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Internet Bookwatch

Volume 11, Number 12 December 2001 Home | IBW Index

Table of Contents

Reviewer's Choice Antiques/Collectibles Shelf Biography Shelf
Travel Shelf Needlecraft Shelf Computer Shelf
Library CD Music Shelf Photography Shelf Health/Medicine Shelf
Cookbook Shelf World History Shelf Business Shelf
Audiobook Shelf Holocaust Studies Shelf Hunting/Fishing Shelf
Education Shelf Nature/Ecology Shelf Aviation Shelf
Sports Shelf Native American Shelf Parenting Shelf
Poetry Shelf Fiction Shelf Library Video/DVD Shelf
Political Science Shelf International Studies Shelf Gaming Shelf
Gardening Shelf Do-It-Yourself Shelf Archaeology Shelf
Money/Finance Shelf Civil War Shelf Library Science Shelf
Psychology Shelf Popular Culture Shelf Pets/Wildlife Shelf
Woodworking Shelf American History Shelf Fantasy/Sci-Fi Shelf
Religion/Spirituality Shelf Social Issues Shelf Musicbook Shelf
Writing/Publishing Shelf Christian Studies Shelf Architecture Shelf
Military Shelf Humor Shelf Women's Studies Shelf
Artbook Shelf Metaphysical Studies Shelf Self-Help Shelf
Mystery Shelf Science Shelf Literary Shelf
Dinosaur Shelf Graphic Novel Shelf  



Reviewer's Choice

Wild Wisconsin Notebook
James Buchholz
Prairie Oak Press/Trails Media Group
P.O. Box 317, Black Earth, WI 53515
1879483653 $16.95 trailsmediagroup.com

Drawing upon his more than twenty years of experience and expertise, James Buchholz's Wild Wisconsin Notebook features 144 short nature essays divided into 12 groups, one for each month of the year. Each essay focuses upon a specific wild animal or plant native to Wisconsin, with a brief yet vividly detailed description of that creature's life, habits, and cycles. Illustrated with black-and-white ink drawings of various flora and fauna, Wild Wisconsin Notebook is a superbly presented and strongly recommended guide for any Wisconsin nature lover who is interested in learning more!

Wisconsin Trivia
Kristin Visser, revised by Diana Cook
Rutledge Hill Press
P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214
1558538526 $7.99 rutledgehillpress.com

Newly revised and updated by Diana Cook, Kristin Visser's Wisconsin Trivia is an exciting, fascinating and fun book about Wisconsin which is written entirely in question-and-answer format. Each question and answer is separated by a small icon of Wisconsin cheese! Divided into sections on Geography, Entertainment, History, Arts & Literature, Sports & Leisure, and Science & Nature, Wisconsin Trivia is excellent not only as amusing and informative leisure reading, but also as a source of questions for a rousing game of Wisconsin-themed Trivial Pursuit. Highly entertaining and filled with questions sure to challenge even the most settled of Wisconsin residents, Wisconsin Trivia makes for an especially timely gift with the coming of Wisconsin's sesquicentennial - the 150th anniversary of Wisconsin's admission to the Union. Wisconsin Trivia is highly recommended for personal browsing or as an authoritative source for party time trivia contests!

Every Breath You Take
Ann Rule
The Free Press
1230 Ave. of the Americas, NY NY 10020
0743202961 $25.00 1-800-223-2336

People see a handsome and charming person, who can make anyone believe he is your best friend willing to do anything for you. However, he is actually an abusive, masochistic transvestite, who loathes all females. His two former wives remain scared to death of him and feel fortunate to have survived marriage to him and remain relatively sane. Sheila knows nothing about Allen's past and feels like the luckiest person alive when they marry. By the time they have two children, she knows she has married a monster who enjoys publicly humiliating her at any time. Gathering her courage, she tries to leave him, but he has plans to extort a cruel price by using their children as his means of control. When she remarries and has quadruplets with her new husband, Allen goes berserk and begins a harassment campaign that the military would be proud to adopt in Southern Iraq. Sheila and her husband move to another state, but Allen continues to harass her. The day comes when her throat is cut, but justice is not served time because her killer remains free and becomes the media's darling. Except for the fact that Ann Rule is the ruler of true crime, readers will find it difficult to accept that Every Breath You Take is true crime and not fiction. Ms. Rule captures the essence of evil making it available for her audience to take a deep look inside a human monster. The investigation and trial is exciting and as good as any legal thriller can be, leaving readers holding their breaths to see if justice prevails.

Your Genetic Destiny
Aubrey Milunsky, MD
Perseus Publishing
11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142
0738203777 $27.50 1-800-242-7737

This informed family health guide discusses the health implications of genetic disorders in a family history, drawing on the latest research and findings to discuss genetic predispositions to common ailments, tests available for identification, and when to seek genetic counseling. Your Genetic Destiny is an excellent and informative guide to the latest findings about how genetics influence health.

Anti-Terrorism 101
L. Thome
TDM Publishing
P.O. Box 1600, McKinney, TX 75070
1882330676 $29.95 1-931-964-3571

Anti-Terrorism 101: A Primer For Protection is a concise, easy-to-understand summary of simple steps any individual, family head, or business executive can undertake to better protect themselves against wanton malicious acts. Presented to the general public with the attack on the World Trade Center of Sept. 11th 2001 firmly in mind, Anti-Terrorism 101 discusses that tragedy and more. Terrorism can come from without or within one's own circle; it takes only a single disgruntled acquaintance, employee, or complete stranger to wreak havoc, destroy property, or claim lives. Chapters of Anti-Terrorism 101 cover such topics as Understanding The Terrorist Threat and the Risks We Face, Personal and Business Risk Analysis, Our Government's Role In Protection, and How Do We Protect Ourselves? Overall, Anti-Terrorism 101 is a superb basic primer; its concise length allows the reader to absorb its information and advice very quickly.

Atoms Of Language
Mark Baker
Basic Books
c/o Perseus Publishing
11 Cambridge Ctr., Cambridge MA 02142
0-465-00521-7 $28.00 1-800-242-7737

Atoms Of Language provides an unusual scientific survey of the world's languages, examining the elements human language holds in common around the world, and the theory first proposed by linguist Noam Chomsky that languages abide by a common set of rules. Author Mark Baker postulates a new 'periodic table of language' in an intriguing breakthrough blend of linguistics and science.

Discovering The World
Thomas Jeffrey Vasseur
Mercer University Press
6316 Peake Road, Macon, Georgia 31210
0865547181 $25.00 www.mupress.org

Author Thomas Vasseur's Discovering The World: Collected Stories is an outstanding anthology of thirteen stories set in the disappearing rural South, the New South, and the grand world at large. Variety spices the tales, from a little boy who discovers the wonder of flight to the rocky relationship between a German woman who has immigrated to the Deep South and her troubled teenage daughter. In the title novella, a "Southern Native" and a veteran of the Vietnam War travel to an island in Fiji to repair a damaged sailboat. A common theme of looking within the self unites all the tales, which take a hard look at America's class structure and at human spirituality. Thomas Vasseur's stories are as original and thought-provoking as they are highly recommended.

Sophocles' Antigone
Gita Wolf & Sirish Rao
Getty Trust Publications
Oxford University Press, dist.
1200 Getty Center Drive, #500, Los Angeles, CA 90049-1682
0892366370 $18.95 www.getty.edu

Superbly illustrated by eight of Indrapramit Roy's two-color silk-screened illustrations, Sophocles' Antigone is a splendidly presented retelling of the tragic story told by the blind prophet Teiresias of a Greek princess who discovers that her brother (a rebel against the rule of their uncle Creon) has been murdered and his body left unburied. Torn between her fealty to her uncle and her familial love for her brother, as well as deference to the gods, Antigone is a story of the tragic conflicts between love and duty, honor and the law. A physically beautiful publication, Sophocles' Antigone is a welcome and much appreciated work that will totally engage the attention and appreciation of contemporary readers.

Concise Book Of Lying
Evelin Sullivan
Farrar Straus Giroux
19 Union Square West, NY, NY 10003
0-374-12868-5 $25.00 1-888-330-8477

Concise Book Of Lying provides a cross-cultural survey of deception and the role which lying has played throughout history, using early stories modern accounts to draw connections between lying trends and why individuals lie. Social and psychological issues are both considered in this survey of lying.

True Crime Files
Of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Berkley Prime Crime
375 Hudson St., New York NY 10014
0-425-17952-4 $22.95 1-800-847-5515

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was not only a writer: he was a scientist, physician, political activist and an amateur detective himself. Two actual criminal cases same to his attention and inspired him to become involved: these two cases are documented in the True Crime Files Of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for the first time and will represent a 'must' for any avid Doyle reader surprised to find something new.

New World Library
14 Pamaron Way, Novato, CA 94949
1-800-972-6657

Lenedra Carroll's Architecture Of All Abundance (1-57731-189-2, $24.00) is an excellent survey of how to balance success, material wealth, and spiritual insights. Workplace savvy and underlying political currents in interactions blend with insights on love, the soul, and issues of prosperity and health to make for a heartwarming, revealing read. Alice Anne Parker's Understand Your Dreams (0-915811-95-2, $14.95) presents a compilation of over two thousand basic dream images and a simple three-step method for their interpretation. This is a revised, updated edition of a classic which includes 1,000 basic new images and an index of synonyms for their quick location.

Widower's House
John Bayley
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
0393025616 $23.95 1-800-233-4830

Widower's House: A Study Of Bereavment, Or How Margot And Mella Forced Me To Flee My Home is a wistful memoir of wit and openness, as author John Bayley continues his comedy of errors from a fresh vantage point. Bayley recounts Margot and Mella, whom he found to be only barely tolerable before the death of his wife Iris; after, they threatened to drive him insane with unwanted comfort, consolation, and fierce competition for his time and attention. Humorous, touching, and ultimately uplifting as Bayley learns how to mourn his wife and find joy in the present, Widower's House is not to be missed. Also recommended are Baley's previous two memoirs, Elegy For Iris, and Iris And Her Friends.

Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Dr., Amherst, NY 14228
1-800-421-0351

Paul Kurtz edits Skeptical Odysseys (1-57392-884-4, $27.00), a vivid collection of personal accounts by the world's paranormal inquirers. This gathers the personal statements and views of the leading skeptics of the world, considering paranormal and spiritual claims and including a healthy dose of autobiography as well as reflections on paranormal research and theories. The list of distinguished contributors sets this apart from others. Clifford Pickover's Dreaming The Future (895-X, $28.00) gathers accounts of a range of peoples who have had experiences reading fortunes and foretelling events. From contrasts between different methods of prediction and their underlying theories to evaluations of prophecies made through the pages, this is a more organized, contrasting study than most.



The Antiques/Collectibles Shelf

American Silver
John Marshall Phillips
Dover Publications
31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, NY 11501
0-486-41817-0 $9.95 1-800-223-3130

This slim handbook provides a practical introduction to the history and identification of early American silverwork: American Silver draws on existing research and artifacts to provide a simple review of the evolving styles and art of American silver from settlement days through the 1800s. Black and white photos and drawings enhance the presentation.

Krause Publications
700 E. State St., Iola, WI 54990-2214
1-800-258-0929

Three fine guides are recommended as in-depth references. David Harper edits 2002 North American Coins & Prices (0-87349-297-8, $17.95), which appears in its 11th updated edition to provide a comprehensive guide to US, Canadian and Mexican coins. Over 45,000 prices accompany an illustrated grading guide, tips to the latest 'hot buys' and collecting trends, and black and white photos of many of the coins. Chester Krause, et.al.'s Collecting World Coins (304-4, $29.95) widens the focus to world coins from 1901 to the present, appearing in its updated 9th edition to cover 330 coin-issuing countries and states. Over 20,000 coins are listed by date and valued in up to four grade levels. The black and white coin photos here are even more extensive and essential for identification. Sharon Korbeck and Elizabeth Stephan's 2002 Toys & Prices (311-7, $18.95) appears in its 9th edition, listing over 30,000 toys from 1843-2001 with over 75,000 updated values and an easy index. Black and white photos are present but the 'meat' of this guide lies in its values details. All are highly detailed, recommended picks for collectors.

Lea Stein Jewelry
Judith Just
Schiffer Publishing
4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310
0764313819 $39.95 schifferbooks.com

Beautifully illustrated with full color, close-up photographs on every page, Lea Stein Jewelry is a superbly presented collectors reference book, complete with a price guide, and presenting innovative Lea Stein Paris (R) designs of plastic jewelry meant to offer bold, compelling, and eye-catching decoration for the 20th and 21st century. Pins of wild animals, jewel boxes with avant-garde geometric designs, and hypnotic earrings are among the many eye-catching pieces proudly displayed in this volume. Each photographed piece of jewelry is in full color and features a short sidebar with a one-phrase description, decade of origin, size, and approximate value. Lea Stein Jewelry is truly a jewelry showcase book for collectors and dealers, as well as for fans of fantastic ornamentation who are turned off by the artificially high prices of conventional precious metals and stones. Lea Stein Jewelry is gorgeous, dazzling, and highly recommended.

Collector Books
Box 3009, Paducah, KY 42002-3009
1-800-626-5420

Three new arrival guides will appeal to any who collect in these subject areas. Dorothy Kamm's Painted Porcelain Jewelry And Buttons (1-57432-266-4, $24.95) pairs gorgeous large color photos with a value guide to painted buttons and jewelry. The primarily-floral designs are gorgeous and are accompanied by the latest values. M.A. Harman's Collecting Blue Willow (240-0, $19.95) is packed with color photos of blue willow ware. From brown and green patterns to the well-known blue, this packs in values, photos, and an exceptionally handy list of marks in back. Joan Van Patten's Nippon Porcelain (253-2, $29.95) focuses on Japanese porcelain, from painted vases and stamps to plates and smoking pieces. Gorgeous color photos of all examples abound.

Antique Trader Jewelry Price Guide
Kyle Husfloen, editor
Krause Publications
700 E. State Street, Iola, WI 54990-0001
0873492226 $17.95 www.krause.com

Antique Trader Jewelry Price Guide is a reference book featuring thousands of listings and hundreds of photos of jewelry of all styles. Featuring detailed overviews of every major type of jewelry produced in the past 200 years, Antique Trader Jewelry Price Guide is divided into four major sections, each relating to a different form of jewelry: Antique (1800-1920), Costume, Modern (1920-1960s), and Watches. Each jewelry listing has a short, clipped but descriptive listing and a price, often with a black-and-white photograph for additional clarity. There is also a limited selection of color photographs. Economical, practical, and easy to use, Antique Trader Jewelry Price Guide is a staple reference for any auctioneer, collector, or dealer in jewelry from the past two centuries. It is also an invaluable reference for theatrical costumers and historical fiction writers seeking detailed authenticity for their projects.



The Biography Shelf

An Unintended Life
Ruby Millar
Unlimited Publishing
Bloomington, Indiana
www.unlimitedpublishing.com/authors
158832026X $14.99 1-800-431-1579

An Unintended Life: Memoir of a WW II Generation Woman is the candid memoir of Ruby Millar. Born in Scotland, Ms. Millar served as a Petty Officer in the Women's Royal Navy Service, moved to the U.S. in 1959, and graduated with an M.A. in Sociology from Columbia University. Her professional life has included theater, television, and research in health and geriatric care. Her perspective casts the wisdom of a generation who nearly saw the world end in World War II, only to rise again from the ashes of devastating global conflict. Engrossing, friendly, recommended reading, especially for those born after the WW II era who wish insight into the collective generational perspective their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.

My Life And Experiences In The Entertainment World
Mertis John
Dorrance Publishing Company
643 Smithfield St., Pittsburgh, PA 15222
0-8059-5040-0 $20.00 1-800-788-7654

The author grew up in a musical family in Detroit, learning about the music industry in a racially unstable time of the 1940s and 50s. My Life And Experiences In The Entertainment World tells of his songwriting career, his involvement in local politics and civil rights, and his lifelong dream of educating all. A moving and eventful life.

W.E.B. Du Bois
Harold Bloom, Editor
Chelsea House
1974 Sproul Rd. #400 Broomall PA 19008
0-7910-5915-4 $36.95 1-800-848-2665

Du Bois had many interests and writings from artistic ventures to tackling the political issues of his times: his life was filled with controversy and essays here celebrate his scholarship, examining his influence in the academic world and considering the extent of his social, political and racial insights. Especially recommended for students of DuBois' writings at the advanced high school and college levels.

Noble Conspirator
Judith Robinson
The Francis Press
3029 Ordway Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008
096650514X $28.00 francispress.com

Noble Conspirator: Florence S. Mahoney And The Rise Of The National Institutes Of Health is the compelling biography of a singularly remarkable woman and her decades of unpaid advocacy for governmental biomedical research. Her legacy that is with us to this day is the National Institutes of Health, or NIH. Noble Conspirator is filled with anecdotes, courage, and the growth of the fledgling NIH into a gigantic complex with an annual budget of $16 billion in the new millennium. Noble Conspirators is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the history of medical research in America, political success stories of nonprofit lobbying, or biographies of women who helped to shape American society into what it is today. Ms. Florence Mahoney is truly a heroine to remember.

Sean Connery: A Biography
Bob McCabe
Thunder's Mouth Press
161 William St., 16th fl., NY, NY 10038
1560253401 $22.95 1-646-375-2570

Sean Connery: A Biography is an exciting presentation of the actor and his life's work on the silver screen, including but not limited to his famous portrayal of James Bond 007. Black-and-white photographs, as well as a few color photographs illustrate virtually every two-page spread of this lavish celebration. The text by biographer Bob McCabe is relatively simple and straightforward, and offers a telling glimpse into the personal history that shaped the "Politically Incorrect Sexiest Man Alive." Sean Connery: A Biography is extremely enjoyable reading a "must" for all Connery fans!

A Very Good Marriage
Tom Mullen
Friends United Press
KSB Promotions (publicity)
101 Quaker Hill Dr., Richmond, IN 47374
0944350577 $17.00 1-800-537-8839

In the wake of sadly epidemic and chronic divorce statistics, A Very Good Marriage is a memoir to be treasured. It is the compelling and inspiring story of a Quaker husband and wife who stayed together and earned happiness through two careers, four children, and chronic health difficulties. Written by Quaker pastor Tom Mullen after the death of his beloved wife Nancy Mullen, A Very Good Marriage is a story of hope, of life, and of facing challenges united. Very highly recommended for anyone seeking a true story of lasting and meaningful marital love in a challenging and complex world.

Arthur W. Page
Noel L. Griese
Anvil Publishers
P.O. Box 2694, Tucker, GA 30085-2694
0970497504 $24.95 1-800-500-3524

Arthur W. Page: Publisher, Public Relations Pioneer, Patriot is the definitive biography by Noel Griese of one of the most prestigious public relations experts of the 20th century. Sent to England in 1944 to oversee troop information for the Normandy invasion, Arthur Page later became famous as the bearer of world-shaking news when he presided over the release of what was perhaps the most important news story of the last hundred years: the first military use of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima. From his youth and graduation from Harvard in 1905 to his government service in World War I and his work for AT&T after World War II, this biography spans the whole of a truly remarkable and varied life.

A Woman's Soul on Paper
Cassandra George Sturges
Writers Club Press/iUniverse.com
5220 S 16th, Ste. 200, Lincoln, NE 68512
0595171435 $12.95 www.iuniverse.com

Cassandra Sturges is an African-American high school dropout who completed her G.ED., earned two masters and a doctoral degree, and became a counseling psychologist and founder of New Beginnings Social Development Program offering counseling services for families in the foster care system. A Woman's Soul On Paper is more than just Cassandra's personal memoir; it is also a testament to strength, independence, and spiritual faith. The gifted, earnest style of the narrative completely draws the reader into Cassandra's adolescence and personal travails. A Woman's Soul On Paper is a very highly recommended, deeply personal glimpse into the conflicts, choices, and struggles involved in understanding and learning to celebrate contemporary African-American female identity.



The Travel Shelf

Tales Of A Sea Gypsy
Ray Janson
Paradise Cay
Box 29, Arcata, CA 95518-0029
0-939837-47-1 $14.95 1-800-736-4509

Fans of either sailing or travel will appreciate this vignettes which capture hilarious moments and misadventures experienced by the author on his sailboat cruiser. From getting rammed by a tanker to an encounter with a hurricane, Tales Of A Sea Gypsy is an engaging recital of great adventures with a healthy dose of humor and first-person yarns which will prove hard to put down.

Home Is Where The Bus Is
Anne Beckwith Johnson
John Daniel & Company
Box 21922, Santa Barbara, CA 93121
1-880284-47-2 $14.95 1-800-662-8351

At the height of the Cold War Vernon Johnson decided to take a trip around the world - with his wife and eight children. Home Is Where The Bus Is is Anne's autobiography of that experience, packed with rich encounters with other cultures and a journey filled with adventures and unique experiences. Armchair travelers will delight in the stories.

Hunter Publications
130 Campus Dr., Edison, NJ 08818
1-800-255-0343

Two adventure guides appear in updated editions to appeal to world travelers who want to experience the outdoors. Patris Permenter and John Bigley's Cayman Islands (1-55650-915-4, $16.95) appears in its second edition to explore the people, places, and underwater attractions of the islands. From local nature to taking dives and walking tours, this provides a variety of opportunities. Kurt Pitzer and Tara Stevens' Puerto Rico (1588431169, $18.95) appears in its fourth edition to outline the many outdoors and recreational opportunities on the island. A healthy dose of culture and history accompanies tips on sights to see, some to miss, and the many experiences available to visitors of the island.



The Needlecraft Shelf

The Old Quilt
Margret Aldrich, editor
Voyageur Press
123 North Second Street, Stillwater, MN 55082-5002
0896585514 $29.95 1-800-837-2210

Aptly edited by Margaret Aldrich and featuring contributions by Alice Walker, Terry McMillan, Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Whitney Otto, Patricia J. Cooper, and Norma Bradley Allen, The Old Quilt: A Heartwarming Celebration Of Quilts And Quilting Memories is a coffee-table sized anthology of stories and memoirs relating to quilts, quilt folklore, and history to intrigue quilters of all predilections. Lavish color photographs, artwork, quilt patterns, and even the occasional cartoon liven the tales with dazzling visual appeal. Wry stories and incredible illustrations make The Old Quilt truly a "must" for any needlecrafting enthusiast of quilts and quilting!

Making Teddy Bears
Paige Gilchrist
Lark Books
50 College St., Asheville, NC 28801
1-57990-240-5 $27.95

Making Teddy Bears provides a fine set of master teddy bear patterns ranging form a very easy beginning single pattern piece all the way to a traditional jointed bear with movable arms, legs and head. These patterns are the foundation for sixteen projects which will delight crafts workers looking to make teddies.

Simple Trompe L'Oeil
Mary MacCarthy
Firefly Books
4 Daybreak Lane, Westport, CT 06880
1-55209-634-3 $19.95 1-800-387-5085

Create over twenty designs using stencils and faux finishes with the help of Simple Trompe L'Oeil, a guide which ranges from a stencilled curtain and a desk box to plates, chests and a key cupboard. The emphasis on step-by-step color photos and instruction and practical projects which go beyond decorative knickknacks makes for an important guide.

Patchwork And Quilting Book # 3
Kaffe Fassett, et.al.
Westminster Fibers Inc.
5 Northern Blvd., Amherst, NH 03031
0-9672985-2-0 $19.95 1-800-227-2872

Almost thirty quilt projects presented by seven quilters pairing some unusual designs with the interests of quilters who gain their inspiration from a variety of traditions, from Amish to Danish, in Patchwork And Quilting Book # 3. Color photos of quilts and sections accompany clear instructions, from materials needed to cutting out and assembling the blocks. A gorgeous, diverse project guide.

C&T Publishing
Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549

Two excellent quilter's guides are fine picks; especially for those seeking unusual projects. Laura Lee Fritz's 250 Continuous Line Quilting Designs (1-57120-171-8, $16.95) provides designs appropriate for both machine and hand quilting, covering the basics of equipment and techniques and including templates as well as color photos of finished results. Carol Armstrong's Quilting With Carol Armstrong (170-X, $23.95) shows how to combine quilting and embellishments for a polished look. Her technique involves using quilting lines over pieced blocks to define patterns. Sixteen projects include appliques and quilting patterns.

American Quilt Classics
Patricia Cox and Maggi McCormick Gordon
Martingdale & Company
20205 144th Avenue NE, Woodinville, WA 98072-8478
1564773582 $40.00 martingale-pub.com

Patricia Cox and Maggi Gorden effectively collaborate to present American Quilt Classics, a beautiful, full-color photographic showcase of Patricia's personal collection of more than 300 antique quilts. From an 1820's strippy chintz to quilts made for the Red Cross during World War I and quilts created from feed sacks during the Great Depression, American Quilt Classics is a showcase that captures a slice of history as well as amazing craft patterns. The text describing the known history of individual quilts adds flair to their presentation, and sample quilting projects for the reader are also included. American Quilt Classics is an informative and inspiring book for needlecrafters with a passion for quilts!



The Computer Shelf

Hacking Windows 2000 Exposed
Joel Scambray & Stuart McClure
Osborne/McGraw-Hill
2600 Tenth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710
0072192623 $49.99 1-800-722-4726

Joel Scambray and Stuart McClure co-authors of Hacking Exposed wrote Hacking Windows 2000 Exposed: Network Security Secrets & Solutions to explore the workings of Windows 2000 security attacks and countermeasures. They provide step-by-step information how to defend against the latest attacks by understanding how intruders enter and pilfer compromised networks and weaknesses in password encryption, domain control, Web and IIS 5 communications, LM/NTLM protocols, Active Directory, NetBIOS services, and much more. 528 pages

Peter Norton's Complete Guide To Windows XP
Peter Norton and John Mueller
Sams Publishing
c/oPearson Technology Group
201 West 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46290-1097
0672322919 $44.99 pearsonptg.com

Peter Norton's Complete Guide To Windows XP will introduce and discuss all of the new XP features in a style that is both conceptual and informative. Topics include why and when to upgrade to XP and if so, how to do it, understanding services and their configurations, explanation of the new internet options, such as third party cookie alert, firewalls, and web publishing wizard. Value information included on registry configurations and why the configurations work as they do, networking topics and integration ideas for home networks as well as explanations about using the networking wizards and understanding how XP works with software and hardware. Approx. Page Count: 750

Overcome Email Overload With Microsoft Outlook 2000 And Outlook 2002
Kaitlin Duck Sherwood
World Wide Webfoot Press
Box 36, Palo Alto, California 94302-0036
www.OvercomeEmailOverload.com
0970885172 $29.95

Kaitlin Sherwood's Overcome Email Overload With Microsoft Outlook 2000 And Outlook 2002 is a refreshingly simple, effective guide to using Microsoft Outlook 2000 or 2002 to speed up your email traffic and cut hours from time spent on correspondence every week. Perfect for the novice computer user, Overcome Email Overload features numerous black-and-white illustrations of screens from the Microsoft Outlook programs, the better to walk readers step-by-step through what Outlook has to offer. However, Overcome Email Overload is not primarily a software manual, but rather a practical guide to organizing and prioritizing messages, moving through messages quickly, how to spend less time on responses, how to make one's messages more legible, and so on. An appendix covers scripts in Visual Basic. Overcome Email Overload pays for itself and is an absolute "must" for any worker who relies on Outlook 2000 or 2002 to process vast amounts of email - the strategies herein are superb time-savers! Also highly recommended for Eudora 5 users is Overcoming Email Overload With Eudora 5.

MovieDVSuite
Macmillan Software
c/o Pearson Technology Group
201 West 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46290-1097
1575954753 $99.95 pearsonptg.com

System Requirements for MovieDVSuite include Windows 98 SE/2000/Me, Pentium II 400 MHz or compatible processor with MMX extension, 128MB RAM, OpenGL/Direct 3D graphics card. Novice beginners as well as experienced and advanced users can produce high quality videos quickly and easily with this user friendly and effective full-featured software, their PC and a digital video camera.

XML And SQL Server 2000
John Griffin
New Rider
c/o Pearson Technology Group
201 West 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46290-1097
0735711127 $44.99 newriders.com

XML And SQL Server 2000 provides an informative, comprehensive, invaluable discussion of SQL Server 2000's new time-saving, easy-to-use XML capabilities. Following a brief discussion on XSL/XSLT and DTD's, users will find hundreds of hands-on examples that can be utilized in day-to-day operations in such areas as IIS Directories, http, xml views and xml schemas, openxml, and much more. 384 pp.



The Library CD Music Shelf

Journey Of The Celts
Will Miller & Paul Horn
Chacra Music
3155 Halpern
Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada H4S 1PS

Followers of new age and celtic music alike will appreciate this unusual fusion of celtic with the new age sound of Paul Horn. Ballads presented here draw upon traditional blends of music and history in Irish culture, with instrumentals recreating the atmosphere of Irish immigrants who left familiar surroundings for a new world. Haunting.

After All
Joni Harms
Real West Productions
c/o Paras Recordings
826 South Victory Blvd., Burbank, CA 91502
RWP 6001-2 $16.97 www.joniharms.com

After All wonderfully showcases county music singer Joni Harms talent as a singer, songwriter, and performer. The superbly recorded and flawlessly produced selections comprising After All include Weakness For Cowboys (2:36); More Than Your Eyes Can See (2:51); Every Cowgirl's Dreams (2:38); Keep On Dreamin' (3:21); West Texas Waltz (3:03); Ay Yi Yi Yi (3:32); Millie (2:38); A Cowboy Wedding (2:19); It'll Happen When It's Time (3:11); Cowboy Coffee (2:38); Sunday Go To Meeting Clothes (2:52); I Want To Sing For You (2:51); and the title piece, After All (3:08) After All is strongly recommended to country western music enthusiasts in general, and Joni Harms fans in particular!

Canyon Records
3131 W. Clarendon Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85017
1-800-268-1141

Fans of Native American and pow-wow music have some exciting new selections to choose from with Canyon's new releases. Young Bird's Change Of Life provides Oklahoma pow-wow songs, providing a unique Southern-style set of singing and drumming songs. Tha Tribe's N Action provides a set of pow-wow songs recorded live in San Carlos in Arizona. The singing and drumming are both traditional and cutting edge with new rhythms and music. Black Lodge's It's Been A Long Time Comin provides round dance songs by a notable Washington group. Original songs blend with others such as 'Who Let the Dogs Out' in an exciting new presentation. R. Carlos Nakai and AmoChip Dabney's Edge Of The Century is an intriguing blend of Nakai's flute with Dabney's saxophones, synthesizers and bass. Anticipate more rhythm and changes than the flute could provide alone in this intriguing blend of Native and African musical traditions. Schools with Native American curriculums are advised to obtain a free Canyon Records catalog for a complete listing of Native American recordings.



The Photography Shelf

Details Of The World
Sophie Ristelhueber
MFA Publications
465 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115
0-87846-525-8 $35.00

The author's candid photos have earned her a reputation as one of France's most interesting younger artists: the publication of Details Of The World coincides with a major exhibition of her works, and provides black and white and color photos of her achievements and the evolution of her art. All her major works and many previously unpublished efforts are packed into this important guide.

Incognito
Antonini Kratochvil
Arena Editions
425 Sandoval St., Santa Fe, NM 87501
1-892041-45-6 $60.00 arenaeditions.com

Incognito is the second book of photos presented by an artist renowned for his portrayal of catastrophe in Eastern Europe. In this collection he departs from this side to reveal the spectrum of entertainment in Europe today, with black and white photos mostly taken on assignment for four publications. His celebrity portraits have never appeared in book form before, making this accomplishment especially notable.

Everyday Things: Glass
Suzanne Slesin, et al.
Henry N. Abrams, Inc.
100 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011
0810906201 $35.00 1-800-759-0190

Everyday Things: Glass is a beauteous celebration of its title substance and all the countless decorative and practical things that can be wrought with it - including cruets, canisters, inkwells, lanterns, pitchers, and paperweights. Gorgeous, full-color photographs fill every page with an artist's eye for elegance, while the prose text offers intensely researched, enlightening commentary about the specific history of countless glass objects of art and everyday use. Suzanne Slesin (Homestyle magazine editor-in-chief), Daniel Rozensztroch (Paris-based author), and Stafford Cliff (London-based author), and Marie-Pierre Morel (Paris-based, professional photographer) draw upon their many years of expertise to effectively collaborate with Everyday Things: Glass resulting in a visual compendium that takes commonplace things and turns them into elements of majesty Everyday Things: Glass is enthusiastically recommended as a unique and unusual gift for people who enjoy coffee-table art and photography books.



The Health/Medicine Shelf

Diabetes Nutrition A To Z
Lea Holzmeister and Patti Geil
American Diabetes Association
1701 North Beauregard Street, Alexandria, VA 22311
1-58040-051-5 $14.95

The basics of nutrition and how it relates to diabetes is covered in Diabetes Nutrition A To Z, a primer which explains everything from carbohydrate counting, fats and fiber to sugars and side effects of common diabetes drugs. The A-Z arrangement lends to quick look-up referencing.

Tarnished Idol
Richard J. Wolfe
Norman Publishing, PO Box 2566, San Anselmo, CA 94979-2566
0930405811 $125.00 1-800-544-9359

Tarnished Idol: William Thomas Green Morton And The Introduction Of Surgical Anesthesia is a serious, scholarly biography of William Thomas Green Morton, a self-trained Boston dentist credited with demonstrating to the medical profession in 1846 the efficacy of sulfuric ether in allaying the pain of surgery. The discovery of surgical anesthesia was the first great American contribution to both medicine and dentistry. In this definitive biography of a poorly understood but highly influential American also provides the first detailed analysis of what became known in medical history as the "ether controversy" which grew out of Morton's association with the physician-chemist Charles T. Jackson (who claimed to have given Morton the vital clues that led to his discovery and success). Tarnished Idol is an impressive, strongly recommended work of meticulous historical scholarship and documentation which is highly recommended to students of American medical history, as well as providing insights into America's antebellum era and many outstanding and influential personalities of the day.

Natural Medicine First Aid Remedies
Stephanie Marohn
Hampton Roads
1125 Stoney Ridge Rd., Charlottesville, VA 22902
1-57174-218-2 $22.95 1-800-766-8009

Consumer seeking a solid home health guide to natural remedies will find here a virtual 'bible' of information from how to treat burns and cramps to handling a toothache or nail problems. Each condition outlines several alternative treatment choices, from oils and flower essences to food therapy, herbal medicine and nutritional substitutes.

Breast Cancer Sourcebook
Edward Prucha & Karen Bellenir
Omnigraphics
Box 625, Holmes, PA 19043
0780802446 $78.00 1-800-234-1340

Breast Cancer Sourcebook adds to the increasing subjects covered in depth by this health resource publisher, providing information about breast health and symptoms which may indicate cancer. From the pros and cons of different screening methods and results to treatment options, Breast Cancer Sourcebook provides the latest information on the subject.



The Cookbook Shelf

Prairie Home Breads
Judith M. Fertig
Harvard Common Press/NBN, dist.
535 Albany St., Boston, MA 02118
1558321721 $18.95 1-888-657-3755

In Prairie Home Breads, culinary expert Judith Fertig showcases 150 outstanding recipes for a variety of breads. Categories of breads include Yeast Breads; Naturally Leavened and Slow-Rising Breads; Whole-Grain Breads; Rolls and Buns; Quick Breads, Muffins, & Popovers; Scones, Biscuits, Crackers, and a Soda Bread; Coffee Cakes and Pastries. The recipes range from simple family meal favorites, to celebratory breads ideal for even the most festive occasion. The recipes are complete, easy to follow, and accessible to even the most novice kitchen chef. A strongly recommended addition to any cookbook shelf collection, Prairie Home Breads is enhanced with two useful sections "Source Guide" and "Prairie Bakers", as well as a user-friendly Index.

French Food
Lawrence Schehr & Allen Weiss, Eds.
Routledge
29 W. 35th St., New York NY 10001
0-415-93628-4 $22.95 1-800-634-7064

Plenty of titles have covered recipes basic to French food: French Food provides a collection of recipes covering French culinary history, blending historical, literary and culinary insights to appeal to an audience already developed in its affection for French cuisine. The inclusion of insights on French culture make this particularly revealing.

Vegetarian Slow Cooker
Joanna White
Nitty Gritty/Bristol Publishing
Box 1737, San Leandro, Ca 94577
1-55867-268-0 $8.95 1-800-346-4889

Vegetarian Slow Cooker lacks color photos but the easy dishes don't need them: they are complete with simple instructions for using crock pots, slow cookers, and multi-cookers to produce delicious vegetarian dishes. Main dishes, soups - even cereals and breads are covered here, but the heart of any vegetarian book lies in its main courses, and here such dishes as Picadillo Sweet Beans and Macaroni and Cashew Cheese don't disappoint.

Culinary Potions
Eve Berman
Living Light Press
P.O. Box 7266, Cape Porpoise, ME 04014
0970837402 $16.95 culinarypotions.com

Eve Berman's Culinary Potions: Eating Jyously With Food Allergies is an innovative cookbook specifically designed for people of all ages and culinary tastes with food allergies to wheat, potatoes, and corn. All the recipes are wheat-free, potato-free, and corn-free, and most are also gluten-free, yeast-free, and low in carbohydrates. All the recipes are simple to prepare and come with nutritional information. Chapters cover recipies for excellent, mouth-watering breads, soups/dressings/sauces, entrees, and desserts. A helpful set of appendixes includes sources for hard-to-find ingredients and a glycemic index. Culintary Potions is strongly recommended for anyone cooking for a family member or dinner guest with poor tolerance for wheat, potatoes, and/or corn, three foods widely regarded as staples by most other cookbooks.

Jell-O
Carolyn Wyman
Harcourt
525 'B' St. #1900, San Diego, CA 92101
0-15-601123-9 $15.00 1-800-543-1918

Jell-O blends a culinary history with a recipe book, following the story of jello's evolution as a famous desert and offering recipes for both main dishes and desserts. It lacks an index, so you'll have to read the book if you want the recipe for Spider cakes and other classics. Humor also blends in as chapters discuss the promotion of jell-o.

Zucchini
John Butler
The University of Alberta Press
Ring House 2, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2E1
0888643799 $14.95 ualberta.ca/~uap

From such recipes as Zucchini-Coconut-Curry Soup; Stuffed Zucchini Boats; and Zucchini Souffles; to Mini Zucchini Pies; Chocolate Pecan-Zucchini Loaf; and Zucchini-Pineapple Salsa; John Butler's Zucchini is a wonderful compendium showcasing more than a hundred novel and delicious recipes for the humble zucchini. Now this versatile vegetable can be thoroughly enjoyed the year round at any family meal or party dining occasion. No zucchini enthusiast should be without their copy of this marvelous, practical, inspiring, and highly recommended specialty cookbook!

Seafood Lovers Cook Book
Gold West Publishers, Inc.
4113 North Longview Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85014
1885590822 $69.95 1-602-265-4392

Seafood Lovers Cook Book, an inexpensive compendium of delicious seafood recipes, is spiral bound to lay flat on the kitchen counter. Included are a wealth of Seafood Appetizers; Seafood Soups, Stews & Chowders; Seafood Salads; Seafood Entrees; as well as Stocks, Sauces & Batters. From Crabmeat Snacks, Mardi Gras Oyster Stew, and Classic Crab Louie, to Herbed Mahi Mahi, Salmon with Ginger Salsa, and Swordfish with Anchovy-Butter Sauce, the Seafood Lovers Cook Book recipes range from simple to the complex, family meal time favorites to gourmet dining selections. Very highly recommended for personal and professional specialty cookbook collections, the Seafood Lovers Cook Book is additionally enhanced with the provision of a fish substitution chart, seafood tips, and a "user friendly" index.

Gringo's Guide To Authentic Mexican Cooking
Mad Coyote Joe
Northland Publishing
PO Box 1389, Flagstaff, AZ 86002
0873587871 $16.95 1-800-346-3257

A Gringo's Guide To Authentic Mexican Cooking will take Mexican cuisine out of the stamdardized, watered-down, Americanized imitations found in your local Taco Bell, and upgrade it in both authenticity, diversity, and flavor to a true Mexican dining experience whether at the family table or a celebratory and festive event. From Huevos con Machaca (Eggs with Dried Beef); Arroz a la Mexicana (Mexican Rice); and Salsa Colorada para Enchiladas (Red Sauce for Enchiladas); to Tacos de Camarones (Shrimp Tacos); Callo de Hacha con Aguacate (Scallop-Stuffed Avocados); and Galletas de Boda (Mexican Wedding Cookies), A Gringo's Guide To Authentic Mexican Cooking is a superbly, wonderfully illustrated compendium of mouth-watering and highly recommended recipes.

Plums & Prunes Cookbook
Joan Bestwick
Avery Color Studios
511 "D" Avenue, Gwinn, MI 49841
1892384116 $11.95 1-800-722-9925

A unique and unusual recipe collection, Joan Bestwick's Life's Little Peaches, Pears, Plums & Prunes Cookbook showcases 101 fruit recipes that range from Baked Peaches with Raspberry Sauce; Pear Relish; and The Old Watermelon Boat; to Red Plum Ketchup; Prune Waldorf Salad; and Hot Fruit Compote. The recipes range from the simple (Peach Apricot Cobbler) to the gourmet (Plum Cream Pie). Not to be missed are the chocolate oriented recipes (Chocolate Covered Prunes; Chocolate Ice Cream and Pears; Chocolate Pear Cake; Chocolate Pear Dip; Easy Chocolate Pear Cake)! Life's Little Peaches, Pears, Plums & Prunes Cookbook is a welcome contribution to any cookbook collection!

Vegan Meals For One Or Two
Nancy Berkoff
Vegetarian Resource Group
PO Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203
0931411238 $16.00 www.vrg.org

Vegan Meals For One Or Two: Your Own Personal Recipes is a splendidly composed collection of vegan recipes for delicious, nutritious, easy to make dishes that will adequately serve one or two people. Of particular interest for the novice vegan or vegetarian are the introductory sections on shopping for and purchasing ingredients, their proper storage, vegan meal planning, and kitchen safety. There are vegan recipes for breakfast, "One-Pot Wonders", meals to prepare and freeze for later dining, recipes for "Grab-and-Go" time constraints, desserts and snacks, as well as every day and special event cooking. From Upside-Down Pecan-Bran Muffins; Cucumber Raita; and Spur of the Moment Salad; to Almond Rice Pudding; Potato Tacos; and Pasta-Stuffed Roasted Peppers, Vegan Meals For One Or Two showcases some of the best that vegan diets can offer for both culinary taste and appetite satisfaction.

Secrets Of Caveman Cooking
Rick Snider
Golden West Publishers
4113 N. Longview, Phoenix, AZ 85014
1885590849 $6.95 1-800-658-5830

Rick Snider's Secrets Of Caveman Cooking showcases delicious recipes for grills and smokers. Beginning with indispensable information on proper utensils, the sue of wood chips, safety tips, and guidelines for portions and temperatures when cooking, this compendium of mouth-watering dishes ranges from Grilled Sirloin with Orange Marinade; Flank Steaks with Rum; Turkey Burgers; and Chicken Fruit Kabobs; to Honey Barbecued Chicken; Tropical Pork Chops; Yabba-Dabba-Do Ribs; Mint Lege of Lamb; and Blackened Swordfish. There are invaluable sections on smoked meats and wild game, as well as unique grilling techniques for pizzas, fruits, side dishes, lunches, and breakfasts. Secrets Of Caveman Cooking is the ideal cookbook reference for men with a backyard grill, barbecue pit, and a yen to not only bring home the bacon -- but carve it up and serve it too!

Entertaining Simply
John Sarich & Diana Dillard
Sea-Hill Press
6101 200th Street, SW, Suite 205, Lynnwood, WA 98036
0970805012 $22.95 1-866-732-4455

In Entertaining Simply, John Sarich and Diana Dillard effectively collaborate to offer an innovative and timesaving compendium of instruction for creating wonderful parties. Here is a complete shopping list for an entire party menu; daily "to do" lists for everything from sending out the invitations to uncorking the wine; guides fro what to buy, when to cook, and all the many details that go into organizing a party for any personal or professional occasion. From Apple-Butternut Squash Soup; Fennel-Crusted Tuna; Sausage-Stuffed Mushrooms; and Citrus Tart in Shortbread Pastry; to Herb and Hazelnut-Stuffed Tomatoes; Seattle-Style Barbecued Salmon; Lentil Gazpacho with Shrimp; and Basque Strawberry-Rhubarb Cake, Entertaining Simply offers superb and "kitchen friendly" recipes for all occasions from a brunch to a formal dinner.

Blue Plate Specials & Blue Ribbon Chefs
Jane Stern & Michael Stern
Lebhar-Friedman Books
Lisa Ekus Public Relations (publicity)
425 Park Avenue, NY, NY 10022
0867308400 $24.95

Some of America's most unique and talented cooks serve in humble roadside cafes and friendly neighborhood eateries. Jane and Michael Stern have gone "on the road" to encounter and retrieve outstanding recipes from the culinary heartland of American "blue plate specials" and showcased them in Blue Plate Specials & Blue Ribbon Chefs: The Heart And Soul Of America's Great Roadside Restaurants. As much fun to browse through as it is to cook from, this compendium of roadside cafe introductions and wonderful dishes ranges from Every-Friday Haddock Chowder; Becky's Whoopsie-Pie Cake with Poor-Man's Icing; and Enrico Biscotti's Almond Macaroos; to Tennessee Cornbread; Horseradish Pickles; and Mrs. Rowe's Summer Squash Casserole. Blue Plate Specials & Blue Ribbon Chefs is a wonderful addition to any personal or professional cookbook collection.

The Main Street Of America Cookbook
Marian Clark
Council Oak Books Ltd.
1290 Chestnut Street, San Francisco, CA 94109
1571780246 $14.95 1-800-247-8850

In The Main Street Of America Cookbook, Marian Clark draws from an eight-state culinary adventure along Route 66 to showcase menus and 295 recipes offered by roadside cafes, restaurants, and eateries (as well as highlighting local home cooks encountered along the road and the secrets of their specialities). From Greek Meatballs; Chicken and Rice in Wine; and Oklahoma Calf Fries; to Ben Konis' Hot Damn Texas Panhandle Salami; Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls; and Baked Apple Pancake, The Main Street Of America Cookbook offers a wealth of highly recommended, nutritious and palate pleasing dishes that would complement any family menu.

The Southern Cook's Handbook
Courtney Taylor & Bonnie Carter Travis
Quail Ridge Press
PO Box 123, Brandon, MS 39043
1893062395 $24.95 1-800-343-1583

A superbly presented regional cookbook, The Southern Cook's Handbook begins with chapters on the the basics and methods of southern cooking ranging from what equipment to use, to advice on frying, barbequing, and more. Twenty-two chapters are devoted to the recipes themselves and include beverages; appetizers; stocks and stews; salads; vegetables and side dishes; meats; poultry and game birds; fish and seafood; dressings, gravies, and sauces; breads; preserves and pickles; and sweets. Strongly recommended for the family cookbook collection, The Southern Cook's Handbook is enhanced with a glossary of cooking terms, and index, and an index of recipes.

Food For Tots
Janice Woolley & Jennifer Pugmire
Food For Tots Publishing
PO Box 241, Mercer Island, WA 98040
1890908010 $16.95 1-866-366-3367

In Food For Tots: The Complete Guide To Feeding Preschoolers, pediatrician Janice Woolley and homemaker mom Jennifer Pugmire collaborate to showcase more than one hundred "kid tested" delicious and nutritious recipes that will please the youthful palate of even the most picky preschooler. There are also great recipes for playdough, bubbles and other fun stuff; as well as essential information about nutrition, food allergies, and food safety. Of special value for moms are the tips for raising healthy eaters ranging from first foods to family meals. Enhanced with illustrations by Marilyn Taggart, an index, and a bibliography, Food For Tots is essential reading for new mothers -- as well as experienced moms confronted with problematic mealtime preschooler tastes and behaviors.

Argentina Cooks!
Shirley Lomax Brooks
Hippocrene Books, Inc.
171 Madison Avenue, NY, NY 10016
0781808294 $24.95 1-718-454-2366

Argentinean cuisine has an enormous range that runs from game, lamb and seafood to exotic fruits and prime quality beef. In Argentina Cooks!, Shirley Brooks (married to a native of Buenos Aires and having lived and traveled extensively in Argentina) introduces 190 delicious and easy-to-prepare recipes that showcase dishes that would grace any table and satisfy any appetite. From Pavita Rellena A La Criolla (Creole Roast Turkey); Corbina A La Mar Del Plata (Baked Seabass Mar Del Plata Style); and Caramelos de Ciruelas (Candied Prunes); to Lomo de Cerdo Con Leche (Pork Loin in Milk); Budin de Mango (Mango Pudding); and Sopa de Zapallo (Winter Squash Soup), Argentina Cooks! is an ideal recipe compendium for family dining and for ethnic cooking parties!

Full & Plenty 2: Fish & Meat
Maura Laverty
Dufour Editions, Inc.
Chester Springs, PA 19425-0007
1901737306 $12.95 1-800-869-5677

Maura Laverty's Full & Plenty 2: Fish & Meat is a traditional Irish cookbook presenting over 450 recipes for classic Irish soups, fish, vegetables, meat, poultry, game, leftovers and sauces. All recipes have been kitchen-tested to ensure mouth-watering results. In addition to the recipes, Full & Plenty 2 also features numerous cooking tips and techniques, from the five classifications of soup to how to preserve beans, to an anecdotal story that illustrates the proper function of a sauce. From Steak and Kidney Pudding; Pork Pie; and Potato Soup; to Cornish Pastries; Kidney Stew; and Liver in Cider, Full & Plenty 2 is highly enjoyable not only as a source for preparing unique menus for delicious dinners, but also as wry armchair reading for those who enjoy to peruse cookbooks with a little extra zest for digression.



The World History Shelf

Atlas Of The Celts
Barry Rafferty, Cons. editor
Firefly Books
4 Daybreak Lane, Westport, CT 06880
1-55297-541-X $40.00 1-800-387-5085

Maps, color illustrations, and text outline the history of the Celtics, from their religion and expansion to their art and lasting impact on the West. There are plenty of Celtic history titles on the market; but few with the color and clear organization of this atlas: if only one were to be selected for a collection, Atlas Of The Celts would be a top contender.

Memory And The Mediterranean
Fernand Braudel
Knopf
299 Park Avenue, New York NY 10171
0-375-40426-0 $35.00 1-800-726-0600

This general history of the Mediterranean traces Mediterranean area history from its earliest geological roots to the civilizations which flourished later. Memory And The Mediterranean originally was written in the late 1960s but has been set aside until now, updated to reflect recent archaeological discoveries in the region.

Secret Agent
David Stafford
The Overlook Press
141 Wooster Street, New York, NY 10012
1-58567-168-1 $29.95 1-800-743-1312

The author of Secret Agent is a former diplomat who has written extensively on intelligence operations and history: this latest provides a presentation of the covert war against Hitler: the unconventional fighters of a top-secret agency designed to coordinate subversion and sabotage against Hitler. Chapters read almost like fiction but are packed with events and facts.

100 World Leaders
Kathleen Paparchontis
Bluewood Books
38 South B Street, Suite 202, San Mateo, CA 94401
0912517468 $7.95 1-650-548-0754

Kathleen Paparchontis' 100 World Leaders Who Shaped World History is an informative collection of 100 one-page biographies of the men and women who stand out as the most powerful and influential leaders in the recorded history of the world from antiquity to the present day. Great statesmen and tyrannical dictators are listed side by side, from Hammurabi and Winston Churchill to Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler himself. Each biographical entry is accompanied by a photograph if possible, or else an artist's image of the historical leader. A final page sports a 16-question trivia quiz with two suggested projects, and an index facilitates quick and easy reference. 100 World Leaders is fascinating to read by itself, as well as a superbly presented survey of the personalities, good, ill, and human, who etched the lessons of history itself into collective human memory.



The Business Shelf

The Power Of Positive Thinking In Business
Scott W. Ventrella
The Free Press
1230 Ave. of the Americas, NY NY 10020
0743212371 $24.00 www.simonsays.com

Scott Ventrella's The Power Of Positive Thinking In Business: 10 Traits For Maximum Results was written as an antidote to the gossip, griping, and negative impediments to team effort that undermines productivity and costs U.S. companies about three billion dollars a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. When the bottom line suffers from negative thinking, so do all the countless individuals who depend upon the business in question. The Power Of Positive Thinking In Business is a careful, easy to understand guide to adopting a healthy, optimistic attitude for positive action, as well as successful payoffs. From stimulating creativity to fostering an environment of trust, The Power Of Positive Thinking In Business is an excellent reference for increasing workplace productivity, and ultimately, saving a great deal of money.

Turn Your Idea Or Invention Into Millions
Don Kracke
Allworth Press
10 E. 23rd St. #510, NY NY 10010
1581151985 $8.95 1-800-491-2808

Any interested in the world of inventions or creative design will find Turn Your Idea Or Invention Into Millions an important guide to thinking like a professional inventor, from obtaining patents, copyrights and trademarks to calculating wholesale and retail prices and avoiding scams. Any inventor will find this packed with important, practical applications.

Hoover's Vision
Gary Hoover
Texere Publishing
55 East 52nd Street, NY, NY 10055
1587990598 $26.95 1-800-233-4830

Copying success is a waste of time, is the provocative observation of entrepreneur Gary Hoover. Instead, entrepreneurs and business managers need to develop our own, original views of the world. This mind-set requires curiosity, the study of history and geography, and the formation of their own unique vision. Hoover's Vision: Original Thinking For Business Success aptly describes how to employ those elements to identify trends and create commercial ventures to capitalize on them. 336 pp.

Amacom
1601 Broadway, New York NY 10019
1-800-250-5308

Two fine business guides for managers provide practical information on hiring and managing employees. Sherrie Gong Taguchi's Hiring The Best And The Brightest (0-8144-0635-1, $27.95) provides instructions on MBA recruiting methods. Managers are advised not to just look for top new MBA talent, but to run a dynamic MBA recruiting program. This tells how the most successful companies find and develop MBA talents. Paul Falcone's Hiring And Firing Question And Answer Book (7110-2, $18.95) tells how best to attract, interview and select candidates for critical jobs. HR professionals in particular will find this is packed with issues of management responsibilities which carefully identifies potential problems and their solutions. Both of these outstanding Amacom titles are highly recommended for human resource corporate managers.

Precautionary Principle
Indur Goklany
Cato Institute Press
1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20001
1-930865-16-3 $17.95

Environmental risk assessment has long been a part of international agreements and business controls: this provides a critical appraisal of the assessment process, showing that the current uses of the precautionary principle "First, do no harm" is flawed and ignores problems. Goklany creates a new framework for solving such problems and thus provides new food for thought.

Impact Publications
9104 Manassas Drive #N
Manassas Park VA 20111

Want a quick and easy guide to finding a job online? Choose Ron and Caryl Krannich's America's Top Internet Job Sites (1-57023-165-6, $19.95), which lists well over a thousand web sites for job seekers. Keys to using search engines, directories, and gateway employment and employer sites provide invaluable information and tips. Bernard Haldane Associates' Best Salary Tips For Professionals (167-2, $15.95) tells pros how to negotiate the best salary based on understanding how salary discussions operate. Outlines of the common salary mistake job seekers make is particularly insightful and useful.

Dearborn Trade
155 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL 60606
1-800-621-9621

Business professionals and managers seeking tips grounded in actual business experience will appreciate these new releases. Gregory Smith's Here Today, Here Tomorrow (0-7931-4553-8, $19.95) tells managers how to focus on high retention rather than turning over employees. From developing recognition programs to reward and drive high performance to building a workplace that motivates and retains employees, this is packed with suggestions. Felicia Zimmerman's Reinvent Your Work (4551-1, $19.95) tells how to adjust to workplace shifts and how to help reinvent a job or relationship to a changing company. Employees learn how to rejuvenate their positions and business relationships. Dutch Holland's Red Zone Management (4246-6, $25.00) tells how to develop tactical company plans to help managers and trainers achieve the most in a rapidly developing company. Management disasters are detailed with a focus on prevention. Jaclyn Kostner's Bionic E Team Work (4834-0, $25.00) tells how to build a virtual team network via email. Create fast, effective teams which use technology to extend their capabilities with the aid of this focus on e-collaboration. Alan Ross and Cecil Murphey's Beyond World Class (4905-3, $22.00) is written for CEOS and executives who wish to create work environments to attract and retain talented people. From envisioning problems not yet visible to directing staff and reorganizing, this covers different aspects of customer and employee relationships. All are practical, useful business books.



The Audiobook Shelf

Dare To Succeed
Mark Burnett
Hyperion Audio
77 West 66th Street, NY, NY 10023-6298
0-7868-7178-4 $17.98 1-800-759-0190

Author Burnett is behind the "Survivor" television series and is a fine TV producer, but he has his own story to tell, and Alan Shearman narrates it in Dare To Succeed. The author's daring experiences and autobiography come alive under Shearman's hand.

Recorded Books
270 Skipjack Road
Prince Frederick, MD 20678
1-800-638-1304

Eric Jerome Dickey's Between Lovers (0-7887-9469-8, $68.00) receives newcomer Dion Graham's Broadway background and acting skills are he brings to life the story of three entwined lovers and frustrated passions. Drama and interpersonal conflict come to life under his voice. James Lee Burke's Bitterroot (9471-X, $76.00) enjoys Tom Stechschulte's brisk voice as it continues the Billy Bob Holland series with another story of the Texas lawyer. Stechschulte's voice is a perfect match for this story of a string of murders which might be a vendetta. Andrew Greeley's Bishop And Begger Girl Of St. Germain (9659-3, $52.00) receives veteran George Guidall's smooth voice and extensive Broadway expertise as he tells of a Bishop who seeks a vanished priest. Good intrigue brings the mystery alive under Guidall's calm voice. Sandra Brown's Seduction By Design (8856-6, $45.00) enjoys Jenna Stern's clear rendition, which sparks the story of a successful career girl who falls in love. All are fine leisure choices for library patrons.

Classic American Short Stories, Volume 1
Audio Connoisseur
77 East Andrews Drive, NW, #253, Atlanta, Ga 30305-1361
1929718098 $24.00 1-800-484-8365, code 0502

Superbly narrated by Charlton Griffin and enhanced with both music and sound effects, Classic American Short Stories: Volume 1 is an unabridged, three cassette, 4 hour and 28 minute audiobook presentation that showcases some of the finest masters of the short story format ever to grace American literature. Included are Edith Wharton's A Journey; Conrad Aiken's Impulse; Robert Penn Warren's A Christian Education; William Faulkner's Barn Burning; Willa Cather's Paul's Case; and Stephen Vincent Benet's The Devil And Daniel Webster. With its flawless technical recording values and masterful presentation, This first volume in the Audio Connoisseur Classic American Short Stories series will leave the listener eagerly awaiting a second volume!

Blackstone Audio
Box 969, Ashland, OR 95720
1-800-729-2665

Two fine audios make for excellent unabridged listening and durable library lending. Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt (0-7861-2018-5, $76.95) presents a literary classic spiced by Wolfram Kandinsky's evocative rendition and portraying a solid businessman who doesn't understand life and family. George is in reality a lonely winner: his angst and dilemma come to life in audio. It will take a dedicated listener to listen to the weighty two-audio set by Gus Russo Live By The Sword (0-7861-2096-7, $62.95 per set), but any who are interested in espionage, Cuba, Castro and JFK will find this involving. Investigative reporter Russo probes Kennedy's assassination but the meat of the title lies in its analysis of government actions. Both are highly recommended picks.

Arthur Conan Doyle
Hesketh Pearson
Naxos AudioBooks
416 Mary Lindsay Polk Drive, Suite 509, Franklin, TN 37067
9626347422 $13.98 1-877-629-6723

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) is best known as the creator of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. This outstanding biography by Hesketh Pearson (and wonderfully narrated by Tim Pigott-Smith) reveals Doyle's many other accomplishments, including how he came to the profession of medicine, his activities as a war correspondent, his eventual interest in spiritualism, as well as his many other writings. Ironically, Doyle felt his Sherlock Holmes stories to be the least of his literary works while prizing his now largely forgotten major historical novels. Here too is the story of Doyle as a husband, including the death of his first wife and the enduring affection of his second marriage. A true "rags to riches" tale, Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life is a technically flawless production with musical interludes and cues that is a "must" for anyone who has ever thrilled at one of his immortal stories.

Audio Editions
Auburn, CA 95604

Four fine new mysteries will excite those who appreciate unabridged suspense and strong narrators. Agatha Christie's classic By The Pricking Of My Thumbs (1-57270-233-8, $27.95) receives Shakespearian actor Alex Jenning's classic and dramatic force as it tells of Tommy and Tuppence, who investigate suspicious disappearances and deaths in a nursing home. The course of this investigation may hit too close to home for the two. Hugh Fraser's studied voice narrates Christie's And Then There Were None (250-8, $24.95), telling of ten trapped houseguests who become a killer's prey. The suspense shows especially well on audio format. Rex Stout's Final Deduction (232-X, $24.95) provides an unabridged Nero Wolfe mystery with veteran audio narrator Michael Prichard at the healm. Here Nero and sidekick Archie tackle a 2-murder case. Fans of Sherlock Holmes will relish the style and presentation here. Margery Allingham's Case Of The Late Pig (167-9, $24.95) enjoys a smooth presentation by British actor Francis Matthews, who does a good job of bringing the underlying black humor of the story to life. All are excellent mysteries.

Penton Overseas
2470 Impala Dr., Carlsbad, CA 92008
1-800-748-5804

Three excellent audios are highly recommended picks for leisure listeners. If it's high adventure and survival you seek, don't miss the splendidly recorded, 10-cassette short stories of Epic Adventures (1-56015-917-0, $39.95). Stories from the survivors of natural disasters and outdoors accidents are paired with veteran audio narrators from George Guidall to Simon Prebble for maximum high drama. Star Trek star Marina Sirtis ably narrates Flight Of The Bumble Bee (0-9660392-3-8, $19.95), which comes complete with sound effects to highlight the dramatic story of an ex-starship pilot turned drunk and a new struggle which involves him. The dramatic effects are well done. he Radio Repertory Company's Garson Krebs, Private Eye (0-9660392-2-X, $24.95) also includes a healthy dose of humor as it provides a full-cast dramatization with sound effects and orchestral score of a private know-it-all detective's major cases. Highly recommended.

Time Warner Audio
1271 Avenue of Americas, NY NY 10020
1-800-759-0190

Five nonfiction audios provide leisure listeners with a wide variety of accounts. Golfing fans will appreciate Tiger Woods' How I Play Golf (1-58621-186-2, $25.98), which enjoys Walter Franks' smooth and calm voice as it explains Tiger's mental and physical tips of the sport. Patsy Clairmont's Mending Your Heart In A Broken World (219-2, $17.98) provides humor and advice on the power of faith, telling of the depression which kept her a prisoner in her home and sharing anecdotes and scriptural inspiration. Patti LaBelle's Patti's Pearls (188-9, $17.98) receives the author's own narration and an unabridged presentation as it tells how to live joyfully and generously. Laura Randolph Lancaster co-authors the presentation on living a more meaningful life. Caroline Kennedy selects and introduces Best-Loved Poems Of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (7150-4, $17.98), which will make a fine gift for fans of Onassis. This shares her mother's favorites as well as Jacqueline's own poetic attempts, with various narrators including Caroline Kennedy enhancing the effect. J. David Kuo's Dot.Bomb (182-X, $24.98) tells of 1999, the pinnacle of dot.com fever, and Kuo's own involvement in a huge start-up called Value America. From unparalleled optimism in the start-up to flaws and failures in the system, this provides an involving survey of one business's flight and crash.

It Is I, Joseph
Cynthia Davis
Americana Publishing, Inc.
303 San Mateo, NE, Suite 104A, Albuquerque, NM 87108
1588070654 $25.00

It Is I, Joseph is the unabridged recording of Cynthia Davis story of Joseph, the son of Jacob of Canaan, and his adventures in Egypt as recorded in the Old Testament. Ably narrated by Charlie O'Dowed, we are introduced to the politics of the court of Pharaoh, nomadic tribal life, the details and personalities intertwined with one of the most compelling of the Old Testament tales of family and betrayal, hardship and faith, despair and conversion, and eventual restoration and triumph. Exceptionally well written, dramatically narrated, and flawlessly recorded, It Is I, Joseph is enthusiastically recommended.

Stonehenge
Bernard Cornwell
Books On Tape, Inc.
PO Box 7900, Newport Beach, CA 92658
0736663495 $88.00 1-800-541-5525

Superbly narrated by Geoffrey Howard, Bernard Cornwell's Stonehenge: A Novel Of 2000 BC is the compelling story of a stranger's death and his ominous "gift" of gold which precipitated the construction of a remarkable neolithic event some four thousand years ago -- the construction of Stonehenge. We are drawn into a vibrant and fascinating world of ritual and sacrifice, patricide, betrayal and murder, sibling rivalry, and a quest for power, wealth, and spiritual fulfillment. Three brothers who are rivals are tenuously united in the construction of a temple to their gods at the dawn of civilization. Stonehenge is an epic tale, crafted by a master storyteller and delivered by an equally masterful narrator. Very highly recommended. (Unabridged: 16 hours, 30 minutes).

Brilliance Corporation
PO Box 887, Grand Haven, MI 49417
1-800-854-7859

These new arrivals are excellent abridged presentations and are especially recommended picks for listeners seeking high interest, action-packed productions. John Nance's impressive novel Headwind (1-58788-822-X, $24.95) enjoys a reading by the author as it tells of an effort to save an ex-president. An airline pilot faces a dilemma as he searches for a country which can give the ex-president sanctuary from international laws. Catherine Coulter's Maze (762-2, $24.95) receives Susan Erickson's vivid narrative skills as it provides a romantic thriller strong in twists and turns of the unexpected. Lacey's older sister is a serial killer's latest victim, involving Lacey in his capture and further dangers. Fern Michaels' Kentucky Rich (238-8, $19.95) receives veteran Laural Merlington's warm, smooth reading as it tells of Nealy Coleman, now a rich adult well known in the horse racing world and come back home to confront her past. Kelley Armstrong's Bitten (925-3, $19.95) receives newcomer Aasne Vigesaa's memorable narrative style as it tells of a young, beautiful woman who happens to be a werewolf. Her ongoing struggle with her condition will continue to change her life. J.D. Robb's Holiday In Death (439-9, $24.95) receives Susan Erickson's vivid skills as it tells of a computer dating technology which brings lovers together - and killers to victims. A tense, revealing thriller. Marla Runyan's No Finish Line (769-2, $19.95) receives Emily Schirner's clear reading as it presents the biography of a young woman diagnosed with macular degeneration who becomes a star athlete despite her growing blindness. Veteran audio book narrator Dick Hill reveals P.J. O'Rourke's Ceo Of The Sofa (932-3, $19.95), providing the humorist's reflections on middle age and his living room, among other facts of life. Ted Conover narrates his own Rolling Nowhere (677-4, $24.95), which tells of a life of riding the rails with hobos. The author learns survival skills and customs of the road in this first-hand eyewitness report. Homer Hickam's Sky O Stone (886-6, $24.95) also enjoys Dick Hill's seasoned, experience voice as it tells of a return to West Virginia in 1961. This is a sequel to October Sky and while prior familiarity is not essential, it will enhance enjoyment of this memoir. All are exceptional listening choices and are highly recommended picks.



The Holocaust Studies Shelf

Hitler And The Holocaust
Robert S. Wistrich
Modern Library
299 Park Avenue, New York Ny 10171
0679642226 $19.95 1-800-726-0600

This new addition to the Modern Library's 'Chronicles' series confronts many issues inherent in Holocaust history, from Hitler's plans for mass genocide to the relationship between his efforts and the larger war. Hitler And The Holocaust is an excellent survey of the underlying social and political beliefs which helped shape the world Hitler changed.

Legislating The Holocaust
Karl A. Schleunes, editor
Westview Press
5500 Central Ave., Boulder, CO 80301
0813337755 $36.00 westviewpress.com

Ably translated by Carol Scherer and edited by Karl Schleunes, Legislating The Holocaust: The Bernhard Loesener Memoirs And Supporting Documents is the direct, recorded testimony of Bernhard Loesener. This is the man who personally drafted much of the legislation that disenfranchised and dehumanized the Jews of Nazi Germany. He also kept the minutes of inter-ministerial conferences concerned with the "Jewish Question." In 1950, Bernhard Loesener penned a memoir in which he sought to explain and justify his actions, as well as professing his horror of the Final Solution to which he so thoroughly and directly contributed. First published in 1961, Loesener's memoir has never appeared in English until now. Also included are an introduction and lengthy notes by editor Karl A. Schleunes, as well as Loesener's testimony before the Nuremberg Tribunal. An invaluable contribution to Holocaust studies and reference collections, Legislating The Holocaust is a stark and revealing insight into the banality of evil, and the bureaucratic mechanics of facilitating mass murder.



The Hunting/Fishing Shelf

Largemouth Bass Fly-Fishing
Terry Wilson and Roxanne Wilson
Frank Amato Publications
P.O. Box 82112, Portland, Oregon 97282
1571882154 $16.00 amatobooks.com

Terry Wilson and Roxanne Wilson draw upon their many years of expertise and experience to present Largemouth Bass Fly-Fishing: Beyond The Basics as a practical, well-thought-out fishing guide meant for all levels of fishing enthusiasts with an interest in catching largemouth bass. Largemouth Bass Fly-Fishing features advice for success during all seasons of the year; instructions for fishing in shallows, mid-depths, or deep waters; and how to use time, weather, and location patterns to improve one's catch. Written in down-to-earth language appreciable by the lay sportsman, yet covering a diverse and detailed range of topics, Largemouth Bass Fly-Fishing is recommended reading for any fly-fishing enthusiast, and sure to provide new tips, tricks, and techniques even to veterans of the sport!



The Education Shelf

Helping Gifted Children Soar
Carol A. Strip
Gifted Psychology Press
P.O. Box 5057, Scottsdale, AZ 85261
0910707413 $18.00 giftedbooks.com

Helping Gifted Children Soar: A Practical Guide For Parents And Teachers is a most user-friendly guidebook for parents and teachers, addressing such important matters as how to distinguish between smart children and the truly gifted, how to help gifted children learn, the value of "learning contracts", the dangers of depression and low self-esteem, and building trust between parents and teachers. An appendix in back offers numerous more books, resources, and web sites for more information. Written in plain, accessible, direct language, Helping Gifted Children Soar is an indispensable general reference and guide for any parent or classroom educator who wants to help their talented offspring or pupils make the most of their scholastic abilities.

The Truth About Testing
W. James Popham
ASCD
1703 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria, VA 22311-1714
0871205238 $23.95 www.ascd.org

Educator and author James Popham's The Truth About Testing takes a critical look at the standardized achievement tests used in America's schools today. The qualities that these tests really measure are not necessarily what the people who tout them claim, and their exaggerated importance in rating the school systems could have severe and destructive consequences on the future of the children who are learning how to do well on certain tests - and not necessarily how to perform the mathematical, scientific, and critical thinking skills they will need when they graduate. educator and author Popham also presents a common sense and practical alternatives to how test data should be used in the classroom, and evidence-gathering strategies that teachers and administrators can use to create a thriving, accountability-driven educational institution. Articulate, instructive, and well-thought-out, The Truth About Testing is a "must" for any educator who needs to effectively evaluate just how well his or her students are really doing.

Reflective Practice To Improve Schools
Jennifer York-Barr, et al.
Corwin Press/Sage Publications
2455 Teller Rd, Thousand Oaks CA 91320
0761977635 $29.95 corwinpress.com

Reflective Practice To Improve Schools: An Action Guide To Educators defines reflective practice (approaches to teaching that require personal commitment to continuous learning and improvement) and discusses how reflective practice and continuous learning can be spread among teachers and applied throughout school systems to create a better educational base for our children's future. Tables, figures, point-by-point bulletins and black-and-white diagrams help illustrate the benefits of reflective practice. Collaboratively written by Jennifer York-Barr, William A. Sommers, Gail S. Ghere, and Jo Monite in an effort to present difficult undergraduate level concepts in clear language that can be easily grasped, Reflective Practice To Improve Schools poses a challenging, compelling argument and is highly recommended for any educator in search tips, tricks, and techniques for self improvement on the job.

Paying Teachers For What They Know And Do
Allan Odden & Carolyn Kelley
Corwin Press/Sage Publications
2455 Teller Rd. Thousand Oaks CA 91320
0761978887 $29.95 1-800-818-7243

Now available in a newly updated second edition, Paying Teachers For What They Know And Do: New And Smarter Compensation Strategies To Improve Schools by Allan Odden and Carolyn Kelley is an innovative, ground breaking look at brand new, competitive motivation plans for teachers. It describes a vast variety of different compensation initiatives in use around America today, as well as the plans used in private vs. public sector schools. Knowledge-based and skill-based pay are extensively discussed, as is how to effectively begin a payment plan that rewards the best teachers who produce the highest results. Extensive indexing and a list of sources make looking up information on this hotly debated topic a snap. A remarkable, eye-opening reference, and very highly recommended reading for educators, school board members, and administrators.

Typing Tutor 10
Knowledge Adventure
6060 Center Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045
CD-ROM $60 www.knowledgeadventure.com

Typing Tutor 10 is an educational CD-ROM software hallmarked by easy-to-use lessons complete with keyboard and handguides, split screens, backgrounds, music, and web-like navigation. The program introduces beginning students to the keyboard and the Internet. They learn to type the keyboard and numeric pad characters using the traditional "Home Row Method", as well as become familiar with both the look and feel of email and Internet sites. As they advance, students increase their confidence and dexterity with customized lessons and challenging games, all enhanced with animation and rewarding interactive feedback to motivate them to build their skills and advance at a rapid pace. In addition to classroom instructional use, Typing Tutor 10 is also ideal for adults new to the use of a computer keyboard and needing to acquire competency and confidence in its use for their computer programs, projects, and usages.



The Nature/Ecology Shelf

Wilderness Living
Gregory J. Davenport
Stackpole Books
5067 Ritter Rd., Mechanicsburg PA 17055
0811729931 $16.95 1-800-732-3669

Gregory Davenport's Wilderness Living is a fascinating and informative guide that looks beyond merely surviving in the wilderness and envisions the art of living with nature in the long term. Among the many skills taught in detail are hunting and trapping techniques, meat preservation, improvising clothing, finding water, designing shelter, and making tools and baskets. The black-and-white illustrations clearly depict the braiding, trap-building, knot-tying and many other abilities described. Wilderness Living is indispensable prefatory reading for any nature enthusiast who wants to learn how to live on their own, away from the comforts and conveniences that saturate modern civilization!



The Aviation Shelf

De Havilland Comet
Kev Darling
Specialty Press
11605 Kost Dam Road, North Branch, MN 55056
1580070361 $16.95 1-800-895-4585

Volume 7 in the outstanding Speciality Press series "Airliner Tech", De Havilland Comet contains the straight scoop on the first aircraft to bring high-speed, jet-powered flight to the marketplace and the masses of the world. But the De Havilland Comet was also one of the first civilian aircraft to suffer explosive disintegration during flight, caused by a poor understanding of the devastating forces experienced by a high altitude, pressurized jet aircraft. Though the De Havilland Comet was a civil failure, a better designed version served the Royal Airforce as the "Nimrod," one of the longest-lived military patrol aircraft. De Havilland Comet contains everything the aviation student and the non-specialist general reader would want to know about this fascinating jet, its history, and its legacy to the world of aviation.



The Sports Shelf

The Woman Fencer
Anita Evangelista & Nick Evangelista
Wish Publishing
c/o Cardinal Publishers Group
7301 Georgetown Road, Suite 118, Indianapolis, IN 46268
1930546483 $16.95 wishpublishing.com

Collaboratively written by Anita and Nick Evangelista, The Woman Fencer is a superbly presented athletic guide written specifically for women who dare to pick up the foil, epee, or saber and join one of the most exciting and physically intense sports available. From physical condition and mental strategies, to using protective gear tailored to protect a woman's breasts, to biographies of champion female fencers, The Women Fencer is packed with useful and fascinating information for beginning and advanced fencers alike. A strongly recommended addition to physical education department and community library reference collections, The Woman Fencer employs black-and-white photographs to illustrate an informative, accessible, and helpful text.

The Best Of Baseball
Warren N. Wilbert
McFarland & Company
Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640
0786409304 $45.00 1-800-253-2187

In The Best Of Baseball: The 20th Century's Greatest Players Ranked By Position, sports journalist, author, and baseball fan Warren Wilbert has used a set of criteria designed to present a comprehensive review of player performance and rank the country's all-time greatest players of the twentieth century. Strongly recommended as an essential, core title for personal and academic sports history collections, The Best Of Baseball begins with an informative introduction outlining and explaining the criteria used. Also provided are statistics such as Total Player Ratings, Fielding Runs, Batting Averages, Batting Runs, Earned Run Averages, Pitcher's Defense, and more.

Performance Golf
Gerald A. Walford & Gerald E. Walford
Van der Plas Publications
1282 7th Ave., San Francisco, CA 94122
1892495333 $19.95 www.vanderplas.net

Performance Golf: Developing And Perfecting Your Golf Game is a thorough, systematic guide to improving one's golf game. Written by a professional golf player and a licensed specialist in school psychology, Performance Golf covers everything from the physics and biomechanics of golf swings and golf equipment, to the uses of vision, imagery, reflexes, and neuro-linguistic programming as it affects one's golf swing. Physical and mental strategies of golf are broken down in elaborate detail, and an appendix reminds the reader of the rules of golf - namely, what one is and is not allowed to do on the quest to the final hole. Performance Golf is a superbly well-rounded reference, highly recommended for golf enthusiasts of all levels of expertise who are actively seeking to perfect their game, or who have aspirations of turning their golfing pastime into a profession level sports performance.



The Native American Shelf

The Northern Navajo Frontier 1860-1900
Robert S. McPherson
Utah State University Press
7800 Old Main Hill, Logan, Utah 84322
0874214246 $19.95 usu.edu/usupress

Robert McPherson's The Northern Navajo Frontier 1860-1900: Expansion Through Adversity is an amazing and informative examination of how the Navajos successfully defended and expanded their territory in an era when most Native Americans lost their lands. Focusing on the northern frontier borderlands and the "aggressive defensive" used to hold on to them, largely without making war, The Northern Navajo Frontier 1860-1900 is a revealing look at how it is possible for a people to survive even when they are outnumbered and outgunned. The scholarly, college-level text is meticulously researched and preoccupied with truly understanding what was truly happening on the Northern Navajo Frontier and why during the specified period of 40 years. A most fascinating and thought-provoking study, The Northern Navajo Frontier 1860-1900 is an impressive and welcome addition to Native American history reading lists and reference collections.

My Relatives Say
Mary Louise Defender Wilson
Makoche Recording Company
PO Box 2756, Bismarck, ND 58502-2756
MW0185D $TBA 1-800-637-6853

In a remarkable and flawlessly recorded CD format, My Relatives Say, Mary Louise Defender Wilson presents an impressive and memorable series of stories drawn from traditional Dakotah sources and using traditional native American imagery incorporating animals, wind and stars to showcase lessons on how to live in a civilized way as humans on Earth. The stories include The World Never Ends (5:04); The Blue Heron Who Stayed for the Winter (14:02); Earth Beans (4:57); The Dakotah Have had Horses for a Long Time (6:31); How Snake Creek Came to Be (10:38); Why the Fawn has Spots (4:52); The Star in the Cottonwood Tree (4:53); and The First Flute was Used for Courting (7:36). My Relatives Say is a strongly recommended addition to any personal or academic Native American studies collection.

Rotting Face
R. G. Robertson
Caxton Press
312 Main Street, Caldwell, ID 83605-3299
0870044192 $24.95 caxtonpress.com

Rotting Face by author and historian R. G. Robertson is an accurate and revealing historical account of the cruelty of a devastating disease that decimated a people with no immunological defense against it. Variola major, commonly known as smallpox, dubbed "Rotting Face" was first carried to Native American peoples by means of a steamboat voyage, and carved a deadly swath of sickness, suffering, and death everywhere it spread. It destroyed the American Indian cultures of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arickara in less than a year, devoured entire villages of the Blackfeet, and claimed more lives from the Northern Plains tribes in one year than all the military expeditions ever sent against American Indians. Rotting Face is a compelling, graphic account dedicated to providing cold, hard facts and dispelling myths, particuarly in regard to the role of whites in the spread of this lethal disease. Highly recommended reading for anyone with an interest in Native American history, as well as the history of deadly diseases.

A Medicine Woman Speaks
Cinnamon Moon
New Page Books/Career Press
P.O. Box 687, Franklin Lakes, N.J. 07417
1-56414-526-3 $14.99 newpagebooks.com

A Medicine Woman Speaks: An Explanation Of Native American Spirituality is an intimate, conversational yet disciplined treatise of shamanic spirituality and Native American spiritual practices that can be used by novices and experienced seekers. There is detailed exploration of purification ceremonies, totem work, and the creation of inner and outer sacred space. Guidelines are given for those who wish to pursue their connection with the Great Mystery and to discover their own spirituality gifts. Written by a white woman who has studied with several individual Native American teachers and mentors, A Medicine Woman Speaks strives to make this synthesized shamanistic approach accessible. There are appropriate caveats to the uninitiated, such as the warning to beware those who offer something for nothing. A glossary of terms and a brief bibliography assist the reader who desires to explore shamanism and Native American religious practices further. Sourced in Plains Indian lore and teachings, A Medicine Woman Speaks is ideal for the beginning nonnative shamanism student.



The Parenting Shelf

Ready Start School!
Sandra F. Rief, M.A.
Prentice Hall Press
240 Frisch Court, Paramus, NJ 07652
0735202990 $15.00 1-800-631-8571

Sandra Rief's Ready Start School!: Nurturing And Guiding Your Child Through Preschool And Kindergarten is a comprehensive parent's guide to helping children ages 3 to 5 start out right. From fostering confidence to priming reading skills and what to do if you suspect your child has a learning disability, Ready Start School! covers it all. A special section of advice directly from interviews with preschool and kindergarten teachers makes Ready Start School! a stand-apart guide and a highly recommended "how to" reference for concerned parents.

Win Your Child Custody War 2002 Edition
Charlotte Hardwick
Pale Horse Publishing
PO Box 1447, Livingston, TX 77351-1447
1587470292 $79.95

A disclaimer at the beginning of Win Your Child Custody War warns, along with numerous other cautions, that "No reader should act on the basis of any information contained in this manual or provided through the listings from this manual without seeking appropriate legal advice from an attorney." With that sobering caveat in mind, Win Your Child Custody War is a comprehensive, exhaustive legal reference, written specifically to help parents embroiled in a custody case know exactly what their options are and the different things they can do to best pursue those options. From logs as documentation to how to deal with lies, perjury, panic situations, allegations of physical or sexual abuse, and the costs of court and child support, Win Your Child Custody War leaves no issue unexamined. For ease of comprehension, most situations are presented in mini-anecdotal format, restated in an unambiguous "What This Means" sentence or two, and a "Reasonable Action" is clearly presented for immediate consideration. Win Your Child Custody War is more than a reference; it is a singularly fascinating study of all the human behavioral ills that can accompany divorce and child custody proceedings. Furthermore, Win Your Child Custody War should be required reading cover to cover for any parent involved in a child custody dispute. While it absolutely cannot take the place of an attorney, it will unquestionably help the reader understand what he or she can do with or expect from the court system before the attorney starts the clock on charging a pricey hourly rate.



The Poetry Shelf

House And Garden
John Engels
University of Notre Dame Press
310 Flanner Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556
026803057X $16.00 1-800-621-2736

John Engels (professor of English at St. Michael's College and an award winning author of ten volumes of poetry) offers a impressively textured series of memorable poetic monologues in House And Garden in revelation and celebration of the thoughts of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden (and beyond), and the process of establishing order through the naming of things - and feelings. Adam in the Graveyard: How cold it is,/that white sun smoking overhead,/powerful contours of snow//braiding, dividing/around the stones,/sheeting and rumpling as if//something were struggling/to break through./In this place//memory's no salvation,/there's no cause to wake/or trouble us, in this place love//has dwindled to fatigue/like winter gardens/discarded to this//whirl of dirt,/to these heaviest/of days, to this most durable//of our inclinations. John Engels' House And Garden is also available in hardcover (0268030561, $28.00).

Pondering Verse
Michael P. Kimery
Unlimited Publishing, L.L.C.
PO Box 3007, Bloomington, IN 47402
1588320200 $16.99 www.unlimitedpublishing.com

Pondering Verse is the first of fourteen prospective volumes, which uses poetry to examine basic principles and ethics. Inspirational prose influenced by the memorable style of Omar Kyam and his "Rubiyat" bring to life serious emotional and moral concerns, and also a message of hope - that even when all seems dark and futile, there is value in persevering beyond. Sometimes all that you do seems futile/And nothing that should have a simple answer does./It is in these times that you should not look for a method behind/the madness, but to some other aspect of your life altogether.

Ash
Sharan Strange
Beacon Press
25 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108-2892
0807068632 $14.00 www.beacon.org

The poetry of Sharan Strange is a compelling series of revelations on life and living in a rural Southern town. Dorothy: Being a foster kid gave her second-class/status, but she was still our hero./An outcast like us, she was an ally against/school bullies and neighborhood brats./Though we were all poor, she was rejected/for more simple-minded, human reasons./With smoke-dark skin, hair no longer/than a snap, and legs covered with sores,/any hope she nursed of being found/desirable or cherished was revoked./She retaliated with a physical prowess/that awed us. Endless chores gave her/muscles to rival the older boys'/and she stunned them in short breathless tussles/that often drew blood. We envied her a body/whose strength matched its rage./At fourteen, she could beat a man./In our small world, she seemed invincible,/until we learned her one weakness:/a love for my brother that, unreturned,/provoked the only fight she willingly lost.

Urban Nature
Laure-Anne Bosselaar, editor
Milkweed Editions
1011 Washington Avenue South, #300, Minneapolis, MN 55415-1277
1571314105 $16.95 1-800-520-6455

Urban Nature: Poems About Wildlife In The City is a unique and impressive compendium of poetry in celebration of nature and wildlife resiliency and presence in an urban environment. Laure-Anne Bosselaar has selected poems by more than 130 poets and in doing so has created collection that will be read again and again and again. Pigeons: Beaks evolved for gutter cracks, handouts./Hooked toes fit for a witch's brew./Indigent as bag ladies, as self-possessed,/we halt traffic at a lunatic's whim/pecking at scraps, muttering to ourselves,/our roosts under eaves, in rooftop cages./What face under heaven has a duller eye?/Yet who would begrudge our one consummation:/to outlast you in love, impassioned day long/where we've homed on your sill, your flesh spent/with work or weariness? Untouchables,/we croon indiscriminately our garbled moans/till you drive us out. Our sit can eat through steel. (Daniel Tobin)

The Great Wounded Bird
David Westheimer
Texas Review Press
Texas A&M University Press, dist.
English Department
Sam Houston State Huntsville, TX 77341
1881515281 $12.95 1-800-826-8911

In The Great Wounded Bird And Other Poems, David Westheimer (winner of the 2000 Texas Review Poetry Prize) presents a memorable, strongly recommended collection of poems about the experiences of men in a time and place of war. Poggio Mirteto: RAF bomber crewman are in the room next to ours/At Poggio Mirteto, the Italian quarantine prison./When we try to talk to them through the wall,/They do not trust us./We might not be what we claim./But when the sing, "That was a cute little rhyme,/sing us another one, do," and we do,/We pass their test, genuine Yanks. We sing/"Sixpence" through the wall./"I've got sixpence to last me all my life."/Our American version innocent,/The British version dirty,/So we adopt theirs.

Love Lost
Frank Millard
Zestos Publishing, Inc.
Box 3916, Mansfield, OH 44907-3916
0970798504 $7.25 1-800-247-6553

The poetry of Frank Millard is vivid and accessible as it ranges from the light-hearted to the emotionally sensitive. The subject matter ranges from school violence and cyber-relationships to the death of Millard's younger brother, witnessed when he was eleven years old. Evidencing a firm grasp of words as tools of imagination and evocation, description and context, Love Lost is a remarkable volume showcasing a true literary talent. MoonWalk: Looking for love, stumbling over lust./Gaining bruises, losing trust./Earning pain, drifting further away./Listing in space, groping in darkness//Listing in space and groping in darkness./Gaining bruises, losing trust./Earning pain, drifting further away./Looking for love, stumbling over lust.



The Fiction Shelf

Plainclothes Naked
Jerry Stahl
Morrow
10 E. 53rd St., New York NY 10022
0-06-018556-2 $25.00 1-800-242-7737

Take a heathy dose of sex, add a world of detectives and killers, and throw in an ounce of politics and you have a fast-paced story packed with especially zany characters and circumstances involving crackheads and an unlikely romance. Stahl's novel is fast-paced.

The Comancheria
B. Ray Mize
Bald Cypress Press
PO Box 640981, Kenner, LA 70064
0970898444 $12.95 1-866-464-0133

Author B. Ray Mize debut novel, The Comancheria: A Kill Line is a rapidly paced adventure novel that plays out on a modern Texas ranch and on the streets of New Orleans. The reader is quickly engaged with a series of memorable characters that range from Native Americans, Cajuns, and cowboys, to thugs and career women. The story is superbly crafted and thoroughly entertaining. The Comancheria is one of that class of novels that are so easy to pick up and so hard to put down!

Four Wheels Good
Dan Spencer
Xlibris
436 Walnut Street, 11th floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106
1401002722 $19.99 www.Xlibris.com

Dan Spencer's Four Wheels Good is an excellently crafted historical fiction set in 1903 and the beginning of the automobile age. The Packard Motor Car Company hires foreman Tom Fetch to drive a twelve-horsepower Model F across the American continent, a feat widely believe impossible. Even so, a rival Vermont doctor on a dare is competing against Fetch - with a three-week head start! Spencer's past experience in writing for PBS television series shows through in the crisp, clear, eager prose that unfolds in this unique story about confronting challenges head-on. A highly enjoyable and exciting read. Four Wheels Good is also available in hardcover (1401002714, $29.00)

Ill Met By Midnight
Sarah Hoyt
Ace Books
375 Hudson Street, NY, NY 10014
0-441-00860-7 $21.95 1-800-847-5515

Will Shakespeare is drawn into a world haunted by elves and fantasy when his wife and newborn daughter disappear in this intriguing blend of novel and fantasy. Twists and turns mark a plot powered by Shakespeare's personality and personal life Highly recommended.

Doomed To Repeat It
D.G.K. Goldberg
Design Image
231 S. Frontage Road, #17, Burr Ridge, IL 60527
1-891946-12-9 $15.95 1-800-563-5455

Punk cowgirl Layla has had a hard life with her mother's murder and her father's drinking, so when she meets Ian the ghost, who becomes her soulmate and friend, it only seems another step in her confused, torn life. Goldberg creates an intriguing plot packed with very unusual characters and circumstances.

Mengele's Legacy
David Jay Weinberg
Rutledge Books
107 Mill Plain Rd., Danbury, CT 06811
1-58244-185-5 $23.95 1-800-251-4000

A prominent biochemist becomes involved in international intrigue when a cure for AIDS announced by a German chemical company turns out to be a treasure hunt for Nazi Mengele's secret research. One scientist's quest for information turns into a desperate social and personal struggle which extends into world communities in this tense thriller.

Forge
175 - 5th Ave., New York NY 10010

It's nearly impossible to put down author Alan Nayes' Gargoyles (0765300109, $25.95) once begun: a too-realistic plot tells of a college woman seeking money to treat her terminally ill mother. The only way she can earn big bucks fast is by answering a clinic's ad to become a surrogate - but when she begins to suspect the nature of her unborn child, danger strikes. Intriguing ethical and moral questions continue in unexpected directions right up to the final, satisfyingly surprising, conclusion. Cecelia Holland's Angel And The Sword (0312868898, $14.95) tells of a young woman who takes the guise of warrior Roderick the Beardless in order to save her people. Holland brings history to life in a retelling of her story of courage.

Godiva And The Golden Dragon
Steven James
Writers Showcase/iUniverse.com
5220 S 16th, Ste. 200, Lincoln, NE 68512
0595177794 $23.95 www.iuniverse.com

Steven James' Godiva And The Golden Dragon is a superbly written historical and romantic novel set in the last years of Anglo-Saxon rule in England. Starting with the famous ride of Lady Godiva. Spanning A.D. 1057 to A.D. 1066, Godiva And The Golden Dragon wonderfully mixes history with unforgettable characterization, seizing the reader's consciousness and refusing to let go until the very end. A richly involving novel and highly recommended for historical fiction enthusiasts.

Marginal People
Michael A. Smith
Writers Club Press/iUniverse.com
5220 S 16th, Ste. 200, Lincoln, NE 68512
0595185150 $17.95 www.iuniverse.com

Michael Smith's Marginal People is a dark, urban noire thriller about the greed and ultimate self-destruction that lurk in the hearts of seemingly normal men and women. A down on his luck aspiring actor, his emotionally scarred artist girlfriend, a single mother barely surviving on a subsistence wage and a criminal kingpin are among the unwary who become involved in manipulative ex-con's kidnaping and ransom plot. The efforts of these marginalized people to survive and free themselves from the plot's ruthless machinations will transform some of them, and cost others their struggling lives. Grim, shadowy, sinister, and entrancing in its literary power of engagement, Marginal People is not to be missed.

The Bone Weaver
Victoria Zackheim
Elton-Wolf Publishing
2505 Second Avenue, Suite 515, Seattle, Washington 98121
1586190210 $18.95 www.elton-wolf.com

Victoria Zacheim's The Bone Weaver is a superbly written generational story, told from great-grandmother to grandmother to mother, about their lives and problems in struggling to survive and endure in 19th century eastern Europe despite pogroms, diseases, and other ills that befall life in the Jewish shetl. The history of past survivors helps present day descendent Mimi Zilber better understand herself, where she comes from, and how to best set her sights on the future. The Bone Weaver is a unique, powerful, moving, inspiring, and very highly recommended novel.

Mirabilis
Susann Cokal
BlueHen Books/Penguin Putnam
1177 Grant Street, Suite 306, Denver, Colorado 80203
0399147535 $25.95 1-800-847-5515

Set in a small French village in the year 1372, Mirabilis is Susann Cokal's debut novel and the story a village wet-nurse who holds the key to saving the town from famine - an especially striking act of generosity, since the people of her home are responsible for locking her mother, two priests suspected of being her father, and all the village women who believed her conception to be immaculate within a church and burning it. Dubbed "God's bastard," she carries on the rode to sainthood among ascetics, mystics, lovers, and jesters. Mirabilis is an original and candid novel, unafraid to reveal the ridiculous between extremes, as well as the cruel melding of hypocrisy and piety that so often brings suffering. Highly recommended reading!

The Janus Deception
John F. Bayer
Broadman & Holman Publishers
127 Ninth Ave. No., Nashville, TN 37234
0805424393 $12.99 1-800-448-8403

John Bayer's The Janus Deception is a thrilling novel with a deep inner message of faith. Lieutenant Commander and recent widower Jake Madsen feels he has little left to live for, when he discovers a conspiracy to test chemical weapons on U.S. soldiers. He must fight against faceless computers and a human mass that has abdicated responsibility both without and within, and hold close to his steadfast faith as a Christian. The Janus Deception is far more than just another action/adventure novel; it is also a cautionary tale of the perils that await humanity should it forsake morality for money.

Coasters
Gerald Duff
NewSouth Books
P.O. Box 1588, Montgomery, AL 36102
1588380297 $25.95 newsouthbooks.com

Gerald Duff's Coasters is a deftly written novel that alternates between dark comedy and surreal tragedy as it chronicles Waylon McPhee, a divorced middle-aged man who coasts through life without the escape velocity he once had in his youth. Entangled between his widowed father's love life and a manipulative sister who wants her inheritance before it goes to a possible second wife, Waylon juggles responsibility while struggling to recover some of the drive and spirit he once had... or at least to be something more than just another coaster. With witty, sardonic dialogue and a thought-provoking core, Coasters is original, compelling, and highly recommended.

Secrets In The Soul
Victoria Lee-Owens
L.E.O. Publishing Works
P.O. Box 43991, Los Angeles, CA 90043
097140870X $14.95 1-323-750-3592

Poet and author Victoria Lee-Owens' Secrets Of The Soul: One Woman's Courage To Change is a compelling novel of self-destruction and rebirth. When a small-town theater star dares to take on Hollywood with dreams of stardom, she learns that people can't always be trusted or judged on appearances when a smooth-operating escort courts her, adores her, and brings her to the savagely dehumanizing world of mainlining crystal methamphetamine. When addiction and misery bring our heroine to her lowest ebb, a miracle of self-revelation and love occurs, allowing her to see things as they truly are and change herself for the better. Secrets In The Soul spellbinding journey through the darkness of the soul, to the kindled light of hope.

The Family Curse
Magdalene Breaux
Breaux Books, LLC
P.O. Box 67, Fairburn, GA 30213
0970170904 $15.00 http://www.familycurse.address.com

Written by Magdalene Breaux, a female African-American native of New Orleans, The Family Curse is an erotic, emotional, and powerfully charged novel of deceit and suspense. Filled with unforeseen plot twists and best-laid plans gone awry, the story centers upon a woman who uses a love spell to ensnare her future husband, and unwittingly brings ruin and ill karma upon the both of them in the form of a devastating curse that only their daughter is ultimately able to confront. A moving, stringent, beautifully crafted and strongly recommended novel.

The Last Fox
Robert H. Kono
Abe Publishing
P.O. Box 5226, Eugene, OR 97405
0971305005 $14.95 1-800-535-5038-00

The Last Fox: A Novel Of The 100th/442nd RCT by Robert Kono is a gripping story about the most decorated unit in U.S. military history during World War II. Told through the eyes of Sgt. Fred Murano, one of the Four Foxes from Oregon (a quartet who earned their nickname through their skill at eliminating German machine gun nests), The Last Fox is the thrilling story of harrowing bloodshed and unbreakable esprit de corps. From their rescue of the Lost Battalion of Texans in the Vosges Mountains to breaking the Gothic Line that had held fast through five horrific months of constant Allied assaults, the nigh-legendary achievements of this unit are brought to vivid life through author Kono's straightforward, detailed, sensory prose. The fate of Sgt. Murano, The Last Fox, is inextricably linked with a rare Indian head penny he found in an Italian battlefield. Readers will be compelled to read every page from the beginning to the finish!

East Of Mourning
Michael Markus
Trafford Publishing
Suite 6E, 2333 Government Street, Victoria, BC, Canada V8T 4P4
www.trafford.com/robots/01-0076.html
1552126773 $18.50 1-800-232-4444

Michael Markus' East Of Mourning is a superbly crafted dark comedy about the Great Canadian Dream gone bad for a frustrated hockey coach and the young, talented hockey player upon whom he pins the last of his bitter dreams. Sex, drugs, rock and roll, suicide, murder, and of course hockey all lurk within the eerily inviting pages of this dynamic and sharply framed literary tableau. Aptly written in a literary style as fast-moving as the sport of hockey itself, East Of Mourning captures the imagination and holds interest in its shadowy and wryly malefic way. Highly recommended.

The Last Cowman
Jay L. Poth
T.C. Howl Publishing Company
Rt. 1, Box 139, Comfort, Texas 78013
0967746507 $14.95 jayboyonline.com

Jay Poth's compelling and superbly written novel, The Last Cowman, is the story of a nearly broke South Texas cattle rancher, who in his struggle to make ends meet comes across a commodity that could destroy the known world. His old roommate has become a biological virus scientist, and together they could sell the deadly new virus strains to the government, reaping wealth for better living - but at what ultimate cost? The Last Cowman is a gripping struggle of balancing survival and desires with catastrophic threats, and searching for one's roots and values among the tangled morass of politics and commercialism. A tense, original, gripping story.

I Am Om
Veena Damle
Livingston Press
Station 22, Livingston, AL 35470
0942979796 $12.00 www.uwa.edu

Veena Damle's I Am Om is a novel that mixes East Indian culture with that of the west, and fables with heavy realism. The never-ending struggle of the Hindu epic known as the Mahabharata is a direct analogy to a household in conflict, with a mother wishes to achieve fame while a father struggles with dharma and a grandfather strives to be worthy of final release into samadhi. The household daughter and main heroine measures herself against her personal hero, the Archer Prince. I Am Om is a particularly fascinating work of fiction for its innovative bridge between ways of life and frames of reference, and that makes for intensely enjoyable and thought-provoking cross-cultural reading.

Just A Couple Of Days
Tony Vigorito
Bast Books
P.O. Box 82044, Columbus, Ohio 43202
0970141947 $13.95

Tony Vigorito's Just A Couple Of Days is a bizarre novel involving existential quandary centering on Dr. Flake Fountain, a scientist enlisted by the Committee for Peaceful Conflict to devise a cure for their new viral weapon. Dancing, laughter, the spiritual life of dinner plates, and the conundrum "Why aren't apples called reds?" (maybe because some of them are green?) all figure prominently in this unpredictably adventurous and singularly ambitious novel. Especially recommended reading for anyone with a literary interest in the surreal and metaphysical.

Conjuring Maud
Philip Danze
GreyCore Press
2646 New Prospect Road, Pine Bush, NY 12566
0967185130 $23.00 1-845-744-5081

Philip Danze's Conjuring Maud is a novel about David Unger, an aging circus magician who recounts his younger days in colonial West Africa, and how his profession changed from medicine to magic. The heart of the novel lies in David's unusual, close, and sometimes erotic relationship to Maud King (loosely based on the British feminist and explorer Mary Kingsley), a British explorer and ethnologist 16 years older than David, whose devotion to the resplendence of Africa and its people is unmatched among mortals. Liquid, subtle, and at times bittersweet in its mystery, Conjuring Maud is a work of literary magic, transporting the reader back in time to life in colonial Africa with its careful attention to detail.

A Mirrored Edge
Eliza James
PublishAmerica, Inc.
P.O. Box 151, Frederick, MD 21705
1588515788 $24.95 publishamerica.com

Eliza James' original novel, A Mirrored Edge, is a mind-defying glimpse into stark changes and altered worlds that rip apart all the mind's expectations. Protagonist Tristan Wadsworth is thrown into deadly web that drags him away from the life he dreamed of for himself, forcing him to choose between loves and violence, deadly secrets and even more dangerous lies. Filled with plot twists, suspense, and unexpected surprises, A Mirrored Edge is a truly mesmerizing read.

Outrageous Tales
Vladimir Sarkoff
Barnabas Books/Red Eye Books
1020 Green Acres Rd., #4-1152, Eugene, OR 97408
0970563914 $22.50 redeyebooks.com

Outrageous Tales is an impressive collection of two novellas and six short stories written by Master Satirist Vladimir Sarkoff. These tales form caricatures and subversion of society, from the director who chooses to bury himself alive (only temporarily) to the end of the line for the hippie trail, to neurotic terrorists and the final days of the Marquis de Sade in an insane asylum. Highly recommended for its literary precision and unstoppable irony, Outrageous Tales includes Paper Wars; Travel Fragment; Fat Wally; The Box; The Marquis de Sade; The Director; Bon Shit; and Banana Republic.

Lovers & Losers Of The Last Century
Valerie Kirwan
Indra Publishing/ISBS, dist.
5824 NE Hassalo St., Portland OR 97213
0958580561 $18.95 1-503-287-3093

Valerie Kirwan's Lovers & Losers Of The Last Century is an anthology of four superbly written novellas, each dealing with the theme of love lost in the last decades of the twentieth century. The novellas include And Then There Were The Good Night, love, friendship, and good times 1974 to 1994; In the Cold Morning Light:, a mystery thriller and a story of elusive love; Michael - a story of illusory love; and Mrs Wedge's Waterford and a Crate of Champagne - a black comedy about life without love. The wry, winding prose is heavy with emotional feeling, relating broken hearts and the search for truth at the close of a century that revolutionized the world. A most compelling read.



The Library Video/DVD Shelf

The Romance Of Dance
Nancy Hays & Greg Gale
Nancy Hays Entertainment, Inc.
411 Video Information (publicity)
6804 W. Hurlbut, Chicago, IL 60631
DVD $24.95 1-773-792-0688

The Romance Of Dance is a 60-minute instructional DVD that provides basic instruction in the FoxTrot, Swing, Tango, Waltz, Rumba, and ChaCha styles of ballroom dancing. Entertainer and instructional dance expert Nancy Hays is ably assisted by award-winning dance instructor Greg Gale to simplify the introductory steps for each of these dance forms. This is followed up by hays' more in-depth and advanced instruction -- all performed against a background of live musical accompaniment. The DVD format allows easy access to simplified menu instructions which can be easily repeated as many times as the viewer requires. The Romance Of The Dance would grace any personal, dance school, or community library collection.

The Real Untouchables
James Woods, narrator
Goldhil Home Media International
137 East Thousand Oaks Blvd., Suite 207, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
1585659282 $29.95 1-800-250-8760

The Real Untouchables presents three outstanding productions showcasing the crime fighting careers of Eliot Ness, Melvin Purvis, and Thomas E. Dewey. Ably narrated by James Woods, and blending historical photos and newsreel clips, with commentaries by historians and family members, here are the authentic biographies of unusual men who rose to the occasion and fought against crime during the lawless years of Prohibition. Eliot Ness is best known for the fictional television series based on his "autobiography", a memoir that had a great deal of embellishment. He was a most remarkable man who was incorruptible and fearless in the face of Al Capone and Chicago's organized crime syndicates. Melvin Purvis was an FBI agent who tracked down some of the most notorious bank robber gangs to plague the Midwest. Thomas E. Dewey took on Lucky Luciano and the New York mafia families. The DVD format provides wide screen presentation, character profiles, production notes, chapter selection, as well as cast and crew profiles. The Real Untouchables is a very highly recommended addition to personal, school, and community library DVD collections.



The Political Science Shelf

From Civil To Political Religion
Marcela Cristi
Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3C5
0889203687 $32.95 1-519-884-0710

From Civil To Political Religion: The Intersection Of Culture, Religion And Politics is an erudite critique of civil religion - the phenomena of a religion that integrates a state's people and promotes civic unity. Previous authors have viewed civil religion as a tool of the state to browbeat its people into harmony, or a spontaneous outgrowth of a state's natural society. From Civil To Political Religion pays close attention to the political foundations of and uses for civil religion, with special attention to case studies such as civil religion in Pinochet's Chile. An engrossing, scholarly sociological and political science read, From Civil To Political Religion a welcome and much appreciated addition to academic reference collections focusing on histories of church and state interactions.



The International Studies Shelf

Justice And Reconciliation
Andrew Rigby
Lynne Rienner Publishers
1800 30th Street, Boulder, CO 80301
1555879861 $19.95 www.rienner.com

Andrew Rigby is the director of the Centre for the Study of Forgiveness and Reconciliation at the University of Coventry. In Justice And Reconciliation: After The Violence, Rigby provides a compelling, thought-provoking analysis of government sponsored domestic terrorism against its own people in South America, Europe, and South Africa, the populations of whom have searched for justice and a way to reconcile the unspeakable crimes. Amnesty and amnesia, ethnic cleansing, and a worst-case scenario for Palestine are all considered in this sobering, meticulous analysis. The last chapter is of especial note, for it depicts the characteristics of a culture of reconciliation - the peace, truthfulness, justice, and forgiveness that can truly allow a nation to transform itself for the better. Highly recommended for international studies and political science reading lists and reference collections.

Taking Lives
Irving Louis Horowitz
Transaction Publishers
390 Campus Drive, Somerset, NJ 08873
0765808803 $29.95 1-888-999-6778

Now in a newly updated and revised fifth edition, Irving Horowitz's Taking Lives: Genocide And State Power is a brutally sober and candid look at the social and political climates that have fostered state-inspired mass-murder in the 20th century. Divided into five sections that focus on the present, past, future, general theory, and intense study of state-sponsored genocide, Taking Lives leaves no stone unturned in its thorough analysis. The new fifth edition concludes with chapters that review genocide studies from 1945 to the present. Taking Lives is a critical, scholarly reference not to be overlooked for political science and social reference shelves, as it shows new ways of viewing the human condition and how easily the state apparatus can be corrupted into a bludgeon of mass murder.

The Great North Korean Famine
Andrew S. Natsios
United States Institute of Peace
1200 17th Street NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036-3011
1929223331 $19.95 www.usip.org

The Great North Korean Famine: Famine, Politics, And Foreign Policy by Andrew Natsios (administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development) is an erudite, well-researched and compelling examination of the famine crisis in North Korea; its roots, its politics, its economics, and its bitter consequences. Straightforward narration renders college-level international problems in terminology the lay reader can easily understand. An appendix includes an op-ed piece by the author, succinctly titled "Feed North Korea: Don't Play Politics with Hunger." A powerful, eye-opening, highly recommended study, The Great North Korean Famine is also available in hardcover (192922334X, $42.50).



The Gaming Shelf

Final Siege
Kevin Siembieda
Palladium Books
12455 Universal Drive, Taylor, MI 48180
1574570536 $20.95 palladiumbooks.com

Final Siege is the sixth volume of Palladium's "Siege on Tolkeen" titles, a set of climactic adventure sourcebooks for an outstanding Rifts role-playing game series. Final Siege brings the war against Tolkeen to its brutal conclusion, as wizards, dragons, and fantastic creatures fight to defend their home against the relentless Coalition Army. The extensive magical settings and savage battles are the perfect backdrop for a party of role-playing gamers to fight for either side, or merely struggle to survive while the war rages on. Final Siege is superbly presented and exciting source material for any game master planning a campaign involving protracted wars or sieges, even if the setting isn't necessarily the Rifts alternate-universe America or the city of Tolkeen. The biographies of dragons kings and princes such as Kaltaval the Weary and Shigen Lady of the Wind are particularly fascinating.



The Gardening Shelf

The Long-Flowering Garden
Professor Marshall Craigmyle
MetroBooks/Friedman Fairfax
15 West 26th Street, NY, NY 10010
1586632418 $14.98 1-800-367-9692

Filled with gorgeous full color photography, Professor Marshall Craigmyle's The Long-Flowering Garden is an impressive and superbly illustrated encyclopedic listing of more than 500 plants of all types, with each entry offering a given flower's common name, height, spread, aspect, preferred soil type, hardiness, means of propagation, flowering time, short description, and perhaps most useful, a listing of the pros and cons for choosing that specific flower for one's garden. An index makes looking up basic information on any flower a snap. The Long-Flowering Garden is excellent as a quick reference, and simply wondrous to page through to admire the brilliant horticultural photographs on every page.

Edible & Medicinal Wild Plants Of Minnesota & Wisconsin
Matthew Alfs
Old Theology Book House
Box 120342, New Brighton, MN 55112
0961296437 $45.00 viskichi@aol.com

A disclaimer at the beginning of Edible & Medicinal Wild Plants Of Minnesota & Wisconsin warns that some wild plants are toxic or even deadly; though the author Matthew Alfs has made every effort to completely describe safe ways to recognize, harvest, and prepare edible wild plants, they cannot be held liable for any adverse effects. With that sober caution in mind, Edible & Medicinal Wild Plants Of Minnesota & Wisconsin is a truly impressive compendium of information and lore about the art of foraging. A beautiful section of color photographs aptly illustrates the many species of edible plants discussed and described herein. User-friendly introductions to using wild plants for food and health benefits are written in clear, concise text easily accessible to the lay reader. A glossary, exhaustive list of references and comprehensive index round out this superbly presented and very highly recommended guide.

A Cutting Garden For Florida
Betty Barr Mackey
Monica Moran Brandies
BB Mackey Books
P.O. Box 475, Wayne, PA 19087
0961633891 $15.95 mackeybooks.com

Now available in a newly revised, expanded and updated third edition, A Cutting Garden For Florida continues to be a marvelously detailed, instructive, easy to understand guide to growing top-class flowers for bouquets and landscape improvement. Nursing seedlings, propagating plants from cuttings, as well as forming a cutting garden with annuals, biennials, perennials, or trees and shrubs are all covered, with easy-to-follow instructions delivered in clear, direct prose. Black and white sketches of various plants illustrate the techniques and species-specific entries. A Cutting Garden For Florida is a superb horticultural and cultivational guide and a "must" not just for Florida's gardening enthusiasts, but for anyone interested in creating a beautiful cutting garden of their own!

Gardening For The Senses, Gardening As Therapy
Hank Bruce
Winner Enterprises/Petals & Pages
30548 St. Andrews Blvd., Sorrento, FL 32776
0932855571 $14.95 http://www.winnerenterprises.com

Authoritatively written by horticultural therapist Hank Bruce (who is also president of the Florida Chapter of the American Horticultural Therapy Association), Gardening For The Senses, Gardening As Therapy is not an ordinary gardening book - it deals with the mental, emotional, and spiritual needs that gardening fulfils, through its quiet beauty and appeal to the physical senses. From the ten most fragrant flowering plants to gardening as a means of connecting with Life, the first section of this book deals with how gardening specifically for one's senses can bring new joy and fulfillment to this age-old endeavor. The other two sections of this book deal with how gardening can be used as therapy to benefit children, the developmentally disabled, recovering addicts, survivors of abuse, Alzheimer's patients and more. Gardening For The Senses, Gardening As Therapy is highly recommended for its creativity, and truly delivers on its intent to show the hidden values of gardening to the people in need of stress relief and emotional restoration.



The Do-It-Yourself Shelf

Plumbing 1-2-3
John P. Holms, editor
Home Depot Books/Meredith Books
1716 Locust Street, Des Moines, IA 50309-3023
0696211866 $24.95 meredithbooks.com

Aptly edited by John Holms, Plumbing 1-2-3 is a detailed yet easily understandable home plumbing maintenance and repair guide ideal for the non-specialist general reader with no prior experience or expertise. If you can hold a screwdriver, you can take an active role in the upkeep of your own plumbing. Chapters cover such topics as the supply system, the drain-waste-vent system, installing tubs, showers, sinks, faucets, toilets, or appliances, and outdoor systems. In addition to the straightforward, point-by-point text that is highly accessible to lay readers, Plumbing 1-2-3 is superbly illustrated throughout with full-color photographs on every two-page spread, unambiguously depicting each step of the meticulous instructions. Plumbing 1-2-3 is a very highly recommended and "user friendly" guide, particularly for the do-it-yourself homeowner - five minutes of reading now can save hundreds of dollars in future repair or utilities bills!



The Archaeology Shelf

Africa & Africans In Antiquity
Edwin M. Yamauchi, editor
Michigan State University Press
Suite 25, Manly Miles Building, 1405 South Harrison Road, East Lansing, MI 48823-5202
0870135074 $28.95 1-517-355-9543

Africa & Africans In Antiquity is a fascinating and informative compilation of ten scholarly essays surveying and showcasing historical research and archaeology currently underway in Egypt, North Africa, the Sudan, and the horn of Africa. The contributors take issue with Afrocentric scholars with regard to the racial makeup of the Egyptian populations of antiquity. What emerges is the picture of a region that was an ethnic and cultural mosaic populated by Phoenicians, Berbers, Greeks, Egyptians, and Nubians. Africa & Africans In Antiquity is an impressive and very highly recommended contribution to Egyptology, archaeology, and antiquarian studies.

Studies In The Archaeology Of The Iron Age In Israel And Jordan
Amihai Mazar, editor
Sheffield Academic Press
Mansion House, 19 Kingfield Rd., Sheffield, S11 9AS, England
1841272035 $85.00 www.SheffieldAcademicPress.com

Edited by Amihai Mazara (Professor of Archaeology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Studies In The Archaeology Of The Iron Age In Israel And Jordan is an impressive compendium of scholarly, academic analysis. This scholarly text is divided into three parts: Settlement Patterns and Landscape Archaeology; Temples, Cult and Iconography; and Aspects of Material Culture. Occasional black-and-white illustrations and photographs of artifacts dot the serious, thoughtful, and heavily researched text. The contributors surveying spatial archaeology and settlement patterns include Adam Zertal (Samaria), Avi Ofer (Judah), Gunnar Lehmann (the Akko Plain), and Shimon Gibson (the Hill country). Religion and iconography are surveyed by Avraham Brian and Ze'ev Herzog (temples at Dan and Arad), Raz Kletter and Kay Prag (clay figurines and other cult objects), Tallay Ornan (seals and pendants portraying Ishtar), and Norma Franklin (iconography of the wall relief in Room V at Sargon's Palace in Khorsabad), Amihai Mazar (Iron Age II Beth Shean), Margreet Steiner (urban development in Jerusalem during Iron Age II), Piotr Beinkowski and Leonie Sedman (Busayra, the capital of Edom). Studies In The Archaeology Of The Iron Age In Israel And Jordan is a core addition for any academic and archaeological reference collection devoted to ancient history in the Middle East.



The Money/Finance Shelf

Everybody Wants Your Money
Peter M. Montessi & Anna L. Montessi
Jordan Publishing
2475 Short Spur Rd., Prescott, AZ 86305
0967861403 $29.99 adaaccesscodes.com

Peter and Anna Lisa Montessi's Everybody Wants Your Money: A Guidebook To Keeping It is quite different from most financial guidebooks, which tend to be written for people who already have a sizeable amount of money to invest. Unlike those books, Everybody Wants Your Money is designed specifically for people on a paycheck and a tight budget; it concisely and clearly narrates strategies to save, invest, and accumulate wealth even for the most perpetually cash-strapped workers. Chapters discuss topics such as goals and plans, maintaining records, cutting back spending, saving through a checking account, balancing one's checkbook, credit, and building one's reserves. Samples, examples, forms, and questionnaires to self-test your knowledge are included throughout. Written in highly accessible language for the lay reader, Everybody Wants Your Money is a "must" for any working person looking for tips, tricks, and techniques to making their money work for them, create a college fund, put aside something for retirement, or just make a simple emergency cushion in case of unforeseen financial hardship. An excellent, "user friendly", very highly recommended financial and instructional book.

The X $eries
James Denton
J&R Associates
3877 South Cottage Avenue, Springfield, MO 65807
0971287104 $14.95 1-800-453-4425

Author and member of the "Gen X Generation", James Denton's The X $eries: The Money Guide With Gen X Appeal is a compact money guide tailored specifically to appeal to America's Generation X, with a "don't beat around the bush, cut to the chase" approach to teaching how to manage and invest money in the new millennium. The X $eries is a "how to" and "why to" book for people who hate to balance their checking accounts, let alone an investment portfolio, and offers strategies to make your money work for you without constantly bean-counting to make sure you're in the black. Written in plain, ordinary language with a friendly, entertaining atmosphere and the occasional black-and-white picture of energetic men and women, The X $eries is truly a financial book that anyone and everyone from any generations can read, enjoy, and soundly understand. An excellent and highly recommended introduction to the art of in-vestment.

Accounting Ace 911
Gregory R. Mostyn, C.P.A., M.B.A.
Gremost Publications
P.O. Box 362015, Milpitas, CA 95036
0970371934 $23.50 1-408-945-3963

A disclaimer at the beginning of Accounting Ace 911: Fast, Complete & Compassionate Help In Basic Accounting warns people who contemplate purchase of this book that it is designed to provide only general education and basic support in accounting principles; that it cannot take the place of hiring professional services if such are needed, and that the author and publisher assume no liability for ill consequences of the use or misuse of this book. With such a carefully worded caution in mind, Accounting Ace 911 is an exhaustive self-study workbook designed to help even the most inept checkbook-balancers learn more about managing their money , review their basic math skills, learn how to prepare paperwork such as income statements, balance sheets, statements of owner's equity and much, much more. Workbook problems with solutions help the reader test and practice his or her new skills. Accounting Ace 911 is a "must" for anyone who needs help understanding basic accounting tasks, forms, and necessities, and especially recommended for people with rusty math skills that impede proper accounting. It's much better to start reading Accounting Ace 911 now than to wait until the night before one's income taxes are due!

Guide To Grantseeking On The Web
Kief Schladweiler, editor
The Foundation Center
79 Fifth Avenue, NY, NY 10003
0879549661 $29.95 http://fdncenter.org

Newly revised and updated in a 2001 edition, The Foundation Center's Guide To Grantseeking On The Web is a massive, authoritative, all-encompassing reference, sporting 700+ pages densely packed with valuable information. Half of the volume is dedicated to teaching readers about how to take advantage of corporate giving information on the Web, and the second half lists countless foundations and charities on the Web that accept applications for grants and donations. Black-and-white illustrations of web sites and the like round out this unique and exceptional reference, which is a "must" for any grant-seeker in today's modern, technology-driven world.



The Civil War Shelf

The Half Not Told
Preston Filbert
Stackpole Books
5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055-6921
0811715361 $26.95 1-800-732-3669

Preston Filbert's The Half Not Told: The Civil War In A Frontier Town focuses on a part of the American Civil War that is often overlooked or downplayed by other sources that concentrate on the armies and campaigns in the East. The Half Not Told is about the Civil War in the West, particularly in Missouri. The frontier town of St. Joseph, Missouri, which became torn apart and saw its fortunes fall due to stagflation, is a reflection of how dramatically the war changed Western American life forever. The Half Not Told draws very heavily upon primary sources, as its highly extensive endnotes section and a bibliographical essay attest. The Half Not Told is a very welcome contribution to Civil War studies, and highly recommended for anyone with an interest Civil War history -- particularly because much of the telling is in the eye-witness words of the people who were there.

Let Us Meet In Heaven
Thomas D. Mays, editor
McWhiney Foundation Press
Box 637, McMurry Station, McMurry University, Abilene, TX 79697
1893114244 $29.95 www.mcwhiney.org

Let Us Meet In Heaven is a compendium of letters written by James Michael Barr of the 5th South Carolina Cavalry, during the American Civil War. Editorial notes explaining place names and the like help make the letters instantly and immediately understandable to any reader; extensive familiarity with the battles of the Civil War is not needed to read and understand Barr's testimony. Let Us Meet in Heaven also includes an index makes for quick and easy reference. Let Us Meet In Heaven is a compelling, informative primary source and an invaluable contribution to Civil War studies reading lists and historical reference collections.

Naval Strategies Of The Civil War
Jay W. Simson
Cumberland House Publishing
431 Harding Industrial Drive, Nashville, Tennessee 37211
1581821956 $16.95 cumberlandhouse.com

Journalist and Civil War expert Jay Simson's Naval Strategies Of The Civil War: Confederate Innovations And Federal Opportunism is the first book to compare and contrast the strategies of the Southern Secretary of the Navy, Stephen R. Mallory, against his rival in the North, Gideon Welles. Mallory had to use technological innovation and the skill of individuals to bolster the South's seapower against the Union Navy's superior numbers. Meanwhile, Welles had to adapt to the more bureaucratic dictates of the Union's White House. One of Welles' first tasks was the naval blockade of the South, but he did not limit himself to just that. Naval Strategies of the Civil War looks at the very different approaches of two men, with historical lessons about the art and the horror of war to be derived from close study. Naval Strategies Of The Civil War is a much appreciated contribution to Civil War studies and very highly recommended for both Civil War and American naval history buffs.



The Library Science Shelf

Advances In Librarianship: Volume 25
Frederick C. Lynden, editor
Academic Press, Inc.
525 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101-4495
0120246252 $89.95 1-800-894-3434

The twentieth-fifth volume in the Academic Press "Advances in Librarianship" series, this latest body of work showcases outstanding contributions to library science by seasoned professionals and experienced researches. The articles include Marybeth McCartin and Paula Feid's Information Literacy for Undergraduates: Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going?; Martha Smith's Information Ethics; G. E. Gorman and Ruth H. Miller's Collection Evaluation: New Measures for a New Environment; Susan L. Perry and David C. Weber's Evaluating Academic Library Quality Today; Danuta A. Niteckl's Quality Assessment Measures in Libraries; Ronald Milne's Enhancing Access and Progressing the Collaborative Agenda: The UK Research Support Libraries Programme; Jonathan B. Bengston's Reinventing the Treasure Room: The Role of Special Collections Librarianship in the 21st Century; Ole Harbo's The Development of Public Libraries in Denmark Since 1964; Thoger Kristensen's Acquisitions Reengineering; Evgeny Kuz'min's New Information Technologies in Russian Libraries. A strongly recommended addition to Library Science reference collections and reading lists.



The Psychology Shelf

The Psychotherapist As Healer
T. Byram Karasu
Jason Aronson, Inc.
230 Livingston St., Northvale, NJ 07647
0765703025 $60.00 www.aronson.com

The Psychotherapist As Healer by T. Byram Karasu (Silverman Professor and the University Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine) asserts that in order to best promote healing, the psychotherapist himself or herself is more important to psychotherapeutic success than the particular school of psychotherapy he or she practices. The Psychotherapist As Healer cogently warns about becoming too embroiled in scientific, regimental detail, especially since so much about the human psyche and emotions deny strictly logical analysis. The Psychotherapist As Healer is a different type of book about the mental health profession, treating psychotherapy not as a daily job but as a way of being. Intriguing, scholarly, iconoclastic, highly relevant, and strongly recommended reading for students and practitioners in the field of psychotherapy.

Understanding Your Grieving Heart
Mary M. Wong
ADM Publishing
Box 917675, Longwood, FL 32791-7675
0964560844 $12.95 admpublishing.com

Understanding Your Grieving Heart After A Loved One's Death by grief counselor Mary Wong is an invaluable guidebook for the non-specialist general reading on how to offer comfort to the bereaved. Wong touches on every aspect of the aftermath of loss, from dispelling myths surrounding the grieving process to how to deal with anger and stress, to how to handle the belongings of a lost loved one and how to help one's children through the grieving process. Wong has also reviewed over 175 other books on the grieving process and categorized them by need in this clear, simple, helpful, and solace-filled reference. Understanding Your Grieving Heart After A Loved One's Death is very highly recommended for personal, professional, and community library and grief counseling collections.



The Popular Culture Shelf

The World's Greatest Star Trek Quiz
Nan Clark
Mayhaven Publishing
PO Box 557, Mahomet, IL 61853
1878044338 $14.95 1-217-586-4493

Simply put, Nan Clark's The World's Greatest Star Trek Quiz completely lives up to its title and would be a most welcome holiday gift for legions of Star Trek fans from 8 to 80! And every quiz and puzzle comes complete with the answers!



The Pets/Wildlife Shelf

The Bear's Embrace
Patricia Van Tighem
Pantheon
299 Park Avenue, New York NY 10171
0-375-42131-9 $23.00 1-800-726-0600

The author was mauled by a bear in the wilderness and was disfigured, losing one eye and experiencing isolation and trauma which were to change her life. The Bear's Embrace tells of her experiences, her recovery, and her struggles with surviving a bear attack. Riveting.

Killer Bears
Mike Cramond
The Lyons Press
123 West 18th St., New York NY 10011
1-58574-251-1 $18.95 1-800-836-0510

What causes killer bear attacks, can they be prevented, and how have humans survived? Killer Bears gathers real-life stories of survivors of bear attacks, supplementing their first-person face-to-face encounters with keys to understanding the behaviors of wild bears. An intriguing, absorbing title which can be pursued as a leisure/adventure read and a natural history of bears.

Amphibian Medicine And Captive Husbandry
Kevin M. Wright & Brent R. Whitaker
Krieger Publishing Company
Box 9542, Melbourne, FL 32902-9542
0894649175 $140.00 1-800-724-0025

Kevin Wright and Brent Whitaker's Amphibian Medicine And Captive Husbandry is a comprehensive, in-depth, scholarly reference manual designed to introduce and assist veterinary practitioners in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in captive amphibians. However, it also serves as an invaluable, core addition to the library of any herpetologist, breeder or pet owner of an amphibian, for it extensively covers numerous details of the care, feeding, and reproduction of captive amphibians, as well as disease diagnosis, basic clinical techniques for treatment. The many diseases discussed include sicknesses that are infectious, metabolic, nutritional, neoplastic, and idiopathic. 243 color pictures, 317 black and white pictures, and 54 tables greatly enhance the meticulous and highly precise text of this exhaustively complete reference. An invaluable title for veterinarians and/or owners of amphibians.

The Everything Horse Book
Cheryl Kimball
Adams Media Corporation
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322
1580625649 $12.95 1-800-872-5627

Written in straightforward, easy-to-follow language, Cheryl Kimball's The Everything Horse Book is an exhaustive, "user friendly" guide to caring for and riding a horse. From equine behavioral problems, to nutrition and grooming, to tack and accessories, The Everything Horse Book introduces the lay reader to a wide range of fascinating and practical information. The Everything Horse Book is an excellent and recommended guide for adults, which is also accessible enough to be very well suited for teenagers with an interest in learning about and caring for horses.

The Birder's Journal
Mel Baughman
Stackpole Books
5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055-6921
0811726975 $19.95 stackpolebooks.com

Now available in an updated and expanded second edition, Mel Baughman's The Birder's Journal is a consumable volume for the personal use and notations of North American birdwatchers. Though it has very basic information on over 60 North American bird families, the bulk of this thick compendium consists of accurate, detailed black-and-white sketches of over 850 bird species, next to allotted writing space where the birdwatcher can make his or her own notes about when, how, and where that species of bird was successfully observed. The Birder's Journal is a perfect aid to keep track of the all the different feathered friends one has seen, and an excellent gift selection for any North American birdwatcher.

Raptors Of The World
James Ferguson-Lees & David Christie
Houghton Mifflin
215 Park Avenue South, NY, NY 10003
0-618-12762-3 $60.00 1-800-225-3362

While only specialty collections will be able to justify the expense of this lovely reference, those with strong studies in science and nature will want to include Raptors Of The World in reference or university collections: it covers the raptors of the world, with each species receiving small color illustration by adult, juvenile and selected immature plumage. Almost 1,000 pages of detail on habits, habitats and raptor classification pack an intriguing guide.

Just Jack Russells
Steve Smith
Willow Creek Press
P.O. Box 147, Minocqua, WI 54548
1572232129 $29.50 1-800-850-9453

Just Jack Russells is a gorgeous celebration of the Jack Russell terrier. These hearts and souls of lively, energetic, fun-loving dogs are captured in a collection of breathtaking color photography. Author and canine expert Steve Smith's accessible and informative text offers short descriptions and explanations of the cheerful nature of this beloved breed of dog. Just Jack Russells is a welcome addition to the shelf of any dog lover, and the perfect gift book selection for terrier owners and enthusiasts.



The Woodworking Shelf

Tools
Garrett Wade Company
Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of Americas, NY, NY 10020
0-7432-1348-3 $40.00 1-800-223-2336

The Garrett Company is known for their quality tools in the woodworking industry: this impressive compendium showcases antique and modern tools, packing in over 450 photos of tools, discussing their use, and providing both a visual display of tools and a history of changing production and needs. Add expert user's tips and you have a worthy gift edition.

Shop Drawings For Craftsman Furniture
Robert W. Lang
Cambium Books
P.O. Box 909, Bethel, CT 06801
1892836122 $22.95 cambiumbooks.com

Professional cabinet maker and draftsman Bob Lang's Shop Drawings For Craftsman Furniture: 27 Stickley Designs For Every Room In The Home is an a draft book filled with precise, exacting line drawings that can be used as models to create a wide variety of elegant and practical home furnishings. A beginning section aptly introduces novice builders to the art of interpreting shop drawings, and the drawings themselves come with brief commentary and instructions. Overall, Shop Drawings For Craftsman Furniture is a superbly presented, highly recommended do-it-yourself guide, and especially useful for building a handmade holiday gift when store-bought gifts just won't do.



The American History Shelf

Pearl Harbor
H.P. Willmott
Sterling Publishing Company
387 Park Avenue South, New York NY 10016-8810
0-304-35884-3 $29.95 1-800-805-5489

This commentary appears in its second printing to receive renewed recognition and attention for new audiences. The author analyzes the move of Japan to bomb Pearl Harbor in a title packed with black and white photos and in-depth coverage. If only one memoir of Pearl Harbor were to be purchased, this should top the list.

Remember When
Mary Rufledt Gladitsch
The Guest Cottage, Inc.
PO Box 848, Woodruff, WI 54568
1930596065 $24.95 1-800-333-8122

Mary Gladitsch's Remember When: A Tribute To The Vanish Rural Landscape showcases the true spirit of rural life as expressed through a combination of commentary text and photography. The singular approach taken by Gladitsch is to have a photo from the past lie opposite to a photo from today so that we can clearly see how time has changed things in rural American scenarios. A welcome tribute and highly recommended commentary on an American way of life that is rapidly disappearing as the nation as a whole proceeds into an every more populated and expanded urban civilization, Remember When is more than a wonderful exercise in nostalgia, it is also a landmark publication that raises awareness of what those now decrepit barns and abandoned old schoolhouses meant and mean, then and now. No Midwest community library should be without a copy of Remember When for their patrons enjoyment and consideration.

The World Turned Upside-Down
Michael V. Kennedy
William G. Shade
Lehigh University Press
Associated University Press, dist.
440 Forsgate Dr., Cranbury, NJ 08512
0934223629 $46.50 1-609-655-4770

Based on a series of Lawrence Henry Gipson lectures presented at the Lehigh University from the late 1980s through the early 1990s, and aptly edited by Michael Kennedy and William Shade, The World Turned Upside-Down: The State of Eighteenth-Century American Studies at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century is an amalgamation of essays contributed by a broad range of distinguished scholars. These essays cover American History as part of world history rather than as if American History were isolated in a political vacuum. The scholarly, thoughtfully and persuasively argued essays cover such topics as early American technological history, slavery and African cultures in America, and the histories of early American women. Involving in its analytical depth, The World Turned Upside-Down is an excellent, most welcome addition to academic American history reading lists and reference collections.

The Whole World's Watching
Clayborne Carson et al.
Berkeley Art Center Association
c/o Berkeley Art Center
1275 Walnut St., Berkeley, CA 94709
0942744101 $59.95 1-510-644-6893

The Whole World's Watching: Peace And Social Justice Movements Of The 1960s And 1970s features 50 duotone documentary photos with essays and commentary from some 20 writers. Pulitzer prize-winning historian Leon Litwack is among the distinguished contributors to the text. Other notable essayists include feminist scholar, Ruth Rosen; Clayborne Carson, historian and editor of the Martin Luther King Jr. papers at Stanford University and actor Peter Coyote. Photographs are drawn from the work of Jeffrey Blankfort, Nacio Jan Brown, Ken Light, Richard Misrach, Stephen Shames, Michelle Vignes, Douglas Wachter and others. Each chapter focuses on one of the movements of the 60s and 70s. Those covered include the women's movement, the early environmental movement, the protests to end the war in Viet Nam, the United Farm Worker's movement, the Black Panther Party, the early disability rights movement and more. An invaluable contribution to personal, academic, and community library American history reference collections, The Whole World's Watching is also available in trade paperback (0942744098, $24.95).

Mardi Gras Treasures
Henri Schindler
Pelican Publishing
Box 3110, Gretna, LA 70054
1-56554-723-3 $35.00 1-800-843-1724

Mardi Gras Treasures charts the specialty parade floats of Carnival in New Orleans from 1870-1930, examining classic and artistic themes and recreating original float designs in watercolor and lithographs. The author, Henri Schindler, has himself designed Mardi Gras parades and balls for some time: his striking full-color illustrations will appeal to a wide audience, from float designers to artists with a special interest in New Orleans works and history.



The Fantasy/Sci-Fi Shelf

Defender
C.J. Cherryah
DAW Books
375 Hudson St., New York NY 10014
0-88677-911-1 $23.95

Defender provides a fine sequel to Precursor, and familiarity with this complex story is recommended for quick, thorough appreciation of the characters and setting of Defender. An exiled human colony faces newly-empowered aliens as a starship's return and gifts affect their careful balance. Excellent insights and social commentary here.

In The Shadow of Dragons
Kathleen Cunningham Guler
Bardsong Press
P.O. Box 775396, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477
096603712X $25.00 bardsongpress.com

The sequel to Into The Path Of Gods, Kathleen Guler's epic fantasy, In The Shadow Of Dragons, is the second volume in the "Macsen's Treasure" series and continues her superb blend of Dark Age Celtic myth and Arthurian legend in this devious tale of magic, politics, and intrigue. When the enigmantic druid Myrddin Emrys, known in fable as Merlin the Enchanter, becomes certain of yet another assassination plot against the rightful king, he summons a master of disguise to find and destroy the diabolical plots of hidden conspirators. Yet there are more layers to the woud-be coup than even a divine seer can foretell, and the fate of a monarch, his land, and its people lie in the knife-edge balance. A compelling, entrancing, and highly recommended high fantasy -- the kind of book so easy to pick up and so hard to put down!

Threshold
Caitlin Kiernan
ROC
375 Hudson, New York NY 10014
0-451-45858-3 $14.00 1-800-847-5515

Chance's grandfather has just died and she feels alone - but not lonely enough to invite into her life a strange girl who seems to know all about her. Her geologist grandfather's odd collection draws her into a world not only haunted in the past by an impossible monster, but facing the same horror in present time. Good action and solid characterization mark this story.

Impact Parameter & Other Quantum Realities
Geoffrey Landis
Golden Gryphon
3002 Perkins Rd., Urbana, IL 61802
1930846061 $24.95

Landis' short stories are perfect picks for any who appreciate the short story form and a healthy blend of hard science and strong characterization. Good hard science fiction often lacks for emotional impact: not so these short stories, which blend tales of virtual reality, black holes, and invaders with solid protagonists. From an issue of death on an ocean world to a pioneer mapping three-dimensional space, Impact Parameter & Other Quantum Realities includes many different scenarios.



The Religion/Spirituality Shelf

Igniting The Spirit At Work
Marilyn Mason
Hazelden Foundation
Cat Cummings Publicity & Promotion, Box 11, Center City, MN 55012-0011
1568387415 $13.95 1-800-328-9000

In Igniting The Spirit At Work: Daily Reflections, corporate psychologist and training director Marilyn Mason provides the reader with a pocket-sized compendium of daily reflections and inspiring quotations from a variety of sources ranging from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Marie Curie. Strongly recommended for students of personal spirituality and anyone seeking emotional self-improvement, Igniting The Spirit At Work is an invaluable reference packed with a special wisdom designed to promote mental and emotional well-being within the context of today's stressful and often confusing workplace environment.

Journey To Mastery
Dr. Kathryn Mickle
Wellness Institute
2430 Nassau Ln. Ft. Lauderdale FL 33312
1-889890-03-0 $14.95

Identify old patterns of behavior and new practices which contribute to the daily quality of life with the help of this guide, which uses feng shui as a model for understanding. Eastern perceptions blend with modern psychological tools in Journey To Mastery, a title which presents exercises for linking feng shui's methods to improving the quality of life.

Karma: The Mechanism
Hermann Kuhn
Crosswind Publishing
Box 3312, Incline Village, NV 89450
3-9806211-4-6 $15.00

In 1978 the author discovered an old manuscript in an ancient Indian temple which told how to access uncharted dimensions of human experiences. Karma: The Mechanism translates the ancient manuscript and provides new insights on the idea of karma. It's here presented as a simple mechanism of daily life which operates in the background and influences lives. An intriguing presentation.

The Way We Pray
Maggie Oman Shannon
Conari Press
2550 - 9th St., #101, Berkeley, CA 94710
1-57324-571-2 $15.95 1-800-685-9595

Fifty prayer practices are explored in The Way We Pray, revealing the many different forms and types of prayers which cross cultures and the ceremonies which range from food and tea ceremonies to costumed festivals. From icons to prayer symbols and devices, The Way We Pray will prove interesting to a wide audience.

Divine Prescriptions
Doreen Virtue, Ph.D.
Renaissance Books
5858 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 200, Los Angeles, California 90036
1580632165 $15.95 1-800-266-2834

Engagingly written by Doreen Virtue, Divine Prescriptions: Using Your Sixth Sense -- Spiritual Solutions For You And Your Loved Ones expands upon the wisdom of its predecessor volume, Divine Guidance (1580630898, $14.95), in showing the reader how to use one's sixth sense and openness to God to receive healing messages from guardian angels -- especially when medical, business, and legal remedies fail, faith remains and hope for the future endures. Diverse chapters address listening to divine guidance in areas such as dating and seeking soulmates, advancing one's career, and how to receive and deliver divine prescriptions. Divine Prescriptions is a very highly recommended, thought-provoking, and warmly spiritual book.



The Social Issues Shelf

Mystic Heart Of Justice
Denise Breton & Stephen Lehman
Chrysalis Books/Swedenborg
320 North Church Street, West Chester, PA 19380
0-87785-300-2 $24.95 1-800-355-3222

Mystic Heart Of Justice covers the field of restorative justice, considering its importance as an alternative to the traditional reward-punishment model and applying this new system to the current justice system and the cultural forces which dehumanizes the individual. Blending philosophy and spirituality with a treatise on social change, Mystic Heart Of Justice provides an excellent and different - albeit scholarly - view on restoring a damaged world.

From Watergate To Monicagate
Herbert Foerstel
Greenwood Publishing
Box 5007, Westport, CT 06881-5007
0-313-31163-3 $49.95 1-800-225-5800

The media is often held in scorn, gaining reputation for dumbing down, vulgarity, and jingoism: yet media industry is a monopoly which also is respected for its important role. From issues ranging from reporter's privilege and press tabliodization to the media's loss of independence from outside influences, From Watergate To Monicagate traces major issues in media relations and modern journalism and provides insights on new media developments.



The Musicbook Shelf

Funk
Dave Thompson
Backbeat Books
600 Harrison, San Francisco CA 94105
0879306297 $24.95 backbeatbooks.com

The history, sound and roots of funk music and musicians are explored in Dave Thompson's Funk, a title which covers all genre; from classic and disco to funk rock and soul. Of particular interest are the discographies of artists' funk recordings, which review and rate influential funk recordings. Fans of funk music will find this a unique coverage.

Best Of Jazz Guitar
Wolf Marshall
Hal Leonard Corporation
P.O. Box 13819, Milwaukee, WI 53213
0634022660 $24.95 halleonard.com

Best Of Jazz Guitar is a remarkable, step-by-step presentation of jazz guitar styles and techniques, incorporating the music of famous guitarists such as Tal Farlow, Grant Green, Jim Hall, Joe Pass and many more. Filled cover to cover with accessible sheet music, each song in this volume is annotated with a very short biography of its author, step-by-step instructions for proper arrangement, signatures, and also performance notes to better help beginners. Also included is an audio CD to better help amateur musicians learn how to play at a professional level. Novice and intermediate jazz guitarists alike will appreciate this singularly excellent how-to guide for playing the jazz guitar.

Santorella Publications, Ltd.
13 Pleasant Ave., Danvers, MA 01923
1-877-600-0049

Santorella Publications is an established and reliable publisher of sheet music for students and professionals. One of the areas in which they offer inexpensive music books that are especially "user friendly" is that of music for formal religious and celebratory occasions. Several excellent examples are Beethoven's Ode To Joy: Piano Solo (TS60, $3.95); Johann Sebastian Bach's Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring: Piano Solo (TS70, $3.95); Ave Maria: Easy Piano (TS144, $3.95); Ave Maria: Piano Vocal (TS145, $3.95); and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite Highlights: Masterpiece Edition (ME1001, $6.95). In addition to music students and performers, Santorella Publications titles are also consistently recommendable to music department librarians and music teachers in private practice for their collections.



The Writing/Publishing Shelf

How To Write A Nonfiction Book Proposal
Stephen Blake Mettee
Quill Driver Books
8386 North Madsen Avenue, Clovis, CA 93611
1-884956-22-X $12.95 1-800-497-4909

It matters not if an author has a great book idea: if he can't write a proposal to market the idea to a publisher, the idea may never see print. The book proposal is actually a sales piece - and in How To Write A Nonfiction Book Proposal, authors receive a concrete course on how to produce one through this guide, written by a seasoned editor.

A Writer's Tool Kit
Caroll Dale Short
Court Street Press
P.O. Box 1588, Montgomery, AL 36102
1588380459 $15.95 writerstoolkit.com

Carroll Short's A Writer's Tool Kit: 12 Proven Ways You Can Make Your Writing Stronger - Today! is an immensely useful, accessible, and practical guide for beginning and experienced writers alike. Chapters cover a variety of ways to trim down and spice up one's grammar and prose, from pruning excess pronouns to using narrative sequence to make a story flow better, to bringing spoken dialogue to zest-filled life. Filled with examples and just plain solid advice, A Writer's Tool Kit is invaluable reading for all writers striving to improve their personal or professional wordsmithing abilities!

2002 Writer's Market
Writer's Digest Books
1507 Dana Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45207
1-58297-044-0 $29.99 1-800-289-0963

Why update last year's fat and expensive guide with an even fatter and more expensive 2002 edition? Because the publishing world is changing rapidly and aspiring writers who want to see print will have to obtain a reference which is as up to date as possible. From how much a publication pays and how to submit to specific topics needed, 2002 Writer's Market provides the latest tips and also includes online publishing opportunities.

Get Published!
Penny C. Sansevieri
1st Books Library
2511 West 3rd Street, Bloomington, IN 47404
0759638241 $15.54 www.booksbypen.com

In Get Published!, Penny Sansevieri draws upon her professional experience as a author and e-newsletter publisher to teach emerging writers how to empower themselves to publish and market their own work. With an emphasis for the new print-on-demand (POD) technologies, Get Published! explores a variety of on-line publishers including 1st Books Library, Xlibris, iUniverse, and five others, and offers a practical, comprehensive, "user friendly", step by step guide to the chaotic task of publishing and promoting a book in the competitive and rapidly evolving marketplace. Filled with resources, media contacts, and industry tips, tricks, and techniques, Get Published! is a "must" for any new writer who is ready to move beyond rejection slips to see his or her work in print!

The Gidley Guide To Self-Publishing
Jan Gidley
J. Gidley Associates
PO Box 551, Dunedin, FL 34697
0971221103 $7.95 1-727-736-2818

The Gidley Guide To Self-Publishing is a slim (40 pages), inexpensive guide to the basics of self-publishing designed to help the novice writer become capably informed about the self-publishing process. Readers will learn how to determine the need for editing, designing, and proofreading their manuscript for publication; develop specifications for printing and binding; create a basic marketing plan; apply for a CIP number; obtain a copyright on their work; order an ISBN; develop a budget for their book publishing project; determine packaging and shipping features; and find further information on the Web, at the local library, and at the bookstore. The straight-forward, easily accessible text is enhanced with invaluable lists of writing groups and book organizations. If you are considering self-publication for your work, begin with a careful reading of The Gidley Guide To Self-Publishing!

Unlocking The Secrets Of Publishing
Sylvia Hemmerly
Inkling Press/Publishing Professionals
10002 Hilltop Drive, New Port Richey, FL 34654
1892104105 $12.95 1-800-462-6420

In Unlocking The Secrets Of Publishing: Simplified Guide To Independent Publishing, author Sylvia Hemmerly offers the novice writer an informative tour of the complicated world of publishing and along the way explains clearly and definitively how to form a publishing company, as well as how to produce an attractive, marketable book. Hemmerly explains the critical importance of editing, cover and interior designs, how to work with designers, printing and binding, adjusting page counts for pricing purposes, and binding methods. A vitally important section is devoted to reviews -- how to get them and what to do with them once you have them. Indeed what Hemmerly has to say about book promotion, publicity and marketing will prove indispensable for any aspiring small press publisher or self-published author seeking to operate at a profit. Enhanced with appendices of publishing resource contact information, including reviewers and media, it is an invaluable addition to any "how to" reference collection on publishing in today's competitive and rapidly evolving marketplace, Unlocking The Secrets Of Publishing will save money, time, and aggravation for those new to the small press publishing field.

Screenwriting Updated
Linda Aronson
Silman-James Press
3624 Shannon Road, Los Angeles, CA 90027
1879505592 $19.95 1-323-661-9922

Award winning screenwriter, playwright, and novelist Linda Aronson draws upon her many years of professional experience and expertise to present Screenwriting Updated: New (And Conventional) Ways Of Writing For The Screen, a singularly useful and "user friendly" compendium of advice, examples, tips, tricks, and techniques on writing scripts for television and film. Sections cover such topics as Getting Ideas, Narrative Structure, and dialogue writing. Sample scenes abound, clearly illustrating various writing principles and rendering the concepts in concrete, unmistakable clarity. A complete "how to" course in a single volume, Screenwriting Updated is very highly recommended for both aspiring and active screenwriters.



The Christian Studies Shelf

Twelve Plays Of Christmas
Lowell Swortzell, Editor
Applause
151 W. 46th St., New York NY 10036
1-55783-495-4 $18.95 1-800-798-7787

From Dylan Thomas and Charles Dickens to modern versions of comedies and classic Christmas presentations, Twelve Plays Of Christmas packs in a range of Christmas plays complete with plots, stage directions and instructions, and reviews of Christmas play specifics. An intriguing, play-packed collection which will delight both actors and those developing Christmas pageants.

Orbis Books
Box 302, Maryknoll, NY 10545-0302
orbisbooks.com

Two excellent guides are recommended picks for Christian collections. Dale Irvin and Scott Sunquist's History Of The World Christian Movement (1-57075-396-2, $30.00) presents an introductory volume which covers earliest Christianity to 1453. It's the first comprehensive history of Christianity as a world religion and covers the evolution and history of Christianity around the world. Ron O'Grady edits Christ For All People (1-57075-378-4, $30.00), a celebration of Christian art themes around the world. Over 100 works of modern Christian artists pair gorgeous color plates with explanations of religious symbolism and artistic intention. Both are recommended picks.

The Trinity Guide To The Bible
Richard H. Hiers
Trinity Press
4775 Linglestown Road, Harrisburg, PA 17112
1563383403 $24.00 trinitypressintl.com

The Trinity Guide To The Bible by Richard Hiers (Professor of Religion at the University of Florida) is a highly accessible guide to the Christian scriptures for readers of all backgrounds and religious traditions, whether they know the Bible well or are reading it for the first time. Each book of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, as well as Old Testament Apocrypha, is covered in depth in this scholarly analysis. Written in direct, readily understandable and accessible language, The Trinity Guide To The Bible is an excellent tool and study guide, and highly recommended for religious studies students, as well as the non-specialist general reading wanting to better understand Judeo-Christian scripture.

The Land Of Promise
Philip Johnston & Peter Walker, editors
InterVarsity Press
PO Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515
0830826599 $19.99 www.ivpress.com

The Land Of Promise is an outstanding selection of essays aptly chosen to help Christians better understand and come to terms with the contemporary meaning of God's biblical promise to Abraham. Contributions to The Land Of Promise come from different parts of the world, including the Middle East, and embody a variety of contrasting theological stances. Yet all the writings featured within share a burning desire to understand Scripture and how it applies today. Edited by two teachers of Biblical Studies at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford, England, The Land Of Promise is a sober, thought-provoking collection highly recommended for any Christian studies reading list or church library collection.

Sex As God's Gift
Gateway Films/Vision Video
PO Box 540, Worcester, PA 19490
1563644673 $79.99 visionvideo.com

Sex As God's Gift is an outstanding and superbly produced series of six 25-minute videos developed specifically for use in youth seminars for 14 and 15 year olds, in order to prepare them for the sexual decisions they face as young adults and as Christians. The six videos are titled Making Good Decisions, STDs and Pregnancy, The Reality of Teen Pregnancy, Sexuality is a Gift, Relationships, and Common Questions Teens Have. Mary Ronan, a registered nurse who has worked with teens for ten years, communicates her wisdom and experience to viewers and students. Also included are a 78-minute program for parents, Raising Your Children in an Ungodly World, and the companion book. In a world where the secular media constantly thrusts irresponsible sexual images upon people of all ages, Sex As God's Gift is a "must see" for every Christian teen.

Passing The Keys
Francis A. Burkle-Young
Madison Books
4720 Boston Way, Lanham, MD 20706
1568332327 $18.95 1-212-366-0410

Passing The Keys: Modern Cardinals, Conclaves, And The Election Of The Next Pope focuses upon a critically important piece of Catholic history - that of papal elections. Featuring extensive descriptions and study of the theological positions of Popes through John Paul II, Passing The Keys is one of the most complete and in-depth studies of this sensitive topic available to lay readers. Historian and author Francis Burkle-Young also takes a hard look upon debates that are directly affecting the priesthood and the Vatican today, over issues such as contraception and women as priests or bishops. Strongly commended reading for anyone interested in taking a good, hard look at the Roman Catholic electoral process that reveals who will be Pope, the man who speaks for God according to faithful Catholics the world over.

Introducing The Old Testament
John Drane
Fortress Press
Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440
0800634322 $26.00 fortresspress.com

Now completely revised, updated, and expanded from its initial publication in 1987, John Drane's Introducing The Old Testament is a highly accessible text meant for both students and general readers who wish to better understand the Biblical stories that form the core of Judeo-Christian belief. The revisions have sizeably increased the length of Introducing The Old Testament, adding the most recent scholarship, particularly as regards historical queries such as the origins of the nation of Israel. Filled with black-and-white illustrations of maps, artwork, and photographs, Introducing The Old Testament is a singularly impressive body of work and an excellent way for one to familiarize oneself with the intense discussions and debates over scripture that continue to this day. Introducing The Old Testament is very highly recommended for any personal or seminary biblical studies program or reference shelf.



The Architecture Shelf

Victorian Glory
Paul Duchscherer & Douglas Keister
Viking Studio
375 Hudson St., New York NY 10014
0-670-89376-5 $32.95 1-800-847-5515

This survey of Victorian beauties of California's San Francisco Bay Area provides a blend of regional history and architectural insights, surveying the changing Victorian house styles of the region and featuring a wealth of fine color examples. From architectural roots to hybrid styles, Book Of The Courtesans is packed with detail.

Wright Sites
Arlene Sanderson, editor
Princeton Architectural Press
37 East 7th Street, New York, NY 10003
1568982755 $14.95 1-800-722-6657

Now in its revised, expanded, and updated third edition featuring five new entries for buildings recently opened to the public, Wright Sites: A Guide To Frank Lloyd Wright Public Places is an excellent guide to public places built by the renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Extensively illustrated with black-and-white photographs on nearly every page, Wright Sites presents the address, access information, tour information, and detailed commentary on sixty-six sites in the United States, from Texas to Oregon. Also included is a short listing of sites in Asia and England. Ably edited by Arlene Sanderson, Wright Sites is an excellent guide to its subject matter, printed on heavy paper stock for durability, a "must read" for all Frank Lloyd Wright architectural enthusiasts, and certain to spark interest in anyone with an especial love for architecture as art.

Adobe Houses For Today
Laura Sanches & Alex Sanchez
Sunstone Press
P.O. Box 2321, Santa Fe, NM 87504-2321
0865343209 $18.95 1-800-243-5644

Adobe Houses For Today: Flexible Plans For Your Adobe Home by Laura and Alex Sanchez showcases twelve plans for constructing compact, aesthetic adobe homes in modern and traditional styles. Chapters cover the history, advantages and drawbacks, and finances of owning an adobe home, as well as how to build one from the ground up. Black-and-white photographs, computer models, and diagrams clearly illustrate a variety of points. A highly recommended addition to academic and professional architectural studies collections, Adobe Houses For Today is more than a modern guide to an ancient architectural art; it is also a fascinating wealth of information and lore.



The Military Shelf

None So Blind
George W. Allen
Ivan R. Dee
1332 North Halsted St, Chicago IL 60622
1-56663-387-7 $27.50 1-800-462-6420

None So Blind provides a personal account of the intelligence failure in Vietnam by an ex-CIA intelligence official who documents who intelligence appraisals of the situation were either ignored or rejected by policymakers because they failed to support common assumptions of the government. A fascinating examination of these assumptions, None So Blind goes beyond most Vietnam guides to probe the sources of underlying failures.

My Carrier War
Norman E. Berg
Hellgate Press
Box 3727, Central Point, OR 97502-0032
1555716199 $17.95 1-800-228-2275

My Carrier War: The Life And Times Of A Naval Aviator In WW II is a gripping memoir of Norman E. Berg, who was a pilot-in-training and earned his wings three days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. In addition to recounting harrowing battles, My Carrier War also explores the author's inner conflicts and chronicles a young couple's efforts to balance military duty with commitment and love. Black-and-white photographs illustrate the powerful, evocative text. A memoir so strong it transports the reader back to a time of war, danger, and uncertainty, when the fate of America and the world was at stake, My Carrier War is a very welcome contribution to the growing library of World War II memoirs and autobiographies.

Marauder Man
Kenneth T. Brown
Pacifica Military History/Words To Go
1149 Grand Teton Dr, Pacifica, CA 94044
0935553533 $29.95 pacificamilitary.com

Marauder Man: World War II In The Crucial But Little Known B-26 Marauder Medium Bomber is the memoir of Ken Brown, a born Quaker and nonviolent by nature, who nevertheless volunteered for service in the United States Army Air Forces during the era of WW II because he recognized fascism for the evil that it was. He became a lead navigator for the Ninth Air Force's veteran 391st Bombardment Group, and learned to admire the strength and reliability of the Martin B-26 Marauder plane in which he and his fellow servicement entrusted their lives. Marauder Man is a firsthand account of the danger, death, and heroism of aircraft combat life. Marauder Man is recommended reading for anyone with a strong interest in World War II aviation history, and a much appreciated memoir for academic and community library military history collections.

Forever Remembered
Irv Broughton, interviewer
Eastern Washington University Press
705 West First Ave., Spokane, WA 99201-3909
0910055718 $24.95 1-800-508-9095

Forever Remembered: The Fliers of WW II is an extensive collection of candid interviews with World War II pilots. Fighter aces, former prisoners of war, Medal of Honor recipients, Women's Airforce Service Pilots, and the African-American pilots of the Tuskeegee Fighters are among the nearly 40 different veterans interviewed for Forever Remembered. A few black and white photographs enhance this poignant and powerful book, which is 99% in the words of the veterans - interviewer Irv Broughton provides only simple questions, and lets those who made history fill in the rest. Forever Remembered is an impressive contribution to military studies, and highly recommended for anyone with an interest in military aviation history -- particularly that of the Second World War.



The Humor Shelf

Andrews McMeel Publishing
4520 Main St., Kansas City, MO 64111
1-800-851-8923

Three collections of cartoons gleaned from popular newspaper strips will invite both old fans and newcomers to enjoy. Most know Scott Adams' Dilbert creations: When Did Ignorance Become A Point Of View? (0-7407-1839-8, $10.95) provides another collection of pointed business humor gained from a variety of Dilbert strips. Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman's Big Honkin Zits (1854-1, $14.95) provides the second collection of comics from the popular newspaper strip about the teen Jeremy and his suffering parents. Black and white and some color panels provide Zits' observations on life and his interactions with family and friends. Hector Cantu and Carlos Castellanos' Baldo (1840-1, $10.95) follows the antics of a Latino teen and his family living in the US. It may not be as recognizable to mainstream newspaper readers, but this first collection provides a fitting, inviting introduction. All are fine, fun picks.



The Women's Studies Shelf

Book Of The Courtesans
Susan Griffin
Broadway Books
1540 Broadway, NY, NY 10036
0-7679-0450-8 $24.95 1-800-726-0600

The courtesans of Paris, Rome and even New York City rose to prominence by seducing some of the most influential men of their times, accumulating the wealth and position rare to women. Griffin's Book Of The Courtesans examines the lives and achievements of these courtesans, from early Greeks to the 1900s. Chapters provide absorbing stories which go beyond biography to examine the special strengths which set these women apart from their peers.

Successful Woman's Guide To Working Smart
Caitlin Williams
Davies-Black Publishing
3803 East Bayshore Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303
0891061568 $20.95 1-800-624-1765

In Successful Woman's Guide To Working Smart: 10 Strengths That Matter Most, Caitlin Williams draws upon contemporary research, keen insights into current workplace realities, as well as the professional and personal spheres of the modern woman's life to establish that while women already have what is necessary to succeed in today's business climate, their are challenges and opportunities that demand new skills and a new mindset. Williams presents four principle themes: Inner Resilience (core strengths enabling a woman to perceive herself as confident, self-reliant, and capable of shaping her life in the way she deserves); Career Enhancement (career-building strengths enabling a woman to increase skills and a sense of competence, explore a full range of emerging opportunities, and flourish in professional life); Quality Of Life (nurturing strengths enabling a woman to take better care of herself and thrive in all aspects of her life); and The Big Picture (capstone strengths enabling a woman to contribute significantly to a corporate bottom line and position herself for leadership opportunities and future success). Successful Woman's Guide To Working Smart is invaluable reading for any woman contemplating entering the work force, as well as those women already on the job and seeking to maximize both their opportunities, achievements, and satisfactions in the workplace.



The Artbook Shelf

Free Lance
Arnold Roth
Fantagraphics
7563 Lake City Way NE, Seattle WA 98115
1-56097-438-9 $22.95

Free Lance presents a fifty year retrospective compilation of the graphic cartoonist's work, providing the cartoons which appeared in Playboy, Trump, and Punch, among others. Prior fans of Roth will appreciate having his widely distributed cartoons under one cover, while newcomers will surely recognize his style. Both black and white and color cartoon panels highlight this survey of his works.

Human Anatomy Made Amazingly Easy
Christopher Hart
Watson-Guptill Publications
770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
0823024970 $19.95, 144 pages

Human Anatomy Made Amazingly Easy is a very good exposition of human anatomy for the illustrator. It includes sections on skeletal structure, musculature, flexation, and how various poses are affect the illustrating of a human figure. This is not a book on how to draw a likeness of someone in particular but a good study on the human body and a foundation of its structure and illustration. If you are looking to draw a likeness then it is still valuable as a basic understanding of anatomy but there are better book choices. While the book is filled with illustrations that are very helpful they often fall just a little short of being as useful as they could be. For example, when drawing the human face it has some good metrics such as noting that when drawing the eyes the distance from one side of the head to the other is approximately the same as five times the width of the eyes, the eyes are approximately in the middle of the head and similar items. Yet it fails to not other very basic items. While it shows that the head is not circular it does not provide any metric for how tall it is in relation to width. Other books note that it is generally about 1.5 times taller than wide. In short it does a good job with what it has in it but just isn't quite as complete as it should be. Still, the book is a good buy for those who are interested in learning underlying anatomy in order to create accurate and detailed illustrations.

Juan Munoz
Neal Benezra, et.al.
University of Chicago Press
1427 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637-2954
0-226-04290-1 $50.00 1-800-621-2736

Juan Munoz is not only a catalog accompanying the first major survey of Munoz's work in this country, but the most comprehensive study of his work in print. Color illustrations of all the works in the exhibition accompany essays and an interview with the late artist; all of which reveal facets of his techniques and intentions. The lavish display of his art introduces readers to the range of his abilities.

Pulp Culture
Frank Robinson & Lawrence Davidson
Collectors Press
Box 230986, Portland, OR 97281
1-888054-12-3 $39.95 1-800-423-1848

The world of pulp fiction graphics is extensive: there are examples numbering in the millions. In Pulp Culture, the authors have selected the finest examples from the era of pulp magazines and publications, presenting the most beautiful of cover art and accompanying these large-size reproductions and full-page spreads with a running history of pulp publishing. The result promises wide appeal to not only graphic artists and fans of pulp publishing but general-interest readers.

Tibetan Painting
Hugo E. Kreijger
Shambhala Publications, Inc.
300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
1570628653 $75.00 shambhala.com

Tibetan Painting: The Jucker Collection is a phenomenally wondrous book filled with photographs of ancient Tibetan artwork treasures. Every single two-page spread has a full-page photograph of a grand artwork on the left, and a page of Hugo Kreijger's descriptive text commentary specific to that particular painting on the right. The text goes into minute detail with regard to the mortals and deities depicted in each work, the historical significance, and the extrapolated origin of every piece. a great many of the works naturally relate to Buddhism, and the first fifteen plates are collectively referred to as "Buddhas and Bodhisattvas." There are 72 plates total. An ideal "Memorial Fund" acquisition selection choice for academic and community library collections, Tibetan Painting: The Jucker Collection is enthusiastically recommended for anyone with an interest in Tibetan art and culture.

Charleston In My Time
West Fraser
University of South Carolina Press
937 Assembly Street, 8th Floor, Columbia, SC 29208
1-57003-392-7 $49.95 1-800-768-2500

The oil paintings of artist Fraser are unique: they focus on the landmarks, scenery, and life of Charleston and its area. Charleston In My Time blends full-page color reproductions of his paintings with his own reflections on Charleston life and views of his work. Art collections with either an interest in Charleston or regional painting will find this beautiful.



The Metaphysical Studies Shelf

The Essential Pattern
Rosalind Thorp
Granite Publishing Group
P.O. Box 1429, Columbus, NC 28722
192899203X $20.00 1-800-366-0264

The Essential Pattern: Finding Our Cosmic Connection is an informed and insightful new age look at reincarnation as energy repetition, the renewal of foxgloves as a metaphor of cosmic energy, and the critical importance of the natural pattern. Author Rosalind Thorp shows readers the importance of cycles in everything and the influence heavenly bodies have upon day-to-day earthly lives. Black-and-white diagrams illustrate this thought-provoking discussion. The Essential Pattern is particularly recommended for students of metaphysics, astrology, cosmology and the nature of cosmic energy.

A Hitchhiker's Guide To Armageddon
David Hatcher Childress
Adventures Unlimited Press
One Adventure Place, Kempton, IL 60946
0932813844 $16.95 www.adventuresunlimitedpress.com

David Childress' A Hitchhiker's Guide to Armageddon is not your standard travel guide, nor is it for the faint of heart; the voyages so compellingly described within it pages are as much metaphorical as physical, for it charts mankind's heedless path toward self-destruction in the past, present, and future. From the legendary fortress Megiddo in Israel, where Armageddon is prophesied to start, to Namibia and Botswana in 1979, to the Final Stand of the Knights Templar and the space-based Death Star, A Hitchhiker's Guide to Armageddon pulls out all the stops in a chilling, brutal tour of humanity's most precipitous failings. Especially recommended for anyone with an interest in reading or writing apocalyptic literature.

Astrology On The Job
Carolyn Reynolds
Contemporary Books
Two Penn Plaza, NY, NY 10121
0-7373-0552-5 $15.95 1-800-722-4726

Astrology On The Job isn't just another astrology book; it's one with a particular focus on sun signs and personality types, and how to apply an understanding of astrology to the work environment. Chapters cover how sun and moon signs affect communication, and how to use astrology to aid in overcoming conflict on the job.

Samuel Weiser Books
Box 612, York Beach, ME 03910-0612
1-800-423-7087

Three titles are recommended picks for new age/spirituality readers. Monte Plaisance's Reclaim The Power Of The Witch (1-57863-195-5, $18.95) provides a book on Wiccan magic to explore the basics of magical work essential to a witch's practices. From the thirteen spiritual laws to eight ways of making magic, this covers points of power. Scott Shaw's About Peace (1590030036, $12.95) outlines over a hundred ways to be at peace. These are short one-liner admonitions to be read in times of turmoil, when life seems out of control. Leonard Willoughby's Every Day Tao (217-X, $19.95) blends personal observation and tested exercises to reveal tao as a Western seeker. His own struggles are the foundation for his exploration of how Western minds can perceive Tao. All are excellent choices.

New Page Books/Career Press
Box 687, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417
1-800-227-3371

Three excellent spirituality titles provide new age views and unusual detail. Laura Perry's Ancient Spellcraft (1-56414-576-X, $13.99) provides a practical book of spells and charms derived from various ancient pagan cultures. From spells to promote business success to the usual ones for health and prosperity, this provides in-depth descriptions, backgrounds on the deities invoked, and instructions for completing the magic. Carl McColman's Well-Read Witch (530-1, $14.99) provides a fine guide to the occult books which are really worth reading in the Wiccan world. From histories to essential spellcraft titles, this reviews over 400 books and provides an excellent critical introduction to Wiccan spirituality classics. Patricia Telesco's Money Magick (550-6, $13.99) tells how to use spells to make money. From the history of methods ancestors used to attract riches to astrology and feng shui modern practices, this provides a variety of insights into the patterns which indicate success.

It Has Always Been Thus
Rosalee Sirgany
Golden Eagle Publications
Box 1611011, Miami, FL 33116-1011
0967359767 $12.00 1-800-825-1553

It Has Always Been Thus: Channeled Image Of Jesus is a slender (96 page) volume based on Rosalee Sirgany's experiences as a channeler. A unique presentation of an extensively channeled message from someone identifying himself as Jesus of Nazareth, It Has Always Been Thus will be of intense and lasting interest to students of channeling, Christian metaphysics, and spirituality.

Inner Traditions/Destiny Books
One Park St., Rochester, VT 05767
1-800-246-8648

Two very different, excellent spiritual guides are recommended picks. Ocha'ni Lele's Obi Oracle Of Cuban Santeria (0892818646, $14.95) focuses on a divination technique known as Obi, which gives the petitioner access to the orisha Obi. It's the only title to narrow the focus on Santeria to Obi, and provides specific divination instructions for casting and interpreting the oracle. Alain Danielou's The Hindu Temple (854-9, $24.95) is here translated into English for the first time, and provides a fine spiritual and travel guide to the major temples of India. The focus on their erotic sculptures and Hindu faith makes for an excellent set of insights.



The Self-Help Shelf

A Life of Optimal Well-Being
Dr. Jacob Allen Shipon
Seven Locks Press
P.O. Box 25689, Santa Ana, CA 92799
0929765982 $17.95 1-800-354-5348

A Life Of Optimal Well-Being: The Ultimate Guide To Creating Your Own World Of Infinite Emotional And Physical Well-Being by Dr. Jacob Shipon (a primary care physician with more than 30 years of experience in the field of preventative medicine, CEO of Medifitness Corporation, and director of Mental Health Management) is a "user friendly" guide to self-improvement in both physical health and state of mind. Especially meant for the over stressed, the overweight, and the overtired, A Life of Optimal Well-Being covers diet principles, exercise, and relaxation techniques, as well as broader life management principles to better improve the quality of one's interaction with the world. A generous, accessibly written, broad-ranging, indispensable guide to improving one's personal wellness.

Living With Anxiety
Bob Montgomery & Laurel Morris
Perseus Publishing
11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142
1-55561-306-3 $16.00 1-800-242-7737

Living With Anxiety provides an important plan on how to cope with anxiety without medication: an explanation which helps readers form basic understanding on anxiety, from its sources and manifestation to methods of control. Exercises and specific strategies are outlined.

Speaking And Writing [Good] Well
Kathy Alba
Bear Hollow Educational Systems
7330 East 26th Street, North, Witchita, KS 67226
0970990901 $16.95 1-376-687-6629

In Speaking And Writing [Good] Well: Empowering Yourself With "Proper" English -- Your Dynamite Guide To Conquering The World, Kathy Alba draws upon her many years of experience and expertise as an adjunct professor of English and published novelist to provide a single volume guide to the proper use of English both in speaking and in writing. With a text designed to be informatively conversational and enhanced with illustrations, readers are treated to practical and accessible examples of how to enrich and enliven the way they express themselves. An invaluable acquisition for family, school, and community library reference collections, Speaking And Writing [Good] Well is highly recommended for anyone seeking to improve their ability to speak and write, and would be ideal reading for anyone learning English as a second language.

Climb Your Stairway To Heaven
David Leonhardt
Writer's Showcase/iUniverse.com
5220 S. 16th, Ste. 200, Lincoln, NE 68512
059517826X $16.95 www.iuniverse.com

Consumer advocate and inspirational speaker David Leonhardt's Climb Your Stairway To Heaven: The 9 Habits Of Maximum Happiness is a unique, original guide to doing simple things anyone can do to make their life more cheerful and enjoyable. Some of the new, positive habits Climb Your Stairway To Heaven promotes are Count Your Blessings, Seizing the Day, and Spreading Joy. A few examples exercises are included for each recommended new habit. Climb Your Stairway To Heaven is enthusiastic, original, uplifting, motivating, and highly recommended for self-help reading lists and reference collections.

Working With Anger
Thubten Chodron
Snow Lion
PO Box 6483, Ithaca, NY 14851
1-55939-163-4 $12.95 1-800-950-0313

What are the advantages and disadvantages of anger? Is it ever useful? Working With Anger considers various forms of anger in response to various life conditions, revealing the circumstances in which anger can serve as a catalyst for change. An excellent survey and self-help guide.



The Mystery Shelf

The Long Good Boy
Carol Lee Benjamin
Walker & Company
435 Hudson St., New York Ny 10014
0-8027-3364-6 $23.95 1-800-289-2553

Rachel Alexander suffers from insomnia, which leads to an unusual job with transsexual prostitutes who are concerned about the murder of a fellow working girl. Shadowy intrigue and urban noir mingle in this mystery which offers many twists and turns.

Tournament Of Blood
Michael Jecks
Headline/Trafalgar Square
PO Box 257, Howe Hill Road, North Pomfret, VT 05053-0257
0-7472-7248-4 $29.95 1-800-423-4525

Readers who delight in a healthy dose of history with their mystery will find this a fine combination in Jecks' new title. A 1322 tournament leads to murder and an investigation of a host of possibilities in this fast-paced, involving account. Medieval life comes alive under Jecks' hand.

The Bone Museum
Wayne Grady
Four Walls Eight Windows
39 West 14th St. #503, NY, NY 10011
1-56858-204-8 $24.95

How are modern birds related to dinosaurs, and is there life after a species becomes extinct? Grady reveals the work and perspectives of paleontologist Phil Currie, who is the leading proponent of the bird-dinosaur theory. Grady does more than review theory: he traveled with Currie in China and experienced the drudgery of fieldwork first hand. An excellent set of insights is presented.

Devil's Own Luck
David Donachie
McBooks Press
120 W. State St., Ithaca, NY 14850
1-59013-003-0 $23.95 1-800-266-5711

Devil's Own Luck is the first volume in the author's projected 'Privateersman Mystery' series and is a recommended pick for any who appreciate swashbuckling action, the high seas, and a good mystery. Take Forester and O'Brien and add intrigue and you have the makings of this novel, which blends a whodunit with naval experiences.

Senator Love
Warren Adler
Stonehouse Press
300 E. 56th St., Suite 22F, NY, NY 10022
1931304637 $14.95 WarrenAdler.com

Senator Love is a mystery featuring detective Fiona Fitzgerald, who is on the trail of a murderer in Washington D.C. The most apparent connection between the victims is the charming and womanizing politician Senator Love. Even as Fiona works to solve the case, she finds herself drawn by the senator's seductive charm -- strong enough to tempt even the stout-hearted to illicit pleasure. Written by Warren Adler (the author of the acclaimed War of the Roses) Senator Love is an insidious, compelling mystery that keeps the reader guessing both the criminal's and the heroine's intentions up to the very end.



The Science Shelf

Soil Science Simplified
Milo I. Harpstead, et al.
Iowa State University Press
2121 South State Street, Ames, Iowa 50014-8300
0813829429 $42.95 1-800-862-6657

Now in a newly updated and expanded fourth edition with additional topical material and the results of current research and trends, Soil Science Simplified is an excellent guide to the basic principles of soil science. From soil physical properties, chemical equations, water, and fertility to soil conservation, surveys, and engineering, Soil Science Simplified is densely packed with so much information that it is eminently suitable as a high school or undergraduate soil science textbook. Black-and-white sketches and diagrams illustrate the scholarly, methodical, highly instructional text. Soil Science Simplified is strongly recommended for students and professionals in seeking to understand soil science principles -- especially engineers, environmentalists, landscape architects, as well as anyone with an interest or career in agriculture.

Hyperspace
John Gribbin
DK Publishing
95 Madison Ave., New York NY 10016
0-7894-7838-2 $29.95 www.dk.com

John Gribbin's Hyperspace accompanies a BBC/TLC special on the subject and packs over 250 color photos into a guide to the latest new theories and discoveries of astronomy. From how astronomers measure distances in space to theories about the origins, composition and nature of the universe, this packs color photos with easily-understood explanations.

Life At The Cell And Below-Cell Level
Gilbert N. Ling
Pacific Press
110 Marcus Drive, Melville, NY 11747
0970732201 $19.95 1-788-390-7730

As a beginning note to the readers states, Life At The Cell and Below-Cell Level is a book about "the in-depth and extensive experimental confirmation of the essence of the physico-chemical theory of life." Life At The Cell and Below-Cell level is a unique, informatively guided tour through the biological and physical processes in our cells that create and perpetuate the miracle of life. It was specifically written to be accessible for everyone, from the lay reader to the college student, who really wants to know what is going on at the cellular level of life and isn't afraid to do a little hard-core learning to find out. An extensive super-glossary is included for readers who have forgotten most of their basic biology. While Life At The Cell And Below-Cell Level contains college-level science, it is self-contained and takes the time to explain and detail each new concept as the reader learns it. Black-and-white figures, diagrams, and graphs occasionally illustrate the scholarly text. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to learn more about the cellular building blocks that create life itself.

Basic Books
10 E. 53rd St., New York NY 10025
1-800-242-7737

Steve Lohr's Go To (0-465-04225-2, $27.50) reveals the math majors, engineers, and scientists who created the software revolution, from the early 1950s to modern times. These are largely untold stories which reveal how the maverick ideas of a few became the driving force for a new generation of computers. Gerard Piel's Age Of Science (05755-1, $40.00) provides a fine overview to scientific knowledge gained in the 20th century. This review of achievements considers insights on the subatomic world, cosmology, biology, geology and evolution. Over 100 illustrations pack this easily-absorbed extensive survey. Ernst Mayer's What Evolution Is (04425-5, $26.00) explains the basics of evolutionary biology and its theories, considering Darwinian explanations of biology and offering a defense of these theories which incorporates modern discoveries in evolution science. Considerations of the underlying science and implications of such science are well done.

How Stuff Works
Marshall Brain
Hungry Minds
909 Third Avenue, 20th Fl., New York, NY 10022
0764565184 $24.99 1-800-434-3422

Based on the amazing aggregate of information collected upon the famous web site HowStuffWorks.com, How Stuff Works is an exciting reference as suitable for curious adults as it is for inquiring children that explains, in practical terms that any lay reader can easily understand, the functional principle or mechanism behind a vast array of common inventions, tools, and ideas. The casual browser will learn a wealth of information from how four-stroke gasoline engines work to how file compression works, clearly illustrated with detailed diagrams and enhanced with sidebar commentary. The more serious reader will come away from How Stuff Works with a notably higher understanding and appreciation of the technological innovations so many others simply use and take for granted. How Stuff Works is superb for educational leisure reading, and is a highly recommended gift book for any friend or family member who is curious about what makes everything around them tick!

Columbia University Press
61 West 62nd St., NY, NY 10023-7015
1-800-944-8648

Two excellent science titles are recommended picks. Neil Comins' Heavenly Errors (0-231-11644-6) traces common misconceptions about the nature of the universe, from the idea that black holes absorb everything around them to the type of light the sun emits. Chapters cover the reality in science and the origins of these common errors. Igor Aleksander's How To Build A Mind (12012-5) applies engineering principles to an understanding of the human brain and mind: anecdotes from the author's life blend with research and reflections to examine how consciousness works and how artificial neural systems could be created.

Imagining Space
Roger D. Launius & Howard McCurdy
Chronicle Books
85 Second Street, Sixth Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105
0811831159 $35.00 chronbooks.com

With a special foreword by famed science fiction author Ray Bradbury, Imagining Space: Achievements, Predications, Possibilities 1950-2050 is an amazing, informative, thought-provoking, and superbly illustrated armchair traveler's guide - one that takes the reader to other planets, past the solar system, and beyond the Milky Way galaxy. It looks back to the 1950 predictions of rocket scientists and science fiction authors, to the present day space program, and forward to the possibilities of 2050. Chief NASA historian Roger D. Launius and Dr. Howard E. McCurdy of American University explore the dreams and realities of our past and future as connected to space travel, including speculations of one day exploring Mars and creating space colonies. Imagining Space is written in lay terminology so that its dreams can easily be imparted to the casual reader, but by far its most vivid asset are its stunningly beautiful illustrations; over 150 artists' renderings and photographs display a breathtaking, unforgettable glimpse into the past, present, and future of space travel. Very highly recommended for non-specialist general readers with an interest in the future beyond the boundaries of the Earth.



The Literary Shelf

In The Process Of Poetry
William Watkin
Bucknell University Press
440 Forsgate Dr., Cranbury, NJ 08512
0838754678 $47.50 1-609-655-4770

In the Process of Poetry: The New York School And The Avant-Garde, William Watkin (Lecturer in the Department of English, Brunel University, London) provides an extensive and scholarly analysis of poetry by the four main figures of the New York School: John Ashbery, Frank O'Hara, Kenneth Koch, and James Schuyler. Daring to reinterpret the definition of "avant-garde", Watkin presents sample poems along with exhaustive, scholarly dissection and post-structural theory. Each individual poem is followed by several pages of erudite challenging, college-level discussion. In The Process Of Poetry is a book especially for people who want to reflect upon and strive to truly understand avant-garde poetry in general, the poetry of the New York School in particular.

My Soul Has Grown Deep
John Edgar Wideman
Running Press
125 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-4399
0-7624-1035-3 $29.95 1-800-345-5359

This thick literary compilation of early Afro-American literary classics should be in the collection of any serious library: My Soul Has Grown Deep draws from both famous and neglected works from colonial days, drawing on narratives, oratory, and verse to sample a strong cross-section of black American literature. The attention to a range of genres and experiences makes this an outstanding presentation.

Oxford Dictionary Of Difficult Words
Archie Hobson, Editor
Oxford University Press
198 Madison Ave., NY, NY 10016-4314
0-19-514673-5 $25.00 1-800-451-7556

This desktop companion gathers more than 10,000 words which are among the most difficult encountered in actual usage. From explanations of closely related, often-confused words to usage notes, Oxford Dictionary Of Difficult Words is packed with important guidelines.

Tuttle Publishing
153 Milk Street, Boston, MA 02109
1-800-526-2778

These two novels are unusual picks especially recommended for multi-cultural collections. Yasushi Inoue's The Izu Dancer And Other Stories (0-8048-1141-5, $14.95) presents a novella about six Izu Peninsula travelers who bond during a journey. Friendship overcomes initial differences in this gentle story of change: the other, shorter stories are equally compelling. Diana Darling's Painted Alphabet (962-593-643-2, $16.95) from Periplus provides an unusual story based on a Balinese epic poem. Romance, philosophy, and women's issues blend within the context of Balinese culture in this gentle tale. Both are recommended picks.

SK/Smith & Kraus
177 Lyme Rd., Hanover, NH 03755

Two excellent books on modern dramatists are highly recommended. Todd London edits New Dramatists 2000 (1-57525-269-4, $19.95), selecting the new works of graduating students of the Class of 2000. From issues of race and activism to living a life with value, these short plays are varied and well done. Marisa Smith edits Women Playwrights (274-0, $19.95), presenting the best plays of 1999 by Theresa Rebeck, Janet Neipris, Arlene Hutton and others. From cultural gaps to family relationships, these six selected plays provide rich new visions and dramatic scenes. Both are recommended picks for libraries seeking more than the usual drama collections.



The Dinosaur Shelf

Dinosaurs Under The Big Sky
Jack Horner
Mountain Press Publishing Company
Box 2399, Missoula, MT 59806
0-87842-445-8 $20.00 1-800-234-5308

Amateur collectors and lay readers will find Dinosaurs Under The Big Sky to be an intriguing guide to the dinosaurs which once roamed Montana. From the geologic history of the state to fossil finds and techniques for collecting, Dinosaurs Under The Big Sky will appeal to a specialized but interested audience of would-be dinosaur hunters.



The Graphic Novel Shelf

The Man Who Grew Young
Daniel Quinn & Tim Eldred
Context Books
368 Broadway, #314, NY, NY 10013
1893956172 $19.95 contextbooks.com

Superbly illustrated in full color by Tim Eldred, The Man Who Grew Young is Daniel Quinn's unique and fascinating story of a man who lives backward through time and history. Readers get a very special and thought provoking presentation of human society retreated from the heights of technology (and pollution) back through time as the advances of civilization are methodically undone with men and women being resurrected from their graves, living back down the years of their lives, and ending with absorption into their mother's bodies. But Adam Taylor is unique -- he continues to live back through time, seeking the answer to who, what and why he is, down to the very dawn of humanity before finding his ultimate answer. Brilliantly written, wonderfully illustrated, The Man Who Grew Young is a perfect story that showcases what the graphic novel does best -- combine memorable artwork with unforgettable story telling.

Dark Angel 3
Kia Asamiya
CPM Manga
250 W. 57th St. #317, NY, NY 10107
1-56219-944-7 $15.95

The graphic novel/comic genius of Asamiya has earned him fans of previous Dark Angel manga fantasy graphic novels, and this, covering Leen's Destiny, continues the story. Familiarity with the prior novels will lend to an appreciation of this ongoing story of Leen, the Phantom saint of the Blue Dragon who battles evil. The comics are in black and white, the action is unrelenting.

Vampire Brat
Batton Lash
Exhibit A Press
4657 Cajon Way, San Diego, CA 92115
0963395475 $14.95 exhibitapress.com

Vampire Brat is a brilliantly written satire of everything from Buff the Vampire Slayer to Marvel Comic's The Hulk. We follow the legal cases of Alanna Wolff, attorneys for a spectrum of the supernatural ranging from vampires, monsters, and ghosts, to zombies, mad scientists, and the most blood chilling creatures to ever walk the night -- lawyers! The parodies and takeoffs are right on target as we are treated to bizarre netherworld clients in need of legal representation. With an informative introduction by legendary comic book artist and graphic novelist Will Eisner, Vampire Brat is a very highly recommended and entertaining black-and-white illustrated graphic novel!

Adrenalynn: Weapon Of War
Tony Daniel & Martin Egeland
Dark Horse Comics
10956 SE Main Street, Milwaukie, OR 97222
1569716218 $12.95 darkhorse.com

Dark Horse Comics has established itself as a premier publisher of contemporary comics and graphic novels that sets the standard for art in the service of story telling. One of the latest and best examples of this is Tony Daniel and Martin Egeland's Adrenalynn: Weapon Of War. This is the story of a young crippled girl, Sabina Nikoli, who is plucked from a Russian orphanage, extensively operated upon to equip her with biomechanical prosthetics, and trained to be a cyborg assassin: codename "Adrenalynn". She is to be Russia's ultimate Cold War weapon. But with the collapse of the Soviet Union all she wants is to escape her "hunt and kill" assignments -- directed primarily at other Russian cyborgs who have "gone rogue". But the way to personal freedom is one of blood, violence, and heartbreak. Adrenalynn: Weapon Of War is a superb graphic novel that engages the reader's total and rapt attention from beginning to end.

-- True literacy is more than just being able to read and write.
It also includes the ability to understand what you are reading and to clearly set down what it is that you want to say.


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


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