Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

Nonfiction this week begins with a history of World War I by David Stevenson called “With Our Backs to the Wall: Victory and Defeat in 1918”. This book brings “a laser-like focus to its ominous end - the Allies’ incomplete victory, and the tragic danger to world peace just two decades later.” Ryan Smithson’s “Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-year-old GI”, is nonfiction with some names and identities changed, written to reflect the essence of the mood and spirit of his experiences in Iraq as an Army engineer.

Views of the world follow. “Top Secret America” is Dana Priest’s view of “the rise of the new American security state” that followed 9/11. Over 850,000 people now have top-secret security clearance. “The Price of Civilization” by Jeffrey Sachs aims “to reawaken American virtue and prosperity”; he feels America’s “single biggest failure is its inability to come to grips with the new global economic realities”. William Gibson’s “Distrust That Particular Flavor” is a collection of essays that report the technological and cultural frontiers of our evolving world.

“Stone of Kings” searches for the lost Jade of the Maya; it focuses on jade hunters searching for the most precious and powerful substance in their universe. Gerard Helferich writes it like detective fiction, involving geologists, archaeologists, entrepreneurs, and poachers, all true tales. “Into the Blue” edited by Joseph Corn, is selections of American writing on aviation and space flight.

On to fiction. “The Odds” by Stewart O’Nan shows a couple treating their misfortune in a way we probably wouldn’t. Terri Blackstock’s “Shadow in Serenity” asks if an irresistible smile behind an unforgivable scheme can win another’s heart. Yannick Murphy’s story “The Call” begins by telling us a hunting accident has left an eldest son in a coma. A walk in Manhattan amongst crowds results in a feeling of isolation as a resident doctor reviews his life in “Open City” by Teju Cole.

Arthur Phillips’ “The Tragedy of Arthur” is about a young man struggling with a larger-than-life father, an unreliable parent who lives and loves Shakespeare. Sara Paretsky’s “Breakdown” involves daughters of Chicago elites who (literally) stumble on a corpse while holding a ritual in an abandoned cemetery. “Vaclav & Lena” by Haley Tanner is about teenage best friends. One disappears for seven years. The book describes young protagonists who express joy and innocence along with true friendship. “The Street Sweeper” by Elliot Perlman is introduced thus, “From the civil rights struggle to Nazi crime, there are more stories to tell than there are people passing one another every day on the bustling streets of every crowded city.”

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

The Crawfordsville District Public Library’s Director, Larry Hathaway, tells how the library staff has long wanted a place where library patrons could enjoy the outdoors. Crews from Edwards & Van Matre Construction have now erected the 16 x 50 foot timber-framed depot structure in the grassy area between the two parking lots. “Furnishings” will be added soon.

Subjects involving groups of people fill several new books. “Almost President” holds Scott Farris’ biographies of the men who lost the race but changed the nation. The inside cover begins, “Henry Clay is one of a dozen men profiled who have run for the American presidency and lost but who-even in defeat-have had a greater impact on our history than many of those who have served in the Oval Office.” “The Oil Kings” by Andrew Cooper writes how the U.S., Iran, and Saudi Arabia changed the balance of power in the Middle East, and how oil came to dominate U.S. domestic and international affairs, revealed in newly declassified documents and interviews with some key figures of the time. “Throw Them All Out” is Peter Schweizer’s report on how politicians and their friends get rich off insider stock tips, land deals, and cronyism that would send the rest of us to prison. “Masters of Management”, showing how business gurus and their ideas have changed the world for better and for worse, is Adrian Wooldridge’s study which takes into account the rise of the Internet, the power of emerging markets, the recession of 2008, and more recent developments in management theory.

Here’s a group of various non-fiction titles that might intrigue many people. “Cities of Gold” by Bill Yenne tells of legendary kingdoms, quixotic quests, and the search for fantastic New World wealth, beginning with a poem by Edgar Allan Poe: “Over the mountains of the Moon, Down the Valley of the Shadow, Ride, boldly ride; The shade replied – “If you seek for Eldorado!” Before Europeans explored the New World, rumors of fabulous wealth in distant lands were shared so often that they were assumed to be true. In “Sugar Nation” Jeff O’Connell tells the hidden truth behind America’s deadliest habit and the simple way to beat it. “Extra Virginity” is Tom Mueller’s story of the “sublime and scandalous world of olive oil”. H. W. Brands’ “Greenback Planet” explains how the dollar conquered the world and threatened civilization as we know it. “Pity the Billionaire” by Thomas Frank “chronicles a confused time, a period when Americans rose up against imaginary threats and rallied to economic theories they understood only in the gauziest terms”. “The Language Wars” is a history of proper English by Henry Hitchings. He says the English language is a battlefield, that arguments over correct usage have been bitter, and often they’ve had more to do with morality and politics than with language itself.

The first of two new books about the military is “When We Went to War” by Greg Kline about the invasion of Normandy June 6, 1944, the long aftermath, and the earlier events which made it inevitable. The cover shows sailors aboard the USS Indianapolis and the crew preparing to fly a new B-24 to England. The second book is “American Sniper”, the autobiography of the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history, Navy SEAL Chris Kyle.

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

One of the many helpful resources at the Crawfordsville District Public Library is the ability to read through yearbooks from many of the county schools. One of the goals which the Reference Department is attempting to fulfill is a complete yearbook collection. At this time, Dellie Craig, Archivist, (362-2242, x.5) is anxious to locate Crawfordsville High School’s 1990 Yearbook, and the most recent editions from 2005 to now. Should you be ready to donate any of these books, or any from other schools in the system, you will be greatly assisting the library.

“American Emperor” is David Stewart’s research bout Aaron Burr’s challenge to Jefferson’s America, describing Burr, the third Vice President, as a daring and perhaps deluded figure who shook the nation’s foundations in its earliest, most vulnerable decades. “Freedom Betrayed” by George Nash, tells of President Herbert Hoover’s secret history of World War II and its aftermath, which he began to scribble during the war, and later called his “magnum opus”. He suffered because of not winning the Republican presidential nomination in 1940, his failed crusade to keep the U.S. out of World War II, and his frustrated bid to become the Great Humanitarian in Europe for a second time.

“Van Gogh The Life” by Steven Naifeh is a detailed and very readable, while ultimately heartbreaking, portrait of the creative genius, showing his immersion in literature and art, his erratic and tumultuous romantic life, bouts of depression, and the cloudy circumstances about the gunshot wound that killed him at age 37. “Hemingway’s Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost, 1934-1961” by Paul Hendrickson focuses on a key period of his life, which changes the way he’s perceived and understood, his despair and exultations around the one constant in his life then, his beloved boat, Pilar. “Three Stooges FAQ” is David Hogan’s book of “everything left to know about the eye-poking, face-slapping, head-thumping geniuses. “A Heart for Freedom” is Chai Ling’s journey as a young dissident leader of the protesters at Tiananmen Square; as China’s most-wanted woman, her daring escape, and her quest to free China’s daughters is important news. The newest subject is Steve Jobs and Walter Isaacson’s book “Steve Jobs” based on more than forty interviews over two years, with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors and colleagues.

“God’s Story, Your Story” by Max Lucado, invites the reader on a journey woven with New Testament stories and contemporary examples of God’s story-making skills. “Imperfect Justice” by Jeff Ashton is the inside story of the case that captivated the nation and the verdict that no one saw coming, Casey Anthony’s verdict of innocence in the trial about her daughter Caylee.

“The Wedding Promise” is an Angel Island novel by Thomas Kinkade (who passed away last week); at the island’s Inn, a wedding doesn’t seem to be running as smoothly as it should. Lis Wiehl’s “Waking Hours” is an East Salem battle between the seen and the unseen, God and Satan. Sarah Rayner’s “One Moment, One Morning” is about three women whose lives become linked after a life-changing event disturbs their morning commute into London. Jefferson Parker’s “The Border Lords”, a Charlie Hood novel, is an adventure by an ATF agent who is deeply undercover, and who goes missing, his only communications being a series of haunting digital videos sent to his desperately worried wife.

“How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive” by Christopher Boucher has a subtitle message: “It’s hard being a single dad-especially when your son is a 1971 Volkswagen Beetle.” “Goofiness and grief are in perfect harmony in this impressive, moving debut.”

Preview Shelf by Janice Clauser

Library News and Notable New Books

The Crawfordsville District Public Library will be closed Easter Sunday, April 8th, and will open again Monday, April 9th, at 9 a.m.

A lot of history is being studied and written about in new ways.

First, a contemporary real-life historic challenge is “Twilight at Conner Prairie: The Creation, Betrayal, and Rescue of a Museum” by Berkley Duck III; the fine outdoor history museum recreating life in the 19th century is the site of a recent controversy between the museum and its trustee, Earlham College. This book chronicles its solution. “A History of the World in 100 Objects” reports on “things” from the hand axe to the credit card. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, uses the technique to highlight when people first wore jewelry, when cows were domesticated, where the first cities were, who developed math, etc. Kerry Walters’ “Revolutionary Deists: Early America’s Rational Infidels” chooses biographies of Ethan Allen, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and Elihu Palmer, active between 1725 and 1810. "Conquered Into Liberty” by Eliot Cohen covers two centuries along the warpath that made the American Way of War, an interesting listing of battles involving five peoples – the British, French, Americans, Canadians, and Indians - in the corridor from Albany to Montreal, 200 miles of lake, river, and woodland. “The Destiny of the Republic” by Candice Millard shows President Garfield’s experience as scholar and Civil War hero, and his unfortunate end. ”An American Betrayal” is Daniel Smith’s title as he tells of the Cherokee Patriots and their Trail of Tears.

“Empire of the Summer Moon” by S. C. Gwynne contains two stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanche, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second is a narrative of the Old West, the saga of a pioneer woman kidnapped by Comanche when she was nine, and her son Quanah who became their last and greatest chief. “The Murder of the Century” by Paul Collins explains the Gilded Age crime that scandalized 1897 New York with a sensational love triangle and a more sensational trial. Charles Shields’ biography of Kurt Vonnegut is called “And So It Goes”, calling him a writer who changed the conversation of American literature.

“Aran Knitting” by Alice Starmore gives pictures and instructions for cable sweaters, caps, shawls, with all kinds of patterns. In “Fair Culture” Harold Miller photographed people from 2005-2008 at Hoosier County Fairs, giving wonderful glimpses that capture all the facets of annual local festivities.

“Zapped: Why Your Cell Phone Shouldn’t Be Your Alarm Clock and 1,268 Ways to Outsmart the Hazards of Electronic Pollution” was figured out by Ann Louise Gittleman. “How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism” by Roger Simmermaker lists places to find what you need (good source). “Tough Cookies” gives leadership lessons from 100 years of the Girl Scouts delivered by its U.S.A. CEO Kathy Cloninger. ”Living with Less so your Family has More” comes from Jill and Mark Savage, founders of Hearts At Home. ”Raising Bully-Proof Kids” by Paul Coughlin directs building confidence and character in your child. Greg Jarboe’s “You Tube and Video Marketing An Hour a Day” has craft video marketing strategies that deliver. McGraw-Hill’s “Nursing School Entrance Exams” with 16 practice tests includes a CD-ROM. If you plan to visit the British Empire, the library has “Frommer’s England 2012 & the Best of Wales” guidebook with a pocket map. “The Secret Life of Pronouns: What Our Words Say About Us” by James Pennebaker also analyses the language personalities of famous individuals.