Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Good Shopping Offered Second Saturdays - On Saturday, October 8, the Second Saturday Book Sale sponsored by the Friends of the Crawfordsville Library will open at 9 a.m. This special monthly day on the library's lower level comes early this month. You'll find all kinds of reading and listening bargains available for a donation to the Friends' cause, which is to support the children's library activities.

"Dylan's Candy Bar: Unwrap Your Sweet Life" is a colorful book by Dylan Lauren showing ways to use wrapped candy for centerpieces and other holiday decorations. "Paletas" are Mexican ice pops, shaved ice and aguas frescas, which are taught with directions (in English) by Fany Gerson.

Would you like to learn an Asian language? "Japanese DeMystified" by Eriko Sato untangles complicated grammar rules and sentence structures, explains Japanese characters and pronunciation, enables a rich Japanese vocabulary, and reinforces skills with quizzes, written and oral exercises, and a final exam.

"10 Best College Majors for Your Personality" by Laurence Shatkin offers ideas for different personality types, and also a Best Majors list that leads to jobs with good pay and fastest growth. "The Enemies of Excellence" explains seven reasons why we sabotage success. Greg Salciccioli says leadership is more than building best practices. It's overcoming the obstacles that undermine success. "The Well-Trained Mind" is a guide to classical education at home offered by Susan Wise Bauer. "Your Teacher Said WHAT?" is Joe and Blake Kernen's statement that can defend our kids from the liberal assault on capitalism. "Poor Economics" by Abhijit Banerjee is a radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty. Edward Humes' "Force of Nature" tells the unlikely story of Walmart's green revolution and how it could transform business and save the world. "Tangled Webs" by James Stewart exposes "how false statements are undermining America: from Martha Stewart to Bernie Madoff". Finally, "The Ten Trillion Dollar Gamble" is all about the coming deficit debacle and how to invest now, by advisor Russ Koesterich.

Do you fly a plane? "Mastering GPS Flying" by Phil Dixon is illustrated with charts, maps, photos, and diagrams.

"Weeds of the Midwestern United States and Central Canada" is knowledge more colorful and interesting than one might think, according to editors Charles Bryson and Michael DeFelice.

There are many library books that speak to ideas and theories. For instance, "The Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry)" by Siva Vaidhyanathan explains how we have embraced "information"; he exposes the dark side, raising red flags about issues of intellectual property. "Turn & Jump" by Howard Mansfield refers to Thomas Edison before whom light and fire were thought to be one and the same thing; this book takes time and place and shows how they were once inseparable (before the railroads brought about the creation of time zones in 1883).

Two requested books follow. "Kill the Messenger" by Maria Armoudian tells about the media's roles in the fate of the world, the role they played in the Rwandan genocide of the Tutsis, and how media can be used to preserve our democracy. Elizabeth Abbott's "Haiti: A Shattered Nation" details the difference between Haiti and the First world, its dire straits, its corruption, but also the sustained resilience of its people.