Local Treats at Library Conference by Janice Clauser

           

            “A good time was had by all” (learning and pleasure) when the Crawfordsville Library staff hosted the annual Conference of Indiana District 2 Libraries. Our circulation department’s Katy Myers, head of Adult Programs, reports on the inspiring day: “One hundred of us gathered last Friday morning with great anticipation, for 20 programs in five sessions to enhance our abilities to be more effective, efficient, and open to new ideas. Lali Hess of The Juniper Spoon catered our delicious lunch. She is featured in “Food for Thought: An Indiana Harvest” the book (reviewed in this column and available in the CDPL) promoted by the day’s keynote speakers, David Hoppe and Kristen Hess, who described farms, stores, and businesses with “making life better” offerings ranging from bison farms and organic caterers to homemade candy stores and award-winning grappa-brandy made from grape skins.” 

             

            New research on Crawfordsville shelves opens our eyes to contemporary views. In “The New Mind of the South” Tracy Thompson honors a book of 1941 by Wilbur Cash called “The Mind of the South” by being its sequel. She praises the South for its ability to adapt and transform itself. She finds African Americans now returning, drawn back by a mix of ambition, family ties, and cultural memory. The new South is ahead of other places in absorbing waves of Latino immigrants, and rediscovering its agrarian traditions. The author still thinks the region is misunderstood by outsiders and even by its own people. 

           

            “The Secretary” by Kim Ghattas is a journey with Hillary Clinton from Beirut to the heart of American power. With compelling detail she tells how Clinton transformed from popular but polarizing politician to America’s envoy to the world with its tensions and high-stakes diplomacy. “Lee Kuan Yew” profiles the founding father of modern Singapore and prime minister from 1959 to 1990, moving his country into a Western-style economic success. The book contains interviews and selections by Graham Allison and Robert Blackwill. 

 Tom Daschle and Charles Robbins’ “The U.S. Senate”, second in the Fundamentals of American Government series, explores the inner workings of this part of the legislative branch, showing exactly how the Senate really operates. ”The Good Rich and What They Cost Us” by Robert Dalzell, Jr. addresses a great historical paradox, a passionate belief in the principles of democracy combined with an equally passionate celebration of wealth. “The Battle of Bretton Woods” by Benn Steil tells of John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the making of a new world order at the New Hampshire town when representatives of 44 nations gathered in July, 1944. Michael Dobbs’ “Six Months in 1945” spans some dramatic moments of the 20^th century: the end of WW II, the dawn of the nuclear age, and the beginning of the Cold War.  

             

            Here are two new requested novels. Elizabeth Berg’s “Tapestry of Fortunes” illustrates two ideas: how women grow through their relationships that define them, and the power of female friendship. “Bristol House” by Beverly Swerling “blends a haunting supernatural thriller with vivid history of Tudor London where monks are being executed, Jews banished, and the power of Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell reach every corner of the kingdom.”

Crawfordsville Library Hosts Federation Conference by Janice Clauser

The Crawfordsville Library will be closed tomorrow; it is the site for the Indiana Library Federation District 2 Conference. Between 8:30 and 4:10 lectures and workshops will take place featuring four conference sessions.

“Shadow Warrior” by Randall Woods is a biography of William Colby and his era of the CIA. As a World War II commando, Cold War spy, and CIA director under presidents Nixon and Ford, he played a critical role in some pivotal events of the twentieth century. “All the Best, George Bush” is the travelogue of an observant president George H. W. Bush. “His writings cover affairs of state and affairs of spaniels on equal footing. The short takes on a long life reveal an underlying sense of duty to office, family and morality.” (Jennifer Harper, the Washington Post). 

“A Belief in Providence” by Julie Young is the life of Theodora Guerin, a pioneer on the Indiana frontier and recently Indiana’s first saint in 2006.  From France she came to the United States in 1840, and founded the Sisters of Providence and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, the oldest Catholic women’s liberal arts college in the U.S. Debbie Reynolds’ “Unsinkable” a memoir, gives her a unique perspective on Hollywood and its elite, from the earlier era of MGM to the present.

Bob Knight’s “The Power of Negative Thinking” is his unconventional approach to achieving positive results. He makes the case that negative thinking can actually produce more positive results than unrealistic optimism. “The Captain” is Ian O’Connor’s report on the long journey of Derek Jeter using some materials from his 200 interviews to reveal how this biracial kid from Michigan became New York’s most beloved sports figure, and the example of a steroid-free athlete.

“This Explains Everything” edited by John Brockman quotes the world’s most influential minds on physics, economics, psychology, and neuroscience, with 150 brilliant theories about our minds, societies, and universe. Amy Brann has written “Make Your Brain Work” to maximize efficiency, productivity and effectiveness. A simpler book by Ron Fry is “Improve Your Reading” for students. “Your Survival Instinct is Killing You” is Marc Schoen’s treatise on retraining our brains. How to get help with addiction is found in “Inside Rehab” by Anne Fletcher.

 

“My Last Empress” by Da Chen is a story of passion and obsession set against the upheavals of nineteenth-century imperial China. Erec Stebbins’ “The Ragnarok Conspiracy” fills a traditional terrorist thriller with engaging characters, great conflicts, and profound thoughts, with twists and turns around every corner. Clare Clark’s “Beautiful Lies” takes us to London in 1887 where a proclaimed Chilean heiress educated in Paris is torn between her love of poetry and the new art of photography, besides at the same time being chased by a notorious newspaper editor; it’s a take on the true story of a politician’s wife who lived a double life for decades.  

Newly requested books begin with Karen Kingsbury’s “The Chance” featuring a teenage girl and her best friend, a boy, who wrote letters to each other and buried them in an old box. The plan was to return eleven years later from wherever they were. Meanwhile they both had disappointments in their lives. So what will happen when they meet on schedule? C. J. Box offers “Breaking Point” a Joe Pickett novel in which Joe’s friend disappears; there are obvious reasons why, but proving them and finding him is the challenge. 

Come and Discuss “Life of Pi” by Janice Clauser

At the Crawfordsville Library, the book club called “Never Judge a Book by its Movie” will discuss “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel next Thursday at 6:30 p.m. You are welcome to attend, and may pick up a book copy at the circulation desk and/or see the movie on your own beforehand. 

 

 

 

 

 

           Here are a few “how to” and “how it was” books at the Crawfordsville Library that seem unique. “Accidental Pharisees” by Larry Osborne shows how to avoid pride, exclusivity, and the other dangers of overzealous faith. “The Rules of Influence” by William Crano (called “one of the best books on social psychology ever written”) teaches about winning when you’re in the minority. “Friendkeeping” by Julie Klam is a field guide to the people you love, hate, and can’t live without. “Quiet” is Susan Cain’s take on the power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking. 

           Karen Webb offers “Principles of the Enneagram,” the narrative method of reporting our self-observations to others, a discovery that strengthens us spiritually as we make progress expressing our observations. “Habits animate and limit different types of people.” 

 

 

 

 

 

          


           There are two nonfiction story books. In “A Little History of Science” author William Bynum says it’s a great adventure story. It traces the march of science through the centuries. It charts the evolution of chemistry’s periodic table. It recounts the scientific quest that revealed the DNA molecule. It tells personal stories of scientists famous and unsung. “The Story of ‘Ain’t’” by David Skinner discusses America’s language, and the most controversial dictionary ever published. 

           

           There’s “The Spine of the Continent” in which Mary Hannibal writes about the most ambitious wildlife conservation project ever undertaken. “The Great Railroad Revolution” is the history of trains in America compiled by Christian Wolmar; it mentions the Indiana Central Railroad and the Indianapolis, Crawfordsville & Western Railroad although it is really a general look at the era of building and popularizing this transportation. “Walkable City” by Jeff Speck educates us about how downtown can save America, one step at a time.

            Kurt Vonnegut’s “Letters” mostly never published before, have that uncanny wisdom that has endeared the author to his readers worldwide. He observes science, art, and commerce with his open-hearted humanism. In “Mao: The Real Story” Alexander Pantsov uses previously unavailable Russian documents to reveal new details about his rise to power and his leadership in China. “Former People” is Douglas Smith’s title as he surveys the final days of the Russian aristocracy. 

            Fodor’s 2013 “travel intelligence” guide “Arizona & the Grand Canyon” is now on the new shelf. 

 

 

 

 

           You can find billions of dollars in scholarships, grants and prizes in the large paperback called “The Ultimate Scholarship Book 2013” by Gen Tanabe. Zola & Norman Schneider’s “Campus Visits & College Interviews” and Sarah McGinty’s “The College Application Essay” come from the College Board, New York.

           

                   



 

 

 

 

            One book deserves special attention because of its treatment of Samuel Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner;” it’s also a wise lecture on our present day environmental crises. “The Rime of the Modern Mariner” by Nick Hayes is a work of art that’s fun to read, a treat for the eyes, and a display of woodcut variety and beauty. 

Visit Montgomery County’s Crinoids by Janice Clauser

 

 

 

One very special historical display in Montgomery County is the collection of crinoids from the Mississippian Era preserved on the upper level in the Crawfordsville Library, described, labeled and donated by the William Jones family.            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Thavis, recently retired prize-winning chief of the Rome bureau of Catholic News Service, has written (in 2012) “The Vatican Diaries,” a behind-the-scenes look at the power and personalities at the heart of the Catholic Church.  His writing takes readers from the politicking behind the election of a new pope to a dispute over a parking lot excavation that unearthed a stunningly preserved Roman grave site. “Stalin’s Curse” is Robert Gellately’s research of newly released Russian documentation revealing Joseph Stalin’s true motives, and the extent of his enduring commitment to expanding the Soviet empire, during the years in which he seemingly collaborated with Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and the capitalist West. Walter Johnson’s “River of Dark Dreams” explains slavery and empire in the cotton kingdom’s era, and he predicts that the next generation of debaters over slavery in the U. S. must wrestle with his startling and profound insights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Masters of the Universe” by Daniel Jones examines the birth of neo-liberal politics after 1945 through a transatlantic network of think tanks, businessmen, politicians, and journalists. Jeb Bush and Clint Bolick offer a practical, non-partisan approach to “Immigration Wars.” “Ethical Chic” holds Fran Hawthorne’s comments about companies we think we love. She analyses six Apple, Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, American Apparel, Timberland, and Tom’s of Maine. Tom Allen’s “Dangerous Convictions” asks “What’s really wrong with the U.S. Congress.” “Frankenstein’s Cat” is about cuddling up to biotech’s brave new beasts as our grandest science fiction fantasies are fast becoming reality. And then as a contrast, from 2,000 years ago, there’s “The King of Infinite Space” about Euclid and his elements, written by David Berlinski.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Fair Food” comes from Oran Hesterman’s ideas about growing a healthy food system for all; Alice Waters writes, “’Fair Food’…illuminates a clear path toward a more sustainable, fair, and delicious future.” Melanie Warner’s “Pandora’s Lunchbox” tells how processed food took over the American meal, resulting in the cheapest, most abundant, most addictive, and most nutritionally inferior food in the world now producing 70% of our nation’s calories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Best Hikes Near Indianapolis” by Nick Werner offers good tours including Shades State Park, Pine Hills, Turkey Run State Park, and Raccoon State Recreation Area (pages 225-244.) Farther east is Fodor’s new “travel intelligence” about “New England” featuring historic towns, fall foliage, hiking and skiing.”

“American Rose: the life and times of Gypsy Rose Lee” is an immersive, almost novelistic portrait,” according to USA Today.”   

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

            “The Ellington Century” by David Schiff takes away walls between musical genres usually discussed separately – classical, jazz, and popular - in an integrated view of 20^th century music. It does this by placing Duke Ellington (1899-1974) at the center of the story with his broad ideas of rhythm, melody, and harmony. Best of all, the book shows how composers and performers shared the pursuit of representing the changing conditions of modern life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April Brings New Activities to the Library by Janice Clauser

The Crawfordsville Library offers many activities in April. Today and weekly at 4 p.m. the Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic Card Games program convenes until 8:30 p.m. Very beginning Spanish lessons begin April 9^th at 5 p.m. On Thursdays Spanish classes for children meet from 5-6 p.m., and Spanish for English Speakers meets 6-7 p.m. and 7-8 p.m. Sign language classes are scheduled April 6^th and 20^th from 2-4 p.m. while Novices of the Old Ways studies herbs this Saturday (4/6) 1-3:30. Sundays the 7^th and 21^st there is a Prayer Shawls/Wedding Shawls knitting class at 2. Next Monday (4/8) at 6:30 the Deweys Do Book Club will discuss “The Dogs of Babel” by Carolyn Parkhurst. Tuesdays 6:30-8:30 p.m. on the 9^th and 23rd you are invited to Paint-in with Mike Bowman, directed this month by Dawn Goggin. Call the Circulation Desk at 362-2242, extension 1, for details. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In “West of Here” Jonathan Evison chronicles the life of a small Olympic Peninsula town on the eve of Washington’s statehood in 1889. Bringing early-twentieth-century New York alive, the neighborhoods, bars, the park in upper Manhattan, boat traffic, mansions and sweatshops, Mary Beth Keane’s “Fever” tells of the forgotten life of Mary Mallon, known as “Typhoid Mary.” “Capital” by John Lanchester is a social novel set at the height of the financial crisis. It’s 2008, and the residents of Pepys Road, London are receiving menacing postcards, each of which features a photo of their front door and “We Want What You Have.” Peter Carey’s “The Chemistry of Tears” features London in 2010. “A Tale for the Time Being” by Ruth Ozeki tells the life of a 16-year-old girl whose lunch box washes up on a beach of a remote island in the Pacific Northwest, containing an antique wristwatch, a pack of letters, and her diary, debris from Japan’s 2011 tsunami.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A grief-filled museum conservator studying an eerie automaton uncovers notebooks written by the treasure’s original English owner who traveled to Germany in the 19^th century to commission it as an amusement for his consumptive son. Of course, the conservator finds a link between herself and that early owner. Next, Nihad Sirees’ “The Silence and the Roar” shows a Middle Eastern country resembling Syria where the entire populace celebrates the 20-year anniversary of the reigning despot; an author in the congregation is arrested and somehow keeps himself truly free in mind despite the state’s imposition on his life.

In “Middle Men” by Jim Gavin, California is the subject of six stories; in one a group of men, from young dreamers to old vets, makes forays into middle-class respectability; in another a game show producer moonlights as a stand-up comedian. The men in these stories all find themselves stuck halfway between their dreams and the crushing reality of their lives.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The Wanting” by Michael Lavigne shows an Israeli father and his daughter and the cost of extremism in the aftermath of a suicide bombing. Finally, a story set in Plainfield, Indiana gives the experiences of a trio of high school pals in the 1960s and through the next four decades. The three meet each Sunday for delicious food, juicy gossip, tears, and laughs; they are Edward Moore’s “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The nonfiction “Becoming Europe” by Samuel Gregg tackles situations like economic decline, and how America can avoid a European future even though since our recession in 2008 our economy has drifted in a distinctly “European” direction. The book says that the European experience should serve us as the proverbial canary in the coal mine.