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Wisconsin Bookwatch

Volume 15, Number 3 March 2020 Home | WBW Index

Table of Contents

Reviewer's Choice Writing/Publishing Shelf Biography Shelf
Health/Medicine Shelf Gaming Shelf Parenting Shelf
General Fiction Shelf Romantic Fiction Shelf Mystery/Suspense Shelf
Fantasy/SciFi Shelf Christian Studies Shelf Judaic Studies Shelf
Travel Shelf Business Shelf Metaphysical Studies Shelf
Needlecraft Shelf Pets/Wildlife Shelf Music Shelf
Automotive Shelf Gardening Shelf Audiobook Shelf
Music CD Shelf DVD Shelf Education Shelf
Cookbook Shelf Art Shelf Money/Finance Shelf
Self-Help Shelf Woodworking Shelf Sports Shelf
Architecture Shelf    


Reviewer's Choice


Confluence
George Ayoub
Teewinot Publishing
www.teewinotpublishing.com
9781734170917, $35.95, HC, 390pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: At its very core, "Confluence" is a biography of John Gottschalk. It is a life story that embodies values true Nebraskans cherish -- Character, Compassion, Duty, Ethics, Leadership. These form the professional, personal, and public tributaries of this newspaperman from Rushville.

Professional, personal, and public may appear to be separate currents flowing downstream from the Sandhills to Sidney to Omaha. But they're not. The indefatigable pull of John Gottschalk's life merged them into a single remarkable river.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Confluence: John Gottschalk's Life of Duty, Service, and the Business of News" is an outstanding biography of an outstanding journalist. While especially and unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library Contemporary American Biography and Contemporary American Journalism collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of journalism students, academia, and non- specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Confluence: John Gottschalk's Life of Duty, Service, and the Business of News" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781734170924, $24.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99).

Editorial Note: George Ayoub filed nearly 4,000 columns while writing for the Grand Island Independent. His columns occasionally ran in the Omaha World-Herald. His two novellas, Warm, For Christmas, and Dust in Grissom, were first published as serials in the Independent. He teaches ethics and political science as an adjunct professor for Doane University, Crete, Nebraska.

Falling for Myself
Dorothy Ellen Palmer
Wolsak and Wynn Publishers Ltd.
www.wolsakandwynn.ca
9781989496039, $18.00, PB, 320pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "Falling for Myself" is searing and seriously funny memoir. It's the personal story of Dorothy Ellen Palmer who falls down (a lot!) and spends a lifetime learning to appreciate her disability.

Born with two very different, very tiny feet, Dorothy was adopted as a toddler by an already wounded family in the 1950s. From childhood surgeries to decades as a feminist teacher, mom, improv coach and unionist, she tried to hide being different. But now, standing proud with her walker, she's sharing her journey. "Falling for Myself" is that story of navigating abandonment, abuse and ableism, of finding birth parents and securing a new and chosen family in the disability community.

Critique: An inherently interesting, exceptionally well written, impressively candid, and ultimately inspiring memoir, "Falling for Myself" by Dorothy Ellen Palmer is unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library Contemporary American Biography collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Falling for Myself' is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).


The Writing/Publishing Shelf

Word Savvy Handbook: Use the Right Word
Nancy Ragno
Baneberry Books
9781733928731, $19.95, HC, 296pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: A quick, easy-to-use reference on word usage, "Word Savvy Handbook: Use the Right Word" by Nancy Ragno provides immediate answers to the word-usage questions that most frequently interrupt writers, causing them to stop writing and ask, "Is that the word I want?"

Now there is no need to search the Internet with the Handbook at hand because the deftly organized sections include: Words Commonly Confused; Words Commonly Misused; Non-Words and Other No-No's in Your Speech and Writing; Tricky Singulars and Plurals; and Words Commonly Misspelled.

"The Word Savvy Handbook: is not only a quick and easy reference, but a self-teaching tool. In addition to dictionary definitions it provides clear explanations, examples, memory aids, and self-correcting quizzes. As a bonus, the subject matter of examples and quizzes is informative and fun.

Critique: Impressively 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "Word Savvy Handbook: Use the Right Word" is an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to the personal reference collections for all aspiring writers. While especially appropriate for school and community library collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that the "Word Savvy Handbook" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781733928700, $10.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $4.95).

Editorial Note: Nancy Ragno is an educational writer and co-author of a language arts series for grades K-8, "World of Language". In addition to language arts texts, she has written children's books and adult nonfiction. Her recently published books include: "Use the Right Word: Your Quick & Easy Guide to 158 Commonly Confused and Misused Words" (2016); "21-Day Journal: Start a New Habit" (2016); The President Did What?: Presidential Trivia Quiz" (2014); and "The Money Savvy Spending Journal" (2013).

How to Get Published in the Best Management Journals, second edition
Mike Wright, David J. Ketchem Jr., Timothy Clark, editors
Edward Elgar Publishing
9 Dewey Court, Northampton, MA 01060-3815
www.e-elgar.com
9781789902815, $165.00, HYC, 392pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Now in an updated, revised and expanded second edition, "How to Get Published in the Best Management Journals" continues to be an ideal career guide offering fascinating insight into the publishing environment for the management discipline, drawing on a wealth of knowledge and experiences from leading scholars and top-level journal editors. Responding to the continuing emphasis on publishing in the top journals, "How to Get Published in the Best Management Journals" offers a wealth of invaluable tips and practical advice for anyone looking to publish their work in management oriented publications.

"How to Get Published in the Best Management Journals" now includes brand new chapters on managing a research pipeline, positioning papers for publication and maximizing the chance of success with a novice editor as well as an in-depth look at research impact. Existing chapters provide additional insights into the value of peer review, the importance of a chosen methodology, ethics and integrity in the industry, securing repeat publication, tips on publishing in new disciplines and the nuances of special issues and open access publications.

Offering an insider perspective and candid advice, this second edition once more takes aspiring writers on a journey through the journal review process, providing behind-the-scenes insight into the potential pitfalls and advantages.

The contributors include: P. Andries, J. Barney, Y. Baruch, J.E. Baur, D.D. Bergh, S.K. Bhaumik, B. Boyd, M.R. Buckley, P. Budhwar, T. Clark, J.G. Combs, B. Connelly, K.G. Corley, D. Cumming, S. Estrin, G.R. Ferris, D. Gioia, B. Harley, A.-W. Harzing, M.A. Hitt, G.P. Hodgkinson, R.D. Ireland, F.W. Kellermanns, D.J. Ketchen, Jr., B.T. Lamont, A. Leiponen, B. Martin, W. Mitchell, G. Molina Sieiro, T. Pedersen, P.L. Perrewe, A.L. Ranft, P.L. Roth, B. Schinoff, C.C. Snow, A. Smith, W.H. Starbuck, W.H. Stewart, Jr., S. Tallman, B. Taylor, S. Toms, R. van Dick, G. Wood, M. Wright, D. Yiu

Critique: Impressively informative, exceptionally organized, and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college and university library Writing/Publishing collections, "How to Get Published in the Best Management Journals" is an essential and thoroughly 'user friendly' instructional guide and manual for authors, academics and scholars of all levels seeking to advance their careers and expand their journal publication success.

Editorial Note: The late Mike Wright was formerly Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director, Centre for Management Buyout Research, Imperial College Business School, London, UK.

David J. Ketchen, Jr. is the Harbert Eminent Scholar and Professor of Management at the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, Auburn University, US.

Timothy Clark is the Provost and a Professor at the Singapore Management University, Singapore


The Biography Shelf

Joe Quigley, Alaska Pioneer: Beyond the Gold Rush
Cheryl Fair
McFarland & Company
PO Box 611, Jefferson NC 28640
https://mcfarlandbooks.com
9781476679273, $39.95, PB, 204pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: In May 1891, a man named Joe Quigley embarked on a journey north to try his luck prospecting for gold in Alaska. Although he had been wandering across America since leaving home at 15, this would be the biggest adventure, and the biggest risk, Quigley had ever taken.

A project that began as genealogical research into a family's history, "Joe Quigley, Alaska Pioneer: Beyond the Gold Rush " by freelance photographer, filmmaker, and writer Cheryl Fair is an inherently fascinating biography that traces the life of an extraordinary character before, during and after the great Klondike gold rush.

Deeply researched, including quotes from Quigley and numerous photographs, "Joe Quigley, Alaska Pioneer" is more than just another tale of the Klondike Gold Rush, rather it is an intimate and informative look at the inspiring life of a pioneer prospector, who witnessed the exploration and development of one of America's most harsh, beautiful and captivating landscapes.

Critique: Nicely illustrated with black-and-white period photos, "Joe Quigley, Alaska Pioneer: Beyond the Gold Rush" is a meticulously detailed and deftly crafted study that is unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library American Biography collections.

A Latino Memoir
Gerald Poyo
Arte Publico Press
University of Houston
4902 Gulf Freeway, Bldg 19, Rm 100, Houston, TX 77204-2004
www.artepublicopress.com
9781558858794, $19.95, PB, 352pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: In a bumpy, anxiety-producing plane ride across the Straits of Florida to Cuba in 1979, graduate student Gerald Poyo knew his life would either end that day in the World War II-era prop airplane or be changed forever. He survived the trip, and his ten-day visit solidified his academic research and confirmed his career as a history professor.

"A Latino Memoir: Exploring Identity, Family and the Common Good" is a wide-ranging examination of his relatives migrations in the Western Hemisphere the Americas over five generations, Poyo uses his training as a historian to unearth his family's stories. Beginning with his great-great grandfather's flight from Cuba to Key West in 1869, this is also about the loss of a beloved homeland.

His father was Cuban; his mother was from Flint, Michigan. Poyo himself was six months old when his parents took him to Bogota, Colombia. He celebrated his eighth birthday in New Jersey and his tenth in Venezuela. He was 12 when he landed in Buenos Aires, where he spent his formative years before returning to the United States for college. My heart belonged to the south, but somehow I knew I could not escape the north, he writes. Transnationalism shaped his life and identity.

Divided into two parts, the first section traces his parents and ancestors as he links their stories to impersonal movements in the world Spanish colonialism, Cuban nationalism, United States expansionism that influenced their lives. The second half explores how exile, migration and growing up a hemispheric American, a borderless American impacted his own development and stimulated questions about poverty, religion and relations between Latin America and the United States. Ultimately, this thought-provoking memoir unveils the universal desire for a safe, stable life for one's family.

Critique: A unique blending of family and personal histories, "A Latino Memoir: Exploring Identity, Family and the Common Good" is an extraordinary and inherently fascinating read -- and one that is unreservedly recommended for personal, community and academic library Contemporary Biography collections in general, and American/Hispanic History supplemental studies reading lists in particular.

Editorial Note: Gerald Poyo is the author of several books, including Exile and Revolution: Jose D. Poyo, Key West, and Cuban Independence (University Press of Florida, 2019) and Cuban Catholics in the United States, 1960-1980 (University of Notre Dame Press, 2007). The O Connor Chair for the Study of Hispanic Texas and the Southwest, he has worked as a professor of Latin American and US Latino History at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas, since 1992.


The Health/Medicine Shelf

The Healthy Deviant
Pilar Gerasimo
www.PilarGerasimo.com
North Atlantic Books
2526 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley, CA 94704-2607
www.northatlanticbooks.com
9781623174255, $19.95, HC, 360pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: In "The Healthy Deviant: A Rule Breaker's Guide to Being Healthy in an Unhealthy World", health journalist Pilar Gerasimo points out that in an unhealthy society like ours, becoming and staying a healthy person requires choices, habits, and attitudes so unconventional, they amount to a form of positive social deviance.

After all, what kind of society makes being healthy so difficult that only a single-digit percentage of the population can pull it off? The answer: a sick society. And within a sick society (one where illness, anxiety, and depression are the prevailing norms) what does it mean to be one of the few people to beat those unhealthy odds? It means bucking a lot of your society's norms and rejecting a lot of its conventional health prescriptions. It also means acknowledging a disturbing truth: If you aren't breaking the rules, you're probably breaking yourself.

That's the simple, provocative philosophy behind "The Healthy Deviant", one seasoned health seeker's quest to re-frame healthy choices as a positive form of social rebellion. Combining insights from sociology, psychology, evolutionary biology, functional medicine, and the school of hard knocks, "The Healthy Deviant" is a category-defying book that rejects the idea that diet and exercise alone can save us -- or are even the best places to start!

Instead, Gerasimo's 14-day Healthy-Deviant Adventure Program presents a series of powerful perspective shifts and simple daily practices (plus illustrations, infographics, worksheets, reminders, and progress tracking tools) that put the reader firmly back in charge of their own wellbeing.

Critique: Iconoclastic, thought-provoking, expertly written, organized and presented, "The Healthy Deviant: A Rule Breaker's Guide to Being Healthy in an Unhealthy World" is a unique and unreservedly recommended addition to community and academic library Self-Help/Self- Improvement collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Healthy Deviant" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99).

Editorial Note: Pilar Gerasimo is an award-winning health journalist, the founding editor-in-chief of Experience Life magazine (national paid circulation 750,000; estimated reach 3.2 million), and the creative force behind the popular mobile app, "101 Revolutionary Ways to Be Healthy." Gerasimo previously served as the top editor of Healthy Living for Huffington Post, where she was also a longtime blogger. She also is the co-host of The Living Experiment podcast (www.livingexperiment.com) with Whole30 founder Dallas Hartwig, which earned a top-five spot on iTunes in its first week. A frequent speaker, workshop leader, and expert guest for radio and TV, Gerasimo is currently serving as Chief Creative Officer for the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She has her own website at www.PilarGerasimo.com.

Eat, Move, Sleep, Repeat
Michael Gleeson
AGA Press
c/o Cardinal Publishers Group
2402 North Shadeland Avenue, Suite A, Indianapolis, IN 46219
www.cardinalpub.com
9781782551874, $29.95, PB, 400pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Exercise and nutrition programs designed to achieve weight loss and improve health and fitness have received considerable attention in recent decades. Though a large number of books have been published on the subject, the vast majority of these books focus on the latest fad diet, usually alone or sometimes in combination with the latest fad exercise regimen, but they rarely provide scientific, evidence-based reasons for their use.

"Eat, Move, Sleep, Repeat: Diet & Fitness for Living Long and Healthy" by Professor Michael Gleeson is very different. It provides a scientific evidence-based rationale for selecting certain diets and forms of physical activity that can help to achieve effective body fat and body weight loss; explains how to develop a personalized weight loss plan; gives guidelines for a healthy balanced diet; provides advice on how to improve sleep quality, avoid common illnesses, keep senses, and organs healthy and how much exercise is needed to get health benefits.

Meant for every fitness goal, fitness level, and occupation, "Eat, Move, Sleep, Repeat: Diet & Fitness for Living Long and Healthy" aims to provide a set of evidence-based guidelines on how to establish a healthy lifestyle that will promote better quality of life with reduced risk of chronic disease and extend longevity.

Critique: Thoroughly 'user friendly' in tone, commentary, organization and presentation, "Eat, Move, Sleep, Repeat: Diet & Fitness for Living Long and Healthy" provides a complete and comprehensive course of practical instruction, exceptional insight, and directly applicable information for life-style changes that will result in better health. Enhanced with the inclusion of a two page Glossary and twenty-one pages of References, "Eat, Move, Sleep, Repeat: Diet & Fitness for Living Long and Healthy" is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library Health/Medicine collections and supplemental studies reading lists.

Editorial Note: Michael Gleeson is the Emeritus Professor of Exercise Biochemistry in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University (UK). He is a world authority on exercise biochemistry, immunology, and nutrition and has published over 250 scientific papers, 30 book chapters, and has co-authored textbooks on exercise metabolism, exercise immunology, and sport nutrition. He is the former president of the International Society of Exercise and Immunology and a Fellow of the European College of Sport Science and the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences. He has been a member of several IOC expert groups and contributed to scientific consensus papers on the overtraining syndrome, training load and illness/injury risk, sport nutrition, immunonutrition, and exercise and immune function. He has provided advice on minimizing risks of infection and nutritional strategies to improve performance and maintain health for numerous professional sports clubs and organizations. Following his retirement in 2016 at the age of 60, he has turned his attention to how ordinary people can achieve optimal health and live healthier for longer.

Holistic Keto for Gut Health
Kristin Grayce McGary
www.KristinGrayceMcGary.com
Findhorn Press
www.findhornpress.com
c/o Inner Traditions International, Ltd.
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
www.innertraditions.com
9781620559819, $16.99, PB, 272pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "Holistic Keto for Gut Health: A Program for Resetting Your Metabolism" by Kristin Grayce McGary is a step-by-step guide that directly and effectively addresses autoimmune and other health challenges through creating and maintaining a healthy digestive system. The "Holistic Keto for Gut Health" offers professionals and non-specialist general readers with a therapeutic ketogenic gut repair program that differs from mainstream ketogenic diets because it excludes inflammatory foods that cause gut damage, immune dysfunction, accelerated aging, and tissue damage.

"Holistic Keto for Gut Health" also provides a science-based explanation for why almost everyone has some degree of gut damage and how this impacts your immune function and health issues and details the right kind of lab tests needed for proper diagnosis of food sensitivities and autoimmune disorders. Additionally "Holistic Keto for Gut Health" features dozens of palate pleasing, holistically health, and easy-to-prepare recipes.

Critique: A complete and comprehensive DIY program for dealing with gastrointestinal issues, "Holistic Keto for Gut Health: A Program for Resetting Your Metabolism" is unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Health & Medicine collections and supplemental studies reading lists. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of anyone having to deal with gastrointestinal problems that "Holistic Keto for Gut Health" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99).

Editorial Note: Health and lifestyle expert Kristin Grayce McGary is an internationally recognized author and speaker. She is an authority on autoimmunity, functional blood chemistry analysis, thyroid & gut health, alleviating pain, family wellness, extreme exhaustion, resolving blocks to healing, and food as medicine. Kristin Grayce specializes in integrating mind, body and spirit in healthcare through a uniquely individualized approach. She maintains a website at www.KristinGrayceMcGary.com

Good Sugar, Bad Sugar
Christopher Vasey, N.D.
Healing Arts Press
c/o Inner Traditions International, Ltd.
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
www.innertraditions.com
9781620558089, $14.99, PB, 176pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: One of the most valuable nutritive substances we can consume, sugar supplies the essential energy the body and brain need to function. But there are good and bad, healthful and harmful forms of sugar.

Good sugars are those found naturally occurring in foods such as fruits, honey, maple syrup, and whole grains. These unrefined sugars not only provide energy but also trace elements, minerals, and vitamins -- nutrients crucial to helping the body process sugar. Bad sugars are those that are man-made or refined, such as white sugar, white flour, and artificial sweeteners. Pervasive in the modern diet, bad sugars are difficult for the body to metabolize and lead to a host of health issues, including tooth decay, type 2 diabetes, brain fog, mood swings, and weight gain.

"Good Sugar, Bad Sugar: How to Power Your Body and Brain with Healthy Energy" is practical guide in which Christopher Vasey explains how to successfully replace bad sugars with good sugars as well as how to reduce sugar cravings and break your sugar addiction. He reveals how refined sugars not only cause well-known, sugar-related health issues such as obesity but also lead to acid-alkaline imbalances, hyperactivity of glands and organs, chronic fatigue, nutrient deficiencies, thickened blood, and mental disorders such as fits of rage, phobias, depression, and confused states akin to dementia -- conditions uncommon before white sugar was introduced into the world's food supply more than 200 years ago.

Vasey also describes how sugar, in the form of glucose, works in the body and explores the difference between "fast" sugars and "slow" sugars, emphasizing the importance of slow sugars for ensuring a constant energy level all day long. He looks at the glycemic index with regard to good and bad, fast and slow sugars and the regulating role of proteins to slow down the body's use of sugar. He explains how dehydration and imbalance in the body's pH level can trigger bad-sugar dependency and provides steps to correct both issues.

Offering a path out of sugar addiction and easy steps to power your brain and body with healthy energy, "Good Sugar Bad Sugar" gives the reader all the tools necessary to take ownership of their own health.

Critique: Impressively and comprehensively informative, exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Good Sugar, Bad Sugar: How to Power Your Body and Brain with Healthy Energy" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to both community and academic library Health & Medicine collections and supplemental studies lists. It should be noted for medical students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Good Sugar, Bad Sugar" is also readily available in a digital book format (eTextbook, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Christopher Vasey, N.D., is a naturopath specializing in detoxification and rejuvenation. He is the author of The Acid-Alkaline Diet, The Naturopathic Way, The Water Prescription, The Whey Prescription, and The Detox Mono Diet. He lives near Montreux, Switzerland.


The Gaming Shelf

Tricky Logic Puzzles for Adults
Steven Clontz
Rockridge Press
9781646111459, $12.99, PB, 180pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Stuffed full of clever and cunning challenges, this collection of logic puzzles for adults is perfect for puzzlers looking to prove (and improve) their skill. Featuring a variety of puzzle types (including Sudoku, Masyu, Logic Grids, and Nonograms) these easy-to-understand (but tough-to-solve) puzzles will help keep your mind sharp as you remain engaged and entertained for days to come.

"Tricky Logic Puzzles for Adults: 130+ Difficult Puzzles to Challenge Your Brain" is exciting book of logic puzzles for adults that includes: A plethora of logic puzzles for adults all packed into one portable package; True brain-busters that will stretch your abilities with puzzles that are designed to be tough even for master puzzlers; A wealth of options to banish boredom with several types of puzzles, including math-focused Calcudoku and innovative Cryptic Puzzles that require both code breaking and creative thinking.

Critique: From fending off dementia to entertainingly passing the time, "Tricky Logic Puzzles for Adults: 130+ Difficult Puzzles to Challenge Your Brain" is an ideal and unreservedly recommended resource to give mental muscles a real workout and a genuine treat for anyone who enjoys deftly crafted cerebral challenges!

Editorial Note: Steven Clontz is a mathematician, professor, and puzzle designer. His puzzles and games have been featured by the National Museum of Mathematics and the international puzzle events DASH and Puzzled Pint. He also serves as director of Mathematical Puzzle Programs, which has designed and organized puzzle events at college campuses and math camps around the world.


The Parenting Shelf

Raising the Challenging Child
Karen Doyle Buckwalter, Debbie Reed, and Wendy Lyons Sunshine
Revell
c/o Baker Publishing Group
6030 East Fulton, Ada, MI 49301
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
9780800735241, $19.99, HC, 272pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Whether a parent is having to deal with an all-out tantrum at the mall, or a child who won't take out their earbuds to listen to you, or children who is failing at school and won't do their homework, or a teenager who constantly breaks curfew, or having a call from the police, whatever the issue is, "Raising the Challenging Child" will show what can be done to resolve the issue.

Building on their work at Chaddock, a nonprofit organization that has worked with some of the most challenging kids in the nation for more than 150 years, the three authors of "Raising the Challenging Child" effectively collaborative to empower frustrated parents with practical tips and real-life examples on how to: Minimize behavioral meltdowns; Reduce conflict; Increase cooperation; Promote healthy attachment; Improve family relationships.

The strategies they share work both for the child who is going through a difficult phase brought on by life disruption or trauma, and for the child who faces chronic struggles. Parents, teachers, and those who work with children and youth will find positive, practical steps they can start taking today in order to understand and address the baffling behavior of the child under their care.

Critique: Expertly and effectively organized and presented, "Raising the Challenging Child: How to Minimize Meltdowns, Reduce Conflict, and Increase Cooperation" is impressively 'user friendly' in tone and commentary. An ideal instructional guide that is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99), "Raising the Challenging Child" is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Parenting collections and supplemental studies reading lists.

Editorial Note: Karen Doyle Buckwalter, MSW, LCSW, is director of program strategy at Chaddock in Quincy, Illinois. She serves on the board of directors' advisory board of the Theraplay(R) Institute in Chicago and has trained and consulted at family behavioral health organizations and youth foster care centers in the US, the UK, Australia, Denmark, and beyond. In addition to her degrees, Karen completed a two-year marriage and family therapy training program and 500-plus hours in diverse modalities including Theraplay(R), Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), and other attachment, trauma, and developmental approaches.

Debbie Reed is president and CEO of Chaddock. Currently engaged in doctoral studies, she has also played a leadership role in child- and family-serving organizations at the state and national levels, including the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services' Child Welfare Advisory Committee, the CEO council of the internationally recognized Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, and the national board of the United Methodist Association of Health and Welfare Ministries. In addition, she trains and consults with organizations on topics related to nonprofit leadership.

Wendy Lyons Sunshine is an award-winning writer and coauthor of The Connected Child, with over a quarter million copies sold. She is an editorial consultant for leading nonprofits and has written for media outlets including Health, AARP magazine, Scientific American, American Way, and the New York Times.


The General Fiction Shelf

Oona Out of Order
Margarita Montimore
Flatiron Books
c/o Macmillan Books
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
www.macmillan.com
9781250236609, $26.99, HC, 352pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: It's New Year's Eve 1982, and Oona Lockhart has her whole life before her. At the stroke of midnight she will turn nineteen, and the year ahead promises to be one of consequence. Should she go to London to study economics, or remain at home in Brooklyn to pursue her passion for music and be with her boyfriend?

As the countdown to the New Year begins, Oona faints and awakens thirty-two years in the future in her fifty-one-year-old body. Greeted by a friendly stranger in a beautiful house she's told is her own, Oona learns that with each passing year she will leap to another age at random. And so begins Margarita Montimore's novel, "Oona Out of Order".

Hopping through decades, pop culture fads, and much-needed stock tips, Oona is still a young woman on the inside but ever changing on the outside. Who will she be next year? Philanthropist? Club Kid? World traveler? Wife to a man she's never met?

Critique: A unique, deftly crafted, and inherently fascinating novel by an author with a genuine flair for an unusual narrative storytelling style, "Oona Out of Order" by Margarita Montimore will prove to be an uncommonly popular addition to both community and academic library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Oona Out of Order" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Macmillan Audio, 9781250260956, $49.99, CD).

Beyond the Sea
Paul Lynch
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
175 Varick Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10014
www.fsgbooks.com
9780374112431, $25.00, HC, 192pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "Beyond the Sea" by Paul Lynch tells the story of two South American fishermen, Bolivar and Hector, who go to sea before a catastrophic storm. Needing cash, Bolivar convinces his boss to let him fish despite the weather. His fishing partner is nowhere to be found, so he brings Hector, a sullen and inexperienced teenager. The storm arrives, and though the two men survive, they've been blown hundreds of miles out in the Pacific Ocean with little hope for rescue.

Coming to terms with their new reality, they are forced to accept their separation from the modern world, their sudden and inescapable intimacy, and the possibilities and limits of faith, hope, and survival. As the days go by, they grapple with the mistakes of their pasts, the severity of their present, and the uncertainty of their future. And though Bolivar and Hector fight to maintain their will to live, nothing in the barren seascape or in their minds promises that they will make it.

Critique: A deftly crafted novel that is based partly on true events, "Beyond the Sea" showcases author Paul Lynch's impressive gift for the kind of narrative prose that fully captures the readers total attention from first page to last. A compelling and unreservedly recommended addition to community and academic library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Beyond the Sea' is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99).

Into the Fire
Gregg Hurwitz
Minotaur Books
c/o St. Martin's Publishing Group
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
www.minotaurbooks.com
9781250120458, $27.99, HC, 400pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Evan Smoak lives by his own code. Once he was known as Orphan X. Trained as an off-the-books government assassin and spoken about only in whispers, Evan Smoak was one of the most talented - and most feared - men in the Program. But he broke free and reinvented himself as The Nowhere Man, a figure shrouded in mystery, known for helping the truly desperate.

If anyone is truly desperate, it's Max Merriweather. Max is at the end of his rope. His cousin has been brutally murdered, leaving Max an envelope that contains nothing but a mysterious key. However, someone really wants that key, badly enough that Max - and anyone he turns to - is in deadly danger. What seems like a simple job for The Nowhere Man turns out to be anything but. Behind every threat he takes out, a deadlier one emerges and Evan Smoak must put himself in greater danger than ever before as he heads once more Into The Fire.

Critique: A deftly written and inherently riveting read from cover to cover, "Into The Fire" showcases author Gregg Hurwitz's especially effective narrative driven storytelling style and is the stuff from which blockbuster movies are made!. While an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to community library suspense/thriller collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Into The Fire" is also available in a mass market paperback edition (9781250120465, $9.99), in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99), and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Brilliance Audio, 9781522649779, $29.99, CD).

The Big One
Ed Moses
Daniel & Daniel Publishers
PO Box 2790, McKinleyville, CA 95519
www.danielpublishing.com
9781564746160, $15.95, PB, 264pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Eddie has always lived for fishing trips with his grandfather, idyllic day-long floats on the sweet waters of their home river. But now Gramps, the charismatic owner of a local sporting goods store, has himself been impacted by dementia: he's become obsessed with catching the biggest fish in the river, and he's scaring everyone in Eddie's life half to death.

This familial earthquake spawns numerous aftershocks, some comic: the unfortunate incident of the deceased carp; how it comes about that Eddie's dad throws up at his mom's wedding. And some dark: the climactic 60-mile river journey (one voyager perhaps mad, the other perhaps kidnapped) launches deep in the night, carrying Eddie and his grandfather inexorably to a final, fateful encounter with the Big One.

Critique: A unique, deftly crafted, and impressively reader engaging novel by an author with a distinctive and effective narrative storytelling style, "The Big One" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to community library Contemporary General Fiction collections. One of those novels that will linger in the mind and memory, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Big One" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $15.95).

Daughter of Rome
Tessa Afshar
Tyndale House Publishers
351 Executive Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188
www.tyndale.com
9781496428707, $25.99, HC, 416pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: When the daughter of a prominent Roman general meets a disinherited Jewish immigrant, neither one can dream of God's plan to transform them into the most influential couple of the early church. Nor can they anticipate the mountains that will threaten to bury them.

Their courtship unwittingly shadowed by murder and betrayal, Priscilla and Aquila slowly work to build a community of believers, while their lives grow increasingly complicated thanks to a shaggy dog, a mysterious runaway, and a ruthless foe desperate for love. But when they're banished from their home by a capricious emperor, they must join forces with an unusual rabbi named Paul and fight to turn treachery into redemption.

Critique: With her meticulous research and vividly detail narrative storytelling style, "Daughter of Rome" by accomplished novelist Tessa Afshar is both an emotive biblical love story and an inherently fascinating journey through world of first-century Rome and the city of Corinth. While certain to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to community library Historical Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Daughter of Rome" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781496428714, $15.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.63).

The Warsaw Protocol
Steve Berry
Minotaur Books
c/o St. Martin's Publishing Group
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
www.minotaurbooks.com
9781250140302, $28.99, HC, 384pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: One by one the seven precious relics of the Arma Christi, the weapons of Christ, are disappearing from sanctuaries across the world. After former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone witnesses the theft of one of them, he learns from his old boss, Stephanie Nelle, that a private auction is about to be held where incriminating information on the president of Poland will be offered to the highest bidder -- blackmail that both the United States and Russia want, but for vastly different reasons.

The price of admission to that auction is one of the relics, so Malone is first sent to a castle in Poland to steal the Holy Lance, a thousand-year-old spear sacred to not only Christians but to the Polish people, and then on to the auction itself. But nothing goes as planned and Malone is thrust into a bloody battle between three nations over information that, if exposed, could change the balance of power in Europe.

From the tranquil canals of Bruges, to the elegant rooms of Wawel Castle, to deep beneath the earth into an ancient Polish salt mine, Malone is caught in the middle of a deadly war -- the outcome of which turns on a secret known as the Warsaw Protocol.

Critique: Another original, riveting and deftly crafted action/adventure novel by Steve Berry, "The Warsaw Protocol" is the stuff of which blockbuster movies are made. While certain to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to community library Contemporary General Fiction collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of the growing legions of Steve Berry fans that "The Warsaw Protocol" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Macmillan Audio, 9781250260857, $39.99, CD).

The Leonardo Gulag
Kevin Doherty
Oceanview Publishing
1620 Main Street, Suite 11, Sarasota, FL 34236
www.oceanviewpub.com
9781608093816, $26.95, HC, 320pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Set in Stalin's Russia of 1950, "The Leonardo Gulag" is the story of brilliant young artist Pasha Kalmenov who is arrested and sent without trial to a forced-labor camp in the Arctic gulag. But this is a camp like no other. Although conditions are harsh and degrading, the prisoners are not to be worked to death in a coal mine or on a construction project. Their task is to forge the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci.

There is a high price to be paid for failing to reach the required standard of perfection; particularly as the camp commandant has his own secret agenda. When the executions begin, Pasha realizes that only his artistic talent can protect him. But for how long? Worse horrors are to come -- if he survives them, will life still be worth living?

"The Leonardo Gulag" journeys to the sinister heart of Stalin's regime of terror, where paranoia reigns and no one is safe, and in which the whims of one man determine the fate of millions. Ultimately, author Kevin Doherty presents a moving portrait of the indomitability of the human spirit.

Critique: An inherently fascinating read, "The Leonardo Gulag" showcases author Kevin Doherty's genuine and impressive flair for originality and the kind of narrative storytelling style that completely engages the reader's total attention from beginning to end. While an especially recommended addition to community library general fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Leonard Gulag" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.49).

Her Quiet Revolution
Marianne Monson
Shadow Mountain Publishing
P.O. Box 30178, Salt Lake City, Utah 84130-0178
www.shadowmountain.com
9781629726090, $24.99, HC, 400pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: When her baby sister and her father die on the pioneer trail to Salt Lake City, Mattie is determined to become a healer. But her chosen road isn't an easy one as she faces roadblocks common to Victorian women. Fighting gender bias, geographic location, and mountains of self-doubt, Mattie pushed herself to become more than the world would have her be, only to have everything she's accomplished called into question when she meets the love of her life: Angus Cannon, a prominent Mormon leader and polygamist.

From the American Frontier to European coasts, Martha's path takes her on a life journey that is almost stranger than fiction as she learns to navigate a world run by men. But heartache isn't far behind, and she learns that knowing who you are and being willing to stand up for what you believe in is what truly defines a person.

"Her Quiet Revolution" by Marianne Monson is the story of one woman's determination to change her world, and the path she forged for others to follow.

Critique: Although a deftly written work of fiction, author Marianne Monson's new novel, "Her Quiet Revolution" is based on the life of Martha Maria 'Mattie' Hughes Cannon (July 1, 1857 - July 10, 1932) who was a frontier doctor, a polygamist wife, and the first female Utah state senator. An inherently fascinating read from beginning to end, "Her Quiet Revolution" is an especially recommended addition to community library general fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Her Quiet Revolution" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $19.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (9781629726175, $39.99, CD).

Man on Edge
Humphrey Hawksley
Severn House
110 East 59th Street, 22th Fl., New York, NY 10022
www.severnhouse.com
9780727889140, $27.99, HC, 288pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Trauma surgeon Carrie Walker is taken aback when her estranged uncle makes contact out of the blue. Senior Russian naval officer Artyom Semenov claims to be in possession of an explosive piece of information which he is offering to share with the West. But can he be trusted?

Traveling to Moscow undercover to meet with Semenov, Carrie finds herself stranded when the carefully-planned operation goes catastrophically awry. In grave danger, there's only one person she can turn to for help: her former fiance, Major Rake Ozenna of the Alaska National Guard.

Aware how vital it is that he reaches Carrie before others do, Rake knows he's pitted against a powerful and lethal enemy. But is it a rogue agent or the Russian state? As preparations gather pace for a high-profile NATO exercise off the Norwegian coast, Rake must act fast if he is to prevent a global catastrophe.

Critique: A deftly crafted and reader riveting novel of Cold War era espionage and diplomacy by assassination, "Man On Edge" aptly showcases author Humphrey Hawksley's genuine flair for narrative storytelling. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community library suspense/thriller collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Man On Edge" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).

The Time of Jacob's Trouble
Donna Vanlier
Harvest House Publishers
PO Box 41210, Eugene, OR 97404-0322
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
9780736978750, $15.99, PB, 304pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: A typical day at work turns into a nightmare for Emma Grady when her favorite patient and several colleagues vanish in front of her. Fear turns to chaos as Emma begins the frantic race from Brooklyn to Queens, anxious to discover if her boyfriend is safe. Subways are closed, graves are open, and countless people have inexplicably disappeared. Mayhem erupts as terror grips the residents of New York City.

What could make so many vanish in a moment? And not just in New York, but all over the globe? Emma wonders if this is the predicted end of the world and begins a desperate search for answers.

Critique: One riveting, page-turning, impressively crafted novel, "The Time Of Jacob's Trouble" by Donna Vanlier propels the reader on a compelling journey from New York City to Israel, and in the final chapters, the author deftly turns to the pages of the Bible, where is revealed all that God has made known to us "the end from the beginning" and that things aren't spiraling downward but are actually looking up during the 'last days'. While very highly recommended, especially for community library collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Time Of Jacob's Trouble" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Dreamscape Media, 9781690587163, $22.99, CD).


The Romantic Fiction Shelf

Beach Haven
T. I. Lowe
Tyndale House Publishers
351 Executive Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188
www.tyndale.com
9781496440402, $7.99, PB, 320pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Free-spirited Opal Gilbert seems to have everything she needs to keep living a happy life in Sunset Cove as she refurbishes vintage furniture to sell at her funky ocean-side boutique, Bless This Mess. Until Lincoln Cole, a new-to-town ex-Marine nursing deep wounds and harboring hurts he can't seem to shake, wanders into her shop. Opal knows a person in need when she sees one and offers Lincoln a job in her workshop. But the brooding former soldier has no interest in Opal's offer. Thanks but no thanks.

But then a hurricane strikes, damaging Bless This Mess. Feeling guilty for how he treated Opal, Lincoln decides to help her repair the store. And soon it becomes clear Opal wants to restore not only her business, but also help Lincoln find restoration. As much as Lincoln tries to keep her at arm's length, Opal's well-meaning meddling begins to heal his wounds -- and capture his heart almost before he realizes it.

Critique: A nicely crafted and thoroughly enjoyable read from first page to last, "Beach Haven" is certain to be an enduringly popular addition to community library Contemporary Romance Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Beach Haven" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.59) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Oasis Audio, 9781640913820, $14.99, CD).

The Last Real Cowboy
Caitlin Crews
St. Martin's Press
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
https://us.macmillan.com/smp
9781250295279, $7.99, PB, 384pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Perennial good girl Amanda Kittredge knows that her longtime crush on Brady Everett was never really supposed to go anywhere. But when Brady comes home during Amanda's first attempt at independence, well, who better to teach her about rebellion than her older brother's bad-boy best friend?

Brady's plans did not include being forced to work the family homestead for a year -- and yet, here he is. And, to make matters worse, his best friend's innocent little sister is making a menace of herself in the most grown-up, tempting ways. When Amanda begs Brady to teach her about men, he knows he should refuse. But could Brady's greatest temptation be his salvation?

Critique: A thoroughly entertaining and deftly crafted romance novel by an expert in the genre, Caitlin Crews' "The Last Real Cowboy" will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to community library Contemporary Romance Fiction collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of all dedicated romance fans that "The Last Real Cowboy" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99).

Where the Stars Meet the Sea
Heidi Kimball
Covenant Communications
http://www.covenant-lds.com
9781524410414, $15.99, PB, 256pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Juliet Graham fervently counts the days until her twenty-first birthday, when she can claim the inheritance that will grant her the freedom she has always craved and the guardianship of her younger brother. Until then, she is trapped under her aunt Agnes's domineering will. When forced to accompany the family to a house party at Shaldorn Castle, Juliet's only objective is to keep to herself. That is, until a chance encounter with a boorish stranger stirs up an unexpected whirlwind of emotions in her.

Thrown off-balance, Juliet does the unthinkable: loses her temper and insults the man who turns out to be her unwilling host, the Duke of Halstead. Fully expecting to be sent away, Juliet is surprised when the brusque and callous duke instead takes an interest in her.

Drawn to the duke in unguarded moments, Juliet finds herself more and more intrigued by the man who shuns Society's rules as completely as she does, and over the next few weeks, their unlikely friendship deepens into a connection neither expected.

But even as Juliet comes to recognize her true feelings, her scheming aunt issues an ultimatum that threatens the future she was just beginning to hope for. Juliet must choose: either break the promise she made to herself years ago, or lose the man who has captured her heart and soul.

Critique: A deftly written, inherently entertaining, reader engaging historical romance by an author with a complete mastery of the genre, "Where The Stars Meet The Sea" by Heidi Kimball will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to community library Romance Fiction collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of all dedicated romance enthusiasts that "Where The Stars Meet The Sea" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $5.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (9781524410421, $27.99, CD).


The Mystery/Suspense Shelf

The Colours Of Murder
Ali Carter
Charnwood Large Print
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444842500, $37.00, HC, Large Print, 366pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Flirtatious American blonde Miss Hailey Dune should never have accepted a summer weekend invitation to Fontaburn Hall. But when the Honourable Archibald Wellingham's gentrified house party are woken in the early hours of Sunday morning, it's too late: Miss Dune's blood is on their hands.

With the aid of well-mannered Detective Chief Inspector Reynolds, intelligent Sergeant Ayari and loyal friend Dr Toby Cropper, Susie Mahl, on a timely commission drawing six racehorses nearby, seizes the opportunity to play detective for a second time. Her inquisitive nature, tenacity for truth and artist's eye for detail make her ideally suited to the task in hand. But is she getting carried away by her previous triumph - even to the extent of endangering her reputation and her burgeoning relationship with Toby?

Critique: A simply riveting read from first page to last, this large print edition of author Ali Carter's "The Colour Of Murder" is a treat for all dedicated mystery buffs and will prove to be an enduringly popular addition to community library Mystery/Suspense collections.

Death with a Dark Red Rose
Julia Buckley
Berkley Prime Crime
c/o Penguin Group (USA)
www.penguin.com
9780451491930, $7.99, PB, 304pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Lena is starting to feel like having it all may actually be possible! She and suspense novelist Camilla Graham are busily plotting their next novel and she's got a brand-new diamond ring on her finger thanks to her fiance, Sam West. The only blot on her Blue Lake life is a strange new corporation that has come to town called Plastisource. They seem to be intent on gobbling up prime real estate and changing the landscape of Lena's lovely adopted home.

When she and Sam get a call from their good friend (and Blue Lake detective) Doug saying that his girlfriend (and Lena's pal Belinda) isn't answering her phone and missed a date with him, they all head out to her home. The trio is shocked to discover that Belinda's purse and phone are at her house, along with a single red rose on her countertop -- but Belinda herself is missing. Has she been abducted? Could the strange new corporation play a role in her disappearance? Lena is determined to find out and rescue her friend because she knows that the truth can be stranger and much more deadly than fiction!

Critique: Another deftly scripted and reader riveting mystery novel by an accomplished master of the genre, "Death with a Dark Rose" by Julia Buckley will prove to be an enduringly popular addition to community library Mystery/Suspense collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of all dedicated mystery buffs that "Death with a Dark Rose" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Tantor Audio, 9781977353214, $29.99, CD).

The Bramble And The Rose
Tom Bouman
W. W. Norton & Company
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
www.wwnorton.com
9780393249668, $25.95, HC, 208pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: A headless stranger is found in the woods of Wild Thyme, a small town in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania. All signs point to a man-killing bear, and Officer Henry Farrell would just as soon leave this hunt to the Game Commission. But doubts arise when he discovers the victim was a retired investigator.

What drew the investigator to sleepy Wild Thyme? Before Henry can find answers, his own nephew disappears into the hills. Then an old flame dies under suspicious circumstances, leaving Henry as the prime suspect. Torn between protecting his family and clearing his name, Henry fights to protect the most he's ever had to lose!

Critique: A deftly crafted noir-style suspense thriller by a master of the genre, "The Bramble And The Rose" by Tom Bouman is a simply riveting read from cover to cover. Certain to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to community library Contemporary Mystery/Suspense collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of all dedicated mystery buffs that "The Bramble And The Rose" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (9781684577170, HighBridge Audio, 9781684577170, $29.99, CD).

Follow Me
Kathleen Barber
Gallery Books
c/o Simon and Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas, 14th fl., New York, NY 10020
www.simonandschuster.com
9781982101985, $27.00, HC, 352pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Audrey Miller has an enviable new job at the Smithsonian, a body by reformer Pilates, an apartment door with a broken lock, and hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers to bear witness to it all. Having just moved to Washington, DC, Audrey busies herself impressing her new boss, interacting with her online fan base, and staving off a creepy upstairs neighbor with the help of the only two people she knows in town: an ex-boyfriend she can't stay away from and a sorority sister with a high-powered job and a mysterious past.

But Audrey's faulty door may be the least of her security concerns. Unbeknownst to her, her move has brought her within striking distance of someone who's obsessively followed her social media presence for years -- from her first WordPress blog to her most recent Instagram Story. No longer content to simply follow her carefully curated life from a distance, he consults the dark web for advice on how to make Audrey his and his alone. In his quest to win her heart, nothing is off-limits -- and nothing is private.

Critique: An original and simply riveting thriller of a read made all the more believable by today's unmonitored and increasingly vulnerable social media culture, "Follow Me" by author Kathleen Barber is especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Contemporary Suspense/Thriller collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Follow Me" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Blackstone Audio, 9781797104010, $39.99, CD).

The Body Outside the Kremlin
James L. May
Delphinium Books
PO Box 803, Encino, CA 91436
https://www.delphiniumbooks.com
9781883285845, $28.00, HC, 408pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Solovetsky occupies the island site of a former monastery in the White Sea. Here, hundreds of miles from civilization, and with a skeleton crew of secret-policemen in charge, some prisoners are consigned to all kinds of forced labor and others sit at comfortable desks in administrative or cultural positions.

With the brutal winter fast approaching, Tolya Bogomolov, a young mathematician serving a three-year sentence, hopes an acquaintance he's been cultivating will lead to a less brutal work assignment, maybe even a little more bread in his ration. Knowing Gennady Antonov holds a privileged position restoring the monks' seized collection of icons ought to improve Tolya's odds of reassignment. But when Antonov's body is discovered floating frozen in the bay, their connection turns dangerous.

At first the authorities question Tolya, but then he's mystified when they assign him to assist the elderly detective investigating the case -- but better to find the real killer than have the murder pinned on him. Digging into Antonov's secrets turns up strange expropriations of the museum's icons, rumors of an escape conspiracy among White Army officers, and an illicit affair with a female prisoner who won't tell all she knows. To avoid becoming the murderer's next victim, Tolya must defy Solovetsky's unforgiving regime and make ruthless use of his fellow prisoners. Putting his story to paper at last means reckoning the true cost of his survival.

Critique: An original, extraordinary, and absorbing mystery, "The Body Outside The Kremlin" by novelist James L. May is a simply riveting read from first page to last. With its deftly scripted and unexpected plot twists and turns, "The Body Outside The Kremlin" will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to community library Contemporary Mystery/Suspense collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of all dedicated mystery buffs that "The Body Outside The Kremlin" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Alabama Noir
Don Noble, editor
Akashic Books
232 Third Street, #A115, Brooklyn, NY 11215
www.akashicbooks.com
9781617758089, $15.95, PB, 256pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: With the publication of "Alabama Noir", Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies which was originally launched in 2004 with "Brooklyn Noir". Expertly compiled and edited by Don Noble, "Alabama Noir" is comprised of all new stories, with each one being set in a distinct location within the geographic area of the state of Alabama.

"Alabama Noire" is comprised of brand-new stories by: Ace Atkins, Tom Franklin, Anita Miller Garner, Suzanne Hudson, Kirk Curnutt, Wendy Reed, Carolyn Haines, Anthony Grooms, Michelle Richmond, Winston Groom, Ravi Howard, Thom Gossom Jr., Brad Watson, Daniel Wallace, D. Winston Brown, and Marlin Barton.

Critique: An especially and unreservedly recommended addition to community and academic library Mystery/Suspense collections, "Alabama Noir" is also readily available for the personal reading lists of all dedicated suspense/thriller fans in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.99).

Editorial Note: Don Noble is the editor of twelve volumes, three of which are collections of short fiction by Alabamians. He has received a regional Emmy Award for achievement in screenwriting and is the recipient of the state prizes for literary scholarship and service to the humanities, as well as the Governor's Arts Award. Noble is host of the TV literary interview show Bookmark with Don Noble and reviews books weekly for public radio.

Cross Her Heart
Melinda Leigh
Montlake
9781542006941, $24.95, HC, 332pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: For more than twenty-five years, Philadelphia homicide detective Bree Taggert has tucked away the nightmarish childhood memories of her parents' murder-suicide. Then her younger sister, Erin, is killed in a crime that echoes that tragic night: innocent witnesses and a stormy marriage that ended in gunfire. There's just one chilling difference. Erin's husband, Justin, has vanished.

Bree knows how explosive the line between love and hate can be, yet the evidence against her troubled brother-in-law isn't adding up. Teaming up with Justin's old friend, former sheriff's investigator and K-9 handler Matt Flynn, Bree vows to uncover the secrets of her sister's life and death, as she promised Erin's children. But as her investigation unfolds, the danger hits close to home. Once again, Bree's family is caught in a death grip. And this time, it could be fatal for her.

Critique: A deftly crafted suspense thriller of a novel by an author with a very special narrative storytelling style, "Cross Her Heart" by Melinda Leigh will prove to be a welcome and enduringly popular addition to community library Suspense/Thriller collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of dedicated mystery buffs that "Cross Her Heart" is also available in a paperback edition (9781542006927, $12.95), in a digital book format (Kindle, $5.99), and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Brilliance Audio, 9781799726944, $24.99, CD).

A Reasonable Doubt
Phillip Margolin
Minotaur Books
c/o St. Martin's Publishing Group
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
www.minotaurbooks.com
9781250117540, $27.99, HC, 304pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Robin Lockwood is a young criminal defense attorney and partner in a prominent law firm in Portland, Oregon. A former MMA fighter and Yale Law graduate, she joined the firm of legal legend Regina Barrister not long before Regina was forced into retirement by early onset Alzheimer's.

One of Regina's former clients, Robert Chesterfield, shows up in the law office with an odd request -- he's seeking help from his old attorney in acquiring patent protection for an illusion. Chesterfield is a professional magician of some renown and he has a major new trick he's about to debut. This is out of the scope of the law firm's expertise, but when Robin Lockwood looks into his previous relationship with the firm, she learns that twenty years ago he was arrested for two murders, one attempted murder, and was involved in the potentially suspicious death of his very rich wife. At the time, Regina Barrister defended him with ease, after which he resumed his career as a magician in Las Vegas.

Now, decades later, he debuts his new trick -- only to disappear at the end. He's a man with more than one dark past and many enemies -- is his disappearance tied to one of the many people who have good reason to hate him? Was he killed and his body disposed of, or did he use his considerable skills to engineer his own disappearance?

Robin Lockwood must unravel the tangled skein of murder and bloody mischief to learn how it all ties together.

Critique: Another simply riveting read from cover to cover by a master of the genre, "A Reasonable Doubt" by Phillip Margoline once again showcases the author's impressive knack for originality and a especially distinctive and fully reader engaging narrative storytelling style. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Mystery/Suspense collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of all dedicated mystery buffs that "A Reasonable Doubt" is also available in a mass market paper back edition (9781250118882, $9.99), in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99), and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Macmillan Audio, 9781250260796, $29.99, CD).


The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf

A Conjuring of Assassins
Cate Glass
Tor/Forge Books
120 Broadway, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10271
www.tor-forge.com
9781250311023, $17.99, PB, 480pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Romy and her three partners in crime (a sword master, a silversmith, and her thieving brother) have embraced their roles as the Shadow Lord's agents, using their forbidden magic to accomplish tasks his other spies cannot. Now, the Shadow Lord needs them to infiltrate the home of the Mercediaran Ambassador and prevent him from obtaining information that would lead to all-out war with Cantagna's most dangerous enemy. To succeed, they will have to resurrect long-buried secrets, partner with old enemies, and once again rely on the very magics that could get them sentenced to death.

Critique: The sequel to sword & sorcery fantasy author Cate Glass's novel "An Illusion of Thieves" (9781250311009, $16.99, PB), "A Conjuring of Assassins" continues to showcase her originality and complete mastery of the genre. While unreservedly recommended for community library Fantasy Fiction collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of all dedicated fantasy fans that "A Conjuring of Assassins" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Light Of Impossible Stars
Gareth L. Powell
Titan Books
https://titan-comics.com
9781785655241, $14.95, PB, 400pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Low on fuel and hunted by the Fleet of Knives, the sentient warship Trouble Dog follows a series of clues that lead her to the Intrusion -- an area of space where reality itself becomes unstable. But with human civilization crumbling, what difference can one battered old ship have against an invincible armada?

Meanwhile, Cordelia Pa and her step-brother eke out their existence salvaging artefacts from an alien city. But when Cordelia starts hearing the city's song in her head, strange things start happening around her. What extraordinary affinity does she have for this abandoned technology, and how can it possibly help the Trouble Dog?

Critique: With "Light Of Impossible Stars", award-winning science fiction author Gareth L. Powell delivers an explosive conclusion to his epic 'Embers of War' trilogy. With his genuine flair for originality and his impressively engaging narrative storytelling style, Powell's "Light Of Impossible Stars" is unreservedly recommended for community library Science Fiction & Fantasy collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of Powell's growing legion of fans and all dedicated SciFi action/adventure fans that "Light Of Impossible Stars" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Gareth L. Powell is a bestselling speculative fiction author from the UK. He has twice won the BSFA Award for Best Novel, and has been a finalist for both the Locus Awards in the US and the Seiun Awards in Japan. His novels and novellas have been published in the UK and US by Solaris, Titan Books, and Tor.com Publishing. Gareth has also written for The Guardian, The Irish Times, 2000 AD, Interzone, Clarkesworld, Shoreline of Infinity and SFX. He has penned scripts for corporate training videos, and is currently at work on a screenplay.

Gwendy's Magic Feather
Richard Chizmar
www.RichardChizmar.com
Hodder & Stoughton
c/o Cemetery Dance Publications
www.cemeterydance.com
9781529339642, $25.00, HC, 240pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: In Washington D.C., thirty-seven-year-old Gwendy Peterson couldn't be more different from the self-conscious teenaged girl who once spent a summer running up Castle Rock's Suicide Stairs. That same summer, she was entrusted (or some might say cursed) with the extraordinary button box by a mysterious stranger in a black suit. The seductive and powerful box offered Gwendy small gifts in exchange for its care until the stranger eventually returned, promising Gwendy she'd never see the box again.

Gwendy has never told a soul about the button box -- not even her husband. But one day the button box shows up without warning and without the man in the black suit to explain what she is supposed to do with it. The curious reappearance of the box, along with the troubling disappearances in Castle Rock, leads Gwendy home again -- where she just might be able to help rescue the missing girls and stop a dangerous man before he does something too terrible to contemplate.

Critique: Very highly recommended for personal reading lists and community library Fantasy Fiction collections, "Gwendy's Magic Feather" by Richard Chizmar is the sequel to "Gwndy's Button Box" and another deftly crafted occult thriller of a novel by an author with a genuine flair for originality and the kind of narrative storytelling style that rivets the readers rapt attention from first page to last. It should be noted that "Wendy's Magic Feather" is also readily available in a paperback edition (Gallery Books, 9781982139728, $15.99), in a digital book format (Kindle, $6.99), and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Blackstone Audio, 9781797101804, $29.99, CD).

Editorial Note: Richard Chizmar is the author of Gwendy's Button Box (which we co-wrote with Stephen King) and A Long December, which was nominated for numerous awards. His fiction has appeared in dozens of publications, including Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and multiple editions of The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. He has won two World Fantasy awards, four International Horror Guild awards, and the HWA's Board of Trustee's award. His third short story collection, A Long December, was recently published to starred reviews in both Kirkus and Booklist, and was featured in Entertainment Weekly. Chizmar's work has been translated into many languages throughout the world, and he has appeared at numerous conferences as a writing instructor, guest speaker, panelist, and guest of honor. He maintains author website at www.RichardChizmar.com


The Christian Studies Shelf

3 Words That Will Change Your Life
Mike Novotny
Bethany House Publishers
c/o Baker Publishing Group
6030 East Fulton Road, Ada, MI 49301
www.bethanyhouse.com
9780764235283, $15.99, PB, 192pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: The premise and promise of "3 Words That Will Change Your Life: The Secret to Experiencing the Joy of God's Presence" is that although it may sound obvious at first, but truly understanding three little words, 'God is here', is the key to more happiness, less boredom, more rest, less rush, more love, less drama, more peace, less fear.

A deeply satisfying life doesn't require a sabbatical, a mission trip, or a New Year's resolution. As long as God is glorious enough and near enough, you can enjoy the life that is truly life -- not just the cheap substitutes we've settled for.

"3 Words That Will Change Your Life" will help Christians to move from just enjoying the good moments in life to worshiping the God who is right here, right now. This movement will exponentially increase happiness, peace, and contentment. It will allow us to shake off the guilt and shame of sin and see ourselves as God sees us by learning how to recognize God's impact on our lives and find the joy he's been waiting to give us.

Critique: An inspiring, memorable, and life/spirituality enhancing read from cover to cover, "3 Words That Will Change Your Life: The Secret to Experiencing the Joy of God's Presence" is an extraordinary and highly recommended read for all members of the Christian community regardless of denominational affiliations. It should be noted for personal reading lists that ""3 Words That Will Change Your Life: The Secret to Experiencing the Joy of God's Presence" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Mike Novotny is a copastor at The CORE, is the lead speaker for the media ministry Time of Grace, and serves as the chairman of Conquerors Through Christ.

Courageous: 10 Strategies for Thriving in a Hostile World
Dr. Robert Jeffress
Baker Books
c/o Baker Publishing Group
6030 East Fulton, Ada, MI 49301
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
9780801075391, $22.99, HC, 272pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Christians face relentless attacks from an ungodly culture, a formidable adversary, and our own fallen natures. Yet we cannot afford to surrender to these very real enemies.

Just as survivalists use 10 specific strategies to overcome threatening situations, "Courageous" explains 10 biblical strategies for surviving (and thriving) in a world that is hostile to the Christian faith. "Courageous" is a clarion call for Christians to boldly live out their faith.

For those Christians who fell that their faith is under attack, for those Christians who are struggling with the temptation to follow the crowd despite biblical teaching to the contrary, and for those Christians who are just feeling weary, the 10 strategies in "Courageous" will provide fresh courage, a renewed enthusiasm, and an enduring hope.

Critique: Inspired and inspiring, "Courageous: 10 Strategies for Thriving in a Hostile World" is unreservedly recommended reading for all members of the Christian community regardless of denominational affiliations. While highly recommended for church and seminary library collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists that "Courageous: 10 Strategies for Thriving in a Hostile World" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99).

Editorial Note: Dr. Robert Jeffress is senior pastor of the 14,000-member First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, and is a Fox News contributor. His daily radio program, Pathway to Victory, is heard on more than 900 stations nationwide, and his weekly television program is seen on thousands of cable systems and stations in the United States and in 195 countries around the world. Known for his bold, biblical stands on cultural issues, Jeffress has been interviewed on more than 3,000 radio and TV programs. He is also the author of Not All Roads Lead to Heaven, A Place Called Heaven, and Choosing the Extraordinary Life.

A Profound Ignorance
Ephraim Radner
Baylor University Press
One Bear Place, #97363, Waco, TX 76798-7363
www.baylorpress.com
9781481310796, $49.95, HC, 463pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Pneumatology refers to a particular discipline within Christian theology that focuses on the study of the Holy Spirit. In "A Profound Ignorance: Modern Pneumatology and Its Anti-modern Redemption", Ephraim Radner (Professor of Historical Theology in Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto) traces the development of pneumatology as a modern discipline and its responses to experiences of social confusion and suffering, often associated with questions linked to the category of theodicy. Along the way, study of the Spirit joined with natural science to become study of spirit, which was at root study of the human person redefined without limitation. Radner proposes that the proper parameters of pneumatology are found in studying Israel and her historical burdens as the Body of Christ, showing how the Spirit is the reality of God that affirms the redemptive character of Christ, the Son.

The traumas of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have brought to the fore the problematic distance between earlier and more modern approaches to the Spirit. Drawing on writers from Paracelsus to John Berryman, and including theologians and philosophers like Anne Conway and John Wesley, as well as literary figures from d'Aubigne to Duhamel, Radner attempts to locate modern pneumatology's motives and interests within some of the novel social settings of a rapidly globalizing consciousness and conflicted pluralism.

It is by following Israel into the Incarnation of Jesus, Radner contends, that humans find their unresolved sufferings and yearnings redeemed. The Holy Spirit operates in deep hope, the kind of hope that is inaccessible to simple articulation. Finally, Radner argues for a more limited and reserved pneumatology, subordinated to the christological realities of divine incarnation: here, creaturely limitations are not denied, but affirmed, and taken up into the life of God.

Critique: An erudite and in-depth analytical study, "A Profound Ignorance: Modern Pneumatology and Its Anti-modern Redemption" is enhanced with the inclusion of 116 pages of Notes, an eighteen page Index of Subjects and Persons, and a three page Index of Scripture. While unreservedly recommended for church, seminary, community, college and university library Christian Pneumatology/Theology collections and supplemental studies curriculums, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of clergy, seminary students, academia, and non- specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "A Profound Ignorance" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $35.67).

A Practical Guide to Culture
John Stonestreet & Brett Kunkle
David C. Cook
c/o Cook Communications
4050 Lee Vance Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80918
www.davidccook.org
9781434711014, $22.99, HC, 368pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: As Christian parents we do not have to lose the next generation to an American secular culture. Fully living up to its title, "A Practical Guide to Culture: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Today's World" is indeed a practical and instructive guide that answers such questions as: What unseen undercurrents are shaping twenty-first-century youth culture?; Why do so many kids struggle with identity?; How do we talk to kids about same-sex marriage and transgenderism?; How can leaders steer kids away from substance abuse and other addictions?; How can we ground students in the biblical story and empower them to change the world?

Critique: With biblical clarity, "A Practical Guide to Culture: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Today's World" is the practical go-to manual for Christian parents to equip their kids to rise above and resist the cultural lures that could and would be detrimental to their spiritual, mental, and physical well being. Also available in a paperback edition (9780830781249, $18.99), in a digital book format (Kindle, $2.99) and as a complete an unabridged audio book (Dreamscape Media, 9781520091808, $34.99, CD).

Editorial Note: John Stonestreet is president of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview and cohost of BreakPoint, the daily cultural commentary founded by the late Chuck Colson. John is the coauthor of Restoring All Things, Same-Sex Marriage, Making Sense of Your World, and A Practical Guide to Culture.

Brett Kunkle is the founder and president of MAVEN (www.maventruth.com), a movement to equip the next generation to know truth, pursue goodness, and create beauty for the cause of Christ. He is an associate editor for the Apologetics Study Bible for Students and coauthor of A Practical Guide to Culture.

Ordinary Blessings
Meta Herrick Carlson
Fortress Press
P.O. Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1209
http://fortresspress.com
9781506450612, $16.99, HC, 130pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: The ordinary moments of life can be sacred, if we simply take a moment to notice. "Ordinary Blessing" by Pastor Meta Herrick Carlson is a memorable and inspiring collection of prayers, poems, and meditations that individually and collectively offer a brief respite from the hectic, harried pace of our days. Whether it is when the spirit moves us or when the spirit feels distant -- the words presented in "Ordinary Blessings" will inspire, calm, and encourage us either way.

Critique: Inspired and inspiring, encouraging and heartening, uplifting and motivating, "Ordinary Blessings: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Everyday Life" is especially and unreservedly recommended for church and community library collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of all members of the Christian community that "Ordinary Blessings" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.99).

Editorial Note: Meta Herrick Carlson is the Pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in the Twin Cities and co-host of the Alter Guild podcast. She is passionate about building connections and courage, and her writing has been influenced by her work with recovery communities and survivors of sexual violence

The Sermon on the Mount
Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev
SVS Press
575 Scarsdale Road, Yonkers, NY 10707
www.svspress.com
9780881416534, $35.00, PB, 444pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "The Sermon on the Mount" is the second volume of the six-volume series Jesus Christ: His Life and Teaching by Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev. It focuses entirely on the Sermon on the Mount, examining the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer, and other teachings of the Lord in light of both current scholarship and the Church's perennial tradition.

Critique: Providing a detailed theological study of the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in the New Testament and from an Eastern Orthodox tradition and perspective, "Jesus Christ: His Life and Teaching: The Sermon on the Mount" is an outstanding work of theological scholarship and unreservedly recommended for personal, church, seminary, community, and academic library Contemporary Christian Systematic Theology collections and New Testament supplemental studies lists.

Editorial Note: Hilarion Alfeyev (born Grigoriy Valerievich Alfeyev on 24 July 1966) is a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church. At present he is the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, the chairman of the Department of External Church Relations and a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Moscow. He is also a noted theologian, church historian and composer and has published books on dogmatic theology, patristics and church history as well as numerous compositions for choir and orchestra.

Epic
Tim Challies
www.Challies.com
Zondervan Publishing House
5300 Patterson Avenue, S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49530
www.zondervan.com
9780310329046, $19.99, PB, 176pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Each generation suffers from self-obsession, and we do well to keep one eye on the past, to consider not only where we wish to go, where we have been. Christianity has a long and storied past that testifies to God's enduring grace, and even though so much of Christian history has passed away and many of its people and objects have been lost to time, a few precious relics and locations remain.

As we consider these objects with careful eyes and look at them in their historical context, we find the beginnings of a story. Through thirty-three carefully selected objects, author and pastor Tim Challies introduces readers to the history of Christianity in a unique and creative way in the pages of "Epic: An Around-the-World Journey through Christian History". It's a story that tells us what God is accomplishing in this world, whether through princes or peasants, triumph or trial. Each of these objects offers us a tangible link between the present and the past, between the Christians of the twenty-first century and the Christians who lived and died in centuries past.

In a few cases these objects are hidden away or in private collections, but more commonly they are there for all who wish to see them. Beginning with the relics of the earliest Christians, we journey through history to look at the importance of a peculiar scrawl of graffiti and the creedal significance of an otherwise unremarkable carving. We take a leap forward in time to consider the loving labor of monks and the martyrdom of Christians who called for reform long before the days of Luther. We look at pulpits and paintings and posters and pieces of machinery. And, of course, we look at books and the remains of books - for nothing has so charted and maintained the course of Christian history as its books.

Critique: Nicely illustrated, "Epic: An Around-the-World Journey through Christian History" provides an impressively informative, exceptionally well written, and thoroughly 'reader friendly' history of the Christian movement. While very highly recommended for church and community library collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Epic: An Around-the-World Journey through Christian History" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Brilliance Audio, 9781799764144, $24.99, CD).

Editorial Note: A pastor, noted speaker, and author of numerous articles, Tim Challies is a pioneer in the Christian blogosphere. More than thirty thousand people visit his web site at www.Challies.com each day, making it one of the most widely read and recognized Christian blogs in the world. Tim is the author of several books, including Visual Theology and The Next Story.

The Absent Christ
Justin Heinzekehr
Cascadia Publishing House
www.cascadiapublishinghouse.com
9781680270143, $22.95, PB, 160pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: In "The Absent Christ: An Anabaptist Theology of the Empty Tomb", author and academician Justin Heinzekehr explores the significance of the empty tomb and Jesus' physical absence for Anabaptist ecclesiology and theology in conversation with postmodern philosophy and power analysis. The majority of Anabaptist theology has wrestled with the life and death of Jesus, but what about the biblical accounts of the liminal space in between? In "The Absent Christ", Professor Heinzekehr asks how Christ's physical absence defines and challenges the way we live in our communities.

Drawing on a wide variety of philosophers, including Emmanuel Levinas, Alfred North Whitehead, Gilles Deleuze, Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Karl Marx, and Catherine Keller, Professor Heinzekehr ably constructs a new Anabaptist theology that takes the gospel stories of Jesus' absence as seriously as his life and teachings. The result is an Anabaptist theology that retains key insights such as nonviolence and discipleship, interpreted with the benefit of contemporary understandings of class, gender, and racial power.

Critique: "The Absent Christ: An Anabaptist Theology of the Empty Tomb" by Justin Heinzekehr is the twelfth volume of the C. Henry Smith Series and unreservedly recommended for personal, community, seminary, church, college, and university library Mennonite Christian Ecclesiology and Theology collections and supplemental studies reading lists.

Editorial Note: Justin Heinzekehr is the Director of Institutional Research and Assessment and Assistant Professor of Bible and Religion at the Goshen College, Goshen, Indiana. His most recent work has focused on the intersection of political philosophy, religion, and environmental ethics, with titles such as Organic Marxism (2014) and Socialism in Process (2017).


The Judaic Studies Shelf

Giving
Rabbi Yehuda Lev Ashlag
Urim Publications
c/o KTAV Publishing House
527 Empire Boulevard, Brooklyn, New York 11225
www.UrimPublications.com
9781602803664, $28.95, HC, 224pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Rabbi Yehhuda Lev Ashlag's underlying message in "Giving: The Essential Teaching of the Kabbalah by ''Baal Hasulam" is that the purpose of our lives is to grow step by step toward a fundamental transformation. Instead of always seeking some form of self-gratification, we can learn to give to others with no self-interest at all.

This is the essential teaching of the Kabbalah portrayed in these essays by Baal Hasulam - the greatest modern explicator of Kabbalah. Rabbi Gottlieb provides an illuminating commentary as a living chassidic rebbe devoted to the practice and teaching of Baal Hasulam's spiritual path.

Critique: A very special contribution to the growing library of Kabbalah studies, "Giving: The Essential Teaching of the Kabbalah by ''Baal Hasulam" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, synagogue, community, and academic library Contemporary Judaic Studies collections in general, and Kabbalah supplemental curriculum studies lists in particular.

Editorial Note: Aryeh Siegel has a Ph.D. in philosophy of logic and metaphysics from M.I.T. and is a Diplomate in Logotherapy (Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy). Having studied for over 20 years the Kabbalah of Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag (Baal Hasulam) from Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Gottlieb, he publishes articles and delivers lectures on the philosophy of Kabbalah and Logotherapy.

Prepare My Prayer
Rabbi Dov Singer
Maggid Books
Koren Publishers Jerusalem Ltd.
PO Box 8531, New Milford, CT 06776-8531
www.korenpub.com
9781592645374, $19.95, HC, 292pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: An educational innovator and a leader of the modern Israeli revival of Hassidut, Rabbi Dov Singer is the head of Yeshivat Makor Chaim and the Study Center for Renewal. "Prepare My Prayer" is his unique attempt from a Judaic perspective to develop a dedicated language for the worship of the heart, the language of prayer. In a unique style, inspired by recipe books, this compact little volume offers a variety of concise and practical recipes for prayer by one of Israel's most popular religious educators.

Critique: Thoughtful, inspiring, "Prepare My Prayer" will prove to be an especially welcome addition to personal, synagogue, and academic library Judaic Studies and Prayer Book collections and supplemental reading lists.

Netivot Shalom
Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein
Maggid Books
www.maggidbooks.com
9781592645350, $24.95, HC, 240pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: God's loving providence has always brought to the Jewish community the thinkers they needed as times changed. Rav Shalom Noach Berezovsky, the Slonimer Rebbe, brought a rare combination of gifts to his landmark work, the Netivot Shalom.

Blending the warmth of the Hassidic approach with the sharp clarity of the Lithuanian yeshiva, the Slonimer Rebbe responded to new intellectual challenges and offered words that were a source of inspiration and solace to the Jewish people. This volume grows out of a conviction that Netivot Shalom will be appreciated as one of the most influential works of this generation.

The Slonimer Rebbe did not shy away from addressing the faults and failures he found in the community - even major ones. With absolute honesty, he speaks again and again about doubt, spiritual estrangement, wrestling with base desires and temptations, and serial failure. For each challenge of modern life, the Rebbe offers both prescriptions and encouragement.

Through his teachings on the holidays and avodat Hashem, the service of God, the Netivot Shalom not only offers sparkling insights on the meaning of time and history, but also enables us to flourish and grow amidst the challenges of a new era.

Critique: The Founding Editor of Cross-Currents.com, a website that explores the interface between Torah and contemporary social/cultural/political issues, Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein's "Netivot Shalom: Insights on the Holidays and Avoda Based on the writings of the Slonimer Rebbe" is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, synagogue, community, college, and university library Kabbalah and Judaic Mysticism collections and supplemental studies reading lists.


The Travel Shelf

Cape Town: A Place Between
Henry Trotter
Catalyst Press
https://www.catalystpress.org
9781946395252, $12.99, PB, 140pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Cape Town is a place between. Between two oceans, between first and third worlds, between east and west. So too the majority of its citizens, a people between black and white, native and settler, African and European. The Cape coloureds. This tween-ness complicates and perplexes. It threatens key conceptions we have about the histories, identities, and cultures of those who live on the continent. It makes us wonder how we can understand a city that is most assuredly in Africa -- though not seemingly of it?

By exploring these liminal spaces of tween-ness, between the Cape's breath-taking beauty and its shattering violence, between its creative cosmopolitanism and its crude racial divisions, between its glitzy wealth and its grinding poverty, we can begin to understand the soul of this town. Haunted by its past, unsure of its future. Always emerging, never arriving. A sun-drenched peninsula best viewed through a prism noir.

Compact and concise, "Cape Town: A Place Between" by Henry Trotter allows readers to quickly identify the unique pulse of the city, its throbbing historical, social, cultural and political beat that underlies the transactions between all Capetonians. It is not a guidebook, but a perfect companion to one, filling in the intimate details that other books leave out.

Critique: Enhanced with the inclusion of a section of black-and-white photographs, "Cape Town: A Place Between" is an impressively informative, thoughtful and thought-provoking blend of history and travelog. While highly recommended for both community and academic library South African History & Travel collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Cape Town: A Place Between" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.95).

Points North
Mikel B. Classen
www.mikelclassen.com
Modern History Press
https://www.modernhistorypress.com
9781615994915, $39.95, HC, 134pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: No matter what part in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (U.P.) there are fascinating sights are around every corner. There are parks, wilderness areas and museums. There are ghost towns and places named after legends. There are trails to be walked and waterways to be paddled. In the U.P., life is meant to be lived to the fullest. "Points North: Discover Hidden Campgrounds, Natural Wonders, and Waterways of the Upper Peninsula" is comprised of 40 destinations drawn from every corner of the U.P. that have places of interest. Some reflect rich history, while others highlight the natural wonders that abound.

Critique: Profusely illustrated, impressively informative, ideal for planning all manner of day trips, weekend adventures, and vacation itineraries, "Points North: Discover Hidden Campgrounds, Natural Wonders, and Waterways of the Upper Peninsula" is unreservedly recommended for personal, family, and community library Travel Guide collections. It should be noted that "Points North" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781615994908, $27.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.95).

Editorial Note: Mikel B. Classen has been writing about northern Michigan in newspapers and magazines for over 35 years, creating feature articles about the life and culture of Michigan's north country. He's written about travel, outdoors, the environment, Upper Peninsula history, and many other subjects. A journalist, historian, photographer, and author with a fascination about the world around him, he enjoys researching and writing about lost stories from the past. Currently, he is managing editor of the U.P. Reader and is a member of the board of directors for the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association. His book Au Sable Point Lighthouse: Beacon on Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast was published in 2014, and his book Teddy Roosevelt and the Marquette Libel Trial was published in 2015. The History Press published both. He also has a book of fiction called Lake Superior Tales, published by Modern History Classen has his own website at www.mikelclassen.com.


The Business Shelf

Leading with Gratitude
Adrian Gostick & Chester Elton
Harper Business
c/o HarperCollins Publishers
195 Broadway, New York, New York 10007
www.harpercollins.com
9780062965783, $29.99, HC, 272pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Workers want and need to know their work is appreciated. Showing gratitude to employees is the easiest, fastest, most inexpensive way to boost performance. New research shows that gratitude boosts employee engagement, reduces turnover, and leads team members to express more gratitude to one another -- strengthening team bonds. Studies have also shown that gratitude is beneficial for those expressing it and is one of the most powerful variables in predicting a person's overall well-being -- above money, health, and optimism.

The WD-40 Company knows this firsthand. When the leadership gave thousands of managers training in expressing gratitude to their employees, the company saw record increases in revenue.

Despite these benefits, few executives effectively utilize this simple tool. In fact, new research reveals "people are less likely to express gratitude at work than anyplace else." What accounts for the staggering chasm between awareness of gratitude's benefits and the failure of so many leaders to do it -- or do it well? Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton call this the gratitude gap. In this invaluable guide, they identify the widespread and pernicious myths about managing others that cause leaders to withhold thanks.

Gostick and Elton also introduce eight simple ways managers can show employees they are valued. They supplement their insights and advice with stories of how many of today's most successful leaders (such as Alan Mulally of Ford and Hubert Joly of Best Buy) successfully incorporated gratitude into their leadership styles. Showing gratitude isn't just about being nice, it's about being smart (really smart!) and it's a skill that everyone can easily learn.

Critique: Simply stated, "Leading with Gratitude: Eight Leadership Practices for Extraordinary Business Results" should be required reading for every MBA student, corporate executive, business manager, and engaged entrepreneur. While an essential, core, and unreservedly recommended addition to community, corporate, college, and university library business management collection, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Leading with Gratitude" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $15.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Blackstone Audio, 9781094115337, $34.99, CD).

Editorial Note: Adrian Gostick is a founder of the training company The Culture Works and author of All In and The Carrot Principle. His books have been translated into 30 languages. His consulting clients include Danaher, Bank of America, Rolls Royce, JELD-WEN and California Pizza Kitchen.

Chester Elton is the co-founder of The Culture Works, a global training company and is a board member of Camp Corral, a non-profit for the children of wounded and fallen military heroes. He serves as a leadership consultant to firms such as American Express, AT&T, Avis Budget Group and Procter & Gamble.

Experimentation Works
Stefan H. Thomke
Harvard Business Review Press
60 Harvard Way, Boston, MA 02163
http://hbr.org/books
9781633697102,$32.00, HC, 288pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: When it comes to improving customer experiences, trying out new business models, or developing new products, even the most experienced managers often get it wrong. They discover that intuition, experience, and big data alone don't work. What does? Running disciplined business experiments. And what if companies roll out new products or introduce new customer experiences without running these experiments? They fly blind.

That's what Harvard Business School professor Stefan Thomke shows in "Experimentation Works: The Surprising Power of Business Experiments", a rigorously researched and eye-opening study that guides the reader through best practices in business experimentation, illustrates how these practices work at leading companies, and answers some fundamental questions such as: What makes a good experiment? How do you test in online and brick-and-mortar businesses? In B2B and B2C? How do you build an experimentation culture?

Also, best practice means running many experiments. Indeed, some hugely successful companies, such as Amazon, Booking.com, and Microsoft, run tens of thousands of controlled experiments annually, engaging millions of users. Professor Thomke shows us how these and many other organizations prove that experimentation provides significant competitive advantage.

Managers create this capability at their own companies by developing an experimentation organization that prizes the science of testing and puts the discipline of experimentation at the center of its innovation process. While it once took companies years to develop the tools for such large-scale experiments, advances in technology have put these tools at the fingertips of almost any business professional. By combining the power of software and the rigor of controlled experiments, today's managers can make better decisions, create magical customer experiences, and generate big financial returns.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Experimentation Works" is a kind of DIY guidebook to new ways for corporate executives and entrepreneurs to think and innovate in today's highly volatile and fiercely competitive business world. While especially recommended for community, corporate, and academic library Business Management collections as well as MBA curriculum supplemental studies lists, it should be noted that "Experimentation Works" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $17.27).

Editorial Note: Stefan H. Thomke is a leading authority on the management of innovation and the William Barclay Harding Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He is also the author of Experimentation Matters: Unlocking the Potential of New Technologies for Innovation (Harvard Business Review Press, 2003), as well as over one hundred articles, cases, and notes published in books and journals such as Harvard Business Review, Management Science, and MIT Sloan Management Review. Professor Thomke has chaired numerous executive education programs, both at Harvard Business School and in companies around the world. He is a frequent conference speaker and adviser to global business leaders.

Creating Corporate Sustainability
Beate Sjafjell & Irene Lynch Fannon, editors
Cambridge University Press
One Liberty Plaza, Fl. 20, New York, NY 10006
www.cambridge.org
9781108427111, $110.00, HC, 354pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Collaboratively compiled and co-edited by the team of Beate Sjafjell (Professor of Law, University of Oslo) and Irene Lynch Fannon (Professor of Law, University College Cork), "Creating Corporate Sustainability: Gender as an Agent for Change" is a compelling volume comprise of fourteen erudite and insightful articles by contributors that collectively consider three significant modern developments: the ever-changing role of women in society; a significant and growing dissatisfaction with current dominant understandings of corporate governance, corporate law and corporate theory; and the increasing concern to establish sustainable business models globally.

A range of female scholars drawn from across the globe and from different disciplines interconnect these ideas in this unique collection of new and thought-provoking essays. Readers are led through a carefully planned enquiry focusing initially on female activism and the corporation, secondly on liberal attempts to include women in business leadership and, finally, on critiquing the modern focus on women as a 'fix' for ethical and unsustainable business practises which currently dominates the corporate world.

Critique: Exceptionally well organized and presented, "Creating Corporate Sustainability: Gender as an Agent for Change" presents fresh perspectives and invaluable insights on what changes are needed to create the sustainable corporation and the potential role of women as agents for these changes. While also available for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and corporate executives in a paperback edition (9781108447676, $35.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, Rent $8.22/Buy $29.00), "Creating Corporate Sustainability: Gender as an Agent for Change" is unreservedly recommended for corporate, community, and academic library Business & Corporate Management collections and supplemental studies lists.

Optimal Outcomes
Jennifer Goldman-Wetzler
Harper Business
c/o HarperCollins Publishers
195 Broadway, New York, New York 10007
www.harpercollins.com
9780062893659, $29.99, HC, 240pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: When conflicts arise, the traditional approach is to sit down, calmly talk through your differences, and find a solution. But what if nothing seems to work, no matter what you do? The answer to that question is "Optimal Outcomes: Free Yourself from Conflict at Work, at Home, and in Life" by Jennifer Goldman-Wetzler.

When situations resist resolution, the Optimal Outcomes Method teaches us conflict freedom. This innovative method, based on Jennifer's training at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, two decades as a consultant to Fortune 500 and high-growth CEOs and senior teams, grassroots work with Middle East leaders, US government-funded research on terrorism, and her popular course at Columbia University, Optimal Outcomes reveals eight groundbreaking practices proven to help people everywhere free themselves from conflict.

With inspiring stories from clients, students, and with Jennifer's own life experiences lighting the way, you'll learn to observe complex situations with clarity, access your shadow values (things you really care about but have been unwilling to admit), and take bold, simple, surprising action.

Optimal Outcomes blends mindfulness, Jungian psychology, and practical, step-by-step advice to free anyone from seemingly impossible conflict. Applying the practices, you'll reach your Optimal Outcome -- which may be vastly different from what you originally imagined, but more satisfying than you ever dreamed possible.

Critique: Real world practical and ultimately inspiring, "Optimal Outcomes: Free Yourself from Conflict at Work, at Home, and in Life" is an extraordinary and thoroughly 'user friendly' instructional guide and manual that is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, corporate, and academic library Business and Personal Conflict Resolution & Mediation collections and supplemental studies reading lists. It should be noted for students, academia, corporate executives, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Optimal Outcomes" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $15.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Blackstone Audio, 9781094114972, $29.99, CD).

Editorial Note: Jennifer Goldman-Wetzler is the founder and CEO of Alignment Strategies Group, the premier New York-based consulting firm that counsels CEOs and executive teams on how to optimize organizational health and growth. As a keynote speaker at Fortune 500 companies, public institutions and innovative, fast-growing startups, she inspires audiences of all kinds, including those at Google, Harvard and TEDx, and in her popular course at Columbia. A former counterterrorism research fellow with the US Department of Homeland Security, she is a graduate of Tufts University and holds a Ph.D. in Social-Organizational Psychology from Columbia University.

The End of Marketing
Carlos Gil
Kogan Page
www.koganpage.com
9780749497583, $60.00 HC, 240pp., www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Social networks are the new norm and traditional marketing is failing in today's digital, always-on culture. Businesses across the world are having to face up to how they remain relevant in the choppy waters of the digital ocean. In an era where a YouTube star gets more daily impressions than Nike, Coca-Cola and Walmart combined, traditional marketing as we know it is dead.

"The End of Marketing: Humanizing Your Brand in the Age of Social Media and AI" by Carlos Gil revolutionizes the way brands, agencies and marketers should approach marketing. From how Donald Trump won the American presidency using social media and why Kim Kardashian is one of the world's biggest online brands, through to the impact of bots and automation, "The End of Marketing" will teach you about new features and emerging platforms that will engage customers and employees. Discover bold content ideas, hear from some of the world's largest brands and content creators and find out how to build smarter paid-strategies, guaranteed to help you dominate your markets.

"The End of Marketing" also explains that no matter how easy it is to reach potential customers, the key relationship between brand and consumer still needs the human touch. Readers will learn how to put 'social' back into social media and claim brand relevancy in a world where algorithms dominate, organic reach is dwindling and consumers don't want to be sold to, they want to be engaged.

Critique: Thoroughly 'reader friendly' in tone, commentary, organization and presentation, "The End of Marketing: Humanizing Your Brand in the Age of Social Media and AI" is an extraordinary and groundbreaking contribution to our understanding of the impact of the technological advances in communication and persuasion brought about by computers and the internet. While unreservedly recommended for community, corporate, and academic library Business Management & Marketing collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of MBA students, academia, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The End of Marketing" is also available in a paperback edition ( 9780749497576, $19.95), and in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Carlos Gil is an international keynote speaker and award-winning digital storyteller with over a decade of experience leading social media strategy for global brands including LinkedIn, Winn-Dixie, Save-A-Lot, and BMC Software. His work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Inc., Entrepreneur, and Social Media Examiner, and his speaking includes keynotes for clients across the United States, Europe and South America. He is the CEO and Founder of Gil Media Co., working with Fortune 500 clients including DocuSign, Western Union, and Keller Williams.

Fearless Innovation
Alex Goryachev
Wiley
c/o Wiley Professional Trade Group
111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com
9781119579526, $28.00, HC, 208pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: The Fourth Industrial Revolution is driving change at an unprecedented pace, level, and intensity that is impacting businesses across industries, not to mention our everyday lives. We are rapidly blurring the physical and the digital, transforming the way we live and, in some sense, what it even means to be human. Whether we run a startup or multinational, a nonprofit or academic institution, a city or a whole country, we need to embrace this change to not just survive but thrive under these new realities.

In "Fearless Innovation: Going Beyond the Buzzword to Continuously Drive Growth, Improve the Bottom Line, and Enact Change" by Alex Goryachev explores how, no matter their function, leaders and managers can cut through the noise to understand change and deliver real results.

Goryachev's actionable, consistent, and timeless innovation principles offer a blueprint to driving growth, enacting change, increasing the bottom line, and creating clear measurable value. Featuring diverse case studies of some of today's most innovative organizations, historical observations, first-hand experience, and a look at where innovation is thriving, and why, this down-to-earth guide provides advice and clear steps on how to: Get teams to embrace innovation beyond empty slogans; Focus on execution of innovation through leadership and strategy; Measure the real effects of innovation to showcase ROI and attract investment; Break down org silos by empowering effective, diverse, and inclusive teams; Drive co-innovation through win-win ecosystem-wide partnerships; Organize innovation teams and orchestrate outcomes by leveraging organizational DNA; Communicate the value of innovation to differentiate ourselves from competition.

Written specifically for any organization that wants to stay relevant in the 21st Century, and even beyond, "Fearless Innovation" offers a step-by-step guide for getting past the confusion, overcoming fear, and getting down to business to create an environment of true innovation.

Critique: Expertly written, impressively informative, exceptionally effective in organization and presentation, "Fearless Innovation: Going Beyond the Buzzword to Continuously Drive Growth, Improve the Bottom Line, and Enact Change" is a seminal work that is as real world practical as it is thoughtful and thought-provoking. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community, corporate, and academic library Business Management collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of MBA students, academia, corporate executives, and non- specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Fearless Innovation" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $24.17).

Editorial Note: Alex Goryachev is the managing director of Cisco's global Co-Innovation Centers. He spearheads several award-winning international programs and initiatives to accelerate innovation - whether that impacts operations, businesses processes, or technology. Alex is an award-winning Silicon Valley veteran whose resume reads like a brief history of tech disruption. He is also a sought-after speaker on innovation and a regular contributor to Forbes, Chief Executive Magazine, Information Week, and other leading media outlets.


The Metaphysical Studies Shelf

The Hoodoo Tarot
Tayannah Lee McQullar
Destiny Books
c/o Inner Traditions International, Ltd.
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
www.innertraditions.com
9781620558737, $35.00, Card Deck & Guidebook, 160pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Between the 17th and 19th centuries, many Indigenous Americans and people of African descent intermarried and socialized more often than is acknowledged by mainstream history books and scholars. These interactions produced not only a multicultural people but also a body of knowledge that is known today as Hoodoo or Rootwork.

Celebrating the complex American Rootwork tradition, "The Hoodoo Tarot: 78-Card Deck and Book for Rootworkers" integrates esoteric and botanical knowledge from Hoodoo with the divination system of the Tarot. Structured like a traditional Tarot deck, each of the 78 cards features full-color paintings by magical-realist artist Katelan Foisy and elegantly interprets the classical Tarot imagery through depictions of legendary rootworkers past and present as well as important Hoodoo symbolism.

In the accompanying guidebook, Tayannah Lee McQuillar provides a history of Hoodoo and its complex heritage, including its roots in multiple African and Indigenous American ethnic groups as well as its European influences. She explores the traditional forms of divination used by rootworkers, including cartomancy, explaining how pairing the Tarot with Hoodoo is a natural fit. For each card in the Major Arcana and the four suits of the Minor Arcana (sticks, baskets, needles, and knives), McQuillar provides an in-depth card meaning that draws on both Tarot and Hoodoo tradition. She shares the history of the rootworker or symbol featured, any associated magical plants, a related scriptural quote, and guidance and advice based on the card's meaning. She also offers instructions on card spreads and shares sample card readings.

Offering a divination system rooted in the Indigenous and African experience in North America, The Hoodoo Tarot provides a hands-on way to honor and explore the magic of Hoodoo for personal growth and spiritual inspiration.

Critique: A unique and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community and academic library Tarot/Divination/Metaphysical Studies collections, "The Hoodoo Tarot: 78-Card Deck and Book for Rootworkers" is a beautiful, distinctive, and informative contribution to the growing body of Native American and African-American metaphysical literature.

Editorial Note: Tayannah Lee McQuillar is a researcher of religion, esoterica, and mysticism. She is also the author of several books, including Rootwork and The Sibyls Oraculum: Oracle of the Black Doves.

Crystal Basics
Nicholas Pearson
Destiny Books
c/o Inner Traditions International, Ltd.
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
www.innertraditions.com
9781620559345, $29.99, PB, 416pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "Crystal Basics: The Energetic, Healing, and Spiritual Power of 200 Gemstones" by Nicholas Pearson is an in-depth yet easy-to-follow guide that offers a full-color compendium of 200 crystals and gemstones as well as a hands-on practical handbook on crystal healing, perfect for those just beginning their crystal journey as well as long-time stone lovers seeking an all-in-one reference.

The handbook of crystal use opens with a thorough explanation of crystal energy, including its interactions with the human energy field, and teaches readers how to extrapolate what a crystal does based on its composition, crystal structure, formation process, and other properties. In the chapters on techniques, Pearson offers guidance on selecting your crystals and gemstones, then step-by-step instructions on how to cleanse, charge, activate, and program them. He explains how to make crystal grids and healing layouts, including templates for both, and also discusses the numerology and geometry of crystal grids. He explores the essentials of crystal elixirs, complete with elixir recipes, and details how to perform crystal meditations, clear the energy centers and the aura, and practice more advanced techniques, such as engaging with the crystal devas, creating sacred space, and practices for spiritual hygiene and protection.

The compendium includes 200 rocks, minerals, gemstones, and crystal formations, organized alphabetically and featuring full-color photographs. Each entry includes geological information and the physical, psychological, and spiritual healing qualities for every stone. Some stones, such as jasper and quartz, have multiple varieties, each given their own entries to provide a thorough reference guide for crystal healers and collectors.

Critique: Comprehensive, detailed, profusely illustrated, expertly organized and presented, "Crystal Basics: The Energetic, Healing, and Spiritual Power of 200 Gemstones" is an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community and academic library Metaphysical Divination & Healing collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Crystal Basics" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $20.99).

Editorial Note: Nicholas Pearson has been immersed in all aspects of the mineral kingdom for more than 20 years. He began teaching crystal workshops in high school, later studying mineral science at Stetson University while pursuing a degree in music. He worked for several years at the Gillespie Museum, home to one of the largest mineral collections in the southeastern United States. A certified teacher and practitioner of Usui Reiki Ryoho, he teaches crystal and Reiki classes throughout the United States.

Vedic Astrology for Beginners
Pamela McDonough
Rockridge Press
9781646113071, $14.99, PB, 166pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Vedic astrology (also known as Jyotish in its home of India) can be a powerful channel of insights and revelations into daily life. But how to unlock this complex tool? "Vedic Astrology for Beginners: An Introduction to the Origins and Core Concepts of Jyotish" by Vedic astrologer Pamela McDonough breaks down the core concepts of Vedic astrology, showing how to analyze a birth chart to better understand personality, relationships, and life paths.

Aspiring astrologers will discover the ancient origins of Vedic astrology and its differences from Western astrology. The will also explore detailed profiles of each planet, zodiac sign, and the other essential elements of a Jyotish natal horoscope. With these foundational steps, they will gain a better understanding of physical, emotional, and spiritual experiences -- and even begin to anticipate the future.

Critique: Expertly organized and presented, and also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99), "Vedic Astrology for Beginners: An Introduction to the Origins and Core Concepts of Jyotish" is an ideal introduction to Vedic astrology and will prove to be a welcome and enduringly appreciated addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Metaphysical Studies collections.

Editorial Note: Pamela McDonough has been a full-time Vedic astrologer since 2012 and was awarded the title Jyotish Acharya by her guru, Souvik Dutta of the Ancient Indian Astrology Classes school. Pamela conducts consultations with clients internationally and teaches workshops and astrological courses at www.moondanceastrology.com. She has a background in both Western astrology and Indian astrology with studies of over 20 years in the subject.

Green Witchcraft
Paige Vanderbeck
Rockridge Press
9781646115648, $14.99, PB, 184pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Green witchcraft is a school of witchcraft for those who want to live in harmony with the earth and its green things -- and "Green Witchcraft" by Paige Vanderback is a comprehensive and effectively presented how-to guide that is ideal for the novice and has a great deal to offer even experienced practitioners.

Covering everything from growing herbs and plants for magic and medicine, to honoring the spirits of trees and animals, to using crystals for power and healing, "Green Witchcrafte" will enable the reader to put natural magic into practice, with spells and rituals that harness the natural, plentiful energy and power of herbs, plants, stones, crystals, wood, and more.

"Green Witchcraft" makes the practice of natural magic easy with its practical tips and instructions on everything from using honeysuckle to attract wealth, quartz to direct energy, and moonlight for cleansing tools.

Critique: A complete, comprehensive, thoroughly 'user friendly' instructional guide and manual that is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99), "Green Witchcraft" will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library Metaphysical Studies collections and supplemental curriculum reading lists.

Editorial Note: Paige Vanderbeck has always entertained the mystical and unbelievable. She hosts The Fat Feminist Witch Podcast, and writes about modern witchcraft, fat acceptance, and feminism for publications like Medium, Revelist, The Daily Dot, and Flare. Her work can also be found on her website, www.TheFatFeministWitch.com.

The Moon Fix
Theresa Cheung, author
Indico, illustrator
www.theresacheung.com
White Lion Publishing
c/o Quarto Publishing Group USA
400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401-1722
www.quartoknows.com
9781781319482, $22.99, HC, 176pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: The major premise of "The Moon Fix" by Theresa Cheung is that through a better understanding and attuning of ourselves to the lunar cycles we can improve our intuition, let go of past pains and find a deeper spiritual connection. The lunar cycles can assist us in everything from succeeding in business, to finding love, to achieving ambitious goals, to addressing our most secret concerns.

"The Moon Fix" applies ancient wisdom to modern living and includes: An introduction to the moon in astrology, from its relation to the signs to its different phases and their significance; When and how to harness lunar power to manifest and celebrate your deepest desires, including how to create a moon altar and work with crystals, incense, herbs and oils; Lunar advice and spells, rituals, meditations and recipes, organized by themes that include Joy and Success, Health and Wellness, and Protection and Comfort.

Critique: Impressively enhanced with hauntingly beautiful and full color artwork from mystic artist and influencer Indigo (@indg0), "The Moon Fix" is a unique and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, professional, community, and academic library Metaphysical Studies collections and supplemental studies reading lists.

Editorial Note: Theresa Cheung is an author specializing in the paranormal and the spiritual. Since leaving King's college, Cambridge University with a degree in English and Theology she has written numerous books and encyclopedias which have been translated into dozens of different languages. She runs a popular author page on Facebook, has appeared on ITV Good morning to discuss spirituality with Piers Morgan, been a guest on episode 71 of Russell Brand's Under the Skin podcast, written many features for the National press and been a guest on many podcasts. Her mission is to make spirituality more credible, engaging and mainstream.
She has her own website at www.theresacheung.com

The Tree Angel Oracle Deck
Fred Hageneder, author
Anne Heng, illustrator
Earthdancer Books
c/o Inner Traditions International, Ltd.
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
www.innertraditions.com
9781644110386, $19.99, PB, Card Deck, 144pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: There are two types of angels: those with wings and those with leaves. For thousands of years, those seeking guidance or wanting to express gratitude to nature have walked the ancient paths into the sacred grove to connect with the wisdom of trees. Today, venerable old trees in peaceful surroundings are difficult to find when we need them. And it can be difficult for the inexperienced to hear their voices and receive their healing. But the Tree Angels are still there, whispering to those who listen.

Now in a new second edition, "The Tree Angel Oracle Deck: The Ancient Path into the Sacred Grove" is an oracle card and book set in which Fred Hageneder shares deep messages and wisdom from the Tree Angels of 36 different tree species that include those from the old Celtic "Tree Alphabet" along with other well-known trees from all over the world.

Each full-color and beautifully illustrated card by artist Anne Heng, features a specific tree and its angel, revealing the trees as unique beings, with their individual energy and radiance. Drawing on botanical and historical sources, in addition to the author's vast experience with Tree Angels, the guidebook explains how to interpret the message of each Tree Angel card as well as how to use the cards.

The trees featured include: Birch, Ash, Walnut, Elder, Holly, Rowan, Hawthorn, Oak, Aspen, Hazel, Juniper, Linden (Lime), Blackthorn, Yew, Field Maple, Elm, Black Poplar, Larch, White Willow, Scots Pine, Apple, Spruce, Ivy, Olive, Almond, Hornbeam, Beech, Cedar of Lebanon, Horse Chestnut, Sycamore, Alder, Pear, Pipal, Ginkgo, Cherry, and Myrrh.

Critique: "The Tree Angel Oracle Deck: The Ancient Path into the Sacred Grove" is a unique, beautifully rendered, and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Metaphysical Studies collections in general, and Tarot reading supplemental studies in particular.

Editorial Note: Fred Hageneder is a leading expert in ethnobotany, specializing in the cultural and spiritual history of trees. A founding member of the Ancient Yew Group in Britain and a member of SANASI, a scientific group that helps protect indigenous sacred sites, he is also a member of the Ecocentric Alliance. He is also the author of 2 books and a musician who composes music for various tree species.

Anne Heng is a painter and illustrator, who specializes in painting on silk, which enables her to convey the quiet beauty of nature.


The Needlecraft Shelf

Crochet This!
Sixth&Spring Books
104 West 27th Street, 3rd Fl, New York, NY 10001
www.sixthandspringbooks.com
9781640210486, $19.95, PB, 176pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "Crochet This!: Step-by-Step Techniques, 65 Essential Stitches, More Than 25 Projects" is like three books in one, and crocheters of all levels will appreciate this essential and lavishly illustrated guide to the craft of crocheting. Step-by-step color photographs lay out all the basic techniques and stitches, followed by a dictionary of crochet patterns including granny squares, colorwork, lacy motifs, and edgings -- all with a full-color swatch photograph, instructions, and a diagram. Even the most novice of needlecrafters can practice their newfound techniques on more than 25 designs for gorgeous crocheted sweaters, shawls, hats, bags, and more. Chosen from the pages of Vogue Knitting Crochet magazine, they're all popular, beautiful, and timeless.

Critique: Thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "Crochet This!: Step-by-Step Techniques, 65 Essential Stitches, More Than 25 Projects" is an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to personal and community library Needlecraft instructional reference collections.

Quilter's Complete Guide
Marianne Fons & Liz Porter
Dover Publications, Inc.
31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, NY 11501
www.doverpublications.com
9780486839974, $24.95, PB, 272pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: The perfect book for both beginners and those wishing to brush up on their skills, the "Quilter's Complete Guide" is a definitive instructional guide takes aspiring quilters from the basics of choosing and cutting fabric to placing the finishing touches on their handmade quilts. The "Quilter's Complete Guide" is comprised of hundreds of full-color photos, charts, and diagrams accompany lessons on quilting styles (hand, machine, trapunto, and applique) and instructions for assembly, plus a wealth of patterns and sewing tips.

The first section, the Quiltmaking Primer, covers not only the basics but also the principles of simple pattern drafting, quilt planning, settings, and edge finishes, plus quick-cutting and quick-piecing methods. Clear, precise instructions explain techniques. This section includes a brief history of the craft, a description of tools and supplies, and a discussion of fabric and color.

The second section, Beyond Basic Quiltmaking, features special approaches for more challenging patterns. A chapter on borders, settings, and sashing treatments explains how to transform a simple pattern into an extraordinary quilt. Final chapters provide advice on the display, care, and collecting of quilts, along with a glossary of terms.

Critique: Profusely illustrated throughout and thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, the "Quilter's Complete Guide" fully lives up to the promise of its title and is an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to community library needlecraft collections in general, and personal quilting instructional reference lists in particular.

Editorial Note: Marianne Fons and Liz Porter met in a beginners' quilting class in Winterset, Iowa, in 1976. After the class, they started a quilters' club, and as they learned skills together, people asked them to provide workshops on how to quilt. They've always worked together to teach their classes to boost their confidence, especially early on when they were just learning themselves. Together, they've written more than two dozen books over the years, and Quilter's Complete Guide is one of their most successful. They continue to write and teach, traveling the world to workshops and quilting symposiums.

Exploring Your Artistic Voice in Contemporary Quilt Art
Sandra Sider
www.sandrasider.com
Schiffer Publishing Ltd.
4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310
www.schifferbooks.com
9780764358876, $16.99, PB, 112pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "Exploring Your Artistic Voice in Contemporary Quilt Art" by quilting expert Sandra Sider is a compact guide will make a huge impact on how aspiring quilters choose to express themselves in their quilt art.

Any quilt maker or artist at any level of needle crafting skill can develop their own unique artistic voice, see their work mature, and become confident and happy with what they are doing in the studio as Sandra Sider provides instructional support and insight through the photos of dozens of her own quilt design successes and failures as examples to learn from. Even blind alleys, detours, and the road not taken can lead to developing one's voice as a quilt artist -- indeed, as any sort of creative maker.

The topics covered in "Exploring Your Artistic Voice in Contemporary Quilt Art" include how to write a powerful artist's statement, when to stop experimenting, and using the quilt maker's 'voice' once they own it.

Critique: Beautifully and profusely illustrated throughout, "Exploring Your Artistic Voice in Contemporary Quilt Art" is an extraordinarily insightful, impressively informative, and exceptionally inspiring read that is unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists, as well as both community and academic library Needlecraft collections in general, and Quilting instructional reference lists in particular.

Editorial Note: Sandra Sider is the editor of Art Quilt Quarterly and is curator of the Texas Quilt Museum. A past president of Studio Art Quilt Associates, Sider has written or edited more than a dozen books concerning contemporary quilt art. She can be visited at her website -- www.sandrasider.com

Cute Crocheted Wild Animals
Emma Varnam
The GMC Group
www.gmcbooks.com
9781784945480, $19.95, PB, 128pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Crocheted animals may be wild but they can be very well-dressed. "Cute Crocheted Wild Animals" is comprised of ten adorable crocheted chums that have enviable wardrobes to mix and match. The five pairs of animals - pandas, lions, zebras, elephants and monkeys - all have distinctive personalities and gorgeous outfits. All the clothes can fit all of the animals, so there is lots of fun to be had dressing them up. Each project is beautifully photographed and includes clear patterns and guidance. There is also a techniques section that gives clear instructions on all the skills you'll need to make the animals and their outfits.

Critique: Profusely illustrated throughout and with each individual pattern presented in throughly 'user friendly' step-by-step instructions, "Cute Crocheted Wild Animals" will enable even the most novice of needlecrafters to create delightfully popular creations making it an immediate and enduringly popular addition to personal, professional, and community library collections.

Editorial Note: Residing in Manchester, UK, Emma Varnam is inspired by the imagination of children and enjoys making items that bring a smile. She has written a number of popular crochet books including Granny Squares Home, Crocheted Keyrings & Charms, Cute Crocheted Animals and How to Crochet -- all of which are published by GMC Publications.


The Pets/Wildlife Shelf

Dancing with Bees: A Journey Back to Nature
Brigit Strawbridge Howard
Chelsea Green Publishing Company
85 North Main Street, Suite 120, White River Junction, VT 05001
www.chelseagreen.com
9781603588485, $24.95, HC, 304pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Brigit Strawbridge Howard was shocked the day she realised she knew more about the French Revolution than she did about her native trees. And birds. And wildflowers. And bees. The thought and realization stopped her (quite literally) in her tracks. But that day was also the start of a journey, one filled with silver birches and hairy-footed flower bees, skylarks, and rosebay willow herb, and the joy that comes with deepening one's relationship with place.

"Dancing with Bees: A Journey Back to Nature is her charming and eloquent account of a return to noticing, to rediscovering a perspective on the world that had somehow been lost to her for decades and to reconnecting with the natural world. With special care and attention to the plight of pollinators, including honeybees, bumblebees, and solitary bees, and what we can do to help them, "Dancing with Bees" shares fascinating details of the lives of flora and fauna that have filled her days with ever-increasing wonder and delight.

Critique: Enhanced for academia with the inclusion of an informative introduction (The Honey Trap), a two page listing of the illustrations, a four page selected bibliography, and a seventeen page index, "Dancing with Bees: A Journey Back to Nature" is an extraordinary and impressively informative study that is an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Entomology and Sustainable Agriculture collections and supplemental studies reading lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Dancing with Bees" is also available in a paperback edition (9781603589864, $14.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.99).

Editorial Note: Brigit Strawbridge Howard is a bee advocate, wildlife gardener and naturalist. She writes, speaks, and campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of native wild bees and other pollinating insects.


The Music Shelf

The Paul McCartney Catalog
Ted Montgomery
McFarland & Company
PO Box 611, Jefferson NC 28640
https://mcfarlandbooks.com
9781476676449, $35.00, PB, 216pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "The Paul McCartney Catalog: A Complete Annotated Discography of Solo Works, 1967-2019" is complete discography of Paul McCartney's solo and other post-Beatles work. A detailed and documented examination of McCartney's entire catalog, it covers both his studio and his live albums and compilations, including the trance, electronic, classical and cover albums and selected bootleg recordings; all of the singles; videos and DVDs; and the 15 radio shows he made as Oobu Joobu. Each song is reviewed in depth, providing a wealth of information for both dedicated McCartney fans and those just discovering his music.

Critique: Simply stated, no personal, professional, community, or academic library Musicology collection can be considered to be either comprehensive or complete without the inclusion of a copy of "The Paul McCartney Catalog: A Complete Annotated Discography of Solo Works, 1967-2019".


The Automotive Shelf

The London Volvo B9TL & B5LH
Matthew Wharmby
Pen & Sword Books
c/o Casemate (distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
9781526749635, $60.00, HC, 192pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: After the successful six-year production run of its B7TL low-floor double-decker had been curtailed in London by increasing noise problems, Volvo developed a leaner and quieter update which it dubbed the B9TL, and orders resumed in strength. As diesel-engine buses gradually gave way to battery-hybrid technology at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, Volvo unveiled the B5LH hybrid to immediate acclaim and even healthier London sales. With most Transport for London contracted bus companies operating Volvo B9TLs and/or B5LHs, bodied by Wrightbus, Alexander Dennis or MCV, "The London Volvo B9TL & B5LH" by Matthew Wharmby (an author, photographer and editor who specializes in London bus history) provides a comprehensive account of the first ten years of one of London's newest double-deck bus types, whose career will span the rest of the 2010s and well into the next decade.

Critique: Profusely illustrated with full color photography throughout, "The London Volvo B9TL & B5LH" is an impressively informative and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Automotive History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, automotive history enthusiasts, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The London Volvo B9TL & B5LH" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $24.99).

Electric Trucks
Kevin Desmond
McFarland & Company
PO Box 611, Jefferson NC 28640
https://mcfarlandbooks.com
9781476676159, $45.00, PB, 269pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Welcomed at end of the 19th century as the solution to the severe problem of horse manure in city streets, electric trucks soon became the norm for short-haul commercial deliveries. Though reliable, they were gradually replaced by gasoline-powered trucks for long-haul deliveries -- although a fleet of electric milk trucks survived in Great Britain into the 1960s.

Industrial electric vehicles never completely disappeared from factories and ports. During the past decade, with the availability of the lithium-ion battery, the electric truck is now back on the road for all payloads and all distances. The fourth in a series covering the history and future of electric transport, "Electric Trucks: A History of Delivery Vehicles, Semis, Forklifts and Others" by Kevin Desmond informatively chronicles the work of the innovative engineers who perfected e-trucks large and small.

Critique: Nicely illustrated with black-and-white photography, "Electric Trucks: A History of Delivery Vehicles, Semis, Forklifts and Others" is a unique and extraordinarily informative study and one that is especially and unreservedly recommended for the personal reading lists of automotive history buffs, as well as community, college, and university library History of Transportation collections and supplemental curriculum studies.

Editorial Note: Kevin Desmond is a technology historian and biographer who lives near Bordeaux in southern France. Since 1976, he has published 33 books and 300-plus articles on the men and women innovators, often forgotten, behind the progress of transport and related subjects.

Fox Body Mustang Restoration 1979-1993
Jim Smart
CarTech Inc.
838 Lake Street South. Forest Lake, MN 55025
www.cartechbooks.com
9781613254363, $34.95, PB, 192pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Forty years after its introduction, the Fox Body Mustang continues to be one of the most popular makes, and "Fox Body Mustang Restoration 1979-1993" by Jim Smart deftly chronicles all the best procedures for restoring these affordable yet appreciating classics!

In this new Restoration series title from CarTech, all the procedures and best practices for restoring a Fox Body Mustang is covered. Individual chapter subjects include a history of the cars, tools and equipment required, body repair, interior refurbishment, the climate control system, wheels, engine and driveline rebuilding, electrical troubleshooting and repair, and finally a large index of Fox Mustang facts, including paint codes, production numbers, option codes, data plate decoding, and more.

Critique: Comprehensive, detailed, and throughly 'user friendly in organization and presentation, "Fox Body Mustang Restoration 1979-1993" is a impressive restoration guide and manual expertly presented in a full-color instructional format for anyone considering a full-blown restoration, or would just like some good advice on how to repair certain sections of their car, making it an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, and community library American Automotive collections in general, and Fox Body Mustang owners in particular.

Editorial Note: Jim Smart is a veteran automotive journalist, contributing to just about every Mustang and Ford magazine ever published. Over the decades, Jim has had hundreds of how-to and feature articles on Fords and Mustang published. Jim is also an dedicated cart enthusiast, and he has been the owner and restorer of multiple enthusiast vehicles including various Mustangs.


The Gardening Shelf

Garden Alchemy
Stephanie Rose
Cool Springs Press
c/o Quarto Publishing Group USA
400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401-1722
www.quartoknows.com
9780760367094, $22.99, PB, 128pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Comprised of 80 Recipes and concoctions for organic fertilizers, plant elixirs, potting mixes, pest deterrents, and more, "Garden Alchemy" by Stephanie Rose is combination of a gardening recipe and a gardening project book that is packed from cover to cover with ideas to naturally beautify a garden using organic methods that regenerate soil and revitalize plants. By following the processes that are closest to nature, it brings the aspiring family gardeners in sync with the gardens by allowing plants to thrive with less effort and less cost.

Recipes for mixing your own potting soils and homemade, organic fertilizers give gardeners the freedom to choose what ingredients make their way into their gardens. "Garden Alchemy" features step-by-step instructions for building a compost pile, concocting soil tests, and constructing inexpensive DIY seed-starting equipment are accompanied by gorgeous, full-color, step-by-step photography. There are also easy to make and effective recipes for natural pest deterrents and traps, garden teas, and growth-boosting foliar sprays to help your garden grow strong all season long.

The dozens of recipes and projects include: Homemade seed bombs, disks, and tapes; Granular and liquid natural fertilizer recipes; DIY rooting hormone; Herbal anti-fungal spray; Plant propagation instructions; Soil care recipes to adjust the pH and manage fertility; 13 specialty potting mixes; and 7 clever traps for common garden pests.

Critique: An ideal, impressive comprehensive, deftly organized, and expertly presented instructional guide and manual, "Garden Alchemy" is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library gardening reference collections and supplemental studies reading lists.

Editorial Note: Stephanie Rose is an award-winning author, freelance writer, instructor, and international speaker who aims to encourage better living through plants. As a long-time student and teacher of organic gardening, permaculture design, herbalism, and natural skin care formulation, she enjoys inspiring others to learn how to grow and use plants, with a focus on regenerative practices that are green, healthy, and natural. She is a member of Garden Communicators International, the Permaculture Institute of North America, the International Herb Association, and volunteers to develop children's gardens as a Vancouver Master Gardener. She shares stories, recipes, and projects on her inspiring website at www.GardenTherapy.ca.

Native Plants for Florida Gardens
Stacey Matrazzo & Nancy Bissett
Pineapple Press, Inc.
www.pineapplepress.com
c/o Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group
4501 Forbes Blvd., Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706
www.rowman.com
9781493043781, $21.95, PB, 232pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: The state of Florida is home to an entire library of native plants that evolved to thrive in its range of climate regions. "Native Plants for Florida Gardens" profiles 100 Florida native wild flowers, shrubs, vines and trees that can transform typical Florida landscapes. Striking color photography showcases each showcased species and flowering characteristics. With the expertise of the Florida Wildlife Foundation, anyone can create lovely, low-maintenance gardens that will tolerate Florida's roughest conditions, resist disease, and support biodiversity with the information comprising "Native Plants for Florida Gardens

Critique: Impressively 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "Native Plants for Florida Gardens" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Gardening & Horticultural instructional reference collections. It should be noted for gardening enthusiasts that "Native Plants for Florida Gardens" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $16.39).

Editorial Note: Nancy Bissett is a Florida Wildlife Foundation board member and horticulturist, restoration ecologist, and botanist with The Natives Inc., where she experiments with the propagation and growth of native plants including grasses, wildflowers and rare species.

Florida Master Naturalist Stacey Matrazzo joined the Florida Wildflower Foundation staff in 2015. She is an environmental educator and adjunct professor at Rollins College, Winter Park. A native Floridian, she spends much of her free time kayaking, hiking, birding and photographing Florida's amazing natural environments.

The Florida Wildflower Foundation is the national advocate for Florida's native wildflower species, many of which occur throughout the southeast. Through education, research and planting/conservation programs, FWF nurtures the awareness, understanding and enjoyment of native wildflowers and plants through school gardens, field trips, community planting projects, events, a roadside protection program, active partnerships, and publications.


The Audiobook Shelf

This Won't End Well
Camille Pagan, author
Performed by Amy McFadden
camillepagan.com
Brilliance Corporation
www.brillianceaudio.com
9781799726845 $34.99 amazon.com

Synopsis: No new people: that's Annie Mercer's vow. It's bad enough that her boss sabotaged her chemistry career and her best friend tried to cure her with crystals. But after her fiance, Jon, asks for space while he's gallivanting around Paris, Annie decides she needs space too - from everyone.

Yet when Harper moves in next door, Annie can't help but train a watchful eye on the glamorous but fragile young woman. And if keeping Harper safe requires teaming up with Mo, a maddeningly optimistic amateur detective, who is she to mind her own business?

Soon Annie has let not one but two new people into her life. Then Jon reappears - and he wants her to join him in France. She's pretty sure letting anyone get close won't end well. So she must decide: Is another shot at happiness worth the risk?

Critique: Now available as an unabridged audiobook on CD, This Won't End Well is a wry, dryly delightful novel about a woman who has been emotionally burned just a few too many times. Annie Mercer is convinced that letting anyone get too close to her, whether as a friend or something more, won't end well. At the same time, she can't help but feel intrigued by the perilous dilemma of her glamorous new neighbor Harper, even joining forces with a bizarrely upbeat amateur detective to help keep Harper safe. Then Annie Mercer's ex-fiance reappears in her life. Is the pursuit of happiness truly worth the risk of letting one's internal fences down? Engagingly brought to life by Amy McFadden's masterful performance, This Won't End Well is a choice pick for personal and public library audiobook collections. 6 discs, 7 hours and 37 min.

Been There, Married That: A Novel
Gigi Levangie, author
Read by Amy McFadden
Macmillan Audio
www.macmillanaudio.com
9781250260345 $39.99 CD / $26.99 digital amazon.com

Synopsis: In a world where therapist look like the Real Housewives of Equinox, where friends dispense Xanax like Pez, and where a woman's status is directly linked to the how few carbs she eats...can one Hollywood wife take back her life?

Agnes Murphy Nash is in big trouble. When she returns home one evening only to find the locks changed on the gates of their mansion, the security guard breaks the news: her famous producer husband has filed for divorce. And he's not going to play fair. Trevor Nash wants custody of their tween daughter, Pep, but only for the sake of appearances. And Agnes can't let him win. With the help of her ex-con sister, a Hollywood psychic, a ballsy female lawyer, and a host of friends and "frenemies," Agnes realizes that when he changes the locks, she needs to change the rules. But a crisis can lead to opportunity, and for Agnes, this gigantic betrayal brings her to a crossroads that will have her asking herself what she really wants out of life, who she really wants to be, and which man she really loves.

Told with Gigi Levangie's sparkling dialogue and wit, Been There, Married That is a drop-dead hilarious battle of wills that will make you laugh out loud, cringe, and keep turning the pages to see what crazy disaster will happen to Agnes next...and how she'll rise from the ashes.

Critique: Now available as an unabridged audiobook on CD, Been There, Married That: A Novel is a tongue-in-cheek novel about the excesses of Hollywood domestic life among the allegedly glamorous. Agnes Murphy Nash thought she was the perfect Hollywood wife, until her wealthy husband abruptly decides to push her out of his life - along with cancelling her credit cards, locking her out of their lavish home, and assigning a guard to tase her if she tries to enter! Agnes might lose her husband, but can she retrieve her five-star lifestyle? Vivaciously witty from beginning to end, Been There, Married That brought to sharp-tongued life by Amy McFadden's stellar performance. Highly recommended! 8 CDs, 10 hours. It should be noted that Been There, Married That is also available as a digital audiobook ($26.99).

The Vineyards of Champagne
Juliet Blackwell, author
Xe Sands, narrator
Tantor Media, Inc.
6 Business Park Road, Old Saybrook, CT 06475
https://tantor.com/new-releases.html
9781977360724, $29.99, CD, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Beneath the cover of France's most exquisite vineyards, a city of women and children defy an army during World War I in Juliet Blackwell's "The Vineyards of Champagne". Forced to take shelter from the unrelenting onslaught of German shellfire above, the bravest and most defiant women venture out to pluck sweet grapes for the harvest. But wine is not the only secret preserved in the cool, dark cellars!

In present day, Rosalyn Acosta travels to Champagne to select vintages for her Napa-based employer. Rosalyn doesn't much care for champagne-or France, for that matter. Since the untimely death of her young husband, Rosalyn finds it a challenge to enjoy anything at all. But as she reads through a precious cache of World War I letters and retraces the lives lived in the limestone tunnels, Rosalyn will unravel a mystery hidden for decades -- and find a way to savor her own life again.

Critique: A flawless produced, complete and unabridged audio book edition of Juliet Blackwell's deftly crafted novel, "The Vineyards of Champagne" is an exceptionally riveting and expertly narrated performance from beginning to end by Xe Sands, making it an especially welcome and highly recommended addition to personal and community library audio book collections. (9 CDs, 11 Hours).

Careless Whiskers
Miranda James, author
Erin Bennett, narrator
Tantor Media, Inc.
6 Business Park Road, Old Saybrook, CT 06475
https://tantor.com/new-releases.html
9781977364203, $29.99, CD, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Charlie Harris has sworn off investigating murder and mayhem after a recent close call. Instead, he's delighted to cheer on his daughter, Laura, who's starring in a production of Careless Whispers. The theater department at Athena College is debuting the play written by a fledgling playwright with local connections and Charlie's son-in-law, Frank Salisbury, will be calling the directorial shots.

Laura is upset to learn that Luke Lombardi, an overbearing actor she knew from her time in Hollywood will also be taking part in the production as a guest artist. Lombardi arrives with an entourage in tow and promptly proceeds to annoy everyone involved with the production. When he collapses and dies on stage, after drinking from a glass Laura handed him, she becomes the chief suspect in his murder.

Charlie knows his daughter is innocent, and he's not going to let anyone railroad his little girl. So, despite his intentions to put his amateur sleuthing days behind him, Charlie has to take center stage, and with Diesel's help, shine a spotlight on the real killer.

Critique: Deftly and expertly narrated by Erin Bennett, this complete and unabridged audio book edition of Miranda James thoroughly engaging mystery novel, "Careless Whiskers" from Tantor Media will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to personal and community library audio book collections. (7 CDs, 8 Hours).


The Music CD Shelf

Watershed
John Stein
Whaling City Sound
www.whalingcitysound.com
c/o Naxos (distribution)
www.naxosusa.com
$16.99 CD / $8.99 MP3 amazon.com

Guitarist John Stein and his band presents Watershed, a jazz guitar music album on CD performed with intense, fervent emotion. The songs run a creative gamut of styles and tempos, yet share a passionate core that is the joy of creative performance. Watershed is a treasure for connoisseurs of the genre, and also makes an excellent gift. The tracks are "Rio Escuro", "Kobe", "Taste of Honey", "Brazilian Hug", "Mystified", "Wally", "The Kicker", "Waltz New", "Cisco", "Dreamsville", "Charlotte", and "The Hang".

As We Go Wandering
Possessed by Paul James
Privately Published
$17.98 CD / $9.49 MP3 amazon.com

As We Go Wandering is a new roots album by Possessed by Paul James (the stage name of music artists Konrad Wert). A passionate collection of songs created around the theme of forging a path forward, As We Go Wandering calls to the drive to make the world a better place, to work for peace and justice. Intensely motivational and performed with passion, As We Go Wandering is a choice pick for both personal and public library music collections, highly recommended. The tracks are "Come Back In My Mind", "In the Dark of Morning", "Your White Stained Dress", "I'm So Good At Absolutely Nothing", "I Come From SW Florida", "Be At Rest", "When It Breaks", "Dance With Me Tonight", "Don't Tell Me", "I Didn't Know You When", "Asleep With Both Eyes Open", and "As We Go Wandering".

Impressions
Shoshana Michel
www.shoshanamusic.com
Privately Published
$TBA CD / $9.49 MP3 amazon.com

Impressions is a new age solo piano album of original compositions by music artist Shoshana Michel, crafted around the themes of reflection and inspiration. The smooth, graceful, flowing music calls to creativity and a heightened sense of discovery within the listener. Impressions is a choice pick for connoisseurs of the genre, highly recommended. The tracks are "Imagination", "Dancing in the Shadows", "Quietly, Gently, Peacefully", "Loneliness", "Joyful Moments", "Pierrot", "Prelude in E Minor", "In My Dreams", "Nocturne in E Flat", "Summer into Fall", "Yearning", "Elegy", and "Long Ago and Far Away". 53 min. 44 sec.


The DVD Shelf

In Full Bloom: Transcending Gender
A film by Michael Brewer
First Run Features
$24.95 firstrunfeatures.com

In Full Bloom: Transcending Gender is a documentary film following thirteen transgender actors and two gay actors as they engage in monologue, dialogue, and performance art while preparing for the world premiere of an original stage play. In addition to behind-the-scenes, rehearsal, and performance footage, In Full Bloom has a wealth of personal interviews with the cast, who speak openly about issues of sexual identity and orientation, dealing with family, discrimination, surgery, hormones, and much more. Riveting, intensely personal, and offering an unforgettable glimpse into the challenges that transgender people face, In Full Bloom: Transcending Gender is a "must" for LGBT studies collections, highly recommended. 90 min.


The Education Shelf

The Best Value Colleges: 13th Edition
Robert Franek
The Princeton Review
c/o Random House Inc.
1745 Broadway, New York NY 10019
www.PrincetonReview.com
9780525569268, $12.99, PB, 336pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: College is a major financial investment and one that too many students and their families enter into blindly. The Princeton Review eases that uncertainty with this fully updated and expanded edition of "The Best Value Colleges", a guide to colleges and universities where students get the best return on their tuition investment.

"The Best Value Colleges" includes: Profiles of 75 top-value picks of schools that offer fantastic value, chosen based on 40+ data points, including academics, cost of attendance, financial aid, and post-grad salary figures; Online access to the full profiles for an additional 125 high value schools; Lists covering schools with the Best Alumni Network, Best Career Placement, Top Financial Aid, and more; Starting and mid-career salary information for graduates of each school; Percentages of alumni who report having "meaningful jobs," and who majored in science/technology/engineering/math (STEM) fields, and a great deal more!

Critique: An invaluable reference for students and their families seeking to obtain maximum value for the tuition dollar, this newly revised thirteenth edition of "The Best Values Colleges" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, highschool counselor, and community library College Guide reference collections.

Editorial Note: The experts at The Princeton Review have been helping students, parents, and educators achieve the best results at every stage of the education process since 1981. The Princeton Review has helped millions succeed on standardized tests, and also provides expert advice and instruction to help parents, teachers, students, and schools navigate the complexities of school admissions. They offer classroom courses in 41 states and 21 countries, online and school-based courses, and one-to-one and small group tutoring.

Teaching Drama in the Classroom
Jeana Whitaker
Smith & Kraus Publishers
177 Lyme Road, Lyme NH 03755-6610
www.smithandkraus.com
9781575259390, $19.95, PB, 307pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: The purpose of "Teaching Drama in the Classroom, A Handbook of Lessons for Middle & High School Students" by award-winning actor, director and educator Jeana Whitaker is to help all of those classroom teachers who are tasked with teaching a beginning drama class and looking for a solid place to start.

"Teaching Drama in the Classroom" is a complete curriculum for a one year course that includes step-by-step instructions, activities, lessons assessments and grading rubrics. Also covered are: Basic Stage Knowledge, Mime vs. Pantomime, Jobs in Theatre, Improvisation, Vocal Interpretation, Shakespeare Performance, Monologue Performance, and more.

Critique: Impressively comprehensive, expertly organized, and thoroughly 'user friendly' in presentation, "Teaching Drama in the Classroom, A Handbook of Lessons for Middle & High School Students" is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, college, and university library Teacher Education collections in general, and Drama Class curriculum supplemental studies lists in particular.


The Cookbook Shelf

The Pastry School
Julie Jones
Kyle Books
c/o Octopus Publishing
236 Park Avenue, New York NY 10017
http://www.kylebooks.com
9780857837806, $39.99, HC, 208pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Julie Jones is renowned for her highly decorative bakes packed with bold layers of flavor and texture. She is leading the pastry revival, believing that with a bit of patience and a love for food, anyone can create delicious, beautiful bakes.

In her new cookbook, "The Pastry School: Master Sweet and Savoury Pies, Tarts and Pastries at Home", she includes a comprehensive Pastry Recipes & Methods section guides aspiring home bakers through 10 different types of pastry with step-by-step instructions. These include loved classics such as Shortcrust and Hot Water, as well as a versatile Vegan and Gluten-free, that can be swapped in or out of recipes with a helpful Alternative Pastry Key.

Additional chapters include Fruit, Cream & Cheese, Nuts, Vegetables, Meat & Fish and Crunch & Crumb, featuring more than 50 sweet and savory recipes ranging from a crowd-pleasing Vegetable Patch(work) Tart to stunning Vanilla Slices.

Critique; Profusely and beautifully illustrated throughout with full color photography, and thoroughly 'kitchen cook friendly' in organization and presentation, "The Pastry School: Master Sweet and Savoury Pies, Tarts and Pastries at Home" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, and community library cookbook collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Pastry School" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $17.99).

Editorial Note: Julie Jones has been recognised as one of the UK's most influential bakers thanks to her unique, beautiful pastry creations and her highly creative approach to flavor and decoration. She trained as a chef aged 30 and spent time in a Michelin-starred kitchen honing her skills. After her mother developed dementia she began baking with her and set up an Instagram feed as a means of documenting her beautiful bakes. With more than 113k followers and an Observer Food Monthly Best Instagram Feed award in 2018, Julie's supper clubs always sell out.

The Homestead Canning Cookbook
Georgia Varozza
Harvest House Publishers
PO Box 41210, Eugene, OR 97404-0322
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
9780736978941, $24.99, PB, 208pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: With simple, safe, methodical instructions from certified master food preserver Georgia Varozza and featuring more than 150 delicious, nutritious, homemade recipes, as well as practical advice for creating a sustainable lifestyle, "The Homestead Canning Cookbook" shows even the most novice of kitchen cooks and canners can preserved their favorite foods. Showcased are all the basics, including how to fit the process into a busy life, the equipment needed, and step-by-step instructions for both water-bath and pressure canning.

With "The Homestead Canning Cookbook" anyone can now enjoy wholesome recipes for canning fruit, vegetables, meat, soups, sauces, and so much more. They can also save money by preserving their own food and gain valuable peace of mind by knowing exactly what's going into the meals they are serving to their families and friends.

Critique: Beautifully illustrated and thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "The Homestead Canning Cookbook" is an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to personal and community library cookbook collections. It should be noted that "The Homestead Canning Cookbook" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.49).

Editorial Note: Georgia Varozza, is the author of the popular Homestyle Amish Kitchen Cookbook and enjoys teaching people how to prepare and preserve healthy foods, live simply, and get the most from what they have. She works in publishing, lives in a small Oregon community, and can be found at www.georgiaplainandsimple.blogspot.com

Essential Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet Cookbook
Molly Devine, RD
Rockridge Press
9781641526807, $16.99, PB, 212pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: The Mediterranean diet has long been revered as one of the healthiest ways to eat, but what it could be made even better with the compendium of recipes that comprise "The Essential Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet Cookbook". Registered dietician Molly Devine combines the heart-healthy and fiber-rich foods and healthy lifestyle habits of the Mediterranean diet with the low-carb, moderate-protein, and high-fat ratios of the ketogenic diet. The result is a nutritious, delicious, and powerhouse combination diet that will help anyone lose weight, improve their cardiac and gut health, and simply feel more energized.

"The Essential Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet Cookbook" deftly outlines the hows and whys of the diet in detail and provides two weeks of meal plans to get you started. Featured are 100 delicious recipes like Greek Egg and Tomato Scramble and Braised Short Ribs with Red Wine, the dishes also use everyday ingredients to set up a sustainable, long-term culinary and dietary success.

Critique: Comprehensive and expertly organized, "Essential Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet Cookbook: 100 Low-Carb, Heart-Healthy Recipes for Lasting Weight Loss" will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to personal, professional, and community library cookbook collections. It should be noted that Molly Devine's "Essential Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet Cookbook" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $6.99).

Editorial Note: Molly Devine is a registered dietitian who specializes in integrative and functional nutrition. She serves as the director of nutrition at a medical foods company offering therapeutic ketogenic products and is the founder of Eat Your Keto, a nutrition counseling and individualized meal-planning service focusing on customized whole-foods-based diets for disease prevention and management.

Candy Making for Beginners
Karen Neugebauer
Rockridge Press
9781646110407, $16.99, PB, 146pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "Candy Making for Beginners: Easy Recipes for Homemade Caramels, Gummies, Lollipops and More" is the ideal candy cookbook for novice candy makers because it shows, step-by-step, just how easy and fun it can be to make sweet treats that everyone will love.

Filled with expert guidance for those just starting out on their confectionary journey, "Candy Making for Beginners" is a candy cookbook that will have kitchen cooks fixing up dozens of delightful delicacies in no time and creating everything from fudge and honey caramels to sour gummy worms and peppermint patties.

Meant especially for brand-new confectioners who don't own specialized equipment, "Candy Making for Beginners" includes thoroughly 'user friendly' recipes for all kinds of tasty treats to fill a candy bowl with a variety of sumptuous sweets that are perfect for every taste and occasion.

Critique: Also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $6.99), and featuring occasional color photographs, "Candy Making for Beginners: Easy Recipes for Homemade Caramels, Gummies, Lollipops and More" is a unique and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, and community library cookbook collections.

Editorial Note: Karen Neugebauer is the owner and Master Chocolatier of Forte Chocolates. She is ranked one of the top 10 chocolatiers in the world by the International Chocalate Awards and consults for the bean-to-bar craft chocolate industry in the Unites States and Brazil. Those interested can learn more at www.fortechocolates.com and follow her on Instagram @fortechocolates.


The Art Shelf

The Complete Guide to Drawing for Beginners
Yoshiko Ogura
Tuttle
www.tuttlepublishing.com
9784805315767 $16.99 pbk / $9.99 Kindle amazon.com

Synopsis: In The Complete Guide to Drawing for Beginners, experienced art instructor Yoshiko Ogura explains the basics of pencil drawing through a series of lessons that provide insights on artistic composition, simulating highlights and shadows, depicting realistic forms, rendering texture and creating a sense of depth in your artwork. At the beginning of the book, she provides you with all the information you need to get started - what materials to buy, how to prepare your work surface, pencils and erasers - even how to sit correctly when drawing.

Once you know these, Ogura provides a series of easy and clear step-by-step lessons showing you how to draw simple objects while gaining an understanding of the essential concepts of perspective, how to convey hard and soft surfaces and textures, composition and balance. From here, you progress to more complex shapes and objects including landscapes and portraits of people and animals, as she explains all the additional concepts needed to draw these realistically.

This book teaches you how to draw the following interesting subjects:
Simple forms (an apple, a milk carton, an egg, a mug)
Hard & soft surfaces (a cloth, a loaf of bread, a stone, a book)
Transparent objects (water droplets, a glass)
Complex objects (a pumpkin slice with seeds and pulp, a sunflower)
Human figures (hands, portraits)
Landscape (trees, buildings)
Animals (a cat, a parakeet)
Still life (fruit, flowers)
Plus, many other inspirational examples and ideas!

By the end, all your drawings will begin to look impressively polished and realistic! As you work through the lessons, you'll master all the skills and knowledge that seasoned artists demonstrate in their work.

Critique: The Complete Guide to Drawing for Beginners: 21 Step-by-Step Lessons lives up to its title as a user-friendly guide learning the basics of drawing. Over 450 illustrations, some in black and white and some in color, help demonstrate basic techniques for drawing with pencils and a kneaded eraser. The Complete Guide to Drawing for Beginners is enthusiastically recommended for anyone with an interest in drawing, whether as a hobby or as the first step toward an art- related profession. It should be noted that The Complete Guide to Drawing for Beginners is also available in a Kindle edition ($9.99).

Drawing Dynamic Manga Characters
Tomomi Mizuna and Junka Morozumi
Tuttle
www.tuttlepublishing.com
9784805315712 $14.99 pbk / $9.99 Kindle amazon.com

Synopsis: This volume builds on the proven three-step technique presented in the companion volume, Drawing Basic Characters. Here, the reader works not from a traced drawing but from original outlines, which they create themselves.

Experienced manga artists Junka Morozumi and Tomomi Mizuna are your guides to the dazzling world of lifelike and expressive manga characters who literally leap off the page. Through expert tips and richly-illustrated, step-by-step tutorials, they help you to build your skills and confidence at the same time.

Their focus is on creating a dynamic body pose and face for each character and illustration. First you are shown how to sketch a well-proportioned outline, then how to fill in supporting details - powerful dramatic expressions, clothing and actions. Bold examples portray an array of body types and faces, each capturing a different mood or action sequence.

Whether your character has just won a major victory and is leaping into the air in triumph, or you want to draw the subtlety of a forlorn expression, this book will allow you to capture it. No matter what story you're telling, Drawing Dynamic Manga Characters shows you how the pros do it.

Critique: Drawing Dynamic Manga Characters lives up to its title as a guide to drawing characters in the style of Japanese manga and anime, with an emphasis on bringing actions and poses in motion to life. Over 450 sketches and full-color drawings illustrate how to bring a variety of facial expressions, activities, and emotional moments to life on the page, as well as how changing the viewpoint angle can affect the final picture. Drawing Dynamic Manga Characters is a "must-have" for anyone with an interest in creating manga-style art, whether as a hobby or a profession. Highly recommended! It should be noted for personal reference lists that Drawing Dynamic Manga Characters is also available in a Kindle edition ($9.99).

Drawing Fantastic Female Fighters
Hisashi Kagawa and Yoshihiko Umakoshi
Tuttle
www.tuttlepublishing.com
9784805315842 $19.99 pbk / $18.99 Kindle amazon.com

Synopsis: Join Hisashi Kagawa, an animation director for Sailor Moon, and Yoshihiko Umakoshi, a character developer for My Hero Academia, as they show you how to bring your battle heroines boldly to life.

Helpful sidebars and tips appear in dialogue bubbles throughout this book, as the artists guide aspiring illustrators from initial idea to finished artworks, pointing out common missteps and pitfalls that can easily frustrate beginning artists along the way.

The essential techniques and design elements needed to create engaging female-led battle scenes are first reviewed in detail. Then each author walks the reader through their entire creative process of developing an original story from beginning to end.

Along the way the authors give you hundreds of helpful tips on how to create compelling characters and render realistic expressions and poses, showing you how practiced professionals work. Starting from a storyboard sequence of simple sketches you'll progress to a polished finished drawing.

By learning from two artists with different styles at the same time, readers get twice the advice and emerge doubly prepared to create scenes, stories and battle heroines of their own.

Critique: Featuring over 1200 illustrations, Drawing Fantastic Female Fighters: Bringing Fierce Female Characters to Life lives up to its title as an art guide to bringing female characters in the style of Japanese anime and manga to life on the page. The text offers in-depth instructions and advice on everything from expressions and poses to issues specific to women's clothing. Drawing Fantastic Female Fighters is a treasure for anyone interested in creating manga-style art or comics. Highly recommended! It should be noted for personal reference collections that Drawing Fantastic Female Fighters is also available in a Kindle edition ($18.99).

The Complete Book of Textures for Artists
Denise J. Howard, Steven Pearce, Mia Tavonatti
Walter Foster
c/o Quarto Publishing Group USA
400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401-1722
www.quartoknows.com
9781633228702, $19.99, PB, 144pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: After an introduction to the basic tools and materials, aspiring artists will discover a variety of drawing and painting techniques, such as hatching, crosshatching, shading, blending, layering, burnishing, and more in "The Complete Book of Textures for Artists". Novice artists will learn just how easy it is to render everything from wood, metals, glass, food, and water to human and animal textures, such as hair, skin, fur, eyes, and more. Each page features easy-to-follow steps demonstrating how to create each specific texture. You will discover tips and techniques for reproducing certain textures in a variety of media, as well as how to create physical textures in your artwork.

"The Complete Book of Textures for Artists" features a wide variety of both traditional and contemporary techniques and is deftly organized into sections based on subject matter and media, with each technique being presented with simple instructions and beautiful examples. Not only will beginning artists learn a variety of techniques, but they will also discover new ideas and inspiration for using the techniques in Their own projects.

Critique: Featuring illustrated step-by-step instructions for mastering more than 275 textures in graphite, charcoal, colored pencil, acrylic, and oil, and Packed from cover to cover with 'user friendly' instructions and plenty of helpful artist tips, "The Complete Book of Textures for Artists" unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library colored pencil, acrylic and oil painting instructional reference collections.

Expressive Sketchbooks
Helen Wells
Quarry
c/o Quarto Publishing Group USA
400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401-1722
www.quartoknows.com
9781631598357, $26.95, PB, 144pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: An expressive sketchbook is a place for aspiring artists to explore, express, and enjoy their own innate creativity on their own terms. It is a safe playground for the imagination, a place to mess about, play, and experiment, and a forum in which to gain confidence in their abilities as they develop their skills.

"Expressive Sketchbooks: Developing Creative Skills, Courage, and Confidence" by professional artist Helen Wells offers techniques and creative exercises that incorporate mark making, watercolor, mixed media, collage, words and text, and more. It unpacks some of the obstacles and barriers that an artist may face along the way and offers wisdom and encouragement to help artists decide why and how to start their own sketchbook and how to develop and expand their artistic practice.

Packed from cover to cover with ideas and exercises, "Expressive Sketchbook" includes: Exploratory drawing exercises; How to utilize color in your sketchbook; How to create dynamic and varied sketchbook pages; How to find inspiration in nature and in your everyday life; Ways to mix media and art supplies; Ways to kickstart your creativity; How to find and develop a process that feels personal to you.

Critique: Profusely illustrated in full color throughout, "Expressive Sketchbook" is an especially useful, thoroughly art student friendly, and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, art school, community library Art/Mixed Media instructional reference collections.

Editorial Note: Helen Wells is an artist from the South Coast of England. Her artworks are intricate and organic and depict illusionary surfaces or landscapes. With multiple layers, fragments, colors, and obsessive decorative details, her ethereal patterned works bring to mind elements of the natural world or magical other-worlds. Her artworks are in private collections all over the world and have featured on numerous products, from book covers to wine bottles. In 2014, she co-won Winsor & Newton's Watercolor Revolution competition which resulted in her painting being displayed in the Saatchi Gallery in London. She has also been featured in magazines and exhibited her work at one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants in London.

Watercolor the Easy Way
Sara Berrenson
Betty Day Books
c/o Schiffer Publishing Ltd.
4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310
www.schifferbooks.com
9780764359828, $24.99, PB, 127pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Sara Berrenson is a painter and illustrator who has professionally collaborated with such brands as West Elm, Pottery Barn Kids, Trader Joe's, and Mattel. In "Watercolor the Easy Way: Step-by-Step Tutorials for 50 Beautiful Motifs Including Plants, Flowers, Animals & More" she draws upon her years of experience and expertise to create an instruction manual and guide to quickly learn the fundamentals of color mixing, brushstrokes, and more.

Features are a selection of 50 stunning pictures to paint and each individual watercolor art project can be completed in just 30 minutes. Ranging from beautiful botanicals and fabulous florals to animals and trendy designs, the projects are approachable, fun, and has something for every style.

Each of the 50 simple tutorials is broken down into key steps so aspiring artists can clearly see how to begin their painting, layer color, and add detail. Also included are hand-drawn patterns that can be traced onto a watercolor pad, along with brush recommendations, helpful tips, and color palettes to try.

Critique: Profusely illustrated throughout, "Watercolor the Easy Way: Step-by-Step Tutorials for 50 Beautiful Motifs Including Plants, Flowers, Animals & More" is an ideal and thoroughly 'user friendly' DIY instruction manual and guide that is unreservedly recommended for personal and community library collections, as well as a school art class curriculum textbook.


The Money/Finance Shelf

Find More Money
Art Rainer
B&H Publishing Group
1 LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234
www.bhpublishinggroup.com
9781535971072, $17.99, PB, 240pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: What do you do when cutting your budget no longer cuts it? From pastors in the pulpit to people in the pews, many people have cut and cut, but still find themselves struggling to pay the bills. Their full-time job is giving them barely enough to get by; how could they even begin to think about eliminating debt, saving, and living generously?

Financial expert and author Art Rainer (The Money Challenge; The Marriage Challenge) helps answer these questions in "Find More Money: Increase Your Income to Tackle Debt, Save Wisely, and Live Generously" by pointing his readers to the reality of the gig economy. When a full-time job doesn't provide what you need, finding a "gig" may be the answer to your financial aspirations and problems.

"Find More Money" is not just about financial stewardship, but about stewarding your talents, time, and abilities -- not so you can get rich, but so you can live generously on mission for the kingdom of God.

Critique: As thoughtfully practical as it is inspired and inspiring, "Find More Money: Increase Your Income to Tackle Debt, Save Wisely, and Live Generously" is especially recommended for the non-specialist general reader struggling with financial realities and aspirations to contribute to the financial stability and well-being of their religious communities and their commitments to make the world a better place for themselves, their families, and their neighbors. While unreservedly recommended for community and church library collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Find More Money: Increase Your Income to Tackle Debt, Save Wisely, and Live Generously" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.99).

Editorial Note: Art Rainer is the Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He holds a Doctor of Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University and an MBA from the University of Kentucky.


The Self-Help Shelf

Decisions
Robert L. Dilenschneider
Citadel Press
c/o Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street, Floor 21, New York, NY 10018-2522
www.kensingtonbooks.com
9780806540528, $16.95, PB, 240pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Sorting out our lives amidst chaos, confusion, and innumerable options is a process we all have in common. The decisions we ultimately make can affect our lives and the lives of others. It's not always easy.

Compiled and presented by Robert L. Dilenschneider (an expert in business strategies) "Decisions: Practical Advice from 23 Men and Women Who Shaped the World" is an empowering guide comprised of the choices of notable, visionary decision-makers ranging from Harry Truman and Henry Ford to Marie Curie and Malala Yousafzai, and collectively explains how anyone can apply their principles to their own personal and professional real-life scenarios.

Resolve, patience, and practical thinking are the hallmarked qualities advocated by successful politicians, scientists, economists, inventors, entrepreneurs, theologians, activists, and commanders of war and peace. Their inspiring counsel will provide the tools needed to help change anyone's life for the better. Both big and small, our choices can shape the minutes, days, weeks, and years ahead. A close and thoughtful read of "Decisions: Practical Advice from 23 Men and Women Who Shaped the World" is the first motivating step in the right direction.

Critique: Inspired and inspiring, "Decisions: Practical Advice from 23 Men and Women Who Shaped the World" is a unique and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Self-Help/Self-Improvement collections. It should be noted for individual reading lists that "Decisions: Practical Advice from 23 Men and Women Who Shaped the World" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).


The Woodworking Shelf

The Lathe Book, third edition
Ernie Conover
www.conoverworkshops.com
The Taunton Press
63 South Main Street, Newtown, CT 06470
www.taunton.com
9781641550116, $29.95, PB, 208pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Now in a completely revised and fully updated third edition, "The Lathe Book: A Complete Guide to the Machine and its Accessories" continue to be the definitive guide to this essential turning machine written by legendary woodturning author, teacher, and lathe designer Ernie Conover. There have been tremendous advances in lathes, accessories, and sharpening equipment in the past few years and now Conover brings his classic reference book completely up-to-date, incorporating with the many recent innovations in the lathe and its accessories.

Profusely illustrated, "The Lathe Book" introduces the novice or professional woodturner to the expanded range of lathes now available, including invaluable information on choosing a lathe. It also features many new chucks for holding work; offers comprehensive advice on selecting turning tools, including the popular carbide-insert tools; outlines the groundbreaking developments in sharpening equipment, emphasizes the importance of full-face shield protection, hearing protection, and dust collection; and includes information on basic lathe maintenance.

Critique: Simply stated, this new third edition of "The Lathe Book: A Complete Guide to the Machine and its Accessories" is an absolutely and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, school wood shop class, and community library Woodworking instructional reference guides and manuals.

Editorial Note: Ernie Conover is a veteran woodworking author with nine books, many videos, and hundreds of articles to his credit. His work has received numerous awards and been the subject of several one-man shows. Ernie lectures widely for clubs, trade show groups, and woodworking stores and is frequently called upon as a consultant and expert witness in the woodworking field. He is also a lathe designer, having developed his own lathe and worked on the designs of the Nova and the Powermatic 3520b. When not writing, lecturing, or consulting he is active in providing academic oversight and teaching at Conover Workshops (www.conoverworkshops.com) -- a craft school founded by the Conover family.


The Sports Shelf

Complete Calisthenics, second edition
Ashley Kalym
North Atlantic Books
2526 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley, CA 94704-2607
www.northatlanticbooks.com
9781623174118, $24.95, PB, 336pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Now in a newly updated and expanded second edition, "Complete Calisthenics: The Ultimate Guide to Bodyweight Exercise" continues to be an essential guide for anyone interested in losing weight, building core strength, and taking their workouts to the next level. Drawing upon his years of experience and expertise, calisthenics trainer Ashley Kalym has designed a comprehensive, easy-to-follow guide to calisthenics using only one's own body weight for resistance. Readers will learn how to execute a wide range of exercises such as push-ups, pull-ups, core development movements, and lower-body routines.

Also included are easy-to-follow instructions for the planche, the front and back lever, handstands, handstand push-ups, muscle-ups, leg training, and other key exercises. "Complete Calisthenics" includes essential information on workout preparation, simple props, nutrition, and an assortment of diverse training routines.

New to this second edition are enhanced muscle-building exercises, instructions for optimal rest and recovery, and an assortment of original recipes. Kalym also includes samples from his personal food diary."Complete Calisthenics" takes readers on a path to creating physical endurance, agility, and power. The book is suitable for every level of athlete, from beginner to experienced.

Critique: Effectively and profusely illustrated throughout with instructive, black-and-white, step- by-step photos, the newly revised second edition of "Complete Calisthenics: The Ultimate Guide to Bodyweight Exercise" is thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, making it ideal as a Physical Education curriculum textbook and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library weight-training collections. It should be noted that "Complete Calisthenics" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $17.99).

Editorial Note: Ashley Kalym played rugby from age eight to eighteen at school and in local and junior professional clubs. He received a degree in biology with forensics and after university began training for the Royal Marines. It was during this time that he was introduced to the value of body weight exercise, eventually training to become a personal trainer and pursuing a career in calisthenics and body weight training.


The Architecture Shelf

Abdelhalim Ibrahim Abdelhalim
James Steele
American University in Cairo Press
420 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10018-2729
www.aucpress.com
9789774168901, $69.95, HC, 194pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Since 1945, the globalization of education and the professionalization of architects and engineers, as well as the conceptualization and production of space, can be seen as a product of battles of legitimacy that were played out in the context of the Cold War and what followed. In "Abdelhalim Ibrahim Abdelhalim: An Architecture of Collective Memory" Professor James Steele provides an informative and compelling analysis of one of Egypt's foremost contemporary architects, Abdelhalim Ibrahim Abdelhalim, and his work during a period of Egypt's attempts at constructing an identity and cultural legitimacy within the post-Second World War world order.

Born in 1941 in the small town of Sornaga just south of Cairo, Abdelhalim received his architectural training in Egypt and the United States, and is the designer of over one hundred cultural, institutional, and rehabilitation projects, including the Cultural Park for Children in Cairo, the American University in Cairo campus in New Cairo, the Egyptian Embassy in Amman, and the Uthman Ibn Affan Mosque in Qatar.

The first comprehensive study of the work and career of Abdelhalim and his office, the Community Design Collaborative (CDC), which he established in Cairo in 1978, Abdelhalim Ibrahim Abdelhalim: An Architecture of Collective Memory is inspired by Abdelhalim's deep belief in the power of rituals as a guiding force behind various human behaviors and the spaces in which they are enacted and designed to play out.

Each chapter is consequently dedicated to one of these rituals and the ways in which some of Abdelhalim's primary commissions have, at all levels of scale, revealed and expressed that ritual. In the sequence presented these are: the rituals of possession, reverence, order, the transmission of knowledge, procession, human institutions, geometry, light, the sense of place, materiality, and finally, the ritual of color.

Critique: Profusely illustrated throughout, "Abdelhalim Ibrahim Abdelhalim: An Architecture of Collective Memory" is an impressively informative, exceptionally detailed, and expertly presented combination of biography and architectural study that is an especially recommended addition to professional and academic library Contemporary Architecture collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: James Steele is a professor in the School of Architecture, University of Southern California, where he has taught courses on the history and theory of architecture and on design. Prior to that he held a teaching position for ten years at the King Faisal (now Dammam) University near Dhahran in Saudi Arabia. He is the author of over 50 books, including An Architecture for People: The Complete Works of Hassan Fathy, Turkey: A Traveller's Historical and Architectural Guide, and Contemporary Japanese Architecture: Tracing the Next Generation.


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