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Table of Contents
Reviewer's Choice
Dinosaurs: New Visions of a Lost World
Michael J. Benton, author
Bob Nichols, illustrator
Thames & Hudson, Inc.
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110-0017
www.thamesandhudsonusa.com
9781408843956, $35.00, HC, 320pp
https://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-New-Visions-Lost-World/dp/0500052190
Synopsis: What dinosaurs looked like has been an evolving process from their first discovery
down to the present day. In the profusely and beautifully illustrated pages of "Dinosaurs: New
Visions of a Lost World", world-leading paleontologist Michael J. Benton brings us a new visual
guide to the world of the dinosaurs, showing how rapid advances in technology and amazing new
fossil finds have changed the way we see these extinct beasts forever.
Stunning, brand-new illustrations by paleoartist Bob Nicholls display the latest and most exciting
scientific discoveries in vibrant color. From Sinosauropteryx, the first dinosaur to have its color
patterns identified (a ginger-and-white striped tail and a "bandit mask") by Benton's team at the
University of Bristol to recent research on the surprising mixed feathers and scales of
Kulindadromeus, "Dinosaurs: New Visions of a Lost World" is one of the first books to include
cutting-edge scientific research in paleontology.
Each individual chapter focuses on a particular extinct species, featuring a specially
commissioned illustration by Bob Nicholls that brings to life the latest scientific breakthroughs,
with accompanying text exploring how paleontologists have determined new details, such as the
patterns on skin and the colors of feathers of animals that lived millions of years ago. This visual
compendium surprises and challenges everything you thought you knew about what dinosaurs
looked like and how they lived.
Critique: Featuring 100 full color illustrations in support of an informed and informative
commentary, "Dinosaurs: New Visions of a Lost World" is an inherently fascinating, thoughtful
and thought-provoking read from cover to cover. While especially and unreservedly
recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Paleontology
collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of all dinosaur enthusiasts that
"Dinosaurs: New Visions of a Lost World" is also readily available in a digital book format
(Kindle, $19.99).
Editorial Note: Michael J. Benton is a professor of vertebrate paleontology and head of the
world-leading Palaeobiology Research Group at the University of Bristol. He has written more
than fifty books, including "Dinosaurs Rediscovered" and "When Life Nearly Died".
The Social Issues Shelf
The PhD Parenthood Trap
Kerry F. Crawford, author
Leah C. Windsor, author
Georgetown University Press
3240 Prospect Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007
www.press.georgetown.edu
9781647120665, $29.99, HC, 272pp
https://www.amazon.com/PhD-Parenthood-Trap-Between-Academia/dp/1647120667
Synopsis: Academia today has a big problem. For many parents (especially mothers) the idea of
"work-life balance" is a work-life myth. Parents and caregivers work harder than ever to grow
and thrive in their careers while juggling the additional responsibilities that accompany
parenthood. Sudden disruptions and daily constraints such as breastfeeding, sick days that keep
children home from school, and the sleep deprivation that plagues the early years of parenting,
and the current Covid pandemic with its long-distance learning for homebound children, all
threaten to derail careers. Some experience bias and harassment related to pregnancy or parental
leave. The result is an academic Chutes and Ladders, where career advancement is nearly
impossible for parents who lack access to formal or informal support systems.
In "The PhD Parenthood Trap: Caught Between Work and Family in Academia" and with the
assistance of twenty-two expert and experienced contributors, co-authors Kerry F. Crawford and
Leah C. Windsor reveal the realities of raising kids, on or off the tenure track, and suggest
reforms to help support parents throughout their careers. Insights from their original survey data
and poignant vignettes from scholars across disciplines make it clear that universities lack
understanding, uniform policies, and flexibility for family formation, hurting the career
development of parent-scholars.
Each chapter comprising "The PhD Parenthood Trap: Caught Between Work and Family in
Academia" includes recommendations for best practices and policy changes that will help make
academia an exemplar of progressive family-leave policies. Topics covered include pregnancy,
adoption, miscarriage and infant loss, postpartum depression, family leave, breastfeeding, daily
parenting challenges, the tenure clock, and more. "The PhD Parenthood Trap: Caught Between
Work and Family in Academia" then concludes with advice to new or soon-to-be parents to help
them better navigate parenthood in academia.
Critique: Impressively informative, exceptionally well organized and presented, "The PhD
Parenthood Trap: Caught Between Work and Family in Academia" is especially recommended
reading for scholars, academic mentors, and university administrators who would benefit from
empirical evidence and suggested steps to break down personal and structural barriers between
parenthood and scholarly careers. While an essential addition to community, college, and
university library Education Administration & Parenting collections, it should be noted for
personal reading lists that "The PhD Parenthood Trap: Caught Between Work and Family in
Academia" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $22.49).
Editorial Note #1: Kerry F. Crawford is an associate professor of political science at James
Madison University. She is the author of Wartime Sexual Violence (Georgetown University
Press, 2017) and Human Security: Theory and Action. She is also the mother of three young
children.
Editorial Note #2: Leah C. Windsor is a research associate professor in the Institute for
Intelligent Systems at the University of Memphis. She directs the Languages Across Cultures lab
and is the author of numerous studies at the intersection of linguistics and political science. She
is also the mother of two young children.
The Education Shelf
School, Not Jail
Peter Williamson and Deborah Appleman, editors
Teachers College Press
https://www.tcpress.com
9780807765487, $32.95 pbk / $18.12 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/School-Not-Jail-Educators-Incarceration/dp/0807765481
Synopsis: This important volume examines how and why increasing numbers of students,
disproportionately youth of color, are being taken from our schools and put into our prisons.
Williamson and Appleman, along with a collection of scholars, teacher educators, K - 12
teachers, an administrator, and an incarcerated student, offer their perspectives on how schooling
can be restructured to disrupt this flow and dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. They present
clearly articulated strategies on curriculum, pedagogy, and disciplinary practices that can help
redirect our collective efforts away from carceral practices.
By considering chapters from prison educators and an essay by a currently incarcerated student
(the end of the pipeline), readers will plainly see the disciplinary and curricular issues that need
to be addressed in our schools. The text includes examples of meaningful ways to engage
students that could be incorporated into a variety of classrooms, from social studies to science to
English language arts.
School, Not Jail features:
Instructive cautionary tales with specific pedagogical and policy suggestions.
Alternatives to discipline in schools, such as restorative justice and positive behavioral
support.
Insights to help educators consider the trajectory of their students, as well as suggestions for
making the curriculum both relevant and sustaining.
Ways in which an understanding of the mechanisms of the school-to-prison pipeline can be
woven into teacher preparation.
Critique: School, Not Jail: How Educators Can Disrupt School Pushout and Mass Incarceration
is a curated anthology of essays by expert scholars examining a horrifying failure of American
schools - how increasing number of students, especially students of color, are taken out of
schools and end up in prisons. This can happen directly, when students are arrested in schools, or
indirectly, when students are suspended or expelled for even the most minor violations of dress
code or "zero tolerance" policies. Students who are expelled or do not complete a high school
degree are severely disadvantaged in career prospects, and many times more likely to become
incarcerated. Individual writings examining this distressing problem and ways to counteract it
include "Transformative Justice in Education: A Necessary Paradigm Shift in the United States",
"Teacher Preparation and Disrupting School Pushout and Mass Incarceration", "Still I Rise:
Student Voices in Juvenile Hall", and much more. School, Not Jail directly addresses a systemic
social ill that literally destroys lives, and is worthy of the highest recommendation for public,
college, and professional library Education collections. It should be noted for personal reading
lists that School, Not Jail is also available in a Kindle edition ($18.12).
Editorial Note: Peter Williamson is an associate professor at Stanford University and faculty
director of the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) for secondary teachers. Deborah
Appleman is the Hollis L. Caswell Professor of educational studies at Carleton College and
author of Critical Encounters in Secondary English: Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents,
Third Edition.
Empowering Underrepresented Gifted Students
Joy Lawson Davis, editor
Deb Douglas, editor
Free Spirit Publishing
6325 Sandburg Road, Suite 100, Minneapolis, MN 55427-3674
www.freespirit.com
9781631984884, $42.99, PB, 188pp
https://www.amazon.com/Empowering-Underrepresented-Gifted-Students-ProfessionalTM/dp/1631984888
Synopsis: In gifted education, an important and contentious issue that has yet to be sufficiently
addressed is the systemic underrepresentation of gifted students who have been discriminated
against in school-based gifted and advanced learner programs because of their race, ethnicity,
gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other discriminatory cultural
realities. "Empowering Underrepresented Gifted Students: Perspectives from the Field" gives a
voice to those students and brings their stories into focus.
With chapters written by student and expert scholars who specialize in addressing the structural
inequity and educational inequality in gifted and advanced learner programs, "Empowering
Underrepresented Gifted Students" recommends practices and strategies for helping underserved
high-potential students claim their right to an education that addresses their unique needs. Each
chapter has key takeaways and discussion questions, providing a built-in book study guide to
prepare educators to engage students in conversation and to help develop their self-advocacy
skills.
In the pages, collaborative co-editors and educators Dr. Joy Lawson Davis and Deb Douglas have
brought together the voices of experts and students to help educators move closer to ensuring
equity, access, and excellence in gifted education. By arming historically marginalized gifted
students with self-advocacy strategies, these remarkable students will be better enabled to fulfill
their dreams.
Critique: Exceptionally well organized, impressively informative, thoughtful and thought-
provoking, "Empowering Underrepresented Gifted Students: Perspectives from the Field" is an
extraordinary, timely, and unreservedly recommended addition to school district, college, and
university library Gifted Students Education collections and supplemental curriculum studies
lists. "Empowering Underrepresented Gifted Students: Perspectives from the Field" is also an
ideal selection as a textbook for school district teacher in-service training programs and a 'must'
for all classroom teachers of gifted students seeking to create and maintain Gifted Education
curriculums.
Teaching International Relations
James M. Scott, Ralph G. Carter, Brandy Jolliff Scott, Jeffrey S. Lantis, editors
Edward Elgar Publishing
9 Dewey Court, Northampton, MA 01060-3815
www.e-elgar.com
9781839107641, $145.00, HC, 272pp
https://www.amazon.com/Teaching-International-Relations-Elgar-Guides/dp/1839107642
Synopsis: Collaboratively compiled and edited by the team of James M. Scott (Herman Brown
Chair and Professor of Political Science, Texas Christian University), Ralph G. Carter (Piper
Professor of Political Science, Texas Christian University), Brandy Jolliff Scott (Lecturer,
Department of Political Science, Texas Christian University), and Jeffrey S. Lantis (Professor of
Political Science, College of Wooster), "Teaching International Relations" comprehensive guide
captures important trends in international relations (IR) pedagogy, paying particular attention to
innovations in active learning and student engagement for the contemporary International
Relations (IR) classroom.
"Teaching International Relations" is organized into three parts: IR course structures and goals;
techniques and approaches to the classroom; and assessment and effectiveness. It is up-to-date
with teaching practices highlighted by leading journals and conferences sponsored by the
International Studies Association (ISA) and the American Political Science Association
(APSA).
Collectively, the chapters contribute to continuing dialogues on pedagogy in the field and serve
as a critical resource for faculty in IR, political science, and social science.
Critique: Comprised of seventeen erudite and informative articles by experts in their respective
fields, "Teaching International Relations" is enhanced for academia with the inclusion of figures,
tables, a 33 page listing of References, and a six page Index. Exceptionally well organized and
presented, "Teaching International Relations" is a part of the Elgar Guides To Teaching series
and a highly recommended addition to professional, college, and university library Contemporary
Education & International Relations collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.
The Parenting Shelf
Launching into Young Adulthood with ADHD ... Ready or Not!
Chris A. Zeigler Dendy, author
Ruth Hughes, author
Woodbine House
6510 Bells Mill Road, Bethesda, MD 20817
www.woodbinehouse.com
9781606132975, $24.95, PB, 246pp
https://www.amazon.com/Launching-into-Young-Adulthood-Ready/dp/1606132970
Synopsis: The quantum leap from high school into young adulthood and the work world can be
especially challenging for teens with ADHD. Scientific evidence indicates that ADHD can result
in up to a three- to five-year delay in brain maturation and executive functioning skills, which
means that many young people with ADHD may not be developmentally ready to meet the
demands of this transition. Without continued support, young people can become overwhelmed
and risk failure.
Authors Chris Dendy and Ruth Hughes are ADHD experts and parents of adult sons who are
now successfully established in their careers. With the publication of "Launching into Young
Adulthood with ADHD ... Ready or Not!" they offer parents guidance and strategies to help their
preteens and teens develop the key life skills necessary for the adult world and identify potential
vocational interests and career paths before graduation.
An important theme is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to life planning for young people
with ADHD. The authors therefore caution against assuming attending a four-year college right
after high school (or at all) is the best path to a successful, fulfilling adulthood. Instead, they
advocate for nurturing natural talents, exploring careers that "work" with ADHD (sales, business
owner, chef), using available services (transition planning, vocational testing and counseling),
trying out work experiences (volunteer work, internships, summer jobs), and perhaps taking a
gap year before getting additional education (college, community college, technical
training).
"Launching into Young Adulthood with ADHD ... Ready or Not!" also offers plentiful advice on
building a strong, positive parent-child relationship and recognizing and addressing anxiety and
depression and low self-esteem. With a hopeful and personable message, the authors share their
own and other parents' insights about avoiding common missteps and mitigating the impacts of
ADHD. "Launching into Young Adulthood with ADHD ... Ready or Not!" is top-notch DIY
guide to helping young people define and prep for the future with its very specific ADHD
strategies and collaborative approach to launching teens into their life's journey.
Critique: Exceptionally well written, practical, comprehensive, encouraging, and thoroughly
'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, "Launching into Young Adulthood with ADHD
... Ready or Not!" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and
university library Parenting, ADHD, and Adolescent Counseling collections and supplemental
curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of parents, highschool
counselors, psychology students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in
the subject that "Launching into Young Adulthood with ADHD ... Ready or Not!" is also readily
available in a digital book format (Kindle, $21.99).
Editorial Note #1: Chris A. Zeigler Dendy is a popular author, educator, school psychologist, and
mental health professional with more than forty years' experience and is the mother of three
children with ADHD, LD, and executive function deficits. She provides training nationally and
internationally.
Editorial Note #2: Ruth Hughes, PhD, has been a national leader in the field of attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder for many years. During her tenure as the CEO of Children and Adults with
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), Dr. Hughes advocated with Congress and
the federal government to ensure the rights and access to treatment for children and adults with
ADHD. She instituted the widely recognized Parent to Parent Training Program, which has
helped thousands of parents learn to manage ADHD in the family. Teacher to Teacher, a training
program on ADHD for teachers, was also launched under her leadership.
The Environmental Studies Shelf
Thicker Than Water
Erica Cirino
Island Press
2000 M St NW Suite 650, Washington, DC 20036
www.islandpress.org
https://www.dreamscapepublishing.com
9781642831375, $27.00, HC, 272pp
https://www.amazon.com/Thicker-Than-Water-Solutions-Plastic/dp/1642831379
Synopsis: Disgarded plastic is the primary contaminant of our oceans today and are created havoc
with marine life. Instead of a great island of trash, the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch is
made up of manmade debris spread over hundreds of miles of sea -- more like a soup than a
floating garbage dump. Recycling is more complicated than we were taught: less than nine
percent of the plastic we create is reused, and the majority ends up in the ocean. And plastic
pollution isn't confined to the open ocean: it's in much of the air we breathe and the food we
eat.
In "Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis", journalist and
environmentalist Erica Cirino brings readers on a globe-hopping journey to meet the scientists
and activists telling the real story of the plastic crisis. From the deck of a plastic-hunting sailboat
with a disabled engine, to the labs doing cutting-edge research on microplastics and the
chemicals we ingest, Cirino paints a full picture of how plastic pollution is threatening wildlife
and human health.
"Thicker Than Water" also reveals that the plastic crisis is also a tale of environmental injustice,
as poorer nations take in a larger share of the world's trash, and manufacturing chemicals threaten
predominantly Black and low-income communities.
There is some hope on the horizon, with new laws banning single-use items and technological
innovations to replace plastic in our lives. But Cirino shows that we can only fix the problem if
we face its full scope and begin to rep
Critique: Incredible timely given the current focus on climate change and the growing
contamination of plastic wastes in our oceans, seas, rivers and lakes, it is imperative that
"Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis" be a part of every
community, college, and university library Contemporary Environmental Studies collections and
supplemental curriculum studies lists. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented,
"Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis" is also available for the
personal reading lists of students, academia, environmental activists, and non-specialist general
readers with an interest in the subject in a digital book format (Kindle, $20.99) and as a complete
and unabridged audio book (Dreamscape Media, 9781666519679, $22.99, CD).
Editorial Note: Erica Cirino is a science writer and artist who explores the intersection of the
human and nonhuman worlds. Her photographic and written works have appeared in Scientific
American, The Guardian, VICE, Hakai Magazine, The Atlantic, and other esteemed publications.
She is a recipient of fellowships from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Craig Newmark
Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, and Safina Center, as well as several awards for visual
art.
The Pets/Wildlife Shelf
Asia's Wildlife
Fanny Lai, author
Bjorn Olesen, author
Periplus Editions
c/o Tuttle Publishing
364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon, VT 05759-9436
www.tuttlepublishing.com
www.periplus.com
9780794608132, $34.99, HC, 256pp
https://www.amazon.com/Asias-Wildlife-Proceeds-Birdlife-International/dp/0794608132
Synopsis: "Asia's Wildlife: A Journey to the Forests of Hope" provides rare insights into Asia's
breathtaking tropical forests and the rare species that inhabit them -- many of which are now
endangered.
Produced to raise funds and awareness of nature conservation through their Forest of Hope
program, Asia's Wildlife is a mesmerizing year-long photographic journey of the expedition
taken by Fanny Lai and photographer Bjorn Olesen. Readers can become part of their journey as
they observe, photograph, and describe Asia's most distinctive animal species.
The trip brings you as an armchair traveler to the most remote and biodiverse forests in eight
different countries in Asia, and gives you the opportunity to learn about rarely seen (let alone
photographed) endangered animal species.
"Asia's Wildlife" showcases more than 190 images and illustrations, and features 129 different
animal species, of which 72 are national endemics, including: The Giant Cloud Rat; The majestic
Philippine Eagle; The critically endangered Helmeted Hornbill -- and many other fascinating
creatures!
"Asia's Wildlife" also includes the ongoing conservation efforts to protect these precious forests,
as well as very real threats to the future of the animals and habitats.
Critique: A beautifully presented compendium of memorable full color wildlife photography
published in a hardcover coffee-table style format (9.6 x 1 x 10.7 inches), "Asia's Wildlife: A
Journey to the Forests of Hope" is an especially and unreservedly recommended for community,
college, and university library Wildlife & Endangered Species collections and supplemental
curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia,
wildlife preservation activists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject
that ""Asia's Wildlife: A Journey to the Forests of Hope" is also readily available in a digital
book format (Kindle, $9.03).
Editorial Note: Proceeds from the sale of "Asia's Wildlife: A Journey to the Forests of Hope" will
go to support the conservation activities of Bird Life International.
The Cookbook Shelf
The Fair Trade Ingredient Cookbook
Nettie Cronish
Whitecap Books Ltd.
www.whitecap.ca
9781770503304, $34.95, PB, 246pp
https://www.amazon.com/Fair-Trade-Cookbook-Nettie-Cronish/dp/1770503307
Synopsis: We live in an age when consumers are more informed than ever about what they buy,
eat and use. Local producers and chefs educate their customers to understand exactly where the
food they consume comes from and how it was grown or raised. People are eager to educate
themselves, and to spend money on products and ingredients that benefit their bodies,
environment and communities. That is why buying fair trade ingredients has a tremendous social
impact.
With the publication of "The Fair Trade Ingredient Cookbook", culinary expert and social activist
Nettie Cronish gives consumers an understanding of the process -- explaining how an ingredient
qualifies for fair trade certification and how that product reaches a supermarket shelf. Each
chapter will include an interview with a fair trade producer and provide background along with
the benefits of fair trade ingredients.
From the cocoa farmers in Belize, the campesina coffee growers of Chiapas, the banana farmers
and workers of Ecuador, to the Palestinian olive growers of the West Bank, " We live in an age
when consumers are more informed than ever about what they buy, eat and use. Local producers
and chefs educate their customers to understand exactly where the food they consume comes
from and how it was grown or raised. People are eager to educate themselves, and to spend
money on products and ingredients that benefit their bodies, environment and communities. That
is why buying fair trade ingredients has a tremendous social impact.
With The Fair Trade Ingredient Cookbook, Nettie Cronish gives consumers an understanding of
the process -- explaining how an ingredient qualifies for fair trade certification and how that
product reaches a supermarket shelf. Each chapter will include an interview with a fair trade
producer and provide background along with the benefits of fair trade ingredients.
From the cocoa farmers in Belize, the campesina coffee growers of Chiapas, the banana farmers
and workers of Ecuador, to the Palestinian olive growers of the West Bank, "The Fair Trade
Ingredient Cookbook" is also the story of farmers and workers sharing the desire for a better
world.
"The Fair Trade Ingredient Cookbook" is comprised of diverse, palate pleasing, appetite
satisfying recipes using fair trade ingredients that would charm many a palate ranging from Chai
Rice Pudding (using fair trade coconut milk); Garlic Braised Swiss Chard (using fair trade olive
oil); Guinness Cocoa Cake (using fair trade cocoa); and Organic Meringues (using fair trade
sugar); to Quinoa Falafel Balls (using fair trade quinoa); Espresso Glazed Coffee Cake (using fair
trade coffee); and Curried Banana Cream Pie (using fair trade bananas).
Critique: Nettie Cronish is a food writer, recipe developer and health and wellness seminar
instructor. She has been teaching vegetarian cooking classes for the past 20 years and is the
author of 3 cookbooks including Everyday Flexitarian, Flex Appeal and Nourish. Her newest
culinary compendium is beautifully illustrated throughout -- making "The Fair Trade Ingredient
Cookbook" a unique and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, and
community library cookbook collections.
Essential
Ollie Dabbous
Bloomsbury Press
www.bloomsbury.com
9781408843956, $35.00, HC, 320pp
https://www.amazon.com/Untitled-By-Ollie-Dabbous/dp/1408843951
Synopsis: What ever the culinary culture of the cuisine, the best foods are always the simplest,
whether cooking at home or in a restaurant. "Essential" is cookbook compendium of simply
outstanding recipes in which Michelin-starred chef Ollie Dabbous has created to help home
cooks everywhere elevate go-to dishes into something special, through easy techniques, few
pieces of equipment, and concise ingredients that work together to create the most delicious
flavors.
Organized by ingredient type, from Grains to Shellfish to Sugar and Honey, the 100 recipes in
Essential are all basics that Dabbous teaches us how to make just right. Ranging from baked
eggs, roasted vegetables, and flatbread to dishes with a bit more flare, like creamy spinach toast,
meals made from "Essential" are sure to wow whomever sits down to eat at the table.
With gorgeous photographs and sleek, elegantly classic design, Essential is the can't-miss
cookbook for home cooks looking to ace their everyday menu.
Critique: Profusely and beautifully illustrated throughout, "Essential" is an elegant compilation of
palate pleasing, appetite satisfying dishes that will transform any meal from the ordinary to the
extraordinary. While "Essential" is especially recommended for community library contemporary
cookbook collections, it should be noted for the family chef that it is also readily available in a
digital book format (Kindle, $14.16).
Editorial Note: Ollie Dabbous started cooking as a kitchen hand in Florence when he was fifteen.
He worked at Kensington Place for Rowley Leigh, but it was his years spent working with
Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons that most profoundly influenced his cooking. He
went on to be head chef at the Scandinavian-influenced Texture on Portman Street, and has also
spent time at Mugaritz, Noma, Hibiscus, L'Astrance, Pierre Gagnaire and WD50. In January
2012 he opened DABBOUS to rapturous reviews, and was awarded a Michelin star within
months.
One Dish Fish
Lola Milne
Kyle Books
c/o Octopus Books
www.octopusbooksusa.com
9780857839480, $22.99 hc / $9.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/One-Dish-Fish-Simple-Recipes/dp/0857839489
Synopsis: Fish and seafood can be wonderfully quick to prepare and cook, but as ingredients they
strike fear into the hearts of many - even those who otherwise feel confident in the kitchen.
All of the recipes in One Dish Fish are cooked in the oven in one dish or roasting pan. Geared
towards speed and convenience, they are organized into chapters divided by time frame - 20
minutes, 30 minutes and 45 minutes - with most being ready in half an hour. From Slow-roasted
salmon with citrus, harissa and capers to Anchovy, garlic, chilli and broccoli pasta, Lola's dishes
are perfect for fish lovers of all cooking abilities.
Critique: One Dish Fish: 70 Quick and Simple Recipes to Cook in the Oven lives up to its title as
a kitchen cook-friendly, practical-minded cookbook to preparing fish and seafood. Every dish is
cooked in a single dish or roasting pan; recipes are sorted by time frame (20, 30, or 45 minutes).
Each recipe features easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions and many are illustrated with a full-
color, full-page photograph. One Dish Fish is a "must-have" for seafood enthusiasts, or anyone
interested in eating less red meat without sacrificing taste or convenience. Highly recommended!
It should be noted for personal reading lists that One Dish Fish is also available in a Kindle
edition ($9.99).
Editorial Note: Lola Milne's eyes were opened to the world of cookbooks, food photography and
styling when she did work experience with Jamie Oliver and his food team. After school, she
went to Glasgow School of Art and studied Fine Art Photography, though food continued to
weave through her work there. After graduating she decided to return to the world of food styling
and started working in the kitchens of cafes and bakeries while doing work experience with food
stylists. She then progressed to assisting full time and then to being a stylist herself, expanding
along the way into recipe testing and then writing. Lola's first book, Take One Can, was
published in 2020 by Kyle Books.
The Business Shelf
Getting Price Right
Gerald Smith
Columbia Business School Publishing
c/o Columbia University Press
61 West 62nd Street, New York, NY 10023-7015
http://cup.columbia.edu
9780231190701, $40.00, HC, 352pp
https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Price-Right-Behavioral-Profitable/dp/0231190700
Synopsis: How do business leaders, managers, and proprietors go about the essential task of
setting prices for their goods and services? What biases enter into this process, and why? How
can a business debias its price setting to become more productive, strategic, and profitable?
Combining perceptive insights from behavioral economics with leading-edge ideas on price
management, "Getting Price Right: The Behavioral Economics of Profitable Pricing" by Gerald
Smith offers a new approach to pricing. Smith demonstrates why understanding, reframing, and
refining everyday pricing processes (a firm's or manager's pricing orientation) results in a better
long-term pricing strategy. He also explores how pricing actually happens in practice and shows
how to identify and remove the psychological blinders that cause sub-optimal decisions and
policies. Smith details how to improve pricing orientation by combining the soft behavioral skills
that intuitively shape and refine pricing practice with the hard analytic skills that guide and
structure pricing strategy. The result is more rational and more profitable pricing with respect to
not only revenue and profitability but also employee productivity and customer satisfaction.
Critique: Offering an accessible and actionable model, "Getting Price Right" pioneers the way to
apply behavioral economics to managerial price setting. It is essential for corporate business
leaders, thought leaders, and professionals interested in advances in pricing and for managers,
entrepreneurs, proprietors, and small and midsize business owners whose everyday work
involves pricing.
While especially and unreservedly recommended for community, corporate, college, and
university library Business Marketing instructional reference collections, it should be noted for
the personal reading lists of entrepreneurs, corporate executives, business managers, MBA
students, academia, economists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject
that "Getting Price Right: The Behavioral Economics of Profitable Pricing" is also readily
available in a digital book format (Kindle, $19.99).
Editorial Note: Gerald Smith is a business professor and chair of the Marketing Department at
Boston College in the Carroll School of Management. He is also the author of The Opt-Out
Effect: Marketing Strategies That Empower Consumers and Win Customer-Driven Brand
Loyalty (2016) and editor of Visionary Pricing: Reflections and Advances in Honor of Dan
Nimer (2012).
It's Time to Talk about Race at Work
Kelly McDonald
Wiley
c/o Wiley Professional Trade Group
111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com
9781119790877, $26.00, HC, 224pp
https://www.amazon.com/Time-Talk-about-Race-Work/dp/1119790875
Synopsis: Many non-racist white businessmen want to create change in their companies but are
not certain as to how to do so appropriately and effectively.
How do you know where the blind spots are that can create obstacles for people of color? Your
intentions may be sincere and heartfelt, but good intentions aren't enough.
In "It's Time to Talk about Race at Work: Every Leader's Guide to Making Progress on Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion", author Kelly McDonald delivers a much-needed roadmap for business
people. This instructive guide will help to successfully create a fair and equitable workplace that
recognizes diverse talent and fosters productive and constructive conversations in any
organization. It's "Time to Talk about Race at Work" does not approach diversity from the
standpoint of social activism or an HR perspective. Instead, it shows exactly what to do and how
to do it so that anyone can make real progress on diversity and inclusion, regardless of the size of
your organization.
Presented with a clear, "real talk" style that makes it easy to learn, "It's Time to Talk about Race
at Work" covers: The costs and risks incurred if an organization lacks diversity; How people who
don't consider themselves to be racist may still have diversity blind spots; How to start the hard
conversations; The STARTING Method (an eight-step framework that shows how to ensure
diversity and inclusion efforts that are effective); How to recognize the excuses people use to
avoid taking action on diversity and inclusion; How to address the issues and comments that
come up when employees feel nervous, resentful, or uncomfortable as you make headway on
diversity in your organization
Critique: Exceptionally well written, and thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and
presentation, "It's Time to Talk about Race at Work: Every Leader's Guide to Making Progress
on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" is an ideal instructional guide and manual for corporate
executives, business managers, and leaders in both profit and non-profit organizations of all types
and sizes. While highly recommended for community, corporate, college, and university library
Business Management collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists, it should be noted
for the personal reading lists of employees, MBA students, academia, entrepreneurs, and business
managers that "It's Time to Talk about Race at Work: Every Leader's Guide to Making Progress
on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle,
$16.00).
Editorial Note: Kelly McDonald is a professional speaker and expert on diversity in business.
She's authored three bestselling books on marketing, the customer experience and leadership, all
from the standpoint of working with people "not like you".
The Military Shelf
Bitskrieg: The New Challenge of Cyberwarfare
John Arquilla
Polity
www.politybooks.com
c/o John Wiley and Sons (dist.)
www.wiley.com
9781509543625, $64.95, HC, 240pp
https://www.amazon.com/Bitskrieg-Challenge-Cyberwarfare-John-Arquilla/dp/1509543627
Synopsis: The story of modern warfare is one of new technologies changing how we protect our
citizens and wage our wars. Among militaries, everything taken for granted about the ability to
maneuver and fight is now undermined by vulnerability to "weapons of mass disruption":
cutting-edge computer worms, viruses, and invasive robot networks. At home, billions of
household appliances and other "smart" items that form the Internet of Things risk being taken
over, then added to the ranks of massive, malicious "zombie" armies. The age of Bitskrieg is
here, bringing vexing threats that range from the business sector to the battlefield.
"Bitskrieg: The New Challenge of Cyberwarfare", cybersecurity expert John Arquilla looks
unflinchingly at the challenges posed by cyberwarfare -- which he persuasively argues have been
neither met nor mastered. He offers fresh solutions for protecting against enemies that are often
anonymous, unpredictable, and capable of projecting force and influence vastly disproportionate
to their size, strength, or wealth. The changes called for require radical rethinking of military and
security affairs, diplomacy, and even the routines of our daily lives.
Critique: Impressively informed and informative, "Bitskrieg: The New Challenge of
Cyberwarfare" is a ground breaking volume that must be considered an essential addition to
personal, professional, community, governmental, college, and university library Military History
& Strategy collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students,
academia, military strategists, governmental policy makers, and non-specialist general readers
with an interest in the subject that "Bitskrieg: The New Challenge of Cyberwarfare" is also
readily available in a paperback edition (9781509543632, $22.95) and in a digital book format
(Kindle, $14.00).
Editorial Note: John Arquilla is the Distinguished Professor of Defense Analysis at the United
States Naval Postgraduate School. For more than 30 years, his ideas have influenced the
discourse on military and security affairs in the Cyber Age.
The Tiger from Poznan
Richard Siegert
Pen & Sword Books
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
9781526779175, $32.95, HC, 184pp
https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Pozna%C5%84-Richard-Siegert/dp/152677917X
Synopsis: In the Second World War, Poznan was a key river crossing and railway junction on the
Polish-German border. When the alarm was given indicating the Red Army's approach in January
1945, the city's 80-100,000 German civilians were speedily evacuated, leaving a garrison of some
15,000 men, mostly poorly-armed infantry, to face the rigors of a siege conducted by a massively
superior and ruthless enemy anxious to acquire this transport center, which was vital for the
advance on Berlin.
"The Tiger from Poznan" by Richard Siegert is the autobiographical account of Eastern Front
veteran Richard Siegert (1922-2012), who was the gunner and later commander of the German
defenders' sole Tiger tank. Since the death of the driver in a futile attempt to escape from a POW
camp in Russia just after the end of the war, Siegert is the only survivor of that crew able to pass
its record on to posterity. His account details how the crew fought gallantly against impossible
odds, even when the Tiger was immobilized and could only act as a stationary antitank gun post
or pillbox during the last desperate days of the German military fighting for the citadel.
Critique: An inherently fascinating and impressively informative account from a German
perspective, Richard Siegert's "The Tiger from Poznan" will be of immense interest for World
War II military history buffs and an important, appreciated, and valued addition to community,
college, and university library World War II Military History & Biography collections. It should
be noted for the personal reading lists that "The Tiger from Poznan" is also readily available in a
digital book format (Kindle, $6.99).
Hitler's Strategic Bombing Offensive on the Eastern Front
Dmitry Degtev, author
Dmitry Zubov, author
Air World Books
c/o Pen & Sword Books
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
Casemate (distributor)
www.casematepublishers.com
9781526789891, $42.95, HC, 248pp
https://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-Strategic-Bombing-Offensive-Eastern/dp/1526789892
Synopsis: Hitler's German military air force was never able to match the power of the Allied air
forces with their great four-engine bombers, the Lancasters, Liberators and Flying Fortresses.
Indeed, many have ascribed the defeat of Germany in the Second World to its lack of a strategic
bombing force. There were, though, two occasions when the Luftwaffe's twin-engine bombers
undertook strategic objectives on a large scale. The first of these was the 'Blitz' of 1940-1941, in
which the Luftwaffe attempted to wreck Britain's industrial and military capacity. The second
was on the eve of Operation Zitadelle, a major offensive against Soviet forces in the Kursk
salient.
Hitler's objective was to replicate the successful Allied mass-bombing of German cities, the
Luftwaffe being tasked with destroying the main tank and aircraft production facilities and fuel
depots. Hitler saw this as the necessary prelude to weaken the Russians before the 'decisive'
onslaught of Zitadelle.
The aerial operation, Carmen II, lasted for a month and covered a huge target area from the
Rybinsk reservoir to the Caspian Sea. For these complex and risky night missions, all the Ju-88
and -111 bombers available to Hitler in the East were employed.
For their book, "Hitler's Strategic Bombing Offensive on the Eastern Front: Blitz Over the Volga,
1943", co-authors Dmitry Degtev and Dmitry Zubov have collected a huge amount of factual
material, reconstructing all the details of this little-known campaign, which was the largest
operation Luftwaffe on the Eastern front. This military history opens a completely new page in
the history of the German air war and provides a comprehensive investigation into the nature of
the targets attacked, the degree of damage suffered by the Soviet military machine, and how this
affected Operation Zitadelle.
The descriptions of the dangerous missions carried out by Luftwaffe as part of this operation are
presented in great detail and all these exclusive facts are complemented by a large number of
unique photos and documents.
Critique: An impressively and meticulously detailed history drawn from original sources and
documents is an unreservedly recommended addition to the growing library of World War II
Aerial Combat collections. Exceptionally informative and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in
organization and presentation, "Hitler's Strategic Bombing Offensive on the Eastern Front: Blitz
Over the Volga, 1943" is an important addition to personal, community, college, and university
library World War II History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be
noted for the personal reading lists of military buffs, military historians, students, and academia
that "Hitler's Strategic Bombing Offensive on the Eastern Front: Blitz Over the Volga, 1943" is
also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $18.99).
Editorial Note: The author of twenty-nine books, Dmitry Degtev is one of the leading Russian
researchers of the history of the Second World War, having studied the air battles of the Second
World War and the history of the Luftwaffe for more than twenty years. He currently lectures at
Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University. Psychologist and Associate Professor, Nizhny
Novgorod State Technical University Dmitry Zubov is the author of twenty-two on military
history.
The General Fiction Shelf
Drowned Town
Jayne Moore Waldrop
The University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, KY 40508-4008
www.kentuckypress.com
9781950564156, $24.95, HC, 272pp
https://www.amazon.com/Drowned-Town-Jayne-Moore-Waldrop/dp/1950564150
Synopsis: In her newest novel, "Drowned Town", author Jayne Moore Waldrop explores the
multigenerational impact caused by the loss of home and illuminates the joys and sorrows of a
group of people bound together by western Kentucky's Land Between the Lakes and the lakes
that lie on either side of it.
The linked stories comprising "Drowned Town" are rooted in a landscape forever altered by the
mid-twentieth-century impoundment of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers and the seizing of
property under the power of eminent domain to create a national recreation area on the narrow
strip of land between the lakes. The massive federal land and water projects completed in quick
succession were designed to serve the public interest by providing hydroelectric power, flood
control, and economic progress for the region -- at great sacrifice for those who gave up their
homes, livelihoods, towns, and history.
The narrative follows two women whose lives are shaped by their friendship and connection to
the place, and their stories go back and forth in time to show how the creation of the lakes both
healed and hurt the people connected to them. In the process, the stories emphasize the
importance of sisterhood and family, both blood and created, and how we cannot separate
ourselves from our places in the world.
Critique: A deftly crafted and impressively original novel that pays meticulous attention to the
accuracy of historical detail, "Drowned Town" is a thought-provoking and emotionally
memorable read from cover to cover. While especially recommended for community library
Contemporary General Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that
"Drowned Town" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $18.99).
The Literary Fiction Shelf
Planet of Clay
Samar Yazbek
World Editions
https://www.worldeditions.org
9781642861013, $16.99, PB, 336pp
https://www.amazon.com/Planet-Clay-Samar-Yazbek/dp/1642861014
Synopsis: Rima, a young girl from Damascus, longs to walk, to be free to follow the will of her
feet, but instead is perpetually constrained. Rima finds refuge in a fantasy world full of colored
crayons, secret planets, and The Little Prince, reciting passages of the Qur'an like a mantra as
everything and everyone around her is blown to bits.
Since Rima hardly ever speaks, people think she's crazy, but she is no fool -- the madness is in
the battered city around her. One day while taking a bus through Damascus, a soldier opens fire
and her mother is killed. Rima, wounded, is taken to a military hospital before her brother leads
her to the besieged area of Ghouta -- where, between bombings, she writes her story.
Critique: With the publication of his novel, "Planet of Clay", Islamic Samar Yazbek offers a
surreal depiction of the horrors taking place in Syria, in vivid and poetic language (ably
translated from Arabic into English by Leri Price) and with a sharp eye for detail and beauty. A
compelling, heart-wrenching, memorable read, "Planet of Clay" is a highly recommended
addition to community, college, and university library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections.
It should be noted for the personal reading lists that "Planet of Clay" is readily available in a
digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
Editorial Note #1: Samar Yazbek is a Syrian writer, novelist, and journalist. She was born in
Jableh in 1970 and studied literature before beginning her career as a journalist and a scriptwriter
for Syrian television and film. Her novels include Child of Heaven, Clay, Cinnamon, In Her
Mirrors, and Planet of Clay. Her accounts of the Syrian conflict include A Woman in the
Crossfire: Diaries of the Syrian Revolution and The Crossing: My Journey to the Shattered Heart
of Syria. Yazbek's work has been translated into multiple languages and has been recognized
with numerous awards -- notably, the French Best Foreign Book Award, the PEN-Oxfam Novib,
PEN Tucholsky, and PEN Pinter awards.
Editorial Note #2: Leri Price is an award-winning literary translator of contemporary Arabic
fiction. Price's translation of Khaled Khalifa's Death Is Hard Work was a finalist for the 2019
National Book Award for Translated Literature (US) and winner of the 2020 Saif Ghobash
Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation. Her translation of Khaled Khalifa's No Knives in
the Kitchens of This City was shortlisted for the ALTA National Translation Award. Price's other
recent translations include Sarab by award-winning writer Raja Alem.
The Romantic Fiction Shelf
His Accidental Countess
Annie Burrows
Mills & Boon
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9780263289497, $30.95, HC, Large Print, 379pp
https://www.amazon.com/His-Accidental-Countess/dp/0263289494
Synopsis: To stop an unsuitable elopement, Tobias Spenlow bundles his ward's intended bride
into his carriage -- only to discover he's made a terrible mistake. The woman is actually innocent
governess Miss Dorothy Phillips whose reputation he has now unintentionally ruined! The only
way to right this wrong is for the earl to wed her. She might have accidentally become his
countess, but their consuming attraction has him courting her in earnest!
Critique: A unique and compulsively entertaining Regency Romance, this large print hardcover
edition of "His Accidental Countess" by the imaginatively talented romance author Annie
Burrows will prove to be a welcome and popular addition to the personal reading lists of all
dedicated Regency Romance fans and a valued and appreciated addition to community library
Historical Romance Fiction collections.
Flirting With His Forbidden Lady
Laura Martin
Mills & Boon
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9780263283884, $30.95, HC, Large Print, 380pp
https://www.amazon.com/Flirting-His-Forbidden-Lady-Ashburton/dp/0263283887
Synopsis: Newly returned from India, Joshua Ashburton hasn't seen his brother for years and
heads straight to his London townhouse. A ball is underway filled with the cream of society,
including one Lady Elizabeth Hummingford. Captivated by her vitality and sparkle, he's shocked
to learn she's all but engaged to his brother! It's a loveless, convenient match, but how can Josh
persuade her she's chosen the wrong brother when he's set to return abroad?
Critique: An intriguing regency romance by a skilled master of the genre, "Flirting With His
Forbidden Lady: A Regency Family is Reunited" is the first volume of author Laura Martin's new
'The Ashburton Reunion' series. Deftly crafted characters, surprising plot twists, "Flirting With
His Forbidden Lady" is vintage regency romance at its very best! This large print hard cover
addition is fully recommended for the personal reading lists of all dedicated regency romance
fans and community library Historical Romance collections.
The Western Fiction Shelf
Death's Tally
Bradford Scott
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781785419577, $TBA, PB, Large Print, 272pp
https://www.ulverscroft.com/title.php?sqlCmd=isbn%3D9781785419577
Synopsis: When lawman Walt Slade arrives to put a lid on the lethal violence plaguing the town
of Sanderson City, the people of this oil, railroad, and cattle raising community is set to blow
sky-high in his face. A lit fuse, a shotgun blast in the dark -- and the ace undercover Texas
Ranger is plunged into a searing sixgun showdown with a greed-crazed pack of killers led by the
most formidable villain Slade has every encountered.
Critique: A ripping great action adventure with many a gunsmoking twist and turn, "Death's
Tally" is another consummate western by western novelist Bradford Scott. This large print
paperback addition of "Death's Tally" (originally published in 1968) is very highly recommended
for a new generation of avid western fans and will prove to be an enduringly popular addition to
community library Western Fiction collections.
Match Race
Fred Grove
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781785419546, $TBA, PB, 464pp
https://www.ulverscroft.com/title.php?sqlCmd=isbn%3D9781785419546
Synopsis: Quarter horse racing presents a thrill few men in the Old West can resist and Dude
McQuinn, Coyote Walking, and Billy Lockhart are no exception as they go from town to town,
matching and trading racehorses. Dude is the straight-talking front man, Coyote the jockey, and
Billy the veterinarian who concocts potions that can cure a horse of anything -- at least
temporarily. But old uncle Billy is being watched by a strange man in a black bowler hat a man
who knows a secret about his past.
Critique: There are western novels, and then there are novels set in the west. "Match Race" by
Fred Grove is one of the latter -- and a very good one at that. "Match Race" has all the elements
of a true saga and will have a very special appeal for readers with an interest in horses. As
reflected by "Match Race", horses had three major roles to play in the Old West: transportation,
farm labor, and entertainment in the form of recreational racing -- some times for very high
stakes and prone to all manner of mischief. This large print paperback edition of "Match Race"
from the Linford Western library is an inherently fascinating and well crafted read -- and a
welcome addition to any community library Western Fiction collection.
Red River Stage
Fred Grove
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781785419737, $TBA, PB, Large Print, 368pp
https://www.ulverscroft.com/title.php?sqlCmd=isbn%3D9781785419737
Synopsis: Fred Grove (born Frederick Herridge; July 4, 1913 - September 2008) was a Native
American author and winner of five prestigious "Spur Awards" from Western Writers of
America for his western novels. This large print paperback edition of "Red River Stage" is an
anthology of twelve of Grove's best western short stories, each one a deftly crafted gem of
narrative driven storytelling and originally published in the 1950s & 1960s.
Critique: Bringing back into print the western short stories of one of the genre's most gifted and
talented writers for a new generation of appreciative readers, "Red River Stage" is an especially
recommended addition to the personal reading lists of any and all dedicated western fans and will
prove to be an enduringly welcome and popular addition to community library Western Fiction
collections. Of special note is that of the twelve short stories comprising "Red River Stage", two
of them feature a Native American perspective ('Comanche Woman' & 'Be Brave My Son').
The Mystery/Suspense Shelf
The Painting
Alison Booth
Aurora Large Print
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781787827479, $TBA, PB, 310pp
https://www.ulverscroft.com/title.php?sqlCmd=isbn%3D9781787827431
Synopsis: When Anika Molnar flees her home country of Hungary not long before the break-up
of the Soviet Union, she carries only a small suitcase - and a beautiful and much-loved painting
of an auburn-haired woman in a cobalt blue dress from her family's hidden collection.
Arriving in Australia, Anika moves in with her aunt in Sydney, and the painting hangs in pride of
place in her bedroom. But one day it is stolen in what seems to be a carefully planned theft, and
Anika's carefree life takes a more ominous turn. Sinister secrets from her family's past and
Hungary's fraught history cast suspicion over the painting's provenance, and she embarks on a
gripping quest to uncover the truth.
Hungary's war-torn past contrasts sharply with Australia's bright new world of opportunity in this
moving and compelling mystery.
Critique: An inherently fascinating, deftly crafted, and entertaining novel of mystery and
suspense by an author with an author whose narrative driven storytelling skills are on full
display, this large print edition of "The Painting" by Alison Booth is fully endorsed and
recommended for the personal reading lists of dedicated mystery fans and community library
Mystery/Suspense collections.
Editorial Note: Alison Booth was born in Melbourne, brought up in Sydney and has worked in
the UK and in Australia as a professor as well as a novelist. Alison's work has been translated
into French and has also been published by Reader's Digest Select Editions in both Asia and
Europe. Alison, who holds a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics, is an
active public speaker and has participated in many writers' festivals and literary events.
The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf
The Last Shadow
Orson Scott Card
Tor/Forge Books
www.tor-forge.com
www.macmillanaudio.com
9780765304957, $27.99, HC, 320pp
https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Other-Tales-Ender-Universe/dp/0765304953
Synopsis: One planet. Three sapient species living peacefully together. And one deadly virus that
could wipe out every world in the Starways Congress, killing billions. Is the only answer another
great Xenocide? "The Last Shadow" is the long-awaited conclusion to both the original Ender
series and the Ender's Shadow series, as the children of Ender and Bean solve the great problem
of the Ender Universe -- avoiding the extinction of the human race.
Critique: Orson Scott Card is an iconic science fiction author and "The Last Shadow" is one of
his best efforts yet in a storied career replete with numerous science fiction awards. While a 'must
have' acquisition for community library Science Fiction & Fantasy collections, it should be noted
for the legions of Orson Scott Card fans that "The Last Shadow" is also readily available in a
digital book format (Kindle, $14.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Macmillan
Audio, 9781250818157, $39.99, CD).
The Technology Shelf
An Introduction to Optical Wireless Mobile Communications
Harald Hass, et al.
Artech House
685 Canton Street, Norwood, MA 02062
www.artechhouse.com
9781630816551, $159.00, HC, 406pp
https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Optical-Wireless-Mobile-Communications/dp/16308165
58
Synopsis: The use of the optical spectrum for wireless communications has gained significant
interest in recent years. Applications range from low-rate simplex transmission links using
existing embedded CMOS cameras in smartphones, referred to as optical camera
communications (OCC), mobile light fidelity (LiFi) networking in homes, offices, urban and
sub-sea environments to free-space gigabit interconnects in data centers and point-to-point
long-range wireless backhaul links outdoors and in space.
"An Introduction to Optical Wireless Mobile Communications" by the team of Harald Haas,
Mohamed Sufyan Islim, Cheng Chen, and Hanaa Abumarshould is exciting and comprehensive
introduction that focuses on the use of optical wireless communications (OWC) for mobile use
cases. Channel modeling techniques are provided for mobile multiuser scenarios, and will
introduce key building blocks to achieve LiFi cellular networks achieving orders of magnitude
improvements of area spectral efficiency compared to state-of-the-art. Challenges that arise from
moving from a static point-to-point visible light link to a LiFi network that is capable of serving
hundreds of mobile and fixed nodes are discussed. An overview of recent standardization
activities and the commercialization challenges of this disruptive technology is also
provided.
Critique: Exceptionally well organized and presented, as well as enhanced for academia with the
inclusion of a twelve page listing of Acronyms and Abbreviations, and a thirteen page Index, "An
Introduction to Optical Wireless Mobile Communications" is especially recommended as a
curriculum textbook on the subject and unreservedly appropriate for professional, corporate,
technical school, college, and university library Wireless Technology instructional and reference
collections.
Antenna-on-Chip: Design, Challenges, and Opportunities
Hammad M. Cheema, author
Fatima Khalid, author
Atif Shamim, author
Artech House
685 Canton Street, Norwood, MA 02062
www.artechhouse.com
9781608078189, $149.00, HC, 278pp
https://www.amazon.com/Antenna-on-Chip-Design-Challenges-and-Opportunities/dp/1608078183
Synopsis: Antennas are essential part of every wireless communication system. The increasing
trend of applications in the radio frequency (RF) and millimeter wave frequency spectrum has
reduced the antenna sizes to only a few millimeters, which makes it practical for on-chip
implementations.
Integrated Circuit (IC) designers who have traditionally remained isolated from antenna design
now need to understand its design process and trade-offs. "Antenna-on-Chip: Design,
Challenges, and Opportunities" by the team of Hammad M. Cheema, Fatima Khalid, and Atif
Shamim is a comprehensive resource that directly addresses the challenges, benefits and
trade-offs of on-chip antenna implementation. It also presents practical design and integration
considerations of the IC and antenna combination and how both ends of the system can be
utilized in a complimentary way.
"Antenna-on-Chip: Design, Challenges, and Opportunities" also includes on-chip antenna layout
considerations, layout for testability and various methods of their characterization, as well as
providing a view of the future trends and utilization of on-chip antennas for different
applications.
Critique: An ideal curriculum textbook on the subject, "Antenna-on-Chip: Design, Challenges,
and Opportunities" is extraordinarily well organized and presented in six major sections:
Introduction to Antenna-on-Chip; Designs and Implementation Challenges; Radiation
Enhancement and Measurement Techniques; Codesign of Circuits and Antennas; AoC Design
Examples; Future Trends in AoC. While highly recommended, especially for college and
university library Contemporary Technology Collections, it should be noted for the personal
reading lists of students, academia, technicians, and non-specialist general readers with an
interest in the subject that "Antenna-on-Chip: Design, Challenges, and Opportunities" is also
readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $53.58).
Editorial Note #1: Hammad M. Cheema is an associate professor and dean of the Research
Institute for Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Studies (RIMMS) at the National University of
Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, as well as principal investigator of the Radar
Research Group.
Editorial Note #2: Atif Shamim is an associate professor of electrical engineering and principal
investigator of the IMPACT Lab at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST). He received his M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Carleton University,
Canada. Dr. Shamim has delivered over 65 invited talks at various international forums, authored
over 250 publications, holds 30 patents, and is a senior member of IEEE.
Editorial Note #3: Fatima Khalid is a research scientist in the domain of antenna design and RF
energy harvesting. She received her B.S. in electrical engineering from the School of Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS), NUST, and her M.S. in RF and microwave
engineering from RIMMS, NUST.
The Architecture Shelf
Louis Kahn: The Importance of a Drawing
Louis Kahn, artist
Michael Merrill, editor
Lars Muller Publishers
c/o Distributed Art Publishers
155 Sixth Avenue, 2nd floor, New York, NY 10013-1507
www.artbook.com
9783037786444, $85.00, HC, 512pp
https://www.amazon.com/Louis-Kahn-Importance-Michael-Benedikt/dp/3037786442
Synopsis: Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; March 5 [O.S. February 20] 1901 -
March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working
in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. While
continuing his private practice, he served as a design critic and professor of architecture at Yale
School of Architecture from 1947 to 1957. From 1957 until his death, he was a professor of
architecture at the School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania.
Kahn created a style that was monumental and monolithic; his heavy buildings for the most part
do not hide their weight, their materials, or the way they are assembled. Famous for his
meticulously built works, his provocative proposals that remained unbuilt, and his teaching,
Kahn was one of the most influential architects of the twentieth century. He was awarded the
AIA Gold Medal and the RIBA Gold Medal. At the time of his death he was considered by some
as "America's foremost living architect". (Wikipedia)
"The importance of a drawing is immense, because it's the architect's language," said the architect
Louis Kahn to his masterclass in 1967. While most studies of Kahn focus on his built works or
theory and use drawings mainly to illustrate these, this publication chooses to focus on Kahn's
drawings as primary sources of insight into his architectural intelligence and imagination.
Lavishly illustrated with over 900 high-quality reproductions of work by Kahn and his associates,
incisively presented by a group of acclaimed architectural experts, Deftly edited by Michael
Merrill, "The Importance of a Drawing" is a deep immersion into Kahn's work and his design
process.
A testament to Kahn's masterly craft, "The Importance of a Drawing" also makes a provocative
primer on architectural representation by posing timely questions on how architects use drawings
to see, learn, conjecture and reveal. Destined to become a standard reference on Kahn, this book
is an essential addition to the libraries of established designers as well as students of
architecture.
The result of years of extensive research, The Importance of a Drawing contains original
contributions and historical texts from Michael Merrill, Michael Benedikt, Michael B. Cadwell,
Louis I. Kahn, Nathaniel Kahn, Sue Ann Kahn, David Leatherbarrow, Michael J. Lewis, Robert
McCarter, Marshall D. Meyers, Jane Murphy, Harriet Pattison, Gina Pollara, Colin Rowe, David
Van Zanten, Richard Wesley and William Whitaker.
Critique: Exceptionally well organized and presented, in a coffee-table style volume format (9.45
x 11.81 inches, 6.7 pounds), "The Importance of a Drawing" is a critically important and
unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and
university library Architecture & Architectural History collections in general, and Louis Kahn
supplemental curriculum studies lists in particular.
Shaping Place: Duda|Paine Architects
Turan Duda, author
Jeffrey Paine, compiler
Duda | Paine Architects, compiler
ORO Editions
31 Commercial Blvd. Suite F, Novato CA 94949
https://www.oroeditions.com
9781951541101, $60.00, HC, 348pp
https://www.amazon.com/Shaping-Place-Duda-Paine-Architects/dp/1951541103
Synopsis: In "Shaping Place: Duda|Paine Architects", architectural firm founders Turan Duda,
FAIA, and Jeffrey Paine, FAIA, as well as Duda|Paine's studio leaders discuss the evolution of
their work and the history of its thematic roots. The firm's ideas on public space, outdoor
environments, new working and learning models, and contextual responsiveness come to life in
projects for wellness, academia, the workplace and urban development using a range of scales,
material qualities, structural systems and architectural palettes. Steve Dumez, FAIA, of Eskew
Dumez Ripple, provides new perspective on the firm's work within the larger field of
architecture.
Critique: This coffee-table style volume (9 x 1.5 x 11 inches) is an exceptionally informative and
profusely illustrated history of a successful and influential architectural firm that will prove to be
a welcome and recommended addition to the individual architecture student's reading list, as well
as professional, community, college, and university library Contemporary Architecture
collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.
Mid-Michigan Modern
Susan J. Bandes
Michigan State University Press
1405 South Harrison Road, Suite 25, East Lansing, MI 48823-5245
http://msupress.org
9781611862164, $49.95, HC, 320pp
https://www.amazon.com/Mid-Michigan-Modern-Frank-Wright-Googie/dp/1611862167
Synopsis: From 1940 to 1970 mid Michigan had an extensive and varied legacy of modernist
architecture. While "Mid-Michigan Modern: From Frank Lloyd Wright to Googie" by Susan J.
Bandes explores buildings by renowned architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Alden B. Dow,
and the Keck brothers, the text (based on archival research and oral histories) focuses more
heavily on regional architects whose work was strongly influenced by international modern
styles.
The reader will see a picture emerge in the portrayal of buildings of various typologies, from
residences to sacred spaces. The automobile industry, state government, and Michigan State
University served as the economic drivers when the mid-Michigan area expanded enormously in
the growing optimism and increasing economic prosperity after World War II. Government,
professional associations, and private industry sought an architectural style that spoke to forward
looking, progressive ideals. Smaller businesses picked a Prairie style that made people feel
comfortable. Modernist houses reflected the increasingly informal American lifestyle rooted in
the automobile culture.
With a detailed narrative discussing more than 130 buildings and enriched by 150 illustrations,
the text comprising "Mid-Michigan Modern: From Frank Lloyd Wright to Googie" is a vibrant
start at reclaiming the history of mid-Michigan modernist architecture.
Critique: Profusely illustrated in both color and black/white, "Mid-Michigan Modern: From
Frank Lloyd Wright to Googie" is an exceptionally informative, and impressively presented study
that will be a welcome addition to professional, community, college, and university library
American Architectural History collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of
architectural students, academia, architectural historians, professional architects, and non-
specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Mid-Michigan Modern: From Frank
Lloyd Wright to Googie" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781611862171,
$38.98).
Editorial Note: Susan J. Bandes is professor emerita of art history at Michigan State University
and director of museum studies. She also served as director of the Kresge Art Museum from
1986 to 2010.
The Biography Shelf
Texas Ranger Captain William L. Wright
Richard B. McCaslin
University of North Texas Press
1155 Union Circle #311336, Denton, TX 76203-5017
www.untpress.unt.edu
9781574418453, $34.95, HC, 416pp
https://www.amazon.com/Texas-Ranger-Captain-William-Wright/dp/1574418459
Synopsis: William L. Wright (1868-1942) was born to be a Texas Ranger, and hard work made
him a great one. In his new biography "Texas Ranger Captain William L. Wright", author and
historian Professor Richard B. McCaslin argues that, considering his lineage, it is hard to imagine
what else he might have done. Eight of Wright's relatives served as Rangers before the Civil
War, five joined the Frontier Battalion from 1874 to 1901, and twenty-two were in the Ranger
Force from 1901 to 1935. Wright tried working as a cowboy and farmer, but it did not suit him.
Instead, he became a deputy sheriff and then a Ranger in 1899, battling a mob in the Laredo
Smallpox Riot, policing both sides in the Reese-Townsend Feud, and winning a gunfight at
Cotulla.
Wright's need for a better salary led him to leave the Rangers and become a sheriff. He stayed in
that office longer than any of his predecessors in Wilson County, keeping the peace during the
so-called Bandit Wars, investigating numerous violent crimes, and surviving being stabbed on
the gallows by the man he was hanging. When demands for Ranger reform peaked, he was
appointed as a captain and served for most of the next twenty years, retiring in 1939 after
commanding dozens of Rangers.
Wright emerged unscathed from the Canales investigation, enforced Prohibition in South Texas,
and policed oil towns in West Texas, as well as tackling many other legal problems. When he
retired, he was the only Ranger in service who had worked under seven governors. More
important, historians have included him among the "Big Four" captains of the Ranger Force.
Wright thus joins such leaders as Francis A. "Frank" Hamer, Thomas R. "Tom" Hickman, and
Manuel T. Gonzaullas, all of whom accompanied him in being inducted into the Texas Ranger
Hall of Fame at Waco.
Critique: An exceptional work of meticulous research combined with a genuine flair for writing a
non-fiction biography that reads like the most compelling of western novels, "Texas Ranger
Captain William L. Wright" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to
community, college, and university library American Biography collections. Of special and
particular interest to both academia and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in the
history of the Texas Rangers, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Texas Ranger
Captain William L. Wright" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle,
$27.96).
Editorial Note: Richard B. McCaslin is Professor of Texas History at the University of North
Texas. He is also the author of "Tainted Breeze: The Great Hanging at Gainesville, Texas,
October 1862"; {Lee in the Shadow of Washington"; "Fighting Stock: John S. "Rip" Ford in
Texas"; and "Sutherland Springs, Texas" (UNT Press).
The Psychology Shelf
Polyvagal Safety: Attachment, Communication, Self-Regulation
Stephen W. Porges
W. W. Norton & Company
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
www.wwnorton.com
www.tantor.com
9781324016274, $45.00, HC, 320pp
https://www.amazon.com/Polyvagal-Safety-Attachment-Communication-Self-Regulation/dp/1324016272
Synopsis: Polyvagal theory (poly- "many" + vagal "wandering") is a collection of evolutionary,
neuroscientific and psychological claims pertaining to the role of the vagus nerve in emotion
regulation, social connection and fear response, introduced in 1994 by Stephen Porges. Polyvagal
Theory takes its name from the vagus, a cranial nerve that forms the primary component of the
parasympathetic nervous system. The traditional view of the autonomic nervous system presents
a two-part system: the sympathetic nervous system, which is more activating ("fight/flight"), and
the parasympathetic nervous system, which supports health, growth, and restoration ("rest and
digest"). Polyvagal theory, by contrast, views the parasympathetic nervous system as being split
into two distinct branches: a "ventral vagal system" which supports social engagement, and a
"dorsal vagal system" which supports immobilisation behaviours, both "rest and digest" and
defensive immobilisation or "shutdown". (Wikipedia)
Ever since publication of The Polyvagal Theory in 2011, demand for information about this
innovative perspective has been constant. With the publication of "Polyvagal Safety: Attachment,
Communication, Self-Regulation", Professor Stephen W. Porges brings together his most
important writings since the publication of that seminal work. At its heart, polyvagal theory is
about safety. It provides an understanding that feeling safe is dependent on autonomic states, and
that our cognitive evaluations of risk in the environment, including identifying potentially
dangerous relationships, play a secondary role to our visceral reactions to people and places.
Our reaction to the continuing global pandemic supports one of the central concepts of polyvagal
theory: that a desire to connect safely with others is our biological imperative. Indeed, life may be
seen as an inherent quest for safety. These ideas, and more, are outlined in chapters on
therapeutic presence, group psychotherapy, yoga and music therapy, autism, trauma, date rape,
medical trauma, and COVID-19.
Critique: An absolutely essential and core addition to college and university library
Contemporary Clinical Psychology, Neuroscience, and Neuropsychology collections, "Polyvagal
Safety: Attachment, Communication, Self-Regulation" is an extraordinary, unique, and
invaluable contribution to psychology. An exceptionally well written, organized and presented
work of impeccable scholarship, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of students,
academia, psychologists, counselors, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the
subject that "Polyvagal Safety: Attachment, Communication, Self-Regulation is also readily
available in a digital book format (Kindle, $19.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book
(Tantor Media/Blackstone Audio, 9798200890217, $41.99, CD).
Editorial Note: Stephen W. Porges, PhD, originator of polyvagal theory, is a Distinguished
University Scientist and the founding director of the Kinsey Institute Traumatic Stress Research
Consortium at Indiana University. He is also a professor of psychiatry at the University of North
Carolina and a co-founder of the Polyvagal Institute.
The Graphic Novel Shelf
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Modern English Edition
William Shakespeare, author
Story adaptation by Crystal S. Chan
Modern English adaptation by Michael Barltrop
Art by Po Tse
Manga Classics
www.mangaclassics.com
9781947808249 $19.99
https://www.amazon.com/Manga-Classics-Midsummer-Nights-English/dp/1947808249
Part of the "Manga Classics" series that transforms timeless works of literature into black-and-
white graphic novels with an artistic style resembling Japanese manga, A Midsummer Night's
Dream: Modern English Edition presents William Shakespeare's classic comedy about fallout
from a quarrel between the King and the Queen of the Fairies in a beautiful and thoroughly
accessible format that readers age 13 and up will thoroughly enjoy. This Modern English Edition
rewrites Shakespeare's original text in modern-day English, making the core meaning of
Shakespeare's work more accessible to readers of all backgrounds (especially those who have
learned English as a second language). A Midsummer Night's Dream: Modern English Edition is
a wonderful way to re-experience Shakespeare's lighthearted, romantic romp, highly
recommended for personal, school, and public library graphic novel collections. Studious readers
interested in Shakespeare as originally written are encouraged to investigate the previously
published Manga Classics edition of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that uses the complete,
unabridged text of Shakespeare's classic work (9781947808102, $17.99).
Smart Girl
Fernando Dagnino
Titan Comics
https://titan-comics.com
9781787737198, $29.99, HC, 208pp
https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Girl-Fernando-Dagnino/dp/1787737195
Synopsis: In the near future, tech giant Gorgona holds a monopoly on computer-human interfaces
known as Schemata. These androids have become ubiquitous with everyday life across the
world.
Yuki, un-affectionately called 'scrappy' by her owner, is a Smart Girl -- an android servant used
for everything from security and domestics to carnal pleasure. When she starts to malfunction,
she is soon to be replaced and destroyed. But something in her changes, and Yuki doesn't accept
her end, instead, she becomes self-aware...
Taking a stand against her abusive master, Yuki goes on the run. Believed to be defective and
hostile, she is hunted by Gorgona, and plans to fight back for the only thing that truly matters --
her right to life and freedom!
Critique: Created by Spanish author and veteran comic book illustrator Fernando Dagnino,
"Smart Girl" is an original and riveting science fiction action adventure presented in a black-and-
white graphic novel format. In a coffee-table sized hardcover format (7.76 x 0.6 x 11.77 inches),
"Smart Girl" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle/comiXology, $$24.99 and
unreservedly recommended for the personal reading lists of science fiction fans and community
library Graphic Novel collections.
The Audiobook Shelf
The Last Shadow
Orson Scott Card
Macmillan Audio
www.macmillanaudio.com
9781250818157, $39.99, 11 CDs. 13.5 Hours
https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Other-Tales-Ender-Universe/dp/125081815X
Synopsis: Orson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is
currently the only person to win both a Hugo and a Nebula award in consecutive years, winning
both awards for both books back-to-back. Card's works were influenced by classic literature,
popular fantasy, and science fiction; he often uses tropes from genre fiction.
Orson Scott Card's "The Last Shadow" is the long-awaited conclusion to both the original Ender
series and the Ender's Shadow series, as the children of Ender and Bean solve the great problem
of the Ender Universe - the deadly virus they call the descolada, which is incurable and will kill
all of humanity if it were allowed to escape from Lusitania. One planet. Three sapient species
living peacefully together. And one deadly virus that could wipe out every world in the Starways
Congress, killing billions. Is the only answer another great Xenocide?
Critique: Complete and unabridged, this CD audio book edition of "The Last Shadow" is
dramatically brought to life in the mind's eye of the listener as it is performed by a cast of expert
actors that includes Emily Rankin, Gabrielle de Cuir, John Rubinstein, Judy Young, Justine Eyre,
Kirby Heyborne, Orson Scott Card, Scott Brick, and Stefan Rudnicki. An absolute 'must' for the
legions of Orson Scott Card fans, this action/adventure science fiction tale is a welcome and
unreservedly recommended addition to personal and community library audio book
collections.
The Library CD Shelf
Acoustic Paris
Putumayo World Music
www.putumayo.com
$14.98 CD / $9.49 MP3
https://www.amazon.com/Acoustic-Paris-Putumayo-Presents/dp/B09JGNYW66
Acoustic Paris is a Putumayo World Music album celebrating French chansons and manouche
jazz. The physical CD comes with a booklet filled with information about the presented music
artists and songs, and an album download card in addition to the physical CD. Ten songs by ten
different French creators are showcased, each evoking the romance, beauty, and atmosphere of
modern-day Parisian culture. Acoustic Paris is a treasure for personal and public library
international music collections, highly recommended.
The Library DVD Shelf
Gustav Stickley: American Craftsman
Herb Stratford
First Run Features
630 Ninth Avenue, Suite 1213, New York, NY 10036
www.firstrunfeatures.com
DVD, $24.95, 67 minutes, color
http://firstrunfeatures.com/gustavstickleyvod.html
Synopsis: An American furniture manufacturer, design leader, publisher, and a leading voice in
the American Arts and Crafts movement. Gustav Stickley's design philosophy was a major
influence on American Craftsman architecture, Gustav Stickley (March 9, 1858 - April 21, 1942)
was visionary designer whose furniture work included what has become known as the Mission
Style. Herb Stratford's new documentary, "Gustav Stickley: American Craftsman", offers an
unprecedented look at his life and works as told through interviews, archival materials, and a
close examination of his most iconic works.
"Gustav Stickley: American Craftsman" traces the development and evolution of Stickley's
unique style as well as the creation of his diverse businesses, including furniture manufacturing, a
ground-breaking Manhattan store, the Craftsman Magazine, and Craftsman Farms -- a forerunner
of the farm-to-table movement. The documentary visits several key locations in Stickley's
lifetime, including his Syracuse home, where he lived and created his first arts and crafts interior;
it also details the eventual loss of his businesses, and, after several decades, the rebirth and
recognition of the movement he inspired.
Critique: An inherently fascinating and impressively informative documentary, "Gustav Stickley:
American Craftsman" is a 'must see' for Gustav Stickley fans, as well as anyone with an interest
in the history of American furniture making. "Gustav Stickley: American Craftsman" is an
especially and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library
American Arts & Crafts history collections in general, and Gustav Stickley supplemental
curriculum lists in particular.
The Art Shelf
Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki, artist
Jessica Niehel, author
Daniel Kotheenschulte, author
Pete Docter, author
DelMonico Books
c/o Distributed Art Publishers
155 Sixth Avenue, 2nd floor, New York, NY 10013-1507
www.artbook.com
9781942884811, $38.99, HC, 288pp
https://www.amazon.com/Hayao-Miyazaki/dp/1942884818
Synopsis: For more than four decades, Japanese artist Hayao Miyazaki has been enchanting
audiences of all ages. His animated films, often featuring children navigating unfamiliar and
challenging worlds, offer timeless explorations of youth and what it means to grow up.
Celebrated and admired around the globe for his artistic vision, craftsmanship and deeply
humanistic values, Miyazaki has influenced generations of artists. The universal appeal of his
evocative natural settings and complex characters, many among them strong girls and young
women, cuts across cultural boundaries.
"Hayao Miyazaki" is published on the occasion of the 2021 inaugural exhibition at the Academy
Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, in collaboration with Studio Ghibli in Tokyo. It
accompanies the first ever retrospective dedicated to the legendary filmmaker in North America
and introduces hundreds of original production materials, including artworks never before seen
outside of Studio Ghibli's archives. Concept sketches, character designs, storyboards, layouts,
backgrounds and production cels from his early career through all 11 of his feature films,
including My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), Princess Mononoke
(1997), Spirited Away (2001) and Howl's Moving Castle (2004), offer insight into Miyazaki's
creative process and masterful animation techniques.
Critique: An impressively informative and showcasing the artist's work in full color, "Hayao
Miyazki" is a exceptionally well organized and presented coffee-table style volume (9.06 x 11.02
inches) that is a critically and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional,
community, college, and university library Animated Movies, Movie Direction & Production,
Video Direction & Production, and Contemporary Japanese Art History collections in general,
and Hayao Miyazki supplemental curriculum studies reading lists in particular.
Picasso: Painting the Blue Period
Pablo Picasso, artist
Kenneth Brummel, editor
Susan Behrends Frank, editor
Marilyn McCully, Eduard Valles, Sandra Webster-Cook, contributors
DelMonico Books
c/o Distributed Art Publishers
www.artbook.com
9781942884927, $50.00, HC, 244pp
https://www.amazon.com/Picasso-Painting-Blue-Period-Pablo/dp/1942884923
Synopsis: Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 - 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor,
printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. Regarded
as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist
movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide
variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. Among his most famous works are the
proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), and Guernica (1937), a dramatic portrayal of
the bombing of Guernica by German and Italian air forces during the Spanish Civil War.
"Picasso: Painting the Blue Period" is a lavishly illustrated volume that reexamines Pablo
Picasso's famous Blue Period (1901 - 1904) in paintings, works on paper and sculpture. Relying
on new information gleaned from technical studies performed on The Blue Room (Le Tub)
(1901), Crouching Beggarwoman (La Misereuse accroupie) (1902) and The Soup (La Soupe)
(1903), this multidisciplinary volume combines art history and advanced conservation science in
order to show how the young Picasso fashioned a distinct style and a pronounced artistic identity
as he adapted the artistic lessons of fin-de-siecle Paris to the social and political climate of an
economically struggling Barcelona.
Essays, a chronology and a summary of conservation findings contextualize Picasso's
experimental approach to painting during the Blue Period. A major contribution to the
burgeoning field of technical art history, "Picasso: Painting the Blue Period" advances new
scholarship on one of the most critical episodes in 20th-century modernism.
Critique: Beautifully and profusely illustrated with an impressively informative and exceptionally
insightful commentary by a series of expert commentators and editors, "Picasso: Painting the
Blue Period" is an extraordinary, inherently fascinating, thoughtful, thought-provoking, and
unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and
university library Fine Art instructional reference collections in general, and Pablo Picasso
supplemental curriculum studies lists in particular.
Outdoor School: Contemporary Environmental Art
Amish Morrell, editor
Diane Borsato, editor
Douglas & McIntyre
www.douglas-mcintyre.com
c/o Harbour Publishing
https://harbourpublishing.com
9781771622844, $39.95, HC, 192pp
https://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-School-Diane-Borsato/dp/1771622849
Synopsis: For more than a decade, the Outdoor School project has provided a framework for
interdisciplinary artists to come together and share projects that re-imagine ways of relating with
the landscape.
The experiential and community-based art projects described in Outdoor School present an
alternative to scientific, commercial and colonial conceptions of land and nature in the face of
climate change and mass extinction. These art practices include activities like mushroom
foraging, water witching, trespassing, pumpkin-boat sailing, cloud identifying, ravine running,
honey extracting, spell conjuring, rabbit hunting, coyote walking and more. The project calls
attention to creative, counter-cultural works that are focused on education, community and place,
and blur the boundaries between art and life, nature and culture.
Comprised of interviews, essays and over 150 photographs, "Outdoor School: Contemporary
Environmental Art" is deftly edited by the team of Amish Morrell and Diane Borsato and is an
significant contribution to discussions of contemporary art and ecology, foregrounding work that
is marginal and ephemeral by nature.
The artists featured and showcased in "Outdoor School: Contemporary Environmental Art:
include Alana Bartol, Diane Borsato, Bill Burns, Carolina Caycedo, Sameer Farooq,
FASTWURMS, Ayumi Goto, Maggie Groat, Gabrielle Hill, Peter Morin, Public Studio, Helen
Reed, Genevieve Robertson, Jamie Ross, Aislinn Thomas, Vibrant Matter, Jay White, Tania
Willard, Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson and D'Arcy Wilson.
Critique: Exceptionally well organized and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in presentation, "Outdoor
School: Contemporary Environmental Art" is an impressively unique, eloquent, and thought-
provoking read -- making it especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional,
community, college, and university library Conceptual Art collections and supplemental studies
reading lists.
Editorial Note #1: Diane Borsato is an artist, as well as an associate professor of studio art and
head of the Experimental Studio area at the University of Guelph. She has exhibited at the Art
Gallery of Ontario, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, the Art Gallery at York
University, Art Museum at the University of Toronto, the Walter Philips Gallery at the Banff
Centre for the Arts, the Vancouver Art Gallery and the National Art Centre as well as in galleries
and museums around the world.
Editorial Note #2: Amish Morrell is an educator, curator, editor and writer who teaches at OCAD
University in Toronto. From 2008 to 2017 he was Editor and Director of Programs at C
Magazine, one of North America's foremost visual arts magazines. He has also curetted
numerous exhibitions and developed public projects including Nightwalks with Teenagers with
Mammalian Diving Reflex; The Sauna Symposium with Hart House at the University of
Toronto; and Reading the Bruce Trail with Public Studio.
Alexander Calder: Minimal Maximal
Staatliche Museen zu Staatliche, editor
Nationalgalerie Berlin, editor
Prestel Publishing
www.prestel.com
9783791379296, $50.00, PB, 200pp
https://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Calder-Staatliche-Museen-zu/dp/3791379291
Synopsis: Alexander Calder (July 22, 1898 - November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor
known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that
embrace chance in their aesthetic, and static "stabiles" monumental public sculptures. He didn't
limit his art to sculptures; he also created paintings, jewelry, theatre sets and costumes.
(Wikipedia)
Few artists are able to work successfully on both large and small scales, but throughout his career
Alexander Calder brilliantly moved from the miniature to the monumental and back again.
"Alexander Calder: Minimal / Maximal" focuses on the enormous stabiles he created mostly for
public places, as well as his elegant hanging mobiles in sheet metal, miniature standing mobiles,
and chess sets, shedding light on the social and performative aspects of his work.
Essays explore how Calder approached the effects of kinetics and space, solidity and
transparency, stasis and activity, volume and void. "Alexander Calder: Minimal / Maximal" also
looks at how Calder's small-scale sculptures echoed the public spectacle of his larger pieces,
creating a "private drama" that encouraged direct participation.
Whatever the size, Calder's works employed movement and interaction in unpredictable ways,
and this enlightening study helps readers appreciate the important continuity of his oeuvre.
Critique: This profusely illustrated and bilingual edition (German/English) of "Alexander Calder:
Minimal / Maximal" is exceptionally well written, organized and presented. Impressively
informative and a pleasure to simply browse throughout, "Alexander Calder: Minimal /
Maximal" is a very special and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional,
community, college, and university library Art History collections in general, and Alexander
Calder supplemental curriculum reading lists in particular.
Fayoum Pottery
R. Neil Hewison
American University in Cairo Press
200 Park Avenue, Suite 1700, New York, NY 10166
www.aucpress.com
9781649031327, $39.95 HC, 192pp
https://www.amazon.com/Fayoum-Pottery-Ceramic-Crafts-Egyptian/dp/1649031327
Synopsis: The Fayoum, a broad, fertile depression in Egypt's Western Desert, is known for its
great salt lake, its rich green fields, and its unique pharaonic and Greco-Roman remains. It is also
home to three very different centers of pottery production.
The potters of Kom Oshim specialize in decorated garden pots and other utilitarian ware, and
guard the special secret of how to make the largest clay vessels in Egypt, up to an extraordinary
two and a half meters tall. At al-Nazla, ancient traditions are kept alive, as members of a single
extended family continue to use millennia-old techniques passed down from generation to
generation, hand-forming among other things their distinctive spherical water jars with amazing
dexterity and speed. In the small village of Tunis, the establishment of a pottery school by a
Swiss couple in 1990 led to a complete transformation, and the village now hosts more than
twenty-five pottery workshops and showrooms, whose products are sold in Cairo, London, and
New York.
"Fayoum Pottery: Ceramic Arts and Crafts in an Egyptian Oasis" provides lively insight into a
varied and vital craft, author R. Neil Hewison reveals the stories of the three villages and the
skilled potters who make their living there, looking at how they learned their trade and how they
work, from the preparation of the clay to the formation of the pots on the wheel or by hand, to the
decoration, the glazing, and the firing, and finally to the display or distribution and sale of the
finished product.
Critique: Providing a beautifully and profusely illustrated exploration of the ceramics of the
Fayoum, "Fayoum Pottery: Ceramic Arts and Crafts in an Egyptian Oasis" will inspire and
enchant both the casual reader and the experienced pottery maker alike. Informed and
informative, inherently fascinating and impressively informative, "Fayoum Pottery: Ceramic Arts
and Crafts in an Egyptian Oasis" will have a strong and enduring appeal to lovers of the craft of
pottery -- both practitioners, and collectors alike -- making it an ideal and unreservedly
recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library
Ceramic Art, Pottery Making, and Antique/Collectible collections and supplemental
curriculum
studies lists.
Editorial Note: Currently residing in Egypt, R. Neil Hewison is the author of The Fayoum:
History and Guide (AUC Press, revised edition 2008) and the translator of After the Nobel Prize
1989 - 1994: The Non-Fiction Writing of Naguib Mahfouz Volume IV, as well as fiction by
Yusuf Idris, Yusuf Abu Rayya, and Gamal al-Ghitani.
The Philosophy Shelf
Contemporary Italian Women Philosophers
Silvia Benson, editor
Elvira Roncalli, editor
State University of New York Press
State University Plaza, Albany, NY 12246-0001
www.sunypress.edu
9781438484914, $95.00, HC, 144pp
https://www.amazon.com/Contemporary-Italian-Women-Philosophers-Stretching/dp/1438484917
Synopsis: Collaboratively compiled and co-edited by the team of Silvia Benso (Professor of
Philosophy at the Rochester Institute of Technology and the author and editor of several books,
including Viva Voce: Conversations with Italian Philosophers, also published by SUNY Press)
and Elvira Roncalli (Associate Professor of Philosophy at Carroll College), "Contemporary
Italian Women Philosophers: Stretching the Art of Thinking" is a compendium of eleven erudite
and insightful essays deftly organized into three major sections: Women, Mothers, Bodies;
Subjectivity, Power, and the Political; Responsibility, Emotions, Time; Everyday Life, Action,
Transcendence.
Offering a unique portrayal of the theoretical positions of eleven Italian women thinkers who
share the practice of philosophy and extend philosophical work and interests beyond the realm of
the discipline strictly defined, "Contemporary Italian Women Philosophers: Stretching the Art of
Thinking" is enhanced by an informative introduction by the editors, a listing of the contributors
and their credentials, and a five page Index.
Critique: Part of the SUNY series in Contemporary Italian Philosophy series, "Contemporary
Italian Women Philosophers: Stretching the Art of Thinking" is a unique and unreservedly
recommended addition to community, college, and university library Contemporary Philosophy,
Political Philosophy, and Women's Studies 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 "Contemporary Italian Women Philosophers:
Stretching the Art of Thinking" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781438484921,
$29.95).
The Interior Design Shelf
Feels Like Home
Marian Parsons
Worthy Publishing
www.worthypublishing.com
www.blackstoneaudio.com
9781546015833, $28.00, HC, 304pp
https://www.amazon.com/Feels-Like-Home-Transforming-Uninspiring/dp/1546015833
Synopsis: Most of us don't live in a dream home that was custom built to suit our tastes. We have
to work with a house that brings its own style, quirks, and personality to the table. But imagine
walking into this house, but it's perfectly designed and decorated with your style in mind -- a
home that fits you like a well-tailored outfit and yet is as comfy as your favorite pair of pajamas.
What would that home look like exactly? How would it feel to live in a home styled specifically
for you?
The truth is, every home should feel like a custom home and not have to break the bank. In
"Feels Like Home: Transforming Your Space from Uninspiring to Uniquely Yours", DIY
makeover queen and interior design expert Marian Parsons (a.k.a. Miss Mustard Seed) teaches
you what she's learned over the years, sharing budget-friendly practical tips that will inspire you
to change your space from "blah" to beautiful, from a builder-grade to character-rich home. Each
chapter will guide you through detailed, easy-to-implement tutorials for projects, makeovers,
decorating ideas, and tips for handling common challenges.
Special note-taking spaces are also included for recording your own design ideas. Room by
room, you will be empowered to transform your house into the home of your dreams!
Critique: Profusely illustrated throughout, exceptionally well organized, thoroughly 'user friendly'
in commentary and presentation, "Feels Like Home: Transforming Your Space from Uninspiring
to Uniquely Yours" is an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to community library
Interior Design instructional reference collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists
that "Feels Like Home: Transforming Your Space from Uninspiring to Uniquely Yours" is
readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.99) and as a complete and unabridged
audio book (Blackstone Audio, 9781668600337, $40.00, CD).
Editorial Note: Marian Parsons started Mustard Seed Interiors in 2008, as a way to earn extra
money for groceries. What started out as a one-woman decorative painting and mural business
evolved into an antiques business that tripped into a blog and blossomed into a successful
international brand. Marian wanted to advertise her fledgling business, but also wanted to
connect with like-minded readers and other DIY/Home bloggers. The decision was made early
on to turn her blog into a valuable resource, filled with tutorials, practical advice, encouragement
and a dose of reality. Some of the blog series cover making slipcovers, painting furniture, before
& after inspiration, and decorating tips & tricks. While the focus has been on the home, the heart
of this blog has always been providing encouragement and inspiration to women in the areas of
decorating, homemaking, and creative endeavors.
Never Too Small: Reimagining Small Space Living
Joe Beath, author
Elizabeth Price, author
Colin Chee, creator
Smith Street Books
https://www.smithstreetbooks.com
9781922417213, $40.00, HC, 296pp
https://www.amazon.com/Never-Too-Small-Reimagining-Living/dp/1922417211
Synopsis: What does the future of urban living look like? in the profusely illustrated pages of
"Never Too Small: Reimagining Small Space Living" award-winning interior designers Joel
Beath and Elizabeth Price explore this question drawing inspiration from a diverse collection of
apartment designs, all smaller than 50 square meters/540 square feet. Through the lens of five
small-footprint design principles and drawing on architectural images and detailed floor plans,
"award-winning designers" examine how architects and designers are reimagining small space
living.
Full of inspiration that professionals and non-professional can each apply to their own particular
spaces (and originating from an idea for the book by architect Colin Chee), "Never Too Small:
Reimagining Small Space Living" offers hope and inspiration for a future of our cities and their
citizens in which sustainability and style, comfort and affordability can co-exist.
"Never Too Small: Reimagining Small Space Living" proves living better doesn't have to mean
living larger.
Critique: A veritable compendium of superbly photographed and presented ideas, "Never Too
Small: Reimagining Small Space Living" is a thoughtful and thought-provoking browse that is
both inherently fascinating and of practical inspiration for what can be accomplished in limited
living spaces -- especially in urban dwellings and rural small cottage settings. Simply stated,
"Never Too Small: Reimagining Small Space Living" is especially recommended for personal,
professional, community, college, and university library Interior Design instructional reference
collections.
The Fashion Shelf
Men in This Town
Giuseppe Santamaria
Street Smith Books
www.streetsmithbooks.com
9781922417381, $40.00, HC, 280pp
https://www.amazon.com/Men-This-Town-Decade-Street/dp/1922417386
Synopsis: For the last decade, Giuseppe Santamaria has observed and photographically recorded
the men of big cities while they cross streets, sit at cafes, and pose, momentarily, on busy
sidewalks. Traveling the continents, Giuseppe has documented the evolution of men's identities,
communicated through their attitude and style as they move through their different concrete
jungles.
With photos shot in Sydney, New York, Tokyo, Milan, London, Melbourne, Toronto, L.A.,
Madrid, Florence, and Paris, "Men in This Town: A Decade of Men's Street Style" is a unique
collection of images that presents a truly global retrospective of men's street fashion. Filled from
cover to cover with striking photographs, "Men in This Town: A Decade of Men's Street Style" is
a visual record of the men who stick out in a crowd with their particular sense of just who and
what they are.
Critique: A unique compendium of full color photographic images of ordinary and extraordinary
men's fashions over a ten year span and taken in a variety of countries and continents, "Men in
This Town: A Decade of Men's Street Style" is especially and unreservedly recommended for
reader's with an interest in photography and fashion. "Men in This Town: A Decade of Men's
Street Style" will prove to a an immediate and enduringly popular addition to personal,
professional, community, college, and university library Men's Fashion History collections and
supplemental curriculum studies lists.
The Photography Shelf
How Do I Photograph a Sunset?
Chris Gatcum
Ilex Press
c/o Octopus Books
236 Park Avenue, New York NY 10017
www.octopusbooksusa.com
9781781578216, $19.99, PB, 176pp
https://www.amazon.com/How-Photograph-Sunset-photography-questions/dp/1781578214
Synopsis: In the art and science of photography, as in all other pursuits in life we learn by asking
questions -- but what if we don't know what questions we should be asking?
Thanks to the digital revolution, photography has never been so popular, and whether you shoot
on a phone or a top-spec DSLR or CSC camera, the urge to improve is relentless. In the
illustrated pages of "How Do I Photograph a Sunset?: More than 150 essential photography
questions answered", author and professional photographer Chris Gatcum asks the questions that
every photographer will have in mind at some point in their image-making journey, and then
answers them in a clear, concise, straightforward and inspirational manner.
Laid out in intuitive sections, "How Do I Photograph a Sunset?: More than 150 essential
photography questions answered" tackles the questions that are on every photographer's mind, as
well as those that they haven't thought of yet. And with a clear progression through each chapter,
from the simple to more complex, the book asks (and answers!) questions to satisfy the complete
novice as well as the advanced practitioner.
Critique: Exceptionally well written, illustrated, organized and presented, "How Do I Photograph
a Sunset?: More than 150 essential photography questions answered" is an ideal DIY tutorial on
photography for the novice student of photography and will ably serve as an instructional
refresher for even the more experienced photography. While especially and unreservedly
recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library
Contemporary Photography collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "How
Do I Photograph a Sunset?: More than 150 essential photography questions answered" is also
readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
Editorial Note: Chris Gatcum has lived and breathed photography for over two decades, working
as a professional photographer, journalist, specialist magazine and book editor, as well as a
best-selling author. A passionate advocate of experimental digital and traditional photography, he
is as comfortable conducting technical camera tests as he is demystifying the art of photography
for the rest of us.
The World History Shelf
Europe's Babylon
Michael Pye
Pegasus Books
http://www.pegasusbooks.com
9781643137773, $28.95 hc / $18.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Europes-Babylon-Rise-Antwerps-Golden/dp/1643137778
Synopsis: Before Amsterdam, there was a dazzling North Sea port at the hub of the known
world: the city of Antwerp.
In the Age of Exploration, Antwerp was sensational like nineteenth-century Paris or
twentieth-century New York. It was somewhere anything could happen or at least be believed:
killer bankers, easy kisses, a market in secrets and every kind of heresy. For half the sixteenth
century, it was the place for breaking rules - religious, sexual, intellectual.
And it was a place of change - a single man cornered all the money in the city and reinvented
ideas of what money meant. Another gave the city a new shape purely out of his own ambition.
Jews fleeing the Portuguese Inquisition needed Antwerp for their escape, thanks to the
remarkable woman at the head of the grandest banking family in Europe.
Thomas More opened Utopia there, Erasmus puzzled over money and exchanges, William
Tyndale sheltered there and smuggled out his Bible in English until he was killed. Pieter Bruegel
painted the town as The Tower of Babel.
But when Antwerp rebelled with the Dutch against the Spanish and lost, all that glory was buried
and its true history rewritten. The city that unsettled so many now became conformist. Mutinous
troops burned the city records, trying to erase its true history.
In Europe's Babylon, Michael Pye sets out to rediscover the city that was lost and bring its wilder
days to life using every kind of clue: novels, paintings, songs, schoolbooks, letters and the
archives of Venice, London and the Medici. He builds a picture of a city haunted by fire, plague,
and violence, but one that was learning how to be a power in its own right as it emerged from
feudalism.
An astounding and original narrative that illuminates this glamorous and bloody era of history
and reveals how this fascinating city played its role in making the world modern.
Critique: Europe's Babylon: The Rise and Fall of Antwerp's Golden Age is a fascinating history
and scrutiny of 16th-century Antwerp, a port town in Belgium that grew into a world-spanning
trade hub. Antwerp's downfall came when the city sided with the Dutch rebellion against the
Spanish, and lost. Mutinous troops burned the city's records, and much of its history was lost.
Europe's Babylon seeks to reconstruct the past from a wide variety of records - novels, paintings,
songs, schoolbooks, letters, archives, and much more. Europe's Babylon offers a window through
time into a post-feudal city that grew into astonishing power and influence, despite depredations
of fire, plague, and violence. Europe's Babylon is an welcome contribution to public and college
library World History collections, highly recommended. It should be noted for personal reading
lists that Europe's Babylon is also available in a Kindle edition ($18.99).
Editorial Note: Michael Pye is the author of The Drowning Room, The Pieces from Berlin, and
The Edge of the World, all three of which were New York Times Notable Books of the
Year.
History of the Caucasus
Christoph Baumer
I. B. Tauris Publishers
www.ibtauris.com
c/o Bloomsbury Press
https://www.bloomsbury.com
9781788310079, $38.42, HC, 392pp
https://www.amazon.com/History-Caucasus-At-Crossroads-Empires/dp/1788310071
Synopsis: A landscape of high mountains and narrow valleys stretching from the Black to the
Caspian Seas, the Caucasus region has been home to human populations for nearly 2 million
years. "History of the Caucasus: At the Crossroads of Empires" is the first of a richly illustrated
2-volume series in which historian and explorer Christoph Baumer tells the story of the region's
history through to the present day. It is a story of encounters between many different peoples,
from Scythians, Turkic and Mongol peoples of the East to Greeks and Romans from the West,
from Indo-European tribes from the West as well as the East, and to Arabs and Iranians from the
South. It is a story of rival claims by Empires and nations and of how the region has become
home to more than 50 languages that can be heard within its borders to this very day.
This first volume charts the period from the emergence of the earliest human populations in the
region - the first known human populations outside Africa - to the Seljuk conquests of 1050CE.
Along the way the book charts the development of Neolithic, Iron and Bronze Age cultures, the
first recognizable Caucasian state and the arrival of a succession of the great transnational
Empires, from the Greeks, the Romans and the Armenian to competing Christian and Muslim
conquerors. "The History of the Caucasus: Volume 1" also includes more than 200 full color
images and maps bringing the changing cultures of these lands vividly to life.
Critique: Impressively informative, profusely illustrated, exceptionally well organized and
presented, "History of the Caucasus: At the Crossroads of Empires" by historian Christoph
Baumer is an extraordinary work of regional history that will have enormous appeal for the non-
specialist general reader and the academician alike -- making this an especially and unreservedly
recommended addition to personal, community, college, and university library Asian history
collections in general, and supplemental curriculum studies reading lists in particular.
Editorial Note: Christoph Baumer is a leading explorer and historian of Central Asia. He is
President of the Society for the Exploration of EurAsia and is a member of the Explorers' Club,
New York, and of the Royal Asiatic Society, the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal
Society for Asian Affairs, London.
Nero: The Man Behind The Myth
Thorsten Opper
The British Museum
c/o Distributed Art Publishers
www.artbook.com
9780714122908, $65.00, HC, 304pp
https://www.amazon.com/Nero-Behind-Myth-Thorsten-Opper/dp/0714122904
Synopsis: One of the best known and simultaneously most notorious figures from Roman history,
Nero (r. AD 54 - 68) is usually characterised as a tyrannical and ineffectual emperor, a ruler who
proverbially 'fiddled while Rome burnt'. However, as new research demonstrates, this reputation
is crudely reductive and was carefully crafted in antiquity by hostile elite authors, who
envisioned a different form of rule more mindful of the demands of their own social and political
class.
"Nero: The Man Behind The Myth" by Thorsten Opper and published by The British Museum
redresses the balance and provides a more nuanced interpretation of Nero's reign and Roman
society of the time, reflecting on the traditional perceptions of his rule and revealing the
substantial external and internal challenges with which the sixteen-year-old heir to the Roman
empire had to contend.
Nero's rule fell in an extended period of transition and profound social and economic change.
The empire had grown rapidly during previous centuries, and an astonishing era of peace and
prosperity followed the introduction of one-man rule after decades of bloody civil war under
Nero's great-great-grandfather Augustus. However, political institutions and elite mindsets were
slow to adjust to the resulting rise of former outsiders, people from the provinces and freed
slaves.
"Nero: The Man Behind The Myth" considers in detail the resulting tensions and the challenging
role of Nero's family within them. Powerful individuals, among them many women, including
Nero's mother Agrippina, and his tutor and advisor Seneca, come to life against the backdrop of
these times, when different court factions thought to manipulate the young ruler. At the same
time, intriguing evidence - doodles and graffiti - from Rome, Pompeii and other Vesuvian cities
gives voice to often very different attitudes of common people, completely ignored by the ancient
literary sources.
In addition to these internal challenges, Nero inherited a great conflict with the rival power of the
Parthians and unrest in unsettled newly conquered territories, including Britain. The book
examines his military and diplomatic response and the powerful visual language - often
disregarded - that presented him as a successful young military leader throughout the empire.
Administrative and tax reforms culminated in 'populist' policies that also saw him embrace
enthusiastically the possibilities offered through public entertainments (the circus, arena and
theater) to communicate directly with his subjects and project a more direct, charismatic form of
rule. Yet his grand building projects and the beautification of his capital were offset by severe
natural disasters and a devastating fire of Rome.
Popular with the common people to the very end, Nero could not reconcile the internal
contradictions of the principate, the political system introduced by Augustus. Hostile segments of
the elite were behind military rebellions in AD 68 that quickly drove Nero from power. His
enforced suicide brought to an end the rule of Rome's first imperial dynasty, the Julio-Claudians.
The subsequent vilification of his memory and the removal and desecration of his image are an
enduring, but misleading, legacy that leave a fascinating reign to be explored anew.
Critique: Beautifully and profusely illustrated throughout, this new biographical history of Nero
is inherently fascinating, impressively informative, and a meticulous work of detailed and
exhaustive research. A work of impeccable scholarship that will appel to academia and non-
specialist general readers alike, this coffee-table style edition (9.84 x 11.02 inches) of "Nero: The
Man Behind The Myth" is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to community,
college, and university library Roman History collections in general, and Emperor Nero
supplemental curriculum studies reading lists in particular. It should be noted for personal
reading lists that "Nero: The Man Behind The Myth" is also readily available in a paperback
edition (9780714122915, $40.00).
Editorial Note: Thorsten Opper is a curator of Greek and Roman Sculpture at the British
Museum, specializing in ancient portraiture, the Greek world in the Roman period, and the
collecting and restoration of ancient sculpture in the eighteenth century. Thorsten joined the
British Museum in 2001 from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. His previous publications
include Hadrian: Empire and Conflict (London, British Museum Press, 2008).
The Literary Studies Shelf
Pioneer Girl: The Revised Texts
Laura Ingalls Wilder, author
Nancy Tystad Koupal, editor
South Dakota Historical Society Press
900 Governors Drive, Pierre, SC 57501-2217
https://www.sdhspress.com
9781941813096, $49.95, HC, 484pp
https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-Girl-Revised-Texts-Project/dp/1941813097
Synopsis: For generations, the works of Laura Ingalls Wilder have defined the American frontier
and the pioneer experience for the public at large. Edited by Nancy Tystad Koupal, "Pioneer Girl:
The Revised Texts presents three typescripts of Wilder's original Pioneer Girl manuscript in an
examination of the process through which she and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, transformed
her autobiography into the much-loved Little House series. As the women polished the narrative
from draft to draft, a picture emerges of the working relationship between the women, of the
lives they lived, and of the literary works they created.
Editor Nancy Koupal in collaboration with the other editors of the Pioneer Girl Project provides a
meticulous study of the Wilder/Lane partnership as Wilder's autobiography undergoes revision,
and the women redevelop and expand portions of it into Wilder's successful children's and young
adult novels and into Lane's bestselling adult novels in the 1930s. The three revised texts of
Pioneer Girl, set side by side, showcase the intertwined processes of writing and editing and the
contributions of writer and editor.
In background essays and annotations, Koupal and her team of editors provide historical context
and explore the ways in which Wilder or Lane changed and reused the material. Wilder and
Lane's partnership has been the subject of longstanding speculation, but "Pioneer Girl: The
Revised Texts" is the first work to explore the women's relationship by examining the evolution
of surviving manuscripts.
Showcasing differences in the texts and offering numerous additional documents and
handwritten emendations, the editors create a rich resource for scholars to use in assessing the
editorial and writing principles, choices, and reasoning that Lane employed to shape the
manuscripts for publication.
Readers can follow along as Wilder grows into a novelist that "no depression could stop." The
New York Times best seller, Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography (2014), edited by
Pamela Smith Hill, gave the general reader easy access to Wilder's original account for the first
time, but that book only scratched the surface of available textual and archival materials.
Ultimately, the editors of "Pioneer Girl: The Revised Texts" employ the rich resource of letters
between Wilder and her publisher and between Wilder and Lane, along with rough drafts and
false starts of the Little House books, to inform scholars and readers about the original
manuscript's metamorphosis into novels and about the intriguing editorial relationship between
Wilder and Lane.
"Pioneer Girl: The Revised Texts" deepens our understanding of Laura Ingalls Wilder and the
process through which she would ultimately become an icon of young adult literature.
Critique: An epic work of impressive and meticulously diligent scholarship, "Pioneer Girl: The
Revised Texts" is an extraordinarily informative and insightful literary study. Exceptionally well
organized and presented, and with its immense appeal for the legions of Laura Ingalls Wilder
fans, "Pioneer Girl: The Revised Texts" is especially and unreservedly recommended for
personal, community, college, and university library 20th Century American Literature Studies
collections in general, and Laura Ingalls Wilder supplemental curriculum studies reading lists in
particular.
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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