Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Preview Shelf: Keeping Up With the Demand

The Crawfordsville District Public Library staff carefully buys new books, including those requested by readers. Often, patrons fill out request cards clipped to good reviews about useful reading. Just arrived Tony Dungy's "Quite Strength" giving his principles, practices, and priorities of a winning life is already wait-listed by football fans. "The New American Story" comes from Bill Bradley who believes that we are at a teachable moment, and he proposes things every American can do to shape our nation's future. "Modern Liberty and the Limits of Government" by Charles Fried is a meditation on the fate of traditional concepts of liberty in the modern welfare state. "A Brief History of Science" edited by John Gribbin divides its text into chaos & order, energy & motion, space & time, the nature of matter, the dynamic earth, and the pulse of life; it resembles a short colorful encyclopedia. "African American Dance: An Illustrated History" by Barbara Glass follows the dynamics of these dance forms throughout each generation. "The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang" was put together by Leonard Maltin amd Rocjard Bamm. "The Best
American Travel Writing 2006" edited by Tim Cahill includes essays about the Grand Canyon, downhill skiing in South Korea, the charms of Zurich, and an acquaintance with a French passenger plane manufacturer. "Truck: A Love Story" by Michael Perry actually recounts a year in which the author struggles to grow his own food, live peaceably with neighbors, and sort out his love life. A single experience walking out of the shadows of abuse is "Ama, Your Story is Mine" by Ercenia Cedeno. "The Grand Ole Opry" by Colin Escott gives the over-80-year-old history of that American icon. Two new travel guides are Fodor's "New Orleans 2007" and Lonely Planet's "Mexico".

New books about war struggles are Alex Keershaw's "The Few" about the American nights of the Air who risked everything to fight in the Battle of Britain (World War II). "Surviving the Sword" is Brian MacArthur's tribute to prisoners of the Japanese in the Far East from 1942-1945. "First into Nagasaki" by George Weller contains censored eyewitness dispatches on post-atomic Japan and its prisoners of war (1945). "A Deserter's Tale" is the story by Joshua Key, an ordinary soldier who walked away from the war in Iraq. Navy doctor Richard Jadick's Iraq war story is "On Call". Practical guides "Practical Pole Building Construction" by Leigh Seddon and "Water Gardens 1-2-3" come from The Home Depot. Jeanne Martinet saves us from embarrassment in "The Art of Mingling". "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Computer Basics" is by Joe Kraynak. Secrets to getting and keeping the joy you really want are found in Ron and Caryl Krannich's "The Blue-Collar Resume and Job Hunting Guide". "The Comfort of Home" by Maria Meyer is a guide for caregivers who work in patients' homes. "Keep Them on Your Side" by Samuel Bacharach shows how to lead and manage people and organizations to accomplish momentum. Elizabeth Pantley tells of gentle ways to encourage children's good behavior without whining, tantrums, and tears in "The No-Cry Discipline Solution". "Black & White" by Dani Shapiro is a novel about art, fame, ambition, and family that asks: Is it possible for a mother to be true to herself and true to her children at the same time?"

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