, making it a pick for both high school and college holdings and general-interest public libraries strong on language studies and trivia facts alike.


The American History Shelf

Storytelling in Yellowstone
Lee H. Whittlesey
University of New Mexico Press
MSC04 2820, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
0826341179 $27.95 www.unmpress.com 1-800-249-7737

Yellowstone National Park historian Lee H. Whittlesey presents Storytelling in Yellowstone: Horse and Buggy Tour Guides, the culmination of years of research into folk tales, legends, and some fascinating true stories told by stagecoach-driving tour guides who used to be a staple of Yellowstone National Park prior to 1920. From unique accounts of contact with reclusive Native American tribes, to tall tales and humorous exaggerations, to comments on the portrayal of Yellowstone in early photos and movies, Storytelling in Yellowstone is a treasury sure to appeal to scholars and lay readers alike. Storytelling in Yellowstone consists partly of the stories themselves, though a preponderance of the text is methodically devoted to probing the tales' history, usage, and veracity. Occasional black-and-white photographs round out this seminal contribution to American folk tale literature.

Catastrophe to Triumph
Richard S. Hobbs, Ph.D.
Washington State University Press
PO Box 645910, Pullman, WA 99164-5910
0874222893 $24.95 www.wsupress.wsu.edu

Written by historian Richard S. Hobbs Ph.D., Catastrophe to Triumph: Bridges of the Tacoma Narrows is a fascinating examination of the true story behind the Tacoma Narrows Bridge fiasco. In 1940, just 129 days after its creation, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge literally fell apart. Yet the flaws in its workmanship were apparent well before its spontaneous destruction - its undulations were so readily visible that it earned the nickname "Galloping Gertie". Catastrophe to Triumph reveals the inside story of government agencies that hired a New York firm to revise the original plans, who knew about the immediate danger, and why too little was done too late to prevent the bridge's final doom. Catastrophe to Triumph also recounts how a second bridge built on part of the original substructure succeeded while the first one failed. Written to be accessible to lay readers as well as engineers, and filled cover to cover with vintage black-and-white photographs, Catastrophe to Triumph is a gem of American monument and engineering history.

Arizona Sheriffs
Jane Eppinga
Rio Nuevo Publishers
PO Box 5250, Tucson, AZ 85703-0250
188789621X $16.95 www.rionuevo.com

Western historian Jane Eppinga presents Arizona Sheriffs: Badges and Bad Men, a rousing history of how Arizona's law enforcement personnel have combated crime from the 1880s to the 1990s. Illustrated with occasional vintage black-and-white photographs of real-life Western lawmen, Arizona Sheriffs covers historical events such as the Pleasant Valley War, the sheriff as executioner, manhunts then and now, the connection between rodeo and lawmen, sheriffs who became corrupt, and much more. Written for readers of all backgrounds, Arizona Sheriffs is an exciting slice of Arizona state history, especially recommended for public library collections and American West history shelves.

Savage Frontier Volume III 1840-1841
Stephen L. Moore
University of North Texas Press
PO Box 311336, Denton, TX 76203
1574412280 $34.95 www.unt.edu/untpress

Texan and military historian Stephen L. Moore presents Savage Frontier: Rangers, Riflemen, and Indian Wars in Texas Volume III 1840-1841, the latest volume of in-depth scrutiny of Texas warfare. In 1840-1841, Commanche Indians were the Texan settlers' greatest rivals; the collapse of San Antonio peace negotiations led to what would become know as the "Great Commanche Raid" of 1840, and the Battle of Plum Creek. In addition to a close study of the battles waged and their results, Savage Frontier Volume III also explores changes in local military technology, such as the building of a military road roughly parallel to today's Interstate 35 and the adoption of the Colt Repeating Pistol by the Texas Rangers. A highly accessible and captivating volume, enthusiastically recommended for libraries and Texas history buffs alike, along with "Savage Frontier Volume I 1835-1837" and "Savage Frontier Volume II 1838-1839".

Yellowstone Denied
Kim Allen Scott
University of Oklahoma Press
2800 Venture Drive, Norman, OK 73069-8216
0806138009 $32.95 www.ou.edu

Gustavus Cheyney Doane was a frontier soldier and explorer who fought in the Civil War, led the first scientific expedition into Yellowstone, and helped foster the Yellowstone National Park – yet fame always eluded him. YELLOWSTONE DENIED: THE LIFE OF GUSTAVUS CHEYNEY DOANE at last celebrates his many achievements and life in a biography that documents American history and considers Doane's behavior, motivations, and times. An inspirational, revealing survey.

D.M. Bennett: The Truth Seeker
Roderick Bradford
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, NY 14228-2197
1591024307 $32.00 www.prometheusbooks.com

Bennett was 19th century America's most controversial publisher and promoter of free speech, founding the 'blasphemous' NY periodical THE TRUTH SEEKER in 1873, which was widely banned. This biographical considers his influences, life, achievements, and the sentiments of his times, offering a far-reaching and insightful glimpse into the ideas and ideals of his times. More than just a biography, it's piece of history not to be missed by any serious college-level American history holding; particularly those specializing in free speech rights and issues.

American Silk
Jacqueline Field, Marjorie Seneehal and Madelyn Shaw
Texas Tech University Press
2903 – 4th Street, Box 41037, Lubbock, TX 79409-1037
0896725898 $45.00 www.ttup.ttu.edu

Co-authored by a former costume curator, a professor of math and science history, and a costume curator, three top authors create a high-quality scholarly analysis of an industry in AMERICAN SILK 1830-1930: ENTREPRENEURS AND ARTIFACTS. At one time America's silk industry was the largest in the world, so even though it hasn't nearly the stature today, it's an essential piece of American and business history. Here three case studies of silk company production mills span the heyday of the silk industry era and cover the technological and social issues surrounding silk. A key college-level title for any holding serious about American and American business history.

The Incorporation of America
Alan Trachtenberg
Hill & Wang
19 Union Square West, New York NY 10003
0809058286 $16.00 www.fsgbooks.com

THE INCORPORATION OF AMERICA: CULTURE AND SOCIETY IN THE GILDED AGE was first published in 1982 and is re-issued in an updated 25th anniversary paperback edition here for any collection strong in American history, whether it be a high school or college holding or a public lending library. Trachtenberg's analysis of the expansion of capitalist power in the late 19th century and the cultural changes that accompanied it provides historical essays key to understanding both the era and capitalist efforts.

Lincoln's Smile and Other Enigmas
Alan Trachtenberg
Hill & Wang
c/o Farrar, Straus, Giroux
19 Union Square West, New York NY 10003
0809042975 $30.00 www.fsgbooks.com

LINCOLN'S SMILE AND OTHER ENIGMAS is cultural history at its best: it gathers essays from cultural historian Alan Trachtenberg from the last 40 years, considering all kinds of topics relating history to film and photo. While this could also have been featured in our 'Arts' section, it'd be a shame for any collection of American history and culture to miss this, whether it be at the college or public lending library levels. Essays are lively, insightful surveys of the images and history that captured American attention, covering a wide range of topics from architecture to cultural artifacts. This essay collection will be a hit for a wide audience and is not to be missed.


The Cookbook Shelf

The Hawai'i Farmers Market Cookbook
Joan Namkoong & Haley Matson-Mathes, editors
Watermark Publishing
1088 Bishop Street, Suite 310, Honolulu, HI 96813
0977914321, $13.95 www.bookshawaii.net 1-800-900-2665

Expertly compiled and co-edited by by culinary expert Joan Namkoong and Les Dames d'Escoffier chef Haley Matson-Mathes, "The Hawai'i Farmers Market Cookbook: Fresh Island Products From A To Z" features more than 100 recipes, each of which showcases locally grown produce deftly prepared into appetite satisfying, palate pleasing dishes suitable for every dining occasion from simple family meals to elegant celebratory dining. From Avocado Tampura; Sauteed Broccoli Raab with Pancetta; and Grilled Eggplant; to Hearts of Palm, Avocado and Jicama Salad; Sweet Onion Tartlets; and Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Onion Marmalade, the recipes comprising "The Hawai'i Farmers Market Cookbook" are easy-to-follow and so thoroughly 'user friendly' that even the most novice kitchen cook can lay out a menu that would delight any dedicated gourmet!

Panna Cotta
Camilla Saulsbury
Cumberland House Publishing
431 Harding Industrial Park Drive, Nashville, TN 37211
1581825951, $16.95 www.cumberlandhouse.com 1-888-439-2665

Food writer, food scholar, recipe developer, cookbook author, and an acknowledge San Francisco Bay area gourmet, Camilla Saulsbury once again applies her considerable experience and impressive expertise in compiling flavorful, lovely, savory, 'kitchen cook friendly' recipes for one hundred delectable dishes involving Panna Cotta (an elegant Italian custard). Thirty of these culinary delights are shown in their final form with wonderful full-color photography that enable even the most novice chef just what to expect and how they might be served as part of a memorable meal. From Lemon-Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Crushed Raspberry Sauce; Caramel-Coconut Panna Cotta; and Strawberry Daiquiri Panna Cotta; to Winter Spice Panna Cotta with Cabernet-Caramel Sauce; Cauliflower Panna Cotta with White Truffle Oil; and Gorgonzola Panna Cotta with Red Currant Gastrique and Crispy Prosciutto, "Panna Cotta" is a speciality cookbook recommended for anyone wanting to add a gourmet Italian touch to their dining menus.

Vegan Vittles
Jo Stepaniak
The Book Publishing Company
PO Box 99, Summertown, TN 38483
1570672008, $19.95 www.bookpubco.com 1-800-695-2241

For more than forty years, Jo Stepaniak has been engaged with vegetarian and vegan issues, has authored more than siteen books and hundreds of articles on compassionate living and vegan cuisine, and the creator of 'Ask Jo', a colume that appears on 'Grassroots Veganism, her website at www.vegsource.com/jo "Vegan Vittles" was originally published some ten years ago and provided illustrated, 'kitchen cook friend', plant-based recipes. Now in a revised and expanded second edition, "Vegan Vittles" features more than 75 new recipes along with updated ingredients and practical cooking tips. From Maple Walnut Ganola; Southern-Fried Tofu; Barbecued Tempeh; and Gooey Grilled Cheese; to Not Your Mama's Meatloaf; Moroccan Millet; Coconut Rice; and Vegan Antipasto, "Vegan Vittles" is an outstanding and enthusiastically recommended compendium of vegan dishes that would grace any dining occasion, please any palate, and satisfying any appetite!

Brothers In The Kitchen
Michel Deville & Brendan O'Farrell
Dream Cooks
c/o FRP Books
2451 Atrium Way, Nashville, TN 37214
0977980707, $39.50 www.frpbooks.com

Some 35 years ago Brendan O'Farrell, an international business man, and Michel Deville, a French Master Chef, became the best of friends who shared an appreciation for good service and great food. They opened a restaurant (La Table de Michael) in Sain-Remy de Provence near Avignon in the South of France in the spring of 2005. Now having successfully collaborated as restauranteurs, they have combined their love of the culinary arts to publish a compendium of savory recipes laid out with careful step-by-step instructions so clear and concise as to be able to transform ordinary kitchen cooks into accomplished chefs of French cuisine. Wonderfully illustrated throughout with finished dishes, the recipes comprising "Brothers In The Kitchen" range from Tri-Color Salad; to New Orleans Style Gumbo; to Roast Sirloin Encrusted in English Mustard; to Jumbo Prawns Flambe with Pernod; to Spinach with Swiss Cheese Sauce; to Mint Chocolate Delight. Enhanced with the inclusion of wonderful anecdotes and stories, "Brothers In The Kitchen" begins with thematically appropriate advice about how to get started in the kitchen, matching wines with foods, stocks and savors, and goes on to include sage counsel respecting menus, special restaurants and restaurateurs, conversion tables for cooking, and more. "Brothers In The Kitchen" is enthusiastically recommended as a core addition to any gourmet quality kitchen cookbook collection!

Meredith Books
1716 Locust Street, Des Moines, IA 50309-3023
www.bhgbooks.com

Two new dieter's guides from Better Homes & Gardens offer a wealth of ideas and recipes for any who would seek to lose pounds. The expanded new edition of their best-selling NEW DIETER'S COOKBOOK (0696231824, $19.95) incorporates the latest weight-reducing suggestions and success stories along with recipe themes ranging from Kids favorites to Low-Calorie Holidays. Calorie amounts for everyday foods accompany nutrition facts and recipes that hold small color photos with each dish. NEW DIABETIC COOKBOOK (0696215632, $19.95) blends familiar re-done favorites with new innovative dishes to provide a well-rounded set of diabetic-appropriate dishes the entire family can enjoy. All have been tested by the BH&G test kitchens and all are guaranteed to work well, including the exchanges and nutritional analysis with each recipe which is key to success. Any public lending library must have these basic cookbooks.

Recipes From Historic Louisiana
Linda Bauer & Steve Bauer
Bright Sky Press
340 South Second Street, Albany, TX 76430
1931721726, $24.95 www.brightskypress.com

The collaborative effort of Linda and Steve Bauer, "Recipes From Historic Louisiana" is a compilation of recipes drawn from the head chefs of forty-eight popular restaurants and dining establishments from Louisiana and ranging from Alexandria, through Evangeline Country, to venerable New Orleans. Embellished with fascinating stories combined with savory 'kitchen cook friendly' recipes that can transform ordinary meals into culinary delights, "Recipes From Historic Louisiana" showcases dishes that range from Bronzed Stake with a Gingersnap Gravy (K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen); to Barbecue Rib-Eye (Dickie Brennan's Stakehouse); to Trout Meuniere Amandine (Galatoire's); to Gumbo Ya-Ya (Commander's Palace); to Spiced Butternut Squash Soup (Mabry House). For a 'kitchen cook friendly' collection of authentic Louisiana cuisine, add Linda and Steve Bauer's "Recipes From Historic Louisiana" to your cookbook shelf! Also very highly recommended is the Bauer's companion collection, "Recipes From Historic America: Cooking & Traveling With America's Finest Hotels" (1931721688, $29.95).

Scratch That
Connie Fairbanks
C&K Publishing
1647 'A', The Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 60654
0979023408, $35.00 www.conniefairbanks.com

Connie Fairbanks is an experienced and accomplished home chef and in "Scratch That: Seasonal Menus And Perfect Pairings" she shares her time tested, family favorite, kitchen cook friendly recipes. Each recipe is accompanied by 'Connie's Notes' which offer tips on shopping for seasonal ingredients, explanations of cooking terms, suggestions for table decor, as well as appropriate wine and beer pairings with the finished dishes. Nicely illustrated with full-color photograph of savory dishes, the recipes range from Fava Bean Spread on Mini Toasts; Rustic Nectarine and Blackberry Crostata; Grilled Cuban Pork Tenderloin; and Warm Dates with Goat Cheese; to Roasted Beets with Olives; Rack of Lamb with Rosemary and Wine Sauce; Carrot-Pineapple Gelatin Salad; and Triple-Chocolate Chip Cookies. Enhanced with information about 'Kitchen Essentials', basic recipe and kitchen 'know-how', recipes arranged into seasonal menus, and even advice when going out to dine, "Scratch That" will prove to be a welcome and much appreciated addition to any kitchen cookbook collection!

Turn Up the Heat with Garvin
Meredith Books
1716 Locust Street, DesMoines, IA 50309-3023
0696233940 $19.95 www.meredithbooks.com

Any library looking for spicy cookbooks will find TURN UP THE HEART WITH GARVIN a top choice for revamping everyday meals and flavors. From Sauteed Salmon and Shrimp with Brie to wine-enhanced Collard Greens with Smoky Bacon, Garvin takes the simplest dishes and updates them to modern times, making it a snap to add elegance to everyday meals. General-interest lending libraries will find it an especially popular pick because recipes look simple and are familiar, with the creative embellishment added to routines and dishes which don't look dauntingly exotic.


The Religion/Spirituality Shelf

The Secret Bible
Joseph R. Rosenbloom
Atlas Books
30 Amberwood Parkway, Ashland, OH 44805
0976659956, $19.90 www.atlasbooks.com 1-800-BOOKLOG

Joseph Rosenbloom was ordained as a Reform rabbi in 1954 and served congregations in St. Louis and Lexington. He retired from Temple Emanuel in St. Louis in 2003 and is now their rabbi emeritus and senior scholar. Rabbi Rosenbloom brings a very special expertise to "The Secret Bible: A Secular Approach To The Bible" in his 192-page examination of the traditions comprising the Hebrew Bible (known to Christians as the Old Testament). His principle thesis is that these traditions were, in their original form, basically secular. It was much later, when the existence of the Jewish people was threatened, the texts that made up the Hebrew Bible were 'religionized', that is, when they were seen as stories and histories that had a single, all-powerful deity with a unique and special relationship with the Jewish people. Many of the legal codes of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible are secular. The stories of the first Hebrews and comprising the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses) are basically secular accounts of families and their problems. The religious elements were added later in the history of the Israelites. "The Secret Bible" reveals that the secular nature of the Hebrew Bible will make it more accessible and of value to readers who do not accept God as the author of history and in control of nature. Articulate, well-reasoned, informed and informative, "The Secret Bible" is highly recommended and provocative reading for students of Judaism, Christianity, Humanism, Religion, and History.

Abode of Love
Kate Barlow
Goose Lane
330-500 Beaverbrook Court, Fredericton NB Canada E3B 5X4
0864924577 $19.95 www.gooselane.com

Part autobiography/family memoir and part religious inspection, ABODE OF LOVE: GROWING UP IN A MESSIANIC CULT tells of being raised at Agapemone, a cult whose religion embraced religious and sexual scandal that absorbed her family as her distant relatives down to her grandfather took 'spiritual' brides. The author and her sisters own the Arc of the Covenant, a Victorian church in London: her story of being raised in the cult, her family, and the influences of its teachings makes for a gripping story.

Judas and Jesus: Two Faces of a Single Revelation
Jean-Yves Leloup
Inner Traditions
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
1594771669 $14.95 www.innertraditions.com

The story of Judas is moving and striking partially because the specter of a beloved disciple's betrayal is still a challenge to understand. Jean-Yves Leloup is a theologian and founder of several alternative institutes and here reconstructs the Judas story, offering an alternative explanation for his actions. Illustrative dialogue accompanies an explanation that holds that Jesus himself was at the root of the betrayal idea. Spirituality holdings will find it intriguing, classrooms will find it perfect for discussion.

God: The Failed Hypothesis
Victor J. Stenger
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, NY 14228-2197
1591024811 $28.00 www.prometheusbooks.com

GOD: THE FAILED HYPOTHESIS: HOW SCIENCE SHOWS THAT GOD DOES NOT EXIST is a hard-hitting argument which moves beyond the usual philosophical and religious realms directly into the scientific arena. It comes from a physicist who contends that if God exists, some evidence for existence should be verifiable by scientific means – and examines all such claims made for God's existence in light of scientific evidence. From evidence of human behavior to intelligent design arguments, GOD: THE FAILED HYPOTHESIS is an excellent involving survey no college-level collection strong on either spiritual analysis or philosophy should be without.

Religion in Latin America
Lee M. Penyak & Walter J. Petry, Editors
Orbis Books
Box 302, Maryknoll, NY 10545-0302
1570756791 $40.00 www.maryknoll.org

RELIGION IN LATIN AMERICA: A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY is a perfect pick for college-level religious collections seeking a comprehensive survey of the region's religious evolution: it pairs a rich understanding of Catholic influences and origins in Latin America with material on other religions, offering chapters filled with footnoted research and source material from archbishops, researchers, and scholars. From local observances of and reactions to religious holidays to early religious icons' experiences, RELIGION IN LATIN AMERICA is an involving study no spiritual history collection should be without.


The Metaphysical Studies Shelf

Yoga for Magick
Nancy Wasserman
Red Wheel Weiser
65 Parker Street Suite 7, Newburyport, MA 01950
1578633788 $12.95 www.redwheelweiser.com

Yoga offer many meanings today, from exercise and health applications to spirituality: New Age practitioners and libraries will learn how to integrate these different meanings with YOGA FOR MAGICK: BUILD PHYSICAL AND MENTAL STRENGTH FOR YOUR PRACTICE. It relates Wiccan practices to yoga, drawing important connections and revealing how rituals of yoga and enhance magickal directions.

The Origins of Psychic Phenomena
Stan Gooch
Inner Traditions
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
1594771642 $16.95 www.innertraditions.com

From alien abduction to possessions and spontaneous combustion, THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHIC PHENOMENA explores the unconscious mind's ability to externalize itself, processing real-world experiences and producing in turn often frightening manifestations. Chapters consider the evolution of the brain and concurrent psychic activities and consider the role of consciousness in supernatural phenomena, making this a fine pick for any collection strong in either new age or psychology.


The Writing/Publishing Shelf

How To Write And Publish Your Own eBook
Jim Edwards & Joe Vitale
Morgan James Publishing
1225 Franklin Avenue, Suite 325, Garden City, NY 11530-1693
1600371523, $19.95 www.morganjamespublishing.com 1-800-485-4943

The collaborative work of Jim Edwards and Joe Vitale, "How To Write And Publish Your Own eBook...In As Little As 7 Days" is a complete, methodical, step-by-step instruction manual in publishing ebooks. Both Edwards and Vitale are drawing upon their enormously successful careers publishing ebooks and now share their particular body of expertise to reveal all of the steps and processes that will enable publisher to expand their revenue streams through the inclusion of a line of ebooks. "How To Write And Publish Your Own eBook" is particular recommended to the attention of self-published authors and small press publishers wanting to participate in the growing ebook market which shows strong promise of becoming more and more economically viable as the internet and the lap top computer become as commonplace with young generations as print publications and audiobooks are to their elders. Any author and any publisher considering expanding into the ebook market with their titles should give a careful reading to this superbly organized and presented 'do-it-yourself' manual.

Book Typography
Michael Mitchell & Susan Wightman
Oak Knoll Press
310 Delaware Street, New Castle, DE 19720-5038
0948021667, $69.95 www.oakknoll.com 1-800-996-2556

A critically important part of publishing books is their physical appearance, which in turn is dependent on their design. "Book Typography: A Designer's Manual" is a complete and thoroughly 'user friendly' introduction to the basic principles and applications of typography to insure readily accessible communication to the reader. Type font selection, size, and positioning are essential elements in the construction of a book regardless of genre or category of publication. From poetry, to novels, to illustrated books, to reference works, "Book Typography" will prove invaluable to the novice while having a great deal of practical utility for even the more experienced publisher. Of special note is the chapter on "The Basic Terms of the Trade" which provides extended definitions of technical terms applicable to publishing. An impressively comprehensive, single volume typographical reference work, "Book Typography" is an essential, core addition to the reference libraries and supplemental reading lists of aspiring manuscript editors, copy-editors, proofreaders, production managers, and publishers.

The American Directory Of Writer's Guidelines, sixth edition
Stephen Blake Mettee, Michelle Doland, Doris Hall
Quill Driver Books
1254 Commerce Way, Sanger, CA 93657
1884956580, $29.95 www.quilldriverbooks.com

Knowledgeably compiled and meticulously edited by the team of Stephen Blake Mettee, Michelle Doland, and Doris Hall, "The American Directory Of Writer's Guidelines" is an 816-page, alphabetically organized, and thoroughly 'user friendly' compendium of more than 1,700 magazine editors and book publishers along with descriptive explanation of what these editors and publishers want when considering submissions from freelance writers. Now in a substantially expanded and newly updated sixth edition, "The American Directory Of Writer's Guidelines" offers more than 1,300 periodical publishers and more than 400 book publishers, along with their criteria for work that is either commissioned or submitted on spec by aspiring writers wanting to be published. This superbly organized reference provides detailed submission guidelines that will help a writer to determine if their particular projects are suited to a given magazine or book publisher, as well as providing an indispensable resource when seeking an appropriate publication outlet for a proposal or a manuscript. "The American Directory Of Writer's Guidelines" will prove to be an invaluable and indispensable asset to any professional (or aspiring to be profession) author regardless of the genre of work they are pursuing in their writing career.

10 Steps to Creating Memorable Characters
Sue Viders, et.al.
Watson-Guptill Publications
770 Broadway, New York NY 10003
1580650686 $17.95 www.watsonguptill.com

Writers serious about learning how to create and develop memorable characters will relish 10 Steps to Creating Memorable Characters: A Writer's Workbook. It packs in forms, checklists, and exercises to help both screen and fiction writers develop personalities, teaching the basics of building multi-layered protagonists and showing the foundation keys to possible success. It's a 'must' for any public library lending collection strong in writer's guides, as well as for many a high school or college-level collection catering to student creative writers.


The Pets/Wildlife Shelf

How to Raise Chickens
Christine Heinrichs
Voyageur Press
380 Jackson Street, Suite 200, St. Paul, MN 55101
0760328285 $19.95 www.mbipublishing.com 1-800-458-0454

Written by rare-breed advisor and expert Christine Heinrichs, and reviewed for adherence to poultry industry standards by Dr. Clint Rusk (Purdue University Associate Professor, Ag. Education Department), How to Raise Chickens: Everything You Need to Know is a comprehensive manual for novice and experienced chicken raisers. How to Raise Chickens is an all-inclusive guide, written in straightforward terms to be accessible to readers of all backgrounds, whether they want to raise 5 or 50 chickens, on a small city lot or a 40-acre farm, for eggs or for show. Full-color photographs on every page illustrate this straightforward manual of breed types, housing, feeding, incubation and care of chicks, selection and culling, showing, aviation influenza, and much more. Tips, tricks, techniques, as well as basics such as "Before introducing new birds to your flock, always quarantine them for two to four weeks. Some diseases take time to develop." make How to Raise Chickens an absolute "must-have" for anyone considering the practice.

Cats of Africa
Luke Hunter & Gerald Hinde
Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218-4363
0801884829 $39.95 www.press.jhu.edu

Africa holds some of the most amazing cats on Earth but rarely are these given full-page embellishment and in-depth discussion as they are in Cats of Africa: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation. The oversize stature makes CATS OF AFRICA look like a coffee table guide but the abundance of text and natural history promises both general-interest and college-level libraries a satisfying blend of color and fact. From feline anatomy and evolution to populations, social systems, threats and cooperative hunting patterns, CATS OF AFRICA is a 'must' for any collection serious about representing African natural history – and will find its home on many general-interest library shelves as a fascinating addition for the general public as well.

Predation in Family Dogs
Jean Donaldson
Dogwise Publishing
PO Box 2778, Wenatchee, WA 98807-2778
1929242425 $29.95 www.dogwisepublishing.com 1-800-776-2665

Produced from the Dogtec seminar held in the San Francisco Bay area in the fall of 2004, Predation in Family Dogs is a no-nonsense scrutiny of "predatory drift" and canine aggression by dog-training expert Jean Donaldson. Topics discussed include hard-wired "fixed action pattern" behavior, why behaviors or fixed action patterns can fire at inappropriate times, how such phenomena can interfere even with expert training attempts to control aggression using operant and classical conditioning, which breeds and groups of dogs are more likely to have strong predatory instincts, and much more. Though more of an in-depth scholarly lecture than a how-to manual, Predation in Family Dogs is sure to be a valuable supplementary reference and resource especially for advanced and professional canine trainers, and is sure to bring new insight into the mind of the family pet for all other viewers. 1 hour 45 minutes, color.

An Introduction to Veterinary Medical Ethics
Bernard Rollin
Blackwell Publishing
2121 State Avenue, Ames, IA 50014
0813803993 $59.99 www.blackwellprofessional.com

College-level courses in veterinary medicine will find AN INTRODUCTION TO VETERINARY MEDICAL ETHICS: THEORY AND CASES, 2ND EDITION an excellent point of discussion for surveying the vet's ethical and medical issues in animal welfare issues. The author has pioneered veterinary ethics and surveys ethical theory, decision-making practices, and real-life situations, pairing some 100 veterinary case histories with solutions that lend to debate and discussion in the veterinary community. Practitioners and college-level students will find an enlightening set of considerations, here.

Whalewatcher
Trevor Day
Firefly Books Ltd.
Box 1338, Ellicott Station, Buffalo NY 14205
155407200X $19.95 www.fireflybooks.com

Dramatic color action photos blend an expert's advice on whale natural history with a travel observer's tips on where to find and how to identify the species. From maps to identification keys, WHALEWATCHER is packed with the latest on not only whales but dolphins and related species, with plenty of color photos throughout: perfect for travel and science reference collections alike!

Horse Health Care & First Aid
Robin Catalang & Lee Delaney, DVM
Storey Publishing
210 Mass MoCa Way, North Adams, MA 02147
1580176399 $24.95 www.storey.com

When a horse is sick or injured it's essential to have quick information close at hand, which is why Horse Health Care & First Aid stands above other 'horse care guides'. It's got a nail hole at the top of each two-page spread to hang on a barn wall, offers a hands-free visual reference, and provides horse owners with both routine and critical care facts in an at-a-glance format. A 'must' for any horse owner.


The Gardening Shelf

The Winter Garden
Val Bourne
Sterling Publishing Co
387 Park Avenue South, New York NY 10016-8810
184403481X $19.95 www.sterlingpub.com

THE WINTER GARDEN: CREATE A GARDEN THAT SHINES THROUGH THE FORGOTTEN SEASON tells how to plan a garden with winter interest in mind. There are many, many gardening guides for summer and spring planting and some which advocate 'year round' gardening – but relatively few which narrow the focus to just winter. Val Bourne suggests trees, shrubs, berries and evergreens which include different textures, shapes, colors and early flowers for eye-catching displays, with color photos packing in examples. Gardeners will find this an inspirational guide which goes beyond the usual colorful flower focus to address other garden elements which can make a winter garden an appealing success.

An Introduction to Plant Propagation
Don Marquardt
A.C. Burke & Co.
2554 Lincoln Blvd., #1058, Marina Del Rey, CA 90291-5082
$49.95 www.acburke.com

Hosted by Landscape Architecture Professional Certificate instructor Don Marquardt and featuring four talented horticultural experts, An Introduction to Plant Propagation is a step-by-step instructional DVD to basic gardening, whether growing plants from seed, by division, cuttings, layering, or grafting. Topics discussed include the fundamentals of plant propagation history, how to select and use the proper propagation tools and materials, standard techniques for cutting, layering, grafting, and division, how to propagate cacti and succulents, a tour of a commercial wholesale nursery, and more. A user-friendly, "hands-on" guide enthusiastically recommended for novice to intermediate gardeners. 91 minutes, color.

Gardening on a Shoestring
Rob Proctor
Johnson Books
3005 Center Green Drive #220, Boulder, CO 80301
1555663761 $20.00 www.johnsonbooks.com

Master gardening Rob Proctor offers up a regional gardening guide with a difference: a fun focus on the art of gardening which includes surprising, lively language and observations to fit in any budget: "Some control freaks can't stand the idea of plants deciding for themselves where they want to grow." Add color photos throughout, examples of seasonal management and garden 'artistry', and more and you have a guide which will attract any gardener on a budget.


The Interior Design Shelf

Let's Get Comfortable
Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams With Mindy Drucker
Meredith Books
1716 Locust Street, Des Moines, IA 50309-3023
0696234300 $34.95 www.meredithbooks.com

The creators of 'relaxed style' offer up a guide to home furnishings which focuses on how to create a comfortable home where comfort is valued over image in Let's Get Comfortable: How to Furnish and Decorate a Welcoming Home, a powerful visual survey of how furniture, textures, styles and floor plans blend to create comfort. From adjusting color in the bathroom for optimum morning acceptance and relaxation to de-cluttering a small space, this is an exceptional guide for any who want to create style and comfort.

New Chairs
Mel Byars
Chronicle Books
85 Second Street, San Francisco CA 94105
0811853640 $24.99 www.chroniclebooks.com

NEW CHAIRS: INNOVATIONS IN DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY AND MATERIALS is for any interior design library: it gathers over sixty of the most intriguing recent chairs created by designers around the world, pairing color photos with insights on new concepts, materials, and interpretations of structure, form and function. From inflatable and illuminated to hard, stacking chairs, NEW CHAIRS covers a range of options and provides interior designs with plenty of insights: perfect for contemporary interior design holdings!


The Audiobook Shelf

Mistress Of The Art Of Death
Ariana Franklin
Books On Tape, Inc.
400 Hahn, Westminister, MD 21157
9781415936986, $100.00 www.booksontape.com 1-800-541-5525

Four children have been murdered in medieval Cambridge and the Catholic townfolk blame their Jewish neighbors for the deaths. To save them from a rioting mob, the Jews of Cambridge are placed under the protection of the King Henry II while a scientific investigation is launched to catch the true killer. King Henry calls upon his cousin, the King of Sicily, to ask for his finest 'master of the art of death", a practitioner of the earliest form of medical examiner in Europe. The Italian doctor selected for the task of discovering the killer of children turns out to be a woman named Adelia, and in a backward, superstitious, patriarchal England, Adelia must conceal her gender while tracking the killer – who is preparing to kill again! "Mistress Of The Art Of Death" is a superbly crafted mystery novel by Ariana Franklin that is brought to life in a true 'theatre of the mind' experience by the narrative talents of Rosalyn Landor in this complete and unabridged, 11 CD audiobook production that has a total running time of 13 hours, 12 minutes. "Mistress Of The Art Of Death" is an especially recommended addition to community library audiobook collections and a 'must' for anyone who enjoys historical murder mysteries set in medieval Europe.

The Trail to Peach Meadow Canyon
Louis L'Amour
Blackstone Audiobooks
PO Box 969, Ashland, OR 97520
0786161906, $27.00 www.BlackstoneAudio.com 1-800-729-2665

Written by the legendary western author Louis' L'Amour, "The Trail to Peach Meadow Canyon" is the story of Mike Bastian who was orphaned as a child and taken in by the notorious outlaw Ben Curry, and raised to take over Curry's empire of crime. Now a grown man, Mike has the fastest draw and the best tracker around. Curry, ready to retire and hand over the reigns to his protegee, sets Mike to the task of planning and carrying out a gold-train robbery. Mike has a choice, to continue on in the path Curry laid out for him all those long years past, or to carve out a destiny and future of his own. But if he refuses the outlaw life, he very well may not be able to leave the gang still breathing. To complicate matters, Mike has fallen in love with Drusilla, Curry's real daughter who doesn't know about her father's outlaw career. Whatever Mike decides, a showdown is in the offing. "The Trail to Peach Meadow Canyon" is vintage L'Amour and enhanced with the dramatic and skilled narrative talents of Jim Gough, this complete and unabridged 3 CD audiobook recording is enthusiastically recommended for western novel enthusiasts, and a welcome addition to community library audiobook collections. Total Running Time: 3 hours

Fleet Walker's Divided Heart
David W. Zang
Legacy Audio Books
PO Box 11183, cincinnati, OH 45211
0977988341, $39.95 www.legacyaudiobooks.com

It will come as a surprise to most baseball enthusiasts, but Jackie Robsinson was not the first African-American to play baseball in a major league. That honor fell to Moses Fleetwood Walker who achieved college baseball stardom while a student at Oberlin College in the 1880s. But Walker was expelled from professional baseball because of the devastating and pervasive racism of the day, including ill treatment by his team mates, his opponents on the field, and Cap anson, a star of the Chicago White Stockings, who drove Walker and the few other African-Americans in the major leagues out of the game, where blacks wanting to play baseball formed the Negro League teams and were excluded from the major league teams until Robinson's barrier breaking inclusion so many years later into the exclusive club that was professional major league baseball. Walker was more than just a gifted baseball player. In addition to being an outstanding athlete, he was also an inventor, a civil rights activist, an author, and an entrepreneur. Born on October 7, 1856 in Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, Walker died on May 11, 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio. "Fleet Walker's Divided Heart" is a superbly written and enthusiastically recommended biography by David W. Zang of a truly remarkable life filled with accomplishment and frustration, triumph and tragedy, and which now has made into an audiobook CD featuring the impressive narrative talents of Andrew L. Barnes.

Reclaiming Nick
Susan May Warren, author
Brooke Sanford, narrator
Oasis Audio
289 South Main Place, Carol Stream, IL 60188
1598592092, $22.99 www.oasisaudio.com 1-800-323-2500

He hadn't really intended to be a 'prodigal son', but when his father dies and leaves half of the Silver Buckle ranch to his former best friend, Nick Noble returns home to face up to his past mistakes and insure that the ranch stays in the Noble Family. As he seeks to overturn his father's will, family secrets surface and there's someone unknown who will stop at nothing, not even murder, to insure that Nick fails. Minnesota author Susan May Warren has written a thoroughly entertaining novel that has all the elements of suspense and romance in this very highly recommended, professional abridged, 6 CD, audiobook edition with a total running time of 7.6 hours and which is ably narrated by Brooke Sanford.

Memory Books
Howard Engel
BTC Audio Books
c/o Goose Lane Editions
500 Beverbrook Court, Suite 330, Fredericton, NB, Canada, E3B 5X4
0864924704, $24.95 www.gooselane.com 1-888-926-8377

Co-narrated by Ron Halder and Donna White, "Memory Books" by Canadian mystery writer Howard Engel is the story of small-town private investigatory Benny Cooperman who, after being left for dead from a blow to the head by an unknown assailant, wakes up in a hospital and in the middle of a mystery. All Benny can remember is that he was close to figuring out a mystery but can't remember anything else – including the name of his girlfriend, Anna Abraham. To complicate things further, Benny is suffering from a brain injury that allows him to still write, but not be able to read! But with the help of Anna and the use of a small notepad dubbed the 'memory book', Benny engages in some dedicated bedside sleuthing. Author Howard Engel (who in real life suffers a similar brain injury to that of his lead character) has created a terrific 'who dunnit' style mystery with a medical theme that will engage the reader's total and rapt attention from beginning to end. Expertly abridged and originally broadcast on CBC Radio, "Memory Books" is especially recommended to mystery buffs and, with a total running time of 3 hours and 30 minutes, is a welcome addition to any community library audiobook CD collection..

Death Before Wicket
Kerry Greenwood
Bolinda Publishing, Inc.
48 Oxford Woods, Falmouth, ME 04105-3401
1740938917, $56.00 www.bolinda.com 1-888-235-2019

"Death Before Wicket" is the story of Phryne Fisher who is planning a little trip to Sydney for a bit of tourism and attending the Artist's Ball with a young painter of her acquaintance. But all these plans unravel when her maid finds that Phryne's sister has gotten herself involved with shady characters and doings in Sydney's murky underworld and nightlife. Then there are the two young men who beg Phryne for help in clearing a friend of theirs from a charge of theft. What evolves is a gripping mystery of greed, fear, blackmail, secrets, lies, and the sinister influences of deep magic! Author Kerry Greenwood has crafted an elegant story that is fully fleshed out with a cast of memorable characters and unexpected plot developments certain to grip and engage mystery fans from beginning to end. This flawlessly recorded, complete and unabridged CD audiobook features the professional narrative talents of Stephanie Daniel. Strongly recommended for personal and community library audiobook collections, "Death Before Wicket" has a total running time of 8 hours and 10 minutes on seven compact dics.

The Valley
Di Morrissey
Bolinda Publishing, Inc.
48 Oxford Woods, Falmouth, ME 04105-3401
1740938828, $120.00 www.bolinda.com 1-888-235-2019

Tucked between rugged peaks, the valley is divided by an impressive river and features peaceful green contours. The valley is also a place where generations of tribes, families, and individuals are kept – until the day when a woman returns to the valley and begins to ask uncomfortable questions. The result is the slow discovery of the story of a forgotten valley pioneer whose life is entwined with her own. In investigating her own family history, more is uncovered and revealed than was ever expected – secrets that were intended to stay buried in the past. With "the Valley", Australian author Di Morrissey has written a complex, beautifully scripted, enthusiastically recommended story that is superbly narrated by Kate Hood. This flawlessly recorded, unabridged, audiobook format has a total running time of 17 hours and 40 minutes on 15 CDs housed in a hard plastic shell case for an extended shelf life.

Beyond Spirit Tailings
Ellen Baumler, author
Philip Aaberg, music
Montana Historical Society
PO Box 201201, Helena, MT 59620-1201
0972152296 $25.95 www.montanahistoricalsociety.org

Read aloud by the author and interpretive historian Ellen Baumler, and featuring a bonus music CD by composer and pianist Philip Aaberg, Beyond Spirit Tailings is an abridged audiobook on CD about historical Montana ghost stories handed down through generations. Combining evocative music with tales ranging from the story of the hitchhiking specter of a priest to a departed Hamilton socialite who spreads the scent of roses, Beyond Spirit Tailings is a spooky treasure for ghost story lovers everywhere. Highly recommended.

Brilliance Corporation
PO Box 887, Grand Haven, MI 49417
www.brillianceaudio.com 1-800-854-7859

Nora Roberts' RIVER'S END (1423314026, $40.95) receives veteran freelance voiceover talent Sandra Burr's moving and passionate voice: perfect for the high drama contained in this story of a young woman who struggles to recall events on the night her mother was murdered. The son of the police officer who found the then-four-year-old hiding in a bedroom closet strives to help her – and indeed may end her loneliness as romance evolves. Julie Garwood's SHADOW DANCE (1590682600, $36.95) receives veteran narrator Joyce Bean's moving style as it also tells of passion and danger. Here Jordan finds her brother and best friend are marrying, joining two family dynasties. The revelation of an ancient feud in the midst of the wedding ceremony will change her life in this gripping epic story. Audio listeners will find both perfect blends of romance and high drama.

Clipper Audio
270 Skipjack Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678
www.recordedbooks.com

Clipper Audio's line of British-based mysteries and novels provides fine entertaining surveys for a wide audience and its durable packaging and unabridged presentations lends particularly well to library lending rigors. Charles Cumming's THE SPANISH GAME (1846325110, $89.75) tells of one Alec Milius, who has been abandoned by M16 after a disastrous operation with the CIA and has rebuilt a life in Madrid. But his eye for espionage draws him back into spy work and he's now working alone – and entering a dangerous secret underworld. Gordon Griffin provides a gripping narration. His voice also enhances and adds tension and drama to THE LAST SECRET OF THE TEMPLE (184632503X, $109.75), a gripping story of a murder at an archaeological site by the Nile. Inspector Yusuf Khalifa's investigation reveals some surprising ties between the latest death and an earlier murder, and his re-opening of old wounds will change a world. Elizabeth Noble's ALPHABET WEEKENDS: LOVE LESSONS FROM A-Z (1843624109, $79.95) pairs Phoebe James' warm narrative style with a fine A-Z survey of love between families, boyfriends, and more. Natalie is facing the breakup of her romance just before Christmas as others also face ending and beginning new relationships in this hard-hitting drama of changes and romance. Adele Geras' MADE IN HEAVEN (1846326455, $109.75) tells of wedding plans and a meeting of two very different families before the event. Add in British class struggles and the warm voice of Maggie Mash, who perfectly captures the conflicts and interpersonal relationships, and you have a winning listen steeped in British social traditions. All are good lending picks, particularly for audio collections where listeners favor British narrators and themes.

Tantor Media, Inc.
114 Mill Rock Road East, Old Saybrook, CT 06475
www.tantor.com 1-877-782-6867

If you only listen to one audio or have room for limited audio nonfiction in a given library collection, Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin's THREE CUPS OF TEA (1400102510, $39.99) is perhaps the most important item of choice: it holds the key to real anti-terrorist activity – a real-world key tracing the author's decades-long odyssey to build schools in a region which encouraged the Taliban. Patrick Lawlor's award-winning voice lends drama and life to the powerful account. Edwin Black's INTERNAL COMBUSTION: HOW CORPORATIONS AND GOVERNMENTS ADDICTED THE WORLD TO OIL AND DERAILED THE ALTERNATIVES (140010324X, $37.99) receives the award-winning voice of APA Audie winner Stephen Hoye as it tells of corruption and manipulation which led the U.S. to an oil addiction which was never necessary. Corporate and governmental archives are the source for this informational history that traces the present reliance on oil to corporate greed: it's an even more powerful story in audio format! Paul Teutul Sr., Paul Teutul and Michael Teutul work with Keith and Kent Zimmerman in ORANGE COUNTY CHOPPERS (1400103266, $34.99), follows a dysfunctional family's family endeavors of producing artistic and striking 'choppers' in their shop, and receives the familiar and famous voice of Todd McLaren as it examines the Teutul's life story. You needn't have familiarity with the TV show to appreciate this autobiography of family members in conflict; but what does help is an affection and appreciation for 'chopper' bikes and family interactions, which spices the appealing story of a 'wild family' which comes together to produce outstanding bikes. The audio production brings their tale to life.


The Library Video/DVD Shelf

Robin Of Sherwood: Set 1
Acorn Media Group
8515 Georgia Avenue, Suite 650, Silver Spring, MD 20910
DVD, $59.99 www.acornmedia.com

"Robin Of Sherwood: Set 1" is a five disk DVD boxed set that includes all thirteen episodes of the outstanding 1980 British television series about Robin Hood and his adventures. Enhanced with the hauntingly beautiful music of the British folk music group Clannad, this beautifully produced and elegantly photographed, costumed, and enacted version of the Robin Hood myths is heavily infused with Celtic mysticism and includes more than eight hours of special features beyond the individual episodes themselves. The DVD format allows for commentaries on selected episodes, two retrospective documentaries, outtakes, 'The Electric Theatre Show' behind-the-scenes documentary, bonus footage, and more. Now available through the Acorn Media Company, this digitally remastered, 4:3 full screen, closed caption, DVD boxed set has a total running time of 676 minutes, and is enthusiastically recommended as an enduringly popular addition for personal and community library DVD collections.

More Than Dreams
Vision Video
PO Box 540, Worcester, PA 19490-0540
#501117D, $24.99 www.visionvideo.com 1-800-523-0226

"More Than Dreams" is a 187-minute, full-color, DVD 'docu-drama' that tells the story of a genuine phenomena taking place throughout the Muslim communities world wide. Individual Muslims over the past few decades have been experiences dreams and visions of Jesus Christ. "More Than Dreams" presents five such incidents where form Muslims who, because of their personal experience with this phenomena, have embraced Christianity. Each of the five stories includes a segment explaining what it means to follow Christ. The five highlighted stories are told using the native languages with English subtitles and includes Khalil, a radical Egyptian terrorist who was transformed when Jesus appeared to him; Mohammed, a Nigerian herdsman who survived attempts on his life by his father when the young man found Christ – a faith that eventually was to lead his father to a faith in Christ as well; Dini, an Indonesian teenager who became filled with the peace of Christ even in the face of persecution by her fellow Indonesian Muslims; Khosrow, a young Iranian man who was depressed and hopeless until he met Jesus and became filled with joy; and Ali, a Turkish Muslim addicted to alcohol who, wile on pilgrimage to Mecca, found Christ as the solution to his addiction. "More Than Dreams" is a unique and inspiring work that should have as wide an audience as possible within both Christian and Muslim communities.

Obesity in a Bottle
Learning Zone Xpress
PO Box 1022, Owatonna, MN 55060
1571753249 $79.95 www.learningzonexpress.com

Obesity in a Bottle: Understanding Liquid Calories & Nutrition is an educational DVD with teaching materials, instructing young people about the deceptive nature of calorie-laden beverages. Hosted by a registered dietician, Obesity in a Bottle covers the effects of beverages on weight gain, increasing beverage sizes, the harm that can be caused by diet sodas as well as sugar-laden regular sodas, an analytical comparison of sports and energy drinks, nutritional breakdowns of popular beverages, the benefits of drinking water, and much more. Featuring a theme-park setting and a fast-paced, teen-friendly delivery, Obesity in a Bottle is enthusiastically recommended for public and private educational programs, especially given modern-day America's rising obesity rates. Highly recommended for viewers from grade 5 to adult. 21 minutes, color, closed captioned.

Soul Sweat
Chantal Pierrat
Sounds True Audio
413 South Arthur Avenue, Louisville, CO 80027
159179532X $19.98 www.soundstrue.com 1-800-333-9185

Soul Sweat is an interactive dance workout DVD featuring choreographed exercise to a "world groove" soundtrack from Vargo, Shaman's Dream, One at Last, Bob Holroyd, and more. The dance steps build coordination, body toning, and stamina; Soul Sweat is a total experience that promotes not only fitness, but also self-expression and sensuality. Soul Sweat includes a 45-minute "Deep Sweat" workout with warmup, high-intensity cardio, and cool-down exercise; a 30-minute "Quick Sweat" workout with emphasis on high-voltage cardio; and a tutorial section that breaks down the 26 foundational moves into easy-to-learn steps. A wonderfully exciting, fun, and graceful supplement to personal workout and fitness DVD libraries.

Percy Julian: Forgotten Genius
WGBH
c/o SSA Public Relations
148 Madison Avenue, 16th floor PH-1, New York, NY 10016
1593756828 $19.95 1-877-807-2622

Featuring Tony Award-winning actor Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Percy Julian: Forgotten Genius is a DVD biography of a truly exceptional American scientist, humanitarian, and self-made millionaire. The grandson of Alabama slaves, Percy Julian shattered the color barrier in science over a decade before Jackie Robinson did in baseball. Julian discovered how to transform soybeans into synthetic steroids on an industrial scale, and helped to make modern medical drugs like cortisone available to patients. Originally shown as part of the public television series NOVA, Percy Julian: Forgotten Genius is a vivid and enlightening documentary featuring period reenactments and drawing heavily from family archives and dozens of interviews with Julian's colleagues and relatives. Highly recommended for school, library, and private DVD collections alike. 112 minutes, color.

William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night
Peter Novak, director
Gallaudet University Press
800 Florida Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002-3695
1563683547 $24.95 http://gupress.gallaudet.edu 1-800-621-2736

William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is a DVD theater production of Shakespeare's classic romantic comedy especially for deaf and hearing-impaired viewers. Featuring an American Sign Language performance with a stellar cast including deaf actors Adrian Blue, Peter Cook, Robert DeMayo, Monique Holt, and Jackie Roth, optional captions, and a lively English voice-over track for accessability to hearing audiences, William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is a singularly expressive and vivacious presentation. A "must-see" Shakespeare experience for ASL users everywhere. 131 minutes, color.

What We Want, What We Believe
Roz Payne Archives & Newsreel Films
AK Press
674-A 23rd Street, Oakland, CA 94612-1163
DVD $37.95 www.akpress.org

What We Want, What We Believe: The Black Panther Party Library is a 4-DVD collection of over twelve hours of rare footage documenting the Black Panther movement. Contents include films taken by Newsreel film collective, interviews with Field Marshall Donald Cox, footage from the 35th Anniversary Reunion, interviews with former FBI agents, footage from the Wheelock Academic Conference on the Black Panther Party, interviews with various movement lawyers discussing Panther cases, interviews with Newsreel members, DVD-ROM documents from the Roz Payne "Archives chronicling the movement and repression against it, and more. Though unquestionably sympathetic to the Panthers' perspective, What We Want, What We Believe contains a great wealth of invaluable historic footage and is therefore especially recommended for college library DVD collections. 720 minutes, black & white and color.

Home of the Brave
Bullfrog Films, Inc.
PO Box 149, Oley, PA 19547
1594582432 $295.00 www.bullfrogfilms.com 1-800-543-3764

Home of the Brave is a VHS documentary scrutinizing the case of Viola Liuzzo, the only white woman murdered in the Civil Rights Movement. A 39-year-old mother of five from Detriot who joined the historic Voting Rights March in 1965, she was shot in the head shortly after the march ended by a car of Klansmen, while driving on a deserted highway. J. Edgar Hoover immediately responded with a vicious smear campaign to distract attention from the fact that a key FBI informant was in the car with Liuzzo's killers. Home of the Brave tells Liuzzo's tale through the eyes of her children, and strives to restore the credit due to her for her role in history and her personal sacrifice. Highly recommended especially for public, college, and high school library collections. 75 minutes.

DanceX Everybody's Workout: Total Body Cardio
DanceXFitness
c/o Brickman Marketing
395 Del Monte Center, Suite 250, Monterey, CA 93940
$19.95 www.danceXfitness.com

DanceX Everybody's Workout: Total Body Cardio is an energetic DVD workout that blends fitness and fun. Low-impact dance moves such as the Hitch Hike, Twist, Disco Roll, John Travolta Point, Hug Me/Hold Me, and Irish Kicks. The easy-to-follow routine is perfect for fitness buffs of all ages and experience levels. DanceX Everybody's Workout includes the core workout program, nutrition tips for improving health, an 8-minute abs workout, and much more. An invigorating supplement to DVD exercise collections. 58 minutes, color.

The Art of Baroque Dance: Folies d'Espagne from Page to Stage
Les Cavatines & Natalie van Parys
Dancetime! Publications
PO Box 845, Kentfield, CA 94914
Brickman Marketing (publicity)
395 Del Monte Center, Suite 250, Monterey, CA 93940
$39.95 www.dancetimepublications.com

Produced in France and featuring both English and French audio tracks, The Art of Baroque Dance: Folies d'Espagne from Page to Stage is a stellar survey of the nuances of traditional 17th century dance, as it has been preserved and practiced up to the modern day. Historical and architectural images intersperse this wondrously informative examination of Baroque dance notation, treatment of space, arm embellishments, relation to music, and interpretation of the dancer. Director and choreographer Natalie Van Parys applies her years of experience in Baroque dance companies in this one-of-a-kind DVD presentation enthusiastically recommended for anyone interested in the rich cultural history of Baroque dance. 45 minutes, color.

Razor Fitness
Razor Digital Entertainment
12031 Ventura Blvd., Suite #3, Studio City, CA 91406
411 Video Information (publicity)
PO Box 1223, Pebble Beach, CA 93953

Hosted by pilates expert Jennifer Kries, The "Hot Body Cool Mind" DVD series emphasizes mental and physical fitness in workout routines that combine elements of yoga, pilates, and dance into an energy building whole. Both are suitable workouts for viewers of all ages and athletic abilities. Hot Body Cool Mind: Waking Energy (1595523588, $19.99, 130 minutes) allows the viewer to tailor the workout to the amount of time he or she has to spare; from a variety of different 10-minute total body-toning workouts to the entire rhythmic waking energy flow routine. Additional exercises include muscle-soothing Chi-Gong, Yin Yoga and Meditation, and simple techniques with inexpensive exercise equipment such as the PhysioBall and Magic Circle. Hot Body Cool Mind: Level 1 (1595523510, $19.99, 150 minutes) includes moves from cardio-jazz, ballet, and vinyasa yoga in its enthusiastic routines to promote flexibility, core strength, stamina, and grace. Yet the adaptability of the exercise routines remains, in five "on the go" workouts that are 10 or 20 minutes each supplementing the full Life Force Power Workout. Both are welcome additions to personal exercise collections and sure to promote improved fitness, health, and zest for life.

First Run Features
The Film Center Building
630 Ninth Ave., Suite 1213, NY, NY 10036
www.firstrunfeatures.com 1-800-229-8575

First Run Features presents DVDs of two of director Claude Chabrol's most suspenseful thrillers, both in French with English subtitles. The Bridesmaid ($29.95, 110 minutes) is a love story turned hideously dark, when a young man discovers that the woman he adores is shrouded in mystery, and she asks him to perform a horrific deed as proof of his love for her. Extras include a documentary of Chabrol's work directing the film, a director interview, and a photo gallery. Merci Pour Le Chocolat ($24.95, 99 min. letterbox) spins a number of intricate plots; set in Switzerland amid well-to-do French-Swiss elite, it follows a married couple who profit from a chocolate business, and the lies and hidden secrets that come revealed between them when a beautiful young woman unexpectedly appears and transforms everything. A sly, delectable adventure of murder, deceit, and the human appetite for corruption. Both are intriguing and welcome additions to foreign film libraries.

The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
Fair Winds Press
c/o 411 Video Information (publicity)
PO Box 1223, Pebble Beach, CA 93953
1592332285 $24.99 www.411videoinfo.com

Nutritionist Jonny Bowden presents The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, a guide for readers of all backgrounds that does not shy away from controversy. From why milk-off-the-supermarket-shelf is questionable (pasteurization destroys many nutrients, plus factory farmed cattle tend to be fed unhealthy diets with massive doses of antibiotics) to the value of blueberries as a memory-promoting food to the antioxidant properties of peanuts, and healthy foods such as Goji berries that readers may be unfamiliar with, The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth is sure to dispel common misconceptions and encourage better food choices and eating habits. The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth is not a vegan or vegetarian book, as it promotes the value of eggs, grass-fed beef, and certain types of seafood, but the majority of ingredients listed are fruits or vegetables. Full-color photographs and a frank discussion of food controversies - including those for which there is not enough evidence to support proof one way or the other - round out this practical and solidly honest guide. Highly recommended.

Anchor Bay Entertainment
1669 Shulz Drive, Troy, MI 46064
www.anchorbayentertainment.com

CRUNCH: BIKINI BODY is for any who want flat abs, lean thighs and a firm bikini butt. Here are three 10-minute workouts perfect for quick effort: they are fun and include some dance routines but blend cardio and strength training to pack in the most in the least amount of time. CRUNCH: BIKINI BODY is a top pick for beginners especially. Stella Sandoval's DANCE OFF THE INCHES: SIZZLING SALSA is anything but routine: it comes from a dance leader and her friends who blend different Latin dance sequences with routines designed to burn calories. The idea is to use ten easy steps to learn movements quickly, and spiced with lively beats and easy routines, exercise becomes a snap. Both these videos are perfect for dance-oriented exercisers with little experience in either.

Core Rhythms Dance Exercise Program: Meringue Mania
Jaana Kunitz & Julia Powers
DanceSport Videos
7850 Ruffner Ave Dept 4000, Van Nuys, CA 91406
$19.95 www.amazon.com

The 'core rhythms' program blends Latin Dance exercise with routines which are based on three simple movements designed to reap the benefits of years of training without all the hard work. Learn how to Latin Dance and how to exercise more effectively in a dvd which requires little more than an affection for the music to prove successful. Any dance or exercise-oriented library will find it an excellent pick which moves beyond the more typical generic 'Latin' and 'salsa' dance routines to teach meringue.

Tai Chi Chih on the Rocks
Victoria Mogliner, C.A.
Alpha Omega Media
c/o East West Productions
P.O. Box 3747, Sedona, AZ 86340
0967158125 $29.95 www.spirit-eagle.com/eastwest.html

This tai chi chih program was filmed in Sedona and blends creative visualization with movements in a form of chi gong which are easy to learn and can be practiced in as little as 10-15 minutes per day. In focusing on the use of tai chi as a mental relaxation and health improvement routine, TAI CHI CHIH ON THE ROCKS advocates optimal results in a small period of time and is thus a perfect pick for the busy, overworked DVD viewer who wants quick results without a complex program.


The Literary Shelf

The Secret Wound
Marion A. Wells
Stanford University Press
1450 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304-1124
0804750467 $60.00 www.sup.org

The Secret Wound: Love-Melancholy and Early Modern Romance hypothesizes that understanding the medical profile of the melancholic lover is vital for understanding the definitive patterns of literary early modern romance. Applying a detailed historical basis to support its precept of investigating the psychological structure of romance, The Secret Wound particularly studies romance and melancholy in classic literary texts such as "Orlando Furioso" and the "Gerusalemme Liberata". Female melancholy in the context of the romance quest is also pondered at length. An intriguing, well-reasoned, in-depth exploration of a critical literary component.

Thornton Wilder Collected Plays & Writings on Theater
Thornton Wilder
The Library of America
14 East 60th Street, New York, NY 10022
1598530038 $40.00 www.loa.org

The most comprehensive one-volume edition of dramatist Thornton Wilder's work published to date, Thornton Wilder Collected Plays & Writings on Theater is an 800+ page compendium of plays Wilder wrote throughout his career, essays that reveal Wilder's reflections on his own plays, an epistolary account of the film adaptation of the classic play "Our Town", a chronology, notes, and much more. Of special interest to literati is material that has never before been published: scenes from "The Emporium", an ambitious yet unfinished play that evolved out of Wilder's involvement with existentialist philosophy in his postwar years, as well as the complete screenplay that Wilder wrote for Alfred Hitchcock's movie "Shadow of a Doubt" just prior to reporting for military service in 1942. Like all Library of America editions, Thornton Wilder Collected Plays & Writings on Theater features a sturdy hardcover binding, a compact, relatively lightweight design, and an inset ribbon bookmark. A "must" for classic theater shelves, and recommended for college and public library collections.

Man and Camel
Mark Strand
Alfred A. Knopf
c/o Random House
1745 Broadway, 17th floor, New York, NY 10019
0307262960 $24.00 www.aaknopf.com

This is the eleventh poetry collection by Mark Strand and provides light masterpieces of spiritual meditations and social conditions. Poems are all free verse and vary immensely in theme and approach – but all are hard-hitting comments: "Something was wrong/screams could be heard/in the morning dark/it was cold." Mark Strand's reflections always make you think: MAN AND CAMEL is no exception.


The Science Shelf

American Scientists
Charles W. Carey, Jr.
Facts On File, Inc.
132 West 31st Street, 17th floor, New York, NY 10001-2006
0816054991, $65.00 www.factsonfile.com 1-800-322-8755

The latest title in the outstanding Facts on File 'American Scientists' series is "American Scientists" which is a compendium of biographical profiles of the men and women in every scientific discipline who are acknowledged contributors to their respective fields of study. Organized alphabetically for ease of use as a general reference, almost 300 entries highlight the lives and contributions of scientists who have significantly impacted society in general and the scientific community in particular. Enhanced with 74 photographs, cross-references, an extensive bibliography, a general index, and two subject indexes (one by discipline and one by year of birth) the scientists range from Rachel Carson, to Edwin Hubble, to Linus Pauling, to Werner von Braun. Every school and community library should acquire and have available for their students and patrons and copy of "American Scientists" from Facts on File in either the Science History or Bibliography reference collections..

The History Of Science: 1700-1900
Frederick Gregory
The Teaching Company
4151 Lafayette Center Drive, Suite 100, Chantilly, VA 20151-1232
#1210, $99.95 (DVD) www.teach12.com 1-800-832-2412

Professor Frederick Gregory is an esteemed member of the University of Florida whose 3 part, 36 lecture series "The History Of Science: 1700-1900" offers informative, superbly presented, 30 minute presentations that survey the historical development of experimental, empirical, observational-based natural science beginning with the dawn of European Enlightenment and came to dominate as the accredited and preferred source and means of information about the natural world through the 19th century. Artfully combining history and science, Professor Gregory's lectures are each such gems of academia instruction that both students of history and science, as well as the non-specialist general public with an interest in the history of science will find themselves totally engaged and appreciative of the struggle to understand how the natural forces of the world work within complex webs of physics, chemistry, biology, electromagnetism, biomechanics, medicine, electricity, evolution, astronomy, thermodynamics, and so very much more. Of special note is the concluding lecture on 'The End of Science?'. Also available in an audio CD format ($69.95); an audiotape format ($49.95); and with transcript books for every lecture comprising this simply outstanding course of study ($35.00), "The History Of Science: 1700-1900" is a strongly recommended acquisition for academic library collections from highschool to university, and an ideal addition for community libraries and as a homeschooling curriculum supplement.

The Making of the Fittest
Sean B. Carroll
W.W. Norton & Company Inc.
500 – 5th Avenue, New York NY 10110
0393061639 $25.95 www.wwnorton.com

THE MAKING OF THE FITTEST: DNA AND THE ULTIMATE FORENSIC RECORD OF EVOLUTION explores a different dimension of DNA: as a record of how species adapt and change. Both public libraries strong in scientific investigation and adventure and high school to college-level holdings on genetics will find here a lively survey of the discovery of fossil genes and DNA 'prints' which carry on from bacteria to whales. Sean B. Carroll is a professor of genetics and his DNA survey will enlighten and excite a wide audience.

Kennedy Space Center: Gateway to Space
David West Reynolds
Firefly Books Limited
155 East 34th Street Suite 5B, New York NY 10016
1554070392 $40.00 www.fireflybooks.com

NASA's Kennedy Space Center is the gateway to the stars for U.S. space efforts, and there's no better person to explore its history than an author who is an expert on space and space exploration. It's the only complete history of the Center and provides armchair readers with a complete tour of Center history, operations, and launch efforts. The mission-by-mission coverage leaves out nothing.

Epigenetics
C. David Allis, Thomas Jenuwein, & Danny Reinberg, editors
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
500 Sunnyside Boulevard, Woodbury, NY 11797-2924
0879697245 $150.00 www.cshlpress.com

Epigenetics is a scientific textbook written to teach advanced undergraduate and graduate college students about epigenetic mechanisms, which regulate gene expression in many biological processes. Chapters cover histone modifications, chromatin remodeling, DNA methylation, siRNAs and gene silencing, X-chromosome inactivation, epigenetics in microbes, plants, insects and mammals, and much more. An in-depth, scholarly, and informative instructional reference, interspersed with occasional color photographs and diagrams, featuring an extensive list of references and a general summary at the end of each chapter to aid comprehension. An invaluable educational tool for specialized college science courses, as well as for professionals in the field of biology seeking to sharpen their understanding of modern epigenetics.

Roadside Geology of Colorado
Halka Chronic and Felicie Williams
Mountain Press Publishing Company
PO Box 2399, Missoula, Montana 59806
0878424474 $20.00 www.mountain-press.com 1-800-234-5308

Intended especially for travelers and vacationers interested in taking in Colorado's geological sites, yet accessible to budding geologists everywhere, Roadside Geology of Colorado is now in an updated second edition with new tours of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, and much more. Written in nontechnical terminology for lay readers, and featuring numerous two-color maps and black-and-white photographs, Roadside Geology of Colorado is filled cover to cover with eye-opening driving tours. A glossary and index round out this excellent traveling companion for anyone interested in observing the natural rocky beauty of Colorado firsthand.

Death By Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries
Neil DeGrasse Tyson
W.W. Norton
500 – 5th Avenue, New York NY 10110
0393062244 $24.95 www.wwnorton.com

These essays on astronomy by a leading astrophysicist will find a way into not only science collections but general-interest readers who have enjoyed the writings in Natural History Magazine which created the author's 'Universe' monthly column. From astral life and biology to the movie industry's struggles to get the night skies right, Tyson blends hard physics with a lively writing style and provides a fun, readable approach for a potentially confusing topic. Public libraries should find it a popular pick.

Luminous Fish: Tales of Science and Love
Lynn Margulis
Chelsea Green Publishing Co
P.O. Box 428, White River Junction, CT 05001
1933392339 $21.95 www.chelseagreen.com

Evolutionist and author Lynn Margulis examines the scientific personalities she's known in the course of her profession, considers the love lives of three generations of scientists, and provide stories which would be considered scientific biographies were it not for their added ability to shed insights on interactions between scientific colleagues. The blend of biography and science from an insider holds elements of both and thus provides both real and fictionalized observations – while LUMINOUS FISH may prove a challenge to categorize, it will prove a lively and different pick many a public library holding will wish to acquire.


The Antiques/Collectibles Shelf

Encyclopedia of Children's Sewing Collectibles
Darlene J. Gengelbach
Collector Books
Box 3009, Paducah, KY 42002-3009
1574325264 $24.95 www.collectorbooks.com

From dolls and books to patterns and sewing sets, Encyclopedia of Children's Sewing Collectibles is an excellent collector's reference and packs in an amazing variety of color photos of antique kids' sewing items. The latest values accompany these color photos, along with reviews of the contents of kids' sewing kits and manufacturer details.

Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide 2007
Kyle Husfloen, Editor
Krause Publications
700 E. State Street, Iola WI 54990-0001
0896893324 $19.99 www.fwpubs.com

The weighty yet portable Antique Trader guide Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide 2007 may not fit in a jacket pocket but it will easily be a take-along to any garage sale or flea market for avid collectors. Public libraries strong in collectibles price guides and private collectors alike will find this annual reference follows the market, offering up the latest prices and some 5,000 new color photos and upgrades to this latest edition.

Complete Price Guide to Watches
Tinderbox Press
1150 Hungryneck Blvd, Suite C-310, Mt. Pleasant SC 29464
1574325531 $29.95 www.tinderboxpress.com

There have been thousands of price changes in the world of watches, which makes it essential for any serious collector or collector's library to keep updated versions of COMPLETE PRICE GUIDE TO WATCHES on hand. Not for the casual collector, this 'bible' packs in some 1,000 pages of values and detail, offering up identification keys, tips on comparing movements and styles, and much more. The black and white photos of watches are just large enough to make identification easier.


The Native American Shelf

The Spokane Indians: Children of the Sun
Robert H. Ruby and John A. Brown
University of Oklahoma Press
2800 Venture Drive, Norman, OK 73069
0806137614 $24.95 www.oupress.com 1-800-627-7377

Now in an expanded edition featuring a new foreword and introduction (the original foreword and introduction are also present), The Spokane Indians: Children of the Sun is a studious account of the tribal history of the Spokane Indians, from well before the arrival of white settlers and fur traders to twentieth-century developments such as the discovery of uranium on Spokane territory and belated efforts of the government and private citizens to amend the wrongs of the past. Black-and-white photographs illustrate this extensively researched chronicle, accessible to both scholars and lay readers. Highly recommended for both Native American history and reference shelves.

Indians in Minnesota
Kathy Davis Graves & Elizabeth Ebbott
University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290, Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520
0816627339 $19.95 www.upress.umn.edu

Research report writer Kathy Davis Graves contributed to the creation of an up-to-date fifth edition of Elizabeth Ebott's solid reference, Indians in Minnesota, a fact-filled reference guide for researchers and professionals of all walks who need to twenty-first century demographics concerning Minnesota's Native American population of more than fifty-four thousand. Indians in Minnesota draws from hundreds of interviews from tribal members, data from the 2000 Minnesota Census, federal and state reports, and more. Covering both historical and contemporary understand of Minnesota's Native Americans, living on and off reservations, and addressing the significant changes and challenges of the twenty-first century, Indians of Minnesota is a highly accessible, informative, and insightful compendium. "With tribes rapidly increasing their powers and abilities to control their own environments, it is important that non-Indians understand and accept differing views of how to deal with natural resources. As one Indian leader said, 'We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we rent it from our children.'"

Let Them Eat Grass Volume One: Smoke
John Koblas
North Star Press of St. Could, Inc.
PO Box 451, St. Cloud, Minnesota 56302
0878392386 $16.95 www.northstarpress.com 1-888-820-1636

Let Them Eat Grass The 1862 Sioux Uprising in Minnesota Volume One: Smoke is the first of a three-volume history of Indian wars in the state of Minnesota. Smoke explores the treaties made between the United States government and Indian nations, and dissects at length why and how these treaties failed, as well as both sides' failure to understand fundamental differences in culture. Another social dynamic inspected at length is how politicians in Washington, D.C. were pressured to open lands to settlers, luring them to break treaties - sometimes almost as soon as the treaties were made. Smoke smoothly and effectively explains the impasse that would lead to war, drawing extensively upon primary sources. A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrate this effective, informational, and at times utterly foreboding history of the preconditions for war.


The Anthropology Shelf

Light At The End Of The World
Wade Davis
Douglas & McIntyre
201-2323 Quebeck Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V5T 4S7
1553652673, $14.95 www.douglas-mcintyre.com 1-800-367-9692

an anthropologist and the author of several books (perhaps the best known of which is 'The Serpent and the Rainbow'), Wade Davis is explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society and has quite literally traveled the world to search out and study other cultures and their uses of sacred plants. In "Light At The End Of The World: A Journey Through The Realm Of Vanishing Cultures" he has compiled essays based on his researches into the lives, traditions, beliefs, customs, and ceremonies of tribal cultures that range from the Canadian Arctic to the deserts of North Africa, from the rain forests of Borneo and the Amazon, to the mountain communities of the Andes and Tibet, from the swamps of the Orinoco to the wilds of British Columbia, to the cultural landscape of Haiti. All of these cultures share one thing in common – they are in danger of losing their unique ways of life in the face of expanding technological and population encroachments and competitions for resources. A strongly recommended addition to academic, community, and personal library Anthropology and Social Issues reference collections and supplemental reading lists, "Light At The End Of The World" is a compelling read that is an engaging as it is informative, as compelling as it is instructive.

Rivers of Change
Bruce D. Smith
The University of Alabama Press
PO Box 870380, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0380
0817354255 $40.00 www.uapress.ua.edu 1-800-621-2736

Now in an updated new edition, Rivers of Change: Essays on Early Agriculture in Eastern North America by Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History archaeologist Bruce D. Smith is a serious-minded chronicle and compendium of what years of research have to say about plant domestication and food production in eastern North America. Occasional black-and-white diagrams and photographs illustrate this studious guide, written for intermediate to advanced students and professionals. Chapters cover "The Floodplain Weed Theory of Plant Domestication in Eastern North America", "The Independent Domestication of Indigenous Seed-Bearing Plants in Eastern North America", "Hopewellian Farmers of Eastern North America", and much more. Extensive citations and an index form the foundation of this thoroughly researched and didactically presented compendium of the latest theories concerning early North American agriculture.

Signs of the Casas Grandes Shamans
Christine S. Vanpool and Todd L. Vanpool
University of Utah Press
1795 East South Campus Drive, #101, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9402
087480874X $35.00 www.uofupress.com 1-800-773-6672

Anthropology professors Christine S. Vanpool and Todd L. Vanpool present Signs of the Casas Grandes Shamans, a scholarly evaluation of artifacts of a religious system that flourished in what is now northern Mexico and the southern United States between AD 1200 and 1450. Casas Grandes, or Paquime, in northern Chihuahua, Mexico was the home of this faith, expressed in stunning polychrome pots with black and red geometric and naturalistic designs, and a cream base. These exceptional pottery artifacts offer insight into Casas Grandes cosmology, revealing a shaman-centric religion. Shamans called to horned serpents to bring rain; dealt with snakes; and raised, sacrificed, and interred macaws as ritual offerings to perpetuate water and fertility. Black-and-white photographs of recovered artifacts and diagrams of ancient artworks illustrate this scholarly evaluation of protohistoric art, culture, symbolism, and faith. Highly recommended especially for anthropology and archaeology shelves.


The Genealogy Shelf

Map Guide To The U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920
William Thorndale & William Dollarhide
Genealogical Publishing Company
3600 Clipper Mill Road, Suite 260, Baltimore, MD 21211
#5786, $49.95 www.genealogical.com 1-800-296-6687

The collaborative work of William Thorndale and William Dollarhide, "Map Guide To The U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920" shows all of the United States county boundaries from 1790 to 1920 by superimposing old county lines over modern ones to highlight boundary changes at ten-year intervals. Enhanced with the inclusion of more than 400 maps and originally published in 1992, this new 2005, 445-page, reprinted edition of "Map Guide To The U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920" by the Genealogical Publishing Company is a strongly recommended addition to the reference collections of professional and family genealogists, as well as a core and essential reference for academic libraries, as well as regional, and national genealogy societies.


The Buddhist Studies Shelf

The Essential Shinran
Alfred Bloom, editor
World Wisdom
1501 East Hillside Drive, Bloomington, IN 47401
1933316217 $22.95 www.worldwisdom.com

Edited by Alfred Bloom, one of only a few Shin Buddhist scholars based in the United States, The Essential Shinran: A Buddhist Path of True Entrusting is a selection of core writings by Shinran (1173-1262 C.E.), the founder of the of the Jodo Shinshu Pure Land tradition of Buddhism in Japan, which eventually became the largest Buddhist sect in the nation. The Essential Shinran also includes background information about Shinran's life and spiritual legacy, the better to facilitate understanding of his texts. Extensive notes reflect the copious effort to make the fundamentals of Shin Buddhism as taught by the originator accessible to readers of all backgrounds. A glossary, select bibliography, and index of selections round out this excellent "must-read" primer recommended for anyone interested understanding in the fundamentals of Shin Buddhism.


The Philosophy Shelf

Experience as Philosophy
James Campbell and Richard E. Hart, editors
Fordham University Press
2546 Belmont Avenue, University Box L, Bronx, NY 10458-5172
0823226387 $60.00 1-800-247-6553

The latest volume in the American Philosophy series, Experience as Philosophy is an anthology of nine extended essays by learned authors concerning the works and concepts expressed by philosopher John J. McDermott. Topics discussed include "Living Creatively, While Terminal", "What Does It Mean to Have an Ethics?", "The Necessity of a Cultural Pedagogy", and much more. An afterword by McDermott himself rounds out this thoughtful, scholarly, and well-reasoned examination of civil and spiritual problems addressing the modern American community.

South Park and Philosophy
Robert Arp, editor
Blackwell Publishing
2121 State Avenue, Ames, IA 50014-8300
1405161604 $17.95 www.blackwellpublishing.com 1-800-216-2522

Edited by philosophy instructor Robert Arp, South Park and Philosophy is a collection of surprisingly scholarly essays by diverse authors applying intermediate to advanced philosophical scrutiny to the crudely humorous, irreverently satirical, often vulgar yet wildly popular animated series "South Park". From the sexuality issues involved in portraying Satan and Saddam Hussein as a gay couple, to the existential connotations of Kenny's horrific death in virtually every episode, to the debate as to whether feminist thinkers should be able to enjoy the show despite some of its admittedly misogynistic characters, South Park and Philosophy reveals insights not readily apparent into the surprisingly deep social commentary hidden beneath the uncountable jokes about excrement. Recommended for South Park interested in contemplating the more serious and complex side of the seemingly plebeian and sidesplittingly funny show.


The Archaeology Shelf

Rethinking Wetland Archaeology
Robert Van de Noort & Aidan O'Sullivan
Duckworth
c/o International Publishers Marketing (IPM)
22841 Quicksilver Drive, Dulles, VA 20166
0715634380 $22.00 www.ducknet.co.uk 1-800-758-3756

Written by Senior Lecturers in Archaeology Robert Van de Noort and Aidan O'Sullivan, Rethinking Wetland Archaeology is a thoughtful discussion of the place that wetland studies should rightfully have amid broader geographical, cultural, and theoretical frameworks. Chapters examine evidence of social identity in wetland archaeology, politics and practice in wetland archaeology, biographical approaches to material culture, and more. A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrate this studious, well-researched, yet persuasive call for reintegrating findings of wetland archaeology into current theoretical debates.

Dragon Sea
Frank Pope
Harcourt
15 East 26th Street, New York NY 10010
0151012075 $25.00 www.harcourtbooks.com

DRAGON SEA: A TRUE TALE OF TREASURE, ARCHAEOLOGY, AND GREED OFF THE COAST OF VIETNAM comes from an archaeologist dubbed the 'Indiana Jones of the Deep' by popular TV, who teamed up with a financier to salvage sunken treasure in Vietnam's Dragon Sea. No small venture, this required a fleet of ships and a crew of 160: their efforts would not only result in success but would change thinking about Vietnamese arts. Readers needn't be archaeology students to appreciate this: epic action and adventure reads with the drama of fiction but includes all facts – including insights on Vietnamese culture and arts – making it a top pick for a wide range of collections.

Great Basin Rock Art
Angus R. Quinlan, Ph.D., editor
University of Nevada Press
Mail Stop 166, Reno, NV, 89557-0076
0874176964 $39.95 1-877-682-6657

Edited by Angus R. Quinlan, Ph.D. (deputy director of the Nevada Rock Art Foundation), Great Basin Rock Art: Archaeological Perspectives is an anthology of essays by learned authors concerning some of the most ancient cultural and artistic relics known to humankind. Topics include petroglyph dating, native and anthropological interpretations of cultural identity, a gender-inclusive view of the social context of rock art, and much more. A handful of black-and-white photographs and diagrams illustrate this scholarly, in-depth scrutiny and hypothesis of what rock art has to tell us of prehistoric culture.


The Photography Shelf

To the Ends of the Earth
Gordon Wiltsie
W.W. Norton
500 – 5th Avenue, New York NY 10110-0017
0393060284 $35.00 www.wwnorton.com

TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH: ADVENTURES OF AN EXPEDITION PHOTOGRAPHER tells of the author's passion for adventure and his life photographing some hundred expeditions to the wildest places on the planet. Here are ten of his greatest adventures, paired with stunning color photos, in a collection highly recommended not only for the general interest public library, but for college-level art photography holdings. The pairing of vivid text adventure and color drama is not to be missed.

Big Sky: Wild West Panorama
Tim Fitzharris
Firefly Books Limited
155 East 34th Street #5B, New York NY 10016
1554071763 $45.00 www.fireflybooks.com

BIG SKY captures some gorgeous panoramas, capturing natural landscapes and tinting to explore some of the lesser-known state parks and wilderness areas across the country. It's a personal celebration of the American West by a photographer who spent over twenty years searching for just the right sites and experiences: when one was found he'd take a series of panoramic shots and stitch them together on a computer, here produced in panoramic 27x9 inch spreads to properly capture the results. Art photography libraries as well as public libraries strong in visual travel representations will want this.

Schoolhouses Of Minnesota
Doug Ohman & Jim Heynen
Minnesota Historical Society Press
345 Kellogg Boulevard, West, St. Paul, MN 55102-1906
087351548X, $19.95 www.mnhs.org/mhspress 1-800-647-7827

With an informative introduction and minimal image captioning by Jim Heynen, "Schoolhouses Of Minnesota" is a compendium of beautifully illustrated, full-color photography by Dough Ohman showcasing and highlighting 19th century and early 20th century school buildings in Minnesota. A fitting memorial to those vintage Minnesota schoolhouses that served to educate a rural population, these photographs take on an almost poetic and most certainly iconic quality as the reader browses from page to page. A work of considerable nostalgia and highly recommended for personal, academic, and community library collections, "Schoolhouses Of Minnesota" is also an important visual documentation of a very special facet of American history and would well serve as a template for similar photographic compendiums of schoolhouses in other American states.

Dude Ranches of the American West
David R. Stoecklein, photographer
Stoecklein Publishing
PO Box 856, 10th Street Center, Suite A1, Ketchum, Idaho 83340
1931153612 $60.00 www.drsphoto.net 1-800-727-5191

Dude Ranches of the American West is a panoramic, full-color photography exhibit of more than 25 dude ranches across the American West. Each ranch has its own history; most are fairly remote. Photographs capture sweeping natural expanses, wildlife, the tools of the dude ranch trade, the men and women who work hard looking after livestock, and much more. Though a brief amount of text introduces the reader to each ranch and its impressive history, Dude Ranches of the American West is primarily a photographic extravaganza. A coffee-table book sure to please aficionados of the American West, brimming cover to cover with vibrant energy and respect for the land.


The Gaming Shelf

The Pirc in Black and White
James Vigus
Everyman Chess
c/o The Globe Pequot Press
PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437
1857444329 $25.95 www.everymanchess.com 1-800-243-0495

Former British Junior Champion James Vigus presents The Pirc in Black and White, an in-depth strategy guide for intermediate to advanced chess players concerning the special counterattack to White's most popular opening move, 1e4. Built upon a strategy of allowing White to build a large pawn center only to undermine it by attacking with pieces and timely pawn strikes, the Pirc is potentially devastating yet carries a heavy risk of simply being swamped by the central attack. The Pirc in Black and White explores the many variations of the pirc and how to defend against it, with numerous diagrams and sample games to illustrate principles and examples - indeed, virtually every page of The Pirc in Black and White is devoted to displaying sample games. Enthusiastically recommended for anyone seeking to fine-tune their chess-playing skills.

Rifts Sourcebook One
Kevin Siembieda
Palladium Books
12455 Universal Drive, Taylor, MI 48180
1574571516, $18.95 www.palladiumbooks.com

Now in a new edition that has been completely revised and expanded, Kevin Siembieda's "Rifts Sourcebook One" is a 160-page compendium of robot creation rules and player characters featuring twenty robots from Northern gun, Triax, and Titan Robotics. There are sections devoted to power armor, vehicles, weapons, and other diverse equipment elements. The villain Archie Three and his evil henchmen, the mysterious Republicans and their secret history are laid out, as are notable monsters (with updates on their doings), adventure ideas (including a complete adventure introducing Archie Three), and other gaming concepts and initiatives are a part of this basic and strongly recommended addition to the role-gamer's reference shelf. Nicely illustrated with black-and-white images, "Rifts Sourcebook One" is a seminal resource for literally hours and hours of exciting and imaginative game play. Also very highly recommended from Palladium Books as part of their 'Rifts' series of gaming manuals are: "Rifts: Chaos Earth" and "Rifts: Hell Is Coming".


The Martial Arts Shelf

Jiu-Jitsu
Hans-Erik Petermann
Blue Snake Books
c/o North Atlantic Books
1435 Fourth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710
158394169X, $19.95 www.northatlanticbooks.com 1-800-337-2665

A very nicely illustrated martial arts instruction manual, "Jiu-Jitsu: The Essential Guide To Mastering The Art" by professional martial arts instructor Hans-Erik Petermann begins with a brief historical overview of how Jiu Jitsu developed as a martial art, then goes on to take the reader through the basic elements of Jiu Jitsu training, providing a 'student friendly', step-by-step instruction into essential Jiu Jitsu techniques, self-defense skills, and even world wide contacts for students, competitors, and practitioners of Jiu Jitsu. A part of the Blue Snake Books' 'The Martial Arts Series', "Jiu-Jitsu" is a superbly presented and highly recommended instruction manual that is the next best thing to being able to study Jiu Jitsu in a dojo.


The Needlecraft Shelf

Quilts For Ice Cream Lovers
Janet Jones Worley
American Quilter's Society
PO Box 3290, Paducah, KY 42002-3290
1574329251, $21.95 www.aqsquilt.com

In "Quilts For Ice Cream Lovers", quilting expert Janet Jones Worley showcases ten full-size quilting projects, plus seven smaller projects, designed to enable even the most novice needlecrafter to produce simply beautiful pieces that would serve as perfect gifts or as home decor embellishments. Each do-it-yourself projects is superbly illustrated with careful and methodical, step-by-step directions that take the aspiring through ever stage of the quilt's construction. Thoroughly 'user friendly', Janet Worley's "Quilts For Ice Cream Lovers" is an impressive and confidently recommended addition to any dedicated needlecrafter's quilting project reference collection.

Shibori For Textile Artists
Janice Gunner
Kodansha America, Inc.
575 Lexington Avenue, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10022
1568363664, $27.95 www.kodanshaamercia.com 1-800-451-7556

Janice Gunner (Vice President of The Quilters Guild of the British Isle) has been teaching patchwork, quilting and shibori for the past 30 years. Now in "Shibori For Textile Artists", she draws upon her considerable experience and impressive expertise to introduce needlecrafters and fabric artists to the Japanese technique known as 'shibori' (from the Japanese word meaning 'to squeeze or wring'), a practice of dying gathered or bound fabric to produce vivid patterns. Enhanced with more than one hundred colorful illustrations accompanying step-by-step instructions on how to create beautiful, unique, unpredictable shibori effects, "Shibori For Textile Artists" is a complete introductory manual that will have a very special appeal and utility for quilters, embroiderers, and textile artists wanting to master the techniques of shibori in projects of their own. Featuring the historical and cultural background of shibori, and covering techniques involving tied-resist, wrapped-resist, clamp-resist, folded-resist, and pleated-resist, as well as immersion, space, and indigo dying, "Shibori For Textile Artists" will prove a highly prized and appreciated addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Needlecraft and Fabric Arts reference collections.

Kake-Jiku
Kumiko Sudo
Breckling Press
283 Michigan Street, Elmhurst, IL 60126
1933308117, $29.95 www.brecklingpress.com 1-800-951-7836

In "Kake-Jiju: Images Of Japan In Applique Fabric Origami And Sashiko", Japanese fiber artist and acclaimed needlecrafter Kumiko Sudo offers a superbly illustrated and thoroughly impressive collection of 15 decorative quilt wall-hangings inspired by the elegant hand-painted scrolls that have adorned entryways and alcoves in Japanese homes. Their purpose (in addition to being stunning works of art) is to greet each new season and bestow good luck upon the members of the household. Kumiko Sudo's selections reflect her intuitive sense of both color and design with each of the decorative wall-hangings being constructed using her unique brand of Japanese applique. The 'needlecrafter friendly' projects range from being embellished with fabric-origami flowers to those which are enhanced with lovely sashiko stitching. Sudo's own watercolor paintings divide the chapters, while the step-by-step directions are illustrated with photography, color drawings, and full-size reusable templates. "Kake-Jiku" is a unique and enthusiastically recommended addition to a dedicated needlecrafter's reference shelf.

Martingale & Company
20205 – 144th Avenue NE, Woodinville, WA 98072-8478
www.martingale-pub.com

Loraine Manwaring and Susan Nelsen's ALL BUTTONED UP: 12 QUILTS FROM THE BUTTON BOX (1564777065, $24.95) tells how to use buttons to add interest and dimensions to quilts. Two sisters used their grandmother's button collection for ideas and here provide plenty of tips to adding buttons to everything from wall hangings to lap quilts. Buttons may even be decorated for added attraction. Kathleen Tracy's PRAIRIE CHILDREN AND THEIR QUILTS (1564776867, $24.95) offers some fourteen small 'prairie quilt' projects which feature antique styles and designs of the 19th century. Vintage photos and diary entries from pioneer children accompany this unusual crafts guide to producing vintage-looking items from modern resources. Lynn Roddy Brown's SIMPLE STRATEGIES FOR SCRAP QUILTS (1564776859, $24.95) tells how to cut, swap, and mix and match fabrics to produce unique scrap quilts. Fat quarters and strips can make lovely finished results: here are the tips on color matching, values, design pairing and construction which tell how to effectively blend scraps for pleasing results. Elaine Eskesen's SILK KNITS: 20 DESIGNS IN FABULOUS FIBERS (1564776905, $27.95) tells how to use the textures and colors of silk and silk-blend yarns to maximum advantage. These yarns hold great potential and can create polished results not available with other types of knits – and even beginners can work with them. The color photos, easy projects and author introductions to each project make for an appealing collection indeed. Cathy Wierzbicki's TWOSEY-FOURSEY QUILTS: GREAT DESIGNS FROM 2-INCH AND 4-INCH CUTS (1564776883, $26.95) tells how to use quick cutting techniques and fast sewing to simplify common patchwork shapes. Begin with strips and put together the classic quilter's blocks using new methods with over twenty projects here reinforcing the idea. Color examples throughout reinforce each step of the process. Janet Kime's THE BORDER WORKBOOK: EASY-SPEED PIECED AND FOUNDATION-PIECED BORDERS (156477693X, $24.95) appears in its 10th anniversary edition to pack in nearly thirty border designs in different sizes, along with instructions for calculating sizes. From different designs to rotary cutting, this book's been substantially updated and is a 'must' for quilters who would put together eye-catching borders with a minimum of effort. DeElda Wittmack's APPLIQUE AT PLAY; 19 SPORTS BLOCKS TO MIX AND MATCH (1564776980, $19.95) is all about sports fans: make a quilt for all kinds of sports using the sports-themed block ideas here. Nineteen blocks in six quick projects lend to themes and playful mixing and are accompanied by ideas for putting the themes together, adding and subtracting designs, finishing projects, and varying ideas. All are top picks for any quilter's library of project ideas and techniques.


The Architecture Shelf

Unbuilding
Bob Falk & Brad Guy
The Taunton Press
63 South Main Street, Newtown, CT 06470
1561588253, $30.00 www.taunton.com 1-800-477-8727

We live in an age of recycling. It's not only environmentally sound, but economically profitable. This applies just as much to reusable and salvageable building materials from structures scheduled for demolishing, as it does to ordinary newspapers and soda cans. Now U.S. Forest Products Laboratory research engineer Bob Falk has teamed up with Brad Guy (Director of Operations at The Hammer Center at the Penn State School of Architecture) to publish "Unbuilding: Salvaging the Architectural Treasures Of Unwanted Houses" an instruction guide to salvaging materials that can be reused and recycled from homes and other buildings by literally and carefully dismantling the original structures piece by piece. These materials can include ornate hardware, period lighting fixtures, windows, doors, mantels, hardwood flooring, and anything else that continues to have esthetic and commercial value. Often these are 'yesteryear' items that cannot be matched by anything available to day and have great financial worth in and of themselves. The authors draw upon their many years of expertise and experience in advising about new tools, deconstruction processes, and alternatives to conventional demolition tactics. "Unbuilding" is strongly recommended to the considered attention of building contractors, demolition experts, and environmentally conscious salvagers, as well as non-specialist general readers with an interest in recycling building materials for their value, utility and esthetics.

Artisan Crafted Timber Frame Homes
Tina Skinner
Schiffer Books
4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310
0764324861 $39.95 www.schifferbooks.com

Over twenty timber frame homes are displayed, inside and out, in a photography guide which considers various options in timber frame construction and design. Examples aren't just your usual home rooms either: they include such but also pack in examples of pool houses, offices, barns, and how to incorporate the post/beam look of timber frame construction into an existing home. An outstanding idea guide results, perfect for architectural libraries and general-interest holdings alike.

The New Ultimate Book Of Home Plans
Creative Homeowner Press
24 Park Way
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
1580113362, $12.95 www.creativehomeowner.com 1-800-631-7795

Creative Homeowner Press is the premier publisher of inexpensive and illustrated compendiums of architectural plans for all manner of homes and residences. One of their newest and most impressive volumes is "The New Ultimate Book Of Home Plans" which showcases more than 730 architectural home plans drawn from professional architects and designers from every part of the country, and which are made visual with more than 550 photographs and more than 250 full-color renderings to illustrate the diverse styles, rooms, and features. Enhanced with informative sections about home design and redecorating, as well as a wealth of 'insider tips', "The New Ultimate Book Of Home Plans" is perfect for the non-specialist general reader wanting ideas for designing and building their own dream house, and has a great deal to offer architectural students and architecture professionals with ideas, concepts, and examples for designing residencies for their clients. CAD files for the plans comprising the 607-page "The New Ultimate Book Of Home Plans" make this a prefect acquisition for personal, professional, academic, and community library Architectural Studies reference shelves and collections.


The Library Science Shelf

Measuring Library Performance
Peter Brophy
Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.
100 William Street, Suite 2004, New York, NY 10038
1856045935 $99.95 www.neal-schuman.com

Written by Peter Brophy (Professor of Information Management and Director of the Centre for Research in Library and Information Management, Manchester Metropolitan University), Measuring Library Performance: Principles and Techniques is a straightforward guide to estimating and evaluating the performance of a library's services. Gone are the days when the key measurement was the size and quality of books stocking the library; today, the combined value of staff effort and resources for the population that the library is intended to serve are more important. Chapters address how to gather information about and analyze user satisfaction, solid standards for benchmarking and creating a balanced scorecard, background and theoretical considerations that need to be taken into account, and much more. Written in no-nonsense terms readily accessible by librarians and information services personnel of all skill and experience levels, Measuring Library Performance does an excellent job of rating and suggesting tools, from surveys to resource usage measurements, to accurately quantify seemingly nebulous values.

Measuring Your Library's Value
Donald S. Elliot, Glen E. Holt, Sterling W. Hayden & Leslie Edmonds Holt
ALA Editions
50 East Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611
083890923X $55.00 www.alastore.ala.org

Written by the research team of Donald S. Elliot, Glen E. Holt, Sterling W. Hayden and Leslie Edmonds Holt, who spent more than a decade developing, testing, and refining their methodologies, Measuring Your Library's Value: How To Do a Cost-Benefit Analysis for Your Public Library is a straightforward guide for any librarian under pressure to quantify the value of benefits provided to the public. Written in librarian-friendly terminology, chapters cover "Important Considerations Before Commissioning a Cost-Benefit Analysis Study", "Measuring Library Benefits: Identifying and Sampling Library Users", "Preparing the Survey Instruments", "Measuring Return to Taxpayer and Donor Investment in the Library", and much more. Step-by-step instructions, examples, charts, walkthroughs of mathematical calculations and their principles, numerous appendices including sample survey forms, and much more round out this first-rate guide for any library professional especially in today's era of tightening budgets and higher demands of accountability from public services.


The Education Shelf

Marvelous Minilessons For Teaching Beginning Writing, K-3
Lori Jamison Rog
International Reading Association
PO Box 8139, Newark, DE 19714-8139
0872075915, $22.95 www.reading.org 1-800-336-7323

"Marvelous Minilessons For Teaching Beginning Writing, K-3" offers classroom teachers forty precise, concise, research-based, classroom-tested, thoroughly 'kid friendly' introductory and skill building lessons in writing for children ages 5 through 8. These lessons are specifically and expertly designed to help children generate and organize
their ideas before setting them down on paper, then transform their pre-writing ideas into an appropriate connected text; craft effective leads including attention to details and vocabulary; the use of conventional spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar; as well as revising their writing to improve clarity, style, and effectiveness. Enhanced with notes and reproducible material, "Marvelous Minilessons For Teaching Beginning Writing, K-3" is an ideal and confidently recommended supplement for classroom teachers working with 5 to 8 year old students. Also very strongly recommended as a companion resource from the International Reading Association is Arlene C. Schulze's "Helping Children Become Readers Through Writing: A Guide To Writing Workshop In Kindergarten (9780872075665, $16.95).

More Primary Literacy Centers
Susan Nations & Mellissa Alonso
Maupin House Publishing Inc.
2416 NW 71st Place, Gainesville, FL 32653
0929895762 $23.95 www.maupinhouse.com

Written by literary coach Susan Nations and assistant principal Mellissa Alonso, both of whom earned Teacher of the Year for their respective counties in 2005, More Primary Literacy Centers: Making Reading and Writing Stick! is a no-nonsense guide to building literacy centers in one's classroom, or building upon an established literary program in order to bring more meaningful reading and writing experiences to youths in grades K-3. Written for novice to veteran literary center organizers, administrators, and workers, More Primary Literary Centers covers the five points of the STICK principle - Strategy Teaching Cycle, Transitioning Readers from Emergent to Fluent, Interacting as a Learning Community, Conversations about Content, and Keeping the Focus. A wealth of handy teacher resources from sample student interview and center evaluation forms to daily learning logs, "kid-friendly" exercise and response forms, literacy connection planner templates and more round out this invaluable resource and teaching aid.

Learning Disabilities
Jack M. Fletcher, G. Reid Lyon, Lynn S. Fuchs & Marcia A. Barnes
Guilford Publications
72 Spring St. New York, NY 10012
159385370X $38.00 www.guilford.com

Written by the expert team of Jack M. Fletcher, G. Reid Lyon, Lynn S. Fuchs & Marcia A. Barnes, Learning Disabilities: From Identification to Intervention is an evidence-based presentation of cutting-edge information about assessing and dealing with learning disabilities, with especial focus upon reading disabilities (word recognition, fluency, or comprehension-related), mathematics disabilities, and written expression disabilites. Though more of a scholarly assessment and description of the latest findings than a "how-to" manual per se, Learning Disabilities is sure to prove an invaluable, up-to-date resource especially for educators with responsibility for learning disabled-children, as well as anyone recognizing the "unexpected underachievement" that often signifies LDs and staging an appropriate intervention. A logical-minded, information-packed compendium.

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

Edie L. Holcomb's STUDENTS ARE STAKEHOLDERS, TOO! (0761929703, $32.95) discusses high school reform and student empowerment, and is based on real events which have improved one high school. A responsive principal involved all students in decision-making processes and helped them collaborate with staff using existing resources: here eight levels of student participation are detailed, drawn from research on high school reform. Andrew Rothstein, Evelyn Rothstein and Gerald Lauber's WRITING AS LEARNING: A CONTENT-BASED APPROACH (1412949610, $40.00) appears in its second updated edition to cover subject area learning, offering teachers strategies for engaging students in writing. Writing here is viewed as a learning tool, with chapters offering 12 strategies that can be used across subject areas and grade levels. Over 200 examples help teachers develop approaches geared to any subject area. Cheryl M. Rose, Leslie Minton and Carolyn Arline's UNCOVERING STUDENT THINKING IN MATHEMATICS (1412940370, $32.95) offers teaches over twenty assessment strategies for identifying fallacies in students' preconceived ideas. These are mathematical probes which help teachers at all levels probe for conceptual understanding and common problems: chapters offer activities designed to identify and correct such discrepancies. Kerry C. Williams and George E. Veomett's LAUNCHING LEARNERS IN SCIENCE, PREK-5 (1412937035, $33.00) tells how to design standards-based projects in the classroom, and is linked to research on cognitive understanding. Chapters discuss six key elements to build into a science curriculum, tell how to blend in workshops and collaborative projects at the primary and elementary classrooms, and provides a 4-step system for planning and reviewing science projects. Adina Bloom Lewkowicz's TEACHING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (1412940583, $34.95) offers up strategies and activities for helping students make effective choices and appears in its second updated edition for elementary to middle school teachers. This revised edition expands research coverage, offers up new lessons on bullying and violence prevention, and modifies lessons for middle school students, pairing lesson plans with reproducibles and activities at all levels. It's a teacher's guide that shouldn't be left out of any teaching college's library. Donna Walker Tileston's TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR ACTIVE LEARNING (0761938559, $24.95) supplements teachers' planning strategies offering up five foundation strategies for learning. Brain research is used to form the foundation for instructional strategies geared to powerful lessons, while sample lesson forms and strategies cement principles. All are powerful picks for both practicing teachers and for college-level teacher's collections.


The Christian Studies Shelf

The Earliest Christian Artifacts
Larry W. Hurtado
Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing Co.
2140 Oak Industrial Drive N.E. Grand Rapids, MI 49505
0802828957 $20.00 www.eerdmans.com

Written by Larry W. Hurtado (Professor of New Testament Language, Literature, and Theology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland), The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins covers an oft-overlooked aspect of the study of ancient canonical and extracanonical Christian texts. Rather that discuss interpretations of what the words of the texts say, The Earliest Christian Artifacts focuses upon the stories of the physical texts themselves. Chapters discuss the staturogram, which was possibly the first ever representation of the cross; the textual abbreviation system of the "nomina sacra"; and the historical curiosity of Christian preference for book-like texts rather than scrolls. A bibliography and extensive appendix round out this scholarly examination of the origins, history, and modern-day physical remnants of ancient writings that utterly transformed the known world.

A Warning From An Angry God
Leo Derose
Airleaf Publishing
35 Industrial Dr., Suite 104, Martinsville, IN 46151
1594539898 $12.95 www.airleaf.com

Written by Leo Derose, A Warning from an Angry God is a strong-minded treatise written to readers of all faiths about the sorry state of the modern world - a world riven by war, terrorism, disease, greed, and suffering - an exhortation to remember God's will and work for a better, more just world. Derose is keenly aware of apocalyptic predictions in the Bible, yet in A Warning from an Angry God, he stresses that the important thing is not to obsess over when, how, or whether the world will end, but rather to focus on pleasing God and spreading good no matter what religious doctrine one follows. "Evil has sure done a number on the religions of the world... Jerusalem has reaped and is reaping the rewards Jesus promised. Catholics have been infected throughout history... Pope John Paul could have done many great deeds but, it's too late and it seems the beast has won this battle. Protestants seem to be great businessmen, politicians and exorcists for hire. Mormons have a sweet and simple segregated message... The Muslims kill far too many people." Ranging in a tone from a lament against murderous outrages committed in God's name even in the modern day to a stern chastisement of allowing modern vices to overtake oneself and one's children, to an uplifting exhortation to place faith in Jesus Christ's love and simply live the best life one can, A Warning from an Angry God is highly recommended for its focus on spirituality with truly humanitarian, life-affirming values.


The Business Shelf

Selling Results
Bill Stinnett
McGraw-Hill
Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121-2298
007147787X $29.95 www.mhprfdessional.com

Written by Sales Excellence Inc. founder and president Bill Stinnett, Selling Results: The Innovative System for Maximizing Sales by Helping Your Customers Achieve Their Business Goals is a guide to maximizing one's sales success through increasing deal size, whether in terms of volume purchased or duration on contracts; accelerating sales velocity through shortening one's development process and/or the customer's buying process; improving the accuracy of sales forecasts; and much more. Written in plain terms for practicing sales professionals of all walks of life, Selling Results is an invaluable resource packed cover to cover with wisdom borne from experience. "A [business] relationship is typically not the reason a customer decides to buy, but it can have a huge influence on who they openly share information with and who they ultimately decide to buy from. The quality of your client relationships is important, but the quantity also matters." The step-by-step instructions for categorizing sales opportunities and dimensions that can be improved to create a more favorable sales environment are particularly useful in this excellent supplementary resource for career salesmen and saleswomen, whether they are on a lot floor or proposing a merger.

Contractor's Survival Manual
William D. Mitchell
Craftsman Book Company
6058 Corte del Cedro , Carlsbad, CA 92009
1572181729, $38.00 www.craftsman-book.com 1-800-829-8123

The construction industry is as profitable as it is competitive. Now in a revised, updated and significantly expanded new edition, "Contractor's Survival Manual" by licensed architect and successful general contractor William D. Mitchell (and now revised by Brian E. P. Beeston) offers practical, step-by-step, process-by-process advice and instruction on starting, operating, and maintaining a construction business. Mitchell covers such issues as setting realistic goals, the use of limited partnerships, working with local building officials, calculating finances (including overhead, contingency and profit margins, structuring a company, building financial reserves, project estimations, scheduling and contracts, marketing and building a prospect list, billings and collections, the impact of economic cycles, using other people's money, alternatives to bankruptcy, dealing with lawsuits (including judgements and liens), becoming an effective salesman with prospective clients, and generally knowing the all the ins and outs of the contracting business. Enhanced with major new sections on using personal computers for bookkeeping, scheduling, and other tasks, web addresses for information resources appropriate for construction contracting, the "Contractor's Survival Manual" is an absolute necessity for those new to the business, and has a great deal of practical value for even the more experienced contractor in the field.

Patent Pending in 24 Hours, 4th Edition
Attorneys Richard Stim & David Pressman
Nolo Press
940 Parker Street, Berkeley, CA 94710
1413305113 $34.99 www.nolo.com

Protect your invention with the latest legal information on the PPA – provisional patent application – covered in this updated and expanded fourth edition of a comprehensive reference which includes all the forms and advice needed to conduct a patent search online, understand basic patent law, and file an application. From applications to common problems, PATENT PENDING IN 24 HOURS reveals all the pros and cons of patents and their management and is a 'must' for any general public library lending reference section.


The Jobs/Careers Shelf

I Love a Cop
Ellen Kirschman, Ph.D.
The Guilford Press
72 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012
159385353X $16.95 www.guilford.com

Written by clinical psychologist Ellen Kirschman, Ph.D., whose specific area of expertise lies in helping police officers and their families, I Love a Cop: What Police Families Need To Know is a straightforward, "tell-the-facts" guide, now in a newly revised edition, written especially for the significant others, spouses, and family members of police officers. Being a cop is a demanding job, and sometimes the very skills required for competence - such as being able to suppress strong emotions like fear, anger, or even compassion - are harmful to officers' private and personal lives if carried over to the home. I Love a Cop gives practical, no-nonsense advice to what to expect from the demands of the job, coping with stress or trauma, and much more. Of especial value are the chapters about dealing with domestic abuse, threats of suicide, or other severe cases and problems - including how to recognize the warning signs and when there is no other option than to just get out. Though I Love a Cop is intended especially for the loved ones of police offers, its solid advice is also highly recommended for the loved ones of anyone in a high-stress, risky or demanding occupation. I Love a Cop is also highly recommended as supplemental reading for anyone considering a policing career, as there is also plenty of sage wisdom about what to expect on the job and how to balance demands of the job with those of family life.

Career, Aptitude & Selection Tests
Jim Barrett
Kogan Page
525 S. 4th Street #241, Philadelphia, PA 19147
0749448199 $17.95 www.kogan-page.co.uk

There are many tests geared to determining aptitude and offering career choices: so which one is appropriate for a particular direction? Career, Aptitude & Selection Tests: Match Your IQ, Personality & Abilities to Your Ideal Career is in its 2nd updated edition to reach intermediate users with the latest aptitude tests and their links to career direction. Chapters do more than discuss tests: they provide such tests, with the newly revised edition including several new tests, and offer tips for analysis. An excellent choice for libraries catering to businesspeople looking at career change, as well as for students seeking direction.


The Mystery/Suspense Shelf

McMansion
Justin Scott
Poisoned Pen Press
6962 E. First Ave #103, Scottsdale, AZ 85251
159058063X $24.95 www.poisonedpenpress.com

Domestic mystery, murder, and terrorism meld in a new Ben Abbott mystery revolving around one Billy Tiller, who is crushed by a massive bulldozer in a seemingly straightforward murder in which an eco-terrorist is found at the scene of the crime. But what seems cut-and-dried turns into a bigger puzzle as Ben Abbott finds too many suspects and plenty of mystery. Libraries strong in mystery collections will want to add this thriller.


The Crafts Shelf

Handcrafting Chain and Bead Jewelry
Scott David Plumlee
Watson-Guptill Publications
770 Broadway, New York NY 10003
0823022994 $19.95 www.watson-guptill.com

Any interested in jewelry making possibilities will love Handcrafting Chain and Bead Jewelry, a guide to creating chain and bead jewelry using both old designs and new ideas. Scott David Plumlee is an authority on ancient chain designs: his focus allows for an ideal blend of styles and offers step-by-step directions backed by color photos. From how to use specialty tools and selecting wire and beads to assembling over twenty unique necklaces, bracelets and earrings, Handcrafting Chain and Bead Jewelry will reach novices, neo-pro jewelers and public libraries strong in crafts.


The Graphic Novel Shelf

Mister I
Lewis Trondheim
NBM Publishing Inc.
40 Exchange Place Suite 1308, New York NY 10005
1561634867 $13.95 www.nbmpublishing.com

Visual gags with creative graphic novel twists are the hallmark of MISTER I, a simple, fun little man who appears in full-color, tiny panels of wordless mishaps. Anticipate a series of strange, fun adventures in this wordless graphic art piece which may require an attention to smaller details than most, but which offers up a satisfying, fun set of images and encounters.


The Poetry Shelf

Aqua Regia
F. J. Bergmann
Parallel Press
University of Wisconsin - Madison Libraries, Madison, WI 53706
1893311872, $10.00 http://parallelpress.library.wisc.edu

When not writing some rather impressive verse, Wisconsin poet F. J. Bergmann works at Avol's Bookstore in Madison, Wisconsin, and helped to establish www.madpoetry.org (a local public service poetry website) as well as create her own personal website www.fibitz.com. A chapbook of her poetry has now been published by Parallel Press and will nicely serve to introduce other poetry enthusiasts to the unique, lyrical, and rather extraordinary poetry of that is the work of F. J. Bergmann. 'The Mysteries': and whether they did or didn't/the knife was talking to the gun/the trees were taller than the house/something was living in the basement/its tail left swirls in the smeared dust/they were sorry when it didn't come back/they had the knife ready and waiting/the gun slept under a feather pillow/no one explained to them why

Straight Ahead
Clare Shaw
Dufour Editions, Inc.
PO Box 7, Chester Springs, PA 19425
1852247509 $21.95 www.dufoureditions.com

Written by women's mental health activist Clare Shaw, herself a survivor of mental instability and admissions to psychiatric wards during young adulthood, Straight Ahead is a collection of poetry depicting loss, closeness, collapse, and delight - all the aspects of being alive, including the inevitability of decay. The free verse celebrates evocative patterns of sound and rhythm, and the subjects consider both the cruel and wonderful sides of living. An evocative, emotionally resonating collection. "Maybe Somewhere" You wake with each lover you left, / morning sun and the air hung with dust. / Maybe somewhere, all the lives you could have lived / are still going on; shops, work, / a patch of garden, the usual things. / Early evenings soft with voices, / the small gestures you learned to forget. // The houses you could have lived in. / A woman takes down a pan from a high shelf / as a child you should have known / rides on your shin to a song / that would have driven you mad / if you'd heard it. Again and again.

New Jersey
Betsy Andrews
University of Wisconsin Press
1930 Monroe Street, Third Floor, Madison, WI 53711-2059
029922144X $14.95 www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress 1-800-621-2736

Winner of the 2007 Brittingham Prize in Poetry, New Jersey is a book-length, free-verse poem that weaves a diverse portrait of America, from its landfills and wetlands to its weapons labs, politics, and human consciousness. Heavily grounded in industrial metaphor, New Jersey is keenly whetted with savage honesty about the death of a thousand cuts inflicted by the demands of technology, war, industry, and pollution. "Turnpike immaculate, the salt marsh flanked in / masks, cupids, urns, plumage, syringes, food wrappers, cigarette butts, / the carved and gilded heraldry of a clean-up crew called Special Removal, / leasing themselves like automobiles registered to a series of dummy corporations / wraparound ballistics the belief in an extraordinary rendition of / the axiom 'let every soul be subject'".


The Psychology Shelf

Termination in Psychotherapy
Anthony S. Joyce, William E. Piper, John S. Ogrodniczuk, & Robert H. Klein
American Psychological Association
750 First Street, NE Washington, D.C. 20002
1591477301 $59.95 www.apa.org

Written expert psychotherapy professionals Anthony S. Joyce PhD, William E. Piper PhD, John S. Ogrodniczuk PhD, and Robert H. Klein PhD, Termination in Psychotherapy: A Psychodynamic Model of Processes and Outcomes is an in-depth examination of clinical, theoretical, and empirical literature concerning termination of psychotheraputic practice - the point at which therapy winds down and the patient prepares for life after treatment. Chapters discuss both patient-induced and therapist-induced termination, patient characteristics and variations in termination processes and outcomes, clinical principles that can be drawn from empirical research, and much more. A scholarly analysis written for professionals, seeking to concisely yet thoroughly present the latest cutting-edge understanding of how best foment a smooth transition for the patient.

The Gambler Romancing Lady Luck
Billye B. Currie, Ph.D.
Inner City Books
PO Box 1271, Station Q, Toronto, ON M4T 2P4, Canada
1894574192 $25.00 www.innercitybooks.net

Written by licensed psychologist and Jungian analyst Billye B. Currie Ph.D., The Gambler Romancing Lady Luck: A Jungian Exploration is a one-of-a-kind examination of gambling from a Jungian perspective. Exploring the archetypal underpinnings of the gambler through focus on the imagery of Lady Luck and the spectrum of human behavior ranging from casual gameplay to outright addiction, The Gambler Romancing Lady Luck applies case stories to illustrate its insights into the internal and external forces that encourage humans to play games of chance. A handful of black-and-white illustrations add a touch of classic imagery of Lady Luck to this thoughtful, serious-minded dissection of human motivations and compulsions.


The Travel Shelf

Along Interstate 75
Dave Hunter
Mile Oak Publishing Inc.
Suite 81, 20 Mineola road East, Mississauga, ON Canada L5G 4N9
KSB Promotions (publicity)
55 Honey Creek NE, Ada, MI 49301-9768
1896819346 $23.95 www.floridaonline.com

Written by professional writer, photographer, and cartographer Dave Hunter, Along Interstate 75 is a guide for travelers and tourists alike. Spiral-bound to lay flat or fold over on itself for easy use on the road, Along Interstate 75 is filled with easy-to-use, colorful maps, state-by-state highlights, "local knowledge" tips such as FIPS/SAME codes for all I-75 counties (used with portable "severe weather" radio alert units, and difficult to obtain while on the road!), recommended hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions, and much more. A "must-have" resource for anyone planning a long drive along Interstate 75.

Paddling Southern Minnesota
Lynne Diebel & Robert Diebel
Trails Books
923 Williamson Street, Madison, WI 53703
1931599785, $19.95 www.trailsbooks.com 1-800-236-8088

For most people, canoeing, kayaking, and river rafting in Minnesota is restricted to the Bountry Waters northern area of the state. Now with the publication of "Paddling Southern Minnesota", avid outdoors enthusiasts are presented with a do-it-yourself guide to 85 separate adventure opportunities and resources for canoeing, kayaking, and river rafting the streams and waterways of the southern have of this beautiful upper midwest state. Thirty-eight river systems are clearly identified and described ranging from Blue Earth, Hawk Creek, and Snake, to the St. Croix, Zumbro, and Mississipi. Enhanced with detailed maps and superb photography, as well as practical information on water conditions, wildlife, river history and sheer scenic beauty, "Paddling Southern Minnesota" is an indispensable and strongly recommended guide to planning a trip down any of Minnesota's southern waterways whether it be for a daytrip, a weekend excursion, or an extended vacation.


The Sports Shelf

Baseball's Iron Man
Jeff Seidel
Sports Publishing LLC
804 North Neil St., Suite 100, Champaign, IL 61820
1596701722 $14.95 www.sportspublishingllc.com

Written by seasoned sports journalist Jeff Seidel, Baseball's Iron Man: Cal Ripken Jr., A Tribute is about star Orioles player and Baltimore baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. Baseball's Iron Man is not a biography per se, but rather a close examination of Ripken's genius on the field, how he earned his renowned status, and his passion for the game itself. A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrate this excellent celebration by a baseball fan, for baseball fans, and it is entirely fitting that a portion of the proceeds for Baseball's Iron Man will be donated to the Cal Ripken Sr. foundation.

The Search for the Perfect Driver
Tom Wishon with Tom Grundner
Sports Media Group
2500 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
1587263114 $22.95 www.amazon.com

Written by golf club designer Tom Wishon with former golf club maker Tom Grundner, The Search for the Perfect Driver is a one-of-a-kind book especially for golf players who wonder why they can spend a small fortune on just the right driver only to see their shots worsen. The average driver length on the PGA tour of 2004-2005 was 44.5 inches, implying that the best golfers in the world felt they couldn't control a 45 or 46-inch club with optimum precision; and yet it is this size of club, unwieldy to most golfers, that is commonly presented to ordinary golfers in stores and shops. This striking detail and other nuances of why and how too many drivers are designed from the factory to be unhittable in the hands of an average golfer in The Search for the Perfect Driver, as are details concerning how to fix driver faults by looking at one's own shots, how to choose the right driver for one's swing, retrofitting, special needs for female, child, senior, and advanced golfers, and much more. Enthusiastically recommended for anyone serious about improving their golf score, as is Winshon's and Grundner's previous guide, "The Search for the Perfect Golf Club."


The Judaic Studies Shelf

A Plausible God
Mitchell Silver
Fordham University Press
2546 Belmont Avenue, University Box L, Bronx, NY 10458-5172
0823226824 $22.00 www.fordhampress.com 1-800-247-6553

Written by philosophy teacher Mitchell Silver, A Plausible God: Secular Reflections on Liberal Jewish Theology is a studious, serious-minded discussion for intermediate to advanced students, scholars, and practitioners of religious philosophy. Examining the "liberal" concept of God that has emerged in monotheistic tradition since the seventeenth century, A Plausible God poses the question: does belief in a malleable, naturalistic deity come from, or lead to, a different political, moral, psychological, or aesthetic phenomena from simple atheism? Chapters inquire about "the usefulness of a plausible God", issues of idolatry and its avoidance, fundamental changes that different shades of belief allow or promote in human behavior, and much more. Though A Plausible God is written specifically with the cognition of Jewish thinkers in mind, changes in contemporary Christian thought, Eastern religious traditions, and "New Age" religion are also considered. An extensively researched, skillfully articulated presentation.


The Biography Shelf

Bob Dylan
Kathleen Mackay
Omnibus Press
c/o Music Sales Corporation
257 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010
0825673305, $22.95 www.omnibuspress.com 1-800-431-7187

Bob Dylan is an icon of American popular music whose work and performances have influenced and inspired folk musicians and rock stars ranging from Pete Seeger to Bruce Springsteen. "Bob Dylan: Intimate Insights From Friends And Fellow Musicians" by biographer Kathleen MacKay provides Dylan's legions of fans with an intimate portrait of the man and his music in a published 'oral history' drawn from extensive interviews with his friends and associates. Superbly organized, here are the memories and reminiances regarding Dylan as related by such luminaries as Joan Baez, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny rivers, and dozens more. No one who has ever thrilled to a Dylan song or who were fortunately enough to catch him in a live performance will want to miss reading this outstanding biography which is enhanced with the inclusion of fourteen black-and-white photographs, source notes, an extended bibliography, and a listing of websites for musicians.


The Library CD Music Shelf

M'bem Di Fora
Lura
Times Square Records
c/o Rock Paper Scissors
216 West Allen Street, Suite 137, Bloomington, IN 47403
$16.98 rockpaperscissors.biz www.timessquarerecords.net

Portuguese singer Lura presents M'bem Di Fora ("I Come From The Country"), her second North American music CD album, which draws heavily upon her love of her countryside home, and the unique musical traditions of the Cape Verde islands. Cape Verde is a semi-arid island string of ten islands hundreds of miles from mainland Africa; each island has its own distinct rhythms, and all of them formed inspiration for Lura's lively music anthology. From the hope of people waiting for rain to return, to the ambience of midsummer celebration, to the song about a daughter who fell in love with a poor islander rather than fulfill her mother's dream of marrying a rich foreigner, the songs of M'bem Di Fora embodies a pure love of country life, despite its hardships.

Sephardic Super Party
Avner Levy
Tara Publications
4001 Fallstaff Road, Baltimore, MD 21215
SF-AVL-10D, $16.98, www.jewishmusic.com www.//tara.com 1-800-827-2400

Avner Levy and the Ensemble provide lively, energetic, joyous, enthusiastic performances that are flawless recorded in their new CD, "Sephardic Super Party". Featuring oriental and Sephardic melodies the selections showcased in this impressive album include: Chai (3:34); Yo-Ya (3:26); Hora (3:03); Laner V'livsamim (4;34); D'ror Yikra (7:25); Middle Eastern Medley (7:16); Hakinor Hane'eman (2:25); Ba lashchuna (2:58); Ayelet Chen (3:20); Ahavat Hadasah (2:48); Haperach B'gani (3:25); Yemenite Medley (3:32); and Hatamoon Ha'eter. A thoroughly entertaining compilation of memorable music, "Sephardic Super Party" is especially recommended for personal and family Jewish Music collections, as well as being a welcome and seminal addition to community and academic library Multicultural Music reference shelves.

Bullfrog Jumped
Trade Root Music / Alabama Folklife Association
2169 Shadybrook Lane, Birmingham, AL 35226
Alabama Traditions 110, $19.49 www.alabamafolklife.org

Featuring forty-two superbly performed and recorded southern folksongs that were recorded live and in the field during the summer of 1947 that mothers, grandmothers, teachers, and babysitters sang to children, "Bullfrog Jumped" is a unique CD recording that is enthusiastically recommended as a core addition to academic and community library American Music History reference collections, and a delightful addition to the personal music libraries of folk music enthusiasts. These were all 'kitchen table' recordings where a portable disc recorder was set up in the homes of ordinary folk who sang their favorite songs just as their parents had sung them, and just as they now sang them to their own children. Here showcases are songs intimately passed down from generation to generation. From 'All the Little Horses, to O Johnny Dear, to Ain't Gonna Rain No More, to Frog Went A-Courting, to When I was a Young Girl, this is a first class collection of authentic folk music. Enhanced with an accompanying 72-page booklet, this carefully remastered CD (and on some tunes you can still hear the noises made by a needle on a vintage vinyl recording disc) provides a listening experience as truly entertaining as it is authentically historic.

Collectables Records Corp.
PO Box 35, Narberth, PA 19072-0035
www.oldies.com 1-800-446-6426

The Collectables Records Corporation is a premier source of inexpensive CD recordings featuring the music and performances of the top recording artists and groups in all genres of American popular music from the 1930s through the 1990s. Ideal for personal and community library music collections, each CD recording is beautifully remastered and provides a flawless listening experience. Among their newest releases are some of the finest examples of American music from past decades that will prove nostalgic for the older generations and introduce younger generations to the best of what popular music had to offer from jazz to pop to rock-n-roll. Highly recommended listening, the new titles from Collectables Records include "Long Island Harmony" (COL-CD-8638) by Soundtrack with such tunes as 'Church Bells May ring' and 'Why Don't You Believe Me'; "Afternoon in Paris" (COL-CD-6752) by John Lewis and Sacha Distel, featuring 'I Cover the Waterfront' and 'Willow Weep for Me'; Freddie Hubbard's "The Black Angel" (COL-CD-6750) with five memorable arrangements including 'Spacetrack' and 'Coral Keys'; "Boss Sounds" (COL-CD-6749) with Shelly Manne playing 'Margie', 'Idle One', The Breeze and I', Frank's Tune', Wandering', and 'You Name It'; Teddy Charles' "Word from Bird" showcasing 'Laura', and 'When Your Lover has Gone'; and "Sylvia Syms Sings" (COL-CD-6748) featuring twelve memorable pieces and a total running time of 36:20. Librarians seeking to build a first-class music collection for their patrons would be well advised to visit the Collectables Records website at http://www.oldies.com for a complete listing of the hundreds of recordings that are now available to the public – with more being added to the roster of their impressive 'Golden Oldies' CD title list every month.

Climbing The Gates
Falkner Evans Trio
Consolidated Artist Productions
c/o The Creative Service Company
4360 Emerald Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80918
CD100, $13.97 www.jazzbeat.com

The Falkner Evans Trio features Falkner Evans on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, and Matt Wilson on drums. Together they produce traditional jazz characterized by what Evans calls 'complex structures with discernible melodies laid over the top, and lots of improvisation'. The result is toe-tapping, finger-snapping, head-bobbing rhythms that resonate in the mind and imagination of the listener. Highly recommended to the attention of dedicated jazz enthusiasts, "Climbing The Gates" has a total running time of 57:30 and is comprised of nine major performances which include: Easy to Remember (7:03); Ask Me Now (6:09); October (7:39); Floating from Florence (4:59); Feel Free (7:44); Luna Blue (5:38); I'm through with Love (6:04); Talking Rocks (6:20); and the title piece Climbing the Gates (5:54).

Canyon Records Productions
3131 West Clarendon Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85017
www.canyonrecords.com 1-800-268-1141

Two new CDs from Canyon Records are truly extraordinary recordings by R. Carols Nakai that would be especially appropriate and strongly recommended for personal, academic, and community library Native American music collections. "Inner Voices" (CR7021) features the native American flute accompanied by memorable harmonies of strings in new arrangements of classic Nakai melodies. With a total running time of 57:56, the individual pieces include Canyon Reverie (5:57); Winter Solstice (4:33); 12/20/82 Song (3:05); Amazing Grace (3:66); Daybreak Vision (7:12); Kokopelli Wind (5:44); Songs for the Morning Star (4:22); Catfish Muse (10:36); Woodsong C (2:55); and the title piece, Inner Voices (8:51). "Ancient Future" features the R. Carlos Nakai Quartet in an album of songs that draw upon collective musical experience and influences ranging back hundreds of years. Beautifully performed and flawlessly recorded, with a total running time of 58:07, the performances include Calling the Rain (4:51); Blood memory (5:53); Home on the Strange (4:45); Austrian Waterfall (6:44); Amo Platu (6:06); Stick Figures (2:28); Talking Stick (6:04); Orinoco Delta (3:37); Lowly, Little John (3:06); Tectonic Contexture (4:51); Torch Runner (2:58); and the title piece, Ancient Future (6:38).

Aman Iman: Water is Life
Tinariwen
World Village
c/o Rock Paper Scissors
216 West Allen Street, Suite 137, Bloomington, IN 47403
$18.98 rockpaperscissors.biz

Aman Iman: Water is Life the latest, brilliantly vibrant album by the band Tinariwen, a group of Tuareg nomads-turned-rock-performers. Known for the daring, hard-edged bluesy sound and their commitment to Tuareg independence, Tinariwen presents Aman Iman with documentation offering transliteration and English translation of the lyrics, which speak profoundly of exile, resilience, and determination in spite of strife and division. Aman Iman speaks out against both governmental dominance and the tendency to look too much inward and too little outward within traditional Tuareg society itself. A passionate, soul-charged album that embraces life and calls out for change. The tracks are Cler Achel (4:25), Mano Dayak (5:41), Matadjem Yinmixan (5:43), Ahimana (5:43), Soixante Trois (4:56), Toumast (4:25), Imidiwan Winakalin (4:25), Awa Didjen (4:11), Ikyadarh Dim (3:35), Tamatant Tilay (3:19), Assouf (3:56) and Izarharh Tenere (5:02).


The Economics Shelf

Talking Past Each Other
David Kusnet, Lawrence Mishel, Ruy Teixeira
Economic Policy Institute
1333 H Street, NW, Suite 300, Est Tower, Washington, DC, 20005
1932066276, $9.95 www.epi.org

The collaborative effort of David Kusnet (formerly the chief speech writer for President bill Clinton from 1992 through 1994), Lawrence Mishel (President of the economic Policy Institute), and Ruy Teixeira (Joint Fellow at the Center for American Progress and the Century Foundation), "Talking Past Each Other: What Everyday Americans Really Think (And Elites Don't Get) About The Economy" is based on a series of focus groups in 2005 and 2006 in which the Economic Policy Institute asked middle-class Americans to discuss their economic insecurities. This study reveals a profound ambivalence about the economy in general, and a widening gap between the ways that everyday Americans and the influential elites talk about the economy in particular. Strongly recommended reading by professionals and non-specialist general readers alike, "Talking Past Each Other" also address this perception gap between the elites and the public in terms of how to bridge these differences and allow for changing economic, social, and political conditions. Of special note is the section offering twelve specific and applicable suggestions for elites to 'speak American' when presenting and discussing economic issues to the general public.


The Hunting/Fishing Shelf

Western Fly-Fishing Strategies
Craig Mathews, author; Rod Walinchus, illustrator
The Lyons Press
246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 06437
1592288464 $18.95 www.lyonspress.com 1-800-836-0510

2005 "Angler of the Year" as selected by "Fly Rod & Reel" Craig Mathews presents Western Fly-Fishing Strategies, a no-nonsense how-to guide for fly fishermen of all skill and experience levels. Written especially with Western waters in mind, Western Fly-Fishing Strategies covers fly-tying skills, the effects of weather and wind on Wester fishing, tips, tricks, and techniques, and numerous anecdotes told with the love and passion that only a true fisherman can express. Black-and-white photographs and an inset selection of color plates illustrate this conversational, easy-to-understand guide.


The Civil War Shelf

Irish Confederates
Phillip Thomas Tucker
McWhiney Foundation Press
McMurry Station, Box 637, Abilene, TX 79697-0637
1893114538 $16.95 www.mcwhiney.org

Historian Phillip Thomas Tucker presents Irish Confederates: The Civil War's Forgotten Soldiers, an examination of some of the South's most overlooked fighting men. Chapters focus upon the Irish-Americans in specific regiments and brigades, such as the Irishmen who served in the First Missouri Confederate Brigade at the Battle of Champion Hill, and the Celtic-Gaelic rebels of the Tenth Tennessee Infantry Regiment of Volunteers. Black-and-white photographs, a bibliography, and an index round out this brief but illuminating collection of true stories of Irish Confederate ferocity and battlefield valor. A welcome and much needed addition to Irish-American history and reference shelves.

M. Jeff Thompson
Doris Land Mueller
University of Missouri Press
2910 LeMone Boulevard, Columbia, MO 65201
0826217249 $14.95 www.umsystem.edu/upress 1-800-828-1894

Teacher Doris Land Mueller presents M. Jeff Thompson: Missouri's Swamp Fox of the Confederacy, an accessible and engaging biography of southeastern Missouri's Meriwether Jeff Thompson, who waged a guerilla war materializing out of the countryside to attack Union forces and evading traps set for them by Northern commanders. Dubbed "Swamp Fox" by General Ulysses S. Grant himself, Thompson had courage and skill despite leading poorly equipped and loosely trained soldiers, yet he was not invincible; captured in August 1863, and released twelve months later in a prisoner exchange, he participated in Sterling Price's ill-fated raid into Missouri. Yet after the war, he was one of the first Southern leaders to seek reinstatement as a U.S. citizen, and strived to allay hostilities among fellow Southerners. Thompson was also known as "Poet Laureate of the Marshes"; M. Jeff Thompson: Missouri's Swamp Fox of the Confederacy includes numerous excerpts of his writings to supplement the straightforward biography and occasional black-and-white photographs and illustrations. A welcome addition to Civil War biography and reference shelves.

If I Am Found Dead
David Lee Poremba, editor
Ann Arbor Media Group
2500 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
1587262835 $26.95 www.AnnArborMediaGroup.com 1-877-722-2264

Edited by historian David Lee Poremba, If I Am Found Dead: Michigan Voices from the Civil War presents written letters that comprise firsthand testimony of the Civil War from four Michigan soldiers. Of the four, one perished during the conflict; one returned to a normal life; one was accused of murder and tried three times; and one invented a brand of ginger ale that remains famous in the region to this day. Though the four were of disparate backgrounds, their letters each provide an equally vivid glimpse of wartime life through a soldier's eyes, from observations of officers' leadership abilities to the suffering of residents who lived where the war was waged to the omnipresent threat of death on the battlefield - many of the letters were penned just before or just after an armed conflict. A welcome addition to private and library collections of primary sources and testimonies of the Civil War, highly recommended.

Black Southerners in Confederate Armies
J.H. Segars and Charles Kelly Barrow, editors
Pelican Publishing Company
1000 Burmaster Street, Gretna, LA 70053-2246
1589804554 $18.95 www.pelicanpub.com 1-800-843-1724

Black Southerners in Confederate Armies is a fascinating scrutiny of a historical phenomenon - slave and free African-Americans who served as southern allies, and in some instances as soldiers and sailors, for the Confederate Army in the American Civil War. Though disagreement remains to this day as to the number of Black Southerners who served and whether their military contributions were significant, their seemingly paradoxical stories make for singularly compelling reading. Black Southerners in Confederate Armies draws information from reliable sources ranging from newspaper articles to veterans' accounts to miscellaneous surviving documentation to present its true stories of these unusual African-Americans with a scholarly attention to detail. Some reproductions of historic documents illustrate the pages of this welcome addition to library and personal Civil War history and reference shelves.


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


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