June 30, 2009
Our volunteer cataloguing department is on vacation. Be sure to stop in, or browse our collection on-line for summertime reading. And, please stay tuned for "What's New". We'll be back
June 16, 2009
New Books – Non-fiction
Social Intelligence: the New Science of Human Relationships – Daniel Goleman
In this companion volume to his bestseller, Emotional Intelligence, Goleman persuasively argues for a new social model of intelligence drawn from the emerging field of social neuroscience. Describing what happens to our brains when we connect with others, Goleman demonstrates how relationships have the power to mold not only human experience but also human biology. In lucid prose he describes from a neurobiological perspective sexual attraction, marriage, parenting, psychopathic behaviors and the group dynamics of teachers and workers. Goleman frames his discussion in a critique of society's creeping disconnection in the age of the iPod, constant digital connectivity and multitasking. Vividly evoking the power of social interaction to influence mood and brain chemistry, Goleman discusses the "toxicity" of insult and unpleasant social experience as he warns of the dangers of self-absorption and poor attention and reveals the positive effects of feel-good neurochemicals that are released in loving relationships and in care giving. Drawing on numerous studies, Goleman illuminates new theories about attachment, bonding, and the making and remaking of memory as he examines how our brains are wired for altruism, compassion, concern and rapport. The massive audience for Emotional Intelligence will revel in Goleman's latest passionately argued case for the benefits to society of empathetic social attunement. –Publishers Weekly
Hotel Babylon – Imogen Edwards-Jones
The anonymous author, who now manages an unnamed five-star hotel, has spent the past 15 years working in London's top lodgings. With British journalist Edwards-Jones, the author compresses these years into a 24-hour period (divided into one chapter for every hour) and places the events at a fictitious Hotel Babylon (to protect the guilty who may include the author). The result is an irreverent exposé of the often unimaginable debauchery and dishonesty of the luxury hotel industry. The insider's perspective affords honest assessments of the guests, workers and the hotel itself, revealing that "the scams are endless.... –Publishers Weekly
The Closing of the Western Mind: The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason – Charles Freeman
Freeman is a well-known scholar of ancient Greece and Rome, and in this provocatively titled work he directs his encyclopedic knowledge of the classical world at its relationship with early Christianity. Specifically, he's interested in the consequences for Greek rationalism when Constantine turns the faith into a religion of insiders, rather than outsiders; the closing of the Western mind is Rome's deliberate persecution of those whose God is the noble syllogism. His claim is not so much that Christians wouldn't listen to reason but that they weren't tolerant of reasoned dissent--in other words, that the classical tradition didn't simply waste away but was suffocated by a consolidated church and its ritual, which some would consider irrational superstition. In advancing this claim, his exploration of early Christian attitudes toward Jews, science, and sex are particularly illuminating, as is his perspective on Islam as preservers of Aristotle. Freeman is clearly a little mournful about the loss of logic until Thomas Aquinas, but the product of his frustration with the early church--this book--is simply too impressively erudite to dismiss as polemic or, indeed, to set down. Brendan Driscoll (from Booklist)
Diana in Pursuit of Love – Andrew Morton
When Andrew Morton's world-famous biography, Diana: Her True Story (ISBN: 1-85479-384-5), was first published, it caused a media frenzy, severely jolted the royal family and the Palace hierarchy, and shook the British Establishment to its foundations. Later revealed as having been written with the Princess's full cooperation, this world bestseller is now seen as the nearest thing to her official biography. Yet it was not the full story, nor could it have been, given the circumstances at the time. This is even more apparent in the light of events that have occurred since her death and which have been played out under the harsh gaze of the media, once again catapulting Diana's name back into the spotlight. Figures such as her sometime lover James Hewitt, her butler, Paul Burrell - whose aborted trial for theft of the Princess's property in 2002 was followed by publication of his own kiss-and-tell memoir, causing a sensation in the fall of 2003 - and Prince Charles's valet Michael Fawcett have emerged. In addition, intriguing comments that Diana made to Morton in taped conversations, and which have never been published, become supremely important in the light of subsequent events. Friends, advisors and colleagues, interviewed now, six years after her death, feel a far greater freedom in speaking of her than they once did. In what is bound to be seen as the most definitive study of the Princess in the most crucial period of her short life, Andrew Morton - the biographer she herself chose - provides the last word on one of the most admired, influential and best-loved figures of our era. At long last, Diana: In Pursuit Of Love makes sense of the tragic Princess's life as she changed from downtrodden wife and reluctant royal into a self-confident and independent modern woman, an icon of the twenty-first century and, indeed, a 'queen in people's hearts'.
Alpha Girls: Understanding the New American Girl and How She is Changing the World – Dan Kindlon, PhD
There’s a new type of teenage girl growing up in America today and she is going to have a profound and beneficial influence on society. That’s the conclusion of Dr. Dan Kindlon, widely respected child and adolescent psychologist. In Alpha Girls, the best-selling coauthor of Raising Cain, which is hailed for its insights into the psyche of boys, breaks new ground with his startling picture of today’s American girl—independent, self-confident, highly motivated . . . and fundamentally different from previous generations. Part of the first generation that is reaping the full benefits of the women’s movement, today’s American girl is maturing with a new sense of possibility and psychological emancipation. Backing his findings with painstaking research, including questionnaires, profiles, and detailed case studies, Dr. Kindlon offers an in-depth portrait of the alpha girl, a born leader who is ready to explode into adulthood and make her mark on the world and, by her example, serve as an inspiration for women everywhere.
The Last Undercover: The True Story of an Undercover FBI Agent’s Dangerous Dance with Evil – Bob Hamer
There have been many books concerning FBI undercover agents on perilous assignments, but this one by a veteran FBI agent goes most of them one better with his full-tilt voyages into the darkest fringes of society. After his training and recruitment into the criminal netherworld, Hamer assumed several identities—such as drug dealer and contract killer—to penetrate the closed societies of the Chinese, Russian and Iraqi mobs. However, Hammer’s controlled theatrics are most compelling as he infiltrates the security-obsessed North American Man/Boy Love Association disguised as an aging pedophile, to crack the group and their extensive international network. The sneak peek into that dank society of chicken hawks is illuminating in its depiction of child sexual abuse. With his practiced lies and disciplined behavior, Hamer is a peerless undercover agent, although his book sometimes breaks its narrative focus and wanders into several cases at once. Still, this book possesses power and conviction without being pretentious or pious. –Publishers Weekly
Earth: the Sequel – Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn
Environmental Defense Fund president Krupp and journalist Horn proffer a business-centric prescription for alleviating climate change, coupling the market force of capitalism with technological innovation and entrepreneurial inventiveness. The authors argue in favor of strict federal carbon caps, which would induce innovators to explore new ways to control carbon dioxide emissions. The book notes the global and historical successes of cap and trade mechanisms, such as the Clean Air Act of 1990. Designed specifically to control sulfur dioxide (which causes acid rain), the Clean Air Act cut emissions 30% more than the law required by providing coal plant operators with a financial incentive to modernize. New technologies that would benefit from such a logical, elegant, market-based approach include one as basic as an Arizona natural gas power plant that vents its smokestack waste into a vast greenhouse, where it nourishes algae used for manufacturing biodiesel, and one as a radical as harnessing the kinetic energy of molecules as a power source. This optimistic book brims with similar ideas, balancing jargon-heavy science with engaging profiles of individuals who are blending business and science in an attempt to save the planet. –Publishers Weekly
Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature - Linda Lear
Beatrix Potter (1866–1943), creator of the immortal Peter Rabbit, is known as an avid writer of comical illustrated letters to friends and as an assertive marketer of her illustrations, and this lively volume also captures her energetic participation in Victorian-era natural history research and conservation. Environmental historian Lear (Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature) relates that, as a child in an upper-middle-class family, Potter sketched flowers, dead animals and live lizards, insects and rodents that she brought home. "Rabbits were caught, tamed, sketched, painted" by young Beatrix and her brother, Bertram. In 1893, while traveling with her pet rabbit, Peter Piper, and seeking unusual fungi with self-taught mycologist Charles McIntosh, Potter jotted an illustrated note "about a disobedient young rabbit called 'Peter' " to an ailing child friend and sketched Peter's nemesis, a McIntosh–look-alike farmer called Mr. McGregor, creating "two fictional characters that one day would be world-famous." Lear judges Potter "a brilliant amateur" naturalist who expressed strong convictions about land preservation. Potter's witty journals, with their close observations of people, animals, objects and places, serve as the basis for Lear's engrossing account, which will appeal to ecologists, historians, child lit buffs and those who want to know the real Squirrel Nutkin, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Benjamin Bunny. –Publishers Weekly
June 9, 2009
New books – Fiction
The Chase – Clive Cussler
Cussler takes a breather from his several ongoing series with this historical thriller set in the western states, circa 1906. The U.S. government hires the renowned Van Dorn Detective Agency and its equally renowned lead agent, Isaac Bell, to capture the bank robber known as the Butcher Bandit. The Butcher has gunned down 38 men and women and two children, leaving behind neither witnesses nor clues. Bell heads the manhunt and finally figures out the Butcher's true identity, which is when the real chase begins. Unfortunately, Cussler's style is patterned on the clunky dialogue (I pray you catch the murdering scum) and improbable characters of the period's dime novels, and his in-depth research makes his descriptions sound like advertising. Once San Francisco gets hit by the 1906 earthquake and the principals climb aboard a pair of fire-breathing locomotives, the novel cranks up a head of steam and some high-speed thrills. – Publishers Weekly
The Night Gardner – George Pelecanos
In this 13th novel, George Pelecanos returns to the gritty streets of Washington, D.C.—a far cry from Georgetown and Capitol Hill—at the top of his game. Critics agree that Night Gardener transcends the crime-novel genre. While it contains whodunit elements, it's much more about crime, criminal motivation, and the souls of everyone involved. Authentic descriptions of Washington's urban landscape, the compelling characters, and the story line's immediacy make Night Gardener one of the author's best to date. A few critics noted a meandering plot and stylistic quirks (the victims' names are all palindromes), but most agreed that Night Gardener "is heart-in-your-throat gripping from beginning to end". New York Times
Holmes on the Range – Steve Hockensmith
Sherlockians, western fans and mystery lovers who enjoy their whodunits leavened with humor should all be delighted by Hockensmith's captivating debut, which features Montana cowboys and brothers Gustav and Otto Amlingmeyer (better known as Old Red and Big Red, respectively). One night in 1892, Old Red becomes smitten with Sherlock Holmes on hearing his brother read "The Red-Headed League" around the campfire during a cattle drive. Determined to follow in his hero's footsteps, Old Red gets the chance to apply the master's methods after some unsavory characters hire the pair to work at a ranch, whose general manager is soon found dead after a stampede. Another man turns up dead, apparently a suicide, just before the British aristocrats who own the ranch arrive to inspect their property. The melding of genres will remind some of the late Bill DeAndrea's western Nero Wolfe pastiches, while the skillful plotting and characterization augur well for the sequel. Hockensmith writes a monthly column for Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. – Publishers Weekly
To the Nines – Janet Evanovich
Stephanie Plum is a Jersey Girl, a bounty hunter, and a resident of a part of Trenton where you can still go to Mom's for dinner and your cop boyfriend Morelli's grandmother has visions that include you in a coffin. Stephanie is on the trail of an Indian contract worker named Singh who disappeared when his visa was up. When she interviews a McDonald's employee who knew him, he's shot as she stands there. Then rose-and-carnation bouquets with very sinister notes start appearing in Stephanie's apartment and in her e-mail, and a few more bodies turn up with bullet holes. Meanwhile, Stephanie's sister, Valerie, is about to give birth; her sidekick, Lula, goes on the loudest diet ever written; and a trip to Vegas--yes, it's business--involves both Elvis and Tom Jones impersonators. Evanovich, and Stephanie, are at the top of their form here: laugh-out loud moments jostle with sticky, visceral terror; Stephanie's mentor, Ranger, and Morelli don't so much vie for her favors as bestow them in turn. Ever smarter, funnier, sexier, scarier. - Grace Anne DeCandido (Booklist)
Sepulcher – Kate Mosse
Kate Mosse has capitalized on the success of Labyrinth with a new novel boasting similar elements: strong female heroines, dual narratives connected across a vast span of years, the villages of southwestern France and even a search for historic artifacts. But this time it's a quest for family secrets -- not a treasure hunt -- that binds the twinned tales. –Washington Post
Hot Mahogany – Stuart Woods
Stone Barrington is hired to protect a former intelligence agent with a penchant for antique furniture—and a bad case of amnesia. And what he’s forgotten some will kill for…
Extreme Measures – Vince Flynn
Vince Flynn's thrillers, featuring counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp, have dominated the imagination of readers everywhere. In them, Flynn has captured the secretive world of the fearless men and women, who, bound by duty, risk their lives in a covert war they must hide from even their own political leaders. Now, Rapp and his protégé, Mike Nash, may have met their match. The CIA has detected and intercepted two terrorist cells, but a third is feared to be on the loose. Led by a dangerous mastermind obsessed with becoming the leader of al-Qaeda, this determined and terrifying group is about to descend on America.
Rules of Deception – Christopher Reich
In true Hitchcockian tradition, Reich plunges his unsuspecting protagonist, Dr. Jonathan Ransom, into a dangerous world of international intrigue and death. After his wife dies in a skiing accident in the Swiss Alps, Ransom learns she had been leading a double life as a spy. What starts out as a search for answers about his late wife's past quickly escalates into a frantic life and death chase across northern Europe. Paul Michael proves quite adept at narrating this complicated story. Using just the right emphasis on key words, he keeps the listener involved. With solid conviction in his voice, Michael grounds Reich's over-the-top prose. Although his no-frills interpretation of Ransom is a little bland, Michael essays a rogues' gallery of distinctly voiced and accented supporting characters. Reich keeps the action coming, and Michael stays with him chase for chase. – Publishers Weekly
The 8th Confession – James Patterson
As San Francisco's most glamorous millionaires mingle at the party of the year, someone is watching--waiting for a chance to take vengeance on Isa and Ethan Bailey, the city's most celebrated couple. Finally, the killer pinpoints the ideal moment, and it's the perfect murder. Not a trace of evidence is left behind in their glamorous home. As Detective Lindsay Boxer investigates the high-profile murder, someone else is found brutally executed--a preacher with a message of hope for the homeless. His death nearly falls through the cracks, but when reporter Cindy Thomas hears about it, she knows the story could be huge. Probing deeper into the victim's history, she discovers he may not have been quite as saintly as everyone thought.
Gone Tomorrow – Lee Child
In a novel that slams through one hairpin surprise after another, Lee Child unleashes a thriller that spans three decades and gnaws at the heart of America . . . and for Jack Reacher, a man who trusts no one and likes it that way, it’s a mystery with only one answer–the kind that comes when you finally get face-to-face and look your worst enemy in the eye.
Choices – Paul Wolfe
This novel has been described as serio-camp, as a comedy of manners, as Jane Austen with explicit sex, even as Anais Nin meets Henry James and Ronald Firbank for tea. Set in 1969, a reasonably carefree time, and though it is concerned more with the characters who create or frequent the festival than with the festival itself, it does capture the nuttiness and the underlying tribulations of all multifaceted artistic organizations.
About the Author: PAUL WOLFE first came to the public's attention as a harpsichordist, and as a harpsichordist wants his tombstone to read: 'He was a pupil of Wanda Landowska.' After studying with her from 1955 until her death in 1959, he had an active solo career, winning acclaim in America and Europe through his recordings and concerts. Wolfe was born in Texas, lived many years in New York and Rome, and now lives in Santa Fe. This is his first published novel.