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Volume 15, Number 4 April 2005 Home | IBW Index

Table of Contents

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


Reviewer's Choice

You Can't Cheat An Honest Man
James Walsh
Silver Lake Publishing
2025 Hyperion Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027
www.silverlakepublishing.com
1563431696 $19.95 1-888-663-3091

Some books may not be particularly recent publications but deserve renewed attention and ongoing recommendation in light of modern events or contemporary concerns: James Walsh's You Can't Cheat An Honest Man: How Ponzi Schemes And Pyramid Frauds Work...And Why They're More Common Than Ever is one of them, focusing on how pyramid frauds work, why they're common, and how to avoid scams and cons. The scheme name may change but the scheme is the same: it involves case studies in greed and exploitation, outlined in You Can't Cheat An Honest Man so that investors may learn from the woes of the 'taken'. As relevant today as it was in 1998.

Planning Paris Before Haussmann
Nicholas Papayanis
Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-4319
www.press.jhu.edu
0801879302 $55.00 1-800-537-5487

How did the transformation of Paris change Europe and the world? It began with the Napoleon III regime and the work of one Baron Haussmann, who created the vision of a new Paris and established the idea of a modern magnet which would lead the world in urban planning achievement. Paris history expert and history professor Nicholas Papayanis provides an excellent introduction to just how Hauss-mann succeeded in revamping Paris, the various writings and observations of peers which helped refine his ideas, and three major planning traditions of his times. Planning Paris Before Haussmann thus provides many important urban planning insights which are key to understanding the very foundations of modern urban design choices.

Speaking As A Professional
Dan Grandstaff
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
www.wwnorton.com
0393704335 $30.00 1-800-233-4830

Speaking As A Professional: Enhance Your Therapy Or Coaching Practice Through Presentations, Workshops, And Seminars isn't just another public speaker's guide: it addresses those involved on a professional level and tells how to enhance a therapy or coaching practice by giving presentations, workshops and seminars. Chapters specific to this purpose offer author/therapist/business coach Dan Grandstaff's practical tips on how to expand a coaching or therapy practice through public speaking. From locating groups which use speakers to presenting onesself as an expert, this will make an important guide for a wide range of professions who would turn expertise into a side-business.

Dover Publications
31 E. 2nd St., Mineola, NY 11501
www.doverpublications.com

These excellent publications provide exciting reprints of solid references. Wolfgang Bruhn and Max Tilke's A Pictorial History Of Costume From Ancient Times To The 19th Century (0486435423, $26.95) republishes a 1955 London classic which still provides an important reference for costume designers and fashion students today. All levels of society are included, while the history begins in ancient Egypt and moves into the late 19th century. Illustrations of wearing apparel are precisely detailed. R. Turner Wilcox's Five Centuries Of American Costume (0486436101, $12.95) provides the first comprehensive survey of the evolution of apparel in the Americas, and republishes a 1963 classic including its over-four hundred black and white illustrations. Katherine M. Ball's Animal Motifs In Asian Art (0486433-382, $29.95) provides an excellent republication of the original 1927 edition. Katherine Ball's sourcebook packs in examples from hundreds of old woodcuts, paintings, tapestries, fabrics and more, surveying the creatures of symbolic meaning in Asian art and culture. A 'must' for any in-depth library of Asian studies.

Dating After 50
Sharon Romm, MD
Quill Driver Books
1831 Industrial Way, #101, Sanger, CA 93657
www.quilldriverbooks.com
1884956394 $12.95 1-800-497-4909

Midlife romance isn't the same as first-time dating: if you haven't dated for a long time and are older, there's a whole new set of rules for dating, from advertising for a date and changing attitude to handling expectations on all sides. Dr. Sharon Romm covers all these attitude concerns in Dating After 50: Negotiating The Minefields Of Mid-Life Romance, packed with tips on the safest, most efficient way to find dates - and how to go on them successfully. Older adults will find practical tips range from handling second families and former spouses to money and retirement concerns.

Best Editorial Cartoons Of The Year: 2005 Edition
Charles Brooks, editor
Pelican Publishing Company
1000 Burmaster Street, Gretna, LA 70053-2246
www.pelicanpub.com
9781589802841 $14.95 1-800-843-1724

Selected and compiled by Charles Brooks )past president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, and himself an award winning cartoonist for the "Birmingham News" for thirty-eight years), the political cartoons comprising Best Editorial Cartoons Of The Year: 2005 Edition are drawn from the best that the nation's newspapers had to offer their readers. Often a well conceived cartoon can make a more telling political statement than any number of polemical speeches or ideological diatribes. More than four hundred editorial cartoons by more than 180 editorial cartoons recreates a year's worth of social, economic, cultural, and political issues that shaped the year's political discourse from the right, from the left, and from the middle of America's political spectrum. Best Editorial Cartoons Of The Year: 2005 Edition is a "must" addition to high-school, college, university, or public library system collection.

Year Of Past Things
M.A. Harper
Harcourt Books
15 East 26th St., New York NY 10010
www.harcourtbooks.com
0151011168 $23.00 1-800-543-1918

Take a New Orleans setting, add a ghost story, and tell of a late musician husband who haunts everyday objects such as the TV and you have an intriguing story based on the desires of a ghostly invader in M.A. Harper's riveting book, The Year Of Past Things. More casual ghost stories focus on the horror: it's to M.A. Harper's credit that the focus here is as much on mystery and psychological tension as on terror.

Black Dog & Leventhal
708 Broadway, NY, NY 10003-9555
1-800-722-7202 www.workman.com

Two Charles Reichblum titles in the "Strange & fascinating Facts" series will appeal to a wide audience from teens through adult readers, gathering unusual facts and history to appeal to trivial and cultural history buffs. Dr. Knowledge Presents: Strange & Fascinating Facts About Famous Brands (1579123562, $9.95) tells of some of the most famous products and services in modern times, from company histories to logo development and promotions of use. Learn about the lowly janitor whose cousin Hoover helped patent and manufacture one of his most inventive devices, and the evolution of the Health Kup to the more attractive Dixie Cup. Dr. Knowledge Presents: Strange & Fascinating Facts About The Presidents (1579123570, $9.95) uses the same format to provide little-known insights about American Presidents. Both make for fun leisure choices.

Omnigraphics
615 Griswold, #1400, Detroit, MI 48226
1-800-234-1340 www.omnigraphics.com

Omnigraphics may be well known for publishing health guides, but as these sets demonstrate, their keen eye for references isn't limited to the medical community: recommended for both high school and college-level collections are three important new arrivals. Kevin Hillstrom's Defining Moments: Watergate (0780807-693, $38.00) and Leif A. Gruenberg's Defining Moments: The Korean War (078-0807669, $38.00) each provide a blend of biographies, historical overviews, and primary source documents of the times to follow key changes and transformations which changed U.S. and world policies. The three major sections allow students to receive clear discussions of important period moments. Tanya Gulevich's Understanding Islam And Muslim Traditions (0780807049, $54.00) is an excellent, basic introduction for this audience, surveying the religion, customs, social systems and folklore of Muslim tradition. Add in geography as well as historical overviews and you have a wide-ranging title important to a thorough understanding of the system.

Shopping For Furniture
Leonard Bruce Lewin
Linden Publishing
2006 S. Mary, Fresno, CA 93721
0941936872 $17.95 lindenpub.com

Locate furniture which fits into budget and home and understand the basics of its construction and marketing using the second updated edition of Shopping For Furniture: A Consumer's Guide as your personal advisory. Leonard Bruce Lewin has sold furniture to stores and consumers for over 35 years: his background provides insider's advice on everything from distinguishing sales prices from daily prices to understanding newspaper ads and big-store sales approaches. Now in a fully updated second addition, Shopping For Furniture promises lasting library reference value, with its clear tips on judging value and prices.

Unlocking The Census With GIS
Alan Peters & Heather MacDonald
ESRI Press
380 New York Street, Redlands, CA 92373-8100
1589481135 $44.95 www.amazon.com

The U.S. Census provides many complex pieces of data about millions of diverse people, and urban planners, demographers and researchers depend on the data but often face insurmountable problems sifting it for relevant information. Enter Unlocking The Census With GIS, a description of how geographic information systems can be used by both novices and experienced users to analyze and maintain integrity of census data and related information. The spatial format particularly lends to creating economic and data indicators: chapters provide an in-depth tutorial on using American FactFinder, on using databases to link census data, and on translating such data to analytical maps, tables and charts.

Hesperus/Trafalgar Square, dist.
PO Box 257, Howe Hill Road
North Pomfret, VT 05053-0257, www.trafalgarsquarebooks.com
$13.00 each 1-800-423-4525

Hesperus reprints lesser-known works by classic authors, returning out of print works to students. New releases include Pietro Aretino's The Secret Life Of Nuns (1843911027), provides a prequel to The School Of Whoredom and ponders the three questionable jobs open to a woman in Europe; Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe's The Man Of Fifty (1843911000) tells of an elegant niece in love with an uncle many years older; Emily Bronte's Poems Of Solitude (1843911035) provides poems originally penned for her own consolation, Andre Dumas' One Thousand And One Ghosts (1843910829) tells of a man who's murdered his wife, only to find prison preferable to her ghost; Jack London's Before Adam (1843910977) tells of a man whose consciousness has become entwined with a prehistoric ancestor, Giuseppe Garibaldi's My Life (1843910-934) is translated into English for the first time and provides memoirs of his life and struggles, from his seafaring exploits and flight to South America to his return to Italy as a general. One may recall Wilkie Collins for his ghost story: his The Frozen Deep (1843910942) tells of two adversaries united by their struggle to survive at sea; Arthur Conan Doyle's The Mystery Of Cloomber (1843911043) tells of a paranoid recluse's strange fear of a particular date; and Mary Shelley's Transformation (1843910950) presents a supernatural tale by Frankenstein's creator, telling of a banished suitor who sees a mirror of himself in a strange dwarf. Xavier de Maistre's A Journey Around My Room (1843910993) tells of the author confined to his room for 6 weeks, who fills his time taking a 'journey around his room'. From his forced reclusion comes a travel fantasy which is brilliant and vivid. Geoffrey Chaucer's The Parliament Of Birds (1843911019) provides a collection of Chaucer poetic classics ranging from comic to tragic topics. Its dual presentation in old and modern English allows for maximum student involvement. All are excellent supplementary literary material for college-level collections seeking an affordable, comrehensive representation of key literary figures' works.

Wisconsin Land Of Change
Shiela Reaves
American Historical Press
10755 Sherman Way, Suite 2, Sun Valley, CA 91352
1892724421 $34.95 amhistpress.com

More than 450 beautiful black-and-white as well as color photographs enhance every page as Shiela Reaves' Wisconsin Land Of Change: An Illustrated History combines a down-to-earth, well-researched, informative, narrative history of Wisconsin ranging from prehistoric times down to the modern day. Chapters describe monumental events that shaped the land itself and the lives of the many people who came to call Wisconsin home. A true pleasure to read, as well as a learning experience packed with little-known vignettes about people, places, and even businesses who have left their mark on the Dairy State, Wisconsin Land Of Change is a "must" for all community and school library "Wisconsin History" collections and supplemental reading lists.

Wisconsin
Thomas Huhti
Moon Handbooks/Avalon Pub. Group
1400 - 65th Street, Emeryville, CA 94608
www.avalonpub.com
1566916003 $19.95 www.moon.com

Now in a completely updated and significantly expanded third edition, Wisconsin is part of the outstandingly "user friendly" series of Moon Handbook guides to individual states. Author Thomas Huhti is a Wisconsin native and draws upon his personal and professional expertise in creating a guidebook will enable the reader/traveler to come to truly know the Badger State from its small villages and rural communities to its urban cities and highway networks. Enhanced throughout with in-depth information, sage insights, practical advice, and superbly portable, Wisconsin is the perfect trip planner whether for a day trip, a weekend's excursion, an extended vacation, or just to see the sights wherever you may live or travel throughout this diverse gem of the American upper midwest. If you are traveling through or are a resident looking to explore all of what Wisconsin has to offer, then this is the guidebook for you!

The Fence Bible
Jeff Beneke
Storey Publishing
210 Mass MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247
1580175309 $24.95 www.storey.com

Jeff Beneke is an expert woodworker, house renovator, gardener, and author of more than a dozen highly commended home-improvement books designed specifically for the non-specialist general reader wanting to renovate, remodel, or otherwise improve their home and property values. The Fence Bible: How To Plan, Install, And Build Fences And Gates To Meet Every Home Style And Property Need, No Matter What Size Your Yard is Beneke's latest (and in many ways) his best "how to" title to date. This 272 page instruction manual is superbly illustrated with full color photographs and exemplary illustrations from cover to cover. If you want any kind of fencing on any kind of property, then The Fence Bible is the complete reference on how to build one whether you choose wood, stone, brick, concrete, mesh, wrought iron, living hedges, or anything else. Also available in a hardcover format (1580175864, $34.95), The Fence Bible is one reference that fully lives up to its name! Also very highly recommended from Storey Publishing is Peter Jeswald's How To Build Paths, Steps & Footbridges: The Fundamentals Of Planning, Designing, And Constructing Creative Walkways In Your Home Landscape (1580174876, $19.95, paperback; 158017-5759, $29.95, hardcover)

Bicycling
Rob Penn
Abbeville Press
137 Varick Street, 5th fl, NY, NY 10013
0789208466 $29.95 www.abbeville.com

Bicycling: Along The World's Most Exceptional Routes showcases twenty-five remarkably impressive, "off the common trail" bicycling trails and destinations around the world. Enhanced with one hundred superb color photography throughout, Bicycling is part travel guide, part nuts-and-bolts biking guide. The showcased bicycling routes range from the quiet lanes of the Loire Valley , to back country excursions in the Rocky Mountains, to the banks of the Zanskar River winding down through four massive Himalayan passes. Bicycling is an international inspiration for dedicated cyclists, and ideal for armchair travelers, Bicycling is especially recommended for community library collections.

Easy Beading
BeadStyle Magazine
Kalmbach Publishing Company
PO Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612
www.kalmbach.com
0871162172 $29.95 1-800-558-1544

Drawn from the pages of the Kalmbach Publishing Company's BeadStyle magazine, Easy Beading: The Best Projects From The First Year of BeadStyle Magazine showcases more than 140 jewelry-making projects specifically appropriate for beginning beaders. Each project is organized by the types of materials to be used, with directions showing novice beaders just how to create unique necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and more. Each project includes a complete supply list, step-by-step photos, and can be completed in an evening or a weekend. Hundreds of full-color photographs present the finished pieces. Of special note is a photo glossary of beading terms, tools, and materials, as well as a photo gallery of basic techniques for positioning a crimp bead, wrapping a wire loop, and tying a surgeon's knot. There are even five pages of shortcuts and tips drawn from BeadStyle magazine readers to get new beaders started out properly. No community library jewelry making or crafts collection can be considered complete without the addition of Easy Beading!

The Rise Of Fashion
Daniel Leonhard Purdy, Editor
University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Ave S., #290, Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520
0816643938 $24.95 upress.umn.edu

Compiled and edited by Daniel Leonhard Purdy, college-level students of fashion design history will welcome The Rise Of Fashion: A Reader, a compendium of key writings on fashion trends from the Enlightenment to modern times, translating many works previously available only in other languages, providing important critiques of fashion among different classes, and survey both social and political issues in the framework of fashion art developments. An important compilation for any college-level fashion department, The Rise Of Fashion will also hold immense interest for professional fashion designers and non-specialist general readers with an interest in fashion history.


The Economics Shelf

The Mystery Of Economic Growth
Elhanen Helpman
Harvard University Press
79 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138
www.hup.harvard/edu
067401572X $25.95 1-800-448-2242

What factors influence and drive economic growth? Numerous titles have studied the sources of economic growth, but mysteries remain, especially for novice readers without a solid background in economics. Enter The Mystery Of Economic Growth, presenting a fine survey of what is known and unknown in economics, and how to improve an understanding of global economic influences. Here the story of growth economics is organized around themes of technological and institutional influencers, total productivity, and interdependent growth rates of different countries.

Greenwood Publishing Group
88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
1-800-225-5800 www.greenwood.com

David E. O'Connor's Basics Of Economics (0313325200, $75.00) will easily serve as a college-level text: it provides a fine history of the rise of modern capitalism and other economic movements, considers the evolution of the business world from local to global, and examines world finance, savings institutions and investments to probe the roots of economic trends and activities. Excellent and in-depth, Basics Of Economics is not to be missed. Jennifer C. Boettcher and Leonard M. Gaines' Industry Research Using The Economic Census: How To Ifnd It, How To Use It (157356351X, $85.00) provides an important resource reference to the US Census explaining its concepts, methods, and data sources with an eye to relating Census results to student research in economics. From changes between the 1997 and 2002 census to reports and special publications relating to it, this provides an important research 'bible' of detail.


The Architecture Shelf

Great Houses Of Mississippi
Mary Carol Miller & Mary Rose Carter
University Press of Mississippi
3825 Ridgewood Road, Jackson, MS 39211-6492
1578066743 $45.00 1-800-737-7788

Mississippi residents, fans of old Southern architecture, and enthusiasts of American architectural heritage alike have a wonderful collection of full-color photos by Mary Rose Carter and accompanying historical background by Mary Carol Miller in Great Houses Of Mississippi. Miller's lively stories of the houses, their families, and their cultural mark accompany nearly a hundred full-color images of house exteriors. This is a vivid and highly recommended collection of grand old homes.

Blueprint Remodel
Michelle Kodis
Gibbs Smith
PO Box 667, Layton UT 84041
www.gibbs-smith.com
1586853724 $24.95 1-800-748-5439

For tract home transformations which turn an ordinary tract model into something special, the adventurous homeowner should consult Michelle Kodis' Blueprint Remodel: Tract Home Transformations That Turn Everyday To Extraordinary which is packed with color photos of both interior and exteriors. Blueprint Remodel includes remodel costs of each project, remodel observations and intentions, blueprints, and notes on special approaches which translated to savings.

New Society Publishers
37 Cherry St., Easthampton, MA 01027
1-800-283-3572 www.newsociety.com

Part of the New Society Publishers "Natural Building Series", Kaki Hunter and Donald Kiffmeyer's Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tricks And Techniques (086-5715076, $29.95) promotes natural, alternative construction and is the first guide to all the tools needed for building with bags filled with earth ('earthbags'). The authors are themselves pioneers in the field and provide their unique expertise in rammed earth workmanship to provide tips on everything from design concerns to plumbing, building walls and foundations, and installing windows and doors. Loaded with black and white photos and diagrams, Earthbag Building is all you need to build a rammed earth bag home of your dreams. If Chris Scotthanson and Kelly Scotthanson's The Cohousing Handbook: Building A Place For Community (0865715-173, $26.95) sounds familiar, that's because this is a revised edition of an older classic, offering a completely updated edition assessing the elements which form a cohousing group, from land acquisition and design of buildings to construction, permits and sample bylaws and operating guidelines. As the Baby Boomer generation ages, cohousing will prove increasingly intriguing: Cohousing Handbook reviews all the elements involved in creating an unusual community.


The Business Shelf

Lion Taming
Steven L. Katz
Sourcebooks Inc.
1935 Brookdale Road, #139, Naperville, IL 60563
www.sourcebooks.com
1402202172 $19.95 1-800-432-7444

Other titles tell how to get along generally in the workplace; Steven L. Katz's Lion Taming: Working Successfully With Leaders, Bosses, And Other Tough Customers narrows the focus to how to work with difficult bosses, leaders, and other problem people - including customers and clients. 'Lions' are here defined as the people who wield power and influence. Chapters explore how to establish credibility with a boss, separate the 'good' from the 'bad' lions in the workplace, and understand the 'lion' personality's drive for dominance, territory, social standing and survival.

Allworth Press
10 East 23rd St. #510, NY, NY 10010
www.allworth.com

Two important guides provide very different business themes and keys to understanding. Lee Wilson's second edition of The Trademark Guide: A Friendly Handbook To Protecting And Profiting From Trademarks (1581153902, $19.95) provides a candid introduction to trademark protection, telling how it works, how to file for one, working with an attorney, and more. Wilson has years of experience as a trademark lawyer: now the general interest reader with little knowledge of how trademarks work can benefit from an invaluable coverage of the trademark law, it's protections and limitations, and how to avoid improper use or trademark infringement. Duncan M. Webb's Running Theaters: Best Practices For Leaders And Managers (1581153937, $19.95) provides performing arts professionals with an unusually comprehensive, business-oriented primer for the field of running theaters, using the expertise of over fifty theater managers, staff and volunteers to cover the basics of managing facilities backstage and onstage, using effective fundraising techniques, running historic and campus theaters, and noting changing industry trends. Both are excellent guides.

Mapping Security
Tom Patterson with Scott Gleeson Blue
Addison-Wesley/Pearson
75 Arlington Street, Suite 300, Boston, MA 02116
www.awprofessional.com
0321304527 $34.99 1-800-428-5331

Written by a senior business advisor in the fields of security, commerce, and governance with a senior strategist and communications consultant, Mapping Security: The Corporate Sourcebook For Today's Global Economy outlines how companies of today and tomorrow can effectively protect themselves against threats, remain fully accountable, and stay within the rules outlined by a hedgemony of global regulations. Detailed nation-by-nation drill downs on security in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific region are particularly helpful in framing what to expect and how to prepare for it. Written in plain terms, Mapping Security is a vital resource for leaders in any multinational business, especially in today's complex world inhabited customers of diverse cultural backgrounds, not to mention increasingly savvy thieves and worse.

Integrity Is All You've Got
Karl Eller
The McGraw Hill Companies
Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121
www.books.mcgraw-hill.com
0071448780 $24.95 1-877-833-5524

Karl Eller, perhaps best known for creating the business of outdoor advertising and transforming it into a revenue powerhouse, presents Integrity Is All You've Got And Seven Other Lessons Of The Entrepreneurial Life - part memoir, part success guide, one hundred percent American spirit. Written in a candid, accessible tone, Integrity Is All You've Got outlines the perils to successfully getting an idea off the ground with spice, humor, and zest. An engaging success story that focuses on "Seven Lessons of Entrepreneurial Life", such as Profit from failure, Love selling and sell what you live, and Connections make your business. An enjoyable read, packed with tips, tricks, and techniques for achieving one's business dream.

Minding Her Own Business
Jan Zobel, E.A.
Sphinx Publishing/Sourcebooks Inc.
1935 Brookdale Road, #139, Naperville, IL 60563
www.sourcebooks.com
1572484551 $14.95 1-800-432-7444

Now in an updated fourth edition, Minding Her Own Business is a guide to taxes and financial records written especially for self-employed women, but highly recommended for entrepreneurs everywhere regardless of gender. Written in plain and simple terms, Minding Her Own Business covers licenses and permits, bank accounts and credit cards, records the IRS expects one to have, ledger books and recordkeeping systems, 1099 Forms, identifying deductible expenses, filling tax forms and much more. A thorough overview of the monetary basics every business owner has to know.

Get It! Street-Smart Negotiation At Work
Lacey T. Smith
Davies-Black Publishing
3803 E Bayshore Rd, Palo Alto CA 94303
0891062076 $18.95 1-800-624-1765

Negotiator, entrepreneur and attorney Lacey T. Smith presents Get It! Street-Smart Negotiation At Work, a no-nonsense guide to the art of the deal. Chapters discuss the visceral powers of emotions, and how to recognize and incorporate them into one's strategy; the importance of being completely honest with oneself; proper preparations before one approaches the negotiating table, and how to cultivate three skills to improve one's odds - empathy, rapport, and the ability to build upon differences between parties. Written in plain terms, Get It! Street-Smart Negotiation At Work emphasizes "street-smart reality" in is tips, grounded in practical experience of simply working with complex human beings. An excellent self-help and human interaction guide, Get It! Street-Smart Negotiation At Work is intended especially for business negotiation but also highly recommended for its tips on navigating all varied and negotiated walks of life.

When People Are The Problem, What Will You Do?
Harvard Business School Press
60 Harvard Way, Boston, MA 02163
www.HBSPress.org
1591397138 $19.95 1-800-668-6780

When People Are The Problem, What Will You Do? is an anthology of case studies by a variety of experienced authors concerning different dilemmas in management. From when culture clash threatens a cross-border merger, to dealing with the distress of a star performer headed for a mental breakdown, to the awkward position of being sexually harassed by one of the company's most important clients, each situation presented unique management problems that had to be dealt with on financial, ethical, and personal levels. Greater lessons in how to keep things running smoothly interweave this recommended collection of instances when human misunderstandings and weaknesses are the integral part of a mess.


The Pets/Wildlife Shelf

Wild Moments
Ted Williams
Storey Publishing
210 Mass MoCa Way, North Adams, MA 01247
1580175287 $22.95 storeybooks.com

The essays comprising Ted Williams' Wild Moments are perfect choices for armchair readers who want a thoughtful and informative browse discussing life cycles of plants, animals and birds. Among the topics of discussion are which weather conditions lend to fall foliage, how wolf spiders catch prey, and why American goldfinches build nests out of the usual spring season. Inviting, lovely nature observations and trivia.

Fulcrum Publishing
16100 Table Mountain Pkwy #300, Golden, CO 80403-1672
www.fulcrum-books.com

Two enjoyable leisure titles will appeal to general-interest audiences, each offering lively discussions. James K. Wangberg's Six-Legged Sex: The Erotic Lives Of Bugs (1555912923, $17.95) takes a lively, fun look at the strange, interesting sexual behaviors of insects. From romantic serenades to life-threatening arousal, chapters pair fun black and white drawings with lively description of oddities among insects. Frances Wood's Brushed By Feathers: A Year Of Birdwatching In The West (1555914802, $16.95) presents essays providing month-by-month introductions to over 150 western birds. Line drawings in black and white blend with naturalists' quotes and reflections on birds, presenting many fine first-person reflections on what makes a bird-watcher, amazing migration feats, unusual nesting habits, and more - all imparted with a tender first-person reflective tone. A lovely gift work for that beginning birder newly attracted to the art.

Stackpole Books
5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055-6921
www.stackpolebooks.com

There are plenty of quite good field guides which include dragonflies as a part of their coverage; but very few offers the lay reader a basic primer alone, as does Cynthia Berger in Wild Guide: Dragonflies (0811-729719, $19.95). An expert in her field, Cynthia Berger has written for many wildlife and outdoor magazines, as well as having contributed to radio programs, and having good knowledge of birds and wildlife. With its many color photos, natural history discussions, and descriptions, Wild Guide: Dragonflies is an appealing primer. Equally important is Lang Elliott's two-volume set, Know Your Bird Sounds (081172963X and 0811729648, $19.95 each), deserving ongoing recommendation as a powerful audio cd/book package providing a powerful synthesis of color photos, natural history and bird sounds. Volume 1 covers Songs And Calls Of Yard, Garden And City Birds, featuring sparrows, crows, woodpeckers, wrens and many more. Volume 2 covers Birds Of The Countryside. Each bird receives a full-color photo, natural history description, and written description. The field recordings offers not just one call but a variety of songs and calls for each bird, with explanations of how the song/call is used. Invaluable, easily used gems, both.

A Cow's Life
M.R. Montgomery
Walker & Company
104 - 5th Avenue, New York NY 10011
www.walkerbooks.com
0802714145 $25.00 1-800-289-2553

If cows are your particular passion, then A Cow's Life will grab you with Montana native M.R. Montgomery's observations of cows gained from his own daily experience with cattle. Much more than just an observational piece, A Cow's Life provides a history of cattle, the black angus in particular, and explores the controversies and issues involved in cattle farm management. An affectionate look at the cow.


The Science Shelf

Approximating Perfection
Leonid P. Lebedev & Michael J. Cloud
Princeton University Press
41 William Street, Princeton, NJ 08540
www.pupress.princeton.edu
0691117268 $29.95 1-800-777-4726

College-level readers who enjoy thinking about how Nature can be described using math will find Leonid Lebedev and Michael Cloud's Approximating Perfection: A Mathematician's Journey Into The World Of Mechanics, a fine survey of applied mechanics and its lighter side. Formal engineering courses often bypass such topics as how models remain imperfect and under-developed: Approximating Perfection surveys these and other issues, emphasizing underlying logic and parallels between mechanics and math.

Arcade Publishing
141 Fifth Ave., 8th Fl, NY, NY 10010
1-800-759-0190 www.arcadepub.com

Two excellent new titles blend science with other disciplines to provide multi-faceted, lively discussions for general-interest, non-scientist audiences. Michael Judge's The Dance Of Time: The Origins Of The Calendar: A Miscellany Of History And Myth, Religion And Astronomy, Festivals And Feast Days (1559707461, $23.00) provides a history of the origins of the calendar, incorporating mythology, religion and science into a discussion of social and cultural calendar rituals and meaning around the world. Readers seeking to understand differences between ancient and modern calendars, and the roots of today's modern calendar, will find The Dance Of Time a lively discussion, seasonally arranged for maximum focus. Len Fisher's Weighing The Soul: Scientific Discovery From The Brilliant To The Bizarre (1559707321, $25.00) covers some oddities of scientific investigation and discoveries, from an attempt to actually weigh a dying man's soul as it fled his body to experiments in electricity and DNA. From Fisher's first-person observational, chatty style blending history with cultural insights to own his Nobel Prize-winning experiments, authority backed with an energetic writing style brings science into the average person's life.

Watt's Perfect Engine
Ben Marsden
Columbia University Press
61 West 62nd Street, New York, NY 10023-7015
www.columbiaedu/cu/cup
0231131720 $19.50 1-800-944-8648

James Watt's name has become well known as the inventor of the light bulb; but it was the steam engine which also earned him fame - and which did not come about due to his single-handed genius. The development, function and role of the 'perfect engine' during his times in England is revealed in Ben Marsden's Watt's Perfect Engine: Steam And The Age Of Invention, a lively historical coverage of how the engine evolved and reflected not only the promise, but the problems of the Industrial Revolution. A fine, wide-ranging history.

Software Endgames
Robert Galen
Dorset House Publishing
353 West 12th St., New York, NY 10014
0932633625 $39.95 dorsethouse.com

Written by a software team-builder of 25 years' experience, Software Endgames is a guide that focues on the "endgame" phase of software development - the final stage between beta testing and release to the customers' market. Skillfully overseeing defect repairs is critical during this phase; Software Endgames discusses means to ensure that the best possible product is completed. Chapters address how to develop appropriate release criteria, creating a stable framework and time table, useful and relevant metrics, a variety of techniques to fix defects, management dynamics, leadership practices, and much more. A "must-have" resource of ideas and practical experience ideal for anyone responsible for overseeing software development.


The Environmental Studies Shelf

Lake Michigan In Motion
Clifford H. Mortimer
University of Wisconsin Press
1930 Monroe Street, 3rd floor, Madison, WI 53711-2059
www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress
029917834X $24.95 1-800-621-2736

Written by expert limnologist and former director of the Center for Great Lakes Studies Clifford Mortimer, Lake Michigan In Motion: Responses Of An Inland Sea To Weather, Earth-Spin, And Human Activities is a detailed, scholarly, and scientific examination of Lake Michigan. Black-and-white photographs, charts, and diagrams illustrate chapters covering the history of scientific inquiry into Lake Michigan's physicality, water levels and flows, seasonal cycles of heating/cooling and layering/mixing, lake currents, categories and models of waves, models in action, and much more. A background in basic calculus and environmental physics is presumed in this scrutiny of how multiple factors fro glaciers, wind, and weather to human public policy and polition have and continue to influence Lake Michigan. A superb resource for college libraries and Great Lakes Region environmental studies shelves.

Voices Of The Land
Jamie Crelly Purinton, editor
Chelsea Green Publishing
Box 428, White River Junction, VT 05001
www.chelseagreen.com
1931498504 $25.00 1-800-639-4099

What does it mean to really know the land, or a wild space? The essays compiled and edited by Jamie Crelly Purinton for Voices Of The Land go well beyond commercial or economic values to consider the ecological and social meaning of land stewardship, from getting to know the underlying ecology of a projected building site to moving beyond concepts of land possession. Each individual chapter offers articles and reflections by builders, landowners, ecologists, students and others from different walks of life. Gorgeous, reflective pieces abound in Voices Of The Land from beginning to end.

Sonoita Plain
Carl E. Bock & Jane H. Bock
Stephen E. Strom, photographer
University of Arizona Press
355 South Euclid Avenue, Suite 103, Tucson, AZ 85719-6654
www.uapress.arizona.edu
0816523622 $20.00 1-800-426-3797

Established in 1968 by the Appleton family and now part of the National Audubon Society's sanctuary system, the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch is a tract of 8,000 acres on the Sonoita Plain of southeastern Arizona. This is land that has been left alone for the past 35 years. There has been no dam building, fire fighting, grazing, pest control, and no commercial or agricultural development of any kind. Co-authored by Carl and Jane Bock, Sonoita Plain: Views From A Southwestern Grassland showcases and highlights the ecosystems of the Sonoita Valley and the Research Ranch. Enhanced with the superb color photography of Stephen Strom, readers are informed with respect to the diverse life forms which range from towering century plants to tiny Botteri's Sparrow, the elegant Mexican pronghorn, and the humans of diverse eras and purposes that were associated with this region from ancient Clovis big-game hunters to border crossers seeking entrance into the U.S., to nature loving tourists come to see and experience what the Sonoita Valley has to offer. Highly recommended reading, especially for environmental activists and academicians, Sonoita Plain would well serve as a template or model for similar books on other natural environment restoration landscape projects elsewhere in the country.


The Travel Shelf

Take Your RV To Europe
Adelle Milavsky & Ron Milavsky
The Intrepid Traveler
PO Box 531, Branford, CT 06405
1887140549 $19.95 intrepidtraveler.com

Take Your RV To Europe is a straightforward guide to touring Europe long-term in the most economical manner possible - by RV! Chapters address how to calculate costs, preparing an RV for Europe, the shipping process, the campground scene, how to stay in touch, the author's personal experiences, and much more. Appendices summarize useful things to know about various European countries, including where to get tourist information prior to the trip, security issues, emergency telephone numbers, essential equipment, highway information particularly regarding tolls, and more. A no-nonsense, candid guide to seeing Europe at one's own pace.

Mexico's Pacific Coast
Vivien Lougheed
Hunter Publishing
130 Campus Drive, Edison, NJ 08818
www.hunterpublishing.com
1588433951 $19.99 1-800-255-0343

From artifacts and culture to water sports and local travel, Mexico's Pacific Coast has it all - as does Vivien Lougheed's book Mexico's Pacific Coast, an insider's guide to everything from archeological ruins to tours and places to stay. Whether you want to plan an independent sightseeing adventure, plan an outdoors trip, or survey cultural attractions and local fiestas, Mexico's Pacific Coast is the handbook to plan ahead with - and take with you. Part of the "Adventure Guide Series" from Hunter Publishing, Mexico's Pacific Coast is enhanced with clear maps, black and white photos, and the latest details combining to create an essential travel planner for any Mexico bound tourist, student, or business traveler.

Arcadia Publishers
420 Wando Park Blvd., Mt. Pleasant, CS 29464
www.arcadiapublishing.com

Arcadia Publishing was launched in New Hampshire in 1993 as a small publisher of local history, specializing in a regional approach to each title which blends vintage duotone photos with community histories. We aren't just talking the usual same-old high-profile communities, either. Take San Francisco as one example. You'd think so many books have appeared on San Francisco history and travel that there'd be little need for another, let alone a number of titles - think again. Arcadia proves there are many unplumbed parts of the city by providing very specialized focuses: Paul C. Trimble and John C. Alioto Jr.'s The Bay Bridge (0738529702, $19.99) comes from a transport historian who tells of the bridge's construction using over 200 rare photos and conceptual drawings, and providing a story of three years of building challenges. Trimble's Railways Of San Francisco (0738528870, $19.99) is an even more unique offering, surveying the immense task of building a rail system through San Francisco's neighborhoods. Trimble's own collection of vintage photos provides a gorgeous visual display to accompany a fine history. Plenty has been written about San Francisco's famous neighborhoods such as Telegraph Hill - but where else will you find a focus on the Excelsior, as in Walter G. Jebe Sr.'s San Francisco's Excelsior District (073-8528897, $19.99), not a 'spotlight' neighborhood to be sure, but one any native San Francisco will know about. The Excelsior is located south of the better-known districts: once a sparsely populated, rural section of the city, the Excelsior today sports row houses and action. View the Excelsior of yesterday through vintage photos and history. Speaking of heading South, the South San Francisco Historical Society has a hand in producing South San Francisco (0738529214, $19.99), and once again Arcadia has chosen an area well known to locals and much less known to outsiders. The Historical Society collaborated on this book and provides an excellent overview and celebration of the economic and social istory of San Francisco's 'sister city'. Martin Jacobs reveals San Francisco 49ers (0738529664, $19.99) for any who love football, providing a 'must' of over 200 rare photos, stories and statistics charting the rise and incarnations of San Francisco's most notable team. Head further south with Kathleen Manning and Jerry Crow's Half Moon Bay (073852963X, $19.99), an excellent survey of a small town which remains limited to this day. Rare prints, photos, and local history trace Half Moon Bay's progress from the early days of photography to modern times. The North Bay isn't neglected by Arcadia, either: The Napa Valley Museum and Lin Weber's Napa (0738529516) provides an excellent history of the valley. As a resident of the area for 30 years, author Weber has more than a casual knowledge of the valley and has extensively researched local photographic archives to provide the best images representing Napa's past and present. The Bolinas Museum and Stinson Beach Historical Society collaborate with Bolinas And Stinson Beach (0738528951, $19.99), telling the story of two small beach towns north of the city which remain relatively isolated from the bustle of the Bay Area to this day. From Indian early life to local political struggles, Bolinas And Stinson Beach provides an excellent in-depth survey of two communities typically given only cursory travel attention in competing Bay Area guides. If it's local history and vintage photos you relish, consult the reading list of Arcadia Publishers before going anywhere else: the focus on small under-featured neighborhoods can't be beat.

The Sarasota, Sanibel Island & Naples Book
Chelle Koster Walton
Countryman Press
PO Box 748, Woodstock, VT 05091
www.countrymanpress.com
1581570724 $18.95 1-800-245-4151

Now in an updated and expanded third edition, Chelle Koster Walton's The Sarasota, Sanibel Island & Naples Book: A Complete Guide appears has been informatative revised to reflect the many changes affecting the Florida region. Gulf Coast residents, 'snowbirds' and visitors will find Walton provides a bible of seasonal wonders and recommendations, from wilderness areas and accommodations complete with prices to parks, ice cream shops, and special tours. Many of these byways would be missed by visitors were it not for Walton's specifics, making this third edition of Sarasota, Sanibel Island & Naples Book a real winner.

Avalon Travel
1400 - 65th Street, #250, Emeryville, CA 94608
1-800-345-5473 www.travelmatters.com

Avalon Travel produces excellent destination guides which offer wide appeal to both outdoors adventurers and visitors who want an in-depth sampling of local attractions. Avalon holds the Moon imprint, among others: a latest guide to Tennessee is presented in Jeff Bradley's Tennessee (1566916933, $19.95), pairing the fun observations of an author who knows the state well with a fine guidebook blending his firsthand experience and insights with tips on how to find the 'real Tennessee' from the Smoky Mountains to Nashville. Small black and white photos, small regional maps and more. California visitors have a range of guides to choose from: among the newest, George Fuller's California Golf (1566915864, $21.95), a survey of almost 900 golf facilities in the state, from new courses to old favorites, which includes yardage, par, USGA ratings and more. Also recommended and excellent are Tom Stienstra's California Camping (1566914868, $21.95), a Foghorn guide for outdoors campers who want the most in-depth descriptions of campground amenities, resources available in both federal and state parks, and reservations and fees, and Gene Kilgore's Ranch Vacations (1566917719, $22.95), a survey of ranch vacations where beautiful scenery and adventure awaits. The latter covers all kinds of ranches, from dude ranches and winter resorts to fly-fishing camps and more, with each description including accommodations descriptions, activities, payment options, setting and much more, adding color photos for embellishment. All are especially recommended for destination visitors planning ahead.

Beaches of O'ahu
John R. K. Clark
The University of Hawaii Press
2840 Kolowalu St., Honolulu, HI 96822
www.uhpress.hawaii.edu
0824828925 $19.95 1-888-847-7377

First published in 1977 and now in a newly revised edition with more than 60 color photos of O'ahu's spectacular coastline, Beaches Of O'ahu is a superb travel guide featuring a water safety section, 22 newly drawn maps pointing the way to more than 130 beaches and shoreline parks on this fabulous Hawaiian island, and brief descriptions of what can be expected from each one. Information such as the brief history of given beaches handed down through Hawaiian oral tradition, physical characteristics and recreational uses, cultural significance, any dangers present and much more fill this fun and practical supplimentary guide for any O'ahu bound vacationer.


The Buddhist Studies Shelf

Peaks And Lamas
Marco Pallis
Shoemaker & Hoard
3704 Macomb St. NW #4, Washington, DC 20016
www.shoemakerhoard.com
1593760582 $18.00 1-800-788-3123

On an expedition to the Ganges-Satleg watershed, Marco Pallis first began to study the lamas' teachings and way of life, studying Buddhism, Tibetan living, and art. Peaks And Lamas: A Classic Book On Mountaineering, Buddhism And Tibet has long been recognized as a 'bible' on the Himalayan-Tibetan tradition of Buddhism and mountain climbing, and this edition returns to print a classic which has been unavailable for thirty years, adding fine black and white photos taken by Pallis and his friends.

Dzogchen
The Dalai Lama
Snow Lion Publications
PO Box 6483, Ithaca, NY 14851
www.snowlionpub.com
1559392193 $18.95 1-800-950-0313

Dzogchen: Heart Essence Of The Great Perfection By The Dalai Lama should be considered as compulsory reading for anyone studying the tenets, teachings, and philosophy of Buddhism. Here recorded are teachings on Dzogchen, which is at the core of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism as related by the ultimate authority -- his Holiness, The Dalai Lama. The text is completely accessible to seasoned students, as well as non-specialist general readers with an interest in Buddhism. Ably translated by Geshe Thupeten Jinpa and Richard Barron, and expertly edited by Patrick Gaffney, Dzogchen: Heart Essence Of The Great Perfection is a welcome and much appreciated contribution to the growing canon of Buddhist literature for the western reader. Indeed, anything written and published by The Dali Lama should be considered a "must read" by all dedicated students of Buddhism throughout the world.

A Call To Compassion
Aura Glaser
Nicolas-Hays, Inc.
PO Box 1126, Berwick, Maine 03901
0892541164 $16.95 www.amazon.com

Author Aura Glaser combines her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and her long-term study of Buddhism to present A Call To Compassion: Bringing Buddhist Practices Of The Heart Into The Soul Of Psychology, a discussion that blends revelations of Freud, Jung, and the Buddha in its search to reveal better ways of helping oneself and others in need. Various chapters discuss the "compassionate revolution" of Tibetan Buddhism, a comparison of what Freud and Buddhism both reveal about human desire, the "alchemy" of the feelings within the heart, and more. A deeply spiritual search to better understand the workings of the human mind and apply transcendental wisdom.


The Gardening Shelf

Southwest Smart Garden Regional Guide
Rita Pelzcar and Pat Welsh
American Horticultural Society
DK Publishing
375 Hudson St., New York NY 10014
0789493675 $30.00 www.dk.com

Want a region-specific guide to growing which outlines successful plants and gardening techniques from California to Texas and Oklahoma? The American Horticultural Society doesn't just offer up another routine gardening guide: their Southwest Smart Garden Regional Guide is a complete instructional program in a single volume which teaches gardeners how to create a garden in tune with the environment and local growing conditions, using a coding system assigned to each plant for both hardiness zone and plant size. Packed with color photos on every page, The Southwest Smart Garden Regional Guide is the perfect choice, especially for novice Southwest area gardeners starting their first plot.

Firefly Books
155 East 34th St. #5B, NY, NY 10016
1-800-387-5085 www.fireflybooks.com

Three fine new guides are recommended picks offering avid gardeners special advice. Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix's Best Rose Guide: A Comprehensive Selection (1552978443, $45.00) provides the latest in the Phillips and Rix series of horticultural guides; this giving rose gardeners a key to growing success for a notoriously finicky plant. Over 850 roses are covered, including the major species, the historical classes, and hybrids. Each receives full color embellishment and a history, along with mention of why the rose chosen is the best for health, beauty or scent. Denise Greig's Ornamental Foliage Plants (15540701711, $45.00) provides a guide to over 1,500 plants recommendable for their exceptional foliage, providing small color photos along with summaries of their climate zones, cultivation, and use. Descriptions of the foliage are detailed enough to allow any gardener to understand the plant's usefulness under different conditions.


The Humor Shelf

You Might Be A Redneck If
Jeff Foxworthy
Rutledge Hill Press
PO Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214
www.rutledgehillpress.com
1401601952 $6.99 1-800-251-4000

Fans of the 'redneck humor' of Jeff Foxworthy as seen on TV comedy shows will be glad to know his one-liner observations about what makes a 'redneck' translate well to text and one-panel comics, too. David Boyd's illustrations grace a funny book perfect for the non-reader fully aware of all-too-real 'redneck habits'.


The Computer Shelf

Spam Wars
Danny Goodman
SelectBooks
2817 West End Avenue, Suite 126-274, Nashville, Tennessee 37203
1590790634 $17.95

Spam Wars is truly a computer book for the twenty-first century. Award-winning technology interpreter Danny Goodman teaches readers "Spam 101" followed by an intermediate course in Spam, including how to recognize spam, the importance of firewalls, spam, virus, spyware and malware filters that should be installed on every computer, and much more. In a day and age where the worst possible spam can lead to identity theft and worse, Spam Wars is much-needed reading for every small business and household that relies heavily upon computers and the internet. The basics for protecting oneself from attack are presented in plain terms that even the technologically clueless can quickly grasp, and special attention is given to the exploitable flaws in Microsoft Windows and the Outlook email program.

O'Reilly & Associates
1005 Gravenstein Hwy N., Sebastapol, CA 95472
1-800-998-9938 www.oreilly.com

Windows XP Pro is so easy that you don't even need a manual for it, so it doesn't come with one - at least, that's what Microsoft would have you think. Think again - and make David Pogue, Craig Xacker and L.J. Zacker's Windows XP Pro 2nd Edition (0596008988 $29.95) ) your desk 'bible'. Updated to include Service Pack 2, the book comes packed with insights on how to effectively tweak Windows Media Player - such as how to create and organize playlists and delete a song on a playlist, Windows Messenger - which can be used in audio mode to avoid typing, and more. From converting a basic disc to a dynamic disc to setting up user accounts with passwords, Windows XP Pro 2nd Edition is the best handbook a user could buy. If you have Windows XP Pro as a Home Edition, choose David Pogue's Windows XP Home 2nd Edition (059600897X, $24.95): it offers the basics of mastering XP Pro's basic programs from menus and locating lost files to using the new Start menu design. New tutorials and updates on Service Pack 2 make this an invaluable reference. Advanced programmers will want to consult Mike Danseglio's Securing Windows Server 2003 (0596006853, $39.95): it's written by a noted security expert who explains Windows Server 2003 is more than just a server operating system; it's loaded with network services and user services which will prove invaluable when fully understand. Securing Windows Server 2003 is devoted to fully understanding the system's options; from learning encryption and account password protection to using smart cards to make a system secure and derailing low-tech intrusions. An excellent, practical and technical guide for any building a server system using the Windows 2003 server. Tony Northrup and Eric Faulkner's Home Hacking Projects For Geeks (0596004052, $29.95) provides step-by-step instructions for creating a home high-tech habitat using one's PC. Projects focus on ideas not available commercially or which are too costly for the consumer to justify: thirteen such projects are divided into chapters sch as Home Entertainment or Home Security and include creating a whole-house audio system, making your house 'talk' and more.

Charles River Media
10 Downer Ave., Hingham, MA 02043
1-800-382-8505 www.charlesriver.com

Two advanced computer guides will appeal to professional designers and advanced users. The second edition of Clint Eccher, Eric Hunley and Erik Simmons' Professional Web Design: Techniques And Templates (1584503653, $39.95) is out, and it's even more extensive than the prior edition, packing in 65 license-free Web site templates on cd to accompany a completely updated version of the book offering both the original 50 templates and 15 new ones for this edition. Techniques for building usable sites have been updated to the latest HTML, Java, Photoshop and PHP technologies and users will find this filled with key strategies. Wolfgang Engel edits Shader X3: Advanced Renderin G With DirectX And Opengl (15845-03572, $59.95), a new collection filled with techniques to common problems in Shader programming. Articles evolved from the work and experiences of industry pros and thus are especially powerful in their wide-ranging backgrounds and problem-solving techniques peculiar to Shader programming experts.

The IT Career Builder's Toolkit
Matthew Moran
Cisco Press
800 East 96th St., Indianapolis, IN 46240
1587131560 $29.95 ciscopress.com

Matthew Moran's The IT Career Builder's Toolkit could also have been reviewed in our 'business' section for job-seekers, but is featured here because so many IT employees are seeking work, and so many college students aspire to enter the field. This is career prep with no holds barred: Matthew Moran profiles solid, market-based skills and proven methods to advance an IT career or reach a goal. Newcomers in particular receive explicit advice on how to present technical skills value in a tough job market, how to become an essential commodity in an overwhelmed market, and how to gain meaningful professional contacts. A 'must' for any serious IT pro.

Sams Publishing
c/o Pearson Technology Group
801 East 96h Street, #300, Indianapolis, IN 46240-3759
1-800-428-5331 www.mcp.com

PHP 5 Unleashed (067232511X, $49.99, 840 pp.) by John Coggeshall can only be described as the definitive guide in PHP programming. PHP 5 Unleashed thoroughly and authoritatively covers the release of PHP 5, as well as advanced topics not found elsewhere in other PHP instructional reference titles. Microsoft Visual Basic .NET 2003 Unleashed (0672326-779, $59.99, 1024 pp.) by Heinrich Gantenbein is a premium reference guide and an essential instructional reference and "how to" guide for anyone currently developing or beginning to develop .NET applications. Microsoft Visual Basic .NET 2003 Unleashed will give even the most novice user the knowledge and confidence to utilize and employ Visual Basic .NET 2003. Microsoft Visual C# .NET 2003 Unleashed (0672326760, $59.99, 1008 pp.) is the collaborative work of Kevin Hoffman & Lonny Kruger. This is a truly comprehensive reference and "user friendly" learning guide for the .NET Framework, using C# as the instructional language. Microsoft Visual C# .NET 2003 Unleashed will quickly become the preferred and definitive source of information on C# programming and the .NET framework.


The Antiques/Collectibles Shelf

Collector Books
PO Box 3009, Paducah, KY 42002-3009
1-800-626-5420 collectorbooks.com

The third revised edition of Collector's Guide To Ideal Dolls by Judith Izen (1574324217 $24.95) reflects the latest changes to prices in the market, packing the book with color photos of dolls throughout and organizing listings by type and era. The color photos are one of the strongest features of Collector's Guide To Ideal Dolls , making it an invaluable reference; while introductory articles on changing issues through the decades provide important background history. Volume 3 of Russell E. Lewis' notable Modern Fishing Lure Collectibles (1574324225, $24.95) continues to explore the surprisingly vast world of collectible lures, offering an identification and value guide packed with color and description. Add company/maker histories and you have a valuable specific collector's guide. The handy Collector's Companion To Carnival Glass by Bill Edwards and Mike Carwile appears in its second updated edition (1574324349, $14.95) offering all new patterns which don't repeat the first edition, and focusing on harder-to-find patterns. Use both editions together to handle both primary and secondary patterns in carnival glass identification, and enjoy a guide which is small enough to use as a take-along tote to garage sales or flea markets.

Krause Publications
700 E. State St., Iola, WI 54990-0001
1-800-258-0929 www.krause.com

If it's books you're collecting, don't leave out the fine price and identification guides from Krause Publications: three winners provide specific tips based on the latest market results. Richard Rusell's Antique Trader Book Collector's Price Guide (0873496078, $24.99) comes from a bookseller with over thirty years of experiences behind him: prices are provided for over 5,000 books in a dozen categories, from art and banned books to biographies and science fiction. Add a directory of antiquarian booksellers and you have a value industry reference. Ditto Steve Santi's Collecting Little Golden Books (0873496264, $27.99), appearing in its fifth updated edition to provide a thorough coverage of Little Golden values and imprints. This revised edition includes new sections on Golden's stamp books, Tintin, sets and more. Black and white and a center section of color photos enhances this collector's identification and price guide, which comes from an avid collector's years of experience in the field. Craig Shutt's Baby Boomer Comics (0873496-68X, $27.99) provides a survey of comics from the 'Silver Age' 1960s, using a question-and-answer format to highlight trivia questions revolving around comic characters, issues and plots. Packed with color photos of comics and discussions of reprints and values, Shutt's guide lends more than most to leisure browsing and remembering. Identify fakes and reproductions in the art, furniture and general collector's market with Mark Chervenka's Antique Trader Guide To Fakes & Reproductions (087349590X, $24.99), appearing in its third edition to revise and expand a 'bible' on fakes and originals. Old and new prices are listed side by side, fakes and forgeries discussed, and categories range from seasonal collectibles to glass, toys, ads and more. Leigh Leshner's Collecting Art Plastic Jewelry (0873499549, $24.99) provides a powerful survey of the world of art plastic jewelry, from types of plastics used to designers past and present. Where most jewelry guides focus on antique or metal jewlry, Collecting Art Plastic Jewelry offers a satisfying, unusual focus on the lesser-known world of plastic productions past and present, packing in nearly 400 color photos along with discussions of history and value. All are highly recommended picks for the seasoned collector.

Schiffer
4880 Lower Valley Rd., Atglen, PA 13910
www.schifferbooks.com

Joanne Schwartz's Charms And Charm Bracelets: A Complete Guide (0764321-293, $39.95) isn't intended to be a just a price guide: loaded with color photos by Robert N. Schwartz of bracelets and makers and packed with history, Charms And Charm Bracelets follows the history and use of charm bracelets over the years, discussing style, changing use, and current values. Schwartz is an avid collector of antique jewelry and backs her extensive knowledge with facts. Kay Oshel's Jewelry From Sarah Coventry And Emmons (0764321285, $29.95) profiles the jewelry produced by Sarah Coventry and Emmons, both of whom began in 1949 in New York producing affordable fashion jewelry up to modern times. Chapters survey production dates and original prices, go heavy on the color photos on every page, and provide reference for current values. An essential, detailed guide for any jewelry neo-professional.


The Folktale/Mythology Shelf

The Girl Who Married A Lion
Alexander McCall Smith
Pantheon
1745 Broadway, New York NY 10019
www.randomhouse.com
0375423125 $20.00 1-800-726-0600

It's rare to obtain folktales from Africa for adult readers, which makes the collection from Zimbabwe and Botswana in The Girl Who Married A Lion: And Other Tales from Africa exceptional from the start. Most were previously collected only in 'Children of Wax', and seven new stories from Botswana have been added for this collection, making for even more of a rarity. Highly recommended: an exceptional pick with unusual cultural insights in literary folktale form.


The Writing/Publishing Shelf

U-Publish.com
Dan Poynter & Danny O. Snow
Unlimited Publishing LLC
PO Box 3007, Bloomington, IN 47402
www.UnlimitedPublishing.com
1588329887 $14.99 1-800-218-8877

Now in a substantially revised and updated third edition, U-Publish.com: How 'U' Can Compete With The Giants Of Publishing is superbly presented core guide to independent book publishing (which is also known as self-publishing or alternative publishing) as written by Dan Poynter (a nationally recognized self-publishing guru and author of more than 100 books), and Danny O. Snow (a full-time book publisher whose insights and expertise into the new publishing technologies for broadcast and print media have been cited and quoted in "Publishers Weekly", "The Los Angeles Times", and "The Wall Street Journal"). Individual chapters clearly and methodically explain the all of the basic mechanics of self-publishing specifically for non-specialist general readers aspiring to publish their own work. Walking the reader through all of the steps from manuscript, to galley, to finished book, these two self-publishing experts provide a wealth of tips, tricks, and techniques for taking advantage of new technologies to self-publish at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods, as well as how to sell books in markets that are more profitable than bookstores and libraries, what common pitfalls to avoid, and so much more. The impetus for the revisions, corrections, updates, and new ideas for U-Publish.com have been channeled directly from needs of the readers and past features of U-Publish.com on the nationally syndicated "Ask Heloise" radio program. An absolute "must-have" for anyone with a book inside just waiting to get out, U-Publish.com is an enthusiastically recommended addition to the aspiring professionals' Writing/Publishing instructional reference shelf.

Some Writers Deserve To Starve!
Elaura Niles
Writer's Digest/F&W Publications
4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236
www.fwpublications.com
1582973547 $14.99 1-800-289-0963

Many believe that any great book will eventually be published: in reality there are many mediocre books published simply because the writer knew the publishing industry - and many potential great books that missed the cut because its writer did not possess such knowledge. Better your odds for success with a fun, honest guide to the publishing industry: Some Writers Deserve To Starve: 31 Brutal Truths About The Publishing Industry provides the insider tips needed, from honing the 'hook' to using agents more effectively. If you hold aspirations of writing a book or becoming a professional author, then you need to give a careful reading to Elaura Niles' Some Writers Deserve To Starve!

Wham! Bam! Publishing
Janice M. Phelps & Joan E. Phelps
Lucky Press, LLC
126 S. Maple Street, Lancaster, OH 43130
0970637721 $10.00 luckypress.com

Joan Phelps' background is in public relations and speech writing. Janice Phelps is the founder and editor-in-chief of Lucky Press (a mid-size publisher of titles on health, aviation, history, and self-help) and has worked on more than 150 books for the trade market, two of which won the Ben Franklin Award for independent publishing. Together, Janice and Joan Phelps draw upon their years of practical experience and personal expertise to present an effective "how to" guide for self-published authors and novice small press publishers seeking to successfully compete in the marketplace for the dollars of the reading public. Wham! Bam! Publishing: The Strategic Marketing Plan For Authors And Publishers offers is a variety of proven business techniques and resource lists applied to the business aspects of publishing (including the Midwest Book Review website). An ideal and highly recommended instructive introduction for those with no previous business or marketing experience, Wham! Bam! Publishing will walk the reader carefully through the business mission, vision, objectives, and strategies. Of special note are the chapters on book design, titling, and advice when dealing with writers. The invaluable appendices include: "Author's Marketing Input"; "Additional Business Tips for Authors"; "P.O.D. Publishing"; "A New Option for Childrens Books"; and a "How to Make A Book Checklist".

Secrets Of The Screen Trade
Allen B. Ury
Lone Eagle Publishing Company
5055 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036
1580650600 $18.95 www.hcdonline.com

Successful author and screenwriter Allen B. Ury presents Secrets Of The Screen Trade: From Concept To Sale, a practical guide to not only creating a screenplay that is coherent and salable, but also how to get it sold without getting ripped off. Writing tips, tricks, and techniques include a sample of overused premises to avoid (such as mysteries where the protagonist is the murderer), ten screenplay writing rules and when to break them (the first act should not occupy more than a quarter of the screenplay, unless there are so many funny jokes/action-packed events that the story is not dragging), and all too common errors to avoid, such as writing "at last he understands" in the screenplay description - the sure mark of an amateur, since "understanding" is an internal emotion and a screenplay must focus on external facets that a director can work with. Secrets Of The Screen Trade goes on to give the reader the basic low-down on submitting scripts, a process that has changed little in fifty years, and sharply warns writers not to be taken in by scam artists - such as agents who charge a flat rate instead of a sales commision, or internet sites that pretend they're doing you a favor by promoting your work online, when no serious film producer browses websites for his next movie script. A wittily written and highly recommended overview for anyone interested in the screenwriting trade.


The American History Shelf

How The Scots Made America
Michael Fry
St. Martins Press
175 - 5th Avenue, NY, NY 10010-7848
www.stmartins.com
0312338767 $24.95 1-888-330-8477

The Scots have influenced American history from Viking exploration times to modern times, so it's about time they deserve their own focus - and in How The Scots Made America, author Michael Fry provides this in a survey of how Americans of Scottish roots helped shaped the country. Fry is himself Scottish and has been called 'Scotland's most controversial writer': his columns have long focused on Scottish-American history both in America and England, so he's in the perfect position to provide an authoritative blend of social history and culture.

Dutch Ovens Chronicled
John G. Ragsdale
The University of Arkansas Press
McIlroy House
201 Ozark Ave., Fayetteville, AR 72701
0971347069 $16.95 1-800-626-0090

Outdoor cooking was a necessity for colonists newly arrived on America's wilderness shores, pioneers moving west, cowboys working the range, sheep herders up in the hills, buffalo hunters out on the prairie, and anyone else who found themselves far from the villages, towns, and cities of a growing American populace. These folk needed something portable to cook their food in. Iron casters solved their problem with a metal cooking vessel particular suited to cabins, campfires, wagon trains, camping trails, and chuck wagons -- they called it the "Dutch Oven". John G. Ragsdale is an expert on the development, care, and use of Dutch ovens, and in Dutch Oven Chronicled: Their Use In The United States, he lays out a thoroughly "reader friendly" account of the technological advancements that resulted in the creation and wide spread use of this particular cooking vessel. This 112-page condensed history is nicely enhanced with 9 illustrations and 24 b/w photos, several Dutch Oven recipes, observations and recommendations based on the author's personal familiarity with the use of these ovens. Dutch Ovens Chronicled is an informed and informative work that is commended for outdoor cooking enthusiasts, American history buffs in general, and those interested in the culinary history of the United States frontier in particular.

The Chiefs Remember
Harold K. Steen
Forest History Society
701 Wm. Vickers Ave, Durham NC 27701
0890300631 $20.00 foresthistory.org

Excerpts from interviews with U.S. Forest Service chiefs whose tenures span fifty years create an intriguing history of the trends and developments of the U.S. Forest Service, a half-century of rapid change and controversies. From civil rights and wilderness management issues to environmental conflicts, The Chiefs Remember: The Forest Service, 1952-2001 bring a personal touch and is recommended reading for for any non-specialist general reader interested in the Forest Service's history or environmental policy development as a whole.

The American Socialist Movement 1897-1912
Ira Kipnis
Haymarket Books
PO Box 180165, Chicago, IL 60618
www.haymarketbooks.org
1931859124 $20.00 1-773-583-7884

The American Socialist Movement 1897-1912 scrutinizes the rise and decline of the American Socialist Party, which at its height had more than a hundred and fifty thousand members and almost a million votes for its presidential candidate. A classic history first written in the mid-twentieth century, The American Socialist Movement 1987-1912 discusses socialist ideology in the early 1900's, party propaganda, the influences of Christianity and immigration, attacks on constructive socialism, the repercussions of factionalism, the recall of Bill Haywood and much more. An extensively researched and documented account ideal for scholarly study and reference, and a welcome addition to college library and reference shelves.

The Other Missouri History
Thomas M. Spencer
University of Missouri Press
2910 LeMone Boulevard, Columbia, MO 65201
www.umsystem.edu/upress
0826215653 $24.95 1-800-828-1894

The Other Missouri History: Populists, Prostitutes, And Regular Folk explores Missouri history and its effects on all levels of society. A variety of essays by learned authors include "Race, Citizenship, and the Origins of Organized Labor in Antebellum St. Louis", "Survival Strategies of Farm Laborers in the Missouri Bootheel, 1900-1958", and "Prostitution and Reform in Kansas City, 1880-1930". Written with a keen knack for detail and explaining complex socio-economic fluctuations in plain terms, The Other Missouri History is a welcome contribution to state history collections especially for its revelation of the side of Missouri most traditional historical accounts overlook.


The Theatre/Cinema/TV Shelf

An Encyclopedic Dictionary Of Women In Early Films, 1895-1930
Denise Nola-Faye
The Haworth Press
10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY, 13904
www.haworthpressinc.com
0789018438 $49.95 1-800-429-6784

Alphabetically arranged and presented An Encyclopedic Dictionary Of Women In Early Films, 1895-1930 is an impressive collection of profiles identifying the women who were important to the development of movie making as an art and as a commercial enterprise. Here are the women who worked as producers, publicists, writers, directors, editors, as well as those who were before the cameras as actresses in leading and/or supporting roles. From the superstars like Mary Pickford, Theda Bara, and Francis Marion, to the anonymous and largely forgotten who moved the fledgling cinema from the silent era into the age of sound, this is a seminal work of remarkable scholarship that also includes appendices of female child stars. An Encyclopedic Dictionary Of Women In Early Films, 1895-1930 is a groundbreaking contribution to Cinematic History, Women's Studies, and anyone wanting to look up the women involved with those classic films of Hollywood's yesteryear.

Hotel Rwanda
Terry George, Editor
Newmarket Press
18 E. 48th St., New York NY 10017
www.newmarketpress.com
1557046700 $19.95 1-800-669-3903

In 1994 as his country was experiencing insanity, hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina used wits and courage to save over a thousand people from certain death. His life story was captured in the film "Hotel Rwanda", and this movie companion, Hotel Rwanda: Bringing The True Story Of An African Hero To Film, documents the film's story, providing first-person pieces by Terry George and co-writer Keir Pearson from their struggle to gain financing and produce the film. Over 70 photos and movie stills capture the film's history, production challenges, and drama.

The Cinema Of George Lucas
Marcus Hearn
Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
100 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011
www.abramsbooks.com
0810949687 $50.00 1-800-759-0190

The Cinema Of George Lucas is a lavish coffee-table book exploring the production process and cinematic talent behind the classic science fiction phenomenon of "Star Wars". Featuring an inside look behind the scenes of the hotly anticipated "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith", The Cinema of George Lucas is filled cover to cover with full color production illustrations, photographs, concept artworks, and much more. Chapters chronicle Lucas' life, imagination, ideas and creations from 1944 to the present day, in this superb collector's treasure and ideal giftbook for Star Wars fans everywhere.

The Big Book of Biker Flicks
John Wooley & Michael H. Price
Hawk Publishing
c/o Biblio Distribution, NBN
4270 Boston Way, Lanham, MD 20706
1930709455 $24.95 www.hawkpub.com

Award-wining writers who ar especially known for their insightful movie commentaries, John Wooley and Michael H. Price present The Big Book Of Biker Flicks, an erudite scrutiny of 40 of the best motorcycle movies of all time. Black-and-white and a handful of color photographs illustrate the discussions of biker movies such as "Angels Die Hard!", "Werewolves on Wheels", "Rebel Rousers". The reflections not only discuss plot and themes, but also the conditions behind the movies' creation, the models of bikes portrayed, the level and useage of violence in such films, and more. A fascinating tour of how Hollywood has glamorized and demonized motorcycles and the people who ride them, The Big Book of Biker Flicks is a welcome addition to personal and academic Cinematic History reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

The Road To Comedy
Donald W. McCaffrey
Praeger Publishers
88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
0275982572 $39.95 www.praeger.com

Many biographies have been written about Bob Hope; but no book yet has focused on the extent of the comic persona he created in film, vaudeville and radio alike - not until Donald W. McCaffrey's The Road To Comedy: The Films Of Bob Hope. Noted comedy film critic McCaffrey blends archival materials with critical surveys and interviews with Bob Hope's contemporaries and collaborators to analyze each major film in depth.

Space Patrol
Jean-Noel Bassior
McFarland & Company
PO Box 611, Jefferson NC 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
0786419113 $49.95 1-800-253-2187

Before Star Trek popularized TV, there was Space Patrol, a science fiction television show which ran from 1950-1955 when space travel was even more of a dream. In Space Patrol: Missions Of Daring In The Name Of Early Television, Jean-Noel Bassior provides interviews with the Space Patrol cast and background workers, including episode logs for TV and radio shows, and even provides a guide to surviving memorabilia from the show. Recollections from actors, vintage black and white photos from the show, and accounts of early television programming challenges and follies makes for an involving in-depth coverage - even for those who have long missed the series.

Allworth Press
10 East 23rd Street, #510, NY, NY 10110
1-800-491-2808 www.allworth.com

The second edition of Paul Mason and Don Gold's Producing For Hollywood: A Guide For The Independent Producer (1581153554, $19.95) is out, and it's a winner. New to this updated edition is a section on computer- generated imagery, new production trends, and updated foreign distributor and film festival listings. Basic to both editions: articles on how to raise funds, work within budgets and time frames, manage writers and actors alike, and more. Mason is former senior vice president for Viacom Pictures and has produced award-winning television series shows, working with writer Don Gold to produce a fine set of insider's tips. Drew Campbell's Technical Theater For Nontechnical People (1581153449, $19.95) provides a stage technician and designer/director's twenty years of background, appearing in its second edition to add details on show control systems, costume design and creation, and new special effects systems. You don't have to have a computer board to understand the technical workings of theatre: not with Drew Campbell's book in hand. Dan Diggles' Improv For Actors (1581153252, $19.95) discusses the basics of developing improvisational skills which are unique and dramatic for all involved. From creating an appropriate rehearsal space which is safe and inviting to adapting a flexible course plan encouraging free spirited reactions and using exercises which reinforces the communal art form of improv, Improv For Actors is packed with tested techniques.


The Women's Studies Shelf

More Than Petticoats
Lura Rogers Seavey
Falcon Books/Globe Pequot Press
PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437
www.falcon.com
0762725990 $10.95 1-800-243-0495

If it's a survey of eleven determined Massachusetts women which is needed, choose Lura Seavey's regional set of biographical sketches More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Massachusetts Women, outlining women who launched scientific and culinary revolutions in their fields, navigated clipper ships, and participated in war. Included in each sketch are controversies in truth and history as well as surveys of lasting contributions by these remarkable women.


The Philosophy Shelf

Ivan R. Dee, Inc. Publisher
1332 N. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60622
1-800-462-6420 www.ivanrdee.com

Paul Strathern has produced numerous 'In 90 Minutes' titles in a series which surveys philosophers and major philosophies. Now he turns his format to the world of literature, producing three fine guides especially recommended for students. Kafka In 90 Minutes (1566636205, $8.95), Dostoevsky In 90 Minutes (1566635888, $8.95) and Garcia Marquez In 90 Minutes (1566636221, $8.95) each provide concise overviews of the authors' lives and ideas, places their literary accomplishments in context with competing literature of the times, and provides selections from major writings. The blend of biographical background and literary criticism packed into 125 pages each makes each an easily-digested introduction.


The Photography Shelf

Reflecting Truth
Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere
Mikiko Hirayama
Hotei Publishing
PO Box 95001, 1090 HA Amsterdam
9074822762 $54.95 hotei-publishing.com

Collaboratively compiled and expertly co-edited by the team of Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere and Mikiko Hirayama, Reflecting Truth: Japanese Photography In The Nineteenth Century reveals how scholarly investigation and research of Japanese photography is currently moving beyond a focus on the introduction of new discoveries and descriptions of Japanese photography collections, to an investigation and understanding of Japanese photography in both historical and cultural contexts. From the introduction of commercial studios in the 1880s, to the tradition of war portraiture, to photography in the modern period, Reflecting Truth is a seminal, unique, and ground-breaking work that will be of immense interest to students of Japanese culture and the history of photography.

Amherst Media
PO Box 586, Buffalo, NY 14226
www.amherstmedia.com

Jeff Smith's Profitable Portraits: The Photographer's Guide To Creating Portraits That Sell (1584281529, $29.95) helps photographers with their own businesses determine the success style right for them. Clients have unique tastes, specific types of images they'll buy, and special needs: Smith shows how to tailor current images to a client's needs, how to use knowledge of the market to create a unique signature style, and how to make good decisions in portrait-making, from equipment to backgrounds and poses. An essential guide to understanding what differentiates salable portraits from those which aren't. Patrick Rice's Professional Techniques For Black & White Digital Photography (1584281499, $29.95) tells how to use subjects, creative presentation and exposure techniques for digital black and white images to create good compositions and memorable results. From understanding special and normal effects to eliminating common problems, beginners especially will find Patrick Rice's manual packed with professional insights and tips.


The Health/Medicine Shelf

Diet For A Dead Planet
Christopher D. Cook
The New Press
38 Greene St., New York NY 10013
1565848640 $24.95 thenewpress.com

Millions of Americans are sickening from the food they eat, last year 5,000 died, and obesity and diet-related diseases are on the rise: so Christopher Cook's examination of the food industry in America in Diet For A Dead Planet: How The Food Industry Is Killing Us provides much food for thought. Cook is an investigative journalist whose probe of the food industry's perils is backed with facts and well-honed research. Food lies at the root of many epidemics and poor social and economic conditions. Cook not only pinpoints the problems, but argues for a new way of looking at what and how we eat which places sustainably produced foods within reach of the public. Diet For A Dead Planet is informed and informative reading.

Hope Or Hype
Richard Deyo & Donald Patrick, MDs
Amacom
1601 Broadway, New York NY 10019
www.amacombooks.org
0814408451 $24.95 1-800-250-5308

Why are Americans obsessed with medical miracles? In Hope Or Hype: The Obsession With Medical Advances And The High Cost Of False Promises, two doctors who are experts on ethical and policy issues in the medical world examine the false premises and promises the medical community makes to consumers, from pharmaceutical and equipment companies eager to promote new technologies and cures to physicians and hospitals too quick to prescribe costly medicines or surgeries. The hazards of such unnecessary treatments are provided within an overview of the drug and medical industries as a whole.

Heal Your Knees
Robert Klapper, MD & Lynda Huey
M. Evans & Company
216 East 49th St., New York NY 10017
www.mevans.com
1590770196 $21.95 1-800-462-6420

With an orthopedic surgeon and a water therapy expert combining forces as in Heal Your Knees: How To Prevent Knee Surgery - And What To Do If You Need It, you can't go far wrong; particularly when the objective is avoiding surgery and confronting common knee problems which come with aging and use. Learn what the doctor looks for in a knee exam, how to uncover common causes of pain and seek non-surgical remedies, and how to handle surgery and recovery if it's needed. The authors assume no prior medical or self-help knowledge, and the water therapy pool exercises are particularly resourceful in Heal Your Knees.

Is Fred Dead?
Robert W. Baer, Psy.D.
Dorrance Publishing
701 Smithfield St., 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15222-3906
0805964444 $16.00 1-800-788-7654

Men with spinal cord injuries have questions on sexuality and self-worth, but most studies on the topic narrow the focus to the concern of fertility. Robert Baer has had years of experience working in community mental health and private rehabilitation, presenting seminars on sexuality and disabilities: Is Fred Dead? A Manual On Sexuality For Men With Spinal Cord Injuries is a practical manual on sexuality for men with spinal cord injuries which addresses issues ranging from dating and understanding the sexual response cycle to sex alternatives.


The Self-Help Shelf

New World Library
14 Pamaron way, Novato, CA 94949
www.newworldlibrary.com

Plenty of books advocate being honest in relationships: but how many titles get down to the mechanics of how to be honest in the most effective manner? For more successful communication skills, choose Susan Campbell's Saying What's Real: Seven Keys To Authentic Communication And Relationship Success (1932073-124, $13.95) . From responding to mixed messages and underlying agendas to transmitting anger in a more productive manner and expressing needs without manipulating, Saying What's Real goes a long way towards teaching how to 'say it like it is' without using a sledgehammer. Z.B.A.: Zen Of Business Administration by Marc Lesser (1577314697, $14.95) blends business with spiritual concerns with a tested approach to both; but author Lesser built his company Brush Dance from a tiny recycled paper garage-run company to a multimillion-dollar publishing outfit, and the lessons in Z.B.A. stem from his experiences as he grappled with payroll, cashflow, hiring, firing and all the usual small business challenges. His decision to blend his Zen spirituality and teachings with a successful business plan makes for an exceptionally winning guide.


The Metaphysical Studies Shelf

Magic Of The Celtic Gods And Goddesses
Carol McColman & Kathryn Hinds
New Page Books
PO Box 687, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417
www.newpagebooks.com
1564147835 $14.99 1-800-227-3371

Pagans and wiccans seeking new connections with Celtic gods and goddesses would do well to consult Magic Of The Celtic Gods And Goddesses: A Guide To Their Spiritual Power, Healing Energies, And Mystical Joy which provides readers with an overview perspective to their spiritual potentials and healing energies, tracking down often-elusive details for a non-academic audience seeking tips based in fact. Research and spirituality blend in an overview of Pagan deities, rituals, and exercises, Magic Of The Celtic Gods And Goddesses is an impressively organized and presented reference for personal and academic Metaphysical Studies collections.

Buckland's Book Of Saxon Witchcraft
Raymond Buckland
Weiser Books
368 Congress Street, Boston, MA 02210
www.weiserbooks.com
1578633281 $14.95 1-800-423-7087

Buckland's Book Of Saxon Witchcraft was one of the first books to serious explore Wicca and was written to correct abuses that Raymond Buckland (one of the fathers of the modern Wiccan movement) saw occurring in covens. It was Buckland's purpose to offer Wiccan seekers an informed and informative introduction to Saxon witchcraft (Seax-Wicca) which could be practices alone and did not need a group or coven support. This 30th anniversary edition (originally published as "The Tree: The Complete Book of Saxon Witchcraft") once again makes available to interested readers authoritative descriptions of Saxon deities and explanations of their primary beliefs; an introduction to the magical runic Saxon alphabet; a selection of original Pagan songs; a selection of Seax-Wiccan recipes for intoxicants; instructions for initiation ceremonies, the eight Sabbats, marriage, birth, and death rites; an explanation of the art and practice of Saxon Galdra or magic, and the divination and herbal lore used for protection, love potions, and healing; and the Seax-Wicca Rite of Self-dedication, allowing individuals to form their own covens and initiate themselves into the Craft. Very highly recommended for Metaphysical and Wiccan Studies collections.

Aura Reading Through All Your Senses, second edition
Rose Rosetree
Women's Intuition Worldwide, LLC
116 Hillsdale Drive, Sterling, VA 20164
0965114546 $14.95 Rose-Rosetree.com

Now in an updated second edition, Aura Reading Through All Your Senses: Celestial Perception Made Practical by Rose Rosetree is an informed and informative guide to the world of celestial perception. Correcting myths and misconceptions, Rosetree offers more than one hundred tested techniques that will enable the reader to discern and interpret auras as a practical every day skills. Through reading auras, liars can be readily identified, potential mates can be previewed sexually, you can taste fruits before cutting them open, even watch auras while watching television. Aura Reading Through All Your Senses is an invaluable and recommended contribution to the growing library of Metaphysical Studies.


The Jobs/Careers Shelf

The ECO Guide To Careers That Make A Difference
Environmental Careers
Island Press
1718 Connecticut Ave. NW #300, Washington, DC 20009
1559639679 $18.95 islandpres.org

In a global world struggling with ecological health issues, how can a budding businessperson select a career which will make a difference? By starting with The ECO Guide to Careers that Make a Difference: Environmental Work For A Sustainable World, which provides a starting point for identifying such positions. Professionals working in different industries provide insights, cover issues, and describe positive solutions being pursued. With its review of both major issues and major career opportunities, The ECO Guide To Careers That Make A Difference is not to be missed.

Impact Publications
9104 Manassas Drive, Suite N, Manassas Park, VA 20111
www.impactpublications.com

Wendy S. Enelow, CCM, MRW, JCTC, CPRW's College Grad Resumes To Land $75,000+ Jobs (1570232237, $24.95) provides a basic guide for college grads who want to position their skills for high-paying careers in today's competitive global market. It's not easy graduating from college to compete at a high level with more experienced workers, but Enelow is a recognized leader in the executive job search field, and her practical tips tell students how to present distinguished credentials and how to launch a successful career. Also a part of the '$75,000+ Job Search Series' is Ron & Caryl Krannich's Salary Negotiation Tips For Professionals: Compensation That Reflects Your Value (157023230X, $16.95): determine your market value, then become a savvy negotiator to persuade an employer to offer appropriate compensation with Salary Negotiation Tips For Professionals, which covers all the politics of the discussion from start to finish.


The Archaeology Shelf

Modeling Archaeological Site Burial In Southern Michigan
G. William Monaghan & William A. Lovis
Michigan State University Press
1405 South Harrison Road, Suite 25, East Lansing, Michigan 48823-5245
0870137387 $35.95 msupress.msu.edu

Modeling Archaeological Site Burial In Southern Michigan: A Geoarchaeological Synthesis is the collaborative work of G. William Monaghan (Associate Research Scientist, Glenn A. Black Laboratory for Archaeology, Indiana University) and William A. Lovis (Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Associate Director for Natural and Social Science Research and Curator of Anthropology, MSU Museum, Michigan State University) with contributions by Michael J. Hambacher in the chapter "Location and Description of Buried and Stratified Sites in Michigan: Geological and Cultural Controls for Site Burial and Stratification". This scholarly presentation of deep site geoarchaeology in Michigan provides an overarching survey of 13,000 years of Great Lakes geology and the impact of lake-level and climatic change on the archaeological record of human occupation with special attention to burial sites. This superbly presented work is organized into two main parts: "Geological and Archaeological Background" and "Site Burial Conceptual Models, GIS Predictive Framework, and Deep-Test Methods and Standards". Enhanced with maps, charts, references, and an exhaustive index, Modeling Archaeological Site Burial in Southern Michigan will prove to be of particular interest to students of upper midwest American archaeology, Native American studies, geology, and Great Lakes studies.


The Mystery/Suspense Shelf

Poisoned Pen Press
6962 E. 1st Ave. #103, Scottsdale, AZ 85251
www.poisonedpenpress.com

Three new titles provide hard-hitting, hot mysteries for any who want something out of the ordinary in genre writing. Kit Ehrman's Cold Burn (1590581431, $24.95) will prove immensely satisfying to fans of horseracing mystery author Dick Francis, who can't get enough. Steve Cline is feeling the challenge of routine at the hunter/jumper show barns, and is on the verge of seeking a more interesting job when a missing brother draws him into a mystery. To investigate fully, Steve will have to parallel the missing man's tracks - and enters a dangerous world of puzzling interrelationships and threats. Mark Arsenault's Speak Ill Of The Living (1590581393, $24.95) whips through the action as it tells of a car-jacking, a banker's murder, and a subsequent kidnapping with a puzzling corpse. Maverick reporter Eddie is chasing the story, intent on making his career move, and his findings may change his world and many others in his hunt across neighborhoods and other worlds for new sources who quickly die. Kerry Greenwood returns with another Phryne Fisher mystery, Away With The Fairies (15905-80222, $24.95), this set in 1920s Melbourne where Phryne is investigating the strange death of a fairy story author. Her job with a women's magazine that employed the victim brings her within the same circles of danger and possible death, re-creating a source of danger which both teaches her about magazine publishing and brings her personal life into chaos. Pip Granger's Trouble In Paradise (1590581-318, $24.95) is set in Europe at the end of World War II and tells of how the war's end returns a violent husband to a reluctant wife. Surrounded by conflict on all sides, only Zelda's nephew, who has the voice of an angel, holds the power to change her life. Not a mystery, but a gentle story of change and hope. Outstanding stories, all.

The Violin Player
John Knoerle
Mayhaven Publishing
PO Box 557, Mahomet, IL 61853
www.mayhavenpublishing.com
193227801X $24.95 1-866-586-4493

Walter Sumner is a middle-aged owner of a Chicago trading firm with a problem: he's being stalked. As he finds his stalker knows more about his family life - and their futures - than he, Walter finds himself confronting mysterious web pages which seem to know family members' deaths before they happen. A riveting, engrossing plot evolves with plenty of tension and strong characterization to hold The Violin Player all together.


The Audiobook Shelf

Brilliance Corporation
PO Box 887, Grand Haven, MI 49417
www.brillianceaudio.com

Ian Rankin's Fleshmarket Alley (159600-3405, $26.95) pairs James MacPherson's warm and smooth reading with another Inspector Rebus Novel adventure; this revolving around Edinburgh's dangerous red-light district where a ruthless mystery forces Novel to investigate. Nora Roberts' Survivor In Death (1596008040, $26.95) receives veteran Susan Ericksen's warm reading which enlivens this Lieutenant Eve Dallas story of an ordinary family's murder. Only one small survivor remains in danger. Amanda Quick's Wait Until Midnight (159335463X, $24.95) enjoys Anne Flosnik's voice which pairs perfectly with the gentle, subtle atmosphere of a story telling of a murder in Victorian England involving a gentle writer of murder stories. Patrick Carman's The Dark Hills Divide (1597373931, $26.95) enjoys Aashe Vigesaa's unusual voice and style which brings to life the story of a twelve-year-old who is eager to explore a lodge mystery, only to uncover an ancient enchantment. This is Book 1 of the 'Land'of Elyon' series, so be prepared for more. Paula Wall's The Rock Orchard (159600-0805, $29.95) also enjoys Susan Ericksen's smooth and evocative, seasoned reading style which brings to life the funny and bittersweet novel telling of a seer whose heritage continues to affect a small town after her demise. Add a healthy splash of romance and you have a novel come to life. All are excellent audio choices.

The Future For Investors
Jeremy J. Siegel
Books On Tape
400 Hahn Road, Westminister, MD 21157
www.librarybooksontape.com
1415915709 $63.00 1-800-733-3000

Jeremy J. Siegel is one of the country's top investing experts and in Future For Investors: Why The Tried And The True Triumph Over The Bold And The New draws upon his many years of practical experience and documented expertise to help the non-specialist general reader to understand the stock market and why the newly touted technologies, expanding industries, and rapidly growing foreign markets have so often led to poor returns for stockholders. Indeed, Siegel's premise is that growth itself can be an investment trap, luring unwary investors into overpriced stocks and overly competitive industries. If you seek to build long-term wealth through sagacious investments, then give a careful listen to this unabridged, 6 cassette, 9 hour audiobook edition of Jeremy Siegel's The Future For Investors, which is so ably read by Stephen Hoye.

Random House Audio
1745 Broadway, NY, NY 10019
www.randomhouse.com/audio

Richard North Patterson's Conviction (07-39301349, $26.95) simply shouldn't be missed: narrated by Patricia Kalember, whose film and TV background lends a sensitive and fine voice to the production, Conviction tells of a man on death row who faces the end of his luck, unless his dedicated attorney can find the real killer. All the tensions and drama of Patterson's style come to life in audio format, making Conviction in CD recommended above print. Den Koontz and Kevin J. Anderson's Franklenstein, Book One: Prodigal Son (0739317113, $29.95) pairs John Bedford Lloyd's extensive film background and skills at bring out underlying subplots with the story of a serial killer who selects his victims for the humanity lacking in himself. It's up to cool detective Carson to uncover a very old conspiracy and a near-immortal race of super-killers in this riveting story. Marcie Walsh with Michael Malone's The Killing Club (073-9319604, $21.95) pairs a popular One Life To Live character with a winning writer to produce a mystery revolving around a club which likes to come up with unusual ideas for killing people - until the murders begin in earnest. A decade later a detective finds the Killing Club returns to haunt her, in this fast-paced thriller. David Bodanis' Electric Universe (0739313258, $27.50) enjoys Adam Levy's clear and crisp style as he narrates the shocking true story of electricity, starting with one Alessandro Volta's investigation that would change science. Pair Bodanis' penchant for novel-like characterization and plots with Levy's warm voice for maximum listening pleasure. Patrick Radden Keefe's Chatter (073-9318292, $29.95) receives Keefe's own voice as it tells of the secret world of global eavesdropping, from which most terrorist inclinations are gleaned. Exactly how is 'chatter' picked up, what is it, and how does secret eavesdropping work? An insider's guide to the undercurrents of intelligence gathering.

Simon & Schuster Audio
1230 Ave. of Americas, NY, NY 10020
www.simonsaysaudio.com

Three new audios provide listeners with exceptional accounts, both fiction and nonfiction. Fiction listeners will relish Linda Fairstein's Entombed (0743538455, $29.95), a chilling mystery pairing Broadway actress and narrator veteran Blair Brown's flair for drama with the equally strong writing abilities of Fairstein as she tells of a skeleton entombed in Poe's former house. It's up to an assistant d.a. to discovery why a classic Poe scene has suddenly come to life in modern times. Nonfiction listeners seeking inspiration will find two to relish: Ron Rath and Dr. Donald O. Clifton's How Full Is Your Bucket? (0743544269, $20.00), outlining the importance of positive people who come away from encounters lending positive influences to life, and Dr. Wayne Dyer's Transformation: The Next Step For The No-Limit Person (9743539648, $19.95), telling of how to use connections between thoughts and reality to break free of self-restrictive behavior patterns. Both are narrated by their writers and provide powerful testimonies to positive change and how to effect it.

Cat's Eyewitness
Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown
Recorded Books
270 Skipjack Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678
www.recordedbooks.com
#97941 $79.95 1-800-638-1304

Another title in the popular Mrs. Murphy mystery series coauthored by Rita Mae and Sneaky Pie Brown (the only human/feline writing team in the mystery genre), Cat's Eyewitness takes place in the small town of Crozet, Virginia where, while visiting the Mt. Carmel monastery, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen witnesses a statue of the Virgin Mary cry tears of blood. The legend is that when this occurs it foretells crises. Soon a monk is found frozen to death near the statue. But before long the monk's body disappears and another Crozet citizen dies. A shocking revelation to an ages-old mystery surfaces. But Harry and her sleuthing felines are on the case! Superbly narrated by Kate Forbes, Cat's Eyewitness is a technically flawless, unabridged recording on 8 cassettes with a total running time of 9 hours, 30 minutes. Also highly recommended for community library audiobook collections is the previous Mrs. Murphy mystery set in Crozet, Whisker Of Evil (#97468, $79.95).

Murder In Montparnasse
Kerry Greenwood
Bolinda Publishing
PO Box 307, Shelton, CT 06484
www.bolinda.com
1740308131 $40.00 1-888-235-2019

While on leave and carousing in Paris in 1918, seven Australian soldiers unwittingly witness a murder and their presence has what can only be described as unexpected and devasting consequences. Ten year later, two of the seven men are dead under very suspicisou circumstances and only young, wealthy, beautiful, independently minded Phryne Fisher can unravel the mystery. Author Kerry Greenwood is a master of the mystery while Stephanie Daniel's narration of Murder In Montparnasse is equally masterful in bringing to life this superbly crafted, unabridged, flawlessly recorded mystery novel. Highly recommended for mystery buffs in general, and community library audiobook collections in particular, Murder In Montparnasse is a truly gripping story from beginning to end!

Nothing Is Impossible
Mawi Asgedom
Mawi Inc.
180 West Washington, Suite 930, Chicago, IL 60602
0974390119 $65.00 mawispeaks.com

Mawi Asgedom fled war-torn Ethiopia as a small child , living in a refugee camp for three years before making it to American -- and not knowing a word of English. He overcame every obstacle before him, rising from welfare to earn a scholarship to Harvard and establishing himself as a nationally recognized authority on what it takes for young men and women to succeed regardless of their background circumstances. Nothing Is Impossible is Mawi's four disk CD course for teens on the vital and necessary survival skills that they will need to succeed in their lives ranging from getting into college (and paying for it), to avoiding the pitfall of making excuses in life, to developing the courage to realize their dreams, to embracing hard work and persistence while avoiding illusory shortcuts to success, to overcoming any and all challenges, to avoiding such common and corrupting distractions as drugs, peer pressure, and negative media influences. With a total running time of 108 minutes, 39 seconds, Nothing Is Impossible is an invaluable motivational presentation that should be required listening for every adolescent wanting to be the most they can be and to realize their own life ambitions for themselves, their families, their communities, and their future.

Templeton Foundation Press
Diane Glynn Publicity (publicity)
300 Conshohocken State Road, Suite 550, West Conshohocken, PA 19428
$12.95 each www.templetonpress.org

The Templeton Foundation has launched a series of highly recommended spiritual/inspirational audio books in a CD format and read by professional narrators. Golden Nuggets by Sir John Templeton (193203-182, 45 minutes) is a collection of sayings and practical, uplifting advice designed to inspire and motivate men and women seeking deeper meaning in their lives, and based on Sir John's lifetime of experience. Noble Purpose: The Joy Of Living A Meaningful Life by William Damon (1932031782, 80 minutes) is basically a guide on how to discover our callings, find the fulfillment that arises from dedicating our lives to something beyond the petty narrow interests of self, and why it is so important that we do so. Spiritual Investments: Wall Street Wisdom From The Career Of Sir John Templeton by Gary Moore (1932031804, 76 minutes) offers seventeen investment principles that successfully guided Sir John Templeton's legendary business career. Each financial investment principle is coupled with a related spiritual principle that reflects the interplay between the two. The collaborative effort of Robert A. Emmons and Joanna Hill, Words Of Gratitude For Mind, Body, And Soul (1932031790, 67 minutes) offers time-tested words of wisdom about gratitude drawn from various religious traditions and authors, combined with narrative of the authors' observations -- including Robert Emmons' clinical research on the subject. Each of these outstanding audiobooks is enhanced with a special introduction by John M. Templeton Jr., who provides a brief description of the content of the particular book, along with pertinent anecdotes about his father, Sir John Templeton, now in his 90s and still deeply interested in and involved with the productions of these books which are unreservedly recommended listening.


The Library Science Shelf

How Libraries And Librarians Help
Joan C. Durrance & Karen E. Fisher
ALA Editions
c/o American Library Association
50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611
www.alastore.ala.org
0838908926 $42.00 1-866-746-7252

How Libraries And Librarians Help: A Guide To Identifying User-Centered Outcomes is a resource written by experts in the field of library and information science, offering a step-by-step approach that library professionals may use to measure and predict the success of library programs and services. In a day and age when the value of library services must increasingly be proven to earn grants and funding, the need to responsibly and effectively measure library program success is higher than ever. Chapters also discuss precisely how libraries contribute to individuals and the community by promoting literacy, empowering youth, and strengthening community bonds. A highly recommended resource especially for public library workers and administrators.

Directory Of Periodicals ONLINE
Library Technology Alliance Ltd.
264 Lexington Avenue, Suite 4C, New York, NY 10016-4182
www.booksandperiodicals.com

The 2005 edition of the Directory Of Periodicals ONLINE series of library references are now available. These core reference titles, especially when combined with the Library Technology Alliance website, cover the online availability of more than 135,000 serials and continuations in approximately 264 bibliographic databases, as well as over 54,000 full text sources. The data is arranged alphabetically with each directory including a listing of trade publications, newspapers, wire services, newsletters, legal treatises and journals. The key features of the directories include databases and the online services that carry them; producer and vendors with names, addresses, and phone numbers; international and foreign language publications; information on dates and types of coverage whenever they are available; extensive coverage of name changes and cross references to identify sources; extensive coverage of subject areas searchable online line. These directories eliminate any need for libraries to maintain or consult separate serials listings for each database services. Powerful, "user friendly" reference tools which are simply indispensable for database researchers needing access to a wide array of efficient and accurate electronic information, these are highly recommended acquisitions for academic, corporate, governmental, and community library systems. The seminal reference books comprising the Directory Of Periodicals ONLINE series include Law, Business and News (0974584541 1,686 pages); Science & Technological (097458-4517 - 2 volumes - 2,929 pages); Medical and Pharmaceutical (0974584533 1,737 pages); Humanities and Religion (097458-4525 1,416 pages).


The Musicbook Shelf

Mechanical Music
Kevin McElhone
Parkwest Publications
Box 20261, New York NY 10025-1512
http://www.parkwestpubs.com/
0747805784 $14.00 1-646-215-9003

The sound of a barrel or fairground organ, a player piano or a musical box can bring back many memories, and this pamphlet covers the history, development and use of all types of mechanical music devices, from pocket musical boxes to full pipe organs and more. Exquisite color photos abound, making Mechanical Music a highly recommended introduction.

Robson Books
c/o Parkwest Publications
Box 20261, New York , NY 10025-1512
http://www.parkwestpubs.com/

Three excellent overviews will appeal to fans of classical music and opera alike, offering histories which are detailed and well done. Margaret Campbell's The Great Cellists (1861056540, $25.00) and The Great Violinists (1861056230, $25.00) each blend careful research with Margaret Campbell's interviews with prominent musicians in the fields. Her access to letters, private documents, and archives contributes to comprehensive reviews of not just individual 'greats' in each field, but how solo performers have changed roles and focus over the centuries, and how styles differed. Chapters use a chronological history to survey changing trends, musical influences, teachers, and more. Milton Brener's Opera Offstage (1861055366, $14.95) proves some truly intriguing stories beyond the creation of almost thirty selected operas. From a story of stowaway Richard Wagner who ran from angry creditors in Latvia to the origins of Aida in Egyptian myth, a lively writing style and plenty of surrounding cultural and historical insights will make this required reading for any opera buff.

Mel Bay Publications
#4 Industrial Drive, Pacific, MO 63069
1-800-863-5229 www.melbay.com

Mel Bay Publications is an established publisher of music instruction manuals and lessons books. Of particular interest for students of the guitar are their diverse and prolific titles ranging across every genre of guitar music with "how to" books for beginners and intermediate students. One of the hallmarks of Mel Bay's "First Lessons" series is the inclusion of a CD & DVD to help the student and novice to more quickly assimilate the lessons. The specific guitar titles in this thoroughly "user friendly" series include: First Lessons: Beginning Guitar (MB99931SET, $14.95); First Lessons: Rock Guitar (MB99820SET); First Lessons: Blues Guitar (MB99822SET, $14.95); and First Lessons: Flatpicking Guitar (MB99973-SET, $14.95). Another outstanding guitar instruction series is the Mel Bay Presents "Made Easy" book/CD series titles featuring Jazz Guitar Made Easy (MB21041-BCD, $14.95); Blues Guitar Made Easy (MB21042BCD, $14.95); Mississippi Delta Blues Fingerstyle Solos Made Easy (MB99566BCD, $14.95); Gospel Fingerstyle Guitar Made Easy (MB20877BCD, $14.95); Fingerstyle Guitar Hymns Made Easy (MB20878BCD, $14.95); and Praise Fingerstyle Guitar Made Easy (MB208-80BCD, $14.95). For the advanced student seeking to acquire training and expertise with the Pick-Style Guitar, there is no better manual than the spiral bound edition of Mel Bay Presents The Sal Salvador Collection Of Classic Solos For Pick-Style Guitar compiled and co-edited by Mike Giordano and Frank DeMaio. Anyone aspiring to master the guitar (or any other instrument) is encouraged to send for the free Mel Bay Publications catalog for a complete listing of their many superbly presented and highly recommended titles.

The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Opera
Stanley Sadie, General Editor
Billboard Books
c/o Watson-Guptill
770 Broadway, New York NY 10003
www.wgpub.com
0823077217 $45.00 1-800-451-1741

Opera is one of the most popular cultural forms of entertainment, and The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Opera is the perfect introduction to this world, exploring the history of opera's development from ancient Greece to modern times. No dry treatise, each chapter provides lively cultural and period insights and color illustration to provide a fine background on how the music and production developed. Also notable: a 'key composer' series of entries with major biographies of the main composers of each era, timelines of opera compositions, and outlines of themes which highlight other opera developments, from the building of special opera theatres to the fostering of opera companies around the world. Simply a 'must' for any who would absorb the music and structure of the opera world The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Opera is a distinquished work of operatic history and information.

How To Play Recorder
Margaret Brandman
Santorella Publications, Ltd.
13 Pleasant Avenue, Danvers, MA 01923
www.santorellapublication.com
TS134 $12.95 santopub@tiac.net

Margaret Brandman is an expert musical instrument instructor who has authored more than 30 instructional titles covering a diversity of instruments and employing her own unique "Playing Made Easy" teaching method that combines visual, aural, and tactile recognition of music notation and incorporating concert soloist and Baroque ensemble player Catherine Weaver's technical expertise and melodic phrasing concepts. Students of all ages who would like to become skilled in playing the descant (soprano) or tenor recorder will find that How To Play Recorder will also provide them with a fundamental understanding of rhythm, pitch, keys, and chords. Also very highly recommended for personal instruction and school music department reference collections are two other new and outstanding titles from Santorella Publications: How To Play The Bagpipe: Method & Songbook (TS94, $9.95) and the book/CD How To Play The Harmonica: Method & Songbook For Diatonic Harmonicas (TS135CD, $14.95).

Soweto Blues
Gwen Ansell
Continuum
15 East 26th Street, #17, New York, NY 10010-1505
www.continuumbooks.com
0826416624 $24.95 1-800-561-7704

Dozens of South African jazz musicians who lived through the apartheid years contribute to Soweto Blues: Jazz, Popular Music, And Politics In South Africa, a hard-hitting discussion of how apartheid impacted the lives of ordinary people and musicians alike - and how struggles against it fostered new roads in music. The biographies, memoirs and recollections of a range of musicians blend with Gwen Ansell's survey of social life, politics and culture in South Africa, blending a musical history with cultural insights. Soweto Blues is well researched, intimate, and powerful: a 'must' for any fan of South African music and history.

Amadeus Press
512 Newark Pompton Turnpike, Pompton Plains, NJ 07444
www.amadeuspress.com

Composer Bernstein is one of this country's most acclaimed writers and his Joy Of Music (1574671049 $22.95) is his finest print production, providing insights on the meaning of music. Amadeus Press reprints this classic, including a new foreword from Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic Tom Page. It's notable that all these years later, Bernstein's insights on the craft of music still are as pointed and relevant as they were when Joy Of Music first came out. Thomas May's Decoding Wagner: An Invitation To His World Of Music Drama (1574670972, $24.95) joins others in the 'Unlocking the Masters' series, pairing two full-length BMG Classics cds with an excellent critical overview and introduction to what Wagner attempted to achieve in his classic works. Thomas May is not only a music critic for Amazon.com; he's long been a writer and his survey discusses not only Wagner's major works, but his life and influences. If it's only one introduction needed to Wagner, make it Decoding Wagner: you can't beat the pairing of written word accompanied with CD examples.

Traveling Music
Neil Peart/Entertainment Culture Writing
ECW Press
2120 Queen Street East, #200, Toronto, Ontario Canada M4E 1E2
1550226649 $28.95 www.ecwpress.com

Neil Peart's name may sound familiar to musicians: he's the rock group Rush's lyricist and drummer, and Traveling Music: The Soundtrack To My Life And Times blends an autobiography and musical journey with a survey of Peart's his travels in his MBW Z-8 from Los Angeles to Texas. The idea was to find newfound inspiration in a solitary journey: Traveling Music provides both musical notes and travelogue, charting inspirational sources as much as destinations in the process.


The Cookbook Shelf

Collectors Press
PO Box 230986, Portland, OR 97281
www.collectorspress.com
$16.95 Each 1-800-423-1848

Three wonderful collections of "Retro" cookbooks from Collectors Press combine the visual appeal of bygone 1950s years with the delicious classics of the period, blending vintage illustrations with tried and tested dishes for maximum visual appeal. Linda Everett's Retro Pies (188805-4794), for example, comes chock full of appealing illustrations and celebrated family recipes, from a classic Banana Cream Pie gleaned from a caf‚ to a regional Shaker Hill Pecan Pie from Kentucky. Maureen Fischer's more general Retro Baking (188054956) covers all kinds of dishes, from county fair contests to city block parties. The idea as to gather a selection of classic winning dishes promising wide basic appeal: this is achieved through recipes ranging from Chocolate Cookie Dough to Dreamy Cream Cake. Kids aren't left out of the mix, either: with Richard Perry's Retro Kids Cooking (1888054964), packing in kids' dishes from Tuna Fish Boats and Pudding Cones to Orange Fizz and Fruit Fried Sandwiches. Packed with vintage color visuals on every page, the "Retro" cookbook series couldn't be better for a blend of yesterday's atmosphere with discriminating, time-tested dishes.

The Banana Split Book
Michael Turback
Camino Books
PO Box 59026, Philadelphia, PA 19102
094015983X $14.95 caminobooks.com

An entire book on the American dessert banana split? It might not seem possible but there's actually a lot to say about the dish - plus over 150 recipe variations - as cookbook author Michael Turback points out in The Banana Split Book: Everything There Is To Know About America's Greatest Dessert. Turback is a restaurateur, food writer, wine judge and more, and draws upon his background and expertise to lend a critical eye to the history, culture and variations of this famous dessert. The Banana Split Book is fun guide for any enthusiast of this classic ice cream dessert in all of its variations and varieties..

Fix It and Forget It Diabetic Cookbook
Phyllis Pellman Good & ADA
Good Books
PO Box 419, Intercourse, PA 17534-0419
www.goodbooks.com
1561484598 $15.95 1-800-762-7171

Until new diabetes cookbooks have focused more on recipes for the disease than an easy method of cooking such as the slow cooker: enter Phyllis Pellman Good with slow cooker favorites especially geared to the diabetic in Fix-It And Forget-It Diabetic Cookbook. Dishes range from a savory Lemon Garlic Chicken to soups, bean dishes and more. Super-quick, super-easy, and super-tasty dishes the diabetic can't complain about.

Beyond Grits And Gravy
Gwen McKee & Barbara Moseley
Quail Ridge Press
PO Box 123, Brandon, MS 39043
www.quailridge.com
1893062473 $24.95 1-800-343-1583

The South's most famous dishes are collected in a cookbook which seeks to profile the 'best of the best, Beyond Grits And Gravy. Co-authors Gwen McKee and Barbara Mosely effectively collaborate to present an outstanding compendium of mouth-watering, appetitite satisfying, palate pleasing regional recipes that range from Creole Eggplant, to Almond Crab Supreme, to a classic Jam Cake, fried okra, to potato skins, and so many more. If you seek an addition to your kitchen cookbook collection for dishes packed with flavor and enticing southern classics, the Beyond Grits And Gray is the one for you!

Asian Tapas
Christophe Megel & Anton Kilayko
Periplus Editions/Tuttle Publishing
364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon, VT 05759-9436
www.periplus.com
0794603149 $24.95 tuttlepublishing.com

You may have heard of Spanish 'tapas': small bites of main course foods packed with appeal and color. Well, here's the Asian equivalent -- Asian Tapas: Small Bites, Big Flavors, a preparational guide which features such new creations as Kimchi Pancakes with Crisp Asparagus Rolls with Cheese; Vinegar Soy Dipping Sauce; and Balinese Beef Satays. Color photos pepper an appealing asian cookbook that would grace any personal or professional cookbook collection.

Low-Carb Slow & Easy
Frances Towner Giedt
HP Books
375 Hudson Street, New York NY 10014
155788451X $17.95 www.penguin.com

Over 150 low-carb recipes are tailored especially for the slow cooker in a guide perfect for diabetics and any watching their diets. Here are appetizers, vegetarian and main course dishes, and unusual side dishes. The focus is on easily-prepared dishes which can be adjusted to fit virtually any schedule - and which are filled with flavor while still being low-carb. Examples of winners: a lime juice-infused Havana Chicken, Savory Italian Chicken Stew, and Chicken Veracruz. With its international spices, Low-Carb Slow And Easy stands out from other crockpot cookbooks.

Hippocrene Books Inc.
171 Madison Avenue, NY, NY 10016
www.hippocrenebooks.com

Gujarat, India is the state known for its vegetarian specialties; but in the U.S. Indian cookbooks usually differentiate little between this and other areas of India. Priti Chitnis Gress's Flavorful India (078181-0604, $22.50) highlights the cuisine of Gujarat, from street foods to traditional home-cooked meals, dals, flatbreads and more. While some, such as the appetizer samosas, may be familiar to Indian food fans, other dishes such as Spicy Fenugreek Leaves, are rarely seen in competing Indian cookbooks. No photos, but the easy recipes don't need them. And author Priti Gress was born in Gujarat but raised in North Carolina - so she's in the perfect position to translate Gujarat home cooking to American kitchens. Kay Shaw Nelson's Cuisines Of The Alps (0781810582, $24.95) covers the cookery of the Alpine countries, from Germany and France to Switzerland and Slovenia. The wide-ranging coverage of different countries linked by their Alpine roots allows for a wide variety in mountain cooking recipes.

Quick & Easy Tsukemono: Japanese Pickling Recipes
Ikuko Hisamatsu
Kodansha America Inc.
575 Lexington Ave., New York NY 10022
www.kodanshaamerica.com
488996181X $12.95 1-800-451-7556

From garlic pickled in honey, to sweet and sour shallots, stuffed cucumbers, and so much more, Quick & Easy Tsukemono: Japanese Pickling Recipes is packed from cover to cover with colorful photos, intriguing dishes simply not to be found elsewhere, and preents them with a lively presentation which lends to easy home pickling for even the most novice kitchen chef. Even home cooks used to traditional pickling dishes will find plenty that will be new to them here; for Tsukemono's Japanese emphasis is very different from American pickle recipes. Quick & Easy Tsukemono is unique and enthusiastically recommended for gourmet pickling enthusiasts!

Recipes From Wine Country
Tony De Luca
Whitecap
351 Lynn Avenue, North Vancouver, BC VJ7 234
1552856054 $34.95 www.whitecap.ca

Recipes From Wine Country by wine expert Tony De Luca is hallmarked with an unusual organization by wine variety presenting chapters which begin with a description of the qualities and culinary pairing of each featured wine, then with seasonal menus and explanations of techniques. Pack with a profusion of color photos showcasing completed dishes and with an attention to dishes which are relatively easy to put together, yet professional in appearance, and you have a celebration of both wine and food which includes such unusual recipes as Veal with 40 Cloves of Garlic (usually this dish is done with chicken); Smoked Chicken Pasta with Walnuts, Endive and Parsley, and a great many more. Recipes From Wine Country is a quality cookbook that truly matches the quality wines that are the basis for fine dining and gourmet quality meals.

Grazing
Julie Van Rosendaal
One Smart Cookie
PO Box 32044, Calgary, Alberta, Canada 2T2 5X6
096875631X $19.99 onesmartcookie.ca

With everyone in the family 'on the go', it's no wonder small, portable foods and snacking has become so popular: it's just too hard sometimes to sit down and partake of a mean, and eating on the run actually can have its plus side, as doctors advocate eating several smaller meals and snacks over the course of the day for maximum energy. Enter Grazing: Portable Snacks And Finger Foods For Anytime, Anywhere, second in a series of low fat cookbooks and devoted to portable snacks and finger foods. From various dips and chips to BBQ chicken pizza and 'food on a stick' such as satays, there's plenty to inspire in Grazing's examples of healthy food for those on the go.

Bad Foods
Michael E. Oakes
Transaction Publishers
35 Berrue Circle, Piscataway, NJ 08854
0765802287 $29.95 1-888-999-6778

Popular attitudes about food and nutrition aren't entirely based on fact and science: psychology, history and even politics have played on ongoing role in determining 'good' food from 'bad', as Michael E. Oakes points out in Bad Foods: Changing Attitudes About What We Eat. Oakes received his Ph.D. in Psychology and his perspective provides a different foundation for his survey of factors which influence attitudes towards healthy eating in this country. Chapters trace the history of food fads, health concerns, and scientific research trends alike, considering how nutrients such as fat have received negative reputations for health and how bias is created in media coverage. An intriguing, informative, and highly recommended survey of what shapes our food perceptions.

The Everything Healthy Meals In Minutes Cookbook
Patricia M. Butkus
Adams Media Corporation
57 Littlefield Street, 2nd floor, Avon, MA 02322
1593373023 $14.95 1-800-872-5627

One of the key secrets to successfully losing (and keeping lost!) unwanted weight is the creation of nutritious, delicious meals that will promote fitness and a trim figure. That is the premise of The Everything Healthy Meals In Minutes Cookbook by Patricia M. Butkus (head chef and owner of Fritz and Zoe's Inc., a catering establishment servicing Chicago's North Shore and Gold Coast area). Ranging from Spicy Fiesta Chicken in Cucumber Cups; Spinach Salad with Shrimp and Roasted Pepper Vinaigrette; Whipped Goat Cheese with Chives and Lemon; and Fried Ham Steak with Cider Glaze; to Polish Sausage with Sauerkraut; Filet Mignon with Horseradish Cream; Pork Medallions with Jalapeno Mustard; and Caramelized Pears with Toasted Almonds, each recipe comprising this outstanding and enthusiastically recommended "kitchen cook friendly" compendium features a nutritional breakdown of carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

Have Your Cake And Eat It Too!
Nancy Fayrweather Bailey
Elderberry Press
1393 Old Homestead Drive, 2nd floor, Oakland, OR 97462-9506
1932762329 $19.95 elderberrypress.com

Have Your Cake And Eat It Too!: Replace Traditional Flours And Sugars In Your Kitchen And Learn To Bake Low Carb by Nancy Fayrweather Baily is a compendium of recipes specifically designed for kitchen cooks charged with the responsibility of creating tasty, nutritious, low carb versions of tradition family favorites. The key was the creation of "Mixquik", a formula developed by Nancy Bailey for low carbohydrate dieters to replace flours and sugars in their meal time preparations. Diverse chapters deal with "Turning a Diet into a Lifestyle; making, storing, and using Mixquik; then wonderful dishes for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner. From Magic Pina Colada Bran Muffins; Magic Broccoli and Cheese Quiche; and Magic Chocolate Souffle; to Pimento Cheese Stuffed Celery Bites; Swiss Fish Fillet Bake; and Sour Cream Enchiladas, Have Your Cake And Eat It Too! will quickly become a favorite addition to low carb enthusiasts for home dining and celebratory feasting!

Home Baking
Jeffrey Alford & Naomi Duguid
Artisan
708 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
1579651747 $40.00 1-800-722-7202

Home Baking: The Artful Mix Of Flour And Tradition Around The World is a cookbook of global bread recipes, from sweet pies and tarts to festive breads, bagels, flatbreads, a variety of cakes and cookies, and much more. Full-color photographs of not only the treasured recipes, but the daily lives of people worldwide who make them add a delightful visual dimension to this down-to-earth presentation, which walks novice bakers through the basic steps and processes involved in various types of bread preparations. An enriching contribution to any homemaker's kitchen and especially welcome for aspiring bakers who want to see, sample, and create a wide variety bread cuisines.

A Taste Of Cuba
Beatriz Llamas
Interlink Books
46 Crosby St., Northampton, MA 01060
1566565537 $26.95 interlinkbooks.com

Beatriz Llamas was born in Spain, ran cooking classes and a catering business while still a student, then worked at the Alambique Cookery School in Madrid before moving to Cuba, where she developed a keen interest in the local cuisine and culture. In A Taste Of Cuba, Llamas showcases an impressive culinary mix of cultures and ingredients associated with Cuba's complex history and natural resources originating with the Cuban Indians (cassava, taro root, corn, sweet potatoes, black beans), the Spanish colonizers (coffer, sugar, roasted meats and peppers), and African slaves (okra, plantain). All of these diverse heritages of foods fused into a vibrant new culinary culture. Illustrated with drawings and color photography, the recipes range from Taro Root Fritters; Avocado and Shrimp Salad; and Susana's Rice with Green Plantain; to Celie's Chicken and Corn Pie; Squash Pudding; and Soursop Champola Ice Cream. A Taste Of Cuba is an ideal addition to any personal or community library multicultural cookbook collection.

Beachbum Berry's Taboo Table
Jeff Berry
SLG Publishing
557 South Market St., San Jose, CA 95113
0943151996 $10.95 www.slavelabor.com

Beachbum Berry's Taboo Table: Tiki Cuisine From Polynesian Restaurants Of Yore is a unique collection of South Sea themed vintage recipes that is enhanced with an informed and informative history of tiki cuisine from the first Polynesian setters to the last remaining Polynesian restaurants. From Crab Rangoon; Shrimp Luau; Chicken of the Gods; and Javanese Lamb Sate; to Shellfish Polynesian; Pitcairn Salad; Mai Tai Pie; and Molokai Mule, this compendium of dishes and drinks is a welcome and recommended, spiral bound and celebratory addition to any multi-cultural kitchen cookbook collection.

Get Grilling
Food Network Kitchens
Meredith Books
1716 Locust Street, Des Moines, IA 50336-0001
www.meredithbooks.com
0696222132 $24.95 1-800-678-8091

Get Grilling: Recipes, Tips, And Techniques For Terrific Food And Big Fun In The Great Outdoors is the collaborative work of the Food Network Kitchens staff and showcases recipes for outdoor grilling drawn from the Food Network television programming. After informative introductions into the "art of the grill", this beautifully illustrated compendium of grilling recipes ranges from Bacon-wrapped Dates with Manchego; Chicken Paillards with Herb-Tomato Salad; Fiery Flank Steak and Papaya Salad; and Lamb Brochettes with Tapenade; to Veal Chops with Endive and Lemon; Jumbo Shrimp Stuffed with Cilantro and Chiles; Sea Scallops with Zucchini Ribbons and Mint-Chive Oil; and Lobster with Tarragon Butter and Fingerling Potatoes. Of special note are the chapters devoted to recipes for salads, side dishes, sauces, rubs, sweets, and drinks. If you are intending to grill outdoors for your mealtime pleasure, then Get Grilling is the cookbook for you!

The Food Of Fisherman's Wharf
A.K. Crump
TCB-Cafe Publishing
PO Box 471706, San Fancisco, CA 94147
096748989X $19.95 cafeandre.com

Compiled, organized, and edited by A.K. Crump, The Food Of Fisherman's Wharf: Cooking And Feasting From San Francisco To Monterey is nothing less than a culinary celebration of Northern California's coastal cuisine. More than three hundred full color photographs and forty in-depth waterfront restaurant profiles make this an ideal trip planning guide, as well as a compendium of superb dishes associated with them. From Stuffed Striped Bass (San Francisco Fish Company, Ferry Building, San Francisco); to Avou Fisherman's Stew (Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, Half Moon Bay); to Macadamia Nut Crusted Halibut Served with Mango-Papaya Relish (Old Fisherman's Grotto Restaurant, Monterey); to Grilled Salmon with Ponzu Sauce (Shadowbrook, Capitola), this is a kitchen cook friendly, and sea food enthusiasts delight!

Mennonite Recipes From The Shenandoah Valley
Phyllis Pellman Good & Kate Good
Good Books
PO Box 419, Intercourse, PA 17534
www.goodbks.com
1561484660 $18.95 1-800-762-7171

The Shenandoah Valley has been home to Mennonites and Amish whose culinary skills and traditions have pleased palates and satisfied hungry appetites for many generations. Phyllis Good is the curator of The People's Place Quilt Museum and the author of "The Best of Amish Cooking" and "The Festival Cookbook", as well as the co-author of four other cookbooks drawing from Amish and Mennonite culinary traditions. Kate Good co-authored "Amish Cooking For Kids" along with her sister, Rebecca, and her mother, Phyllis. Together, mother and daughter have collaborated to once again showcase recipes from the Shenandoah Valley region, with Kate researching and writing the profiles of the Shenandoah Valley Towns associated with the recipes in this culinary compendium. Featuring color photography and a spiral binding allowing Mennonite Recipes From The Shenandoah Valley to lay flat upon the kitchen counter, the recipes range from Blueberry Oat Muffins, to German Potato Salad, to Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole, to Dutch Meat Loaf, to Old-Fashioned Egg Custard, to Golden Carrot Cake. If you only have time enough for one new cookbook for your kitchen, make it Mennonite Recipes From The Shenandoah Valley!

The Spirited Vegetarian
Paulette Mitchell
Rodale Books
400 South Tenth St., Emmaus, PA 18098
1579549705 $16.95 www.rodale.com

The Spirited Vegetarian: Over 100 Recipes Made Lively With Wine And Spirits is a testament to the fact that a vegetarian lifestyle can be gourmet and fun. Paulette Mitchell is a renowned vegetarian chef who has been crating delicious, palate pleasing, appetite satisfying recipes from decades. Now this veteran cooking instructor and prolific cookbook author has published a compendium of recipes for the vegetarian that incorporate wine and spirits into dishes as an essential ingredient that elevates their flavors for even the most discerning. From Diced Vegetables In Endive Leaves with Sherried Plum Sauce; Yukon Gold Potato-Leek Soup; and Saffron Risotto with Vegetables in Curry Cream Sauce; to Red Wine Ratatouille; Spaghetti di Vino with Beets; and Broiled Bananas with Rum-Raisin Sauce, The Spirited Vegetarian is a unique and welcome addition to any and all dedicated vegetarian cookbook collections.


The Social Issues Shelf

The Border Patrol Ate My Dust
Alicia Alarcon
Arte Publico Press
425 Cullen Performance Hall, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-2004
www.artepublicopress.com
1558854320 $14.95 www.amazon.com

Southern California radio personality Alicia Alarcon invited her immigrant listeners to call in and share their stories: The Border Patrol Ate My Dust (translated into English by Ethriam Cash Brammer de Gonzales) is her recorded collection of these stories of hardship and deprivation suffered by those who struggled to enter this country. Natural and man-made obstacles are recounted in recollections of making it across the border and making a new life in America.

Thomson/Gale
27500 Drake Rd., Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535
www.gale.com

These books were all written with a young adult audience in mind, but they deserve special recommendation for an adult readership as well, providing both ESL and high school to college-level students with basic coverages lending to classroom discussions and reports. What makes these equally recommendable to adult audiences as basic introductory primers is their ability to distill advanced, weighty topics into surveys which make it easy to understand the basic issues involved. Take Assisted Suicide by Karen Balkin (0737721987, $34.95): part of Gale's 'Current Controversies' series for high school readers, articles are gathered from numerous sources to provide over 200 pages reflecting the controversies of assisted suicide arguments from both sides of the issue. Arguments center around the ethical issues of assisted suicide, the legal issues, and whom should make such decisions. Two additions to the 'Opposing Viewpoints' series include Genetic Engineering (0737-722363) and Crime And Criminals (0737-722223, $34.95 each), each discussing social impact and pro and con arguments, regulatory and legal issues, and more. Four new 'At Issue' discussions are less lengthy (140 pages each) but no less important: each provides pro/con articles survey different aspects of The Ethics Of Genetic Engineering (073772370X), Human Cloning (0737721863), How Should America's Wilderness Be Managed? (073772384x), Food Safety (0737723726) and Fast Food (0737723181). From government and public institution concerns to private issues, each book compiles articles from a variety of authoritative sources to provide all sides of an issue, from history to current controversies. Muslims In America (0737723157, $34.95) joins others in the 'Contemporary Issues Companion' series to provide a history of Muslims in America, a survey of social conditions and issues, and a coverage of faith and culture.

The Myth Of Islamic Tolerance
Robert Spencer, Editor
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Dr., Amherst, NY 14228-2197
www.prometheusbooks.com
1591022495 $26.00 1-800-421-0351

Original articles, primary source documents, and in-depth study contribute to The Myth of Islamic Tolerance: How Islamic Law Treats Non-Muslims, a hard-hitting, critical assessment of Islamic teachings and practices regarding non-Muslim minorities, exploring a human rights issue which rarely receives in-depth press. The world's leading authorities on the issue of Islamic religion and social history appear under one cover, exposing he legal superstructure which has treated non-Muslims in Muslim societies as oppressed peoples, and showing how the effects of discriminatory attitudes continue to affect Muslim societies today. Expertly compiled and deftly edited by Robert Spencer, The Myth Of Islamic Tolerance is a powerful, hard-hitting probe.

New York University Press
838 Broadway, 3rd fl., NY, NY 10003
1-800-996-6987 www.nyupress.org

Two fine discussions provide both college-level readers and general libraries with excellent eye-catching discussions. Joshua S. Goldstein's The Real Price Of War: How You Pay For The War On Terror (0814731619, $24.95) discusses how Americans are really paying for the war on terror though changes in tax structures and lifestyle alike. Yes, such a war might be fought - but the Bush administration is cutting taxes and increasing deficit spending to do it, allotting too little money to the process and simultaneously creating a debt burden for future generations. Government expenditures are here analyzed for an eye to alternates. David M. Reimers' Other Immigrants: The Global Origins Of The American People (0814775-357, $22.00) provides a leading interpreter of modern immigration issues who uses his understanding of the process to blend case histories of individual newcomers with an overall analysis of the issues. His history of the immigration processes of various ethnic groups analyzes how, when and why they came to or were brought here and focuses on non-European immigration, detailing the stories of lesser-covered groups in an intriguing survey of post-1945 immigration patterns and issues.

Antisemitism
Jerome A. Chanes
ABC-CLIO
Box 1911, Santa Barbara, CA 93116-1911
www.abc-clio.com
1576072096 $50.00 1-800-368-6868

Part of ther truly outstanding ABC-CLIO's "Contemporary World Issues" series, Antisemitism: A Reference Handbook begins with an introductory essay and chronological discussion of the topic, moving to biographies of individuals involved on all sides, charts and documents, and details on organizations and agencies. Biographical sketches are followed by a country-by-country reference discussing both historical legacy and recent developments, making Antisemitism an excellent overview reference recommended for college-level and advanced high school collections alike.

Common Courage Press
PO Box 702, Red Barn Road, Monroe, ME 04951
www.commoncouragepress.com

Mickey Z.'s The Seven Deadly Spins: Exposing The Lies Behind War Propaganda (1567512704, $15.95) provides a treatise exposing the lies behind war propaganda, focuses on common US reasoning from 'sleeping giant' and 'U.S. vs. Them' mentality to the rationale behind surgical strikes and supporting the troops. Each common theme for war is probed with plenty of historical insights and social analysis, offering insights into the arguments and their illogic. Jeffrey St. Clair's Been Brown So Long, It Looked Like Green To Me: The Politics Of Nature (1567512585, $19.95) comes from an award-winning investigative journalist who looks at the battle against the earth from the compromises of the Clinton era to the current loosening of rules on toxic chemicals and the current pillage of the Bush years. Adding a focus on current battlefronts and new movements for and against despoliation, Been Brown So Long, It Looked Like Green To Me offers a hard-hitting assessment of environmental warfare.

Inequality, Poverty, And Neoliberal Governance
Vincent Lyon-Callo
Broadview Press
Box 1015, Orchard Park, NY 14127-8015
www.broadviewpress.com
1551116030 $22.95 1-705-743-8990

Written by an anthropologist who has worked in homeless shelters in Connecticut and Massachusetts, Inequality, Poverty, And Neoliberal Governance: Activist Ethnography In The Homeless Sheltering Industry is a candid, scholarly inquiry into the question: why has the rate of homelessness remained at significant levels despite a strong American economy and hundreds of millions of dollars poured into the homeless sheltering industry? Inequality, Poverty, and Neoliberal Governance systemically examines political economic studies, an ethnographic study, as well as individual case studies to reveal plainly a side of the homeless sheltering industry that is little talked about. From the flaws inherent in a system where a woman who wants to work cannot find a place to live unless she is falsely declared disabled, to questioning the overuse of medicalization to treat the homeless, to the special concerns involved in successfully helping homeless youth and more, Inequality, Poverty, And Neoliberal Governance offers unique insights into real-world problems and endemic industry flaws that leave the programs designed to help people at the mercy of the temperments of a few in charge. An absolute must-read for sociology students and field workers grabbling with the difficult problems of combatting homelessness today.


The Biography Shelf

I Feel Good
James Brown
New American Library
375 Hudson, New York NY 10014
www.penguin.com
0451213939 $24.95 1-800-847-5515

The story of soul star James Brown has been covered elsewhere before - but nowhere else does it have the authority of Brown's own words. I Feel Good : A Memoir Of A Life Of Soul tells of his childhood growing up black in the segregated South, of his involvements in the music world, and his success at creating a new funk style within the soul world. Brown's later struggles with the law and his own psyche are all detailed in this hard-hitting memoir exposing the 'real' James Brown at last.

A Pirate Of Exquisite Mind
Diana & Michael Preston
Walker & Company
104 - 5th Ave., New York NY 10011
www.walkerbooks.com
0802714250 $27.00 1-800-289-2553

A Pirate Of Exquisite Mind: Explorer, Naturalist, And Buccaneer: The Life Of William Dampier is the first modern biography of the pirate genius William Dampier who was also an intrepid explorer, observant naturalist, and more. This was an extraordinary man whose exploits influenced fellow pirates, and even went on to inspired Charles Darwin, who as a young man found his books a treasure trove of information. Dampier journeyed three times around the world at a time when one circumvention was cause of celebration, living with buccaneers, producing best-selling books, and influencing scientists and explorers alike. A fascinating biography evolves.

Remarkable Life Of William Beebe
Carol Grant Gould
Island Press
1718 Connecticut Ave. #300, Washington, DC 20009
www.islandpress.org
1559638583 $30.00 1-800-828-1302

Adventure travelers interested in both nature and action will relish biographer Carol Grant Gould's Remarkable Life Of William Beebe: Explorer And Naturalist, an armchair biography which tells of one William Beebe, who became the first to see the ocean depths in a bathysphere, trekked the Himalayas and Malaysia in the early 1900s to study ecology, and brainstormed with Roosevelt and other naturalists of his times. A remarkable life and a series of remarkable contributions comes vividly to life in this memorable, entertaining, and highly recommended biography.

Lucretius
John Godwin
Bristol Classical Press/Duckworth
c/o International Publishers Marketing
22841 Quicksilver Dr., Dulles, VA 20166
www.ducknet.co.uk
1853996718 $20.00 1-800-758-3756

Lucretius is a biography of the Roman poet Lucretius, who lived in the first century BC and composed an epic poem, De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things) meant to motivate people to change how they lived their lives, abandon fear of the gods and death, and work toward obtaining true happiness. Examining the particulate nature of the world and human's role in it, De Rerum Natura is a philosophical masterpiece; expert translator and Shrewsbury School Head of Classics John Godwin discusses the nuances of its work, both in the context of its era and in its transcendental message about positive change. By gathering all that is known of Lucretius, the fullness of his poem can best be framed against the background of the visionary who wrote it and the world he lived in. A highly recommended to both classical literature and biography shelves.

Sex And Rockets
John Carter
Feral House
PO Box 39910, Los Angeles, CA 90039
0922915970 $16.95 feralhouse.com

This new and highly recommended edition of Sex And Rockets: The Occult World Of Jack Parson by John Carter features an informative introduction by Robert Anton Wilson and will serve to introduce the reader into the writings of John Whiteside "Jack" Parsons, co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory whose unorthodox genius created a solid rocket fuel that helped the Allies win World War II and NASA to send a spacecraft to the moon. What was less well known to his contemporaries was that Jack Parson was also an occultist who performed Aleister Crowley's Thelemic rituals in an attempt to create a new sort of human being that would finally destroy Christianity. At the age of 37, Jack was to die suddenly under rather mysterious circumstances that would be defined as an accident, suicide, or even murder. Now in a new edition, a new generation of readers can learn the life story, accomplishments and controversies of a unique and influential individual who combined science and occultism, and hosted parties for emerging writers of science fiction that included Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, and L. Ron Hubbard.


The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf

Ace Books
375 Hudson St., New York NY 10014
www.penguin.com

Sharon Shinn's new fantasy Mystic And Rider (0441012469, $23.95) is the first in a projected four-part series, and will delight fantasy readers seeking complex settings and plots. There's unrest in Gillengaria, where suspicion of magic-wielders is growing and a movement is at work to eliminate all magic and magic-users. The king himself has tolerated the Mystics, but sends a trusted band of colleagues to journey across the land to assess the troubled situation: it's their journey and the uneasy alliance between magic and non-magic which is the strong highlight in Mystic And Rider. John Maddox Roberts' deftly written "what if" science fiction novel The Seven Hills (0441912459, $23.95) presents the story of a Roman kingdom fallen and reborn with new military strengths and aspirations. The Romans avoid Hannibal's mistake and one Marcus in particular struggles against an old rival to realize his true calling as a national leader in Roberts' riveting alternative history.

Stars In My Pocket Like Grains Of Sand
Samuel R. Delany
Wesleyan University Press
215 Long Lane, Middletown, CT 06459
0819567140 $19.95 www.wesleyan.edu

Samuel R. Delany is a novelist and critic, currently teaching English and creative writing at Temple University. A renowned author of science fiction, he has won both Hugo and Nebula awards. Now the Wesleyan University Press has published a 20th anniversary edition of one of Delany's very best science fiction epics, Stars In My Pocket Like Grains Of Sand. The central issues Delany addresses in a fictional format (technology, globalization, gender, sexuality, multiculturalism) have become even more center stage with the passage of time. This anniversary edition will serve to introduce a whole new generation of readers to Delany's imaginative and superbly skilled storytelling abilities with a science fiction novel that is as entertaining and thought-provoking today as it was when first published in 1984.

Baen Books
PO Box 1403, Riverdale, NY 10471
www.baen.com

Baen's new science fiction arrivals promise exciting adventure reading - especially in the arena of political settings - for a range of enthusiasts. T.K.E. Weisskopf's Cosmic Tales: Adventures In Far Futures (0743498879, $6.99) takes place in the later days of space travel, when exploration is over and space is domesticated, tamed, and familiar. But, does humanity rest in comfort? No, it intends to move beyond the galaxy into new lands, and the first volume of Cosmic Tales captures the beginning. Steve White's Forge Of The Titans (074349895X, $7.99) tells of a naval officer pulled from school to take part in a secret government project involving telepathy. His latent talents bring him in touch with extra-dimensional beings with almost superhuman abilities, remembered as gods and goddesses in human legend, in a fast-paced thriller hard to put down. Mercedes Lackey and Roberta Gellis' This Scepter'd Isle (0743498895, $7.99) tells of a human infant, a king of England, and a meeting of ancient and futuristic ways. A child is the key to a nation's survival in a warm fantasy of power and abilities. Fred Saberhagen's Berserker Death (0743498860, $25.00) provides three complete Berserker novels under one cover: Berserker Wars, Berserker: Blue Death and Berserker Kill. The story of inhuman death machines which cross the galaxy to encounter humans achieves a uniform, solid presentation using this method of bringing together Saberhagen's key stories on his most popular topic. Edward M. Lerner's Moonstruck (0743498852, $24.00) is political thriller/action reading at its best. The moon has acquired its own satellite: a 2-mile starship that represents a new Galactic Commonwealth. Aliens on a secret mission may begin a new era or destroy the human race as humanity probes their role. John Ringo's Against The Tide (0743498844, $25.00) tells of a world which falls when a worldwide control program called 'Mother' falls in civil war. The underlying politics of the United Free states and one Edward, who takes over a new navy at its oment of defeat, and Paul, who began the whole conflict, makes for fast-paced, politically charged action.


The World History Shelf

Encyclopedia Of Exploration
Carl Waldman, et al.
Facts on File
132 W. 31st St., New York NY 10001
www.factsonfile.com
0816046786 $225.00 1-800-322-8755

College-level library collections seeking a comprehensive reference to exploration would do well to consider the Encyclopedia Of Exploration: a 2-volume set developed and co-authored by the team of Carl Waldman, Alan Wexler, and Jon Cunningham, devoted to the world history of exploration from biographies of major and lesser-known explorers to histories, chronologies, and national interests. Volume 1, The Explorers, packs in biographical references - almost a thousand entries - with indexes organized chronologically and by relevant occupation, country of nationality, and more. Each explorer receives about six paragraphs of detail ranging from early life to exploration achievement and motivation. Volume 2, Places, Technologies And Cultural Trends, surveys the technical, social, culture and geographic aspects of world exploration, providing A-Z entries emphasizing factors determining mission success or failure, and including maps, charts, discussions of exploration companies and societies, geographical barriers and more. Cross-references connect the two volumes and help readers connect explorers with places.

Mortal Crimes
Nigel West
Enigma Books
580 - 8th Ave., New York NY 10018
1929631219 $27.00 enigmabooks.com

Newly revised and expanded is Nigel West's coverage of the Manhattan Project, the greatest heist in history. Mortal Crimes: The Greatest Theft In History: Soviet Penetration Of The Manhattan Project presents the latest known facts on how Soviet spies stole the secrets of the atomic bomb are revealed, following the recent declassification of documents in Russia and the U.S. New details update this truly classic survey of the evidence.

Imperial Footprints
James L. Newman
Brasseys/Potomac Books
PO Box 960, Herndon, VA 20172-0960
www.brasseysinc.com
1574885979 $35.00 1-800-775-2518

A hundred years after Henry Morton Stanley's death, his own African explorations have receded from public memory in favor of critical reviews of European colonialist expansion in Africa. James L. Newman returns Stanley's importance to the world with Imperial Footprints: Henry Morton Stanley's African Journeys, a re-creation of his seven African journeys which explains why and how he made them, and their lasting impact on the modern world. The blend of history, biography and travelogue makes for an exciting blend of researched fact and drama which reads like fiction, giving Imperial Footprints an edge over other coverages on Stanley.

Historical Atlas Of The Napoleonic Era
Angus Konstam
Mercury Books
c/o International Publishers Marketing
22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166
www.internationalpubmarket.com
1904668046 $25.00 1-800-758-3756

Historical Atlas Of The Napoleonic Era is a beautiful and exciting presentation of French conqueror Napoleon's life, ambitions, battles, military genius, and legacy. Full-color maps, artworks and illustrations on every page add a visceral touch to descriptions of battles, Napoleon's tactics, and also his most costly mistakes. Though Napoleon's warfare spread misery to many, his dream of a unified Europe persisted long after his passing and is realized today, at least in part, by an increasingly synchronized Europe and the introduction of a single European currency. Historical Atlas Of The Napoleonic Era is an exciting and detailed chronicle of a turbulent era in European history, and a welcome addition to personal and library history collections.

The Week The World Stood Still
Sheldon M. Stern
Stanford University Press
1450 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304-1124
0804750777 $14.95 www.sup.org

The Cuban missile crisis was the most dangerous moment of the Cold War and has received numerous analysis in other titles and articles. What makes Sheldon M. Stern's The Week The World Stood Still: Inside The Secret Cuban Missile Crisis different is its focus on a narrative written for students and general readers. The author's own transcriptions of the secretly recorded ExComm meetings serves as a foundation for an analysis which captures the striking moments of tension behind the scenes. The newest addition to the "Stanford Nuclear Age Series", The Week The World Stood Still is an impressive work of scholarship that is also highly recommended for non-specialist general readers with an interest in the history of the Cold War era.


The Fiction Shelf

Year Of Past Things
M.A. Harper
Harcourt
6277 Harbor Sea Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-6777
www.harcourtbooks.com
0151011168 $23.00 1-800-543-1918

Looking for a novel steeped in New Orleans culture and history with more than just a touch of the supernatural when a dead father re-appears to haunt a new family structure? Year Of Past Things deserves ongoing mention as a superb supernatural mystery/haunt which arrives steeped in New Orleans traditions and setting.

Girl Trouble
Christopher McDougall
Rayo/HarperCollins Publishers
10 East 53rd St., NY, NY 10022-5299
www.harpercollins.com
0060536624 $24.95 1-800-242-7737

Superstar Gloria Trevi was finally freed from prison after being cleared of rape and kidnapping charges, and intends to act and release an album, so "Girl Trouble" will be the perfect announcement of her return to stardom. Trevi was accused of masterminding the kidnap, rape and brainwashing of nearly a dozen teens in Brazil: Christopher McDougall is a journalist determined to uncover the truth, and his feature for the New York Times Magazine exposes the truth behind the scandal, tracing Trevi's involvement in the sex-slave scandal and in the music and acting worlds.

Whose Eye Is On Which Sparrow?
Robert Taylor
The Haworth Press, Inc.
10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904
www.HaworthPress.com
1560235187 $14.95 1-800-429-6784

Whose Eye Is On Which Sparrow? is a homosexual romance novel between a young married doctor and a handsome back man named Jonathan Miles. The doctor must wrestle with giving up his "white-bread" world, his wife and children, and a promising political career to pursue his romantic future, while Jonathan must decide whether to leave the security of his job as church choir director to follow his dream of becoming an opera singer. Transcending boundaries of race, class, and sexuality, as well as confronting the stigma and veiled racism that oppose the protagonists, Whose Eye Is On Which Sparrow? blends emotion and life-changing choices in a drama about how love can drastically change everything in one's life.

The Camp In The Mountains
Edward S. Ellis
Phoenix International, Inc.
University of Arkansas Press, dist.
1501 Stubblefield Road, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72703
www.phoenixbase.com
0971347085 $19.95 1-800-626-0090

Volume II of the Deerfoot series, The Camp In The Mountains continues the adventures of Fred Linden, Terry Clark, and their friend Deerfoot, set in the eighteenth century in the southwestern part of present-day Missouri. After making a hundred-mile trek south, the trio find the camp in the mountains under attack, and Fred Linden's father and his hunting companions are missing. Winnebagoes claim they have slain the three white hunters; now the three of them must brave personal danger and apply Deerfoot's legendary wilderness skills to survive. An exciting novel of life-or-death peril and suspense in an era gone by.

The Winning Hand
C. K. Cirgger
Behler Publications
22365 El Toro Road, #135, Lake Forest, CA 92630
www.behlerpublications.com
1933016094 $15.95 1-800-830-2913

Caroline Pruet failed to heed the best advice a gambler can have -- never bet more than you can afford to lose. Because Caroline didn't heed this gambling maxim, she has lost King, her thoroughbred stallion in a poker game to Micah Sutton. Then she compounds her problems by stealing the horse back, and after accidentally shooting Micah, Caroline and king are on the run. But Micah is a hard man to kill, and now he's out to catch Caroline and retrieve his horse. Confidently recommended reading that would make a popular addition to any community library fiction collection, The Winning Hand is a riveting novel from first page to last and clearly documents author C. K. Crigger as a master storyteller of originality and identifiable flair.

Devil Talk: Stories
Daniel A. Olivas
Bilingual Review Press
Box 872702, Tempe, Arizona 85287-2702
1931010277 $13.00 www.asu.edu/brp

Devil Talk: Stories is an anthology of Latino short fiction, laced with men and women encountering evil, drama, even humor amid the everyday life of Chicano and Meixcano culture. Author Daniel A. Olivas, published in numerous anthologies and literary journals including "The MacGuffin" and "The Pacific Review", presents his wickedest work in these eerie tales that walk the line of darkness, from a botched robbery with deadly consequences on the same day that JFK is buried to a young man's preternatural ability to see exactly what his girlfriend is doing when he is away. An enthralling collection; the stories are so tantalizing that they are best devoured all at once.

To The Devil - A Diva!
Paul Magrs
Allison & Busby, Ltd.
c/o International Publishers Marketing
22841 Quicksilver D., Dulles, VA 20166
www.internationalpubmarket.com
0749083808 $15.95 1-800-758-3756

To The Devil - A Diva! is a dark and exciting novel about a low-budget 60's and 70's horror film star who doesn't seem to age... because she sold her soul to the devil at the age of ten! In the present day, her resources are drying up, so she returns to the north of England to appear in "Menswear", a risque British TV soap opera. But the current star of "Menswear" is furious to learn of his new co-star, and fears that she has come to steal his soul. Darkness is brewing, and devilish secrets are about to boil over in this thrilling and suspenseful novel of hidden evil and a flair for the dramatic.


The Language Studies Shelf

Longman Dictionary Of American English
Longman/Pearson Education
801 East 96th Street, #300, Indianapolis, IN 46240-3759
www.longman.com
0131927620 $25.27 1-800-428-5331

The new third edition of the Longman Dictionary Of American English is out and includes a thesaurus and profiles 52,000 words and phrases, including all words on the Academic Wordlist, featuring not just definitions but examples. The thesaurus boxes explain synonyms and antonyms: add tips on grammar and key word highlights and you have a lasting library reference. No university library can afford to be without a copy of the Longman Dictionary Of American English in their Language Studies and/or General Reference collections.


The Homeowner's Shelf

The PVC Project Book
Charles A. Sanders
Burford Books
32 Morris Ave., Springfield, NJ 07081
1580801277 $14.95 burfordbooks.com

PVC pipe is a cheap, versatile material which is easy to work with and thus lends to home and garden projects, but until now there hasn't been a single source focusing on PVC as a foundation for such projects - enter Charles A. Sanders, who presents over a hundred projects constructed from PVC piping. From gutter cleaners to containers, racks, and holders, The PVC Project Book: 101 Uses for PVC Pipe in the Home, Garden, Farm and Workshop packs in practical project applications.

The Homeowners Association Manual
Peter M. Dunbar & Marc Dunbar, Esq.
Pineapple Press
PO Box 3889, Sarasota, FL 34230
www.pineapple.com
1561643130 $16.95 1-800-746-3275

Most homeowners and would-be buyers encounter their first homeowner's association in the form of added monthly payments or printed restrictions on property usage; yet there's so much more to know than fees and restrictions - and the Dunbars provide the basics in the newly revised fifth edition of The Homeowners Association Manual. Everything from single-family subdivisions to mobile homes are covered, with chapters teaching the basics about how an association is organized, how it conducts meetings and sets rules and procedures, and how to interact with and within such associations. From amending and enforcing documents to understanding committee and director interactions, this is essential to any joining a homeowner's association.


The Parenting Shelf

The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems
Tracy Hogg & Melinda Blau
Atria Books
1230 Ave. of Americas, NY, NY 10020
0743488938 $24.00 www.simonsays.com

The late Tracy Hogg had decades of hands-on experience with infants and their families and became known as the expert parents turned to for advice. Her previous two books helped scores of parents with child-rearing questions: move beyond these basics with The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems: Sleeping, Feeding, And Behavior--Beyond The Basics From Infancy Through Toddlerhood, which focuses on the development of problem-solving skills Hogg herself used when troubleshooting common parental problems. An outstanding final book which explores how she arrived at her solutions - and how parents can, too.

The Gift Of Loss
Grace E. Davis with Judith St. Pierre
Abiding Books
PO Box 243, Condon, OR 97823
0974428450 $13.95 abidingbooks.com

Author Grace E. Davis, R.N. draws upon her two decades of research and practice in the fields of childhood trauma, child development, and the human grieving process to present The Gift Of Loss: How To Raise Emotionally Resilient Children. A parenting tool that shows one how to teach young people ways to cope with tragedy, and prepare them for the changes of everyday life - from separations, moves, and the loss of a beloved pet to saying farewell to a close relative - The Gift Of Loss covers what behaviors to expect, the common pattern of grieving, how children at different stages of development from birth through five years cope differently, and more. A profound and highly recommended resource for dealing with one of the most difficult issues of effective parenting.


The Art Shelf

Utopia Parkway
Deborah Solomon
Museum of Fine Arts Publications
465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115-5523
0878466843 $22.50 www.mfa.org

Deborah Solomon's biography of artist Joseph Cornell in Utopia Parkway: The Life And Work Of Joseph Cornell, joins other outstanding titles in the MFA's 'artWorks' series but stands well independently, providing a reprint of a 1977 original examining the life and influences of an enigmatic American artist. Analysis blends with personal insight to probe the influences of man prized for his disquieting shadow boxes and his influence on Surrealism, Pop and Abstract expressionism alike. Yes, there have been other coverages - but few offer the depth and authority of an art critic's research talents.

Chronicle Books
85 Second Street, 6th floor, San Francisco CA 94105
www.chroniclebooks.com

Don't expect the ordinary in Leon Borenzstein's photos One Is Adam One Is Superman (0811845311, $40.00): the 'outsider artists' portrayed here with their works are all working at the Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, California - and they range from wheelchair-bound to blind and otherwise severely handicapped. But take a look at their art and you will find incredible stories and images. Borenzstein provides full-page photographic portraits of 50 of the center's selected artists, paired with reproductions of their work and statements by or about themselves. Also outstanding is Paul Grushkin and Dennis King's Art Of Modern Rock: The Poster Explosion (081184529X, $60.00). There have been a number of poster art coverages on the market over the years - and quite often lavish, fitting the color poster image - but none quite so weighty or all-embracing as Art Of Modern Rock: The Poster Explosion. There are very nearly 2,000 reproductions of poster creation from around the world here, not with the usual regional focus seen in competing guides. Paul Grushkin spent 25 years as head of sales for the largest rock and roll merchandising companies, while co-author Dennis King's a recognized authority on contemporary posters. Toger the authors provide a powerful sequel to their prior industry standard Art Of Rock (which covered pre-1985 rock poster art, and which remains a classic in its genre today). A 'must' reference for any serious rock poster collector.

21st Century Ceramics In The United States & Canada
Bill Hunt, editor
The American Ceramic Society
735 Ceramic Place, Westerville OH 43081
1574982230 $49.95 www.ceramics.org

21st Century Ceramics In The United States & Canada is an anthology of brief essays and full-color photographs revealing the eye-catching ceramic artworks of a wide variety of modern-day creators. From functional or svelte vases to paint trays and tool boxes to goblets and statues, these ceramic creations feature pleasing contours and textures, as well as sturdiness and immense variety in decoration. A treasury of ceramic inspiration to be enjoyed by artists, collectors, and connoisseurs alike.

Ida Kohlmeyer: Systems Of Color
Michael Plante, essayist
Hudson Hills Press
PO Box 205, 74-2 Union Street, Manchester, VT 05254
1555952496 $50.00 hudsonhills.com

Enhanced with an informed and informative essay by Michael Plante (Jessie J. Poesch Professorship in Art, Newcomb Art Department, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana) Ida Kohlmeyer: Systems Of Color showcases the prolific artistry of Ida Kohlmeyer, a lifelong resident of New Orleans who took up painting at the age of thirty-five and became an outstanding representative of both modernism and abstract expressionism in her work. Indeed, Ida Kohlmeyer achieved national recognition as a teacher, painter, and sculptor. In addition to presenting more than one hundred large color illustrations documenting the development of Kohlmeyer's artistic career, the reader is provided with a full chronology, a bibliography for further study, as well as a listing of exhibitions, collections, and commissions. Ida Kohlmeyer: Systems Of Color is a significant contribution to American 20th Century Art History Studies and should be a part of all academic library reference collections accordingly.

Heyday Books
PO Box 9145, Berkeley, CA 94709
www.heydaybooks.com

If it's California or Western history and art you seek, look no further than Drawn West: Selections From The Robert B. Honeyman Jr. Collection Of Early Californian And Western Art And Americana (1890771929, $39.95) by Jack Von Euw & Geona Shepley, an exceptional gathering of selections from the Robert B. Honeyman Jr. Collection of Early Californian and Western Art and Americana from the Bancroft Library. Drawn West is the first title to plumb the treasures of the Honeyman Collection, and editors Jack Von Euw, curator of the Pictorial Collection, and historian Shepley provide over a hundred images - many reprinted here for the first time - to outline rare paintings by theme and chronology. Simply Gorgeous. Hisako Hibi's Peaceful Painter: Memoirs Of An Issei Woman Artist (1890771902, $20.00) presents the work, life and influences of a first-generation Japanese woman artist whose craft was perfected during World War II. Hibi returns to her formative years in Peaceful Painter, examining her dislocation and incarceration during the war and adding over twenty color painting examples of her work. A lovely tribute to Hibi and the American Japanese experience.

Ancient Scandinavian Designs
Bev Ulsrud Van Berkom
Stemmer House Publishers, Inc.
4 White Brook Rd., Gilsum, NH 03448
www.stemmer.com
0880450738, $7.95 1-800-345-6665

The Nordic folk of Scandinavia were noted throughout Europe for their love of embellishment with respect to their boats, door posts, weapons, jewelry, and other accouterments of the Viking lifestyle and culture. Fabled animal and bird forms were among the favored types of decorative motifs, appearing in highly stylized, easily recognized imagery which was gradually incorporated into Celtic art styles as well. In Ancient Scandinavian Designs, Bev Ulsrud Van Berkom has gathered together an arrangements of designs drawn from surviving artifacts of Scandinavian culture from the 7th to the 12th centuries A.D., making it a unique and welcome contribution to personal, professional, art school, and academic library Scandinavian Art & Cultural History collections. Also very highly recommended art design titles from the Stemmer House Publishers "International Design Library" collections are: Rebecca Mckillip's Celtic Designs (0916144755, $6.95); Frances M. Bradbury's Faience Designs (0880450568, $5.95); and Silvia Crockett's Angels In Traditional Design (0880-45086X, $5.95).


The Needlecraft Shelf

For The Love Of Knitting
Kari Cornell, Editor
Voyageur Press
PO Box 338, Stillwater, MN 55082
www.voyageurpress.com
0896580458 $29.95 1-800-888-9653

Compiled and edited by needlecraft expert Kari Cornell, For The Love Of Knitting: A Celebration Of The Knitter's Art isn't just another knitter's handbook: it's an exploration of the art which surveys the history of knitting from World War II to modern times, juxtaposing classic works from celebrated knitters with historical photos and pattern booklet samples. The first-person celebration includes plenty of interviews and insights, adding a personal flavor to a lively survey of the finer craft of knitting - and its long history.

Martingale & Company
20205 - 144th Ave. NE, Woodinville, WA 98072-9478
www.martingale-pub.com

Jennifer R. Ferguson and Judith A. Skinner's Painted Fabric Fun: Simple And Stylish Projects For Your Home (156477-5771, $21.95) tells all about fabric painting, using 29 projects ranging from a chair cover to tablecloth and umbrellas to show how to translate motifs to fabric. Use inexpensive paints which stay soft on fabrics, choose fabrics which are not costly, and take advantage of stencils in a guide which focuses on stylish projects for the home. Wendy Vosters' Fanciful Quilts To Paper Piece: 10 Projects (156477578X, $24.95) show how to produce an excellent collection of pictorial paper-pieced blocks, from tulips to animals and more. Ten quilt designs for all skills levels serve as learning guides in Fanciful Quilts, with large-page patterns, color photos of finished projects, fully complementing step-by-step directions. Both books are outstanding 'how to' coverages.

Taunton Press
PO Box 5506, Newtown, CT 06470-5506
1-800-477-8727 www.taunton.com

Sandra Betzina's More Fabric Savvy: A Quick Resource Guide To Selecting And Sewing Fabric (1561586625, $24.95) is a winning guide to selecting and sewing fabric: if it sounds familiar, that's because this is a new revised, updated edition which includes tips on the latest new fabrics and threads, a stain removal guide, lining chart, and much more. Any seamstress will want to have Sandra Betzina's More Fabric Savvy as a basic home reference: it promises lasting reference value. Another reference offers tips on using fifty gadgets essential for sewing in Notions: Over 50 Great Gadgets You Can't Live Without (1561584150, $24.95). Knowing about and using the right notion is often all the difference between an amateur and a professional result: Notions surveys the equipment, use, and results and advice from over twenty nationally recognized sewing experts. Over fifty of the best notions, from needle boards to fusible threads, are surveyed in a guide certain to improve and polish finished results.

Fashion Sweatshirts
Lorine Mason
KP Books/F&W Publications, Inc.
4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236
0873499123 $22.99 1-800-289-0963

Experienced, passionate, and professional seamstress Lorine Mason presents Fashion Sweatshirts: 25+ Easy Projects To Alter And Embellish Ready-Mades, a guide to adding extra special touches to ready made sweatshirts from fur trim to buttons and beads, and much more. Each sample project is described in-depth with explicit, step-by-step instructions, which are adaptible to a broad range of colors and fancies. A collection of consumable sewing patterns packaged with the book round out this superb guide to affordible embellishing for fun and fashion.

Quilting With Donna Dewberry
Donna Dewberry
Krause Publications
700 East State Street, Iola WI 54990-0001
0873498976 $21.99 1-888-457-2873

Showcasing more than fifty coordinated home decor projects suitable for up to an eight room residence, Quilting With Donna Dewberry is enhanced with full color, "user friendly", step-by-step directions, materials lists, templates, as well as identifying all the materials and tools necessary to make quilts, throws, pillows, shams, wall hangings, table runners, table cloths, potholders and valences. The diverse projects are organized according to the room function including bedrooms, porch, nursery, bathroom and kitchen. Of special note are Donna Dewberry's favorite family recipes gracing the "Kitchen Accessories" chapter. An enthusiastically recommended addition to any needlecrafter's reference and project collection, Quilting With Donna Dewberry sets a whole new level as a "how to" home decor projects book.


The Comix/Graphic Novel Shelf

Shooting Star Comics
5665 Hwy 9, Suite 103-104, Alpharetta, GA 30004
$2.99 each www.shootingstarcomics.com

Shooting Star Comics has launched two new titles whose creative storylines and black/white artwork recommended them to fans of comics with sophisticated themes and complex storytelling. Fishnet Angle: Jane Doe #1 features a woman who can't remember her past. But this case of amnesia is complicated by the evidence that she is/was a superhero! And there's a villain patiently waiting for her memory to return so that she will recognize him as the agent of her ultimate destruction. Children Of The Grave: Nightmares #1 is the first of a four volume mini-series that follows a three man team of military expendables who are sent to check out stories of a genocidal slaughter in an Afghanistan-style third world country. The problem is that the graves of hundreds of children are empty -- something supernatural is in play amidst the other all too common horrors of war in an Islamic backwater country riven with civil strife.


The Sports Shelf

Wrestling Strength
Matt Brzycki
Blue River Press
c/o Cardinal Publishers Group (dist.)
7301 Georgetown Road, Suite 118, Indianapolis, Indiana 46268
0971895961 $12.95 cardinalpub.com

Written by featured speaker, published writer, and experienced collegiate wrestling trainer Matt Brzycki, Wrestling Strength: Dare To Excel is a straightforward guide to structuring one's strength training workout for maximum results. Chapters discuss the essentials of basic training for wrestlers, steps for productive repetitions, improving physical power specifically for wrestling, issues and safety procedures involved with dumbbell training, nutritional questions and answers, and much more. A concise, no-nonsense guide covering need-to-know basics, especially meant for amateur and professional sports enthusiasts but packed with useful tips for anyone looking to increase their strength and tone through physical activity. Highly readable and recommended.

Baseballissimo
Dave Bidini
McClelland & Stewart, Inc.
481 University Avenue, Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 2E9
0771014627 $22.99 1-800-788-1074

Baseball has been a popular sport in Italy ever since it was first introduced by American soldiers who liberated Italy from the fascist in World War II. Author Dave Didini (along with his wife and two small children) traveled to Nettuno, Italy (south of Rome on the Tyrrhenian coast) to seek out his favorite summer game in what has evolved into the "baseball capital" of Italy since 1944. The serie A team in Nettuno is the Indians -- but this is a team stuffed with talent imported from Latin America. So for six months Didini followed the fortunes of the Serie B Peones, solidly staffed with Nettunese locals. When he returned to America, he sat down and wrote up his experiences with Italian baseball and culture. The result is Baseballissimo: My Summer In The Italian Minor Leagues. A lively and informative account that is a "must read" for anyone with an interest in baseball, as well as the armchair traveler seeking a quite different perspective on living and life in contemporary Italy.


The Literary Shelf

Long Life
Mary Oliver
Da Capo Press/Perseus Books Group
11 Cambridge Ctr, Cambridge, MA 02142
www.dacapopress.com
0306814129 $16.00 1-800-242-7737

Long Life: Essays And Other Writings showcases the prose and poetry of Mary Oliver who has won both a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award for her work. A master wordsmith, Mary Oliver has authored more than twenty books, and in Long Life shows herself adept at the art of the essay as well as a gifted poet whose lyrical commentaries range from describing a goosefish stranded at low tide to being baptized by the mist from a whale's blowhole. Long Life is highly recommended, emotionally resonating, cognitively gifted reading and a welcome addition to personal and academic library literary collections.


The Political Science Shelf

The United States Government Internet Manual 2004-2005
Bernan Press
4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391
1886222185 $59.00 www.bernan.com

The United States Government Internet Manual 2004-2005 is the "go-to" resource packed with official U.S. governmental resources available on the web. Over 2,000 sites categorized by subject, each with a paragraph or more describing the site in detail as well as a mention of the site's sponsors, allow for quick and easy reference that will be appreciated by casual web surfers and information-gathering professionals alike. Sites pertaining to everything from transportation to health and safety to government and politics, energy, defense and intelligence, culture and recreation and much more pack this no-nonsense resource, and multiple indexes allow for swift cross-referencing. Highly recommended, especially in an age when spammers find more and more ways to clutter internet-based search engines with drivel.


The Education Shelf

Outdoor Learning And Play Ages 8-12
Kathleen Burris & Barbara Boyd, editors
ACEI
17904 Georgia Avenue, Suite 215, Olney, MD 20832
0871731657 $22.00 www.acei.org

Collaborative compiled and co-edited by Kathleen Glasscott Burris and Barbara Foulks Boyd, Outdoor Learning And Play Ages 8-12 provides educators and care-taker adults who work with children an effective plan and approach for maximizing opportunities for a child's intellectual, social and emotional learning in the out of doors. This impressive and accessible collection of articles provided by experts in their respective fields provides teachers and care-givers with strategies for planning quality learning and play opportunities for elementary and middle school children outside the classroom. Content areas are The issues covered include the history and value of the outdoor environment; the relationship of the outdoor experience with learning and development; how recess and other outdoor pursuits equip children for academic tasks including science, language arts, and geography. Outdoor Learning And Play Ages 8-12 is a welcome and practical contribution to the growing library of specialized curriculum development resources.


The Interior Design Shelf

The Fabric Style Book
Carl J. Dellatore with Roslyn Sulcas
Sterling Publishing Company
387 Park Avenue South, NY, NY 10016
1588162680 $24.95 1-800-805-5489

The Fabric Style Book collects solid advice and insider tips from the experts at House Beautiful's "Swatch Watch" column. Full-color illustrations throughout reveal how to accessorize with fabric to add color, cushion and vibrancy to one's home, from slipcovers to curtains to accents upon one's sofa and more. From how to apply the right fabric to the right furniture, to selecting the color and tone that suits one's personality and living space best, to blending fabric into an overall room motif, The Fabric Style Book offers a wealth of inspirational examples in addition to useful and practical guidelines.

Contemporary Asian Living Rooms
Chami Jotisalikorn & Karina Zabihi
Luca Invernizzi Tettoni, photographer
Periplus Editions
c/o Tuttle Publishing
364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon, VT 05759-9436
0794601790 $30.00 tuttlepublishing.com

Brilliantly illustrated with full-color photography throughout, Contemporary Asian Living Rooms is a virtual tour of fifty living rooms, homes, and hotels in Bali, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. Styles ranging from minimalist to luxurious are captured in brilliant detail with postmodern flair. Brief commentaries discuss the finer points of decor, color scheme, and other features in each living space, but the bulk of Contemporary Asian Living Rooms allows the majestic photography to speak for itself. A recommended and welcome source of inspiration for interior decorators seeking a classy touch.


The Civil War Shelf

Grand Army Of The Republic
Thomas J. McCrory
Trails Media Group
Box 317, Black Earth, WI 53515-0317
www.trailsbooks.com
1931599289 $34.95 1-800-236-8088

The Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) was the first and largest of the veterans organizations of the 19th century. Comprised of survivors who served in the Union army during the American Civil War, the G.A.R. became a social, economic, and political influence in America's post-war affairs well into the early years of the 20th century. Researched, compiled, and organized by Thomas J. McCrory, Grand Army Of The Republic: Department Of Wisconsin is a unique and comprehensive resource of detailed information about Wisconsin's representation in the ranks of the G.A.R., complete with listings of officers and other leaders, rosters of the state's posts, data about membership, information on all medals and badges, and a great deal more. Simply put, no academic library's Civil Wars Studies collection in general, and no Badger State community library's Wisconsin History collection in particular, can be considered complete or comprehensive without the inclusion of Thomas McCrory's Grand Army Of The Republic: Department Of Wisconsin.

Spartan Band
Thomas Reid
University of North Texas Press
PO Box 311336, Denton, TX 76203-1336
1574411896 $29.95 unt.edu/untpress

Spartan Band: Burnett's 13th Texas Cavalry In The Civil War by Thomas Reid (History Instructor at Lamar University) is the definitive study of the 13th Texas Cavalry Regiment as it operated during the American Civil War. The result of Reid's meticulous research (letters, diaries, oral histories gleaned from more than one hundred descendants of the soldiers) and positive flair for reader-engaging writing, showcases a Confederate unit drawn from eleven counties in East Texas when it was organized in the spring of 1862 by two Texas Senators -- John H. Burnett and Anderson F. Crawford. Although a calvary unit, the 13th was ordered to dismount after crossing the Red River into Arkansas and fought as infantry until the end of the war, seeing action at Lake Providence, Fort De Russy, Manfield, Pleasant Hill, and Jenkins' Ferry. Disbanded in Hempstead, Texas, in May 1865, the unit was held in high regard and service it in paved the way for several of its troops to secure favor in business and political office. No dedicated Civil War Studies collection can be considered complete without the inclusion of Thomas Reid's Spartan Band!

Morgan Reynolds Publishing Inc.
620 South Elm Street, Suite 223, Greensboro, NC 27406
www.morganreynolds.com

Morgan Reynolds presents two new biographies intended especially for young adult and teen readers interested in learning more about the pivotal figures of the American Civil War. Ulysses S. Grant: Defender Of The Union (1931798486, $24.95) tells about the humble-born reluctant attendant of the United States Military Academy at West Point, following his career from his distinguished service in the Mexican War to how his organizational skills and bravery earned him an appointment as the supreme commander of the U.S. Army, a post that he eventually used to force General Robert E. Lee's surrender. Grant's two-term presidence, rife as it was with scandal by those Grant trusted the most, is also discussed. Black-and-white and full-color illustrations, photographs, and artworks fill this highly readable biography. Victory In Destruction: The Story Of William Tecumseh Sherman ($24.95) offers a similar treatment of the U.S. General best known for his infamous torching of Atlanta followed by his devastating march to the sea. Sherman's life was a struggle for survival; he possessed a fierce temper, and even though he supported slaveholding he felt that preserving the Union absolutely superseded all other concerns. To this day his twin legacies - one as a hero who was critical to preserving the union, the other as a bloodletter who inflicted terrible suffering upon the people of the South - make him difficult to define. Victory in Destruction offers an evenhanded and non-judgemental look at both sides of General Sherman, encouraging young readers to decide for themselves based on history. Both volumes are highly recommended and welcome additions to school and public library history and biography shelves.


The Library Video/DVD Shelf

The Irish R.M. Series 2
Acorn Media Group
801 Roeder Road, Suite 700, Silver Spring, MD 20910
1569387516 $49.99 www.acornmedia.com

The Irish R.M. Series 2 continues the tongue-in-cheek British drama chronicles the adventures of Major Sinclair Yeates, a retired English army officer appointed Resident Magistrate for the West of Ireland at the turn of the century, prior to Irish independence. Rife with humorous misunderstandings and vignettes of daily life in rural Ireland, shot on location in the beautiful County Kildare, and starring Peter Bowles (best known for his performance of Rumpole), The Irish R.M. is delightful in its blend of keen wit, daily life, and fanciful fun. Highly recommended.

The Great Shark Hunt
MPI Media Group
16101 S 108th Av, Orland Park, IL 60462
www.mpihomevideo.com
0788606212 $19.98 1-800-777-2223

The Great Shark Hunt is a DVD offering a candid and unique look at sharks. Long considered one of man's deadliest enemies, immortalized in classic Hollywood horror films such as "Jaws", the overlooked side of sharks includes their vital role in marine ecology, and how studies of their natural resistance to disease could help scientists develop cancer-fighting drugs. Shark populations have been in decline since the 1980's due to widespread overfishing, and the extreme demand for shark-fin soup in particular could yet spell the doom of this great and fierce predator. The Great Shark Hunt discusses an on-going campaign to promote voluntary tagging programs among commercial fishermen, and catch-and-release programs among sports fishermen. Deep-sea diving footage of sharks in action rounds out this engrossing, educational, and highly recommended documentary. 45 minutes

The Teaching Company
4151 Lafayette Center Drive, Suite 100, Chantilly, VA 20151-1232
www.teach12.com

The Teaching Company produces university level courses in audio, video, and DVD formats in a variety of subjects in their "The Great Courses" series. These complete course lectures are provided by the foremost scholars in their respective fields. Three impressive and comprehensive of their lecture series are especially commended in Christian Studies, whether as collegiate academic extension offers, as university library reference collections, as seminary instruction resources, or as independent studies by non-specialist general viewers with an interest in the early history and development of Christianity. Jesus And The Gospels (PD6240, $374.95) is an informed and informative series of 36 lectures given by Professor Luke Timothy Johnson (Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins, Chandler School of Theology, Emory University). Offered in a six DVD format comprising 3 volume set, Professor Johnson's thirty-six, 30-minute lectures (total time 18 hours) are enhanced with occasional visuals and explore every aspect of the New Testament accounts and interpretations of the life and interpretations of Jesus, along with the oral traditions and synoptic problems associated with them. Professor Johnson also covers the apocryphal gospels in exploring the early traditions and stories about Jesus. The Historical Jesus (PD643, 254.95) by Bart D. Ehrman (James A. Gray Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill) is a 24 thirty minute lecture series on 4 DVDs presented in a two volume set. Professor Ehrman presents Jesus as recorded in a number of canonical, non-canonical, and secular records. Of special note are the lectures dealing with "The Coptic Gospel of Thomas", the apocalyptic aspects of Jesus teachings and deeds, as well as the death, resurrection, and afterlife of Jesus as recorded and passed along by the early Church fathers. Lost Christianities: Christian Scriptures And The Battles Over Authentication (PD6593, $254.95) also by Professor Ehrman is another 24 half-hour lecture series on 4 DVDs in a two-volume set in which he focuses upon the diversity of early Christian beliefs and traditions. Gnostic Christianity is thoroughly explored along with the rise of early Christian Orthodoxy, the beginnings of the Christian Canon and its eventual formulation into the accepted books of the New Testament. Of very special interest is the lecture on "Orthodox Corruption of Scripture" and "Early Christian Creeds". All three of these outstanding lecture series are flawlessly recorded and accompanied by a "Lecture Transcript and Course Guidebook". Simply put, no academic, seminary, or major public library system's Christian Studies collection can be considered complete or comprehensive without the inclusion of Jesus And The Gospels; The Historical Jesus; and Lost Christianities lecture series from The Teaching Company.


The Native American Shelf

The Qualla Cherokee Surviving In Two Worlds
Laurence Armand French
The Edwin Mellen Press
PO Box 450, Lewiston, NY 14092-0450
edwinmellenpress.com
077348308X $109.95 1-716-754-2788

Written by psychology professor and sociology expert Laurence Armand French, The Qualla Cherokee Surviving In Two Worlds is volume 5 of Mellen's "Native American Studies" series, offering a meticulous examination of Qualla Cherokee history, daily life and social issues. The Qualla Cherokee Surviving In Two Worlds ranges from prehistoric times to the establishment of the boundaries delineating the Qualla Cherokee in particular, to the difference between the real Qualla Cherokee and the "imaginary" Cherokee perpetuated not only in myths and commercial iconography, but also in misrepresentations by the Cherokee Historical Association itself and the legacy of "cultural genocide" that was once American governmental policy. Extensive reasearch and citations, as well as a brief seletion of color photographs enhance this serious-minded and highly realistic look at how ordinary people live their lives as Qualla Cherokee as well as the past, present, and future of Qualla Cherokees as a whole. Especially recommended for Native American studies shelves, due to its willingness to shy away from the commonly repeated party line search of the plain truth of how people live and what they do today.


The Money/Finance Shelf

Philanthropy Heirs & Values
Roy Williams & Vic Preisser
Robert D. Reed Publishers
PO Box 1992, 1380 Face Rock Drive, Bandon, OR 97411
1931741514 $29.95 rdrpublishers.com

Philanthropy Heirs & Values is an advice guide written especially for affluent families seeking an effective means to teach their children values, mission, and accountability, preparing one's heirs for a successful transition of wealth and responsibility. Authors Roy Williams and Vic Preisser, both of whom have decades of experience aiding families with post-transition planning, interviewed 3,250 families and examined almost 100 family foundations, and discovered the secret of using philanthropy to teach values, the focus of a mission, and an individual sense of accountability. Revealing specific cases in which the teaching tool of philanthropy determined whether a family would remain unified (and financially successful) in their post-transition period, Philanthropy Heirs & Values offers exercises, examples and checklists for each of the five major age groups. An extremely useful instructional that reveals the power of enlightened self-interest. Also highly recommended is Williams' and Preisser's previous guide, "Preparing Heirs".

What You Need To Know About The Economics Of Growing Old
Teresa Ghilarducci
University of Notre Dame Press
310 Flanner Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556
www.undpress.nd.edu
0268029636 $14.00 1-800-621-2736

Written by a nationally recognized expert on economic issues pertaining to aging, What You Need to Know About the Economics of Growing Old (But Were Afraid to Ask) is a guide for readers of all background and experience levels, from lay readers looking to prepare for their future to policy makers in government, though it is intended more as an informational primer about the big picture than an individual finanacial planning guide. Five sections address the economic status of the elderly today, the structure of the Social Security system, the economic path to old age, changing social norms including an increase of women in the workplace, and how elderly who work for pay impact the economy and society as a whole. Extensively researched with numerous statistics, displayed in graph and table form, What You Need To Know About The Economics Of Growing Old is a "must-read" for anyone seriously concerned about both short term and large-scale economic issues affecting the elderly.


The Library CD Music Shelf

Collectables Records Corp.
PO Box 35, Narberth, PA 19072-0035
1-800-446-6426 www.oldies.com

Three very different CD albums from Collectables Records help to demonstrate the value of Collectables Records with respect to making available to music and popular culture enthusiasts the diverse range of America's musical heritage and history. In Concert/Everybody's Listening (COL-CD-4517, $8.50) showcases The Chad Mitchell Trio and The Gatemen with songs that were instrumental in launching the folk music revival of the 1960s. Ranging from "The Ballad of Herbie Spear", to "Sally Ann", to "Green Leaves of Summer", to "Wabash Cannonball", these are songs that helped to set the musical tastes of a then-young generation. Performed by The Markets, The Batman Theme (COL-CD-6558, $8.50) is a memorable collection of pieces that were written for the then ground-breaking and satirically funny television show. In addition to the instantly recognizable "Batman Theme", we are treated to "Bat Cave"; "Robin The Boy Wonder"; "Bat Signal"; "The Joker"; "The Penguin"; "The Bat (Dance)"; "Dr. Death"; "The Riddler"; {"Bat Cape"; and "The Cat Woman". For those who enjoy a talented woman singing music to romance by, there is Donna Fargo's Dark-Eyed Lady (COL-CD-6726, $8.50) showcasing eleven timeless pieces that grace the ear and mellow the mind: "Another Goodbye"; "Everybody Has A Dream"; "Reach"; "Tomorrow Child"; "Somebody Special"; "Sweet Sexy Guy"; "For The Rest Of My Life"; "I Saw The Light"; Don't Forget To Remember"; "The Drifter And The Dreamer"; and "changes In My Life". These three technically flawless masterpiece recordings of time-lost tunes are ideal additions to personal and community library CD music collections.


The Psychology Shelf

Straight Talk About Psychiatric Medications For Kids
Timothy E. Wilens, MD
Guilford Publications, Inc.
72 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012
www.guilford.com
1572309458 $17.95 1-800-365-7006

Written by a specialist in pediatric and adult psychopharmacology, Straight Talk About Psychiatric Medications For Kids is now in a newly revised edition with information on latest advances in treating specific disorders, tips on saving money on perscriptions, recent changes in legislative and health care affecting children's treatment, and more. Straight Talk About Psychiatric Medications For Kids presents plain-terms need-to-know facts for parents trying to figure out the which (if any) medication is the right choice for a growing child, and/or the best alternatives available. Covering disorders ranging from ADD to mood and anxiety disorders to schizophrenia and much more, Straight Talk About Psychiatric Medications For Kids cannot replace the diagnosis and advice of a pediatrician but is strongly recommended as prepatory reading to better acquaint oneself with the options before discussing matters of medication with the family doctor.


The Martial Arts Shelf

Kata And The Transmission Of Knowledge
Michael Rosenbaum
YMAA Publications
4354 Washington Street, Roslindale, MA 02131
www.ymaa.com
1594390266 $16.95 1-800-669-8892

Written by a martial artist of 25 years' experience who has studied and practiced Isshin Ryu, Bando, Judo, and Boxing, Kata And The Transmission Of Knowledge teaches the reader about the deeper meaning behind ritual forms and pre-arranged fighting techniques known as katas. Chapters foster a better understanding of katas as means to transmit successful techniques from one generation to the next; the author scrutinizes katas that have been used in Greek, Egyptian, Asian, African and European societies since ancient times. Exploring the deeper meaning of katas to gain insights into the views and ethics of societies from which they originated, Kata And The Transmission Of Knowledge is especially recommended for martial artists seeking to better understand the nuances, purpose, history, and applications of the skills they pursue.


The Religion/Spirituality Shelf

Seeding Your Soul
Dianne R. Costanzo
Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers
1000 Brown Street, Unit 101, Wauconda, IL 60084
0865165920 $14.95 bolchazy.com

Seeding Your Soul: Six Considerations For Spiritual Growth is a self-help guide to visualizing one's spiritual landscape, and promoting inner growth through the positive qualities of Trust, Generosity, Love, Transformation, Forgiveness and Healing. Beautiful full-color photographs of flowers complement words of wisdom for cultivating healing virtues, written by teacher, poet, and spiritual director Dianne R. Costanzo. Simple insights and the allegory of one's mind and soul draw upon Biblical passages and noble ideals to create a transformational, uplifting experience. Seeding Your Soul: Six Considerations For Spiritual Growth is very highly recommended reading.

Unmistakable Touch Of Grace
Cheryl Richardson
The Free Press
1230 Ave. of Americas, NY, NY 10020
www.simonsays.com
0743226526 $23.00 1-800-223-2336

Author Cheryl Richardson maintains in Unmistakable Touch Of Grace that examples of grace in action - coincidences which point the way to better paths in life - are all around us. These examples enable viewers to make changes, recognize instruments of spiritual change, and enact transformations in behavior and lifestyle. Unmistakable Touch Of Grace is dedicated to showing readers how to anticipate, recognize, and use these moments of 'grace' to further positive changes. Case histories demonstrate how others have achieved valuable changes from recognizing - and using - grace. Unmistakable Touch Of Grace is highly recommended reading for anyone seeking to enhance the spiritual grace of their own daily lives.


The Criminology Shelf

Chasing Dirty Money
Peter Reuter & Edwin M. Truman
Institute for International Economics
1750 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036-1903
0881323705 $23.95 www.iie.com

Written by a senior economist and criminology professor along with a former director of the Division of International Finance of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Chasing Dirty Money: The Fight Against Money Laundering is a no-nonsense discussion of methodologies used to hide revenues gained from a wide variety of crimes and how to block such assets from being transferred and perpetuated. Chapters clarify laundering mechanisms, from simiply smuggling cash out of the country to using casinos, lotteries, and horse races to lose a little betting but receive clean payoff in issued checks, to taking out single premium insurance policies for which the premium is paid in an upfront lump sum rather than annual installments - then later redeeming these policies at a discount. Further chapters discuss protecting the integrity of financial systems, combating predicate crimes connected to money laundering, confronting such global evils as terrorism and kleptocracy or corruption that rely heavily on money laundering, and much more. A sober, serious-minded resource, an absolute must-read for all economic students and professionals, and an eye-opening revelation for lay readers.


The Gaming Shelf

Starting Out: Modern Benoni
Endre Vegh
Everyman Chess
c/o The Globe Pequote Press
PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437
www.everymanchess.com
1857443667 $18.95 1-800-243-0495

Written bay Endre Vegh, an International Chess Master and coach, Starting Out: Modern Benoni discusses the Modern Benoni, one of Black's most creative and aggressive defenses to the queen's pawn opening, which has been put to good use by such great players as Mikhail Tal, Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov. Allowing Black to create a drastic position imbalance from the beginning, it offers the chance for great advances but requires that both players press ahead boldly as to hesitate where the Modern Benoni is involved is sure to inspire disaster. Illustrating its points and examples with sample games and chessboard diagrams, Starting Out: Modern Benoni is an excellent self-teaching tool and a highly recommended resource for avid chess players of intermediate to advanced skill level.

Luck, Logic & White Lies
Jorg Bewersdorff
A K Peters, Ltd.
888 Worcester Street, Suite 230, Wellesley, MA 02482
1568812108 $49.00 www.akpeters.com

Written by the general manager of Mega-Spielgerate, a game design company based in Limburg, Germany, Luck, Logic & White Lies: The Mathematics Of Games is a no-nonsense instructional in basic probability, geometry, and mathematics as they apply to popular games. Topics discussed include popular myths among those who the lottery, to the question of whether it is possible to reconcile chance and mathematical certainty, to testing dice, the possibilities of distribution in a roulette, modern theories as applied to the classical game of Go, whether bluffing in poker can be done without psychology, and so much more. Written in plain terms, Luck, Logic & White Lies teaches readers of all backgrounds about the insight mathematical knowledge can bring and is highly recommended reading among avid game players, both to better understand the game itself and to improve one's skills.

Brady Games
800 East 96th Street, 3rd floor, Indianapolis, IN 46240
www.bradygames.com 1-800-571-5840

BradyGames presents two in-depth fighting game guides, useful for novices but especially ideal for serious video game players. "Tekken 5 Official Strategy Guide" is packed with 224 pages of color screenshots, character-based strategies, pictures of customized items and colors one can purchase to enhance one's favorite fighting character, move lists, sample combos and follow ups (including ideal ways to retaliate after parrying one's opponent), storylines for each character, game secrets, a brief walkthrough of the mini-game "Devil Within", and a gigantic poster of the new Tekken tournament entrants. Two unique features of "Tekken 5 Official Strategy Guide" include a list of each character's ten best moves - new players are encouraged to pay attention and learn how to use these moves first - and in-depth descriptions of why certain matchups may heavily favor one character over another. "Capcom Fighting Evolution Offical Fighter's Guide" may be a more slender guide at 126 pages, but make no mistake; the technical depth with which BradyGames evaluates the latest installment in Capcom's beloved line of two-dimensional fighting games has no peer. All the basic attacks of every character in the game are displayed with a screenshot, and numbers listing the total number of animation frames consisting the attack, the number of startup frames before the attack becomes damaging, the hit advantage (relative recovery times) of opposing characters after the attack, the block advantage (relative recovery times if the attack is blocked), and much more. Meticulous instructions concerning how to apply frame data to one's advantage will prove immensely valuable to novice players looking to be the best they can be. The level of high detail is especially important in "Capcom Fighting Evolution Official Fighter's Guide", because the Capcom Fighting Evolution game features six different types of characters, each of which has unique gameplay features coined in previous Capcom games. For example, the Street Fighter Alpha characters have custom combos; the Red Earth characters have ultimate guard and ultimate counter; the Street Fighter 2 characters have tactical recovery... all in the same game! Extensive explanations of the importance of poking, positioning, trickery, and other fighting game tactics make Capcom Fighting Evolution the rarest type of fighting game strategy guide - one so packed with well-crafted advice that its tips can be effectively generalized to video games beyond the one it covers!


The Judaic Studies Shelf

Women At The Seder
Joel B. Wolowelsky
KTAV Publishing House
930 Newark Ave., Jersey City, NJ 07306
0881258695 $16.95 www.ktav.com

Written by the Dean of the Faculty at the Yeshivah of Flatbush, Women At The Seder: A Passover Haggadah is a fully traditional Passover Haggadah, presented in a gender-neutral translation. Women at the Seder also presents the original Hebrew text side-by-side with English, and with extensive footnotes at the bottom elaborating historical and translation details. Written expressly to honor ancient traditions as well as the more recenct transformation of the Torah community, "the emergence of women from the privacy of their home 'tents' to the public arena of the synagogue" without forsaking the cherished roles of wife, mother, and bedrock foundation of the family. Women At The Seder is bound with its pages arranged from right to left, rather than left to right, and is an intuitive translation especially recommended for those who are unaccustomed to Passover Haggadah text. Highly recommended.

The Quotable Jewish Woman
Elaine Bernstein Partnow
Jewish Lights Publishing
PO Box 237, Woodstock, VT 05091
www.jewishlights.com
1580231934 $29.99 1-800-962-4544

The Quotable Jewish Woman: Wisdom, Inspiration & Humor From The Mind & Heart is a grand compendium of memorible insights, zingers, platitudes, deep thoughts and much more from Jewish women throughout history up to the modern day. Contributions from more than 300 Jewish women from a wide variety of nations and backgrounds cover topics ranging from beauty to spirituality to friendship, motherhood, politics, work, holiday celebrations and much more. Categorized by subject, with a biographical index offering a paragraph of background about each notable woman quoted, The Quotable Jewish Woman is a superb resource for looking up the perfect filler to round out one's article, spice to heat up one's discussion, or just plain leisure reading with the tang of wisdom. "The wars say it to us - all of Europe, all of Vietnam - and / Nuremburg: never wait to speak against these horrors. / To act against these horrors / Do not let them be abstract and distant. / They look at you with human eyes..." - Muriel Rukeyser.`


The Poetry Shelf

American Ghost Roses
Kevin Stein
University of Illinois Press
1325 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820-6975
www.press.uillinois.edu
0252072405 $16.95 1-800-545-4703

Poet laureate of Illinois Kevin Stein presents American Ghost Roses, an unusual poetry anthology consisting entirely of elegies. Free verse in a variety of formats mourns the brevity of human life and the death of a father. An honest and upfront approach to grief, these verses stir a resounding chord in the individual reader. Thinking of Kandinsky while Shaving My Father: It pains the back, not to mention the spirit, / to kneel beside one's father limp in his electric lift chair. / Scrape goes the blade, tick the clock whose arms / spin blades pinned at the donkey's tail / heart makes of us. With one deft false move // I could end this, though try that excuse on the cops. / Next his hair cut and shampoo, my day's dirty work / spiraled down the drain. Who's weak now? / For scenes like these, Kandinsky claims / the spirit can be strengthened by exercise. American Ghost Roses is highly recommended as being thoughtful and thought provoking reading.

We live in an age of wonder when every village has a library. Every home with a computer has access to the very archives of human wisdom, experience, learning, and discovery. It's as if we have our own fabled Library of Alexandria at our virtual finger tips and can access the thoughts and stories of the best of all recorded human history at our whim and pleasure.


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Diane C. Donovan, Editor
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Oregon, WI 53575-1129
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