Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Youth Department Offers Services for the Youngest Patrons - The new flyer at the Crawfordsville District Public Library, "Youth Services Department Welcomes You and Your Baby" lists special programs, the story time calendar for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, Wiggle and Giggle hours with music and movement for ages eighteen months and up, and annual events for young children. While some events require registration, other programs are drop-in with no registration required. Please feel free to call the Youth Services Department at 362-2242 ext. 115 for programming attendance details.

A. S. Byatt's "The Children's Book" begins when an author's son invites to his home a runaway boy who's sketching pictures in the basement of a museum; the setting is Europe prior to World War I. Anne Rice's "Of Love and Evil" is a haunting thriller of angels and assassins involved in dark worlds of times past. Entertainer Steve Martin's story "An Object of Beauty" is a narrator-told story about "the woman he's been unable to let go of for years"; 22 colored art reproductions are included in the book because the story studies the business of fine art collecting and the personalities that make it run.

Glenn Beck's "The Overton Window" is a thriller about an object that can shape our present and our future by manipulating public perception, so radical thoughts become acceptable; part of the plot is an unprecedented attack on U.S. soil. "Rescue" by Anita Shreve begins when a rookie paramedic pulls a young woman from her wrecked car. Two Patchwork Mysteries are Jo Ann Brown's "Time to Share" about a quilt that symbolizes the panoramic view from Mount Greylock, and Kristin Eckhardt's "Family Patterns" taking place in 1920.

"A Beginner's Guide to Acting English" is a set of observations by standup comedian Shappi Khorsandi, after she and her brother have been "shipped" to a new country and become Iranians in England. "Half the Sky" by journalist Nicholas Kristof describes what certain girls have done to help women's causes around the world; their final chapter, "Four Steps You Can Take in the Next Ten Minutes" proposes sensible ways to progress in this field step by step. Jay Bakker's "Fall to Grace" explains his own fall after his parents' devastation, his subsequent renewal, and his devotion to his ministry.

President George W. Bush has written "Decision Points" describing the critical thinking that shaped his presidency and personal life. Karl Rove's "Courage and Consequence" is ultimately about the joy of a life committed to the conservative cause, a life spent in political combat and service to country, no matter the costs. King Abdullah II of Jordan offers "Our Last Best Chance" about the pursuit of peace in a time of peril. He sees the window for peace between Israel and the Palestinians closing and pleads for tough decisions to end hostilities.

"Reality is Broken" is Jane McGonigal's research into why playing games makes us better and how the hobby can change the world. She sees game designers like herself hitting on core truths about what makes us happy and using these discoveries to astonishing effect in virtual environments. She says the future will belong to those who can understand, design, and play games. Ted Fishman's "Shock of Gray" identifies the aging of populations pitting young against old, child against parent, worker against boss, company against rival, and nation against nation; human relationships are altered when the few support the many, when some of the aged are very healthy and some are dependent. Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America offers "A Chance to Make History" about what works and what doesn't work in providing an excellent education for all.

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

The collection "Inside Looking Out" has been donated to the Crawfordsville Library by the Antique Study Club in memory of member Ginny Yount, who dedicated 62 short poems written between 1972 and 2000 to her family and friends. In Ginny's honor the Club also gave the library "All God's Creatures Go to Heaven", an original short story by Amy Nolfo-Wheeler illustrated by original paintings of Nancy Noel. Ginny dedicated lots of time and effort to share her art and poetry.

"A Great Unrecorded History" by Wendy Moffat is a review of the life of E.M. Forster, author of "Howard's End", "A Room with a View", and "A Passage to India".
Richard Lederer's "A Treasury for Dog Lovers" holds information, games, and stories like "Why Dogs are better than Cats" and "Ten Commandments for Dog Owners". "The Mind's Eye" by Oliver Sacks tells amazing stories of people who are able to navigate the world and communicate with others, despite losing what many of us consider indispensable senses and abilities. For all of these people the challenge is to adapt to a radically new way of being in the world.

"Losing Mum and Pup" is Christopher Buckley's memoir of his larger-than-life parents, author and commentator William F. Buckley and charity fundraiser Patricia Taylor Buckley. David Beckmann's "Exodus from Hunger" says we're called to change the politics of those who are starving. His Bread for the World organization is helping to lead the way towards providing food everywhere.

"Weaving Made Easy" by Liz Gipson holds basic instructions, offering 17 beginning projects. Scott Plumlee's "Chain and Bead Jewelry Creative Connections" offers new techniques for wire-wrapping and bead-setting.

In "The Investment Answer" Daniel Goldie teaches managing money to protect your financial future. (Legal)"Contracts" is a Nolo Essential Business Desk Reference by Richard Stim. "Nolo's Encyclopedia of Everyday Law" answers most general and frequently asked legal questions. The West Nutshell Series booklet called "Federal Disability Law in a Nutshell" comes from Ruth Colker.

Here are books requested by patrons. Linda Porter's "Katherine the Queen" is about the remarkable life of Katherine Parr, last wife of Henry VIII, also showing the terrifying and exciting world of the Tudor courts. Laura Hillenbrand's "Unbroken" is the unusual World War II story of Lt. Louis Zamperini, whose Army Air Force bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 1943, where he survived on a tiny raft drifting aimlessly. "The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood" by Jane Leavy draws on 500 interviews with friends, family, teammates, and opponents for the true story of a "luminous and illustrious talent with an achingly damaged soul." Host of national television and radio shows Glenn Beck's "Broke: The Plan to Restore our Trust, Truth and Treasure" offers his theory how through a return to individual rights, adherence to the Constitution, and a rethinking about the role of government in a free society, we can build a restoration that is the only way forward.

"Why Our Health Matters" is Andrew Weil's vision of medicine that can transform our future, stop making corporations rich, stop making our society poor, and start each of us on the road to optimum health. "Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It" by Gary Taubes is a new health challenge guide. "Native Trees of the Midwest" is an easy guide to the many varieties of oaks and other trees by Sally Weeks.

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

About Returning Borrowed Books and Giving Donations - The Crawfordsville District Public Library appreciates patrons' contributions of reading materials. Donated books, tapes, and/or videos can be brought to the Circulation Desk inside the doorway, where the staff will accept them gratefully. They will be used in the library collection if they are needed, or placed on the Friends of the Library's cart for monthly, Second Saturday sales down on the lower level. Donations from these sales sponsor special library events, especially the children's summer reading programs. This is an amazing kind of recycling.

Borrowed books and materials should be returned on time in the driveway's outside book deposit slot, the outside wall slot by the building's entrance, or the slot at the circulation desk. This assures fine-free borrowing.

New reading is offered weekly. The ghost story "What the Night Knows" by Dean Koontz begins with the story of a murderer of four families who was killed by the last survivor of the fourth family, a boy of 14. Two decades later and half a continent away another criminal is murdering families, and a detective is certain his own family members will be targets as when he was fourteen and killed their slayer. Mary Jane Clark's "To Have and To Kill" is a Wedding Cake Mystery where a struggling actress-baker agrees to accept an order from a daytime television star, whose friend is then suddenly murdered. Jayne Ann Krentz' 67th title "In Too Deep", an Arcane Society novel, introduces her new Looking Glass Trilogy about a woman who knows too much and the psychic detective who loves her.

"The Black Widows" is a novel by Indianapolis resident Doug Zipes; two elderly women in Chappaqua, New York who come from Afghanistan and Palestine, control a worldwide terrorist organization from a back room in a small used book store attached to their house. In "Déjà Vu" by Fern Michaels, The Sisterhood members need excitement, and so they give themselves the assignment to find a man wanted by the FBI, the CIA, and Homeland Security.

"The Imperfectionists" by Tom Rachman describes a 50-year-old international English-language newspaper struggling to stay afloat in Rome, when the staff stumbles onto the unsuspected intentions of the founder. "Lord of Misrule" by Jaimy Gordon is a National Book Award winner about the horseracing world of trainers, dreamers, and gamblers.

Now to describe non-fiction new on the shelves: After the Civil War, with wealthy and powerful businessmen like J. P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller, America was transformed into an industrial giant as floods of immigrants came and cities grew; H. W. Brands' "American Colossus" portrays "the years when the contest between capitalism and democracy was at its sharpest, and capitalism triumphed." "The Man Who Sold America" is the true tale of Albert Lasker and the creation of the advertising century told by Jeffrey Cruikshank. Robert Post examines the development of "Urban Mass Transit". Steven Johnson studies the natural history of innovation in "Where Good Ideas Come From"; his last paragraph is a plea for each of us to be in a creative mood in order to move forward with innovation. "The Tree" by John Fowles is an essay on what kind of a relationship we should have with nature. John Bogle's "Enough" explains why the worlds' poorest starve in an age of plenty. The author doesn't simply outline the problem, he points to practical solutions.

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

New Local History Book Features Archive Photos - Bill Helling, Crawfordsville Library's Assistant Director, has contributed to local history by writing an Images of America book titled "Crawfordsville" to "evoke the uniqueness of a small city that has its own story to tell." Chapters of photographs are named Streetscapes, Schools and Churches, The Age of the Interurban, Celebrating the Indiana Centennial, also Crawfordsville at Work, …At War, and …At Play and finally People, Famous and Forgotten. The text consists of captions below the photographs, making all the detailed facts especially easy to read. Not only does Helling show places some of us have talked about but have never seen ourselves, like early schools, but he's found history we've never even heard of before. There's a copy for circulation, and the library is selling copies at the circulation desk. It's a great way to learn more about our town and realize its uniqueness.

Here are new food books to borrow. "The Flavor Thesaurus" is a compendium of recipes and ideas for the creative cook by English food marketing professional Niki Segnit. "Mother's Best" offers 150 favorite comfort foods by Lisa Schroeder. "Rachael Ray's Book of 10" offers 300 recipes to cook every day, divided into lists of her top ten favorite categories.

Histories are next. S. Wise Bauer's "The History of the Medieval World" covers eras from the conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade "when religion became a weapon for kings all over the world" (312 A.D. to 1129 A.D.). "The Last Utopia" by Samuel Moyn offers his history of human rights; for some it stretches back to the dawn of Western civilization, for some the age of the American and French Revolutions, for some the post-World War II world, but for this author it was the recent cause for justice after 1968. Heather Richardson's title is "Wounded Knee" giving the background of the 1890 massacre of 300 Sioux in South Dakota by American troops. "Going Home to Glory" is David Eisenhower's memoir of life with his grandfather, Dwight D.Eisenhower, President from 1953-1961.

New texts about religion are "Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Signs of the Times" by veteran journalist Peter Seewald gleaned from extensive interviews with Pope Benedict XVI, 265th bishop of Rome. Volume 3 of God and Globalization is "Christ and the Dominions of Civilization" edited by Max Stackhouse with articles discussing major religions and where they can unite. A powerful piece is "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: A Righteous Gentile vs. The Third Reich" by Eric Metaxas. "Heavenly Merchandize" is Mark Valeri's study about how religion shaped commerce in Puritan America.

Maxine Kingston's "I Love a Broad Margin to My Life" is a memoir reflecting on aging as she turns sixty-five and has a sense of doors opening wide onto a future of more purpose and joy. Cesar Millan's "A Member of the Family" is his guide to a lifetime of fulfillment living with a dog, and teaching it purpose. "Fifty Cars that Changed the World" from The Design Museum celebrates special models that were influential; it even includes Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion which "proved forever that architects should not meddle with automotive design". Car lovers will love this little book. Steven Faerm's "Fashion Design Course" is pages of unique "wearable art" for anyone fascinated by women's clothing fashions.