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Internet Bookwatch

Volume 16, Number 2 February 2006 Home | IBW Index

Table of Contents

Reviewer's Choice Military Shelf Health/Medicine Shelf
Travel Shelf Language Studies Shelf Jobs/Careers Shelf
Art Shelf Photography Shelf Interior Design Shelf
Sports Shelf Environmental Studies Shelf Cookbook Shelf
Self-Help Shelf Music Shelf Pets/Wildlife Shelf
Money/Finance Shelf Civil War Shelf Business Shelf
Antiques/Collectibles Shelf Computer Shelf World History Shelf
Mystery/Suspense Shelf Political Science Shelf Literary Shelf
Library Video/DVD Shelf Audiobook Shelf Library CD Music Shelf
International Studies Shelf Biography Shelf Philosophy Shelf
Psychology Shelf Education Shelf Farming/Agriculture Shelf
Economics Shelf Social Issues Shelf Judaic Studies Shelf
Parenting Shelf Metaphysical Studies Shelf Writing/Publishing Shelf
Holocaust Studies Shelf Needlecraft Shelf Martial Arts Shelf
American History Shelf Archaeology Shelf Poetry Shelf
Fiction Shelf Gardening Shelf Buddhist Studies Shelf
Native American Shelf Hunting/Fishing Shelf Humor Shelf
Library Science Shelf Religion/Spirituality Shelf Fantasy/SciFi Shelf
Comix/Graphic Novel Shelf Theatre/Cinema Shelf Architecture Shelf


Reviewer's Choice

Degree Mills
Allen Ezell & John Bear
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, NY 14228-2197
www.prometheusbooks.com
159102238X $19.00 1-800-421-0351

Do you know where your doctor, lawyer, or employee has earned his degree? If you're not familiar with the school or don't know, you'd better check out the eye-opening Degree Mills: The Billion-Dollars Industry That Has Sold Over A Million Fake Diplomas. With the rise of the Internet has risen over 300 active degree mills selling thousands of fake degrees weekly - including medical and legal degrees. Author Ezell specialized in degree fraud in 35 years of work with the FBI and here provides some invaluable insights for any business manager or professional.

Houghton Mifflin
222 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116
www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was an 18th century literary writer whose works on politics had a direct influence on the French and American revolutions, whose educational analysis affected the world of schooling, and whose Confessions fostered the art of autobiography: the many facets of his original writings and influences which produced them are revealed in Leo Damrosch 's Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Restless Genuis (0618446966, $30.00), the first single-volume biography of Rousseau published in English for the general reader. The focus on his last decade of life - also his most productive and paranoid years - makes for the gripping legacy of a troubled genius. American Heritage's Guide To Contemporary Usage And Style (0618604995, $19.95) answers hundreds of questions about usage, covering everything from commonly confused words and differences between scientific and lay uses of words to controversial pronunciations, grammar rules, formal and informal writing, and more. With it's A-Z dictionary format, Guide To Contemporary Usage And Style offers authoritative and simple details on modern usage and the controversies which surround it.

Strictly Street Stuff
Bill Bryant Sr.
Paladin Press
7077 Winchester Circle, Boulder, CO 80301
www.paladin-press.com
1581604815 $20.00 1-800-392-2400

Any who want a streetwise guide to personal safety should look at Bill Bryant's guide, which shares wisdom gained from his personal experience. Bryant was trained from the age of 6 on how to fight using both Eastern and Western fighting styles: his synthesis of both provides a unique survey of techniques for close-quarter combat with and without weapons. A solid tutorial which offers step-by-step black and white photos to illustrate safety measures and protection methods.

Allworth Press
10 E. 23rd Street, #510, NY, NY 10010
www.allworth.com

Two excellent, practical guides will appeal to any would-be actor, comedian or auditioner with practical facts. W.L. Jenkins' How To Audition For TV Commercials From The Ad Agency Point Of View (1581154194, $16.95) tells how to land TV commercials by understanding what ad agencies are really seeking. W.L. Jenkins is a former actor turned ad agency executive, so he's in a rare position to understand both sides of the table. From how commercials are created to understanding scripts and storyboards and adding elements to a presentation which will capture ad agency attention, How To Audition For TV Commercials is a necessary reference. Another insider industry reference from Dave Schwensen, Comedy FAQs And Answers: How The Stand-up Biz Really Works (1581154119, $19.95) covers all the basics of professional comedy, from selecting or writing the right material to running your own open comedy mike, booking gigs, handling heckling crowds, and getting a manager. The aspiring pro has everything in hand to handle club owners, publicists, and more in a guide where the major industry players - George Carlin, Jeff Foxworthy, and more - share their experiences and lessons. A 'must': one of the best industry insider guides on the market.

Get Them On Your Side
Samuel B. Bachrach
Platinum Press/Adams Media
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322
1593372787 $19.95 adamsmedia.com

How can a politician win over enemies and gain and mobilize support for a cause? Learn how to build coalitions, understand agendas and how they can work for you, and utilize minds and talents of those who can help with the aid of Get Them On Your Side: Win Support. Convert Skeptics. Get Results. From how organizations process new information to change how they operate to understanding regulations and justifying actions, Get Them On Your Side tells how to understand underlying politics.

Hay House
PO Box 5100, Carlsbad, CA 92018-5100
www.hayhouse.com

Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa's The End Of Karma: 40 Days To Perfect Peace, Tranquility And Joy (140190649, $17.95) provides a leading expert's medical approach to overcoming Alzheimer's disease…an approach honed by his meeting with his spiritual teacher and involvement in Sekhism. It's not often that a MD chooses spiritual healing over medicine and drugs: The End Of Karma is for anyone who is ready to expand their spiritual senses, offering a method for moving from the idea of fate to one of destiny with God. Sylvia Browne's Contacting Your Spirit Guide (1401905323, $17.95) appears in a newly revised edition which adds a new section on 'A Day in the Life of a Spirit Guide' and includes a free meditation cd along with its classic survey of locating spirit guides and learning how to recognize and use them. Part autobiography and part spiritual guide, Contacting Your Spirit Guide is filled with insights and a recommended addition to personal Metaphysical Studies reading lists.

Ponders, Proverbs & Principles
Rodney R. Weckworth
Publishers Design Group
PO Box 37, Roseville, CA 94578
1929170165 $14.95 publishersdesign.com

Compiled and organized by Rodney R. Weckworth, Ponders, Proverbs & Principles is an inspirational motivator which is reviewed here for its ability to provide fun, character building principles in an easily-readable form. From aging and courage to goals, conscience and direction in life, Ponders, Proverbs & Principles is packed from cover to cover with vignettes and one-liners to aid mental health.

Princeton Architectural Press
37 East 7th Street, New York NY 10003
www.papress.com

Innovative textiles offer some of the most intriguing design options today, but few design or textile coverages discuss extreme textiles in such depth and detail. Matilda McQuaid's Extreme Textiles: Designing For High Performance (156898-507X $45.00) surveys engineered fabrics and their radical uses, from cardiac constraint socks to airbags and transportation textiles. Even buildings use these extreme textiles in construction, and Extreme Textiles surveys all these uses in a blend of startling full-page illustrations and discussions of fiber properties, performance standards, and unique uses. Whether it's architecture or art, students at the college level will find Extreme Textiles both accessible and detailed. Amy Weinstein's Once Upon A Time: Illustrations From Fairytales, Fables, Primers, Pop-Ups And Other Children's Books (1568985-649, $35.00) is based upon an art exhibition of the same name and uses colorful images from Victorian-era illustrated books by Ellen Liman and her husband Arthur to provide a review of striking art objects and the rise of children's literature. Exquisite full-page color plates - some on double-page spreads - liberally accent descriptions which include story plot summaries and commentary. A treasure for any who love old-fashioned children's books. Donald Albrecht's The Mythic City (1568985622, $40.00) provides Samuel Gottscho's photos taken from 1925-40, packing in pages of black and white shots of interiors and exteriors alike, from famous structures to those lesser-known but with classic architectural styles. Accompany an exhibition The Mythic City, these bold 1930s images capture a bygone era in nearly 200 images from the Battery to Harlem. Martin Venezky's It Is Beautiful Then Gone (1568984561, $40.00) provides an unusual artistic approach: Venezky hones 'Slow Design', using raw materials and old design tools of collage and cut-and-paste to create an artwork which will intentionally age and decay over time. By this process, Martin Venezky maintains, the art evolves and changes nd the artist develops a closer connection with the tool over the machine. It Is Beautiful…Then Gone provides his commercial design work plus new graphics created just for this book: some 700 images in all.

The Complete Clutter Solution
Good Housekeeping
Hearst/Sterling Publishing Company
387 Park Avenue South, NY NY 10016
www.sterling.com
1588164535 $19.95 1-800-805-5489

If your house organization is perpetually 'clutter' mode and you lack the organizational skills to do anything but clean up once or twice a year, The Complete Clutter Solution: Organize Your Home For Good is for you. A room-by-room guide broken down into zones shows not only how to de-clutter, but how much time will be involved. Involve other family members in maintaining the structure created in The Complete Clutter Solution and benefit from discussions of organizational bins, hangers and other special tips in a fine guide to eliminating clutter through creating convenient storage alternatives.

Suntanning In 20th Century America
Kerry Segrave
McFarland & Company
PO Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
0786423943 $35.00 1-800-253-2187

The suntan was considered a mark of the lower class for hundreds of years but was resurrected in America as a fad in the 1920s and remains popular today. While the myth remains that the evolution of the tanning trend had its source in fashion, it in fact was lauded by doctors as a panacea for all kinds of ailments until the dangers of overexposure became known. Any interested in the social, fashion or medical history of sun tanning in America will find Kerry Segrave's Suntanning In 20th Century America provides an intriguing history and plenty of vintage black and white photos to add interest.

My Home Workbook
Alison Jenkins
Ronnie Sellers Productions
81 W. Commercial St, Portland ME 04101
1569065888 $14.95 1-800-625-3386

My Home Workbook is a highly practical how-to guidebook for everyday tasks in and around the home. Written for men and women alike, My Home Workbook covers what tools every homeowner should have, which tasks are for do-it-yourselfers and which require professional help, routine plumbing, electrical, door and window, and other maintenance; paint and wallpaper tips; fabrics and finishing recommendations; a reference section for jotting down important information about one's home; and much more. Spiral bound with thick, sturdy, water-resistant pages tabbed for easy reference, My Home Workbook is as durable as it is practical, useful and very highly recommended

Caring For Your Aging Parents
Raeann Berman & Bernard H. Shulman
Champion Press
765 Main Street, Belgium, WI 53004
www.championpress.com
1932783466 $16.00 1-877-250-3354

Written by an award-winning journalist and a clinical professor of psychiatry, Caring For Your Aging Parents is a compassionate guide to dealing with eldercare, written especially for middle-aged and older children charged with the responsibility of looking after their elderly parents. Chapters cover especially focus upon psychological issues, including how to bridge the communication gap, how to express care and concern without reinforcing negative behavior, the transfer of authority from parent to child, how to find the best living arrangements if one's parents have to move, dealing with confusion and memory loss, how to help aging parents find positive way of compensating for losses and debilities, and much more. A valuable resource, drawing upon anecdotal, psychological, and medical evidence to provide much-needed wisdom in an era of aging baby boomers.

The World Peace Diet
Will Tuttle, Ph.D.
Lantern
One Union Square West, Suite 201, New York, NY 10003
1590560833 $20.00 lanternbooks.com

The World Peace Diet: Eating For Spiritual Health And Social Harmony is a profound call for veganism in today's modern world. Author Will Tuttle, who has received a Ph.D. in the philosophy of education from the University of California, Berkeley, examines the deleterious medical, hormonal, environmental, and societal effects of consuming meat or other animal products such as milk or eggs. Forcefully recommending a change toward the higher consciousness and compassion for animals and humans alike that is veganism, The World Peace Diet is passionate in its denouncement of myths perpetuated by the meat, milk and egg industry and its endorsement of the health and spiritual benefits that encompass making a change toward a cruelty-free diet.

Religion In Ancient Etruria
Jean-Rene Jannot
University of Wisconsin Press
1930 Monroe Street, Third Floor, Madison, WI 53711-2059
www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress
0299208443 $29.95 1-800-621-2736

The first English translation of history and archaeology professor emeritus Jean-Rene Jannot's "Devins, Dieux et Demons", Religion In Ancient Etruria is a masterful examination of Etruscan religion, closely scrutinizing Etruscan beliefs with regard to death, ritual, and the nature of the gods. Expertly translated by Jane K. Whitehead into a new updated edition, the text offers students, scholars, and general audiences alike an overview of ancient Etruscan beliefs, funerary customs, concepts of an afterlife, and mythology. More than 100 black-and-white illustrations including photographs of Etruscan artifacts add a visual dimension this heavily researched and footnoted perspective. A "must-have", highly accessible account for any reader interested in better understanding the nuances of an ancient civilization's beliefs and the connections between those beliefs and modern theologies.


The Military Shelf

Walking It Off
Doug Peacock
Eastern Washington University Press
705 West 1st Ave, Spokane, WA 99201
0910055998 $19.95 1-800-508-9095

Walking It Off: A Veteran's Chronicle Of War And Wilderness is former Green Beret medic Doug Peacock's personal memoir of the Vietnam war, grizzly bears, and wilderness adventure. Chapters recount his adventures in Nepal and grizzly bear country, as well as flashbacks and nightmares from his military service. His efforts today to better understand and preserve the wilderness comes alive off the pages in this poignant and powerful memoir by a true warrior helping to defend and protect wonders worth fighting for.

32 Battalion
Piet Nortje
Zebra Press/Struik Publishers
c/o International Publishers Marketing
22841 Quicksilver Dr., Dulles, VA 20166
www.internationalpubmarket.com
1868729141 $18.95 1-800-758-3756

One of the 32 Battalion's longest-serving members presents the unadorned true story of his unit in 32 Battalion: The Inside Story Of South Africa's Elite Fighting Unit. Nicknamed "The Buffalo Soldiers", South Africa's 32nd Battalion was undefeated in twelve years of front-line battle, feared by enemies ranging from Cuban armies to Nambian guerrilla fighters. Called "Os Terriveis", or the Terrible Ones by their enemies, the unit met its most unlikely demise when peace came to southern Africa and politics chose to dissolve the unit's fraternity in 1993. 32 Battalion makes no embellishments or apologies, but rather presents the true story of the unit in clear terms, illustrated by a handful of black-and-white maps and diagrams and an inset section of color plates. A thrilling expose of modern military history.

The Generals
J. L. Granatstein
University of Calgary Press
2500 University Drive, N.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4
www.uofcpress.com
1552381765 $24.95 1-800-565-3770

First published in 1993, The Generals: The Canadian Army's Senior Commanders In The Second World War is the award-winning, classic collective biography of the Canadian army's leaders during the second World War, and the only book of its kind to date. Written by Canadian military history expert J. L. Granatstein, The Generals scrutinizes the nature of the Canadian army over fifty years ago and tells the life stories of McNaughton, Crerar, Tommy Burns, Simonds, Matthews and Hoffmeister, and Pope and Stuart. A penultimate section discusses the absence of francophone generals. An extensively researched and scholarly history, now in a new edition with an introduction by University of Calgary Director of the Center for Military and Strategic Studies Dr. David J. Bercuson, The Generals is a keenly written, pinpoint accurate scrutiny of the personality traits of powerful men, and their contributions to Canadian and world military history.

The Ultimate Basic Training Guidebook
Sgt. Michael Volkin
Savas Beatie/Casemate Publishing, dist.
PO Box 4527, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
www.casematepublishing.com
1932714111 $18.95 savasbeatie.com

A U.S. Army veteran, Sergeant Michael Volkin served in Operation Enduring/Iraqi Freedom as a Chemical Operations Specialist and received an Army Commendation Medal for his work (which included designing fitness programs for his troops. In The Ultimate Basic Training Guidebook: Tips, Tricks, And Tactics For Surviving Boot Camp, Sgt. Volkin provides new recruits and anyone considering a military enlistment with a comprehensive, practical, thoroughly reader friendly guide with step-by-step instructions and common sense solutions for dealing with every aspect of the basic training experience applicable to each and every branch of the American military. Enhanced with an eight-week physical fitness program specifically designed to improve basic training fitness test scores, as well as specific study guides and an instructional "How to" chapter, The Ultimate Basic Training Guidebook is a "must" for any young man or woman needing to know what to bring (and not bring) to their basic training. Along with a wealth of "tips for success", The Ultimate Basic Training Guidebook should be part of every highschool, college, and community library Military Studies and Jobs/Careers resource and reference collection -- and an essential read for anyone about to enter boot camp for the very first time.

You Can't Get Much Closer Than This
A. Z. Adkins, Jr. & Andrew Z. Adkins, III
Casemate Publishing
2114 Darby Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishing.com
1932033289 $32.95 1-610-853-9131

You Can't Get Much Closer Than This: Combat With Company H, 317th Regiment, 80th Division is a firsthand account of life and death on the front lines in the European Theater of World War II. Author A. Z. Adkins, Jr. learned the hard way that he was capable of killing and keeping his cool under fire, and earned a Bronze Star for his delivery of critical supplies to a cut- off unit in an embattled French town. When he was wounded by a German artillery shell, he began on a detailed journal of his experiences while recuperating in a hospital, which would eventually become the basis for this extraordinary memoir. An appendix filled with facts about the 80th Infantry Division and infantry organizations, as well as a glossary round out this gritty, at times depressing, yet always forthright testimony.


The Health/Medicine Shelf

Living Through Pain
Kristin Swenson
Baylor University Press
One Bear Place, #97363, Waco, TX 76798-7363
1932792155 $19.95 www.baylor.edu

Pain can have a deleterious impact on personality and on relationships. In Living Through Pain: Psalms And The Search For Wholeness, Kristin Swenson (Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, School of World Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University) charts the multifaceted personal and social problems caused by chronic pain and surveys professional efforts to mitigate and manage it. Swenson also consults selected psalms from the Hebrew Bible which demonstrate that the challenge of living through pain is both timely and timeless as these ancient texts offer a vocabulary and a grammar for understanding and expressing the contemporary experience of pain. Pain is a universal experience, and Living Through Pain invites readers to consider more fully what is involved in the medical, psychological, spiritual, and personal process of healing. Highly recommended reading for anyone who suffers, or who has a friend or loved one who suffers, from the debilitating effects of chronic pain.

Beating Prostate Cancer Without Surgery
James D. Priest, M.D.
Fairview Press
2450 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55454
www.fairviewpress.org
157749153X $14.95 1-800-544-8207

Beating Prostate Cancer Without Surgery: Proven Options From A Doctor And Cancer Survivor by retired physician James D. Priest is drawn from a personal journal that he began when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Dr. Priest learned that although urologists typically recommend surgical removal of the prostate in such cases, there are other and alternate treatments that can be as effective as surgery but with less risk of such life-changing complications as impotence and incontinence. In addition to Dr. Priest's own compelling journal entries, Beating Prostate Cancer Without Surgery features twenty brief articles on important aspects of prostate cancer, as well as a foreword by Archbishop Dessmond Tutu, who is himself a prostate cancer survivor. Beating Prostate Cancer Without Surgery is especially recommended reading for anyone having to deal with the onset of prostate cancer.

Positive Options For Colorectal Cancer
Carol Ann Larson
Hunter House Publishers
Publishers Group West, dist.
PO Box 2914, Alameda, CA 94501-0914
0897934466 $12.95 hunterhouse.com

Colorectal cancers develop slowly in the lower portions of the digestive tract. More than 140,000 new cases are diagnosed annual in the United States. Men and Women are equally at risk for the diseases. Positive Options For Colorectal Cancer: Self-Help And Treatment by colorectal cancer survivor Carol Ann Larson accessibly and understandably explains just how to cope with the disease and obtain the best treatments that modern medicine has to offer. Positive Options For Colorectal Cancer addresses the warning signs of the condition; screening tests (including information on virtual colonoscopy); myths and other misinformation about the disease; treatment options (including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation); communicating with doctors and other medical professionals; prevention techniques and alternative methods of healing; as well as finding support and utilizing all available resources. Of special note are the Q&As in which doctors respond to the most common questions of colorectal cancer patients. Very strongly recommended for personal and community library reference collections, Positive Options For Colorectal Cancer should be considered "must" reading for anyone having to deal with this disease.

Multiple Sclerosis
Rosalind C. Kalb
Demos Medical Publishing
386 Park Avenue South, Suite 201, New York, NY 10016
www.demosmedpub.com
1932603107 $24.95 1-800-532-8663

Now in a newly updated and expanded third edition, Multiple Sclerosis: A Guide For Families by clinical psychologist Rosalind C. Kalb (Director of the Professional Resource Center, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, New York) is a thoroughly "user friendly" compendium of information, advice and resources for families having to deal with this debilitating and progressive disease. Of special note are two new chapter editions: "Planning for Possible Care Needs" and "Parenting A Child Or Teen with MS". Multiple Sclerosis: A Guide For Families draws upon specialists from the fields of neurology, general medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, psychology, social work, law, and people with MS. Enhanced with a comprehensive list of readings and resource, this is the primary resource most especially recommended for non-specialist general readers having to deal with MS issues.

Trigger Point Self-Care Manual
Donna Finando, L.Ac., L.M.T.
Healing Arts Press/Inner Traditions
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
1594770808 $18.95 InnerTraditions.com

Acupuncture and massage practitioner Donna Finando, who specializes in myofascial techniques and has studied pain management with field pioneer Janet Travell, M.D., presents Trigger Point Self-Care Manual For Pain-Free Movement, a guide to self-care practices for promoting a healthier and happier life. Chapters examine the human body muscle by muscle, describing the different aches and pains that can result from stress or injury in each muscle, and teach readers about the "trigger points" in muscles that are particularly susceptible to damage and use pain as a warning sign to prevent even more serious injury. Exercises, stretches, and solid medical advice for taking good care of one's muscles fill this handy guide, written especially for lay readers and illustrated with black-and-white diagrams and red highlights. While the Trigger Point Self-Care Manual cannot replace a doctor's supervision, it is a valuable tool for personal health and maintenance and highly recommended, especially for people leading active lifestyles or those susceptible to muscular stiffness and soreness.

Pain/Inflammation Matters
Gloria Gilbere
Lucky Press
126 South Maple St, Lancaster, OH 43130
0976057646 $11.95 www.luckypress.com

Pain/Inflammation Matters: Recipes For Life by Gloria Gilbere (a doctor of naturopathy, and expert in natural health issues, and an experienced homeopath), is a slim but vital compendium of practical and applicable information on the prevention, and even reversal, of fibromyalgia, arthritis, heart disease and inflammatory disorders. Organized into thoroughly "reader friendly" sections: "Causes & Effects"; "Heart Matters"; "Nightshade-free Recipes; and Non-drug Pain & Inflammation Phyters, Pain/Inflammation Matters should be considered "must reading" by anyone (especially non-specialist general readers) who suffer from chronic pain or inflammation.

Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218-4319
www.press.jhu.edu

A wide range of library holdings will want to make this a basic reference; from public libraries to college health collections. Neurobiologist Dr. Elizabeth Adler was herself diagnosed with non-Hodkin lymphoma, and had to cope with the emotional stress of diagnosis and many new decisions. Her Living With Lymphoma (0801-881803, $19.95) thus comes from both a scientific and a personal viewpoint and provides consumers with excellent coping strategies. Very highly recommended. The Johns Hopkins Medical Guide To Health After 50 (193308717X, $39.95) offers the latest recommendations from Hopkins specialists covering over a hundred major medical concerns of people fifty and over. An A-Z format makes for a quick reference which simplifies the search for information, while sections on disease prevention and color illustrations throughout enhance the information provided. Especially valuable are tips on treatments, options, follow-up and common illnesses that strike after 50.

Encyclopedia Of Addictions And Addictive Behaviors
Esther Gwinnell, MD & Christine Adamec
Facts on File
132 W. 31st St. 17th Flr, NY, NY 10001
0816057079 $75.00 .factsonfile.com

All kinds of addictive behaviors, from drinking and cosmetic surgery addiction to drugs, shopping, gambling, and food are covered in Encyclopedia Of Addictions And Addictive Behaviors, a wide-ranging encyclopedia which charts symptoms, treatments, and recovery processes. Add appendixes of important organizations, state substance abuse offices, listings of controlled substances, and charts of information and you have an excellent reference packed with statistics, the latest research findings, and insights on causes and patterns of addictive behaviors.


The Travel Shelf

Iran: The Bradt Travel Guide
Patricia L. Baker
Bradt/The Globe Pequot Press
PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437
www.globepequot.com
1841621234 $21.95 1-800-243-0495

Patricia Baker is a lecturer, writer and tour leader specializing in Islamic are and having traveled to Iran over 16 times since her first visit in 1971. She draws from his considerable experience and expertise in Iran: The Bradt Travel Guide to provide the tourist, student, or businessman with guidance on cultural awareness, religious sensitivity, and absolute do's and don'ts as well as a region-by-region guideline to getting around in different areas of Iran with black-and-white maps to follow. An absolute "must-read" for any male or female visitor to Iran, as familiarity with rules and customs could spare one from an unhappy detention; for example, the Iranian prohibition against cards, gambling and backgammon extends to such things as fuzzy car dice, woman must not walk unescorted at night or they will be presumed prostitutes, and no visitor should eat, drink, or smoke during the daylight hours of the Ramadan religious holidays regardless of their personal faith, else the repercussions to themselves and their sponsors will be severe. Yet Iran: The Bradt Travel Guide is far more than a list of proscriptions and warnings; it is also a tour of the cultural and historical wonders of Iran, a glimpse into the recent transformations of the society, and an in-depth guide of where to go and what to experience. Now in an updated second edition, Iran: The Bradt Travel Guide is a "must-have" for visitors who want not only to see the sights of this proud nation, but to understand its character as much as possible.

Southwest Ireland
Catharina Day
Cadogan/Globe Pequot Press
PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437
1860111955 $18.95 1-800-243-0495

One of the newest additions to the outstanding Cardogan travel guide series, Southwest Ireland: Cork, Kerry, Limerick & Clare by Catharina Day is now in a fully revised edition. Covering 170 places to stay, 190 top bars and restaurants, legends, stone circles, history, the nuances of its title counties, and much more, Southwest Ireland is as valuable for its in-depth tour of local lore as it is for its 16 detailed and highly accessible maps. Black-and-white and a handful of color photographs illustrate this easy-to-follow reference handbook, as useful for locating markets, activities, and tourist attractions as it is for simple reading pleasure about the wonders of Southwest Ireland. Highly recommended for business travelers and vacationers alike.

Hawai'i: The Big Island
Luci Yamamoto & Alan Tarbell
Lonely Planet Publications
150 Linden St, Oakland CA 94607
www.lonelyplanet.com
1740596919 $16.99 1-800-275-8555

A sturdy, rugged, and highly portable travel guide, Hawai'i: The Big Island is co-authored by Hawaiian travel experts Luci Yamamoto & Alan Tarbell to provide visitors with everything they need to know about Hawaii, the single biggest island of the Hawaiian chain. More than fifty detailed black-and-white maps and a handful of full- color illustrations reveal the best places to catch a traditional luau and kalua feasts, hiking hotspots, outdoor activity recommendations, flora and fauna information, the best places to stay, and much more. Hawaiian-born specialists guide the reader through the Hawaii that Big Islanders themselves know best, in this conveniently sized and information-packed "must-have" travel guide.

Living Abroad In France
Terry Link
Avalon Travel
1400-65th St., #250 Emeryville CA 94608
1566919207 $17.95 livingabroadin.com

Why the need for a specialized title on France when so many general travel books exist for the country? Because it's quite a different matter living in France as opposed to visiting it: there are concerns ranging from legalities and visas, work, and housing to cultural insights necessary to live alongside the French. In Living Abroad In France, author Terry Link begins with the dream and offers a step-by-step progression to achieving its reality, with chapters surveying all aspects of living in France. From regional coverages and insights to financial concerns, nothing is omitted.

Bicycle Touring Holland
Katherine Widing
Van der Plas Publications
1282 7th Ave., San Francisco, CA 94122
1892495465 $18.95 1-877-353-1207

Printed and bound for extra durability on the road, Bicycle Touring Holland With Excursions Into Belgium And Germany is an exciting guide to exploring a nation where one can travel virtually anywhere by bicycle - just as the natives do. Written by an Australian-born journalist who has toured the Netherlands by bike for many years, Bicycle Touring Holland covers pre-departure planning, basic information about the country including language and money matters, food and lodging issues, basic cycling facts, the best routes and sites in various parts of Holland, tips for further reading, and much more. A wealth of black-and-white maps clearly marking travel routes adds a definitive touch to this "must-have" for any cycling enthusiast visiting Holland.

Exploring Texas History
Elaine L. Galit & Vikk Simmons
Republic of Texas Press
c/o Taylor Trade Publishing
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706
www.rowman.com
1589792025 $18.95 1-800-275-8188

Exploring Texas History: Weekend Adventures is a travel guide for out-of-state vacationers and Texas residents alike. Offering amazing stories of Texas history and themed travel adventures, Exploring Texas History guides the readers to destinations commemorating the settlement of Texas, the battle for independence, the Alamo, Buffalo Soldiers, shipwrecks, cattle drives and more. Maps, recommended lodgings, black-and-white photographs, detailed notes and much more make Exploring Texas History a "must-have" for the Texas sightseer.

The Hassle-Free Walt Disney World Vacation: 2006 Edition
Steven M. Barrett
The Intrepid Traveler
PO Box 531, Branford, CT 06405
1887140581 $14.95 intrepidtraveler.com

A core guide and indispensable reference for anyone wanting to get the most out of their Disney World experience with a minimum of delays, this newly updated and expanded 2006 edition of Steven Barrett's The Hassle-Free Walt Disney World Vacation will prove invaluable time and time again. Utilizing the information organized by Barrett, visitors will be able to create flexible, customized touring plans specific to the interest of adults, teens, families with younger children, and seniors. A compendium of insider tips that include locating the least crowded bathrooms, best resting places, attractions with minimal waiting times, shady spots for viewing parades, what to bring, where to eat, the result will be having the most fun with the least stress. Additionally, The Hassle-Free Walt Disney World Vacation features "Hidden Mickeys", tips for taking great photos, "at a glance" ratings for more than 70 on-site restaurants (including advice for getting seated with minimal waits!), brief descriptions of each Disney World attraction, and more than sixty offbeat, fun activities for repeat visitors! Also very highly recommended from The Intrepid Traveler are two other and complimentary guides by Kelly Monaghan: The Other Orlando: What To Do When You've Done Disney & Universal (1887140506, $15.95) and Universal Orlando: The Ultimate Guide To The Ultimate Theme Park Adventure (188714-059X, $15.95).


The Language Studies Shelf

Sayings And Phrases We All Use
Donald Wion
Dorrance Publishing
701 Smithfield Street, 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
www.dorrancepublishing.com
0805967303 $14.00 1-800-788-7654

Donald Wion has compiled an alphabetical listing of many common words and phrases, adding simple definitions to each phrase and creating a lively compendium of nearly 500 sayings. It's hard to believe there are that many regional and common phrases used to describe situations - but Sayings And Phrases We All Use packs them in, and creates a handy A-Z listing by major word for quick reference. A fun, quirky guide.


The Jobs/Careers Shelf

Conquering Your Workplace
Dilip G. Saraf
iUniverse
2021 Pine Lake Road, #10, Lincoln, NE 68512
www. iuniverse.com
0595374867 $27.95 1-877-823-9235

In Conquering Your Workplace: From Mail Room To Board Room, career counselor, job consultant, and life coach Dilip G. Saraf draws upon his experience and expertise in current job-market trends, career management, and the corporate workplace to provide comprehensive manual to assist both novice and veteran employees alike in understanding workplace trends in a global corporate environment where new technologies and worldwide marketplace competitions is compelling organizational hierarchies to adapt to leaner payrolls, workplace-demographic shifts, and rapidly evolving employee dynamics. Saraf explores why managers make wrong assumptions about employees, the skills to manage a manager, what to do when peers hijack agendas, apprenticing in the right job for a designed career trajectory, learning global cultures as a means of advancing careers, handling customers, avoiding organizational conundrums, knowing what to do when trouble sets in, and developing broader job perspectives to promote more career options. Practical, insightful, informed and informative, Conquering Your Workplace is very highly recommended reading for employees at all corporate levels, and would make an excellent addition to Business School and Economics Studies supplemental reading lists and reference library collections.

The Business And Practice Of Coaching
Lynn Grodzki & Wendy Allen
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
www.wwnorton.com
0393704629 $33.95 1-800-233-4830

There are plenty of casual guides on the market on how to coach various sports; but few take the more detailed approach of showing how to build a thriving coaching business, even though some 30,000 coaches have entered the profession in the past five years. There's lots of competition in coaching and so few find themselves able to earn a living wage: that's where The Business And Practice Of Coaching: Finding Your Niche, Making Money, And Attracting Ideal Clients comes in. Chapters are written by two veteran business coaches which provide exercises, tips, and plans to help coaches succeed, from drawing links between community needs and coaching to refining skills to attract public attention and targeting a profitable niche market. Any who desire to coach professionally must have The Business And Practice Of Coaching at hand.

Amacom
1601 Broadway, New York NY 10019
www.amacombooks.org

Two excellent guides provide insights on careers and winning strategies for success. Bill Adler Jr.'s How To Negotiate Like A Child: Unleash The Little Monster Within To Get Everything You Want (08144-7294X, $17.95) uses the premise that kids are the best negotiators in the world to show how the qualities of determination and stubbornness might translate well to a business environment. These negotiation tactics may be inspired by children, but they offer some real insights; from using tantrums as a 'secret weapon' (if Bill Gates can do it, so can others) to changing the rules and appearing needy. Sherie Gong Taguchi's The Career Troubleshooter: Tips And Tools For Overcoming The 21 Most Common Challenges To Success (081447229X, $14.95) provides insights on typical problems faced by workers; from bad bosses and difficult colleagues to being fired or managing a major career change. With listings of top job and career websites, resume advice, details on how to make the best decisions in a career path, and more, The Career Troubleshooter comes from an author with over 17 years of career development and recruiting experience. Gini Graham Scott's A Survival Guide For Working With Bad Bosses: Dealing With Bullies, Idiots, Back-stabbers, And Other Managers From Hell (0814472982, $15.00) provides practical advice to those saddled with a good job and a terrible manager. What to do? Chapters advise various tactics to dealing with different types of 'bad bosses', from handling a rigid attitude with a demonstration of a more profitable path to opening up possibilities for achievement through back door options and handling rivalry between co-workers. A range of scenarios and techniques will readily apply to real-life scenes workers most commonly experience.


The Art Shelf

The Blaue Reiter Almanac
Wassily Kandinsky & Franz Marc, eds.
MFA Publications
c/o Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
465 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115
www.mfa-publications.org
0878467009 $22.50 1-800-338-2665

Originally published in Munich in 1912, and now available in English, The Blaue Reiter Almanac is a valuable scrutiny of the Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider) art movement, which was founded in 1911 by painters Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc and remained active in Europe until 1914. The Blaue Reiter Almanac combines an assembly of short essays with black-and-white reproductions of artwork to offer the reader a glimpse into the methodology, purpose, and essence of this short-lived yet passionate movement. An invaluable addition to modern art history shelves.

Rembrandt And His Time
Marian Bisanz-Prakken
Hudson Hills Press
PO Box 205, 74-2 Union Street, Manchester, VT 05254
1555952577 $60.00 hudsonhills.com

In conjunction with the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt's birth in 2006, Rembrandt And His Time: Masterworks From The Albertina, Vienna is the companion book to the Milwaukee Art Museum's exhibition of twenty-seven of Rembrandt's most important works, as well as drawings by Roelant Savery, David Vinckboons, Jacques de Gheyn II, Hendrick Avercamp, Jan van Goyen, and Esaias van de Velde which offer some of the earliest examples of naturalism. Works of Rembrandt's contemporaries and followers such as Jan Lievens, Nicolaes Maes, Adriaen van Ostade and more are also examined in context. Rembrandt And His Time displays black-and- white sketches and full-color artworks in their full majesty, along with a thoughtful, one-page text commentary upon each work, contemplating its origin, materials, or significance in a larger and changing school of artistic thought. A compilation of masterworks, and the next best thing to viewing the museum exhibit in person.


The Photography Shelf

Digital Fashion Photography
Chris Tarantino & Ken Tan
Thomson Course Technology
25 Thomson Place, Boston, MA 02210
159200525X $34.99 www.courseptr.com

Chris Tarantino's retouching of fashion photos have appeared in major magazines worldwide, and his co-author Ken Tan has been a fashion and glamour photographer for over 10 years, so the two together present a magical blend of practical experience and varied fashion photography backgrounds lending to an excellent step of step-by-step fashion shot techniques from pre-photo set-up to post-production. Lest you think this just another general guide - there are many techniques unique to the objectives of the fashion industry - so much is covered here which is simply unavailable in less focused photography titles. Digital Fashion Photography is a 'must' for any aspiring neo-pro fashion photographer.

Between The Eyes
David Levi Strauss
Aperture
547 West 27th St, 4th fl., NY, NY 10001
www.aperture.org
193178888X $17.95 1-800-929-2323

New York writer, critic, and poet David Levi Strauss presents, Between The Eyes: Essays On Photography And Politics, an anthology of stimulating, serious-minded essays about the interplay of photography and politics, as well as hot-button topics and lasting social issues pertaining to both. A handful of chapters are not independent essays per se, but rather interviews with experienced photographers. From "Where the Camera Cannot Go" to "A Threnody for Street Kids", "Photography and Propaganda" and much more, each writing lays bare the core of photography and politics - or sometimes, the core of the author. From true stories of optimistic photographers struggling to use their craft to help the oppressed, to the stunning impact that cameras any layperson can easily use have had upon photography as a whole, Between The Eyes is an insightful, contemplative, tightly written set of discussions, illustrated with a handful of well-chosen photographic images.

Picture Taker
Ken Elkins, photographs
The University of Alabama Press
Box 870380, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0380
www.uapress.ua.edu
0817314784 $35.00 1-800-621-2736

Picture Taker is a collection of black-and-white photography by award-winning photojournalist Ken Elkins, celebrating the daily lives of small town and rural inhabitants of Alabama. Aside from a foreword by Pulitzer Prize- winning journalist Rick Bragg and an afterword, no text distracts the reader from the poignant images of salt-of-the- earth people. Even the one-sentence captions for the photographs are grouped together at the back of the book, so as not to distract from the compelling visual experience. An exquisite portrait human pride, wit, and stoicism, amid the breathtaking Alabama countryside.


The Interior Design Shelf

Spectacular Walls!
Jeanine Dostal
North Light Books/F&W
4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236
1581807279 $24.99 artistsnetwork.com

By adding texture and embellishments to walls you can have spectacular results both original and tasteful as well as artistic - and you needn't be a painter to achieve this. Spectacular Walls: Creative Effects Using Texture, Embellishment And Paint shows how, using a step- by-step visual approach and covering everything from materials and supplies to have on hand to tips on using paint, coating, drawing and preparations. Oversized pages and many color photos make for a winning display.

Color, Create, Decorate
Shannon Quimby
Emmis Books
1700 Madison Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45206
1578602076 $19.95 emmisbooks.com

Nearly thirty step-by-step home projects are outlined in over a hundred color photos and provide a more relaxed approach to developing a home style. Don't expect a major guide to repainting the place: it's a decorator's handbook which uses plenty of easy embellishments for its enhancements, from turning vintage hats into unique lampshades to using a wall purse to help organize. Quimby's Color, Create, Decorate: Creative, Fresh Ideas & Decorating Techniques advocates exploring outside the color world norm and taking risks to develop unique style - and advises on how to make it work.


The Sports Shelf

The Paleo Diet For Athletes
Loren Cordain, Ph.D. & Joe Friel, MS
Rodale Press
400 S. 10th St., Emmaus, PA 18098-0099
1594860890 $14.95 www.roadale.com

Nutritionist Loren Cordain created The Paleo Diet, and here teams with USA triathlon and cycling coach Joel Friel with The Paleo Diet For Athletes, a guide to using the premises of the Paleo Diet in the course of training. Runners, cyclists, swimmers and more can make easy changes using The Paleo Diet, which gives guidelines for what to eat before, during and after a workout or competition. Recipes included.

Sports Publishing LLC
804 N. Neil St., Champaign, IL 61820
www.SportsPublishingLLC.com

The 1985 Chicago Bears set a standard for success by dominating the NFL season and holding a 15-1 record: learn from their achievement in Mike Ditka and Rick Telander's In Life, First You Kick Ass: Reflections On The 1985 Bears And Wisdom From Da Coach (1582619778, $24.95). Wisdom to be gained from the head coach author includes team interactions, how to handle stress and turmoil, power struggles between management and players, and more. Readers looking for football history will find plenty of memories and recollections of players and notable moments in Coach Ditka's memoir of the season - but also plenty of strategy insights and reflections on the wider sport of life. Jerry Reynolds and Don Drysdale's Reynolds Remembers: 25 Years With The Sacramento Kings (1596701374, $19.95) is for any interested in the evolution of a shortstring operation which couldn't compete to a model NBA franchise. The Kings are celebrating their 20th season in Sacramento, California - and Jerry Reynolds was part of them before their rise to fame. His memoir celebrates their growth and provides a powerful leader's first-person experiences. Jerry Tarkanian's Runnin' Rebel With Dan Wetzel: Shark Tales Of 'extra Benefits', Frank Sinatra, And Winning It All (1596700181, $24.95) presents a college coach's autobiography but offers a contrary format; for Tarkanian considers himself not a 'coach' per say but a 'teacher of young men', and his colorful national championship years are packed with controversy and color. Runnin' Rebel reveals college sports from an insider's unabashed viewpoint, offering candid discussions of the politics and issues underlying the sport and revealing how he beat the NCAA out of 2.5 million. Chutzpah and charm packs Runnin' Rebel with color. Dennis Rodman works with Jack Isenhour in I Should Be Dead By Now (1596700165, $24.95), the vivid story of a flamboyant former basketball star who has remained a key figure in the sports world. His autobiography follows his struggles after he stopped playing in the NBA, from personal challenges to his hope to make a comeback. Roy Gleason tells his story to Wallace Wasinack and Mark Langill in Lost In The Sun: Roy Gleason's Odyssey From The Outfield To The Battlefield (1582619441, 24.95), an account of one who was the only person to serve in Vietnam and play at least one game in the major leagues. Roy was the only player from his era to be drafted and sent to war: Lost In The Sun tells why, and also provides both wartime and game insights in a 'you are there' gripping autobiography.


The Environmental Studies Shelf

The Future Of Environmental Criticism
Lawrence Buell
Blackwell Publishing
2121 State Avenue, Ames, IA 50014-8300
www.blackwellpublishing.com
140512475X $54.95 1-800-216-2522

The Future Of Environmental Criticism: Environmental Crisis And Literary Imagination is a scholarly summary of the distinct critical practices that constitute "ecocriticism" today. Written by one of the world's leading theorists, who traces the ecocritical movement to its roots in the 1970's and its coalescence in the 1990's, The Future Of Environmental Criticism Asks such bold questions as: Why has interest in environmental literary and cultural studies risen so rapidly in recent times? Can the emphasis upon preserving nature of earlier ecocriticism be successfully reconciled with later ecocritical issues of environmental justice? The Future Of Environmental Criticism draws from past and present reality to predict the directions in which future ecocritical movements will flow, and offers a positive-themed manifesto of means to balance differing agendas into a more unified, and therefore stronger movement.

Island Press
1718 Connecticut NW, #300, Washington, DC 20009
www.islandpress.org

Eric Dinerstein was a film student who never thought he'd be tracking tigers in Nepal - but before he graduated he became interested in biology and conservation and would one day journey around the world studying nature. Tigerland And Other Unintended Destinations (155963-5789, $25.95) presents these journeys and studies, following his discoveries from Nepal to Montana and presenting his insights on each unique environment and its attributes. The insights on how fellow ecologists are working to preserve these natural wonders makes for an inspirational story of discovery and environmental conservation issues. William J. Ginn's Investing In Nature: Case Studies Of Land Conservation In Collaboration With Business (1597260134, $19.95 pb; 1597260126, $55.00 hc) is a valuable discussion linking business interests to environmental concerns to show how conservation investment banking can work. Ginn's background in both business and land conservation issues at The Nature Conservancy allows him to reveal collaborative efforts which work for both in this inspirational guide of real-life achievements.


The Cookbook Shelf

Early American Cookery
Margaret Huntington Hooker
Native Ground Books & Music
109 Bell Road, Asheville, NC 28805
www.nativeground.com
1883206502 $10.95 1-800-752-2656

Early American Cookery was originally published in 1896. Culinary author Margaret Hooker was determined to preserve American colonial cooking and collected quaint and curious recipes and remedies drawn from sources ranging from the mid 1700s to the mid 1800s. Her 226 original illustrations of cooking utensils provide modern readers with a glimpse of colonial American kitchens. Also included along with traditional recipes are beauty secrets, etiquette advice, candle making, and 18th century household hints. This expert photomechanical reproduction will make an enduringly popular addition to personal, family, and community library cookbook collections, as well as being of immense interest for students of 18th and 19th century American popular culture.

Brennan's Of Houston In Your Kitchen
Chef Carl Walker
Bright Sky Press
PO Box 416, Albany, TX 76430
1931721319 $19.95 www.amazon.com

Also available in a hardcover edition (0970472986, $24.95), culinary author and chef Carl Walker draws upon his Creole and Texas styles of cooking that made Brennan's of Houston a very successful restaurant. Capitalizing on fresh ingredients, all of the recipes comprising this mouth-watering collection are kitchen-compatible and "user friendly". Enhanced with color photography, the recipes range from Chili-Fried Gulf Oysters; Creole Barbecued Shrimp; and Braised Red Cabbage; to Champagne Fennel Cream; New Orleans-Style Pralines; and Creole Bread Pudding Souffle. A master-piece of its kind, Brennan's Of Houston In Your Kitchen will prove to be an invaluable and popular resource for even the most novice of kitchen cooks seeking to replicate gourmet quality dishes for their family dining table!

Everyday Vegan
Jeani-Rose Atchison
North Atlantic Books
1456 Fourth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710
155643376X $22.50 1-800-337-2665

Everyday Vegan: 300 Recipes For Healthful Eating is comprised of 300 recipes offering simple, fresh, healthy, "kitchen cook friendly" recipes compiled and organized by health and cooking counselor Jeani-Rose Atchison. From Germinated Sunflower Seed Spread; Broccoli with Cheddar Vinaigrette; and Baked Polenta with Shittake Ragout; to Veggie and Black Bean Tacos; Sunflower-Apricot Patties; and Cashew-Apricot Drink, Everyday Vegan will enable even the most novice cook to turn everyday meals into true gourmet quality vegetarian dining experiences.

Complete Idiot's Guide To Cover And Bake Meals
Ellen Brown
Alpha/Penguin Group
375 Hudson Street, New York NY 10014
1592573711 $18.95 idiotsguides.com

Casseroles are the answer to the busy cook who wants to put a home-baked meal on the table, but most recipes focus on condensed soup and tuna from the can - so try something new with a new concept in casseroles in Complete Idiot's Guide To Cover And Bake Meals, covering everything from Lemongrass Chicken Curry with Linguine, Coconut and Bean Sprouts to Caribbean Braised Ribs with Mango, Pineapple and Rice, or Sole Almandine with Vegetable and Rice Stuffing. No color photos, but despite the lack of canned ingredients in most dishes, the easy instructions don't need them.

Betty Crocker Cookbook
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
111 River St., Hoboken, NJ 07030-5773
www.wiley.com
0764583743 $17.95 1-800-225-5945

Now in a new edition, Betty Crocker Cookbook is a one-stop cookbook designed to give modern-day beginner to advanced cooks all they need to know to create sumptuous meals. Chapters cover the basics of getting started in cooking, and all varieties of food preparations from breads and casseroles to fish, meats, poultry, rice, vegetables, soups, salads, desserts and more. Betty Crocker Cookbook is far more than a recipe book; it explains in-depth the nuances of preparing different ingredients and common mistakes to guard against. Full-color photographs, charts, tips, tricks, and techniques, step-by-step tested recipes, cooking timetables, and an extensive index round out this comprehensive and utilitarian resource.

Pocket Wine Guide 2006
Oz Clarke
Harcourt Books
15 E. 26th Street, 15th fl., NY, NY 10010
www.harcourtbooks.com
0151011508 $14.00 1-800-543-1918

With its A-Z organization, truly 'pocket' sized narrow format with a durable hardcover for lasting reference, and survey of wines from Napa to Lebanon, Pocket Wine Guide 2006 is a recommended reference pick for any who seek at-a-glance information. There are over 1,600 entries on over 7,00 wines, plus tips on top values and favorites and advice on how to match wine to food. The latest vintage information assures a current guide.

Cornbread Nation 3
Ronni Lundy, Editor
University of North Carolina Press
Box 2288, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-2288
0807856568 $17.95 uncpress.unc.edu

Cornbread Nation 3: Foods Of The Mountain South is the third such collection from the Appalachians and Ozarks and blends the best of Southern regional food writings - a blend which includes poems, essays, culinary history and cultural insights aplenty. Any expecting a recipe collection alone may be disappointed; but there are plenty of Southern cookbooks on the market - and relatively few Southern collections of literary food writing, making Cornbread Nation something to relish.

New Southern Baking
Damon Lee Fowler
Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of Americas, NY, NY 10020
www.simonandschuster.com
0743250583 $26.00 www.amazon.com

From cornbread to sweet potato breads and cakes, Southern baking holds a wide reputation - and there's no better place to learn the basics than from Damon Lee Fowler's New Southern Baking, celebrating traditional baking techniques but updating dishes for modern times. New Southern Baking will appeal to all levels of cook with easy recipes and plenty of tips - and it'll even appeal to advanced cooks who want different twists to dishes, such as a Chocolate Chip Pecan Wedding Shortbread or Sweet Potato Griddlecakes. Recommended above other more general Southern cookbooks, with its focus on baking and the wonderful blend of tradition vs. innovation.

Wonderful Good Cooking From Amish Country Kitchens
Fred J. Wilson, author and photographer
Johnny Schrock, editor
Herald Press
616 Walnut Ave, Scottdale, PA 15683
www.heraldpress.com
0836117654 $10.99 1-800-759-4447

Wonderful Good Cooking From Amish Country Kitchens is plastic comb-bound recipe book of authentic, taste- tested Amish country kitchen recipes. Short, easy-to-follow recipes such as Broccoli Casserole, Carrot Bread Loaf, Rhubarb Sponge Pie, Hot Potato Salad, Barbecued Hamburger and much more offer delicious farm-life table creations for every occasion. An introductory that section familiarizes the reader with Amish culture and color photographs of Amish people fulfilling their livelihood round out this quite delightful glimpse of farm country life.

Carlos' Contemporary French Cuisine
Debbie and Carlos Nieto with Arlene Bronstein & Ken Brookman
Gibbs Smith
PO Box 667, Layton, UT 84041
1586855123 $34.95 gibbs-smith.com

Carlos' Restaurant opened in Highland Park in 1981 and is recognized as one of Chicago's finest: but you don't have to be in Chicago to enjoy the food with the publication of Carlos' Contemporary French Cuisine. Here are recipes for many of his signature specialties, such as Lobster Napoleon, Pumpkin Mousse Cake, and Flautas. Here also is a healthy peppering of color photos throughout to reinforce the finished dish's appearance. Carlos integrates international influences into his French standards - so you'll find many dishes here that cross borders and challenge the idea of what constitutes French cooking. A lovely, appealing guide recommended for gift-giving.

A Taste Of Maryland History
Debbie Nunley & Karen Jane Elliott
John F. Blair
1406 Plaza Dr, Winston-Salem, NC 27103
0895873133 $19.95 www.blairpub.com

Authors Debbie Nunley and Karen Jane Elliot have been on a quest to find those who are passionate about both fine dining and historic preservation, and Maryland provided them with the best opportunities to visit restaurants steeped in both fine food and rich history. A Taste Of Maryland History: A Guide To Historic Eateries And Their Recipes thus serves two distinct purposes: as a survey of Maryland historic establishments it provides would-be travelers with a guide to fine historic eating houses across the state, providing an entire page of history to compliment the authors' descriptions of the atmosphere and offerings they experienced today. And as a cookbook, it provides a fine collection of these signature dishes, selecting several from each establishment which have been adapted to home cook proportions. Enjoy Pan-Roasted Scallops with Ginger and Lemon Grass or Buffalo-Style Pizza in a fine gathering. Highly recommended both for Maryland history buffs, cooks, and armchair travelers alike.


The Self-Help Shelf

5-D Leadership
Scott Campbell & Ellen Samiec
Davies-Black Publishing
1055 Joaquin Road, #200, Mountain View, CA 94043
0891061975 $27.95 daviesblack.com

Commanding leaders in times of crisis can overcome the seeming impossible: the question lies in how to hone the skills which can lead to such exceptional leadership qualities - and 5-D Leadership: Key Dimensions For Leading In The Real World tells how to locate and build these qualities. Chapters use plenty of case history examples to show how to take charge, how to develop natural strengths and extend one's reach, how to build a leadership framework, and more.

What The Bleep Do We Know?
William Arnitz, et al.
Health Communications
3201 SE 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442-8190
075730334X $26.95 hcibooks.com

It's hard to easily categorize William Arnitz, Betsy Chasse And Mark Vicente collaboratively written What The Bleep Do We Know? Discovering The Endless Possibilities For Altering Your Everyday Reality: at once a science book and a self-help and spiritual guide, and based on a movie as well, it tackles the questions of uncertainty, the nature of reality, and how physical, mental and spiritual forces interact in shaping human reality. Don't expect any easy answers here: What The Bleep Do We Know is an overview of science and spiritual questions which sets out what is known about each, and points the reader in different directions where the outer limits of science and psyche embrace. Any considering the nature of consciousness, intelligence, reality, or attitude adjustment will find this packed with insights and lively discussion which is surprisingly easy to access considering the weight of the matters under review.

How To Stop Backing Down & Start Talking Back
Lisa Frankfort & Patrick Fanning
New Harbinger Publications
5674 Shattuck Ave., Oakland, CA 94609
1572244178 $13.95 newharbinger.com

Have troubles saying 'no'? You will find new assertive strategies abound in How To Stop Backing Down & Start Talking Back. Co-authored by Lisa Frankfort and Patrick Fanning, this is a highly recommended guide to honing the skill of standing your ground and communicating well. Stop verbal assaults with a snappy comeback, make reasoned arguments, and learn how to deliver the truth in a guide which uses typical scenarios to show how.


The Music Shelf

Swing Era Scrapbook
Ken Vail
Scarecrow Press
4501 Forbes Blvd., Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706
www.scarecrowpress.com
0810854163 $65.00 1-800-462-6420

Jazz expert and historian Ken Vail draws upon his considerable expertise in compiling the materials that have become published as the Swing Era Scrapbook: The Teenage Diaries And Radio Logs Of Bob Inman, 1936-1938. The Swing Era Scrapbook is not a standard narrative text, but rather devoted to listing logs of the tunes played by bands on thousands of radio broadcasts and recording sessions. The entries are organized by date, and most consist simply of lists of the jazz songs broadcasted on the radio for a given day, along with who was playing the music when on what station. Occasional entries center upon the author's personal testimony of visiting swing sessions, collecting autographs, and experiencing jazz and its memorable players to the fullest. Black-and-white photographs round out this incredibly detailed chronicle by a true jazz enthusiast.

Exploring Haydn
David Hurwitz
Amadeus Press
512 Newark Pompton Turnpike, Pompton Plains, NJ 07444
1574671162 $27.95 amadeuspress.com

Hayden is the father of classical symphony and the inventor of the string quartet, and receives his own in-depth study in the sixth in the 'Unlocking the Masters' series Exploring Haydn: A Listener's Guide To Music's Boldest Inventor. Enjoy an overview of his vocal works, his masterpieces, and his principal instrumental works in a guide which pairs two full-length CDs of music with a critical survey of both popular and lesser-known works. Where other reviews focus on major pieces, Hurwitz's inclusion of vocal works and lesser-known pieces provides a wider ranging examination than most, with accompanying cds keyed to pieces described in the book's second section. From opening themes to tips on how to listen and understanding, Exploring Haydn is a 'must' for any serious classical music student.

Irish Books & Media, Inc.
1433 Franklin Avenue East, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2101
1-800-229-3505 www.irishbook.com

Two book-and-music-CD collections from Irish Books & Media are a sure-fire rollicking resources of Irish folk music for lay readers, casual singers and guitar players, and professional musicians alike. Both have fifty pieces of music and everything needed to play and sing them: lyrics, guitar chords, a simplified music score, and a CD featuring the first verse and chorus of each ballad. 50 Great Irish Fighting Songs (0953206874, $15.95) includes grand ballads such as "Arthur McBride", "A Nation Once Again", "The Scarriff Martyrs", and "Whiskey in the Jar", while 50 Great Irish Drinking Songs (095320684X, $15.95) includes such boisterous carouses as "All for me Grog", "Fiddlers Green", "Old Maid in the Garret", and "Whiskey You're the Devil". Both collections have introductions and notes on the history of each song, as well as color photographs of Ireland. 50 Great Irish Fighting Songs and 50 Great Irish Drinking Songs are unquestionably a double treasury for anyone with a keen interest in Irish music and folk culture.

Turn The Beat Around
Peter Shapiro
Faber & Faber
c/o Farrar, Straus & Giroux
19 Union Square West, NY, NY 10003
www.fsgbooks.com
0571211941 $26.00 1-888-330-8477

Turn The Beat Around: The Secret History Of Disco is the story of a music genre born from the social and economic turmoil of the 1970's. Blending elements of post-civil rights African-American culture, the newly out-and-proud gay movement, and the syncopation of the recently developed synthesizer, disco became a craze that flared brilliantly in its time, then fell by the wayside to fond memories and derisive scorn as its pop-culture peers of punk and hip-hop rose in its place. Chapters of Turn The Beat Around explores New York, where disco originated; disco's links to sexuality, its feverish era of popularity, its movement underground, and its legacy today. Turn The Beat Around is a thoroughly researched, plain-terms, no-holds barred scrutiny, recommended for ordinary disco fans and music students alike.


The Pets/Wildlife Shelf

The Super Simple Guide To Breeding Freshwater Fishes
Laura Muha
T.F.H. Publications
1 TFH Plaza, 3rd & Union Avenue, Neptune City, NJ 07753
www.tfh.com
0793834570 $9.95 1-800-631-2188

Award-winning journalist Laura Muha presents The Super Simple Guide To Breeding Freshwater Fishes, a practical guide for both commercial and private freshwater fish owners. Chapters discuss the history of breeding fishes in aquaria, how to condition adult fish, raising the fry, disease prevention, notes on hybrids, species-specific guidelines and instructions, and more. The species catalogue includes such popular types of fish as livebearers (guppies, etc.), anabantoids, catfish, characins, cichilids, cyprinids, and rainbowfish. Color photographs on every page beautifully illustrate this handy, plain-terms guide, printed on sturdy, water-resistant paper stock. A "must-have" for anyone interested in successfully breeding freshwater fish.

Congratulations! It's a Dog!
D. Caroline Coile, Ph.D.
Barron's
250 Wireless Road, Hauppage, NY 11788
0764131230 $11.99 barronseduc.com

You're about to introduce a new puppy into your home: and now is also the best time to understand dog psychology and needs. No better guide to dog psychology is available than D. Caroline Coile's Congratulations! It's A Dog! Training And Behavior Tips For The Newest Member Of Your Family. From how to identify with a dog and communicate to understanding dog habits and non-verbal messages, chapters survey mixed messages and how human/dog communications can be improved from Day One. Congratulations! It's a Dog! is especially recommended for "first time" dog owners.

101 Dressage Exercises For Horse & Rider
Jec Aristotle Ballou
Storey
210 Mass MoCa Way, North Adams, MA 01247
1580175953 $29.95 www.storey.com

With a title such as this, you'd think a horse rider would have to be a dressage fanatic to enjoy the spiral-bound reference 101 Dressage Exercises For Horse & Rider: not so. All riders - even Western - will find these step-by-step exercises quite useful, teaching riders the patterns of dressage which lend to improved riding and performance. These exercises are similar to those assigned in competition and are good for all levels of writers: each pairs an illustration with written instructions which even can be read from horseback, thanks to their large type. And author Ballou has trained dressage horses and taught riders for 20 years, so this comes with authority.

Way Of The Whitetail
Dr. Leonard Lee Rue III
Voyageur Press
PO Box 338, Stillwater, MN 55082
0896586960 $19.95 www.voyageur.com

If the name of Dr. Leonard Rue II sounds familiar, it's because he's produced numerous books on wildlife and is one of the most published wildlife photographers in the country. His Way Of The Whitetail comes packed with his gorgeous full-page color photos and provides a science and natural history coverage which not only hunters but classroom students will appreciate. From surveys on how mild winters allow bucks to keep antlers longer to seasonal changes in the northern states and how they affect whitetails, Way Of The Whitetail is vivid, technical and highly recommended.

A Field Guide To The Amphibians And Reptiles Of Bali
J. Lindley McKay
Krieger Publishing Company
PO Box 9542, Melbourne, FL 32902-9542
www.krieger-publishing.com
1575241900 $39.50 1-800-724-0025

Illustrated with full color photographs throughout, A Field Guide To The Amphibians And Reptiles Of Bali is a guide written especially for zoologists, herpetologists, and other professionals, yet so straightforward that lay readers will find it a simple matter to identify Bali amphibian and reptile species. Beginning with a walkthrough of basic identifying features of Bali amphibians and reptiles, first aid instructions for treating snakebite, and a brief overview of Bali's environment and vegetation, A Field Guide To The Amphibians And Reptiles Of Bali proceeds into an in-depth, species-by-species accounting of Bali's frogs, turtles, lizards, and snakes. Each species listing includes a color photograph, a description, habitat and distribution information, and biology basics. Black-and-white diagrams and a condensed questionnaire for swiftly narrowing down a species member (does a lizard have limbs? does it have a gliding membrane? Does it have a row of spines down its back? etc.) further simplify this excellent, easy-to-use guide.


The Money/Finance Shelf

Profit From Your Vacation Dream Home
Dearborn Trade
30 South Wacker Drive, #2500, Chicago, IL 60606-7481
1419506919 $19.95 www.dearborn.com

Owners of a home who dream of owning a second home for vacation purposes might have thought of the possibility as a dream for the rich, but Profit From Your Vacation Home Dream: The Complete Guide To A Savvy Financial And Emotional Investment tells otherwise: it holds the potential of being a wise move on several fronts, and provides the basics on how such a home can pay for itself when not in use by its owners. From how to rent a vacation home to a formula for successful vacation home ownership, this tells how to evaluate properties, weigh pros and cons, determine what's needed to break even on the investment, and even how to work with property management companies.

Early To Ri$e,
Michael Z. Stahl
Silver Lake Publishing
PO Box 29460, Los Angeles, CA 90029
www.silverlakepub.com
1563437910 $19.95 1-888-663-3091

Now in an updated second edition, Early To Ri$e: A Young Adult's Guide To Saving, Investing, And Financial Decisions That Can Shape Your Life is a guide to money matters in plain English terms, written especially for young people just starting out on their own. In an era when conventional wisdom warns against depending on benefits such as Social Security or Medicare as younger generations get older, Early To Ri$e takes the next logical step - teaching the reader how to develop an investor's mentality, the basics of money management and mutual funds, how to use stocks and youth to one's advantage, how to spot winning stocks and dump losers (hint: don't just look at how the stock has performed in the past, study the company's financial reports and prospects), and perhaps the most valuable investing advice of all, never get greedy. An excellent introduction to the world of finance; though Early to Ri$e is written especially for young people, its advice is invaluable to money market newcomers of all ages.

Handicapping The Wall Street Way
Mark E. Ripple
Eclipse Press/NBN, dist.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, #201, Lanham, MD 20706
1581501269 $12.95 www.amazon.com

If you play the horses regularly you'll want to keep the insights of Handicapping The Wall Street Way: Picking Extra Winners At The Track close at hand: it's a slim handbook but packed with insights analyzing the betting market, the psychology involved, strategies for successful horseplaying at the track, and developing an effective personal risk profile to hone risk and skills. A very basic, excellent introduction to handicapping horse races!


The Civil War Shelf

South Carolina's Civil War
W. Scott Poole
Mercer University Press
1400 Coleman Ave., Macon, GA 31207
www.mupress.org
0865549680 $32.00 1-800-634-2378

South Carolina's Civil War: A Narrative History applies a narrative approach to scrutinizing the Civil War era, particularly focusing upon colorful personalities that impact South Carolina's and America's history such as Francis W. Pickens, Lucy Holcombe Pickens, Wade Hampton, Roger Smalls, and Robert Barnwell Rhett. Exploring South Carolina as the state where the war began - a state where the white leadership chose to defy the Union rather than release their grip on slavery - South Carolina's Civil War is as gripping and involving as it is acute in its attention to detail. An excellent contribution to school, library, and personal history shelves.

Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas Border
Donald L. Gilmore
Pelican Publishing Company
1000 Burmaster Street, Gretna, LA 70053
1589803299 $29.95 1-800-843-1724

Civil War On The Missouri-Kansas Border is the grim true story of the bloody fallout from President Lincoln's determination to keep Missouri within the Union during the American Civil War. Kansas and Union troops confiscated private property to such a degree that the state became nicknamed "the burnt region"; martial law was declared throughout the state; and in September 1863 Union general Thomas Ewing, Federal commander of the region, ordered the deportation of the entire population of the border counties. In response, Missouri residents fought back with guerilla tactics in a "war without quarter". Civil War On The Missouri-Kansas Border dares to question commonly held assumptions that all Missouri "bushwhackers" were bloodthirsty monsters, in particular scrutinizing the leader of the "Border Ruffians", infamous for his massacre of 150 civilians, as a guerilla chieftan up against an enemy that routinely slaughtered his men on sight without trial or capture. Extensively researched and including an index for quick lookup, Civil War On The Missouri-Kansas Border is a riveting glimpse into the calculated ruthlessness of both sides in a vicious, prolonged conflict.

Grant And Sherman
Charles Bracelen Flood
Farrar Straus Giroux
19 Union Square West, NY, NY 10003
0374166005 $27.00 www.fsgbooks.com

Grant And Sherman: The Friendship That Won The Civil War will prove an eye-opener to many, describing the relationship of two of the most important figures of the Civil War - who happened to also be friends. Grant and Sherman shared many common experiences despite their differences: they were prewar failures, they each struggled to join the war effort, and they each collaborated even while under fire on the battlefield, giving orders and learning from their decisions - and each other. Until now little has been written about this friendship, and about their common ties: Charles Bracelen Flood has written about the war before but here excels in presenting the depth of an unusual friendship which not only influenced but eventually won the Civil War. A 'must' for any who would understand Civil War connections.

Harvard's Civil War
Richard F. Miller
University Press of New England
37 Lafayette St, Lebanon, NH 03766-1446
www.upne.com
1584655054 $35.00 1-800-421-1561

Independent scholar Richard F. Miller presents Harvard's Civil War: A History Of The Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, an in-depth scholarly study of one of the most influential northern units in the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Nicknamed "The Harvard Regiment" due to the quantity of its Crimson-connected officers, this infantry unit was destined to experience the worst of nearly every major battle of the Army of the Potomac from Ball's Bluff (1861) to Grant's Overland Campaign. Because so many of its officer corps were educated men, the Harvard Regiment left behind numerous diaries, memoirs, and letters, which form a solid base of source material for this exhaustive examination of many different personalities that comprised the unit, from abolitionists to radical German emigres that had escaped the failed revolution of 1848 to the sons of prominent Republicans and more. Ethnic tensions further exacerbated the stress of the war itself. Extensively researched and annotated with an index for quick reference, Harvard's Civil War is a superb glimpse into the sufferings, sacrifices, and triumphs of a truly courageous and hardy military unit.


The Business Shelf

Smartbomb
Heather Chaplin & Aaron Ruby
Algonquin Books
127 Kingston Drive, #105, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
1565123468 $24.95 www.algonquin.com

The video game industry is big money these days, powered by a blend of computer geeks and business mavericks who have turned it into a big business - and Smartbomb: The Quest For Art, Entertainment, And Big Bucks In The Videogame Revolution traces the history of how this country become involved in video games. Authors Heather Chaplin and Aaron Ruby went on a five-year investigation into the history and technology of the video game explosion, gaining access to design labs and business meetings alike: Smartbomb examines both individuals and trends in a survey of models, legends, and achievement.

Harvard Business School Press
60 Harvard Way, Boston, MA 02163

Making money is all about forecasting accurately and understanding business and market cycles; yet too few books advocate the idea without telling how to play the game. Joseph H. Ellis 's Ahead Of The Curve: A Commonsense Guide To Forecasting Business And Market Cycles (1591396913, $29.95) provides the nuts and bolts of how to overcome the basic major flaws in the way economic information is reported and understood. From the basic economic indicators and their pros and cons to economic reports and common forecasting techniques, Ahead Of The Curve seeks a clearer, more accurate explanation of trends - and provides investors and business managers with the tools for achieving this. Dan S. Cohen's The Heart Of Change Field Guide: Tools And Tactics For Leading Change In Your Organization (1591397758, $24.95) is a follow-up to the 1996 John Kotter best-sellers Leading Change, which outlined an eight-step program for organizational change which was applauded and followed by businesses around the world. Here leaders and managers receive tools and frameworks for bringing these changes to life within their own companies, teaching how to implement each step in the process and packing in checklists, commentary, tips, and practical application methods throughout. From communicating for buy-in to creating, shaping and imparting a vision for change, The Heart Of Change Field Guide takes idea and applies it to real-life situations.

The Next Global Stage
Kenichi Ohmae
Wharton School Publishing
University of Pennsylvania, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
013147944X $27.95 whartonsp.com

Both business and political science college-level readers seeking to understand the new opportunities and challenges of a closely-knit global community will find The Next Global Stage: Challenges And Opportunities In Our Borderless World outlines a radical new worldview evolving from the nation-based economic picture of the past. Kenichi Ohmae is a business strategist who published The Borderless World in 1990, which predicted the rise of globalization: here he explores the new players of this world stage, and provides both businesses and governments with a game plan for handling new challenges.

1001 Ways To Reward Employees
Bob Nelson, Ph.D.
Workman Publishing Company
708 Broadway, 6th Floor, NY, NY 10003
www.workman.com
0761136819 $12.95 1-800-722-7202

Now in a revised and updated edition, 1001 Ways To Reward Employees by motivational expert Bob Nelson is a collection of various ways to motivate employees through positive reinforcement - including day-to-day recognition, informal and intangible recognition, tangible recognition and rewards, group recognition, rewards for specific achievements, and formal reward programs. From bonuses to flexible hours to company stock ownership to a simple email of praise, each method is succinctly discussed with example situations. Appendices include lists of where to get speedy reward items, names of companies that specialize in group rewards, and much more. A handy resource for any business interested in enhancing its productivity through positive influence on its workers.

High-Maintenance Employees
Katherine Graham Leviss
Sourcebooks Inc.
1935 Brookdale Rd, Naperville, IL 60563
www.sourcebooks.com
1402206232 $18.95 1-800-432-7444

Written by expert business coach Katherine Graham Leviss, High-Maintenance Employees is a solid guide to managing high-performance employees who are also high maintenance. Chapters cover how to identify high- maintenance high performers, understanding the most effective communication methods when dealing with different personalities, the four basic behavioral styles (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Compliance), coaching strategies, advice for integrating a high-maintenance high performer into a team, what to do when working for a high-maintenance, high performer boss, and much more. Key tips are frequently broken down into bullet points for easy reference and memorization. A practical-minded, highly readable guide to easing through personality differences for maximum business success.


The Antiques/Collectibles Shelf

Colt Single Action Army Revolver Study
C. Kenneth Moore
Andrew Mowbray Inc., Publishers
PO Box 460, Lincoln, RI 02865
1931464073 $49.95 1-800-999-4697

Over twenty-five years after the publication of the classic guide "A Study of the Colt Single Action Revolver", one of the original authors expands upon the original, and fills in its gaps with the knowledge from decades of research in Colt Single Action Army Revolver Study: New Discoveries. Entirely up to date, the Cold Single Action Army Revolver Study is filled cover to cover with information direct from primary and archival sources, much of which is presented for the first time, including serial number data. The text is written especially for serious Colt collectors and gun enthusiasts, and a handful of black-and-white photographs and diagrams round out this quality, in-depth collector's and researcher's guide.

Joe Caro's Hopalong Cassidy Collectibles
Joseph J. Caro
Cowboy Collector Publications
PO Box 7486, Long Beach, CA 90807
0962807818 $42.50 www.hopalong.com

Featuring condition scale, current values, and full color photography of almost every item featured, Joe Caro's Hopalong Cassidy Collectibles is the definitive price guide for dedicated Hopalong Cassidy memorabilia collectors. The quality photography of hundreds of items, ranging from books to clothing, food ads, magazine articles, games, school items, toys and much more make Joe Caro's Hopalong Cassidy Collectibles ideal for Hopalong Cassiday fans who don't have hundreds or thousands of dollars to spend on these vintage treasures, but are interested in browsing through the these many minute artifacts of American popular culture. Most items have only a brief description, but some have slightly more involved commentary.

Schiffer Publishing
4880 Lower Valley Rd., Atglen PA 19310
www.schifferbooks.com

Three excellent collector's guides are specialty picks for neo-pros seeking updated prices and references. Mike Schneider's The Complete Cookie Jar Book (076432-3083, $29.95) holds over 2,000 jars illustrated in color: it's one of the most complete guides in print, and comes from one of the country's best authorities on the subject. Any serious about cookie jar collecting should not miss the revised 5th edition: it packs in an updated price guide with color photos both large and small on every page. Fenton glass collectors have two solid references to consult. For a more general introduction use John walk's The Big Book Of Fenton Glass 1940-70 (076-3422435, $19.95): it's a comprehensive guide to decades of Fenton productions pairing color photos with a price guide plus a listing of factory ware and mold numbers. A big added bonus: glass is arranged by color to aid in quick, easy identification. If you wish something earlier, choose Thomas K. Smith's Early Fenton Rarities 1907-38 (0764322877, $29.95): from sketch glass to vases, urns and pieces rarely photographed, Early Fenton Rarities is a 'must' reference' for any serious collector.


The Computer Shelf

Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 Upgrader's Guide C# Edition
Doug Lowe & Joel Murach
Mike Murach & Associates
3484 West Gettysburg, Suite 101, Fresno CA 93722
www.murach.com
1890774359 $39.50 1-800-221-5528

Written especially for professional programmers, Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 Upgrader's Guide C# Edition is a no- nonsense, in-depth resource that packs everything a programmer needs to know when making the jump to ASP.NET 2.0. Chapters cover how to use new ASP.NET features such as master pages, tips and tricks for getting the most out of new data access features including GridView, DetailsView, and FormView controls that can develop professional applications with little or no C# code, labor-saving improvements, how to configure and deploy new 2.0 applications especially when converting from ASP.NET 1.x, and much more. Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 Upgrader's Guide C# Edition succeeds admirably in its mission to be the best possible resource on its chosen topic; explanations, examples, sample code, recommendations, suggestions, and painstaking attention to detail make for an indispensable resource.

AutoCad 2006 And AutoCad LT 2006
David Frey
Sybex, an imprint of Wiley
989 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94103
0782144144 $34.99 www.wiley.com

Autocad 2006 And AutoCad LT 2006: No Experience Required is a fine, basic introduction to a powerful program which once commanded the attention only of professionals. Any seeking to utilize the CAD software should have this manual in hand: it provides a set of tutorials which are sequentially arranged for step-by-step study - but it also can be used as an at-a-glance reference sourcebook for solving specific problems. From understanding coordinate systems and drawing routines to working with fills, text, external references and more, AutoCAD's powerful tools and drawing features are all detailed in depth.

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

More basic 'foundation titles' from O'Reilly are special picks for libraries seeking to build strong computer collections which won't become instantly outdated by new program versions. Jesse Liberty's Programming Visual Basic 2005 (0596009496, $39.95) is a fine introduction to writing Windows and web applications in Visual Basic. It's a quick start for coding with a difference: chapters cover the steps to building applications which tech Visual Basic language concepts and syntax as you go along: this means a working knowledge of Visual Basic is built based upon need in a progressive manner leading to advanced techniques and comprehension. Another book putting theory into practice - this one for advanced programmers - is Ken Pugh's Prefactoring: Extreme Abstraction, Extreme Separation, Extreme Readability (05960-08740, $29.95): it provides software developers with insights based on author Pugh's own real-world experiences and it draws important connections between designs and real-world applications. Learn when to produce code and when to leave out troublesome lengthy versions, how to identify extreme naming problems, and how to separate policy from implementation to keep code more readable. Jim Van Meggelen, Jared Smith & Leif Madsen's Asterisk: The Future Of Telephony (059-6009623, $39.95) focuses on the open source application Asterisk, which allows for flexible dial plans to support all kinds of telephony applications, from analogs and trunks to VoIP services from standard providers. Learn how to use Asterisk to set up dialplans, applications, speech synthesis and more with a guide written by Asterisk's original creator and maintainer: you can't get more authoritative than this! Robert Jones' Internet Forensics (05961-0006X, $39.95) examines how to use digital evidence to solve computer crimes. From fake login pages directed by email scams to mirror servers, spam and domain main similar names, Internet Forensics offers many basics on how to tell a scam online. Jim Elferdink's iWork 05: The Missing Manual (059610037X, $24.95) covers Pages and Keynote 2 as it provides all the basics of how to create documents and produce presentations with iWork's latest, powerful features. Mac users receive a solid reference which will appeal to beginners and advanced users alike: particularly appealing when covering such new functions as Keynote, which has gone through a major update to make it a formidable competitor to PowerPoint. Business users, especially, will find iWork 05: The Missing Manual an essential reference to maintaining professional standards. David Pogue's iLife 05: The Missing Manual (0596100361, $29.95) covers all the major features and functions of iLife: iTunes, iPhoto 5, Garage Band 2 and more. These are all key cornerstones of the Mac's popularity and here are revealed by a weekly computer columnist for the New York Times who is himself a Macintosh author. From producing polished music recordings with no prior experience to using information panels, effects panes, film rolls and other features of iLife 05, you simply can't be without this book if you own the program. The full color screen examples packed throughout make it hard to mess up. David Pogue works with Adam Goldstein on Switching To The Mac Tiger Edition: The Missing Manual (0596006608, $24.95), a handbook to the very different Apple operating system. You need this book even if you're an old Apple user: the Mac OS X operating system is quite different from Windows and even from prior Mac versions, and reveals all the shortcuts, design touches, and tips, tricks and traps intrinsic to successfully using and optimizing the Mac. Chapters review all the functions, from using the junk mail filter and introducing accounts to using a Bluetooth transmitter and upgrading software. Karl Fogel's Producing Open Course Software: How To Run A Successful Free Software Project (0596007590, $24.95) provides advice on how to organize and run an open source software project, and comes from a developer who has worked in open source on many such projects. From providing developers with technical resources and handling communications to tracking and repairing bugs and funding open source projects, this is a treasure trove of detail highly recommended for any overseeing an open source project. Advanced users building web applications will find the latest third edition of Jesse Liberty & Dan Hurwitz's Programming ASP.NET (059600916X, $49.95) provides a fine hands-on introduction to both ASP.NET 2.0 and Visual Studio 2005, with an eye to moving into productive solutions as quickly as possible. From using Master pages to create web site consistency to understanding rendering methods and custom control properties, handling Cache dependencies, and populating on demand, Programming ASP.NET covers all the functions essential to quick and efficient applications. Chris DiBona, Danese Cooper and Mark Stone edit Open Sources 2.0: The Continuing Evolution (0596008023, $29.95), a collection of essays from today's tech leaders exploring open source's impact on the software industry. Open source is network- enabled distributed collaboration that holds the potential of changing not only online business itself, but the nature of collaboration. Articles address the future of open source in essays that cover not just the developing technology but the participation of international communities. A 'must' for any interested in open source who would understand its ongoing evolution and potential.

Charles River Media
10 Downer Avenue, Hingham, MA 02043
www.charlesriver.com

Both beginning and advanced programmers receive a standard collection of tips on using C++'s Standard Library feature and its Standard Template Library in common programming routines with the powerful book by Greg Reese C++ Standard Library Practical Tips (1584504005, $49.95). A CD-ROM accompanies a reference offering over a hundred solutions for programs from handling different values to getting a C-style array from a vector and finding medians and modes. Tips on algorithms, containers, numerical processing and more hold plenty of examples and usage insights. A recommended, standard pick for any working regularly in C++. Chris Neuhahn and Josh Book's Professional Short Films With Autodesk 3DS Max (1584504153, $49.95) teaches how to use the tools in 3ds Max to create short films, from devising a story and storyboards to rigging characters and animation, using different techniques in the process, and editing to produce a polished product. An actual film, Vacant Planet: a Curious Bit of Scrap, is used as a case study and files on the accompanying DVD-ROM help users develop their own stories for an animated tale. You have to have prior 3ds Max basics down to benefit: this is for the user who wants to move on to more professional pursuits in the short film format.


The World History Shelf

The Origins Of Freemasonry
Margaret C. Jacob
University of Pennsylvania Press
3905 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19104
www.upenn.edu/pennpress
0812239016 $26.50 1-800-537-5487

Distinguished professor of history Margaret C. Jacob presents The Origins Of Freemasonry: Facts & Fictions, an intriguing and scholarly scrutiny of Freemasonry, from its roots in the gathering of impoverished English and Scottish guilds in the 1650s to its evolution into an organization intertwined with fledgling democratic movements. Freemasonry membership gradually came to imply a keen interest in government, with lodges functioning as schools in oratory, social discipline, and other facets of community life; furthermore, women played a noticeably more active role in Freemasonry life than is popularly believed. The Origins Of Freemasonry strives to recreate as accurate a picture of the daily life of Freemasons as possible even as it seeks to debunk misperceptions and explore noble ideas connected to the movement, such as the concept (unfortunately not always honored in full spirit) that an individual's standing should be based on merit rather than birth or wealth. A fascinating and eye-opening examination of a lasting organization's impact on history.

From Private To Public
Marco Beretta, editor
Science History Publications
c/o Watson Publishing International
Box 1240, Sagamore Beach, MA 02562
0881353604 $39.95 www.shpusa.com

From Private To Public: Natural Collections And Museums is an anthology of essays by learned authors contemplating the emergency of Natural History as a discipline during the period from the Renaissance to the end of the 18th century. Essays include "Taste, Order and Aesthetics in Eighteenth-Century Mineral Collections", "The Museum of Alexandria: Myth and Model", "Natural Collections in the Spanish Renaissance", and much more. Seeking to balance Natural History's traditional emphasis on specimens and collections over writings, From Private To Public sheds a judicious and scholarly light upon humankind's quest to better understand the surrounding world. An excellent contribution to community and academic library Natural History study shelves.

Cities
John Reader
Atlantic Monthly Press
841 Broadway, New York NY 10003
0871138980 $26.00 groveatlantic.com

With a subject as broad and diverse in its scope, and is as potentially weighty as humanities' urban complexes, one would think a book of the same name would cover over 500 pages and be detrimental to simple leisure browsing -- not so: Cities is a lively, engaging, and vigorous revelation of just how cities evolved, what made them thrive or decline, and how they transformed themselves to cultural centers over the centuries. Contrary to popular belief, cities actually fostered the growth of farming and hold a symbiotic and close relationship with the countryside and trade routes: John Reader's Cities provides a map of changes and the social, political and economic connections between cities and country around the world. The lively format the author John Reader created for Cities makes for an exceptional historical coverage which lends particularly well to leisure reading.

Pictorial Victorians
Julia Thomas
Ohio University Press
Scott Quadrangle, #226 Athens OH 45701
www.ohiou.edu/oupress
0821415913 $44.95 1-800-621-2736

Centre for Critical and Cultural lecturer Julia Thomas presents Pictorial Victorians: The Inscription Of Values In World And Image, a succinct examination of the connection between key Victorian artworks and images, and the texts or cultural phenomena with which they are intertwined. Most of the images reproduced in Pictorial Victorians are black-and-white, though there is an inset collection of color plates. Illustrations from Victorian books and publications, narrative scenes from the walls of the Royal Academy, and more images reveal fascinating nuances of Victorian culture, lifestyle, and worldview. A fascinating tour of a historical period through its verbal and visual legacy.

Dufour Editions
PO Box 7, Chester Springs, PA 19425
www.dufoureditions.com

Ulster has been at the center of conflicts between Ireland and Britain for centuries: that's why a book such as Jonathan Bardon's A History Of Ulster (085640764X $36.95) is so important to understanding the origins of conflicts. Nine thousand years of social, political and economic changes from the Viking invasions to modern times are documented in a title first published in 1992 and here updated to add events since. A 'must' for any collection serious about Irish history. Sean Beecher's Cork 365: A Day-By-Day Miscellany Of Cork History (1903464927, $21.95) is also a recommended pick for Irish fans: it's a personal selection of history, humorous events, and cultural insights set in diary form from January to December with a historical insight per page. The organization lends to leisure browsing and casual enjoyment, and fun. Brian Lalor's The Irish Round Tower: Origins And Architecture Explored (1903464773, $32.95) may be a specialty item, but any with an interest in the unique round towers which survive in Ireland today must have this book. There are about 70 such towers scattered across the countryside and represent the only form of architecture which is unique to Ireland alone. There's little available on the subject, making this illustrated study, with its black and white photos, drawings, and extensive social and architectural history, an essential reference indeed.


The Mystery/Suspense Shelf

What Lies Buried
Dewey Lambdin
McBooks Press/NBN, dist.
520 N. Meadow Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
www.mcbooks.com
1590131169 $23.95 1-888-266-5711

Set in pre-revolution North Carolina, What Lies Buried: A Novel Of Old Cape Fear is a thrilling mystery. When a retired political leader is found murdered beside a lonely road, a former friend of his is determined to find the truth of who killed him and why. Yet the more the victim's past is probed, the more reasons to kill him appear, and tracking down the killer amid a smorgasbord of likely suspects becomes an increasingly difficult task. At the bottom of the morass is a cold-blooded killer, and apprehending him will risk brutal consequences for the innocent and guilty alike. A captivating period piece.


The Political Science Shelf

America's Constitution
Akhil Reed Amar
Random House
1745 Broadway, 17th fl, NY, NY 10019
1400062624 $29.95 www.amazon.com

Akhil Reed Amar is a constitutional-law scholar and here provides a history and review of America's founding document, explaining not just what it says and how it came about - but why. From the influence of existing American legal texts of the time which helped create the 'master plan' of Constitutional content to issues of what parts should be unamendable and challenges to its laws, America's Constitution: A Biography charts the emerging personality and structure of the Constitution's very premises. A 'must' for any college-level collection serious about political science and American history.

Ivan R. Dee
1332 N. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60622
www.ivanrdee.com

Politics in modern America doesn't just contrast left and right attitudes: a new dynamic has been emerging between those who benefit from an expanding government, and those who have to pay for it: that's the focus of Steven Malanga's The New New Left (1566636442, $22.50), a history which examines these two movements and their sources. From the growth of public-sector employee unions in the 1950s which produced political ties to the war on poverty in the 1960s, funded by neighborhood grassroots efforts, The New New Left: How American Politics Works Today brings all the pieces of the puzzle together. Theodore Dalrymple's Our Culture, What's Left Of It: The Mandarins And The Masses (1566636434, $27.50) provides a new essay collection examining the human condition: nearly thirty pieces tackling issues from literature to religion and politics. Years of medical practice in a variety of setting contributes to a discussion of human experience and limits of culture and perception, examining cultural and social oddities alike.


The Literary Shelf

The Lovecraft Lexicon
Anthony Pearsall
New Falcon Publications
1739 East Broadway Road, #1-277, Tempe, AZ 85282
1561841293 $19.95 www.newfalcon.com

The Lovecraft Lexicon: A Readers Guide To Persons, Places And Things In The Tales Of H.P. Lovecraft is a straightforward resource of names, locations, concepts, and hideous abominations from H.P. Lovecraft's classic horror fiction, such as "The Call of Cthulhu". The bulk of The Lovecraft Lexicon consists of entries in alphabetical order from Abbadon to Yuggoth; entries often contain not only straight definitions of the terms in the realm of Lovecraft's dark fantasy, but also notes regarding historical references of certain words or quotes from Lovecraft himself concerning how he came to imagine some of the more unusual names. An introduction and chronology of selected Lovecraftian works rounds out this superb companion reference to any fan of Lovecraftian horror, whether a casual reader of Lovecraft's books, a literary scholar, or even a role-playing gamer re-enacting horror-themed adventures.

Sovereignties In Question
Jacques Derrida
Fordham University Press
2546 Belmont Avenue, University Box L
Bronx, NY 10458-5172
0823224384 $19.95 1-800-247-6553

Written by one of the most influential philosophers in modern history, Sovereignties In Question: The Poetics Of Paul Celan evaluates the work of Paul Celan, a Jewish poet writing in German who offers a vivid scrutiny of the European experience in the twentieth century. Resonating with complex interplay to a degree that simulates a clash of stubborn wills, Sovereignties in Question covers such subtle issues as the notion of the trace, the temporal structures of futurity and "to come", the multiplicity of language, the significance of speech acts such as testimony, promising, lying, and perjury, and much more. An intensely scholarly text for advanced students of philosophy and literature.

Horror Fiction: An Introduction
Gina Wisker
The Continuum Publishing Group
15 East 26th St, #17, NY, NY 10010-1505
www.continuumbooks.com
082641561X $14.95 1-800-561-7704

The latest in the Continuum Studies in Literary Genre series, Horror Fiction: An Introduction follows the same nine- point structure as other volumes: a broad definition of essential elements of the genre, a timeline of historical developments, critical concerns to keep in mind while reading, detailed readings of key texts, extensive analysis of major themes and issues, guidelines for further study, a summary of the most widely noted criticism in the field, a glossary of terms, and an annotated, critical reading list. Written Gina Wisker, an English teacher and the author of "Virginia Woolf: A Beginner's Guide", Horror Fiction: An Introduction covers the widely regarded authors Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, Stephen King, Anne Rice, Washington Irving, William Peter Blatty, Ira Levine, Shirley Jackson, and Angela Carter. A superb basic study text for novice literature students, or advanced literature students who are new to the horror genre.


The Library Video/DVD Shelf

Mr. Lincoln
Allen C. Guelzo
The Teaching Company
4151 Layfayette Center Drive, Suite 100
Chantilly, VA 20151-1232
www.teach12.com
1598030108 $199.95 1-800-832-2412

Mr. Lincoln: The Life Of Abraham Lincoln is a twelve lecture series by Allen C. Guelzo (Henry R. Luce Professor of the Civil War Era and Professor of History at Gettysburg College). Each lecture is 30 minutes in length beginning with Young Man Lincoln; then continuing on with Whig Meteor; Lincoln, Law, and Politics; The Mind of Abraham Lincoln; Lincoln and Slavery; The Great Debates; Lincoln and Liberty, Too; The Uncertain President; The Emancipation Moment; Lincoln's Triumph; The President's Sword; and finally concluding with "The Dream of Lincoln. Professor Guelzo is articulate and engaging as he provide the viewer with a comprehensive and insightful overview of the life, complications, and accomplishments of a complex, intelligent, and troubled man whose presidency was problematic and ultimately successful in maintaining the Union, eliminating slavery, and establishing federal supremacy over individual statehoods. Accompanied by a paperback book containing the lecture scripts, the two-disc Mr. Lincoln DVD is enthusiastically recommended for highschool honors curriculums, major community library DVD collections, and college/university level American History supplemental studies.

Razor Digital Entertainment
c/o 411 Video Information
PO Box 1223, Pebble Beach, CA 93953
$9.99 each, color, www.411videoinfo.com

Razor Digital Entertainment presents Ropesport, a four-DVD set about learning a challenging and fun way to burn calories and feel like a kid again. All four DVDs teach exercise enthusiasts how to enjoy themselves with a simple jump rope at any level of fitness, in a workout space as small as five feet, and feature celebrities Kelly Packard and Eric Nies with "World's Greatest Jump Rober" Louis Garcia. Ropesport Basic Workout (1595521674, 60 min.) shows the viewer about FreeStyle JumpRoping moves anyone can do to tone the lower and upper body, including basic instructions in a variety of jumps and a 15-minute introductory workout. Ropesport Intermediate Workout (1595521682, 48 min.) offers a thirty a 30-minute total body workout, with instructions for 10 new jumps and Eric Nies' Ab Blast Routine to firm abdominal muscles in just 5 minutes a day. Ropesport Advanced Workout (1595521690, 53 min.) gives instructions in 10 more new jumps, in addition to a new safe, body-toning workout that like all Ropesport workouts, can be done indoors or outdoors, at home or on the go. Ropesport Extreme (1595521704, 36 min.) rounds out the series with instructions for over 30 jumps and tricks that will captivate onlookers with their professional panache, and introduce viewers to the art of soloing and developing one's own personal style. An excellent, budget-priced addition to personal fitness routine DVD libraries, highly recommended

MPI Media Group
1601 S. 108th Ave, Orland Park, IL 60467
www.mpimedia.com

MPI Media offers exceptional home video productions with enough variety to provide something for everyone. Country music fans will find Patsy Cline: Sweet Dreams Still: The Anthology (0788607-049, $19.98) an outstanding documentary of her rare televised appearances from 1956 to her final appearance just days before her death in 1963. These are video clips from top TV shows, contests, and the recordings which made her so popular. Comedy fans will love George Carlin: Doin' It Again (0788606941, $19.98): it comes live from the State Theater in New Brunswick New Jersey in 1990 and provides some of the best of Carlin's jaded observations of everyday life. This is his seventh live stand-up concert for HBO and provides hilarious moments indeed. Fans of the old TV soap opera Dark Shadows surely must know about MPI's extensive reissues of the shows on DVD; Collection 20 (0788606662, $59.98) is out and provides more mystery: Barnabas is once again a vampire and a writer discovers his secret and traps him. Angelique is coming back and her identical twin enters the picture. Saving the best for last is the 'True Stories Collection' and its new arrivals ($9.98 each): any who love the Lifetime TV dramas or TV miniseries 'made for drama' productions will relish these new realistic dramas. The Unspoken Truth (0788606484) is based on a real story and tells of a woman who confesses to her husband's crime: both go to prison and families fall apart. High Lonesome (0788606-808) presents a drama surrounding the only black man left in town in the 1930s. He's lost almost everyone in his life; and then the community unites to drive him away - except for a lone child. The Disappearing Act (0788606794) features Patty Duke and Kelly Rowan and tells of a fiancée who disappears under mysterious circumstances. His mother becomes convinced something terrible has happened. Indecent Seduction (0788606905) tells of a popular high school coach who crosses the line in his attraction for a young student - and the effect his behavior has on the community. Susan Dey and Piper Laurie's Sad Inheritance (0788606891) tells of a woman pregnant by her cocaine-addicted lover, and a baby born with the same dependency. The Interrogation Of Michael Crowe (0788606883) tells of a pre-teen child stabbed to death while asleep in her own bedroom, and the family's horror when one of their own is the prime suspect - her brother, Michael. All are absolutely gripping dramas.

Mystery Of The Megaflood
WGBH Boston Video
c/o SSA Public Relations
148 Madison Ave, 16th fl, NY, NY 10016
www.shop.wgbh.org
1593753152 $19.95 1-800-949-8670

As seen on public television, Mystery Of The Megaflood: Examining The World's Most Catastrophic Flood is an episode of the scientific discovery series NOVA, revealing the true story of one determined geologist's quest to unravel an ancient mystery of the American land. Studying gigantic scoured potholes of the "Scablands" covering Washington State, and discovering the remnants of an enormous ice dam half a mile high that had blocked a valley in present-day Montana and created an gigantic lake behind it, he pieced together evidence for a surprising hypothesis - that once, 1,000-foot deep floodwaters had swept across the Northwest, causing a catastrophic extinction of woolly mammoth and other natural life in the area. An amazing glimpse into the Mother Nature's tumult of centuries past. 56 minutes, color.
Resolutions For A Lifetime With Xina Sy
Bayview Entertainment
c/o 411 Video Information
PO Box 1223, Pebble Beach, CA 93953
DVD $TBA www.411videoinfo.com

Resolutions For A Lifetime With Xina Sy a self-help DVD especially for women. Motivational guru and host Xina Sy offers assistance for women to get beyond the limits of personal insecurity and self-defeating habits that impair their physical and emotional well-being. Featuring real interviews with women about their resolutions, tips for getting started and keeping resolutions, and a "Get Started Workout" to help the "beginning mover" learn to start each day making the "Right Move!", Resolutions for a Lifetime is a positive and uplifting first step to empowering and improving the quality of one's life. 38 minutes, color.


The Audiobook Shelf

Sky Woman Falling
Kirk Mitchell
Blackstone Audiobooks
PO Box 969, Ashland, OR 97520
www.BlackstoneAudio.com
0786174986 $99.00 1-800-729-2665

Sky Woman Falling is an unabridged audiobook novel about FBI Special Agent Anna Turnipseed, a Modoc Indian from California, and Bureau of Indian Affairs investigator Emmett Parker, a Comanche from Oklahoma, are a federal-sponsored team sent to investigate cases in tribal territory. In Sky Woman Falling, the two of them find a murdered elderly Oneida woman with every bone in her body shattered - much like the Sky Woman of the Oneida creation myth. The victim was in the center of a bitter land dispute, and standard procedure places both of them in deadly jeopardy from the fallout of a race war. Deftly written by Kirk Mitchell (a former deputy sheriff on the Paiute-Shoshone Indian reservations including Death Valley), and very ably narrated by Dick Hill (a "Golden Voice" named by AudioFile magazine), Sky Woman Falling is a deeply intricate and suspenseful mystery. 12 CDs, 13 1/2 hours.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Jonathan Safran Foer
Recorded Books, LLC
270 Skip Jack Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678
www.recordedbooks.com
1419338919 $34.99 1-800-638-1304

An unabridged audiobook rendition of the second novel of author Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is the follow-up story to "Everything Is Illuminated", which earned Book of the Year honors from the Los Angeles Times among other awards. In Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, a nine-year-old boy must come to terms with his father's death in the World Trade Center attacks. Searching New York City for the lock that fits the key his father left behind, the bright and ambitious young boy discovers a world of amazement beyond his dreams. Performed by various narrators, and featuring tracks every three minutes for easy bookmarking, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is an exceptional audiobook experience and highly recommended. 10 CDs, 11 hours.

My Hero
The Hero Project
Tantor Media, Inc.
114 Mill Rock Road East, Old Saybrook, CT 06475
www.tantor.com
1400101980 $24.99 1-877-782-6867

Also available in an MP3 format (1400151988, $19.99), My Hero is an unabridged audiobook compilation of essays by genuine American heroes co-read by veteran narrators Alan Sklar and Ellen Archer. Sponsored by the nonprofit My Hero Project, whose mission is to inspire the hero in us all, My Hero includes the writings of celebrities, athletes, and public figures such as Michael J. Fox, Dana Reeve, Senator John McCain, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, astronaut John Glen, baseball great Yogi Berra, and many more. A singularly inspirational and motivational testimony to human greatness. 5 CDs, running time 5 1/2 hours.

Philosophy
Edward Craig
Naxos AudioBooks
416 Mary Lindsay Polk Drive, Suite 509, Franklin, TN 37067
www.naxosaudiobooks.com
NA334412 $21.98 1-877-629-6723

In Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction Is Deftly (narrated in this audiobook edition by "Voice of the Year" competition winner Maurice West), author Edward Craig reveals that philosophy is not an alien institution, but rather an exercise in broadening one's understanding of the world. Philosophy is a structured manner of thinking, so as not to be misled by common logical errors; practitioners have used it to formulate concrete, vital, and practical responses to real problems from the era of Plato, Buddhist writers, Descartes, Hobbes, Darwin, and de Beauvoir up through the modern day. Highly accessible to lay readers and philosophy students alike, Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction is an enthusiastically recommended primer for thinking more clearly and sensibly in all walks of life. 3 CDs, 3 1/2 hours.

Are Men Necessary?
Maureen Dowd
Books On Tape, Inc.
400 Hahn, Westminister, MD 21157
1-800-541-5525 www.booksontape.com
1415925488 $72.00 (audio cassette)

Are Men Necessary? When Sexes Collide is the latest audiobook by Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. Very nicely read by the author who perfectly narrates her dry wit and charm, Are Men Necessary? is not an attack on men, nor is it a demand for social change - but rather, it is a simple and engaging presentation of the author's often bemused observations of male-female relationships in the twenty-first century, as well as the sometimes retrograde progression of ideas about what makes a woman truly "liberated". Drawing carefully from modern statistical data, Dowd notes that driven career women are less likely to marry or raise children. Men tend to seek lifemates of lower social status or earning power while women tend to seek lifemates of higher status or earning power; to the detriment of the successful female executive who sees prospective mates chasing after maids. While women have learned to work themselves to death in the manner that men do, men have learned to benefit from hissy fits and gossip in the manner that women do. Does female empowerment have to come at the price of reproductive opportunity? Or is it yet possible for women to salvage earning power, social equality, and dreams of a husband and family? Also available in an expertly recorded 7 disc CD format ($90.00) from Books On Tape, Are Men Necessary? doesn't have any hard and fast answers, but it asks the right questions, with insightful anecdotes, and in a wry process certain to bring humor laced observations that are as thoughtful as they are thought provoking. Very highly recommended listening!

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

Stephen Coonts' Deep Black: Payback (1596003456, $24.95) receives an excellent reading by J. Charles as it tells of an ex-Marine sniper and his team who infiltrate Peru and take part in its politics. Here's a vivid thriller for any who enjoy political plots, espionage, and spying, all bright to life by J. Charles' dramatic flair. John Darnton's The Darwin Conspiracy (1593550049, $26.95) receives a fantastic narration by three readers: Bernadette Quigley, David Colacci and Buck Shirner: all experienced audio readers who bring to life the story of Victorian England and the mysteries of Darwin's world and adventures. Add a healthy touch of intrigue and mystery along with the very real facts of Darwin's papers and works and you have an autobiography which sounds like fiction but is packed with facts. J.D. Robb's Midnight In Death (1423309901, $19.95) received Susan Ericksen's seasoned voice and Joyce Bean's direction as it provides another 'In Death' mystery based on a jailed serial killer who escapes and heads for revenge on his witness. It's up to Eve to stop him or become a victim. Catherine Coulter's Sherbrooke Bride (1597377872, $26.95) introduces new narrator Anne Flosnick, who lends a smooth and compelling voice to another fine romance by Coulter. Here a woman who has loved an Earl from afar faces her sister's marriage to him, and the whole family must deal with his marriage to the wrong woman. Fern Michaels also provides a fine romance with Texas Fury (1596365101, $26.95) which receives veteran narrator Laural Merlington's excellent style and ability to bring characters alive. Amelia is the last surviving child of a legendary tycoon when she discovers romance beyond tragedy and builds a successful life based on money - and a crumbling romance. Nora Roberts' Blue Smoke (1596008695, $26.95) receives Joyce Bean's moving account as it tells of a fire at a family pizzeria and a young woman who sees her future in the flames. Romance is sparked and may bring Renna Hale haunting love or tragedy. Mary Roach's Spook (19-737881X, $32.95) also receives Bernadette Quigley's seasoned voice as it provides a scientific examination of life after death. Roach examines the works of a reincarnation researcher, a college where cardiologists study out-of-body/near-death experiences, a British medium school, and more. Kathleen Flynn-Hui's Beyond The Blonde (1597377473, $24.95) receives Susan Ericksen's ability to bring the printed word to life in an adventure of a New York salon where star colorist Georgia Watkins tends hair and seeks more in life than salon work. Her search for success leads to some unusual avenues. Forgiven (1596001992, $21.95) by Karen Kingsbury is narrated by veteran Sandra Burr and provides a moving story of a deadly accident involving a Christian Kids Theater group and a wandering Hollywood personality who searches for love and family. New connections are drawn from old tragedies. All are recommended leisure listen choices.


The Library CD Music Shelf

A Scottish Fiddle Collection
Bonnie Rideout
Maggie's Music
PO Box 490, Shady Side, MD 20764
MM306 $14.98 www.maggiesmusic.com

A Scottish Fiddle Collection is a music CD of traditional tunes, highland bagpipe music, and ancient Gaelic melodies by three-time National Scottish Fiddle Champion Bonnie Rideout. Instruments featured include the Scottish fiddle, viola with Highland pipes and drums, uilleann pipes, Scottish-smallpipes, pennywhistle, celtic harp, cello, guitar, citern, piano and bodhran, all played by talented experts; songs include "Highland Rant", "Yell Yell", "Bonny Jean O'Aberdeen", "The Gentle Milkmaid" and many more. A lively and wondrously syncopated audio experience, A Scottish Fiddle Collection includes music from six bestselling CDs and is a welcome addition to any Gaelic or fiddle music collection. 61:02 minutes.

Carnival Conspiracy
Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars
Piranha Musik/Harmonia Mundi
c/o Rock Paper Scissors
216 West Allen Street, Suite 137
Bloomington, IN 47403
CD-PIR1902 $18.98 rockpaperscissors.biz

Carnival Conspiracy: In The Marketplace All Is Subterfuge is an exciting music CD that brings together over forty musicians from eight countries on four continents for a grand musical travelogue of Brazilian-Mexican-Yiddish songs of love, angst, and just plain fun and dance. Featuring seven songs in Yiddish, Spanish, Ukrainian, and Ashkenazic Hebrew as well as five instrumental pieces, English text information, and a re-invention of "carnivalesque" music theme, Carnival Conspiracy is an album filled with modern Brass Band spirit as surely as ancient rhythms and traditions. A toe-tapping irresistible beat threads through this lively musical celebration. 59:28 minutes.


The International Studies Shelf

The Kurds And The State
Denise Natali
Syracuse University Press
1600 Jamesville Ave, Syracuse, NY 13210
SyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu
0815630840 $29.95 1-800-365-8929

The Kurds And The State: Evolving National Identity In Iraq, Turkey And Iran is a close scrutiny of the evolution of Kurdish nationalism, particularly with regard to how the development of nation-states has affected it. Written by a professor and research team member with thirteen years of experience studying Kurdish politics and identity inside and beyond Iraq, The Kurds And The State examines Iraq's transitions first to a colonial state, then to an independent republican state; Turkey's transitions first to an independent republican state then to a quasi-democracy; and Iran's transition first to a constitutional monarchy then to an Islamic republic. The Kurds And The State approach modern history not only in scholarly and philosophical terms, but also hard and fast practical terms, drawing upon both case histories and political science principles to reveal what is required for successful conflict-resolution strategies, particularly in volatile circumstances. A balanced, serious-minded, realistically grounded study and an absolute must-read for anyone seeking to understand Kurdish community, national identity, and possible nonviolent pathways to future conflict resolution.


The Biography Shelf

Mapper Of Mountains
I. S. MacLaren
University of Alberta Press
Ring House 2, Edmonton
Alberta, Canada, T6G 2E1
0888644566 $39.95 www.uap.ualberta.ca

Mapper Of Mountains: M.P. Bridgland In The Canadian Rockies 1902-1930 is the true story of dominion land surveyor Morrison Parsons Bridgland, who climbed many of Canada's Rocky Mountains for the first time and perfected photographic techniques to compile a series of mountaintop photographs and create accurate topographical maps. In 1915 he applied his top-rate skills to Jasper Park, creating a legacy of research and exacting quality for future generations to build upon. Mapper Of Mountains is the true testimony of one man's lifetime dedication to, and passion for, precisely recording the lay of high and sometimes deadly peaks. Illustrated with black-and-white maps and photographs throughout, Mapper Of Mountains is as much a tribute to geographic history as it is to Bridgland's acute vision and drive.

Irving Fine
Phillip Ramey
Pendragon Press
PO Box 190, Hillsdale, NY 12529
www.pendragonpress.com
1576471160 $32.00 1-518-325-6100

The latest of the "Lives in Music" series, Irving Fine: An American Composer In His Time is the detailed portrait of extraordinary musician and educator Irving Fine (1914-1962). Covering Fine's early life, his accomplishments as a composer and pianist, his brief teaching career at his alma mater Harvard University, his encounters with veiled anti- semitism, his subsequent success at Brandeis University, and much more. Pulitzer prize-winning composer Richard Wernick provides a foreword describing the growth and change of Fine's compositional style and aesthetic; while author and composer Phillip Ramey draws heavily upon the testimony of those who knew Fine best to craft an eminently readable and insightful study of a creative genius.

The Deadly Sins Of Aristotle Onassis
Stuart M. Speiser
ACW Press
c/o Lisa Gauff & Company
9903 Santa Monica Blvd., #160
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
1932124624 $25.95 www.acwpress.com

The Deadly Sins Of Aristotle Onassis is the true-life story of the famous Greek shipping tycoon who married Jackie Kennedy. He was the penultimate 20th century con man, able to charm the press even as he spun ever more elaborate frauds, from the illegal acquisition of war-surplus ships by falsifying ownership records to bribing Saudi Arabian officials for oil concessions to slaughtering whales in violation of international agreements to hiring Howard Hughes' hatchet man for wiretapping and intimidation, tax evasion, and more. Yet his life of deceit and control caught up with him, robbed his children of their happiness. The Deadly Sins Of Aristotle Onassis reveals how his boastful behavior and charade of invincibility ultimately trapped his son Alexander aboard his fatally defective personal airplane; how the guilt from his son's death caused him to end his own life prematurely; and how his legacy of criminal behavior lived on in his daughter, who tried to cheat Jackie Kennedy out of her rightful widow's share of his estate. A tragic true story of wicked deeds reaping grim rewards.

Harry Marshall Ward And The Fungal Thread Of Death
Peter Ayres
APS Press
3340 Pilot Knob Road
St. Paul, MN 55121-2097
www.shopapspress.org
089054333X $79.00 1-800-328-7560

Harry Marshall Ward And The Fungal Thread Of Death is the biography of a remarkable scientist whose discoveries in the late 1800's and early 1900's revolutionized humankind's understanding of fungal and other pathologies in plants, including and especially food crops. Black-and-white photographs, many of them vintage, illustrate this meticulous biography of a determined genius and his contributions to preventing famine. The methodical text paints a brilliant portrait of Harry Marshall Ward as a human being as well as a renowned scientist, and is highly accessible to students of botany history and lay readers alike. Highly recommended.

Alien Heart
Lyall Powers
University of Manitoba Press
301 St. John's College
Winnipeg, MB, Canada, R3T 2M5
www.umanitoba.ca/uofmpress
0887556876 $29.95 1-800-565-9523

Written by an English teacher and lifelong friend of Canada's beloved, award-winning author Margaret Laurence, Alien Heart: The Life & Work Of Margaret Laurence is an inspirational evaluation of Laurence's works, drawing from insights into Laurence's life to foment a deeper understanding of her novels and short stories. Chapters follow Laurence from her girlhood to her passing in 1987, drawing deeply upon research as well as quotes and personal testimonies to weave the tapestry of her life. Enthusiastically recommended for fans and scholars of Laurence's books.

Jungle
Yossi Ghinsberg
Boomerang New Media
c/o Greenleaf Book Group
4425 Mopac S, #600, 3rd Floor
Austin, TX 78735
www.greenleafbookgroup.com
0977171906 $23.95 www.amazon.com

Author Yossi Ghinsberg along with Marcus and Kevin agree to accompany Karl to Indian villages in the South American rainforest thinking it will be the backpacking adventure of a lifetime: what they don't realize is Yossi will find himself alone in a struggle to survive in the heart of the Amazon. Jungle: A Harrowing True Story Of Survival is his autobiography of a survival challenge few others will face. Yossi Ghinsberg provides first-person high drama from its first page telling of his meeting with Marcus and others to his struggle to traverse the Amazon alone, without knowledge of wilderness survival methods. His first- person journey creates a 'you are there' atmosphere throughout and makes Jungle: A Harrowing True Story Of Survival impossible to put down.

Inside Kenya - Creating Tomorrow
Sandra Harper
Hawthorne Publishing Company
6016 Larch St, Vancouver, B.C. V6M 4E4
www.hawthornepublishing.com
0973498617 $TBA www.amazon.com

Travel writer, editor, and educator Sandra Harper presents Inside Kenya - Creating Tomorrow: Stories Of Twelve Extraordinary Kenyan Lives, a true account of ordinary men and women of rural Kenya. Each individual has lifted himself or herself out of poverty into successful careers through education. Each was given the opportunity to graduate from university or college through Canadian scholarships, and each now completes the circle by assisting others to go to school. Inside Kenya - Creating Tomorrow is an anthology of hope, as it shows the reader the world of ordinary people dedicating their lives to making a difference within their nation. All proceeds from the sales of Inside Kenya - Creating Tomorrow go to A.C.C.E.S., a British Columbian non-governmental organization that funds education scholarships and literacy centers in Kakamega, Kenya. Highly recommended.


The Philosophy Shelf

First Word Philosophy
Richard Fleming
Bucknell University Press
c/o Associated University Presses
440 Forsgate Drive, Cranbury, NJ 08512
0838755682 $36.50 1-609-655-4770

Philosophy and humanities teacher Richard Fleming presents First Word Philosophy: Writings On Ordinary Language Philosophy, a re-examination of the value of ordinary language philosophy, or "first word" philosophy. Fleming argues persuasively that resistance to taking ordinary language philosophy seriously is harmful and limiting to philosophy as a whole; by considering ordinary language an imperfect vessel to cloud meaning, one ignores the power of ordinary language to convey philosophic messages in more widely accessible terms. Recommending that ordinary language should be treated "in order as it is", First Word Philosophy offers sample dialogues, a discussion of the history of language philosophy, an abstract of language philosophy, and so much more. A thoughtfully reasoned and presented discussion of pragmatic principles.


The Psychology Shelf

Separation Anxiety In Children And Adolescents
Andrew R. Eisen & Charles E. Schaefer
Guilford Publications, Inc.
72 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012
www.guilford.com
1593851316 $35.00 1-800-365-7006

Written especially for clinicians of all backgrounds by psychology professors Andrew Eisen and Charles Schaefer, Separation Anxiety In Children And Adolescents: An Individualized Approach To Assessment And Treatment is a solid guide to treating separation anxiety in both parents and children. From teaching child coping skills and parent coping skills, to training patients to negotiate fear, managing pitfalls and relapses, and more, Separation Anxiety in Children and Adolescents demonstrates tested methods, illustrated with sample dialogues and anecdotes. An appendix of tests and scales for assessing levels of separation anxiety round out this useful resource for psychology professionals.

Understanding And Treating Borderline Personality Disorder
John G. Gunderson, & Perry D. Hoffman
American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1825
Arlington, VA 22209-3901
1585621358 $29.95 www.appi.org

Professionals John Gunderson M.D. and Perry Hoffman Ph.D., with the aid of other expert contributors, present Understanding And Treating Borderline Personality Disorder: A Guide For Professionals And Families, a straightforward discussion of how to live with, care for, treat and help borderline patients. Chapters discuss the diagnosis and treatment of borderline disorder, and issues directly pertaining to families including forming a support system, living with the possible negative effects of borderline disorder, family involvement in treatment, and more. Sample cases, plain- terms discussions and definitions, and a highly accessible style and format make Understanding And Treating Borderline Personality Disorder immediately comprehensible to readers of all backgrounds. Highly recommended for anyone whose family or professional life places them in contact with or makes them responsible for borderline patients.


The Education Shelf

Super Smart
Stephen S. Young
Prufrock Press
PO Box 8813, Waco, TX 76714-8813
1593631553 $17.95 www.prufrock.com

Super Smart: 180 Challenging Thinking Activities, Words, And Ideas For Advanced Students (Grades 5-12) by educator and academician Stephen S. Young includes "Words of the Day" (each illustrated with an amusing black- and-white picture), "Thought of the Day" (such as "It is observation, not old age, which brings wisdom"), logic puzzles, mysteries to solve, word games, riddles, math games, and card tricks, and much more. Organized on a day-by-day basis, each page full of entries for mind-stretching are designed to quickly get students into a contemplative mindset. Ideal for schoolteachers, homeschoolers, and parents or babysitters interested in sharing a moment of brain-stimulating activity, Super Smart is a wonderful educational supplement.

Smart Teaching
Ronald J. Fitzgerald
Quality Press
c/o American Society for Quality
600 N. Plankinton Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53201-3005
www.asq.org
0873896610 $30.00 1-800-248-1946

Smart Teaching: Using Brain Research And Data To Continuously Improve Learning, by education consultant and former superintendent of schools Ronald Fitzgerald, presents theories that the author has tested for ten years. All too often, teachers today use the same methods that they used thirty or forty years ago; recognizing the need for flexibility, and the importance of taking a student's learning style into account, Smart Teaching promotes a system for improving student achievement with an emphasis on practical application. Built around fundamental principles such as "Instruction is more effective if well-planned to achieve specific purposes", "Students learn more if they are motivated first", and "Documented success encourages more success", Smart Teaching spells out methodical techniques for motivating students, preparing students, providing style choices, checking and adjusting student progress, and much more. A wealth of diagrams and figures succinctly illustrate key points, and an accompanying CD-ROM includes full-color PDF and PowerPoint slides ideal for in-service training. An excellent resource for teachers of K-12 and adult classrooms, whether used as a self-study tool or as the basis for a group workshop.

Building Student Literacy Through Sustained Silent Reading
Steve Gardiner
ASCD
1703 North Beauregard Street
Alexandria, VA 22311-1714
www.ascd.org
1416602267 $23.95 1-800-933-2723

Building Student Literacy Through Sustained Silent Reading by English and journalism teacher Steve Gardiner is a guide to improving students' reading ability through a process based on a simple key idea: let students choose what they read and give them time to read it. Giving students 15 minutes of uninterrupted reading time each day can help them discovery their own abilities and passion for reading. Gardner gives an account of his personal experiences with the Sustained Silent Reading program, exploring SSR's effects on various dimensions of literacy including reading and writing proficiency, vocabulary, spelling skills, and content comprehension. Summaries of current research, shared feedback with fellow teachers, and suggestions for adapting SSR to the unique needs of different classes round out this valuable addition to educators' reference shelves. Highly recommended for K-12 classroom teachers and special education reading skills instructors.

Losing Our Minds
Deborah L. Ruf
Great Potential Press, Inc.
PO Box 5057, Scottsdale, AZ 85261
0910707707 $24.95 1-877-954-4200

Featuring fascinating and illustrative vignettes from fifty different families, Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind by Deborah L. Ruf (educational consultant and the national coordinator for American Mensa's "Gifted Children Program"), is written specifically for parents and teachers who work with gifted children. With descriptions of behaviors associated with children who measure at the highest ranges of intelligence, Losing Our Minds features information about intelligence testing, early developmental milestones for gifted, family concerns arising from having a gifted child, choosing a school for the gifted child; "Five Levels of Gifted"; educational concerns and strategies for serving the gifted child. Too many of our gifted children are not being properly educated so as to assist them to make the most of what they are capable of in public and private school settings. Losing Our Minds should be mandatory reading for all school board members and educational system administrators, as well as classroom instructors with gifted children among their students, and parents of a gifted child seeking the very best for their talented offspring that a good education can provide.

Primary Pizzazz Writing
Melissa Forney
Maupin House Publishing
PO Box 90148, Gainesville, FL 32607
www.maupinhouse.com
0929895827 $29.95 1-800-524-0634

Primary Pizzazz Writing is a K-2 one-stop textbook program for teaching young students how to write well. Chapters outline a curriculum covering all of the national primary writing standards, and offer a wide variety of fun projects to appeal to the littlest budding writers. Thirty skill groups for lessons for large and small classrooms, independent writing centers, and at-home writing make Primary Pizzazz Writing as useful for home schoolers, church schools, and miscellaneous educational venues as it is for the classroom. An enclosed music CD, "Songs for the Writing Classroom", is packed with thirteen songs and five plays created and performed by author Melissa Forney. An extremely valuable resource for any educator of young children.

Effective School Leadership
James Johnston
Crown House Publishing
PO Box 2223, Williston, VT 05495-2223
www.CHPUS.com
1904424767 $19.95 1-877-925-1213

Written by a former vice-principal and history department head who taught for fifteen years in secondary schools before becoming a learning consultant, Effective School Leadership: Strategies For Successful Administrators is a guide written for all types of educational leaders including principals, vice-principals, department heads, and curriculum specialists. Chapters discuss how to manage one's time and deal with the pressures of leading and administrating a school; how to improve one's communication skills; how to resolve differences effectively; and much more. Even such little details as the use of "can't" vs. "won't" can have a big impact when it comes to motivating, managing, and working with teachers, parents, students, and other administrators. A valuable resource filled with eye-opening practical advice especially for leaders in the education, but also useful for leaders in other fields as well.

A Year In The Life Of An ESL Student
Edward J. Francis
Trafford Publishing
2333 Government Street, Suite 6E
Victoria, BC, Canada, V8T 4P4
www.trafford.com
1412020034 $23.00 1-888-232-4444

A Year In The Life Of An ESL Student: Idioms And Vocabulary You Can't Live Without is an excellent resource for English as a Second Language classrooms or self-study for students learning English. Following Andre, a student from Switzerland spending a year completing his English studies at a private language school, the lessons cover a wide variety of language situations directly relevant to adult ESL students, from disembarking at the airport to getting around the city to hanging out with classmates. A Year In The Life Of An ESL Student is particularly valuable for its definitions of common idioms - English phrases with a specific meaning that is not immediately identifiable to those unfamiliar with the language's nuances, such as "blow someone away" (astonish someone), "into something" (enjoy something), "give someone a ring" (phone someone), and much more. Simple exercises for idiom recognition and daily use and a host of online resources round out this consumable textbook.

The Substitute Teaching Survival Guide
John Dellinger
Jossey-Bass, Inc.
989 Market Street, 5th floor
San Francisco, CA 94103-1741
www.josseybass.com
0787974102 $19.95 1-800-225-5945

Printed with a "lay-flat" binding for easy photocopying, The Substitute Teaching Survival Guide is a superb resource for substitute teachers of classes grades K-5. Featuring an array of emergency lesson plans for each grade and a wealth of practical advice from retired public school teacher John Dellinger, recipient of the Distinguished Teacher Award. Although The Substitute Teaching Survival Guide is especially meant for substitute teachers, regular teachers will find it useful particularly for its sample exercises and learning-based activities, should the class get ahead of its syllabus. Lessons cover such topics as US Presidents, basic math and money, weather, features of the human body, American history and landmarks, and much more. Highly recommended.

From Emotions To Advocacy
Pam Wright & Pete Wright
Harbor House
PO Box 480, Hartfield, Virginia 23071
www.harborhouselaw.com
1892320096 $19.95 804-758-8400

Now in a fully revised and updated second edition with information about The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, From Emotions To Advocacy: The Special Education Survival Guide remains the definitive resource for advocates of children with disabilities, particularly parents. Chapters teach the reader in plain terms how to devise a master plan for the special education of one's child, how to use test scores to monitor the child's progress, why parent-teacher conflict is inevitable and how best to resolve it, how to create paper trails and write effective letters, and much more. Building up one's negotiation, interpersonal and communication skills to becoming familiar with the laws directly affecting the education of one's child are chief areas of focus. From Emotions To Advocacy draws directly upon all the talents of its authors - a psychotherapist and an attorney, both expert advocates for children with disabilities - to present parents with everything they need to know. A "must-have" for any parent, guardian or advocate of a child with a disability.


The Farming/Agriculture Shelf

All Flesh Is Grass
Gene Logsdon
Swallow Press/Ohio University Press
Scott Quadrangle, #226 Athens OH 45701
www.ohiou.edu/oupress
0804010692 $18.95 1-800-621-2736

All Flesh Is Grass: The Pleasures And Promises Of Pasture Farming is for any interested in American agriculture's history and directions. Author Gene Logsdon believes pastoral farming is a solution for a stressed agricultural system, and explains different techniques and practices past and present which hold the potential for changing and benefiting farming. His own experience as a 'contrary farmer' on his small-scale farm provides a foundation of experience for his tips.

Fields Of Plenty
Michael Ableman
Chronicle Books
85 - 2nd St., San Francisco, CA 94105
0811842231 $35.00 chroniclebooks.com

American agriculture is being re-created and re-defined by farmers and the people who grow our food, and Michael Ableman's journey to different farms blends a memoir of a farmer and photographer with a travelogue of his survey of others who are making a difference in the food world from across America. The different visions and experiences of farmers blend with discussions of politics, growing, and even with recipes for using fresh produce, making Fields Of Plenty an abundant gathering of crop wisdom and agricultural insights. Scholarly enough for college-level collections on agricultural studies yet accessible enough for public library holdings, Field Of Plenty: A Farmer's Journey In Search Of Real Food And The People Who Grow It is an excellent pick.


The Economics Shelf

Markets Don't Fail!
Brian P. Simpson
Lexington Books/Rowman & Littlefield
4501 Forbes Blvd., Lanham, MD 20706
0739110349 $65.00 1-800-462-6420

Especially recommended for professional and academic library reference collections, as well as Political Science and Economics Studies student supplemental reading lists, Markets Don't Fail! by Brian P. Simpson (Assistant Professor, School of Business and Management, National University, La Jolla, California) fundamental economics issues ranging from Capitalism, Socialism, and the Mixed Economy, to Monopoly, antitrust laws and predatory pricing, "externalities", economic inequality, public goods, and asymmetric information. So expertly written as to be accessible for even the non-specialist general reader with an interest into how free markets work, and concluding with an Epilogue, Markets Don't Fail! is enhanced with a substantive bibliography and a comprehensive index.


The Social Issues Shelf

Living With Television
Ira Glick & Sidney J. Levy
Transaction Publishers
35 Berrue Circle, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8042
www.transactionpub.com
0202307964 $29.95 1-888-999-6778

The collaborative work of sociologist Ira Glick and Sidney J. Levy (Professor Emeritus, Graduate School of Northwestern University), Living With Television is based upon in-depth field research conducted by investigators of Social Research Inc. interpreting the results of over 13,000 individuals. Members of TV audiences were studied to analyze their responses to TV, with respect to their age, sex, social class, and personal characteristics. The compiled information is meant to better reveal what television programs, performers and commercials are being watched. First published in 1962, Living With Television now has new material, even though many of its analyzed shows are still in production forty years later (The Price is Right) or in perpetual rerun (The Twilight Zone). A section concerning performer images and the larger-than-life projections audiences impose on them rounds out this scholarly and meticulous groundbreaking study of the enormous impact of the media on its viewers, and viewers on the popularity of media.

The Affirmative Action Hoax
Steven Farron
Seven Locks Press
3100 West Warner Avenue, Suite 8, Santa Ana, CA 92704
www.sevenlockspublishing.com
1931643628 $18.95 1-800-354-5348

The Affirmative Action Hoax: Diversity, The Importance Of Character And Other Lies by academician Steven Farron is an unapologetic, no-holds barred indictment of affirmative action especially in university admission, and also the less widely publicized practices of affirmative grading and graduation. Vehement in its denouncements, The Affirmative Action Hoax is unafraid to label defenses of affirmative action as "shameless frauds" and "blatant lies"; it declares, in unambiguous terms, that affirmative action is a blatant form of discrimination against white people and Asian people, and that if racial discrimination must be enacted then by far the most efficient and fair means is through quotas. Debunking the non-academic admissions criteria of "diversity", "importance of character", etc. often used to defend anti-white affirmative action by revealing that the same concepts were first introduced to discriminate in favor of white students who could not compete with the children of Jewish immigrants, The Affirmative Action Hoax is sharp-tongued yet serious minded in its call to reexamine a facet of university admissions policies all too easily taken for granted.

Gambling: Don't Bet On It
Rex M. Rogers
Kregel Publications
PO Box 2607, Grand Rapids, MI 49501
www.kregelpublications.com
082543646X $10.99 1-800-733-2607

Now in a newly revised and updated edition, Gambling: Don't Bet On It is Cornerstone University President Rex Rogers' response to the shifts in modern American culture that celebrate legalized gambling more than ever. Gambling: Don't Bet On It examines the history of gambling in America and observes its present-day impact, including the money it siphons from individuals and households, moral and economic arguments against it, "harmless" forms of gambling such as the office pool, gambling demographics, negative impacts it has on modern culture, and more. Though the religious dimension of gambling as a sin is examined, Gambling: Don't Bet On It is not primarily a Christian book, but rather a social issues book sounding a crucial wake-up call to gambling's harmful effects. Extensively researched and persuasively argued in terms accessible to lay readers, Gambling: Don't Bet On It makes a singularly powerful and compelling argument.

Flight Capital
David Heenan
Davies-Black Publishing
1055 Joaquin Road, #200
Mountain View, CA 94043
0891062025 $24.95 daviesblack.com

For centuries the talented and intelligent around the world flocked to the U.S., which attracted immigrants with strong skills: today more than half the Ph.D.s working here are foreign born - as are half the scientists, and others. And, they are leaving to return home. Flight Capital: The Alarming Exodus Of America's Best And Brightest charts this flight, analyzing why they are leaving and what it means for America's future. Flight Capital also goes beyond focus on American impact to consider world trends and world impact in foreign nations, examining the initiatives other countries use to lure top talent away from the US, and how our own immigration restrictions have affected replacement efforts. Blend in case history examples of professionals who have left the US to return to their native lands and you have a thought-provoking study essential to understanding the future of immigrant talent in this nation.

What Every Radical Should Know About State Repression
Victor Serge
Ocean Press
PO Box 1186, Old Chelsea Station
New York, NY 10113-1186
1920888179 $14.95 oceanbooks.com.au

What Every Radical Should Know About State Repression: A Guide For Activists is a manual written by an outspoken Russian activist Victor Serge, born in 1890 and forced into exile for opposing Stalin's rule. His discussion of the government's tools of harassment, and his methodologies for dodging state repression are as vital to today's era of racial profiling and abuses of the Patriot Act as they were in Czarist Russia. Chapters discuss the abuses of Russia's secret police and the methods they employed, practical means to protect oneself from being followed, what to do if arrested, an overview of the lessons of history, and more. "In social conflict there is no truth in common between the exploited classes and the exploiters," warns Serge, decrying impulses to denounce the system when one is under arrest or on trial; his fiery opinions do not detract from the solid advice on how to comport oneself when fomenting political change. As valuable a read for activists today as it was nearly a hundred years ago.

Murdering Myths
Judith W. Kay
Rowman & Littlefield
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200
Lanham, MD 20706
0742523365 $24.95 1-800-462-6420

Associate professor of religion Judith W. Kay presents Murdering Myths: The Story Behind The Death Penalty examines controversies surrounding the death penalty, particularly in America, from a psychological viewpoint, in particular scrutinizing Americans' deep-seated "superstory" myths concerning crime and punishment. Revealing a worldview grounded in vigilante justice and retribution, to such an extent that beliefs concerning the death penalty are at odds with statistical reality, Murdering Myths ultimately takes a negative view of state-sponsored execution; at the same time, Murdering Myths also avoids the false or half-true superstories that many death penalty opponents subscribe to. Flaws in both vision extremes are picked apart, from the liberal tendency to see the perpetrator purely as a victimized human and ignore his crimes to the conservative tendency to see the perpetrator purely as a criminal and ignore his victimhood and humanity. A thought-provoking assessment that explores the underpinnings of why beliefs concerning this volatile issue are so firmly entrenched.

The Right To Be Wrong
Kevin Seamus Hasson
Encounter Books
665 - 3rd Street, Suite 330, San Francisco, CA 94107-1951
www.encounterbooks.com
1594030839 $25.95 1-800-786-3839

The Right To Be Wrong: Ending The Culture War Over Religion In America by Kevin Seamus Hasson (Founder and Chairman of the Becket Fund for Religious Library), addresses the social, political, and ethical issues arising from what has been popularly described as America's "culture war" between persons of faith and the larger secular society. One side demands that only their brand of religion be permitted in public; the other charges that no religious ever belong in the public sphere. As an ever-growing assortment of faiths with their own interpretations of spiritual truths are caught in the middle, moderates of all persuasions ask themselves: how can we keep peace, integrity, respect for one another's beliefs, and sanity in a nation that supposedly champions the freedom of worship? The Right To Be Wrong draws from experience of history, from Puritans' paranoia of dissenting opinions to how the Quakers invented a philosophy of conscientious objection to Madison's "greatest failure" that was his early version of the first amendment, and more. With the lessons of history learned, The Right To Be Wrong proceeds with contemplation on where religious liberty comes from, what the first amendment means as one approaches midlife, and what steps can best be taken to end the culture war. The Right To Be Wrong might easily be overlooked amid more stringent outcries on either side of the culture war - yet its stable, reasoned style of discourse is just what America currently needs most.


The Judaic Studies Shelf

Reaching Godward
Carol Ochs
URJ Press
633 Third Ave, NY, NY 10017-6778
www.urjpress.com
0807408662 $14.95 1-888-489-8242

Reaching Godward: Voices From Jewish Spiritual Guidance by Carol Ochs (Director of Graduate Studies at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York) a treatise written in the molds of philosophy, rationality, reason, and spirituality. Portraying the human quest for connection with God through a series of short stories, each rooted in a composite of the experienced of people with whom the author has worked. Drawing heavily from scripture and testimony alike, Reaching Godward: Voices From Jewish Spiritual Guidance is a profound journey that will resonate in the heart of readers striving to obtain a closer relationship with God in their daily life.

A Vision of Holiness
Richard N. Levy
URJ Press
633 Third Avenue, NY, NY 10017-6778
www.urjpress.com
0807409413 $15.95 1-888-489-8242

Rabbi Richard N. Levy presents A Vision Of Holiness: The Future Of Reform Judaism, an in-depth answer to the question, "Where is Reform Judaism heading in the twenty-first century?" Sections cover "The Reform Jew in Dialogue with God", "The Reform Jew in Dialogue with Torah", and "The Reform Jew in Dialogue with the Jewish People", and seek to promote a greater understanding as to the role of Reform Judaism toward its followers, toward the veneration of God, and toward both Jewish and Gentile society at large. Painstakingly written, and taking to heart Reform Judaism principles such as "Having Stood at Sinai, We Respond to the Call of Mitzvot Amid Modernity", "Members of a Holy People, We Are Rooted in a Holy Land", and "We are Committed to the Equality of All the People of God", A Vision Of Holiness is a profound examination of faith and practice.


The Parenting Shelf

Waking Up Dry
Howard J. Bennett, MD, FAAP
American Academy of Pediatrics
141 Northwest Point Boulevard, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007-1098
1581101562 $14.95 www.aap.org

Board-certified pediatrician with 25 years of experience Howard Bennett presents Waking Up Dry: A Guide To Help Children Overcome Bedwetting, a practical-minded guide for parents and kids age 6 to 10 and older. (Children under 6 are not reasonably expected to stay dry regularly overnight). Waking Up Dry debunks common myths that bedwetting is due solely to the child's volition or solely from drinking fluids or eating the wrong kind of foods (some foods and drinks can exacerbate the problem, but rarely are they the major cause). Rather, bedwetting is most commonly due to a communication difficulty between the brain and the bladder, and treatable with the proper routines and programs. Punishment never works, as bedwetting is almost never a voluntary act! Chapters discuss in detail a wide variety of bedwetting treatments, from screening out possible medical problems or constipation (which can cause bedwetting by putting pressure on the bladder) to bladder exercises, medication, and the most strongly recommended method, using a simple "bedwetting alarm" device in a carefully measured program to teach the child to wake up when the bladder says it's time to go. Tips and tricks for related matters such as how to get rid of urine smells and how to handle sleepover invitations when a child isn't yet ready round out this methodical, reader-friendly, "must-have" guide to treating a very common problem.

Losing Our Minds
Deborah L. Ruf, Ph.D.
Great Potential Press
PO Box 5057, Scottsdale, AZ 85261
0910707707 $24.95 giftedbooks.com

Debora Ruf, Ph.D. in Psychological Foundations of Education, presents Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind, a guide for parents and educators alike to discovering gifted and highly gifted children, who are all too often overlooked in public schools. Using examples and anecdotes from 78 gifted and highly gifted children, Ruf discusses five levels of giftedness, and offers milestones that parents can use to compare and evaluate their offspring. Chapters discuss such topics as how to find the right school for one's child, how to avoid allowing one's gifted child to absorb poor study habits, the special needs of gifted children at each level, and more. A candid, practical, serious-minded guide, and valuable resource for raising and teaching unusually talented children.

But Nobody Told Me I'd Ever Have To Leave Home
Kathy Lynn
Whitecap Books, Ltd.
351 Lynn Avenue
North Vancouver, BC, Canada, V7J 2C4
www.whitecap.ca
1552857034 $16.95 1-888-980-9852

But Nobody Told Me I'd Ever Have To Leave Home: From Toddlers To Teens by Canadian Certified Family Educator Kathy Lynn focuses upon helping parents raise their children to become capable adults. Written for parents of children of all ages from toddlers to budding college students, But Nobody Told Me I'd Ever Have To Leave Home includes chapters on valuable daily home maintenance skills kids need to learn, the value of promoting high self-esteem, teaching kids to settle bickering, giving them the opportunity to practice good judgment, and much more. Question-and-answer segments offer a wealth of examples, and the no-nonsense tone makes the valuable advice of But Nobody Told Me I'd Ever Have To Leave Home easy to follow and understand. Highly recommended.


The Metaphysical Studies Shelf

Hymns Of Hermes
G.R.S. Mead
Red Wheel/Weiser
368 Congress Street, 4th floor, Boston, MA 02210
www.redwheelweiser.com
1578633591 $10.95 1-800-423-7087

Hymns Of Hermes: Ecstatic Songs Of Gnosis is a compilation of writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, an ancient Egyptian sage and known in metaphysical studies as the "Gnostic Revealer". Translated by G.R.S. Mead (1863-1933), this collection is an initiatory introduction to Hermetic Gnosis and a testament to Mead's mastery of the language and intent of ancient writers of Hermetic works. This edition of a true metaphysical classic is enhanced with an informed and informative introduction by Stephan A. Hoeller (Professor Emeritus of Comparative Religion at the College of Oriental Studies in Los Angeles, California). Hymns Of Hermes is a seminal and very highly recommended core addition to personal reading lists or academic library reference collection in Metaphysical Studies or Gnostic Studies.

Life Before Life
Jim B. Tucker, MD
St. Martin's Press
175 - 5th Avenue, New York NY 10010
0312321376 $23.95 www.stmartins.com

Books have been written before about children's memories of a 'previous life' - but none hold the backing of scientific research as does Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation Of Children's Memories Of Previous Lives. Dr. Tucker is a child psychiatrist who directs research which has been conducted for the past 40 years at the University of Virginia medical Center: here he presents evidence based on 2,500 such cases and studies, describing stories backed by scientific evidence - but he lets the reader draw the conclusion from this research.


The Writing/Publishing Shelf

No More Rejections
Penny C. Sansevieri
Author Marketing Experts
PO Box 421156, San Diego, CA 92142
www.amarketingexpert.com
1890158729 $15.95 publishinggold.com

Print-on-demand technologies have radically altered the publishing industry by making it far easier than at any previous time in the history of publishing for authors to see their manuscripts turn into books. No More Rejections: Get Published Today is a superbly organized professional insider's guide to publishing success by in which publishing expert Penny Sansevieri provides a thoroughly "user friendly" step-by-step guide that will enable even the most novice of authors to turn their writing into publication. No More Rejections offers publishing shortcuts that will enable anyone to get published in 90 days or less, develop easy and effective marketing strategies, and have access to hundreds of publishing and marketing resources. Of special note are Penny's "Seven Secrets To Writing Books That Sell!. Also very strongly recommended for all aspiring authors and small press publishers is Penny's companion "how-to" guidebook: From Book To Bestseller: An Insider's Guide To Publicizing And Marketing Your Book (1890158712, $18.95) -- which includes three references to the Midwest Book Review -- and is an indispensable reference for marketing and promoting the published book.

Writer's Breakthrough
Grace LaJoy Henderson, PhD.
Inspirations by Grace LaJoy
PO Box 181, Raymore, MO 64083
0974758310 $15.99 www.gracelajoy.com

Writer's Breakthrough: Steps To Copyright And Publish Your Own Book is a guide written especially for aspiring writers who know absolutely nothing about book publishing. Though Writer's Breakthrough is especially addressed to gifted Christian writers, its advice is solid and practical for writers of all faiths, as are its sample forms. Roughly half of Writer's Breakthrough is devoted to a simplified, step-by-step walkthrough to publishing a book, with bonus tips concerning marketing and distribution; the other half is filled with examples and forms, from a suggested format for a copyright page to a sample copyright application. An excellent, easy-to-understand resource for fledgling writers and would-be self-publishers.

Writer's Digest Books/F&W
4700 E. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236
www.writersdigest.com

Novels are one of the most difficult genres to market, aside from poetry: it requires extra attention to a query letter to create an irresistible pique for an agent or editor's attention - and that's where Blythe Camenson & Marshall Cook 's Give 'em What They Want; The Right Way To Pitch Your Novel To Editors And Agents (158297330X $16.99) comes in. Query letters, synopses and outlines are all revealed in chapters which discuss the anatomy of a pitch, a submission package's impact, and tips for handling the pitch to maximum advantage. Plenty of examples make it easy to understand why one novel would be chosen over another solely on the pitch. Mel Helitzer works with Mark Schatz on the second edition of Comedy Writing Secrets (1582973571, $17.99), a guide for humor writers who want to master the basics to become professionals. This is an expanded new edition which includes more humor writing exercises, more details on how to write for sitcoms and standup alike, more sources for paying positions, and more markets. Anecdotes and tips from top comics supplement information writers will find specific and essential to honing their craft. Charles Pappas' It's A Bitter Little World: The Smartest Toughest Nastiest Quotes From Film Noir (1582973873, $12.99) represents the author's sixty years of film noir surveys to locate quotes and dialogue which pertain to life's challenges and answers. Arranged by decade, these are scalding quotes and even fun, memorable lines and dialogue bits which reflect a love of language and an eye to fun. It's A Bitter Little World is a fun, revealing compilation lending to leisure browsing by any who love film noir and literature.

The Right Way To Write, Publish And Sell Your Book
Patricia L. Fry
Matilija Press
323 East Matilija Street, #110, Ojai, CA 93023
0977357600 $19.95 matilijapress.com

The Right Way To Write, Publish And Sell Your Book by Patricia L. Fry is an impressive compendium of facts, advice, insights, tips, procedures, guidelines, anecdotes, information, and processes about successfully writing -- and then selling what you've written. Along with learning how to write with more clarity, choosing a good editor, locating the right publisher for your book, selecting the best agent for your project, writing effective query letters and book proposals, and understanding your responsibilities as an author, The Right Way To Write, Publish And Sell Your Book will illustrate how to edit a manuscript, successfully self-publish your book, taking care of the business aspects of publishing while keep from making costly publishing mistakes, getting a book into bookstores, getting a book reviewed, developing a promotional plan, and selling the book, including such venues as book festivals and book signings. There is no better guide available today on making money writing articles as part of a book promotion plan, or in locating and working with distributors and wholesalers. Throw in some great tips about shipping books and you have The Right Way To Write, Publish And Sell Your Book. Consider The Right Way To Write, Publish And Sell Your Book to be "must reading" for anyone serious about earning their living by writing books.

Author Law A-Z
Sallie Randolph
Capital Books, Inc.
22841 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166
www.capital-books.com
1931868263 $21.95 1-800-758-3756

Author Law A-Z: A Desktop Guide To Writers' Rights And Responsibilities by Sallie Randolph is a superbly organized single volume compendium of the basic legal aspects of professional writing and publication. Organized alphabetically for easy reference and extensively cross-referenced, Author A-Z is replete with all of the key concepts and legal issues relating to the business of writing and publishing. Enhanced with usefully practical tips, anecdotal experiences, sound advice, illustrative examples, case notes, and so much more, Author A-Z should be readily available and on the personal reference shelf of all aspiring authors who seek to establish themselves professionally and financial through their writing, as well as in the reference collections of independent publishers needing to deal with the whole spectrum of author issues and contractual rights when publishing their work.

Write It Right
Dawn Josephson & Lauren Hidden
Cameo Publications
PO Box 8006, Hilton Head Island, SC 29938-8006
www.cameopublications.com
0974496626 $17.95 www.amazon.com

Write It Right: The Ground Rules For Self-editing Like The Pros is a consumable, no-nonsense guide to learning how to improve the grammatical quality of one's own writing and edit one's own copy in a professional manner. Chapters offer a variety of self-tests to identify one's most likely grammar problems, and offer keen advice in how to "think like an editor, not a writer" - from ground rules for going over writing, to how to select the right prereader for help in examining one's written copy, to tips for writing well when pressed for time, and much more. A practical-minded self-help book for writers of all skill and experience levels, from aspiring novelists to business or advertising copywriters to speechwriters, college students, journalists, and everyone else whose job hinges on the power of the written word. Highly recommended.


The Holocaust Studies Shelf

In Our Hearts We Were Giants
Yehuda Koren & Eilat Negev
Carroll & Graf
c/o Avalon Publishing Group
245 West 17th St., 11th fl, NY, NY 10011
0786715553 $14.95 1-800-788-3123

Penned by a pair of Israeli journalists, In Our Hearts We Were Giants is the never-before-told true story of the Ovitz family, seven of them dwarfs, who experienced the horrors of the Holocaust - yet in an odd twist of fate, their dwarfism actually helped them to survive. Serving as popular entertainers until the Nazis deported them to Auschwitz in May 1944, the Ovitz family - widely known as the Lilliput Troupe - were separated from other Jewish victims. The notorious Dr. Josef Mengele, his diabolic "research" on twins and other genetically unique individuals already underway, took a special interest in the Ovitzes. Even as he arranged for vile experiments to be performed upon the Ovitzes, he developed a bizarre fondness for them and their will to survive. Pieced together from interviews with the last surviving Ovitz sibling and her relatives, medical documentation, archival lists, and original Auschwitz records, In Our Hearts We Were Giants is an unforgettable perspective on the nightmare of the Holocaust.


The Needlecraft Shelf

Silk Ribbon Embroidery Bible
Joan Gordon
KP Books
700 East State Street, Iola, WI 54990-0001
0896891690 $29.99 www.fwpubs.com

Beginners as well as advanced embroiderers will find the Silk Ribbon Embroidery Bible outstanding: it covers all details needed to work with ribbon embellishments, from instructions on over sixty ribbon embroidery stitches and patterns for motifs to color illustrations of each completed project, pattern guides and order of work charts, fabric and thread details, and more. A 'must' for any who would work silk ribbon embroidery projects successfully.

Thimbleberries Big Book Of Quilt Blocks
Lynette Jensen
Knapp Press
1107 Hazeltine Blvd., Suite 470, Chaska, MN 55318
1932533052 $29.95 ipubsolutions.com

Thimbleberries Big Book Of Quilt Blocks is a compendium of 60 of the most beloved and popular block quilt designs, each created for a different quilt-making style. The author, Lynette Jensen, is the founder of Thimbleberries Design Studio, which has brought about more than 850 Thimbleberries Quilt Clubs devoted to her original designs. Featuring color combinations that herald classic quilts, a range of projects from casual to formal, and streamlined techniques such as rotary-cutting and quick-piecing that save time while producing quality results, Thimbleberries Big Book Of Quilt Blocks is a collection of patterns, color diagrams and straightforward piecing instructions ideal for intermediate to experienced quilters.

Scarves: A Knitter's Dozen
Elaine Rowley & Rick Mondragon, eds.
Alexis Xenakis, photographer
XRX Books
PO Box 1525, Sioux Falls, SD 57101
www.knittinguniverse.com
1893762238 $15.95 1-800-722-2558

Scarves: A Knitter's Dozen presents 24 inspirational patterns for creating warm, original knitted scarves, ideal as gifts or for simple practical use. From Sliding Garter to Pocket Scarf to Shetland Lace and more, each pattern is carefully elaborated with section-by-section stitch instructions, pattern diagrams, full-color photographs, careful notes on knitting and finishing, and more. Scarves: A Knitter's Dozen presumes that the reader is already familiar with the basics of knitting, yet makes every effort to be as clear and precise as possible in its instructions. A superb addition to knitting reference and project shelves.

100 More Afghan Squares to Knit
Debbie Abrahams
Trafalgar Square
PO Box 257, North Pomfret, VT 05053
www.trafalgarsquarebooks.com
1570763224 $25.00 1-800-423-4525

Debbie Abraham's 100 Afghan Squares To Knit was quiet successful so her follow-up guide, packing in more design ideas, is likely to prove just as popular for both her old fans and newcomers. Here are a hundred more squares which can be mixed to create different, unusual blankets and throws: each with full step-by-step instructions and backed by twelve original projects to reinforce how to assemble the squares. Color photos of each afghan and close-up shots of the squares accompany patterns, sizing charts, materials and more.

Navajo Rug Designs
Susan Lowell
Rio Nuevo Publishers
451 North Bonita Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85745
1887896724 $12.95 www.rionuevo.com

Many a homeowner would incorporate a Navajo-style rug design into a home project without a second thought about its background history: what better guide for enlightenment or coffee table than the small Navajo Rug Designs by Susan Lowell, discussing color, patterns, and history of the Navajo rug. Anthropology and textile art blend in a discussion which includes both vintage photos and colorful rug images from more modern times. A lovely, detailed coverage.


The Martial Arts Shelf

Stalking Yang Lu-Chan
Robin Johnson
Sun Stone Press
PO Box 2321, Santa Fe, NM 87504-2321
0865344825 $19.95 sunstonepress.com

Stalking Yang Lu-Chan: Finding Your Tai Chi Body by martial arts expert Robin Johnson explores structures and techniques of the moving body, and presents answers to questions such as "What are the meanings of stillness in motion?" and "What is modesty, and how does it optimize energy exchange?" in plain terms. Chapters explore key points in training one's Tai Chi body element by element, offering both metaphysical discourse and practical physical guidance to the reader striving to better understand and benefit from the practice. A valuable study and enhancement manual for Tai Chi students and practitioners of all skill levels.


The American History Shelf

The Columbia Guide To Irish American History
Timothy J. Meagher
Columbia University Press
61 West 62nd Street, NY, NY 10023-7015
www.columbiaedu/cu/cup
0231120702 $45.00 1-800-944-8648

The Columbia Guide To Irish American History is a scholarly examination of the role of Irish Americans in shaping national history. Once perceived as a threat to mainstream society, Irish Americans gradually became an integral part of the American tapestry; over 40 million Americans claim Irish descent today. Author and associate professor of history Timothy J. Meagher examines records and testimonies of Irish Americans from their immigration to Colonial America to the era of the Great Potato Famine to the late twentieth century, and pays particular attention to Irish American participation in politics, as well as Irish American nationalism. Intended especially as a general introduction and a solid resource for novice to intermediate students of Irish American history, culture, and society, The Columbia Guide To Irish American History is a "must-have" for any student, professional or lay person seeking to better familiarize themselves with Irish American contributions to the nation.

The JFK Myths
Larry M. Sturdivan
Paragon House
1925 Oakcrest Avenue, Suite 7, St. Paul, MN 55113-2619
1557788472 $19.95 paragonhouse.com

Even after more than 40 years, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is a subject of intense interest. The latest entry into the subject is The JFK Myths: A Scientific Investigation Of The Kennedy Assassination. Written by Larry M. Sturdivan, who became the Army's contact with the House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1978 and testified at length about the wound-ballistics aspects of the assassination, The JFK Myths is sharply critical of the "advocacy method" for revealing the truth behind the crime, and emphasizes the importance of the scientific method in determining truth and avoiding erroneous leaps to conclusions. Black-and-white photographs and a wealth of hard data round out this straightforward, hard-edged look at a national tragedy grounded thoroughly in a realistic approach.

Disasters etc.
John R. H. Kimball
Peter E. Randall Publisher, LLC
PO Box 4726, Portsmouth, NH 03802
1931807361 $25.00 perpublisher.com

For two centuries, Marblehead, Massachusetts was the principal codfishing port of the new world, and at the same time raised large numbers of ship captains who set standards of competence and perseverance throughout the world's oceans. Yet little was known of this insular town by outsiders during the 18th and 19th centuries. Disasters etc.: The Maritime World Of Marblehead 1815-1865 by John Kimball (himself a descendant of Marbleheaders and an expert sailor) describes what Marblehead seafarers were really like, and how the pervasive maritime life of the town created a class of fishermen and shipmasters with unique character, ability, and success. The Marblehead fishermen were more productive than any other American seaside port or village. The seamanship standards of Marblehead sailors are exemplified by the Marblehead captain of the clipper ship Flying Cloud and his Marblehad navigator wife, who set records of speed under sail that only recently were exceeded. Also included is the account of Joseph Story, who as a Supreme Court Justice established maritime law in the United States based on his experience growing up in Marblehead. Drawing upon 19th century sources and descriptions of the careers of individuals to explain the workings of the codfish and shipping industries through business practices and legal decisions. Disasters etc. is enhanced as a regional history with the inclusion of the final rise and fall of the town's fishing industry between the War of 1812 and the American Civil War, as well as the explosive rise and fall of the shipping business popularly known as the clipper ship era. With the inclusion of survey maps and photographs, a full bibliography, index, and chapter endnotes, 19th century documents, ship itineraries, and listings of vessels built in Marblehad, Disasters etc. is an informed and informative regional history of a place, time and people that substantially contributed to the development of the American nation. Highly recommended reading!

Banking In The Great
Northern Territory
George Richard Slade
Afton Historical Society Press
PO Box 100, Afton, MN 55001
www.aftonpress.com
1890434663 $35.00 1-800-436-8443

Written by the great-grandson of the railroad baron acquired and orchestrated the reorganization of the First National Bank of St. Paul, Banking In The Great Northern Territory is the true story of 150+ years of business and competition between the two major bank holding companies in Minneapolis and St. Paul: Northwest Bancorporation and First Bank Stock Corporation. Formed with the twin missions of protecting good banks in the area from predatory acquisition by non-area bankers and to provide a capital stronghold that would keep crucial banks open during hard times, these bank holding companies survived the test of time and even the Great Depression, when many of their competitors fell to ruin. Black-and-white and color photographs illustrate this adventurously presented history, accessible to lay readers, about the evolution of the banking business in Minnesota's capitol and the key figures behind the institutions' stability. A fascinating tour through a vital piece of Minneapolis and St. Paul history, Banking In The Great Northern Territory is very highly recommended reading.


The Archaeology Shelf

Archaeology In Practice
Jane Balme & Alistair Paterson, editors
Blackwell Publishing
2121 State Avenue, Ames, IA 50014-8300
www.blackwellpublishing.com
0631235744 $39.95 1-800-216-2522

Archaeology In Practice: A Student Guide To Archaeological Analyses is an anthology of essays by learned and experienced authors, written for students and professionals alike. Expertly selected and edited by a Senior Lecturer and an Archaeology Lecturer of the University of Western Australia, the essays cover such topics as finding sites, consulting stakeholders, rock art, stratigraphy, absolute dating, stone artifact analysis, ceramics, plant and animal remains, historical sources, and much more. A smattering of black-and-white diagrams illustrate the studious, serious-minded exploration of practical tools, tips, tricks and techniques. Archaeology In Practice is very highly recommended for anyone contemplating, preparing for, or beginning a career in archaeology.

Discovering North American Rock Art
Lawrence L. Loendorf, et al.
University of Arizona Press
355 South Euclid Avenue, Suite 103, Tucson, AZ 85719-6654
www.uapress.arizona.edu
0816524831 $55.00 1-800-426-3797

Collaboratively compiled and edited by Lawrence L. Loendorf, Christopher Chippindale, and David S. Whitley, Discovering North American Rock Art explores the history of rock art on a continental scale, from the plains of Canada to caves in the southeastern United States. A wide variety of essays by learned authors discuss the significance of rock art from varying locales, critical reviews of rock art from fertility shrines to sacred landscapes, discussions of what rock art reveals of North American prehistory, and much more. A scholarly compilation, sparsely illustrated with black-and-white maps, photographs, and representations of sample rock art, Discovering North American Rock Art is a superb scrutiny especially recommended for students and art historians interested in North American Archaeology and Native American Studies, as well as this ancient and enduring form of artistic human expression.


The Poetry Shelf

The Giant Book Of Poetry
William H. Roetzheim
Level 4 Press
13518 Jamul Dr., Jamul, CA 91935-1635
0976800128 $29.95 Level4Press.com

Simple black-and-white illustrations add a rustic touch to The Giant Book Of Poetry, a 750-page anthology of some of the most important poems and poets of all time. Spanning an immense spread of authors, from an anonymous poet writing in 4000 BC to familiar names such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, and many more, The Giant Book Of Poetry is truly a moving compendium ideal for the library of any poetry lover. An extremely comprehensive index of the poems by title, subject, and first line allow for quick and easy lookup of a favorite verse. Jokun: Ah! I intended / never never to grow old... / Listen: New Year's Bell!

A Trilogy Of Poetry, Prose And Thoughts For The Mind, Body & Soul
Joseph S. Spence, Sr. et al.
Author House
c/o Triology Poetic Literature and Prose
12605 West North Avenue, #264, Brookfield, WI 53005
triologypoetry@yahoo.com
1420803948 $12.25 authorhouse.com

A unique and debut literary creation comprised of the poetry and verse of Joseph Spence, Sr., his wife Sheila Parrish-Spence, and their son Jonathan Clarence Parrish Spence (age fourteen), A Trilogy Of Poetry, Prose And Thoughts For The Mind, Body & Soul is a collection of lyrical verse and poetic prose through which their respective authors reflect on the universal of life as found in any society, culture, region, or continent. Soul Food Christmas: Turkey, ham, and pigs feet/Lord, to me you are so sweet//Fried chicken, ham hocks, 7-layer salad/Lord, I am now singing the Ballard/;Collard greens , mustard greens, turnip greens/Lord, I now know what you mean//Potato salad, beet salad, macaroni and cheese/Lord, I now need some cool breeze//Sweet potato pie, apple cobbler, sweet ice tea/Oh yes, this is more like me//Corn bread, sweet rolls, hog head cheese/Lord have mercy, this must be Christmas Eve//Neck bones, chitterlings, candied yams/Lord I am now ready to jam//It is Christmas and the folks are here/Lord bless this food and let's eat

Edith Wharton: Selected Poems
Louis Auchincloss, editor
The Library of America
14 East 60th Street, NY, NY 10022
1931082863 $20.00 www.loa.org

Knowledgeably compiled and deftly edited by novelist and historian Louis Auchincloss, Edith Wharton: Selected Poems Offers contemporary readers an impressive selection of verse by a most remarkable woman who lived a most remarkable life. And who reflected her observations and reflections with masterpieces of poetic expression. Opportunities: Who knows his opportunities? They come/Not trumpet-tongued from Heaven, but small and dumb,/Not beckoning from the future's promised land,/But in the narrow present close at hand./They walk beside us with unsounding feet,/and like those two that trod the Eastern street/And with their Saviour bartered thought for thought,/Our eyes are holden and we know them not. 1878.

Visiting Frost
Sheila Coghill & Thom Tammaro, editors
University of Iowa Press
119 West Park Road, Iowa City, IA 52242-1000
www.uiowa.edu/uiowapress
0877459630 $17.95 1-800-621-2736

Visiting Frost: Poems Inspired By The Life And Work Of Robert Frost is an anthology of poems by one hundred different poets in homage to four-time Pulitzer Prize winner poet Robert Frost (1874-1963), known for associating his work with the landscape and life in New England, and whose verse includes such famous works as "The Road Not Taken" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". Each poet is given a one-paragraph biography at the end. The many brief poems assembled speak to different aspects of the character of Frost, who was often dark and intense in mood and writing. A treasury that reflects profoundly upon Frost's contributions to literature and our understanding of the human condition. A Farm in the Green Mountains: Stone upon stone / this weathered wall of stone / was built by men deviled by stone / from poor fields yielding mostly stone. // Stone upon stone / this Vermont wall of stone / was the sure employment of stone / in a place that is shaped by stone. // Stone upon stone / this ragged wall of stone / was a grudging tribute to stone / by farmers making peace with stone.

Interlink And Other Nature/Humankind Poems
Victoria C.G. Greenleaf, M.D., M.S.
Cypress House
155 Cypress Street, Fort Bragg, CA 95437
www.cypresshouse.com
1879384590 $14.95 1-800-773-7782

Interlink And Other Nature/Humankind Poems is a collection of free-verse poetry by psychiatrist and medical practitioner Victoria Greenleaf. Natural themes and the fundamental connection between humans, animals, plants and natural forces form the common subject of the wistful, reflective, appreciative, and sometimes humorous verses. Pangolin and Me: Artichoke on legs / Tiny head tapering to a pointed snout / Housing a long, sticky tongue / For scooping up clots of termites- / They call you "scaly anteater"- / Peering out with black, shiny map-pin eyes. / Startled as you lope across the road, / You furl your long tail under and over the top / Into a protective soccer ball. // One brief encounter, / Then you to your burrow, / I to my lodge. / Can we hope to coexist / As my species gobbles up more and more terrain?

Elegy
E.D. Blodgett, author
Yukiko Onley, photographer
University of Alberta Press
Ring House 2, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2E1
0888644507 $24.95 www.uap.ualberta.ca

Elegy is a unique collaboration of the poetry of E.D. Blodgett and the black-and-white photography of Yukiko Onley, to create a wistful remembrance of loss, death, and transition. The gentle, reflective poetry quietly muses about the unknown, while the still images of natural beauty evoke a picturesque mood that complements the verses perfectly. Elegy is not subdivided into separate poems per se; it is rather one long poem of memory, wonder, longing, and healing. I dreamt that I was not / myself but had become / a young birch that grew // beside a quiet stream / I understood that I had been / reborn my old life was gone // the wind blew gently through / my leaves and when it rained / the rain was simply rain // and as a birch I had / no other dreams than those / of birches root and branch // but when the waters of / the stream entered me / I knew that it was you // and even born again / it seems that I am I / and you are always you // dreams have nothing to do / with who we are and will / remain birth after birth.

Body of the World
Sam Taylor
Ausable Press
1026 Hurricane Road, Keene, NY 12942
www.ausablepress.org
1931337268 $14.00 1-800-283-3572

Wilderness refuge caretaker Sam Taylor presents Body Of The World, a moving poetry collection that emphasizes the inseparable connection between human beings and the physical world. A variety of free-verse patterns traverse themes from serendipitous to spiritual in this wistfully contemplative assortment. The Gospel of J: All the vain seekers of glory- / they see His Body hanging there / and miss the other half of the sacrifice. // I gave away my own heart / and for what? A few coins? Mere pretense. / I received Nothing. // but the part no one wanted / in the Perfect Story.

One Oar
Marie Bahlke
Christmas Cove Press
132-C Stirling Ct., Kalamazoo, MI 49006
0975383302 $11.95 www.amazon.com

Winner of the annual Writer's Digest contest for "International Self-Published Book Awards", One Oar: A Journey With Alzheimers is a compilation of the poetry and verse by Marie Bahlke. Her lyrical images are as emotionally compelling and candid as they are universal and reflective of the human experience. To A Dead Husband In Winter: Are you locked in ice?/Held in your space/till spring's return?/When I swim in summer's sun/will your fingers/brush across my breasts/outline the edges/of my lips, open,/waiting for your kiss?/I dream of you/in all your forms --/whole and healthy,/muscles taut,/pulling me close./Our slow despair/as you wilted/like my yellow tulips/in their bowl./Now your ashes meld/and freeze with sand/while I hunger/for the blue of sky,/of lake, the feel/of your drifting hands.

Poems From The Heart
Annette Hoggs-Jackson
Insight Publishing Group
8801 S. Yale, Suite 410, Tulsa, OK 74137
1932503455 $10.99 918-493-1718

Poems From The Heart is an anthology of brief, free-verse poems written through inspiration. African-American author Annette Hoggs-Jackson credits her poetry as a gift from God, and pours her faith and love into every line. A powerful anthology that resonates with respect for God's divine plan for us all. My Mate: You say you want a mate, / Don't you get tired of meeting the wrong date? / Don't be in such a hurry, and wait. // God has that divine one waiting for you, / God wants you to be patient and to him be true. // He is getting your mate ready and preparing you. / So you don't have to keep going through. // WAIT on him, PRAY for your mate. / This will be your ULTIMATE date.

Starred Wire
Ange Mlinko
Coffee House Press
27 N. Fourth St., Minneapolis, MN 55401
www.coffeehousepress.org
1566891779 $15.00 1-800-283-3572

Starred Wire is a collection of poetry by National Poetry Series winner Ange Mlinko. Free-spirited and liberal in their use of rhyme, anagram, pun, palindrome, and upbeat metaphor, Starred Wire is the stuff of dreams spread across the sky for all to see. A most pleasant and inspirational read. Keys & Scales: Back when maps were dangerous it was seditious / To give one to a foreigner; feeling so perfectly calligraphic that, / Implying the limp like an iamb superseded what was said of one / By the words themselves; one slyly wrote across the desert, // Allaying the panic took a device to craft a presence / To say, in search of a role, that a double bend in the river / Was a perimeter of repatriation, / We tried that of believers, like quoted back to itself // The wilderness took shape; the stars were of where / Two had met, in honeydew shadow, and made maps praise.

Selected Poems
Peter Sirr
Wake Forest University Press
Box 7333, Winston-Salem, NC 27109
1930630220 $11.95 wfu.edu/wfupress

One of the best of the contemporary Irish poets, Selected Poems is drawn from Peter Sirr's published verse from several and diverse poetry publications from 1982 through 2000. Characterized by a deft mastery of languages to evoke emotion, imagery, and the mindscape of his reader, Selected Poems will deftly serve to introduce a master poet to a whole new generation of appreciative readers. In The Graveyard: They lived and died in the same place./The same names occurring, same big skies above./This close, they must move still in their cottages/and walk their fields, or stand now watching/the mountains purpling in the last sun/and hear the sea turning onto the slope of the beach/its calm, insistent weight. The air's crowded with them/as they move and watch and listen, no one/having told them otherwise. And if/absentmindedly they drift back here/to this silent field, they'll find/the gate locked before them and their names/unreadable on the stones. They'll walk back towards the village/and climb into their beds, whatever was theirs still theirs.


The Fiction Shelf

Salone Italiano
Kay Niemann
Western Reflections Publishing Co.
219 Main Street, Montrose, CO 81401
www.westernreflectionspub.com
1932738258 $16.95 1-800-993-4490

A historical novel with impeccable attention to background detail, Kay Niemann's Salone Italiano is based upon the true story of an immigrant family's efforts to survive and make a life for themselves in the southwestern Colorado mining towns of Silverton and Durango. Based almost entirely on actual letters written by members of the family, Salone Italiano reads with the fluidity of a fine masterpiece as it chronicles Angelina Sartore's struggle to keep the family together, Katie Sartore's forbidden romance with a member of a rival immigrant colony, to Phil Sartore's love affair with a well-known local prostitute, the threat of danger and gunfire, and more. A fascinating glimpse into daily life, triumphs, and travails of the distant past.

A Plea Of Insanity
Priscilla Masters
Allison & Busby
c/o International Publishers Marketing
PO Box 605, Herndon, VA 20172-0605
0749083379 $25.95 1-800-758-3756

When Doctor Claire Roget took up her new post of clinical psychiatrist at Greatbach Secure Psychiatrist Unit in the midlands city of Stoke on Trent, she was replacing a predecessor who was brutally murdered in her office by one of the inmates. As Claire settles into her new job she becomes suspicious that someone other than the accused patient Stefan Giulio might be involved in the murder. The result of her inquiries is kidnapping, mayhem murder. A Plea Of Insanity is a superbly crafted British murder mystery of the first order and documents author Priscilla Masters as a first class storytelling talent in the genre. Highly recommended reading from beginning to end!

Letters To Luke
Joe E. Holoubek
Little Dove Press
3902 George Road, Shreveport, LA 71107
0975376608 $39.95 letterstoluke.com

Winner of the Writer's Digest 2005 International Self-Published Book Award for fiction, Letters To Luke by Joe E. Holoubek is an historical novel set in the first century after the birth of Christ when a physician was to become famous as the author of what was eventually to become one of the New Testament gospels and the chroniclers of the Book of Acts. This is a love story presenting Luke's perspective on Jesus the healer, his radical teachings on compassion, his respect for women's spirituality, and his embracing of the poor, the outcasts, and the Gentiles. This deftly written, 547-page, highly recommended novel is very nicely enhanced with the unusual inclusion of a comprehensive subject index.

The Quince Seed Potion
Marteza Baharloo
Bridge Works Publishing Company
c/o National Book Network
4270 Boston Way, Suite 200, Lanham MD 20706
www.nbnbooks.com
1882593871 $23.95 1-800-462-6420

Set against the backdrop of Iran's turbulent modern history and spanning the years 1928 to 1981, The Quince Seed Potion is a saga of devotion, love, violence, and humiliation in the life of Sarveali Jokar, a servant to a great dynastic family of rural landowners. Sold into indentured servitude as a youth, Sarveali has dedicated his life to serving the Shirlu Khans, and they are the only family he knows. He remains loyal to his masters throughout their travails, even in the face of contempt and cruelty. Sarveali's adventures are presented in a series of episodes in the traditional style of a Persian storyteller and include a marriage to a cousin, her repeated promiscuity and eventual murder, and his own addition to opium and his experience with imprisonment. Iranian-America author Morteza Baharloo writes with the compelling expertise of a born storyteller that will engage his readers interest and addition from first page to last. The Quince Seed Potion is enthusiastically recommended reading!

Obi or, The History of Three-Fingered Jack
Srinivas Aravamudan, editor
Broadview Press
Box 1015, Orchard Park, NY 14127-8015
www.broadviewpress.com
1551116693 $14.95 1-705-743-8990

Obi or, The History of Three-Fingered Jack is a new edition of a novel originally published in the 1800's. Based on the escaped slave and Jamaican folk hero jack Mansong, who was believed to have found strength in the Afro- Caribbean religion of obeah, or "obi", Obi or, The History of Three-Fingered Jack is a dramatic saga of his struggle to survive, resist slavery, and defend his family's honor. A mix of religion, politics, romance, and social critique, Obi or, The History of Three-Fingered Jack is as compelling a read today as it was over a century ago. The Broadview edition features a critical introduction and a selection of modern documents including historical and literary writings concerning obeah and accounts of an eighteenth-century slave rebellion. A classic that passes the test of time with flying colors.


The Gardening Shelf

The Welcoming Garden
Gordon Hayward
Gibbs Smith, Publisher
PO Box 667, Layton UT 84041
www.gibbs-smith.com
1586857045 $29.95 1-800-748-5439

Written by renowned garden expert and designer Gordon Hayward, The Welcoming Garden: Designing Your Own Front Garden is a straightforward guide to creating entry gardens that refresh and enliven the spirit. Regardless of whether one has a large or small space in which to garden, The Welcoming Garden offers practical advice for crafting walls, fences and gates; placing walkways and ornaments near the front door; pots in the garden; whether to have a lot of lawn or a little; sitting areas; and much more, always with a keen overview of general style and functionality. Lavish color photography throughout illustrates both aesthetic and horticultural principles in this "must-have" for amateur and professional gardeners alike.

The Spirit Of Gardening
Nancy Mair
Crystal Clarity Publishers
14618 Tyler Foote Road, Nevada City, CA 95959
1565892046 $15.00 crystalclarity.com

Professional landscape designer Nancy Mair presents The Spirit Of Gardening, a simple and sweet guide to helping one's garden come vibrantly alive in a manner most pleasing to the eye. The Spirit Of Gardening will prove more useful to gardeners with a modicum of experience, as it focuses less on basic seed planting and watering instructions (although garden maintenance issues are most certainly not neglected), and more on elements of visual style, color coordination, walkway construction, and overall design. Eye-catching full color photography throughout is sure to provide dazzling inspiration even to experienced and accomplished gardeners. A beautiful book featuring thoughtful advice.

Outside The Not So Big House
Julie Moir Messervy & Sarah Susanka
The Taunton Press
63 South Main St, Newtown, CT 06470
www.taunton.com
1561587346 $34.95 1-800-477-8727

The collaboration of gardening expert and award-winning writer Julie Moir Messervy and residential architecture expert Sarah Susanka, Outside The Not So Big House: Creating The Landscape Of Home is an in-depth guide to creating harmony in one's house and garden. Detailed diagrams and full-color photography illustrate this highly accessible introduction to design concepts; chapters cover how to play off the habitat of the home, how to instill elements of smooth flow and pleasing aesthetics, working elements of nature into personal design, and much more. Outside The Not So Big House is not written as a handyman's how-to book, and does not delve extensively into the mechanics of how to construct and install garden furnishings, or how to plant, grow, water, and protect vegetation; it focuses on learning and applying elements of style to home and garden landscapes, with a wealth of examples for vivid illustration. An excellent inspirational source for gardeners and landscapers seeking to broaden their grasp of appealing designs, Outside The Not So Big House is very strongly recommended reading.


The Buddhist Studies Shelf

Tibetan Meditation
Tarthang Tulku
Dharma Publishing
35788 Hauser Bridge Road, Cazadero, CA 95421
www.dharmapublishing.com
0898003717 $17.95 1-800-873-4276

Accomplished lama and founder of the Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Center Tarthang Tulku presents Tibetan Meditation: Practical Teachings And Step-By-Step Exercises On How To Live In Harmony, a guide that explains the philosophy and practice of Tibetan meditation in clear terms accessible to lay readers. Featuring twenty step-by-step meditation exercises, ten traditional Tibetan stories that illustrate the teaching principles, color photographs demonstrating meditative poses, instructions in the proper use of visualizations and other techniques, and much more, Tibetan Meditation is an ideal guide for readers of any age or background seeking to practice the valuable skill of meditation whether for reducing stress, increased mental focus, or spiritual enlightenment. Highly recommended.

Absorption In No External World
Jeffrey Hopkins
Snow Lion Publications
PO Box 6483, Ithaca, NY 14851
www.SnowLionPub.com
155939241X $59.95 1-800-950-0313

Written by the translator-editor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's "How to Practice", Absorption in No External World: 170 Issues In Mind-Only Buddhism is a close scrutiny of points raised in six centuries of Tibetan and Mongolian commentary regarding the first two sections of Dzong-ka-ba's "The Essence of Eloquence", specifically the Prologue and the section on the Mind-Only School. Among the 170 issues closely examined are presentations of the three natures and the three non-natures, the selflessness of persons, and the emptiness of emptiness. Written especially for advanced scholars of Buddhism and its sacred texts, and featuring a delineation of the different approaches through which the Mind-Only School interprets scriptures, Absorption In No External World can be read as a stand-alone book or as the final volume as the author's trilogy on "Mind-Only". Also highly recommended are the author's previous volumes, Emptiness In The Mind-Only School Of Buddhism and Reflections On Reality.


The Native American Shelf

Pueblo People
Marcia Keegan
Clear Light Publishing
823 Don Diego, Santa Fe, NM 87505
www.clearlightbooks.com
1574160001 $39.95 1-800-253-2747

Pueblo People: Ancient Traditions, Modern Lives is a compilation of 417 color photographs taken by renowned photographer Marcia Keegan of all 19 of New Mexico's Pueblos over the past thirty years. All photographs were of people who readily consented to the portrait, done with the full understanding that photography is a joint undertaking between the photographer and the subject; Marcia Keegan is acutely aware of the Pueblo people's rules against unauthorized photographs or sketches, and honors them not only as laws, but as the dear wishes of friends and fellow human beings. The images of people, homes, and cities present a vivid picture of Pueblo daily life and customs, and the brief text passages throughout the book will help the reader better understand Pueblo communities and the challenges they face on a daily basis. Highly recommended.

Since Predator Came
Ward Churchill
AK Press
674-A 23rd St., Oakland, CA 94612-1163
1904859445 $21.95 www.akpress.org

Since Predator Came: Notes From The Struggle For American Indian Liberation is an anthology of fierce, stringent, and singularly compelling essays about Native American history and political science, particularly focusing upon the struggle for survival and identity since Columbus' arrival heralded an age of colonization and genocidal extermination. One essay is a scathing critique of Columbus' elevated position in history despite records of his bloodthirsty atrocities against the indigenous people he met, which skillfully compares Columbus to genocidal Nazi engineers due to his ruthlessness, and to the fictitious sociopath Hannibal Lecter with regard to how Columbus' achievements are lauded in spite of his cruelties. Another is the story of the American Indian diaspora. Still another offers an "indigenist perspective" on Marxist theory and practice. All essays are fired with literate passion for justice and human rights, and make no apologies for their scathing attacks upon crimes and inequalities. Highly recommended.

Recovering The Sacred
Winona LaDuke
South End Press
7 Brookline St., Cambridge, MA 02139
www.southendpress.org
0896087123 $18.00 1-800-533-8478

Two-time Green Party Vice Presidential candidate Winona LaDuke presents Recovering The Sacred: The Power Of Naming And Claiming, a discussion of the struggles Native Americans have made particularly in modern history to reclaim their rights and cave a path that balances personal, ecological, and cultural integrity. From "Vampire" biopiracy incidents such as taking samples of Native Blood under the pretext that it will be used to research diabetes and selling it to bidders who actually use it as evidence for the Bering Strait land bridge theory - in direct conflict with the religious beliefs of those who provided the donation - to corrupting public regard of Native tribes through using their names at sporting events (it would be unthinkable to wave crucifixes or the Torah at heated game, yet spiritual Native American objects such as the feather headdress are freely worn), to modern land grabs for any coal, oil, or valuable materials remaining on any Native reservation and more, Recovering The Sacred sheds a spotlight on the disdainful to hostile manner in which America regards its Native peoples. A carefully researched and persuasively presented accounting of the inequities of the past, what Native peoples are courageously doing now to protect their rights and their culture, and what challenges the future may bring. Highly recommended.


The Hunting/Fishing Shelf

Smallmouth Fly Fishing
Tim Holschlag
Smallmouth Angler Press
2309 Grand Street NE, Minneapolis, MN 55418
0976387603 $29.95 www.amazon.com

Smallmouth Fly Fishing: The Best Techniques, Flies, And Destinations is one of the most comprehensive guides to the sport of smallmouth bass fly fishing. Longtime angling instructor, writer, and fisher Tim "Mr. Smallmouth" Holschlag teaches the reader techniques specific to smallmouth fishing, forty effective smallmouth flies, and the top 100 smallmouth destinations in the continental United States and Canada. Black-and-white photographs and diagrams, and inset sections of color photographs illustrate this plain-terms, easy-to-use reference for smallmouth fishers of all skill and experience levels.


The Humor Shelf

Pitch Black
Arthur Black
Harbour Publishing
PO Box 219, Madeira Park, BC, Canada, V0N 2H0
1550173677 $32.95 harbourpublishing.com

Pitch Black is a very highly recommended compendium of the wit and wisdom, the observations and commentaries, the experiences and anecdotes of Arthur Black, one of Canada's best-known humorists. His topics range from suburban heroes to garage sales as a blood sport, from the medical applications of duct tape to the real differences between men and women, from how to reuse that Commodore 64 gathering dust in the closet to why writers dread cocktail parties and barbeques. Arthur Black's mastery of storytelling is clear, compelling, and pure entertainment from first page to last!


The Library Science Shelf

Grants For Libraries
Stephanie Gerding & Pamela MacKellar
Neal-Schuman Publishers
100 William St, #2004, NY, NY 10038
www.neal-schuman.com
1555705359 $99.95 1-866-672-6657

Written by professional library consultants Stephanie K. Gerding and Pamela H. MacKellar, Grants For Libraries: A How-To-Do-It Manual is an in-depth walkthrough of the grant process cycle and how to improve the odds of receiving sufficient funding for one's library and its projects. Advice for developing library-specific strategies as well as general tips abound in this practical and highly readable resource, which covers everything from the planning process to organizing a balanced grant team to researching and selecting the right grant, the proper writing style to adopt, submitting the winning proposal, getting funded and implementing projects, reviewing and continuing the process, and much more. Sample grant success stories and a tool kit with Windows-compatible CD-ROM (non-Windows computers can browse its index.html folder) round out this "must-have" resource especially for library professionals.

Graphic Novels Now
Francisca Goldsmith
ALA Editions
c/o American Library Association
50 East Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611
www.alastore.ala.org
0838909043 $35.00 1-866-746-7252

One of the truly flourishing facets of the publishing industry, graphic novels have truly come into their own and are gaining wide-spread popularity you both juvenile and adult readerships. Graphic Novels Now: Building, Managing, And Marketing A Dynamic Collection by Francisca Goldsmith (Collection Management and Promotion Librarian for the Berkeley Public Library) is a complete and "user friendly" guide for librarians seeking to develop well-rounded and popular graphic novel collections through knowledgeable reviewers, as well as reliable graphic novel publishers and distributors. Very highly recommended as a resource guide, Graphic Novels Now directly addresses basic questions and issues such as what constitutes a graphic novel; how to create a graphic novel collection development policy; shelving, cataloging, and preserving the graphic novel, even how to create dynamic programs such as artist visits and cartooning workshops.

The Successful Academic Librarian
Gwen Meyer Gregory, editor
Information Today, Inc.
143 Old Marlton Pike, Medford, NJ 08055-8750
www.infotoday.com
1573872326 $39.50 1-800-300-9868

Knowledgeably compiled and deftly edited by Gwen Meyer Gregory (Head of Bibliographic Services, for the Tutt Library of Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado), The Successful Academic Librarian: Winning Strategies From Library Leaders focuses upon the roles and responsibilities of the school and academic librarian. Written expressly to cover what scholarly courses don't teach new librarians before they begin work in the field, The Successful Academic Librarian includes advice on building strong collaborative relationships with university faculty, how to best handle the interview process, how to find and learn from qualified mentors, the value of documenting one's career, what to expect when applying for tenure, and much more. An absolute "must-have" for any prospective academic librarian, and also recommended reading for anyone else pursuing an academic career, as many of the "need-to-know" interpersonal concepts discussed are cross-discipline.


The Religion/Spirituality Shelf

The Spiritual Quest And The Way Of Yoga
Swami Adiswarananda
Skylight Paths Publishing
PO Box 237, Woodstock, VT 05091-0237
1594731136 $29.99 skylightpaths.com

The Spiritual Quest And The Way Of Yoga: The Goal, The :journey And The Milestones by Swami Adiswarananda (minister and spiritual leader of the Ramakrishna-Vivekanana Center of New York) is a comprehensive guide to the utilization and necessity of yoga for total well-being written for all dedicated spiritual seekers regardless of their religious affiliation or background. Drawing from time-tested traditions and ancient sacred texts, The Spiritual Quest And The Way Of Yoga addresses such fundamental questions as "Which spiritual path should I follow?"; "How can I obtain liberations?"; "What are the dangers and obstacles on the spiritual path?"; How do I control the restless mind?"; and "Why are there many religions and what is the way to interfaith unity?". The Spiritual Quest And The Way Of Yoga is informed and informative reading which is particularly recommended for students of spirituality, Hinduism, Vedanta, and yoga.


The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf

True Heart
James King
American Literary Press
8019 Belair Road, Suite 10, Baltimore, MD 21236
www.americanliterarypress.com
1561678821 $12.95 1-800-873-2003

The debut science fiction novel of an author who has been blind since birth, True Heart is a fantastic journey of two would-be warriors traveling the ancient world of Ahsai in a quest for truth. Alone at first, their paths twist and eventually converge; they met monsters, gnomes, and fairy rulers, and at last come to the Order of Peace that houses the knowledge they have sought for so long. Challenge, excitement, danger, and the search to better understand both the world and oneself interlace their dramatic and memorable journey. Highly recommended.


The Comix/Graphic Novel Shelf

Justice League Companion
Michael Eury
TwoMorrows Publishing
10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614
www.twomorrows.com
1893905489 $24.95 1-919-449-0344

Commemorating the Justice League of America's 45th anniversary, Michael Eury's Justice League Companion: A Historical And Speculative Overview Of The Silver Age Justice League Of America is an extraordinary and comprehensive look at the timeless super-hero figures from 1960-1972. Justice League Companion includes interviews with Silver Age giants such as Stan Lee, Murphy Anderson, Joe Giella, Denny O'Neil, Mike Friedrich, Roy Thomas, and Jerry Bails; classic and previously unpublished art by JLA illustrators; photos of vintage JLA merchandise; an episode guide for the 1967 JLA TV cartoons; and an issue-by-issue index of the JLA's 1960-1975 adventures; and much more. Illustrated throughout in black-and-white, Justice League Companion is a "must- have" for fans and collectors of the Silver Age series, as well as fans of individual JLA heroes such as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, and is just plain fun to read.


The Theatre/Cinema Shelf

Winning Auditions
Mark Brandon
Limelight Editions
7777 West Bluemound Road, Milwaukee, WI 53213
www.limelighteditions.com
0879103167 $10.95 1-800-554-0626

Winning Auditions: 101 Strategies For Actors by actor, casting director, and theatrical producer Mark Brandon is a compact and highly portable compilation of 101 succinct lessons in preparation, presentation, and performance for aspiring actors. Represented are key insights gleaned over many years in the business from such accomplished actors as Sire John Gielgud, Harrison Ford, Jessica Lange, Richard Dreyfus, Russell Crowe, Sharon Stone, John Travolta, and Bill Cosby. Winning Auditions is an invaluable addition to any highschool, college, university, or community theatre reference collection, and "must" reading for aspiring actors seeking work on the Broadway state, in Hollywood films, the dinner theatre circuit, on radio or in television.


The Architecture Shelf

The Japanese Home Style Book
Saburo Yamagata
Stone Bridge Press
PO Box 8208, Berkeley, CA 94707
1880656019 $18.95 www.amazon.com

Saburo Yamagata (1911-1986) was a graduate of Kobe University, Japan, and a practicing architect. He drew from more than 1,800 designed from traditional Japanese homes to create The Japanese Home Style Book, a seminal reference for architects, designers, builders and home remodelers. Covering every element of traditional Japanese architectural design, the entries are systematically arranged for quick reference and easy of use. Included are paper-and-wood shoji screens; fusma sliding panels; door and window designs; tatami mat arrangements; decorated ceilings; latticed and carved transoms; tokonoma scroll alcoves; "staggered shelf" layouts; outdoor verandas and railings; garden fences and screens; as well as stepping-stone paths; decorative patterns and motifs for every purpose. The Japanese Home Style Book is a seminal contribution to professional and academic Architectural Studies and reference resource collections.


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Diane C. Donovan, Editor
Midwest Book Review
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Oregon, WI 53575-1129
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e-mail: mbr@execpc.com
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