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Volume 30, Number 5 May 2020 Home | IBW Index

Table of Contents

Reviewer's Choice Writing/Publishing Shelf Economic Studies Shelf
Jobs/Career Shelf Biography Shelf Genealogy Shelf
Comix/Graphic Novel Shelf Audiobook Shelf Library CD Shelf
Library DVD/Blu-ray Shelf Metaphysical Studies Shelf General Fiction Shelf
Romantic Fiction Shelf Western Fiction Shelf Mystery/Suspense Shelf
Fantasy/SciFi Shelf Christian Studies Shelf Education Shelf
Humor Shelf Military Shelf Health/Medicine Shelf
Gardening Shelf Cookbook Shelf Business Shelf
Parenting Shelf Science Shelf Crafts Shelf
Woodworking Shelf Native American Studies Shelf Theatre/Cinema Shelf
Art Shelf Philosophy Shelf Literary Studies Shelf
Psychology Shelf Self-Help Shelf World History Shelf
Sports Shelf Martial Arts Shelf Technology Shelf
Language Studies Shelf Beer/Spirits Shelf Architecture Shelf
Money/Finance Shelf Terrorism Studies Shelf  


Reviewer's Choice

American Ascendant
Dennis M. Spragg
Potomac Books, Inc.
c/o University of Nebraska Press
22841 Quicksilver Drive, Dulles, VA 20166-2012
www.potomacbooksinc.com
9781640121430, $34.95, www.nebraskapress.unl.edu

American Ascendant: The Rise of American Exceptionalism discusses the global crisis that changed American history when President Franklin D. Roosevelt arranged a partnership between the U.S. government and media to communicate the threat of World War II to the American public. The purpose was to promote the idea of American exceptionalism...and to manipulate the public to support the government's cause. Seldom has a connection between government and media purposes been so clearly explored as in this survey. Spragg probes the underlying conflicts and ideals that had to be addressed in an effort to change the American mind, pairing historical with political and social history in a survey replete in World War II events, media choices and representations, and government special interests. The result is a powerful, different view of American Exceptionalism and a history that belongs not just in American history holdings, but media studies collections.

A History of the University of Wisconsin System
Patricia A. Brady
University of Wisconsin Press
728 State Street, Suite 443, Madison, WI 53706-1418
www.uwpress.wisc.edu
9780299326401, $49.95, HC, 392pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: A tumultuous 1971 merger that combined all of the state's public colleges and universities into a single entity led to the creation of the University of Wisconsin System. Drawing on decades of previously unpublished sources, Patricia A. Brady (who is a consultant on higher education law issues and served as chief legal officer for the University of Wisconsin System from 2002 to 2010) details the System's full history from its origin to the present, illuminating complex networks among and within the campuses and an evolving relationship with the state.

The UW System serves as a powerful case study for how broad, national trends in higher education take shape on the ground. Brady illustrates the ways culture wars have played out on campuses and the pressures that have mounted as universities have shifted to a student as consumer approach. "A History of the University of Wisconsin System" is the essential, unvarnished story of the unique collection of institutions that serve Wisconsin and the world -- and a convincing argument for why recognizing and reinvesting in the System is critically important for the economic and civic future of the state and its citizens.

Critique: A seminal study of exhaustive research and meticulous scholarship, "A History of the University of Wisconsin System" could well serve as a template for other state university system histories. Enhanced for academia with the inclusion of a six page Bibliography, forty-six pages f Notes, and a seventeen page Index, "A History of the University of Wisconsin System" is a unique and highly recommended addition to personal, community, and academic library History of Education collections in general, and Wisconsin Education History supplemental studies reading lists in particular.

Ancient Egyptian Jewelry
Nigel Fletcher-Jones
American University in Cairo Press
420 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10018-2729
www.aucpress.com
9789774169656, $19.95, HC, 116pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Jewelry was worn by ancient Egyptians at every level of society and, like their modern descendants, they prized it for its aesthetic value, as well as a way to adorn and beautify the body. It was also a conspicuous signifier of wealth, status, and power.

But jewelry in ancient Egypt served another fundamental purpose: its wearers saw it as a means to absorb positive magical and divine powers -- to protect the living, and the dead, from the malignant forces of the unseen. The types of metals or stones used by craftsmen were magically important, as were the colors of the materials, and the exact positioning of all the elements in a design.

Compiled with commentary by Nigel Fletcher-Jones, "Ancient Egyptian Jewelry: 50 Masterpieces of Art and Design" draws on the exquisite collections in the archaeological museums of Cairo to tell the story of three thousand years of jewelry-making, from simple amulets to complex ritual jewelry to the spells that protected the king in life and assisted his journey to the Otherworld in death.

Gold, silver, carnelian, turquoise, and lapis lazuli were just some of the precious materials used in many of the pieces, and this stunningly illustrated book beautifully showcases the colors and exceptional artistry and accomplishment that make ancient Egyptian jewelry so dazzling to this day.

Critique: Beautifully illustrated in full color throughout, "Ancient Egyptian Jewelry: 50 Masterpieces of Art and Design" is an inherently fascinating and impressively informative compendium that would grace the shelves of any personal, professional, community, college, or university library Egyptology collection in general, and Jewelry Craft, Jewelry Design, Antique & Collectible Jewelry supplemental studies lists in particular.


The Writing/Publishing Shelf

The Author's Checklist
Elizabeth K. Kracht
New World Library
14 Pamaron Way, Novato, CA 94949
www.newworldlibrary.com
9781608686629, $15.95, www.newworldlibrary.com

The Author's Checklist: An Agent's Guide to Developing and Editing Your Manuscript is directed to writers in all genres, whether fiction or nonfiction, and regardless of their publishing goals (either self-publishing or working with a publisher), and covers the basics of creating a publishable manuscript. This survey goes beyond editing concerns to address the entire production, from creating an effective acknowledgment section to understanding the basics of better dialogue, pace, and keys to success, such as utilizing lists to help readers retain information and speed up the pace of the story, or creating more effective chapter endings. Authors need this survey, which is more than a checklist, but an outline of better strategies for superior writing results.

You've Got the Time
Ken Wachsberger
Azenphony Press
http://azenphonypress.com
9780945531135, $15.00, PB, 279pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Ken Wachsberger is an award-winning author/editor/book coach. He is an educator, member of National Speakers Association and National Writers Union, and renowned expert on negotiating book contracts.

Whether writing a book for credibility and back-of-the-room sales, to transform your life, or to simply prove to yourself that you can do it, in his DIY instructional guide and reference manual Ken's "You've Got the Time: How to Write and Publish That Book in You" guides the aspiring writer through a step by step process that will result in a complete book success.

With chapters on how to prepare your writing "space"; finding time in a busy lifestyle; labeling and organizing your digital files; freewriting your way to a table of contents; turning your prose into poetry; choosing your platforms; getting the word out; negotiating your contract; and more.

Critique: One of the most 'user friendly' and comprehensive how-to manuals for writer's seeking publication of their work, "You've Got the Time: How to Write and Publish That Book in You" is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to both community and academic library Writing/Publishing collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "You've Got the Time: How to Write and Publish That Book in You" is also readily available in an inexpensive digital book format (Kindle, $3.99). Simply stated, if it is your ambition to create the next great American novel and secure your place in literary history (or just to have your own work published and secure as wide a readership as possible for it), then "You've Got the Time: How to Write and Publish That Book in You" should be a part of your personal and professional reference shelf.


The Economic Studies Shelf

The Economics of Violence
Gary M. Shiffman
Cambridge University Press
One Liberty Plaza, Fl. 20, New York, NY 10006
www.cambridge.org
9781107092464, $89.99, HC, 242pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: How do we understand illicit violence? Can we prevent it? Building on behavioral science and economics, "The Economics of Violence: How Behavioral Science Can Transform our View of Crime, Insurgency, and Terrorism" by Professor Gary Shiffman begins with the idea that humans are more predictable than we like to believe, and this ability to model human behavior applies equally well to leaders of violent and coercive organizations as it does to everyday people.

Humans ultimately seek survival for themselves and their communities in a world of competition. While the dynamics of 'us vs. them' are divisive, they also help us to survive. Access to increasingly larger markets, facilitated through digital communications and social media, creates more transnational opportunities for deception, coercion, and violence.

If the economist's perspective helps to explain violence, then it must also facilitate insights into promoting peace and security. If we can approach violence as behavioral scientists, then we can also better structure our institutions to create policies that make the world a more secure place, for us and for future generations.

Critique: Enhanced for academia with the inclusion of a four page Glossary of Terms, twenty pages of Notes, and an eleven page Index, "The Economics of Violence: How Behavioral Science Can Transform our View of Crime, Insurgency, and Terrorism" is a model of meticulous scholarship that is expertly organized and effectively presented. An impressively informative contribution to our on-going national dialogue, especially given the dramatic impact that the pandemic is having on both the American and the Global economies, "The Economics of Violence: How Behavioral Science Can Transform our View of Crime, Insurgency, and Terrorism" must be considered a core and essential addition to both college and university library Contemporary Economic Studies collections and supplemental curriculum lists. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, governmental policy makers, and non- specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The Economics of Violence" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781107465756, $24.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.00).

Editorial Note: Gary Shiffman is a leading economist in the field of national and homeland security working issues of choice and violence. He created Giant Oak (www.giantoak.com) to efficiently deliverer domain-specific "big data" tools to those engaged in combating trafficking, insurgency, and terrorism. Dr. Shiffman has been on faculty at Georgetown University for well over a decade teaching and conducting research at the intersection of economics and security (css.georgetown.edu). He was also the Chief of Staff of US Customs and Border Protection (www.cbp.gov), a Managing Director of the Chertoff Group, a Senior Vice President at L-3, a National Security Advisor in the US Senate, and served on active duty in the US Navy serving in the Gulf War and in the Pentagon.


The Jobs/Career Shelf

Empower Yourself for an Amazing Career
Blanca De La Rosa
Balboa Press
c/o Hay House, Inc.
PO Box 5100, Carlsbad, CA 92018-5100
www.balboapress.com
9781452537979, $30.95, HC, 168pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: In "Empower Yourself for an Amazing Career", Blanca De La Rosa draws upon her years of experience and expertise to detail and share what she has learned after thirty-four years in the corporate environment for readers who want to get their career back on track, empower themselves so that they can create an amazing career.

Empowering yourself and using a holistic approach will help distinguish you from the competition and demonstrate to your organization how you can positively impact the bottom line.

"Empower Yourself for an Amazing Career" contains a wealth of information about personal career mistakes and is invaluable to anyone that dreams of building a successful career and incorporates personal stories and strategies for overcoming adversity in the workplace. The reader will discover how to assess the journey of their career, how to manage a bad manager, how to deal with career failure, and how to develop a career road map with uplifting and inspiring advice. "Empower Yourself For An Amazing Career" offers a fresh approach on climbing the corporate ladder by combining practical, commonsense advice with inner wisdom and providing strategies to increase the chances of success in the workplace.

"Empower Yourself For An Amazing Career" is specifically recommended for anyone who feels they cannot climb the corporate ladder, or whose must deal with an unsympathetic boss, competitive coworkers, and jealous peers, whose career has turned into a just another job, or who find themselves sitting and wondering what ever happened to their career, or how, where and when did they go off track, and most especially, for those wondering how do they revive their career after it has derailed?

Critique: Expertly written, organized and presented, "Empower Yourself For An Amazing Career" is a practical, informative, thought-provoking, and highly recommended addition to personal reading lists and community library collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Empower Yourself For An Amazing Career" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781452537573, $13.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $3.99).


The Biography Shelf

Free Thinker
Kimberly A. Hamlin
W. W. Norton & Company
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
www.wwnorton.com
97812324004984, $28.95, www.amazon.com

Free Thinker: Sex, Suffrage, and the Extraordinary Life of Helen Hamilton Gardner appears on the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage and returns to the women's history limelight the story of a woman whose battle has all but been forgotten to modern readers. Gardner became a famous reformer and was a key player in getting the 19th Amendment through Congress. She also was the highest-ranking woman in federal government. Her core convictions are central to the story presented here, which covers her transgressions, achievements, tireless work, and why her efforts to expose racism in the women's movement have not received more general publicity until now. Gardner changed her name, moved to New York, and devoted her life to women's rights. This biography covers all facets of her life and times and represents a key contribution to women's history and women's rights struggles.

Boneheads & Brainiacs
Moira Dolan, MD
Quill Driver Books
2006 South Mary, Fresno, CA 93721
www.quilldriverbooks.com
9781610353502, $18.95

Boneheads & Brainiacs: Heroes and Scoundrels of the Nobel Prize in Medicine belongs in collections strong in medical history and provides a series of in-depth biographical portraits of the often-odd personalities who contributed to the craft of modern medicine. It focuses on the winners of the Nobel Prize from 1901-1950 and probes these recipients' strengths, weaknesses, and the sometimes-odd sets of circumstances which led them to new heights. Readers interested in medical history and biographies will find this a lively, engaging series of insights into how success is achieved, either purposefully or by accident.

Odetta
Ian Zack
Beacon Press
24 Farnsworth Street, Boston, MA 02210
www.beacon.org
9780807035320, $28.95, HC, 264pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 - December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil and human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. An important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, she influenced many of the key figures of the folk-revival of that time, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, and Janis Joplin. (Wikipedia)

Odetta channeled her anger and despair into some of the most powerful folk music the world has ever heard. Through her lyrics and iconic persona, Odetta made lasting political, social, and cultural change.

But Odetta's importance extends far beyond music. In "Odetta: A Life In Music And Protest", journalist Ian Zack follows Odetta from her beginnings in deeply segregated Birmingham, Alabama, to stardom in San Francisco and New York. Odetta used her fame to bring attention to the civil rights movement, working alongside Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte, and other artists. Her opera-trained voice echoed at the 1963 March on Washington and the Selma to Montgomery march, and she arranged a tour throughout the deeply segregated South. Her "Freedom Trilogy" songs became rallying cries for protesters everywhere.

Through interviews with Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte, Judy Collins, Carly Simon, and many others, "Odetta: A Life In Music And Protest" brings Odetta back into the public's attention, reminding the world of the folk music that powered the civil rights movement and continues to influence generations of musicians today.

Critique: An inherently fascinating and thought-provoking biography, "Odetta: A Life In Music And Protest" is a fitting memorial that will prove to be a welcome and lastingly popular addition to personal, community, college, and university library American Biography, Black History, and American Folk Music collections. It should be be noted for the personal reading lists of the legions of Odetta fans that "Odetta: A Life In Music And Protest" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $17.99).

Whatever Happened to Barry Chambers?
Barry Kay
Book Guild Publishing Ltd.
https://www.bookguild.co.uk
9781912881550, 10.99 British Pounds ($9.76 Amazon.com), 262pp

Synopsis: In 1944, when only four, Barry Chambers Kay was left at The King's (The Cathedral) School Boarding House in Peterborough. His mother had discovered her husband is a bigamist. Beautiful but manipulative, Barry's mother makes a new life for herself, eventually in London, becoming a successful fashion designer. She gets married again, this time to a Jewish business man -- and pretends that she and her son are Jewish.

Barry is brought up as an Anglican meanwhile and has to cope with loneliness, bullying, a sexual predator at school, his loveable rogue of a step-father and his mother's erratic behavior. Barry becomes confused about his identity and as he grows older is attracted to the wrong set.

Eventually Barry removes his mother from his life and goes on to become a doctor -- and then a Professor of Medicine.

Critique: "Whatever Happened to Barry Chambers?" is an impressively candid, emotionally compelling, fully engaging, and inherently fascinating memoir. Exceptionally well written with all the narrative driven traits of a novel, "Whatever Happened to Barry Chambers?" is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to both community and academic library Biography collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Whatever Happened to Barry Chambers?" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $4.99).

Moments of Glad Grace: A Memoir
Alison Wearing
ECW Press
www.ecwpress.com
9781770415133, $17.95, PB, 256pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Alison's story begins as a trip from Canada to Ireland in search of genealogical data and documents. Being 80 and in the early stages of Parkinson's Disease, Joe invites his daughter Alison to come along as his research assistant, which might have worked very well had she any interest (any at all) in genealogy.

Very quickly, the father-daughter pilgrimage becomes more comical than fruitful, more of a bittersweet adventure than a studious mission. And rather than rigorous genealogy, their explorations move into the realm of family and forgiveness, the primal search for identity and belonging, and questions about responsibility to our ancestors and the extent to which we are shaped by the people who came before us.

Though continually bursting with humor, "Moments of Glad Grace" ultimately becomes a tribute of appreciation for the precious and limited time we have with our parents, the small moments we share, and the gifts of transcendence we might find there.

Critique: A emotionally moving, engagingly witty, fully entertaining and impressively memorable memoir of aging, familial love, and the hunt for roots and belonging, "Moments of Glad Grace" by Alison Wearing is especially and unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library Contemporary Biography collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Moments of Glad Grace" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.99).

Editorial Note: Alison Wearing is the author of "Confessions of a Fairy's Daughter", which is an Indigo Top 50 pick that was short listed for the Edna Staebler Prize and long listed for the RBC Taylor Prize, and "Honeymoon in Purdah: An Iranian Journey". Alison also teaches, performs solo multimedia plays, and leads writing workshops internationally.


The Genealogy Shelf

New Pocket Guide to Irish Genealogy
Brian Mitchell
Clearfield Company
3600 Clipper Mill Road, Suite 260, Baltimore, MD 21211
www.genealogical.com
9780806359083, $25.00, PB, 122pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "New Pocket Guide to Irish Genealogy " by Brian Mitchell is one of the most complete and informative books on genealogical research in Ireland ever written. Because genealogists now have ready access online to most of Irish record sources, Brian Mitchell has completely revised his guide to meet the needs of today's researchers and direct them to the most current websites and resources.

The examination of seven major records will throw quite detailed light on most peoples' Irish ancestry and by skillfully blending Irish history, record sources, case studies, maps, charts, and his own mastery of the subject, Mitchell has put together a masterful handbook to Irish genealogical research.

Following introductory chapters on the background of Irish genealogy and how to get started in your research, Mitchell describes the nature and uses of all significant record sources in Ireland, including but not limited to civil and parish registers, gravestone inscriptions, wills, census returns and census substitutes, the Griffith's Valuation, tithe books, newspapers, hearth money rolls, the registry of deeds, estate records, and ordnance survey memoirs.

Also included are the addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and websites for the major record repositories, as well as a section discussing DNA and genetic genealogy as applicable to Irish genealogy research. Mitchell concludes with itemizing the three steps researchers should take first, and then including case studies to illustrate how to apply these steps.

Critique: Expertly written, organized and presented, "New Pocket Guide to Irish Genealogy" an ideal instructional guide and reference for anyone seeking to do genealogical research with respect to their Irish ancestors and is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library Genealogy Research Studies collections and supplemental curriculum reading lists.


The Comix/Graphic Novel Shelf

The World Of TwoMorrows
John Morrow & Jon B. Cooke, editors
TwoMorrows Publishing
10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614
www.twomorrows.com
9781605490922, $37.95, PB, 224pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: In 1994, amidst the boom-&-bust of comic book speculators, The Jack Kirby Collector #1 was published for true fans of the medium. That modest labor of love spawned TwoMorrows Publishing, today's premier purveyor of publications about comics and pop culture. Now dedicated fans can celebrate their 25th anniversary with "The World Of TwoMorrows: Celebrating 25 Years of the Future of Fandom", a special retrospective look at the company that changed comic book fandom forever!

Co-edited by and featuring publisher John Morrow and Comic Book Artist/Comic Book Creator magazine's Jon B. Cooke, "The World Of TwoMorrows" gives the inside story and behind-the-scenes details of a quarter-century of looking at the past in a whole new way. Also included are Back Issue magazine's Michael Eury, Alter Ego's Roy Thomas, George Khoury (author of Kimota!, Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore, and other books), Mike Manley (Draw! magazine), Eric Nolen-Weathington (Modern Masters), and a host of other comics luminaries who've contributed to TwoMorrows' output over the years.

From their Eisner Award-winning Streetwise book, through their BrickJournal Lego magazine, up to today's RetroFan magazine, every major TwoMorrows publication and contributor is covered with the same detail and affection the company gives to its books and magazines.
The World Of TwoMorrows" also features an Introduction by Mark Evanier, a Foreword by Alex Ross, an Afterword by Paul Levitz, and a new cover by Tom McWeeney!

Critique: An absolute 'must have' for all dedicated comic book fans and collectors, "The World Of TwoMorrows: Celebrating 25 Years of the Future of Fandom" is a profusely illustrated and impressively informative history that will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to personal, community, college, and university library Literary Comics/Graphic Novels History collections and supplemental studies reading lists.


The Audiobook Shelf

Stamped
Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
Hachette Audio
1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104
www.HachetteAudio.com
9781549184482, $25.00, www.amazon.com

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You is a remix of Stamped from the Beginning and benefits from a vivid narration by Jason Reynolds, who brings to life this hard-hitting consideration of how racism has been used to separate people, solidify power, and divide societies. There are basic racist tenants that have become 'truths' in American history and society, and this book covers that history, defining the nature of these ideas, their evolution, and how they can be mitigated. The result is a hard-hitting survey that comes alive in audio and which should be a key part of anyone seeking to understanding racism's roots and incarnations.

Dante
John Took
Recorded Books, LLC
270 Skip Jack Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678
www.recordedbooks.com
B085P1BHM8, $TBA, CD, 23discs, 26.5 hours, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: For all that has been written about the author of the Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) remains the best guide to his own life and work. Dante's writings are therefore never far away in this authoritative and comprehensive intellectual biography, which offers a fresh account of the medieval Florentine poet's life and thought before and after his exile in 1302.

Beginning with the often violent circumstances of Dante's life, the book examines his successive works as testimony to the course of his passionate humanity: his lyric poetry through to the Vita nova as the great work of his first period; the Convivio, De vulgari eloquentia and the poems of his early years in exile; and the Monarchia and the Commedia as the product of his maturity.

Describing as it does a journey of the mind, "Dante" by John Took confirms the nature of Dante's undertaking as an exploration of what he himself speaks of as 'maturity in the flame of love'. The result is an original synthesis of Dante's life and work.

Critique: Ably and professionally narrated by John Took, this complete and unabridged audio book of the extraordinary life of Dante is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to personal listening lists, as well as both community and academic library Italian History & Biography collections.


The Library CD Shelf

Songs for Singin'
The Okee Dokee Brothers
www.okeedokee.org
$17.99 CD / $9.98 MP3 amazon.com

Songs for Singin' is a two-disc studio album from Grammy award-winning banjo-and-guitar duo The Okee Dokee Brothers. A songbook with lyrics and chords is included, in this music collection created especially to encourage living-room sing-alongs. Songs for Singin' is family- friendly, yet the lively, catchy collection is sure to appeal to vocal enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds. From call and response tunes to sea shanties, church hymns, campfire songs, social songs, protest songs, and more, Songs for Singin' is a joy to share and highly recommended especially for public library collections. The tracks of disc 1 "Day" are Hope Machine; Early Bird; Neighborhood Band; One Little Heart; Sally-O; If You Want a Song; Jubilation; Music Train; Sunnyside Up; Afternoon Walk; Colors; Wastin' Time; Grandmaderation; You Are the One; and Language of the Flowers. The tracks of disc 2 "Night" are Raise a Ruckus; Campin'; In My Bones; Let's Throw a Party; Jumbo Gumbo; Ask Away; Church of the Woods; Singin' for Me Supper; Go Slow; Thank You; and Seasons in a Day; and Hushabye.

Space Cycles
Jim Robitaille Trio
Whaling City Sound
www.whalingcitysound.com
$TBA CD / $8.99 MP3 amazon.com

Space Cycles is a unique and extraordinary jazz album, that ventures beyond conventional boundaries. Seven original songs and three covers comprise this wondrously varied collection, with jazz songs that range in nature from ballads, to funk, to sweet and soft. Space Cycles is enthusiastically recommended especially for jazz connoisseurs, and also makes an excellent gift. The tracks are Natural Selection; Transitions; When We Passed; Space Cycles; Baubles, Bangles, and Beads; February 12th; Nocturne; Never Never Land; Here, There and Everywhere; and Chance Meeting.

Sonoran Odyssey
Paul Speer
https://paulspeer.com
Rainstorm Records
$TBA CD / $8.99 MP3 amazon.com

Sonoran Odyssey is a new age instrumental album inspired by the breathtaking desert of Southern Arizona, home to composer Paul Speer. The electronic sounds beautifully reflect shifting phases of the natural world, in this extraordinary, immersive collection. Highly recommended, especially for connoisseurs of inspirational ambience. The tracks are Sunrise; Monsoon (Thunder); Moonrise (Full Mix); Moonrise (Demo Feat. Neptune); Monsoon (No Thunder); Moonrise (Guitar Mix); Moonrise (Ambient Mix); Behind the Waterfall (2020); Venus Rising; and Jupiter Via NASA.

Healing Sound Project 1:1
Sarah Jane Hargis
Privately Published
healingsoundproject.com
$TBA CD / $9.49 MP3 amazon.com

Healing Sound Project 1:1 is an ambient, new age album created especially to promote relaxation and an environment conducive to activities such as yoga, meditation, and the healing arts. A peaceful, wistful soundscape featuring flute, harp, and electronics, Healing Sound Project 1:1 is a treasure for connoisseurs of the genre. Highly recommended! The tracks are Exhale into the Abyss I; Exhale into the Abyss II; Grounding I; Grounding II; Presence I; Presence II; Mixo I; Mixo II; Inner Sight I; Inner Sight II; Pause I; and Pause II.


The Library DVD/Blu-ray Shelf

Humans: Complete Collection
Acorn Media
c/o RLJ Entertainment
www.us.RLJEntertainment.com
www.acornonline.com
$69.99 Blu-ray amazon.com

Humans: Complete Collection is the uncut, British edition of the science fiction saga about the society-wide repercussions of artificial androids that obtain human-like consciousness. All three series are included in this six-disc Blu-ray set. Series 1 focuses on the troubles that individuals have sharing their homes and lives with synthetic humans, or "synths". Series 2 explores the ramifications of when obedient synths obtain the right to free will. Series 3 portrays a persecuted synth population struggling to survive in a world that has turned against them. Gripping, thought- provoking, and enriched with two and a half hours of bonus features, Humans: Complete Collection is a "must-have" for connoisseurs of quality science fiction. 6 Blu-ray discs, 24 episodes, 19.5 hours.

Balthazar, series 1
Acorn Media
c/o RLJ Entertainment
www.us.RLJEntertainment.com
www.acornonline.com
$39.99 amazon.com

Balthazar, series 1 is a French-language crime drama with English subtitles following the deductions of a highly intelligent, strikingly debonair, yet inconsistently eccentric forensic pathologist. Raphael Balthazar (played by Tomer Sisley, also known for his role in "We're the Millers") works with Chief Inspector Helene Bach (played by Helene de Fougerolles) to solve disturbing murders, yet he remains haunted by the knowledge that the person who murdered his wife twelve years ago could still be at large. An intense, profound mystery series with streak of both dark humor and tragic heartbreak, Balthazar is highly recommended for connoisseurs of the genre. 6 episodes on 2 discs, 342 min., not rated.


The Metaphysical Studies Shelf

Earth Spirit Dreaming
Elizabeth E. Meacham
Findhorn Press
www.findhornpress.com
c/o Inner Traditions International, Ltd.
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
www.innertraditions.com
9781620559871, $16.99, PB, 224pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: A guide to co-creating a healing vision for humanity and the Earth through nature-connected shamanic rituals, "Earth Spirit Dreaming" by Elizabeth E. Meacham explains the Earth Spirit Dreaming process for rebirthing inherent shamanic abilities with dozens of practices in three categories: Earth-connecting practices, Spirit-connecting practices, and Dream-connecting practices.

"Earth Spirit Dreaming" also provides the metaphysical student with experiential exercises to foster interactions with the intelligences and elemental energies of nature and the Spirit realm, realign you with the rhythms and flow of life, and co-create a healing dream for humanity and all of life on our planet.

Of special note are the step-by-step directions in "Earth Spirit Dreaming" for connecting with the light guides of the planet for guidance and healing.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized, and presented, "Earth Spirit Dreaming" is an extraordinarily informative and unreservedly recommended addition to both community and academic library Shamanic and Gaia-based collections and supplemental studies reading lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject.

Editorial Note: Elizabeth Meachamis is an environmental philosopher, teacher, healer, spiritual mentor, and musician. She is also the founder and co-director of the Lake Erie Institute for Holistic Environmental Education. Her workshops and training courses offer initiatory experiences that reflect her long-term engagement as a student of the Earth and Cosmos.

Hieroglyphic Words of Power
Normandi Ellis
Bear & Company
c/o Inner Traditions International, Ltd.
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
www.innertraditions.com
9781591433767, $20.00, PB, 336pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: In metaphysical studies it is recognized that words are magic. They operate on many levels through both sound and symbol. Egyptian priests understood that language and thought could create realities if the exact words are uttered at the right time, properly intoned, and filled with intention. They called their magical language of hieroglyphic symbols 'medju neter', meaning "the Word of God."

These symbols were said to have been created by Isis and Thoth and were presided over by the goddess Seshet, keeper of the Akashic records. Through their chant lines and repetitions, sound vibrations, and hypnotically recurring images, hieroglyphs, such as those found inside the pyramids, were intended to activate a trancelike state that allowed the individual to ascend into the heavens and thus, riding on this incantatory language, converse with the ancestors and the Creator.

"Hieroglyphic Words of Power" is a detailed guide, in which Normandi Ellis explores how to use hieroglyphs as words of power for manifesting ideas into the material world as well as how to utilize them in magic, meditation, divination, and dream work. She offers a deep look at the many layers of meaning contained within 60 important hieroglyphs, breaking down the elements within each symbol and explaining the myths behind them, the gods and goddesses they are connected to, their initiatory significance, and their oracular and dream meanings. She also shares guidelines for interpreting hieroglyphs so readers will be able to come to their own understandings about the secrets they hold.

Providing instructions for creating the readers own hieroglyph cards, amulets, and other magically empowered objects, Ellis offers practices and strategies to use them, with detailed explanations for the historical, magical, practical, and symbolic reasons why each method is effective. She also offers several layouts and card spreads for divination readings based on Egyptian myth, numerology, and astrology. Revealing the depth of meaning behind each of these powerful ancient symbols, "Hieroglyphic Words of Power" shows that we can still harness their millennia-old magic today.

Critique: An extraordinary and impressively informative study, "Hieroglyphic Words of Power" is an outstanding and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Metaphysical Studies collection in general, and Occult/Taro/New Age Mysticism supplemental studies lists in particular. It should be noted for students of symbolic magic, divination and dreamwork that "Hieroglyphic Words of Power" is also readily available in a digital book format (eTextbook, $13.99).

Herb Magic
Patti Wigington
www.pattiwigington.com
Rockridge Press
9781646114047, $16.99, PB, 184pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Herbal magic is a powerful method of inviting protection, love, health, and wealth into your life -- it can even aid metaphysical practitioner in finding guidance through divination. Perfect for fresh and seasoned herbalists alike, "Herb Magic: An Introduction to Magical Herbalism and Spells" is a thoroughly 'user friendly guide to magical herbalism that introduces the spiritual side of herbs and how to use them in folkloric spells and rituals.

"Herb Magic: An Introduction to Magical Herbalism and Spells" provides an informed and informative overview of this old-world magic belief system, including advice on the best time to practice, building an altar, and setting intentions. Readers will also learn about the healing properties of dozens of sacred herbs, how to unlock their power, and magical uses before exploring 75 easy-to-follow spells and rituals, including simplified magic for the witch on the go.

Critique: Expertly organized and presented, "Herb Magic: An Introduction to Magical Herbalism and Spells" is a complete and comprehensive course of instruction combined with an informative perspective that will be enduringly valued and appreciated by students and practitioners of magic. While especially recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library Metaphysical Studies collections, it should be noted that "Herb Magic: An Introduction to Magical Herbalism and Spells" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Patti Wigington is an educator, workshop facilitator, licensed Pagan clergy, and the founder of Clan of the Stone Circle. She is also the editor of the Paganism & Wicca pages on the website www.LearnReligions.com. She also maintains a website about paganism at www.pattiwigington.com

The Magical Writing Grimoire
Lisa Marie Basile
Fair Winds Press
Quarto Publishing Group USA
400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401-1722
www.quartoknows.com
9781592339341, $21.99, HC, 176pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Part guided journaling practice, part magical grimoire, "The Magical Writing Grimoire: Use the Word as Your Wand for Magic, Manifestation & Ritual" by Lisa Marie Basile explores the transformative power of ritual and writing, showing how to incorporate writing as a magical tool to live a ritualistic life, create healing, manifest visions, set intentions, and amplify spell-casting.

"The Magical Writing Grimoire" approaches writing as an inclusive, adaptable, and spiritual act. The reader will learn how to combine writing with ritual and magic for self-discovery, shadow work, setting intentions, living mindfully, manifestation, and healing or releasing. The reader will also be guided in how to create a personal grimoire -- a magical book of rituals, musings, ideas, spells, and intentions.

Each individual chapter contains rituals alongside writing prompts and poetic wisdom. The reader will learn how to create and/or engage in shadow work, archetypes, nature, bibliomancy, dreams, automatic writing, moon phase journaling and candle magic.

During times of chaos or pain writing can help. Healers, therapists, and magical practitioners have long incorporated writing in their practices.

Critique: Expertly written, organized and presented, "The Magical Writing Grimoire: Use the Word as Your Wand for Magic, Manifestation & Ritual" is a unique and thoroughly 'user friendly' instructional guide and manual that is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library Metaphysical Studies collections. An impressively informed and informative compendium of DIY instruction in the art and craft of magical writing, it should be noted that "The Magical Writing Grimoire: Use the Word as Your Wand for Magic, Manifestation & Ritual" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99).


The General Fiction Shelf

When All Is Said
Anne Griffin
Picador USA
175 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1800, New York, NY 10010
www.picadorusa.com
Macmillan Audio
www.macmillanaudio.com
9781250251336, $17.99, PB, 336pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: At the bar of a grand hotel in a small Irish town sits 84-year-old Maurice Hannigan. He's alone, as usual -- though tonight is anything but. Pull up a stool and charge your glass, because Maurice is finally ready to tell his story.

Over the course of this evening, he will raise five toasts to the five people who have meant the most to him. Through these stories of unspoken joy and regret, a secret tragedy kept hidden, a fierce love that never found its voice, the life of one man will be powerfully and poignantly laid bare.

Critique: One of those very special novels that will linger in the mind and memory long after the book itself has been finished and set back upon the shelf, "When All Is Said" by Anne Griffin is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to community and academic library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "When All Is Said" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Macmillan Audio, 9781250315823, $39.99, CD).

The OK End of Funny Town
Mark Polanzak
BOA Editions, Ltd.
www.boaeditions.org
9781950774050, $16.98, PB, 200pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: A fastidious pet robot with a knack for knitting. A soporific giant pitching camp in the middle of a city. A mysterious mime whose upcoming performance has the whole town on edge.

These are some of the stories comprising Mark Polanzak's BOA Short Fiction Prize-winning "The OK End of Funny Town". These are stories that stitch fantastic situations into the drab fabric of everyday life. As an author, Polanzak delights in stretching every boundary he encounters, from the new focus on practical learning at the New Community School, to the ever-changing tastes of diners in search of the next big trend in local cuisine.

Wondrous yet familiar, "The OK End of Funny Town" deftly excavates the layers between our collective obsession with passing fads and our secret yearning for lasting connection.

Critique: An anthology of deftly crafted short stories, with each one being a literary gem, "The OK End of Funny Town" by Mark Polanzak is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "The OK End of Funny Town" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.69).

Editorial Note: Mark Polanzak is the author of the hybrid fiction/memoir POP! (Stillhouse, 2016). His stories have appeared in The Southern Review and The American Scholar, and anthologized in Best American Nonrequired Reading 2017. He is a founding editor of draft: the journal of process and a contributor to the podcast, The Fail Safe. A graduate of the University of Arizona's MFA program in fiction, Mark teaches writing and literature at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

In Dante's Footsteps: My Journey to Hell
Charles Patterson
Christian Faith Publishing
832 Park Avenue, Meadville, PA 16335
https://www.christianfaithpublishing.com
9781642993547, $38.95, HC, 652pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "In Dante's Footsteps: My Journey to Hell" by Charles Patterson is a modern divine comedy that is essentially based upon the original Divine Comedy that Dante wrote some 700 years ago, telling the story of Tom Reed and how his early interest in Dante inspired him to make his own viaggio (journey) to the Underworld.

After describing Tom's church upbringing and his joining, then leaving the church, the story continues in the Underworld (a.k.a. Hell) with a cast of characters Dante never could have imagined: Tanya, the CEO; Umberto, the Guest Master; Rachel, a young Dante scholar from Berkeley; visitors from China, India, Kenya, and Germany; and famous people in history woken up from the Big Nap for a "Great Minds and Personalities" conference attended by such greats as Socrates, Alexander the Great, Joan of Arc, Einstein, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Groucho Marx. Tom also visits his father who's in a "Purgatory precinct" and talks to Hashem, his "wife" Naomi, and somebody called Satan who wears a cowboy hat and walks with a swagger.

The climax of Tom's viaggio is his visit to the Crusaders who used to be in charge because he wants to include them in the book he plans to write that could make him the next Dante. However, because the Crusaders disapprove of his being a "defrocked priest," when he arrives, they withdraw their invitation and put him on trial.

After he survives his ordeal with the help of Wanda (an ex-nun), members of GETA (Ghosts for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), and Dante himself, Tom is taken to the exit and resurfaces in New Jersey where Beatrice, his college girlfriend with whom he's back in contact, is waiting for him. Dante had his Beatrice (one of the great love stories of world literature), so why shouldn't Tom have his?

Critique: Impressively original, inherently fascinating, deftly written, and certain to be an immediate and enduringly valued addition to both community and academic library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "In Dante's Footsteps: My Journey to Hell" is also readily available for personal reading lists in a paperback edition (9781642992618, $25.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: A member of PEN, The Authors Guild, and the National Writers Union, Charles Patterson is a social historian, Holocaust educator, editor, and therapist. He is the author of Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust (now in 16 languages). He is also the author of Anti-Semitism: The Road to the Holocaust and Beyond, The Oxford 50th Anniversary Book of the United Nations, The Civil Rights Movement, and From Buchenwald to Carnegie Hall (co-authored with Holocaust survivor Marian Filar).

Little Wonders
Kate Rorick
William Morrow & Company
c/o HarperCollins Publishers
195 Broadway New York, New York 10007
www.harpercollins.com
Blackstone Audio
www.BlackstoneAudio.com
9780062877215, $15.99, PB, 384pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: When Quinn Barrett's son refuses to wear his hand-crafted costume to the Little Wonders Preschool Happy Halloween Parade and Dance Party she loses it -- complete with stomping, screaming, and costume-destruction galore. Not her best day. And caught on viral video. Yep, "Halloween Mom" is now internet famous around the world!

The posting culprit: tattooed, blue-haired, west-coast transplant Daisy McGulch, out of place in the posh New England town and unable to blend with the other perfect mommies of Little Wonders Preschool.

While she couldn't care less about organic snacks (paleo-preferred) or the winter quarters of the Little Wonders chickens, she's not about to admit she's the one who accidently brought Quinn's worst moment to the entire world - she'd be kicked out of town!

But when Quinn and Daisy find themselves unlikely cohorts in the fight for Little Wonders Parents Association supremacy, they also discover they have more in common than they expected... but the internet is forever. Can Quinn live down her new reputation? And how far will Daisy go to keep the truth from coming to light?

Hilarious, clever, and unforgettable, Little Wonders offers a glimpse into the high-pressure world of modern momming, with natural toys, scrutinized playdates, PTA politics, and social media gone amok.

Critique: Fun and funny while showcasing the drawbacks to playdates, the PTA, and the unintended consequences of a social media driven world, "Little Wonders" by Kate Rorick novel for our times and one that will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to community library Contemporary General Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Little Wonders" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Blackstone Audio, 9781094117133, $39.99, CD).

Man of My Time
Dalia Sofer
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
175 Varick Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10014
www.fsgbooks.com
www.dreamscapeab.com/audiobooks
9780374110062, $27.00, HC, 384pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Set in Iran and New York City, "Man of My Time" by Dalia Sofer tells the story of Hamid Mozaffarian, who is as alienated from himself as he is from the world around him. After decades of ambivalent work as an interrogator with the Iranian regime, Hamid travels on a diplomatic mission to New York, where he encounters his estranged family and retrieves the ashes of his father, whose dying wish was to be buried in Iran.

Tucked in his pocket throughout the trip, the ashes propel him into a first-person excavation (full of mordant wit and bitter memory) of a lifetime of betrayal, and prompt him to trace his own evolution from a perceptive boy in love with marbles to a man who, on seeing his own reflection, is startled to encounter someone he no longer recognizes. As he reconnects with his brother and others living in exile, Hamid is forced to reckon with his past, with the insidious nature of violence, and with his entrenchment in a system that for decades ensnared him.

Critique: A deftly crafted and inherently engaging novel by an author with a genuine flair for originality and the kind of narrative driven storytelling that deftly threads together interlacing elements of the human condition with compelling insights into the human condition, "Man of My Time" is an extraordinary and unreservedly compelling addition to both community and academic library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Man of My Time" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Dreamscape Media, 9781690588566, $22.99, CD).

Bountiful Calling
Fred Burton
Bancroft Press
PO Box 65360, Baltimore, MD 21209
www.bancroftpress.com
9781610885096, $26.95, HC, 288pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Joe has a successful government position working with a state senator in Pennsylvania, Nicole and her family enjoy their life on their rural campgrounds, and the two seem headed towards romance and possible marriage. But Nicole's very way of life is threatened when the government takes over her father's property for fracking, stealing away the life her family has known for years.

Responding to this tragedy, Nicole finds her personal relationships strained, even the one with Joe. What will she do? As Joe weighs his career goals against his personal morals and individual aspirations, he's left with this fundamental question: Does he put his job above everything else, or risk a total professional loss for Nicole's sake?

Critique: A pitch-perfect novel of a challenged and challenging human relationship in contemporary times, "Bountiful Calling" by Fred Burton is a deftly crafted and impressively engaging story by an author with a genuine flair for originality and a distinctive kind of narrative driven and entertaining storytelling style. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Contemporary General Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Bountiful Calling" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Sunrise on Half Moon Bay
Robyn Carr
Mira Books
195 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10007
www.mirabooks.com
Blackstone Audio
www.blackstoneaudio.com
9780778310099, $27.99, HC, 304pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Adele and Justine have never been close. Born twenty years apart, Justine was already an adult when Addie was born. The sisters love each other, but they don't really know each other.

When Addie dropped out of university to care for their ailing parents, Justine, a successful lawyer, covered the expenses. It was the best arrangement at the time, but now that their parents are gone, the future has changed dramatically for both women.

Addie had great plans for her life but has been worn down by the pressures of being a caregiver and doesn't know how to live for herself. And Justine's success has come at a price. Her marriage is falling apart despite her best efforts.

Neither woman knows how to start life over, but both realize they can and must support each other the way only sisters can. Together they find the strength to accept their failures and overcome their challenges. Happiness is within reach, if only they have the courage to fight for it.

Critique: Robyn Carr is one of the most gifted authors writing today and in her latest novel, "Sunrise On Half Moon Bay" she sets her inherently engaging story in a coastal town as the setting for exploring 'the joys of sisterhood and the importance of embracing change'. While fully endorsed for community library Contemporary General Fiction collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of the growing legions of Robyn Carr fans that "Sunrise On Half Moon Bay" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9780778309482, $16.99), in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99), and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Blackstone Audio, 9781094098715, $34.99, CD).

Springtime at Hope Hall
Pam Rhodes
Lion Hudson Limited
www.lionhudson.com
9781782642855, $12.95, PB, 256pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: There's never a dull moment at Hope Hall, as its rooms are filled throughout the day with gossipy grandmas, body-popping teenagers, temperamental dancing teachers, a choir without one decent singer to their name, knitters who natter, caterers who bake glorious cakes, slimmers nibbling chocolate, and a nursery group where it's the grown-ups who are near to tears!

But it's all in a day's work for administrator, Kath, whose job it is to make sure Hope Hall offers something for everyone! Mind you, she can see that some key members of her team are struggling - like caretaker Trevor, who is nursing his beloved wife who has cancer, and Maggie, their wonderful cook, whose husband of twenty-five years has just left her for a woman half her age.

As the team works to pull off their ambitious Hope Hall Centenary Easter Monday Fayre, Kath realizes reinforcements are needed. Brash, loud and inexperienced though she may be, Kath has a feeling that Shirley might be just the ticket! The Fayre is a triumph but when Kath's old flame comes back on the scene, she suddenly has some tough choices to make...

Critique: The debut novel for a charmingly entertaining new trilogy by Pam Rhodes, "Springtime at Hope Hall" is centered on a Victorian church hall in an English town. Certain to be an enduringly favorite addition to community library Contemporary General Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Springtime at Hope Hall" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.49).

Sin Eater
Megan Campisi
Atria Books
c/o Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.simonandschuster.com
Blackstone Audio
www.blackstoneaudio.com
9781982124106, $27.00, HC, 304pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: For the crime of stealing bread, fourteen-year-old May receives a life sentence: she must become a Sin Eater -- a shunned woman, brutally marked, whose fate is to hear the final confessions of the dying, eat ritual foods symbolizing their sins as a funeral rite, and thereby shoulder their transgressions to grant their souls access to heaven.

Orphaned and friendless, apprenticed to an older Sin Eater who cannot speak to her, May must make her way in a dangerous and cruel world she barely understands. When a deer heart appears on the coffin of a royal governess who did not confess to the dreadful sin it represents, the older Sin Eater refuses to eat it. She is taken to prison, tortured, and killed. To avenge her death, May must find out who placed the deer heart on the coffin and why.

Critique: An expertly written novel with commendable attention to historical detail combined with a genuine flair for originality and a distinct talent for narrative driven storytelling, "Sin Eater" by Megan Campisi is a simply riveting read from cover to cover and will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to community library Historical Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Sin Eater" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Blackstone Audio, 9781797102153, $39.99, CD).

The King of Nothing Much
Jesse Edward Johnson
Paul Dry Books
1700 Sansom Street, Suite 700, Philadelphia, PA 19103-5214
www.pauldrybooks.com
9781589881440, $12.95, PB, 135pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Weldon Tines, 41, is a stay-at-home dad who has outlived his usefulness in the role. The twins (Danny and Reese) have just started kindergarten, his older daughter Presley wants nothing to do with him, and his wife Deb makes enough money for the family to live on. Newly rudderless, Weldon struggles to understand his purpose on this earth. Who is it that can tell him who he is?

When Weldon slides gleefully down an inflatable slide at a child's birthday party, only to come crashing into the birthday boy, he thinks he's just made a mistake that will lead only to hassle and headache. Instead, it kick-starts a quest for personal discovery that culminates in a dramatic flourishing of Weldon's deep-seated heroism.

Critique: A deftly penned and original novella about the changing role of a father in a time of transition away from patriarchy and a culture of toxic masculinity, "The King of Nothing Much" by Jesse Edward Johnson is an inherently interesting and thought-provoking read. While highly recommended for both community and academic library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "The King of Nothing Much" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.95).


The Romantic Fiction Shelf

Gone With the Rogue
Amelia Grey
St. Martin's Press
https://us.macmillan.com/smp
9781250218780, $7.99, PB, 304pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: The sinking of the Salty Dove took her husband's life -- but it didn't drown Julia Fairbright's courage to endure. She creates a proper life for herself and her young son. But now, the ton's most notorious rogue is back, and how he makes Julia feel is anything but proper. She can't deny the desires he awakens in her, even though she knows that the handsome devil will surely break her heart.

Garrett Stockton owns a successful shipping company and is rumored to have a woman on every continent and half-a-dozen in England. The truth, however, is that Garrett has but one mistress: the wide open sea. That is, until he meets Julia, whose spirit of independence matches his own. What begins as a flirtatious battle of wits turns far more passionate than either of them could have imagined. Suddenly, Garrett's only desire is to sail into the sunset with Julia as his wife and young Chatwyn his son. But she won't take his hand -- how can he convince her that his love is real and his heart is hers?

Critique: Author Amelia Grey's "Gone With The Rogue" is a pitch-perfect historical romance by a novelist with a complete mastery of the storytelling arts. While certain to be an enduringly popular addition to community library Historical Romance Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Gone With The Rogue" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99).

Highland Sword
May McGoldrick
St. Martin's Press
https://us.macmillan.com/smp
9781250314994, $7.99, PB, 320pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Fleeing to the Highlands after her father's murder, fiery Morrigan Drummond has a score to settle with Sir Rupert Burney, the English spymaster responsible for his death. Trained to fight alongside the other rebels determined to break Britain's hold on Scotland, she swears to avenge her father's death -- until a chance encounter with a barrister as proud and principled as she is presents her with a hard choice... and a bittersweet temptation.

Aidan Grant has never encountered another woman like dangerous beauty Morrigan -- and he has the bruises to prove it. Yet she could be the key to defending two innocent men, as well as striking a death blow to the reprehensible Burney. Convincing Morrigan to help him will take time, but Aidan is willing to wait if it means victory over corrupt government forces and freedom for his people... and Morrigan's hand in marriage. Can two warriors committed to a cause stand down long enough to open their hearts to a love fierce enough to last... forever?

Critique: Another inherently engaging 'Royal Highlander' novel by May McGoldrick, "Highland Sword" is a deftly crafted and immensely entertaining story by a true and accomplished master of the historical romance genre. A thoroughly entertaining read from beginning to end, "Highland Sword" will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to personal and community library Romance Fiction collections. It should be noted for the growing legions of May McGoldrick fans that "Highland Sword" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99).

Starfish Pier
Irene Hannon
Fleming H. Revell Company
c/o Baker Publishing Group
6030 East Fulton, Ada, MI 49301
www.revellbooks.com
9780800737825, $29.99, HC, 343pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: First-grade teacher Holly Miller enjoys a quiet, low-profile life in Hope Harbor -- but all of that changes when she must advocate for a cause dear to her heart and finds herself on the opposite side of the issue from a take-charge ex-Delta Force operator turned fisherman who complicates her mission and threatens to steal her heart!

Critique: A pitch-perfect contemporary romance novel by a gifted author who is a complete master of the genre, "Starfish Pier" by Irene Hannon will prove to be an especially welcome and enduringly popular addition to community library collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of all dedicated Romance Fiction fans that "Starfish Pier" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9780800736149, $15.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

On a Coastal Breeze
Suzanne Woods Fisher
Fleming H. Revell Company
c/o Baker Publishing Group
6030 East Fulton, Ada, MI 49301
www.revellbooks.com
9780800738648, $29.99, HC, 320pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: For Madison Grayson, life is good. Newly licensed as a marriage and family therapist, she can't wait to start her practice. Despite the unfortunate shortage of eligible bachelors on the island (they're all too young, too old, or too weird) Maddie feels like she's finally found her sweet spot. Not even one panic attack in the last year. Not one.

And then Ricky O'Shea drops in. Literally. Floating down from the pure blue sky, the one man in the world she hoped never to see again parachutes into town. The one who'd been her archnemesis from kindergarten through her senior dance, landing on Boon Dock, canopy draping behind him like a superhero. Ricky O'Shea. Now Pastor Rick, the new minister on Three Sisters Island.

It's time to panic!

Critique: A lively, witty, and charmingly entertaining read from cover to cover, "On A Coastal Breeze" is the newest addition to author Suzanne Woods Fisher's 'Three Sisters Island' series in an original story of 'family, forgiveness, and a second chance at love'. While especially recommended for community library Contemporary Romance Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "On A Coastal Breeze" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9780800734992, $15.99), and in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).


The Western Fiction Shelf

Gunfight At Hilton's Crossing
Bill Cartwright
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444844078, $21.49, PB, Large Print, 232pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Drifter Chuck Mellors is wondering where his next dollar will come from when he receives an enticing proposition from an unpleasant red-headed man and his cousin. Thinking he is only helping to collect a debt, Chuck is tricked into assisting in a robbery that ends in a murder and he finds himself an unwitting fugitive from the law. Seeking justice not only for himself, but also for the widow and child who are suffering as a consequence of the crime, Chuck embarks upon a long journey through the Indian Territories to Texas that includes his foiling a train robbery and hooking up with a ruthless bounty hunter. Then in the little town of Hilton's Crossing, matters reach a shocking, surprising and deadly resolution.

Critique: Bill Cartwright is a master storytelling whose western tales are as original as they are entertaining. With many an unexpected plot twist and cliff-hanging turn, this large print edition of "Gunfight At Hilton's Crossing" will prove to be a solidly entertaining and enduringly popular addition to the personal reading lists of dedicated western novel buffs and community library Western Fiction collections.

Incident At Elk Horn
Steven Gray
Linford Western Fiction
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444842739, $21.49, PB, Large Print, 288pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: When bounty hunter Gustavus Greeley rides into Elk Horn, he learns that Marshal Sam Detmeyer has failed to return from investigating a shooting at the nearby Baker farm. Riding out to the farm, Greeley finds Mr and Mrs Baker and their son dead, Detmeyer badly wounded, and their two daughters missing. Arrows have been used, and the girls are presumed to be captives of the Apaches -- but are they really responsible? Or are brothers David and Will Preston, newcomers to Elk Horn looking for land to take up ranching, somehow involved?

Critique: Author Steven Gray is a master of the western novel genre and this large print edition from the Linford Western Fiction collection documents his abilities to craft the kind of riveting read that is laced through and through wit unexpected plot twists and turns. A simply riveting read from first page to last, "Incident At Elk Horn" will be an extraordinarily appreciated addition to community library Western Fiction collections and the personal reading lists of dedicated western novel fans.

Blackwater
Abe Dancer
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444844085, $21.49, PB, Large Print, 224pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis; When professional card player Jack Rogan decides to return home from years of gambling on Mississippi riverboats, he makes a mistake by taking what he thinks is a shorter, faster route back to his home town in Texas. But the Louisiana swamps are teeming with danger, not least of which is a man called Gaston Savoy, his nephew Homer Lamb, and their isolated backwoods kin from the secluded waterside community of Whistler. Captured and stripped of money, guns and his mare, Jack is compromised into making a deal with his captors. Soon, he discovers the real reason for his internment -- and just what is expected of him.

Critique: Another carefully crafted and impressively original western novel by a true master of the genre, Abe Dancer's "Blackwater" is now readily available in a large print paperback edition, making it highly recommended for both the personal reading lists of all dedicated western fans, and community library Western Fiction collections.

Archer's Luck
Ed Roberts
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444843453, $21.49, PB, Large Print, 240pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: When drifter Lew Archer meets a priest while traveling along a lonely road in Texas, he thinks nothing of it. But this chance encounter sets in motion a train of events which sees Archer escorting a party of nuns through hostile territory to start a school on the Mexican border. With war and bloodshed around them, Lew Archer is the best man to help them make their way to safety, although why he should take the trouble to do so is a mystery to everybody -- including Archer himself!

Critique: Another deftly crafted western novel by author Ed Roberts featuring a reluctant hero, "Archer's Luck" is a fully entertaining and original story that will be particularly appreciated by western action/adventure fans in general and this large print edition a popular addition to community library collections in particular.

The Lawless Breed
Ralph Hayes
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444843422, $21.49, PB, Large Print, 264pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: After Wesley Sumner is released from prison for killing the three men who murdered his aunt, he and his young cellmate Corey Madison go in search of work as ranch hands. But their newfound freedom is short-lived when they are arrested for a crime they didn't commit. And when Corey dies after a savage beating from their brutal captors, Sumner must tell the boy's sister June. Vowing revenge, when Wesley learns that the two deputies who beat Corey have lost their jobs and are now themselves on the run from the law, Sumner begins a long and dangerous journey, slowly but surely tracking down his friend's killers -- and along the way must confront more men hell bent on taking his life.

Critique: Auther Ralph Hayes clearly knows how to craft a riveting western with inherently riveting and unexpected plot twists and turns. His novel, "The Lawless Breed" will prove to be an especially welcome read for all dedicated western fans and this large print edition from the Linford Western Library collection is unreservedly recommended for community library Western Fiction collections.

Grasshoppers in Summer
Paul Colt
Five Star Publishing
10 Water Street, Suite 310, Waterville, ME 04901
http://gale.cengage.com/fivestar
https://audiobookstore.com/publishers/books-in-motion
9781432868888, $25.95, HC, 339pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "They came from the land of the Great Father, as many as grasshoppers in summer. With them the spirits of the people were driven from the land."

In "Grasshoppers in Summer", novelist Paul Colt tells the epic story of the making and breaking the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 as seen through the eyes of opposing political, military, and tribal leaders. Relentless fraud, corruption, and cultural and political pressures frustrated President Grant's effort to reform Indian policy. A conspiracy of military, railroad, and mining interests destroyed the Fort Laramie Treaty, leading to the drumbeat of war. The plains tribes' last great victory at Greasy Grass would win the bitter spoils of total defeat.

Critique: A skillfully crafted work of historical fiction, author Paul Colt impressively adheres to a factual background and framework for his western novel "Grasshoppers in Summer". An splendidly entertain read from cover to cover, and certain to be an enduringly popular addition to community library Western Fiction collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of all dedicated western buffs that "Grasshoppers in Summer" is also readily available as a complete and unabridged audio book (Books in Motion, 9781605480329, $25.95, MP3 CD).


The Mystery/Suspense Shelf

Mimi Lee Gets a Clue
Jennifer Chow
Berkley Prime Crime
c/o Penguin Group (USA)
www.penguin.com
9781984804990, $16.00, www.penguinrandomhouse.com

Mimi Lee Gets a Clue follows the efforts of Mimi Lee, who owns a pet grooming shop in Los Angeles, Hollywoof. Her perceptions of the world change when a relationship with a cat results in a conflict with a local breeder who then turns up dead, making her the suspect in his murder. It's up to Mimi to solve the crime and clear her name, with the help of her sleuthing cat and a bit of sassy response to life and its many limitations. Fans of animal-centered murder mysteries will love this feisty new protagonist and her animal cohorts.

Man on Edge
Humphrey Hawksley
Severn House
110 East 59th Street, 22th Fl., New York, NY 10022
www.severnhouse.com
9780727889140, $28.99, HC, 288pp, www.amazon.com

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

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

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

Critique: A deftly crafted and simply riveting read from beginning to cliff-hanger ending, "Man On Edge" by Humphrey Hawksley is an inherently compelling, impressively entertaining, and unreservedly recommended addition to personal reading lists and community library Contemporary Suspense/Thriller Fiction collections. It should be noted that "Man On Edge" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $4.99) and librarians should be aware that there is also a complete and unabridged audio book edition (Oakhill Publishing, 9781787719750, $91.95, CD).

The Other Mrs.
Mary Kubica
Park Row Books
c/o HarperCollins Publishers
195 Broadway, New York, New York 10007
www.harpercollins.com
Blackstone Audio
www.blackstoneaudio.com
9780778369110, $26.99, HC, 368pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Sadie and Will Foust have only just moved their family from bustling Chicago to small-town Maine when their neighbor Morgan Baines is found dead in her home. The murder rocks their tiny coastal island, but no one is more shaken than Sadie.

But it's not just Morgan's death that has Sadie on edge. And as the eyes of suspicion turn toward the new family in town, Sadie is drawn deeper into the mystery of what really happened that dark and deadly night. But Sadie must be careful, for the more she discovers about Mrs. Baines, the more she begins to realize just how much she has to lose if the truth ever comes to light.

Critique: Soon to be a Netflix movie, "The Other Mrs." is a deftly crafted suspense thriller by Mary Kubica -- an author with a very effective and narrative driven storytelling style that has resulted in a compulsive page turner of a read from cover to cover. While unreservedly recommended for community library Mystery/Suspense collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Other Mrs." is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99), and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Blackstone Audio, 9781094097886, $39.99, CD).

Hard Cash Valley
Brian Panowich
Minotaur Books
c/o St. Martin's Publishing Group
www.minotaurbooks.com
9781250206923, $26.99, HC, 304pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Dane Kirby is a broken man and no stranger to tragedy. As a life-long resident and ex-arson investigator for McFalls County, Dane has lived his life in one of the most chaotic and crime-ridden regions of the south. When he gets called in to consult on a brutal murder in a Jacksonville, Florida, motel room, he and his FBI counterpart, Special Agent Roselita Velasquez, begin an investigation that leads them back to the criminal circles of his own backyard.

Arnie Blackwell's murder in Jacksonville is only the beginning -- and Dane and Roselita seem to be one step behind. For someone is hacking a bloody trail throughout the Southeast looking for Arnie's younger brother, a boy with Asperger's Syndrome who possesses an unusual skill with numbers that could make a lot of money and that has already gotten a lot of people killed -- and has even more of the deadliest people alive willing to do anything it takes to exploit him.

As Dane joins in the hunt to find the boy, it swiftly becomes a race against the clock that has Dane entangled in a web of secrets involving everyone from the Filipino Mafia to distrusting federal agents to some of hardest southern outlaws he's ever known.

Critique: A superbly crafted example of 'southern noir', "Hard Cash Valley" by Brian Panowich aptly demonstrates the kind of deftly presented narrative storytelling style that will hold the reader's riveting attention from cover to cover. While especially recommended for community library Contemporary Mystery/Suspense Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Hard Cash Valley" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Macmillan Audio, 9781250261199, $50.99, CD).


The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf

Boatman's Daughter
Andy Davidson
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
175 Varick Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10014
www.fsgbooks.com
9780374538552, $16.00, PB, 416pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Ever since her father was killed when she was just a child, Miranda Crabtree has kept her head down and her eyes up, ferrying contraband for a mad preacher and his declining band of followers to make ends meet and to protect an old witch and a secret child from harm.

But dark forces are at work in the bayou, both human and supernatural, conspiring to disrupt the rhythms of Miranda's peculiar and precarious life. And when the preacher makes an unthinkable demand, it sets Miranda on a desperate, dangerous path, forcing her to consider what she is willing to sacrifice to keep her loved ones safe.

Critique: A master storyteller, with "The Boatman's Daughter" by novelist Andy Davidson is a deftly crafted story that is an inherently fascinating and compulsive page turner of a read from beginning to end. While an exceptional and highly recommended addition to community library Occult/Gothic/Fantasy fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Boatman's Daughter" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future: Volume 36
David Farland, editor
Galaxy Press
7051 Hollywood Boulevard, Suite 200, Hollywood, CA 90028
www.galaxypress.com
9781619866591, $15.95, PB, 450pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Now in its 36th year, "L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future: Bestselling Anthology of Award-Winning Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Stories" is an annual compendium showcasing the top science fiction writers and illustrators of the future.

Knowledgely compiled and expertly edited by David Farland, "L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future: Volume 36" is a consistently impressive anthology of new creative talents chosen by some of today's best nown science fiction and fantasy authors and celebrated artists that include Kevin J. Anderson, Orson Scott Card, Larry Elmore, Brandon Sanderson, Dan dos Santos, and Robert J. Sawyer.

In addition to bonus short stories by Katherine Kurtz, Jody Lynn Nye, and Nnedi Okorafor, this outstanding edition also features art and writing tips by Echo Chernik, Mike Perkins, and Sean Williams.

Critique: An inherently interesting and impressively entertaining volume that is quite literally the 'Best of the Best' in the current field of Science Fiction & Fantasy, "L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future: Volume 36" is an especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, community, and academic library collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future: Volume 36" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99).

Baen Books
PO Box 1188, Wake Forest NC 27588
www.baen.com

John Ringo, Kacey Ezell and Christopher L. Smith's Gunpowder & Embers (9781982124281, $25.00) provides a fine postapocalyptic novel thirty years after the world ended, when giant electrovoric ants and pterodons emerged from a space-time rift and killed millions. Chuck leads a simple ranching life in this story, but when he encounters a dying stranger, he embarks on an odd journey across the country hoping to change both past and future. A tense story of survival evolves. Lois McMaster Bujold's Penric's Progress (9781982124298, $25.00) tells of Penric, who becomes a sorcerer and scholar as he moves from a nobleman to a young lord. Three Penric stories are under one cover here, following his adventures with gods, as a member of the Bastard's Order and new scholar, and his proclivity for stumbling into and solving mysteries. Both are outstanding picks for sci-fi readers.


The Christian Studies Shelf

What to Say and How to Say It
Brandon Vogt
Ave Maria Press
PO Box 428, Notre Dame, IN 46556
www.avemariapress.com
9781594719592, $16.95, PB, 256pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "What to Say and How to Say It: Discuss Your Catholic Faith with Clarity and Confidence" is straightforward and practical resource, in which Brandon Vogt (author, blogger, and speaker who also serves as content director for Bishop Robert Barron's Word on Fire Catholic Ministries) offers essential tools for articulating even the most contentious aspects of their Catholic faith with clarity and confidence for the benefit and use of anyone who has ever been put on the spot and asked to explain or defend Catholic teaching on sensitive topics such as abortion, same-sex marriage, or the Eucharist?

"What to Say and How to Say It" is based on the content of Brandon Vogt's ClaritasU -- an online community which helps Catholics to understand the Church's teachings on critical topics, to anticipate the common objections to those issues, and to know how to respond in a calm, clear, and persuasive way.

Vogt gives readers the tools to calmly and intelligently discuss these topics, which dip into the Church's moral, theological, and philosophical teachings. "What to Say and How to Say It" provides straightforward, memorable talking points for explaining Catholic teaching in the areas of: atheism, same-sex marriage, transgenderism, abortion, the Eucharist, the problem of suffering, the veracity of the gospels.

Each chapter offers an overview of the topic and a clear explanation of what the Church teaches. Then the reader will learn about the most common contemporary arguments against the Church's teachings followed by step-by-step instructions for responding intelligently and confidently.

Critique: Thoroughly 'user friendly' in tone, commentary, organization and presentation, "What to Say and How to Say It: Discuss Your Catholic Faith with Clarity and Confidence" is confidently and unreservedly recommended to the attention of seminary students, clergy, and all other members of the Roman Catholic community. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "What to Say and How to Say It: Discuss Your Catholic Faith with Clarity and Confidence" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Why Do We Suffer and Where Is God When We Do?
Valerie G. Rempel
Herald Press
P.O. Box 866, Harrisonburg, VA 22803
www.heraldpress.com
9781513805672, $12.99, PB, 120pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Cancer, hurricanes, hunger, suicide, and the current pandemic crisis -- suffering presents the most profound challenge to faith that many people will face in their lives.

In the pages of "Why Do We Suffer and Where Is God When We Do?", Valerie G. Rempel leads her readers into a gentle meditation on the many questions surrounding why we suffer. How can God be all-loving and all-powerful? Why don't prayers seem to work? Is pain always redemptive? And what do the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus reveal about suffering? We may not find answers to all our questions, but we can lean into the God big enough to absorb all of them.

Critique: Part of 'The Jesus Way: Small Books of Radical Faith' that delves into big questions about God's work in the world. "Why Do We Suffer and Where Is God When We Do?" is a concise, practical books that is deeply rooted in Anabaptist theology for the purpose of helps men and women to deepen their faith in Christ and enliven their witness. Very highly recommended to the attention of all members of the Christian community, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Why Do We Suffer and Where Is God When We Do?" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.49).

Tracks of a Fellow Struggler
John R. Claypool
Church Publishing Incorporated
www.churchpublishing.org
9781640653115, $12.34, PB, 120pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: The late John R. Claypool had been a pastor for almost two decades, ministering to others who suffered through the loss of loved ones, when the loss came home in the death of his eight-year-old daughter, Laura Lue.

"Tracks of a Fellow Struggler: Living and Growing Through Grief" is the deeply personal story of Claypool's own journey through the darkness, written through four sermons. The first was delivered just eleven days after his daughter's diagnosis of leukemia, the second after her first major relapse nine months later, and the third weeks after her death. The final sermon a reflection on the process of grieving was preached three years later.

Critique: Thoughtful and thought-provoking, inspired and inspiring, "Tracks of a Fellow Struggler: Living and Growing Through Grief" is truly extraordinary and unreservedly recommended reading for all members of the Christian community regardless of denominational affiliations.

Editorial Note: John R. Claypool was a pastor, preacher, author, and theologian. He was initially ordained as a Southern Baptist and pastored for thirty years in that denomination. He became an Episcopal priest in 1986 and served as rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Birmingham, Alabama, until he retired from full-time parish ministry in 2000. He then taught preaching at the McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta. Known for his catchphrases "Life is a gift"; "Despair is presumptuous" Claypool was even more regarded for his ability to live with others in their shared sorrow and pain. "If we are willing," he wrote, "the experience of grief can deepen and widen our ability to participate in life." Though he died in 2005, his words continue to provide hope and comfort.

Let Go
Casey Cole, OFM
Franciscan Media
28 West Liberty Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202
https://info.franciscanmedia.org
9781632533005, $15.99, PB, 160pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "What must I do to gain eternal life?" The rich man who asked this of Jesus was told to sell all he had and give to the poor. But, more importantly, he was told, "Come, follow me!"

In "Let Go: Seven Stumbling Blocks to Christian Discipleship", Franciscan Casey Cole challenges his fellow Christians to let go of something more difficult than material wealth: expectations, anxiety, comfort, wounds, enemies, power -- and our very selves. Speaking from both personal and pastoral experience, Friar Cole outlines the stumbling blocks that turn us away from following Jesus as true disciples.

The response to "What must I do?" is simple but not easy: Let go. Now.

Critique: Inspired and inspiring, "Let Go: Seven Stumbling Blocks to Christian Discipleship" is an extraordinary, life enhancing life changing read that is unreservedly recommended to the attention of all members of the Christian community. While highly recommended for church and seminary library collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of clergy and non- specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Let Go: Seven Stumbling Blocks to Christian Discipleship" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Casey Cole, OFM is a priest and Franciscan Friar serving as the director of campus ministry at the University of Georgia Catholic Center. Fr. Casey is devoted to the mission of evangelization and catechesis, writing blog posts, creating videos on YouTube, and using social media to reach people around the world. He is also the author of two books on discipleship.

Finding Jesus at the Border
Julia Lambert Fogg
Brazos Press
c/o Baker Publishing Group
6030 East Fulton, Ada, MI 49301
www.brazospress.com
9781587434648, $29.99, HC, 208pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Julia Lambert Fogg (PhD, Emory University) is Professor of Religion at California Lutheran University, where she has taught for more than fifteen years specializing in the New Testament, first-century Christianity, theologies from the margins, and cross-cultural reading practices. She is also an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), preaches regularly in ELCA churches, and is active among local congregations serving immigrant families in Southern California.

Interweaving biblical narratives and recent experiences of immigrants at the US-Mexico border, in "Finding Jesus at the Border: Opening Our Hearts to the Stories of Our Immigrant Neighbors", Professor Fogg invites and inspires Christians to advocate for immigrant justice.

Critique: Given the immigrant crisis on America's southern border and the systemic cruelty of the Trump Administration's immigration control policies such as the separation of children from their parent, "Finding Jesus at the Border: Opening Our Hearts to the Stories of Our Immigrant Neighbors" is an especially timely and invaluable contribution to our on-going national discussion over immigration reform. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community, church, and academic library collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Finding Jesus at the Border: Opening Our Hearts to the Stories of Our Immigrant Neighbors" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781587434303, $17.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Embodying Integration
Megan Anna Neff & Mark R. McMinn
InterVarsity Press
PO Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426
www.ivpress.com
9780830828678, $28.00, PB, 272pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Discussing spirituality and religion in the therapy room is increasingly accepted, some even forgetting that integration of psychology and Christianity was once a rare thing. Yet even as the decades-long integration movement has been so effective, the counselor's lived context in which integration happens grows increasingly complex, and the movement has reached a new turning point. Christian practitioners need a fresh look at integration in a postmodern world.

"Embodying Integration: A Fresh Look at Christianity in the Therapy Room" provides an essential guide to becoming integrators today. Representing two generations of counselor education and practice, the author practitioners Megan Anna Neff and Mark R. McMinn deftly model how to engage hard questions and consider how different theological views, gendered perspectives, and cultures integrate with psychology and counseling. "Many students," they write, "don't want models and views that tend to simplify complexity into categories. They are looking for conversation that helps them dive into the complexity, to ponder the nuances and messiness of integration."

More than focusing on resolving issues, Neff and McMinn help situate wisdom through personally engaging, diverse views and narratives. Arising from conversations between an up-and-coming practitioner and her veteran integrator father, "Embodying Integration" considers practical implications for the day-to-day realities of counseling and psychotherapy. Personal stories, dialogues between the coauthors, and discussion questions throughout help students, teachers, mental health professionals, and anyone interested in psychology and faith to enter (and continue) the conversation.

Critique: Expertly written, organized and presented, "Embodying Integration: A Fresh Look at Christianity in the Therapy Room" is an informed and informative as it is thoughtful and thought- provoking. This seminal study is especially and unreservedly recommended for seminary and academic library Medical Counseling and Psychology Education & Training collections in general, and Christian Pastoral Counseling supplemental curriculum studies in particular. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, clergy, counselors, and non- specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Embodying Integration" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.99).

Editorial Note: Megan Anna Neff (MDiv, Princeton Theological Seminary) is currently pursuing her doctorate in clinical psychology at George Fox University. She has also done research and worked with nonprofits and churches in Malawi and Ghana.

Mark R. McMinn (PhD, Vanderbilt University) is Professor of Psychology at George Fox University, where he serves as the director of faith integration in the Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology. His books include Integrative Psychotherapy, Care for the Soul, and Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling.


The Education Shelf

Modern Day Challenges in Academia: Time for a Change
Marilena Antoniadou & Mark Crowder, editors
Edward Elgar Publishing
9 Dewey Court, Northampton, MA 01060-3815
www.e-elgar.com
9781788119184, $155.00, HC, 392pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Examining the modern day challenges faced by academics throughout their working lives, "Modern Day Challenges in Academia: Time for a Change" is an impressively timely and collective study that investigates the ways in which academic careers are changing, the reasons for these changes and their potential future impacts. The contributors to "Modern Day Challenges in Academia: Time for a Change" draw upon their professional and academic experience of work and research in both traditional and contemporary institutions, utilizing theoretical and empirical methods to provide international perspectives on the key issues confronting modern day academics.

Split across three chronological parts "Modern Day Challenges in Academia: Time for a Change" guides the reader through the phases of an academic's working life and the unique challenges encountered at each stage. For those entering academia key issues considered relate to career paths and motivations and transitions from industry to academia. During academia chapters study the understanding of external examiners, questions surrounding student supervision, work-life balance, use of technology and the trade off between teaching and research. Upon leaving academia concerns turn to the difficulties of working past retirement age and emeritus roles.

Exploring how academics survive and thrive in the modern higher education arena, "Modern Day Challenges in Academia: Time for a Change" is an analytical resource will prove to be a useful tool for new and established academics and policy makers working in higher education as well as for program leaders in educational management.

Critique: The twenty-two erudite and insightful article comprising "Modern Day Challenges in Academia: Time for a Change" are deftly organized into three major sections: Entering Academia; During Academia; and Leaving Academia. A compendium of original and seminal scholarship throughout, "Modern Day Challenges in Academia: Time for a Change" is particularly and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, college, and university library Contemporary Education Issues collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: The contributors to "Modern Day Challenges in Academia: Time for a Change " include: A. Agarwal, D. Anderton, K.E. Andreasen, M. Antoniadou, W. Chambers, C. Cook, M. Crowder, P. Cureton, E. Epaminonda, M. Gibson-Sweet, J. Haddock-Fraser, J. Jones, A. Karayiannis, H. Kogetsidis, P.D. Ktoridou, S.-J. Lennie, B. Longden, S. Marriott, M. Mouratidou, T. Proctor, A. Rasmussen, C. Rees, S.K. Rehbock, K. Rowlands, P.J. Sandiford, J. Stewart, S. Wells

Transformative Ethnic Studies in Schools
Christine E. Sleeter & Miguel Zavala
Teachers College Press
1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027
www.tcpress.com
9780807763469, $90.00, HC, 176pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "Transformative Ethnic Studies in Schools: Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Research" by Christine E. Sleeter (Professor Emerita in the College of Education at California State University, Monterey Bay) and Miguel Zavala (Director of the Urban Learning Program in the Charter College of Education at California State University, Los Angeles) is timely and compelling volume that conceptualizes Ethnic Studies not only as a vehicle to transform and revitalize the school curriculum but also as a way to reinvent teaching.

Drawing on Professor Sleeter's research review on the impact of Ethnic Studies commissioned by the National Education Association (NEA), the two authors collaboratively show how the traditional curriculum's Eurocentric view of the world affects diverse student populations. The text highlights several contemporary exemplars of curricula (from classroom level to district or state-wide) illustrating core concepts in Ethnic Studies across a variety of disciplines and grade levels.

Of special note is a final chapter that considers how research on P-12 ethnic studies can be conceptualized and conducted in ways that further both advocacy and program sustainability.

Critique: An ideal curriculum textbook and the newest addition to the 'Multicultural Education Series' from Teacher College Press, "Transformative Ethnic Studies in Schools: Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Research" is essential reading for educators working to transform schools by re- humanizing learning spaces for all students. It should be noted for school district, college, and university library Ethnic Demographic Studies and Cultural Anthropology collections and curriculum development studies. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of education studies, academia, curriculum developers, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Transformative Ethnic Studies in Schools: Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Research" is also readily available in a paperback (9780807763452, $29.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $16.17).

Honors of Inequality: How Colleges Work for Some
Joseph H. Wycoff
Historia Research Press
https://www.historiaresearch.com
9780999678886, $24.99, PB, 279pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "Honors of Inequality: How Colleges Work for Some" by Joseph H. Wycoff is an historical analysis of the origins and key contributions to the scholarship about American higher education by tenured faculty and professional scholars during the last half of the twentieth century.

Higher education (defined as an organized discipline or field of study) is a relatively recent invention in the history of colleges and universities. Historians trace the origins of the modern university to the medieval era in Europe about 1,000 years ago. The professional associations of the modern disciplines for historians, economists, sociologists, and other social scientists first organized in the late 1800s, or about 150 years ago. By comparison, the academic study of higher education as an institutional or cultural phenomenon is much more recent, arguably the 1950s.
More exactly, the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) formed less than fifty years ago in 1976.

Simply put, the origins of the university and the modern professional associations for the social sciences differ markedly from the origins of higher education as a field of study and an area of scholarly expertise. The historical dating alone suggests that the formal organization of higher education as a field of study has little to do with the general principles of higher learning cultivated by universities over centuries and the investigation of the human condition advanced by social science paradigms over the one-and-one-half centuries.

Why, for instance, did universities neglect to study the nature of higher learning as a distinct branch of the liberal arts or as a discipline akin to medicine, law, or theology during the first several centuries of their existence? How did the social scientists and scholars who first organized professional academic organizations in the late 1800s overlook higher learning as a foundational social and cultural phenomenon akin to history, economics, political science, and sociology in the human condition?

It is no accident that higher education as a field of study emerged in the decade following the professional organization of administrative researchers, the implementation of the 1960 California Master Plan, and the student unrest on American campuses during the 1960s. The power to define what is and is not scholarship about higher education as a field of study presented a welcomed opportunity for faculty to exercise their profound influence over the direction of college and university administration after 1970.

"Honors of Inequality" offers a critical history of this new field of study, uncovering the ideological, political, social, and cultural values motivating early scholars. Its historical account of campus politics offers insights to college-goers, parents, faculty, administrators, policymakers, legislators, and the many other stakeholders in higher education into the reasons that colleges remain powerful instruments for shaping social and economic inequality in the twenty-first century.

Critique: An erudite historical study and analysis, "Honors of Inequality: How Colleges Work for Some" that is enhanced for academia with the inclusion of illustrations, an informative Prologue (Autonomy Is By No Means Absolute), an Epilogue (The Inequality of Honors), twenty-six pages of Endnotes, an eight page Select Bibliography, and a four page Index. A meticulously presented work of impressively original scholarship, "Honors of Inequality: How Colleges Work for Some" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to college and university library Education History collections and supplemental curriculum lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Honors of Inequality: How Colleges Work for Some" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: After completing his BS and MA at Arizona State University, Joseph H. Wycoff earned a doctoral degree in US History from the University of Washington with an emphasis on business and consumer history. He has worked as a higher education administration and research professional for over twenty years. During his career, Joe has worked as an institutional research and effectiveness officer in three different sectors of higher education: a community college, a private nonprofit, and a public Research I university. His first book, Outsourcing Student Success, offers a critical analysis of institutional research scholarship from the past one hundred years and delivers his personal insights into the barriers to student success at American colleges and universities.


The Humor Shelf

The Golfer's Book of Wit & Wisdom
Gerd De Ley
Hatherleigh Press
c/o The Hatherleigh Foundation
62545 State Highway 10, Hobart, NY 13788
www.hatherleighpress.com
9781578268405, $12.50, HC, 144pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Gerd de Ley is a former English teacher and has been a professional writer and actor since 1975. From an early age, Gerd has been an avid collector of quotations and proverbs from all over the world.

In "The Golfer's Book of Wit & Wisdom" Gerd has encompassed everything there is to love about golf in the form of a compendium showcasing more than 350 jokes, one-liners, and witty sayings containing the wisdom and wit from the world within and outside of golf.

Critique: Very highly recommended for the personal reading lists of any and all golfing enthusiasts, "The Golfer's Book of Wit & Wisdom" will prove to be a welcome and enduringly popular addition to community library Sports & Humor collections.


The Military Shelf

Lessons Unlearned
Pat Proctor
University of Missouri Press
201 S. 7th Street, Columbia, MO 65211
https://upress.missouri.edu
9780826221940, $40.00, HC, 500pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "Lessons Unlearned: The U.S. Army's Role in Creating the Forever Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq" by Colonel Pat Proctor is a long overdue critique of the Army's preparation and outlook in the all-volunteer era focuses on a national security issue that continues to vex in the twenty-first century: Has the Army lost its ability to win strategically by focusing on fighting conventional battles against peer enemies? Or can it adapt to deal with the greater complexity of counterinsurgent and information-age warfare?

In a blunt and detailed critique of the senior leadership of the U.S. Army, Proctor contends that after the fall of the Soviet Union, the U.S. Army stubbornly refused to reshape itself in response to the new strategic reality, a decision that saw it struggle through one low-intensity conflict after another (some inconclusive, some tragic) in the 1980s and 1990s, and leaving it largely unprepared when it found itself seemingly forever engaged in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Lessons Unlearned" is the first book-length study to connect the failures of these wars to America's disastrous performance in the war on terror and ably serves as an attempt to convince Army leaders to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

Critique: Enhanced for academia and historians with a twenty page Bibliography and a forty-two page Index, "Lessons Unlearned: The U.S. Army's Role in Creating the Forever Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq" is a seminal work of military/political analysis and should be considered as an essential, core addition to community, academic, and governmental Contemporary Military History & Studies collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, military commanders, governmental policy makers, military history buffs, and non- specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Lessons Unlearned" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $31.99).

Editorial Note: Pat Proctor, Colonel, US Army, Ret., is a veteran of both the Iraq and the Afghanistan wars. He recently served as a chief of operations group at the Mission Command Training Program and currently is an Assistant Professor of History at Wichita State University. He is the author of Containment and Credibility: The Ideology and Deceptions that Plunged America into the Vietnam War.

Writings on Standing Armies
David Womersley, editor
Liberty Fund, Inc.
11301 N. Meridian Street, Carmel, IN 46032-4564
9780865979116, $24.00, HC, 746pp, www.libertyfund.org

Synopsis: The questions of where to locate, in whose hands to place, and how to exercise the state's powers of deadly military force inform a perennial topic in political theory and coalesce into a recurrent problem in political practice. Deftly compiled and edited by Professor David Womersley, "Writings on Standing Armies", a newly collected, authoritative edition of the most important pamphlets on the "standing armies" controversy of 1697 - 98. In addition, these writings express a subtext that is of equal and enduring importance: the transforming effects exerted by the prolonged possession of power on individuals and administrations.

Whether arms should be entrusted to a standing army or reserved to a citizen militia is a central theme in a political tradition that descends from Machiavelli. Part of the popular grievance against James II in the years leading up to the Glorious Revolution had been suspicion of his maintenance of troops in time of peace, because it was feared this might be used as an instrument of absolutism.

Therefore, when the Bill of Rights was drawn up in 1689, one of the articles explicitly addressed this concern, specifying "the raising and keeping a Standing Army, within this Kingdom, in time of Peace, without Consent of Parliament" as one of James II's transgressions against his people, and consequently declared that "the raising or keeping a Standing Army within this Kingdom in time of Peace, unless it be with Consent of Parliament, is against Law."

However, in the 1690s, William III had steadily increased the number of his troops until, by 1696, it exceeded the number maintained by James II. The crisis split the Whigs into those determined to stand by the principle of opposition to standing armies versus those content to modify principles for the practical exigencies of government.

Professor Womersley's informative introduction situates these texts in the European debate about standing armies and places them in the narrower context of the specifically English altercations on the subject during the reigns of William III, George I, and George II.

Critique: A seminal historical resource on the subject, "Writings on Standing Armies" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library collections. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Writings on Standing Armies" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9780865979123, $14.50).

Editorial Note: David Womersley is the Thomas Warton Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford. He has published widely on English literature from the early sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. He is also the editor of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (2012) for Cambridge University Press.

Lt. Elsie Ott's Top Secret Mission
Jeffrey S. Copeland
Paragon House
3600 Labore Road, Suite 1, St. Paul, MN 55110-4144
https://www.paragonhouse.com/wp
9781557789419, $18.95, PB, 218pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Lt. Elsie Ott's historic, top secret mission in January 1943 helped pave the way for dramatic changes in the way wounded an ill soldiers received vital care: aeromedical evacuation. Lt. Ott was given the task of transporting five critically ill and wounded patients from Karachi, India, to the Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. The mission unfolded over 13,000 miles and six and a half days by air transport, a journey that at the time normally would have averaged three and a half months by truck, ship, and train.

During the groundbreaking journey, Lt. Ott and her patients faced German Fighters, guerilla snipers, altitude challenges, logistical nightmares, and more. In the end, her efforts provided the foundation for a new "Flight Evacuation Nurse" program that sent hundreds of nurses to the air, saving the lives of thousands of soldiers the remainder of the war. For her bravery, determination, and courage, Lt. Ott was the first woman to be awarded the Army Air Medal.

The lessons learned at the time also helped establish aeromedical evacuation teams (today shortened to MEDEVAC) all over the globe, providing medical care and coverage that has saved millions of lives.

Critique: Impressively informative, exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Lt. Elsie Ott's Top Secret Mission: The WWII Flight Nurse Pioneer of Aeromedical Evacuation" by Jeffrey S. Copeland is a unique and invaluable contribution to community and academic library American Military History collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Lt. Elsie Ott's Top Secret Mission: The WWII Flight Nurse Pioneer of Aeromedical Evacuation" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.95).

Editorial Note: Jeffrey Copeland is Professor and Head of the Department of Languages and Literatures at the University of Northern Iowa, where he teaches children's and young adult literature courses and English Education. He has authored and edited over two dozen books, including Inman's War: A Soldier's Story of Life in a Colored Battalion in WWII, Olivia's Story: The Conspiracy of Heroes Behind 'Shelley V. Kraemer', Shell Games: The Life and Times of Pearl McGill, Industrial Spy and Pioneer Labor Activist, Ain't No Harm to Kill the Devil: The Life and Legend of John Fairfield, Abolitionist for Hire, Finding Fairfield, and Plague in Paradise: The Black Death in Los Angeles, 1924.

Un-American
Erik Edstrom
Bloomsbury Press
175 Fifth Avenue, Suite 315, New York, NY 10010
www.bloomsbury.com
9781635573749, $28.00, HC, 304pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Erik Edstrom grew up in suburban Massachusetts with an idealistic desire to make an impact, ultimately leading him to the gates of West Point. Five years later, he was deployed to Afghanistan as an infantry lieutenant. Throughout his military career, he confronted atrocities, buried his friends, wrestled with depression, and struggled with an understanding that the war he fought in, and the youth he traded to prepare for it, was in contribution to a bitter truth: The War on Terror is not just a tragedy, but a crime. The deeper tragedy is that our country lacks the courage and conviction to say so.

"Un-American: A Soldier's Reckoning of Our Longest War" is a combination of social commentary and memoir that exposes how blind support for war exacerbates the problems it's intended to resolve, devastates the people allegedly being helped, and diverts assets from far larger threats like climate change. "Un-American" is a revolutionary act, offering a blueprint for redressing America's relationship with patriotism, the military, and military spending.

Critique: A thoughtful, thought-provoking, iconoclastic, informed and informative contribution to our on-going national dialogue concerning the American military's role against the kind of asymmetrical warfare presented by global and state supported terrorism, as well as our political/military involvement in an Afghan conflict that is now more than a decade old, "Un-American: A Soldier's Reckoning of Our Longest War" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to both community and academic library 21st Century American Military History & Policy collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Un-American: A Soldier's Reckoning of Our Longest War" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Erik Edstrom graduated from West Point in 2007. He was then deployed to Afghanistan, where he served as infantry platoon leader. Erik spent the remainder of his military service as the Presidential Escort Platoon Leader during the Obama administration. He is a graduate of U.S. Army Ranger school, was selected for the U.S. Special Forces (SFAS), and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. After the military, Erik went on to earn an MBA and Master of Science at Oxford University

New Military Museums
John Zukowsky
Edition Axel Menges
http://www.axelmenges.de/index_e.html
c/o National Book Network
4270 Boston Way, Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706
www.nbnbooks.com
9783869050157, $46.90, HC, 128pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "New Military Museums" by John Zukowsky showcases and examines more than thirty international military museums that were constructed over the past two decades and more.

The museums are featured in individual entries and lavish color photography. Some were designed by internationally renowned architects such as Norman Foster, Daniel Libeskind, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, and Robert A. M. Stern, but many more are the products of creative, accomplished designers.

Beyond the architecture of these museums, exhibition and installation designs by noted specialist firms such as Ralph Appelbaum Associates, Koosmann.dejong, and Gallagher & Associates, among others, have raised the bar in terms of immersive experiences for their visitors.

Museums presented within the pages of "New Military Museums" are examined within the context of the history of war memorials and military museums -- the latter being a less well researched subject.

Critique: Profusely illustrated with captioned full color photography throughout, "New Military Museums" is impressively informative and exceptionally well organized and presented -- making it a unique and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library Military History & Contemporary Architecture collections and supplemental studies reading lists.

Editorial Note: Architectural historian John Zukowsky has an earned doctorate from Binghamton University. While curator of architecture for The Art Institute of Chicago (1978 - 2004), he organized a number of award-winning exhibitions accompanied by major books. After that, he held executive positions within military-related museums such as the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum and the Pritzker Military Museum and Library.

Handbook of Military and Defense Operations Research
Natalie M. Scala & James P. Howard II, editors
CRC Press
6000 NW Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487
www.crcpress.com
9781138607330, $190.00, HC, 479pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Operations research (OR) is a core discipline in military and defense management. Coming to the forefront initially during World War II, OR provided critical contributions to logistics, supply chains, and strategic simulation, while enabling superior decision-making for Allied forces. In the succeeding decades OR has expanded to include analytics and many applications, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and big data, and is the cornerstone of management science in manufacturing, marketing, telecommunications, and many other fields.

"The Handbook of Military and Defense Operations Research" presents the contributions of leading OR and analytics experts to new heights in security through research, practical applications, case studies, and lessons learned in the field.

"The Handbook of Military and Defense Operations Research" applies the experiences of educators and practitioners working in the field; employs the latest technology developments in case studies and applications; identifies best practices unique to the military, security, and national defense problem space; and highlights similarities and dichotomies between analyses and trends that are unique to military, security, and defense problems.

Critique: Comprised of twenty erudite and informative articles by experts in the field, "The Handbook of Military and Defense Operations Research" is organized into four major sections (Approaches; Soft Skills and Client Relations; Applications; Perspectives). Enhanced with the inclusion of a complete listing of the contributors and their credentials, as well as a four page Index, "The Handbook of Military and Defense Operations Research" is an especially recommended addition to college and university library Military Science and Industrial Production/Management collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The Handbook of Military and Defense Operations Research" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $57.95 Buy/$10.90 Rent).

Editorial Note: Natalie M. Scala is an associate professor and director of the graduate programs in supply chain and project management in the College of Business and Economics at Towson University. She earned PhD and MS degrees in industrial engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Her primary research is in decision analysis, with foci on military applications and cybersecurity. Dr. Scala frequently consults for government clients and has extensive professional experience, including positions with Innovative Decisions, Inc., the United States Department of Defense, the RAND Corporation, and the FirstEnergy Corporation. She is currently serving as the president of the INFORMS Military and Security Society.

James P. Howard II is a scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Previously, he worked for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System as an internal consultant on statistical computing. He has also been a consultant to numerous government agencies. Additionally, he has taught mathematics, statistics, and public affairs since 2010.


The Health/Medicine Shelf

Concussion Rescue
Dr. Kabran Chapek
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street, Floor 21, New York, NY 10018-2522
www.kensingtonbooks.com
HighBridge Audio
https://highbridgeaudio.com
9780806540238, $16.95, PB, 272pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: When there is a head injury, whether on the sports field, in a car accident, falling off a bicycle, or in the course of military service, the consequences of a concussion is not always immediately apparent. Concussion can range from debilitating to devastating. In fact, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is fast becoming a national health crisis, with millions of Americans visiting emergency rooms with a TBI each year. But there are proven, effective steps for healing.

"Concussion Rescue: A Comprehensive Program to Heal Traumatic Brain Injury" is a truly groundbreaking book in which Dr. Kabran Chapek draws upon his years of experience and expertise to describe in detail the programs and protocols he uses at the Amen Clinics to put patients on a pathway to recovery. For anyone struggling with the effects of concussion, "Concussion Rescue" carefully guide the reader through strategies from the cutting edge of brain science.

Critique: Expertly written, organized and presented, "Concussion Rescue: A Comprehensive Program to Heal Traumatic Brain Injury" is ideal for the non-specialist general reader with an interest in the subject. While unreservedly recommended for community and academic library Health/Medicine collections in general, and Traumatic Brain Injury supplemental curriculum studies in particular, it should be noted for personal reading list that "Concussion Rescue" is also readily available in a digital book format (eTextbook, $9.99) and in a complete and unabridged audio book (HighBridge Audio, 9781684577583, $34.99, CD).

Editorial Note: Dr. Kabran Chapek has been a staff physician at Amen Clinics since 2013. As a graduate of Bastyr University in the Seattle area, he is an expert in the use of functional and integrative treatments and collaborates extensively with many of the Amen Clinics physicians. He has a special interest in the assessment and treatment of Alzheimer's and dementia, traumatic brain injuries, PTSD, and anxiety disorders. Dr. Chapek is the also the founding president of the Psychiatric Association of Naturopathic Physicians, an affiliate group of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians.

How Not to Diet
Michael Greger, MD, FACLM
Flatiron Books
https://www.flatironbooks.com
9781250199225, $32.50, HC, 608pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Every month seems to bring a trendy new diet or weight loss fad -- and yet obesity rates continue to rise, and with it a growing number of diseases and health problems. Clearly, it is time for a different approach.

Enter Dr. Michael Greger, the internationally-renowned nutrition expert, physician, and founder of the Nutrition Facts website. With "How Not to Diet: The Groundbreaking Science of Healthy, Permanent Weight Loss", Dr. Greger now turns his attention to the latest research on the leading causes (and remedies) of obesity.

Dr. Greger hones in on the optimal criteria to enable weight loss, while considering how these foods actually affect our health and longevity. He lays out the key ingredients of the ideal weight-loss diet - factors such as calorie density, the insulin index, and the impact of foods on our gut microbiome - showing how plant-based eating is crucial to our success.

But "How Not to Diet" goes beyond food to identify twenty-one weight-loss accelerators available to our bodies, incorporating the latest discoveries in cutting-edge areas like chronobiology to reveal the factors that maximize our natural fat-burning capabilities. Dr. Greger builds the ultimate weight loss guide from the ground up, taking a timeless, proactive approach that can stand up to any new trend.

Comprised of actionable advice and groundbreaking dietary research, "How Not to Diet" will put an end to dieting by replacing those constant weight-loss struggles with a simple, healthy, sustainable lifestyle.

Critique: Exceptionally informative, ultimately inspiring, expertly written, organized and presented, "How Not to Diet: The Groundbreaking Science of Healthy, Permanent Weight Loss" must be considered as an essential, groundbreaking, core addition to all community and academic library Health/Medicine collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "How Not to Diet" is also readily available in a paperback edition (Pan Macmillan UK, 9781529038705, $23.95), in a digital book format (Kindle, $16.99), and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Macmillan Audio, 9781250240590, $59.99, CD).

Editorial Note: A founding member and Fellow of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, Michael Greger is a physician and an internationally recognized speaker on nutrition, food safety, and public health issues. He has lectured at the Conference on World Affairs, testified before Congress, and was invited as an expert witness in the defense of Oprah Winfrey in the infamous "meat defamation" trial. In 2017, Dr. Greger was honored with the ACLM Lifestyle Medicine Trailblazer Award. He is a graduate of Cornell University School of Agriculture and Tufts University School of Medicine. His first book How Not to Die became an instant New York Times Best Seller. All proceeds he receives from his books, DVDs, and speaking engagements is entirely donated to charity.

Curable
Travis Christoppferson, MS
Chelsea Green Publishing Company
85 North Main Street, Suite 120, White River Junction, VT 05001
www.chelseagreen.com
9781603589260, $24.95, HC, 224pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Long before the current pandemic, the United States was fast becoming the sickest nation in the Western world. Cancer rates continued to rise. There was an epidemic of chronic disease in children. Even with all the money and modern innovations in science, the country's health care system is beyond broken. Clearly there is a glitch in the system. But what if the solution has been here all along, and we've just been too blind to see it?

In "Curable: How an Unlikely Group of Radical Innovators is Trying to Transform our Health Care System", journalist and health care advocate Travis Christofferson looks at medicine through a magnifying glass and asks an important question: What if the roots of the current US health care crisis are psychological and systemic, perpetuated not just by corporate influence and the powers that be, but by you and me? It is now known that human perception is based on deeply entrenched patterns of irrational thought, which we attach ourselves to religiously. So how does this implicate the very scientific research and data that doctors rely on to successfully treat their patients?

A page-turning inquiry into a "moneyball approach to medicine", "Curable" explores the links between revolutionary baseball analytics; Nobel Prize winning psychological research on confirmation bias; wildly successful maverick economic philosophy; the history of the radical mastectomy and the rise of the clinical trial; cutting edge treatments routinely overlooked by regulatory bodies; and outdated medical models that prioritize profit over prevention. As stark as things are, Christofferson asks us to see health care not as a toppling house of cards, but as a badly organized system that is inherently fixable. How do we fix it? First we must reframe the conflict between doctors' intuition and statistical data. Then we must design better systems that can support doctors who are increasingly overwhelmed with the complexity of modern medicine.

"Curable" outlines the future of medicine, detailing brilliant examples of new health care systems that prove we can do better. It turns out we have more control over our health (and happiness) than we think.

Critique: Impressively informative, expertly written, organized and presented, "Curable: How an Unlikely Group of Radical Innovators is Trying to Transform our Health Care System" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended contribution to our on-going national dialogue over health care reforms. While a critically important and timely addition to both community and academic library Contemporary Social Issues collections in general, and Health Care Reform supplemental studies in particular, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, social activists, governmental policy makers, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Curable: How an Unlikely Group of Radical Innovators is Trying to Transform our Health Care System" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.49).

Editorial Note: Travis Christofferson, MS, received his undergraduate degree in molecular biology from the Honors College at Montana State University and a master's degree in material engineering and science from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Today he is a full-time science writer and founder of a cancer charity.

Lower Blood Pressure Without Drugs
Roger Mason
Square One Publishers
115 Herricks Road, Garden City Park, NY 11040
www.squareonepublishers.com
9780757004827, $9.95, PB, 144pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Over sixty-five million Americans have high blood pressure. Although prescription drugs may effectively treat this problem, they have potentially dangerous side effects. Fortunately, natural alternatives are available. In this expanded and updated third edition of "Lower Blood Pressure Without Drugs: Curing Your Hypertension Naturally", Roger Mason provides a proven nutritional approach to lowering blood pressure safely and naturally.

"Lower Blood Pressure Without Drugs" begins by explaining what hypertension is, what causes it, and how it is diagnosed. From there, it goes on to describe how a simple diet, rich in whole grains and low in fat, can improve both blood pressure and general health. This is followed by chapters that address such key topics as the best nutritional supplements to take; which exercises are most effective; how to maintain hormonal balance; and, just as important, how to overcome poor dietary and lifestyle habits. "Lower Blood Pressure Without Drugs" can be your first step towards safely and effectively improving your health.

Critique: Expertly written, organized and presented, "Lower Blood Pressure Without Drugs: Curing Your Hypertension Naturally" should be considered mandatory reading for anyone having high blood pressure and hypertension health issues. While an essential and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Modern Medicine & Health collections, it should be noted that "Lower Blood Pressure Without Drugs: Curing Your Hypertension Naturally" is also readily available in a digital book format (eTextbook, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Roger Mason is an internationally known research chemist who studies natural health and life extension. He develops unique natural supplements and products, and has written several best-selling titles, including The Natural Diabetes Cure and Lower Cholesterol Without Drugs. A frequent guest speaker on radio stations across the country, Mr. Mason advocates natural alternatives to drug therapies.


The Gardening Shelf

Private Gardens of Santa Barbara
Margie Grace, author
Holly Lepere, photographer
Gibbs Smith, Publisher
PO Box 667, Layton UT 84041
www.gibbs-smith.com
9781423654148, $50.00, HC, 256pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "Private Gardens of Santa Barbara: The Art of Outdoor Living" by Holly Lepere is an exquisite and informative introduction to eighteen distinctive private and beautiful gardens that include large estates, modest homes, and surf retreats collectively running the gamut from sublime and naturalistic to bold and urban. What they have in common, however, is what makes them truly inspiring.

Showcased through 190 stunning full color photographic images by Holly Lepere that comprise more than 250 pages in an elegant coffee table book format, each beautiful landscape represents a widely varied garden style developed in response to the unique character of each site, the architecture, and the larger environment; and adapted to the lifestyle, personality, and practical needs of the individuals and families who live there.

These are truly memorable gardens that offer endless inspiration for sustainable home garden design, created with water-smart, maintenance-smart, and fire-smart priorities in mind, with high habitat value and plants well adapted to the Southern California climate of Santa Barbara.

Critique: A delight to simply browse through one glorious page after another, "Private Gardens of Santa Barbara: The Art of Outdoor Living" is as informationally thought-provoking as it is motivatingly inspirational for the garden planning strategies of even the most novice of household gardeners. Beautifully composed and presented, "Private Gardens of Santa Barbara: The Art of Outdoor Living" will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library Gardening/Horticulture collections.

Editorial Note: Twice named International Landscape Designer of the Year, Margie Grace is a well-regarded, nationally known landscape designer with 35+ years in the landscape design-build profession. She is also the founding principal of Grace Design Associates, Inc. (GDA), based in Santa Barbara, California, which is considered to be the premiere landscape design-build firm in the region.

Holly Lepere is a California-based photographer of both structural and landscape architecture. Her creative editorial style inspires an intimate visual experience, allowing viewers to place themselves in the spaces photographed. Lepere's photography aims to narrate the story behind the built design. Her award-winning work has been featured in numerous publications, including Garden Design, The New York Times, Gardens Illustrated, Sunset Magazine, and Architectural Digest.

Iowa Gardens of the Past
Beth Cody
Iowa Garden Press
www.iowagardens.com
9781733842105, $38.99, HC

Synopsis: From impressive mansion grounds to flower-filled farmsteads, "Iowa Gardens of the Past: Lost & Historic Gardens of Iowa - 1850-1980" by Beth Cody showcases: Formal rose gardens; Victorian-style flower bedding; Japanese-inspired gardens; Naturalistic ponds and rock gardens; Mid-century modern landscaping; Notable Iowa garden writers, hybridizers and seed company entrepreneurs.

Despite severe weather, world wars, grasshopper plagues and Dutch elm disease, Iowans have made countless gardens of great beauty. Now in the beautifully illustrated pages of "Iowa Gardens of the Past: Lost & Historic Gardens of Iowa - 1850-1980" these gardens can be enjoyed and admired once again.

Critique: "Iowa Gardens of the Past: Lost & Historic Gardens of Iowa - 1850-1980" by Beth Cody is a coffee-table book style compendium that features an instructive and informative commentary that is enhanced by the inclusion of more than 250 color and grayscale images of beautiful gardens created by Iowa gardeners. Beautifully bound in hardcover, with 320 glossy color pages and packed with vintage Iowa seed catalog art, "Iowa Gardens of the Past" will have a particular and special interest to garden enthusiasts in general, and Iowa history buffs in particular. While unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library Gardening/Horticulture collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Iowa Gardens of the Past" is now also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $38.99, www.amazon.com).

Editorial Note: Beth Cody, has been an avid amateur gardener on her five-acre rural Iowan property for the past decade. She writes a garden blog at Gardenfancy.blogspot.com and is interested in formal gardens, scented flowers, tropical and exotic plants, Islamic-style paradise gardens and garden history. She volunteers with Project GREEN, which raises money to beautify local public spaces.


The Cookbook Shelf

My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure
Mee McCormick
www.meemccormick.com
Health Communications, Inc.
3201 S.W. 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442-8190
www.hcibooks.com
9780757323522, $26.95, PB, 304pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Comprised of 130+ palate pleasing, gluten-free recipes that will help to reduce inflammation and improve intestinal performance, "My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure" showcases microbiome friendly meals with a special Southern spin. This very special culinary and thoroughly 'kitchen cook friendly' compendium offers a completely customizable approach to adapt recipes for different dietary needs, whether gluten-free, Paleo, keto, or vegan.

Critique: Beautifully illustrated throughout with full color photography, "My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure" is an extraordinary and practical resource that will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to personal, professional, and community library cookbook collections. It should be noted that "My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure" is also readily available in a digital book format (eTextbook, $19.99).

Editorial Note: Mee McCormick is a dedicated food maven, a community food advocate, a restauranteur, a rancher, a mother, and the author of My Kitchen Cure: How I Cooked My Way Out of Chronic Autoimmune Disease with Whole Foods and Healing Recipes. When Mee isn't running her restaurant, Pinewood Kitchen & Mercantile, or working on her biodynamic farm outside of Nashville, she is touring the country as a speaker and community kitchen organizer. She has appeared on national and local TV, on radio and in print nationwide. She is a regular on-air contributor to Today In Nashville and a vital part of the Nashville restaurant scene. She maintains two websites: www.meemccormick.com and www.pinewoodkitchenandmercantile.com

The Easy Italian Cookbook
Paulette Licitra
Rockridge Press
9781646115082, $16.99, PB, 164pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Fragrant basil, melty mozzarella, sun-ripened tomatoes, savory garlic -- Italian cooking is all about selecting simple, high-quality ingredients that combine to create punches of complex flavor. "The Easy Italian Cookbook" is everything authentic Italian cookbooks should be as it showcasing 100 mouthwatering, easy-to-make recipes that use fresh, everyday ingredients that can be found at most grocery stores.

From appetizers to pastas, pizzas, meats, and sweets, "The Easy Italian Cookbook" is showcases weeknight-friendly recipes, as well as one-pot meals, vegetarian and vegan dishes, and gluten-free recipes the whole family can enjoy.

"The Easy Italian Cookbook" includes: Pairing suggestions for recipes with flavors that complement each other deliciously, like drinking an Aperol Spritz while munching on Clams Oreganata; Italian essentials -- kitchen staples to have on hand, including anchovies, espresso, extra-virgin olive oil, and more; Time-saving tips that provide helpful pointers for saving time on many of the recipes, like making certain things in advance or using a stand mixer to knead dough.

Critique: Impressively 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "The Easy Italian Cookbook: 100 Quick and Authentic Recipes" is as fun to plan menus with as it is useful for creating truly memorable Italian cuisine for all manner of family dining occasions. While highly recommended for family and community library cookbook collections, it should be noted for personal and professional reading lists that "The Easy Italian Cookbook: 100 Quick and Authentic Recipes" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $6.99).

Editorial Note: Paulette Licitra is the author of Italian Cooking Party and has been teaching Italian cooking since 2009. She completed her professional culinary studies with the Institute of Culinary Education and has studied with home cooks and chefs all over Italy. Paulette maintains a website at www.ChefPaulette.net.

The Psoriasis Diet Cookbook
Kellie Blake, RDN, LD, IFNCP
Rockridge Press
9781646111541, $17.99, PB, 146pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Psoriasis is a long-lasting autoimmune disease characterized by patches of abnormal skin. Psoriasis varies in severity from small, localized patches to complete body coverage. The standard processed and refined American diet has been shown to contribute to and even exacerbate symptoms of psoriasis.

Specifically created for anyone who is having to deal with this complex condition for themselves or a loved one, "The Psoriasis Diet Cookbook: Easy, Healthy Recipes to Soothe Your Symptoms" by Kellie Blake is filled from cover to cover with simple, stress-free recipes like Blueberry-Spinach Salad and Black Bean Burgers that allow the promotion of healthy skin through palate pleasing, appetite satisfying, thematically relevant dishes.

Each individual recipe includes a label for quick reference, making menu selections and cooking easier. "The Psoriasis Diet Cookbook" is based on maximizing whole, savory ingredients and minimizing the intake of triggering foods to restore gut health and reduce irritation.

Critique: Beautifully illustrated, "The Psoriasis Diet Cookbook: Easy, Healthy Recipes to Soothe Your Symptoms" is comprised of thoroughly kitchen cook friendly recipes and is an excellent resource for meal planning -- making it an ideal and especially recommended addition to personal and community library cookbook collections. It should be noted that "The Psoriasis Diet Cookbook: Easy, Healthy Recipes to Soothe Your Symptoms" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Kellie Blake is a registered dietitian specializing in functional nutrition. In addition to her work as a full-time psychiatric dietitian and her work with hospice patients, Kellie co-owns a private practice, NutriSense Nutrition Consulting, LLX (www.NutriSenseNutrition.com). Kellie has also used functional nutrition to reverse her own autoimmune disease, and she is passionate about sharing the "food as medicine" message.

Amish Family Recipes
Lovina Eicher
Herald Press
P.O. Box 866, Harrisonburg, VA 22803
www.heraldpress.com
9781513805771, $24.99, PB, 292pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Now any kitchen cook can create memorable meals for their family and friends with the more than 100 authentic, time-tested recipes of an extended Amish family in your own kitchen with. "Amish Family Recipes: A Cookbook Across The Generations by Old Order Amish newspaper columnist Lovina Eicher. Colorful photographs of easy-to-prepare dishes and pictures of life in an Amish household reveal a people committed to faith, family, community, and simplicity.

"Amish Family Recipes" features recipes and memories of Lovina's mother, Elizabeth Coblentz, who wrote The Amish Cook newspaper column. Stories from Lovina, her sisters, and her children offer family lore and mealtime memories. Practical sections devoted to cooking with children, preparing for family picnics, and making large dishes for reunion meals round out this scrumptious collection.

Critique: Certain to be an especially cherished addition to family cookbook collections, "Amish Family Recipes: A Cookbook Across The Generations" will prove to be one of the most popular additions to community library collections with it's palate pleasing, appetite satisfying, kitchen cook friendly and authentically Amish recipes that are suitable for all dining occasions! It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Amish Family Recipes" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.99).

The Ultimate Keto Air Fryer Cookbook
Wendy Polisi
Rockridge Press
9781646115686, $16.99, PB, 200pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "The Ultimate Keto Air Fryer Cookbook" by Wendy Polisi (who is the passionate cook, photographer, and blogger behind the web sites www.WendyPolisi.com and www.Kicking-Carbs.com) is the go-to resource for foodies who are loving the health benefits of keto but still want to serve up all kinds of delicious air-fried foods.

Packed from cover to cover with more than one hundred tasty recipes for classic dishes and new air fryer ideas, "The Ultimate Keto Air Fryer Cookbook" is the ultimate air fryer cookbook that makes it simple to put some crunch back into our culinary life with more than 100 keto-friendly takes on everything from biscuits and fried chicken to fries and empanadas. "The Ultimate Keto Air Fryer Cookbook" is additionally enhanced for the kitchen cook with get all sorts of essential advice for keeping a kitchen supplied for keto cooking, as well as a wealth of invaluable tips for getting the most out an your air fryer.

Critique: Expertly organized and presented, "The Ultimate Keto Air Fryer Cookbook" is a very highly recommended and thoroughly 'user friendly' addition to personal, professional, and community library Contemporary Cookbook collections. It should be noted that "The Ultimate Keto Air Fryer Cookbook" is currently available in an inexpensive digital book format from Amazon.com (Kindle, $0.99).

Milk Street Fast and Slow
Christopher Kimball
Voracious
c/o Little, Brown & Company
1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104
www.hachettebookgroup.com
9780316423076, $30.00, HC, 304pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Instant Pots and other multicookers can transform a kitchen cook's routine by turning day-long simmers and braises into quick dishes that are achievable even on a busy weeknight. That the same pot is also a top-notch slow cooker delivering make-ahead flexibility!

"Milk Street Fast and Slow: Instant Pot Cooking at the Speed You Need " by Christopher Kimball shows how to make the most of any multi-cooker's unique capabilities with a host of one-pot recipes -- each one showing how to prepare the same dish two ways. For the quickest meals, use the pressure cooker setting to cut down on cooking time -- or if preferred, the flexibility of a slow cooker that can start the cooking hours ahead.

Critique: Beautifully illustrated with full color photography throughout, "Milk Street Fast and Slow: Instant Pot Cooking at the Speed You Need" showcases 150 'kitchen cook friendly' palate pleasing, appetite satisfying recipes that would enhance any dining occasion. While very highly recommended, especially for community library cookbook collections, it should be noted for personal culinary references that "Milk Street Fast and Slow: Instant Pot Cooking at the Speed You Need" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $15.99).

Editorial Note: Christopher Kimball's Milk Street is located in downtown Boston (at 177 Milk Street) and is home to a cooking school, a bimonthly magazine, and public television and radio shows.


The Business Shelf

Essentials of Thought Leadership & Content Marketing
Paul M. Kaplan
Quill Driver Books
2006 South Mary, Fresno, CA 93721
www.quilldriverbooks.com
9781610353168, $18.95, www.quilldriverbooks.com

Essentials of Thought Leadership & Content Marketing is for marketing professionals, entrepreneurs and business leaders who want to learn how to apply their knowledge to new sales approaches and techniques through content marketing, and provides a step-by-step survey from basic concept to planning a content marketing program that sees optimum results. The basic idea behind content marketing is to help consumers make better purchasing decisions. The variety of marketing materials used in this approach is covered in chapters that excel in putting all the pieces together for a more effective program.

Secrets to a Successful Startup
Trevor Blake
New World Library
14 Pamaron Way, Novato, CA 94949
www.newworldlibrary.com
9781608686667, $16.99, PB, 296pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Trevor Blake founded and served as CEO of three different medical technology companies and went on to sell them for more than $300 million. Now in "Secrets to a Successful Startup: A Recession-Proof Guide to Starting, Surviving & Thriving in Your Own Venture" he has written a complete instruction manual that covers everything the budding entrepreneur or existing business owner needs to know to build the career or business of their dreams.

Unlike the many theoretical guides out there, "Secrets to a Successful Startup" is a practical handbook based on Blake's wildly successful in-the-trenches experience. It incorporates leading-edge strategies that cover every aspect of running a business -- including funding, developing systems, and marketing. Blake presents in-depth insight into managing effectively, maintaining cash flow, and adapting to the changing needs of customers in volatile economic times.

One of his most innovative contributions is an emphasis on cultivating the right mindset, and he tells you exactly how to do that. "The secret to success isn't in the plan," he writes. "It's in the person holding it." His proven methods will give you the confidence to take the entrepreneurial leap and turn your winning idea into an efficient, profitable company.

Critique: Given the current economic catastrophe brought about by the CoronaVirus pandemic with more people unemployed than with the early years of the Great Depression, "Secrets to a Successful Startup: A Recession-Proof Guide to Starting, Surviving & Thriving in Your Own Venture" is a timely and unreservedly recommended addition to community library collections and the personal reading lists of every unemployed adult with an idea for an entrepreneurial enterprise. Expertly written, impressively informative, and ultimately inspiring, "Secrets to a Successful Startup: A Recession-Proof Guide to Starting, Surviving & Thriving in Your Own Venture" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Leading in the Global Matrix
John Futterknecht & Marty Seldman
BenBella Books
www.benbellabooks.com
9781948836494, $27.95, HC, 240pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: In today's global business world, many organizations are shifting away from decentralized, vertical structures (with silo functions such as finance, HR, or operations) to a "matrix" model of cross-functional teams that work across a number of business units. When executed successfully, a matrix structure helps companies thrive in the modern market by better leveraging internal resources, eliminating duplication, spurring innovation, and driving enterprise-wide strategy. However, integrating matrix structures is often a challenge for organizations.

"Leading in the Global Matrix: Proven Skills and Strategies to Succeed in a Collaborative World" offers a real-world perspective of working in a matrix while using examples from the authors' actual coaching of business leaders -- tackling the critical, "unspoken" dimensions that are often underestimated and unaddressed in the global business world.

"Leading in the Global Matrix" covers: Specific skills and insights that can help them be successful in the trenches; How to deal with day-to-day realities - which include complexity, pressure, and demand to deliver results with speed; What to do, why it's important, and how to accomplish each task.

Leading in the Global Matrix encapsulates field-tested advice to help individual professionals and their teams unlock their full potential, allowing the matrix to finally deliver on its promise.

Critique: An impressively informative and absorbing read that will have special relevance and value for organizational and corporate executives and policy makers, "Leading in the Global Matrix: Proven Skills and Strategies to Succeed in a Collaborative World" is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, corporate, college, and university library Contemporary Business Management collections and supplemental studies lists. It should be noted that "Leading in the Global Matrix" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $15.37) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Brilliance Audio, 9781721348879, $26.15, CD, www.amazon.com).

Editorial Note: John Futterknecht is an experienced Executive Coach and Leadership Development Trainer. Since 1998, John has successfully completed over 500 one-on-one coaching engagements and facilitated over 1,000 training programs across the globe. He has worked with leaders at some of the world's largest companies, including many Fortune 500. He has also worked with clients across 5 continents and in more than 20 countries, giving him an insightful global perspective.

Dr. Marty Seldman is a corporate trainer, executive coach, and organizational psychologist. He began his career in 1986 as an executive coach. Since then he has trained tens of thousands of executives around the globe through his seminars and coached over 1,800 executives one-on-one. He has become the coach of choice for many Fortune 500 companies. Approximately half of the executives Marty has coached are women, people of color, or non-U.S. executives.


The Parenting Shelf

Parenting Bright Kids Who Struggle in School
Dewey Rosetti
Prufrock Press
PO Box 8813, Waco, TX 76714-8813
www.prufrock.com
9781646320332, $17.95, PB, 200pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "Parenting Bright Kids Who Struggle in School: A Strength-Based Approach to Helping Your Child Thrive and Succeed" was specifically designed and intended to guide parents through the challenging and often unfamiliar landscape of raising kids who have been labeled with learning differences, including dyslexia, ADHD, autism, sensory processing disorder, and more.

"Parenting Bright Kids Who Struggle in School": Builds upon Harvard professor Todd Rose's groundbreaking research in the "Science of Individuality"; Helps parents target their child's jagged profile of strengths and weaknesses; Explains a child's context of learning and multiple pathways; Teaches revolutionary techniques to encourage strengths and mitigate weaknesses; Helps parents manage the emotional fallout of raising a child who does not conform to the "average" model of learning.

Drawing from her own experience as a parent of a child with learning differences (who is now a highly successful adult), Dewey Rosetti outlines clear lessons from a quarter century of advocating for kids who learn differently.

Critique: A unique and expertly written, organized and presented work that will be enormously appreciated by parents of children with learning differences and difficulties, "Parenting Bright Kids Who Struggle in School: A Strength-Based Approach to Helping Your Child Thrive and Succeed" is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library Parenting, Nursing Psychiatry & Mental Health, Learning Disabled Education, and Children's Learning Disorders collections and supplemental curriculum studies reading lists.

Editorial Note: Dewey Rosetti is the co-founder of Parents Education Network (PEN), which aims to educate parents and teachers on the latest and most effective methods for helping children with learning differences succeed in school and in life. After more than 25 years of experience as an advocate for individualized learning techniques, Dewey partnered with Harvard professor Todd Rose to bring his revolutionary research in the "Science of Individuality" to parenting kids who learn differently.

Building Love Together in Blended Families
Gary Chapman & Ron L. Deal
Northfield Publishing
c/o Moody Publishers
820 N. LaSalle Blvd., Chicago, IL 60610
www.moodypublishers.com
9780802419057, $15.99, PB, 192pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Blended families face unique challenges, and sadly, good intentions aren't always enough. With so many complex relationships involved, all the normal rules for family life change, even how you apply something as simple as the five love languages.

That's why experienced family counselors Gary Chapman and Ron Deal, have collaborated in "Building Love Together in Blended Families: The 5 Love Languages and Becoming Stepfamily Smart" to teach parents how the five love languages can help their blended family.

"Building Love Together in Blended Families" covers: The unique dynamics of stepfamilies; How to overcome fear and trust issues in marriage; How to develop healthy parenting and step-parenting practices; How the love languages should (and should not) be applied.

Parents of blended families are going to face many challenges, but with the right strategies and smart work, any blended family can be stronger and healthier together with "Building Love Together in Blended Families" as a kind of DIY instructional manual and guide.

Critique: Impressively 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "Building Love Together in Blended Families: The 5 Love Languages and Becoming Stepfamily Smart" is an invaluable and unreservedly recommended addition to family, community, and academic library Parenting collections and instructional reference supplemental studies lists. It should be noted that "Building Love Together in Blended Families" is also readily available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.06).

The Baby Sleep Plan
Rebecca Michi
Rockridge Press
9781646116249, $11.99, PB, 156pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: If there's one thing every parent knows -- it's that you can't talk or bribe your baby into falling asleep. "The Baby Sleep Plan: Sleep Train Your Way to a Happy and Healthy Baby " by Rebecca Michi is a confident approach to teaching a baby the skills to not only get themselves to sleep but stay asleep throughout the night.

"The Baby Sleep Plan" gives parents a complete course of instruction on transitioning their baby through sleep training techniques, such as phasing out naps and pulling back on nighttime feedings. Proven strategies for baby sleep training, like the 3-night Cry-It-Out Method and soothing Michi Method, will teach any child to fall asleep independently, and proven techniques will help parents to create a comforting nighttime routine for their baby that fits into the parent's schedule.

Critique: Exceptionally and thoroughly 'user friendly' in tone, commentary, organization and presentation, "The Baby Sleep Plan: Sleep Train Your Way to a Happy and Healthy Baby" is an extraordinary and effective instructional guide and DIY manual that is especially and unreservedly recommended for anyone needing help with getting their baby to sleep at night (or any other scheduled time). While especially recommended for community library Parenting instructional collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Baby Sleep Plan: Sleep Train Your Way to a Happy and Healthy Baby" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Rebecca Michi is a children's sleep consultant and founder of Slumber Academy, a website that shows parents how to sleep train their children gently. She has more than 25 years of experience working with families and more than a decade specializing in children's sleep. Rebecca also speaks nationally at parenting conferences, workshops, and classes.

Unplugged
Paul Walker, Alexandra Walker, Calvin Walker
Robert D. Reed Publishers
PO Box 1992, Bandon, OR 97411
www.rdrpublishers.com
9781944297589, $12.95, PB, 168pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "Unplugged: Hundreds of Activities for Teens to Do Without a Screen" is specifically designed for teenagers and is comprised of hundreds of fun activities that teenagers can do that don't involve a screen. Some of the ideas are free and only take a few minutes while others may cost a small fortune and take years.

"Unplugged" is a unique compendium of useful ideas, including creative ways to earn money and ideas to make parents happy. There are a number of activities teens can do with their friends or to do to make new friends.

The first section includes lists of activities that people can do, from cooking to earning money. The second includes things that teens should know about, like how to avoid being poor, how to negotiate, how to tell if someone is lying, and other similar skills. The third is similar to the second, only more focused on health.

Because some of the sections are simply long lists, at the bottom "activities" were added which serve as hints or jumping-off points for that particular list.

Critique: Expertly organized and thoroughly 'user friendly' in presentation, "Unplugged: Hundreds of Activities for Teens to Do Without a Screen" is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to family, community, and academic library Contemporary Parenting instructional reference and resource collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Unplugged: Hundreds of Activities for Teens to Do Without a Screen" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, 6.99).

Mom Babble: The Messy Truth about Motherhood
Mary Katherine Backstrom
Abingdon Press
PO Box 280988, Nashville, TN 37228-0988
www.abingdonpress.com
9781501894527, $24.99, HC, 304pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Hope, humor, and spiritual inspiration to families in the trenches of parenthood from the founder of Mom Babble. Mary Katherine (MK) Backstrom spends her days mending booboos, conquering the boogie man, comforting heartaches, laughing at knock-knock jokes, cooking pancakes, throwing baseballs, and mopping muddy floors. In other words she spends her days relishing in the beautiful, constant noise that is a life with children.

In the pages of "Mom Babble: The Messy Truth about Motherhood" MK offers up hope, humor, and spiritual inspiration to families in the trenches of parenthood. With laughter, crying, and eye-rolls MK's, oh so, real essays about raising littles will delight all the not perfect, not always holy, not completely normal, messy, honest and wonderful moms that read them. MK's conversational approach connects with readers like dear friends cozied up on a coffee date.

Critique: Especially useful, relevant, and endorsed for parents with children at home and having to endure the home-bound restrictions currently imposed by the pandemic, "Mom Babble: The Messy Truth about Motherhood" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Parenting collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Mom Babble" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.99).

Editorial Note: Mary Katherine Backstrom is an essayist, viral blogger, founder and personality behind Mom Babble, a growing community of 480,000 followers. The Mom Babble social media pages boast more than 80 million views, and she has been featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and awarded The Today Show Iris Award. Dealing both candor and inspiration, MK has become a well-known presence in the parenting blogosphere. Her publications include The Today Show, Washington Post, Yahoo.com, and Scary Mommy. MK is married to her college sweetheart (Ian), and they currently reside in sunny Florida with their son (Ben), daughter (Holland), and two golden retrievers.

Mindful Games For Kids
Kristina Marcelli-Sargent, author
KelseyBuzzell, illustrator
Rockridge Press
9781646115938, $12.99, PB, 124pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Dealing with big feelings can be hard, but it's easier when children practice listening to their bodies and staying in the present moment. With "Mindful Games For Kids: 50 Fun Activities to Stay Present, Improve Concentration, and Understand Emotions", children ages 4-8 can start learning those skills and feeling more in control. Engaging activities help teach kids to calm themselves, focus more easily, and even be kinder to others -- all using the principles of mindfulness.

50 colorfully illustrated, imaginative exercises keep the fun coming while showing kids helpful techniques like deep breathing, visualization, meditation, and more. Many of these off-the-page games take 10 minutes or less, making it easy to practice the magic of mindfulness anytime, anywhere.

Critique: Thoroughly 'user friendly' in format, organization and presentation, "Mindful Games For Kids: 50 Fun Activities to Stay Present, Improve Concentration, and Understand Emotions" is an extraordinarily timely instructional guide and manual for entertaining kids in this time of pandemic necessitated homebound conditions for children and their parents. While a highly recommended addition to family, preschool, elementary school, and community library collections, it should be noted that "Mindful Games For Kids: 50 Fun Activities to Stay Present, Improve Concentration, and Understand Emotions" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $4.99).

Editorial Note: Kristina Marcelli-Sargent is a licensed mental health therapist with more than 10 years' experience working with children, families, and adults in foster care, school-based mental health, and outpatient treatment settings. She is also the author and illustrator of children's books including Ursula Unwinds Her Anger and Buttons the Brave Blue Kitten.


The Science Shelf

Roadside Geology of Montana, second edition
Donald W. Hyndman and Robert C. Thomas
Mountain Press Publishing Company
PO Box 2399, Missoula, MT 59806
www.mountain-press.com
9780878426966, $30.00, www.mountain-press.com

The second updated edition of Roadside Geology of Montana was necessary because nearly 50 years have passed since the first book was released. This revision enjoys a full-color presentation that brings to life the features and textures of Montana's countryside, presenting a geologic survey that takes the form of a road trip that can be used by either avid geologists or relative newcomers. Even geology fans who are amateurs mostly traveling to Montana for holiday will find this a fabulous take-along tote: a step-by-step survey that traces the natural history of the state as it traverses both major highways and byways, presenting examples reinforcing its geologic history.

Roadside Geology of Montana
Donald W. Hyndman, author
Robert C. Thomas, author
Chelsea M. Feeney, illustrator
Mountain Press Publishing Company
PO Box 2399, Missoula, MT 59806
www.mountain-press.com
9780878426966, $30.00, PB, 480pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: The Roadside Geology series originated in 1972 with Roadside Geology of the Northern Rockies. Fourteen years later, the Big Sky portion of that book was updated to become Roadside Geology of Montana, a bright-yellow field guide that soon graced bookshelves across the state.

Now, nearly 50 years after the first book, Mountain Press is releasing this completely revised full-color second edition that, like so many things in Montana, is big. But consider this: no other place in the world has such amazingly diverse and well-exposed rocks with such dramatic stories. For example, Montana lies at the northern edge of the Yellowstone caldera, the world's largest and most violent volcano.

A lot of what the wold knows about dinosaurs and their demise came from fossils discovered in Montana's badlands. What began with panning for gold in the 1860s led to 1-mile-deep mines in Butte that supplied 60 percent of the world's copper by 1898. The world's largest ice age floods left ripples up to 50 feet high as Glacial Lake Missoula catastrophically drained from western Montana.

With this updated and beautifully illustrated new edition of "Roadside Geology of Montana" as an guide, Montana residents and travelers will discover these and other world-class geologic features throughout this geologically fascinating state.

Critique: Packed from cover to cover with impressively detailed, thoroughly 'user friendly', and illustrated information on the diverse and fascinating geology of Montana, this newly updated and expanded second edition of Road Side Geology of Montana is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library collections.

Editorial Note: Donald W. Hyndman is a Professor Emeritus of the University of Montana (UM) in Missoula. He earned a BA in Geological Engineering at the University of British Columbia and a PhD in Geology at the University of California, Berkeley. Recognized as a Distinguished Teacher and Distinguished Scholar by UM, he is also a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and the American Geophysical Union. Don also wrote widely adopted university textbooks on igneous and metamorphic rocks and more recently, with his son, five editions of "Natural Hazards and Disasters."

Robert C. Thomas is a Professor of Geology in the Environmental Sciences Department at the University of Montana Western in Dillon. He earned a BA from Humboldt State University, an MS from the University of Montana, and a PhD from the University of Washington. A Montana Regents Professor and Teaching Scholar, Montana Educator of the Year, and Carnegie US Professor. Rob is also a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and recipient of their Distinguished Service Award.


The Crafts Shelf

Paper Flower Art
Jessie Chui
The GMC Group
www.gmcbooks.com
9781784945442, $34.95, HC, 256pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: "Paper Flower Art: Create Beautifully Realistic Floral Arrangement" by Jessie Chui is an inspirational, coffee-table style volume of thoroughly 'reader friendly step-by-step directions on how to create realistic, everlasting paper flowers and foliage for use in stunning bouquets, buttonholes and table displays. Clear step-by-step photographs and instructions will guide the reader in making 25 delicate paper blooms for focal pieces, accents, or for height and texture. The flowers include both dramatic and romantic species, such as rose, peony, anemone, cosmos, lisianthus, phlox, baby's breath, magnolia and foxglove.

Of special note are the comprehensive chapters on tools, materials and techniques, including paper manipulation and colouring, there is a fascinating section on the fine art principles of flower arranging. This includes color scheme considerations, scale, positive/negative space, and practical DIY information how to create movement, texture, depth, shape, form and line. Finally, there are instructions on making a range of exquisite bouquets, plus guidance on the aftercare and handling of the finished pieces.

Critique: Beautifully and profusely illustrated with full color photography throughout, "Paper Flower Art: Create Beautifully Realistic Floral Arrangement" is a complete DIY instructional guide and manual that will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Flower Arranging and Paper Craft reference collections.

Editorial Note: Jessie Chui is a self-taught paper floral artist. She has a business called Crafted to Bloom, which provides bespoke paper florals and floral arrangements and also offers workshops, private lessons and online learning. She has been featured on various blogs and in magazines, including 100 Layer Cake, Lia Griffith's Artist Interview Series, The Paper Place and Wedluxe Magazine.


The Woodworking Shelf

Whittling in Your Free Time
Tom Hindes
Fox Chapel Publishing Company
1970 Broad Street N., East Petersburg, PA 17520
www.FoxChapelPublishing.com
9781497100701, $12.99, PB, 96pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Tom Hindes is a whittling artist and carving teacher. He is a regular contributor to Woodcarving Illustrated magazine. Now in "Whittling in Your Free Time: 16 Quick & Easy Projects to Carve in Wood" he provides aspiring whittlers with an instructive guide and manual that is comprised with step-by-step instructions, high-quality coordinating photography, and clear guidance on painting and finishing each piece.

Readers will easily learn how to whittle a variety of animal projects with this helpful guide that will teach them how to create awesome safari animals like giraffes and rhinos, aquatic dolphins and whales, woodland deer and wolves, farm animals like chickens and horses, and beloved pets like a Golden Retriever!

Critique: Specifically designed as a DIY instructional guide and reference for whittlers at all skill levels, "Whittling in Your Free Time" is thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, making it an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, and community library Woodworking collections.


The Native American Studies Shelf

Picturing Worlds
David Stirrup
Michigan State University Press
1405 South Harrison Road, Suite 25, East Lansing, MI 48823-5245
http://msupress.org
9781611863529, $39.95, PB, 376pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Taking up Lisa Brooks's notion of "spinning the binary" between oral and literary forms and Christopher Teuton's explication of the graphic mode, "Picturing Worlds: Visuality and Visual Sovereignty in Contemporary Anishinaabe Literature" by David Stirrup (Professor of American Literature and Indigenous Studies at the University of Kent) examines the uses
that a range of Anishinaabe authors make of art and artists.

Arguing that the mark on a surface (whether it be an ancient pictograph or a contemporary painting) intervenes, in the works under scrutiny, in such artificial divisions as precolonial/oral and postcontact/alphabetically literate societies, the text examines the ways Anishinaabe authors establish frameworks for continuity, resistance, and sovereignty in that "space" where conventional narratives of settlement read rupture.

"Picturing Worlds" is a significant contribution to studies of the ways traditional forms of inscription support and amplify the oral tradition and in turn how both the method and aesthetic of inscription contribute to contemporary literary aesthetics and the politics of representation.

Critique: A seminal work of outstanding scholarship, "Picturing Worlds: Visuality and Visual Sovereignty in Contemporary Anishinaabe Literature" is enhanced for academia with the inclusion of a twenty-six page Bibliography, twenty pages of Notes, and a seven page Index. An impressively informative and exceptionally well organized and presented study, "Picturing Worlds" will prove to be an especially valued addition to community and academic library Native American Studies collections and supplemental curriculum reading lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Picturing Worlds" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $37.95).


The Theatre/Cinema Shelf

Meisner Complete
Larry Silverberg
Smith & Kraus Publishers
177 Lyme Road, Lyme NH 03755-6610
www.smithandkraus.com
9781575259413, $19.95, PB, 332pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Sanford "Sandy" Meisner (August 31, 1905 - February 2, 1997) was an American actor and acting teacher who developed an approach to acting instruction that is now known as the Meisner technique. While Meisner was exposed to method acting at the Group Theatre, his approach differed markedly in that he completely abandoned the use of affective memory, a distinct characteristic of method acting. Meisner maintained an emphasis on "the reality of doing", which was the foundation of his approach. (Wikipedia)

Larry Silverberg is arguably the foremost master acting teacher of our time. He is especially renowned for his best selling books on the Meisner Approach to acting. Larry is also director of True Acting Institute, where he trains actors and acting teachers from around the globe.

In "Meisner Complete", Silverberg provides aspiring actors and acting teachers with a complete update of his previous four Meisner workbooks. With "Meisner Complete", even the most novice of acting students can learn a lot by a simple reading, or just doing the exercises and venturing into the unknown -- the creative zone.

Critique: Expertly written and thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "Meisner Complete" is an ideal acting class curriculum textbook and especially recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library Performing Arts collections and supplemental studies lists.


The Art Shelf

Stories in Light
Nancy Cavadini & Cecilia Davis Cunningham
University of Notre Dame Press
310 Flanner Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556
www.undpress.nd.edu
9780268107420, $24.00, PB, 200pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: The Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame contains one of the largest collections of late nineteenth-century French stained glass outside of France. The French Gothic - inspired church has forty-four large stained glass windows containing two hundred and twenty scenes. Today, more than 100,000 visitors tour the basilica each year to admire its architecture or participate in the beautiful liturgies. Honoring both the Sacred Heart and the Virgin Mary, the vibrant windows have, for more than a century, drawn visitors and worshippers alike into a conversation with the art and faith found in the windows.

"Stories in Light: A Guide to the Stained Glass of the Basilica at the University of Notre Dame" by the team of Nancy Cavadini and Cecilia Davis Cunningham is an informative and conveniently sized guidebook tells the unique story of the windows: the improbable creation of a glassworks by cloistered Carmelite nuns in LeMans, France, and their stained glass that so perfectly illuminated the late nineteenth-century French Catholic spirituality of the Congregation of Holy Cross, who established the University of Notre Dame.

The words of Father Edward Sorin, CSC, founder of the university, are featured throughout the text. He saw the basilica and its windows as an avenue for teaching this spirituality. "Stories in Light" describes the windows according to their location in the building, from the narthex at the entrance to the Lady Chapel behind the altar.

Full-color photographs provide a detailed view of the scenes found in each window. These photos are accompanied by informed commentary on the historical and theological importance of the windows, the iconography of featured saints, and how they illuminate the work of the Holy Cross to educate both mind and spirit.

"Stories in Light" is an easy-to-read book written for all who visit the basilica, including faculty, students, alumni, and friends and family of Notre Dame, and for readers everywhere who want to know more about the rich history and heritage of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart's stained glass.

Critique: A beautifully illustrated and impressively informative volume, "Stories in Light: A Guide to the Stained Glass of the Basilica at the University of Notre Dame" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, community, and academic library Stained Glass Artwork collections in general, and University of Notre dame Basilica art history reading lists in particular.

Editorial Note: Nancy Cavadini (Marquette University, M.A. in Theology) has served in religious formation for the Congregation of Holy Cross and as an ecumenical and interfaith officer.

Cecilia Davis Cunningham (Florida State University, M.A. in Art History) became a tour guide at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in 1999. Her years of teaching have allowed her to introduce numerous visitors to the art and history of the basilica.

David Hockney: Drawing from Life
Sarah Howgate, author
David Hockney, artist
National Portrait Gallery, London
c/o Distributed Art Publishers
155 Sixth Avenue, 2nd floor, New York, NY 10013-1507
www.artbook.com
9781855147973, $45.00, HC, 208pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: David Hockney (born 1937) is considered one of the most celebrated contemporary British artists. Hockney studied at the Bradford School of Art and the Royal College of Art with R.B. Kitaj, Allen Jones and Derek Boshier. Graduating with a gold medal, he became a leading figure in pop art. His work encompasses drawing, painting, printmaking, photography and stage design.

Published to accompany a major international exhibition, "David Hockney: Drawing from Life" by Sarah Howgate features Hockney's drawings from the 1950s to the present day, and focuses on his depictions of himself and a small group of sitters close to him: his muse, Celia Birtwell; his mother, Laura Hockney; and his friends, the curator, Gregory Evans, and master printer, Maurice Payne. In his portrait drawings of these figures, Hockney tries out new stylistic experiments and expresses his admiration for his artistic predecessors, from Holbein to Picasso.

Featuring 150 beautifully reproduced works from public and private collections across the world, "David Hockney: Drawing from Life" traces the trajectory of Hockney's drawing practice by examining how he has revisited these five figures throughout his career. Highlights include a series of new portraits, colored pencil drawings created in Paris in the early 1970s, composite Polaroid portraits from the 1980s and a selection of drawings from an intense period of self-scrutiny during the 1980s when the artist created a self-portrait every day for two months.

Critique: A beautifully produced volume that deftly showcases the artwork and career of one of Britain's most influential modern artists over the past sixty years, "David Hockney: Drawing from Life" will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library Contemporary Art History collections in general, and David Hockney supplemental studies reading lists in particular.


The Philosophy Shelf

Seven Types of Atheism
John Gray
Picador USA
175 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1800, New York, NY 10010
www.picadorusa.com
9780374261092, $25.00, HC, 176pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: For a generation now, public debate has been corroded by a shrill, narrow derision of religion in the name of an often vaguely understood "science". In "Seven Types of Atheism", John Gray describes the complex, dynamic world of older atheisms, traditions that in many ways is intertwined with and as rich as religion itself.

Along a spectrum that ranges from the convictions of "God-haters" like the Marquis de Sade to the mysticism of Arthur Schopenhauer, from Bertrand Russell's search for truth in mathematics to secular political religions like Jacobinism and Nazism, Gray explores the various ways great minds have attempted to understand the questions of salvation, purpose, progress, and evil. The result is a study that sheds an extraordinary light on what it is to be human.

Critique: Atheism is, in the broadest sense, an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. National polling suggest that the percentage of the general populace of self-identified atheists in America is growing over the past three decades.

Critique: Inherently interesting, impressively informative, and effectively organized and presented, "Seven Types of Atheism" is an exceptional and unreservedly recommended addition to both community and academic library Contemporary Philosophy collections in general, and Atheism supplemental studies lists in particular. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Seven Types of Atheism" is also now available in a paperback edition (9781250234780, $16.00), in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Brilliance Audio, 9781978644175, $19.99, CD).

Editorial Note: John Gray is the author of many critically acclaimed books, including The Silence of Animals, The Immortalization Commission, Black Mass, and Straw Dogs. A regular contributor to The New York Review of Books, he has been a professor of politics at Oxford, a visiting professor at Harvard and Yale, and a professor of European thought at the London School of Economics.


The Literary Studies Shelf

Writing Appalachia: An Anthology
Katherine Ledford & Theresa Lloyd, editors
The University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, KY 40508-4008
www.kentuckypress.com
9780813178790, $50.00, HC, 776pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Despite the stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding Appalachia, the region has nurtured and inspired some of the nation's finest writers. Featuring dozens of authors born into or adopted by the region over the past two centuries, Collaborative compiled and expertly co-edited by the team of Katherine Ledford (who is Professor of Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University and co-editor of Back Talk from Appalachia: Confronting Stereotypes) and Theresa Lloyd (who is co-editor of the Literature Section of the Encyclopedia of Appalachia and a Professor Emerita at East Tennessee State University), "Writing Appalachia: An Anthology" showcases for the first time the nuances and contradictions that place Appalachia at the heart of American history.

This comprehensive anthology covers an exceedingly diverse range of subjects, genres, and time periods, beginning with early Native American oral traditions and concluding with twenty-first-century writers such as Wendell Berry, bell hooks, Silas House, Barbara Kingsolver, and Frank X Walker. Slave narratives, local color writing, folklore, work songs, modernist prose - each piece explores unique Appalachian struggles, questions, and values.

The collection also celebrates the significant contributions of women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community to the region's history and culture. Alongside Southern and Central Appalachian voices, the anthology features northern authors and selections that reflect the urban characteristics of the region. As one text gives way to the next, a more complete picture of Appalachia emerges -- a literary landscape of contrasting visions and possibilities.

Critique: Enhanced for academia with the inclusion of an eight page Bibliography and a four page listing of the contributors and their credentials, "Writing Appalachia: An Anthology" is a seminal work of outstanding literary scholarship and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library American Literary & Criticism Studies collections in general, and Appalachian Culture & Literature studies lists in particular. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Writing Appalachia: An Anthology" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $42.49).

A Writer of Our Time
Joshua Sperling
Verso
20 Jay Street, 10th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201-8346
www.versobooks.com
9781786637420, $29.95, HC, 304pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: John Berger (5 November 1926 - 2 January 2017) was one of the most influential thinkers and writers of postwar Europe. As a novelist, he won the Booker prize in 1972, donating half his prize money to the Black Panthers. As a TV presenter, he changed the way we looked at art with Ways of Seeing. As a storyteller and political activist, he defended the rights and dignity of workers, migrants, and the oppressed around the world. "Far from dragging politics into art," he wrote in 1953, "art has dragged me into politics". He remained a revolutionary up to his death in January 2017.

Built around a series of watersheds, at once personal and historical, "A Writer of Our Time: The Life and Work of John Berger" by Joshua Sperling traces Berger's development from his roots as a postwar art student and polemicist in the Cold War battles of 1950s London, through the heady days of the 1960s (when the revolutions were not only political but sexual and artistic) to Berger's re-invention as a rural storyteller and the long hangover that followed the rise and fall of the New Left.

Drawing on first-hand, unpublished interviews and archival sources only recently made available, author and biographer Sperling digs beneath the moments of controversy to reveal a figure of remarkable complexity and resilience. The portrait that emerges is of a cultural innovator as celebrated as he was often misunderstood, and a writer increasingly driven as much by what he loved as by what he opposed. "A Writer of Our Time" brings the many faces of John Berger together, repatriating one of our great minds to the intellectual dramas of his and our time.

Critique: An extraordinary and analytical biography of an extraordinary and influential life, "A Writer of Our Time: The Life and Work of John Berger" is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to both community and academic library Contemporary Biography collections in general, and John Berger supplemental studies reading lists in particular. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "A Writer of Our Time' is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781786637437, $19.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Joshua Sperling was born in New York City and grew up in California. His writing has appeared in the Brooklyn Rail, Guernica, Film Quarterly, Jump Cut and Bullett Magazine, among other publications. He received a PhD in Comparative Literature, Film and Media from Yale University and currently teaches at Oberlin College.


The Psychology Shelf

Administrations of Lunacy
Mab Segrest
The New Press
120 Wall Street, floor 31, New York, NY 10005
www.thenewpress.com
www.dreamscapeab.com/audiobooks
9781620972977, $28.99, HC, 384pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Today, 90 percent of psychiatric beds are located in jails and prisons across the United States, institutions that confine disproportionate numbers of African Americans. After more than a decade of research, the celebrated scholar and activist Mab Segrest locates the deep historical roots of this startling fact, turning her sights on a long-forgotten cauldron of racial ideology: the state mental asylum system in which psychiatry was born and whose influences extend into our troubled present.

In December 1841, the Georgia State Lunatic, Idiot, and Epileptic Asylum was founded. A hundred years later, it had become the largest insane asylum in the world with over ten thousand patients. Administrations of Lunacy tells the story of this iconic and infamous southern institution, a history that was all but erased from popular memory and within the psychiatric profession.

Through riveting accounts of historical characters, Professor Segrest reveals how modern psychiatric practice was forged in the traumas of slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow. Deftly connecting this history to the modern era, Professor Segrest then shows how a single asylum helped set the stage for the eugenics theories of the twentieth century and the persistent racial ideologies of our own times. She also traces the connections to today's dissident psychiatric practices that offer sanity and create justice.

An informative volume of exceptional organized and impressively presented scholarship, "Administrations of Lunacy: Racism and the Haunting of American Psychiatry at the Milledgeville Asylum" by Professor Segreat restores a vital thread between past and present, revealing the tangled racial roots of psychiatry in America.

Critique: Enhanced for academia with the inclusion of forty-four pages of Notes and a nineteen page Index, "Administrations of Lunacy: Racism and the Haunting of American Psychiatry at the Milledgeville Asylum" is a unique and extraordinary volume of meticulous and exhaustive scholarship that is especially and unreservedly recommended for college and university library Mental Health & African-American History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Administrations of Lunacy: Racism and the Haunting of American Psychiatry at the Milledgeville Asylum" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $15.65) and as a complete an unabridged audio book (Dreamscape Media, 9781690562559, $22.99, CD).

Editorial Note: A longtime activist in social justice movements and a past fellow at the National Humanities Center, Mab Segrest is Professor Emeritus of Gender and Women's Studies at Connecticut College and the author of "Memoir of a Race Traitor" (The New Press).

Trauma and Dissociation Informed Psychotherapy
Elizabeth Howell
W. W. Norton & Company
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
www.wwnorton.com
9780393713732, $35.00, HC, 264pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: A new model of therapeutic action, one that heals trauma and dissociation, is overtaking the mental health field. It is not just trauma, but the dissociation of the self, that causes emotional pain and difficulties in functioning. "Trauma and Dissociation Informed Psychotherapy: Relational Healing and the Therapeutic Connection" by Elizabeth Howell discusses how people are universally subject to trauma, what trauma is, and how to understand and work with normative as well as extreme dissociation.

In this new model, the client and the practitioner are both traumatized and flawed human beings who affect each other in the mutual process that promotes the healing of the psychotherapeutic client. "Trauma and Dissociation Informed Psychotherapy" explains the dissociative, relational, and attachment reasons that people blame and punish themselves. She covers the difference between repression and dissociation, and how Freud's exclusive focus on repression and the one-person fantasy Oedipal model impeded recognition of the serious consequences of external trauma, including child abuse. "Trauma and Dissociation Informed Psychotherapy" also synthesizes trauma/dissociation perspectives and addresses new structural models.

Critique: Enhanced for academia with the inclusion of an informative Introduction, two pages of Endnotes, a twenty-six page listing of References, and a seventeen page Index, "Trauma and Dissociation Informed Psychotherapy: Relational Healing and the Therapeutic Connection" is an extraordinary contribution to the growing library of contemporary psychotherapy literature and should be considered an essential addition the supplemental studies lists for Medical Neuropsychology and Psychopathology students and practitioners. It should be noted that "Trauma and Dissociation Informed Psychotherapy" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $16.05).

Editorial Note: Elizabeth Howell, PhD, teaches at several institutes and is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation. She has written three previous books on trauma, dissociation, and attachment, and over thirty-five articles.


The Self-Help Shelf

The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary
Catherine Gray
Aster
c/o Octopus Publishing
236 Park Avenue, New York NY 10017
www.octopusbooksusa.com
9781783253371, $19.99, www.octopusbooksusa.com

The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary teaches how to find satisfaction in ordinary living, exploring why there is such a focus in society on extraordinary achievements or experiences and surveying the emotions that come from making efforts that never quite seem to be fulfilling. Chapters emphasize that cultivating the joy in ordinary things of life, which can be as simple as eating a roll or taking a hot shower, is the path to ultimate and more regular satisfaction, and is more achievable than striving for extraordinary, rare experiences. Anyone looking for a self-help primer about enjoying daily life more fully will appreciate this focus.

Kickass Recovery
Billy Manas
New World Library
14 Pamaron Way, Novato, CA 94949
www.newworldlibrary.com
9781608686506, $15.95, PB, 208pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: As Billy Manas can attest, getting sober is easy compared to living sober. But if he can do it, so can you, and with the publication of "Kickass Recovery: From Your First Year Clean to the Life of Your Dreams" he is going to help you with nuts-and bolts suggestions for finding financial, personal, and emotional well-being to live your own version of a kickass life. Billy's techniques for getting there are simple yet profound -- tackling manageable goals, finding inspiration (in whatever way works for you), asking for help (even when you don't want to), practicing gratitude and meditation (even if you think they're silly), and steering clear of people who rain on your parade. Straightforward and doable, these strategies build confidence and build on each other until recovery means not just living but living better than ever.

Critique: Practical, realistic, thought-provoking, effective, as well as thoroughly 'user friendly' in tone, commentary style, organization and presentation, "Kickass Recovery: From Your First Year Clean to the Life of Your Dreams" is especially and unreservedly recommended for every professional, health center, community, college and university library Self-Help/Self- Improvement collection for recovering addicts. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of recovering addicts that "Kickass Recovery: From Your First Year Clean to the Life of Your Dreams" is also readily available in a digital book format (eTextbook, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Billy Manas is a columnist for Elephant Journal, a contributor to the Good Men Project, a published poet, a truck driver, a father, and a twenty-year veteran singer-songwriter who performs throughout the Hudson Valley. He frequently shares information and insights with addicts at rehabs and jails.


The World History Shelf

The Puerto Ricans: A Documentary History
Kal Wagenheim, Olga Wagenheim, Luis Fernandez
Markus Wiener Publishers
231 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ 08542
www.markuswiener.com
9781558766433, $28.95, PB, 426pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: The updated and expanded edition of "The Puerto Ricans: A Documentary History" includes a combination of documents and articles that touch upon some of the most important developments since 2006. Among those newly added historical elements include the financial crisis that exploded in 2015 and its consequences, Hurricane Maria and its aftermath, the exodus to Florida, and the peaceful revolt of 2019.

Critique: A classic standard for students of Puerto Rican history, "The Puerto Ricans: A Documentary History" continues to be an ideal curriculum textbook and reference. Impressively informative, expertly organized and presented, "The Puerto Ricans: A Documentary History" should be a part of every personal, community, college, and university library collection.


The Sports Shelf

Slow Burn
Bob Guntrip
Veloce Publishing Ltd.
www.veloce.co.uk
9781787113169, $33.65, HC, 256pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: Bob Guntrip discovered that motorcycles could send shivers down his back while he was still in short pants, and has never really recovered. After more than 30 years editing and contributing to sports magazines on three continents, he knows his love for motorcycle racing is total and irreversible. He has on occasion sought cures in science journalism, lesser forms of sport and even interior design; each has lasted no longer than the first bark of an Italian V-twin or howl of a Japanese four to pass his office window. In 2015 Bob tried writing bikes out of his system with his book Racing Line -- "Slow Burn: The Growth of Superbikes and Superbike Racing 1970 to 1988" was the ultimate result.

"Slow Burn" tells how the superbike racing motorcycle developed out of the road-going sports-tourer to become one of the most successful competitions in all forms of motorcycle sport. As well as offering world championship class competition in its own right, superbike racing has been a highly competitive training ground for grand prix riders as well as helping manufacturers, distributors and dealers develop and improve their motorcycles.

Superbike racing is to the motorcycle industry what touring car or NASCAR competition is to the car world - race on Sunday, sell on Monday. All the big names were drawn into the sport during its formative years and have been there ever since - Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Ducati and Aprilia have all used superbike racing to test their street bike designs. And some of the biggest riders in the sport such Wayne Gardner, Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz and Eddie Lawson, all started out on big, unruly superbikes, learning how to power slide their way around the world's toughest tracks. It's all in superbike -- and it's all in Slow Burn.

Critique: Nicely illustrated throughout with a combination of color and black/white photography, "Slow Burn: The Growth of Superbikes and Superbike Racing 1970 to 1988" by Bob Guntrip is a unique and impressively informative sports history. Expertly written, organized and presented, "Slow Burn" is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library collections.


The Martial Arts Shelf

The Art and Science of Stick Fighting
Joe Varady
YMAA Publications
PO Box 480, Wolfeboro, NH 03894-0480
www.ymaa.com
9781594397332, $22.95, www.ymaa.com

The Art and Science of Stick Fighting: A Complete Instructional Guide comes from a 6th degree black belt who provides a basic introduction and progressive learning program for stick fighting. From early stances and uses and logical steps of skills development and stick fighting methods to workouts and training, this book holds step-by-step black and white photos that explore all aspects of stick fighting approaches. Martial arts and sports collections alike will find its basic directions easy to understand and accessible to a wide audience.


The Technology Shelf

Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning and Deep Learning
O. Campesato
Mercury Learning
c/o Mercury Books
www.merclearning.com
9781683924678, $59.95, www.merclearning.com

Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning and Deep Learning provides an introduction to AI and its related subjects machine learning, deep learning, NLP, and reinforcement learning. It covers deep learning architecture and includes code samples throughout to supplement theory with real-world applications, covers basic programming as it relates to AI and deep learning, and is packed with black and white charts, illustrations, and the mathematical equations necessary to fully understand AI programming applications. Computer programmers and engineers will find it an excellent overview that assumes some prior background in programming and AI, but builds upon a foundation knowledge with many specific insights.

Designing Delay-Tolerant Applications for Store-and-Forward Networks
Edward J. Birrane and Jason A. Soloff
Artech House
685 Canton Street, Norwood, MA 02062
www.artechhouse.com
9781630816285, $139.00, www.artechhouse.com

Designing Delay-Tolerant Applications for Store-and-Forward Networks is recommended for college-level collections strong in network applications for engineers involved in store-and-forward networks, and offers many examples and analysis of the protocols and standardization techniques of applications running within a DTN. Engineers interested in these specific kinds of development objectives will find plenty of basic information that builds into advanced topics such as tolerant network, special considerations in operational concepts, data flows among components, and more. All the charts, math, and technical keys to understanding make for a clear and engrossing account.


The Language Studies Shelf

The Sounds of Language
Elizabeth C. Zsiga
Wiley Blackwell
350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148
www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell
9781405191036, $58.25, www.wiley.com/go/zsiga

The Sounds of Language: An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology provides a basic guide to the linguistic study of speech sounds and is a recommended college-level reference that reviews different approaches to this course of study. Dr. Zsiga, a linguistics professor, has taught phonology and phonetics to both graduate and undergrad students. Her survey contrasts different approaches to linguistics, data analysis, and testing, including discussions of second language learning and exercises, problems, and online supportive data and sound files that reinforce chapters that delve into phonics not only in English, but in Spanish and other areas. Discussions of distinctive phonological features, different approaches to language studies of the past, and insights into representative sets of bowels and other components of communication make for a technical, accessible survey recommended for college-level readers.


The Beer/Spirits Shelf

Kyle Books
c/o Octopus Books
236 Park Avenue, New York NY 10017
www.octopusbooksusa.com

Natalya Watson's Beer: Taste the Evolution in 50 Styles (9780857837219, $19.99) is more than just a listing of beers: it provides a history that surveys the evolution of different styles of beers, from lagers to porters and sour beers, accompanying its discussion with examples from modern fare that encourage readers to sample and understand different tastes. Beer holds a wide range of flavors and styles even though it shares basic ingredients. This survey of over fifty beers discusses brewing basics and historical challenges that led to new directions, considers how historical precedent influences modern brewer choices and customer tastes, and includes recommendations that allow readers to understand this process. Mikael Guidot's Whisky: It's Not Rocket Science (9780600636697, $24.99) provides an easy guide to understanding the history, production, and tasting of whisky, and is especially recommended for newcomers to the drink who want more than a recipe collection of cocktails. From buying guides and tasting methods to reading labels and differentiating between different types of whisky, this is a solid and compelling discussion packed with excellent illustrations and insights that simplify the topic of understanding whisky.


The Architecture Shelf

A Home of One's Own
Burcu Dogramaci & Andreas Schatzke
Edition Axel Menges
c/o National Book Network
4270 Boston Way, Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706
www.nbnbooks.com
9783869050089, $79.00, HC, 176pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: When architects design a house for themselves, the often tense relationship between clients and builders is usually absent. That is why in many such buildings the architect-designer's artistic stance and political position, preferences and antipathies, temperament and character are more pronounced than usual. Moreover the architectonic theories, debates and trends of an epoch also leave their traces in them in a particular way.

Building for oneself has a special connotation under the conditions of migration and exile. Among the most prominent examples showcased in "A Home of One's Own: Emigre Architects and their Houses. 1920-1960" are the private homes of Rudolph Schindler in West Hollywood (1922), Richard Neutra in Los Angeles (1932), Ernst May near Nairobi (1937), Walter Gropius in Lincoln, Massachusetts (1938), Bruno Taut in Istanbul (1938), Erno Goldfinger in London (1939), Josep Lluis Sert in Locust Valley, New York (1949), Max Cetto in Mexico City (1949), and Marcel Breuer in New Canaan, Connecticut (1948 and 1951).

Critique: Nicely illustrated with black-and-white photography, "A Home of One's Own: Emigre Architects and their Houses. 1920-1960" is a unique, coffee-table style volume that is an inherently interesting and impressively informative compendium that will have a very special appeal for architectural students and practicing architects alike. Exceptional in organization and presentation, "A Home of One's Own: Emigre Architects and their Houses. 1920-1960" is especially recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Architectural History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Burcu Dogramaci teaches art history at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat of Munich. Her research focuses on exile and migration, and 20th-century and contemporary art and architecture. Architectural historian Andreas Schatzke teaches at the Hochschule Wismar, Germany. Among his key research areas are 20-century architecture and urban development, and migration and cultural transfer in the field of architecture and the visual arts.


The Money/Finance Shelf

The Simple Life Guide to Financial Freedom
Gary Collins
www.thesimplelifenow.com
The Book Publishing Company
PO Box 99, Summertown, TN 38483
www.BookPubCo.com
9781570673863, $14.95, PB, 176pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: The current economic disaster created by the CoronaVirus pandemic has exposed the dire financial condition of a substantial percentage of the American populace that are only one paycheck away from the streets. In the pages of "The Simple Life Guide To Financial Freedom: Free Yourself from the Chains of Debt and Find Financial Peace", author and financial expert Gary Collins exposes the consumer-driven US culture that traps everyday people beneath high credit card balances with crippling interest rates. Through eye-opening, real-life examples and figures, the reader will discover common money mistakes and fiduciary pitfalls designed to drain your income. Using Collins's simple methods, anyone can restructure their spending habits to create a purposeful, prosperous future for themselves and their families.

The Simple Life Guide To Financial Freedom" explains: Why average Americans fall far short of their millionaire potential, and how you can avoid going down the same path; Simple tactics to break free from the cycle of debt and make the most of your money; Proven strategies to achieve the financial independence you need to follow your dreams. It also provides real-life success stories to guide you down the path to stress-free fiscal security, along with condensed and clear explanations of budgetary concepts, the perils of consumerism, and much, much more!

Critique: Expertly written, and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, "The Simple Life Guide to Financial Freedom: Free Yourself from the Chains of Debt and Find Financial Peace" should be a part of every community, college, and university library Money/Finance collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Simple Life Guide to Financial Freedom" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.99).

Editorial Note: Gary Collins has been involved with military intelligence, and he has been a Special Agent for the U.S. State Department Diplomatic Security Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He now lives off-the-grid part of the year in a remote area of NE Washington State, and spends the rest of the year exploring America in his travel trailer with his trusty black lab Barney. He maintains a web site at www.thesimplelifenow.com


The Terrorism Studies Shelf

Beneath the Tamarind Tree
Isha Sesay
Dey Street Books
c/o HarperCollins
www.harpercollins.com
Blackstone Audio
www.blackstoneaudio.com
9780062686671, $27.99, HC, 400pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: In the early morning of April 14, 2014, the militant Islamic group Boko Haram violently burst into the small town of Chibok, Nigeria, and abducted 276 girls from their school dorm rooms. From poor families, these girls were determined to make better lives for themselves, but pursuing an education made them targets, resulting in one of the most high-profile abductions in modern history. While the Chibok kidnapping made international headlines, and prompted the #BringBackOurGirls movement, many unanswered questions surrounding that fateful night remain about the girls' experiences in captivity, and where many of them are today.

In "Beneath the Tamarind Tree: A Story of Courage, Family, and the Lost Schoolgirls of Boko Haram ", author and journalist Isha Sesay tells this story as no one else can. Originally from Sierra Leone, Sesay led CNN's Africa reporting for more than a decade, and she was on the front lines when this story broke. With unprecedented access to a group of girls who made it home, she follows the journeys of Priscilla, Saa, and Dorcas in an uplifting tale of sisterhood and survival.

Sesay delves into the Nigerian government's inadequate response to the kidnapping, exposes the hierarchy of how the news gets covered, and synthesizes crucial lessons about global national security. She also reminds us of the personal sacrifice required of journalists to bring us the truth at a time of growing mistrust of the media.

Critique: An extraordinary and detailed account, "Beneath the Tamarind Tree" is a significant and expertly written, organized and presented history that is especially and unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library Nigeria History collections in general, and Human Rights Law supplemental studies reading lists in particular. It should be noted for the personal reading leading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in West African History that "Beneath the Tamarind Tree" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9780062686619, $19.99), in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99), and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Blackstone Audio, 9781982659240, $39.99, CD).


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Diane C. Donovan, Editor
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