Upstairs/ Downstairs April, 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 April 23, 2011 you can find the following new books in the Adult Fiction section of the library.

Simply Perfect by Mary Balogh
The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg
The Secret Wedding by Jo Beverly
61 Hours: A Reacher Novel by Lee Child
Thicker Than Blood by C. J. Darlington
The Walk by Richard Paul Evans

The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner
Without Mercy by Lisa Jackson
Urgent Care by CJ Lyons
Hannah's List by Debbie Macomber
Dream of Me by Fern Michaels
Return to Sender by Fern Michaels
A Creed Country Christmas by Linda Lael Miller

More Than Words: Stories of Hope by Diana Palmer
The Best is Yet to Come by Diana Palmer
More Than Words by Diana Palmer
Blue-Eyed Devil by Robert B. Parker
The 9th Judgement by James Patterson
The Long Way Home by Robin Pilcher
Burning Lamp by Amanda Quick
The Perfect Poison by Amanda Quick

The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi
Down to the Wire by David Rosenfelt
Rough Country by John Sandford
Storm Prey by John Sandford
Fields of Grace by Kim Vogel Sawyer
A Promise for Spring by Kim Vogel Sawyer
Kitty Hitter: A Frank Pavlicek Novel by Andy Straka
Snow Angels by James Thompson
Angelology by Danielle Trussoni

The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
The Unfinished Gift by Dan Walsh
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner
Hush by Kate White
The Summer Hideaway by Susan Wiggs
The Bad Kitty Lounge by Michael Wiley
Home in Carolina by Sherryl Woods
Kisser by Stuart Woods
The Hole We're In by Gabrielle Zevin

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Join Deweys Do Discussing Native American History on May 2nd - The Deweys Do Book Club at the Crawfordsville District Public Library is reading Indiana native Jessamyn West's "The Massacre at Fall Creek", her compelling historical novel realistically expanding sparse facts about the 1824 trial of white men who murdered peaceful Native American Indians on the Indiana frontier. The landmark case was the first where whites were sentenced to death for killing Native Americans. Patrons are invited to borrow the book and join the discussion Monday, May 2nd at 6:30 p.m.

"Contending with Christianity's Critics" is a set of essays in which Christian scholars answer difficult contemporary questions often faced by believers; the editor is Paul Copan. Candace Cameron-Bure, actress in the TV series Full House, is a practicing Christian and "Reshaping It All" is her motivational tool for better physical and spiritual fitness, with a biblical perspective on appetite and self-control. "The Soul Hypothesis" edited by Mark Baker offers eight investigations into the existence of the soul, contending that there is an aspect of the nature of human beings that is not reducible to the matter that makes up our bodies. Robert Nelson's "The New Holy Wars" tells about economic religion versus environmental religion in contemporary America. Darren Dochuk offers "From Bible Belt to Sun Belt" discussing plain-folk religion, grassroots politics, and the rise of evangelical conservatism.

John Armstrong's "In Search of Civilization" tells how culture lies within us and how its nourishment is essential to a flourishing society, achieved by balancing material prosperity with spiritual prosperity. "A Temporary Sort of Peace" by Jim McGarrah is a memoir of his peacetime life in Indiana, and his introduction to the life of a combat soldier in Vietnam, trying to win the hearts and minds of the natives as part of a small Marine Combat Action Group. After dealing with his war memories back home he returned to the war zone and held a peace ceremony with a Vietnamese poet. "Hoosier Justice at Nuremberg" by Suzanne Bellamy profiles the lives and experiences of Frank Richman and Curtis Shake, judges at the famous Trials.

"Wheels of Change: From Zero to 600 m.p.h.: the Amazing Story of California and the Automobile" by Kevin Nelson shows California's car culture, fueled by the Hollywood dream machine and youth. The book centers on personalities who have shaped that story, including engineering wizards and designers, gearheads, race car drivers, and even rebels without a cause.

The novel "In a Heartbeat" by Rosalind Noonan depicts a parent awakened by a call that her son was attacked in his sleep, and the parent analyzes all the son's connections to find his attacker. "Willow" by Linda Miller tells of 1883’s railroads in the Montana Territory and the outlaws lurking in the hills. Kristan Higgins' "All I Ever Wanted" is a domestic tale in Georgebury, Vermont, about one thirty-year-old hoping for a proposal. In Debbie Macomber's "Thursdays at Eight" four women meet every week for breakfast and share their lives, written so we wish we were there too.

"Modern Top-Down Knitting" by Kristina McGowan uses the needlework techniques of Barbara Walker for fitted short dresses, skirts, and hats. "The A to Z of Old-Time Radio" lists titles and personnel involved; a treasure trove for those of us who remember listening to serials, variety shows, and reports of events while we worked, or for family pleasure.

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

The Crawfordsville Library continues to receive much appreciated literary donations for its collection. Isobel Arvin, President of the Library Board has donated "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt". This large book presents the local culture and design concepts including photographs of work from the African American community in Alabama that was exhibited at 12 major museums in 2002, sponsored by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In memory of JoAnn Zach, the Antique Study Club has contributed Monica and Patricia Clements' catalog "Cobalt Blue Glass" a Schiffer Book for Collectors explaining its historic background, and picturing the wide variety of objects made from this favorite ore.

Denis Dutton's "The Art Instinct" unites two disciplines, art and evolutionary science (or instinct), extending the arts to music to literature to pottery, saying our love of beauty is inborn and individual, defying cultural limits. "Portraits of the Mind" by Carl Schoonover shows pictures of the brain, and he says the "fleshy brain is more than enough, that it contains the multitudes and machinery necessary to explain the wonder of our existence." "The Human Brain Book" is more of a textbook by Rita Carter, to show its structure, function, and disorders.

"One Hundred Portraits" engraved by Barry Moser makes us study carefully the faces he chooses to present. His 1999 edition of the King James Bible and his Alice's Adventures in Wonderland are other examples of his heralded work. Mariam Rosser-Owen has issued "Islamic Arts from Spain" full of intricate photographs from the Victoria and Albert Museum, proving the long-lasting influence of Islamic Spain on world-wide decorative arts in buildings and objects. Another kind of delight is "Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece" by Gail Callahan in chapters "Fibers to Dye For", "No-Fear Dyeing", "Your Dye Studio", and "Show-Off Patterns".

Next, come patrons' requests, Susan Phillips' novel "Call Me Irresistible" uses her characters from former books in a romantic, funny, poignant new plot. James Patterson's "Tick Tock" lures us with "NYC's #1 detective…has a huge problem - the Son of Sam, the Werewolf of Wisteria, and the Mad Bomber are all back. The city has never been more terrified!" Tami Hoag's "Secrets to the Grave" says of a murder victim, "…had a past full of secrets, a present full of lies. Everyone knew of her, but no one knew her." "Fatal Error" by Judith Jance shows an overburdened young woman with an early shift at her family's restaurant, days studying at the Arizona Police Academy, and an old friend's sudden presence asking for help.

Piers Anthony's (differently-spelled) "Knot Gneiss" must also be introduced with the quote, "Wenda Woodwife expected to live Happily Ever After once a magical spell turned her carved wooden body into lovely human form and won her the heart of the dashing Prince Charming." "Love, Honor, and Betray" by Kimberla Roby lures us with "The Reverend Curtis Black's wife Charlotte, is angry. Her life has been turned upside down and someone has to pay." "How to Bake a Perfect Life" by Barbara O'Neal explores the complex relationships between mothers and daughters.

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

New Reading That Entertains and Also Informs - Diverse and profitable nonfiction is the latest reading requested by patrons at the Crawfordsville District Public Library. First, Steve and Annette Economides' "Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half with America's Cheapest Family" asks, "What could the average family do with an extra $3,000 a year?" The book shows strategies, tips, tools, and tricks for this "extra income". Next, Louis Eguaras offers "101 Things I learned in Culinary School", which hits the nail on the head for intelligent cooking; instead of recipes it explains techniques for good work. "Mad as Hell: How the Tea Party Movement is Fundamentally Remaking our Two-Party System" by Scott Rasmussen and Douglas Schoen describes it as a classic populist uprising, and they explore it as a broad-based grassroots movement with legitimate issues. Damon Vickers' "The Day after the Dollar Crashes" is a survival guide for the rise of the new world order". He says, "Huge changes are coming" and he offers information to adapt to and flourish during and after this transformation. The final request this week is "Classic Car Electrics" by Martin Thaddeus, a manual of restoration and maintenance procedures.

"Forgotten Tales of Indiana" by Keven McQueen includes an extensive bibliography to authenticate the stories he tells of grave robbers, haunted houses, and buried treasure. A documentary by Janet Edwards is "Diana of the Dunes" about Alice Gray who traded her days in Chicago for a solitary life in the hills of northwest Indiana along Lake Michigan. She later explained her diary of 1915-1918 when she was featured speaker and exponent of protecting the dunes from development. "Messenger" by Jennifer Stepanek is a life story that illustrates the power of practicing peace that becomes a habit attained simply by giving it to others.

"In the Presence of History" is Steven and Jonas Raab's authoritative guide to historical autographs for collectors, history enthusiasts, and investors. "Genealogy Online" by Elizabeth Crowe reviews genealogy websites, covers the latest Web 2.0 tools, and explains details of the redesigned FamilySearch site.

"33 1/3" is a series of music album essays from the Continuum Publishing Group. One title is "AC/DC's Highway to Hell" by Joe Bonomo celebrating the album about teenage fandom that makes "disaster sound like the best fun in the world". "OK Computer" by Dai Griffiths describes Radiohead’s 1997 album, its chord changes and analyzes each of the album’s songs. "In Utero" by Gillian Gaar explores Nirvana’s last album, its meanings of the phrase, and how the lyrics express a cry for help. "Highway 61 Revisited" by Mark Polizzotti defines the career of Bob Dylan and the timeless qualities that make his songs so effective.

Bruce Machart's novel "The Wake of Forgiveness" connects a son to the mother he's never seen and shows how he finally handles that loss. Unusual and compelling fiction is David Levithan's "The Lover's Dictionary" handled as a series of word definitions defined in the first and second person, "I" and "you" with a plot and a final question. Gish Jen's "World and Town" is a big novel set in a small New England town, describing the main character as "the spirited offspring of a descendant of Confucius and an American missionary to China".

An attractive new craft guide is "Making Handmade Books" and Alisa Golden shows 100+ bindings, structures & forms for clever products. I suppose each of us should sometime make one handmade book.

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Library Summer Reading Plans Already Underway - The Youth Department at the Crawfordsville Library is gearing up for the Children’s and Young Adult Summer Reading Programs which will begin May 31st. The theme this year is "America: Reading Coast to Coast".

"Atlas of American History" by Gary Nash helps to explain our country's development by showing places beginning with Native American reservations. Subtitled "The Odyssey of an American Warrior", "Without Hesitation" is General (Ret.) Hugh Shelton's memoir about serving in Vietnam, in the Persian Gulf War, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Clinton and Bush administrations, and during the 9/11 crisis.

"God's Generals" offers Roberts Liardon's biographies of John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, Dwight Moody, Billy Graham and other great revivalists. Dr. Henry Cloud's "The Law of Happiness" tells how the combination of spiritual wisdom and modern science can change your life. "The Second Book of the Tao" by Stephen Mitchell is a 21st century form of ancient wisdom, a sequel to Lao-tzu's "Book of the Way" which renders the old book modern, relevant, and timeless; the left hand pages are adaptations of old works, while the right sides offer commentaries for today's meaningful life. "The Word Exchange" edited by Greg Delanty offers Anglo-Saxon writing, bringing to life the best poems from the Old English canon, translated by contemporary poets. "The Comeback" is Gary Shapiro's treatise about how the American Dream will be restored if we use innovation in our work. "Bourgeois Dignity" by Deirdre McCloskey explains the big economic story of the past 400 years, and the power of what people said about markets in Holland, then England, and then the world.

"The Book of Shells", 637 pages by M.G. Harasewych, contains full-color, life-size living specimen photos, maps of their locations, and specific descriptions. "The Sunset Cookbook" with 700 + pages, offers 1,000 fresh recipes designed for today's kitchen facilities. "Keeping Watch" by Kathryn Sletto is the story of a woman who leaves her day job and becomes a full-time shepherdess, raising a wild mix of animals with equally wild personalities. "Chinaberry Sidewalks" by musician and songwriter Rodney Crowell, recreates his Houston boyhood in the fifties, a rough frontier town with icehouses and lots of adolescent angst; he adds a tribute to his parents. "Peace in the Present Moment" combines quotations from Eckhart Tolle and Byron Katie with photographs by Michele Penn and descriptive words by Stephen Mitchell. "We Have Met the Enemy" by Daniel Akst advocates the beauty of self-control in this age of excess.

Mathias Enard's "Zone" is a 517-page "one sentence" novel in which one night he dreams he is a soldier in the Balkan Wars, whose violent history he is actually selling to a representative from the Vatican so he can expiate his sins. Stuart Woods' "Strategic Moves" is a Stone Barrington law novel about the richest of New York City clients and an impending scandal. By contrast, "The Still Point" by Amy Sackville portrays the era of 1900 when an Arctic explorer sets out to reach the North Pole, then vanishes, leaving a young wife who awaits his return for decades. Then, a hundred years later his great-grand-niece makes a discovery that alters her image of the past, so the book covers past, present, and future interpretations. "The Elephant's Journey" by Nobel Laureate Jose Saramago is the tale of the animal, his keeper, and their journey through 16th century Europe. It's based on a true story.