Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

From Armistice Day to Veterans Day - In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11th Armistice Day to honor the sacrifices of our nation's veterans, commemorating cessation of hostilities in World War I, when the Allied powers signed a cease-fire with Germany at Rethondas, France, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. In 1939 Congress passed legislation making it a legal national holiday. After World War II the holiday was recognized as a day of tribute to veterans of both World Wars. Beginning in 1954 Veterans Day has honored those in all United States wars. Many groups will face east at 11 a.m. (their time) on November 11 for a moment of silence.

New books in the Crawfordsville District Public Library honor all kinds of anniversaries and deeds. Fifty years ago Peg Bracken wrote "The I Hate to Cook Book" and helped change women's schedules. She offered simple recipes that took very little time to put together. Updated for today's pantries, a new printing by Peg's daughter Jo offers to fill your kitchen with wonderful smells and laughter, whether you hate to cook or not (the same title - the 50th anniversary edition).

James Fleming's "Fixing the Sky" is full of stories from elite science, cutting-edge technology, and popular culture tracing how we've tried to monkey with weather, like navigation in the 1830s, drought in the 1890s, aircraft safety in the 1930s and world conflict since the 40s. All kinds of people have tried to manipulate the weather. "Through the Language Glass" is Guy Deutscher's inquiry why the world looks different in other languages. Can different languages lead their speakers to different ideas? Does language reflect culture in major ways? (A personal note: Helen Collar, local activist and traveler, often used to say after returning from a far-flung Old World country, "A nation must have one language in order to move forward").

Bloom's Guides help students analyze books. The library just received one about Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird". Elizabeth Abbott's "Sugar" is the history of the once most powerful commodity on earth, the sugar cane industry, the luxury staple, the cause of the sweet tooth.

"Blue Blood" contains glorious tales of the Indianapolis Colts told by Nate Dunlevy. Jon Krakauer's "Where Men Win Glory" is Pat Tillman's life walking away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to join the Army, because he harbored a remarkable moral obligation. He was killed in Afghanistan two years later.

"The A to Z of the Fashion Industry" comes from Francesca Sterlacce and Joanne Arbuckle; "The A to Z of African American Cinema" comes from the pens of Torriano and Venise Berry. The history of words and their use in effective writing to "captivate with every word" is "The Glamour of Grammar" by Roy Clark. "Delusions of Gender" is Cordelia Fine's essay about how our minds, society, and neurosexism create difference. She debunks the myth of hardwired differences between men's and women's brains, a belief, she says, "that all too often works to the detriment of ourselves and our society". "Nashville Chrome" by Rick Bass evokes the special musical era of the Beatles and Elvis Presley. Karen Carpenter, "Little Girl Blue", is Randy Schmidt's view of the lovely singer, her songs, and her death at 32. Inside the cover of "Waiter Rant" by the waiter Steve Dublanica, the author says "Eighty percent of customers are nice people just looking for something to eat. The remaining twenty percent…are socially maladjusted psychopaths." This is a funny but revealing "kitchen confidential".