Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Summer Fun is Coming - "Readopoly" begins next Tuesday. It's the summer reading program for toddlers through teens, involving reading, crafts, family game night, story times, and special programs. Sign up begins June 1st at 9 a.m. The Crawfordsville Library will be closed Sunday and Monday for Memorial Day.

Religious relics around the world provide stories about life and varieties of faith in Peter Manseau's "Rag and Bone". Practical advice fills the 1,000-page "Getting Financial Aid" published by the College Board listing schools' offerings by states. "2010 Scholarship Handbook" shows sponsors of awards, internships and loans by subjects and donors.

"Native American Clothing" is an illustrated history by Theodore Brasser with beautiful photos of intricate tribal costumes. "North Korea, A Country Study" comes from the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. "An End to Suffering" is Pankaj Mishra's "part biography, part history, part travel book, part philosophic treatise".

Harley Pasternak offers "The 5 Factor World Diet" with 120 fat-burning easy-to-prepare recipes. James McManus writes about the game "Cowboys Full" the story of poker, from its roots in China, the Middle East, and Europe to its acceptance as a global and especially American phenomenon. "Nurture Shock" is "new thinking about children" by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, asking what dangers affect children's lives, when children should be taught about race, where the brightest children are, and why kids are often cruel, thus getting to the core of how we grow, learn, and live.

"Terror by Night" by Terry Caffey is the true story of the brutal Texas murder that destroyed a family and the unusual events that restored peace to the small town. "Relieving Pain Naturally" by Sylvia Goldfarb is a guide to drug-free help. "The Talented Miss Highsmith" by Joan Schenkar is the secret life and serious art of Patricia Highsmith, "The Dark Lady of American Letters".

In Kate White's novel "Hush" a divorcing mother must lie to the police to justify her case for custody of her children. Alafair Burke's "212" finds a New York University sophomore threatened on a Web site and then murdered; a NYPD woman detective solves this by exposing the darkness beneath the glamorous surface of NYC. The Murder, She Wrote story "A Fatal Feast" by Donald Bain is based on the TV series dramas, this time zeroing in on a murder at Cabot Cove at Thanksgiving, while Jessica Fletcher's Scotland Yard friend is visiting. "Laughed 'Til He Died" is a Death on Demand story by Carolyn Hart; on an idyllic South Carolina island a mystery bookstore owner and her husband are plunged into a web of danger. Nevada Barr's "13 1/2" is a psychological thriller taking the reader from a mid-1970s Minnesota murder spree to a trailer park situation in Mississippi, then to post-Katrina New Orleans. "Deception" by Jonathan Kellerman is an Alex Delaware story and the offenders are teachers at a prestigious L. A. prep school. The plot reveals the bad and sad side of supposed idyllic rich living.

S.M. Stirling's science fiction story "The Sword of the Lady" takes place in post-apocalyptic United States; there a survivor hopes to understand the "Change" at Nantucket where he finds a beautifully made long sword to use.

One Book One Twitter Book Club

One Book One Twitter Book Club - Summer, 2010

"What if everyone on Twitter read the same book at the same time and we formed one massive international book club?" Jeff Howe, contributing editor for Wired Magazine and author of the book Crowdsourcing, asked and answered his own question by forming the "One Book One Twitter Book Club".

Via Twitter, nominations were collected, top selections were posted, and the book with the most votes won. The winner for summer 2010 is American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Published in 2002, this book was the recipient of multiple literary awards including the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Bram Stoker Awards as well as a New York Times bestseller...

"Just released from prison, Shadow encounters Mr. Wednesday, an enigmatic stranger who seems to know a lot about him, and when Mr. Wednesday offers him a job as his bodyguard, Shadow accepts and is plunged into a dark and perilous world. "

Follow and participate in the "One Book One Twitter Book Club" on Twitter @1b1t2010
and add #1b1t to your tweets.

Click here for the One Book One Twitter discussion schedule
Click here to check availability of American Gods in the Crawfordsville District Public Library collection
Follow CDPL on Twitter @CvillePL

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Meet a New Library Staff Member - Andrew Swank is the newest member of the circulation group at the Crawfordsville District Public Library. A 2006 graduate of Southmont High School, Andrew is studying Elementary Education at Purdue and says, "This part-time job enlarges my concepts about teaching and the importance of reading."

Here are requested books of fiction. In "The Aloha Quilt" Jennifer Chiaverini's latest Elm Creek Quilts novel, the quilt camp manager is invited to Maui to help launch a quilters' retreat at a bed and breakfast. Robin Pilcher's "The Long Way Home" features a step-daughter flying back to Scotland to care for her step-father during the summer, and perhaps to build a care center for him on his property. "Shanghai Girls" by Lisa See shows that city in 1937 when the sisters' father loses his wealth forcing them to flee across China and eventually to Los Angeles for a new life. "The Inn at Angel Island" is first in a brand-new series by Thomas Kinkade, developing the idea of harbor angels that guide the lost. "The Queen's Governess" by Karen Harper tells about Elizabeth I's closest ally and trusted confidante, a woman "whose story has never been told...until now". "Best Friends Forever" by Jennifer Weiner involves neighbors from the age of nine years, later opposites in high school, still later one a weathergirl suddenly urgently needed by her childhood buddy.

"Caught" by Harlan Coben deals with a missing girl, the stunned community, a predator who may have taken her, and a reporter who must see through what seems true about the situation. In "Nightwalker" by Heather Graham a Las Vegas visitor witnesses a sudden crime leading to her search for answers in an outlying ghost town. "A Promise for Spring" by Kim Sawyer is set in 1874 when a well-bred Englishwoman becomes a "wildflower bride" in Kansas; her groom is forced to offer her a deal if she will remain there until warm weather returns. "Think Twice" by Lisa Scottoline makes the reader question the nature of evil, and if it is born in us or is bred in some. (One twin is the victim of the other.) Karen Kingsbury's inspirational "Take Three" is part of the Above the Line series; it's about film producers with family crises that lead them forward.

A pair of romance novels from Tessa Dare includes "Surrender of a Siren" a passion for the high seas, and "A Lady of Persuasion" a passion to win another's lover.

Requested nonfiction begins with Gavin Menzies' "1421" his high-spirited composition about the year China discovered America, when "the largest fleet the world had ever seen sets sail from China to proceed all the way to the ends of the earth to collect tribute from the barbarians beyond the seas." On the other hand, Nick Schuyler's "Not Without Hope". His story `starts on February 28, 2009, when four sports-lovers take a deep-sea fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico where their anchor gets stuck and a nightmare begins amidst brutal waves. Biography by the late Mafia boss John Gotti's daughter Victoria Gotti is "This Family of Mine" with "bombshell revelations and stunning insider secrets. "Open" is Andre Agassi's autobiography admitting his hostile feeling about tennis, his obsessed father/coach, his triumphs and setbacks, his knowledge of the sport, and his stirring farewell to his profession. "Heaven and Hell' is Don Felder's story of life in the Eagles band (1974-2001).

Three inspirational books are "Life After Death: The Evidence" by Dinesh D'Souza, director of the Y God Institute, "Love & War: Finding the Marriage You've Dreamed Of" by John Eldredge, Director of Ransomed Heart Ministries, and "The Magnificent Obsession: Embracing the God-Filled Life" by Anne Lotz, daughter of Billy Graham.

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

The Library offers additional parking space - Crawfordsville Library Director Larry Hathaway has opened the new parking lot for patrons to use, although the signage and landscaping have yet to be added.

A new art book from Indiana University is "T. C. Steele & The Society of Western Artists - 1895-1914" by Rachel Perry. It explores the ways today's Indiana artists are finding success. Besides the text, eleven pages are dedicated to "our" local artist, Steele. One is a photo of him and Selma Steele in their living room at the House of the Singing Winds. One shows that house just after construction. One shows his painting shack in a nearby ravine. Paintings included are "The Mysterious River" "Girl at the Piano", "Lost Cove, Tennessee" "Afternoon at the Ford", "Gordon Hill", "In the Whitewater Valley", "The Old Mill", "Mount San Bernardino", "the Cloud", "An August Morning", and "Zinnias". An appendix lists his paintings exhibited from 1896-1915. By contrast, "Tiny Art Director" by Bill Zeman shows us a toddler and her vision of the best art her father should be making, namely whimsical, cartoon-pictures. The child's instructions and the father's reactions and drawings make this a charming little read.

Here are novels about the past. A religious Sister is thrust into an ancient conflict between the Society of Angelologists and the monstrously beautiful descendants of angels and humans, the Nephilim in "Angelology" by Danielle Trussoni. "The Surrendered" by Chang-rae Lee profiles a successful woman deciding to confront her past in war-ravaged Korea; her story shows the nature of heroism and sacrifice. "The Lotus Eaters" by Tatjana Soli becomes a reminiscence of the past when a couple faces the fall of Saigon in 1975. Two books by Tracie Peterson come from her historical fiction Brides of Gallatin County series; number two is "A Love to Last Forever" set in 1879 and number three is "A Dream to Call My Own" about 1881 on the rugged Montana frontier. "Fields of Grace" by Kim Sawyer shows immigrants on an 1872 Kansas homestead. "Alice I Have Been" is Melanie Benjamin's first historical novel, the life story of "the real Alice" who at ten-years-old urged a grown-up friend to write his fanciful "Alice in Wonderland". "The Hidden" by Tobias Hill is a terror thriller centered in Greece in 2004 when a group of archaeologists searches for buried traces of a formidable ancient power.

Robyn Carr's romance novels, "Moonlight Road" and "Angel's Peak" are segments of her Virgin River series. Susan Wiggs' romance "The Summer Hideaway" comes from her Lakeshore Chronicles; the prologue begins in Korengal Valley, Kunar province, Afghanistan.

"Boulevard" by Bill Guttentag "reveals a dark slice of L.A. life that most have never heard about" according to screenwriter Scott Frank. Joshua Ferris' "The Unnamed" is about a Manhattan lawyer who dotes on his wife and daughter, but suddenly walks away. "Where the God of Love Hangs Out" by Amy Bloom offers groups of connected short stories about families and friendships. "One D.O.A., One on the Way" is Mary Robison's "effortlessly smart and deliriously off-kilter" novel that keeps the reader guessing to the end, focusing on a couple with the names Adam and Eve. In Walter Mosley's "Known to Evil" an experienced NYC cop finds himself the prime suspect in a crime he's trying to solve. "The Ask" by Sam Lipsyte is a novel of many subjects behind a man's responsibility to obtain a huge donation for his university. "American Salvage" by Bonnie Campbell is a group of stories of rural Michigan .

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Library receives art book by Jerry and Cindy Smith and research by Donnelley and Sons...Jerry and Cindy Smith have donated their latest art book "Gems of Montgomery County" to the Crawfordsville Public Library. Their introduction tells how for over 30 years they have "canoed Sugar Creek, hiked state park trails, and have probably driven every road in Montgomery County." This volume contains plates of his paintings of local landmarks, including museums, churches, outlying towns' features, and many rural scenes the reader can enjoy while trying to identify bridges and spots in Shades State Park. It's hard to pick one favorite sketch, though Smith confesses loving to paint water in any form, and Sugar Creek is one of his many star subjects in this beautiful collection.

The library has just received the most recent Lakeside Classic from R.R. Donnelley & Sons called "Plymouth Plantation" containing selections from the actual writings of William Bradford and Edward Winslow. Thomas Philbrick supplies the introduction full of pertinent history. This is the 107th volume, another amazing feat of research and publishing. "It Happened in Italy" holds Elizabeth Bettina's untold stories of how the people of Italy defied the horrors of the Holocaust. The fifty-year-old story about those who helped the Jews during that time abounds with memories of survival in the midst of horror and sadness.

And now fiction, James Patterson's "Worst Case" shows how a witty detective stops the most ingenious killer in the history of New York - "chaos capital of the world". Linda Fairstein's "Hell Gate" is about "a dark world most people would prefer to think doesn't exist (also in NYC). "Blood Ties" by Kay Hooper is a Bishop/Special Crimes Unit novel in which a special group of mavericks and misfits are trained by the FBI to hunt the worst human monsters imaginable. "Trial by Fire" by J. A. Jance takes us to a raging blaze in the Arizona desert, when a survivor who can't identify herself is helped in amazing ways. Eric Van Lustbader's "Last Snow" is a thriller chase that takes place after an American Senator supposedly on a political trip to the Ukraine, turns up dead on the island of Capri. "The Last Surgeon" by Michael Palmer pits a doctor (a veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder) against a ruthless psychopath who has made murder his art form.

"Ticket to Ride" by Ed Gorman is a Sam McCain story in which America's favorite small-town detective must solve two linked murders against the backdrop of America's Cultural Revolution. "Razor Sharp" by Fern Michaels offers a sisterhood of "do good" women a chance to right a wrong that's hard to do because of society's behavior. "Brava, Valentine" by Adriana Trigiani begins as snow falls like glitter over a wedding in Tuscany; the story continues in Greenwich Village and Buenos Aires. In J. D. Robb's "Fantasy in Death" it's "game over" for the criminals after NYPD Lieutenant Eve Dallas solves a shocking murder in a computer game tech room.

Karen White's "The Girl on Legare Street" features Charleston, South Carolina where a realtor confronts the past and must work with her mother after years of estrangement. "Thicker than Blood" by C. J. Darlington has won the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writer Guild Award; a stolen Hemingway first edition leads the main character to fear for her life on her own sister's doorstep.

A special story book is "Under the Table Books" a novel of stories by Todd Walton. The background is a bookstore where customers leave their choice of something of equal value to the books they carry away. The stories are very short, varied, and delightful each in their own way. There are 80 stories and poems, each illustrated by the author.

Upstairs/ Downstairs May, 2010

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 May 1, you can find the following new books in the Adult Fiction section of the library.

Between the Assassinations and The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

War of the Heart by Greg Allen

Deadly Desire by Keri Arthur

The Warrior Prophet by Scott R. Bakker

Borderline by Nevada Barr

Allison's Journey and A Sister's Hope by Wanda Brunstetter

On the Grind by Stephen J. Cannell

Temptation Ridge by Robyn Carr

Intervention by Robin Cook

Knock Out by Catherine Coulter

Medusa by Clive Cussler

Shannon by Frank Delaney

Daisy Chain by Mary E. Demuth

Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman

Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

The Eleventh Victim by Nancy Grace

Forgiven by Shelley Shepard Gray

Ravens by George Dawes Green

Deep Down by Karen Harper

The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey

Burn by Linda Howard

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Blindman's Bluff by Faye Kellerman

A Date You Can't Refuse by Harley Jane Kozak

Oh Joe by Michael Z. Lewin

Black Water Rising by Attica Locke

Sooner or Later by Debbie Macomber

Fatal Flip by Peg Marberg

Montana Creeds: Dylan / Montana Creeds: Logan/ Montana Creeds: Tyler by Linda Lael Miller

Slip of the Knife by Denise Mina

The Mist by Carla Neggars

Swimsuit by James Patterson

Heaven, Texas by Elizabeth Phillips

Cemetery Dance by Douglas Preston

206 Bones by Kathy Reichs

The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners by Luanne Rice

The Betrayal Game by David L. Robbins

Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih

Follow Me by Joanna Scott

Black Hills by Nora Roberts

Undone by Karin Slaughter

Get Real by Donald E. Westlake

Rain Song by Alice Wisler

Alibi by Terry Woods

When the Soul Mends by Cindy Woodsmall

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Art League Gift Enhances Library's Art Collection - Department K of The Art League of Montgomery County has contributed three special books to the Crawfordsville Library as memorial contributions. "Doorways, Windows & Transoms", "Contemporary Designs" (both stained glass pattern books) by Anna Croyle, and "Making Stained Glass Boxes" (a photographic and descriptive instruction book with patterns) by Michael Johnston have been donated in memory of William Reidel, father of Department K member Nancy Bowes. The new manuals have received personalized book plates; well-chosen gifts like these are appreciated and they enhance the value of the local collection.

Other new books are commentaries. "The Knowledge Deficit" by E. D. Hirsch, Jr. is a critical analysis of the shocking educational gap for American children; it speaks to the general public, parents and teachers. "Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Luster" is Dana Thomas' behind-the-scenes look at the high-fashion industry today, as world traveler and writer for Newsweek in Paris, interviewing corporate heads and factory workers.

"Make Job Loss Work for You" features the Deems Job Getting Skills system developed by Richard and Terri Deems. "Getting What We Deserve" about health & medical care in America is offered by Alfred Sommer.

"The Making of a Story" is a new Norton Guide to Creative Writing by Alice LaPlante. "Clean, Well-Lighted Sentences" by Janis Bell is a helpful guide to avoiding the most common errors in grammar and punctuation. Town &Country "Wedding Speeches & Toasts" by Caroline Tiger has other "words" for family and friends at ceremonies. "Social Networking for Genealogists" by Drew Smith offers chapters on blogs, collaborative editing, message boards, mailing lists, and other up-to-date methods.

Another new nonfiction title is Immaculee Ilibagiza's "Led by Faith" about rising from the ashes of the Rwandan genocide alone, hanging on to her faith, and finally enabled to come to the U.S. to work for the United Nations. "A Perfect Mess" is Lisa Harper's essay showing why we don't have to worry about being good enough for God. Rebecca Skloot's "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" was written when Henrietta's children found out her cells (taken during illness) launched a medical revolution, used mostly without her own knowledge. Humorous girl-talk about life in general can be enjoyed in "Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog" by Lisa Scottoline.

The story "The Summer Kitchen" by Karen Weinreb makes a heroine of a mother who loses her wealth and is forced to work in a bakery patronized by her own friends. "The Bordeaux Betrayal" is Ellen Crosby's new wine country mystery about the Mount Vernon, Virginia area. Vince Flynn's "Pursuit of Honor" races through espionage, covert intelligence, and counterterrorism in the District of Columbia. Allison Brennan's thriller "Cutting Edge" requires the FBI's domestic terrorism unit to stop a sadistic assassin. "The Careful Use of Compliments" is an Isabel Dalhousie novel by Alexander McCall Smith concerning an art auction puzzle, namely two new paintings attributed to a now-deceased artist, so are they forgeries? "After You" by Julie Buxbaum makes use of the story "The Secret Garden" when a best friend steps in to become a mother-figure for her deceased friend's daughter. Laurell Hamilton's "Divine Misdemeanors" is dark fantasy with magical characters active in Los Angeles. Two sisters separated by fate reconnect to clash and then unite in "Once in a Blue Moon" by Eileen Goudge. "Big Girl" is Danielle Steel's latest novel about a chubby girl dealing with her weight problem; "big girl or not, she is terrific and discovers that herself." "A Slow Burn" by Mary DeMuth is a Texas story of 1977 and Book Two of her Defiance Texas Trilogy.