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Small Press Bookwatch

Volume 1, Number 4 August 2002 Home | SPBW Index

Table of Contents

Reviewer's Choice Fiction Shelf Poetry Shelf
Business Shelf Fantasy/Sci-Fi Shelf Self-Help Shelf
Christian Studies Shelf Parenting Shelf Biography Shelf
Religion/Metaphysics Shelf Political Science Shelf  


Reviewer's Choice

So You Think You're Smart
Pat Battaglia
International Puzzle Features
4507 Panther Place, Charlotte, NC 28269
0970825315 $9.95 www.CleverPuzzles.com

So You Think You're Smart: 150 Fun And Challenging Brain Teasers compiled by Pat Battaglia is an eclectic collection of queries and riddles to boggle the mind, from sports trivia to word games to graphical puzzles. Each conundrum has hints and solutions, written in reverse to avoid casual reading yet easily looked up with the aid of a small paper-thin mirror that doubles as a handy bookmark. Ideal for parties or simple personal enjoyment, So You Think You're Smart is enthusiastically recommended as a fun and engaging selection of riddles to challenge readers of all educational backgrounds.

Secrets Your Contractor Won't Tell You
Amos Avitan
Avitan Technologies Corp
2803 - 863 Hamilton Street, Vancouver, BC Canada V6B 6B7
0968971504 $18.95 www.everyday-financial-solutions.com

Secrets Your Contractor Won't Tell You by Amos Avitan is an extremely practical, "user friendly", and comprehensive guide to saving money with on utility bills and housing upkeep costs, ranging from insulating against heat loss; to lowering gas and electric bills; to finding the right contractor and avoiding unscrupulous ones. Clear, accessible, step-by-step instructions are specifically written for the non-specialist general reader and homeowner having to deal with plumbers, electricians, repairmen, heating & Air Conditioning servicemen, and are now ready to learn how to save money will especially appreciate this superbly presented guide that will literally pay for itself. If you own a home and/or pay the upkeep and maintenance of one, then you need to read Amos Avitan's Secrets Your Contractor Won't Tell You!

The Fundraising Houseparty
Morrie Warshawski
Self Published
1408 West Washington Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48103
0971278903 $14.95 (plus $4.00 s&h) www.warshawski.com

In The Fundraising Houseparty: How To Get Charitable Donations From Individuals In A Houseparty Setting, by strategic planning consultant and arts facilitator Morrie Warshawski demystifies and explains in considerable detail the use of the houseparty as a fundraising opportunity for any form of non-profit project. Applicable to every category of donor from grassroots neighborhood guests to wealthy, upscale, clients and associates, Warshawski presents practical, accessible, authoritative "how to" information arranged into specific sections on "Key Elements of a Successful Houseparty"; "Pre-Party Check List and Timeline"; Instructions for the Evening Presentation"; "Sample Invitations"; as well as a bibliography listing both books for further study and helpful websites. If you are charged with a fund raising responsibility for your organization, agency, cause, or committee, then begin your planning and preparation with a careful reading of Morrie Warshawski's The Fundraising Houseparty.

It's Only Money!
Allison Acken, Ph.D.
Self Published
PO Box 49327, Los Angeles, CA 90049
0971171513 $18.95 www.womentalkmoney.com

It's Only Money! A Primer For Women by financial expert and money management consultant Allison Acken is a very practical, "reader friendly" introduction to basic money matters, and written especially for those women who may be inexperienced at handling personal finances. From overcoming psychological conditioning to "be a lady" and always turn money matters to a man, any man, regardless of his qualifications, to quotable quotes from famous women including Ivana Trump and Dr. Joycelyn Elders, to keeping a financial safety cushion in case of emergencies and much more, It's Only Money! is an absolute "must-read" for any woman who isn't already expertly handling her own finances.

Information Technology's Writing Survival Guide
Patricia A. Hoyt
WhiteFeatherPress.com, Inc.
PO Box 23549, Jacksonville, FL 32241-3549
0967948916 $25.00 www.whitefeatherpress.com

Information Technology's Writing Survival Guide: A Technical Writing Primer For The Systems Professional by professional website designer and developer Patricia A. Hoytis, a straightforward, hands-on, practical primer specifically focusing upon the career and craft of information technology writing. From advice for planning projects, creating outlines, estimating time, and analyzing one's audience, to actually writing executive summaries, processes, procedures, and indexes, Information Technology's Writing Survival Guide is a first-rate and highly recommended primer packed from cover to cover with solid advice. Of especial merit is the up-to-date chapter specifically dealing with the modern-day tool of online delivery.

Family Desk Reference To Psychology
Chuck Falcon
Sensible Psychology Press
PO Box 2687, Lafayette, LA 70502
0962825425 $25.00 www.sensiblepsychology.com

Family Desk Reference To Psychology by counseling psychologist Chuck T. Falcon offers a wealth of expert advice specifically written for the non-specialist general reader. Covering everything from marriage and divorce problems, to self-esteem, stress, and depression, to coping and responding to domestic abuse, the Family Desk Reference To Psychology is simply packed with up-to-date statistics, especially for mental health in America, is straightforwardly written, "user friendly", and highly practical. Family Desk Reference To Psychology is a "must-read" filled with valuable information that every man and woman should know or have easy access to as a matter of mental health, emotional survival, and psychological self-defense.

The September Apocalypse
Dennis sinneD
Writers Club Press
5220 South 16th Street, #200, Lincoln, NE 68512-1274
0595230563 $9.95 www.iuniverse.com

The September Apocalypse is an eyewitness account by Dennis sinneD of the unexpected and devastating catastrophe that befell America on September 11th, 2001. Written by a man who was late for work at the World Trade Center that morning, and who refused to evacuate the area but took notes and remembered impressions for later, The September Apocalypse is a powerful, chilling, and compelling personal account of a tragic landmark of history.

Crisis Preparedness Handbook
Jack A. Spigarelli
Cross-Current Publishing
333 North 425 East, Alpine, UT 84004-1427
0936348070 $19.95 www.Cross-Current.com

Now in an updated second edition, Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide To Home Storage And Physical Survival by Jack A. Spigarelli is a solid, practical, no-nonsense, but completely "user friendly" reference for the selection and acquisition of stockpiled food and water for emergencies; growing, raising, and finding food; preserving food at home by means such as home canning and dehydrating; emergency evacuation in a crisis; and other preparation safeguards for weathering a natural or man-made crisis. From clothing issues to transportation needs and communication alternatives, the Crisis Preparedness Handbook is a solid, fact-filled, potentially live saving guide, and especially recommended reading for anyone seeking to protect themselves and their loved ones in times of local, regional, national, or international calamity.

Best Transgender Erotica!
Hanne Blank & Raven Kaldera, editors
Circlet Press
1770 Massachusetts Avenue, #278, Cambridge, MA 02140
1885865406 $16.00 www.circlet.com

The first published anthology to have its origin within the transgendered community, Best Transgender Erotica! is a deftly edited showcase for twenty-three contributors who combine to offer stories gender variation that are as diverse in content as they are uniformly excellent in presentation. From The Gay Science (Charles Anders), Tangaroa (Allison Lonsdale); and No Charity (Corbie Petulengro); to A Dance Of Queens (Sacchi Green); Becoming (Alex Gino); and The Essence of Magic (Stacey Montgomery Scott), Best Transgender Erotica truly lives up to its name and is very highly recommended to those in search of the usual, the offbeat, and the unique in their erotic reading materials.


The Fiction Shelf

Bruised Hibiscus
Elizabeth Nunez
Seal Press
Publishers Group West, dist.
3131 Western Avenue, Suite #410, Seattle, WA 98121
1580050360 $12.95 1-206-283-7844

Set in a Trinidad island village in the 1950s, Bruised Hibiscus by Elizabeth Nunez (Distinguished Professor of English and Director of the Black Writers Institute, Medgar Evers College, City University of New York) is the compelling story of two female friends who witnessed a woman's unspeakable murder through a hibiscus bush as children, and memories of the horror haunt their lives, destroy their ability to form healthy relationships, and ultimately bring about their reunion and a search for freedom and balance. A gripping, deadly serious story of crime and its emotional toll, Bruised Hibiscus is strongly recommended reading. Also highly recommended are Elizabeth Nunez's earlier novels: When Rocks Dance and Beyond.

Red Dream
Victoria Brooks
Greatest Escapes Publishing
Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc. (publicity)
PO Box 48503, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V7X 1A2
0-968613721 $15.00 www.greatestescapes.com

Victoria Brooks' debut novel Red Dream is offers the reader a heady mix of erotic romance, political intrigue, and military history that ranges from the sultry streets of Saigon, to the elegant apartments of Paris, to the damp quads of Seattle's university district. Spiked with simple poetry evocative of modern song lyrics, Victoria Brooks is a writer presenting a very special ability to use her characters to engage the reader's total attention while conjuring up images of a country divided and its people caught up in irony, heartbreak, fear, hope, and uncertainty. Red Dream is an articulate, literate, thoughtful and thought-provoking novel from beginning to end.

Ricochet In Time
Lori L. Lake
Yellow Rose Books/Renaissance Alliance Press
PMB 238, 8691 9th Ave., Port Arthur, Tx 77642
ISBN: 1930928645; $19.99; 376 pages; www.rapbooks.biz

Lori Lake is one of the best novelists working in the field of lesbian fiction today. Her latest novel is Ricochet In Time in which we are introduced to Danielle "Dani" Corbett, a woman who has learned from personal experience what being the target hatred just because your inborn sexual orientation is different from that of most others. A lethal attack motivated by sexual bigotry and prejudice leaves her girlfriend, Meg O'Donnell, dead, and Dani physically injured and emotionally scarred. With the help of hospital physical therapist Grace Beaumont and the help of Grace's aunts, Estelline and Ruth, Dani is able to work through her near devastating grief and almost overwhelming rage, as well as bringing Meg's killer to a well deserved justice. Ricochet In Time is a compelling read from cover to cover as it showcases an impressive struggle to find a personal place in the world and an enduring justice for a friend.

Forever Avenley
Elisabeth Schilling
AmErica House Publishing
PO Box 151, Frederick, MD 21705-0151
1588518973 $24.95 www.PublishAmerica.com

When Avenley married Jake Lawrence she was launched into a fairy tale life of luxury, wealth, comfort, security, and unlimited promise for the future. But then this picture-perfect world suddenly crashes around them all. Highly recommended reading, Elisabeth Schilling's Forever Avenley is a compelling and deftly written novel of a proud family dynasty that blends romantic entanglements with intrigue, rage, and passion.

What If
Daniel Rosenfeld
Rosenfeld Books Publishing
PO Box 9949, College Station, TX 77842
0971600805 $14.95, 462 pages, 1-800-462-6420

What If is a work of "alternate history" in which author and Israeli-Palestinian conflict expert Daniel Rosenfeld speculates how history would have been different if, back in 1890, historical people and events had taken a different path in the second rise of Israel on the way to becoming a nation state. What If is a substantial, entertaining, and thought-provoking speculative novel that will especially appeal to those with an interest in the present Mideast conflict.

The Raven Who Spoke With God
Christopher Foster
Singing Spirit Books
4127 Ash Court, Loveland, Colorado 80538
0971179603 $12.95 www.singingspiritbooks.com

The Raven Who Spoke With God is a superbly written inspirational novel by Christopher Foster about a journey to hope and healing, and a look at nature through the eyes of a creature who is part of it. When a young raven loses his friends and family to a massacre, he is at first consumed with despair; his subsequent journey and adventures form a parable in this highly engaging narrative. The Raven Who Spoke With God is highly recommended reading, especially for those who prefer their fiction to showcase a deftly presented and spiritually uplifting message. Also highly recommended is Christopher Foster's previous novel, Winds Across The Sky.

Tulpa
Ron Landry
Zumaya Publications
PO Box 44062, Kensington Burnaby, B.C. V5B 3YK, Canada
1894869435 $13.00 www.booksurge.com

Tulpa is a mystical, international thriller novel by Ron Landry about the "tulpa", an ancient, powerful, and limitless item stolen from its Tibetan guardians over three hundred years ago, sequestered and used by an evil cabal. Agatha and Jason Holcroft, a brother and sister among the cabal's board, are among the many who must ruthlessly vie for the tulpa's secrets in blood, shadow, and deceit. Tulpa is highly recommended as a dangerous and compelling story of the dark side of the human spirit.

Words From The River
Deborah J. Collins
Creative Works Publishing
4197 Fulton Drive, NW, Canton, Ohio 44718
1930693966 $13.95 www.cwp-books.com

Deborah J. Collins' debut novel, Words From The River, is the story of Diane Cole, a young woman from a conservative Florida town who discovers her true sexual identity through a relationship with a lesbian activist. A sensual and heartwarming tale of love between two women, Words From The River is highly recommended as a superbly crafted and well written novel by a gifted storyteller.

The Blues Ain't Nothin'
Tina L. Jens
Design Image Group
PO Box 2325, Darien, IL 60561
189194617X $15.95 designimagegroup.com

The Blues Ain't Nothin': Tales Of The Lonesome Blues Pub by Tina L. Jens is a ably written novel set on Chicago's North Side, and features a blues club haunted by ghosts of blues legends. The eccentric regulars are a bit scary in their own right too, in this unique and unusual novel of music, lives, love, and the special emotional evocation that can only come from true blues. If you've ever enjoyed a genuine Chicago blues session, then read The Blues Ain't Nothin' and be prepared for total engagement from cover to cover!

Mouse River
Tom Schlueter
Xlibris Corporation
436 Walnut Street, 11th floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106
1401016758 $21.24 xlibris.com

Tom Schlueter's Mouse River is the strikingly crafted saga of Sophia Downing, a farm wife, and the Downing family who must work together to survive the hardships of pioneer life in 1885 North Dakota. Struggle, sacrifice, and the brutal threats of starvation and poverty ultimately place the lives of the family's children at risk, forcing difficult choices in this poignant tale. Mouse River is very entertaining and highly recommended reading -- and documents Tom Schlueter as an author of considerable talent, skill, and storytelling ability.

Circumstance Of Conception
Irene Louise
Rutledge Books, Inc.
107 Mill Plain Road, Danburgy, CT 06811
1582442045 $18.95 1-800-251-4000 www.rutledgebooks.com

Irene Louise's novel, Circumstance Of Conception is the riveting story of Grace Mulligan, a counselor at a Baltimore women's shelter who is brutally beaten and raped in a shadowed parking lot. Two weeks later Grace awakens from a coma to find that the assault upon her body has altered her life. Her husband, Jackson, tries to come to terms with what has happened but a rift grows between them when Grace discovers that as a result of the rape she is now pregnant. Grace is plunged into an emotional and familial maelstrom as the instinct to protect her unborn child clashes with her need to preserve her family. Circumstance Of Conception is an unflinching and dramatic examination of critical personal and social issues that are as timely as today's newspaper headlines.

Safe Beginnings
Christine Duncan
Treble Heart Books
1284 Overlook Dr., Sierra Vista, AZ 85635-5512
1931742855 $11.99 www.TrebleHeartBooks.com

Christine Duncan's Safe Beginnings is a unique and compellingly written mystery of suspense featuring a battered woman's counselor as the heroine. When an unknown arsonist sets fire to a battered women's shelter, and a victim lies dead in the ashes, Kaye Berreano, a counselor for the shelter, is confronted with the task of tracking down the killer. This will not be an easy task, since for every woman to whom the shelter opens its doors, there is a boyfriend or a husband with a motive for the crime! Also available in an electronic format ($5.00 download, $6.00 disk), Safe Beginnings is a very highly recommended, realistic, gritty mystery that reflects the darker side of life for tens of thousands of women today.

Fogs in August
Margaret A. Helms
1stBooks Library
2511 West 3rd Street, Bloomington, IN 47404
0759650497 $19.95 1-800-839-8640

Fogs In August is a suspenseful mystery by Margaret A. Helms about Sarah McCain, a young woman trying to sort out her romantic feelings toward her female roommate and toward her old boyfriend, only to have her normal life turn into a nightmare when a psychotic murderer begins to stalk her. A dual tale of a woman's search for identity while struggling to survive the chilling obsession of a murderer, and deftly written with humor, pathos, and suspense, Fogs In August is highly recommended reading for mystery buffs!

Magdalena
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
Plain View Press
PO Box 33311, Austin, TX 78764
1891386298 $14.95 1-800-878-3605

Expertly written by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard (USC Adjunct Professor and teacher at the UCLA-Extension's Writers Program), Magdalena is set in the chaotic backdrop of twentieth century East Asia. A romantic, powerful tale of three generations of Filipino women, written with a close eye on the terrors of war and the Japanese invasion of the Philippines during World War II, Magdalena is an intense, involving, highly recommended saga that documents author Cecilia Manguerra Brainard as a gifted author with a mastery of story telling that will keep the reader's total attention and engagement from first page to last!

The Chocolate Korndog
Jonathan Pearce
Infinity Publishing.com
519 West Lancaster Avenue, Haverford, PA 19041-1413
074141127X $13.95 1-877-289-2665

The fourteenth and latest in the engaging highly recommended Balona Book series by author Jonathan Pearce, The Chocolate Korndog is a kind of "gustometric" adventure which chronicles the sweetest escapade yet as a mouth-watering work of art prompts Balonans to compete in a tasty pastry bakeoff competition. Exciting schemes for fame, television spots, and fortune run amok in this whimsical and highly enjoyable tale.

The Greatest Discovery
Chris Sorensen
Pond Publishing
9947 Hull St. #197, Richmond, VA 23236
0971942307 $10.00 www.pondpublishing.com

Chris Sorensen's debut novel, The Greatest Discovery, is a semi-autobiographical story about second chances, reconsidering the path not taken, and meeting that special someone who changes one's life forever. A gentle, thoughtful, and transforming read about personal growth and evolution, The Greatest Discovery reveals its author as a gifted storytelling and is rewarding, thoughtful, highly recommended reading.

The Circle Of Life
Christine Paul
Writer's Club Press/iUniverse
5220 South 16th Street, #200, Lincoln, NE 68512-1274
0595228704 $14.95 www.iuniverse.com

Christine Paul's The Circle Of Life is an engaging and rewarding story of reconcilement and the quest for meaning. When Evelyn Justison, a seventy-five year-old woman with an estranged daughter and no grandchildren, outlives her sister-in-law, she begins to question why she still lives -- as does Pastor Eric Masterson, who has moved to her home town of Crow River to cope with the grief of outliving his wife and son. The Circle Of Life is an enthusiastically recommended, gentle novel of "golden years" compassion, romance, and acceptance.

Aaron's Intifada And Other Short Stories
Ken Goldstein
Writer's Club Press/iUniverse
5220 South 16th Street, #200, Lincoln, NE 68512-1274
0595220150 $10.95 www.iuniverse.com

Ken Goldstein's debut anthology of short stories, Aaron's Intifada And Other Short Stories offers the reader a diverse collection of memorable characters who must face challenge, hope, loss, and the path to personal redemption. Some are confronted by violence; others find a way to create beauty when pressed upon by despair. Aaron's Intifada And Other Short Stories is strongly recommended as a impressive and engaging anthology that reflects Goldstein's skillfully original storytelling talent.

Hidden Truth
Bill Higgins
Writer's Showcase/iUniverse
5220 South 16th Street, #200, Lincoln, NE 68512-1274
0595216757 $16.95 www.iuniverse.com

Deftly written by 27-year Central Intelligence Agency veteran Bill Higgins, Hidden Truth: the Conspiracy is a dark and intriguing novel. about a secret cabal called "The Project". A shadowy group with a hidden agenda and whose mission and motive is to study UFO's and then hide the truth about alien presences from the public. A chilling and horrific novel about aliens who walk among humanity and use them as experimental fodder, Hidden Truth is highly recommended reading for anyone who every got hooked on the X-files or wondered about what Area 51 is all about!

The Road To Paradise
Tami Parrington
iUniverse.com, Inc.
5220 South 16th Street, #200, Lincoln, NE 68512-1274
0595226256 $15.95 www.iuniverse.com

Tami Parrington's The Road To Paradise is a deftly written, romantic novel telling the story of Karen Meade, a farm widow and mother who is surprised by a most unusual neighbor. Isaiah Highland is a former rock star who is now looking for the peace, quiet, and the privacy of a simple country life. In the revelatory process of finding each other, Karen and Isaiah discover in one another, and within themselves, so much more than they ever expected or hoped for in this tender, passionate, sensual, and very highly recommended love story.

Cheechako
Dan McFadden
iUniverse.com, Inc.
5220 South 16th Street, #200, Lincoln, NE 68512-1274
0595218075 $28.95 www.iuniverse.com www.cheechako.net www.rolling-thunder.com

Cheechako by Dan McFadden is a fantastic and compelling novel of a group of Alaskan fishing villagers who barely survive an earthquake, only to be confronted with something much worse - a primal subterranean deity who has freed himself to wreak havoc on humankind, by exploiting their lusts, power fantasies, and greed with his double-edged powers. An alternately shocking and chilling 695-page epic which is at times both erotic and horrible, Cheechako is highly recommended as an attention grabbing supernatural thriller from beginning to end.

Dreaming Pigs
Lynne Carver
Paint Rock River Press
PO Box 14, Paint Rock, AL 35764
0970917422 $11.95 www.paintrockriverpress.com

Lynne Carver's Dreaming Pigs is a bizarre and fantastic novel about three people who conspire to steal a pig cloned especially to create organs harvestable for human beings, and who find themselves in for much more than they bargained. Witty, caustic, and offering a different perspective on the latest medical breakthroughs of today, Dreaming Pigs is highly recommended, entertaining, and occassionally thought-provoking reading.

Murder In The Inn
Barbara Fox
Unlimited Publishing
PO Box 3007, Bloomington, IN 42402
1588320448 $20.99 www.unlimitedpublishing.com/authors

Barbara Fox's debut mystery novel, Murder In The Inn is the chilling and suspenseful story about Sand and Joey Jason, a married couple who encounter a suspicious accident at the Bed and Breakfast Inn they inherited from Joey's landlady, Pauline Ellington upon her death. But was that death just the result of a chance mishap, or was it murder? Hidden intrigue and secret motives run through this brief (134 page) yet fascinating mystery -- which is enhanced with seven delicious recipes from the B&B menu!


The Poetry Shelf

Tornado In Cleethorpes
David Van-Cauter
Self Published
38 Bedford Street, Hitchin, Herts, UK, SG5 2JG
0954286707, 4 British pounds, 48 pages, davidvancauter@bigfoot.com, www.poetry-id.com

David Van-Cauter's debut chapbook volume of verse blends humor with serious poems on the themes of life and loss in Tornado In Cleethorpes. Abstract: My vision of hell:/a free jazz saxophone wailing/to a film of abstract shapes/in a dark hall, endlessly.//Heaven is the same,/except I'm hidden in the smoky crowd,/laughing and laughing/like a child locked in his room,/watching the wind hiss at a fragile pane,/willing it to crack.

The Girl in Glass
William Jay Smith, author & Jacques Hnizdovsky, woodcuts
Books & Company
c/o Turtle Point Press
103 Hog Hill, Chappaqua N.Y. 10514
1885586590 $17.95 http://www.turtlepoint.com

A striking compilation of original, lyrical love poetry by William Jay Smith, and impressively illustrated by Jacques Hnizdovsky's fantastic black-and-white woodcuts, The Girl In Glass is a moving, heartfelt compilation of verse. An ideal giftbook for poetry fanciers, The Girl In Glass features brief yet sensual, rhyming verse about love, sex, valentines, weddings, and the heart's desire. Night Music: The Dark air rushes by us like a cry,/Slowly the branches turn and twist and bend;/The stars, dim islands, sink into the sky,/Borne downward in a broad abyss of wind/That closes quietly to draw them under./The night's deep water swirls and mounts and falls;/Rain descends in irons, and the thunder/Cleaves the thick charged air within these walls.//Now through the darkness will a careful prow/With chart and compass gain a scheduled place;/Now hands will calmly bend above a brow,/Now lips will lower to a trembling face;/And love within the constant mounting crests/Will break with equal fury from our breasts.

Into The Early Hours
Aislinn Hunter
Polestar/Raincoast Books
9050 Shaughnessy Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V67P 6E5
1551924986 $12.95 www.raincoast.com

Into The Early Hours clearly documents Aislinn Hunter as a gifted master poet whose verse is unique, engaging, and memorable. Recollection: The slim-wristed dead are with you again,/in their ruffled blouses and long white skirts --/two young girls, feet slung out of the hammock/on Chatham street, sleeping and as still as fish/too long out of water, mouths open/under a bright canopy of sun. It's late summer/and every afternoon has been like this one//but for your hand on the banister of the back porch,/as incongruous as an airplane in an apple grove./That you can touch her shoulder and wake her,/along with her sister and the small brown terrier/curled up in the shade. That the oak tree's leaves/feather your neck as you stand beside them.//She wakes up slowly and enters the house/as it if still existed, and the two of them/climb kitchen chairs and pick through the pantry/for snacks. Spread jam on bread then dip their fingers/in the jar. How young they are now,/and how forgotten. Her memories at work in you,/smell of the countryside when you wake.

Open House
Beth Ann Fennelly
Zoo Press
PO Box 22990, Lincoln, NE 68542
0970817754 $14.95 1-800-755-1105 http://zoopress.org

Beth Ann Fennelly's poetry compiled and showcased in Open House is a gifted grace that pleases the mind with its wit and the mind's eye with its imagery. Poem Not To Be Read At Your Wedding: You ask me for a poem about love/in place of a wedding present, trying to save me/money. For three nights I've lain/under glow-in-the-dark-stars I've stuck to the ceiling/over me bed. I've listened to the songs/of the galaxy. Well, Carmen, I would rather/give you your third set of steak knives/than tell you what I know. Let me find you/some other, store-bought present. Don't/make me warn you of stars, how they see us/from that distance as miniature and breakable/from the bride who tops the wedding cake/to the Mary on Pinto dashboards/holding her ripe, red heart in her hands.

Some Grand Dust
William Minor
Chatoyant
PO Box 832, Aptos, CA 95001
0966145240 $12.00 www.chatoyant.com

Some Grand Dust comprises two poem cycles ("Our Peasant Life" and "Moker") by jazz authority and writer William Minor. These are superbly crafted verses of life, longing, loving, family, and neighbors - both real and imagined. Moker's Unborn Daughter: Today she wants to take a walk/and talk about men, his least favorite subject./"What can you tell me about them?" she asks./"Nothing," he replies. "Not a thing." Well,/you must know something," she snaps back./"As much as I know," he says, "about myself."/"Is that all?" she cries, and clasps her hands/before her face, tossing her not so delicate/hair. "See? See?' she chides, peeking through/the game they used to play: "This is the church/and this the steeple." "See what?" he cries./She dances away. "See? See?" she calls/back over her truly beautiful shoulder,/Moker's mocking unborn daughter.

Daykeepers
Theresa E. LaVeck
Writers Club Press
c/o iUniverse.com, Inc.
5220 South 16th Street, #200, Lincoln, NE 68512-1274
059521424X $10.95 www.iuniverse.com

Daykeepers is a volume of hauntingly impressive and intimately longing free verse poetry by Theresa E. LaVeck. Brief prose excerpts intersperse the lyrical stanzas about life, love, and loss. An insightful and memorable selection of verses, Daykeepers mark Theresa LaVeck as have a distinctive and memorable voice. Mary's Lament: What shall I do if he leaves me?/What if the child does not have his eyes?/But like the rest, he waits,/suddenly silent, sneaking glances when he thinks I do not see./Perhaps I was already sick with child and have listened too much to/Elizabeth's rantings./Yet how do we, how will my son, continue to live for the men that/would have us enslaved?/I took to the road for 14 days to abide their law and pay their dues./Now one will open their doors to my bulging belly./Where is the physician? Where is our rabbi?/What if the child dies in the dung?

Death Of New York City
Nina Zivancevic
Cool Grove Press
512 Argyle Road, Brooklyn, NY 11218
1887276076 $12.95 www.coolgrove.com

Born in Belgrade, having lived in Paris and New York, Nina Zivancevic emerged as one of Europe's truly original, contemporary poets. Her's is a voice of exile, a traveler through diverse cultures, a sampler of diverse literatures, and one who weaves into her poetry an enriched tapestry of imaged words that are as elegant as they are unique. Ode To The West Wind: Oh, great great West Wind,/take me back to all places and people/I cared for, take me away from this/Neoclassical order and dumbness,/away from the North Station where they/took 2,000,000 Jews away to the camps/so only my grandmother got back, take me away/from Europe ridden by plagues and wars,/away from the United States where, people die in ignorance and hunger,/take me back to Serinda where breathing counts/more than action and sublime thinking,/to the non-existent land of poetry and wit/where women don't speak of equanimity and/men dance tango all day long, lift me up/and make me forget this overbearing present,/so, if it is spring,/why am I so far behind?

Heaven Sent
Joyce P. Hale
Passage Publishing
2318 Canal Street, Boise, ID 83705
0971592624 $12.95 www.upcountrycreaton.com

The poetry of Joyce P. Hale as compiled within the pages of Heaven Sent: Soul Food For The Eyes And Heart speak of grief arising from the loss of a loved one, the holding of a lost love in one's heart, the textured fabric of spirituality, and a steadfast believe in a loving divinity of Father and Son. You Are Not Gone: Although I cannot see your face/or hear your voice so clear,/I feel that you are watching,/I sense your presence near./I think of you out of the blue/when sunshine showers me,/Oh no, you've never gone away/from heart and memory./I look for you to come around;/I hear you call my name./You come to mind so vividly/as breezes stir the lane./I know you walk along my side/when I am all alone./They say you crossed the river wide,/but I know you are not gone.

Summer Poems
James Naiden
Tendon Press
PO Box 14118, Minneapolis, MN, 55414-0118
1887341072 $16.00 64 pages

Summer Poems showcases the deftly written stylistic verse of James Naiden, a skilled poet able to evoke a blended mix of emotional responses to his words and their conjured images. Parting At A Train Station: Your face with risen curve,/Fog wisps & lavender mist/Shores up my inconstant nerve.//Your worried voice in early hours,/My faint attempts at good-bye,/Indigo seconds are ours://A hard kiss with grasped touch,/Then your bags moving swiftly/With a porter, hurried much//By the train's hissing breath,/Your stepping up, disappear-/Ing only to refuse death//Or any darkly gray thought/Harbored low within my brain./Only love was what we taught//Ourselves for such times as this:/Your face at the window, your/Wave & smile I cannot miss.//As the train moves away,/The sun strokes its silver frame/Past the nearby inland bay,//Faster beyond distant trees./I remember your blonde face/As if in a Tuscan frieze.


The Business Shelf

First Business Start-Up
William L. Russell
Entre Publications, Inc.
7505 Memorial Woods Dr., H49, Houston, TX 77024
0966070801 $24.95 1-888-504-8131

First Business Start-Up by William L. Russell is a solid, "user friendly", how-to guide specifically and accessibly written for non-specialist general readers of all experience levels in the business world wanting to launch their own commercial enterprise. Solid information and coherent step-by-step worksheets help the reader to evaluate whether or not their business idea is solid, and offers guidance in selecting the best business team in order to increase the odds of success. Regardless of the product to be produced or the service to be offered, First Business Start-Up is a "must-read" for anyone seriously interested in becoming their own boss!

India Business
Aruna Chandra, Pradeep Rau, and John K. Ryans, Jr.
Paramount Market Publishing
301 S. Geneva Street, Suite 109, Ithaca, NY 14850
096714390X $49.95 www.paramountbooks.com

India Business: Finding Opportunities In This Big Emerging Market by Aruna Chandra (Assistant professor of Management, Indiana State University), Pradeep Rau (Professor of Marketing, The George Washington University), and John K. Ryans Jr. (Bridgestone Professor of International Business and Marketing, Kent State University) offers a soundly presented and highly informative look at the nation of India and its growing population and customer base -- which is predicted to exceed that of China by 2050. From understanding Indian politics to taking Indian culture into account and successful strategies for doing business in India, Indian Business is an excellent introductory reference and an absolute "must" for any businessman seriously considering expanding his or her marketing efforts into this immense and diverse nation.

Making Horses Drink
Alex Hiam
Entrepreneur Press
Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists (publicity)
2445 McCabe Way, Suite 400, Irvine, CA 92614
1891984500 $19.95 www.smallbizbooks.com

Making Horses Drink: How To Lead And Succeed In Business by Alex Hiam (CEO of the corporate training firm Alex Hiam & Associates) offers the reader a wealth of innovative and practical advice specifically intended for business leaders in charge of fostering a productive and organized workplace. An informed and informative collection of anecdotes, quotable quotes, tips, tricks, techniques, and a great deal more make Making Horses Drink essential reading for business leaders and managers from small family owned businesses to the large international corporate conglomerates.

Winning Business Plans
William Fredricks
Made E-Z Products
384 South Military Trail, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442
1563825031 $14.95 www.MadeE-Z.com

Winning Business Plans by business expert William Fredricks is the latest in the "Made E-Z" series of guide books for entrepreneurs, and features an impressive compilation very practical information, step-by-step how-to instructions, as well as an exhaustive index and resource guide. From financial analysis, to making the pitch, to obtain better funding, Winning Business Plans is a highly useful and strongly recommended reference that also features forms that can be duplicated or modified for professional use.

Stop Bad Checks!
Queen T. Mason
Red Triangle Enterprises, Inc.
39040 Hubbard St., Palmdale, CA 93551
0971487804 $20.00 www.red-triangle.com

Now in a revised and updated second edition, Stop Bad Checks! by Queen T. Mason is a simple and direct guide to handling the common business hazard of bad checks. From spotting likely bad checks, to collecting on a bad check when dealt one, this brief (63-page) yet information-packed primer is filled cover to cover with effective tips, tricks, and techniques to dealing with the pervasively common problem of bad checks, and yet still turn a tidy profit for your company's bottom line. Stop Bad Checks! is highly recommended reading, especially for small business owners new to commercial dealings with the general public.


The Fantasy/Science Fiction Shelf

Suzanne Of Silver Lake
Michael C. Beard
Hats Off Books
610 East Delano Street, Suite 104, Tucson, Arizona 85705
1587360764 $22.95 www.hatsoffbooks.com

Suzanne Of Silver Lake is Book One of "The Annals of Kar-Neloth", a high fantasy, 440 page epic by Michael C. Beard about an ancient curse on an empire that placed its empress into a sleep for 400 years. Now, she is about to be awakened - yet at what political price? Intrigue, conflict, turmoil, and jockeying for power pervade the pages of this powerful written, thoroughly engaging, and highly recommended fantasy saga.

The Ancient
Steven Macon
Xlibris Corporation
Kitchen Sink Literary Agency (publicity)
436 Walnut Street, 11th floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106
07388-43555 $24.99 (softcover); 0738843547 $34.99 (hardcover) www.xlibris.com

The Ancient is a science fiction techno thriller, a 491 page galactic adventure interlaced with a touch of romance as a family suddenly and unexpectedly find themselves the target of a sinister ruler's quest for revenge. Jerried Flakkinbarr's life is cursed when an ancient journal falls into his possession. It's a thing that brings with it death, destruction, and an unexpected revelation that is abhorrent to the scientific mind. The journal is a kind of mirror into a forgotten past and leads to a dark secret that is capable of altering the destined course of human kind. A gripping read from cover to cover, The Ancient is highly recommended reading for the dedicated science fiction enthusiast.

The Diary of Jean-Jacques Coupier
Hollie Van Horne
Time Travelers
PO Box 361, Columbiana, Ohio 44408
0967455219 $16.50 1-330-482-3708

The fifth book in the exciting "Time Travelers" series, The Diary of Jean-Jacques Coupier by Hollie Van Home is the engaging story of Celeste Montclaire, a contemporary woman who falls into a Time Tunnel and finds herself transported to 1793 Paris -- smack into the middle of the French Revolution. With loves and loyalties on both sides of the growing conflict, she must make her choices quickly; her very life hinges upon them! A rousing and engaging novel, in touch with its chosen era of history, The Diary of Jean-Jacques Coupier is especially recommended for science fiction fans with a penchant for time travel stories.

The Slaadikaar War
Kevin Kinne
iUniverse.com, Inc.
5220 South 16th Street, #200, Lincoln, NE 68512-1274
059510021X $17.95 www.iuniverse.com

Set five thousand years after humanity's near-destruction by a species the used their prolific technology to create, The Slaadikaar War is a science-fiction space opera dramatically centered upon negotiation, power struggles, and war. But when a mastermind power-monger's machinations don't pan out as he would wish, he makes a terrible bargain with an ancient race - a bargain that will exact a terrible toll on all sides of the conflict. A fascinating, interlayered space opera, (and one that draws from science fiction, fantasy, and animation-based genres), The Slaadikaar War is the first volume of an "Earth-L" trilogy and documents Kevin Kinne as a talented, imaginative, and entertaining writer whose work deserves the widest possible readership within science fiction fandom.

The Rise Of The Phoenix
Dawn Rivers Baker
Brighid's Fire Books
PO Box 41, Sidney, New York 13838
0971327815 $10.95 www.brighidsfirebooks.com

The Rise Of The Phoenix is an impressive and engaging debut novel by Dawn Rivers Baker about the impending fate of an Empire, the dark force that menaces it, and the Prophecy surrounding two fraternal twins caught in the twists and machinations of grand schemes. A transcendent and splendor-filled work of high fantasy, The Rise Of The Phoenix is vividly descriptive and complexly woven, filled with intrigue throughout, and enthusiastically recommended reading.


The Self-Help Shelf

The Nature Of Bliss
Maureen Moss
Sidney House Publishing
Cate Cummings (publicity)
2305-C Ashland St., Suite 405, Ashland, Oregon 97520
www.TheNatureofBliss.com
0971797129 $14.95 1-800-769-0396

Bliss stands for "Balance, Love, Integrity, Sexuality, Soul". In The Nature Of Bliss, a self-help book by business woman, community activist, and motivational speaker Maureen Moss that deftly takes the reader on a metaphysical journey to their own personal harmony. A superbly written, spiritually enriching, "reader friendly" volume, The Nature Of Bliss is enthusiastically recommended reading for readers of all faiths who are searching for their own inner self realization.

The Constant Creator In You
Ralph Carpio
Rainbow Books, Inc.
PO Box 430, Highland City, FL 33846-0430
1568250754 $10.95 1-800-431-1579 www.amazon.com

In The Constant Creator In You, poet and writer Ralph Carpio takes a unique approach to instruct the reader in how to become powerful, radiant, loving, and creative in their daily life. Carpio talks about Life Power (an ability to examine possible consequences and receiving all of what we wish to receive); The Giant Soda Machine (life is participatory and works in an organized way); Living Statements (the importance of life's communication with us); Unnecessary Boxes (it is a natural state to live in a steady stream of desires requiring decisions and choices); Reality Check (the role of reality checks in the empowerment process of taking charge of our lives); and The Constant Creator In You (a strong, creative force within us creates helps us deal with and shape our material conditions and circumstances). The Constant Creator In You is an enthusiastically recommended, "reader friendly" addition to any personal self-help, self-improvement reading list and reference collection.

Why Don't You Want What I Want?
Rick Maurer
Bard Press
c/o Longstreet Press
2974 Hardman Court, Atlanta, GA 30305
1885167563 $16.95 www.bardpress.com

Why Don't You Want What I Want?: How To Win Support For Your Ideas With Hard Sell, Manipulation, Or Power Plays is an informed and informative work specifically written by organization change consultant and public speaker Rick Maurer for business executives, managers, and salespeople who need to garner support and unity from colleagues and associates in order to get their job done. Why Don't You Want What I Want is also very strongly recommended reading for anyone in the private or public sectors facing the complex task for getting a group to rally to the cause. Individual chapters address presenting one's position in the most persuasive manner; avoiding knee-jerk reactions; building trust even in a hostile environment; and a great deal more. Reader friendly, innovative, and practical, Why Don't You Want What I Want? can and will enable anyone to peacefully influence a loved one in ways that will enhance familial bonds or friends in a manner that will strengthen and deepen friendship.


The Christian Studies Shelf

First The Spiritual, Then The Natural Fruit
Irene Rundell
1stBooks
2511 West 3rd Street, Bloomington, IN 47404
0759680078 $10.50 www.1stbooks.com

First The Spiritual, Then The Natural Fruit: Joy, Love Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, And Temperance by freelance writer and ordained minister Irene Rundell, is a devout study of both the Old and New Testaments from a Christian perspective, and what it means to bear spiritual fruit of faith in God and the salvation of Jesus Christ. Drawing heavily on biblical references, the text studies high qualities in the soul and with an emphasis on humanity's hunger for God. Enhanced with nutritional, natural, home-tested recipes, First The Spiritual, Then The Natural Fruit is especially recommended reading for both the spirit and the flesh!

How To Live In The Kingdom Of God
Richard Rundell
iUniverse.com, Inc.
5220 South 16th Street, #200, Lincoln, NE 68512-1274
0595176100 $16.95 www.iuniverse.com

In How To Live In The Kingdom Of God: Challenge Of The 21st Century, freelance writer and Bible teacher Richard Rundell addresses the essential questions concerning the nature of the Kingdom of god within Christian tradition and scriptural understanding. Beginning with what and where is the Kingdom of God; through rankings in the Kingdom, to the concept of "storehouse" has it pertains to the Kingdom, every aspect of the Kingdom of is addressed in a clear, scripturally sound textual narrative. How To Live In The Kingdom Of God is especially recommended for anyone seeking to satisfy their spiritual hunger for a deeper understanding of what the Kingdom of God can mean to them and for them as they live out the days of their lives here on earth.

Spiritual Answers For Perilous Times
Norma E. Sawyers
Dogwood Publishing
116 West Buffalo, Bolivar, MO 65613
0963003119 $16.95, 144 pages, 1-417-326-2393 1-417-326-2293 (fax)

We live in a dangerous world of religion-driven international terrorism that is causing the deaths of hundreds of men, women and children around the world, including almost 3,000 deaths on American soil with the destruction of the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon building, and a jumbo jet over Pennsylvania. Why did God allow such evil, destruction, and loss? Where was the Christian God when the innocent were made victims of Muslim hatred. Does God really care about what the murder and political terrorism rampant in the world today? Can God bring forth some kind of benefit out of such evil circumstances, events, and actions? Norma Sawyers addresses these questions in Spiritual Answers For Perilous Times: Answers About God And His Actions. This is a book for anyone of any denomination or faith who is seeking to reconcile the love of God with the hatreds and atrocities of human beings in the world today.

That Day
Norma Cain Peters
Elderberry Press
1393 Old Homestead, Second Floor, Oakland, OR 97462
1930859236 $19.95 www.elderberrypress.com

Now in its second revision, That Day: Searching The Past To Unveil The Future Day Of The Lord by Norma Cain Peters is an iconoclastic counter to the traditional view in Christian literature of the pre-tribulation rapture. Exhorting readers to look more closely at the word of God, beware God's anger, and shun the jeering lures of Satan, That Day is a profound and highly recommended theological challenge to the sleepy, status quo contentment of most Christian communities today with respect to the prophesied End Times events.

Thirsting For God In A Land Of Shallow Wells
Matthew Gallatin
Conciliar Press
PO Box 76, Ben Lomond, CA 95005-0076
1888212284 $14.95 1-800-967-7377

Thirsting For God In A Land Of Shallow Wells: Thirsting For God In A Land Of Shallow Wells is the judicious perspective of Matthew Gallatin, a philosophy professor and devoted evangelical Christian minister for more than twenty years. Written especially on the conflict between the viewpoints of Protestantism and the Orthodoxy, and what it means to live the Way of Love, Thirsting For God In A Land Of Shallow Wells is an thoughtful, emotional, highly recommended and spiritually profound treatise on the heart and soul of Christian worship of God.


The Parenting Shelf

The Stepmom's Guide To Simplifying Your Life
Karon Phillips Goodman
EquiLibrium Press
10736 Jefferson Blvd. #680, Culver City, CA 90230
096673937X $14.00 www.equipress.com

Karon Philips Goodman's The Stepmom's Guide To Simplifying Your Life is a straightforward and "reader friendly" guide for stepmothers on how to better achieve balance and a stable family life through simplicity. From giving up unrealistic expectations (such as "I'll know how to be a good stepmom because I already am a good mom"); to setting reasonable and attainable goals; to the importance of good communication; to balancing one's authority as a stepmom; and much more, The Stepmom's Guide To Simplifying Your Life offers a wealth of dependable advice, illustrative anecdotes, and accessibly practical guidelines for stepmothers everywhere.

Divorced Dads
Nancy J. Wasson, Ph.D. and Lee Hefner
Adesso Press
PO Box 489, Pinson, AL 35126
0972009000 $14.95 www.staydad.com

Collaboratively developed and written by a clinical counselor and a divorced mom Nancy J. Wasson and divorced dad Lee Hefner, Divorced Dads: 101 Ways To Stay Connected With Your Kids is a solid and accessible guide for separated fathers on how to balance one's life and continue to be an important part of their children lives. From upgrading parenting skills; to staying in communication with one's kids through postcards, photographs, emails, delivered foods, webpages, keepsakes, etc.; to using a camera to capture and share memories; to teaching the most effective way - by example, Divorced Dads is packed from cover to cover with a wealth of useful suggestions and applicable advice. Divorced Dads is also highly recommended for fathers who aren't divorced, but who are unable to see their kids very often due to career demands or other life circumstances.


The Biography Shelf

Foundling
Mary Sturge
Xlibris
436 Walnut Street, 11th floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106
1401037496 $17.84 xlibris.com

Foundling: An Adopted Child's Search For Her Identity is the memoir of Mary Sturge, a woman who was abandoned at the age of fourteen months, and adopted at age four by a middle-aged single woman. Her long struggle in coming to terms with her self, her heritage, and her future are recounted, as well as her strained relationship with her foster mother and her battle with depression and frustrated search for her unknown biological parents. A stirring and candid personal revelation told through memories, daydreams and associations, Foundling is the remarkable account of a remarkable woman who was educated at the Royal College of Music in London and the New School in New York, who has been writing and performing music from a very early age, who married, had four sons, and in 1961 emigrated to the United States with her family.

Searching For My Estrella Maili
Gisela Castillo de Lujan
Astar Publishing
PMB 126, 8533 Church Ranch Blvd, #150, Westminster, CO 80021
0970666411 $12.95 www.estrella-maili.com

Skillfully translated from the original Spanish , Gisela Castillo de Lujan's remarkable memoir, Searching For My Estrella Maili: Rebuilding My Life After The Death Of My Daughter is a poignant and deeply moving collection of brief passages, revealing the memories, grief, and healing by a bereaved mother. After losing her 14-year-old daughter to a tragic fall, Gisela was confronted with the terrible loss, and forced to pick up the pieces of her shattered family, and face the continued challenges of her life. Searching For Me Estrella Maili is a profound expression of emotion and love, and strongly recommended reading for anyone who has every lost a loved one, especially a child, to accident or illness.


The Religion/Metaphysics Shelf

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika
Svatmarama, author
Brian Dana Akers, translator
YogaVidya.com
PO Box 569, Woodstock, NY 12498-0569
0971646619 $11.95 info@yogavidya.com

Ably translated into English by Brian Dana Akers, The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is the classic sourcebook on Hatha Yoga, written by an East Indian yoga master named Svatmarama in the fifteenth century C.E. to preserve for future generations his own experience and the wisdom of older works now lost. This faithful reproduction of the crucial text features the original Sanskrit side-by-side with the exacting English translation. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika reads as a selection of individual phrases describing the hatha yoga poses and giving insight into the spiritual nature of yoga. Black-and-white photographs illustrate several of the poses. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is an impressive and highly recommended reference for students and devoted practitioners of Hatha Yoga.

A Place Called Ananda
J. Donald Walters (Swami Kriyananda)
Crystal Clarity Publishers
14618 Tyler Foote Road, Nevada City, CA 95959
1565891589 $17.95 1-800-424-1055 x7604 www.crystalclarity.com

A Place Called Ananda is the both the inside story of the Ananda communities, and the compelling autobiography of the man who founded them, J. Donald Walters (a.k.a. Swami Kriyananda). Following the core thought that "People are more important than things," the six Ananda communities located in America and Italy embrace inspiration, inner freedom, harmony, and cooperation. A Place Called Ananda is a remarkable and very highly recommended account straight from the founder who motivated people of all walks and backgrounds to work together for higher quality of both physical and spiritual life.

God's Ultimate Task
Rich Anders
iUniverse.com, Inc.
5220 South 16th Street, #200, Lincoln, NE 68512-1274
0595226728 $16.95 www.iuniverse.com

God's Ultimate Task: Re-Creating the Universe in a Positive Dimension is a uniquely written look at metaphysical implications of the Big Bang and Big Crunch theories, along with the recently garnered scientific revelation that our universe will not end with a Big Crunch. Author Rich Anders impressively attempts to portray how God the Almighty recreates the universe itself in a positive dimension in order to put its endless cycle of destruction to an end. The disjointed writing style employed by Anders embraces an eclectic spread of physical and spiritual principles, ultimately shedding an unforgettable viewpoint on the essence of God, the Devil, creation, and existence. God's Ultimate Task is recommended reading for students of religion, spirituality, cosmology, and metaphysics.


The Political Science Shelf

The Ballad Of Carl Drega
Vin Suprynowicz
Mountain Media
561 Keystone Ave., Suite 684, Reno, Nevada 89503
0967025923 $24.95 1-775-348-8591

Written by award-winning Libertarian columnist Vin Suprynowicz, The Ballad Of Carl Drega: Essays On The Freedom Movement 1994 To 2001 is a scathing examination of the constraints the America government under successive Republic and Democratic authorities have placed on individual and human freedoms, and upon those who martyred themselves to resist the tyranny of bureaucracy. Unrelenting in vehemence, unafraid of controversy, and unambiguously speaking his mind, Suprynowicz warns of oppression in America's past and paints a dark picture for the future, if the events of September 11 springboard any further eroding of civil liberties than they already have. At times graphic and colorful, drawing upon events of history as well as the modern day, The Ballad Of Carl Drega presents a message that not everyone may agree with, but that no one should ignore.

Centering America
William H. Young
Xlibris
436 Walnut Street, 11th floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106
1401033423 $36.99 www.xlibris.com

Ably written by William H. Young (a presidential appointee in the first Bush administration), Centering America: Resurrecting The Local Progressive Ideal is a powerful manifesto for social change in America, emphasizing local self-governance and independence. Pointing toward a center-right course for America, Centering America is a profound and progressive book that persuasively charts the possibilities for our nation's future. Also available in paperback (1401033415, $26.99) and as an E-Book (1401033431, $8.00), Centering America is a welcome contribution to our national dialogue and highly recommended reading for students of contemporary Political Science.

Always Cheat
Leslie Davis
Tell The Truth Books, Inc.
622 Lowry Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55411
0971926107 $12.95 www.LeslieDavis.com

From the professional wrestling ring to the Minnesota governor's mansion, Jesse Ventura's career has been as colorful as it is controversial. In Always Cheat: The Philosophy Of Jesse Ventura, army veteran, businessman, environmental activist, and political candidate Leslie Davis has written a political expose that alleges that Ventura fixed the 1998 Minnesota primary election; fixed the investigation that followed his election; and violated state conflict of interest laws. The documentation supporting these serious claims are derived from sword affidavits, transcripts, voice mails, taped investigative interviews, videos, memorandums, newspaper articles, letters, and personal interviews. Always Cheat is enhanced for the reader with black and white photographs and the illustrations of political cartoonist Pete Wagner. The rather remarkable title for this political expose is derived from a quotation taken from Jesse Ventura's 1998 speech to University of Minnesota students: "Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat."


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


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