Preview Shelf: Notable New Books by CDPL Volunteer Janice Clauser

 Spooky Indiana looks like a good pre-Halloween read with its 25 tales of hauntings, strange happenings, and other creepy lore. In her preface author S. E. (Sandy) Schlosser mentions visiting “a revolving prison in Crawfordsville.” One of the tales is about Greencastle, and one is from Terre Haute. The back cover says that Indiana folklore traditions are kept alive in these expert retellings. This is a new book at the Crawfordsville District Public Library.

            Five books from section 921 on the shelves begin with Mind Reader by Lior Suchard, world-renowned mentalist who unlocks “the power of your mind to get what you want.” Visiting Tom is a chat with Tom Hartwig written by Michael Perry; it is made up of an endless reservoir of stories dating back to days of his prize Model A, an appreciation of barns, and of happenings, common and unusual, that are a comforting and comfortable read.  Anna Quindlen’s memoir, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake looks back and looks ahead, as she considers marriage, girlfriends, our mothers, faith, loss, all the stuff in our closets, and more. Alex Stone’s Fooling Houdini is “a dazzling tour through the strange and colorful world of magic and magicians – an exploration that probes the science of deception, the limits of consciousness, and the mysteries of the human mind.” Solo is Hope Solo’s story as goalie of the U.S. women’s soccer team in the Olympics and the World Cup. Raised on the scorched earth of defunct nuclear testing sites, reunited with her father when she was an adult, she gives her life story and details of being benched in the semifinals of the 2007 World Cup. She was also recently on Dancing with the Stars.

            Here are new novels. Katherine Page’s The Body in the Boudoir is a Faith Fairchild mystery about her wedding day in New York in 1990. Jennifer Weiner’s The Next Best Thing tells how demanding actors, number-crunching executives, an unrequited crush on her boss, and her grandmother’s impending nuptials threaten her happy schedule being a screenwriter in Hollywood. Karen Robards’ The Last Victim is a new paranormal romantic thriller featuring an expert on serial killing whose powers lead her from ecstasy to terror. Julie Garwood’s Sweet Talk has a detective and a lawyer falling in love, “and making a federal case out of it” as together they fight corruption. Close Your Eyes by Iris and son Roy Johansen offers a music therapist who thrives on helping others; with special skills she learned during her first twenty years when she was blind, she can pick up subtle audio clues and faint smells as she deals with a serial killer and his victim. 

            Willow Wilson’s Alif the Unseen conjures up a tale of literary enchantment, political change, and religious mystery powered by high math and Arabian myth, in an “unnamed Middle Eastern security state.” Tumbleweeds by Leila Meacham is about three friends who forge a lifelong bond against the backdrop of a Texas town’s passion for football. Domestic Affairs is “a campaign novel” by Bridget Siegel about working on a presidential bid as did the author herself.

            A requested mystery is the late Robert Parker’s Fool Me Twice, a Jesse Stone story by Michael Brandman: in a Massachusetts town, a Hollywood movie company has invaded with its equipment and a troubled star, who becomes the subject of a death threat.           

Preview Shelf: Notable New Books by CDPL Volunteer, Janice Clauser

This column features large manuals useful to students looking ahead in their studies. Barron’s PSAT/NMSQT offers help before taking the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test, which also serves as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Barron’s SAT prepares students for the Scholastic Aptitude Test for college. Barron’s ACT serves as a college-prep exam assistant. The Princeton Review’s AP Calculus AB & BC Exams prepares students for advanced placement math tests. The 2013 edition of McGraw-Hill’s GRE is practice for the Graduate Record Examination General Test. These large workbooks have been designed for review and for brushing up on skills needed on different levels of education. All are the latest editions. The library has also received the new edition of the Fiske Guide to Colleges, which introduces readers to schools in many categories.

Everyday Activities to Help Your Young Child with Autism Live Life to the Full by Debra Jacobs offers simple exercises to boost functional skills, sensory processing, coordination, and self-care. John Graves’ The 7% Solution shows how to afford a comfortable retirement. Writing for Others, Writing for Ourselves by Jerry Lanson teaches how to tell stories in the age of blogging. Busy Mom’s Guide to Parenting Teens is Paul Reisser’s advice about social media, the healthy self-image, eating disorders, and drug problems. Finding freedom from a hurtful past is part of the text of authors Cloud, Carder, Townsend, and Henslin’s Unlocking Your Family Patterns. Healing Your Church Hurt by Stephen Mansfield explains what to do when you still love God but have been wounded by His people. African-American Healthy by Richard Walker tells how to protect health, especially how Vitamin D and other smart choices can dramatically improve well-being.

Is That a Fish in Your Ear? David Bellos shows why translation is at the heart of what we do and who we are. For instance, what is the difference between translating unprepared natural speech and translating a novel? What’s the difference between a native tongue and a learned one? Can you translate between any pair of languages or only between some? Can machines ever replace human translators, and if not, why?

Larry Swedroe’s Investment Mistakes Even Smart Investors Make and How to Avoid Them, Karl Meyer’s Pax Ethnica: Where and How Diversity Succeeds, and Pogo Through the Wild Blue Yonder by Walt Kelly (the complete syndicated comic strips, volume one) might attract interest, too.

Fiction collections are the Library of America’s Crime Novels of the 1930s & 1940s and Crime novels of the 1950s. The first volume includes “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”, “Thieves Like Us,” “The Big Clock,” “Nightmare Alley,” and “I Married a Dead Man.” The second volume includes “The Killer Inside Me,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” “Pick-Up,” “Down There,” and “The Real Cool Killers.”

New requested novels are Trouble at High Tide in the Murder, She Wrote series by Jessica Fletcher and Donald Bain. A former Marine’s search for the perfect woman is the story in Robyn Carr’s Sunrise Point. Carla Negger’s Secrets of a Lost Summer is a romance about a woman transforming a historic home and the absentee owner of the eyesore next door. The mystery Wicked Autumn by G.M. Mallet serves up “an irresistible English village—deliciously skewered—a flawed but likable protagonist, and a modern version of the traditional drawing room mystery.”

Preview Shelf: Notable New Books by CDPL Volunteer, Janice Clauser

By Neil Barofski, former Special Inspector General in charge of oversight of TARP, Bailout is an inside account of how Washington abandoned Main Street while rescuing Wall Street. In Exit Interview, David Westin reflects on what he learned in fourteen years of constant change as president of ABC News during an impeachment, the war on terror, and our worst economy since the Great Depression. Bill McGuire’s Waking the Giant discusses how our changing climate triggers earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes. An unusual selection is The Defining Decade, Meg Jay’s study of why our twenties matter, and how to make the most of them now.
The Amish tale Keeping Secrets is book two of Sadie’s Montana by Linda Byler: horses are being shot selectively, and no one is safe. Will the snipers be found? The Fiddler by Beverly Lewis brings new characters into a couple’s experiences in the Amish Old Order community. The Good Father by Diane Chamberlain concerns a single father devoted to his daughter; when he loses his job, the only way to earn money for her welfare is against his principles. Helpless by Daniel Palmer concerns a high school soccer coach/single father doing well with his child until he’s a suspect in his wife’s murder. Eleanor Brown’s The Weird Sisters has a chopped-off cover to reveal this comment: “Hilarious, thought provoking, and poignant. – J. Courtney Sullivan.” The three sisters’ father speaks in Shakespearean verse, and has named them after the Bard’s heroines. Nora Roberts’ The Last Boyfriend is book two of the Inn Boonsboro Trilogy involving a couple, a pizza parlor, and an about-to-open inn across the street.
New novels keep arriving. A betrayal and a murder in pro-Nazi Spain spark a struggle for power that grips a family for generations in The Sadness of the Samurai by Victor Del Arbol. Jeff Shaara’s A Blaze of Glory is the first novel of a new trilogy about the Civil War, taking us to the action-packed Western theater for a vivid re-creation of one of the war’s bloodiest and most iconic engagements – the Battle of Shiloh. The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King is a return to the rich landscape of Mid-World, the territory of the Dark Tower fantasy saga begun in 1974, but this novel also stands on its own, a haunting journey to Roland’s world of magic. XO by Jeffery Deaver is about a country-pop ingenue’s career bringing her unwanted attention and obsession because an innocent exchange with a fan is signed ‘XO.’ The Sins of the Father by Jeffrey Archer takes us to the days before Britain declared war on Germany, as the main character joins the Merchant Navy and his ship is sunk by a U-boat. In The Skeleton Box, a Starvation Lake mystery by Bryan Gruley, the entire town is uneasy because someone is slipping into their homes to rifle through financial and personal files but taking nothing. Marly Youmans’ A Death at the White Camellia Orphanage (with a gold seal of The Ferrol Sams Award for Fiction from Mercer University Press) tells of a young boy leaving a town in Georgia during the Great Depression to become a road kid and “ride the rails” groping for a place where he can feel content.

Preview Shelf: Notable New Books by CDPL Volunteer, Janice Clauser

“The Last Kings of Norse America: Runestone Keys to a Lost Empire” by Robert Johnson recalls a 450-year gap in North American history, between the Vinland voyages of Leif Eriksson shortly after 1000 A.D. and the famous year of 1492. David Clary tells about “George Washington’s First War,” detailing Washington’s important activities in the French and Indian War of 1754-63. What Jane Austen’s heroines can teach modern women about men, marriage, and lasting happiness is the subject of “The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever After” by Elizabeth Kantor. Here’s one tip: “Acquire the forgotten skill her heroines possess – the ability to discern his intentions.”

“Snow-Storm in August” by Jefferson Morley recalls 1835 in Washington, D.C. Riots against slavery were named for Beverly Snow, former slave turned successful restaurateur, when he became the target of mobs’ rage. “Shooting Victoria” by Paul Murphy portrays Victorian England through eight assassination attempts on the Queen, whose courage is evident in this quote: “It is worth being shot at – to see how much one is loved.”

Steve Kemper’s “A Labyrinth of Kingdoms” is an account of Heinrich Barth’s 1850 British expedition into unexplored regions of Islamic North and Central Africa, a 1,000-mile adventure.

The new “Civil War Sketch Book: Drawings from the Battlefront” by Harry Katz gathers the best of the drawings made by “special artists” like Winslow Homer and Thomas Nast, prototypes for contemporary combat photographers. Brad Lookingbill’s “American Military History” reader has 16 chapters of short documents providing many approaches to the development of American military institutions and practices. ” Eric Kandel’s “The Age of Insight” takes us to Vienna where in 1900, leaders in science, medicine, and art began a revolution that changed how we think about the human mind.

New novels start with “The Bourne Imperative,” a Jason Bourne novel by Eric Lustbader. In Stuart Woods’ “Unnatural Acts,” Stone Barrington is hired to talk sense into a hedge fund billionaire’s son, and finds the job becoming a trail of entrapment and murder. “Death Comes Silently” is a Death on Demand mystery by Carolyn Hart about the owner of a bookstore dealing with murders, set during a South Carolina winter. “The Dream of the Celt” by Mario Vargas Llosa deals with the historical subject of native populations in the Belgian Congo and Amazon, where Roger Casement’s work leads to a tainted image, hiding his pioneering human rights efforts.

“Tubes” by Andrew Blum is a journey to the center of the Internet. The author goes inside the physical infrastructure and “flips on the lights,” revealing an utterly fresh look at the online world we think we know. It’s a “series of tubes” which we’ll understand better with Blum’s reporting and lucid explanation. A reviewer writes, “You will never open an email in quite the same way again.”

Preview Shelf: Notable New Books by CDPL Volunteer, Janice Clauser

Travel books to borrow begin with “Images of America: Dixie Highway in Indiana” by Russell Rein. Hoosier Carl Fisher inspired the existence of the north-to-south transcontinental automobile highway. It was a symbolically named route that would help unify the nation 50 years after the Civil War had ended, starting at Sault Ste Marie, MI and ending in Miami Beach, FL, with main routes through IN, OH, KE, and TN. Other new travel books are Frommer’s “Northern Italy,” “Virginia,” and “Chicago.”

Books about food are Missy Lapine’s “The Speedy Sneaky Chef” which has quick healthy fixes for packaged foods, and Angie Best-Boss’ “The Everything Parent’s Guide to Eating Disorders.” Best-Boss explains how to see warning signs and develop recovery plans for children.

Two new needlework notebooks are “Custom Crocheted Sweaters (that really fit)” by Dora Ohrenstein, and “The Best of Knit Along with Debbie Macomber,” 44 classic designs for family, gifts, and home.

On to requested novels. In David Baldacci’s “The Innocent,” a government hit man refuses to kill after a career of always obeying orders; next, he runs into a vast cover-up when trying to help a runaway. Five Amish novels ordered by readers include two by Jerry Eicher: “A Hope for Hannah” and “A Dream for Hannah.” “A Simple Spring” by Rosalind Lauer comes from the series Seasons of Lancaster. “The Keeper” is from the Stoney Ridge Seasons series by Suzanne Fisher, and “Her Restless Heart” is part of the Stitches in Time series by Barbara Cameron.

Robert Caro’s biography “The Passage of Power” is the fourth installment of his series, “The Years of Lyndon Johnson.” and follows the President through the most frustrating and triumphant periods of his career, 1958 to 1964. He traded being Senate majority leader for being Vice President. We see the Kennedy assassination through Johnson’s eyes and follow him in his finest hours during his War on Poverty. Jonathan Fenby’s “The General” is the first major work on Charles DeGaulle in fifteen years, bringing alive the private man as well as the public speaker who saved France twice. “Victor Cruz: Out of the Blue” is the Super Bowl-winning and record-breaking wide receiver’s own story, begun with the statement, “It may seem like I came out of the blue. But my road was long, windy, full of hurdles, and even some dead ends.” “Monkey Mind” by Daniel Smith is a funny book in which the author articulates what it is like to live with anxiety. Rachel Cusk offers “Aftermath on Marriage and Separation,” about divorce’s tremendous impact on the lives of women.

Preview Shelf: Notable New Books by CDPL Volunteer, Janice Clauser

A special service at the Crawfordsville Library is the Military Collection. It resides on the east end of the New Nonfiction bookcase on level two, located on your left when you walk straight ahead out of the elevator. The books, CDs, and DVDs have been furnished by the Red Cross and are made available by the library, including a binder and printed lists of everything available on all sorts of helpful subjects for military families. Examples are “Chicken Soup for the Military Wife’s Soul”, “Armed Forces Guide to Personal Financial Planning”, “The Soldier’s Night before Christmas”, “Heroes at Home”, and “Women in the Line of Fire”. All military, veterans, and their families are invited.

English history can be recalled if you read about Henry VIII when he became disenchanted with Anne Boleyn and she is ensnared in a web of conspiracy involving the “other wives” in Hilary Mantel’s novel “Bring up the Bodies”. “Trauma Plan” by Candace Calvert is a kind of medical romance because a nurse and a doctor have to fight hard to save a free clinic. Laura Moriarty’s “The Chaperone” goes back in time to the silent-film era, when a beautiful young woman’s older companion finds new possibilities for herself in1920s New York. “Agent Garbo” by Stephan Talty tells about the “brilliant, eccentric secret agent who tricked Hitler and saved D-Day”. The agent was really Juan Pujol, a Barcelona poultry farmer, who tried four times before the British would trust him, then as Agent Garbo he created a fictional network to get Nazi trust and convince our enemy that the D-Day attack would hit Calais. This is a thriller.

“The Omnivorous Mind” is John Allen’s study of our historic relationship with food like “crispy” for excitement or “fried” for illicit pleasure. “American Canopy” is a study of our history with trees and their place in our products and societies. He notes the importance of Liberty Trees, Central Park, Walden Pond, Wisconsin’s Fire of 1871, and other significant items of interest.

New biographies look interesting. “Leak” is Max Holland’s story of Deep Throat (alias Mark Felt). Ruth Rosen’s “Called to Controversy” is about her father Moishe Rosen, the international founder of “Jews for Jesus” who successfully delivered the gospel to those who believed their very identity depended on not believing in Jesus. Brian Wills offers General “George Henry Thomas” a Virginian who sided with the north in the Civil War. Even though biographers have been hampered by Thomas’s lack of personal papers, contemporary documents offer new insights into his battlefield action, relationship with Grant, and his interactions with other Union commanders when he was known as the Rock of Chickamauga. “I Am Spartacus!” is Kirk Douglas’ story as producer, philanthropist, and author, as well as movie star. “I Got a Name: The Jim Croce Story”, by his wife Ingrid, is the personal biography of the talented songwriter that also captures the rise of the burgeoning counterculture of the 60s and early ‘70s, revealing the man behind hits like “Time in a Bottle” and “Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown”. The autobiography “The Long Walk” is Brian Castner’s story as the leader of a military bomb disposal team. He recounts his deployment to Iraq and exposes crucial truths about that particular conflict.

James Gelvin writes what he thinks everyone needs to know in “The Arab Uprisings”; David Crist offers “The Twilight War” the secret history of America’s thirty-year conflict with Iran.

Preview Shelf: Notable New Books by CDPL Volunteer, Janice Clauser

“Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News” is Dan Rather’s look back over his entire career as he stays dedicated to the two principles of journalism: “first, find out the truth; and then, tell people about it.” R. J. Smith’s “The One: The Life and Music of James Brown” is “a portrait of a man whose fascinating life helps us understand the music he made.” “It shows that he is deeper, more contradictory, and more important than the song-and-dance man he has been rendered in the past.” Powerful new novels include James Patterson and Maxine Paetro’s “11th Hour”. Billed as “the most shocking, most emotional, and most thrilling Women’s Murder Club novel ever”, it chases a movie star who might be a serial killer. Next, James Patterson and David Ellis’ “Guilty Wives” says the reader is “about to experience the ultimate guilty pleasure. Four best friends on a decadent vacation – thrown in prison for murder.” Janet Evanovich’s Lizzy and Diesel series proves there’s no business like this new novel, “Wicked Business”, whether “it’s monkey business, funny business, or getting down to business.”

“The Witness” by Nora Roberts follows “a studious, obedient girl’s short-lived teenage rebellion that began with L’Oreal Pure Black, a pair of scissors, and a fake ID. It ended in blood…” Another new novel this week is Johanna Lindsey’s “Let Love Find You” in which London society has its own Cupid, a renowned horse breeder and occasional matchmaker who pairs eligible young ladies with suitable gentlemen based on his theory of animal magnetism.

In “Robert Parker’s Lullaby’”, a Spenser novel by Ace Atkins, inside covers show a map called Spenser’s Boston where the correct murderer of her mother is sought by a street-smart fourteen-year-old whose theory is finally proved correct. “The Big Cat Nap” is the 20th anniversary Mrs. Murphy mystery by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown (cat). Marcia Clark’s “Guilt by Degrees”, the follow-up to her bestselling debut, tells how heroine Rachel Knight becomes the object of a brilliant psychopath’s obsession.

“Force of Nature” by C. J. Box is a Joe Pickett novel; Joe and cohort Nate, former secret Special Forces member, are put in danger by Nate’s past. Iris Johansen’s “What Doesn’t Kill You” (makes you stronger) is the theme as a former teenager who survived in Hong Kong by trading information becomes a CIA agent, and because she had worked with a man whose deadly poisonous formula is completely untraceable, she now must find it in spite of untold dangers to herself.

The latest travel guides are “The Bumper Book of London” by Becky Jones & Clare Lewis, offering fun facts for all the family, Rick Steves’ “Germany 2012” with foldout color map, and “The Rough Guide to Europe on a Budget” from Rough Guides.
Two new cookbooks are Kris Holechek’s “Have Your Cake and Vegan Too” offering 50 dazzling and delicious cake creations, and “Taste What You’re Missing”, the passionate eater’s guide to why good food tastes good, by Barb Stuckey.