New Book List

October 2003

Nonfiction

Stories of Art - Elkins, James

Stories of Art is James Elkins's intimate history of art. Concise and original, this engaging book is an antidote to behemoth art history textbooks. As he demonstrates so persuasively, there can never be one story of art. Cultures have their own stories - about themselves, about other cultures - and to hear them all is one way to hear the multiple stories that art tells. But each of us also has our own story of art, a kind of private art history made up of the pieces we have seen, and loved or hated, the effects they had on us, and the connections that might be drawn among them.

Elkins opens up the questions that traditional art history usually avoids. What about all the art not produced in Western Europe or in the Europeanized Americas? Is it possible to include Asian art and Indian art in "the story"? What happens when one does? To help us find answers, he uses both Western and non-Western artworks, tables of contents from art histories written in cultures outside the center of Western European tradition, and strangely wonderful diagrams of how artworks might connect through a single individual. - from the publisher

Water from Heaven: Story of Water From the Big Bang to the Rise of Civilization, and Beyond - Kandel, Robert S.

No tangible substance means more to us than water, and in this scientific history, astrophysicist Kandel traces not only the cycles of water molecules on Earth, but their voyages through time and space as well. Since water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen-very old elements, cosmologically speaking-Kandel applies a Michener-like thoroughness to his subject in the first section of his book. Starting with the Big Bang, he methodically works his way along toward the origin of life. "No water, no life," he states succinctly, showing how crucial water is to the biochemical development of organisms. The second part of the book, dedicated to "Water in Today's World," covers weather, tides and currents, and the familiar rain-river-sea-cloud cycle that children learn in school. Kandel works to make the hard science exciting, but he really shines in the last third of the book, which is devoted to "hydropolitics." Water "could be the biggest problem of the 21st century," he writes, and he offers numerous examples (e.g., water conflict and management between Israel and its neighbors) to prove his point. Judging by the vulnerability of agrarian societies and the struggles of cities trying to support their growing populations, humans around the globe are having trouble finding, keeping and recycling water. While dense with facts and figures, Kandel's aquatic history is riveting, an exhaustive and complex examination of our most precious chemical compound. "Have a drink of water," says Kandel. You're sipping "the history of the Earth and of the universe." - Publisher's Weekly

Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number - Livio, Mario

Take something as simple as a line segment and mark it at just the right place. Looking at it with a mathematician's eye, an interesting relationship appears: the ratio between the whole line and the larger of the pieces it was broken into is the same as the ratio of the larger piece and smaller piece. Better known as "the golden ratio" or phi, 1.618- is a number that has fascinated humans for several hundred years, and people have claimed evidence of phi in all manner of things. Livio takes readers on a treasure hunt for phi from ancient times through the present. On the way, he debunks a number of popular myths (e.g., the notion that Mondrian used it in his abstract paintings) and does a wonderful job explaining the Fibonacci sequence and its relationship to phi. Small, black-and-white photos and reproductions demonstrate items mentioned in the text. While it may seem that the author wanders in his expositions, his excursions into history and number games add fun and depth for those who wish to follow. To get the most out of The Golden Ratio, it is best to have an understanding of algebra and basic trigonometry, although the book is great for general readers who don't mind working a little to gain a lot of understanding. - School Library Journal

First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life - Starr, Kenneth W.

In First Among Equals, the author of the much-debated Starr Report examines the inner workings of today's Supreme Court. Focussing on lightning rod issues such as affirmative action and religion in the public square, Starr discusses how the delicate mix of personalities and judicial philosophies effect the high court's decisions. Not shy about stating his own opinion, the controversial jurist concludes with a vigorous defense of the Court's actions in Bush v. Gore, the case that decided the 2000 election. - Barnes & Noble

Hydrogen: The Essential Element - Rigden, John S.

Seduced by simplicity, physicists find themselves endlessly fascinated by hydrogen, the simplest of atoms. Hydrogen has shocked, it has surprised, it has embarrassed, it has humbled -- and again and again it has guided physicists to the edge of new vistas where the promise of basic understanding and momentous insights beckoned. The allure of hydrogen, crucial to life and critical to scientific discovery, is at the center of this book, which tells a story that begins with the big bang and continues to unfold today. In this biography of hydrogen, John Rigden shows how this singular atom, the most abundant in the universe, has helped unify our understanding of the material world from the smallest scale, the elementary particles, to the largest, the universe itself. It is a tale of startling discoveries and dazzling practical benefits spanning more than one hundred years -- from the first attempt to identify the basic building block of atoms in the mid-nineteenth century to the discovery of the Bose-Einstein condensate only a few years ago. With Rigden as an expert and engaging guide, we see how hydrogen captured the imagination of many great scientists -- such as Heisenberg, Pauli, Schrodinger, Dirac, and Rabi -- and how their theories and experiments with this simple atom led to such complex technical innovations as magnetic resonance imaging, the maser clock, and global positioning systems. Along the way, we witness the transformation of science from an endeavor of inspired individuals to a monumental enterprise often requiring the cooperation of hundreds of scientists around the world. Still, any biography of hydrogen has to end with a question: what new surprises await us? - from the publisher

First World War - Howard, Michael

A concise, credible, lucid account of the causes, battles, politics, and consequences of the Great War. Howard (Professor Emeritus, History/Yale and Oxford) compresses a mass of material, theory, and argument. His modest ambition, he states, is merely to introduce. But he does far more; he also engages and educates. First offering a snapshot of Europe in 1914, Howard then establishes the geopolitics and identifies the principal reasons each of the major powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Russia, Britain) allowed the machinery of war to rumble into motion and then roar into sanguinary life. The author explains how the battlefield was transformed by the emerging technology of warfare: improved firepower, artillery with increasing range, poison gas, automobiles, airplanes, and submarines. All the combatants believed the war would be short; when the conflict slowed in the trenches and became a war of attrition, Howard analyzes how political forces on the home fronts sought to end it. He does not focus on the war's human cost, though occasionally he reminds us of the horror visited upon innocent civilians. Discussing refugees, he describes "the first trickle of that immense and miserable flood of uprooted humanity that was to characterize warfare for the rest of the century." The author deals skillfully with the late, reluctant entry of the US into the conflict, occasioned by German submarine attacks on passenger and merchant vessels in a last-gasp attempt to stop the Allies' supplies. As Howard notes, the Germans knew this would bring America into the war, but the High Command hoped the conflict would be over before that entry had much of an effect. They miscalculated: Americans flooded "over there," and their mere presence, the author argues, animated the Allies. His final pages deal with the Versailles Treaty, whose harsh conditions would arm Adolf Hitler with much political firepower. Demonstrates with clarity, craft, and precision that even in scholarship less can be more. - Kirkus

Europe : A History : a panorama of Europe from the Ice Age to the Cold War - Davies, Norman

Historian Davies (Heart of Europe, 1984) is perfect for this ambitious project, a panoramic history of Europe from prehistoric times to the present. He reminds readers that East and West have much in common, beginning with a long, conjoined history of events, personalities, movements, and concepts. Narrative chapters alternate with tableaux of specific events; there are numerous digressive inserts. The prose is elegant throughout; Davies's comments are always insightful and frequently witty. (Of the Western historians' dismissal of the Magyars as "not a creative factor in Western history," he comments: "All this means is that the Magyars did not reach Cambridge.") The author muses on "the extreme contrast between the material advancement of European civilization and the terrible regression in political and intellectual values." At last, a truly pan-European history that rests firmly on solid scholarship and exhibits wisdom and literary elegance. - Library Journa l

Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error That Transformed the World - Alder, Ken

Amidst the chaos of the French Revolution, two intrepid astronomers set out in opposite directions from Paris to measure the world, one voyaging north to Dunkirk, the other south to Barcelona. Their findings would help define the meter as one ten-millionth of the distance between the pole and the equator, a standard that has since swept the planet. The Measure of All Things is the astonishing story of one of history's greatest scientific quests, a mission to measure the Earth and define the meter for all nations and for all time.

Yet when Ken Alder located the long-lost correspondence between the two men, along with their mission logbooks, he stumbled upon a two-hundred-year-old secret, and a drama worthy of the great French playwrights. The meter, it turns out, is in error. One of the two astronomers made contradictory measurements from Barcelona and, in a panic, covered up the discrepancy. The guilty knowledge of his misdeed drove him to the brink of madness, and ultimately to his death. Only then -- after the meter had already been publicly announced -- did his partner discover the truth and face a fateful choice: what matters more, the truth or the appearance of the truth? - from the publisher

Museum of Hoaxes: A History of Outrageous Pranks and Deceptions - Boese, Alex

An amusing compilation of deceptions dating from the Middle Ages to the aftermath of September 11, morphed into print from a Web site initially created to store the author’s thesis research. Boese, a grad student at UC San Diego, defines a hoax as a "deliberately deceptive act that has succeeded in capturing the attention (and, ideally, the imagination) of the public." Included under this broad heading are the Jackalope, a species of antlered rabbit able to mimic human voices; a South African crop circle made by extraterrestrials that featured the BMW logo; and Snowball, the 87-pound kitten whose size was due to its mother having been callously abandoned near a nuclear lab. The author believes that while folks have always been gullible, the form and function of hoaxes change over time. For example, during the 1990s, people began to feel anxious about how technology and the Internet were affecting their daily lives. This anxiety fueled the success of a 1994 hoax in PC Computing magazine, which published an article "reporting" that Congress would soon make it illegal to drive drunk on "the information highway." When a 1998 Internet posting by a New Mexico physicist claimed that the Alabama legislature had voted to change the mathematical value of pi from 3.14159 . . . to "the Biblical value" of 3.0, a bewildered legislature wasswamped with calls from angry citizens. Despite its origin as thesis material, the work is not meant to be academic, and there is no analysis of any kind. All dissertations should be this much fun. - Kirkus

When Montana and I Were Young: A Frontier Childhood - Bell, Margaret

Lost for almost half a century and never before published, When Montana and I Were Young is the rarest of finds, a remarkable primary account of a child's life in the early part of the twentieth century. Margaret Bell (1888-1982) was a rancher and horse breaker whose memoir tells the story of a frontier childhood on the high plains of Montana and Canada. Hers was not a typical childhood. Like Mari Sandoz in Old Jules, Bell introduces us to a new villain in Western literature: the stepfather. Bell was barely seven when her mother died, and her stepfather, Hedge Wolfe, moved Bell and her three younger half-sisters far from their nurturing grandmother to the Canadian plains and a life of extreme poverty, hardship, and abuse. Never asking for pity, Bell matter-of-factly describes the details of her extraordinary life. - from the publisher

You Got Nothing Coming: Notes from a Prison Fish - Lerner, Jimmy

Tempered with black humor, and with dialogue skillfully written in the vernacular, this tale of prison acclimation reads like an adventure story. The author was a marketing executive for Pacific Bell, complete with an MBA, living near San Francisco, when he was incarcerated in Nevada. He refers to his crime obliquely until the last section of the book. First, readers learn what it's like for a 47-year-old, white, middle-class man to suddenly be a "fish" or newcomer to prison. Taken under the wing of Kansas, a muscled skinhead who thinks he is a Nazi descendant, not the Jew he actually is, Lerner manages to survive. And he learns, ironically, using the business education lessons he acquired through years of management seminars (from Managing the Difficult Employee-"mirroring and echoing") how to get along. And, readers finally learn what brought Jimmy to this place. It's an old story-prescription drug abuse and chronic alcoholism. This isn't an angry or self-serving story; the author is only too aware of his failings. He also portrays his fellow convicts in the same honest and sardonically humorous manner. The prison system incurs more of his disdain. The guards, too, fare poorly under his descriptive pen. Lerner's lively and action-packed story is a stunning reality check, showing readers what can happen when you give up your life to the power of an addiction. Tragic and honest, it is a compelling read. - School Library Journal

Acquiring Genomes: A Theory of the Origins of Species - Margulis, Lynn

A challenger of the orthodox "neo-Darwinist" interpretation of evolution, microbiologist Margulis has made her professional mark touting an alternative: symbiogenesis. She and coauthor (and son) Sagan have presented their ideas in earlier popular works (What Is Life?, 1995), but never as vigorously as in this volume. Essentially, the debate between neo-Darwinists and Margulis hinges on the definition of a species, and the manner in which a new one appears. To Margulis and Sagan, the neo-Darwinist model, which asserts random gene mutation as the source of inherited variations, is "wildly overemphasized," and to support their view, they delve deeply into the world of microbes. They detail the anatomy of cells with and without nuclei, positing a process of genome ingestion that creates a new species. Surprisingly, the upshot of Margulis' theories is the rehabilitation of Jean Baptiste de Lamarck, whose theory that supposedly acquired traits are hereditary has been ridiculed for 150 years. Polemical and provocative, Margulis and Sagan's work should set many to thinking that evolution has not yet been completely figured out. - Booklist

Gothic: Four Hundred Years of Excess, Horror, Evil and Ruin - Davenport-Hines, Richard Treadwell

The enduring interest in Gothic and macabre images and stories has drawn the attention of contemporary scholars and critics. British critic Davenport-Hines has produced a comprehensive survey of Gothic themes in art, architecture, literature, and film since the early 17th century. The book traces the Gothic imagination: its roots, the 18th-century "Gothic revival," the 19th-century classics (such as Frankenstein and Dracula) that epitomize the genre, the American Gothic, and manifestations of the Gothic in popular culture and film. This work provides an informed and readable survey of the genre. Library Journal

Mao: A Reinterpretation - Feigon, Lee

When alive, Mao had no shortage of admirers among Western intellectuals, from Edgar Snow in the 1930s to French existentialists in the 1960s; in death, Mao may count China scholar Feigon among his friends. Positive adjectives about Mao ("prescient," "levelheaded") recur in Feigon's biographical narrative, whose thesis is that Mao bloomed late as a Marxist theoretician; established the People's Republic of China along Stalinist lines; and ruing that, tried to dismantle Stalinist bureaucracies. Noting the Stalin-style establishment of the PRC in the early 1950s, in which more than five million Chinese may have been executed, Feigon is less censorious about the death tolls of Mao's movements, such as the Great Leap Forward (about 30 million) and the Cultural Revolution (about a half million). That's because he's impressed with the educational, cultural, and even economic achievements he argues occurred during these times. Readers less inclined to take a detour around mass murder may not be so impressed with the provocative arguments Feigon advances. A controversial biography. - Booklist

Toni Morrison: Telling a Tale Untold - Haskins, Jim

Briefly examines the life and work of the successful novelist, who became the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.

Bachelor Girl: 100 Years of Breaking the Rules--a Social History of Living Single - Israel, Betsy

Drawing extensively on primary sources, including private journals, newspaper stories, magazine articles, advertisements, films, and other materials from popular media, Israel paints remarkably vivid portraits of single women - and the way they were perceived - throughout the decades. From the nineteenth-century spinsters of New England to the Bowery girls of New York City, from the 1920s flappers to the 1940s working women of the war years and the career girls of the 1950s and 1960s, single women have fought to find and feel comfortable in that room of their own. - from the publisher

Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters from Children of the Great Depression - Cohen, Robert

"Impoverished young Americans had no greater champion during the Depression than Eleanor Roosevelt. As First Lady, Mrs. Roosevelt used her newspaper columns and radio broadcasts to crusade for expanded federal aid to children and teens deprived of adequate education, housing, clothing, and other necessities. She was the most visible spokesperson for the National Youth Administration, the New Deal's central agency for aiding needy youths, and she was adamant in insisting that federal aid to young people be administered without discrimination so that it reached blacks as well as whites, girls as well as boys." "This activism on their behalf made Mrs. Roosevelt a beloved figure among poor teens and children, who between 1933 and 1941 wrote her thousands of letters describing their problems and asking for material assistance. Dear Mrs. Roosevelt presents nearly 200 of these extraordinary and deeply personal documents to open a window into the lives of the Depression's youngest victims." In their own words, the letter writers confide what it was like to be needy and young during the worst economic crisis in American history. They poignantly depict the mental, emotional, and physical tolls of poverty on their lives and their families. But their letters are more than a record of suffering; they are also a testament to the idealism of youth. - from the publisher

In a Sunburned Country - Bryson, Bill

Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out. His previous excursion along the Appalachian Trail resulted in the sublime national bestseller A Walk in the Woods. In a Sunburned Country is his report on what he found in an entirely different place: Australia, the country that doubles as a continent, and a place with the friendliest inhabitants, the hottest, driest weather, and the most peculiar and lethal wildlife to be found on the planet. The result is a deliciously funny, fact-filled, and adventurous performance by a writer who combines humor, wonder, and unflagging curiosity." "Despite the fact that Australia harbors more things that can kill you in extremely nasty ways than anywhere else, including sharks, crocodiles, snakes, even riptides and deserts, Bill Bryson adores the place, and he takes his readers on a rollicking ride far beyond the beaten tourist path. - from the publisher

The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America - Bryson, Bill

An inspiring and hilarious account of one man's rediscovery of America and his search for the perfect small town. "The kind of book Steinbeck might have written if he'd traveled with David Letterman."— New York magazine

The Orchestra : Origins and Transformations

This collection of twenty-three articles traces the development of the orchestra from its antecedents in the late fifteenth century to its current status as the repository of Western symphonic music. The chronologically organized essays discuss not only the physical and financial history of the orchestra (with chapters on the development of stringed, woodwind and bass instruments, and the public reception of them), but the theories behind the music, the purpose and roles of conductors, orchestra's unavoidable nexus with ballet and opera, and, more recently, the effect of modern-day recordings on this traditionally live performance.

Seeing in the Dark : How Backyard Stargazers Are Probing Deep Space and Guarding Earth from Interplanetary Peril - Ferris, Timothy

Amateur astronomers are the heroes of this latest opus from one of the country's best-known and most prolific science writers. Ferris (Coming of Age in the Milky Way) has a special place in his heart for these nonprofessionals who gaze into space out of wonderment and end up making discoveries about comets, the moon and the planets that change our understanding of the galaxy. Ferris recounts how he, as a boy growing up in working-class Florida, was first captivated by the spectacle of the night sky. He then looks at the growing field of amateur astronomy, where new technologies have allowed neophytes to see as much of the cosmos as professionals. The book introduces readers to memorable characters like Barbara Wilson, a one-time Texas housewife who turned to astronomy after her children were grown and has since helped found the George Observatory in Houston (where a number of new asteroids have been discovered) and developed a reputation as one of the most skilled amateur observers. Ferris also takes stock of what we know today about the cosmos and writes excitedly about the discoveries yet to come. With a glossary of terms and a guide for examining the sky, this book should turn many novices on to astronomy and captivate those already fascinated by the heavens. - Publisher's Weekly

Salt: A World History - Kurlansky, Mark

Salt, Kurlansky asserts, has "shaped civilization." Although now taken for granted, these square crystals are not only of practical use, but over the ages have symbolized fertility (it is, after all, the root of the word "salacious") and lasting covenants, and have been used in magical charms. Called a "divine substance" by Homer, salt is an essential part of the human body, was one of the first international commodities and was often used as currency throughout the developing world. Kurlansky traces the history of salt's influences from prehistoric China and ancient Africa (in Egypt they made mummies using salt) to Europe (in 12th-century Provence, France, salt merchants built "a system of solar evaporation ponds") and the Americas, through chapters with intriguing titles like "A Discourse on Salt, Cadavers and Pungent Sauces." The book is populated with characters as diverse as frozen-food giant Clarence Birdseye; Gandhi, who broke the British salt law that forbade salt production in India because it outdid the British salt trade; and New York City's sturgeon king, Barney Greengrass. Throughout his engaging, well-researched history, Kurlansky sprinkles witty asides and amusing anecdotes. A piquant blend of the historic, political, commercial, scientific and culinary, the book is sure to entertain as well as educate. - Publisher's Weekly

Research Papers for Dummies - Woods, Geraldine

Writing research papers doesn't have to be intimidating. Whether you're a student, a homeschooling parent, or a businessperson, this friendly, step-by-step guide gives you the easiest, fastest methods for completing a paper, from selecting a topic to organizing findings to citing sources. - from the publisher

The Worst Case Scenario Handbook : Travel - Piven, Joshua and David Borgenicht

If you have to leave home, take this book! The team that brought you The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook now helps you navigate the perils of travel. Learn what to do when the tarantula crawls up your leg, the riptide pulls you out to sea, the sandstorm's headed your way, or your camel just won't stop. Find out how to pass a bribe, remove leeches, climb out of a well, survive a fall onto subway tracks, catch a fish without a rod, and preserve a severed limb. Hands-on, step-by-step instructions show you how to survive these and dozens of other adventures. An appendix of travel tips, useful phrases, and gestures to avoid will also ensure your safe return. Because you just never know... - from the publisher

Breakfast Epiphanies: Finding Wonder in the Everyday - Anderson, David

A collection of forty-one true-life tales. In these inspiring stories, Anderson writes with a great deal of humor about relationships -- both within his family and within the community he serves. He tells us about a family argument that turns ugly, an awkward but triumphant date to his first father-daughter dance, and the night his church burned down. He also writes about personal spirituality, but always from the ground up. A story begins in some ordinary event -- listening to a baby cry in a crowded airplane -- and opens out to a new, sometimes offbeat awareness. - from the publisher

By the Sword: A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Samurai, Swashbucklers, and Olympic Champions - Cohen, Richard

The culture of the sword has given us everything from words like prizefight and freelance to such customs as shaking hands, the military salute, or men buttoning their coats on the right. Cohen's exuberant history of swordplay begins with an account of his own 1972 "duel" in London, then leaps into the story of civilization as measured through the evolving technology and customs around broadswords, armor, lances, foils, sabers, rapiers, and epees. Readers wanting only to escape into chivalric tales from Musketeer days will not be disappointed; however, the polished writing and masterly use of centuries of anecdote should lure them through equally vivid sections on Roman gladiators, medieval knights, Japanese Samurai, and the swashbuckling crazes in Italy, Spain, France, England, and Hollywood. (According to Cohen, a British publisher and Olympic fencer, actors Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Jr. were exceptional fencers). Cohen investigates the sword duels of Ben Johnson and Voltaire and the real source of Cardinal Richelieu's hatred of sword dueling. A fascinating story told with literary verve and the pride of a longtime practitioner. - Library Journal

Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas - Burnett, John S.

"While sailing alone one night in the shipping lanes across one of the busiest waterways in the world, John Burnett was attacked by pirates. Through ingenuity and a little bit of luck, he survived, and his shocking first-hand experience inspired him to investigate this growing, global problem. Now, in Dangerous Waters, he charts piracy's resurgence, and reveals the threat it poses to our safety and security." "Today's breed of pirates has little in common with the romantic rum-swilling rogues and colorful cutthroats of Hollywood or our imagination. They can be local seamen looking for a quick score, highly trained guerrillas, rogue military units, or former seafarers recruited by sophisticated crime organizations. Armed with machetes, assault rifles, and grenade launchers, they steal out in speedboats and fishing boats in search of supertankers, cargo ships, passenger ferries, cruise ships, and yachts. They attack in port, on the open seas, and in international waters. Entire ships, cargo, and crews simply vanish, hijacked by pirates working for multinational crime syndicates; these modern-day ghost ships often turn up later running drugs or carting illegal immigrants to the United States." John Burnett probes this dangerous world of thievery and mayhem, from the life-and-death struggles of brave captains and their crews, to the pirate hunters with bounties on their heads, and to the shadowy groups themselves who employ these ruthless, modern-day mercenaries. - from the publisher

Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia - Figes, Orlando

Panoramic and richly anecdotal, it traces Russia's cultural history from the building of St. Petersburg in the 18th century to the radical upheavals of 1917. Figes's abundant narrative covers culture high and low; from Dostoevsky and Tolstoy to Stravinsky and Chagall; from opera and ballet to folk embroidery and peasant superstitions. A breathtaking dance indeed. - Barnes & Noble

Fiction

The Notebook - Sparks, Nicholas

In 1996 The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks captured the hearts and imaginations of readers around the world. It spent more than a year on the New York Times bestseller list and was the No. 1 bestselling hardcover fiction title of 1997. Set amid the austere beauty of coastal North Carolina in 1946, The Notebook begins with the story of Noah Calhoun, a rural Southerner returned home from World War II. Noah, 31, is restoring a plantation home to its former glory, and he is haunted by images of the beautiful girl he met 14 years earlier, a girl he loved like no other. Unable to find her, yet unwilling to forget the summer they spent together, Noah is content to live with only memories...until she unexpectedly returns to his town to see him once more. Allie Nelson, 29, is now engaged to another man, but realizes that the original passion she felt for Noah has not dimmed with the passage of time. Still, the obstacles that once ended their previous relationship remain, and the gulf between their worlds is too vast to ignore. -from the publisher

A Bend in the Road - Sparks, Nicholas

Miles Ryan's life seemed to end the day his wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident two years ago. Missy had been his first love, and Miles fervently believes she will be his last. As a deputy sheriff in the North Carolina town of New Bern, Miles Ryan not only grieves for Missy, but longs to bring the unknown driver to justice. Then Miles meets Sarah Andrews. The second grade teacher of his son, Jonah, Sarah had left Baltimore after a difficult divorce to start over in the gentler surroundings of New Bern. Tentatively, Sarah and Miles reach out to each other. Soon they are both laughing for the first time in years...and falling in love. Neither will be able to guess how closely linked they are to a shocking secret-one that will force them to question everything they ever believed in...and make a heartbreaking choice that will change their lives forever.

Message in a Bottle - Sparks, Nicholas

A tale of self-discovery, renewal, and the courage it takes to love again. Teresa Osborne, a 36-year-old single mother, finds a bottle washed up on a Cape Cod beach. The scrolled-up message inside is a passionate love letter written by a heartbroken man named Garrett who is grieving over "his darling Catherine." Teresa is so moved by the stranger's poignant words that she vows to find the penman and publishes the letter in her syndicated Boston newspaper column. Questions linger in her mind and heart: Who is Garrett? Who is Catherine? What is their story? And most importantly, why did this bottle find its way to her?

The Rescue - Sparks, Nicholas

One of America's bestselling authors returns with a tale about the greatest commitment of all: loving someone forever. When a near-fatal car crash brings Taylor McAden together with Denise Holden, a new resident of Edenton, North Carolina, he must look into his past to see if it's not too late to take a chance on the future. - from the publisher

A Walk to Remember - Sparks, Nicholas

There was a time when the world was sweeter...when the women in Beaufort, North Carolina, wore dresses, and the men donned hats...when something happened to a seventeen-year-old boy that would change his life forever. Every April, when the wind blows in from the sea and mingles with the scent of lilacs, Landon Carter remembers his last year at Beaufort High. It was 1958, and Landon had already dated a girl or two. He even swore that he had once been in love. Certainly the last person in town he thought he'd fall for was Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's Baptist minister. A quiet girl who always carried a Bible with her schoolbooks, Jamie seemed content living in a world apart from the other teens. She took care of her widowed father, rescued hurt animals, and helped out at the local orphanage. No boy had ever asked her out. Landon would never have dreamed of it. Then a twist of fate made Jamie his partner for the homecoming dance, and Landon Carter's life would never be the same. Being with Jamie would show him the depths of the human heart and lead him to a decision so stunning it would send him irrevocably on the road to manhood. - from the publisher

The Wedding - Sparks, Nicholas

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Sparks comes the long-awaited follow-up to his classic tale of enduring love, The Notebook. After 30 years, Wilson Lewis, son-in-law to Noah and Allie (of The Notebook fame), is forced to admit that the romance has gone out of his marriage. Despite the shining example of his in-laws' 50-year love affair, Wilson himself is a man unable to express how he truly feels. With the distractions of his daughter's upcoming wedding he is forced to realize how close he is to losing his own wife Jane. But if Wilson is sure of anything, it's this: His love for his wife has only intensified over the years, and he wants nothing more than to make their marriage work. Now, with the memories of his in-laws' inspiring life together as his guide, Wilson pledges to find a way to make his wife fall in love with him. . . again. - from the publisher

Road to Perdition - Collins, Max Allan

Originally published as a single-volume graphic novel in 1998, this is the comics work upon which the Tom Hanks movie is based. It's the story of Michael O'Sullivan, a feared and religiously inclined mob hit man who's brutally betrayed-and the fierce vengeance he wreaks. Collins writes a good gangster yarn based on historical personalities and full of crisp dialogue, violent action and brooding overtones of religious redemption. Though Rayner's b&w drawings can be static, they are precisely rendered with strikingly delineated faces. Like movie posters, his drawings capture the action with a combination of slick draftsmanship and the bleak and shadowy forms of cinematic noir. - Publisher's Weekly

Feed - Anderson, M. T.

National Book Award Finalist, L.A. Times 2002 Young Adult Fiction Winner.

In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble.

I Don't Know How She Does It: The Life of Kate Reddy, Working Mother - Pearson, Allison

This scintillating first novel has already taken its author's native England by storm, and in the tradition of Bridget Jones, to which it is likely to be compared, will almost certainly do the same here. The Bridget comparison has only limited validity, however: both books have a winning female protagonist speaking in a diary-like first person, and both have quirkily formulaic chapter endings. But Kate is notably brighter, wittier and capable of infinitely deeper shadings of feeling than the flighty Bridget, and her book cuts deeper. She is the mother of a five-year-old girl and a year-old boy, living in a trendy North London house with her lower-earning architect husband, and is a star at her work in an aggressive City of London brokerage firm. She is intoxicated by her jet-setting, high-profile job, but also is desperately aware of what it takes out of her life as a mother and wife, and scrutinizes, with high intelligence and humor, just how far women have really come in the work world. If that makes the book sound polemical, it is anything but. It is delightfully fast moving and breathlessly readable, with dozens of laugh-aloud moments and many tenderly touching ones-and, for once in a book of this kind, there are some admirable men as well as plenty of bounders. Toward the end-to which a reader is reluctant to come-it becomes a little plot-bound, and everything is rounded off a shade too neatly. But as a hilarious and sometimes poignant update on contemporary women in the workplace, it's the book to beat. - Publisher's Weekly

One for the Money - Evanovich, Janet

Janet Evanovich makes a major debut with this witty and critically acclaimed crime novel. Meet Stephanie Plum of Trenton, New Jersey. She's a rookie bail bondswoman who has the awkward habit of leaping first and looking later when she's out snagging bail jumpers. It's not a job for the faint at heart, but it's tailor-made for Stephanie Plum. - from the publisher

Daughter of the Forest: Book One of the Sevenwaters Trilogy - Marillier, Juliet

First in a trilogy. As the only daughter and youngest child of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters, Sorcha grows up protected and pampered by her six older brothers. When a sorceress's evil magic ensorcels Colum's sons, transforming them into swans, only Sorcha's efforts can break the curse. Marillier's first novel uses a familiar Celtic legend to tell the story of a young woman's sacrifice for the sake of those she loves and her own discovery of unexpected joy in the midst of sorrow. The author's keen understanding of Celtic paganism and early Irish Christianity adds texture to a rich and vibrant novel that belongs in most fantasy collections. - Library Journal

Son of the Shadows: Book Two of the Sevenwaters Trilogy - Marillier, Juliet

You are really missing out if you haven't yet read Juliet Marillier. This Australian writer is a true bard. Her powerfully emotional stories and knowledge of Celtic traditional culture make her novels an absolute joy to read. Marillier has shown a trend of using strong yet vulnerable female heroines in her Sevenwaters trilogy. In Daughter of the Forest, the first book in the series, Sorcha loyally toiled to free her brothers from a curse. Now, 18 years later, her family is again visited by misfortune as invaders threaten the Irish lands. After she is abducted by mercenaries, Liadan becomes inextricably entwined in the life of their ruthless leader, the Painted Man. Trying to remain loyal to both the Painted Man as well as to her kin, she risks endangering both and incurring great sacrifice on her part. At once a fairy tale, a love story, and a high adventure set in historical times, this novel is magical, moving, full of intrigue, and action packed. Marillier really has set the perfect atmosphere for this absorbing book. Her characters are so flawed, so human, that the betrayals and loyalties can come from surprising sources, but have reason behind them. Don't miss this series. - Barnes & Noble review

Child of the Prophecy: Book Three of the Sevenwaters Trilogy - Marillier, Juliet

Child of the Prophecy, the third and concluding volume of Juliet Marillier's Sevenwaters trilogy, is a historical fantasy set in ninth-century Ireland that chronicles three generations of women who are called to stand up against enormous odds to preserve the old magic of their homeland. - Barnes & Noble

41 Stories - Henry, O.

One of the most famous pseudonyms in history, the name O. Henry evokes wordplay that is dazzling, inventive, wry, and humorous. This anthology includes forty-one stories that continue to captivate generation after generation of readers, including "The Gift of the Magi," "The Furnished Room," and those which demonstrate the technical genius and wide range of O. Henry's world. - from the publisher

Reference

Plant Sciences (4-volume encyclopedia)

The focus of this encyclopedia is explaining the sciences of plants, rather than simply providing a text on botany. The set also would be valuable as a resource for career education because many topics include photos and descriptions of careers for that technology or basic science. Technological applications, including fibers, wine, and beer, as well as historical episodes involving plant sciences such as the Potato Blight go well beyond the typical study of plants. Luther Burbank, noted horticulturist whose Burbank potato was introduced in Ireland to help combat the Blight, rates a two-page citation. Entries titled Genetic Engineer, Genetic Engineering, and Transgenic Plants all give a comprehensive account of this emerging field. Current ecological topics are abundant. The readable text and beautiful illustrations provide simplification and clarification for some difficult concepts, and encourage enjoyable browsing. The extensive explanation of photosynthesis is particularly commendable. Each topic has a bibliography for further study. The cumulative index will be most helpful for finding specific information not located readily with the alphabetical topical listings. DNA is discussed under Molecular Plant Genetics. This reference includes fewer topics but offers more comprehensive information than in traditional encyclopedias. One might well find youth returning to this series for pleasure after the first encounter. This resource is an expensive but valuable update for your science reference collection. - VOYA

Animal Sciences (4-volume encyclopedia)

Geared to high school and undergraduate levels, this color-illustrated reference has the strength of interdisciplinarity: coverage encompasses animal development, behavior, ecology, and issues (animal testing, rights, habitat loss, etc.). In the entry on animal testing, Ian Quigley (U. of Texas, Austin) stands firmly on middle ground: some experimentation necessary, much of it not, and things are getting better. In "Habitat Loss," Elliot Richmond (Austin Community College) discusses species-endangering anthropogenic causes: agriculture, urbanization, grazing, deforestation, mining, water projects, fire suppression, recreation, and traffic in non-native species. Features include a comprehensive glossary at the end of each volume, specific glossaries in the margins of each entry, and a comprehensive list of entries in 24 categories (e.g. animal groups, cell biology, historical figures in science, and humans and the animal world). - Booknews

Thematic Guide to American Poetry - Burns, Allan

Contains 21 narrative essays on such broad themes in American poetry as "Art and Beauty," "Family Relations," "Loss," and "War." The essays are arranged alphabetically, and each begins with a theme-related quotation followed by a chronologically arranged discussion of how the theme is treated differently across individual poems (250 poems, 86 poets represented from a wide spectrum of historical, contemporary, ethnic, and canonical writers). On average, chapters are 12 pages long and discuss 12 individual poems. Each chapter concludes with a list of anthologies in which each poem appears. Booklist

HarperCollins Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature

Contains thousands of concise but complete entries on a vast variety of authors, titles, and other topics of general cultural interest, including hundreds of brand-new entries documenting all of the figures to have emerged in the literary world in the past decade. Each biographical entry provides all the relevant details about an author's life, summarizes his or her major and lesser works, evaluates the critical consensus, and often lists secondary biographical and critical works. Title entries provide interesting sidelights on sources or critical reception and often provide plot synopses. Articles on major authors and broad topics such as Jewish American literature, children's literature, humor in the United States, and motion pictures were contributed by more than 130 scholars noted in their fields. - from the publisher