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Reviewer's Choice
The Gales of Alexandria
Ehab Elgammal
Escape Editions
9781069167415, $31.99 hc
9781069167446, $TBA pbk
9781069167408, $8.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Gales-Alexandria-Ehab-Elgammal-ebook/dp/B0DYFRBFSF
Synopsis: Rooted in Alexandria, Egypt, and set against the backdrop of the attack on the United States known universally known as 9/11, the wars that followed, and the phenomena of the Arab Spring, in his original and compelling novel, "The Gales of Alexandria", author Ehab Elgammal is an extraordinary work of political fiction that deftly explores the devastating ripple effects of a young man's mysterious disappearance culminating in his death.
The body of a young man, Nasser, is returned home -- draped in silence and unanswered questions. Was he an Islamic terrorist, or something more?
It's 2014, Alexandria, Egypt, and history professor Omar El-Mohammedi (Nasser's father) has no time to mourn. CIA agent Matt is demanding that he decode Nasser's journal, which may stop a terrorist attack. As Omar unravels its brutal passages, he is forced to confront family truths, his failings as a father, and the question: Was Nasser radicalized by faith, or was he a casualty of a fractured world that rarely seeks to understand?
Amid the aftermath of 9/11, the ensuing wars, and the Arab Spring, The Gales of Alexandria follows those left behind. Nasser's sister turns to faith, his fiancee to activism, and his closest friends (from Egypt to the U.S.) are caught in global tides. Meanwhile, Matt, torn between duty and doubt, and Risa, a Jewish woman in a failing marriage to Nasser's best friend, find themselves drawn into Nasser's fate.
As Omar confronts unforgiving family revelations and his own failings as a father, "The Gales of Alexandria" challenges the comforts of rigid judgment in the wake of political upheaval and personal tragedy. It asks: Why do we stray from our ideals? Can reconciliation emerge from echoes of loss, or are some wounds too deep to heal?
Critique: As an author, "The Gales of Alexandria" effectively demonstrates Ehab Elgammal's distinctive and narrative driven storyteller style and his passionate ability to weave background details into the emotionally engaging characters and entertaining plot lines, twists and turns -- all of which works together to raise his unique, compelling and thought-provoking novel to an impressive level of literary excellence.
A novel of conflicting faith, fevered politics, and the often painful pursuit of justice, this is one of those books that will linger in the mind and memory of the reader long after it has been finished and set back upon the shelf. "The Gales of Alexandria" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community and college/university library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Gales of Alexandria" from Escape Editions is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, 9781069167408, $8.99) and has a forthcoming paperback edition (9781069167446, $TBA).
The Writing/Publishing Shelf
How to Get Published in the Best Management Journals, third edition
David J. Ketchen Jr., Timothy Clark, and Mike Wright, editors
Edward Elgar Publishing
www.e-elgar.com
9781035322428, $170.77, HC, 400pp
https://www.amazon.com/How-Published-Best-Management-Journals/dp/1035322420
This revised and extended third edition of "How to Get Published in the Best Management Journals" is collaboratively compiled and co-edited by the team of David J. Ketchen Jr., Timothy Clark, and Mike Wright. It draws on a wealth of knowledge and 'real world' expertise from leading scholars and journal editors to showcase the latest advice in securing publication in the world's top management journals.
The contributors expand on the impact of research, explain how to attract and retain co-authors and provide guidance for positioning research papers for publication within journals of various disciplines within the management field. They also delve into the intersection of management journal publishing and psychology, the ethics and integrity in the industry, and explore the nuances of special issues and open access publications.
Of special note are the chapters offering guidance on effectively developing the front end of your research paper, constructing a successful research portfolio and pipeline, and managing a career in business research which have been added to this latest edition of "How to Get Published in the Best Management Journals".
Critique: Comprised of 40 informative articles deftly organized into three major sections (The Publishing Process; Resolving Practical Key Issues, Publishing Across Disciplinary Boundaries), this third edition of "How to Get Published in the Best Management Journals" is informatively enhanced for the reader's benefit with a ten page listing of the contributors and their credentials, a one page Preface, and a sixteen page Index. Impressively comprehensive and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, "How to Get Published in the Best Management Journals: 3rd Edition" from Edward Elgar Publishing is an ideal for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Business & Academic Writing collections, and supplemental MBA & Creative Writing Composition studies lists.
Editorial Note #1: David J. Ketchen, Jr. is a Harbert Eminent Scholar and Professor of Management, Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, Auburn University, USA, (https://harbert.auburn.edu/directory/dave-ketchen.html)
Editorial Note #2: Timothy Clark, Provost and Professor, Singapore Management University, Singapore. (https://www.smu.edu.sg/about/smu-leadership/provosts-profile)
Editorial Note #3: Mike Wright (1952 - 25 November 2019) was Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director, Centre for Management Buyout Research, Imperial College Business School, London, UK (www.imperial.ac.uk/news/194251/business-school-honours-life-work-professor)
The Science Shelf
A Vision for Continental-Scale Biology
Medicine National Academies of Sciences, Engineering
The National Academies Press
www.nap.edu
9780309711357, $25.00, PB, 176pp
https://www.amazon.com/Vision-Continental-Scale-Biology-Research-Multiple/dp/0309711355
Synopsis: Our planet is facing many complex environmental challenges, including the loss of biodiversity and rapidly changing climate conditions, driven by intensifying human-nature interactions worldwide.
Dramatic advances in the biological sciences over recent years are made possible by new tools to study life at many scales, from identifying mutations in a single gene to monitoring changes in plants, animals, and microbes over an entire continent. These tools have the potential to usher in a new era of continental-scale biology (CSB) in which researchers can combine data from various realms across organizational, spatial, and temporal scales, addressing questions on biological processes and patterns that cannot be answered by observations at either small or large scales alone.
"A Vision for Continental-Scale Biology: Research Across Multiple Scales" is a report that was prepared at the request of the National Science Foundation, and sets out a vision for the development of CSB and identifies the research areas that could most benefit from multi-scale approaches. Advancing the use of CSB to address a wide range of biological and societal challenges will require the development of integrated conceptual frameworks and theories to guide research, deployment of emerging technologies, and development of a skilled workforce to synthesize the vast amounts of data from various sources.
Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader's benefit with the inclusion of information boxes, figures, tables, two appendices (Committee Member Biographical Sketches & Public Meeting Agendas), and a listing of acronyms and abbreviations, "A Vision for Continental-Scale Biology: Research Across Multiple Scales" is organized into six major sections: Introduction; Themes for a Continental Scale Biology; Theoretical Underpinnings for a Continental-Scale Biology; Research Infrastructure that Enables Continental-Scale Biology; Training and Capacity Building to Enable Continental-Scale Biology; Overarching Recommendations and Vision.
"A Vision for Continental-Scale Biology: Research Across Multiple Scales" is a seminal and groundbreaking summary of current research relevant to understanding and studying biology on a continental scale in view of critically important trends that will have a significant impact upon the impact of environment changes and human responses.
Editorial Note: The US National Academies Press (NAP) was created to publish the reports issued by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (formerly known as the National Research Council), the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Medicine.
The World History Shelf
Ancient Thrace and the Classical World
Jeffrey Spier, et al.
J. Paul Getty Museum
c/o Getty Publications
www.getty.edu/publications
9781606069400, $65.00, HC, 336pp
https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Thrace-Classical-World-Treasures/dp/1606069403
Synopsis: The Thracians (a collection of tribal peoples who inhabited territories north of ancient Greece, an area that comprises present-day Bulgaria, much of Romania, and parts of Greece and Turkey) were renowned for their skill as warriors and horsemen, as well as for their wealth in precious metals.
Thracians left few written records, and knowledge of their history and customs has long been dependent on brief accounts from ancient Greek authors. They appeared in Greek myth as formidable adversaries in the Trojan War, cruel kings, and followers of the ecstatic god Dionysos. Spectacular archaeological discoveries made in Thracian lands during modern times, however, have provided firsthand evidence of this remarkable culture, illuminating Thrace's interactions with Greece, Persia, and Rome.
"Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece" reproduces more than two hundred glorious objects dating from the end of the Bronze Age, around 1200 BC, to the end of the first century AD, when Thrace became part of the Roman Empire. Experts explore topics such as Thracian royal tombs, the Greek colonization of the Black Sea coast, Thracian religion, and more, placing Thracian culture in a broader historical context that highlights its complex relationships with the surrounding region.
It should be noted that "Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece" is being published to accompany an exhibition that was on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa from November 6, 2024, to March 3, 2025.
Critique: This large format (9.5 x 1.3 x 11.5 inches) hardcover edition of "Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece" from the Getty Museum collection is a massive and magnificently illustrated volume that was collectively co-edited by the team of Jeffrey Spires, Timothy Potts, Sara E. Cole, and Margarit Damyanov. In addition to informative commentary accompanying the visual impressive full color photos of the antiques and archaeological objects showcases in this exceptional catalogue, "Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece" is informatively enhanced for the reader's benefit with the inclusion of a Foreword by Timothy Price, Maps, a Chronology, a listing of lenders to the exhibition, a twenty-seven page listing of References Cited, a two page listing of Contributors, a two page listing of Illustration Credits, and an eleven page Index. Especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Art and Thracian History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists, it should be noted that this hardcover edition of "Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece" from Getty Publications is also readily available for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject in a digital book format (Kindle, $61.75).
Editorial Note #1: Jeffrey Spier is former Anissa and Paul John Balson II Senior Curator of Antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Editorial Note #2: Timothy Potts is Maria Hummer-Tuttle and Robert Tuttle Director of the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Editorial Note #3: Sara E. Cole is assistant curator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Editorial Note #4: Margarit Damyanov is associate professor in the Department of Thracian Archaeology at the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia.
Remaking the World
Jerrold Seigel
Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
9781009541664, $44.99, HC, 378pp
https://www.amazon.com/Remaking-World-European-Distinctiveness-Transformation/dp/1009541668
Synopsis: How should we understand Europe's special role in world history, and the enduring impact it made on the rest of the globe?
With the publication of "Remaking the World: European Distinctiveness and the Transformation of Politics, Culture, and the Economy" Professor Jerrold Seigel traces both the positive and negative sides of the continent's special role to its absence of effective central authority, the division and competition between its states and peoples, and its propensity for developing autonomous spheres of activity.
"Remaking the World" also analyzes how these features fostered Europe's characteristic preoccupation with a politics of liberty, its evolution of an aesthetic sphere animated by values specific to itself, its singular capacity to revolutionize scientific understanding, and its ability to prepare and carry out the first transition to a modern industrial economy.
Extended and substantive comparisons with Africa, India, China, and the lands that came under the rule of the Ottomans demonstrate the absence of similar phenomena elsewhere, whereas in Europe they also helped generate the malign force of imperial expansion.
Critique: Seminal, groundbreaking, exceptionally informative, impressively organized and presented history, "Remaking the World: European Distinctiveness and the Transformation of Politics, Culture, and the Economy" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library European History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that this hardcover edition of "Remaking the World: European Distinctiveness and the Transformation of Politics, Culture, and the Economy" from the Cambridge University Press is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $40.60, Amazon).
Editorial Note: Jerrold Seigel is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of History Emeritus at New York University. His work ranges from intellectual and cultural history to the evolution of society and politics. Previous publications include The Idea of the Self: Thought and Experience in Western Europe Since the Seventeenth Century (2005), and Modernity and Bourgeois Life: Society, Politics and Culture in England, France, and Germany since 1750 (2012), which won the 2014 Laura Shannon Prize.
Ancient Roman Villas: The Essential Sourcebook
Guy P. R. Metraux
J. Paul Getty Museum
c/o Getty Publications
www.getty.edu/publications
9781606069370, $55.00, PB, 480pp
https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Roman-Villas-Essential-Sourcebook/dp/1606069373
Synopsis: While the term villa is generic today, its meaning extended across the entirety of ancient Roman life: Villas supplied food, oil, and wine to towns and cities and produced raw materials for craft industries and building construction. Villas were also venues for pleasure, relaxation, and the cultivation of friendships and the mind. Many were known for their spectacular sites, architecture, decoration, and furnishings. They came to be ubiquitous throughout ancient Rome's European and Mediterranean rural hegemony.
Deftly edited by Professor Guy P. R. Metraux, "Ancient Roman Villas: The Essential Sourcebook" is impressive and informative volume that compiles a wealth of newly translated Latin and ancient Greek sources (treatises, letters, poems, histories, biographies, and other works of literary art) to vividly convey the architectural, economic, social, political, and cultural significance of ancient Roman villas, from their Greek antecedents through the early Christian period.
Thematic chapters reveal ancient Roman attitudes on villa architecture, agricultural operations, and the practices of buying, building, and decorating villas as well as entertaining and pursuing leisure there. References to family, gender relations, and the lives of enslaved persons aim to situate, if only indirectly, a broad range of experiences within villas.
Supplemented by generous commentaries, copious annotation, a comprehensive bibliography, and a glossary, this definitive sourcebook equips scholars and students alike for further research and makes for fascinating reading.
Critique: Fully living up to its subtitle, "Ancient Roman Villas: The Essential Sourcebook" is a massive contribution to Roman history, archaeology, art and architecture. A meticulous study that is deftly translated and edited by Professor Emeritus Guy P. R. Metraux, "Ancient Roman Villas" is authoritative compendium of newly translated primary sources revealing ancient Roman attitudes on every aspect of villas, from selection of place and construction activities to day-to-day management and lived experiences. Simply stated, "Ancient Roman Villas" is an extraordinary and imperatively necessary addition to professional and college/university library Roman Cultural/Architecture History collection and supplemental curriculum studies list. It should be noted by students, academia, archaeologists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Ancient Roman Villas: The Essential Sourcebook" is also available from Getty Publications in a digital book format (Kindle, $52.25).
Editorial Note: Guy P. R. Metraux (www.researchgate.net/profile/Guy-Metraux) is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Visual Art and Art History at York University in Toronto, Canada.
The Economic Studies Shelf
Green and Sustainable Finance
Simon Thompson
Kogan Page Inc.
www.koganpage.com
9781398609266, $229.00, PB, 664pp
https://www.amazon.com/Green-Sustainable-Finance-Principles-Investment/dp/1398609242
Synopsis: To achieve society's goals, as set out in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, the finance sector has a crucial role to play in driving sustainable business and the transition to a net zero economy.
To achieve this change, it is vital for the finance sector to allocate capital to the firms, investments and activities looking to create a more sustainable world. this new second edition of "Green and Sustainable Finance: Principles and Practice in Banking, Investment and Insurance" offers a comprehensive guide to green and sustainable principles and practice in banking, investment and insurance to help finance professionals manage sustainability risks and support their clients and customers in transition. Given the need for urgent, rapid and sustained change, it is essential that all finance professionals understand and apply these principles so that every professional financial decision takes account of sustainability.
Ably written by Simon Thompson (the CEO of the Chartered Banker Institute), "Green and Sustainable Finance: Principles and Practice in Banking, Investment and Insurance" is fully updated and expanded in this second edition that includes the most recent assessments of climate science from the IPCC, extended coverage of sustainability reporting and carbon accounting, and regulatory and market developments in sustainability risk management.
"Green and Sustainable Finance" also features material on the rapid growth of sustainable lending and investment and the latest finance sector alliances and initiatives. Endorsed by the Chartered Banker Institute as the core text for the global benchmark Certificate in Green and Sustainable Finance, this book is essential reading for finance professionals, university students and individuals working to embed sustainability in business, finance, policy and regulation.
Critique: An ideal addition to personal, professional, corporate, governmental, and college/university library Sustainable Business, Banks/Banking, and Environmental Economics collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists, it should be noted that this paperback edition of Simon Thompson's "Green and Sustainable Finance: Principles and Practice in Banking, Investment and Insurance" is also available in paperback (9781398609242, $69.99).
Editorial Note: Simon Thompson is the Managing Director of the Global Capacity Building Coalition (GCBC). Launched at COP 28, the GCBC is an unprecedented alliance of UN agencies, multilateral development banks, private finance and others encompassing more than 5,000 public and private financial institutions, 160 financial centres and exchanges and millions of finance professionals in almost every country in the world. Simon was previously Chief Executive of the Chartered Banker Institute, the oldest professional body of bankers in the world with more than 35,000 members worldwide. He was also the Founding Chair of the UK's Sustainable Finance Education Charter and a former Vice President of the European Bank Training Network.
The Money/Finance Shelf
Easy Real Estate Investing for Beginners
Chad K. Smith
Independently Published
9798312465228, $19.99, HC, 166pp
https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Real-Estate-Investing-Beginners/dp/B0DYYQ98PP
Synopsis: "Easy Real Estate Investing for Beginners: 9 Steps to Build Passive Income, Learn How to Avoid Costly Mistakes, and Understand Property Value, Even If You Have No Money!" by Chad K. Smith was specifically written and intended for those like yourself who are tired of living paycheck to paycheck and watching others build financial freedom through real estate while you are stuck on the sidelines. Successful real estate investing means being able to earn money while you sleep, growing your real estate portfolio, and securing assets that appreciate over time -- even if you're starting with little to no capital.
"Easy Real Estate Investing for Beginners" is your comprehensive step-by-step DIY guide to mastering the fundamentals of real estate investing, navigating the real estate market, and building a profitable portfolio -- all while minimizing risk and maximizing returns.
This isn't just another book filled with complicated jargon or outdated theories. "Easy Real Estate Investing for Beginners" is a clear, action-packed, user friendly roadmap that will show you exactly how to find, finance, and profit from real estate deals, whether you're looking at rental properties, flipping houses, or commercial real estate investments.
With "Easy Real Estate Investing for Beginners" you will:
Learn why real estate investing is one of the safest ways to build wealth, how to develop an investor mindset, and the power of real estate as a financial asset.
Understand how to locate real estate opportunities, perform real estate analysis, and use the 1% rule and cap rates to assess cash flow potential before making a purchase.
Creative real estate lending & financing strategies (such how to invest with little to no money down using house hacking, seller financing, real estate syndication, partnerships, and other creative financing strategies).
Master real estate negotiation tactics, learn how to secure off-market real estate deals, and structure rental property investments that generate consistent passive income.
Set the right rental rates, reduce vacancies, and use tax benefits to boost cash flow, while diversifying your portfolio to balance residential and commercial real estate investments.
Use the BRRRR strategy (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat) to grow your real estate portfolio and build lasting wealth without taking unnecessary risks.
Minimize financial losses, use LLCs and insurance to protect your assets, and create an exit strategy that ensures maximum return on investment.
"Easy Real Estate Investing for Beginners" cuts through the noise, providing proven strategies, real estate investing fundamentals, and expert insights to help you make smart investment decisions, grow your portfolio, and achieve financial independence through real estate.
Critique: The road to creating what's known as 'generational wealth' begins with a judicious investment of whatever financial resources and capital you have to begin with -- including starting from financial scratch with limited or even no assets. "Easy Real Estate Investing for Beginners: 9 Steps to Build Passive Income, Learn How to Avoid Costly Mistakes, and Understand Property Value, Even If You Have No Money!" is exceptionally well written, organized and presented for anyone considering or becoming involved in real estate investing as their road to financial well being and wealth building accumulation. An ideal introduction to real estate investing and entrepreneurship, "Easy Real Estate Investing for Beginners: 9 Steps to Build Passive Income, Learn How to Avoid Costly Mistakes, and Understand Property Value, Even If You Have No Money!" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Money/Financial Management and Real Estate Investment collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that this hardcover edition of "Easy Real Estate Investing for Beginners: 9 Steps to Build Passive Income, Learn How to Avoid Costly Mistakes, and Understand Property Value, Even If You Have No Money!" is also available in paperback (9798312465242, $9.99).
Editorial Note: Chad K. Smith, an inspiring self-published author who brings over 25 years of experience in the finance industry to help others take control of their financial future. Armed with an MBA and a passion for teaching, Chad is on a mission to make personal finance, investing, and wealth-building accessible to everyone, no matter where they start. Dedicated to making financial education fun and approachable, Chad's books have become go-to resources for readers ready to take action, build wealth, and create a brighter future. Let his excitement inspire you to start your journey toward financial freedom today!
The Cookbook Shelf
The Modern Mountain Cookbook
Jan A. Brandenburg
The University Press of Kentucky
www.kentuckypress.com
9781985901766, $21.95, HC, 200pp
https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Mountain-Cookbook-Plant-Based-Celebration/dp/1985901765
Synopsis: Between soup beans seasoned with bacon grease, pot roast, and gravy-drowned meatloaf, Appalachian cuisine is known for featuring plenty of meat. Even seemingly innocent sides like potato salad and mac & cheese often contain animal products.
Adopting a plant-based diet comes with life-changing benefits, but it has also stopped many people from enjoying the food they were raised on.
Embracing her grandmother's fearless approach to cooking while staying true to her own beliefs, Appalachian vegan Jan A. Brandenburg has diligently worked to create a cookbook that captures the flavor and comfort that came with every bite of her favorites from back home.
With the publication of "The Modern Mountain Cookbook: A Plant-Based Celebration of Appalachia", Brandenburg updates the meals of her eastern Kentucky childhood to make them accessible to everyone (including cooks of any skill level) who are wanting to incorporate more veg-friendly fare into their rotation.
From eggless scramble for breakfast to fried chick'n for supper, "The Modern Mountain Cookbook" is innovative culinary guide to providing kitchen cooks with an extensive menu of delicious, cruelty-free dishes fit for all occasions. Brandenburg feeds both body and soul as she folds in lessons learned from generations of women and memories of family gatherings around the table with sure-to-please recipes, including creamy potato soup, country-fried steak, roasted jalapeno pimento cheese, hash brown and broccoli casseroles, and bourbon pecan pie.
Appalachian and plant-based cooking are no longer at odds -- people who love country classics can preserve their culinary traditions while eating a healthier, more ethical diet. With "The Modern Mountain Cookbook" in one hand and a cast-iron skillet in the other, anyone can have their pineapple upside-down cake and eat it, too!
Critique: Exceptionally well organized and presented, "The Modern Mountain Cookbook: A Plant-Based Celebration of Appalachia" is a unique and ideal pick for personal, professional, and community library cookbook collections. Perfect for planning memorable menus with a distinctively Southern flair, "The Modern Mountain Cookbook" is an impressive compendium of palate pleasing, appetite satisfying, health promoting dishes that are as nutritious as they are delicious. It should be noted for kitchen cooks that this hardcover edition of "The Modern Mountain Cookbook" from the University of Kentucky Press is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $20.85).
Editorial Note: Jan A. Brandenburg is a cook, digital content creator, and pharmacist from eastern Kentucky. Wanting to enjoy the flavors of her childhood without supporting the meat industry, she has spent years developing plant-based alternatives to traditional Appalachian dishes. She can be found on Instagram @appalachianvegan
The General Fiction Shelf
The Family Recipe
Carolyn Huynh
Atria Books
c/o Simon & Schuster
www.simonandschuster.com
9781668033043, $28.99, HC, 320pp
https://www.amazon.com/Family-Recipe-Novel-Carolyn-Huynh/dp/1668033046
Synopsis: Duc Tran, the eccentric founder of the Vietnamese sandwich chain Duc's Sandwiches, has decided to retire. No one has heard from his wife, Evelyn, in two decades. She abandoned the family without a trace, and clearly doesn't want anything to do with Duc, the business, or their kids. But the money has to go to someone.
With the help of the shady family lawyer, Duc informs his five estranged adult children that to receive their inheritance, his four daughters must revitalize run-down shops in old-school Little Saigon locations across America: Houston, San Jose, New Orleans, and Philadelphia -- within a year. But if the first-born (and only) son, Jude, gets married first, everything will go to him.
Each daughter is stuck in a new city, battling gentrification, declining ethnic enclaves, and messy love lives, while struggling to modernize their father's American dream. Jude wonders if he wants to marry for love or for money -- or neither.
As Duc's children scramble to win their inheritance, they begin to learn the real intention behind the inheritance scheme -- and the secret their mother kept tucked away in the old fishing tackle box, all along.
"The Family Recipe" is a novel by Carolyn Huynh about rediscovering one's roots, different types of fatherly love, legacy, and finding a place in a divided country where the only commonality among your neighbors is the universal love of sandwiches.
Critique: Original, skillfully crafted, and a fun read from cover to cover, "The Family Recipe" showcases author Carolyn Huynh's impressive and genuine flair for the kind of narrative driven storytelling that offers the reader memorable characters and an inherently fascinating multi-threaded plot. An especially and unreservedly recommended pick for community library Contemporary General Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that this hardcover edition of "The Family Recipe" from W.W. Norton is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book.
Equation
Hubert-Richard Clarke
Afterlife Publishing
9781068651502, $11.99, PB, 230pp
https://www.amazon.com/Equation-Hubert-Richard-Clarke/dp/1068651504
Synopsis: Caitlyn Colburn is a caring lawyer and mother of two. Isaiah Carpenter is a mild-mannered Catholic doctor. Then we have Harold Mansfield, a well-renowned head scientist working at a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company.
Three complete strangers. Each of them commits the unspeakable, something truly heinous and totally out of character. The connection between these bizarre occurrences is a mathematical formula left at each crime scene.
What is the equation? Is it a cult, psychotic delusions, or something much more sinister?
Detective Jaydon Lynch is a man on the edge, a man consumed by pain, rage and loss, a man who needs to find a way out. He needs to solve this puzzle. The further down the rabbit hole Jaydon dwells, the closer he comes to unravelling an earth-shattering discovery. The solution to this enigma might just be himself.
Critique: Original, deftly crafted, and a fascinating read from cover to cover, it is all the more impressive when considering that "Equation" is author Hubert-Rchard Clarke's debut as a novelist. Memorable characters, a riveting plot laced with unexpected twists and turns, with Clarke's distinctive and narrative driven storytelling style, "Equation" is one of those novels that will linger in the mind and memory of the reader long after the book itself has been finished and set back upon the shelf. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Contemporary General Fiction & Suspense/Thriller collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that this paperback edition of "Equation" from Afterlife Publishing is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $3.99).
Editorial Note: Hubert-Richard Clarke (https://equationnovel.wixsite.com/my-site-5) is a filmmaker, actor, musician, martial artist, yogi and writer. When not teaching yoga, or practicing Kung Fu. He will most likely be studying philosophical scriptures, learning piano pieces on his old Korg Trinity, or enmeshed in one creative endeavour or another. Hubert-Richard has a Film-Making and Creative Digital Media degree from the University of Worcester.
Garbage Town
Ravi Gupta
Greenleaf Book Group Press
www.greenleafbookgroup.com
9798886453133, $27.95, HC, 312pp
https://www.amazon.com/Garbage-Town-Ravi-Gupta/dp/B0DHHL3LTN
Synopsis: Raj Patel grew up in the shadow of Fresh Kills, the largest landfill the world has ever seen. At sixteen, he's watched the Staten Island crime family tighten its grip on his town's lucrative trash business, but he's kept his distance from their dirty trade -- until now.
When Raj and his friends make a chilling discovery deep within the dump, they embark on a search for answers. But they aren't the only ones looking for the truth, and their pursuers will stop at nothing to guard their secrets. Faced with an impossible choice (protect themselves or expose what they've found) Raj and his friends quickly realize there's no one left to trust. And the deeper they dig, the higher the stakes. Soon, they're in way over their heads, and the only way out might be through.
Critique: With the publication of "Garbage Town", novelist Ravi Gupta deftly weaves a riveting suspense thriller of a mystery with the raw intimacy of a hard life coming-of-age story. Original, compelling, emotionally engaging, skillfully crafted, and a thoroughly entertaining read from cover to cover, "Garbage Town" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Contemporary General Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that this hardcover edition of "Garbage Town" from Greenleaf Book Group Press is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
Editorial Note: Ravi Gupta (https://www.ravimgupta.com) is a serial social entrepreneur dedicated to reforming civic institutions. He is the cofounder and CEO of The Branch, a media company committed to combating online polarization. At The Branch, Ravi hosts several shows, including The Lost Debate and Majority 54 (two podcasts focused on bridging the political divide) and Killing Justice, a collaboration with Crooked Media investigating an alleged political murder in India.
The Historical Fiction Shelf
Budapest Noir: Ilona Gets A Phone
Alison Langley
Dedalus Limited
c/o Dedalus Books
https://www.dedalusbooks.com
9781915568427, $15.99, PB, 320pp
https://www.amazon.com/Budapest-Noir-Ilona-Gets-Phone/dp/1915568420
Synopsis: In "Budapest Noir" 1945, 1956 and 1974 merge into 1991 and a nation is allowed to remember the dark days of its past and come to terms with its history before seeking to move on to a different future.
Author Alison Langley's novel, "Budapest Noir: Ilona Gets A Phone" starts with Ilona getting a phone installed in 1991. This banal act has huge significance as before the fall of the Communist government Ilona was not allowed to have a phone as her husband took part in the 1956 Uprising and her son escaped in 1974.
In 1991 with the aid of a Fullbright Scholarship with his wife and small child Ilona's son Emil returns to Budapest for the first time to create an exhibition about Hungary's transition to democracy. Ilona wants her son to get back what had been stolen from them by the Communists and make them rich while Emil just wants to make art and learn about the past. This clash of values nearly spells disaster.
There are flashbacks to the Russian army arriving in 1945 and the uprising in 1956 as the novel recounts the dark and tragic events which took place. What Ilona and her family had to endure may be fictional, but it is also an accurate reflection of life under communism and its aftermath.
Ilona's story is one that she shared with countless others in Budapest and Hungary during those dark days. Ilona never complains and never talks about the past, it is a weight she carries in silence.
Critique: "Budapest Noir: Ilona Gets A Phone" is a deftly crafted, skillfully written historical novel. The distinctively impressive and narrative driven storytelling style of author Alison Langley raises this yesteryear historical novel to a memorable level of literary excellence, It is all the more interesting when considering that "Budapest Noir: Ilona Gets A Phone" is Langley's debut as a novels. This paperback edition of "Budapest Noir: Ilona Gets A Phone" from Dedalus Limited is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists, as well as community and college/university Literary Fiction collections.
Editorial Note: Alison Langley was born in Missouri, but grew up in Minnesota. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, she worked as a journalist in Connecticut and Maryland before moving in 1986 to Europe, where she covered events in Germany, Hungary, Austria and Switzerland. Most recently she taught journalism in Vienna. She lives in the Swiss Alps with her Irish husband and their dog Guido. Budapest Noir is her first novel.
The Literary Fiction Shelf
Three Guesses
Chris McClain Johnson
Regal House Publishing
https://regalhousepublishing.com
9781646036172, $18.95, PB, 198pp
https://www.amazon.com/Three-Guesses-Chris-McClain-Johnson/dp/1646036174
Synopsis: Three strangers from Memphis, Phoenix, and New York City, connected only by a mesmerizing painting named Three Guesses, embark on an extraordinary journey of friendship in this charming epistolary novella.
Over the years, their letters reveal intimate details about their lives and loves, dreams, trials and triumphs, and a shared desire to find their places in the world -- deepening their bond without ever having met in person. Then, as each contends with critical turning points, the unlikely trio considers breaking their mail-only pact to meet at the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Humorous and heartbreaking, soulful and breathtaking, Chris McClain Johnson's new novel, "Three Guesses" celebrates love, friendship, hope, and the life-changing power of human connection through the old-fashioned art of letter-writing.
Critique: Original, eloquent, engaging, and an entertainingly memorable read from cover to cover, "Three Guesses" by novelist Chris McClain Johnson introduces her readers to the power of mutual friendship and what it offers us in good times and bad, in whatever our circumstances are or become. Told in the author's distinctive and narrative driven storytelling style laced with humor and insight, "Chris Johnson's "Three Guesses" is especially and unreservedly recommended novella for community and college/university library Contemporary American Literary Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that this paperback edition of "Three Guesses" from Regal House Publishing is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
Editorial Note: Chris McClain Johnson (https://www.chrismcclainjohnson.com) is an award-winning Southern author who started writing stories as a child, inspired by the beauty and wonders of her family farms in Mayfield, Kentucky. After graduating from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, she settled in Memphis, Tennessee, where she continues to write stories, poems, music and essays. Her debut epistolary novel "Three Guesses" is the recipient of Regal House Publishing's 2023 Fugere Book Prize for Finely Crafted Novellas.
The Romantic Fiction Shelf
If It Wasn't for the Orange Grove
Dana Gradaya Farrell
Amai Publishing
9798218580315, $15.99, PB, 262pp
https://www.amazon.com/Wasnt-Orange-Grove-Gradaya-Farrell/dp/B0DX1H4NC1
In 1988, the bright Florida sun produces sweet oranges near a small town and is the setting of author Dana Gradaya Farrell's novel about two young people who embark on a blossoming relationship that challenges the rigid confines of social class, wealth, and status.
Theirs is a love for nature that brings them ever closer despite their differences. Together they daringly discover passion and sensuality with the exciting Florida landscape as their backdrop.
While on the other side of town, a troubled married couple is adversely affected by past traumas and instances of infidelity. Their tumultuous relationship reaches a dangerous boiling point as notions of love, family, and loyalty are defied.
Ultimately, the lives of the town residents intertwine as faith is explored in this quest for joy and fulfillment in human interpersonal relationships be they a couples romance, a marriage, family relations, or friendships.
Critique: Original, exceptional, memorable, and all the more impressive when considering that it is author Dana Gradaya Farrell's debut as a novelist, "If It Wasn't for the Orange Grove" is a fun and fascinating read from cover to cover. Exceptionally well written, emotionally engaging, and fully showcasing author Dana Gradaya Farrell's distinctive, effective, and narrative driven storytelling style, "If It Wasn't for the Orange Grove" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Contemporary Romance Fiction collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of all dedicated romance fans and readers with an interest in friendship fiction and psychological novels that this paperback edition of "If It Wasn't for the Orange Grove" from Amai Publishing is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $4.99).
Editorial Note: With multi-generational roots in Louisiana and Mississippi dating back at least as
far as the 1800s, Dana Gradaya Farrell is proud of her Southern heritage. When she's not writing, she likes painting and works as an adjunct professor. She enjoys spending time with her
husband and children and as a self-described "foodie," finds delight in baking sweet
desserts.
Coteau
Michael Tidemann
Independently Published
9798311713269, $20.00, HC, 207pp
https://www.amazon.com/Coteau-Mr-Michael-Harris-Tidemann/dp/B0DY65JQ3J
Synopsis: Veteran Phil Davis comes to the small town of Pinnacle to bring his best friend's dying words to his widow: "Tell my wife I know she's been faithful and I love her." Little does Phil realize what impact his message will have on her, and how their mutual grief will draw them together.
Carissa Thorson welcomes Phil's message, but finds him reawakening long-forgotten passions she had thought had died with her husband. But first she must help Phil overcome his own trauma over the death of her husband Robert, a trauma far greater than her own.
Critique: Written with authentic emotional eloquence and a fascinating read from cover to cover, "Coteau" by Michael Tidemann is an original and compelling novel that will be of particular appeal to readers with an interest in contemporary romance set in a small town and laced with elements ranging from military induced trauma to grief born loss -- and with an ultimately satisfying conclusion. Raising his novel to an impressive level of literary excellence by the author's deftly crafted and narrative driven storytelling style, "Coteau" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Contemporary Romance collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that this hardcover edition of "Coteau" is also available in paperback (9798305168167, $10.00) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $2.99).
Editorial Note: Michael Tidemann lives and works in Estherville, Iowa where he's a journalist, freelance writer, and adjunct college instructor. His fiction has appeared in The Longneck, Black Hills Monthly Magazine, Struggle, and www.thewriteplaceatthewritetime.org. His nonfiction in Overdrive, Snowmobile, Western Business, the San Diego Union-Tribune, Trucker News, Truckers USA, and the Des Moines Register.
Walking by Your House: A Wholesome Christian Romance
A. W. Anthony
https://awanthonybooks.com
Independently Published
9798991037129, $14.99, PB, 240pp
https://www.amazon.com/Walking-Your-House-Wholesome-Christian/dp/B0DTGC5WGJ
Synopsis: Alan Weiss has a big problem -- he doesn't know how to express romantic feelings to a girl. In the pages of "Walking By Your House", fans of true romance will fully enjoy following Alan's misadventures as he struggles to find a way to say the things a girl wants to hear.
Alan embarks on a topsy-turvy, humorous journey filled with mistakes, pitfalls, disappointments, and laughter. One moment, he stammers and flees from her presence. The next, he thinks shooting basketball with a girl is the key. Readers will feel his pain as he fails again and again.
But finally, Alan comes up with a strategy he hopes will allow him to succeed over his rivals.
Critique: A deftly crafted romance novel with wholesome values and laced throughout with humor, charm, and a valiant young man who faces life's emotional ups and downs, "Walking By Your House" by A. W. Anthony showcases his distinctive, emotionally engaging, memorably entertaining, and narrative driven storytelling style. "Walking By Your House" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Contemporary Romance collections and the personal reading lists of those with an interest in, and appreciation for, romance novels with solid Christian and Family Values.
Editorial Note: A. W. Anthony (https://awanthonybooks.com) has an appreciation for small-town life. As a person of faith, he has discovered the value of a healthy relationship with God. At heart, he is a romantic and an idealist, which has helped him craft stories about Finding Love in the Heartland. He bases his stories on his observations in life and a tremendous dose of imagination.
Desert Brave
Gin Coleman
Black Rose Writing
www.blackrosewriting.com
9781685134426, $19.95, PB, 403pp
https://www.amazon.com/Desert-Brave-Born-Gin-Coleman/dp/1685134424
Synopsis: Kira Fontaine comes to Arabia with only one thing in mind (to find a legendary lost river) never realizing her life is about to change forever.
When she crawls from the wreckage of her plane, she finds herself stranded in a vast, unforgiving desert. Relying on her Native American ancestral knowledge and skills, and her faith, she searches for a way home.
Along the way, she saves a mythical golden horse who, in turn, saves her. Her journey becomes more difficult when she discovers a hidden valley with an ancient mystery.
Cast adrift in a world of treachery and murder, lust and love, Kira follows a dangerous path that leads her to two men -- one who wants her dead and one who doesn't know she exists.
Will she survive the dangers of the desert and find a way home? Or will she choose to remain and become one of the desert born?
Critique: Original, deftly crafted, a fun and fascinating read from cover to cover, "Desert Brave" is the first title in author Gin Coleman's new 'Desert Born' series and will prove of particular and special appeal to fans of romance novels laced with action, adventure, and mystery. Of special note is Coleman's impressively genuine, exceptionally distinctive, and narrative driven storytelling style. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Historical Romance Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that this paperback edition of "Desert Brave" from Black Rose Writing is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $5.99).
Editorial Note: Gin Coleman (https://gincoleman.com) was born in the United States but calls no state home. It is said the night Gin was born, her mother reported a green light at the window and a crop circle in the backyard. A story-telling tumbleweed, she currently parks her trusty computer in the wilds of Mississippi where she surrendered her garage to her husband's beloved bass boat but maintains a She-Shed for her riding mower. A lifelong lover of horses and dogs, she grew up in the Ozarks, was raised by wolves, and her favorite car is a truck. Gin is the proud mother of the Desert Born Series and will soon give birth to the Lost and Found in the Lone Star State Series.
The Western Fiction Shelf
A Tuft Of Thistledown
L.Z. Rose
Caturro Publishing
www.caturropublishing.com
9781068309502, $12.99, PB, 332pp
https://www.amazon.com/Tuft-Thistledown-Anon/dp/1068309504
Synopsis: In the early 1800s, a time when people in parts of the world did things that their souls wouldn't want them to, two children, John Lucas Jnr. and Horse Song, find themselves caught up in the brutal western expansion of America; a place where for some to survive and live was all in the undying consequences of choice.
Later, in 1839, after being officially tasked to clear all Cherokee still living in hiding east of the Mississippi, John Lucas Jnr. finds Horse Song, the woman whose hands he once wanted to hold forever. Torn by their shared past and love that couldn't be had, Horse Song and the Cherokee she is hiding with are forced into deciding that when it comes to duty, land, horses and the right way to be, can John Lucas Jnr. be trusted or not?
Critique: A deftly crafted historical novel set in the American West as the backdrop to the clash between Native Americans and the every increasing forces of the Whites for how the land should be governed and who had the right to govern it, "A Tuft Of Thistledown" is an original, inherently fascinating and emotionally engaging action adventure from start to finish. Showcasing author L.Z. Rose's distinctive, effective, and reader engaging storytelling skills, "A Tuft Of Thistledown" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Western & Historical Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that this paperback edition from Caturro Publishing is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $3.79).
The Mystery/Suspense Shelf
Obelists En Route
C. Daly King
American Mystery Classics
c/o Penzler Publishers
https://penzlerpublishers.com
9781613166208, $25.95, HC, 384pp
https://www.amazon.com/Obelists-En-Route-Daly-King/dp/1613166206
Synopsis: The magnificent Transcontinental Express, showcasing the cutting edge of mid-1930s luxury train travel, is making its first trip from New York to San Francisco. For its record-breaking maiden voyage (coast to coast in three days with no passenger stops) the express carries only invited guests, among them renowned businessmen, physicians, psychologists, and even a high-ranking member of the NYPD.
Among refined staterooms, an elegant dining car, and a "recreation room" for bridge, ping-pong, and dancing, the vehicle's most lauded feature is the swimming pool car -- which is precisely where the waterlogged corpse of a prominent banker is discovered just one day into the journey. Uncertain of the cause of death and fearing negative publicity, the conductor drives on for the West Coast, charging a select group of passengers, including the sharp-witted Dr. Pons, with the task of uncovering what has occurred -- even as every new piece of evidence seems to suggest more perplexing possibilities.
Critique: Originally published in 1934, this new hardcover edition of "Obelists en Route" from American Mystery Classics brings out of an undeserved obscurity a brilliantly complex Golden Age mystery from C. Daly King -- one of the greatest American authors of the period. Besides having intriguing 'whodunit murder mystery plot, the period detail and locomotive setting of Obelists en Route" make it a welcome rediscovery for a new generation of cozy mystery, traditional detective, and private eye mystery enthusiasts. Of special note is the inclusion of an informative introduction by Otto Penzler, a list of questions for book club discussion groups, and two appendices (Bibliography of References & The Clue Finder). Comparable to Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express", this is a 'must' for the legions of mystery fans and an ideal acquisition for community library Mystery/Suspense collections. It is also readily available in paperback (9781613166192, $15.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $15.95).
Editorial Note #1: C. Daly King (1895-1963) was an American psychologist and detective story writer. He was born in New York City and educated at Yale University. After fighting in World War I, he worked in textiles and in advertising before returning to school to study psychology, with a particular focus on sleep and consciousness. In the 1930s, King published nine books that quickly established him as a master of the Golden Age mystery, but ceased writing fiction with the advent of World War II.
Editorial Note #2: Otto Penzler (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Penzler), the creator of American Mystery Classics, is also the founder of The Mysterious Press (1975); MysteriousPress.com (2011), an electronic-book publishing company; and New York City's Mysterious Bookshop (1979). He has won a Raven, the Ellery Queen Award, two Edgars (for the Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, 1977, and The Lineup, 2010), and lifetime achievement awards from NoirCon and The Strand Magazine. He has edited more than 70 anthologies and written extensively about mystery fiction.
The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf
The Petrina Chronicles
Victoria Randall
Independently Published
ASIN: B0DYY1P8XX, Kindle, $0.99, PB $12.95, 352pp
https://www.amazon.com/Petrina-Chronicles-Victoria-Randall-ebook/dp/B0DYY1P8XX
Synopsis: Orphaned when her parents vanished in deep space, Petrina dreamed of one day piloting a ship to explore the stars for the Intergalactic Coalition of Planets.
But when she learns that her four-times-great grandfather has been trapped at the edge of a black hole for a century, she knows she has to rescue him. Family is the one missing element in her life, and her grandpa is the only family she has left.
For the rescue, she will need to steal a starship. The one she chooses is home to Selka, an AI who isn't thrilled with being stolen.
In journeys of adventure, danger and amazement, the youngest pilot in the Coalition Space Force takes on alien life forms from Slithones, snake-like creatures who love causing trouble; to sea-warriors in an underwater world; space pirates; a murderous Tree; lethal asteroids; ghosts inhabiting a derelict freighter; and an emotibomb ferocious enough to destroy a space station.
Whatever the challenge, Petrina and her allies are willing to run risks no one else would dare.
Critique: Original, clever, exceptionally well written, and a fun read from start to finish, science fiction fans will fully enjoy the escapades of Petrina and her grandpa in Victoria Randall's new action/adventure sci-fi novel, "The Petrina Chronicles". Memorable characters and a plot laced with unexpected twists and turns, "The Petrina Chronicles" showcases Randall's distinctive and narrative driven storytelling style. This ebook Kindle edition is specially and unreservedly recommended for the personal reading lists of all dedicated science fiction fans and community library Science Fiction collections.
Editorial Note: Victoria Randall she wrote the fantasy The Witchstone in 1974. Her novel, "The Ring of the Dark Elves" (a retelling of the story of Sigurd Fafnirsbane) came out in 2003. The Children in Hiding series includes "Get on Board Little Children", "Come on Home Children", and "City of Hidden Children". These are dystopian thrillers which explore the problems created by a society of high tech surveillance which considers an unlicensed pregnancy a felony. She also has two collections of fantasy and sci-fi short stories, "Shadowcat" and "The Golden Helm".
Touch of the Elegrian
Cheryl A. Arko
Pax Aire Press
https://www.paxairepress.com
9798992390919, $27.99, HC, 376pp
https://www.amazon.com/Touch-Elegrian-Legacy-Cheryl-Arko/dp/B0DZZ8YGL4
Synopsis: Erys carries a secret that could shatter his world. The telepathic Elegrian has spent his life atoning for his dead father's role in humanity's disastrous first contact. Now, as a tech specialist for the Earth-led alliance, he serves in silence -- until sabotage threatens the lives of dozens of human children. And the traitor is one of his own.
Forced to work with a brilliant but hostile human engineer, Erys must dismantle not only the deadly conspiracy but also the deep-seated mistrust between their peoples. With time running out, he faces an impossible choice: break the fragile Elegrian-Human treaty and invite the death penalty to forge a forbidden mind link with a human... or let innocent lives be lost!
Two worlds on the brink. A single act of defiance. Can compassion rewrite a doomed future?
Critique: Original, imaginative, deftly crafted, compelling, and a thoroughly fun read from cover to cover, "Touch of the Elegrian" is elevated by author Cheryl Arko's genuine flair for the kind of distinctive and narrative driven storytelling style that keeps the reader's rapt attention from start to finish -- raising this extraordinary science fiction novel to an impressive level of literary excellence. While especially and unreservedly recommended for personal and community library Science Fiction collections, it should be noted that this hardcover edition of "Touch of the Elegrian" from Pax Aire Press is also readily available for SciFi fans with a special interest in well spun tales of Galactic Empire, Space Colonization, and Alien Invasion in paperback (9798992390902, $17.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $4.99).
Editorial Note: Cheryl Arko (https://www.cheryl-arko.com) is a science fiction author, senior data scientist, and seasoned dog trainer. She channels her creativity into writing stories that take her to the stars, imagining who we might find out there. With her novel, "Touch of the Elegrian" she invites readers to come along for the ride to visit new worlds and their people. To explore what makes us different -- and what makes us the same. And to discover the inherent good that exists in the universe to balance against darkness, no matter how far we travel.
The Soul's Awakening
Shireen Anne Jeejeebhoy
SA Jeejeebhoy, publisher
9781738678846, $16.99, PB, 280pp
https://www.amazon.com/Souls-Awakening-qZamta-Trilogy/dp/1738678849
Synopsis: What if the afterlife is just the beginning? "The Soul's Awakening", by author Shireen Anne Jeejeebhoy, is a deeply moving journey through life, death, and the realms beyond.
It's the story of Charlotte Elisabeth, a woman who has chosen to end her suffering through euthanasia, only to awaken in an unfamiliar, soul-stirring space-caught between life and death in the Earth-Heaven Interdimensional Expanse. Disoriented and disillusioned, she is confronted by the horrifying realization that death is not the escape she expected.
In this strange new realm, Charlotte must face the Distortans - mysterious, otherworldly beings that challenge her very essence with unrelenting, probing questions. As she is pushed to confront her past, her choices, and her deepest fears, Charlotte's survival depends on her ability to embrace the truth of who she is, and to answer the questions that hold her prisoner.
Can Charlotte find peace and acceptance, or will she remain forever lost in the endless questions of the afterlife?
Critique: "The Soul's Awakening", is the first of a metaphysical trilogy by Shireen Anne Jeejeebhoy, is an inherently fascinating and original novel that will hold a very special and particular appeal to readers with an interest in speculative/metaphysical stories of metaphysical transformation, and the spiritually perilous quest for an ultimate redemption. With the author's well crafted, distinctive, and narrative driven storytelling style, "The Soul's Awakening" is raised to an impressive level of literary excellence. While especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, community, and college/university library Literary Fiction and Metaphysical Fantasy collections, it should be noted that this paperback edition of "The Soul's Awakening" from SA Jeejeebhoy is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $5.99).
Editorial Note: Shireen Anne Jeejeebhoy (https://jeejeebhoy.ca/about) received a B.Sc. in psychology from the University of Toronto. Her first book, "Lifeliner: The Judy Taylor Story," won the 2008 Reader Views Reviewers Choice Award for best biography. Her first novel "She" was a finalist for the 2012 The Word Guild Awards, Novel - Futuristic Category. "Concussion Is Brain Injury: Treating the Neurons and Me" was a finalist for the 2018 The Word Guild Awards, Memoir. She expanded on this book during the COVID-19 pandemic into a full-fledged website on brain injury -- what it actually is, how to diagnose it properly, and how to treat it using latest neuroscience. (https://concussionisbraininjury.com)
The Mythology Shelf
Achilles: New & Ancient Greek Tales
Jonathan S. Burgess, et al.
Flame Tree Publishing
https://www.flametreepublishing.com
c/o Simon and Schuster
www.simonandschuster.com
9781835622629, $30.00, HC, 368pp
https://www.amazon.com/Achilles-Ancient-Greek-Tales-Immortals/dp/1835622623
Synopsis: Featuring an impressive Flame Tree Publishing cover treatment, and comprised of new stories from open submissions alongside the classic stories and fascinating background, "Achilles: New & Ancient Greek Tales" is gorgeous new book that reveals the man behind the myth of Achilles, the great warrior of the Trojan War. Considered the epitome of heroism in Greek mythology, Achilles' bravery in combat is famously depicted in Homer's Iliad, but every hero has their flaws.
Seventeen authors drawn from classical times all the way through to late Antiquity and the modern era have interpreted his character in a multitude of ways, and "Achilles: New & Ancient Greek Tales" continues the tradition, exploring everything from his exploits in the war and interactions with Agamemnon, Patroclus, Hector and more, back to his early days as an infant dipped into the River Styx, exposing one vulnerable heel.
Critique: Readers of all ages will enjoy learning all about the history of Achilles in history and myth, folklore and legend. Of special note is the inclusion of new stories that inspire new perceptions, imagining alternative paths, deeper backgrounds and different viewpoints on the man and legend know to history as Achilles! This hardcover edition of "Achilles: New & Ancient Greek Tales" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, highschool, community, and college/university library Myth/Folklore collections.
Editorial Note: Jonathan S. Burgess (https://utoronto.academia.edu/jonathanburgess) has a BA in American Studies from Colby College, an MA in Classical Studies and Literature from the University of Kentucky, Lexington, and a PhD in Classical Studies from the University of Toronto. Since 1995 he has taught at the Department of Classics at the University of Toronto. His major publications are The Tradition of the Trojan War in Homer and the Epic Cycle (2001), The Death and Afterlife of Achilles (2009) and Homer (2015).
Morgana le Fay: New & Ancient Arthurian Tales
Pamela Koehne, et al.
Flame Tree Publishing
https://www.flametreepublishing.com
c/o Simon and Schuster
www.simonandschuster.com
9781835622636, $30.00, HC, 416pp
https://www.amazon.com/Morgana-Fay-Ancient-Arthurian-Immortals/dp/1835622631
Synopsis: Morgana le Fay is a mysterious figure of Arthurian legend, found in Gawain and the Green Knight and Le Morte d'Arthur. She is variously described as half-sister of King Arthur, jilted lover of Lancelot, a foil of Merlin.
A witch, a healer, Morgana has deep roots in Celtic mythology and offers a fascinating canvas for the many writers contributing their stories to "Morgana le Fay: New & Ancient Arthurian Tales".
Critique: Created through open submissions and supported by an extensive introduction examining the origins of Morgana le Fay, this is inherent and unique anthology that is part of the Flame Tree Publishing simply outstanding 'Myths, Gods, Immortals' series. A fun and fascinating read from cover to cover, this hardcover edition of "Morgana le Fay: New & Ancient Arthurian Tales" is a solid and recommended pick for the personal reading lists of all fans of the King Arthur mythos, as well as community, and college/university library Myth/Folklore collections.
Editorial Note: "Morgana le Fay: New & Ancient Arthurian Tales" is comprised of an Introductory essay by Pamela Koehne-Drube, and a foreword by Dr Marta Cobb. The modern authors whose stories feature in this book include: K. Blair, Chris A. Bolton, Courtney Danielson, Evan Davies, Caroline Fleischauer, Micah Giddens, Lyndsay E. Gilbert, Liam Hogan, Larry Ivkovich, Alexis Kaegi, Damien Mckeating, Nico Martinez Nocito, John J. O'Hara, M.R. Robinson, C.J. Subko, Lana Voos, and Holly Lyn Walrath.
The Folktale/Fairytale Shelf
Supernatural Korea
Im Bang, et al.
Tuttle Publishing
www.tuttlepublishing.com
9780804858038, $19.99, HC, 144pp
https://www.amazon.com/Supernatural-Korea-Magical-Goblins-Dragons/dp/0804858039
Synopsis: From spooky tales of shape-shifting beasts and vengeful demons to romantic stories of enchanted love, the 19 stories comprising "Supernatural Korea: Magical Tales of Goblins, Dragons, Demons and More" bring together the best of Korea's supernatural folklore. Thirty-six gorgeous watercolor paintings and pencil drawings by artist Marco Furlotti bring the stories from co-authors Im Bang, Horace Newton Allen, and James Gale vividly to life.
Included in this unique and outstanding fantasy and folklore anthology are:
The Hen and the Centipede: A poor man marries his wealthy employer, only to find she is an otherworldly centipede locked in a deadly battle with a ferocious white rooster
How Chin Outwitted the Devils: A clever policeman tricks hell's emissaries, who trap the souls of the dying in earthenware bottles
The Swallow King's Rewards: A kind man gains magical riches for helping an injured swallow, while his greedy brother suffers bizarre curses
Yun Se-Pyong, the Wizard: Two rival magicians clash in an epic duel -- one transformed into a beetle, the other into a bee
Plus 15 more supernatural tales to captivate readers of all ages!
These are classic tales are retold by authors who traveled to Korea and fell in love with the rich culture they encountered. This deluxe hardcover volume from Tuttle Publishing will be treasured by fans of Korean culture, as well as anyone who enjoys a good demon story.
Critique: Authentic, entertaining, absorbing, fascinating, and a fun read from cover to cover, "Supernatural Korea: Magical Tales of Goblins, Dragons, Demons and More" is especially and unreservedly recommended reading for anyone with an interest in Korean historical and popular cultural folklore and mythology. This edition of "Supernatural Korea" will prove a welcome and unique pick for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Mythology/Folklore collections and supplemental Korean Popular Culture curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note #1: Marco Furlotti is an Italian artist and illustrator of books for children and adults. His children's books include the internationally successful series The Dragon and the Mouse (NuiNui) and Keb Mo's Life is Beautiful (Flowerpot Press). He is the creator of illustrated adaptations of Frankenstein, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Dracula. He produced the illustrations for this book using watercolor on paper, surrounded by his three little girls, their animals, and the soft Apennine hills of Parma, Italy.
Editorial Note #2: Im Bang was born in Korea in 1640. A disciple of the writer Song Si-yol, his writings have long been revered in Korea, and his reputation as a great scholar has endured for centuries. Late in life, he served as governor of Seoul before being exiled to the north, where he died.
Editorial Note #3: Horace Newton Allen, an American physician, missionary and diplomat, arrived in Korea in 1884 to serve as doctor to foreign legations and the Korean royal family. In 1897 he was appointed U.S. ambassador to Korea, a position he held until 1905. He is the author of four books, including Korean Tales.
Editorial Note #4: James Gale was a Presbyterian minister who arrived in Korea in 1888 to teach English and help translate the bible into Korean. His books include History of the Korean People and Korean Folk Tales, in which he translated the writings of Im Bang and 15th century scholar Yi Ryuk.
Editorial Note #5: William Elliot Griffis was an American minister and author with a lifelong interest in East Asian culture. His numerous books include volumes of folklore from Europe, Japan and Korea as well as books on Korean and Japanese history.
Editorial Note #5: Homer Hulbert was an American missionary, scholar, and editor of the monthly magazine Korea Review. Hulbert moved to Korea in 1886 and spent two decades there preaching, teaching, writing, and pressing unsuccessfully for Korean independence during negotiations with Japan. Among the wide-ranging articles in his magazine were many folktales that he collected and translated.
The Photography Shelf
Getting Closer
Paul Sorrell
Exisle Publishing
www.exislepublishing.com.au
9781925820638, $27.99, HC, 144pp
https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Closer-Rediscovering-Through-Photography/dp/1925820637
Synopsis: The introduction to "Getting Closer: Rediscovering Nature Through Bird Photography" by Paul Sorrell makes the case for reconnecting with nature in a way that will draw in a wide range of readers, not just photographers. Sorrell maintains that we have to reconnect, as most of us have lost the spontaneous bond with nature we enjoyed as young children and, in the face of impending ecological disaster, reconnecting with nature is our most urgent task. And that is the purpose behind the publication of "Getting Closer"
In "Getting Closer" Sorrell offers a simple, practical path for readers to begin to & rewild' themselves. This is the focus of the second part of this beautifully illustrated volume, where Sorrell explores ways of becoming attentive to the natural world around you, wherever you may live.
Through self-contained spreads on topics ranging from 'the four seasons' and 'winds and tides' to 'flight shots' and 'colour and texture', Sorrell introduces basic, hands-on techniques that, with practice, will enable readers and aspiring photographers to both deeply connect with their environment and become proficient wildlife photographers. 'Top tips' on each spread provide technical information aimed at more serious photographers.
Critique: This large format (10.3 x 0.65 x 10.3 inches, 2.31 pounds) hardcover edition of "Getting Closer: Rediscovering Nature Through Bird Photography" by experienced nature photographer Paul Sorrell illustrates an informative commentary with full page, closely taken, full color photos of birds that is a informative and enjoyable pleasure to browse through one page at a time. Exceptionally well organized and presented, "Getting Closer: Rediscovering Nature Through Bird Photography" is a very special and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and college/university library Avian Wildlife Photography collections. It should be noted for photographers and bird fanciers that this hardcover edition of "Getting Closer: Rediscovering Nature Through Bird Photography" from Exisle Publishing is also readily available in a flexibound edition (9781923011168, $19.99).
Editorial Note: Paul Sorrell took up photography in the early 2000s, giving him a new form of creative engagement with his longstanding interest in wildlife and the natural world. His images have featured on a range of platforms, from international wildlife photography competitions to Tourism New Zealand's website (https://www.newzealand.com/us).
Calling the Shots
Zorian Clayton, author
Lydia Caston & Hana Kaluznick, contributors
Thames & Hudson, Inc.
www.thamesandhudsonusa.com
9780500480960, $60.00, HC, 240pp
https://www.amazon.com/Calling-Shots-History-Photography-Museum/dp/0500480966
Synopsis: Drawing on one of the oldest and largest photography collections in the world, "Calling the Shots: A Queer History of Photography" offers an unprecedented view of photographic history through a queer lens. It includes a broad range of global LGBTQIA+ representation from the mid-nineteenth century to now, presenting images from pioneering LGBTQIA+ photographers and subjects alongside work documenting activism and hard-won legal battles, over a century of performance, nightlife, and diverse queer communities, collectives, and subcultures.
Following an informative introductory essay by Zorian Clayton, images are presented in six thematic chapters: Icons, Staged, Body, Liberty, Making a Scene, and Beyond the Frame. Each chapter opens with a short introductory essay, followed by an extended plate section. Expanded captions highlight key images, and "artist in focus" inserts draw on the work of selected photographers to illuminate particularly rich moments in LGBTQIA+ history.
Bold proclamations of queer identity and community sit alongside personal explorations of self; documentation of struggle, joy, and everyday life is considered side-by-side with performances and photographic fictions that continue to challenge the bounds of gender and sexuality. A vital, accessible volume, "Calling the Shots: A Queer History of Photography" offers an exciting, expansive appraisal of photography's role in expressing, documenting, and celebrating queer life. It will be essential for all with an interest in the history of photography, but especially for those with an interest in LGBTQIA+ history.
Critique: This large format (9.4 x 1 x 11.2 inches, 2.31 pounds) hardcover edition of "Calling the Shots: A Queer History of Photography" by the team of V&A curators, Zorian Clayton, Lydia Caston, and Hana Kaluznick features 200 impressively memorable and captioned illustrations, 50 of which are in color. Enhanced for the reader's benefit with informative commentary, "Calling the Shots: A Queer History of Photography" will be of immense value and appeal to readers with an interest in photography and the LGBTQIA+ community. Exceptional in organization and presentation, "Calling the Shots: A Queer History of Photography" is a unique and high value contribution to personal, professional, community, and college/university library LGBTQIA+ and History of Photography collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note #1: Zorian Clayton is a curator of prints in the art, architecture, photography, and design department of the V&A. (https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/author/zorian-clayton)
Editorial Note #2: Lydia Caston is exhibition project curator in the art, architecture, photography, and design department of the V&A. (https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/author/lydia-caston)
Editorial Note #3: Hana Kaluznick is assistant curator in the art, architecture, photography, and design department of the V&A. (https://research.vam.ac.uk/our-people/hana-kaluznick)
The Native American Studies Shelf
The Canoe: A Living Tradition
John Jennings
Firefly Books Ltd.
www.fireflybooks.com
9780228105510, $39.95, HC, 288pp
https://www.amazon.com/Canoe-Living-Tradition-John-Jennings/dp/022810551X
Synopsis: The native American canoe is a lightweight, narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles.
The canoe was essential to the early exploration of North America. Today, it is a vital link to the natural environment and vast wilderness, still widely used for recreation, transportation and sport.
"The Canoe: A Living Tradition" by Professor John Jennings is the definitive history of the construction and use of the canoe, kayak, dugout and umiak in North America. Professor Jennings covers the canoe's origins among Native peoples, its quick adoption by European settlers, its development from a working vessel to a recreational craft. Rare archival images, maps, artwork and stunning photographs of vintage canoes are included.
Produced with the support and collaboration of scholars and museums throughout the world, "The Canoe: A Living Tradition" also features:
High-tech sport canoes and kayaks used in contemporary Olympic Games
400 beautiful images of canoe craftsmanship
Step-by-step photos and explanations for building a traditional bark canoe
Profile of the famous model-builder, Tappan Adney
Detailed maps, glossary, source list and index.
Critique: This large format (10.63 x 10.63, 3.65 pounds) hardcover edition of "The Canoe: A Living Tradition" is a profusely illustrated coffee-table style volume effectively organized into three major sections (The Native Craft, The Recreational Canoe, Preserving the History of the Canoe). This simply beautiful, informative, and elegant volume includes a number of Maps, a two page Glossary, a three page listing of the contributors and their credentials, and a seven page Index. Of particular and immense value to readers with an interest in Native American culture and the history of the North American canoe, "The Canoe: A Living Tradition" is an ideal Library Memorial Fund acquisition and a core addition to community and college/university library Native American Studies collections and supplemental curriculum lists. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist general readers that this hardcover edition "The Canoe: A Living Tradition" from Firefly Books is also available in paperback (9781554070800, $29.95).
Editorial Note: John Jennings is co-editor of The Canoe in Canadian Cultures and a professor at Trent University. With support from the Canadian Canoe Museum, he brought together 12 experts in canoe and kayak scholarship and culture including Eugene Arima, Hallie E. Bond, Steven C. Brown, David Finch, Don Gardner, Gwenyth Hoyle, Fred Johnston, John Jennings, Kenneth R. Lister, Ted Moores, Rick Nash, and James Raffan to create this book. He was one of the 2019 Appointees to the Order of Ontario. (www.trentu.ca/researchinnovation/story/28893)
Haudenosaunee Women Lacrosse Players
Sharity L. Bassett
Michigan State University Press
https://msupress.org
9781611865073, $79.95, HC, 200pp
https://msupress.org/9781611864991/haudenosaunee-women-lacrosse-players
Synopsis: Since the 1970s lacrosse has become one of the fastest-growing sports in North America, and the Native American Haudenosaunee communities have worked at the international level to claim lacrosse as an important part of Haudenosaunee culture and tradition.
Lacrosse is also known as the medicine game as it is part of a medicine ceremony named in creation narratives and the Great Law of Peace that binds the six nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Six Nations. The number of Haudenosaunee women and girls playing the sport has burgeoned since the 1980s.
"Haudenosaunee Women Lacrosse Players: Making Meaning through Rematriation" by Professor Sharity L. Bassett studies lacrosse as a Haudenosaunee sport both within and outside of these communities. It shows how the concept of rematriation (a culturally relevant framework that articulates the work Haudenosaunee peoples are doing to reconnect to the power imbued with matrilineal and matrifocal societies) situates Haudenosaunee women who play lacrosse within a complex understanding of contemporary, traditional, and medicinal lacrosse.
Because they cannot seamlessly claim this as their medicine game, as the Haudenosaunee Nationals and other men's teams do, Haudenosaunee women players must articulate some of the most nuanced understandings of tradition and medicine. These articulations connect to larger conversations within Haudenosaunee communities regarding the power that women hold and the rematriation of that power to define and uphold tradition.
"Haudenosaunee Women Lacrosse Players" demonstrates how the cycle of action and articulation (with the intergenerational help of female leadership) firmly roots lacrosse within Haudenosaunee cultural fabric.
Critique: An original, meticulous, comprehensive, informative, and detailed work of seminal and groundbreaking scholarship, "Haudenosaunee Women Lacrosse Players: Making Meaning through Rematriation" by Professor Sharity L. Bossett is an extraordinary study that is informatively enhanced for the reader's benefit with the inclusion of a four page Glossary, twenty pages of Notes, an eight page Bibliography, and a fourteen page Index. Exceptionally well organized and presented, "Haudenosaunee Women Lacrosse Players: Making Meaning through Rematriation" is especially and unreservedly recommended pick for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Native American Studies collections and supplemental curriculum lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject of Lacrosse and its history that this hardcover edition of "Haudenosaunee Women Lacrosse Players: Making Meaning through Rematriation" from Michigan State University Press is also available in paperback (9781611864991, $39.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $37.95).
Editorial Note: Sharity L. Bassett is assistant professor of women's and gender studies and associate director of the Electa Quinney Institute for American Indian Education at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). She has been involved in collaborative research with Haudenosaunee communities in New York State, Ontario, and Montreal since 2011. She earned her PhD in global gender studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She is a recipient of the faculty impact award through the Honors College and the Award for Outstanding Service for the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at South Dakota State University.
Bassett is working with tribal nations to create interactive databases and curriculum using historical records and oral history. She is also crafting her experiences in various archival spaces into an autoethnographic work that analyzes the barriers to archival knowledges. Bassett teaches courses for UWM's women's and gender studies and American Indian studies programs, including Indigenous feminisms, Indigequeer theory and praxis, critical disability studies, and feminist research methods.
The Art Shelf
About Face: Contemporary Portrait Painting
Amber Creswell Bell
Thames & Hudson, Inc.
www.thamesandhudsonusa.com
9781760764685, $50.00, HC, 272pp
https://www.amazon.com/About-Face-Contemporary-Portrait-Painting/dp/176076468X
Synopsis: Portrait painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and private persons, or they may be inspired by admiration or affection for the subject. Portraits often serve as important state and family records, as well as remembrances.
Historically, portrait paintings have primarily memorialized the rich and powerful. Over time, however, it became more common for middle-class patrons to commission portraits of their families and colleagues. Today, portrait paintings are still commissioned by governments, corporations, groups, clubs, and individuals. In addition to painting, portraits can also be made in other media such as prints (including etching and lithography), photography, video and digital media. (Wikipedia)
A portrait is no longer expected to be a realistic rendering of a person -- artists experiment with numerous techniques, even approaching abstraction, to convey the personality and character of their subjects. "About Face: Contemporary Portrait Painting" by Amber Creswell Bell explores the rich diversity of contemporary portraiture via the diverse practices of thirty-nine portrait painters -- and in the process unveils a vibrant part of the art world informed by a rich history. Many of these artists use their portraiture to engage with social, political, or environmental issues or to convey a narrative, and the complexity of the human experience; others are simply fascinated by human faces.
Whatever the artist's motivation, every work makes clear that portraiture has always been a powerful means of telling stories and exploring our individual and collective identities.
Critique: This large format (9.4 x 1.2 x 11.8 inches, 3.98 pounds) hardcover edition of "About Face: Contemporary Portrait Painting" features 229 magnificently colored illustrations supported by informative commentaries and captions. With the publication of "About Face", artist and curator Amber Creswell Bell has created an original, seminal, and ground breaking study that is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Art History & Portraiture collections and supplemental art school curriculum studies lists. It is particularly appropriate reading for art students, academia, aspiring and practicing artists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject.
Editorial Note: Amber Creswell Bell (www.ambercreswell.com) is a Sydney-based arts, design, and lifestyle writer and curator. With a passion for art, Bell champions emerging and unrepresented artists, curating exhibitions both independently and in collaboration with well-established commercial galleries. She is currently the director of emerging art for Michael Reid galleries. Her previous books include Clay: Contemporary Ceramic Artisans, Still Life, and Abstract Painting: Contemporary Painters.
The Theatre/Cinema/TV Shelf
The Career of John Wayne - Films, Radio, Television
Randy Bonneville
BearManor Media
www.bearmanormedia.com
9798887716886, $39.00, HC, 252pp
https://www.amazon.com/Career-John-Wayne-Films-Television/dp/B0DZ34W3YV
Synopsis: There have been numerous biographies about the legendary film star John Wayne, but with the publication of "The Career of John Wayne: Films, Radio, Television", author Randy Bonneville focuses exclusively on his work in every movie, golden age radio appearance and tv guest turn..
For example, the Duke bantered with Bing Crosby on NBC's Kraft Music Hall. He was film's number one cowboy and introduced Gunsmoke to the viewing audience before its premiere in 1955. All this and a wealth of John Wayne career trivia is contained in this informative volume.
Critique: An absolute 'must' for the legions of John Wayne fans, "The Career of John Wayne - Films, Radio, Television" is an original and impressively comprehensive compendium that is the result of meticulous research that is thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation. This historical/biographical study is a prized pick for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Cinematic History/Biography collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for John Way fans that this hardcover edition of "The Career of John Wayne - Films, Radio, Television" from BearManor Press is also available in paperback (9798887716879, $28.00).
Editorial Note: Randy Bonneville is also the author of "Destry - The TV Series".
The Business Shelf
How to Be Sustainable
Paolo Taticchi, author
Melina Corvaglia-Charrey, author
Kogan Page Inc.
www.koganpage.com
9781398618541, $92.00, HC, 224pp
https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Sustainable-Strategies-Overcoming/dp/1398618543
Synopsis: While over 90% of business leaders recognize the importance of sustainability, only 60% have a strategy in place. And many of these strategies are inefficient, ineffective, or simply don't go far enough to address the global challenges we are facing at home and abroad.
Leading sustainability expert Paolo Taticchi and his co-author Melina Corvaglia-Charrey have interviewed some of the world's leading Chief Sustainability Officers from various sectors and businesses including Enel Group, Microsoft, Canon, and Sage. Guided by expert insights and real-world examples of sustainable practices, "How to Be Sustainable: Business Strategies for Leading Change" explores the impact and significance of sustainability in business, offering practical strategies and tools that will allow you and your business to make a positive impact.
Whether you're an experienced corporate leader, an aspiring CSO, or passionate about sustainability, the insights shared in the pages of "How to Be Sustainable: Business Strategies for Leading Change" will empower and inspire you to shape a better world for future generations.
Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "How to Be Sustainable: Business Strategies for Leading Change" by the team of Paolo Taticchi and Melina Corvaglia-Charrey is an especially and particularly recommended pick for readers with an interest in Green Business practices, sustainable business development, and adapting to changes in contemporary national and international governmental economic policies. Informed, informative, comprehensive, and timely, it should be noted for personal reading lists, as well as corporate and college/university library collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists that this hardcover edition of "How to Be Sustainable: Business Strategies for Leading Change" from Kogan Page is also readily available in paperback (9781398618527, $25.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $24.69).
Editorial Note #1: Paolo Taticchi (https://www.paolotaticchi.com) is Professor in Strategy and Sustainability and the Co-Director of the Centre for Sustainable Business at University College London, School of Management. He is a prominent sustainability expert, speaker and consultant working with corporates and governments around the world. He is based in London, UK.
Editorial Note #2: Melina Corvaglia-Charrey is a Researcher at University College London, School of Management. She has over 15 years of experience as a senior marketing leader in the media industry, and also works as a consultant supporting small-to-medium size businesses with their sustainability reporting efforts. She is based in Toronto, Canada.
Prepare to Tack
Brian O'Riordan
Paramount Books
c/o Paramount Market Publishing
https://www.paramountbooks.com
9781941688878, $24.95, PB, 148pp
https://www.amazon.com/Prepare-Tack-Managing-Business-Leadership/dp/194168887X
Synopsis: With the publication of "Prepare to Tack: Lessons for Managing a Growing Business - A Leadership Story" author Brian O'Riordan brings a fresh and compelling approach to business leadership, blending timeless maritime principles with real-world strategies to help leaders overcome challenges and steer their organizations toward sustainable success.
Through the engaging story of three struggling entrepreneurs guided by the wisdom of a seasoned sailor, O'Riordan reveals the four critical phases of navigation (Appraisal, Planning, Execution, Monitoring) and demonstrates how they can transform the way businesses operate. With a focus on aligning vision, fostering teamwork, and making intentional course corrections, "Prepare to tack" provides actionable insights for leaders at all levels.
Drawing from his extensive experience as a Navy veteran, executive, business consultant, and inventor, O'Riordan offers readers a practical roadmap for mastering the art of leadership. He emphasizes the importance of understanding your team, adapting to uncertainty, and staying the course in the face of obstacles.
Packed from cover to cover with vivid storytelling, relatable lessons, and proven strategies, Prepare to Tack is more than a guide -- it is an invitation to rethink how you lead, plan, and grow your own company and career. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a manager, or a CEO, "Prepare to Tack" will inspire you to take control, chart your course, set goals, and reach them.
Critique: All the more impressive when considering that "Prepare to Tack: Lessons for Managing a Growing Business - A Leadership Story" is Brian O'Riordan's debut as an author, this part business memoir, part leadership instructional guide is exceptionally well written, organized and presented. Especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, business school, and college/university library Business Management collections and supplemental MBA curriculum studies lists, it should be noted for MBA students, entrepreneurs, and anyone in a position of corporate responsibility that this paperback edition of "Prepare to Tack" from Paramount Books is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
Editorial Note: Brian O'Riordan is an extensive traveler who has visited more than 80 countries, all 50 U.S. states, and has been in or on all five oceans. His diverse career has spanned several decades as a business professional, consultant, coach, and inventor. With a focus on operational excellence and solution seeking, Brian has worked with both public and private organizations, from Fortune 50 and 500 companies to small privately held enterprises, in a variety of leadership roles. Projects have spanned industries and included the Alaska Pipeline, Aerospace, UPS, The Smithsonian, NASCAR, architectural product development, building materials solutions and a host of retail products for big-box stores and specialty companies.
The Audiobook Shelf
The Broken Kingdom
Angus Donald, author
Mike Rogers, narrator
Soundings
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroft.com
9781399182454, $126.95, CD
https://www.ulverscroft.com/store/us/search/9781399182454
Synopsis: The Broken Kingdom is a gripping, action-driven Arthurian historical fantasy set in a post-Roman Britain riven with strife and warfare. The petty kingdoms battle constantly with each other for supremacy and only one man, a young Dumnonian warrior, the son of Uthur the Pendragon, can hope to unite them. His name is Arthur.
As well as endless warfare, the Island of Britain is suffering an influx of thousands of desperate Saxon refugees, fleeing their homelands as the world warms and the waters rise. And worst of all, an evil sorceress has awoken a great and terrible dragon from the once-frozen North, a creature known as Cythraul, whose lust for human flesh is insatiable.
Critique: Sword & Sorcery at its best, "The Broken Kingdom" by Angus Donald is original, memorable, and great fun. Brought to life in a true 'movie of the mind' style narration by Mike Rogers, this Arthurian tale is a brilliant and appreciated addition to the mythos of one of England's iconic and legendary figures. Set deep into a framework of medieval Britain after the Romans left and before a united Britain took form, "The Broken Kingdom" is a thriller of an experience and a welcome addition for personal lists and community library audio book collections. It should be noted that this complete and unabridged CD edition of "The Broken Kingdom" (12 Hours, 22 Minutes, 11 discs) from Soundings is also available in an MP3-CD format (9781399182461, $126.95, 1 disc).
Editorial Note #1: Angus Donald (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_Donald) is the author of the Outlaw Chronicles, a series of nine novels set in the 12th/13th centuries and featuring a gangster-ish Robin Hood and his loyal lieutenant Sir Alan Dale. His latest Outlaw Chronicles instalment is "Robin Hood and the Caliph's Gold". Angus has also written the Holcroft Blood trilogy about a mildly autistic 17th-century artillery officer, who was the son of notorious Crown Jewel thief Colonel Thomas Blood, and an epic Asian fantasy novel "Gates of Stone" under the pseudonym Angus Macallan.
Murder As A Fine Art
Carol Carnac, author
Mark Meadows, narrator
Soundings
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroft.com
9781399187022, $100.95, CD
https://www.ulverscroft.com/store/us/search/9781399187022
Synopsis: When a civil servant at the newly formed Ministry of Fine Arts is found crushed beneath a monstrous marble bust after dark, it appears to be the third instance in a string of fatal accidents at the department.
Already disturbed by rumours of forgeries and irregularities in the Ministry's dealings, Minister Humphry David is soon faced with the possibility that among his colleagues is a murderer - though how the bust could have been made an instrument of death is a masterstroke of criminal devilment.
Taking charge of the case, Inspector Julian Rivers of Scotland Yard enters a caustic world of fine art and civil service grievances to unveil a killer hiding in plain sight.
Critique: With a total running time of 7 Hours, 51 Minutes spread over 8 discs, this CD edition of novelist Carol Carnac's British murder mystery, "Murder As A Fine Art" is expertly narrative by the vocal acting talents of narrator Mark Meadows. A deftly crafted 'whodunnit' with a number of unexpected plot twists and turns, "Murder As A Fine Art" is a flawless and fully entertaining listening experience. The complete and unabridged CD edition of "Murder As A Fine Art" is an extraordinary and very special pick for community library Mystery Audio Book collections. It should be noted for personal lists that "Murder As A Fine Art" is also available in an MP3-CD edition (9781399187039, $100.95) and (available for uLibrary members only) in a Audio Download format (DL-SOUND, 9781399187046).
Editorial Note #1: Edith Caroline Rivett (6 May 1894 - 2 July 1958) wrote under the pseudonyms Carol Carnac, Carol Rivett, E.C.R. Lorac, and Mary le Bourne as a British crime writer. She was a member of the Detection Club. She was a very prolific writer, having written forty-eight mysteries under her first pen name, and twenty-three under her second. She was an important author of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. ((https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._C._R._Lorac)
Editorial Note #2: Mark Meadows is an actor and audiobook narrator. He can be heard on the radio broadcasts of Lost Souls and The Worst Journey in the World, both first aired for BBC Radio. On television, he has appeared as Reverend Wallace in EastEnders. He also has extensive credits as a composer and arranger. (www.storytel.com/in/narrators/mark-meadows-11301)
Falconer's Crusade
Ian Morson, author
Mark Meadows, narrator
Soundings
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroft.com
9781399186681, $83.95, CD
https://www.ulverscroft.com/store/us/search/9781399186681
Synopsis: Winter 1264. England is in turmoil. King Henry III's reign is under threat. In Oxford the barons prepare to challenge his rule.
Searching for his lodgings down a dark alley, young student Thomas Symon hears a scream. It's a young girl, her throat slit. Mistaken for the fleeing killer, Thomas is saved from a vengeful town mob by a stranger pulling him into a dark passageway. The man is his new university tutor, renowned academic Regent Master William Falconer.
Falconer's fascination with academic puzzles has given him a reputation for unpicking the most complex problems. Now, to save his student, he must find a killer. But murder is the most baffling puzzle yet. Then the bodies of three students are discovered strewn across the town.
Time is running out for Falconer. This is a killer on a quest. He must find the link between the murders. Before he finds another victim.
Critique: With his fascination for the obscure and an unusual interest in scientific experiments and keen logic drawing him into curious murder cases, William Falconer is the original Oxford detective! A deftly crafted and authentic medieval era English 'whodunnit' historical murder mystery by novelist Ian Morson, "Falconer's Crusade" is superbly narrative by the vocal acting skills of Mark Meadows. The result is a perfectly rendered, complete and unabridged audio book with a total running time of 6 Hours 16 Minutes spread over 6 discs in this CD edition from Soundings. Highly recommended, especially for community library Historical Mystery audio book collections, it should be noted that "Falconer's Crusade" is also available from Soundings in an MP3-CD format (9781399186698, $83.95, 1 Disc).
Editorial Note #1: Ian Morson (www.ianmorson.com) is a self-identified 'Medieval Crime Fighter". As well as Falconer books series, Ian has written crime stories about a Venetian explorer in the mold of Marco Polo whose name is Nick Zuliani. He has also written short stories for anthologies put together by a fellow group of crime writers calling themsevles The Medieval Murderers!
Editorial Note #2: Mark Meadows is an actor and audiobook narrator. He can be heard on the radio broadcasts of Lost Souls and The Worst Journey in the World, both first aired for BBC Radio. On television, he has appeared as Reverend Wallace in EastEnders. He also has extensive credits as a composer and arranger. (www.storytel.com/in/narrators/mark-meadows-11301)
Death Comes In Threes
Michael Jecks, author
Kris Dyer, narrator
Soundings
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroft.com
9781399186049, $112.95 CD
https://www.ulverscroft.com/store/us/search/9781399186049
Synopsis: August, 1558. As London is bustling with growing trade from foreign lands, and Queen Mary's health is once again a hot topic, Jack Blackjack has much to keep him busy. And that's before his new tenant - a Dutch merchant - disappears under a cloud of suspicion, quickly presumed murdered, and Jack's latest female companion's body is found mere streets from her dwelling place.
People around Jack keep inconveniently getting murdered, and he seems to be the most likely culprit! With both the authorities and the unsavory echelons of London on his tail, nowhere is safe for Jack to hide. He must go about proving his innocence - and uncovering the murky truth - while ensuring he doesn't find himself dancing the Tyburn jig!
The question is - can he rely on friends in high (and very low) places to get him out of this ever-increasing mess?
Critique: Brilliantly narrated by Kris Dyer who brings author Michael Jecks' historical mystery to life in a true 'theatre of the mind' experience, this complete and unabridged audio book edition of "Death Comes In Threes" from Soundings has a total running time of 11 Hours, 7 Minutes. This 10 disc CD format is especially and unreservedly recommended for community library collections and the personal audio book lists of all dedicated historical mystery fans. It should be noted that an MP3-CD edition of "Death Comes In Threes" (9781399186056, $112.95) is also available from Soundings.
Editorial Note #1: Michael Jecks (https://michaeljecks.co.uk) is the author of more than thirty novels in the Knights Templar medieval mystery series, and four previous Bloody Mary Tudor mysteries. He is also a former Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association.
Editorial Note #2: Kris Dyer (https://krisdyer.co.uk) is co-founder of Rakkit Productions Ltd and an award-winning voice actor and audiobook narrator, who has worked on over 300 audiobooks, including many bestsellers. Kris is also writer of scripts for radio, and co-creator of a BBC Radio sitcom.
The Library CD Shelf
Remains to Be Scene
The Seldom Scene
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
https://folkways.si.edu
ASIN: B0DQQFHHLY, $13.99, CD (1 disc)
https://www.amazon.com/Remains-Be-Scene-Seldom/dp/B0DQQFHHLY
Synopsis: The Seldom Scene is a bluegrass institution. Since 1972, the group has remained quintessential bearers of the tradition, releasing nearly two dozen albums that cast a wide net for inspiration and repertoire. There newest release, "Remains to Be Scene" is no exception, delivering stirring takes on bluegrass standards and providing their signature interpretations on deep cuts from the likes of The Kinks, Bob Dylan, and Jim Croce.
"Remains to Be Scene" is the first album to be released since the passing of The Seldom Sciene founding member and trailblazing banjo player Ben Eldridge, who contributes impassioned liner notes to the release. Beneath the album's title lies a plain truth: more than fifty years in, The Seldom Scene are looking ever forward.
Critique: A must for the legions of The Seldom Scene fans and unreservedly recommended as a pick for personal and community library Country Music collections, it should be noted that this CD edition of "Remains to Be Scene" includes eleven songs:
1. Last of the Steam-Powered Trains
2 Crossroads
3 A Good Time Man Like Me Ain't Got No Business (Singin' the Blues)
4 Hard Travelin'
5 Farewell, Angelina
6 Walking Down the Line
7 Lonesome Day
8 I Could Cry
9 White Line
10 Show Me the Way to Go Home
11 The Story of My Life
It should also be noted that this CD edition of "Remains to Be Scene" from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is also available in an MP3-CD format ($9.49) as on Vinyl ($17.99)
Editorial Note: The Seldom Scene (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seldom_Scene) is an American bluegrass band with an original line-up that was comprised of John Starling on lead vocals and guitar, Mike Auldridge on Dobro and baritone vocals, Ben Eldridge on banjo, Tom Gray on double bass, and John Duffey on mandolin; the latter three also provided backing vocals. Together they released their debut studio album, Act I, in 1972, followed by both Act II and Act III in 1973.
On Fire: Live from the Blue Morocoo
Freddie Hubbard
Resonance Records
$25.99 CD / $12.99 digital
https://freddiehubbard.bandcamp.com/album/on-fire-live-from-the-blue-morocco
On Fire: Live from the Blue Morocoo is a previously unissued 1967 performance by legendary trumpet master Freddie Hubbard (1938-2008). Meticulously remastered from the original tapes, On Fire was produced with the full endorsement of Freddie Hubbard's son and estate representative Duane Hubbard. Brimming with energy and excitement, On Fire lives up to its title as a smoking hot performance that transcends time and generations. The individual songs are quite extensive, making On Fire a full-length double CD album despite its small number of tracks. On Fire is "must-have" for trumpet jazz connoisseurs and a choice pick for public library collections, highly recommended. The tracks are Crisis (18:40), Up Jumped Spring (17:23), Echoes of Blue (15:42), and True Colors / Breaking Point (13:32) on disc 1; and Bye Bye Blackbird (23:54), Summertime (16:54), and Breaking Point (7:01) on disc 2.
The River
Silvano Monasterios (Venezuelan Nonet)
https://www.silvanomonasterios.com
Privately Published
$TBA CD / $9.49 MP3
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQLZJD64
Venezuela-born virtuoso jazz pianist and composer Silvano Monasterios presents The River, an extraordinary original album performed by the Venezuelan Nonet: Silvano Monasterios on piano; Troy Roberts on tenor saxophone; Nestor Torres on flute; Alex Norris on trumpet and flugelhorn; Jeff Lederer on bass clarinet and clarinet; Ricky Rodriguez on contrabass; Luisito Quintero on percussion; Jimmy MacBride on drums; and Juan Diego Villalobos on vibraphone. The rich, interconnected musical tapestry is a treasure for connoisseurs of orchestra jazz, and also makes an excellent gift. Highly recommended for personal and public library music collections. The tracks are The River (Opening); Dance On The Wire; Against The Current; Carmen Elena; Ambar; Ambar's Courage; and The River Between Us.
Roots
Ostara Project
www.ostaraproject.ca
Rhea Records
www.rhearecords.com
$TBA CD / $TBA digital
https://ostaraproject.ca
Roots is an instrumental jazz album by The Ostara Project, an all-star gathering of top-tier female Canadian music artists: Jodi Proznick on bass; Amanda Tosoff on piano; Allison Au on alto sax; Rachel Therrien on trumpet; Shruti Ramani on vocals; and Valerie Lacombe on drums. The track list consists of songs created or arranged by different members, resulting in an eclectic, effervescent, and thoroughly captivating artistic medley, highly recommended for both personal and public library collections. The tracks are Dreams and Olive Trees (A. Tosoff); 2601 (A. Au); What A Moonlit Night (A. Voloshchenko / V. Ovchynnikov, arranged by J. Proznick); Rajalaskhmi (S. Ramani); Papa (R. Therrien); Voyage Sans Retour (R. Therrien, poem by Charles Lebel Therrien); and Raven Haven (V. Lacombe).
how strange the road should be so easy
Harvey Diamond and John Lentz
Orchard of Pomegranates Records
$15.00 CAD CD / $7.00 CAD digital
https://johnlentz.bandcamp.com/album/how-strange-the-road-should-be-so-easy
"how strange the road should be so easy" (the title is written in all lower case) is a jazz album featuring arrangements of beloved classics. All arrangements are by John Lentz and Harvey Diamond; John Lentz performs smooth vocals while Harvey Diamond masterfully plays the piano. An immersive and transformative way to re-experience classic jazz favorites, "how strange the road should be so easy" is a treasure for both personal and public library collections. The tracks are Detour Ahead; Somewhere Over the Rainbow; Duke Ellington's Sound of Love; Don't You Know I Care; You Don't Know What Love Is; Ain't Misbehavin'; On the Sunny Side of the Street; Our Love Is Here to Stay; Fair Weather; You Taught My Heart To Sing; and Blue in Green.
Cosmic Cliffs
Whispering Worlds
aaronshragge.com
Adhyaroparecords
adhyaroparecords.com
$20.00 CD / $15.00 digital
https://aaronshragge.bandcamp.com/album/cosmic-cliffs
Cosmic Cliffs is an instrumental contemporary jazz album by the electronic-acoustic quartet Whispering Worlds: Aaron Shragge on trumpet, electronics, and shakuhachi (Japanese end-blown flute); Luke Schwartz on guitar and electronics; Damon Banks on bass; and Deric Dickens on drums. Whispering Worlds originally formed in 2022 to pay tribute to late composer and trumpeter John Hassell; a few tracks are inspired arrangements or covers of John Hassell's work. The rest are original compositions that explore the grace of the shakuhachi, the gentle side of the trumpet, and the rapturous depths of ambient electronics. Cosmic Cliffs is creative, inspirational, and highly recommended for both personal and public library collections. The tracks are Cosmic Cliffs; Pillars; Vernal Equinox/Hex/Caracas Night; Seen By The Moon/Secretly Happy; Light Echoes; Reionization; Reflection Nebula; Crystals; and Serpentine Suspension.
Still
Composed and performed by Ann Sweeten
AnnSweeten.com
Engineered, mixed, and mastered by Tom Eaton
www.thomaseaton.com
Orange Band Records
$15.98 CD / $TBA digital
https://www.amazon.com/Still-Ann-Sweeten/dp/B0F1DLL1SZ
Still is an original, instrumental piano album composed and performed by Ann Sweeten, with collaboration by guest music artists. Inspired by the beauty of nature and cycle of the seasons, Still is an extraordinarily beautiful treasure ideal for meditative contemplation or creative inspiration, and also makes an excellent gift. Highly recommended! The tracks are Distant Clouds; Whispers of Spring; Still; Ebony Light; Waiting for Fireflies; Heaven's Stardust; The River Bleeds The Sky; The Crossing; Autumnal Breeze; and When Winter Comes. 49 min.
Translucent
The Choir
Galaxy21 Music
$TBA CD / $9.49 MP3
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPNN8R3P
Translucent is an original, instrumental album of ambient rock composed and performed by Grammy-nominated band The Choir. An artistic weaving of guitar, synthesizer, tenor saxophone, bells, and percussion, Translucent is a choice pick for meditation, mindfulness, and fostering creativity. Highly recommended! The tracks are Fire In The Heavens; You Don't Have To Smile; Slippery Moss; The Bravest Mind; Cool Black Water; Take To The Sky; Plastic Swords; Chariot Race; Nobody's Angel; and Watching Feathers Float. 43 min.
The Agriculture Shelf
The Complete Handbook of Poultry
Phillippe B. Wilson & Stuart Kay
Wiley-Blackwell
www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell
9781119765189, $204.95, HC, 288pp
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Handbook-Poultry-Philippe-Wilson/dp/1119765188
Synopsis: Co-authored by poultry experts Phillippe Wilson and Stuart Kay, "The Complete Handbook of Poultry" is the authoritative and comprehensive reference on all aspects of poultry for the professional poultry breeder and veterinarian.
Responding to the need for a multidisciplinary text, "The Complete Handbook of Poultry" will appeal to all fields aligned with rearing, breeding, feeding, and keeping poultry. Example species covered include chickens, ducks, guinea fowl, quail, turkey, and pigeons, with entries on a full range of breeds.
Readers will also find entries for relevant farming, medical, descriptive, and industry terms encountered when keeping and treating poultry. Every entry in "The Complete Handbook of Poultry" covers the topic in depth and the text is accompanied by up-to-date photographs, and historical images to show the development of poultry breeds.
"The Complete Handbook of Poultry" also includes up-to-date information on:
Aspects of the farming of poultry which have developed dramatically in recent years
Production methods, maintenance practices, and poultry stocks
The aims of the commercial poultry industry, exhibition poultry fanciers, and garden poultry keepers
Genetics and diversity in global poultry production and sustainable poultry production
With its scope and depth of coverage, "The Complete Handbook of Poultry" is an essential reference text for a wide range of audiences, including smallholders, feed producers, farmers, agriculturists, veterinarians, and industrial scientists. The text is also highly applicable for courses on animal science, husbandry, food science, and agriculture.
Critique: This large print (8.7 x 0.8 x 10.9 inches, 2.25 pounds) hardcover edition of "The Complete Handbook of Poultry" is alphabetically organized and features full color photos of individual poultry breeds throughout. Thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, "The Complete Handbook of Poultry" is a vital, essential, and unreservedly recommended pick for professional and college/university library Agriculture/Poultry collections and Veterinarian curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for poultry farm managers, veterinary students, and veterinary medicine practitioners that this hardcover edition of "The Complete Handbook of Poultry" from Wiley-Blackwell is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $164.00).
Editorial Note #1: Philippe B. Wilson is the Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Knowledge Exchange and a Professor of One Health at York St John University, and Chief Scientific Officer at Willows Health under NHS Leicestershire in the UK. They were a Trustee of the Poultry Club of Great Britain from 2017-2023, Chairman of the Rare Poultry Society from 2019-2020 and are currently and an accredited Panel B Judge by the Poultry Club of Great Britain.
Editorial Note #2: Stuart Kay is owner of Perfect Poultry breeders in the UK. They are the past Editor and owner of Fancy Fowl, and a current contributor to Practical Poultry magazine.
The Library Science Shelf
Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management, Fifth Edition
Peggy Johnson & Mary Beth Weber
ALA Editions
www.alastore.ala.org
9798892555654, $79.99, PB, 480pp
https://alastore.ala.org/FCDM5
Synopsis: Now in an updated and expanded fifth edition, "Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management" serves as the perfect instructional guide for beginners and a quick reference tool for seasoned professionals. For this new fifth edition, expert instructor and librarian Peggy Johnson is joined by technical services expert Mary Beth Weber and together thy have compiled case studies exploring the issues and suggestions for further reading, each chapter comprising "Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management" provides in-depth coverage of one aspect of collection development and management.
Librarians and library science students will gain a thorough understanding of:
Traditional management topics such as organization of the collection, staffing, planning, and policymaking;
The continuing relevance and importance of the discipline in an increasingly digital environment;
Open access, the Big Ten Open Books collection, and moving toward a digital library ownership model;
E-book lending, including purchasing models (PDA, DDA, EBA) and controlled digital lending;
Collaborative collection development and management;
Licenses, negotiation, contracts, maintaining productive relationships with vendors and publishers, and other important purchasing and budgeting topics;
Self-published books and their path into library collections;
Collection analysis and weeding, including both print and e-resources;
Timely issues such as the ways in which collecting practices have changed post-pandemic, the evolving needs and expectations of library users, diversity in library collections, and ensuring accessibility, all illustrated using updated examples and data; and
Marketing, liaison activities, and outreach, through coverage expanded for this edition.
Examination copies are available for instructors who are interested in adopting this title for course use. An e-book edition of the text will be available shortly after the print edition is published.
Critique: Exceptionally 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, "Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management: 5th Edition from ALA editions and a comprehesnive and ideal textbook for college/university Library Science collections, Library Scince curriculums, and community/academic library in-service training programs and workshops.
Editorial Note #1: Peggy Johnson is a frequent speaker and trainer on collection development and management. She has published several books, including ALA Editions' Developing and Managing Electronic Collections: The Essentials, and numerous journal articles. She edited the peer-reviewed journal Library Resources & Technical Services for more than nine years and continues to edit Technicalities: Information Forum for the Technical Services Professional. Prior to retiring from the University of Minnesota Libraries, she served as associate university librarian. During more than thirty years at the University of Minnesota, her responsibilities focused on collection development and management, technical services, institutional planning, grants management, and budgeting. A past president of the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS), she received the ALCTS Ross Atkinson Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. Peggy has consulted on library development in Uganda, Rwanda, Senegal, Morocco, and China.
Editorial Note #2: Mary Beth Weber has worked in library technical services in academic libraries for over thirty years. She has held various technical services positions, and is an expert on cataloging nonprint materials, acquisitions workflows, and non-MARC metadata for digital collections. She also has extensive managerial experience. Weber has authored numerous books, including Virtual Technical Services: A Manual and Rethinking Library Technical Services: Redefining Our Profession for the Future. She has given presentations on cataloging, mentoring, and publishing for various organizations. She chaired Rutgers University Libraries' Faculty Mentoring Program Committee for two years, and participated in ALCTS' inaugural mentoring program. Weber is an active member of Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures, a division of ALA. She served as editor-in-chief of Library Resources and Technical Services (LRTS) for nine years and helped transition the journal from ALCTS to Core. Weber was awarded the ALCTS Presidential Citation in 2011 for her service as the ALCTS Newsletter Editor. She received the ALCTS Honors award in 2015 for her contributions as LRTS Editor. Weber is currently the head of central technical services at Rutgers University Libraries and oversees resource description (MARC and non-MARC) for all four of Rutgers' campuses.
The Dance Shelf
Behind the Red Velvet Curtain
Joy Womack, author
Elizabeth Shockman, narrator
Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group
www.rowman.com
9781538199374, $27.95, HC, 274pp
https://www.amazon.com/Behind-Red-Velvet-Curtain-Ballerina/dp/1538199378
Synopsis: In 2012 Joy Womack made history when she became the first American ballerina to sign a contract with the Bolshoi Ballet Theater in Moscow, Russia.
Dancing in Moscow was not the Onion Dome fairy tale she'd hoped for. The Bolshoi and its school were filled with cutthroat competition, acts of violence, and coaches who encouraged obsessive devotion. They sent her on stage with broken bones, helped her forge immigration paperwork, and encouraged her to toe a dangerous political line - all for the privilege of dancing on one of the world's most storied stages.
As Joy's career took off and she made a name for herself in the Russian ballet world, she had to face a hard choice. Were the growing dangers of a professional lifestyle descending into corruption worth the realization of her life's dream?
Critique: Vivid, compelling, fascinating, candid, unique, and exceptionally well written and presented, "Behind the Red Velvet Curtain: An American Ballerina in Russia" is the simply riveting life story of Joy Womack and her experiences living and working in Russia as a professional ballerina for the world famous Bolshoi Ballet theater in Moscow as related to journalist and biographer Elizabeth Shockman. Of special and particular interest to fans of ballet and soviet culture, this deftly crafted and articulate memoir is a highly recommended pick for community and college/university library Contemporary American Biography/Memoir collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that this hardcover edition of "Behind the Red Velvet Curtain: An American Ballerina in Russia" from Rowman & Littlefield is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $24.69)
Editorial Note #1: Joy Womack (https://www.joywomack.com) is a ballerina, currently working at the Paris Opera. She has a combined social media following of approximately 75,000 across all platforms, was featured in a 2021 independent documentary, Joy Womack: The White Swan, and is also the subject of a biopic film, Joika, set to premiere in 2023. Her story has been followed by news outlets around the world, including The New York Times, The Moscow Times, Reuters, Time Magazine, the L.A. Times, NBC News.
Editorial Note: Elizabeth Shockman (www.mprnews.org/people/elizabeth-shockman) is a public radio journalist based in Minnesota with nationally and internationally published work at NPR, PRI, MPR, Reuters, The Moscow Times, BBC, and many other publications. Elizabeth met Joy while working for Reuters in Moscow and has spent more than 12 years interviewing her for this book.
The Holocaust Studies Shelf
Do Not Cry When I Die
Renee Salt & Kate Thompson
Alcove Press
www.alcovepress.com
9798892420792, $29.99, HC, 272pp
https://www.amazon.com/Not-Cry-When-Die-Bergen-Belsen/dp/B0D9XX9GCY
Synopsis: When German soldiers invaded Poland in September 1939, it began a six year journey for then-ten-year-old Renee Salt and her mother Sala. Until their liberation in 1945, Renee and Sala were imprisoned in ghettos and concentration camps, including Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen. The only light in the darkness and brutality for Renee was the unwavering grasp of her mother's hand in hers -- enduring, against all odds.
It was this unbreakable bond, along with a few miracles, that kept Renee alive. Sala's staggering courage to defy the will of SS guards saved both her and her daughter from the gas chambers, and the pair survived the deadliest days in Auschwitz's history.
After suffering the nightmarish conditions at Bergen-Belsen, Renee and her mother were liberated in April 1945 -- but Sala died soon after they were saved. To this day, Renee attributes her survival to the love and bravery of her beloved mother.
"Do Not Cry When I Die" is an incredibly moving and deeply crucial book that tells the shocking story of one of the oldest Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen survivors - and the mother's love that saved her life.
Critique: The publication of "Do Not Cry When I Die: A Holocaust Memoir of a Mother and Daughter's Survival In Jewish Ghettos, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belsen" is in response to the cry of 'Never Forget' in an effort to prevent the Holocaust from every occurring again. But with the current climate of anti-Semitism and the recent re-emergence of Holocaust deniers in both Europe and the U.S., "Do Not Cry When I Die: A Holocaust Memoir of a Mother and Daughter's Survival In Jewish Ghettos, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belsen" by now 86 year old Holocaust survivor Renee Salt is an especially timely and valued contribution to the growing library of Holocaust Studies, Biographies, and Memoirs. Especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Holocaust Studies and Jewish Biography/Memoir collections, it should be noted that this hardcover edition of "Do Not Cry When I Die: A Holocaust Memoir of a Mother and Daughter's Survival In Jewish Ghettos, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belsen" from Alcove Press is also available for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject in paperback (9798892421546, $19.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).
Editorial Note #1: Renee Salt, BEM, was born Rywka Ruchla Berkowitz in Zdunska Wola, Poland, in 1929, and is a Holocaust survivor and educator. Renee and her mother survived both Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. After the Holocaust, Renee returned to Poland to try and find any surviving members of her family and found an aunt who was living in Lodz, who she moved in with. From there they moved to Paris, where Renee met her husband Charles, who was a British military policeman who helped to liberate Bergen-Belsen. They married in 1949 and had two children. Renee lives in northwest London and has 5 grandchildren. She regularly speaks in schools, to organizations, and to the government about her experiences during the Holocaust.
Editorial Note #2: Kate Thompson is a journalist and bestselling author. As well as being passionate about capturing lost voices and untold social histories, Kate's also a library campaigner. Her 100 libraries project celebrates the richness and complexity of librarians' work and the vital role of libraries in our communities. Alongside her journalism and writing, Kate is also a podcaster and recently launched her own podcast, From the Library With Love. You can find Kate at her website: www.katethompsonmedia.co.uk, on Facebook @KateThompsonAuthor, on X @katethompson380 and on Instagram @katethompsonauthor
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Diane C. Donovan, Editor
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