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.”