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.