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Wisconsin Bookwatch

Volume 2, Number 9 September 2007 Home | WBW Index

Table of Contents

Reviewer's Choice Fiction Shelf Biography Shelf
Self-Help Shelf Christian Studies Shelf Native American Shelf
Jobs/Careers Shelf Sports Shelf Philosophy Shelf
Religion/Spirituality Shelf Health/Medicine Shelf Travel Shelf
Cookbook Shelf Railroading Shelf Woodworking Shelf
Art Shelf Education Shelf Business Shelf
Military Shelf Pets/Wildlife Shelf International Studies Shelf
Science Shelf Fantasy/SciFi Shelf Parenting Shelf
Music Shelf True Crime Shelf Civil War Shelf
American History Shelf Hunting/Fishing Shelf Gardening Shelf
Library DVD Shelf Buddhist Studies Shelf Poetry Shelf
Mystery/Suspense Shelf Language Studies Shelf Gaming Shelf
World History Shelf Audiobook Shelf Money/Finance Shelf
Jewelry Shelf Theatre/Cinema Shelf Political Science Shelf
Psychology Shelf Library CD Music Shelf Economics Shelf


Reviewer's Choice

It Happened In Wisconsin
Michael Bie
The Globe Pequot Press
PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437
9780762741533, $12.95 www.globepequot.com 1-800-243-0495

Known as the Badger State, Wisconsin is famous for its cheese and beer, for its settlement in the 19th century by waves of Norwegian, Swedish and German immigrants, as well as for the progressive politics of Bob Follette and the infamous politics of Joe McCarthy. But there is so much more to Wisconsin's history and author Michael Bie recounts some truly remarkable incidents in that history, many of which may come as a surprise to even life-long residents. This compendium state history begins with a chapter on the archaeological discovery in Lake Mills of a Native American culture that was flourishing around 3000 B.C., then goes on to cover the founding of Green Bay in 1634, events in Prairie du Chien in 1842, the Taliesin accomplishments and scandals of 1914, alleged events in Niccedah in 1950, the Posse Comitatus in Tigerton Falls in 1974, Milwaukee corruptions and depravity in 1991, and so very much more. Of special note is the chapter featuring 'Wisconsin Facts & Trivia'. Enhanced with an extensive bibliography and an index. An essential, core addition to school and community libraries throughout the Badger State, "It Happened In Wisconsin" is as entertaining as it is informative, and especially recommended to the attention of non-specialist general readers with an interest in Wisconsin history and personalities.

Vietnam Style
Bertrand de Hartingh & Anna Craven-Smith-Milnes
Periplus
c/o Tuttle Publishing
364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon, VT 05759-9436
9780794600181, $44.95 www.tuttlepublishing.com

Superbly enhanced throughout with the simply beautiful color photography of Luca Invernizzi Tettoni, "Vietnam Style" is a co-authored study of Vietnamese history, culture, art, and architecture by Bertrand de Hartingh (a recognized authority on the intricate and complicated cultural history of Vietnam) & Anna Craven-Smith-Milnes (whose fascination with Vietnamese architecture and design led to the founding of her own business, Mekong Merchant). With special attention to elements of interior design, "Vietnam Style" is organized into four major sections: Vernacular Styles; The French Legacy; Modern Times; and Contemporary Design & Crafts. From temples and pagodas, to residences and rooms, to furniture, baskets, lights, embroidery, lacquerware, ceramics, and propaganda art, "Vietnam Style" offers informative insights and illustrative examples that wonderfully showcase the diverse contributions that made Vietnam culture and architecture what it is today. A work of impressive detail and seminal accomplishment, "Vietnam Style" is very highly recommended for academic library International Studies, Architectural Studies, Interior Design Studies, and Vietnam History reference collections, and is especially appropriate for non-specialist general readers with an interest in Vietnamese culture.

The Bitter Man Publications
917 Lotus Vista Drive, #102, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714
www.thebitterman.us

Men and women have been a constant puzzlement to each other down through the millennia. As each gender has struggled to understand and deal with the other, it has of necessity been a kind of 'trial and error' process begun in childhood, developed through adolescence, and culminating in adulthood. Perhaps the most confusion and anxiety fraught aspects of gender relations is to be found in the dating years as each gender struggles to attract, understand, evaluate, and avoid exploitation by the other. All this being further complicated by raging hormones, family expectations, the process of procreation, and the prospect of marriage. Now Antone Christopher has written two separate guides to help out. "The Bitter Woman's Guide To Dating" (9780978532307) readily identifies seventy-eight male character types commonly encountered (and endured) by women in search of a good time and/or a marriageable prospect. "The Bitter Man's Guide To Dating" (9780976484301) features apt descriptions of sixty-six female character types often encountered by men in search of a good time and/or a marriageable prospect. Enhanced with the occasional color cartoon, each of these two volumes is written with wit, humor, and brutal candor. Very highly recommended reading which is as entertaining as they are instructive, both books are confidently recommended -- especially to men and women entering, enduring, or having to return to, the dating scene!


The Fiction Shelf

The Interim
Chris Earl
Gate 8 Publishing
2212 - 8th Street, Eau Claire, WI 54703
9780978826079, $14.95 www.gate8publishing.com

"The Interim" by Wisconsin author Chris Earl is the story of Robb Markstran, a career television sportscaster in Green Bay, who finds himself being passed over for promotion. Robb leaves sportscasting to become an administrative assistant for the Wisconsin State men's basketball program. When the plane carrying the rest of the coaching staff goes down on the way back to Madison from a game on the road, Robb finds that as the only surviving staff member, he is now the head coach -- and discovers that the college basketball program he is in charge of is corrupt. Recruits and players are offered cash bribes and cars, a wealthy Wisconsin State alumnus want things done his way or the school can forget a thirty-five million dollar donation for a new on-campus arena. All this is going on while Robb is trying to prepare his players for the NCAA tournament. Set in Madison, Wisconsin, and especially commended to the attention of college basketball enthusiasts, "The Interim" is deftly written with an eye to exacting detail, and presents a fascinating, engaging read from first page to last. Also very highly recommended is Chris Earl's previous novel "Gotcha Down" which takes college football as its theme.


The Biography Shelf

Peter's Story
Peter Pizzino & Tom Montag
MWPH Books
PO Box 8, Fairwater, WI 53931
9780974649931, $16.95 1-920-346-5235

"Peter's Story" is the personal memoir of Peter Pizzino who grew up in the 1920s and 1930s in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin's Third Ward, a strongly ethnic Italian community. Peter was abandoned by his mother when he was three and a half years old. Raised by a domineering father, Peter became delinquent and with a small group of friends began stealing to feed families in the neighborhood when he was eight years old and getting odd jobs whenever he could. As he grow older, Peter drove mob bosses to their meetings in Chicago and New York, hunted down members of organized crime families who broke mob rules, and basically experienced more in the first 18 years of his life than most of use experience in the course of our entire lifetimes. Co-authored with Tom Montag, "Peter's Story" is the fascinating and candid autobiography of an abused childhood and criminal adolescence. Of special note is a heartbreaking Epilogue in which Peter succinctly informs the reader of the ultimate fates of both his mother and his father. Also very highly recommended from MWPH Books is author and poet Tom Montag's compellingly thoughtful and articulate collection of writings about people and places, "The Idea Of The Local And Other Essays" (9780974649948, $17.95).

My Kitchen Table
Pilar Pobil
University of Utah Press
1795 East South Campus Drive, #101, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9402
9780874808964, $29.95 www.uofupress.com 1-800-773-6672

A very special memoir, "My Kitchen Table: Sketches From My Life" is the autobiographical reminisces of Pilar Pobil presented to the reader as she had original told them around her kitchen table to her children. One very special difference is that in "My Kitchen Table", Pilar Pobil enhances those already engaging biographical stories with fifty full color reproductions of her paintings and sculptures. This compendium of stories about Pilar's growing up in Mallorca, of meeting the man who would marry her and take her back to Utah, of her discovery with respect to a talent for creating art, is as engaging as it is informative. Written with wit, wisdom, and occasionally flashes of insight, "My Kitchen Table" is very highly recommended reading as the personal memoir of a very special and talented artist.

The Wartime Letters of Leslie & Cecil Frost 1915-1919
R.B. Fleming, editor
Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3C5
9781554580002, $38.95 www.wlupress.wlu.ca

The Wartime Letters of Leslie & Cecil Frost 1915-1919 is an anthology of wartime correspondence by two officer brothers in World War I, Leslie and Cecil Frost. Both Frost brothers wrote frank and openly honest accounts of their experiences in the trenches, their views of the war itself, training, and some of the war's most horrific battles. The letters also comment on political concerns of the war, from the emerging role of women to that of the growing middle class, nativism, and the use of liquor overseas. Leslie Frost would go on to become the premier of Ontario (1949-1961); editor R.B. Fleming contends that Leslie's military experiences and hospitalization affected Leslie's policies, particularly with regard to Medicare and liquor control laws. A handful of black-and-white photographs, extensive appendices, and an index round out this solid primary testimony.


The Self-Help Shelf

The Little Black Book For Blue People
Ruth Theobald Probst
Lit Mark Institute for Greatness, LLC
21150 West Capitol Drive, Suite 3, Pewaukee, WI 53072
9780975342220, $16.95 www.intentionfiction.com 1-877-783-113

Depression is something that afflicts everyone from time to time. For some it becomes a chronic and crippling condition. Ruth Theobald Probst wrote and colored to help herself out of her own long-term depression. She has created "The Little Black Book for Blue People" as a reusable coloring book for all ages and is specifically designed for the therapeutic use by children and adults who are 'feeling down'. This is a unique self-help, self-improvement coloring book that features 37 illustrations that enhance an engaging text that is both informational and inspirational. Accompanied by a small box of twelve colored pencils, "The Little Black Book For Blue People" is especially recommended as a do-it-yourself activity book that can go a long way toward helping people deal with their 'blues'.

You Are Enough
David J. Walker
DeVorss & Company
553 Constitution Ave., Camarillo, CA 93012
9780875168265, $12.95 www.devorss.com

You Are Enough: Always Have Been... Always Will Be is a compendium of life-changing wisdom from David J. Walker, who has been teaching and helping people overcome their own harmful inhibitions for over 30 years. Chapters discuss how to use positive self-talk to bolster one's confidence, how to break out of the destructive cycle of self-restricting thought patterns, and much more. You Are Enough further embraces a humanistic spirituality, that does not rely upon specific religious beliefs but rather an understanding that the spark of the divine lies within every individual. "The way we think about money, for instance, determines our experience of money. If we believe that money is the root of all evil, at some level we'll be pushing money away from us. Dr. Raymond Charles Barker tells us that 'money is God in action,' which means that the amount of money we have is the 'inevitable consequence' of using the inner Life Force at the level of having that amount." An upbeat, turn-yourself-around guide especially valuable for anyone vulnerable to negative thinking.


The Christian Studies Shelf

Christ & Empire
Joerg Rieger
Fortress Press
c/o Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
PO Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1209
9780800620387, $20.00 www.fortresspress.com

Joerg Rieger (Professor of Systematic Theology, Perkins School of Theology) presents Christ & Empire: From Paul to Postcolonial Times, an examination how our modern-day perception of Jesus Christ has been shaped by empires at critical turning points of history. Crusades, conquest, and commerce have spread the Christian faith for hundreds of years; Christ & Empire seeks to peel away the colonial legacy of Christology to find the true Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ's own refusal to submit to empire offers an intriguing and ironic contrast to the historical legacy of Christian empires, in this thoughtful, scholarly, and extensively researched treatise. Highly recommended for Christology shelves.

Why, Oh Why, My God?
Abbe Pierre with Frederic Lenoir
World Council of Churches Publications
c/o ISBS
920 NE 58th Ave., Suite 300, Portland, OR 97213-3786
9782825415078, $13.00 www.isbs.com

Why, Oh Why, My God?: Meditations on Christian Faith and the Meaning of Life is a collection of brief reflections upon Christianity by Abbe Pierre of the Emmaus (1912-2007), recipient of France's highest civilian honor, a former participant of underground resistance against the Nazi occupation during World War II, founder of the Emmaus movement, and tireless champion of the poor and the homeless. His simple, honest words reveal the life and perspective of a man who dedicated his life to serving his fellow men and women in God's name. The topics he presents his views on range from different attitudes between Buddhism and Christianity ("The Christian does not try to eliminate suffering by avoiding desire but rather tries to react to personal desire through sharing and giving.") to the question of whether Jesus Christ shared a physical relationship with Mary Magdalene, to whether gays should be allowed to marry or parent and whether women should be allowed to serve as priests, to his take on the Iraq War and much more. "Should we have responded to the terrible provocation of Al Qaeda with a new crusade? Can we cure evil with evil? I fear that all this will propel the world into a new war between Christian and Muslim civilizations - which is, of course, what Bin Laden wants." A short yet profoundly honest, faithful, and powerful testimony, highly recommended for Christian readers of all walks of life.

The IVP Introduction to the Bible
Philip S. Johnston
InterVarsity Press
430 East Plaza Drive, Westmont, IL 60559
9780830828289, $26.00 www.ivpress.com 1-800-843-9487

The IVP Introduction to the Bible is an anthology of essays by learned biblical studies teachers written to help Christian readers of all walks of life better understand both the Old and New Testaments. Offering historical and other background information for each Testament and the Bible as a whole, plus a thoughtful introduction of each biblical book in turn, The IVP Introduction to the Bible will prove especially valuable to novice to intermediate biblical students and scholars. Highly recommended as a solid religious studies reference for public and college library shelves.

Created in God's Image
Michelle A. Gonzalez
Orbis Books
PO Box 308, Maryknoll, NY 10545-0308
9781570756979, $20.00 www.orbisbooks.com

Michelle A. Gonzalez (Religious Studies Department, University of Miami) presents Created in God's Image: An Introduction to Feminist Theological Anthropology, a sober reflection upon the biblical creation story as told in Genesis 1. The concept of women as well as men being created in the image of God has been crucial to feminist claims of equality, yet Gonzalez shows that feminist theology has long struggled against a contrary tradition in which women's claims to represent the image of God have been seen as inferior to those of men. Gonzalez puts forth a convincing argument that the time has come for a new understanding of God and the concept of being created in His image is needed for faithful men and women of the twenty-first century. A persuasive, expertly researched and thoughtfully reasoned philosophical and religious treatise.


The Native American Shelf

Essential Song
Lynn Whidden
Wilfrid Laurier University Press
75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3C5
9780889204591, $85.00 www.wlupress.wlu.ca

Lynn Whidden (associate professor of Native studies and music, Brandon University, Manitoba) presents Essential Song: Three Decades of Northern Cree Music, an in-depth ethnomusicology examination of subarctic Cree hunting songs, as passed down among the northern Cree of Quebec and Manitoba. Chapters scrutinize the ancient tradition of hunting songs, their meanings and origins, their important connection to the hunt, the impact of women's songs, and the effects that social change have had upon Cree music - including the introductions of hymns, gospel tunes, and country music. Profiles of individual hunters and their songs, and an accompanying music CD of more than fifty Cree hunting songs round out this invaluable and scholarly text. A welcome addition to Native American studies and musicology shelves.

A To Z Of American Indian Women
Liz Sonneborn
Facts On File, Inc.
132 West 31st Street, 17th floor, NY, NY 10001-2006
9780816066940, $60.00 www.factsonfile.com 1-800-322-8755

Now in a newly updated and expanded second edition, "A To Z Of American Indian Women" by author and biographer Liz Sonneborn is an encyclopedic compendium of succinct biographies of 152 Native American women who have distinguished themselves in a range of professions and careers. Included are brief but informative profiles of activists, educators, potters, musicians, artists, physicians, politicians, lawyers, entertainers, and others. From Lori Arviso Alvord, who as a surgeon combined western medicine and Native American healing methods, to Molly Spotted Elk, an actress whose many roles were performed on the silver screen and the theatre stage, the "A To Z Of American Indian Women" is an impressive body of work and a welcome contribution to academic and community library Native American Studies and Women's Studies reference collections.


The Jobs/Careers Shelf

Secrets of the Hidden Job Market
Janet White
You' re Hired! Enterprises
6213 Monahans Court, Plano, TX 75023
9781595940520, $16.95 www.jobmarketsecrets.com

Secrets of the Hidden Job Market: Change Your Thinking to Get the Job of Your Dreams is a no-nonsense guide to getting hired. Chapters cover how to avoid the traps inherent in the traditional system of networking ("Executive recruiters are not in business to get you hired. Never forget you are there for the recruiter's benefit; they are not there for yours."), the crucial importance of properly preparing a resume ("The design of your resume is irrelevant; the only things that matter are what your resume says and how Mr. Bigg feels as he reads it."), the importance of maintaining a positive outlook ("Like everything else, your belief about your age becomes your experience. When you stop believing your age is a problem in your getting hired, it will cease to be one.") and much more. Written in plain terms for readers of all backgrounds, Secrets of the Hidden Job Market is a go-to guide for making a good impression successfully competing for opportunities.

Independent Medical Coding
Donna Avila-Weil, RHIT & Rhonda Regan, CCS, CCS-P
Rayve Productions
PO Box 726 Windsor, CA 95492
9781877810152, $44.95 www.amazon.com

Co-authors Donna Avila-Weil, RHIT and Rhonda Regan, CCS, CCS-P combine their expertise in the updated second edition of Independent Medical Coding: The Comprehensive Guidebook for Career Success as a Medical Coder. Independent Medical Coding is an in-depth guide to pursuing medical coding as a career - an excellent opportunity, given that demand for skilled medical coders currently outstrips supply. Chapters cover how to gain the necessary education, as well as cultivating the needed interpersonal and organizational skills; how to become credentialed; specifics on different types of coding systems; how to establish an independent coding business; alternative careers for a coding specialist; and much more. An absolute "must-have" for anyone considering the benefits of a medical coding career.

Intelligent Courage
Michael E. Fraidenburg
Krieger Publishing Company
PO Box 9542, Melbourne, FL 32902-9542
9781575242873, $32.50 www.krieger-publishing.com 1-800-724-0025

Former Executive Director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Michael E. Fraidenberg presents Intelligent Courage: Natural Resource Careers That Make a Difference, a solid guide to earning success in the world of natural resource service professionals. Written especially for students about to complete their university education and search for jobs in the field, Intelligent Courage offers the insights of a plethora of different experts and stresses the importance of self-determination, commitment to the cause, passion and enthusiasm for one's work. A highly practical guide packed with true tales, learning experiences analyzed and "day-in-the-life" stories.

Next Day Salary Negotiation
Maryanne Wegerbauer
JIST Publishing
8902 Otis Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46216-1033
9781593574406, $8.95 1-800-648-5478

Expert human resources consultant Maryanne Wegerbauer presents Next Day Salary Negotiation: Prepare Tonight to Get Your Best Pay Tomorrow, a fact-filled guide to negotiating one's salary or evaluating an improved job offer. Extensive, up-to-date salary tables help the reader determine how much his or her skills are worth, while text chapters cover how to do the necessary research of the organization making the offer, what to look for when evaluating an offer, how to set an effective negotiation plan and strategy, tips, tricks, techniques, and more. Next Day Salary Negotiation is especially valuable in that it is designed to be used quickly - with as little as twenty-four hours' notice that one will have to consider and respond to a salary offer. An excellent and helpful guide for any ambitious worker.


The Sports Shelf

Green Bay Packers
Don Gulbrandsen
Voyageur Press
380 Jackson Street, Suite 200, St. Paul, MN 55101
9780760331392, $29.95 www.mbipublishing.com 1-800-458-0454

Simply stated at the outset, "Green Bay Packers: The Complete Illustrated History" should be considered a compulsory acquisition by every highschool and community library in the Badger State. Profusely illustrated throughout, Don Gulbrandsen's definitive history of Wisconsin's preeminent professional football team is a superbly written, informed and informative sports history that will entertain and educate readers with its many biographical vignettes of the men who played, coached and managed one of the truly great all time American football teams from its inception down to the present day. "Green Bay Packers: The Complete Illustrated History" is a 'must read' and a 'must have' for all dedicated 'Packer' fans.

A Passion for Golf
Ann Liguori
Taylor Trade Publishing
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706
9781589793040, $22.95 www.rowman.com 1-800-275-8188

Now in a newly revised edition, A Passion for Golf: Celebrity Musings About the Game collects interviews about the widely beloved pastime of golf from notable popular culture figures ranging from cartoonist Charles Schulz to Wimbledon tennis champion Pete Sampras to former vice president Dan Quayle to "Snakes on a Plane" movie star Samuel L. Jackson, and many more. Packed with wit, wisdom, and humor, A Passion for Golf is sure to inspire fellow golf lovers, though the celebrity comments often encompass far more than golf alone. Highly recommended as a giftbook, or simply as standalone read offering a wide array of celebrity perspectives contemplating upon the many vagaries of life.


The Philosophy Shelf

Aristotelian Philosophy
Kelvin Knight
Polity
c/o Blackwell Publishing
350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148
9780745619774, $26.95 www.blackwellpublishing.com 1-800-216-2522

Written by Kelvin Knight (senior lecturer in politics, London Metropolitan University), Aristotelian Philosophy: Ethics and Politics from Aristotle to MacIntyre is a scholarly intellectual history of Aristotelian philosophy, and its long-running importance up to the present day. Chapters explore the theoretical bases behind what Aristotle said about ethical, political and productive activity; Aristotle's practical philosophy as well as his theoretical philosophy; and applications of his ideas in settings ranging from medieval Christian times to Germany to revolutionary Aristotelianism in modern history including MacIntyre's Marxism. At times highly technical due to its depth and nuance of complex concepts, Aristotelian Philosophy is a welcome addition to college library and philosophical studies shelves.

The Idea of Comedy
Jan Walsh Hokenson
Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
The Gatehouse M010C, 285 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ 07940
9780838640968, $52.50 1-609-655-4770

Professor Jan Walsh Hokenson presents The Idea of Comedy: History, Theory, Critique, a scholarly and studious examination of one of the most nebulous, yet universally visceral human topics: comedy. What is comedy, and how does it truly work? Drawing upon sources from a wide variety of languages and eras, The Idea of Comedy explores a diversity of different theories of comedy. From classical renaissance takes on comedy, to the emergent populist theory of late modernist conception, to postmodern ideas of comedic theory, The Idea of Comedy appraises and compares perceptions of what constitutes true humor. "Comedy... has always been considered the artistic mode of error. Error has ranged from ludicrous blunder in Menander to cognitive dissonance in Glasgow. Generally speaking, the concept of error requires another concept of non-error (as accuracy, truth, decorum, and so on). It is not necessarily the case that the latter must be a 'standard' or a 'norm.'" A welcome addition to philosophical discourses about the subtleties of human socialization and entertainment.

Facing Death
F. David Martin
Bucknell University Press
c/o Associated University Press
2010 Eastpark Blvd., Cranbury, NJ 08512
9780838756416 www.bucknell.edu 1-609-655-4770

Award-winning university teacher F. David Martin presents Facing Death: Theme and Variations, a straightforward philosophical look at the harsh reality of death and the search for meaning each of us would wrest from life before, in spite of, or because of its coming end. Chapters reflect upon human loneliness, suicide and assisted suicide, and offer passing insight into the roles that religion and spirituality have in the paradox of seeking meaning amid mortality. A scholarly and erudite treatise about the most universal of common denominators. "Death for me is the most mysterious of events. When death is sung in a line that is beautiful in its sound, an aura of strangeness expresses something of the majestic mystery. And death is closure. Without that sense of impending ending, form is weakened, and without form there can be no beauty. Form evolves from form, as with Haydn to Mozart to Beethoven to Brahms."


The Religion/Spirituality Shelf

Ancient Gnosticism
Birger A. Pearson
Fortress Press
c/o Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
PO Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1209
9780800632588, $25.00 www.fortresspress.com

Written by Gnosticism expert Birger A. Pearson (Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, University of California Santa Barbara), Ancient Gnosticism: Traditions and Literature is an overview of all primary literary evidence for ancient Gnosticism, offering a crystal clear introduction to each writing, including the recently published "Gospel of Judas". Chapters cover the classic schools of Christian Gnosticism, Hermetic Gnosis, Manicheism, and the Mandaeans. Chapters are keyed to standard translations of Gnostic writings, including "The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The International Edition" edited by Marvin W. Meyer, for easy cross-reference. Maps and recommendations for further reading round out this comprehensive introduction to who the Gnostics were and what they believed, accessible to religious scholars and lay readers alike.

The Sovereign Soul
Phillip Gowins
New Paradigm Books
22491 Vistawood Way, Boca Raton, FL 33428
9781892138101, $16.95 www.newpara.com

Author Phillip Gowins, a teacher in the Sufi Order in the West, presents The Sovereign Soul, an homage and introduction to the mystical path of the 1,500-year-old spiritual tradition of Sufism. Blending elements of personal memoir, history, and philosophy into its presentation, The Sovereign Soul discusses how to get oneself on the path, exercise spiritual creativity, embrace love and sacrifice, prepare oneself for death, and much more. An inspirational tour de force of the wisdom inherent within Sufi teachings.

Everything You Know About God Is Wrong
Russ Kick, editor
The Disinformation Company, Ltd.
220 East 23rd Street, Suite 500, New York, NY 10010
9781932857597, $24.95 www.disinfo.com

Everything You Know About God Is Wrong is a crushing indictment of popular misconceptions about religious belief. Composed of a wide variety of articles, each by a different author and attacking a different "sacred cow", Everything You Know About Religion denounces hypocrisies, outright criminal behavior perpetrated in the name of religion, horrific statements from the Bible and more. While some articles are written by freethinkers or nonbelievers and reveal a decidedly atheistic perspective, others are by believers seeking reform, justice, or a better understanding of various negative aspects of different religions. Indeed, the introduction remarks that "no contributor necessarily agrees with the other contributors... inclusion is not an indication of collusion." The articles range from "Sandman" author Neil Gaiman's graphically illustrated, adults-only comic of the soul-destroying Biblical story of Judges chapter 19 (in which a host turns over his daughter and his guest's concubine to be gang raped and murdered, in order to protect the guest); to the under reported tale of Magdalene Asylums run by the Irish Catholic Church that used women for profitable slave labor, for alleged prostitution or adultery, being victims of rape, or simply looking too pretty; to the merciless feudal virtual slavery inflicted by the temple theocracy upon the serfs of Buddhist Tibet prior to the Chinese occupation (runaway serfs would often be blinded, have their noses or tongues cut off, or be amputated); the story of a man who believes in Judaism and his struggle to engage in a public dialogue about Judaism and Israel, only to be shut out by Institutional Judaism; and much more. Highly recommended

Awakening into Oneness
Arjuna Ardagh
Publicity Department
Sounds True
413 South Arthur Avenue, Louisville, CO 80027
9781591795735, $24.95 www.soundstrue.com 1-800-333-9185

Founder of the Living Essence Foundation Arjuna Ardagh presents Awakening into Oneness: The Power of Blessing in the Evolution of Consciousness, an introduction to the Oneness Blessing, a movement based around the profound experience of a transfer of energy scientifically shown to alter brain states, and believed to facilitate understanding of universal consciousness. First experienced by mystical children nearly two decades ago, and now studied and explored at Oneness University, the Oneness Blessing and its life-changing effects have prompted the "fastest growing spiritual development in living memory." Chapters of Awakening into Oneness cover the most common effects of the Oneness Blessing such as reduced mental chatter, heightened mental awareness, and the cessation of bad habits; to the five greatest criticisms of the Oneness Blessing movement; to the ability of the Oneness Blessing to heal personal and professional relationships; enlightenment experienced as a form of neurological function; and much more. A life-affirming treatise of spiritual development as well as an in-depth chronicle of the Oneness Blessing movement's teachings and aspirations.


The Health/Medicine Shelf

Energy Tapping For Trauma
Fred P. Gallo
New Harbinger Press
5674 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609
1572245018, $17.95 www.newharbinger.com 1-800-748-6273

'Energy Psychology' is a term that refers to a set of treatment techniques that conceptualize thoughts, feelings, emotions, and other psychological phenomena as manifestations of energy working through the system of the human body. If a psychological phenomenon is causing pain, distress, or a lack of function to an individual, the somatic techniques of energy psychology can work to disrupt the flow of energy causing that phenomenon. One of the principal techniques arising from energy psychology is 'energy tapping' -- a practice similar to acupressure and involves manipulating and tapping certain points along the body's energy meridians to influence psychological events. In "Energy Tapping For Trauma", clinical psychologist Fred P. Gallo presents a concise overview of just how trauma affects people and why certain aspects of traumatic experience can linger as post traumatic stress. Gallo then goes on to apply the technique of energy tapping to alleviating and recovering from acute trauma and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Thoughtful, reasoned, based upon sound research and exceptionally well written, "Energy Tapping For Trauma" is a strongly recommended addition to academic library Medical and Psychology reference collections, as well as being very appropriate and informative for the non-specialist general reader with an interest in treating psychological trauma and post-traumatic stress syndromes.


The Travel Shelf

Virgin Islands
Lynn M. Sullivan
Hunter Publishing
130 Campus Drive, Edison, NJ 08818
9781588436290, $15.99 www.hunterpublishing.com 1-800-255-0343

One of the highly portable and information packed titles in the outstanding 'Pocket Adventure' travel guide series from Hunter Publishing, "Virgin Islands" by Lynn M. Sullivan covers the island destinations of St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix, Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, and the smaller islets. All of the usual guidebook information is compacted into a pocket size, user friendly reference including places to go, what to see, what to do, and where to stay. Enhanced with historical 'infobits', maps, information and advice, "Virgin Islands" is the ideal and recommended trip planner whether traveling on a budget or in luxury, on a day-trip or an extended vacation.


The Cookbook Shelf

Vegetarian Cookbook For Cheese Lovers
Tonya Buell
Cumberland House Publishing
431 Harding Industrial Park Drive, Nashville, TN 37211
1581823460, $16.95 www.cumberlandhouse.com 1-888-439-2665

An impressive culinary compendium of more than 200 meat-free, gourmet quality dishes, the "Vegetarian Cookbook For Cheese Lovers" by vegetarian and free lance author Tonya Buell is packed cover to cover with flavorful, nutritious, 'kitchen cook friendly' vegetarian recipes that have ample protein and calcium. From Calico Cheese Fingers; Golden Mandarin Salad; Pasta and Broccoli with Gorgonzola Sauce; and Easy Cheesy Asparagus; to Mediterranean Potatoes and Artichokes; Stacked Enchiladas Verde; Apple Butter Cookies; Chocolate Cheesecake; and Cherry Cheese Triangles, this is a collection of quality recipes that is a simply wonderful addition to personal, professional, and community library cookbook collections in general, and the vegetarian reference shelf in particular.

In Praise Of Pecans
June Jackson
Bright Sky Press
340 South Second Street, Albany, TX 76430
9781933979007, $24.95 www.brightskypress.com 1-866-933-6133

Culinary expert and cookbook author June Jackson combines personal recollections with superbly presented recipes that showcase the versatility of pecans in all categories of cooking from snacks, appetizers and treats, to salads, entrees, side dishes, baked goods, and condiments. From Smoky Roasted Pecans; Festive Wild Rice-Pecan Salad; Grilled Salmon with Pecan Butter; and Gourmet Roast Duck with Pecan Dressing; to Spinach Manicotti with Smoky Pecans; Comforting Cinnamon Toast with a Pecan Twist; Made-From-Scratch Pecan Waffles; and Lemony Pecan Mayonnaise, "In Praise Of Pecans" is a compendium of more than 100 wonderfully illustrated, mouth-watering, gourmet quality pecan flavored dishes that will please any palate and satisfy any appetite. Thoroughly 'kitchen cook friend', June Jackson's "In Praise Of Pecans" is a very highly praised and recommended addition to personal, professional, and community library cookbook collections!

Enlitened Kosher Cooking
Nechama Cohen
Feldheim Publishers
208 Airport Executive Park, Nanuet, NY 10954
1583308881, $39.95 www.feldheim.com

Expertly compiled by Nechama Cohen (Founder and CEO of The Jewish Diabetes Association), "Enlitened Kosher Cooking" is a beautifully illustrated with full color photography this outstanding culinary compendium of more than 250 superb recipes features sugar free dishes that are characterized by 'good-carb' and 'healthy-fat', making them ideal for diabetics and those who must be concerned with their weight. These thoroughly 'kitchen cook friendly' recipes are grouped into the usual categories of Soups, Salads, Vegetables & Side Dishes, Dairy, Fish, Meat & Poultry, Baking Lite, Pies & Desserts, Snacks & Beverages, and as is especially befitting the Jewish culinary traditions, Passover. From Orange and Fennel Salad; Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers; Tilapia with Vegetable Topping; and Tofu Chopped Liver; to Sweet-and-Sour Beef with Cashews; Cheese and Basil Scones; Strawberry Cream Pie; and Filled Cucumber Cups, "Enlitened Kosher Cooking" offers palate pleasing, appetite satisfying dishes that are appropriate as simple meal time favorites or for celebratory gourmet dining occasions. Enhanced with the addition of invaluable information about good carbs and healthy fats, realistic protio control, serving sizes, appendices to help the novice cook, and ways to avoid the 'hidden barriers' that can undermine weight loss efforts, "Enlitened Kosher Cooking" is an unqualified and enthusiastic recommendation for diabetic, family and community library cookbook collections.

Look Dude, I Can Cook!
Amy Madden
Syren Book Company
5120 Cedar Lake Road, Minneapolis, MN 55416
9780929636788, $16.95 1-800-901-3480

Next to their classroom textbooks, what college kids on their own for the first time need most is a good cookbook. So Amy Madden (a Atlanta travel writer with two college kids of her own) has composed "Look Dude, I Can Cook!: Four years Of College Cooking Made Easy". This compendium of easy to prepare and palate pleasing dishes offers simple but elegant recipes for demanding students, invaluable shortcuts for the time-stressed student, money-saving tips for cash-strapped students. "Look Dude, I Can Cook!" also features lists of essential cooking utensils and pantry items, as well as a glossary of cooking terms. From Strawberry Shortcakes; Dilled Potato Salad; Decadent Chocolate Brownies; and Tofu Stir-Fry; to Easy Quiche Lorraine; Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Lemon Cream and Chives; Grilled Pork Kabobs with Chimichurri Sauce; and Goat Cheese Scalloped Potatoes, the recipes comprising this outstanding, thoroughly 'user friendly', and thoroughly nutritious cookbook, is guaranteed to enhance the culinary quality of college life.

New England Summertime Cooking
Sherri Eldridge
Harvest Hill Press
PO Box 55, Salisbury Cove, ME 04672
9781886862524, $19.95 www.harvesthillpress.com

In "New England Summertime Cooking", Sherri Eldridge (a veteran author of more than forty regional and topical cookbooks) showcases New England recipes and culinary traditions with its emphasis on seafood, new-world produce, and Yankee practicality. The focus is on classic menus featuring hearty-healthy recipes prepared in fresh and flavorful styles. More than 150 recipes are enhanced with nutritional analyses and adhere to American heart Association guidelines. Wonderfully illustrated throughout with color photography and featuring delicious low-fat recipes that range from Whole Grain Hotcakes; Lobster Quiche Tarts; Rainbow Pepper Pasta Salad; and Hearty Vegetable Minestrone; to Oyster Stew; Herbed Cauliflower; Blackberry Calfouti; and Lemon Cheesecake with Blueberry Topping, "New England Summertime Cooking" is a welcome and prized addition to any personal or community cookbook collection.

Gluten-Free Quick & Easy
Carol Fenster
Avery
c/o The Penguin Group
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
9781583332788, $18.95 www.us.penguingroup.com 1-800-847-5515

The numbers of people who, because of allergies and other health considerations, must adhere to a gluten-free diet is numbered in the hundreds of thousands and growing dramatically every year. "Gluten-Free Quick & Easy: From Prep To Plate Without The Fuss -- 200 Recipes For People With Food Sensitivities" by Carol Fenster (author of five especial diet cookbooks and an acclaimed wheat-free and gluten-free culinary expert) is specifically for just such people and their families. In addition to compiling 'kitchen cook friendly' recipes for gluten intolerant people, "Gluten-Free Quick & Easy" offers shortcuts, tips, and time-saving techniques for the preparation of gluten free dishes for all dining occasions including breakfast, lunch, and dinner. From Chicken Pot Pie; Orange Beef Stir-Fry; Monte Cristo Sandwiches; and Pork Carnitas Slow-Cooker Style; to Smoked Salmon Quesadillas; Banana Bread; Baked Eggs in Ham Baskets; Potato-Leek Soup with Kielbasa; and Cranberry-Apple Crisp, "Gluten-Free Quick & Easy" is proof that being gluten-free doesn't mean giving up gourmet quality dining. Beginning with sage advice on living gluten free, to wonderful do-it-yourself recipes, to informed and informative information about gluten-free grains, substitutes for wheat as a thickener, baking with dairy substitutes, associations and resources, even mail order and online sources for gluten-free ingredients and products, "Gluten-Free Quick & Easy" is an essential, core, culinary reference for the kitchen cookbook shelf of everyone and anyone who must maintain a gluten free diet.

Dominique's Tropical Latitudes
Dominique Macquet & John Demers
Bright Sky Press
340 South Second Street, Albany, TX 76430
9781933979014, $29.95 www.brightskypress.com 1-866-933-6133

Co-authored by Dominique Macquet (chef-partner of Dominique's in the Hotel Maison Dupuy in the New Orleans French Quarter) and culinary authority John Demers, the focused theme of "Dominique's Tropical Latitudes" are 115 superbly crafted recipes drawn from tropical cultures and countries from around the world. Superbly illustrated with more than ninety-five color photographs of completed dishes, the step-by-step and thoroughly 'kitchen cook friendly' recipes range from Salmon-Crabmeat Roses with Horseradish Creme Fraiche; Peri-Peri Grilled Shrimp Caesar Salad; Oxtail and Pigeon Pea Soup; and Balinese Satay; to Beef Medallions with Rum-Butter Mushroom Sauce; Aromatic Basmati Rice; Chocolate Glazed Papaya Cake; and Nonalcoholic Tropical Punch. Of special note is the little 'info blocks' offering the latitude and longitude degrees for the various dishes. An exotic addition to any personal, professional, or community library cookbook reference collection, "Dominique's Tropical Latitudes" is particularly recommended for anyone wanting to add a 'touch of the tropics' to a particularly celebratory dining occasion.

Upper Crusts
Sheilah Kaufman
Capital Books, Inc.
c/o International Publishers Marketing
22841 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166
9781933102399, $20.00 www.capital-books.com 1-800-758-3756

Bread is not only the 'Staff of Life', it is a versatile element that is a part of the daily fare millions of families all over the world. "Upper Crusts: Fabulous Ways To use Bread" is an enthusiastically recommended specialty cookbook by Sheilah Kaufman that showcases a culinary compendium of step-by-step recipes that use bread in the making of appetizers, soups, salads, main courses, desserts, and more. From Cabbage Strudel; Bread and Garlic Soup a la Taberna del Alabardero; Snappy Bread Pudding; and Mock Cheesecakes; to Pesto Bread Pudding Souffle; White Chocolate Sundried Cherry Bread Pudding with Raspberry Coulis; French Toast Sandwich Surprise; and Chickpeas with Toasted Bread and Hummus, "Upper Crust" features gourmet quality recipes suitable for all family dining occasions.

Wild Bounty Cookbook
Jim Casada & Ann Casada
Sterling Publishing Company
387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016-8810
9781581593167, $14.95 www.sterlingpublishing.com 1-800-805-5489

Compiled and presented by Jim and Ann Casada, "Wild Bounty Cookbook: Simple & Savory Game Cooking" will enable even the most novice kitchen cook to ably prepare delicious dishes using game animals including deer, wild turkey, upland birds, waterfowl, rabbits, and more. Step-by-step illustrated instructions are given for the proper preparation of venison, poultry, and upland game. Of special note are the chapters devoted to 'Soups, Stews & Chili' and 'Feasts & Flavors from Nature's Garden. From Mustard Fried Venison Steaks; Bacon Mushroom Swiss Meat Loaf; Basil Turkey Quesadilla; and Roasted Grouse; to Smothered Rabbit; Baked Duck Breasts; Mushroom Stuffed Goose; and Wild Berry Cobbler, "Wild Bounty Cookbook" clearly lives up to its title and is a confidently recommended addition to family and community library cookbook collections.


The Railroading Shelf

The Hiawatha Story
Jim Scribbins
University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290, Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520
9780816650033, $29.95 www.upress.umn.edu

Profusely illustrated with historic black-and-white photography, "The Hiawatha Story" by railroading enthusiast Jim Scribbins provides other railroading fans with an impressively informative pictorial history of the Midwestern railroad that ran from Chicago, Illinois to the Twin Cities of Minnesota. Beginning as a single experimental coach and evolving into a full fledge railroad fleet, the Hiawatha became a kind of railroading legend with its radical streamlined look and industrial design. From 1935 to 1970 the Hiawatha was an integral part of American railroading. A work of seminal scholarship and very highly recommended for academic library Railroading History reference collections, as well as engaging and entertaining reading for railroading enthusiasts, Jim Scribbin's "The Hiawatha Story" is an informed and informative account of those golden yesteryears of a truly great American fleet and system.


The Woodworking Shelf

The Woodturners FAQ Book
Fred Holder
Linden Publishing
2006 South Mary, Fresno, CA 93721
9780941936941, $19.95 www.lindenpub.com 1-800-345-4447

Written and designed by woodworking expert Fred Holder for the novice woodworker, "The Woodturners FAQ Book" is an illustrated instruction guide that covers all of the basic information needed for the beginning woodturner including what tools and chucks are needed, what the differences between lathes and tools are, which accessories are most useful, how to sharpen, and which wood to use. "The Woodturners FAQ Book" is presented to the aspiring woodworker in a 'user friendly' question-and-answer format. Of special note is the section devoted to beginning projects for the turner, along with helpful finishing information. No personal, school wood shop. or community library woodworking reference collection can be considered complete or comprehensive without the inclusion of Fred Holder's "The Woodturners FAQ Book".


The Art Shelf

Van Gogh Paintings: The Masterpieces
Belinda Thomson
Thames & Hudson, Inc.
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110-0017
9780500238387, $45.00 www.thamesandhudsonusa.com 1-800-233-4830

Superbly enhanced with the inclusion of more than 170 beautifully reproduced color illustrations, "Van Gogh Paintings: The Masterpieces" by Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art expert Belinda Thomson showcases what are commonly acknowledged as the best works ever created by Van Gogh during his brief but brilliant career as an artist. While many of the works represented and discussed are drawn from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, there are also some lesser known examples drawn from other sources as well. "Van Gogh Paintings: The Masterpieces" also provides the reader with background information about the master painter, his engagements with his artistic peers of the day, his frequent periods of isolation, as well as his dealings with family and friends. "Van Gogh Paintings: The Masterpieces" is a deftly written and presented work of impeccable scholarship that is enthusiastically recommended for personal, academic, and community library Art History reference collections in general, and Van Gogh Studies supplemental reading lists in particular.

William Christenberry's Black Belt
William Christenberry
The University of Alabama Press
PO Box 870380, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0380
9780817315672, $25.00 www.uapress.ua.edu 1-800-621-2736

William Christenberry is a popular American artist and a master of such diverse media of expression as photography, pen-and-ink drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, and miniaturization. "William Christenberry's Black Belt" is a collection of his work exploring such universal themes as family, culture, nature, spirituality, memory, and aging. Here are to be found artistically rendered images of building structures (some of which no longer exist) and other physical and culturally elements of the Black Belt counties of Alabama. "William Christenberry's Black Belt" is a superbly produced and presented compendium of works by a master artist and as such is a strongly recommended addition to academic library 20th Century American Art History reference collections.

Manhood, Marriage, and Mischief
Harry Berger, Jr.
Fordham University Press
2546 Belmont Avenue, University Box L, Bronx, NY 10458-5172
9780823225576, $30.00 www.fordhampress.com 1-800-247-6553

Written by Harry Berger, Jr. (Professor Emeritus of Literature and Art History, Univ. of California Santa Cruz), Manhood, Marriage, and Mischief: Rembrandt's 'Night Watch' and Other Dutch Group Portraits is an in-depth study of the theory and practice of seventeenth-century Dutch group portraits. Illustrated with black-and-white representations of classic Dutch paintings, as well as a handful of inset color plates, Manhood, Marriage, and Mischief examines what the portraits have to say given the context of their times. In particular, since a number of the group portraits are of militia members, Manhood, Marriage, and Mischief delves into what the portraits reveal of Dutch militias - and what they conceal or fancify. Chapters discuss "Male Bondage and the Military Imperative", "Picturing Family Values", "Disaggregation as Class Conflict" and much more. Especial focus is placed upon the subtexts and subtleties of Rembrandt's enduring painting 'Night Watch', in this thoughtful and expressive critique.

Astonishing Women Artists
Heather Ball
Second Story Press
20 Maud Street, Suite 401, Toronto, ON, M5V 2M5
9781897187234, $10.95 www.secondstorypress.ca

Centennial College's first-ever Writer of the Year, Heather Ball presents Astonishing Women Artists, a collected profile of ten renowned women artists from the 16th century to the present day. Written for young adults and teen readers, Astonishing Women Artists covers Emily Carr, who lived among the Haida Indians of the West Coast; Georgia O'Keeffe, known for her creations that wrought beauty amid the desert; Frida Kahlo, the painter who became known as the "Soul of Mexico"; and many more. Black-and-white photographs and illustrations of classic artworks round out this engaging addition to the Women's Hall of Fame Series, especially recommended for high school and public library collections.


The Education Shelf

Read! Move! Learn!
Caroly Totsky Hammet & Nick Collins Geigert
Gryphon House Books
PO Box 207, Beltsville, MD 20704
087659058X, $19.95 www.ghbooks.com 1-800-638-0928

Ably co-authored by Caroly Totsky Hammet (Elementary School Principle, Bend, Oregon) and physical education specialist Nick Collins Geigert, "Read! Move! Learn!: Active Stories For Active Learning" features more than 150 active literacy learning experiences based on more than 65 popular children's books. Each selection includes two or three activities specifically support a particular book's storyline and characters, with the accompanying physical activities are designed to enhance the development of basic motor skills as jumping and skipping, as well as dramatic play skills. Each activity also includes the lesson's objective, a vocabulary list, and a concept list. Thoroughly 'kid friendly' and classroom compatible, "Read! Move! Learn!" is a unique guide and enthusiastically recommended as a supplemental addition to elementary school physical education and classroom instruction curriculum materials.

Making the Most of Small Groups Differentiation for All
Debbie Diller
Stenhouse Publishers
480 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101-3400
9781571104311, $22.00 www.stenhouse.com 1-800-988-9812

Educator Debbie Diller reveals her thirty years of experience as an educator, including classroom teaching of children in grades PreK-10 as well as teaching in small groups and independent work, in Making the Most of Small Groups: Differentiation for All, a practical guide to the teacher's role in small-group instruction. An in-depth resource packed with tips, tricks, and techniques, Making the Most of Small Groups particularly focuses upon instructing small groups in the five essential reading elements: comprehension, fluency, phonemic awareness, phonics, and vocabulary. Packed with tips, tricks, and techniques for organizing one's time and space as well as the nuts and bolts of teaching, and rounded out with black-and-white photographs, sample lesson plans, reflection questions for professional conversations, references, and much more, Making the Most of Small Groups is an invaluable guide for reading teachers of young students everywhere.

Math In Minutes
Sharon MacDonald
Gryphon House
PO Box 207, Beltsville, MD 20704
9780876590577, $19.95 www.ghbooks.com 1-800-638-0928

A compendium of 150 math activities specifically designed for children ages 4 to 8, "Math In Minutes" by Sharon Macdonald is a highly recommended addition to any preschool, elementary school, and home-schooling curriculum to introduce children to basic mathematical concepts and skills. MacDonald draws upon her more than fifteen years of experience and expertise training classroom teachers to create this compilation of math exercises and activities, each of which is in full compliance with the standards of The National council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Thoroughly 'kid friendly', "Math In Minutes" is an excellent tool for teaching mathematical literacy including number sense and numeration, computation and estimation; measurement, time, and money; geometry and spatial sense; sorting, classifying, graphing, data analysis, and probability; patters and number relationships; as well as problem solving and reasoning. Of special note is the final chapter 'Putting It All Together: A Pizza Unit of Study', as well as the extended glossary, appendices, and indexes.

Super Smart Science
Colleen Kessler
Prufrock Press
PO Box 8813, Waco, TX 76714-8813
9781593632137, $17.95 www.prufrock.com 1-800-998-2208

Written by Colleen Kessler, a gifted intervention specialist for students in grades 2 and 3, Super Smart Science: 180 Days of Warm-Ups and Challenging Activities is a compendium of educational activities to inspire students in science, home schooling, or simply while spending quality time. Activities are designed to encourage critical thinking, and range from simple story problems for discussion ("Cindy's rear-wheel drive pick-up truck is stuck in the snow. She has a few concrete blocks loaded in the back but is not sure where should she place them for maximum weight and traction the rear tires. Where should she place the blocks?") to using a glass jar, straw, and clay to demonstrate air pressure, to making a simple compass and much more. Each day's activity includes an inspirational thought for the day ("A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." -Walter Bagehot) and a cool fact ("The loud bang you hear when a balloon is popped is not due to pressure. Rather, it is because the tightly stretched ends of the torn latex snap back to their original size faster than the speed of sound.") The author's publisher's permission to reproduce student activity pages for classroom use only is included with the purchase of Super Smart Science. A valuable and enthusiastically recommended supplement for grade school science and home schooling curriculums.

Helping Students Overcome Substance Abuse
Jason J. Burrow-Sanchez & Leanne S. Hawken
Guilford Publications, Inc.
72 Spring Street , New York, NY 10012
9781593854546, $30.00 www.guilford.com 1-800-365-7006

Co-authored by academicians Jason J. Burrow-Sanchez (Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City) and Leanne S. Hawken (Assistant Professor, Department of Special Education, University of Utah, Salt Lake City), and the newest addition to 'The Guilford Practical Intervention in the Schools' series, "Helping Students Overcome Substance Abuse: Effective Practices For Prevention And Intervention" was specifically designed to assist teachers, counselors, and school administrators to recognize and help their students deal with addiction and abuse of a variety of commonly encountered drugs ranging from alcohol and prescription medications, to marijuana, cocaine, speed, and heroin. Of special note are the extensive sections devoted to individual and group counseling, as well as consultation and referrals. "Helping Students Overcome Substance Abuse" is an important and strongly recommended reading for anyone in a public or private school setting having to deal with substance abuse issues among their students and their student's families.


The Business Shelf

Smarter, Faster, Better
Karlin Sloan
Jossey-Bass, Inc.
989 Market Street, 5th floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741
C.S. Lewis & Company (publicity)
196 Van Dale Road, Woodstock, NY 12498
0787982687, $24.95 www.josseybass.com 1-800-225-5945

In "Smarter, Faster, Better: Strategies For Effective, Enduring, And Fulfilled Leadership", author Karlin Sloan draws upon her many years of experience and expertise as an executive coach and leadership consultant to reveal what she calls the 'paradoxical truths' of leadership in the 21st Century. These can be summed as: 'To be smarter you, you must ask more questions.'; 'To be faster, you must slow down.'; 'To be better, you must focus less on personal gain and more on cooperating with others.' Karlin offers the reader time-tested strategies, self-assessments, case examples, exercises, and an impressively practical variety of tips and techniques to enable anyone charged with leadership responsibilities to gain perspective and self-knowledge, to seize new opportunities, to resolve difficult issues, to boost their organization's sense of purpose and social responsibility, and to improve the quality and success of their own performance as a leader. Very strongly recommended and thoroughly 'user friendly', "Smarter, Faster, Better" will teach aspiring leaders to ask questions that will make them smarter; gain hours of spare work time by slowing way down; manage their energy and keep healthier both on and off the job; tap into multiple intelligence (their own and their employees); energize their work teams; benefit from dynamic, creative, highly charged people; 'Get better with your competition instead of getting better than your competition'; and adding to the bottom line through establishing business practices that contribute to the world in a positive way.

Doing Business With India
Roderick Millar, editor
GMB Publishing
525 South 4th Street, #241, Philadelphia, PA 19147
9781846730221, $171.00 www.globalmarketbriefings.com 1-215-928-9112

Now in a completely rewritten, updated, and expanded second edition, "Doing Business With India: A Guide to Investment Opportunities & Business Practice" under the expert editorship of Roderick Millar (a specialist in personal finance, business start-ups, development economics, and management education) continues to be the definitive instructional guide for any entrepreneur or corporate CEO wanting to do business on the Indian subcontinent. The roster of contributors is nothing short of impressive and includes KPMG, the Confederation of Indian Industry, DTZ Debenham Tie Laung, Maersk Line, the Management Development Institute, the Ministry of Commerce, the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Nasscom, Shilputsi Consultants, Synovate, Titus & Company, and Winning Communications. "Doing Business With India" is a superbly organized instructional guide to India's commercial laws, banking system, accounting practices, and the rules of business engagement in Indian markets. Of special note is the analysis of India's investment climate and the assessment of opportunities for American companies in a vigorous and growing economy. "Doing Business With India" is essential, very strongly recommended reading for anyone considering or actively engaged in outsourcing to India, setting up operations in India, and working with Indian partners to mutual commercial benefit.


The Military Shelf

The Battle of AP BAC Vietnam
David M. Toczek
Naval Institute Press
291 Wood Road, Annapolis, MD 21402
9781591148531, $19.95 www.navalinstitute.org 1-800-233-8764

"The Battle of AP BAC Vietnam" by David M. Toczek (Assistant Professor of History, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York), is aptly subtitled 'They Did Everything But Learn From It'. On January 2, 1963, the South Vietnamese Army (known by the acronym ARVN) and its American advisers were soundly defeated by Viet Cong Guerrilla forces at Ap Bac. A true military disaster, the American military and civilian leadership failed to perceive its significance and continued to pursue the ultimately unsuccessful policy of equipping and training ARVN troops. A military officer, historian, and academician, David Toczek aptly analyzes the AP BAC operation in detail, while properly placing it within the broader context of the Vietnam War. Toczck persuasively contents that American civilian and military leadership missed a vital opportunity to learn from their mistakes, that not even the structure of the American military advisory system was changed. More than just a superbly researched and written history of a battle in a war now more than 40 years ago, "The Battle of AP BAC Vietnam" needs to be read carefully by today's military and civilian leadership as we are once again engaged in combats in Iraq and Afghanistan against urban and rural guerrilla forces. Otherwise the age old axiom of those who fail to understand history are doomed to repeat it.

The Great War: Myth and Memory
Dan Todman
Hambledon Continuum
c/o The Continuum International Publishing Group
80 Maiden Lane, Suite 704, New York, NY 10038
9781852855123, $19.95 www.continuumbooks.com 1-800-561-7704

Former military history teacher and current lecturer in modern British history Dan Todman presents The Great War: Myth and Memory, a close examination of how perceptions of World War I have changed over the past ninety years, arguing that a distorted image of the war - one focusing too heavily upon its miseries - has dominated its understanding in present-day culture. The Great War debunks myths and reveals the astutely professional capabilities of its generals. From questioning the prevalence of mud and donkeys in popular perception of WWI, to examination of primary sources revealing differing views among veterans, The Great War: Myth and Memory is a welcome addition to history shelves for its counterbalance upon the enormous influence popular culture (from comics to war movies) has upon collective historical memory.


The Pets/Wildlife Shelf

Out of the Woods
Ora E. Anderson
Ohio University Press
19 Circle Drive, Athens, OH 45701
9780821417423, $16.95 www.ohiou.edu/oupress 1-800-621-2736

Written by journalist, conservationist, and naturalist Ora E. Anderson, Out of the Woods: A Bird Watcher's Year is a memoir reflecting upon the joys of birdwatching, the majesty of growing old, and the wondrous natural diversity of Appalachia. Wit, gentle humor, and an abiding appreciation for avian life from geese to woodpeckers to songbirds fill this appreciative guide, lovingly illustrated with beautiful black-and-white sketches of feathered friends feeding, migrating, flying, or raising their young. A treasure by a birdwatcher and bird lover, for birdwatchers and bird lovers.

Working Like Dogs
Marcie Davis & Melissa Bunnell
Alpine Publications, Inc.
PO Box 120, Crawford, CO 81415
KSB Promotions (publicity)
55 Honey Creek, NE, Ada, MI 49301
9781577790860, $24.95 www.alpinepub.com 1-800-777-7257

A service animal is not considered to be a pet under The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. This is the federal law that identifies the animal companion of a disabled person to be an essential service provider to anyone with a physical or mental disability which substantially limits one or more major life functions. There is a current estimation of about 40,000 service dogs living and working with their human partners in America today. "Working Like Dogs: The Service Dog Guidebook" provides basic information on everything from how and where to apply for a service dog, to the daily care and health concerns associated with having a service dog, to dealing with the death of a beloved canine companion whose services where integral in the daily life of their human partner. Profusely illustrated with full color photography and enhanced with stories from service dog recipients, "Working Like A Dog" will provide insights as well as information about what it is like to be a part of a truly amazing, effective, and essential symbiotic relationship. Simply stated, "Working Like A Dog" is essential reading for anyone contemplating a service dog for themselves or a loved one.

Homalopsid Snakes
John C. Murphy
Krieger Publishing Company
PO Box 9542, Melbourne, FL 32902-9542
9781575242590, $68.50 www.krieger-publishing.com 1-800-724-0025

Research associate of Chicago's Field Museum John C. Murphy presents Homalopsid Snakes, a field guide to the aquatic, rear-fanged snakes native to freshwater, brackish water, and marine environments ranging from Pakistan's Indus River to snake-populous Indochinese Peninsula to Queensland, Australia. Black-and-white diagrams, photographs in both black-and-white and color, and maps illustrate this excellent reference and resource for herpetologists, students, and curious lay readers alike. Chapters offer a brief overview of the ecology, reproduction, biogeography, and other aspects of homalopsids as well as the current state of conservation efforts (especially when homalopsids are sometimes harvested for protein, to be eaten by humans or farm-raised crocodiles), though the bulk of Homalopsid Snakes consists of species-by-species profiles. A top-quality addition to herpetology and college library reference shelves. Also very highly recommended for academic and community library reference collections is John C. Murphy's newly published "Herpetological History Of The Zoo And Aquarium World" (Krieger Publishing Company, 1575242850, $79.50).

The Most Important Fish in the Sea
H. Bruce Franklin
Island Press
1718 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20009-1148
9781597261241, $25.00 www.islandpress.org 1-800-828-1302

Written by H. Bruce Franklin (Professor of English and American Studies, Rutgers University-Newark), The Most Important Fish in the Sea is the true story the menhaden - a small, unappetizing fish harvested for its omega protein used in everything from animal feed and oil to linoleum and lipstick. Yet the once abundant menhaden has become increasingly threatened; as its numbers dwindle, bigger fish and birds dependent upon them starve, and seas and bays they filter becoming increasingly choked with toxic algae. Today one small company, Omega Protein, insists on its right to kill as many menhaden as it wishes, while millions of environmentalists, recreational anglers, and commercial fishermen seek to contest this unnecessary and dangerous attack upon the aquatic environment. A riveting cautionary tale about the potential catastrophe that could be unleashed should a small fish hardly anyone in America knows about go extinct.

The Butterflies And Moths Of Northern Ireland
Robert Thompson & Brian Nelson
Blackstaff Press Ltd.
c/o Dufour Editions, Inc.
PO Box 7, Chester Springs, PA 19425-0007
9780900761478, $64.95 www.dufoureditions.com 1-800-869-5677

The collaborative work of natural history expert Robert Thompson and entomologist Brian Nelson, "The Butterflies And Moths Of Northern Ireland" is a 440-page compendium of information that provides the reader with a complete and comprehensive description of all of the butterflies and moths that are to be found in the northern provinces of Ireland. Profusely and beautifully illustrated, "The Butterflies And Moths Of Northern Ireland" identifies the various species, describes their habitats, their distribution, their status, their flight periods, and even recommends the best way to study them in the field. Enhanced with conservation information, a thoroughly 'reader friendly' text, and an historical survey of naturalists who have built up our knowledge base of the Lepidoptera of Northern Ireland, "The Butterflies And Moths Of Northern Ireland" is an ideal reference and very highly recommended instruction guide for students and academia, as well as non-specialist general readers with an interest in butterflies and moths.

Fifty Uncommon Birds Of The Upper Midwest
Nancy Overcott & Dana Gardner
University of Iowa Press
100 Kuhl House, 119 West Park Road, Iowa City, IA 52242-1000
1587295903, $34.95 www.uiowapress.org 1-800-621-2736

Nancy Overcott's informed and informative text is accompanied by fifty superbly created watercolor paintings by Dana Gardner celebrating fifty extraordinary birds that are becoming increasingly rare in the states of America's Upper Midwest because of dwindling populations due to such issues as climate change, environmental degradation, and loss of habitat. From the Hooded Merganser; the White-Faced Ibis; the Whooping Crane; and the Acadian Flycatcher; to the Blue-Winged Warbler; the Yellow-Breasted Chat; the Snow Bunting; and the Evening Grosbeak, "Fifty Uncommon Birds Of The Upper Midwest" is an engaging and superbly presented compendium that is as much fun to browse through as it is educationally informative. A work of truly impressive scholarship and artistic talent, "Fifty Uncommon Birds Of The Upper Midwest" is strongly recommended for personal, academic, and community library Aviary Studies, Bird Watcher, and Pets/Wildlife reference collections.


The International Studies Shelf

Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
Leo Schelbert
The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
4501 Forbes Blvd., Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706
9780810849310, $105.00 www.scarecrowpress.com 1-800-462-6420

Leo Schelbert (Professor of History emeritus, University of Illinois at Chicago) presents Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, a solid reference and resource packed with alphabetical entries pertaining to the history, geography, culture, and notable people of the Swiss Confederation. Entries span the gamut from Agrarian Revolution (a period in the mid-18th to late 19th century in which Swiss Mittelland agricultural production rose drastically) to Zurich (Switzerland's largest city). Entries can span multiple pages in length, and are supplemented by a thorough chronology, ten appendices, an extensive introduction concerning the proud nation of Switzerland, and much more. Highly recommended for library and international studies reference shelves.

Russia's Revolution
Leon Aron
American Enterprise Institute
1150 - 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036
9780844742427, $25.00 www.aei.org

Auther Leon Aron (resident scholar and director of Russian studies, American Enterprise Institute) presents Russia's Revolution: Essays 1989-2006, an in-depth history, examination, and critique of the transformations that have beset Russian government and society in modern history. From the birth of a new business ethic, to the tragedy of the wars in Chechnya, to the tenacity of the draft despite public's bitter opposition (and Russia's grim history of conscripting soldiers, training and equipping them poorly while subjecting them to brutal horrors and flagrant incompetence of the higher levels of command), and the darker side of the "Putin Restoration" that threatens to reverse the progress that has been made, Russia's Revolution as guarded in its outlook for the future as it is thorough in its analysis. An absolute "must-read" for students and scholars of modern Russian history, and enthusiastically recommended for public and college library shelves.

Building a New Afghanistan
Robert I. Rotberg, editor
Brookings Institution Press
1775 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20036-2188
9780815775690, $18.95 www.brookings.edu 1-800-275-1447

Building a New Afghanistan offers a host of essays from a diversity of learned contributors discussing the complex problem of rebuilding Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban's severe occupation. Afghanistan today is riddled by security problems connected to poppy growing, opium and heroine production, and drug trafficking; Building a New Afghanistan offers creative and controversial alternatives to the current strategy of "immediate eradication", which has failed to produce satisfactory results. Individual essays include "Rebuilding a Robust Afghan Economy", "Regional Development in Greater Central Asia: The Afghan Pivot", "Responding to the Opium Dilemma", "The place of the Province in Afghanistan's Subnational Governance", and more. An absolute "must-read" for anyone seeking the latest insights, perspective, and possible solutions to Afghanistan's current quagmire. Highly recommended.

Inside Lebanon
Assaf Kfoury, editor
Monthly Review Press
122 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001
9781583671535, $14.95 www.monthlyreview.org 1-800-670-9499

Inside Lebanon: Journey to a Shattered Land with Noam and Carol Chomsky collects the gathered insights of Noam and Carol Chomsky during the course of their visit to Lebanon in May 2006 - only two months before Israel initiated a new military campaign against Lebanon and Palestine. Other experts such as Assaf Kfoury, Irene Gendzier, Hanaday Salman, Rasha Salti, and more also contribute their insights into the troubled region in separate essays. Context from both before and after the 2006 war, as well as background and framework information surround this harsh yet illuminating criticism that denounces cruelties committed by the United States and Israel as thoroughly as it condemns terrorist acts such as the September 11th attacks. "According to Bush, any state that harbors terrorists is a terrorist state and must be treated accordingly. It must be bombed and invaded. It seems to me that Bush is calling for the bombing of the United States. The United States harbors terrorists who are regarded as such by the FBI and the Justice Department. One of the worst is Orlando Bosch, the anti-Castro terrorist accused of about thirty terrorist acts by the FBI, among them the crash of a Cubana Airline plane killing seventy-three people. Bush's father, George Herbert Walker Bush, gave Bosch a presidential pardon. Bosch remained in the United States against the objections of the Justice Department, which regarded him as a national security threat." A sober, serious-minded critique, worthy as the spiritual successor to Thomas Friedman's classic "From Beirut to Jerusalem" (though the political viewpoints of the respective authors are not necessarily congruent). Highly recommended.

The First and Second Declarations of Havana
Mary-Alice Waters, editor
Pathfinder Press
PO Box 162767, Atlanta, GA 30321-2767
9780873488693, $10.00 www.pathfinderpress.com

Now in a newly updated third edition by Pathfinder Press including a new preface, a special twelve-page section of black-and-white photographic plates, glossary, chronology, and index, The First and Second Declarations of Havana reprints two classic speeches first presented by Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro to General Assemblies of Cuban People in 1960 and 1962. The First and Second Declarations of Havana spares no leniency in its ruthless indictments of "imperialist plunder" and "the exploitation of man by man", champions the power of the greater aggregate of laboring humanity, and remains as sharply focused a call to revolutionary struggle today as it was forty-five years ago. A valuable contribution to Cuban history and political rhetoric shelves.


The Science Shelf

How Mathematics Happened
Peter S. Rudman
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, NY 14228-2197
9781591024774, $26.00 www.prometheusbooks.com 1-800-421-0351

Written by Peter S. Rudman (Professor Physics, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology), How Mathematics Happened is explores the history and prehistory of human mathematical discovery. From the different ways Egyptians and Babylonians expressed fractions so that they would almost never be nonterminating fractions, to the evolution of pattern recognition to finger counting to pebble counting, to the underappreciated Mayan mathematics system, to concepts of abstraction and rigor invented by Greek mathematicians such as Pythagoras, Eratosthenes, and Hippasus. An amazing tour of human discovery, illustrated with black-and-white diagrams and punctuated with "fun questions" (with answers) for the reader to solve as well as references and an index, How Mathematics Happened is an engaging read for students, scholars, and laypeople alike.

There Are No Electrons
Kenn Amdahl
Clearwater Publishing Company
PO Box 778, Broomfield, CO 80038-0778
9780962781599, $12.95 www.genealogical.com 1-800-296-6687

There Are No Electrons: Electronics for Earthlings is an engaging and educational introduction to the science of electronics for lay readers. Written in a narrative, storytelling style, There Are No Electrons covers basic electron theory (and why it's the "Easter Bunny" of science), voltage, current, resistance, magnetism, and much more. Written to be accessible to readers of all ages, from high school science students to the fortysomething who wonders how his computer is really powered, There Are No Electrons blends entertainment with solid information into a clear winner. Especially recommended for public and high school library shelves.


The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf

Harvest of Changelings
Warren Rochelle
Golden Gryphon Press
3002 Perkins Road, Urbana, IL 61802
9781930846463, $24.95 www.goldengryphon.com

Harvest of Changelings is a fantastic novel about a single father's efforts to save his half-fairy son. Ben Tyson was an ordinary librarian when he met a Daoine Sidhe woman, Valeria. Valeria's untimely death left Ben ill-prepared when his son Malachi began to manifest his fey powers, but without the control a full-blooded fairy would have. Desperate to help Malachi through a gate to Faerie before these powers kill him, Ben searches for information on where such a gate can be found, but only learns that the next date a gate can be opened is Halloween. Dragon sightings and a resurgence in witchcraft mysteriously appear, even as additional descendants of changelings are also called upon to return home. Yet mysterious, shadowy evil forces in both the mortal and the fey worlds seek to prevent the return of fey kindred; Ben and Malachi are caught up amid the clash of good and evil forces in this enchanting adventure of the bridge between two realities.


The Parenting Shelf

Mothering Multiples
Karen Kerkhoff Gromada
La Leche League International
957 N Plum Grove Road, Schaumburg, IL 60173
9780976896937, $18.95 www.amazon.com

Registered nurse and lactation consultant Karen Kerkhoff Gromada presents the third revised edition of Mothering Multiples: Breastfeeding & Caring for Twins or More!, a thoroughly comprehensive guide for impending mothers of twins, triplets, and other multiple births. Chapters discuss the risks of a multiple pregnancy, how to reduce the risk of complications and carry multiple babies as close to full term as possible, how to cope with breastfeeding challenges, what to do when babies are born prematurely, adjusting to the physical and emotional demands of raising multiple babies, the unique challenge of caring for multiple toddlers, and much more. Black-and-white photographs illustrate this no-nonsense, plain-terms primer, packed with so much valuable information it's a "must-have" for prospective fathers of multiples as well as mothers of multiples. Highly recommended.


The Music Shelf

Black Women and Music
Eileen M. Hayes & Linda F. Williams, editors
University of Illinois Press
1325 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820-6975
9780252074264, $25.00 www.press.uillinois.edu 1-800-545-4703

Black Women and Music: More than the Blues is an anthology of interdisciplinary essays by an eclectic selection of expert authors discussing the experiences of African-American women in a diversity of musical genres throughout history, from classical music to contemporary blues. Essays include "Hip-Hop Soul Divas and Rap Music: Critiquing the Love That Hate Produced," "Black Women Electric Guitarists and Authenticity in the Blues", "Langston Hughes and the Black Female Gospel Voice in the American Musical", "Black Women and 'Women's Music'", and much more. An astutely researched and presented collection, shedding light on the all-too-often overlooked contribution of black women to American music history and modern music performance.

Strange Brew
Christopher Hjort
Jawbone Press
1700 Fourth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710
9781906002008, $29.95 www.jawbonepress.com

"Strange Brew: Eric Clapton & The British Blues Bloom" by rock historian Christopher Hjort is a history of the 1960s British blues music boom in general, and Eric Clapton's stellar music career from 1965 to 1970 in particular. "Strange Brew covers hundreds of gigs, radio and television appearances, recording sessions, discographical information, trivia, contemporary reviews, and first-hand accounts and recollections from ex-band members and fans. Some of the stories will be new information for even the most dedicated Clapton fan, such as the comprehensive account of Clapton's Greek odyssey in 1965 (including the true story of The Glands and Greek band The Juniors, as well as fresh information about John Mayall's recording with Bob Dylan). Here presented in a day-by-day format laced with photographs and memorabilia, the way the musicians behind the British Blues worked together, influenced each other, and helped each other to ever greater musical accomplishments. "Strange Brew" is essential reading for Clapton fans, British Blues music enthusiasts, and academic library 20th Century Music History reference collections.

Santorella Publications, Ltd.
13 Pleasant Avenue, Danvers, MA 01923
www.santorellapublication.com 1-877-600-0049

Santorella Publications is a premier publisher of inexpensive and thoroughly 'user friendly' music scores for students and professionals in every genre of music. Among their newest series is one that particularly stands out for its expert production values. Transcribed from original editions by Craig Stevens, the Santorella series 'Beethoven's Greatest Sonatas' is comprised of six simply outstanding volumes each of which focuses upon a particular sonata by Beethoven, who is universally acknowledged as one of the finest composers in the history of western music. The individual volumes comprising this very strongly recommended series include "Moonlight Sonata" (TS340, $14.95); "Appasionata Sonata" (TS342); "Les Adieux Sonata" (TS344, $14.95); "Sonata Pathetique" (TS341, $14.95); "Waldstein Sonata" (TS343, $14.95); and "Greatest Sonatas Highly Edition" (TS345, $22.95) which includes 128 pages of transcribed originals specifically composed for the piano. Each individual volume is enhanced for the benefit of dedicated music students with an accompany CD featuring an expert performance. Ideal for instruction curriculums, school music departments are well advised to visit the Santorella Publications website for a complete listing of all their available titles.


The True Crime Shelf

Murder on the White Sands
Corey Recko
University of North Texas Press
PO Box 311336, Denton, TX 76203-1336
9781574412246, $24.95 www.unt.edu/untpress

Written by avid Old West historian Corey Recko, Murder on the White Sands: The Disappearance of Albert and Henry Fountain is the true story of murder and scandal that plagued the New Mexico territory in 1896, sparking outrage and delaying its advance toward statehood. When prominent attorney Col. Albert Jennings Fountain and his eight-year-old son Henry disappeared from the White Sands of New Mexico, the cattle thieves they were progressing were presumed the most likely suspects. Evidence pointed toward three sheriff's deputies who had close ties to powerful ex-judge, lawyer, and politician Albert B. Fall. Governor Thornton, desperate for results, appointed Pat Garrett - the man made famous for killing Billy the Kidd fifteen years earlier - as the new sheriff. The hunt to bring justice to Albert and Henry Fountain's alleged killers would span years, and culminate in a bloody shootout followed by a trial rife with intimidation and missing witnesses, and a "not guilty" verdict. Murder on the White Sands delves into the story of the Fountain case and its aftermath, reconstructing what happened to the Fountains and who their killers most likely were. An absorbing contribution to western and New Mexico state history shelves.


The Civil War Shelf

Politics and Culture of the Civil War Era
Daniel McDonough & Kenneth W. Noe
Susquehanna University Press
c/o Associated University Presses
2010 Eastpark Blvd., Cranbury, NJ 08512
9781575911014, $60.00 1-609-655-4770

Politics and Culture of the Civil War Era: Essays in Honor of Robert W. Johannsen is a compilation of scholarly essays by a diversity of learned contributors, in honor of expert Jacksonian and Civil War-era historian Robert W. Johannsen. Topics include "Putting African Americans in the Center of National Political Discourse: The Strange Fate of Popular Sovereignty", "Jackson Men in the Party of Lincoln", "Zachariah Chandler's Role in the Election of Abraham Lincoln in 1864", and much more. Each contribution is meticulously researched with references listed, and an index as well as a reference list of writings by Johannsen himself round out this welcome contribution to Civil War era studies shelves.


The American History Shelf

Three Bold Ventures
Joan C. Brainard & Richard E. Leonard
Beaver's Pond Press
7104 Ohms Lane, Suite 216, Edina, MN 55439-2129
9781592981649, $39.95 www.beaverspondpress.com

A beautifully illustrated history of the community of North Oaks, Minnesota, "Three Bold Ventures" presents the business ventures of three key entrepreneurs in the town's development: Charles Gilfillan, James J. Hill, and Louis W. Hill, Jr. Co-authored by local North Oaks residents Joan Brainard and Richard Leonard, the informed and informative text is enhanced with the inclusion of more than 250 photos and maps presenting a wonderfully visual element to the historical record. Recording North Oaks economic history from 1876 down through decades of the twentieth century, "Three Bold Ventures" is a masterpiece of deftly written local history that is highly recommended reading for academic and community library Minnesota History reference collections and could well serve as a template for similar approaches to regional 19th and 20th century histories of other American villages, towns, and cities.

Reflections of a Mormon Historian
Leonard J. Arrington, author
Reid L. Neilson and Ronald W. Walker, editors
The Arthur H. Clark Company
PO Box 14707, Spokane, WA 99214
9780870623486, $36.95 www.ahclark.com 1-800-842-9286

Reflections of a Mormon Historian is an anthology of essays by Leonard J. Arrington, appointed in 1972 as Mormon Church Historian, the first professional historian to serve in the office. Offering a middle-of-the-road perspective rather than a polarized view of Church history either attacking or defending claims of the faith, Reflections of a Mormon Historian includes the essays "The Search for Truth and Meaning in Mormon History", "Clothe These Bones: The Reconciliation of Faith and History", "The Intellectual Tradition of the Latter-day Saints", and much more. A few black-and-white photographs, an extensive bibliography, an index, a chronology of Arrington's life, a biographical sketch of Arrington by historian Ronald W. Walker, and a tribute by Arrington's daughter round out this comprehensive collection of Arrington's perspectives and overview of Latter-day Saint history. Highly recommended for religious history shelves.

Through Deaf Eyes
Douglas C. Baynton, Jack R. Gannon, Jean Lindquist Borgey
Gallaudet University Press
800 Florida Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002-3695
9781563683473, $40.00 http://gupress.gallaudet.edu 1-800-621-2736

The combined effort of Douglas C. Baynton (Associate Professor of History, University of Iowa), Jack R. Gannon (Curator of the History Through Deaf Eyes exhibition), and Jean Lindquist Borgey (Director of the History Through Deaf Eyes Project, Gallaudet University, Washington, DC), "Through Deaf Eyes: A Photographic History Of An American Community" is the companion volume to an acclaimed PBS television documentary based on a landmark photographic exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution in 2001 celebrating almost 200 years of United States Deaf History. The deaf have been a cultural and linguistic minority in America almost from its inception. The more than 200 photographs, the many quotes, and compelling stories compiled in "Through Deaf Eyes" provides the reader with informed and informative insights into a fascinating and specialized aspect of American history with respect to deaf people in school settings, the workplace, during wartime, the development and impact of American Sign Language, and more. "Through Deaf Eyes" is a superb and appreciated contribution to personal, academic, and community American History reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

Old Trading Posts Of The Four Corners
Richard C. Berkholz
Western Reflections Publishing Company
PO Box 1149, Lake City, CO 81235
193273841X, $16.95 www.westernreflectionspub.com 1-800-993-4490

The trading post was where whites and Native Americans came together to exchange goods, hold meetings to discuss issues of mutual concern, and often served as the origin of what would become towns and cities. Some of them survive and are still operating today. "Old Trading Posts Of The Four Corners: A Guide To Early-Day Trading Posts Established On Or Around The Navajo, Hopi, And Ute Mountain Ute Reservations" by western historian Richard C. Berkholz is the history of these posts from their founding down to the present day. Included in this historical survey is descriptive information on their condition and directions to finding them (some of which are very difficult to locate). Most of those that continue to operate are no longer located in their original quarters or do business in the same way as they did in the 19th century. But there are a few that still occupy original buildings and visitors can get a flavor of what it was like in the Old West. A seminal and informative work of original research, "Old Trading Posts Of The Four Corners" is a welcome addition to personal, academic, and community library American History and Native American Studies reference collections, as well as supplemental reading lists for academia and non-specialist general readers alike..


The Hunting/Fishing Shelf

Universal Fly Tying Guide
Dick Stewart
Alan C. Hood & Company, Inc.
PO Box 775, Chambersburg, PA 17201-0775
9780911469318, $15.00 www.hoodbooks.com 1-888-844-9433

Originally published in 1979, the "Universal Fly Tying Guide" by fly fishing expert Dick Stewart is aptly considered an essential reference for novice anglers wanting to improve their fly fishing performance. Now reprinted for a new generation of fly fishing anglers, the "Universal Fly Tying Guide" once again showcases more than 150 choice, make-them-yourself, fly patterns presented with full color illustration and step-by-step instruction. Very highly recommended for the novice fly fisherman, the "Universal Fly Tying Guide" continues to have much to offer even the more experienced fly fisherman and is an welcome addition to both personal and community library specialized reference collections on fishing.


The Gardening Shelf

Four Seasons Of Orchids
Greg Allikas & Ned Nash
Creative Homeowner
PO Box 38, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458-0038
9781580113519, $24.95 www.creativehomeowner.com 1-800-631-7795

Featuring spectacular full-color photography of each orchid showcased in "Four Seasons Of Orchids", a superbly compiled 256-page compendium of information making this an excellent guide for amateur gardeners and horticultural professionals alike. Of special note for beginning orchid gardeners are the step-by-step potting guides for all the featured orchids from 'Phalaenopsis' to 'Cattleya'. The collaborative work of commercial photographer and orchid grower Greg Allikas and botanist and orchid expert Ned Nash, "Four Seasons Of Orchids" is a welcome and very highly recommended addition to academic library Horticultural Studies, and community library Home Gardening reference collections in general , as well as personal and professional reading lists for growing orchids in particular.

Setup And Care Of Garden Ponds
Terry Anne Barber
T.F.H. Publications
1 TFH Plaza, 3rd & Union Avenue, Neptune City, NJ 07753
9780793837786, $9.95 www.tfh.com 1-800-631-2188

Part of the superbly produced 'Animal Planet & Pet Care Library' series from T.F.H. Publications, "Setup And Care Of Garden Ponds" by Terry Anne Barber is a profusely illustrated, step-by-step instruction guide covering all aspects of creating, planting, stocking, and maintaining a garden pond of any size appropriate for the available terrain. There are many factors involved, including the benefits of garden ponds, determining the desired pond size and shape, choosing and planting garden pond compatible plants, selecting the proper fish and other aquatic animal life for the pond, keeping the water in a pond healthy and avoiding such biohazards as mosquito breeding, and what is necessary to enjoy a garden pond in every season of the year. Thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "Setup And Care Of Garden Ponds" is enthusiastically recommended for anyone contemplating the creation or renewal of a garden pond.

Mushrooms Of The Southeastern United States
Alan E. Bessette, et al.
Syracuse University Press
1600 Jamesville Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13210
081563112X, $95.00 www.SyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu 1-800-365-8929

"Mushrooms Of The Southeastern United States" is the combined and collaborative effort of four outstanding mycologists: Alan E. Bessette (Professor of biology, Utica College, Syracuse University); William C. Roody (Field Biologist, Wildlife Diversity Program, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources); Arleen R. Bessette (Botanical Photographer); and Dail L. Dunaway (Botanical Photographer and expert in the mushroom flora of the southeastern United States). Enhanced with color photographic plates, "Mushrooms Of The Southeastern United States" is organized according to species descriptions ranging from Chanterelles and Allies; to Gilled Mushrooms; to Fungi; and so much more. Enhanced with the inclusion of four appendices on Microscopic Examination of Mushrooms; Chemical Reagents and Mushroom Identification; Classification; and Mycophagy; "Mushrooms Of The Southeastern United States" also includes a glossary, a bibliography of recommended readings, an index to common names, and an index to scientific names. Comprehensive, informative, superbly organized and presented, "Mushrooms Of The Southeastern United States" is a work of impeccable scholarship and very strongly recommended for personal, professional, academic, and community library reference collections and supplemental reading lists.


The Library DVD Shelf

Broadway's Best At Pops
WGBH Boston Video
c/o SSA Public Relations
16027 Ventura Blvd., Suite 206, Encino, CA 91436
DVD $19.95 www.ssapr.com www.amazon.com

The Boston Pops Orchestra under such legendary conductors as Arthur Fiedler, John Williams, and Keith Lockhart is an American musical icon. Now WGBH Boston Video has produced a DVD edition of "Broadway's Best At Pops" showcasing memorable moments enhanced with candid interviews with renowned conductors and Broadway personalities drawn from some 35 years of public television musical history. "Broadway's Best At Pops" features such luminaries as Ethel Merman, Ray Bolger, Kristin Chenoweth, Pearl Baily, Bonnie and John Raitt, Bernadette Peters, Tommy Tune, Carol Channing, Gregory Hines, and dozens of others. Superbly recorded, the DVD format of "Broadway's Best At Pops" has such bonus features as an additional twenty-five minutes of interviews with John Williams, Michael Feinstein, Barbara Cook, and others; printable selections from original Boston Pops Orchestra concert programs, and extended performances not seen on the original television program because of on-air time constraints. with a complete running time of 76 minutes (plus the extra 25 minutes of additional bonus footage), "Broadway's Best At Pops" is a very highly recommended addition to community library DVD collections and a 'must' for the family collections of Boston Pops Orchestra enthusiasts and fans.

Just the Facts: Food Safety
Chef Jonathan Locke
Learning ZoneXPress
PO Box 1022, Owatonna, MN 55060
1571754620, $49.95 www.learningzoneexpress.com 1-888-455-7003

Just the Facts: Food Safety is a DVD intended for high-school students and adults, covering the basics of how to safely prepare food. Expert chef Jonathan Locke teaches viewers how to prevent food-borne illnesses, and engage in proper cleanup and storage, including keeping ingredients clean, separated, and thoroughly cooked or chilled. Enthusiastically recommended for high school classrooms or as a training experience for novice cooks, whether on the job or at home. Closed captioned, 16 minutes, color.

Simple Qigong Exercises
Dr. Jwing-Ming Yang, Ph.D.
YMAA Publications
4354 Washington Street, Roslindale, MA 02131
$29.95 each www.ymaa.com 1-800-669-8892

Two DVDs introduce viewers to easy-to-perform Qigong exercises ideal for practitioners of all backgrounds. Simple Qigong Exercises for Arthritis Relief (9781594390890, $29.95) offers activities to improve the flow of the body's Qi (energy) for health and longevity, and include techniques for "moving meditation" that can be performed standing or sitting. Simple Qigong Exercises for Back Pain Relief (9781594390883, $29.95) includes movements designed to gradually recondition one's entire torso. Hosted by Qigong expert Dr. Jwing-Ming Yang, Ph.D., Simple Qigong Exercises is an excellent introduction to reaping the benefits of a widespread Chinese exercise and health practice.

Jeanette Jenkins: The Hollywood Trainer
Tru Company
c/o 411 Video Information
PO Box 1223, Pebble Beach, CA 93953
DVD $14.99 www.411videoinfo.com www.trucompany.com

Jeanette Jenkins: The Hollywood Trainer is a DVD offering a twenty-one day total body circuit workout in just 30 minutes a day. Hosted by Jeanette Jenkins, founder and president of The Hollywood Trainer and professional trainer to Hollywood stars including Queen Latifah, Christina Applegate, and Carmen Electra. The exercises are designed for any person capable of vigorous activity, and employ hand weights for resistance training in one circuit, as well as offering the fat burning benefits of cardio training in a separate circuit. Designed to work every major muscle group to fatigue, and offering cues to help beginners and advanced exercisers alike to work out to their full potential, Jeanette Jenkins: The Hollywood Trainer is an excellent supplement to any personal weight loss program. 60 minutes, color.

Poof! You're a Magician
Curtis Eugene Lovell II
Magic of Curtis
c/o 411 Video Information
PO Box 1223, Pebble Beach, CA 93953
DVD $19.95 www.411videoinfo.com www.MagicofCurtis.com

Poof! You're a Magician: Learn Magic with Everyday Objects is a DVD guide to learning basic magic tricks that are easy and fun to perform. From changing the color of water to making coins disappear, appearing to read minds and more, Poof! You're a Magician reveals how anyone can teach themselves the methods and showmanship to entertain their friends. Hosted by Curtis Eugene Lovell II, who has challenged such notable figures as magician David Blaine and psychic John Edward to public duels, Poof! You're a Magician is a delight for viewers of all ages. 30 minutes, color.

The Da Vinci Code: The Church Responds...
Janson Media
88 Semmens Road, Harrington Park, NJ 07640
DVD $24.95 www.janson.com

The Da Vinci Code: The Church Responds... is a DVD compiling two documentaries that encompass the Catholic Church's response to the wildly popular novel "The Da Vinci Code" and its movie adaptation. The documentaries are "The Da Vinci Code: A Masterful Deception" and "The Da Vinci Files"; extra features include "The Vatican vs. The Code", "The Mystery of Saint Sulpice", and "Dan Brown, A Nobody in Vinci". The Da Vinci Code: The Church Responds.... addresses directly such questions as "Did Leonardo Da Vinci use his art to reveal secrets about the Holy Grail?" "Were Jesus & Mary Magdalene lovers?" "Is Opus Dei a secret organization with assassins as members?" Vatican officials, historians, and theologians pick apart the flaws in the "Da Vinci Code phenomenon", in this sober rebuttal to popular culture's attacks on Vatican tradition. 60 minutes.

Quantum Mind of God
Philip Gardiner
Reality Films
PO Box 91, Foresthill, CA 95631
DVD $24.95 www.reality-entertainment.com

Quantum Mind of God: Our Questions Are About to be Answered is a DVD assessment of the biggest questions of all: What is the meaning of existence? Is there a god, or a Grand Architect? Does truth exist at all? Best-selling author Philip Gardiner reveals that the answers could lie within the cutting edge of modern quantum science. While the answer may not be what we expect, or reveal the god we have been taught to believe in, Quantum Mind of God is quite literally a mind-expanding viewing experience, and highly recommended for anyone grappling with the truly larger-than-life issues.

Paul Bowles: The Complete Outsider
featuring Allen Ginsberg and Ned Rorem
First Run Features
630 Ninth Avenue, Suite 1213, New York, NY 10036
DVD $24.95 www.firstrunfeatures.com 1-800-229-8575

Paul Bowles: The Complete Outsider is a DVD documentary and biography of influential 20th century novelist Paul Bowles, perhaps best known for writing "The Sheltering Sky". Filmed in Morocco and featuring exclusive interviews with well-known cultural figures Allen Ginsberg and Ned Rorem, Paul Bowles: The Complete Outsider explores Bowles' development as a novelist and composer, his marriage to writer Jane Bowles, and his amorphous sexuality. Bowles himself speaks about his life, writing, music, his use of drugs, and his friends, including W.H. Auden, Tennessee Williams, Aaron Copland, Gertrude Stein, and Ginsberg. Rare archival footage and interviews round out The Complete Outsider as a "must-have" for readers, students, and scholars of Paul Bowles' works.

Discoveries... America: California
Bennett Watt HD Productions
13021 - 244th Avenue SE, Issaquah, WA 98027
1932978550, $24.95 www.bennett-watt.com 1-800-327-2893

Recorded in widescreen digital high definition with Dolby stereo sound, Discoveries... America: California is an amazing look at the unique wonders of a state distinguished by high and low deserts, sunshine-filled beaches, forests of redwood and giant sequoia, a diverse array of proud and colorful cities, and much more. From Sea World Adventure Park to Legoland to Hollywood and more, the dazzling attractions of California that bring in tourists from around the world are showcased. A welcome addition to the Discoveries... America DVD series and a special treat for armchair travelers and prospective California visitors alike.


The Buddhist Studies Shelf

The Ri-Me Philosophy of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great
Ringu Tulku
Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA 02115-4544
1590302869, $35.00 www.shambhala.com 1-800-733-3000

Written by Ringu Tulku, a university professor of Tibetan studies for eighteen years, The Ri-Me Philosophy of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great: A Study of the Buddhist Lineages of Tibet is a straightforward look at the life and works of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great (1813-1899), who worked tirelessly to unify and strengthen the connections between the different lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. The Ri-me movement, as led by Kongtrul and several other Buddhist scholars, sought to mend interscholastic divisions among Buddhism, while at the same time carefully preserving the teachings and customs of the different lineages so that they did not become confused with one another. The Ri-Me Philosophy of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great offers a meticulous survey of the Ri-me movement including its history and philosophy, a biography of meditation master Jamgon Kontrul, and the histories, practices, and views of the major Tibetan Buddhist lineages. A welcome and highly recommended addition to Buddhist studies and religious history shelves.

Chod Practice Manual and Commentary
Thekchok Dorje and Jamgon Kongtrul Lodo Taye, authors
V.V. Lama Lodu Rinpoche, translator
Snow Lion
605 West State Street, PO Box 6483, Ithaca, NY 14850
9781559392679, $16.95 www.snowlionpub.com

Chod Practice Manual and Commentary is an in-depth guide written especially for Chod practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. Written by the Fourteenth Karmapa, Thekchok Dorje (1798-1868) and Jamgon Kongtrul Lodo Taye (1813-1899), a pivotal figure in eastern Tibet's nonsectarian movement, Chod Practice Manual and Commentary is now expertly translated by V.V. Lama Lodu Rinpoche, and its text is presented in three formats under one cover: English translation, original Tibetan, and a phonetic rendition of the original Tibetan. The text itself covers the preliminary steps to Chod practice (such as taking refuge, accumulating merit, and making offerings); actual practice (including transference of consciousness, body mandala, and feast offering); and the concluding stage of practice (dedication, dissolving stage, and carrying on the path). A handful of black-and-white illustrations and diagrams round out this classic and essential manual for students, theologians, and practitioners of Chod.


The Poetry Shelf

The Body is No Machine
Jennifer Perrine
Western Michigan University
1903 W. Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5331
9781930974692, $14.00 www.wmich.edu/newissues

The Body is No Machine is a collection of free-verse poetry revolving around the common questions: What do we value in a body? Who should live and who should die? At times grim in its reflection upon morbid topics, at time contemplative, at times lost in the moment, The Body is No Machine offers raw, real, and gritty emotion straight from the gut to the page. "Couvade Aubade": Again, I wake to the song / of his retching, to the bergamot // and vinegar scent of bile. / He's doubled up on the bathroom tile, // hands cupping his tumescent / belly, the slow rub of his fingers // slipping the skin back and forth / like the flesh of an overripe peach, // caressing it like a breast, / as if it would leak colostrum thick // with extravagance, spill it / onto the floor. When I bend to kiss // him, his mouth hatches a breath / luscious as envy, green with longing.

Nothing Fell Today But Rain
Evan Jones
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
195 Allstate Parkway, Markham, Ontario L3R 4T8
9781550417500, $12.50 www.fitzhenry.com

The debut collection of poetry by teacher Evan Jones, Nothing Fell Today But Rain is an anthology of brief, free-verse poems connected to geography, love, joy, loss, and regret. At times sensually erotic, Nothing Fell Today But Rain evokes unexpected emotions and connections from rivers to highways to city streets and mosquito-strewn lakes. Experimentations of form and meter dot this fresh and original collection. "The Example of Insomnia at 100 km/h": My commentary becomes too precise: / The driver who muttered, car flipping over and scraping along thirty feet of cement, / "That's it for me. I love you all." / And then survived with minor back pains. / As you might guess, it is easy to forget. / But a clumsy lover is a clumsy lover.


The Mystery/Suspense Shelf

The Lady From Buenos Aires
John Lantigua
Arte Publico Press
University of Houston
452 Cullen Performance Hall, Houston, TX 77204-2004
9781558854963, $24.95 www.artepublicopress.com 1-800-633-2783

Award-winning journalist and novelist John Lantigua presents The Lady From Buenos Aires, a mystery novel featuring former Miami Police Department detective Willie Cuesta. Cuesta's latest missing-persons case is far from ordinary - hired by an elegant Argentine woman whose dead sister was a casualty of the ruthless Argentine government, he is told to search for a long-lost niece. The deeper he goes into the case, the more often he encounters shady individuals with ties to Argentina's murderous military dictatorship. A thrilling novel of betrayal, layered plots and horrific secrets.

The Beckoning Door
Mabel Seeley
Afton Historical Society Press
PO Box 100, Afton, MN 55001
9781890434076, $24.00 www.aftonpress.com 1-800-436-8443

First published in 1950, The Beckoning Door is a reprint of Mabel Seeley's classic mystery. Small-town Midwestern woman Cathy Kingman longs to escape the sleepy dwelling of Long Meadow, and resents her cousin Sylvia who seized Cathy's inheritance and broke up her relationship. When Sylvia is murdered, suspicion immediately falls upon Cathy, and to prove her innocence she must find the real killer! Told from Cathy's first-person perspective, The Beckoning Door is at times mysterious, at times heart-pounding, and crafts a net of intrigue that withstands the test of time.


The Language Studies Shelf

100 Games and Activities for the Introductory Foreign Language Classroom
Thierry Boucquey, Ph.D, et. el
Eye On Education
6 Depot Way West, Larchmont, NY 10538
9781596670433, $29.95 www.eyeoneducation.com 1-888-299-5350

100 Games and Activities for the Introductory Foreign Language Classroom offers a wealth of stimulating, enchanting and effective games and activities that students of a foreign language can engage in rather than learning by rote or performing drills. All exercises can be adapted to classes of any foreign language. Each activity lists its central topic for quick reference, the required materials (which are always inexpensive), the lesson objective, instructions, and spare notes. Individual activities range from simulating a catwalk from a fashion show to have students practice the names of articles of clothing, to a silent pantomime game for reviewing vocabulary, to a "total body ball" game for reviewing different body parts by calling out which parts of the body a student is allowed to receive the rubber playground ball with. Especially recommended as a shake-'em-up supplement for teachers of grade school and high school foreign language classes.


The Gaming Shelf

Chess Bitch
Jennifer Shahade
Silman-James Press
3624 Shannon Road, Los Angeles, CA 90027
9781890085094, $24.00

Two-time U.S. Women's Chess Champion Jennifer Shade presents Chess Bitch: Women in the Ultimate Intellectual Sport, a collection of true stories of expert globetrotting female chess players. Assembled from interviews, personal testimonies, and carefully researched profiles, Chess Bitch reveals what it was like for women to break into the male-dominated sport and subculture of chess, the adventure of traveling to matches worldwide, the quirks of talented individual female players, and much more. A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrate this one-of-a-kind, behind-the-scenes tell-all enthusiastically recommended for anyone with an interest in the competitive chess scene and the women who take part in it.


The World History Shelf

Scott and Amundsen: Duel in the Ice
Rainer-K. Langner
Haus Publishing
c/o International Publishers Marketing
22841 Quicksilver Drive, Dulles, VA 20166
9781905791088, $24.95 www.internationalpubmarket.com 1-800-758-3756

Literary and theater critic Rainer-K. Langner presents Scott and Amundsen: Duel in the Ice, the amazing and tragic tale of the rivalry between the leaders of the first two Antarctic expeditions to successfully reach the South Pole. Norwegian Roald Amundsen prepared meticulously by learning Polar survival skills from the native peoples of the Arctic; British citizen Captain Robert Falcon Scott had a very different perspective, valuing courage, endurance and immediate improvisation as the lynchpin to surmounting obstacles. Yet in January of 1912, when Scott and his four companions reached the South Pole, they discovered that Amundsen had beaten them by 34 days - and worse, Scott's misjudgments, and lack of knowledge had a cumulatively fatal effect, as his team died during the return journey - only 18 kilometers short of the supply depot that could have saved them. Part history, part dual biography, Scott and Amundsen retraces the journeys of both men thoroughly, reconstructing the final days of Scott's ill fate through his recovered diary. An absorbing slice of history that pays tribute to the courage, daring, and willingness to risk life and limb of both expeditions, while simultaneously dissecting the precise reasons why one team returned alive and triumphant, while the other did not. Highly recommended, especially for public library collections.

Food in Early Modern England
Joan Thirsk
The Continuum International Publishing Group
80 Maiden Lane, Suite 704, New York, NY 10038
185285538X, $85.00 www.continuumbooks.com 1-800-561-7704

Agriculture historian Joan Thirsk presents Food in Early Modern England: Phases, Fads, Fashions 1500-1760, a close scrutiny at the dietary and culinary practices of ordinary people of England five hundred years ago, from the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution. Chapters explore how people of the era talked about the food, what caused changes in eating habits, past food fads and fashions, and how attitudes toward food mirrored cultural changes. Delving deep into printed primary sources for information, Food in Early Modern England discusses how war heightened the importance of the renewed search for food in times of war, how patterns of commerce as well as regional and social patterns affected diets, the role of different specific staples such as bread, meat from farm animals and rabbits, dairy foods, vegetables and herbs, and much more. "Mustard is said to have been used before pepper was imported, and since it thrives to this day, it can be said to have one of the longest recorded histories of any flavouring in England." A welcome and thorough addition to culinary and cultural history shelves.

The Knights of Islam
James Waterson
Greenhill Books
c/o MBI Publishing Company (dist.)
Galtier Plaza, Suite 200, 380 Jackson Street, St. Paul, MN 55101-3885
9781853677342, $39.95 www.mbipublishing.com 1-800-458-0454

Teacher James Waterson presents The Knights of Islam: The Wars of the Mamluks, a historical chronicle of the Mamluks - perhaps the greatest warriors of the Medieval Age. Originally slave soldiers of Islamic masters, they evolved into a fierce independent force with its own warrior caste and culture. They were the first military power to defeat the Mongols; they waged wars against the Crusaders and the Ottomans; they created a unique martial code comparable to Western chivalry or Japanese Bushido; and they ruled Egypt for hundreds of years. The story of Mamluks is one of strategy, betrayal, the long struggle between Christendom and Islam, courage, and the rise and decline of tenaciously formidable warriors. A handful of black-and-white and color plates illustrate this fascinating medieval military history, enthusiastically recommended for library shelves.


The Audiobook Shelf

Tropical Hot Dog Night
Meatball Fulton
ZBS Foundation
174 North River Road, Fort Edward, NJ 12828
1931654352, $22.50 www.zbs.org 1-800-662-3345

"Tropical Hot Dog Night" is a brief yet rousing audiobook in superbly produced and recorded 'Fantastic Voyages of Captain Jack Flanders' series. When Jack Flanders and his crew sail to Key Milagro, an island also known as 'Key Diablo!', an inexplicable fog moves in and absorbs all cover, leaving everyone and everything in black and white. Though the local islanders appear normal by day, at night they dress up in clothes from the 40s and 50s, from slinky dresses to double-breasted suits and trench coats. Only one person knows what's really going on - the mysterious Johnny Seven, whose bookshop sells crime and mystery novels as well as offering black and white film noir for rent. Jack Flanders and his crew find themselves unexpectedly cast as main characters dressed to kill or be killed, in this wry tongue-in-cheek sleuthing adventure. Enhanced with music and sound effects, these full cast production provides the listener with a true 'theatre of the mind' experience and is especially recommended to science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts! 2 CDs, 115 minutes.

Principles of Economics
Professor Peter Navarro
Recorded Books, LLC
270 Skip Jack Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678
9781419339325, $98.75 www.modernscholar.com 1-800-638-1304

Principles of Economics: Business, Banking, Finance, and Your Everyday Life is far more than an audiobook - it's a complete educational course taught by Professor Peter Navarro (University of California-Irvine, Paul Merage School of Business). Covering both macroeconomics and microeconomics, the course syllabus includes the basics of fiscal policy, budget deficits, and monetary policy; how supply, demand, and equilibrium set marketplace prices; the ills of unemployment and inflation; essential elements to understanding consumer behavior; why the government interferes in markets; how rents, wages, and interest rates are set; and much more. A solid grounding in general economic theory and practice as applied business and personal life as well as scholarly study. 14 lectures, 7 CDs.

The Time in Between
David Bergen, author
Michael Hogan & Tricia Collins, narrators
BTC Audio Books
c/o Goose Lane Editions
500 Beverbrook Court, Suite 330, Fredericton, NB, Canada, E3B 5X4
9780864924711, $24.95 www.gooselane.com 1-888-926-8377

Winner of the 2005 Scotiabank Giller prize, The Time in Between is an audiobook novel formerly broadcast on CBC Radio. A tale of the aftermath of the Vietnam War, The Time in Between tells of Charles Boatman as he returns to Vietnam, where he fought nearly thirty years ago as a reluctant and youthful soldier. When he disappears, his daughter Ada and her brother Jon search for him on the streets of DaNang and beyond. As one slim lead after another disappoints both siblings, Ada sinks deeper into hopelessness while Jon becomes enveloped in the urban nightlife to avoid his worst fears. It is Ada who must finally confront and bear the long-kept secret of her father, in this emotional and introspective narrative, aptly read aloud by "Battlestar Galactica" actor Michael Hogan and radio and theatre actress Tricia Collins. 3 CDs, 4 hours, abridged.

The Religion
Tim Willocks, author
Simon Vance, narrator
Audio Renaissance
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
9781427201003, $59.95 www.audiorenaissance.com 1-800-221-7945

Novelist and filmmaker Tim Willocks presents the first book of the Tannhauser Trilogy, The Religion, an unabridged audiobook historical novel set in 1565, amid the Holy War. Suleiman the Magnificent, emperor of the Ottomans, has declared jihad against the Knights of Saint John the Baptist, who call themselves "The Religion". Amid this clash of civilizations, French countess Carla la Penautier seeks passage to Malta to find her son, taken at birth twelve years ago. Saxon adventurer, arms dealer, and soldier of fortune Mattias Tannhauser agrees to aid her on her search - together they must find a boy whose face they have never seen, and rescue him from the raging Holy War. Evocatively narrated by Earphone award-winning speaker Simon Vance, The Religion is an epic to keep the listener at the edge of his or her seat to the very end. 21 CDs, 25.5 hours.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
J. K. Rowling, author
Jim Dale, narrator
Books On Tape, Inc.
400 Hahn, Westminister, MD 21157
9780739360415, $90.00 www.booksontape.com 1-800-541-5525

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the unabridged audiobook conclusion to J.K. Rowling's acclaimed "Harry Potter" fantasy series, about a boy wizard on the verge of manhood who must stake all he has - even his life - to defeat his murderous, virtually immortal archenemy Voldemort. Voldemort and his Death Eater minions have taken over - wizards who are not "pure blooded" are being systematically hunted down and imprisoned or executed. The Magic of Ministry has fallen. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is no longer a safe refuge. Dumbledore, the only wizard Voldemort ever feared, is dead. The one way to end Voldemort's menace is to find and destroy the pieces of his shattered soul - but Voldemort has hidden them well! Harry and his best friends Ron and Hermione must undertake an epic quest that will pit them against the most formidable of foes. Perhaps worse than the quest itself are the lingering secrets that Dumbledore has hidden from Harry. Three powerful magical artifacts, known as the Deathly Hallows, will have a crucial bearing on Harry's quest, but will they be his rescue - or his ruin? A monumental epic and a satisfying conclusion to the wildly popular saga, impressively narrated by Jim Dale. 17 CDs, 21 hours 39 minutes.

Eifelheim
Michael Flynn, author
Anthony Heald, narrator
Blackstone Audiobooks
PO Box 969, Ashland, OR 97520
9781433206115, $72.00 www.BlackstoneAudio.com 1-800-729-2665

Nominated for a Hugo award, Eifelheim is a science fiction audiobook by award-winning author Anthony Heald. As a pair of present-day scientists research the mystery of the disappearance of a small town in Germany in 1349 - just as the Black Death was raging. They uncover clues to what Father Deitrich, a priest of the 1300's village that would one day be called Eifelheim, discovered when an interstellar ship crashed in the forest near his home city. A vivid story of first contact between an advanced civilization and the people of a much more limited era, weaving tragedy, humanity, hope and despair into a tautly created epic. Narrated by Anthony Heald, an actor best known for his role in "The Silence of the Lambs", Eifelheim is a science fiction masterpiece and enthusiastically recommended. 14 CDs, 17 1/2 hours, tracks every three minutes for easy bookmarking.


The Money/Finance Shelf

Living A Balanced Financial Life
Deborah Nayrocker
AMG Publishers
6815 Shallowford Road, Chattanooga, TN 37421
9780899572468, $14.99 www.amgpublishers.com 1-800-266-4977

A part of AMG Publishers' 'Following God' series, "Living A Balanced Financial Life" by financial planning and personal finance management expert Deborah Nayrocker is a compilation of a twelve-week program of specific lessons that approach money management from a distinctively Christian perspective. "Living A Balanced Financial Life" deftly addresses such questions and issues as why some people can go through live with minimal financial concerns, while others are enmeshed in a constant struggle to make ends meet; how we can be protected from indebtedness and enjoy a good live on even on modest incomes by adhering to God's commands as laid out in the Bible, especially the parables and teaching of Jesus. In short, how we can become better, more effective, more efficient, more successful managers of our financial resources through being more observant Christians. "Living A Balanced Financial Life" begins with lessons on our being stewards entrusted by God with what we have, to the choices we can make avoid needless debt, to establishing our life goals, our handling of money, credit, and savings; to becoming content with what we have as believing Christians and contented stewards of God's largesse. Every Christian, regardless of their denominational affiliation, who is struggling with money management issues, should give a careful and considered reading to "Living A Balanced Financial Life".


The Jewelry Shelf

Jewelry Savvy
Cynthia A. Sliwa & Caroline Stanley
Jewls on Jewels, Inc.
PO Box 184, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
9780970340757, $19.99 www.jewelrysavvybook.com

The appreciation of jewelry is a culturally influenced subjective judgment that can vary widely from individual to individual. Nevertheless there are basic principles related to art, image, and adornment. Expertly co-authored by Cynthia A. Sliwa and Caroline Stanley, "Jewelry Savvy: What Every Jewelry Wearer Should Know" combines basic product information about jewelry, about wearing jewelry, and about purchasing and maintaining jewelry that will enable the reader to acquire a discernable degree of sophistication and self-expression. Of special note is the inclusion of a number of 'Savvy Tips' about jewelry. Enhanced with more than one hundred images and illustrations germane to choosing and wearing jewelry, "Jewelry Savvy" is a unique and very highly recommended instructional guide for those who are beginning their own jewelry collections, as well as anyone wanting to get the best value for their investment in jewelry with respect to their appearance no matter their age or the occasion.

Costume Jewelry For Haute Couture
Florence Muller & Patrick Sigal
The Vendome Press
1334 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021
9780865651821, $75.00 www.amazon.com

Expertly co-authored by fashion historian and consultant Florence Muller and haute couture costume jewelry collector Patrick Sigal, "Costume Jewelry For Haute Couture" is a profusely illustrated compendium showcasing dazzling, one-of-a-kind jewelry designed by skilled artisans to complement and adorn individual couture pieces for fashion shows and photo shoots. Representing outstanding examples from Coco Chanle in the 1920s to Yves Saint Laurent in the 1970s, to the creation of Lanvin today, "Costume Jewelry For Haute Couture" highlights some of the greatest jewelry creations by some of the greatest artists the fashion industry has every known, including examples by Balenciaga, Diro, Schiaparelli, Givench, Vionnet, and so many others. Beautiful and informative, "Costume Jewelry For Haute Couture" is enthusiastically recommended for personal, professional, academic, and community library Art
History, Fashion History, and Jewelry reference collections.


The Theatre/Cinema Shelf

Banned in Kansas
Gerald R. Butters, Jr.
University of Missouri Press
2910 LeMone Boulevard, Columbia, MO 65201
9780826217493, $44.95 www.umsystem.edu/upress 1-800-828-1894

Gerald R. Butters, Jr. (Associate Professor of History at Aurora University) presents Banned in Kansas: Motion Picture Censorship 1915-1966. In 1915, Kansas was one of a handful of states that established its own film censorship board. From limiting depictions of sexuality to censoring violence in the 1932 classic "Scarface", the Kansas board controlled what the state's population saw on the silver screen for over fifty years. Banned in Kansas explores the political, social, and economic factors that led to the policy of movie censorship in Kansas, the attitudes of ordinary Kansas citizens toward the censorship, and why censorship continued for so many decades. Banned in Kansas also scrutinizes the daily operations of the film censorship board, and the complexities it encountered with regard to shifting definitions of cultural morality, as well as vagaries of political and legal systems. Black-and-white stills from censored movies illustrate this informed and informative contribution to American cinema history.

Manoel de Oliveira
Randal Johnson
University of Illinois Press
1325 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820-6975
9780252074424, $19.95 www.press.uillinois.edu 1-800-545-4703

Part of the Contemporary Film Directors series, Manoel de Oliveira is an in-depth examination of the cinematic works of the venerable Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira, whose career has spanned seventy-five years and still going. Of especial interest is Oliveira's connection with literary and theatrical texts; his films have ranged the gamut of hybrid cinema from blends that capture the best of both worlds of film and theater, to meldings of fiction and documentary. A handful of black-and-white stills illustrate this revealing and advanced critique, penned by Randal Johnson (Professor of Luso-Brazilian literature, University of California). Interviews with Manoel de Oliveira, a filmography, and an index round out this thoughtful and literate analysis.


The Political Science Shelf

Interventions
Noam Chomsky
City Lights Publishers
261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133
9780872864832, $15.95 www.citylights.com

Philosophy teacher and well-known political commentator Noam Chomsky presents Interventions, a collection of his essays from 2002 to 2006 largely dealing with American foreign policy - especially criticisms of America's war in Iraq, hypocrisies in the American "war against terror", and cautionary tales of past cruelties America has inflicted, such as giving financial aid to the murderous Contras of Nicaragua. "Some observers fear that a U.S. pullout from Iraq would lead to a full-fledged civil war and the country's deterioration. As for the consequences of a withdrawal, we are entitled to our personal judgments, all of them as uninformed and dubious as those of U.S. intelligence. But these judgments do not matter. What matters is what Iraqis think. Or rather, that is what should matter." A biting and insightful account, strictly to the point and passionately argued.


The Psychology Shelf

At the Heart of Matter
J. Gary Sparks
Inner City Books
Box 1271, Station Q, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4T 2P4
9781894574204, $30.00 1-416-927-0355

Author J. Gary Sparks, a Jungian analyst who has studied both religion and the sciences, presents At the Heart of Matter: Synchronicity and Jung's Spiritual Testament, a tour through both the basics of physics (including classical Newtonian principles and modern quantum theory) as well as C.G. Jung's search for the mysterious connection between the physical and the spiritual, as well as selfhood and destiny. Drawing upon the wisdom of three great thinkers - Swiss psychiatrist Jung Nobel Prize-winning physicist Wolfgang Pauli, and analyst-scholar Marie-Louise von Franz - At the Heart of the Matter strives to clarify the phenomenon that is synchronicity, and uncover common ground between the scientific and the spiritual in practicing analytical psychology as part of a holistic approach to help the suffering of patients. "The reason we can know anything about the inner workings of the material world is that there is a coincidence between our own thought-forms and the processes going on in matter. 'To know' means to link up the inner archetypal patterns of the psyche with those that structure the outer world. And 'knowing' first happens in images and emotions before it becomes thoughts and concepts." Especially recommended for library shelves devoted to Jungian psychology and spirituality.


The Library CD Music Shelf

Afriki
Habib Koite & Bamada
Cumbancha
c/o Rock Paper Scissors
216 West Allen Street, Suite 137, Bloomington, IN 47403
CD $15.98 www.rockpaperscissors.biz

The first studio album released by "Africa's musical ambassador" Habib Koite in six years, Afriki is a soothing album embracing traditional rhythms and themes. The Malian Bambara language lyrics touch upon themes vital to Africa today, including the value of facing challenges head-on at home. In Koite's own words, "People here in Africa are willing to risk death trying to leave for Europe or the USA, but they are not willing to take the risk staying to develop something here in Africa." The powerful, positive messages are carried through acoustic sound, including some traditional instruments as polyphonic hunter's horns, the balafon (wooden xylophone), n'goni (Malian lute), and Habib's well-known voice and guitar. A welcome contribution to international music collections.

Maggies Music
PO Box 490, Shady Side, MD 20764
www.maggiesmusic.com

Maggie Sanson is a world class hammered dulcimer player who in addition to faithfully rendering traditional music, is able to combine ancient instruments with contemporary instruments to produce music that is as engaging as it is memorable. Her latest CD album releases will be enthusiastically appreciated by her legions of fans, and will effectively introduce Maggie's musical flair to those not heretofore familiar with her work. "A Celtic Fair" (MM112) showcases the kind of music characteristic of popular Irish Renaissance Fairs. The flawless performances comprising this outstanding album include Scottish Bransle (3:07); Celtic Jigs (4:45); Breton Dro (3:58); Circle Dance (4:12); The Butterfly Slip Jig Set (3:44); Variations on Pretty Girl Milking a Cow (3:28); Highland Boat Song (2:58); Round of Loudeac/The Wren (2:58); Irish Reels (4:32); Maiden Lane (2:35); and French Renaissance Dances (3:55). Also very highly recommended from Maggie's Music is the new release of acclaimed Scottish fiddler Bonnie Rideout's CD music album "A Scottish Fiddle Collection" (MM306) showcasing as series of jigs, reels, and Gaelic tunes as represented in fifteen outstanding pieces that range from North Highland Tunes, to Bonny Jean O'Aberdeen, to Pipe Major William Wilson, and feature bagpipes, harps, guitars, and more. Gaelic music enthusiasts should visit Maggies Music website at www.maggiesmusic.com for a complete listing of their many superbly recorded CD albums.


The Economics Shelf

Intellectual Property And Competition Law
Gustavo Ghidini
Edward Elgar Publishing
9 Dewey Court, Northampton, MA 01060-3815
1845421353, $85.00 www.e-elgar.com 1-800-390-3149

"Intellectual Property And Competition Law: The Innovation Nexua" by Gustavo Ghidini (Professor of Intellectual Property and Competition Law, Luiss Guido Carli University, Rome, Italy) provides a persuasively presented descriptive analysis of a distinctively European perspective on intellectual property law and its relationship to competition law. Professor Ghidini expertly presents the evolution of intellectual property laws and its contemporary manifestations with respect to the expansion copyright law in technological fields and the inevitably conflict with patent law, the attempt at creating monopolies (such as in biotechnology), and so much more. A seminal work of impressive and articulate scholarship, "Intellectual Property And Competition Law" should be considered mandatory reading for students and researchers in the field of intellectual property rights and a very strongly recommended addition to academic library "International Economics" and "Judicial Studies" reference collections.


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Diane C. Donovan, Editor
Midwest Book Review
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Oregon, WI 53575-1129
phone: 1-608-835-7937
e-mail: mbr@execpc.com
e-mail: mwbookrevw@aol.com
http://www.midwestbookreview.com


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