Words Worth Reading

CDPL's literature blog created to help you find books worth reading

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books


Sarah Rice completes third year as page - On Sunday, Sarah Rice will begin her junior year at Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana, where she is a history major. Sarah is completing her third summer as Crawfordsville District Public Library page in the Youth Services Department. Summing up this year's work, she says, "I've enjoyed introducing young readers to literature, especially manga, that lead them to written works". {Manga is another word for cartoon or graphic novels}. Happy studies, Sarah; we will miss you.

The centennial of a cherished story - This year is the 100th anniversary of "A Girl of the Limberlost", the novel about a young girl growing up on the edge of the Limberlost swamp in Indiana, who has an opportunity to pay for her education by collecting moths. Gene Stratton-Porter, (1863-1924), the naturalist, bird lover, and author so popular in her day wrote, "To my way of thinking and working, the greatest service a piece of fiction can do any reader is to leave him with a higher ideal of life than he had when he began." Her 11 stories, two poems, and five studies of nature are still beloved. The library offers readers 14 of her novels, and her nature study called "Homing with the Birds". Thank you, Jean Meyer.

Do you enjoy big heavy books? "Philip's Atlas of the Universe" (6th edition) by Sir Patrick Moore, presenter on "The Sky at Night TV series, is a beautiful up-to-date education, showing whole and partial sky maps, eclipses, and stories of specific comets with a historical perspective. "Astronomy" by photographer/writer Duncan John has some similar features including the latest pictures from the Hubble telescope and Cassini space probe. Meanwhile, down on earth, a new "House & Garden Book of Style" by Dominique Browning, editor-in-chief at House & Garden, shows the best in contemporary decorating. Related to these books is "The Tyranny of Dead Ideas" in which consultant/radio host Matt Miller shows how to let go of old ways of thinking to unleash a "new prosperity". Why to err is human is the subject of (writer/film maker) Michael and (mathematician) Ellen Kaplan's "Bozo Sapiens". Professional psychic Sylvia Browne's "Phenomenon" offers "everything you need to know about the paranormal".

Two biographical writings are James Douglass' "JFK and the Unspeakable" showing why he died and why it matters. Former editor at Rolling Stone magazine Anthony Bozza presents "Whatever You Say I Am" as the life and times of Eminem, saying "Did Eminem change or did Americans finally figure him out?"

Stephen Kinzer, foreign correspondent and New York Times bureau chief presents a cautionary tale for our current leaders called "All the Shah's Men" explaining why it would be folly to attack Iran.

Baseball comes "As They See 'Em" from reporter Bruce Weber about the world of professional umpires who make sure America's favorite pastime is conducted in a manner that is clean, crisp, and true. "Girls of Summer" by editor/writer Lois Browne gives the color and history of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The new 2009 edition of the "Beckett Official Price Guide to Baseball Cards" covers 300,000 values of individual cards and sets.

"7 Deadly Scenarios" by military historian/futurist Andrew Krepinevich includes seven possible global crises he observes as he thinks the unthinkable and prepares a response in the event nightmares become realities

Here are three goodies: "The Tarantula Keeper's Guide" by Stanley Schultz, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess" by Patrick Wolff, and "Dream Cars" with stories of special creations from the 1902 AC to today's latest models.

"One-Party Classroom" is David Horowitz' treatise about how radical professors at America's top colleges indoctrinate students and undermine our democracy. He cites 12 schools and the 150 worst courses. "Liberty and Tyranny" is Mark Levin's clarion call to conservative America, a new manifesto for the 21st century, "False Economy" is Alan Beattie's "surprising economic history of the world". Joseph Contreras' "In the Shadow of the Giant" tells of the Americanization of modern Mexico. In "Rebirth of a Nation" Jackson Lears reviews modern American history. The making of Christian free enterprise is the theme of "To Serve God and Wal-Mart" by Bethany Moreton.

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