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Library Bookwatch

Volume 15, Number 12 December 2020 Home | LBW Index

Table of Contents

Reviewer's Choice Writing/Publishing Shelf Christmas Shelf
Health/Medicine Shelf Education Shelf Psychology Shelf
Environmental Studies Shelf American History Shelf Biography Shelf
Martial Arts Shelf Historical Fiction Shelf Literary Fiction Shelf
Western Fiction Shelf Mystery/Suspense Shelf Fantasy/SciFi Shelf
Graphic Novel Shelf Audiobook Shelf Library CD Shelf
Military Shelf Gaming Shelf Cookbook Shelf
Political Science Shelf Money/Finance Shelf Computer Shelf
Pets/Wildlife Shelf Criminology Shelf  


Reviewer's Choice

African American Lawman: 1867-1877
Lievin Kambamba Mboma
Lievin K. Mboma Press
9780998971667, $39.50, HC, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/AFRICAN-AMERICAN-LAWMEN-1867-1877-vol-1/dp/0998971669

Synopsis: "African American Lawman: 1867-1877" by Lievin Kambamba Mboma explores the heretofore understudied topic of African Americans in law enforcement, as well as in executive and elected political offices during the Reconstruction Era. During this historical period, African Americans served in various capacities, including as policemen, justices of the peace, judges, and correctional officers.

Additionally, African Americans were empowered with regulatory duties at the local, state, and federal levels such as serving as tax collectors, school inspectors, sanitary inspectors, county board of supervisors, city appraisers, street commissioners, and assessors. Moreover, they held executive offices at the city and state levels as mayors and lieutenant-governors. Furthermore, they were elected as congressmen and senators.

Mboma analyzes the reconstruction policy approaches of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson along with the views of radical lawmakers regarding the readmission of seceded states. Within this context, Congressman Thaddeus Stevens's radical reconstruction vision is also explained.

"African American Lawman: 1867-1877" also examines the employment of African Americans in states and districts like Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C., that were not subjected to Reconstruction.

Mboma objectively tackles the difficulties faced by lawmakers regarding the readmission of rebel states and the specific strategies used to overcome constitutional dilemmas during the readmission process.

Critique: An impressive work of seminal and meticulous scholarship, "African American Lawman: 1867-1877" is a unique and extraordinary contribution to 19th Century American History in general, and Black History Studies supplemental curriculum studies in particular. Enhanced for academia with the inclusion of a ten page Selected Bibliography and a ten page Index, "African American Lawman: 1867-1877" is an especially welcome and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library collections.


The Writing/Publishing Shelf

Invent & Wander
Jeff Bezos
Harvard Business Review Press
60 Harvard Way, Boston, MA 02163
http://hbr.org/books
9781647820718, $28.00, HC, 288pp

https://www.amazon.com/Invent-Wander-Collected-Writings-Introduction/dp/1647820715

Synopsis: Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon.com -- which is the dominate on-line bookstore and exerts a powerful impact upon the American publishing industry.

"Invent and Wander" is collection of Jeff Bezos's writings and includes his unique and strikingly original annual shareholder letters, plus numerous speeches and interviews that provide insight into his background, his work, and the evolution of his ideas. Readers will gain an insider's view of the why and how of his success. Spanning a range of topics across business and public policy, from innovation and customer obsession to climate change and outer space, "Invent and Wander" provides a rare glimpse into how Bezos thinks about the world and where the future might take us.

Written in a direct, down-to-earth style, "Invent and Wander" offers readers a master class in business values, strategy, and execution: The importance of a Day 1 mindset; Why "it's all about the long term"; What it really means to be customer obsessed; How to start new businesses and create significant organic growth in an already successful company; Why culture is an imperative; How a willingness to fail is closely connected to innovation; What the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us.

Each insight offers new ways of thinking through today's challenges (and more importantly, tomorrow's) and the never-ending urgency of striving ahead, never resting on one's laurels. Everyone from CEOs of the Fortune 100 to entrepreneurs just setting up shop to the millions who use Amazon's products and services in their homes or businesses will come to understand the principles that have driven the success of one of the most important innovators of our time.

Critique: A unique opportunity to tapp into the mindset of a man who has dramatically influenced and shaped the publishing industry of today, "Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos" should be considered mandatory reading for anyone wanting or needing to do business with or through Amazon.com. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Booksellers/Bookselling and E-commerce collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of authors and publishers in particular that "Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.00) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Gildan Media, 9781663710758, $29.99, CD)


The Christmas Shelf

Holly Jolly: Celebrating Christmas Past in Pop Culture
Mark Voger
TwoMorrows Publishing
10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614
www.twomorrows.com
9781605490977, $43.95, HC, 192pp

https://www.amazon.com/Holly-Jolly-Celebrating-Christmas-Culture/dp/1605490970

Synopsis: Break out the seasonal candy canes! "Holly Jolly: Celebrating Christmas Past in Pop Culture" by Mark Voger offers readers a colorful sleigh ride through the history of Christmas, from its religious origins to its emergence as a multimedia phenomenon.

This full-color volume dedicated to all things Christmas in American popular culture explores movies (Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life), music (White Christmas, Little St. Nick), TV (How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer), books (Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol), decor (1950s silver aluminum trees), comics (super-heroes meet Santa), and more! Featuring interviews with Charles M. Schulz (A Charlie Brown Christmas), Andy Williams (TV's "Mr. Christmas") and others, the story behind Darlene Love's perrennial hit song Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), and still more holiday memories!

Expertly written and deftly designed this profusely illustrated edition of "Holly Jolly: Celebrating Christmas Past in Pop Culture" takes readers on a kind of time-trip to Christmases past that will be cherished all year long -- and for years to come!

Critique: Fun, informative, and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, "Holly Jolly: Celebrating Christmas Past in Pop Culture" is an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, family, community, college, and university library Christmas themed popular culture collections. If you only have time for one Christmas book for your personal reading lists you would be well advised to make it Mark Voger's "Holly Jolly: Celebrating Christmas Past in Pop Culture"!


The Health/Medicine Shelf

Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response
National Academies Press
500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001
www.nap.edu
9780309670388, $125.00, PB, 650pp

https://www.amazon.com/Evidence-Based-Emergency-Preparedness-Coronavirus-Resources/dp/0309670381

Synopsis: When communities face complex public health emergencies, state local, tribal, and territorial public health agencies must make difficult decisions regarding how to effectively respond. The public health emergency preparedness and response (PHEPR) system, with its multifaceted mission to prevent, protect against, quickly respond to, and recover from public health emergencies, is inherently complex and encompasses policies, organizations, and programs.

Since the events of September 11, 2001, the United States has invested billions of dollars and immeasurable amounts of human capital to develop and enhance public health emergency preparedness and infrastructure to respond to a wide range of public health threats, including infectious diseases, natural disasters, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear events.

Despite the investments in research and the growing body of empirical literature on a range of preparedness and response capabilities and functions, there has been no national-level, comprehensive review and grading of evidence for public health emergency preparedness and response practices comparable to those utilized in medicine and other public health fields.

"Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response" reviews the state of the evidence on PHEPR practices and the improvements necessary to move the field forward and to strengthen the PHEPR system.

This publication evaluates PHEPR evidence to understand the balance of benefits and harms of PHEPR practices, with a focus on four main areas of PHEPR: engagement with and training of community-based partners to improve the outcomes of at-risk populations after public health emergencies; activation of a public health emergency operations center; communication of public health alerts and guidance to technical audiences during a public health emergency; and implementation of quarantine to reduce the spread of contagious illness.

Critique: Particularly timely with respect to the current Covid pandemic, "Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community, college, university, governmental, and health care center Health Policy & Emergency Medicine Response collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

The Encyclopedia of Ailments and Diseases
Jacques Martel
Findhorn Press
www.findhornpress.com
c/o Inner Traditions International, Ltd.
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
www.innertraditions.com
9781644111895, $34.99, PB, 608pp

https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Ailments-Diseases-Conflicted-Feelings/dp/1644111896

Synopsis: Our bodies use a secret language to talk to us. An ailment or illness is our body's way of shouting for help, making us understand that we need to change our thoughts, emotions, feelings, and behaviors. Our bodies wants us to become aware of the stress that we carry, conscious or not, so that we can release all of our un-managed past and present emotions and the physical complaints that accompany them.

Compiling years of research and the results of thousands of cases he encountered in his private practice and during workshops over the past 30 years, in the pages of "The Encyclopedia of Ailments and Diseases: How to Heal the Conflicted Feelings, Emotions, and Thoughts at the Root of Illness", Jacques Martel explains how to read and understand the body's language of disease and imbalance. In this encyclopedia, he shows how body language reveals specific thoughts, feelings, and emotions that are at the source of nearly 900 different ailments and diseases. Martel also details his Integration and Acceptance Technique, which enables healing information to bypass the brain and connect directly with the heart. This technique disables the source of the conflict, conscious or not, that could be at the root of an illness, behavior, or condition and improves the chances of true healing.

"The Encyclopedia of Ailments and Diseases" is a comprehensive manual that offers a tool to help each of us become, to some extent, our own doctor or therapist, get to know ourselves better, and recover health and well-being physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. For practitioners and therapists, "The Encyclopedia of Ailments and Diseases" is a remarkable reference tool provides invaluable insights and prompts for healing.

Critique: Comprehensively detailed, impressively 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "The Encyclopedia of Ailments and Diseases: How to Heal the Conflicted Feelings, Emotions, and Thoughts at the Root of Illness" is an ideal personal health reference and instructional for the non-specialist general reader and is an excellent resource for all members of the medical community. While unreservedly recommended for family, community, college and university library Health/Medicine collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Encyclopedia of Ailments and Diseases: How to Heal the Conflicted Feelings, Emotions, and Thoughts at the Root of Illness" is also readily available in a digital book format (eTextbook, $23.99).

Editorial Note: Jacques Martel is an internationally known therapist, trainer, and speaker. A pioneer in the field of personal development, he has created new methods and practical exercises that allow deep and permanent emotional and spiritual transformations.


The Education Shelf

Unlocking Potential
Tamra Stambaugh, editor
Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, editor
Prufrock Press
PO Box 8813, Waco, TX 76714-8813
www.prufrock.com
9781646320806, $45.00, PB, 300pp

https://www.amazon.com/Unlocking-Potential-Identifying-Low-Income-Households/dp/1646320808

Synopsis: Written by authors with extensive experience in working with gifted students from low-income households, and collaboratively edited by Tamra Stambaugh and Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, "Unlocking Potential: Identifying and Serving Gifted Students From Low-Income Households" focuses on ways to translate the latest research and theory into evidence-supported practices that impact how schools identify and serve these students.

Readers will: Learn about evidence-supported identification systems, tools, and strategies for finding students from low-income households; Discover curriculum models, resources, and instructional strategies found effective from projects focused on supporting these students; Understand the important role that intra- and interpersonal skills, ethnicity/race, families, school systems, and communities play; Consider the perceptions of gifted students who grew up in low-income households; Learn how educators can use their experiences to strengthen current services.

"Unlocking Potential" is the go-to resource for an up-to-date overview of best practices in identification, curriculum, instruction, community support, and program design for gifted learners from low-income households.

Critique: Thoroughly 'educator friendly' in organization and presentation, "Unlocking Potential: Identifying and Serving Gifted Students From Low-Income Households" is a seminal and unreservedly recommended addition to professional, school district, college, and university library Teacher Education collections and Gifted Education supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Tamra Stambaugh, Ph.D., is an associate research professor in special education and executive director of Programs for Talented Youth at Vanderbilt University.

Paula Olszewski-Kubilius is currently the director of the Center for Talent Development at Northwestern University. She has more than 24 years of experience designing and conducting educational programs for learners of all ages including summer programs, weekend programs, distance learning programs, programs for underrepresented gifted students, as well as workshops for parents and teachers. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy and currently is a member of the boards of the National Association for Gifted Children and the Illinois Association for Gifted Children.

The Complete Learner's Toolkit
Jackie Beere
Crown House Publishing
81 Brook Hills Circle, White Plains, NY 10605
www.crownhousepublishing.com
9781781353172, $26.95, PB, 200pp

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Learners-Toolkit-Metacognition-equipping/dp/1781353174

Synopsis: Jackie Beere knows that schools have a much more important job to do than simply to prepare children for exams. In "The Complete Learner's Toolkit" she hands busy classroom teachers the tools they need to weave personal development into the curriculum in powerful and exciting ways.

"The Complete Learner's Toolkit" focuses on the most important skills identified by the World Economic Forum (including critical thinking, emotional intelligence and judgement and decision making) and presents 36 lessons that can either be used as stand-alone sessions or be incorporated into a topic or subject context. Furthermore, they can be employed in whole-class lessons or when working with individuals/small groups who need extra support to become more independent, confident learners.

Jackie has devised each lesson to develop the habits of reflection and metacognition in all learners, setting them up with the skills they will need in order to thrive and the emotional intelligence that will help them pursue a happy future.

To make the most of the material in "The Complete Learner's Toolkit" and create the best outcomes for students, Jackie suggests teachers also treat these lessons as personal CPD. Doing so can help embed in teachers day-to-day practice the skills and mindsets which she promotes, and so model them for their students. Teachers can also consider how best to adapt the lessons in this book and how to incorporate the World Economic Forum essential skills within their subject specialisms.

Critique: Specifically designed for classroom teachers to use with studens ages 7-16, the individual lesson plans in "The Complete Learner's Toolkit" are also available as editable PDFs sold under an annual licence. Thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "The Complete Learner's Toolkit" will empower teachers to transform their pupils learning and reliably achieve academic success throughout their school career and life.

Editorial Note: Jackie Beere, OBE is an Independent Thinking Associate who worked as a newspaper journalist before embarking on a career in teaching and school leadership. She was awarded an OBE in 2002 for developing innovative learning programs and is the author of several books on teaching, learning and coaching. Since 2006, Jackie has been offering training in the latest strategies for learning, developing emotionally intelligent leadership and cultivating a growth mindset.


The Psychology Shelf

Reversing the Trauma of War
Phyllis Kahaney, MSW, PhD
Rachel Epstein, LAc, JD
https://www.drjerryepstein.org
ACMI Press
9781883148263, $18.00, PB, 244pp

https://www.amazon.com/Reversing-Trauma-War-Veterans-personnel/dp/188314826X

Synopsis: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that can develop after a person is exposed to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, or other threats on a person's life. Symptoms may include disturbing thoughts, feelings, or dreams related to the events, mental or physical distress to trauma-related cues, attempts to avoid trauma-related cues, alterations in how a person thinks and feels, and an increase in the fight-or-flight response. These symptoms last for months and even years after the event. (Wikipedia).

"Reversing the Trauma of War: PTSD Help for Veterans, Active Duty personnel and Their Families" by Phyllis Kahaney (who worked as a readjustment counselor at the San Diego Vet Center treating veterans with PTSD.) and Rachel Epstein (who is the Director of the American Institute for Mental Imagery and a healthcare practitioner) is for all Vets who have witnessed and survived combat and are still struggling with PTSD. Just as they trained for combat they can now re-train your mind for civilian life.

"Reversing the Trauma of War" is specifically for those who have experienced any or all of these devastating PTSD symptoms: Addiction; Guilt; Anxiety; Hypervigilance; Anger; Insomnia; Depression; Flashbacks; Nightmares; Pain -- emotional and/or physical.

"Reversing the Trauma of War" empowers Vets to become stronger, more self-confident, and able to form healthy relationships. "Reversing the Trauma of War" also outlines safe and effective visual imagery exercises. With regular practice, these exercises will help to cope with stressful situations and slowly transition away from the automatic reactions that arise in PTSD.

"Reversing the Trauma of War" is also a great resource for family members of present and former military personnel as well as healthcare practitioners.

Critique: Expertly written, impressively informative, thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "Reversing the Trauma of War: PTSD Help for Veterans, Active Duty personnel and Their Families" should be a core addition to every community, college, and university library Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Popular Psychology Pathologies, and Self-Help/Self-Improvement collection. It should be noted for personal and professional reading lists that "Reversing the Trauma of War" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).

Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy
Susan McConnell
North Atlantic Books
2526 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley, CA 94704-2607
www.northatlanticbooks.com
9781623174880, $24.95, PB, 320pp

https://www.amazon.com/Practitioners-Guide-Somatic-IFS-Therapy/dp/1623174880

Synopsis: "Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy: Awareness, Breath, Resonance, Movement and Touch in Practice" by Susan McConnell introduces a new therapeutic modality that blends principles of somatic therapy (like movement, touch, and breathwork) with the traditional tools of the Internal Family Systems framework. Broadening the benefits and applications of the IFS model, author Susan McConnell introduces 5 core practices that mental health professionals can apply to their practice: somatic awareness, conscious breathing, radical resonance, mindful movement, and attuned touch. Clinical applications include the treatment of depression, trauma, anxiety, eating disorders, chronic illness, and attachment disorders.

Within the IFS framework, clients will learn to identify their "inner worlds" -- the discrete subpersonalities within each of us that hold emotions, perceptions, and belief systems, and that affect our behavior and emotional wellness. Body-based somatic tools are incorporated into therapy as patients learn to recognize different facets of their internal family and reconcile the needs of subpersonalities (like their inner child or internal manager) to bring more harmony to their physical and emotional well-being.

Critique: Enhanced for medical practitioners, counselors, psychology students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with six pages of Notes and an eight page Index, "Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy: Awareness, Breath, Resonance, Movement and Touch in Practice" is an exceptionally well written, comprehensive, informative, organized and presented study that is especially and unreservedly recommended for professional and academic library Psychopathology, Psychotherapy, and Medical Counseling collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy: Awareness, Breath, Resonance, Movement and Touch in Practice" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $17.99).

Editorial Note: Susan McConnell is a senior trainer for the Center for Self Leadership, and has taught Internal Family Systems (IFS) in the U.S. and internationally since 1997. Somatic IFS, which McConnell developed in 2004, is a synthesis of her forty years of study, teaching, and clinical practice with bodywork, psychotherapy, and spiritual practices. McConnell holds a Master's Degree with an emphasis on Somatic Psychology, and is a Certified Internal Family Systems Therapist and a Certified Hakomi Therapist. She was also instrumental in curriculum development for IFS trainings and, as a Hakomi faculty member, for a training for bodyworkers using the Hakomi Method to explore through touch the way mind, body, heart, and spirit weave together to form the client's experiential world. McConnell has had a private practice since 1983 in Chicago, where she offers bodymind integration and consultation.


The Environmental Studies Shelf

Say Goodbye to Plastic
Sandra Ann Harris
Hatherleigh Press
c/o The Hatherleigh Foundation
62545 State Highway 10, Hobart, NY 13788
www.hatherleighpress.com
9781578268603, $15.00, HC, 192pp

https://www.amazon.com/Say-Goodbye-Plastic-Room-Room/dp/1578268605

Synopsis: Even with accelerated recycling efforts, discarded plastic is polluted our oceans and filling up our trash dumps.

If you've heard of the plastic-free lifestyle, but think you don't have time for it in your busy life, prepare to be delightfully wrong. In the pages of "Say Goodbye to Plastic: A Survival Guide for Plastic-Free Living" environmentalist, anti-pollution activist, and entrepreneur Sandra Ann Harris shows you how -- whether you are seeking to knock plastic out of your life or just try out a few novel eco-hacks in your kitchen, bathroom, office or dining room.

In "Say Goodbye to Plastic: A Survival Guide for Plastic-Free Living" Sandra Ann Harris invites us to say goodbye to plastic, room by room. Opportunities abound to simplify our lives by re-thinking our wasteful habits -- we just need to learn to recognize them!

Critique: Impressively informative and thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "Say Goodbye to Plastic: A Survival Guide for Plastic-Free Living" is an extraordinary, timely, and practical contribution to our on-going national dialogue with respect to the role of plastic in environmental pollution. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Environmental Issues collections and supplemental curriculum studies reading lists, it should be noted for students, academia, environmental activists, and non-specialists with an interest in the subject that "Say Goodbye to Plastic: A Survival Guide for Plastic-Free Living" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99).

Editorial Note: Sandra Ann Harris is the founder and president of ECOlunchbox, a mission-based consumer products company. Her passion is protecting the oceans by reducing people's dependence on plastics. ECOlunchbox innovates and sells high-quality, plastic-free food container solutions. She has a diverse background in business consulting, product development, investigative journalism, and digital marketing strategy along with her work in the non-profit sector for a humanitarian aid organization.


The American History Shelf

Free Speech and the Suppression of Dissent During World War I
Eric T. Chester
Monthly Review Press
134 W. 29th Street, Suite 706, New York, NY 10001
www.monthlyreview.org
9781583678695, $49.00, HC, 416pp

https://www.amazon.com/Speech-Suppression-Dissent-During-World/dp/1583678697

Synopsis: World War I, given all the rousing "Over-There" songs and in-the-trenches films it inspired, was, at its outset, surprisingly unpopular with the American public. As opposition increased, Woodrow Wilson's presidential administration became intent on stifling antiwar dissent. Wilson effectively silenced the National Civil Liberties Bureau, forerunner of the American Civil Liberties Union. Presidential candidate Eugene Debs was jailed, and Deb's Socialist Party became a prime target of surveillance operations, both covert and overt. Drastic as these measures were, more draconian measures were to come.

In "Free Speech and the Suppression of Dissent During World War I", Eric Chester reveals that out of this turmoil came a heated public discussion on the theory of civil liberties -- the basic freedoms that are, theoretically, untouchable by any of the three branches of the U.S. government. The famous "clear and present danger" argument of Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, and the "balance of conflicting interest" theory of law professor Zechariah Chafee, for example, evolved to provide a rationale for courts to act as a limited restraint on autocratic actions of the government.

But Chester goes further, to examine an alternative theory: civil liberties exist as absolute rights, rather than being dependent on the specific circumstances of each case. Over the years, the debate about the right to dissent has intensified and become more necessary. This fascinating book explains why, a century after the First World War (and in the era of Trump) we need to know about this.

Critique: Enhanced for academia with the inclusion of a five page Chronology, fifty-one pages of Notes, a seven page Glossary, a ten page Bibliography, and a twenty-five page Index, "Free Speech and the Suppression of Dissent During World War I" is a meticulous work of informed and informative scholarship that is especially recommended for community, college, and university library 20th Century American History & Political Science collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of student, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Free Speech and the Suppression of Dissent During World War I" is also readily available in a paperback edition ( 9781583678688, $27.00) and in digital book format (Kindle, $19.00).

Editorial Note: Eric Thomas Chester was Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts in Boston and, later, lecturer at San Francisco State University. In the 1960s, Chester was active in the civil rights movement and Students for a Democratic Society. He remains an activist in the trade union solidarity movement and the Socialist Party, and was the Socialist Party's vice-presidential candidate in 1996. He is the author of Socialists and the Ballot Box. His essays have appeared in the Cambridge Journal of Economics, Critique, Z, Insurgent Sociologist, Resist, Public Finance, Changes, and Against the Current.

Finding the American Dream
Bill Vlevlen
Reedy Press
PO Box 5131, St. Louis, MO 63139
www.reedypress.com
9781681062754, $22.50, PB, 208pp

https://www.amazon.com/Finding-American-Dream-Bill-Clevlen/dp/1681062755

Synopsis: From a can of Dr. Pepper, to the iconic sounds of Motown hits like Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, and The Temptations, each of these uniquely American emblems began as a dream. From humble beginnings and against insurmountable odds, our culture pervasively clings to the notion that given equal opportunities, anyone can achieve the success of their wildest imagination. It's the dream that has empowered countless entertainers, leaders, inventors, and historical figures to become and create to the best of their ability, and that still inspires us today.

Travel journalist and author Bill Clevlen opens up the topic in "Finding the American Dream: A Guided Tour Of Places Where Americans Changed History", one dreamer at a time. The reader will be guided to the place were they began their journey, as if traveling there themselves. Standing inside the small rural house were Johnny Cash grew up after the Great Depression. Exploring the bottling plant where Dr. Pepper became America's first nationally sold soft drink. Discovering the very first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant where 65 year-old Harland Sanders started a billion-dollar franchise.

"Finding The American Dream" showcases and proves that the American Dream is not dead. The inspiring stories comprising this combination biography and history book demonstrate that anyone can still achieve greatness through hard work, determination, and of course, a little bit of luck.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Finding the American Dream: A Guided Tour Of Places Where Americans Changed History" is an inherently fascinating and impressively informative read from cover to cover. While also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99), "Finding the American Dream: A Guided Tour Of Places Where Americans Changed History" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, school, community, college, and university library American History collections.


The Biography Shelf

Pertinax: The Son of a Slave Who Became Roman Emperor
Simon Elliott
Greenhill Press
c/o Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9781784385255, $42.95, HC, 224pp

https://www.amazon.com/Pertinax-Slave-Became-Roman-Emperor/dp/1784385255

Synopsis: The son of a former slave, Pertinax was the Roman Emperor who proved that no matter how lowly your birth, you could rise to the very top through hard work, grit and determination.

Born in AD 126, he made a late career change from working as a grammar teacher to a position in the army. As he moved up the ranks and further along the aristocratic cursus honorum, he took on many of the most important postings in the Empire, from senior military roles in fractious Britain, the Marcomannic Wars on the Danube, to the Parthian Wars in the east. He held governorships in key provinces, and later consulships in Rome itself.

When Emperor Commodus was assassinated on New Year's Eve AD 192/193, the Praetorian Guard alighted on Pertinax to become the new Emperor, expecting a pliable puppet who would favor them with great wealth. But Pertinax was nothing of the sort and when he then attempted to reform the Guard, he was assassinated. His death triggered the beginning of the 'Year of the Five Emperors' from which Septimius Severus, Pertinax's former mentoree, became the ultimate victor and founder of the Severan Dynasty.

This previously untold story brings a fascinating and important figure out of the shadows. A self made everyman, a man of principle and ambition, a role model respected by his contemporaries who styled himself on his philosophizing predecessor and sometime champion Marcus Aurelius, Pertinax's remarkable story offers a unique and panoramic insight into the late 2nd century AD Principate Empire.

Critique: An inherently fascinating and deftly crafted biography, "Pertinax: The Son of a Slave Who Became Roman Emperor" by Simon Elliott is an extraordinary work of seminal and meticulous research. An invaluable contribution to community, college and university library Roman History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Pertinax: The Son of a Slave Who Became Roman Emperor" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $25.00).

Editorial Note: Simon Elliott is an historian, archaeologist and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Kent where he studied for his PhD in Archaeology on the subject of the Roman military in Britain. He also has an MA in War Studies from KCL and an MA in Archaeology from UCL. He frequently gives talks on Roman themes and is co-Director at a Roman villa excavation.


The Martial Arts Shelf

The Martial Arts of Vietnam
Augustus John Roe
YMAA Publications
PO Box 480, Wolfeboro, NH 03894-0480
www.ymaa.com
9781594397974, $17.95, PB, 168pp

https://www.amazon.com/Martial-Arts-Vietnam-Overview-History/dp/159439797X

Synopsis: "The Martial Arts of Vietnam: An Overview of History and Styles" by Augustus John Roe presents an engaging overview of the evolution of Vietnamese martial arts from 2,000 BCE until today.

"The Martial Arts of Vietnam" examines the mythical origins of the Vietnamese people and the impact that invasions from neighboring countries had on the martial culture of Vietnam. It also covers how kings and governments promoted and, in some cases, crushed martial traditions; alongside how Vietnams' unusual geography both protected and exposed martial styles and lineages.

"The Martial Arts of Vietnam" features stunning photography, era timelines, and regional maps that allow for an engaging adventure through Vietnam's northern, central, and southern regions, all in search of events and catalysts that shaped its martial history through the ages.

In examining Vietnams' martial arts society, the reader learn about the many teachers from the northern, central, and southern regions who, through courageous efforts, are attempting to codify and preserve their unique combat systems for the benefit of all martial artists. "The Martial Arts of Vietnam" also explores the ethnic minority martial arts, Sino-Vietnamese and Chinese martial arts, as well as various imported and foreign systems and how they are positioned in relation to modern Vietnam's martial arts practices.

"The Martial Arts of Vietnam" lifts the veil of secrecy long surrounding this socialist state to reveal its combat systems and their thousand years of evolution.

Critique: Impressively informative, expertly written, accessibly organized and presented, "The Martial Arts of Vietnam: An Overview of History and Styles" is an inherently fascinating read and will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to community, college, and university library Martial Arts collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for martial arts students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The Martial Arts of Vietnam: An Overview of History and Styles" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.99).

Editorial Note: Augustus John Roe is an author, linguist, and instructor of traditional Vietnamese martial arts. For more than a decade, he has lived and trained in Asia. During this time Augustus has worked on numerous television shows, books, magazines and academic projects documenting local cultures and martial arts practices.


The Historical Fiction Shelf

Betrayal of a Republic: Memoirs of a Roman Matrona
Joost Douma
Addison & Highsmith
c/o Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9781592110629, $32.99, HC, 224pp

https://www.amazon.com/Betrayal-Republic-Memoirs-Roman-Matrona/dp/1592110622

Synopsis: Based on historical facts, "Betrayal of a Republic: Memoirs of a Roman Matrona" by novelist Joost Douma recounts the demise of the Roman Republic as seen through the eyes and reflections of Cornelia Africana, mother of the Gracchi brothers and a woman at the zenith of power and influence in the Republic.

At its peak as the sole superpower in the Mediterranean in the 1st century BCE, internal crisis gripped the Republic of Rome, generated by the breakdown of Senate leadership. The Republic had become a source of self-enrichment for the corrupt elites. Land grabs, financial scandals, corruption, intrigues and electoral fraud plunged the Republic into a constitutional crisis. The Gracchi brothers tried to save the Republic, attempting to reestablish it as a union of free men by reclaiming public land for veterans and restoring the rule of law through an extensive legislative program. In a bold move, the eldest brother, Tiberius, succeeded in having his fellow-tribune impeached to break his veto, an unprecedented political act, which tore the Republic apart.

In her final years, an aging Cornelia looks back on her life and that of her sons who tried to save the Republic. This historical novel gives readers keen insight into the secret life of women who were politically active behind-the-scenes. It also recounts a successful women's revolt in 195 BC, with mass sit-downs at the Forum that resulted in greater social freedoms. The reader gets a rich and rare look at the rise of one of the Republic's most politically influential women and the forces that helped to shape her extraordinary life. The story is even more compelling for the parallels it offers with current superpower politics, the rise of strongmen, financial scandals, the shrinking of the middle class, and questions about the future of our democracy.

Critique: With an impressive attention to historical detail, "Betrayal of a Republic: Memoirs of a Roman Matrona" by accomplished novelist Joost Douma is an inherently compelling, entertaining, and thought-provoking read from cover to cover. This is the kind of novel that will linger in the mind and memory long after the book itself has been finished and set back upon the shelf -- making it an unreservedly recommended addition to personal reading lists, as well as community and college/university library Historical Fiction collections.

The Life and Travels of Saint Cuthwin
Irving Warner
Pleasure Boat Studio
3710 SW Barton Street, Seattle, WA 98126
www.pleasureboatstudio.com
9780912887975, $35.00, HC, 428pp

https://www.amazon.com/Travels-Saint-Cuthwin-Pleasure-Studio/dp/0912887974

Synopsis: Set in the 11th century England, during the time of Saxon domination before and after the disastrous Battle of Hastings in 1066, "The Life and Travels of Saint Cuthwin" by Irving Warner is the story of a man known as Cuthwin of Alnwick and his wife who must strive to survive in a turbulent time as best they may.

Critique: With a laudable attention to historical detail, and showing a genuine flair for originality, deftly crafted and memorable characters, as well as the kind of narrative storytelling style that will immediately engage the reader's total attention from first page to last, "The Life and Travels of Saint Cuthwin" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended for the personal reading lists of medieval English history fans, as well as community, college, and university library Historical Fiction collections.


The Literary Fiction Shelf

A Good Map of All Things: A Picaresque Novel
Alberto Alvaro Rios
University of Arizona Press
1510 E. University Boulevard
P.O. Box 210055, Tucson, AZ 85721-0055
www.uapress.arizona.edu
9780816541034, $19.95, PB, 248pp

https://www.amazon.com/Good-Map-All-Things-Picaresque/dp/0816541035

Synopsis: "A Good Map of All Things" is author Alberto Alvaro Rios's new picaresque novel presenting a momentous adventure and showcasing quiet connections that brings twenty people to life in a small town in northern Mexico.

"A Good Map of All Things" is home to characters whose lives are interwoven but whose stories are their own, adding warmth and humor to this continually surprising communal narrative. The stories take place in the mid-twentieth century, in the high desert near the border (a stretch of land generally referred to as the Pimeria Alta) an ancient passage through the desert that connected the territory of Tucson in the north and Guaymas and Hermosillo in the south. The United States is off in the distance, a little difficult to see, and, in the middle of the century, not the only thing to think about. Mexico City is somewhere to the south, but nobody can say where and nobody has ever seen it.

Rios has created a whimsical yet familiar town, where brightly unique characters love fiercely and nurture those around them. The people in "A Good Map of All Things" have secrets and fears, successes and happiness, winters and summers. They are people who do not make the news, but who are living their lives for the long haul, without lotteries or easy answers or particular luck. Theirs is the everyday, with its small but meaningful joy.

Whether your heart belongs to a small town in Mexico or a bustling metropolis, Alberto Alvaro Rios has crafted a novel that is overflowing with comfort, warmth, and the familiar embrace of a tightly woven community.

Critique: A deftly crafted novel that highlights the author's genuine flair for originality and the kind of narrative driven storytelling that keeps and holds his reader's rapt attention from beginning to end, "A Good Map of All Things" will prove to be an immediate and enduringly welcome addition to community, college, and university library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "A Good Map of All Things" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

How Fire Runs
Charles Dodd White
Swallow Press
c/o Ohio University Press
215 Columbus Road, Suite 101, Athens, OH 45701
www.ohioswallow.com
9780804012287, $22.95, PB, 272pp

https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Runs-Charles-Dodd-White/dp/0804012288

Synopsis: What happens when a delusional white supremacist and his army of followers decide to create a racially pure "Little Europe" within a rural Tennessee community? As the town's residents grapple with their new reality, minor skirmishes escalate and dirty politics, scandals, and a cataclysmic chain of violence follows.

In this uncanny reflection of our time of armed white supremacist militias, and the resurrection of American neo-Nazis and the KKK, in the pages of "How Fire Runs", novelist Charles Dodd White asks whether Americans can save themselves from their worst impulses and considers the consequences when this salvation comes too late.

Critique: Although a deftly crafted work of fiction, "How Fire Runs" offers a sobering perspective on America today. A compelling and original work, "How Fire Runs" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections. It should be noted for persona reading lists that "How Fire Runs" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99).

Editorial Note: Charles Dodd White is the author of four novels, including a second title from Swallow Press: "In the House of Wilderness". He has received the Appalachian Book of the Year Award and the Chaffin Award for his fiction. He is also an Associate Professor of English at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tennessee.

A Sense of the Whole: Stories
Siamak Vossoughi
https://siamakvossoughi.com
Orison Books
PO Box 8385, Asheville, NC 28814
www.orisonbooks.com
9781949039115, $18.00, PB, 176pp

https://www.amazon.com/Sense-Whole-Stories-Siamak-Vossoughi/dp/1949039110

Synopsis: Showcasing the literary talents of Siamak Vossoughi, the fable-like short stories comprising "A Sense of the Whole" feature characters who refuse to believe that we are unconnected, refuse to not aspire to the notion of the human family. These characters are girls and boys, men and women, Iranians and Americans, all seeking a home for the body and the soul.

Critique: Featuring 31 literary gems of original, entertaining, thought-provoking, narrative driven storytelling, "Siamak Vossoughi's "A Sense of the Whole: Stories" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to personal reading lists, as well as community, college, and university library Contemporary Asian American Literary Fiction collections.

Editorial Note: Siamak Vossoughi was born in Tehran, Iran and currently lives in Seattle, Washington. His first story collection, "Better Than War", received the 2014 Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. His stories have appeared in Glimmer Train, Kenyon Review, The Missouri Review, and The Rumpus, among other places.


The Western Fiction Shelf

Death On The Bozeman
Paul Bedford
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444844931, $21.49, PB, Large Print, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Bozeman-Paul-Bedford/dp/1444844938

Synopsis: One year after the end of the Civil War, three ex-Confederate southerners are heading northwest on the Bozeman Trail to the gold mining camp at Virginia City. When they find the army has closed the trail because the Sioux are on the warpath, they accept work at Fort Phil Kearny. After an Indian ambush, the men flee the fort, together with a man called Slade. But when Slade is revealed as a hired gun and murderer, the southerners, along with a Union Army sergeant and the legendary Jim Bridger are drawn into a bloody hunt to apprehend him, dead or alive, to clear their names.

Critique: The very definition of an compulsively entertaining action/adventure western, "Death on the Bozeman" by veteran western novelist Paul Bedford, this large print edition from the Linford Western Library is certain to be an entertaining read for all dedicated western fans from cover to cover -- making it an especially recommended addition to personal reading lists and community library Western Fiction collections.

Cross Of Iron
Ethan Flagg
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444844726, $21.49, PB, Large Print, 248pp

https://www.amazon.com/Cross-Iron-Ethan-Flagg/dp/1444844725

Synopsis: Reverend Matthew Devlin is busy writing the moment a ruthless gang of six killers burst through the church doors, attacking both him and his wife Sarah. When Matt regains consciousness, he's been trussed to his own cross, and Sarah has been viciously raped and murdered. And so Matt, (who once was a skilled gunman and bounty hunter called Iron Matt), must again take the path of violence to exact a lethal retribution for those responsible . With an old grudge bearing rival from his bounty hunting days also on the trail of the gang, a war party of vengeance quest Apaches, and a woman who loves her weak-willed husband, a complex confrontation between good and evil is inevitable. But who will emerge the victor?

Critique: As an action/adventure western novelist, Ethan Flagg ranks up alongside such luminaries as Max Brand, Zane Grey, and Louis L'Amour. This large print edition of "Cross of Iron" will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to the personal reading lists of dedicated western buffs, as well as community library Western Fiction collections.

Guns and Dreamers
Scott Gese
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444845426, $21.49, PB, Large Print, 224pp

https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Dreamers-Scott-Gese/dp/144484542X

Synopsis: All of sixteen years old, Jason McKinney decides to head out on his own to see the country beyond Kansas. His offer of help is declined by a couple of bounty hunters he tries to hook up with in Wichita, so he turns his travels to the south. Upon his return from an eye-opening but short-lived venture into Texas, he finds that his father Mac Shepard is now a wanted man accused of cattle rustling. With Mac on the run, Jason is reluctantly forced to take charge of the ranch while his nearest neighbor schemes to take full possession.

Critique: "Guns and Dreamers" by Scott Gese is a thoroughly absorbing and entertaining read -- and one that will particularly appeal to western novel enthusiasts who appreciate deftly scripted stories that are populated with memorable Old West characters. This large print paperback addition is highly recommended for community library Western Fiction collections and the personal reading lists of western novel fans.

Blood River
Will Black
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444845372, $21.49, PB, Large Print, 240pp

https://www.ulverscroft.com/title.php?sqlCmd=isbn%3D9781444845372

Synopsis: The gold mines still maintaining a foothold in the Sierra Nevadas have a big problem: the wagons transporting gold down narrow, rocky trails are easy targets for outlaws. The Pinkerton Agency has been charged with the security of a large haul of gold, and they have a daring plan. If it works, five hundred gold bars will make it east. If it fails, all will be lost. But unknown to them, the Greeley gang has inside knowledge, and is intent on stealing the cargo at any cost!

Critique: Another deftly scripted and riveting western by a master of the genre, Will Black's "Blood River" has it all in terms of plot twists, gunfights, and the lethal plans of an intelligent and ruthless outlaw gang leader willing to eliminate even the members of his own conspiracy when they've fulfilled their assignments and are no longer useful. This large print edition of "Blood River" is a fully entertaining and unreservedly recommended addition to personal reading lists and community library Western Fiction collections.

The Dead, the Dying and the Damned
Matt Cole
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444745386m $21.49, PB, Large Print, 240pp

https://www.ulverscroft.com/title.php?sqlCmd=isbn%3D9781444845396

Synopsis: Juan Manuel Benitez and his bandit army of more than 200 outlaws known as EL AZOTAR (the Scourge) had been the terrors of the border country until they were driven back by the FEDERALES and scattered. Turning to the town of Hermanas Pozos for help, Benitez was rebuffed, his son killed. But now EL AZOTAR has once again reformed, and Benitez is out for revenge. Because of his love for a seriously ill woman, it falls on gunslinger and former Confederate soldier Cotton Harding to deal with him. Will Harding step up to the task, or push others to fight his battles?

Critique: "The Dead, the Dying and the Damned" by Matt Cole is a saga of a novel that will have particular and special appeal for anyone who is a fan of the Yul Brenner movie 'The Magnificent Seven'. A true cliff hanger of a read from start to its unpredicted finish, this large print edition of "The Dead, the Dying and the Damned" will prove to be an exceptionally popular and appreciated addition to personal reading lists and community library Western Fiction collections.


The Mystery/Suspense Shelf

Persian Betrayal
Terry Brennan
Kregel Publications
2450 Oak Industrial Drive, NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505
www.kregel.com
9780825445316, $15.99, PB, 320pp

https://www.amazon.com/Persian-Betrayal-Empires-Armageddon-Brennan/dp/0825445310

Synopsis: DSS Regional Security Officer Brian Mullaney has been tasked with an incredibly dangerous mission. When a synagogue in Jerusalem is destroyed by an explosion, burying the second key prophecy Mullaney is hunting (and the deadly box that protects it) the answers he desperately needs are also crushed.

How can he discover the meaning of the centuries-old prophecy now? Why are he and the ambassador he's assigned to protect being targeted? And is there any way this lone man can thwart a nuclear arms race between three ascendant empires of the past?

An otherworldly servant of evil known only as the Turk is maneuvering all three nations into an intricate dance designed to undermine prophecy about the end times. And he won't let Mullaney or anyone else get in his way.

Wounded in a bloody shoot-out, pressured by his wife to come home, and mourning the death of his best friend, Mullaney doesn't need a powerful enemy. Who is he to save the Ishmael Covenant, the treaty promising peace in the Middle East? Despite angelic intervention, Mullaney wants nothing to do with his final assignment. But without him, evil will win the ultimate struggle -- and humankind will have no hope left!

Critique: An inherently riveting story by a novelist with a genuine flair for originality and a reader engaging narrative storytelling style, "Persian Betrayal" is the second installment of author Terry Brennan's skillfully crafted 'Empires of Armageddon' series and an especially recommended addition to community library Contemporary Christian Mystery/Suspense Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Persian Betrayal" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).


The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf

Destroyer of Worlds
Larry Correia
Baen Books
PO Box 1188, Wake Forest NC 27588
www.baen.com
9781982124847, $25.00, HC, 416pp

https://www.amazon.com/Destroyer-Worlds-Saga-Forgotten-Warrior/dp/1982124849

Synopsis: The Great Extermination has begun. In the Capitol, Grand Inquisitor Omand Vokkan hatches a plot to kill every member of the untouchable caste in all of Lok, down to the last man, woman, and child. As a member of the Order of Inquisition, Vokkan has no official say in the creation of Law, but he has powerful allies willing to do his bidding. Through them, he has convinced the Judges that the genocide will be swift, complete, and without complication. Nothing is further from the truth.

Lord Protector Devedas has sworn to uphold the Law. Once, he and the traitor Ashok Vadal had been like brothers. Now, he hunts Vadal and the Sons of the Black Sword, heretics and rebels who seek to live outside the rule of the Law. All Devedas must do is find and kill his best friend and order will be restored to Lok.

The rebels seek the secret kingdom spoken of by the Prophet Thera, a paradise where water is pure and food plentiful, where there are no castes, where the people rule themselves, and are not slaves to the Capitol. Ashok Vadal is not sure he believes in such a paradise, but he (along with his allies) do seek refuge in the rebellion's hideout in Akershan. But Vadal, a former High Protector who has turned his back on the corrupt Law, will not merely wait meekly, hoping that fleeing to Akershan will spare the rebellion from the clutches of the Great Extermination. No, if it's a war the Capitol wants, Vadal, who has faced down gods and demons, will be all too willing to give it to them.

Critique: "Destroyer Of Worlds" is the eagerly anticipated third volume of author Larry Correia's epic action/adventure military fantasy series, "Saga of the Forgotten Warrior" that began with "Son of the Black Sword" and continued with "House of Assassins". An inherently compelling and compulsive page turner of a read, "Destroyer Of Worlds" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Science Fiction & Fantasy collections -- and a 'must' for the growing legions of Larry Correia fans. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of all dedicated fantasy fans that "Destroyer Of Worlds" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781982125462, $8.99) digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).


The Graphic Novel Shelf

Manga Classics: Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
Story adaptation by M. Chandler
Art by Linus Liu
Manga Classics
www.mangaclassics.com
9781947808157 $24.99 hc
9781947808164 $19.99 pbk amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/Manga-Classics-Frankenstein-Mary-Shelly/dp/1947808168

Synopsis: Obsessed with natural philosophy, the young Victor Frankenstein succeeds in creating life from its basic elements - and abandons the newborn monstrosity in terror when he cannot bear to look at it. The rejected creature vanishes, and Victor attempts to forget what he has done... But the monster survives. It learns. Deprived of everything, fated to forever be alone, it has nothing left but revenge.

Manga Classics(R) presents a frightening new manga adaptation of Mary Shelly's famous tale of creation and destruction!

Critique: Manga Classics: Frankenstein adapts Mary Shelley's classic horror novel of madness, a monster, and murder most foul into graphic novel featuring striking black-and-white art in the style of manga. Manga Classics: Frankenstein is both a captivating new way to re-experience this timeless tale of horrific consequences, and an excellent way to encourage young adults to read literature. Highly recommended, especially for both public and school library collections as well as the shelves of manga connoisseurs!

Manga Classics: Anne of Green Gables
L.M. Montgomery
Story adaptation by Crystal S. Chan
Art by Kuma Chan
Manga Classics
www.mangaclassics.com
9781947808171 $24.99 hc
9781947808188 $19.99 pbk amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/Manga-Classics-Anne-Green-Gables/dp/1947808184

Synopsis: Siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert were planning to adopt an orphaned boy to help out around their farm, Green Gables - instead, they got Anne Shirley. A plucky redheaded girl with a vibrant imagination, Anne turns first Green Gables and then the rest of Prince Edward Island on its ear. Manga Classics(R) is proud to be the only authorized manga adaption of Anne of Green Gables by the Heirs of L.M. Montgomery. This trade paperback volume presents a faithful recreation of this classic kids novel, from the Lake of Shining Waters to the Dryad's Bubble!

Critique: Manga Classics: Anne of Green Gables is a black-and-white graphic novel adaptation with manga-style art, fully authorized by the heirs of L.M. Montgomery, the original author of this widely beloved novel for young adults. Like all Manga Classics adaptations, Anne of Green Gables is extremely faithful to the original work. The vast majority of the original's dialogue is preserved, and the beautiful artwork brings to life the saga of a spunky, adopted redhaired girl with unparalleled charm, wit, and imagination. Readers of all ages will thoroughly enjoy this rendition of a beloved, timeless classic, further enriched with a forward by Kate Macdonald Butler (granddaughter of L.M. Montgomery).

Willie Nelson: A Graphic History
T. J. Kirsch, author
Adam Walmsley et al., illustrators
NBM Publishing
160 Broadway, Ste. 700, East Wing, New York, NY 10038
www.nbmpub.com
9781681122625, $16.99, HC, 96pp

https://www.amazon.com/Willie-Nelson-Graphic-History-Biographies/dp/1681122626

Synopsis: Since he was a child in Hill County, Texas, Willie Nelson has been writing and performing his music for adoring crowds. Though his mainstream success did not come until later in his life, he has been determined to take his unique sound and voice to the people even before he was a household name. There have been tragedies, missteps, IRS troubles, good times and bad along the way, but Willie continues to shine his positive outlook and project his humble voice out into the world.

Critique: "Willie Nelson: A Graphic History" by T. J. Kirsch is an informative and inherently fascinating graphic novel style biography with each chapter representing a different era of his life and struggles, and each illustrated by a team of unique independent comics talent. While also available in a digital format (Kindle/comiXology, $11.99), "Willie Nelson: A Graphic History" will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to personal, community, college, and university library American Biography collections.

Fangs
Sarah Andersen
Andrews McMeel Publishing
1130 Walnut Street, Kansas City, MO 64106-2109
www.andrewsmcmeel.com
9781524860677, $14.99, HC, 112pp

https://www.amazon.com/Fangs-Sarah-Andersen/dp/1524860670

Synopsis: Elsie the vampire is three hundred years old, but in all that time, she has never met her match. This all changes one night in a bar when she meets Jimmy, a charming werewolf with a wry sense of humor and a fondness for running wild during the full moon. Together they enjoy horror films and scary novels, shady strolls, fine dining (though never with garlic), and a genuine fondness for each other's unusual habits, macabre lifestyles, and monstrous appetites.

First featured as a webcomic series on Tapas, "Fangs" chronicles the humor, sweetness, and awkwardness of meeting someone perfectly suited to you but also vastly different. This deluxe hardcover edition of Fangs features an "engraved" red cloth cover, dyed black page trim, and 25 exclusive comics not previously seen online. Filled with Sarah Andersen's beautiful gothic illustrations and relatable relationship humor, Fangs has all the makings of a cult classic.

Critique: Simply stated, "Fangs" by Sarah Andersen is a love story between a werewolf and a vampire in the format of a graphic novel. A unique, entertaining, and memorable read from first page to last, "Fangs" is solidly recommended for personal and community library Graphic Novel collections -- and a 'must read' for all dedicated vampire and werewolf fans.

Editorial Note: Sarah Andersen is a cartoonist and illustrator. She graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2014. Her semi-autobiographical comic strip, "Sarah's Scribbles," finds the humor in living as an adult introvert with beloved pets and the continual struggles with waking up in the morning, being productive, and dealing with social situations. Her debut book, "Adulthood is a Myth", was the 2016 Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Graphic Novels and Comics.


The Audiobook Shelf

Stuff You Should Know
Josh Clark & Churck Bryant
Macmillan Audio
www.macmillanaudio.com
9781250771506, $39.99, CD

https://www.amazon.com/Stuff-You-Should-Know-Interesting/dp/1250771501

Synopsis: Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant started the podcast "Stuff You Should Know" back in 2008 because they were curious about the world around them, curious about what they might have missed in their formal educations, and curious to dig deeper on stuff they thought they understood.

As it turns out, they aren't the only curious ones. They've since amassed an enthusiastic and growing fan base, making "Stuff You Should Know" one of the most popular podcasts in the world. Armed with their inquisitive natures and a passion for sharing, they uncover the weird, fascinating, delightful, or unexpected elements of a wide variety of topics.

The pair have now taken their near-boundless "whys" and "hows" to the chapters of an audiobook for the first time -- featuring a completely new array of subjects that they've long wondered about and wanted to explore. Fans and everyone else can now follow along as the two dig into the underlying stories of everything from the origin of Murphy beds, to the history of facial hair, to the psychology of being lost -- and so much more!

Critique: Read by the authors, "Stuff You Should Know: An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things" includes a bonus PDF on the final disc. Laid out on 8 CDs, and showcasing a wealth of inherently fascinating trivia and 'fun facts, this complete and unabridged audio book edition of "Stuff You Should Know: An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things" is certain to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to personal, community, college, and university library audio book collections.


The Library CD Shelf

Reflections: Improvisations on Christmas
Stephen Wallack
www.stephenwallackmusic.com
Privately Published
$14.64 CD / $9.49 MP3 amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/Reflections-Stephen-Wallack/dp/B08LKFM9NN

Reflections: Improvisations on Christmas is Stephen Wallack's solo piano renditions and inspirations based on traditional Christmas songs. A joyful and wondrous new way to experience classic favorites, Reflections: Improvisations on Christmas is a choice pick for personal and public library holiday music collections, ideal for setting the mood of the season! The tracks are "Deck the Halls" (4:49), "Rudolph" (3:57), "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" (4:09), "We Three Kings" (5:42), "Away In A Manger" (3:37), "Jingle Bells" (4:02), "Frosty" (4:28), "Joy to the World" (4:26), "Oh Christmas Tree" (3:45), and "Silent Night" (4:26). Also highly recommended is Stephen Wallack's "Stories: Solo Piano Reflections".

Acoustic Christmas
Camille Nelson
www.camillenelson.com
Camille Nelson Music
$12.98 CD / $8.99 MP3 amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/Acoustic-Christmas-Camille-Nelson/dp/B08JLHQNRT

Acoustic Christmas is a beautiful holiday music album showcasing Camille Nelson's talent on the acoustic guitar. Nelson plays arrangements of classic Christmas songs with special guest vocalists, in this treasure sure to add cheer to the winter season. Highly recommended! The tracks are "Come, All Ye Faithful" (3:17), "Joy to the World" (3:36), "Little Drummer Boy" (4:29), "Wexford Carol" (2:55), "Still, Still, Still" (feat. KORA) (4:48), "Once in David's Royal City" (3:30), "More Holiness Give Me" (4:42), "Infant Holy, Infant Lowly" (2:39), "O Holy Night" (5:03), and "Silent Night" (3:02).

Waltz of Life
Sydney Stevens
Privately Published
$15.07 CD / $9.49 MP3 amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/Waltz-Life-Sydney-Stevens/dp/B08L8B98LS

Waltz of Life is an instrumental album showcasing both solo piano and piano accompnied by violin, cello, bass, and other instruments. The flowing music, inspired by the beauty and transitory fragility of life itself, is an emotional treasure ideal for meditation, relaxation, or creative inspiration. Highly recommended! The tracks are "Waltz of Life", "Dreams", "BJ", "A Life", "Looking Back", "Gatherings", "Spring Light", "No More Tears", "Beginnings", "Blind Boy", "Your New Wings", "True Heart", "Harvest Moon", and "Waltz of Life".

Love Italian Style
Perry Canestrari
Hindsight Records
$7.98 amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/Love-Italian-Style-Perry-Canestrari/dp/B08JRGP6Y2

Love Italian Style is a music album treasury of classic Italian love songs. Emotional, inspirational, and beautifully performed by Perry Canestrari, Love Italian Style is a heartwarming pick to set a romantic mood year-round. Highly recommended! The tracks are "Malafemmena", "Arrivederci Roma", "Il Mondo", "Amore Scusami", "Caruso", "Neapolitan Medley", "My Way", "O Sole Mio", "Perdere L'amore", "Volare", "Love Story", and "Opera Meldey".

Coloradio Zen
Victor Towle
Privately Published
$11.98 CD / $9.49 MP3 amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/Colorado-Guitar-Music-Relaxation-Meditation/dp/B0859W561B

Colorado Zen is an instrumental, new age guitar album steeped in Eastern music tradition. Created by music artist Victor Towle and refined through live performances at meditation classes, Colorado Zen is a polished treasure ideal for fomenting relaxation, contemplation, and creativity. Highly recommended, especially to connoiseurs of the genre. The tracks are "Emerging", "Spring Crocus", "Front Porch", "The Sun's Wisdom", "No Reservations", "Freed from Tethers", "September 3rd", "Leaves Falling", "Like the Wind", "Thanksgiving Day", and "Light on the Horizon."


The Military Shelf

From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog
Colonel Steve Ladd USAF (Retired)
Air World
c/o Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9781526761248, $34.95, HC, 320pp

https://www.amazon.com/F-4-Phantom-10-Warthog-Memoirs/dp/1526761246

Synopsis: Fighter pilots in wooden planes from the earliest days of World War I down to the present age of the jet plane are iconic warrior symbols of aerial combat. Images of Baron Manfred von Richthofen and Eddie Rickenbacker in the Great War, Johnnie Johnson, Robert Stanford Tuck and Richard Bong in the Second World War, or Robin Olds in Vietnam, all spring to mind. Volumes have been written about them, past and present. Understandably, most of these revolve around the skill, cunning and bravery that characterizes this distinctive band of brothers, but there are other dimensions to those who take to the skies to do battle that have not been given the emphasis they deserve -- until now.

"From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog: Memoirs of a Cold War Fighter Pilot" is Colonel Steve Ladd's fascinating personal tale, woven around his 28-year career as a fighter pilot. This extremely engaging account follows a young man from basic pilot training to senior command through the narratives that define a unique ethos. From the United States to Southeast Asia; Europe to the Middle East; linking the amusing and tongue-in-cheek to the deadly serious and poignant, this is the lifelong journey of a fighter pilot.

The anecdotes provided are absorbing, providing an insight into life as an Air Force pilot, but, in "From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog: Memoirs of a Cold War Fighter Pilot", Colonel Ladd stresses that the focus is not on fireworks or stirring tales of derring-do. Instead, this is an articulate and absorbing account of what life is really like among a rare breed of arrogant, cocky, boisterous and fun-loving young men who readily transform into steely professionals at the controls of a fighter aircraft.

Critique: Offering unique and informative insights into being a fighter pilot in times of war and in times of peace, "From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog: Memoirs of a Cold War Fighter Pilot" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, community, college, and university library Military Biography collections. It should be noted for students, academia, military history buffs and aviation enthusiasts that "From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog: Memoirs of a Cold War Fighter Pilot" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $16.99).

Spying from the Sky
Robert L. Richardson
Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9781612008363, $34.95, HC, 312pp

https://www.amazon.com/Spying-Sky-Controls-Aerial-Intelligence/dp/1612008364

Synopsis: William Gregory, "Greg" to all, was born into a sharecropper's life in the hills of north central Tennessee. From the back of a mule-drawn plow, Greg learned the value of resilience and the importance of living a determined life. Refusing to accept a life of continued poverty, Greg sought and found a way out in the form of a work-study college program that made it possible to leave farming behind him forever.

While at college, Greg completed the Civilian Pilot Training Program and was subsequently accepted into the Army's pilot training program. Earning his wings in 1942, Greg became a P-38 combat pilot and served in North Africa during the summer of 1943 -- a critical time when the Luftwaffe was still a potent threat, and America had begun the march northward from the Mediterranean into Europe proper.

Following the war, Greg served with a B-29 unit, then transitioned to the new, red-hot B-47 strategic bomber. In his frequent deployments, he was always assigned the same target in the Soviet Union - Tblisi, Stalin's home town. While a B-47 pilot, Greg was selected to join America's first high-altitude program - the Black Knights. Flying RB-57D aircraft, Greg and his team flew peripheral "ferret" missions around the Soviet Union and its satellites, collecting critical order-of-battle data so desperately needed by the Air Force at that time.

When that program neared its design end, and following the Gary Powers shoot-down over the Soviet Union, Greg was assigned to command of the CIA's U-2 unit at Edwards AFB. It was during that five-year command that Greg and his team provided critical overflight intelligence, including during the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam build-up. He found time to also become one of the first to fly U-2s off aircraft carriers in a demonstration project.

Following his U-2 command, Greg attended the National War College, was assigned to the reconnaissance office at the Pentagon, and then was named Vice-Commandant of the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). Greg retired from the Air Force in 1972.

Critique: An inherently interesting, impressively informative, exceptionally well written, organized and presented military biography, "Spying from the Sky: At the Controls of US Cold War Aerial Intelligence" by Robert L. Richardson is a unique and especially recommended addition to both community and academic library collections. Of particular interest to students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in Aviation & Nautical Biographies, or in Cold War Era Political Intelligence that "Spying from the Sky" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $17.99).

Editorial Note: Following a successful career in international business and global education, Robert Richardson began writing about the little-known, personal, but critically important stories of World War II and the Cold War. He wrote The Jagged Edge of Duty in 2017, and his current project relates to the events in the South Pacific during the early months of World War II.


The Gaming Shelf

Chess Improvement: It's all in the mindset
Barry Hymer & Peter Wells
Crown House Publishing
81 Brook Hills Circle, White Plains, NY 10605
www.crownhousepublishing.com
9781785835025, $19.95, PB, 352pp

https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Improvement-Its-all-mindset/dp/1785835025

Synopsis: "Chess Improvement: It's all in the mindset" by the collaborative team of Barry Hymer and Peter Wells is an engaging and instructive guide that sets out how the application of growth mindset principles can accelerate chess improvement.

With contributions by Tim Kett, "Chess Improvement" also features insights from Michael Adams, David Howell, Harriet Hunt, Gawain Jones, Luke McShane, Matthew Sadler and Nigel Short, as well as an informative Foreword by Henrik Carlsen -- father of world champion Magnus Carlsen.

Twenty-first-century knowledge about skills development and expertise requires us to keep such mystical notions as fixed talent in perspective, and to emphasise instead the dynamic and malleable nature of these concepts.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in chess, where many gifted players fall prey to plausible but self-defeating beliefs and practices-and thereby fail to achieve the levels their natural abilities predicted. Happily, however, the reverse can be true too; through learned dispositions such as grit, risk-taking, strategic thinking and a capacity for sheer hard work, players of apparently modest abilities can achieve impressive results.

Blending theory, practice and the distinct but complementary skills of two authors-one an academic (and amateur chess player) and the other a highly regarded England Chess Olympiad coach (and grandmaster)-Chess Improvement is an invaluable resource for any aspirational chess player or coach/parent of a chess player.

Barry and Peter draw on interviews conducted with members of England's medal-winning elite squad of players and provide a template for chess improvement rooted in the practical wisdom of experienced chess players and coaches.

They also include practical illustrative descriptions from the games and chess careers of both developing and leading players, and pull together themes and suggestions in a way which encourages readers to create their own trajectories for chess improvement.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Chess Improvement" is immanently suitable for any chess player from novice to professional, as well as the reading lists of chess coaches or the parent of a chess player. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Chess instructional reference collections, it should be noted for personal studies that "Chess Improvement" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $15.99).

Editorial Note: Based in Lancashire, UK, Barry Hymer is Emeritus Professor of Psychology in Education at the University of Cumbria and author or co-author of ten books and numerous papers in the field of teaching and learning. He is one of the UK's foremost authorities on the educational applications of mindset theory, and has worked with Carol Dweck on several conference tours. He is a national ambassador for the organisation Potential Plus UK and for the educational chess organisation Dansk Skoleskak.

Grandmaster Peter Wells has over 30 years' professional experience in the chess world and has authored or co-authored nine well-received chess books. He has extensive coaching experience, having worked with the England Open and women's teams at a total of 16 major events, and now works with the leading English juniors through the Chess Trust's Accelerator Programme. As a player Peter has won three British Rapidplay titles and is part of a small group of English players to have progressed beyond the zonal stage of the World Championship cycle.


The Cookbook Shelf

The Friendly Vegan Cookbook
Toni Okamoto & Michelle Cehn
BenBella Books
www.benbellabooks.com
9781950665365, $22.95, PB, 300pp

https://www.amazon.com/Friendly-Vegan-Cookbook-Essential-Omnivores/dp/1950665364

Synopsis: The recipes comprising "The Friendly Vegan Cookbook: 100 Essential Recipes to Share with Vegans and Omnivores Alike" by Toni Okamoto and Michelle Cehn clearly demonstrate that eating vegan doesn't have to mean a lifetime of bland veggie burgers and boring salads. Nor does it have to make every shared meal a source of stress!

Enter Michelle Cehn and Toni Okamoto are longtime friends and two of the most trusted figures in the online vegan community. Through their popular food blogs, videos, podcast, and cookbooks, the two have helped millions of people make living vegan easy, fun, and delicious. In "The Friendly Vegan Cookbook" they draw upon their mutual culinary experience and expertise to share 100 amazing recipes for satisfying meals, snacks, and treats, designed for both the veggie-curious and longtime vegans looking for a trusted recipe resource.

Of special note is that in "The Friendly Vegan Cookbook" Michelle and Toni also share their go-to kitchen tips to make meal planning a breeze, helpful shopping lists, and directions for vegans making their own staples, including nut milks, dressings, pasta sauces, and breads.

Critique: Beautifully illustrated with finished dishes throughout, "The Friendly Vegan Cookbook: 100 Essential Recipes to Share with Vegans and Omnivores Alike" is thoroughly 'kitchen cook friendly' in organization and presentation -- making it an ideal resource for vegan menu planning with respect to any and all dining occasions. While also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99), "The Friendly Vegan Cookbook" is unreservedly recommended for personal, family, professional, and community library Vegan/Vegetarian Cookbook collections.

The Dirty Vegan Cookbook, revised edition
Catherine Gill
Hatherleigh Press
c/o The Hatherleigh Foundation
62545 State Highway 10, Hobart, NY 13788
www.hatherleighpress.com
9781578268719, $25.00, PB, 256pp

https://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Vegan-Cookbook-Revised-Favorite/dp/1578268710

Synopsis: Now in a newly revised and expanded edition, "The Dirty Vegan Cookbook: Your Favorite Recipes Made Vegan" lets even the most novice of kitchen cooks prepare delicious vegan cuisine that anyone and everyone can enjoy, and showcases the sheer variety of amazing recipes you can create, all while remaining vegan. For too long, the vegan lifestyle has been seen as limiting -- a laundry list of all the things vegans can't or shouldn't have.

Providing healthy, vegan alternatives to the sorts of delicious comfort foods that everyone craves, "The Dirty Vegan Cookbook" makes it easier than ever to live the vegan lifestyle, featuring delicious recipes that use common ingredients available in any grocery store.

"The Dirty Vegan Cookbook" features over 120 rich, indulgent recipes that are sure to delight, and range from Artisan Sicilian Pizza, Breakfast Lemon Cheesecake, Baked Macaroni and Cheese, and Chocolate Chip Cookies, to Gourmet "Beef" Stroganoff, Roasted Carrot Tomato Soup, Sausage YUMbo Gumbo, Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie and so many more.

With simple, delicious recipes, "The Dirty Vegan Cookbook" is not just for vegans, but is ideal for menu planning for anyone who wants to prepare nutritious dishes using minimal equipment and processing. Self-styled as "vegan junk food" (healthy vegan food that doesn't skimp on taste) "The Dirty Vegan Cookbook" is a culinary celebration of all the amazing tastes and dishes available to those on vegan diets -- making it especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, and community library vegan/vegetarian cookbook collections.


The Political Science Shelf

American Cause
Russell Kirk
ISI Books
3901 Centerville Road, Wilmington, DE 19807-1938
www.isibooks.org
9781882926930, $13.00, PB, 125pp

https://www.amazon.com/American-Cause-Russell-Kirk/dp/1882926935

Synopsis: In the pages of "The American Cause", author Russell Kirk explains in simple yet eloquent language the bedrock principles upon which America's experiment in constitutional self-government is built.

Kirk, whose life and thought has recently been featured in C-SPAN's acclaimed American Writers series, intended his little book to be an assertion of the moral and social principles upholding our nation. Kirk's primer is an aid to reflection on those principles (political, economic, and religious) that have united Americans when faced with challenges and threats from the enemies of ordered freedom.

In this new age of politically based terrorism and authoritarianism, Kirk's lucid and straightforward presentation of the articles of American belief is both necessary and welcome.

Of special note is that Gleaves Whitney's newly edited version of Kirk's work, combined with his insightful commentary, make "The American Cause" a timely and invaluable addition to the literature of liberty.

Critique: In this era of pandemic, economic collapse, social justice based unrest, political division, and Donald Trump, "The American Cause" should be read by everyone wanting to defend American democracy from the authoritarian forces abroad and at home that seek erode it. While unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Political Science collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of political science students, academia, political activists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The American Cause" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99).

Editorial Note; Russell Kirk (1918-1994) is widely regarded as one of the principal architects of the postwar conservative intellectual movement. A columnist, essayist, novelist, historian, and critic, Kirk's best-known work is The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot. Gleaves Whitney is a senior aide to and chief speechwriter for Michigan Governor John Engler. The first senior fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal, his work has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Review, Christian Science Monitor, Vital Speeches of the Day, Crisis, Modern Age, Intercollegiate Review, University Bookman, and Policy Review.


The Money/Finance Shelf

Handbook of Financial Risk Management
Thierry Roncalli
CRC Press
6000 NW Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487
www.crcpress.com
9781138501874, $288.40, HC, 1176pp

https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Financial-Management-Chapman-Mathematics/dp/1138501875

Synopsis: Developed over 20 years of teaching academic courses, the "Handbook of Financial Risk Management" by Professor Thierry Roncalli can be divided into two main parts: risk management in the financial sector; and a discussion of the mathematical and statistical tools used in risk management.

This comprehensive textbook offers readers the chance to develop a sound understanding of financial products and the mathematical models that drive them, exploring in detail where the risks are and how to manage them.

Of special note is that written by an author with both theoretical and applied experience, "Handbook of Financial Risk Management" features: comprehensive coverage of the key topics in financial risk management and contains 114 exercises -- with solutions provided online at www.crcpress.com/9781138501874

Critique: Exceptional in organization and presentation, the "Handbook of Financial Risk Management" is an ideal curriculum resource for students pursuing a master's degree in finance who want to learn risk management. While unreservedly recommended for college and university library Business Finance and Money Management instructional reference collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, professional money managers, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that the "Handbook of Financial Risk Management" is also readily available in a digital book format (eTextbook, $240.00).

Editorial Note: Thierry Roncalli is Head of Quantitative Research at Amundi Asset Management. He is also a Professor of Economics and Finance at the University of Evry. Dr. Roncalli has over 20 years of experience in finance and is the author of many articles and several books in quantitative finance. He received a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Bordeaux.


The Computer Shelf

Murach's JavaScript and jQuery
Mary Delamater & Zak Ruvalcaba
Mike Murach & Associates
4340 North Knoll Avenue, Fresno, CA 93722
www.murach.com
9781943872626, $59.50, PB, 752pp

https://www.amazon.com/Murachs-JavaScript-jQuery-Mary-Delamater/dp/1943872627

Synopsis: If you're developing websites, you have to know JavaScript. There's no way around it today. Now in this fully updated and expanded fourth edition, "Murach's JavaScript and jQuery" by the team of Mary Delamater and Zak Ruvalcaba is a DIY curriculum textbook that teaches how to code modern JavaScript that conforms to the ECMAScript standards. It also teaches how to use jQuery, the classic JavaScript library, to handle the DOM scripting that gives JavaScript so much of its power. And it works for web designers who are coming from a background in HTML and CSS or a server-side programmer who's coded in languages like PHP, C#, Java, and Python.

Section 1 presents a 7-chapter course on JavaScript that will get anyone off to a great start, with a special focus on the skills you need for getting the most from jQuery. Then, section 2 presents the jQuery skills that are likely to be used, including how to create slide shows, image swaps, carousels, and accordions (how to validate the data in forms) and how to use plugins and widgets.

At that point, "Murach's JavaScript and jQuery" will have provided a solid set of JavaScript and jQuery skills. Then, section 3 expands the user's skill set as they learn how to work with date and time objects, browser objects, web storage, arrays, the user's own objects, regular expressions, and more. Finally, section 4 takes skills to a new level as the user learns how to use ECMAScript modules, work with Promises and Ajax, and get started using Node.js.

Complete coding examples, practice exercises, and Murach's distinctive "paired-pages" format (each topic is presented in a 2-page spread with text and illustrations); all combine to let the student/reader to tailor the pace and content to their personal learning style.

Critique: Comprehensive and thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, "Murach's JavaScript and jQuery" is the perfect DIY instruction manual for beginners and impressively useful as a reference resource for even the experience professional -- making it an invaluable and recommended addition to personal, professional, college and university library Computer Science collections in general, and JavaScript curriculum studies lists in particular.

Image Processing And Acquisition Using Python
Ravishankar Chityala & Sridevi Pudipeddi
CRC Press
6000 NW Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487
www.crcpress.com
9780367198084, $120.00, HC, 451pp

https://www.amazon.com/Image-Processing-Acquisition-Python-Chapman/dp/0367198088

Synopsis: "Image Processing And Acquisition Using Python" by the team of Ravishankar Chityala and Sridevi Pudipeddi provides readers with a sound foundation in both image acquisition and image processing -- one of the first books to integrate these topics together. By improving readers' knowledge of image acquisition techniques and corresponding image processing, "Image Processing And Acquisition Using Python" will help them perform experiments more effectively and cost efficiently as well as analyze and measure more accurately. Long recognized as one of the easiest languages for non-programmers to learn, Python is used in a variety of practical examples.

A refresher for more experienced readers, the first part of "Image Processing And Acquisition Using Python" presents an introduction to Python, Python modules, reading and writing images using Python, and an introduction to images. The second part discusses the basics of image processing, including pre/post processing using filters, segmentation, morphological operations, and measurements. The second part also describes image acquisition using various modalities, such as x-ray, CT, MRI, light microscopy, and electron microscopy. These modalities encompass most of the common image acquisition methods currently used by researchers in academia and industry.

Critique: With its impressively organized and comprehensive text, "Image Processing And Acquisition Using Python" is an ideal and unreservedly recommended curriculum textbook and should be a part of every professional, college and university library Computer Science collection in general, and Python instructional reference lists in particular. It should be noted for personal and academic studies that "Image Processing And Acquisition Using Python" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $47.16).

Editorial Note: Ravishankar Chityala, Ph.D. is Principal Engineer at IonPath, with eighteen years of experience in image processing. He teaches Python programming and Deep learning using Tensorow at the University of California Santa Cruz, Silicon Valley Campus. Dr. Chityala co-authored Essential Python (Essential Education, California, 2018), also contributed to the writing of Handbook of Physics in Medicine and Biology(CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2009, Robert Splinter). His research interests include image processing, machine learning and deep learning.

Sridevi Pudipeddi, Ph.D. has eleven years of experience teaching undergraduate courses. She teaches Machine Learning with Python and Python for Data Analysis at the University of California Berkeley at San Francisco campus. Dr. Pudipeddi's research interests are in machine learning, applied mathematics and image and text processing. Python's simple syntax and its vast image processing capabilities, along with the need to understand and quantify important experimental information through image acquisition, have inspired her to co-author this book. Dr. Pudipeddi co-authored Essential Python (Essential Education, California, 2018).


The Pets/Wildlife Shelf

The Bird-Friendly City: Creating Safe Urban Habitats
Timothy Beatley
Island Press
2000 M Street NW, Suite 650, Washington, DC 20036
www.islandpress.org
9781642830477, $35.00, PB, 272pp

https://www.amazon.com/Bird-Friendly-City-Creating-Urban-Habitats/dp/164283047X

Synopsis: How does a bird experience a city? A backyard? A park? As the world has become more urban, noisier from increased traffic, and brighter from streetlights and office buildings, it has also become more dangerous for countless species of birds. Warblers become disoriented by nighttime lights and collide with buildings. Ground-feeding sparrows fall prey to feral cats. Hawks and other birds-of-prey are sickened by rat poison. These name just a few of the myriad hazards. How do our cities need to change in order to reduce the threats, often created unintentionally, that have resulted in nearly three billion birds lost in North America alone since the 1970s?

In "The Bird-Friendly City: Creating Safe Urban Habitats", Timothy Beatley, a longtime advocate for intertwining the built and natural environments, takes readers on a global tour of cities that are reinventing the status quo with birds in mind. Efforts span a fascinating breadth of approaches: public education, urban planning and design, habitat restoration, architecture, art, civil disobedience, and more. Beatley shares empowering examples, including: advocates for "catios," enclosed outdoor spaces that allow cats to enjoy backyards without being able to catch birds; a public relations campaign for vultures; and innovations in building design that balance aesthetics with preventing bird strikes. Through these changes and the others Beatley describes, it is possible to make our urban environments more welcoming to many bird species.

Readers will come away motivated to implement and advocate for bird-friendly changes, with inspiring examples to draw from. Whether birds are migrating and need a temporary shelter or are taking up permanent residence in a backyard, when the environment is safer for birds, humans are happier as well.

Critique: Impressively informed and informative, exceptionally well organized and presented, clearly outline the problems while offering insightful and practical solutions, "The Bird-Friendly City: Creating Safe Urban Habitats" is an outstanding and unreservedly recommended contribution to personal, professional, community, college and university library Urban & Land Use Planning collections in general and Bird Field Guides and Avian Environmental studies curriculum lists in particular. It should be noted for students, academia, urban planners, governmental policy makers, wildlife enthusiasts, bird lovers, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The Bird-Friendly City: Creating Safe Urban Habitats" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $19.24).

Editorial Note: Timothy Beatley is the Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities at the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia, where he has taught for over twenty-five years. His primary teaching and research interests are in environmental planning and policy, with a special emphasis on coastal and natural hazards planning, environmental values and ethics, and biodiversity conservation. His books that explore these issues include "Biophilic Cities, Resilient Cities, and Blue Urbanism" (Island Press).

Dog's Best Friend
Simon Garfield
William Morrow & Company
c/o HarperCollins Publishers
195 Broadway New York, New York 10007
www.harpercollins.com
www.blackstoneaudio.com
9780063052246, $26.99, HC, 320pp

https://www.amazon.com/Dogs-Best-Friend-Story-Unbreakable/dp/0063052245

Synopsis: Ludo is a dog and Simon Garfield's beloved black Labrador retriever, one of millions of canines who have become integral parts of our personal lives. But how did the dog become top dog? How did these faithful animals come to assist us not only in hunting, but in bomb disposal and cancer detection -- and ultimately become our closest companions? "Dog's Best Friend: The Story of an Unbreakable Bond" examines how this bond developed over the centuries, and how it has transformed countless lives, both human and canine.

Garfield begins with the earliest visual representations (dogs depicted in ancient rock art) and ends at the laboratory that first sequenced the canine genome. Along the way, we meet the legendary Corgis of Buckingham Palace, the dogs of the Soviet space program, the world's first labradoodle, and a border collie that can identify more than a thousand different plush toys. Garfield reveals the secrets of the world's best dog trainers, takes us inside the wild world of dog breeding and dog shows, and unearths the deep psychological roots of the human-dog link. And Ludo pops his snout in from time to time as well.

Critique: An inherently fascinating and impressively informative read from cover to cover, "Dog's Best Friend: The Story of an Unbreakable Bond" is a history and celebration of a unique interspecies connection. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Pets/Wildlife collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of anyone who has or ever has had a canine companion of their own that "Dog's Best Friend: The Story of an Unbreakable Bond" is also readily available in a digital book format ($13.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Blackstone Audio, 9781799945277, $34.99, CD).

Editorial Note: A recipient of the Somerset Maugham Award for nonfiction and currently residing in London, England, Simon Garfield is author of more than a dozen acclaimed books of nonfiction including Timekeepers, To the Letter, On the Map, and Just My Type.


The Criminology Shelf

Requiem for a Female Serial Killer
Phyllis Chesler
World Encounter Institute
c/o New English Review Press
https://www.newenglishreview.org/New_English_Review_Press
9781943003426, $29.99, HC, 250pp

https://www.amazon.com/Requiem-Female-Serial-Phyllis-Chesler/dp/1943003424

Synopsis: "Requiem for a Female Serial Killer" by Phyllis Chesler (Emerita Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies at City University of New York) is a true crime psychological thriller takes us inside the mind of a unique female serial killer, a prostitute who murdered seven adult men in a case with which the author was intimately involved. The issues raised by this high-profile criminal case remain unresolved to this day.

Women, even prostitutes, have the right to self-defense in theory, but in practice, the story is more complicated. "Requiem for a Female Serial Killer" will challenge everything you ever thought about prostitutes, serial killers, and justice in America.

Aileen Wuornos is a damaged soul, a genuine American outlaw, a symbol of women's rage, a symbol of what can happen to severely abused children, and of how our justice system fails women.

Professor Chesler's involvement with a serial killer has haunted her ever since. She speaks in Aileen Wuornos' voice, as well as in her own, and delivers an incisive, original, and dramatic portrait of a cognitively impaired, traumatized, and alcoholic woman who had endured so much pain in her short life. When she'd had enough, the results were deadly.

"Requiem for a Female Serial Killer" is a poignant, sometimes humorous, never-before-told behind-the-scenes tale. Wuornos' story is handled with great sensitivity, but also with realistic detachment by Professor Chesler as she probes the telling moment, the telling phrase. Was Wuornos suffering from post-traumatic stress after a life lived on a "killing field?" Was she also "born evil?" So many prostitutes have been torture-murdered by serial killers - how did Wuornos, once prey, become a predator?

Critique: A impressively seminal contribution to community, college, and university library Criminology collections, "Requiem for a Female Serial Killer" is an extraordinary story and one that will linger in the mind and memory of the reader long after the book itself has been finished and set back upon the shelf. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of criminology students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Requiem for a Female Serial Killer" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781943003433, $14.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).


James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Diane C. Donovan, Editor
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
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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