Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

The Story on the Wall - As part of the local Sugar Creek Quilters' exhibit this month at the Crawfordsville Library's Mary Bishop Gallery, eight pieces present a joint-effort fairy tale in which each artist wrote one chapter and made her own illustrating wall quilt. What a complex challenge! "And Then What Happened????" is the title of the story, which is beguiling and original, and each quilt shows special techniques, but the eight separate pieces also combine to form a unified and joyful pleasure to study. The Quilters' large display exudes clever ideas, unusual materials, and multi-dimensional effects, and besides hanging pieces there are quilted purses and Christmas tree ornaments. The colors provide a "Spring Dance" heralding different holidays and seasons we can anticipate as the year unfolds. An amazing "visitor experience" is guaranteed.

New DVD movies at the Crawfordsville Library include "Up" (Disney), "Julie & Julia" and "Doubt" (Meryl Streep), "Slumdog Millionaire" (a Danny Boyle film), "Seven Pounds" (Will Smith), "Gran Torino" (Clint Eastwood), "District 9" (sci-fi), and "The Vampire's Assistant" (Cirque du Freak).

"The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy" by Peter Wilson explains how it devastated 17th century Europe. Wilson's aim is to help the comprehension of modern European history. "The Last Founding Father" is Harlow Unger's biography of James Monroe and our nation's call to greatness; as a fierce fighter in the Revolutionary War, Monroe suffered a near-fatal wound at Trenton, survived the cruelest winter at Valley Forge, and fought heroically at Monmouth, serving America as its first full-time politician before becoming our fifth President of the United States. "A Song for Nagasaki" by Paul Glynn tells about Takashi Nagai, scientist, convert, and survivor of the atomic bomb. Neil Sheehan's "A Fiery Peace in a Cold War" is about Bernard Schriever, the American Air Force officer who led the high-stakes effort in the nuclear arms race that changed history. He progressed from being a boy in Texas as a six-year old immigrant from Germany in 1917, through his apprenticeship in bi-planes of the 1930s, to battles with the Japanese during WW II. In 1954 he set out to create a class of weapons that could enforce peace with the Russians.

"The Real Messiah" by Stephan Huller, is a requested book about the author of the Bible Book of Mark, in which Marcus Agrippa is considered perhaps the true Messiah. "The Time of Christ's Return Revealed" is Charles Pierce's explanations of the Bible Books of Daniel and Revelation. Richard Purtill's "Reason to Believe" discusses why faith makes sense. Karen Armstrong's "The Case for God" shows the great "lengths to which humankind has gone in order to experience a sacred reality" called by many names, and she makes clear how the changing face of the world has necessarily changed the importance of religion for societies and individuals.

Natural history book of the week is "The Sibley Guide to Trees" by David Allen Sibley; it seems top be complete in scope but small enough to carry into the field.

"The Best Plays Theater Yearbook 2007-2008" edited by Jeffrey Jenkins highlights ten plays. Alice Sebold, Editor of "The Best American Short Stories of 2009" offers 20 pieces selected from publications in the U. S. and Canada. She says, "Stories provide an endless access into another world, brought forth by an infinite number of gifted minds." The book cover says these twenty "demonstrate the human ability to endure crises and to regenerate afterward."