Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Mysteries call us. How about Rita Mae Brown’s, “Murder Unleashed” filled with unscrupulous bankers, abandoned homes, and a cold-blooded killer on the loose? The canine sleuths and their human companions figure it all out in Reno. Marcia Muller’s “City of Whispers” features the San Francisco Bay Bridge on the cover, and explores private eye Sharon McCone’s reaction to her brother’s message from a place he’s never been, thus sending her on a fast chase. Lisa Jackson’s “Devious”, a Bentz and Montoya novel, lures us on a woman’s race to discover the truth about unholy secrets at a convent located in St. Marguerite’s Cathedral in New Orleans. Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain’s ”The Fine Art of Murder” suggests “Jessica may not know much about art-but she sure knows when someone is being framed”.

Gregory Maguire’s final volume in his Wicked Years series is “Out of Oz”, and the fate of Oz is decided at last, the magical journey rife with revelations and reversals, reprisals and surprises. “Neverwinter” by R. A. Salvatore presents villains and monsters following the dark elf Drizzt into the world of a much-anticipated PC gaming experience.

“Twelfth Prophecy” by Bodie Thoene has a goal to discover “truth through fiction” back in the first century A.D. about the most critical events in the history of the world in a Biblical place called Sychar. “The End of Sparta” by Victor Hanson recreates the times and wars of one of the greatest leaders of ancient history, Epaminondas of Thebes, considered the greatest man of the Greek and Roman world. “The Litigators” by John Grisham is filled with courtroom strategies, theatrics, and suspense in a big case in Chicago. Nicholas Spark’s “The Best of Me” presents sweethearts in high school and then twenty-five years later. Jude Deveraux’ “Heartwishes” focuses on a researcher cataloging documents of a family that is fascinated by history and surprised by references to a magical talisman. Jacquelyn Mitchard’s “Second Nature” shows a disfigured victim of fire begin a new life through surgery, knowing it has risks she might not imagine. “Mama Ruby” by Mary Monroe features a heroine’s journey as she transforms from a spoiled small-town girl into one of the South’s most notorious women. “The Affair” by Lee Child is a Reacher novel, and the military cop has to investigate a young woman’s murder even though the expected culprit at a nearby military base has powerful friends in Washington. “The Territory” is a mystery by Tricia Fields, revolving around Artemis, in western Texas, where Mexican drug runners who turn both sides of the Rio Grande into a war zone ruin the serene atmosphere.

“The Outlaw Album” by Daniel Woodrell is a book of 12 stories. Desperation motivates his characters. Eight pieces fill “Los Angeles Stories” by Ry Cooder, a guitarist, singer and composer releasing his first collection of stories. “A Killing Season” is the eighth medieval mystery by Priscilla Royal and this time a baron returns from his Crusade in a depressed state.

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

A local book ready for borrowing is the work of Franklin Vance, a retired high school science teacher and university adjunct instructor. He is also a lay speaker, Sunday school teacher, and Bible study leader who lives on a farm near Waynetown. His book is called “The Blackness of Utter Darkness” and it separates myth from reality regarding life, death, and the afterlife, designed for those confused about the traditional view of hell in Dante’s “Inferno”. The preface explains that this book has been kept short to encourage readers to study the issue that has caused much confusion and debate among Christians.

Another new religious-oriented book is Marilynne Robinson’s “Absence of Mind” which examines the tension between science and religion, and reveals how our concepts determine how we understand human civilization. Another is “The Jewish Annotated New Testament”, the new Revised Standard Version that comes from senior Jewish scholars – New Testament experts, Greco-Roman social historians, theologians, and others, annotated with essays on New Testament backgrounds. For Jews it’s a trustworthy introduction to this cultural text. For Christians it offers a new view of the Jewish contexts held by Jesus’ followers.

The Richard Castle novel, “Heat Rises” pairs a NYPD Homicide Detective with a hotshot reporter to solve the bizarre murder of a parish priest. Richard Doetsch writes “Half-Past Dawn” when a York City district attorney wakes up one morning to find a half-healed gash over an eye, a wound in a shoulder, and a tattoo down his arm, and he has no memory of them, while the day’s newspaper announces his death. ‘The Inverted Forest” by John Dalton describes a camp in rural Missouri where the counselor must quickly hire summer staff; who the personnel turn out to be is the book’s adventure. Eoin Colfer’s “Plugged” is a “wickedly funny crime caper” about a bouncer at a seedy club who has just found his girlfriend murdered.

One new novel is the thousand-page “A Dance with Dragons” by George Martin who is dubbed “the American [J.R.R.] Tolkien” by Time magazine, and this epic fantasy is the fifth in his series about a fragmented empire. “A Moment in the Sun” by John Sayles fills 950 pages with the 1897 gold rush in the Yukon just before the Spanish-American war breaks out; the book takes the whole era in its sights, history rediscovered through the lives of the people who made it happen.

Erin Morgenstern’s “The Night Circus” is heralded as a love story on a grand scale, “engrossing, beautifully written, and utterly enchanting, gorgeously imagined …poised in the high latitudes of Hans Christian Andersen and Oscar Wilde”. “The Story of Beautiful Girl” by Rachel Simon tells about her escape in 1968 from a school for the feebleminded, and her ensuing 40-year journey with a deaf man. “Man of Parts” by David Lodge examines H.G. Wells’ life by having him take a look back during the end of World War II. Elissa Schappell’s “Blueprints for Building Better Girls” maps America’s cultural landscape from the late 1970s to the present day in eight darkly funny, linked stories. “Ten Thousand Saints” by Eleanor Henderson features a young man with a hippy past who finds himself in New York City’s East Village where his tangle of family members exemplifies the modern age of divided generations. In “One Was a Soldier” by Julia Spencer-Fleming five veterans try to make sense of their experiences in Iraq. Each struggles with adjusting to home in a murder mystery setting.

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Reading and listening materials contributed inside the Crawfordsville Library create recycling for the community at large; donations of money by purchasers at Friends of the Library Second Saturdays sales sponsor extra library events, especially the children’s reading programs.

To return borrowed books and materials, the best plan is to place them in the driveway's outside book deposit slot, the outside slot by the building's entrance, or in the slot on the circulation desk's framework. To assure fine-free borrowing, return books in one of these three ways either before or by their due date.

New fiction may be borrowed for 7 days so that it circulates as often as possible. Kaki Warner’s “Colorado Dawn” is the latest in her series about unlikely brides who make their way west to embrace newfound freedom. In this one, a Scottish wife decides to leave her husband and accepts a job to photograph the American West. Jayne Ann Krentz’s “Copper Beach” is the beginning of the all-new Dark Legacy trilogy about a rare book featuring secrets of the paranormal. In “Blind Sight” by Meg Howrey a 17-year-old narrator, brought up in a bohemian matriarchy by his divorced New Age mother, is invited to glamorous Los Angeles for the summer.

“420 Characters” by Lou Beach holds miniature stories populated by cowboys, criminals, lovers, and drifters. “The Summer of the Bear” by Bella Pollen takes the reader into the private dynamics of a grieving family in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides where strange forces are at play. Ben Bova’s “Power Play” is about a state university astronomer, who likes teaching a few classes and doing research, but he’s recruited as science advisor to a politician running for the U. S. Senate; the world of politics carries dangers that complicate his science. “In Zanesville” by Jo Ann Beard is a witty observation of a town where under cover a lot more is going on. Gayle Roper’s “A Secret Identity” and “A Rose Revealed” are part of a trilogy of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Amish adventures.

Here’s a deliberately miscellaneous group of diverse non-fiction releases:
Jennifer Westwood’s “The Lore of Scotland” is a guide to Scottish Legends, from kelpies and water horses to modern-day vampires. “Armitage’s Garden Perennials” shows 1,250 plants in a reader-friendly format, along with Allan Armitage’s frank opinions about their garden-worthiness. Andrew Marr offers his intimate portrait of Queen Elizabeth II called “The Real Elizabeth”. “A Natural History of the Piano” is Stuart Isacoff’s study of the instrument, the musicians, music from Mozart to modern jazz, and everything in between. “Hollywood Left and Right” about how movie stars shaped American politics is written by Steven Ross, historian of film, who teaches at the University of Southern California. “Midnight Rising” by Tony Horwitz studies John Brown, descendant of Puritans and Revolutionary War soldiers, and the raid that sparked the American Civil War in 1859: Harper’s Ferry.

“A World on Fire” by Amanda Foreman takes us to Britain to see its crucial role in our Civil War. Joe Hutto’s “Illumination in the Flatwoods” tells about his season living among wild turkeys in Florida. “Frommer’s New York City 2012” is all you need to know for your visit there, including a map to study. “Berlin 1961” is Frederick Kempe’s study of Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the most dangerous place on earth that year, with a good map on the inside cover. James Farwell’s “The Pakistan Cauldron” examines conspiracy, assassination, and instability and what makes that country tick. You can concentrate on home when you read about 1200 good recipes called “Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home”, the author/cook being Jeni Bauer.

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

The Crawfordsville Library’s Football Frenzy sponsored by the youth department last week welcomed a full house of boys aged 4-10 years. Volunteer Wabash College football players enhanced Janella Nunan’s evening sports-book event by “tossing the ball”, playing games, and reading stories with eager, interested young patrons.

Nonfiction this week brings us all kinds of information and opinions about important issues. “5000 Years of Textiles” edited by Jennifer Harris pictures historic patterns for weaving, tapestry, lace, knitting, netting, knotting, and crochet. “How to Sing” helps those who just vocalize as well as those who perform and record music; Carrie Grant provides clear lessons, including a tutorial CD inside the cover. “Home Brewing” by Ted Bruning is a guide to making beer, wine, and cider.

“The Swerve” is an adventure story about scholarship; Stephen Greenblatt reviews the Renaissance foundations of modern scientific thought, discussing how Lucretius’ poem ‘On the Nature of Things’ shaped the thoughts of early geniuses. “Rin Tin Tin” is the life and legend of that special dog, written by Susan Orlean. David Reynolds’ “Mightier than the Sword” shows the influence which Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1954 novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” had on pre-Civil War America. In “How To Get Out of Your Own Way” songwriter/actor Tyrese Gibson draws on his learned wisdom, motivating the reader to pursue dreams without letting obstacles stand in their path.

How much can be blamed on discrimination? Walter Williams answers this question in “Race & Economics” by saying that many problems are a result of policies, regulations, and restrictions emanating from federal, state, and local governments. Dr. Nick Trout’s “Ever By My Side” tells stories about the bonds we can have with our loved ones, both animal and human. We can learn how to develop our individual talents in Marcus Buckingham’s new business book “Now, Discover Your Strengths”. “Ethical Oil” is Ezra Levant’s study of Canada’s tar sands, weighing the environmental impact of their use against bringing oil from Saudi Arabia, with its human rights violations. In “100 Plus” Sonia Arrison says, “Humanity is on the cusp of an exciting longevity revolution. The first person to live to 150 years has probably already been born.” “A Secret Life” is Charles Lachman’s study of the lies and scandals of President Grover Cleveland. Matthew Parker’s “The Sugar Barons” tells of family corruption, empire, and war in the West Indies during 17th-18th century power struggles as Europeans made and lost fortunes trading in sugar.

Two Blacktop Cowboys novels by Lorelei James are “Saddled and Spurred” and “Corralled”, both Western romances. Amish stories are Amy Clipston’s “A Place of Peace”, Jerry Eicher’s “A Baby for Hannah”, Mary Ellis’ “A Marriage for Meghan” and “Abigail’s New Hope”, Mindy Clark’s “The Amish Midwife”, and Beth Wiseman’s “The Wonder of Your Love”. A girl leaves Holland for Wyoming as a mail-order bride in “Deeply Devoted” by Maggie Brendan. Book One of Wanda Brunstetter’s historical romance series Brides of Lehigh Canal is “Kelly’s Chance”.

“Investing Online for Dummies" is in its 7th edition by Matt Krantz.

“Area 51” is an uncensored history of America’s most top-secret military base. Author Annie Jacobsen had exclusive access to 19 men who served proudly and secretly for decades, and personal access to 55 additional military and intelligence personnel. You’ll learn what has gone on in the Nevada desert from testing nuclear weapons, to building super-secret jets, to pursuing the War on Terror.