Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library news and notable new books:

The Crawfordsville Library's two summer reading programs both offer news releases. Karen Record reports that an attendance record was set by the Youth Services Department as 670 pre-school, elementary, and teenaged readers kept the main floor busy for seven weeks. The adults' Race into Reading "Pit Stop Spa Treat" furnished by the library was won by Beverly Stout of Waynetown.

Here are new books about World Wars I and II. First, "World War One" is a short history by Norman Stone; "The First World War was the overwhelming disaster from which everything else in the 20th century stemmed." Peter Townsend's "Duel of Eagles" is a look at the Battle of Midway and the Battle of Britain by an eyewitness, and he examines the background of events from the defeat of the Kaiser's air force to the long days of 1940 when Spitfires and Messerschmitts fought their battles over England. "The Third Reich At War" by Richard Evans lays bare the momentous, tragic years of the Nazi regime and its war of conquest, racial subjugation, and genocide. Anne Nelson's "Red Orchestra" is the story of the Berlin underground and the circle of friends who resisted Hitler. "Clara's War" is Clara Kramer's memory of her 20-month survival in an underground bunker with 17 other people, all saved by an ethnically German family. "The Shame of Survival" is a document by Ursula Mahlendorf, a loyal supporter of the Nazi regime, after which her "traumatic postwar expulsion from the East caused her to reevaluate everything she had been taught during the Third Reich".

"Is Pluto a Planet?" by David Weintraub is a historical journey through the solar system in which the author provides historical, philosophical, and astronomical background to help us grasp the science of space and more recent discoveries. "Will Terrorists Go Nuclear?" by Brian Jenkins starts out, "According to a British intelligence report leaked to the press in 2007, al Qaeda operatives are planning a large-scale attack on par with Hiroshima and Nagasaki'". Jenkins notes that these criminals have become increasingly adept at creating an atmosphere of nuclear terror.

Two new requests are political commentaries. Dick Morris and Eileen McGann's "Fleeced" is critical of many policies today. Bernard Goldberg's "A Slobbering Love Affair" is about the media's efforts to influence an election.

"Madness Under the Royal Palms" by Laurence Leamer, is subtitled Love and Death behind the Gates of Palm Beach. William Cohan's "House of Cards" is a Wall Street horror story about the 2008 financial meltdown, how it happened, and why.

Here's new fiction. In Eileen Goudge's "Domestic Affairs" a betrayal tears apart childhood friends. Years later, one is a successful cookbook author, and her friend in a tragic reversal of fortune becomes her housekeeper...but there's more to the plot. Danielle Steel's "Rogue" features a dedicated doctor, her three great kids, a challenging career, and a romantic interest, all changed when she becomes infuriated by her ex-husband, a dot.com entrepreneur. Jackie Collins' "Married Lovers" is quoted as "Three high-powered Hollywood couples, two hot affairs, one underage Russian ex-hooker, a passionate murder - and the players' lives are changed forever." Mariah Stewart's "Mercy Street" is romantic suspense which begins with two high school seniors shot to death, and two suddenly gone missing. In "Odd Hours" by Dean Koontz a fry cook named Odd is rumored to be able to communicate with the dead and after a series of episodes he faces a "dark night of the soul" with shattering revelations. Jane Velez-Mitchell gives the inside story "What made them do it?" about high-profile crimes in "Secrets Can Be Murder".