Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Local Lincoln Research Available - Dick Monro's new booklet "Abraham Lincoln's Funeral Train: The Search for a Connection with Indiana's Boone & Montgomery Counties" is available for purchase at the Crawfordsville District Library. This clearly-printed 16-page research explains Monro's journey to research a journey. It's local history and fun to read, and he has donated a copy which will soon be available for circulation.

"Age of Opportunity" is a Biblical guide to parenting teens by Paul Tripp. Tom Shachtman's "Rumspringa: To Be or Not To Be Amish" describes the period at age 16 when teens are allowed to live outside their faith, hopefully learning enough to decide whether or not to be baptized into Amish adulthood. "Buddha or Bust" by Perry Garfinkel separates Buddhist fact from fiction, sharing his humorous insights and perceptions about everything from spiritual tourism to Asian traffic jams to the endless road to enlightenment as he searches for truth, meaning, and happiness. Marc Hauser argues that humans have evolved a universal moral instinct, propelling us to deliver judgments of right and wrong independent of gender, education, and religion; his report is titled "Moral Minds".

From the creators of Walking with Dinosaurs comes "The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life" by Tim Haines, a picture book featuring 100 of the largest, weirdest and scariest animals that ever existed. "March of the Penguins" is the National Geographic's official companion to the major motion picture, actually a quite beautiful still-life collection of the movie's stills. "Big Cotton" by Stephen Yafa studies the history of how this humble fiber created fortunes, wrecked civilizations, and put America on the map.

New mysteries were requested by patrons. "Swimsuit" by James Patterson is a hunt for a beautiful supermodel in Hawaii. "On the Grind" by Stephen Cannell is a Shane Scully story in which he's charged with felony misconduct in a high-profile solicitation of murder case. Janet Evanovich has written "Finger Lickin' Fifteen" that begins when a celebrity chef participates in a barbecue cook-off and literally loses his head. Perri O'Shaughnessy's "Show No Fear" is a Nina Reilly novel about her first murder investigation handling an overload of problems.

"Starburst" by Robin Pilcher is set at the Edinburgh International Festival. Catherine Coulter's "Knock Out" is an FBI thriller which includes scenes in the Titus Hitch Wilderness of Virginia. "The Wildwater Walking Club" by Claire Cook is her sequel to "The Breakfast Club" and here three friends learn about themselves by walking together. Debbie Macomber's "Summer on Blossom Street" says "Knitting is a lot like life…dropped stitches and all!" It's a story set at a knitting shop in Seattle. "A Time to Gather" by Sally John is a story of family problems and how the struggles yield help. Karen Kingsbury's "This Side of Heaven" is an inspirational novel about a father finding his child. A new Bill Slider mystery "Game Over" by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, in a Large Print edition, is a mixture of toughness, sensitivity, and melancholy as "our" Bill realizes that "The Needle" is on the loose and trying to kill him.

Debbie Macomber's new novel "Married in Seattle" has two stories considering whether or not an arranged marriage is better than a personal ad for a spouse. Elizabeth Strout's "Olive Kitteridge" includes 13 short narratives about a retired schoolteacher dealing with the changes in her little town and in the world at large.

Upstairs/Downstairs September 2009

This is a listing of the books that have moved Upstairs from the Downstairs 7-day shelf and can now be checked out for 28 days!

As of September 26 you will find the following new books in the Adult Fiction section of the library:

Carol Alt - This Year's Model

Michael Arditti - Easter

Kate Atkinson - When Will There be Good News?

Lynn Austin - Until We Reach Home

Carolyn Baugh - The View from Garden City

David Benioff - City of Thieves

Tom Cain - The Accident Man

Jennifer Chiaverini - The Quilter's Kitchen and The Winding Ways Quilt

Michael Connelly - The Brass Verdict

William Dietrich - The Rosetta Key

Leonard Downie Jr. - The Rules of the Game

Steven Galloway - Cellist of Sarajevo

Amitav Ghosh - Sea of Poppies

Dagoberto Gilb - The Flowers

Susan Gilmore - Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen

Brian Hall - Fall of Frost

Joanne Harris - The Girl with No Shadow

Iris Johansen - The Treasure

Stan Jones - Frozen Sun

Kathleen Kent - The Heretic's Daughter

Kent Krueger - Red Knife

Christina McKenna - The Misremembered Man

Sally MacKenzie - The Naked Gentleman

Rachel Pastan - Lady of the Snakes

Matthew Quick - The Silver Linings Playbook

Ron Rash - Serena

David Rhodes - Driftless

Kira Salak - The White Mary

Christina Schwarz - So Long at the Fair

Maggie Sefton - Fleece Navidad

Jeff Shaara - The Steel Wave

Steve Toltz - A Fraction of the Whole

Stuart Wood - Hot Mahogany

David Wroblewski - The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Library Reading Group Has New Format - The adult book club at the Crawfordsville Library had its first fall meeting, discussing books about quilts. A few quilts themselves showed up, expanding the conversation. Next meetings are first Mondays at 6:30 with October's subject being books about trees, November's subject Thanksgiving, and December's focus is on nonfiction or fiction about water. New members are always welcome.

Here are requested books. "Bold Endeavors" by Felix Rohatyn is a call to national action as many elements of our infrastructure are deteriorating like roads and bridges, ports and dams, water lines and air control systems. "The Third Reich in the Ivory Tower" is Stephen Norwood's report about American universities' refusal to take a stand against Hitler in the 1930s. In "The Neuro Revolution" Zack Lynch tells how brain science is changing our world. "Methland" is Nick Reding's report on the death and life of the small town Oelwein, Iowa with a population of 6,000, which he calls an illustration that America's on the brink of disaster where global forces cause drug epidemics.

Jeffrey Deaver's mystery "Roadside Crosses" tells how the Monterey Peninsula is rocked when a killer begins to leave roadside crosses beside local highways to announce his intention to kill. A "triple threat" novel is Lis Wiehl's "Face of Betrayal" that tells how while home on Christmas break a 17-year-old Senate page takes her dog out for a walk and never returns; the "Triple Threat", made up of a reporter, a Federal Prosecutor, and an FBI agent begin work to crack the case. Robert Parker's western "Brimstone" is a follow-up to "Resolution" and "Appaloosa" featuring two guns-for hire. Elizabeth Berg's novel "Home Safe" is about emotional transit, as a recent widow depends too much on her 27-year-old daughter and meddles in her life ignorant of the fact that her late husband had led a double life.

"The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane" by Katherine Howe, descendant of one woman who survived the Salem witch trials, and another who did not; plots the discovery of an ancient key within a 17th century Bible that leads events in the 1690s.

Lee Child begins suspense novel "Gone Tomorrow" with "Suicide bombers are easy to spot. They give out all kinds of telltale signs. Mostly because they're nervous. By definition they're all first-timers." Danielle Steel's "Matters of the Heart" tells of a woman's journey from darkness into light as she fights to escape a mesmerizing sociopath who holds her in his spell. Robin Cook's "Intervention" involves an ancient codex, a study linked to Saint Peter's tomb, and questions about papal infallibility. Scott Bakker's "The Warrior Prophet" and "The Thousandfold Thought" are books two and three of The Prince of Nothing series. Gary Parker dedicates "Fateful Journeys" to history majors as he offers a personal story set during the American Civil War. A grisly pattern of death has been practiced across western Washington State in "Fire and Ice" by Judith Jance. "Alex Cross's Trial" by James Patterson shows a Mississippi town where lynchings appear to be the work of the Ku Klux Klan.

Two other new mysteries are Margaret Maron's "Sand Sharks" involving a North Carolina beach, and "Below Zero" a story of a Wyoming game warden, written by C. J. Box.

The new Western, Larry McMurtry's "Rhino Ranch", is the final episode in the Duane Moore story which began in 1966 with "The Last Picture Show" and offers one last journey to Thalia, Texas, a town that continues to change at a breakneck pace. Diana Palmer's "Heartless" is a romance set in Texas ranchland. Nevada Barr's new mystery "Borderline" offers the wide-open vistas of southwestern Texas in Big Bend National Park with rafting on the Rio Grande.

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Staff member Katy Ebenholtz Myers has made a donation to the Crawfordsville Public Library in memory of her mother, bibliophile Marianne Farrell Ebenholtz. James McPherson's "Ordeal by Fire" explains the meaning of the American Civil War and Reconstruction to common soldiers, and addresses espionage operations, the war in the trans-Mississippi West, the assassination of President Lincoln, the psychological impact of the war in the South, the origins of the Lost Cause mentality, and Ulysses Grant's presidency. It's a quintessential text.

As the school semester progresses, four math books might be helpful to students. "Algebra Workbook for Dummies" contains hundreds of practice problems. "Algebra for Dummies" offers solutions by subject as does "Practical Algebra: A Self-Teaching Guide". "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Algebra" approaches the subject as a friendly voice.

If you want to study breads, Jeff Hertzberg's "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" revolutionizes home baking. "The End of Overeating" by former FDA commissioner David Kessler analysises why it is so difficult to resist certain foods and why it's so easy to overindulge. "The F-Factor Diet" of Tanya Zuckerbrot's recipes offers fiber-rich additions for a better diet.

"Misquoting Jesus" tells who changed the Bible and why, as Bart Ehrman explains mistakes and alterations made by early translators that make the original words difficult to reconstruct, affecting all subsequent versions of the text. "Mere Christianity" is C. S. Lewis' series of radio lectures addressing the central issues of Christianity in 1943 England, when all hope was threatened by the inhumanity of war. "Opus Dei" is John Allen's study of the myths and realities of the most controversial force in the Roman Catholic Church, through interviews with current members and critical ex-members. "The Last Templar" by Raymond Khoury deals with four masked horsemen dressed as templar knights who ride up the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art during a black-tie opening of a Vatican exhibit to steal a strange device. It's been a movie too.

In his second adventure "Purity of Blood", Auturo Perez-Reverte tells of a swordsman hired to rescue a girl from a convent's danger that turns out to be a religious and political conspiracy leading to the highest levels of the Spanish Inquisition.

"Prefab Modern" by Jill Herbers is a new kind of prefab housing "for a high-style, budget-conscious generation that shops at Ikea and Target", designed by architects, and discussing whether or not to buy prefab. The "Collector Car Restoration Bible" by Matt Joseph is an all-color edition of practical techniques for professional results. "Bungalow" by Jane Powell, preservationist, & Linda Svendsen, photographer, is a large book of colorful pictures of Arts and Crafts homes, both exteriors and interiors. "The Big Book of John Deere Tractors" is the complete model-by-model encyclopedia including classic toys, brochures, and collectibles by Don Macmillan. The new Calvin and Hobbes cartoon collection by Bill Watterson is called "Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat". The editors of Storey Books offer "Country Wisdom & Know-How" commenting on everything you need to learn to live off the land.

Steven Suskin's "The Sound of Broadway Music" tells what an orchestrator does, with biographies of twelve major theatre figures, and a description of 700 musicals. In "Mainly on Directing" Arthur Laurents tells about the origins and productions of "Gypsy", "West Side Story", and other musicals.

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

And the winner is...Bev Stout of Waynetown has won the Grand Prize in The Crawfordsville Library's adult "Race Into Reading" summer reading program. Director Larry Hathaway drew her name from 23 readers' entries in the Winners' Circle. Bev won two tickets to Myers Dinner Theater at Hillsboro and an overnight at its Victorian Rose Bed and Breakfast. Staff members Katy Myers and Carol Bennett report that quite a few patrons raced around the track again, and Jane White actually rounded the racetrack three times (reading 39 books in 13 weeks).

The new book "Cross Country" is Robert Sullivan's record of fifteen years and 90,000 miles of travel on the rural roads and interstates of America. To revisit the lives of Lewis and Clark, he reports his encounters with a lot of bad motels, a moving van, Emily Post, Jack Kerouac, his wife, his mother-in-law, his two kids, and enough coffee to kill an elephant. He made two dozen cross country trips from Oregon to New York, and moved his family back and forth from the East Coast to the West Coast. This is history, geography, and personal memoir as one. "Behind Closed Doors" is Natalie Collins' look at the heart of contemporary Mormonism.

"Black Like You" by John Strausbaugh tells of popular "blackface" and "whiteface" performances, popular in Broadway theater and Hollywood movies, the history that embraced minstrel-show songs and the most popular entertainers who mimicked one another. "Growing up Jim Crow" by Jennifer Ritterhouse is a study of how black and white southern children learned race. Marita Golden's book, "Don't Play in the Sun" is her personal experience as daughter of an ebony-hued father and a lighter-skinned mother analyzing her true identity influenced differently by each parent.

"Leaving Church" is a memoir of faith by Barbara Taylor who finds that the call to serve God is the call to be fully human, as she stops being the minister to be part of the flock in Georgia. "Secret Girl" is Molly Jacobs' tale of meeting her institutionalized sister after years not knowing of her existence. "America's Boy" is by Wade Rouse who buried his own unusual identity after the loss of his brother in order to keep his family comfortable.

Requested mysteries begin with the large print "Game Over", a Bill Slider story by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles that begins when a BBC journalist is murdered, and at the same time an old enemy is out to kill the Detective Inspector investigating the crime. Sandra Brown's "Smash Cut" is a Southern story featuring a CEO shot dead, his weekly companion and art dealer, the free-wheeling nephew of the deceased, and ins and outs of "breathless suspense". Harley Kozak's "A Date You Can't Refuse" follows a greeting-card artist going undercover in a media-training company that's suspected of video piracy.

Requested novels begin with Frank Delaney's "Shannon" about a World War I veteran journeying to his homeland Ireland for healing from shell shock and also for security after witnessing corruption in Boston; his journey reveals the myths, traditions, humor, and countryside allure that enrich his life. "Heaven, Texas" by Susan Phillips depends on a production assistant getting a legendary football hero back home to appear in his first movie. Brenda Joyce's "Dark Lover" is the fourth in her The Masters of Time series fantasy. Book Three in the Sisters of the Heart series by Shelley Gray is "Forgiven", a tight-knit Amish community tale about those who leave for the outside world, those who must forgive, and those seeking the truth in all societies.

Eric Tucker has composed "The Artful Vegan" with recipes from The Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco's Savoy Hotel. The stories that accompany the foods make this an especially good read.