Preview Shelf -- Thanksgiving Break

The Crawfordsville District Public Library staff will be celebrating their Thanksgivings from noon next Wednesday until the building reopens Friday at 9 a.m. Here are books that enhance the season. The National Geographical Society's "Atlas of Exploration" includes extensive coverage of North America, beginning with Norse discoveries, and on to early explorations, colonies, missions, Indian life, and ways west. Routes are mapped out and key figures are illustrated. "American Indian Places" by Frances Kennedy includes Mounds State Park east of Anderson, Tippecanoe Battlefield in Battle Ground and Prophetstown State Park in West Lafayette, Forks of the Wabash Historic Park west of Huntington, and Angel Mounds at Evansville. Ken Haedrich's "Maple Syrup Cookbook" offers atmospheric dishes for the holiday, like sweet potato and bacon bisque, and maple-bacon (egg) strata. EatingWell's "Comfort Foods Made Healthy" ingredients and pictures can also make one's mouth water. In "Napkin Origami" a shape like a simple leaf can make a dining table special when made from directions in "Napkin Origami" by Brian Sawyer. "Living on an Acre" updated by Christine Woodside is a practical guide to a self-reliant life. "National Geographic Birding Essentials" by Jonathan Alderfer and Jon Dunn gives all the tools, techniques, and tips you need to begin and to become a better birder with the attractive format that particular organization always offers to readers. "What All Good Dogs Should Know" explains Jock Volhard and Melissa Bartlett's sensible training methods."Evidence Explained" is Elizabeth Mills' guide through sources not covered by other citation manuals, with all kinds of original records, accessed through different media; it's a go-to guide for everyone who explores the past. Another guide is Ed Begley, Jr.'s "Living Like Ed" guiding an eco-friendly life like installing an urban windmill, buying furniture made from recycled materials, and choosing battery-free products. The Cottage Bible" by Gerry Mackie & Laura Taylor is a large compendium of vacation-home knowledge.History is represented by Michael Hicks' "Anne Neville" the first full-length biography of the Queen to Richard III, most popular of late medieval English kings. "Race" is Marc Aronson's historic study showing how the idea of race did not exist in the West before the 1600s, how mostly slavery had nothing to do with race, how the Greeks divided the world into civilized and barbarian. "Love in Black and White" is William Cohen's memoir of "race, religion, and romance" married to Janet Langhart with interesting resolutions about their differences and participations in some progressive legislation. British author Philip Pullman's children's story "The Golden Compass" and others are analyzed by Pete Vere and Sandra Miesel and compared to The Chronicles of Narnia and the Harry Potter books in "Pied Piper of Atheism". "Happiness is an Inside Job" is Sylvia Boorstein's set of exercises to practice a joyful life. "The Braindead Megaphone Essays" by George Saunders describes the opulence of Dubai and the self-denial of an endlessly meditating Buddha Boy of Nepal; it invokes the wisdom of Mark Twain and Kurt Vonnegut, making us see things we've trained ourselves to ignore.