Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

A New Kind of Washington Biography - As we have just observed the 279th birthday of The Father of Our Country, it's a good time to describe the new book, "George Washington's America", a biography "through his maps". Barnet Schecter, an independent historian, was inspired by the maps Washington used as surveyor and military leader, documents which remained in the family for almost a century, now in an atlas at Yale University.

From Indiana University Press, Marsha Mohr’s "Indiana Barns" has an introduction by Duncan Campbell that begins, "Few stories so well represent the history of our continent's settlement as the story of the American barn." It would be fun to identify the barn shown from Montgomery County. The Unofficial Guide to "Walt Disney World 2011" by Bob Sehlinger has the latest scoop on Universal's "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" too. "The RV Handbook" the essential how-to guide for the RV owner comes from Dave Solberg.

Four music books are John Mayer's "Anthology" of piano, vocal, and guitar music, Jack Johnson's "Strum & Sing" with guitar chords, the "AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll, The Ultimate Story of the World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band" by Murray Engleheart, and Michael Heatley’s "Jimi Hendrix Gear" about the guitars, amps and effects that revolutionized rock ‘n roll.

"Simple Food for Busy Families" with "the whole life nutrition approach" explains how to cook various pastas, herbs, and beans. Authors are Jeannette Bessinger and Tracee Yablon-Brenner.

Two new Dummies books are "Pastels for Dummies" by Sherry Stone and Anita Giddings to help discover one's inner artist, and "Green Cleaning for Dummies" by Elizabeth Goldsmith, taking recycling to a better level and reducing exposure to toxic chemicals. "Disconnect" by Devra Davis tells the truth about cell phone radiation, "what the industry has done to hide it, and how to protect your family". "Honeybee Democracy" holds Thomas Seeley's information about humanity's greatest friend among the insects. "First Aid, CPR, and AED" fifth edition meets 2005 guidelines.

David Pogue’s "Windows 7" is "the missing manual" that should "have been in the box" with the product. "CSS the Missing Manual" the fully revised 2nd edition for 2009 comes from David McFarland. "Book Lust to Go" by Nancy Pearl is recommended reading for travelers, vagabonds, and dreamers.

"Ruined" by Matthew Vincent names 101 people who screwed things up for the rest of us, like Ticketmaster "for making a $20 ticket cost $32.50", "George Vernon Hudson for inventing daylight saving time", and "William Harley and Arthur Davidson for making us deaf".

A lovely "home economics" review dedicated to learning from the 1920s is "Amy Barickman's Vintage Notions", an inspirational guide to needlework, cooking, sewing, and fashion; by months, the author offers ideas that rediscover earlier home activities and she reproduces 1920s articles and illustrations.

Books about science begin with Ian Sample's "Massive: The Missing Particle that Sparked the Greatest Hunt in Science" about Higgs boson or the "God particle". "Physics of the Impossible" by Michio Kaku is a scientific exploration into the world of phasers, force fields, teleportation, and time travel. Kevin Kelly's "What Technology Wants" is an optimistic look at how humanity and technology join to produce increasing opportunities in the world to give our lives greater meaning.

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Display Highlights Local Business History - "Montgomery County @ Work" is the Reference Department's new photo and artifact display mounted in the Upper Level exhibit area of the Crawfordsville Library. It reminds us of the large variety of local companies active in our recent and distant past. Items about Raybestos were loaned by Mary McClain; Mid-States Steel & Wire objects came from Dan McIlrath. A few of the other businesses shown are Gregory & Son (Ladoga), Wilson Brothers Shirt Co., D. Yount & Son, Crawfordsville Coffin Co., Crawfordsville Seed Co., and the Johnson Acetylene Gas Co. Enjoy them on your way to pick up tax forms or to research other local history. And remember that bringing in interesting photos to be scanned and returned to you helps to enlarge the library's permanent collection.

President Barack Obama's "Words that Inspired a Nation" presents what he calls essential speeches from 2000 to the Inauguration. In "The Roots of Obama's Rage" Dinesh D'Souza tells what he thinks are the President's influences and what motivates him. From Life Magazine comes "Century of Change: America in Pictures 1900-2000". The photos are entertaining and special, showing facets of our culture.

Alan McPherson's "Botanic Gems" introduces public gardens in Indiana, a useful guide for planning pleasurable motor trips. Rita Kohn's "True Brew" is a guide to craft beer in Indiana. "Into the Deep" by Karsten Schneider explores the earth's oceans and what's in them, set against a black background page as though we're down at the bottom of the sea viewing never before photographed creatures full of glamour. Susan Casey's "The Wave" tells eyewitness accounts of ships, and surfers too, being hit by waves taller than imaginable, as in 2000 when the British research vessel Discovery was trapped in a vortex of mammoth waves approaching one hundred feet!

Two new knitting books are available: "Brave New Knits" showing 26 projects from The Knitting Blogosphere by Julie Turjoman, and "New England Knits" offering timeless knitwear with a modern twist by Cecily MacDonald.

Cookbooks continue to be popular. Joanne Stuttgen's "Café Indiana Cookbook" allows us to whip up local classics like biscuits and gravy, chicken with noodles or dumplings, and Hoosier breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches. Several recipes come from Wallace. Ree Drummond's "The Pioneer Woman Cooks" combines attractive pictures of life on a ranch with step-by-step recipes for good fare. There's also "College Vegetarian Cooking" by Megan and Jill Carle.

"Frank: The Voice" is a new biography of Frank Sinatra by James Kaplan. The contemporary music study "LZ-'75" by Stephen Davis tells about the lost chronicles of Led Zeppelin's 1975 American tour. Alyn Shipton's "A New History of Jazz" is a valuable read for any fan because "This remains the standard-bearer for jazz histories." "Queen" is the ultimate illustrated history of the Crown Kings of Rock by Phil Sutcliffe, tackling the band's towering achievements.

There's a variety of new fiction. "Maybe This Time" by Jennifer Crusie introduces an about-to-be-remarried bride whose ex-husband challenges her to deal with two orphaned children from his cousin. A lady threatened with a retirement community move tries to find the American soldier stationed near her in England during World War II in "Keeping Time" by Stacey McGlynn. Southerner Diana Palmer's "Lone Star Winter" holds two romantic stories: "The Winter Soldier" and "Cattleman's Pride".

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Second Saturday, An Outing with Opportunties - Come to The Friends of the Library's Second Saturday book sale beginning at 9 a.m. February 12, 2011. Remember that the only costs are donations to the cause. Notice the special sale on the big table at the entrance (on the lower level at the Crawfordsville Library). It features selected gems like "Robinson Crusoe in Words of One Syllable" from 1899, "The Da Vinci Code" Special Illustrated Edition (Dan Brown), photographs of the "Appalachian Trail" including maps, "The Beatles Anthology", and a "Washington, D. C. Photographic Tour".

New fiction begins with Jayne Ann Krentz' novel "Witchcraft" whose cover displays a red rose with a needle through the blossom; in the story this is left on the doorstep of a mystery writer who runs to a Napa Valley vineyard owner for help with her fear.

"A Nose for Justice" is the first novel in a new series from Rita Mae Brown. Leaving a Wall Street career for a Nevada ranch, our heroine and her wirehaired dachshund join her great-aunt and her German shepherd mix. Together in this whodunit, they rediscover late-19th century history. "Don't Blink" by James Patterson describes a famous restaurant where an infamous mob lawyer is murdered, and where forces on both sides of the law have all-out war. Louise Penny's "Bury Your Dead" is a Chief Inspector Gamache novel about the Winter Carnival in Quebec City, remains of Samuel de Champlain, and tensions between the English and the French.

"After America" by John Birmingham is alternate history: the hoped-for survival of a violent war that besieged New York City after our continent was devastated three years ago. Martin Smith's Arkady Renko (Investigator) novel "Three Stations" is his latest detective tale set in Russia where with intuition and humor he fights not only wrongdoers but the corrupt state, street urchins, and bureaucracy as well. A new twist on the novel "Mansfield Park" by Jane Austen, "Murder at Mansfield Park" by Lynn Shepherd gives the characters new traits, a murder mystery scenario, and crimes of the heart.

Nonfictions offer variety too. "The Guinness 2011 World Records", "exploding with thousands of new records", defies a choice of the most outrageous or most impressive event. "Kovels' Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide for 2011" is known as America's most authoritative Antiques Annual. The huge new 14"x20"x1" tome called "Dinosaurs" by Steve Brusatte is both a photo album and encyclopedic text about those impressive beasts. "Photoshop CS5" by Sandor Burkus was designed by Softwear News; step by step tutorials show the secrets of the professionals.

Gail Eisnitz' "Slaughterhouse" is an expose of the U.S. meat industry. "At the Corner of Music Row and Memory Lane" by Stan Hitchcock tells his life as he lived it bringing together the elements of Country Music Television. As a recording artist, songwriter, and television personality, and most proudly an Ozark Hillbilly he tells tales of years on the road, and living the "music life" with the stars.

Two helpful books on Down syndrome are "Fasten Your Seatbelt" a crash course for brothers and sisters by Brian Skotko and "Babies with Down Syndrome: A New Parents' Guide" edited by Susan Skallerup.

Six graphic Barefoot Gen novels (comic book stories) that are read back to front (volumes 5-10) by Keiji Nakazawa are "The Never-Ending War", "Writing the Truth", "Bones into Dust", "Merchants of Death", "Breaking Down Borders", and "Never Give Up". The ten-volume saga shows life in Japan after years of war and privations as seen through the eyes of seven-year-old Gen Nakaoka, starting in 1945 with the atom bomb.

Upstairs/ Downstairs January, 2011

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 January 28, 2011 you can find the following new books in the Adult Fiction section of the library.

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa
Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende
The Pregnant Widow by Martin Amis
Sidney Sheldon's After the Darkness by Tilly Bagshawe
There Goes the Bride: an Agatha Raisin Mystery by M.C. Beaton
Walks With Men by Ann Beattie
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
212 by Alafair Burke
Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo
Wrecked by Carol Higgins Clark
Sparrowhawk: Jack Frake by Edward Cline
Poor Little Bitch Girl by Jackie Collins
The Lion by Nelson DeMille
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans
Hell Gate by Linda Fairstein
The Moon Looked Down by Dorothy Garlock
Stay a Little Longer by Dorothy Garlock
To Try Men's Souls: a Novel of George Washington and the Fight for American Freedom by Newt Gingrich
Ticket to Ride by Ed Gorman
Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Nightwalker by Heather Graham
Down River by Karen Harper
Where Grace Abides by B. J. Hoff
Ice by Linda Howard
The Sins of Lord Easterbrook by Madeline Hunter
Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson
This Time Tomorrow by Michael Jaime-Becerra
Trial by Fire by J. A. Jance
Take Three by Karen Kingsbury

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Deans Donate New Book about Lew Wallace - The Crawfordsville Library staff appreciates a gift by Phillip and Gordon Dean in memory of Dr. James Kirtley, in the form of the new book by Gail Stephens, called "Shadow of Shiloh" about Major General Lew Wallace in the Civil War. The author gave a talk at Wabash College last November 30th, discussing her work.

Monticello, Indiana author W. C. Madden's "Lafayette Murder and Mayhem" covers five crimes that led to a death sentence in Tippecanoe County, and in the introduction he says "The county has averaged four murders per year since 1988." It's good thorough local history.

Zac Bissonnette's "Debt-Free U" explains how he paid for an outstanding college education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst without loans, scholarships, or mooching off his parents. It is interesting reading. James Thom's "The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction" looks authentic and helpful; he says we need to realize we're all a part of history. Scott Simon's "Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other" is a book that praises adoption by relating a hundred anecdotes.

Next is "Can America Survive?" by Pastor John Hagee and the cover also lists his "10 prophetic signs that we are the terminal generation"; the author describes the year 2012, a look at Armageddon - and the ultimate coming of the Messiah. In Billy Graham's "Storm Warning" we're told that today's events must bring us back to the Gospel. Steven Furtick's "Sun Stand Still", is, he says, what happens when you dare to ask God for the impossible, "to rise above mundane living and embrace faith-filled audacity". "Even Silence Has an End" is Ingrid Betancourt's review of her campaign for the presidency of Colombia in 2002, retelling her captivity in the Colombian jungle for over six years, and how she developed a spirit to have daily rituals, prayers, and joy at helping others.

The new fiction list begins with Ruth Rendell's "Portobello" weaving together the troubled lives of several people in the gentrified neighborhood of London's Notting Hill after an area resident discovers an envelope bulging with cash and posts a notice to attract its owner. "The Mullah's Storm" by Thomas Young, shows Afghanistan as seen by two survivors of a plane crash battling for survival across forbidding terrain while being stalked by the Taliban. David Grossman's "To the End of the Land" is a tribute to family life and the cost of war, when a middle-aged Israeli mother hikes in the Galilee with a companion to avoid receiving bad news about her son at war; the two express their life stories illustrating the "surreality of daily life in Israel". "The Outward Room" by Millen Brand tells of a young woman's journey from madness to self-discovery (first published in 1937 and fresh learning for today). "Ambush Creek" by Phil Dunlap is a Western in which a U.S. marshal is asked by the sheriff to look into suspicious activity by three unsavory bounty hunters; the search leads him straight into a deadly game.

"The 2nd Lie" by Tara Quinn describes several families' challenges in Chandler, Ohio; "It's small-town America at its best". "Indigo Blue" by Catherine Anderson tells about an elusive-spirited woman in Wolf's Landing, Oregon who has to make a choice when influenced by betrayal and suspicion. "Everlasting Kiss" by Amanda Ashley visits L.A. where a woman is attracted to a vampire who is out to hunt the Blood Thief draining young vampires. "Wild Fire" by Christine Feehan offers the Panama rain forest where leopard people act like wild animals. Debbie Macomber's third volume of "Midnight Sons" includes three novellas about Hard Luck, Alaska, researched personally by panning for gold, interviewing bush pilots, and dining on moose meat.