Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser
Library News and Notable New Books
New historical research comes from Linden (Indiana) author Ruby Gwin. Her third book release is “World War II: Two Different War Fronts, Two Sets of Brothers”. Perhaps her husband’s reunion in 2001 with some 250th Field Artillery “brot
hers” motivated her to document family war records now available for borrowing at the Crawfordsville Library. Ruby’s husband Carl served in the European Theater as a surgical medic, first in General Patton’s Third Army, later transferred to the Seventh Army under General Patch, while his brother Bill was a hospital medic in The Pacific Theater. Experiences in the Pacific also belonged to her uncles: Wilson (Willie) Brummett in the 38th Infantry Division of the Indiana National Guard, and Alfred Brummett in the U. S. Air Force. Other local names are Max Devitt, U.S. combat engineer, and Joe Hinesley (Hinesley Jewelers), captured by the Germans while in the Fifth Army before Omaha Beach. Reading this book re-alerts us to the unexpected experiences facing each combatant in each American war. We learn that “There were 16,354,000 U.S. men and women who served in combat during World War II.” (p. 256). We all need such reminders of the service of our military personnel.
Editor Geraldine Brooks’ “The Best American Short Stories, 2011” holds 20 tightly-crafted tales which connect good characters, universal truths, and humor. She describes this book as “walking into the best kind of party, where you can hole up in a corner with old friends for a while, then launch out among interesting strangers.”
“A Strange Wilderness” by Amir Aczel portrays thoughts and lives of the quirky class of geniuses known as mathematicians, aimed at leaving the reader with a newfound appreciation of the tenacity and brilliance of that kind of genius through history. “The Viral Storm” is Nathan
Wolfe’s story of the dawn of a new pandemic age. “His provocative vision of the future will change the way we think about viruses, and perhaps remove a potential threat to humanity’s survival.” We can learn why violence has declined in Steven Pinker’s “The Better Angels of Our Nature”. He thinks we may be living in the most peaceable era in our species’ existence. Blake Mycoskie offers “Start Something that Matters” where he tells about TOMS, one of the fastest-growing shoe companies in the world, and offers lessons learned from innovative organizations with stories, ideas, and practical tips that can help anyone get started. “Free Marketing” by Jim Cockrum teaches that the Internet has free tactics for spreading the word about business, and lists what to do.
Four new biographies offer good reading about familiar dignitaries. “Steve McQueen” is revisited by biographer Marc Eliot, as in the quote, “Perhaps his greatest talent was to be able to convince audiences that he was who he really wasn’t”. Florence Henderson explains herself in “Life Is Not a Stage”. Regis Philbin sums himself up in “How I Got This Way”. Ellen DeGeneres recently writes, “Seriously…I’m Kidding”.
David Cordingly writes about the man who was the real “Pirate Hunter of the Caribb
ean”, Captain Woodes Rogers, appointed governor of the Bahamas by King George I in 1713, when the islands were being plundered by raucous felons.
New historical research comes from Linden (Indiana) author Ruby Gwin. Her third book release is “World War II: Two Different War Fronts, Two Sets of Brothers”. Perhaps her husband’s reunion in 2001 with some 250th Field Artillery “brot
hers” motivated her to document family war records now available for borrowing at the Crawfordsville Library. Ruby’s husband Carl served in the European Theater as a surgical medic, first in General Patton’s Third Army, later transferred to the Seventh Army under General Patch, while his brother Bill was a hospital medic in The Pacific Theater. Experiences in the Pacific also belonged to her uncles: Wilson (Willie) Brummett in the 38th Infantry Division of the Indiana National Guard, and Alfred Brummett in the U. S. Air Force. Other local names are Max Devitt, U.S. combat engineer, and Joe Hinesley (Hinesley Jewelers), captured by the Germans while in the Fifth Army before Omaha Beach. Reading this book re-alerts us to the unexpected experiences facing each combatant in each American war. We learn that “There were 16,354,000 U.S. men and women who served in combat during World War II.” (p. 256). We all need such reminders of the service of our military personnel.
Editor Geraldine Brooks’ “The Best American Short Stories, 2011” holds 20 tightly-crafted tales which connect good characters, universal truths, and humor. She describes this book as “walking into the best kind of party, where you can hole up in a corner with old friends for a while, then launch out among interesting strangers.”
“A Strange Wilderness” by Amir Aczel portrays thoughts and lives of the quirky class of geniuses known as mathematicians, aimed at leaving the reader with a newfound appreciation of the tenacity and brilliance of that kind of genius through history. “The Viral Storm” is Nathan
Wolfe’s story of the dawn of a new pandemic age. “His provocative vision of the future will change the way we think about viruses, and perhaps remove a potential threat to humanity’s survival.” We can learn why violence has declined in Steven Pinker’s “The Better Angels of Our Nature”. He thinks we may be living in the most peaceable era in our species’ existence. Blake Mycoskie offers “Start Something that Matters” where he tells about TOMS, one of the fastest-growing shoe companies in the world, and offers lessons learned from innovative organizations with stories, ideas, and practical tips that can help anyone get started. “Free Marketing” by Jim Cockrum teaches that the Internet has free tactics for spreading the word about business, and lists what to do.
Four new biographies offer good reading about familiar dignitaries. “Steve McQueen” is revisited by biographer Marc Eliot, as in the quote, “Perhaps his greatest talent was to be able to convince audiences that he was who he really wasn’t”. Florence Henderson explains herself in “Life Is Not a Stage”. Regis Philbin sums himself up in “How I Got This Way”. Ellen DeGeneres recently writes, “Seriously…I’m Kidding”.
David Cordingly writes about the man who was the real “Pirate Hunter of the Caribb
ean”, Captain Woodes Rogers, appointed governor of the Bahamas by King George I in 1713, when the islands were being plundered by raucous felons.
posted by Crawfordsville District Public Library Reader's Advisory | 4:05 PM
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