Return to home
page Book Reviews, Book Lover Resources, Advice for Writers and Publishers
Home / Small Press Bookwatch

Small Press Bookwatch

Volume 4, Number 8 August 2005 Home | SPBW Index

Table of Contents

Reviewer's Choice Fiction Shelf Musicbook Shelf
Jobs/Careers Shelf Military Shelf Environmental Shelf
Travel Shelf Philosophy Shelf Poetry Shelf
Money/Finance Shelf Self-Help Shelf Literary Shelf
Human Sexuality Shelf Fantasy/SciFi Shelf Political Science Shelf
Religion/Spirituality Shelf Parenting Shelf Metaphyiscal Studies Shelf
Women's Studies Shelf Pets/Wildlife Shelf American History Shelf
Business Shelf Science Shelf Economics Shelf
Islamic Studies Shelf Psychology Shelf Biography Shelf
Gaming Shelf Photography Shelf Health/Medicine Shelf


Reviewer's Choice

Dictionary Of Mass Communication & Media Research
David Demers
Marquette Books
3107 East 62nd Avenue, Spokane, WA 99223
0922993254 $39.95 www.MarquetteBooks.org

Also available in a hardcover edition (0922993351, $59.95), Dictionary Of Mass Communication & Media Research: A Guide For Students, Scholars, and Professionals by David Demers (Associate Professor of Communication, Washington State University) offers comprehensive, organized, "user friendly" definitions of more than 1,400 terms and concepts associated with modern communications in all of its aspects both theoretical and practical. From "absolutism" and "access law" to "zines" and "zoom lens", terms defined include philosophical ideas, trade jargon, techno-speak, and even some brief biographies of landmark media figures, or summaries of pivotal media-related court cases. An absolute "must-have" for journalism and communications students of all levels of study.

HACCP & Sanitation In Restaurants And Food Service Operations
Lora Arduser & Douglas Robert Borwn
Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc.
1210 SW 23rd Place, Ocala, FL 34474-7014
0910627355 $79.95 1-800-814-1132 www.atlantic-pub.com

A comprehensive, detailed, superbly organized and imminently practical instructional guide and reference to health and sanitation issues in food storage, preparation, presentation in the commercial food establishments ranging from sidewalk food carts to fast food outlets to up-scale gourmet restaurants, HACCP & Sanitation In Restaurants And Food Service Operations by Lora Arduser and Douglas Robert Brown is an essential, core, emphatically recommended reading which is enhanced by an accompanying CD-ROM. Based explicitly on the Food and Drug Administration's Food Code, HACCP & Sanitation covers everything from food measuring devices to strict measures to prevent food-borne bacteria and illness, to flow charts that pinpoint the most hazardous points of food preparation, facility plans, pest management and more. Useful as a resource for restaurateurs, food science students, HACCP & Sanitation lays down basic "need-to-know" information in no-nonsense terms and comes very highly recommended.

The Here & Now Meditation
Mimi Khuc & Thanh-Trieu Nguyen
Here & Now Publishing
5662 Calle Real, #139, Goleta, CA 93117
0976349108 $16.95 1-800-928-5211 www.HereAndNowMeditation.com

Also available in a paperback edition (0976349116, $11.95), The Here & Now Meditation: A Quick And Effective Way To Overcome Suffering by meditation experts Mimi Khuc and Thanh-Trieu Nguyen will enable the reader to understand the basic principles and techniques of meditation, and fields common beginner questions in plain language. Chapters briefly describe the basic "here and now" concepts of meditation, how to enter Stillness, new perspectives that can be awakened through meditation, from earning freedom from the bondage of criticism to embracing the value of unconditional love. The Here & Now Meditation is a methodology steeped in the Buddhist tradition, though not the same as the "No-Mind" path, and focuses primarily on helping beginners understand how to use meditation to tame their raging desires and chaotic thoughts. It does not claim to be the final authority on meditation, only a beginning path that any reader can learn from, and stresses that the Truth must be experienced and discovered for oneself. Highly recommended, particularly to meditation neophytes.

Don't Get Ripped Off! Get Help! Tell It to George
Cynthia S. Bercowetz
Infinity Publishing.com
c/o Buy Books On The Web
1094 New Dehaven Street, #100, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2713
074142228X $18.95 www.amazon.com

Don't Get Ripped Off! Get Help! Tell It to George is a "consumer survival guide" filled cover to cover with highly practical advice for surviving today's credit heavy, debt-hungry, identity-thief laden and scam-riddles society. Covering a wide range of threats, from tips for home security to how to proofread a prescription to why it is important to be absolutely sure one's insurance covers a particular hospital or medical treatment to the step-by-step process of getting a refund and much more. A practical, no-nonsense economic and financial troubleshooting manual for the twenty-first century, enthusiastically recommended for all individuals and households.

Star Trek Visions of Law & Justice
Robert Chairs, JD, PhD and Bradley Chilton, PhD, JD, MLS
Adios Press
PO Box 190426, Dallas, TX 75219-0426
0966808029 $12.95 1-214-443-0550

Edited by an assistant and an associate professor of their respective Departments of Criminal Justice, Star Trek Visions of Law & Justice is a unique collection of essays that speaks both to fans of the "Star Trek" television series and to serious-minded students of the evolution of law and justice codes in a rapidly transforming modern world. An eclectic variety of learned authors draw upon ideas presented in Star Trek as a model of the future, and scrutinize the possible fallout for all-too-prevalent legal dilemmas of today and tomorrow. Essays include "The Law of the Federation", "What Color is an Android?", "Star Trek as a Pedagogical Vehicle for Teaching Law and Justice", and much more. Extensively researched in law codes as surely as episode references, Star Trek Visions is thoroughly serious in its examination of evolving human law systems and may even appear a bit dry to television fans, but applies just the right mix of popular culture to as a very effective metaphor and illustration for issues whose universality that far transcend even the most widespread TV show.

A Journey Of Hope
Neil Willenson, author; Kurt Chandler, editor
Camp Heartland
KSB Promotions (publicity)
1845 North Farwell, #310, Milwaukee, WI 53202
0976716933 $22.95 1-800-724-4673

A Journey Of Hope: Inspiring Stories Of Courage And Unconditional Love is the collaborative effort of Neil Willenson and the children of Camp Heartland, a community established in 1993 to provide support and recreation for young people affected by HIV. These are children suffering from the ravages of HIV/AIDS who must take fistfuls of distasteful medicines, deal with sometimes horrific side effects, endure painful medical procedures, grieve for loved ones lost, cope with the fear of their own mortality, and deal with the prejudices and misconceptions of others. A Journey Of Hope features the writings, poems, stories, and speeches of Camp Heartland children. These are words and images that will reach into the very heart and soul of the reader to evoke sympathy, empathy, compassion, and concern. Beyond the stories of suffering, tragedy, and discrimination, A Journey Of Hope reveals the love, courage, resilience, optimism, and strength of these children. It should be noted that in addition to camping sessions and the usual outdoor activities, Camp Heartland's medical, social work, and camping professional work throughout the year to give children either infected or affected by AIDS unconditional love and acceptance. Indeed, Camp Heartland has been a leader in AIDS awareness and prevention programs through their work with schools, churches, and businesses nationwide. Every school library, every community library, every pediatric hospital, and every youth center library should have a copy of A Journey Of Hope on their shelves and available to the youths of their community.

The Directory Of Missouri Foundations: 2005-2006 Edition
Anne E. Borman, editor
The Directory of Missouri Foundations
8122 Edinburgh Drive, St. Louis, MO 63105
0974546402 $77.00 foundations@primary.net

An invaluable regional resource, the 2005-2006 edition of The Directory Of Missouri Foundations provides up-to-date information on 440 foundations making $60,000+ grants to charities. Of special note is the section describing 80 foundations that make grants to assist persons in need and for scholarships. Anne E. Borman (a seasoned and experienced professional who has raised funds for charities and worked with foundations for more than twenty years) has compiled, organized, and edited the information based on the most recent 990 PF tax records and foundation reporting. In addition to listing names, addresses, contacts, phone numbers, website addresses, trustees, total asset statements, total contributions, total number of grants, high and low grant figures, "What Funders Want You to Know", eligibility requirements, publications, and "Historical Patterns of Giving", this superbly arranged reference resource can be searched by foundation name, geographical location, officials names, and interests. All of the foundations have been meticulously screened in order to provide the reader with complete, competent, "user friendly" information restricted to only those foundations with assets, avoiding those foundations who are raising funds or without substantive assets. Very highly recommended, The Directory Of Missouri Foundations could well serve as a template for foundation grant regional resource reference publications for other sections of the country.


The Fiction Shelf

The Black Arrow
Vin Suprynowicz
Mountain Media
3172 North Rainbow Boulevard, Suite 343, Las Vegas, NV 89108
0976251604 $24.95 www.TheLibertarian.us www.TheBlackArrow.us

In The Black Arrow: A Tale Of The Resistance, author Vin Suprynowicz draws upon his skill and expertise as a syndicated newspaper columnist to write a provocative novel set in the near future of 2031 where America is ruled under the authority of a Patriot-Poindexter police state. This is a time of ID checks, invasive body searches, stacked juries, kangaroo courts, a corrupt political class, and a gray-suited police cadre known as the Homeland Security Special Forces. It is against this background that wealthy record company executive Andrew Fletcher decides to resist the all powerful police state by becoming a masked vigilante known as the "Black Arrow". The result is a thrilling, rapidly paced, 703-page action/adventure novel that also incorporates thoughtful and thought-provoking commentary on the power of the state run amuck, an unusual love story, and how a movement of the people can take back their liberties when pressed to far by those above them. Highly recommended reading -- especially for the libertarian inclined!

Flight Of The Goose
Lesley Thomas
Far Eastern Press
PO Box 9627, Seattle, Wa 98109
0967884217 $19.95 www.fareasternpress.com

Kayuqtug Ugungoraseok (the red fox) is an orphan traumatized by her past and who is seeking respect in her traditional Inupiat village through the outlawed path of shamanism in the Alaska Arctic of 1971. Her plan leads to tragedy when she interferes with scientist Leif Trygvesen, who has come to research the effects of oil spills on salt marshes (and evade the draft). Flight Of The Goose is a compelling story is told from two perspectives as this tale of cultural conflict, spiritual awakening, redemption, love, and change. Author Lesley Thomas draws upon her own experiences growing up in the Alaskan Arctic in an Inupiat Eskimo village and in the city of Nome when weaving a sophisticated story enriched by an impressive personal background (she once researched the effects of oil spills on arctic salt marshes) to infuse realism and accurate detail into this work of memorable and highly recommended fiction.

'Till The Boys Come Home
Jerry Borrowman
Covenant Communications, Inc.
920 East State Road, Suite F, American Fork, UT 84003-0416
1591567475 $22.95 www.covenant-lds.com

A riveting novel set in the battlefields of World War I, 'Till The Boys Come Home is the story of two young friends, Danny O'Brian and Trevor Richards. With America's involvement in the European conflict, the two boys find themselves far from their families in Pocatello, Idaho. Danny is fighting in the infamous trenches against a determined German opposition. Trevor is battling the enemy in the skies over France. The debut historical novel of author Jerry Borrowman, 'Till The Boys Come Home recreates what war was like in the battlelines of the ground and the combats of the sky during the first war to bring such horrors as poison gas, machines guns, tanks, and rapid fire artillery to bear. The characters are superbly drawn, the attention to historical detail is impressive, and the storyline is totally engaging from beginning to end. 'Till The Boys Come Home is enthusiastically recommended reading and would prove a popular addition to any community library General Fiction collection.

God Go With Them
David Truskoff
Sidney T. Black Publishing
9 Sutton Drive, Granby, CT 06060
0738845930 $19.54 www.erols.com/suttonbear

God Go With Them is a fictional novel based on true events in history. Divided into a three-part trilogy, "Good Go With Them", "Forgive Me Doctor" and "The State House", it follows the story men who objected to the Vietnam war and refused to take part in a military action they found unjust by fleeing their country. Many years later, they ask for no medals, only dignity and the right to be as respected as their fellow citizens. A powerful parable of the importance of individual rights and decision-making, and a sharp denouncement of the savagery of American war crimes and two-faced justification of intolerable humanitarian outrages during the Vietnam occupation, God Go With Them ultimately champions the human spirit in its willingness to take a stand based on what is right, in spite of the scorn of one's brethren.

Hypohypothesis
Heather Folsom
Cadmus Editions
PO Box 126, Belvedere-Tiburon, CA 94920
0932274668 $13.95 www.cadmus-editions.com

Hypohypothesis is a unique novel deftly written by Heather Folsom, who draws upon her expertise and experience as a practicing psychiatrist to integrate an original theory of the human mind into an engaging tale of a rather pompous professor of psychiatry and a brilliant but erratic student who are thrust together due to circumstances beyond their immediate control. Together, the unlikely pair encounter a host of memorable characters including twin sideshow fat ladies, squabbling philosophers, an escape artist, and others. Hypohypothesis is a superbly written and original story that documents Heather Folsom as a gifted author who will leave her readers looking eagerly toward her next foray into fiction. Also very highly recommended reading is Heather's first book, Philosophie Thinly Clothed (Camus Editions, 2003).

The Shadow Chaser
Dylan Birtolo
Inkwater Press
c/o First Books
6750 SW Franklin St., Suite A, Portland, Oregon 97223
1592990746 $21.95 1-503-968-6777 www.inkwaterbooks.com

The Shadow Chaser is an exciting, original novel about a young man who discovers a power that will transform his life forever. Repeatedly losing consciousness for no apparent reason and waking up disoriented in strange places, he embarks on a journey into realities he never knew existed, and he must figure out the changes in his life to survive. A suspenseful saga of self-discovery and the struggle to adapt to supernatural abilities, forces, and enemies.

Voices of the Living Grail
W.B. DeLong
AuthorHouse
1663 Liberty Drive Suite 200, Bloomington, IN 47403
1418488291 $28.95 www.livinggrail.com

Set in a 13th century European kingdom ruled by Grail descendents, including an heir of Jesus Christ, Voices of the Living Grail is a dramatic novel that begins with the discovery of a moldering codex and follows the life and trials of Parsus, a troubador whose ties lie not only to his art of music but also to an ancient religious line. His survival is threatened by the dark reaches of a Cardinal determined to use the ruthlessess of the Inquisition to "save the souls of the heretics from Satan's fires" and quell destabilizing rumors about a holy family as revealed in ancient manuscripts. Ultimately a parable about the violence, greed and fanaticism that prevent humanity for advancing in its spiritual goals, Voices of the Living Grail is a suspenseful, engaging, and vividly told novel that embraces the virtues of true spirituality even as it ponders higher mysteries, as well as the crueller mortal mysteries concerning man's inhumanity to man in the name of God.

Outbound
Charlie Geer
River City Publishing
1719 Mulberry St., Montgomery, Alabama 36106
1579660622 $24.95

Outbound: The Curious Secession of Latter-Day Charleston is an amusing novel that imagines what might enfold if latter-day Charleston were to schism from the nation of America and become an errant island. Satirizing the faults of established society, Outbound includes such unusual institutions as the Hunters for Jesus, the Bravado Arts Festival, and the Tri-County Mini-Storage Convention caught up in the midst of Charleston's sudden islandization. Told in wry and witty tones, Outbound is sure to bring a chuckle as it offers a unique brand of humor touching all things South Carolinean.

View To The North
Edith Konecky
Hamilton Stone Editions
PO Box 43, Maplewood, NJ 07040
0971487332 $14.95 www.hamiltonstone.org

View To The North is a kindly novel about a woman's life journey from youth to middle age, and her experiences as a wife, mother, and lover. The narrative alternates between moments of "then", times past, and moments of "now", living in the present and confronting the future. Bisexual themes as well as the universal conflicts and self-reflections of a parent watching her children grow up and grow more distant add a poignantly human tone to this introspective story.

The Shift: An Awakening
John English
DreamTime
c/o Cate Cummings Publicity & Promotion Group (dist.)
7601 East 93rd Street, Kansas City, MO 64138-4206
0972703497 $14.95 www.amazon.com

Lauded "Book of the Year" by the Coalition of Visionary Resources, The Shift: An Awakening is novel constructed around the the meeting of mystical revelation, political transformation, and the cusp of drastic awakening and draconian change. Chapters briskly follow the unlimited capability of individuals using thei combined power of their conscious intent to vote with a new voice, transforming the deeds of their government into a mirror of their citizen's greatest concerns. The Shift resonates with the will and collective potential of spiritually empowered human beings. A parable of true transcendence.

Osud
Joseph Koenig
Vantage Press Inc.
419 Park Avenue South, 18th floor, New York, NY 10016
0533148405 $13.95 1-212-736-1767

Osud is a novel set during the Holocaust, amid the concentration and extermination camps. A German World War I veteran, a beautiful Jewish woman, and her young son encounter horrors in Auschwitz. Osud does not shy away from depicting the inhumanity and brutality of Nazi genocide, yet it is also a novel about the ability to find and celebrate love amid atrocity beyond description. Written by a relative and friend of those who spent time in camps, Osud is a work that affirms humanity even as it portrays inhumanity, and strives to understand how God could possibly allow such mass-murder to happen. A gut-wrenching tale, none the less powerful for being fictional, up to the very last pages.

A Castle In Romagna
Igor Stiks
Autumn Hill Books
1106 yewell Street, Iowa City, IA 52240
0975444409 $12.95 www.autumnhillbooks.com

Collaboratively translated from Croatian by Tomislav Kuzmanovic and Russell Scott Valentino, A Castle In Romagna by Igor Stiks is a novel that shifts in scene between Renaissance Italy and Tito's Yugoslavia, telling parallel yet intertwined stories of love, deceit, and betrayal. History repeats itself, and the enduring nostalgia for the comforms of home pervade this emotional work of literature. A tale richly steeped in passion, and the burning desires that drive humans beyond their limits.

Fort Zion
Robert L. Foster
Horse Creek Publications, Inc.
4500 Highland Hills Drive, Norman, OK 73026
097222176X $13.95 www.horsecreekpublications.com

An impressively written novel of historical fiction by Robert L. Foster, Fort Zion tells the story of a secret wagon train of handpicked volunteers dispatched by Joseph Smith, President of the Curch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). The wagon train sets out in May of 1844; their mission is to discover whether their church's men, women, and children can survive the 1200 mile journey from Illinois to the Great Salt Lake of Utah. Their road is marked with hazards, from weather, wide rivers , wild animals and disease to threats from Indians and the Mexican Army. The volunteers strive to map the best route to their goal, and to determine whether their chosen homestead is hospitable. A riviting story based on true events, and the lives of those Mormons who were driven from their homes because of their religion - the author's own great-grandfather was one such courageous and steadfastly faithful soul.

Mayor Of The Roses
Marianne Villanueva
Miami University Press
Department of English, Bachelor Hall, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056
1881163466 $13.00 www.muohio.edu/mupress

An impressive compilaton of short stories by Marianne Villanueva, Mayor Of The Roses showcases an original literary talent as the reader encounters Philippine society in all of its beauty and ugliness, hope and sorrow, courage and violence, as well as the myriad contradictions of immigrant life in the new landscapes of America. Mayor Of The Roses tells of the search for home, family, and history, and the ways in which human beings can so thoroughly delude themselves. A groundbreaking work of literature, reflecting upon the subtle nuances of human nature and the all-too-believable predicaments of daily life.

Rendezvous In Majorca
Ian Feldman
SSI, Inc. Publishing
880 Holcomb Bridge Road, Suite 135-B, Roswell, GA 30076
0974367362 $29.95 www.rendezvous-in-majorca.com

Part of an action/adventure trilogy, Ian Feldman's Rendezvous In Majorca is a novel of spies, suspense, and nuclear technology, drawn heavily from the author's background as an officer in the US Army, and his English Grandmother's tales as a double agent for Scotland Yard. In Rendezvous In Majorca, competing CIA and Communist covert teams wrestle with one another and their potentially world-destroying secrets, and no price may be too high to pay given the potential amount of power on the line. Written with needle-sharp intensity, Rendezvous In Majorca is rich with excitement and taunt intensity from cover to cover.

Choices Made: The Street Years
Christine McMahon
Trafford Publishing
2333 Government Street, Suite 6E, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8T 4P4
1412051967 $21.95 1-888-232-4444 www.trafford.com

Choices Made: The Street Years is the debut novel of Christine McMahon and clearly establishes her as a gifted storyteller able to take her reader into a gritty world of drug addiction, poverty, and life on the street. It follows a young man who, after his mother's death, searches for his biological father and falls prey to a brutal sexual attack. Pimped and drugged, he eventually breaks out of one type of slavery into the thuggish role of gang leader and protector, the "Street Lord" of the 42nd neighborhood. As a new teen father, he begins to regret his choices and wants off the streets for the sake of his own son, and agrees to work as a "mole" for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in exchange for immunity from prosecution - yet when the undercover agent who gained his trust is in mortal peril, he returns to the streets in hope of engineering a rescue, triggering a chain of events that will cause him to meet his biological father at long last. Grippingly told, Choices Made: The Street Years is forcefully honest in its portrayal of the harsh forces that shape human life for good or ill.

Trails of the Dime Novel
Terry Burns
Echelon Press Publishing
56 Sawyer Circle #354, Memphis, TN 38103
1590804090 $11.99

Trails of the Dime Novel is an unusual Western, about a young man in the late 1800's who set out west to write dramatic stories that would capture the imagination of the reading populace, and found himself living them instead. Mortal peril, the threat of thieves, hostile Indians, and the challenges of surviving and no man's land with few laws and less enforcement make for an exciting succession of dangerous adventures that provide the would-be writer with source material to craft popular stories beyond his wildest dreams. A good, old-fashioned romp through the Old West, resonating with the memories of classic cowboy movies, stories, tall tales and culture.

A Duck to Water
G. B. Stern, author; Sarah Chamberlin Scott, illustrator
J. N. Townsend Publishing
4 Franklin Street, Exeter, New Hampshire 03833
188015840X $15.00 1-800-333-9883 www.jntownsendpublishing.com

A Duck to Water is a satirical fable for all ages, about animal life and identity crises in a simple place known as The Meadow to those who live there. A little black duck thinks he may be a swan... or a peacock... or perhaps a misunderstood cat is caught up amid scandal among feathered friends (and enemies), encounters the wisdom of the barnyard, and finally, discovers the true delights that destiny has in store - even if that destiny is simply the joy of being a swimming duck! A most enjoyable parable about the quest for self-acceptance and the respect of one's peers. Also highly recommended is author G. B. Stern's previous novel, "The Ugly Dachshund".

The Weight of Nothing
Steven Gillis
Brook Street Press
P.O. Box 20284, Saint Simons Island, GA 31522
www.brookstreetpress.com
0972429557 $22.00 912-638-0264

Written by Book of the Year award finalist Steven Gills, The Weight of Nothing is a novel about money, regret, revenge, and forgiveness. Two friends, each carrying a burden that has haunted him for years, resolve to travel to Algiers and confront their demons. When terrible tragedy strikes, it poses a difficult question - how resolve years of squandered ambition, lost chances of love, and continue living past unspeakable violence? A poignant and memorable chronicle of the long, difficult journey of the human spirit.

Dear Mom, Dad & Ethel
Mark Stuart Ellison and Eli Ellison
iUniverse, Inc.
2021 Pine Lake Road, #100, Lincoln, NE 68512
059566444X $30.95 www.iuniverse.com

Dear Mom, Dad & Ethel: World War II through the Eyes of a Radio Man is a novel that blends fiction and history. Set during the deadly battles near the end of World War II, it follows a would-be air gunner as his hopes are broken one by one. When caught AWOL with a friend, his military ambitions are reduced to being a radio truck driver. In Belgium of 1944, he experiences tragedy, and falls in love with a beautiful seamstress whose husband was sent to a forced labor camp in 1940 and presumed dead - then unexpectedly returns alive, forcing a heartbreaking choice. A handful of black-and-white photographs enhance the vivid story, brought to realistic life through the memories of veteran and co-author Eli Ellison, and collaboratively enhanced with the skills of his son, attorney, reporter, and co-author Mark Stuart Ellison.


The Musicbook Shelf

Watermelon Wine
Frye Gaillard
NewSouth, Inc.
PO Box 1588, Montgomery, AL 36102
1588381609 $19.95 1-334-834-3556 www.newsouthbooks.com

Now published in a 25th anniversary edition including a "listener's guide to country music", Watermelon Wine: Remembering the Golden Years of Country Music is a straightforward examination of the country music tradition and the passions that fuel it by award-winning journalist and author Frye Gaillard. Chapters address diverse subsets of the genre from blues country to gospel country, the legacy of Johnny Cash, the impact of commercialism on country music creativity, and much more. A solid, hands-on assessment of one of America's most enduring musical traditions, once considered vulgar and crude but lately earning a respectable place in people's hearts for its raw emotion and vivacity.

Teach Yourself Drums
Seth Goldberg
East Coast Books, Inc.
PO Box 13142, Hauppauge, NY 11788
No ISBN $14.95

Having received a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from New Paltz State College and currently working on a Masters Degree at Queens College, Seth Goldberg is an experienced musician who plays and teaches in the New York City area who draws upon his personal expertise to create a "self taught" instruction manual for aspiring drummers. After introducing the reader to drums, rhythm, rests and values (including buying the drum set), Goldberg goes on to focus upon cymbals, drum sticks, setting up the drum set, holding the drum stick, and drum notation. This is followed by chapters dedicated to exercises for Quarter Notes, Eighth Notes, Sixteenth Notes, and combination exercises. Teach Yourself Drums also addresses Dotted Notes, Triplets, and incorporating the feet. There is a Rock Section, a Swing Section, and a informative concluding commentary, "Where do we go from here?". Teach Yourself Drums is thoroughly "user friendly" and a welcome addition to personal and music school instructional resources for anyone seeking to learn the basics of drumming. Also highly recommended is Seth Goldberg's My First Snare Drum (0825856574, $6.95, Carl Fischer, LLC)

Salsa Talks!
Mary Kent
Digital Domain
931 NSR 434, #1201-168, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714
0976499002 $59.95 1-800-344-4361 www.digido.com

Salsa Talks!: A Musical Heritage Uncovered by Latin music expert and enthusiast Mary Kent is a veritable "who's who" focusing on the men and women associated with the Afro-Caribbean music called "Salsa" which is rooted in the Cuban culture and revamped in the barrios of New York City. Here are noted band leaders, musicians, arrangers, singers, producers, promoters, and Salsa experts ranging from songwriter, journalist and musicologist Tite Curet Alonzo; to pianist, composer, arranger, founder of the Cuban group Irakere Chucho Valdes; to band leader, Apollo Sound, percussionist, dancer, Fania All Star Roberto Roena. Profusely illustrated throughout, Salsa Talks! is a 416-page hardcover coffee table book that is enhanced with a three level index, an extensive biography, a glossary, and Mary Kent's own picks fora Salsa musicians "Hall of Fame". A strongly recommended addition for academic and community library American Music History collections, all Salsa music enthusiasts will want to simply browse through the pages of Salsa Talks!: A Musical Heritage.


The Jobs/Careers Shelf

Conquering Today's Changing Job Marketing
Peggy O. Swager
Hi-Caliber Books
PO Box 807, Monument, CO 80132
0972652639 $12.95 www.hi-caliberbooks.com

Peggy O. Swager draws upon her many years of experience and expertise writing resumes for a recruiting firm and giving job-hunting seminars to write Conquering Today's Changing Job Market: Solutions For Job Hunters And College Students. Intended especially to help job seekers navigate the challenges of the twenty-first century, chapters address where to find a job (from temporary staffing agencies to networking, job fairs, work force centers and more) to basic job hunting skills including such modern tips as posting an online resume, faxing resumes, and applying to company websites, how to make the most of keywords when posting one's resume or searching for the right company website, interviewing tips, job-hunting advice specifically tailored for college students or those recently laid off, and more. A valuable, easy-to-use, down-to-earth resource filled with "must-know" information for finding the right job in an increasingly technology-saturated era.

Get Hired Now!
C. J. Hayden and Frank Traditi
Bay Tree Publishing
721 Creston Road, Berkeley, CA 94708
0972002138 $17.95 www.baytreepublish.com

A Master Certified Coach and a career strategist combine their talents in Get Hired Now! A 28-Day Program for Landing the Job You Want, a practical-minded job-seeker's guide offering hands-on techniques to get noticed and get hired. Structured steps of a 28-day program focus on the keys to a successful job search: identifying the best strategies for one's personal goals, knowing precisely what to do and when to do it, and staying motivated despite frustration and rejection. Anecdotes, model cover letters and other vital documents, basic instructions in how to network, step-by-step tidbits each a page or two long and easy-to-follow combine into a unified program ideal for focusing one's energies and earning the job of one's dreams. An excellent supplementary resource for first-time job hunters and midlife career-changers alike.

Killer Cover Letters and Resumes! The WetFeet Insider Guide, 2004 edition
WetFeet Inc.
609 Mission Street, Suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94105
1582073716 $16.95 www.wetfeet.com

Killer Cover Letters and Resumes! The WetFeet Insider Guide, 2004 edition is a straightforward guide to looking one's best on paper. Chapters address appropriate research to undertake, how to identify and list one's "bottom line" skills and transferable skills, how to customize cover letters for individual businesses, basic resume do's and don'ts, how to contact a potential employer according to rules of etiquette, recommended resources, and more. An excellent supplementary reference recommended for all workers, not just those currently searching for employment; in today's changeable markets no job is forever anymore.

101 Best Ways To Get Ahead
Michael Angier with Sarah Pond
Success Networks International, Inc.
Win-Win Way, PO Box 2048, South Burlington, Vermont 05407-2048
0970417535 $19.95 www.SuccessNet.org

101 Best Ways To Get Ahead: Solid Gold Advice from 101 of the World's Most Successful People is an anthology of valuable tips, tricks and insights from famous, wealthy, and powerful individuals, from Tony Blair to Laura Bush, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods and many more. Topics covered range from business and career (sample subject heading for a collection of advice quips: "Do what you love and love what you do") to relationships ("Use written agreements" and "Hang out with the right people"), health ("Get plenty of rest"), spirituality ("Be, Do, Have - Not Do Have, Be") and much more. Each compact tidbit of advice is typically no longer than a paragraph, and a supplementary section offers one-page biographies and profiles of the celebrities quoted. An excellent source of inspiration and wholesome living suggestions, perfect for reading during brief breaks in the daily routine.

The Portfolio Bubble
J. Michael Willard
VidaliaHouse Publishing
2131 Chartwell Lane, Charlotte, NC 28212
978-9669603401 $24.95 www.vidaliahouse.com

The Portfolio Bubble: Surviving Professionally At 60 by Mike Willard is a no-nonsense guide for those approaching retirement age interested in defending their chosen careers, especially careers in business management, against the hunger of their younger competition. Chapters recommend different means to innovate, reinvent, lay groundwork, and defend one's dreams from how to put on a game face that no one can read to making oneself a "brand", putting together a good modern web site, discovering hidden talents, making a difference for the better in the lives around one, and more. Testimonials, practical tips for staying ahead in a world where competition is increasingly global, confidence-building exercises and more fill this "must-read" for any professional who resists retirement!

Get Hired Now!
D. J. Hayden & Frank Traditi
Bay Tree Publishing
892 East WilliamStreet, PMB 4008, Carson City, NV 89701
0972002138 $17.95 1-888-903-8733 www.gethirednow.com

The collaborative work of Master Certfifed Coach D. J. Hayden and career strategist and executive coach Frank Traditi, Get Hired Now!: A 28-Day Program For Landing The Job You Want teaches must-have skills for job-seekers in a world where 85% of available jobs are never advertised. Offering a structured 28-day program that walks the reader through the three key pillars of a successful job hunt (identify the best strategies to suit one's goals, learn what to do and when to do it, and stay motivated in spite of rejection), Get Hired Now! presents a smorgasboard of different approaches that can be tailored specifically to the reader's needs. True testamonials, sample telephone scripts, and tips, tricks, and techniques from cold calling or networking to landing an interview and from landing an interview to getting hired pack Get Hired Now! cover to cover, and make it practical, easy-to-use, reader-friendly resource worth of its title.

Post Office Jobs
Dennis V. Damp
Bookhaven Press LLC
KSB Promotions (publicity)
249 Field Club Circle, Mckees Rocks, PA 15136
0943641241 $19.95 1-800-782-7424 Bookhaven@aol.com http://postofficejobs.info

Now in a completely revised and updated fourth edition, Post Office Jobs by federal employment expert Dennis Damp, continues to be the definitive resource and instruction guide workbook for anyone seeking employment in the U.S. Postal Service. Post Office Jobs offers the prospective applicant an eight step process to securing a post office position. These steps include identifying all job vacancies; matching personal skills to postal jobs; locating postal exam test dates; specifically studying for the new 473 Postal Exam; accurately completing job application forms; preparing and practicing for job interviews; applying for jobs that don't require exams; and exploring viable civil service job options. Post Office Jobs is enhanced a wealth of accessible contact information including current addresses and phone numbers for the eighty hiring Postal Districts, on-line Internet connections and website addresses, the new pay scales, web sites that offer employment guidance, and even toll-free postal service employment hotlines. New to this expanded edition of Post Office Jobs is the inclusion of informed and informative chapter son Postal Inspector jobs. Thoroughly "user friendly" and ideal for the non-specialist general reader seeking either seasonal, temporary, or permanent employment within the U.S. Postal Service, Post Office Jobs is a "must" -- and should also be a part of any city, town, and village public library employment resource shelf, as well as every community highschool and technical college library Jobs/Careers reference collection.

501+ Great Interview Questions for Employers and the Best Answers for Prospective Employees
Dianna Podmoroff, MBA, CHRP
Atlantic Publishing Group
1210 S.W. 23rd Place, Ocala, FL 34474-7014
0910627509 $24.95 1-800-541-1336 www.librarybooks.biz

501+ Great Interview Questions for Employers and the Best Answers for Prospective Employees is a useful tool for job-seekers and employee-seekers alike. "Analysis" sections explaining each question's purpose in detail supplement the 501+ questions themselves, which evaluate prospective employees on everything from current competency in their field to decision making and analyitical opportunity to stress management skills, compliance and adaptability, leadership talents and more. A valuable introduction to the qualities needed for a successful career, and how to either spot them or display them proudly.


The Military Shelf

Letters From West Point
Jack Masters
Rounding Third Publishing
PO Box 697, Belton, MO 64012-0697
0975877364 $14.95 1-866-268-0725

Letters From West Point: A True American Story of Cadet Life 1969-1973 is an anthology of correspondence from a Missouri boy who entered the prestigious academy during the Vietnam War era. The immensely stressful pressures of cadet life, deep ties to his family at home, the rigors of extreme discipline, and much more color the pages. Individual correspondences tend to be brief; taken together, they provide an accumulated, personal picture of daily life in military training. An appendix of the author's family and friends rounds out this readible, optimistic, and spirited American testimony.

A Few Who Made A Difference
Karl W. Abt
Vantage Press Inc.
419 Park Avenue South, 18th floor, New York, NY 10016
0533148790 $21.50 1-212-736-1767

A Few Who Made A Difference: The World War II Teams of the Military Intelligence Service is the testimony of Karl W. Abt, who served in three of America's teams of servicemen, fluent in the German language, who were assigned to gather information from German captives and civilians on the street during the final year of the war. Black-and-white photographs and maps supplement this unique recounting of a military tour of duty within an enemy nation on the verge of collapse. Karl Abt has personally gone to extensive lengths to research the history and background corresponding to his narrative, so as to give as broad a view as possible of the service presented by those who used their foreign language skills to protect their home country of America. A highly recommended primary source shedding light on an oft-overlooked aspect of World War II military history.


The Environmental Studies Shelf

Biological Pollution
Kerry O. Britton, editor
The American Phytopathological Society
3340 Pilot Knob Road, St. Paul, Minnesota 55121-2097
0890543135 $69.00

Biological Pollution: An Emerging Global Menace is an anthology of essays by learned authors that discuss a very real problem in the increasingly globalized twenty-first century: biological pollution, particularly the domination of non-native species to the extent that they risk exterminating native wildlife and permanently upsetting delicate ecosystems. From exotic weeds out of control, to the spread of parasites from other continents, to tactics that can be taken against non-native invaders, Biological Pollution is a timely and much-needed resource examining both specific instances and general issues that pose a high threat to future biodiversity. Highly recommended, especially for environmental studies and ecology shelves.

Nature Never Stops Talking
Samuel J. Albrando
Tsaba House
2252 - 12th Street, Reedley, CA 93654
0972548645 $15.99 1-559-643-8575 www.TsabaHouse.com

Author, songwriter, and naturally inquisitive, Samuel Alibrando draws from his newspaper column some one hundred "bite-size" articles celebrating the concept of Intelligent Design, and along the way surveys a wide range of examples of nature in some rather unusual, insightful, and occasionally inspiring observations in Nature Never Stops Talking: The Wonderful Ingenuity Of Nature. Thoroughly "reader friendly" and scientifically enlightening, Alibrando groups his succinct commentaries such sections as "Earth and Space", "Scientific Properties", "The Small Stuff", "Beginnings", "Plants and Trees", "Insects", "Specific Creatures", "DNA", "The Human Body", and "Yeah, What About That?". Enhanced with an extensive appendices and a comprehensive Index, Nature Never Stops Talking is informed and informative reading that is as inherently interesting as it is factually engaging. Nature Never Stops Talking would make an exceptionally popular addition to any community library collection or curious nature lover's personal reading list.


The Travel Shelf

What's Up America?
Diane Asitimbay
Culturelink Press
PO Box 3538, San Diego, CA 92163
0975927604 $14.95

What's Up America? A Foreigner's Guide to Understanding Americans is an extremely useful guide for foreign travelers or exchange students visiting America, as well as American hosts who may not be aware of the unconscious, ingrained aspects of their culture that their foreign guest will have to adapt to. What's Up America? succinctly summarizes in plain terms the broad history, unwritten social mores, and generally accepted rules of conduct in American society, in particular emphasizing both the difference between American society as it really is versus how it is portrayed in TV and movies, and particular American language idioms that may be confusing to a non-native English speaker. Chapters cover dating, religion, eating habits, economic and business customs, and much more. Though especially intended for foreign travelers, What's Up America? is fascinating reading for Americans as well, since it gives a no-nonsense, plain-terms summary of America's modern culture, revealing subconsciously internalized forces that drive us in spite of ourselves.

Belize
Dick Lutz
Dimi Press
3820 Oak Hollow Lane, SE, Salem, OR 97302
0931625424 $14.95 1-800-644-3464 http://home.earthlink.net/~dickbook

Nicely illustrated throughout, Belize: Reefs, Rain Forests, And Mayan Ruins begins with an account of a tour of Belize, and then continues with a thoroughly "reader friendly" history of Belize, including a description of its government, people, problems, and environmental beauty. Author Dick Lutz is a gifted travel writer who showcases the many features and attractions of this remarkable Central American country. Chapters cover Belize's rain forests, the history of the Mayans, the history of local tourism, the history of Belize itself, and the conditions of Belize today. An index allows for quick and easy lookup of specific topics. Belize: Reefs, Rain Forests And Mayan Ruins is an excellent resource for bringing the lay reader up to date quickly on the people, forces, and events that have shaped Belize up to the present day, recommended for armchair travelers, amateur historians, and would-be tourists looking to better understand their travel destination.

Native Roads
Fran Kosik
Rio Nuevo Publishers
451 North Bonita Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85745
1887896686 $16.95 www.rionuevo.com

Now in a fully updated and expanded second edition, Native Roads: The Complete Motoring Guide To The Navajo And Hopi Nations by Fran Kosik continues to be the definitive travel planning guide for anyone seeking to visit and explore the reservations and hospitality of the Navajo and Hopi peoples. Maps, black-and-white photographs, cultural etiquette tips (for example, Hopis do not allow any photography), self-guided road tours, in-depth descriptions of various locations, and tips on everything from how to discern a well-woven rug to avoiding or dealing with common environmental hazards fill this extremely practical guide cover to cover. An emphatic "must-have" for any tourist interested in visiting the Navajo and Hopi nations for business or pleasure.


The Philosophy Shelf

Parables for Life in the 21st Century
Stuart Gustafson, author; Woodrow W. Gustafson, illustrator
Morris Publishing
3212 East Highway 30, Kearney, NE 68847
0615126294 $14.95

Parables for Life in the 21st Century: Modern Parables You Can Apply in Business and in Your Personal Life is an anthology of twenty-four current stories, each with a readily understandable and relevant moral. Some morals may be familiar such as Aesop's "Slow but steady wins the race"; others might be new to the reader, such as "Being born with a silver spoon in your mouth doesn't teach you how to feed yourself." Each modern parable is followed by a more detailed explanation of the parable's meaning and applications. A highly illuminating collection, offering a format that drives its truthful and valuable messages home with stories that resonate and remain in one's memory.


The Poetry Shelf

A Lost Soul
Anthony K. Alfred
Hudson Books
244 Madison Avenue, #254, New York, NY 10016
0976250241 $12.00

A Lost Soul: A Collection of Poems and Motivational Articles is an collection of rhyming verse poetry and inspirational brief essays such as "You Can Change the World" and "Repetition is Your Karmic Lesson". Award-winning poet Anthony K. Alfred, who first began to write as a form of therapy after surviving abuse at a young age, focuses on calling out to souls that are lost amid misery, fear, and despair. A Lost Soul mourns losses in some poems, grimly speaks of literal and metaphorical death in others, while reaching out to spiritual strength and resilience within in still others. Highly recommended, moving, and emotionally powerful. "When Sadness Comes Pouring Down": How sadness comes down / like a gray cloud out of the clear sky / Oh what a startling surprise / when the rain begins to pour down / with that drenching sound /What was once a bright day / drifts slowly away / on a sail into the bay.

Words of Silence
Patricia Terry
Higganum Hill Books
Independent Publishers Group (dist.)
PO Box 666, Higganum, CT 06441-0666
0974115843 $12.95

Words of Silence is an anthology of free-verse poetry that finds elements of beauty and sacredness in the simple lives of animals, and reflects the minds of travelers in a changing world. Chapters observe the foibles of humanity and the pressures that make each natural creature's life a daily battle for survival even as it retains its dignity and character, with impressionable clarity. "Cats": If you rescue them from terror, / they show / neither gratitude nor surprise. // They walk through our rooms / on invisible paths so narrow / one foot goes in front of the other.

What We Wish We Knew
Michael Larson
Ex Machina Publishing Company
PO Box 448, Sioux Falls, SD 57101
0944287263 $15.95

What We Wish We Knew is the debut collection of author Michael Larson's brief, free-verse poems drawn from a medley of inspiration - observations of the natural world, meditations on the struggles of saints, memories of his beloved sister gradually losing her life to cancer, and more. Profound in their simplicity and speaking directly to emotion and experience, the words resonate with personal bereavement, reflection, remembrance, and love. "Notes Toward a Metaphor for Dreaming": Death is the sleep between / the two days of eternity. Too easy. // Sleep is to dreaming / as death is to purgatory. Maybe // sleep is the death between / any two days of disease. Life // is a kind of malaise / while dreaming about a place.

The Mighty Stallion
C. G. Ferrel
Acheulean Publishing
PO Box 6166, Rock Island, IL 61204
0972968415 $14.95

The Mighty Stallion is an anthology of poems by award-winning poet C. G. Ferrel, whose advice to readers is "Seek the truth in all things. Be honest, fair and sincere." The brief, simple free-verse poems of The Mighty Stallion, each presented centered on the page, deal with survival, love, and accepting death having lived a full life, a fleeting moment of inspiration, or the endless search for answers. Though reading the verses of The Mighty Stallion takes little time, contemplating their meaning leads one into long stretches of absorbed thought. "Old, but Not Dead": I am getting old, / But I am not dead. / I can still laugh. / I can still cry. // Yet you try / To ignore me. / Please, / Tell me why?

An Imperfect Lover
Georgianna Orsini
CavanKerry Press
6 Horizon Road No. 2901, Fort Lee, NJ 07024
0970718675 $14.00 www.cavankerrypress.com

An Imperfect Lover is an anthology of free-verse poems and a collection of simple watercolor paintings, many reproduced in full color, by Georgianna Orsini. Evoking mystique with its rhythmic and haunting verse, An Imperfect Lover cherishes the bright spots even in an imperfect life. "Love Becomes Us" 'They won't last,' they said, / knowing our unvoiced differences, / sure your fickle reputation / and my more rooted past / would clash. // Made for this mystery / how far love goes, / past time and effort - / less tears, to find just us / was what we wanted most.

A Magic Book
Sasha Steensen
Fence Books
303 East Eighth Street, #B1 New York, NY 10009
0974090948 $12.00 www.fencebooks.com

A Magic Book showcases the poetry of Sasha Steensen who was trained as an historian, holds an MFA in Creative Writing, and is co-editor of the periodical "Kiosk: A Journal of Poetry, Poetics, and Experimental Prose". A compendium of verse that present powerful spells, alternative history and myth, an American era when industry supersedes religion and magic steps in with its hoaxes and hopefulness, A Magic Book is superlative and visual reading whose distinctive poetry and poetic imagery will linger in the mind long after the book has been read and placed back upon the shelf. Errand #1: Make it the land of a thousand dies./Make it colorful and unmatched./Make it there and make it home./Do not make it your own./Make it in the manner of the old./Make it only with the well-known./Make it boast of its self.

Nortada, The North Wind
Michelle Yasmine Valladares
Global City Press
The Simon H. Rifkind Center for Humanities, The City College of New York
138th Street and Convent Ave., New York, NY 10031
1887369007 $12.00 www.webdelsol.com/globalcityreview

Award-winning film producer Michelle Yasmine Valladares is heir to three cultures and three worlds, having spent her childhood in India, Kuwait and Arizona. Her poetry in Nortada, The North Wind is intertwined with complex themes transcending ingrained limitations; though brief, they offer a gifted insight to deeper understanding of seemingly mundane happenstance. Many of these free-verse poems are dedicated to individuals. Though Nortada, The North Wind can be read in a single sitting, it inspires close perusal, careful re-reading, and quiet contemplation at length. "The Table Maker's Dream" (for Jackson Pranikoff): I woke to a song, wood, wood, wood, / a long table stretching beyond. // Yanagi says, / It is not the I that draws a picture / or weaves a cloth, but / picture draws picture, / cloth weaves cloth. // It is not the I carving wood, / but the wood in the I.

Cloud View Poets
Morley Clark, et al.
Arctos Press
PO Box 401, Sausalito, CA 94966-0401
0972538445 $12.00 http://members.aol.com/Runes

Selected, compiled and edited by the team of Morley Clark, Jane Downs, C.B. Follett, and Susan Terris, Cloud View Poets: An Anthology - Master Classes With David St. John is an impressively diverse collection of 82 poets who each had in common that they studied poetry with David St. John (Professor and Chairman, the Creative Writing Department, University of Southern California) in one of eight weekend seminars he gives each year. Each poem in this anthology was written contemporaneously with the poet's enrollment in one of those seminars. The range, styles, subject matter, span the spectrum, but taken altogether provide an impressive (albeit collective) representation for the quality of those instructive seminars, the professor who taught them, and the students who enrolled in them. Why We're in Bakersfield: We're waiting for your voice to drop, for your 'nads to reach their apt angle.//True, the city is scruffy in spots,/but there are parks and trails and sushi bars/to complement the taquerias.//We're waiting for you to become interesting,/for your brain to blaze neon.//Meanwhile we bear the heat,/squeegie the dust from our windshield and/watch people wheel their babies through the mall.//Mornings we find ourselves downwind/of the ample valley--scent of barns and cow dung,//first light rising over the Tchachapis/from the Mojave beyond, sixteen-/wheelers headed our way.//We long for that light, and wait for you. -- Joel T. Katz


The Money/Finance Shelf

Tax Sale Tactics
Kathleen Walls
Global Authors Publications
PO Box 922, Crescent City, FL 32112
0976644924 $8.99

Tax Sale Tactics is a simple guide to buying properties at less than what they are worth to accumulate wealth with minimum investment by taking advantages of tax sales. Real estate investor and license holder Kathleen Walls offers tips, tricks and techniques concerning just what a tax sale is and how to conduct oneself at one, bidding procedures, basic terms, and examples of individual experiences at tax sales. A superb supplementary primer for anyone looking to get involved in the booming hot field of real estate investment.

The Art of Debt-Free Living
Deborah J. Nayrocker
Pleasant World
c/o WinePress Publishing
PO Box 428, Enumclaw, WA 98022
1414103468 $15.99

The Art of Debt-Free Living: Living Large on Less Than You Earn is a no-nonsense guide to getting out of debt and staying that way. Written by a freelance writer and small business owner, The Art of Debt-Free Living covers sensible lifestyle changes, practical basic investment strategies that avoid excess risk, helpful credit card tips, how to keep personal problems from generating too much debt, and more. Divided into page-size vignettes and personal testimonies, The Art of Debt-Free Living breaks down practical advice into simple, quickly grasped concepts and is an ideal introduction to good money habits especially for teenagers, first-time homeowners, newly married couples and others growing accustomed to the responsibility paying their own bills.


The Self-Help Shelf

Threads of Hope
Beth Rotondo
Stillpoint Press
157 Mt. Vernon Rd. East, Weymouth, MA 02189
0976016508 $11.95

Author Beth Rotondo has worked in the field of bereavement field for twenty years, speaking with community and medical groups as well as facilitating support groups and counseling individuals. Threads of Hope: An Offering for Those Who Grieve is a small-sized book offering honest, compassionate answers to common questions that survivors of the loss of a loved one face, including "Will I ever stop hurting?", "What does moving on mean?", and "Why, Why, Why?" A deeply helpful and empathic guide, devoting half its pages to words of wisdom and half to reflections of those who have grieved, as well as some blank pages that the reader may reflect and reminisce upon.

Dare to Live Without Limits
Bryan Golden
Power Point Press
1030 Beekman Road, Hopewell Jct., NY 12533
097536880X $13.95 DareToLiveWithoutLimits.com

Dare to Live Without Limits: Rocket Fuel for the Mind is a self-help guide written to work with any lifestyle, no matter how on the go, or downright hectic. Chapters show one how to revitalize one's mind, overcome fear, become more self-reliant, and focus on achieving one's goals. Written by entrepreneur and columnist Bryan Golden, who formed his successful management consulting firm from scratch, Dare to Live Without Limits offers simple but profound motivational truths that stress the immeasurable power of free will. "You don't need to feel depressed; you can choose happiness. You don't need to be afraid; you can choose confidence. You don't need to be discouraged; you can choose action. You don't need to be stressed; you can choose tranquility."

Get Happy Get Healthy Be Wealthy
Michael Framberger
HHW Press
c/o Michael G. Framberger Seminars, Inc.
PO Box 14942, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406
www.gethappy-gethealthy-bewealthy.com
0975872001 $16.95 1-800-616-6210

Seminar giver Michael Framberger presents Get Happy Get Healthy Be Wealthy: It's Your Choice, a self-help guide to improving the quality of one's health, relationships, and financial security. Chapters address the powers of choice, perception, attitude, and how to tap the hidden powers within and apply full determination to create happiness, eat a healthier diet, exercise regularly, and chart a road to greater wealth. Simple tips, tricks, and techniques that can be fit into the busiest of schedules will grease the road to one's personal goals in this effective and upbeat guide to the first and most necessary step: deciding what one wants and resolving to go after it!

Stand Out When You Stand Up
Barbara Busey
Presentation Dynamics
PO Box 11713, Charlotte, NC 28220
0976223945 $17.95 1-877-527-8210

Stand Out When You Stand Up: An A To Z Guide To Powerful Presentations by professional speaker and trainer Barbara Busey is a no-nonsense guidebook to adding flair, personality, charisma, and other memorable qualities to one's presentation. Twenty-six chapters organized by alphabetical title discuss everything from overcoming anxiety, appropriate guidelines for jokes and humor, how to make best use of visual aids, and much more. Mental techniques for calming one's mind, tips and tricks for eliciting interest, advice for tailoring one's presentation and style to appeal to a specific audience and much more pack Stand Out When You Stand Up cover to cover. A handy primer and tip guide for novice and experienced public speakers alike.

The Search For Unrational Leadership
Charles Fleetham
Right Brain Books, LLC
Gulotta Communications (publicity)
22000 Springbrook Avenue, Suite 106, Farmington Hills, MI 48336
0976386801 $24.95 www.rightbrainbooks.us www.projectinnovations.com

Also available in paperback (097638681X, $15.95), The Search For Unrational Leadership: Using Rational & Irrational Methods To Change Your Life by Charles Fleetham (founder of Project Innovations, a management consulting firm serving business and government) outlines a strategy to create a "New Economy" based on the principles of what Fleetham has termed "Unrational Leadership". This refers to a process that Fleetham developed using both rational and irrational methodologies to solve complex problems and in the process, achieving some truly astonishing results in resolving societal problems without the side affect of unintended negative consequences. Challenging, unorthodox, at times iconoclastic, The Search For Unrational Leadership is nevertheless thoughtful, thought-provoking, stimulating reading that is especially commended to the attention of anyone having a managerial responsibility for problem solving within their businesses, their communities, their social causes and political/cultural concerns.

We're All Doing Time
Bo Lozoff
Human Kindness Foundation
PO Box 61619, Durham, NC 27715
0961444401 $10.00 www.humandkindness.org

Bo Lozoff is the director of the "Human Kindess Foundation" and his writings, workships, and tapes have helped countless numbers of men and women to deal with the limiting effects of selfishness, fear, anger, and addiction --as well as incarceration where the barriers are ones of cold steel bars and high cement walls. He has now distilled his observations and insights in We're All Doing Time: A Guide For Getting Free, with a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. We're All Doing Time spells out the philosophy of the Prison-Ashram Project, which strives to give spiritual community and help, without mandating specific religious dogma, to those suffering in prisons. Others work to reform prison systems, and the author commends them highly; but until great changes can be wrought for the better, the philosophies in We're All Doing Time are meant to make prison physical and spiritual life more bearable. Black-and-white photographs and true stories of individuals and inmates searching for peace and meaning in their lives make We're All Doing Time a singularly profound spiritual testimony.

If There's One Thing I've Learned...
James Green
Sound View Publishing
PO Box 696, Shoreham, NY 11786
0976105845 $19.95 www.SoundViewPublishing.com

If There's One Thing I've Learned...: How To Seize Your Once-In-A-Lifetime Chance To Get It Right is based on hundreds of the author's personal interviews with people from every part of the country in response to the question "If you could go back and change anything in your life, what would you do differently?" Although the answers to Jim Green's inquiries were diverse, ranging from issues of live, time, career, money, dreams, and childhood, a great many of the interviews touched upon the them of deep regrets due to mistakes and missed opportunities. The anecdotal and illustrative stories related within this unique "self-help" title also reveal the joys associated with good choices and lives well spent. An extraordinary examination of ordinary lives, If There's One Thing I've Learned... is insightful and occasionally inspiring reading that is especially recommended to the attention of anyone seeking to reexamine the possibilities and potentials of their own life choices.


The Literary Shelf

H. P. Lovecraft Letters From New York
S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, editors
Night Shade Books
1470 NW Saltzman Road, Portland, OR 97229
1892389371 $40.00 1-503-643-5824

H. P. Lovecraft: Letters From New York is volume 2 of the "Lovecraft Letters" series, which compiles correspondence written by the famous occult and horror author H.P. Lovecraft in 1922, 1924, 1925, and 1926. Most of the text is based directly upon existing manuscript sources; some is from the so-called Arkham House transcripts of Lovecraft's letters, which were prepared under August Derleth's watchful eye for use in the "Selected Letters". A few black-and-white sketches or diagrams from the letters themselves are reprinted, though for the most part H. P. Lovecraft: Letters From New York consists of straightforward text typed in a readable font. A glossary of names and an index allow for quick and easy reference in this absorbing close look into the mind's eye of a creative genius.

In The Great Together
Seth Alan Barkas
Hannacroix Creek Books, Inc.
1127 High Ridge Road, #110, Stamford, CT 06905-1203
188926251X $19.95 www.hannacroixcreekbooks.com

Also available in a hardcover edition (1889262072, $31.95), In The Great Together is an anthology of four one-act plays by the late Seth Alan Barkas, a gifted New York theater critic who was murdered on the streets of that city at the age of 23 by a gang of youthful thugs. What was not widely known at the time was that in addition to critique the Broadway and Off Broadway plays of others for "Show Business", a publication dedicated to the entertainment industry in New York. It was many years after his untimely death that his sister discovered that his widow had kept her husband's papers, among which included four plays that displayed the amazing talent of this aspiring playwright. Now published posthumously, these four one-act plays clearly document the literary abilities of Seth Alan Barkas and make a significant and welcome addition to the growing library of American theatrical plays. Included are "Cry of the Boy" which delves into the everyday life of a 17-year-old boy and his relationship with his parents; "The Devil and Don Quijote" which is set in post-revolutionary Spain and tells the story of a man who escapes from an old age home; "Maximilian" which takes place in 1867 in a prison cell the night before the execution of 35-year-old Emperor Maximilian of Mexico when Constantine, disguised as a stable hand, visits Maximilian to try to talk him into going along with the request of Juarez and abdicate his claim to the throne, renounce his opposition to the Revolution, and agree to return to Austria. The final play completing this anthology is "Scorpio", which explores the relationship between 20-year-old Tom, a woman, and Stanley, a 19-year-old man who enters Tom's apartment as he goes door to door for his summer job as a salesman of goods made by the blind. An impressive collection by any standard, In The Great Together would provide especially excellent selections for high-school, college, and community theater groups seeking one-act plays to perform for their audiences.


The Human Sexuality Shelf

Better Than Ever
Bernie Zilbergeld & George Zilbergeld
Crown House Publishing
PO Box 2223, Williston, VT 05495-2223
1904424341 $21.95 1-877-925-1213 www.CHPUS.com

The collaborative work of Bernie and George Zilbergeld, Better Than Ever: Love And Sex At Midlife informs couples in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70's and 80s just how they can continue to enjoy their love life -- sex is not just for the young and horny! Better Than Ever reveals the myths and realities of sex and aging, addresses the normal physical changes in men and women of mature years, considers medications and their uses with respect to human sexuality, how to identify and deal with health issues that affect human sexuality, and even how to "talk sexy" at any age! Coherently and accessible written in language ideal for the non-specialist general reader, Better Than Ever is highly recommended reading, and an invaluable addition to community library "Human Sexuality" reference collections.


The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf

Roads
Seabury Quinn, author; Virgil Finlay, illustrator
Red Jacket Press
3099 Maqua Place, Mohegan Lake, NY 10547
097488958X $29.95 www.redjacketpress.com

Roads is a fascimile reproduction of the 1948 first edition, Roads is a fantasy novel by pulp fiction pioneer Seabury Quinn. First published in the January 1938 issue of "Weird Tales", Roads is an "adult Christmas story" that offers a daring re-interpretation of the legend and tradition of Santa Claus, drawn heavily from the inspiration of original Christian legends. Renowned fantasy artist Virgil Finlay illustrated the 1948 edition, in this gorgeous reproduction that is the next best thing to owning the original. "Roads" comes packaged in a stiff cardboard box, and retains its classic and timeless charm, as well as a sense of wonder and imagination to look beyond boundaries. Highly recommended.

Water Warp: Daze of Reckoning
Paul Borick
J and J Press
9261 Hillis Court, Manassas, VA 20112
0975989804 $7.95

Water Warp: Daze of Reckoning blends author and professional teacher Paul Borick's twin passions for biology and language arts into an exciting adventure story for young adults. In Water Warp, ten-year-old Paul is en route to Hawaii for a family vacation when a sudden accident introduces him to a kingdom called Aqua World, inhabited by highly intelligent dolphins who find a place for him among their own. Gnik, king of the dolphins, asks young Paul to lead a three-part adventure to protect the kingdom from the ocean's predators, especially the the sharks, for another thousand years. Told from Paul's point of view, Water Warp is a fantastic tour of both imagination and the precious quality of compassion for fellow life forms. Highly recommended.

Knightscares #6: Hunt for Hollowdeep
David Anthony and Charles David
Sigil Publishing
PO Box 824, Leland, Michigan 49654
0972846158 $5.99 www.knightscares.com

Book three of the Dragonsbane Horn saga, Knightscares #6: Hunt for Hollowdeep is the latest novel in a fantasy series recommended for young adults ages eight and up. Jasiah and his loyal companions - Emily the archer, Daniel the rogue, Leland the dog, and Talon the wyvern - must brave the dismal valley of Hollowdeep in search of the Dragonsbane Horn, pursued by ghosts, monsters, and their worst fears made real. Meanwhile the menacing dragon Shelolth weaves terrible plots of conquest and war, on the eve of bearing bitter fruit. A heroic struggle between good and evil ensues, in this enthralling adventure story.


The Political Science Shelf

Manifesto
Che Guevara, Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Ocean Press
PO Box 1186, Old Chelsea Station, New York, NY 10113-1186
1876175982 $15.95 oceanbooks.com.au

Manifesto: Three Classic Essays On How To Change The World collects "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "Reform or Revolution" by Rosa Luxemburg, and "Socialism and Man in Cuba" by Ernesto Che Guevara. All three writings share in common a revolutionary spark; here are ideas that transformed the world, with reprecussions resonating to the modern day and beyond. A preface, introduction, and brief notes on the contributers round out this vital collection concerning political power, social consciousness, and the need for societal transformation, especially recommended for library and educational reference shelves.


The Religion/Spirituality Shelf

The Great New Emerging Civilization
James Hilgendorf
The Tribute Series
PO Box 195, Vida, OR 97488
www.tributeseries.com
1929159188 $14.95 1-800-898-9441

The Great New Emerging Civilization is a spiritual examination of emerging consciousness and compassion, and the need for a revolution in religious thought, in the wake of a changing world and the failure of existing religions to bring full happiness. Intended as a harbinger of the newly forming vanguard of spiritual thought, which connects humankind directly to the fundamental heart and higher compassion of the universe, The Great New Emerging Civilization details at length the qualities that distinguish this new way of thinking, feeling and believing from the older traditions of Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam, among others. Chapters address such topics as reality, identity, life and death, wars and nations, economics and education, and more, and the role that this burgeoning form of expanded understanding and empathy plays. A visionary and forward-looking beacon of hope, particularly for readers disillusioned with the corruption that is all too common in established religious traditions.

Mastering Abundance
Nzingha Moses
Angelic Ones Publishing Co.
PO Box 43334, Fayetteville, NC 28309-3334
0975935003 $12.95

Written by motivational speaker Nzingha Moses, the ordained minister, pastor and founder of The Spiritual House of Unconditional Love, Mastering Abundance: A Spiritual Approach To Getting Anything You Want By Having God Serve You is a profoundly spiritual self-help guide to focusing all of one's talent and entering a receptive state to permit the workings of both oneself and the Universe to fulfill one's desires. Mastering Abundance is not about fulfilling greed, or a magic formula to instantly grant wishes; it is a thoughtful examination of the psychological and spiritual limitations people impose on themselves every day - from defeatism to envy and worse - and how to remove them. If one prefers being unhappy to the risk of searching for happiness, then one will be unhappy, and not even God himself can change that. But if one follows the steps outlined to free oneself from resentment, adopt a positive attitude, work to enable one's dream and be ready to claim the opportunity when it appears, then and only then can one's dream become reality. A truly inspirational guide.

Jun Q'anil: One Who Walks The Way
Jessica Nagler
Cypress House
155 Cypress Street, Fort Bragg, CA 95437
www.cypresshouse.com
1879384604 $16.95 1-800-773-7782

Jun Q'anil: One Who Walks The Way is the true story of one woman's spiritual journey. Psychotherapist and author Jessica Nagler left the securities of her life, including her career, her fiance, and her everyday routine, on a quest to find meaning and purpose. Her travels took her to an unfamiliar land, and with the guidance of a Mayan shaman, she entered another culture and another world. Her profound voyage of self-discovery would lead her to better understand herself, what she wanted from life, and what purpose she lived for. An emotionally charged voyage, bearing marked correlations to other tales of more famous visionary figures who had to abandon that which was comfortable and familiar to achieve enlightenment.


The Parenting Shelf

Motherhood Exposed
Katherine Grace
Clearing Skies Press
4002 Dunbarton Way, Roswell, GA 30075
0970793758 $15.95 1-770-518-8931

Motherhood Exposed is a humorous and all too insightful memoir of one mother's work to raise children, and the process by which her misconceptions about motherhood were shattered one after another. Debunking such widely held expectations of motherhood as "My Home Will Be Organized", "If You're Perfect Enough, You Can Parent with No Regrets", "I Will Be Appreciated in Sickness and in Health" and many others with the author's own true stories of sullen teens, eroding sanity, and depleted grocery budget, Motherhood Exposed is a refreshing island of honesty amid a sea of reality-warping sentimentalization. Highly recommended, enjoyable to read due to the brief length of the vignettes and overall upbeat tone, and an ideal gift for Mother's Day or mothers' birthdays.


The Metaphysical Studies Shelf

Southwestern Feng Shui
Lisa Montgomery
Workers In Light
1616 East Main Street, #119, Mesa, AZ 85203
0976719908 $9.95 1-480-248-0186

Southwestern Feng Shui: A Practical Guide To Effectively Practicing Feng Shui In A Desert Environment by Lisa Montgomery (who trained in both Compass School and Black Sect Tantric Buddhist Feng Shui) is a very hand and "user friendly" reference guide to the art of placement and movement of Chi in the desert environments of the American southwest. The student of feng shui will learn what elements are missing in these arid environments and how to provide for an ensured Chi flow. Of special note is a very useful checklist. Southwestern Feng Shui is a welcome contribution to the growing library of Feng Shui for American readers, and is especially commended to the attention of those who live in desert and semi-desert environs anywhere in the world.


The Women's Studies Shelf

Women In Shadow And Light
Jan Goff-LaFontaine
Beagle Bay Books
3040 June Meadows Road, Reno, NV 89509
0974961051 $35.00 1-775-827-8654 www.beaglebay.com

Women In Shadow And Light: Journeys From Abuse To Healing by author, editor, and photographer Jan Goff-LaFontaine showcases the stories of forty women ranging in age from nineteen to ninety-five who found the courage to overcome personal trauma. Their inspiring stories are beautifully enhanced with sensitive portrait photography that offers a visual glimpse into the essence of these individual women. A unique body of work, Women In Shadow And Light is especially recommended reading for anyone struggling with verbal, physical, or emotional abuse within their own lives, as well as for those who enjoy the blending of photography and text to portray memorable examples of the human condition in our contemporary times.


The Pets/Wildlife Shelf

The First Chinook
David Pagel
The Kenspeckle Letterpress
394 Lake Avenue South, Suite 701, Duluth, MN 55802
0976467607 $16.95 1-866-727-3706 www.kenspeckleletterpress.com

The First Chinook by David Pagel is the story of Arthur T. Walden and his legendary sled dog, Chinook. Impressively illustrated by Rick Allen's woodcuts and engravings, the story begins in the mid-winter of 1917 when a golden-colored puppy was born in New Hampshire. Over the next 12 years Arthur's enthusiastic dog would set mushing records, help popularize the sport of sled dog racing, and become the progenitor of a new breed of sled dog named after Chinook, finally traveling with Admiral Richard E. Byrd on his First Antarctic Expedition in 1928. Written in rhyming verse in the style of classic Yukon ballads, and illustrated with more than 40 colorful and stylized wood engravings, The First Chinook is a delightful picturebook filled with true stories of adventure.

Have Dog, Will Travel: California
Barbara Whitaker
Ginger & Spike Publications
PO Box 937, Wilsonville, OR 97070-3076
0966054474 $19.95 www.havedogwilltravel.com

In Have Dog, Will Travel: California, pet travel expert Barbara Whitaker draws upon her considerable experience and practical knowledge to personally research almost 9,000 lodging throughout California to create the definitive travel guide and directory for dog-friendly accommodations. Now travelers with their canine companions can select from more than 2,200 hotels, motels, B&Bs, cabins, and vacation homes that will accept both owner and pet. Additionally, Have Dog, Will Travel: California informs the reader of travel essentials for their pet, var travel safety and pet etiquette advice, easy obedience commands, as well as lifesaving and first aid procedures. If you are traveling through California with your canine companion, then you need to browse through Have Dog, Will Travel: California as a substantive aid in planning your trip's itinerary whether for overnight outing, a weekend excursion, or a full-blown vacation with all the trimmings.


The American History Shelf

Battlegrounds Of Freedom
Norman Desmarais
Busca, Inc.
PO Box 854, Ithaca, NY 14851
0966619676 $26.95 www.buscainc.com

Battlegrounds Of Freedom: A Historical Guide To The Battlefields Of The War Of American Independence by Norman Desmarais (an active re-enactor in the Second Rhode Island Regiment Continental Army) meticulously approaches the war event by event, describes the geographic and strategic context of each battle, and offers an extensive selection of black-and-white maps and photographs to aid the reader in retracing the conflict that shaped American history. A wealth of resources for the reader to draw upon, including websites noted for their accuracy and lists of visitor centers, museums, and battleground sites open to the public, Battlegrounds Of Freedom is a vital resource especially for re-enactment groups but also useful to historians and casual readers alike. An in-depth resource constructed with an eye for accuracy, and a passionate love for history itself.

Living In The USA
Alison R. Lanier & Jef C. Davis
Intercultural Press
PO Box 700, Yarmouth, ME 04096-0700
1931930198 $24.95 1-866-372-2665 www.interculturalpress.com

Now in a completely updated and revised sixth edition, Living In The USA rightly continues to be regarded as the ideal guide for recent emigrants and new visitors to the United States, a country which has undergone substantive changes in the last five years since the events of September 11, 2001. This comprehensive, 243-page guide is now enhanced with timely information on American subcultures (including Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, retirees, gays and lesbians, as well as the disabled), contemporary American social and political issues (including the rise of religious fundamentalism and the tensions between security issues and personal liberties), rapidly changing immigration rules, conditions, and American business conditions (including negotiation, life in the office, and time spent at work). From American values, to American social and civic life, to money, medical care, food customs, communications, housing, child care, education, privacy, and so much more, Living In The USA covers everything the newly arrived need to know whether they intend to stay a week, a year, or a lifetime.


The Business Shelf

Implementing A Mixed Model Kanban System
James C. Vatalaro & Robert E. Taylor
Productivity Press
444 Park Avenue South, Suite 604, New York, NY 10016
1563272865 $45.00 1-888-319-5852 www.productivitypress.com

The collaborative work of Toyota Production System veterans and experts James C. Vatalaro and Robert E. Taylor, Implementing A Mixed Model Kanban System: The Lean Replenishment Technique For Pull Production spells out the technical details and requirements of implementing a kanban system, a methodology for insuring maximum quality at minimal cost particularly in product manufacturing, within the context of pull production. Chapters explain the principles of kanban in plain terms, tools for applying and managing the system, and frequently asked questions. Simple diagrams, sample charts, and plain language clearly outline the basics in this valuable resource for any business manager or production overseer looking to take advantage of the structure and principles of kanban.

Behind the Scenes
Pamela Rocke
Cave Cat Press
23106 Lake Forest Dr., #453, Laguna Hills, CA 92653
097609570X $14.95 www.cavecatpress.com

Behind the Scenes: Managing a Trade Show Without Losing Your Mind is a straightforward guide to running a successful trade show. Chpaters address the basic checklist, how to select the right space, tips, tricks and techniques for a quality exhibit, how to acquire well-designed graphics, recruiting optimum prospects, management logistics, and more. A no-nonsense manual that taps directly into the author's eleven years of experience managing trade shows in the high technology industry.


The Science Shelf

Giants In The Storm
Mark Renz
PaleoPress
213 Lincoln Avenue, Lehigh Acres, FL 33972
0971947724 $24.95 www.PaleoPress.net

Giants In The Storm is the true story of avocational paleontologist Mark Renz's discovery of a half-million year-old Florida river bed and dozens of partial skeletons preserved within it, from capybara rodents to bull-size ground sloths, primitive wolves, saber-toothed cats and more. Exploring questions pertaining to the animals' cause of death, whether their accumulation of skeletons represents natural extinction or an immediate catastrophe, and the ethical questions concerning fossil bone disposal posed to an amateur hunter (keep the bones for oneself, donate them to a museum, or sell them on ebay?) Giants In The Storm addresses common scientific curiosity and supplements its text with over 800 black-and-white field photos of discovered bones. An exciting introduction to the world amateur archaeology and the lives of animals that lived many thousands of years ago.


The Economics Shelf

Economics As A Symptom Of Sadism
Harold Kassel
Llumina Press
8055 West McNab Road, Tamarac, FL 33321
159261346 $18.95 1-866-229-9244 www.llumina.com

In Economics As A Symptom Of Sadism, licensed clinical psychologist and academician Harold Kassel presents a thoughtful and thought-provoking analysis of pathology in American culture and education with special attention to the questionable endorsements economists make to advocate and justify inequalities with respect to income. Economics As A Symptom Of Sadism forcefully questions why American culture celebrates achievements in sports or celebrity - which are ultimately nothing more than putting a ball through a hoop or a hole, looking and behaving good for a camera, or being able to sing - while devaluing the real building-block professions, such as educating young people. Why do some individuals make salaries in the multiples of millions, especially if their work does little to protect human lives or prepare human lives for future challenges? Why do economists imply that people "choose" pitiable wages when they go into a low-benefit career path such as teaching? A teacher has only "chosen" to be a teacher - not to live barely above subsistence level. Economics As A Symptom Of Sadism rages at the excesses of capitalism that trample over those who cannot meet constantly shifting demands, but neither is it a pro-communism or pro-socialism book; instead, the author lays out his own prospective remedies to the severe and seemingly unjust imbalances, such as capping maximum salaries at a very comfortable level, and giving professors at universities less than their current level of absolute power over students - power that ensures those pursuing higher education are much less likely to buck the status quo, for fear of being shot down from their dreams by an irate teacher. A provocative book, brimming with passion for those who suffer the worst shortfalls of an increasingly globalized world; definitely worth reading, even if not all of its solutions are fully viable (for example, capping salaries would just prompt those so capped to emigrate to a nation that doesn't cap salaries...)


The Islamic Studies Shelf

Salaat
Mamdouh N. Mohamed
B200, Inc.
2831 Gallows Road, Suite 251, Falls Church, VA 22042
0965287726 $29.95 1-877-232-4448

Enhanced with an accompanying CD, Salaat: The Islamic Prayer From A To Z by Arabic and Islamic Studies expert Dr. Mamdouuh N. Mohammed (Adjunct Professor, George Mason University, Washington D.C.) is a simple instructional in how to perform Islamic prayer, intended for all Muslims age ten and older. The careful descriptions and guides, drawn directly from the Quran and the Sunnah, help Muslims from different branches of Islam correct errors and reconcile differences in prayer practice. Each two-page spread describes an appropriate action or step, presents the supplication to be said aloud in both English and Arabic, notes when the action is to be undertaken, describes exactly how step by step, mentions the evidence for performing the action as taken from holy texts, warns against common errors, offers color photographs and common questions and answers concerning the action, and much more. The CD-ROM, which requires Windows 9x/ME/2000/NT/XP, features a slide show for all prayer steps, a video for the entire Salaat and Wuduu, audio for all supplications, a complete practice evaluation, and other features. A handy instructional for any practicing Muslim, especially useful as an aide for those teaching prayer to children, and a thorough resource for anyone who needs to know the precise actions involved.


The Psychology Shelf

Emotional Comfort
Judith M. Davis, M.D.
Wilder Press
155 Cypress Street, Fort Bragg, CA 95437
www.cypresshouse.com
0972357327 $14.95 1-800-773-7782

Expert psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Judith Davis presents Emotional Comfort: The Gift Of Your Inner Guide, which describes a five-stage program to create a more joyful life - the Davis (tm) Technique for Attaining Emotional Comfort. By creating a new entity in one's mind, an inner guide, one can search one's memory for the origins of one's problems, and therefore build true solutions that address the roots of the difficulty. The benefits of entering a self-hypnotic state can be used to foster a greater self-awareness and an improved ability to deal with one's problems and reconcile difficulties. A liberating self-help guide about tapping into the wellspring of one's own strength and hidden powers of the mind.


The Biography Shelf

Doing Easy Time
Charles Campbell
Fenestra Books
610 East Delano Street, Suite 104, Tucson, Arizona 85705
1587363992 $25.95

Doing Easy Time: Including a Stretch as Warden of a Coed Prison is a personal memoir of fifty years' work in the field of corrections. Packed cover to cover with stories, some fascinating, some heartwarming, some with a sobering parable and some tragic. A recurring theme is the crucial importance of human relationships, even in the most stark situations. Doing Easy Time is a very humanistic story, telling of the importance of providing inmates with meaningful work or programming, and reflecting sadly upon prison riots of the era. An inside view of the challenges of the correctional system, aspects that need to be changed for the future, and the struggles of the men and women who live behind bars.

Memories of Afghanistan
M. H. Anwar
AuthorHouse
1663 Liberty Drive Suite 200 , Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
1418450448 $14.95 1-800-839-8640

First published in 1981, and now in a new second edition containing portions of the manuscript not present in the first edition, Memories of Afghanistan is the true testimony of one man's struggles with a handful of like-minded individuals to improve Afghanistan's future with the tools of science and technology. Growing up peniless, he became reform-minded and tried to help his nation on the road to democracy and better treatment of women, but the monarchy threatened him with arrest and execution. In 1943 he had to flee the country for the sake of his life, and getting his wife out proved to be more difficult. A final chapter offers a brief summary of landmark political events in Afghanistan since, up through 2004. Memories of Afghanistan is in many ways a tragedy on a national scale - a tragedy of violence, of religious fervor that reduces women to the level of commodities, of internecine tribal warfare and hatred. And it is also powerfully vibrant, remembering the struggles, ideals, and passions of those who longed to make their home nation a better place to live. Highly recommended.

The Gentleman from Finland
Robert M. Goldstein
Rivendell Publishing Northwest
7725 First Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98115
0976328801 $14.95 Rivendellpublishingnw.com

Set in 1987, The Gentleman from Finland: Adventures on the Trans-Siberian Express is a memoir chronicling mishaps that escalate almost into the realm of the bizarre. The author, a short, swarthy Mexican-American-Russian-Jew, boards what he believes to be the Trans-Siberian Express yet discovers two days later that he is on the wrong train, traversing the Soviet Union with a voucher that mistakenly identifies him as a Finn. He speaks almost no Russian, and is lost amid a strange land - an old woman steals his shoes, smugglers stash contraband under his bunk, and a beautiful woman rescues him from disaster yet mysteriously keeps reappearing, leading him to fear that she is with the KGB. Sometimes wryly humorous, other times fraught with tension, The Gentleman from Finland is a truly unique travelogue offering a memorable snapshot of one man's encounter with a nation.


The Gaming Shelf

The Blackjack Zone
Eliot Jacobson
Blue Point Books
PO Box 91347, Santa Barbara, CA 93190
1883423104 $19.95 1-800-858-1058 www.theblackjackzone.com

Poker and Blackjack have gained enormous popularity in the last few years thanks to televised tournaments from Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and various Indian Gaming Casinos from around the country. This has also spawned a small publishing phenomenon of "how to" books in the field. The Blackjack Zone is one of those and has mathematician Eliot Jacobson (an accomplished card counter and host of the popular website, www.cardcounter.com) writing in a casual, humorous, and thoroughly "reader friendly" an introductory book on the game of Blackjack. Jacobson explains what Basic strategy is and how to use it; how to become an advantage player; how to choose the right game, dealer and casino; how to separate myths about Blackjack from the realities of the game; and how to think and act like a winner. An easy and informative read, The Blackjack Zone is especially recommended for anyone wanting to have the very best chance of coming out ahead in a game where the casino would otherwise have the edge.


The Photography Shelf

Incredible Eyes
A. K. Crump, editor
TCB Cafe Publishing
PO Box 471706, San Francisco, CA 94147
0967489857 $39.95 1-415-263-6800 contact@cafeandre.com

In 2004, hundreds of international photographers were invited to capture the magic and beauty of the eye. Compiled and arranged by A. K. Crump, Incredible Eyes is a compilation of the best of these images and represents the photographic work of such renowned talents as Ilene Perlman, Eric Cozens, Dominic Rouse, Howard Koby, Jeffery Schultz, Monica Oroczco, Tabitha Soren, Anthonty Satori, Amy Heller, Miia Rule, Michelle Gibson, and dozens of others. These beautiful, high-quality photos reveal the "windows to the soul" aspects of the eye through a diversity of imagery themes ranging from photojournalistic realism to stylized portraiture. A remarkable and seminal work of considerate excellence, Incredible Eyes is especially commended to the attention of professional photographers, and a welcome addition to personal and academic Photography Studies reference library collections.


The Health/Medicine Shelf

The Culprit And The Cure
Steven G. Aldana
Maple Mountain Press
935 East 900 North, Mapleton, Utah 84664
0975882805 $24.99 1-801-422-2145 www.maplemountainpress.com

Lifestyle medicine expert Steven Aldana shows why it is the sedentary, fast food, high pressure American lifestyle that is behind our health problems and issues. The cure doesn't solely lay in medications or dietary "quick fixes". The answer to addresses our American culturally induced healthy problems in transforming our entire lifestyles in substantive ways that will extend life expectancy, prevent chronic disease, control body weight, and general improve our overall physical, emotional, and mental well being. Enhanced with references, useful links on the web, additional recommended reading materials, and a "user friendly" index, The Culprit And The Cure is especially well written for the non-specialist general reader concerned with improving their physical health and avoiding the consequences of a flawed and all-to-traditional American couch-potato, advertising driven, workaholic lifestyle.

Preconception Plain & Simple
Audrey Couto McClelland and Sharon K. Couto
Pinks & Blues Publishing
PO Box 687, Bristol, RI 02809
0975442600 $19.95 www.pinksandblues.com

Preconception Plain & Simple is a romantic and enticing guide to preparing for pregnancy. Chapters address medical issues that need to be addressed, such as a preconception examination, genetic counseling, and brief primer on one's hormones and their side effects; then they sojourn smoothly into advice for stimulating arousing and loving procreation, including discussion of fertility symbols, dance, rituals, blessings, sex itself, and moon or menstrual magic. Tips, tricks and time-tested wisdom pack this handy guide that is to be commended for directly addressing questions and issues that need to be addressed prior to conception, when most parenting books dwell primarily on pregnancy and birth.

How To Make A Baby Girl Or Baby Boy
Mark Morre, M.D. & Lisa Moore, RN
Washington Publishers
PO Box 12517, Tallahassee, Florida, 32317
0971572127 $12.95 1-850-222-2222 www.WashingtonPublishers.com

Knowledge of medical obstetrics has advanced to the point where prospective parents can improve the odds of conceiving the desired gender of baby by following natural methods, as explained in How To Make A Baby Girl Or Baby Boy, the collaborative work of Doctor Mark More and his wife, pediatric nurse Lisa More. When followed properly, the methods are estimated to give 80/20 odds of the desired gender, rather than the usual 50/50. The key to the methods lies in the differences between X-sperm and Y-sperm; X-sperm live longer but Y-sperm are faster, so methods for female conception involved sexual congress a few days before ovulation (giving the Y-sperm time to die off) and making the woman's interior more hostile to sperm, while the methods for male conception are the opposite. The techniques in How To Make A Baby Girl Or Baby Boy do not cost money, or require a doctor's supervision beyond the expenses or necessary medical supervision of any pregnancy. A disclaimer warns that the methods are not guarantees, and further, not all the techniques are recommended for couples who are having a difficult time conceiving; some may even hinder fertility to a degree. The simple instructions and line drawings leave no room for confusion is this useful guide.


James A. Cox
Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129
phone: 1-608-835-7937
e-mail: mbr@execpc.com
e-mail: mwbookrevw@aol.com
http://www.midwestbookreview.com


Copyright ©2001

Site design by Williams Writing, Editing & Design