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Volume 4 |
August 2008 |
Issue 1 |
New Books | Coming Soon | Obituaries | Awards | Other News
Book 'em
looks at selected books that are on, or have recently been on, the
New Book display, as well as other news in the world of books.
A complete list of books (and other materials) cataloged in the past
month may be found at
http://hiraml.hiram.edu/ftlist. Book 'em is
published monthly from August through May and is distributed to
"subscribers" by email notification. If you would like to
become a subscriber or just make a comment, email the editor, David
Everett at everettdd@hiram.edu.
Welcome (back) everybody! This month's issue is pretty
long since we are looking at three months worth of new books - where
did the summer go? Anyway, since this covers three months of
new books, please be aware that many, if not most, of these titles
have moved from the new book shelf to their regular locations.
Just follow the link from the call number to the catalog record to
get the status/location of the books. And don't forget - this
newsletter is always selective so there are lots of other new books
that have been added! So, let's get started.
Fiction
Pilloried for his fictionalization in the memoir A Million Little
Pieces, James Frey clearly labels as fiction (it has a warning
that "Nothing in this book should be considered accurate or
reliable) Bright Shiny Morning
(New York: HarperCollins, 2008 -
call number F
F8976b), a chronicle of current Los Angeles.
Historian Martin Duberman tells the story and background of the 1886
Haymarket Square riot with the novel
Haymarket (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2003 -
call number F
D8518h), which focuses on the lives of Lucy and Albert Parsons.
In A Flaw in the Blood (New
York: Bantam, 2008 -
call number F
B2785f), Stephanie Barron weaves a tale of mystery and suspense
around Queen Victoria and her court.
Jim Shepard's Like You'd Understand Anyway:
Stories (New York: Knopf, 2007 -
call number F
Sh473L) is a collection of stories that was a National Book
Award finalist.
Non-Fiction
There are several new, interesting memoirs this
time. In The Latehomecomer: A Hmong
Family Memoir (Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 2008 -
call number
959.7043092 Yan), Kao Kalia Yang describes her family's escape
from Laos to a refugee camp in Thailand (where she was born) to
emigration to the United States. She focuses the memoir on her
grandmother and, thus, the wisdom and traditions of the Hmong.
Aaron Alterra chronicles his change from husband to caregiver as his
wife's Alzheimer's progresses in The
Caregiver: A Life with Alzheimer's (Ithaca, NY: Cornell
University Press, 1999, 2007 -
call number
616.831 Alt).
As usual, there are a lot of biographies.
Amerigo: The Man Who Gave His Name to
America (New York: Random House, 2007 -
call number
970.016 Ves-F), by Felipe Fernande-Armesto, is the story of the
mostly obscure Florentine explorer who gave his name to the New
World. In Polk: The Man Who
Transformed the Presidency and America (New York: Random
House, 2008 - call
number 973.61 Pol-B), Walter R. Borneman, based on that
subtitle, claims a lot for a one-term president (although that was
the pledge Polk made when he ran), although Polk did greatly expand
U.S. territory by bringing Texas into the Union, adding the Pacific
Northwest and California, and much of the southwest through war with
Mexico. Closer to home is Frank P. Vazzano's
Politician Extraordinaire: The Tempestuous
Life and Times of Martin L. Davey (Kent, OH: Kent State
University Press, 2008 -
call number
328.73092 Dav-V), a biography of the political life of the
maverick Democrat, son of the founder of Dave Tree, who was elected
mayor of Kent, then to the U.S. House of Representatives, and then
to two terms as governor of Ohio.
Staying with the Ohio theme, is
Base Ball on the Western Reserve: The Early
Game in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, Year by Year and Town by Town,
1865-1900 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2008 -
call number
796.3570977 Ega), in which James M. Egan, Jr. gives an almost
game by game account, done in short sketches (much like the brief
recaps in today's newspapers), along with box scores, or what passed
for a box score at the time.
United States history is also well represented
this time. In Why Have You Come
Here?: The Jesuits and the First Evangelization of Native America
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2006 -
call number 266.27
Cus), Nicholas P. Cushner looks at the proselytization efforts
of the Jesuits in both North and South America and the response of
Native Americans. The Native American theme continues in
Patrick J. Jung's The Black Hawk War of
1832 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007 -
call number 973.56
Jun), which looks at an early "bump" in westward expansion as
part of the Sauk and Fox tribes fought back under the leadership of
Black Hawk. That war fits within the time frame of Orville
Vernon Burton's The Age of Lincoln
(New York: Hill and Wang, 2007 -
call number 973.5
Bur 2007), a history of the United States between 1830 and 1900
in which Lincoln and his views were an influence, if the not the
major influence.
Shifting gears, are two books that deal with
children's and young adult literature. Part of the
Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature series,
The Heart Has its Reasons: Young Adult
Literature with a Gay/Lesbian/Queer Content, 1969-2004
(Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2006 -
call number
813.0099283 Car), by Michael Cart and Christine A. Jenkins,
gives a decade-by-decade history of young adult literature with gay
and lesbian themes. Rose Casement looks at themes and periods
in black history and identifies books, primarily by African American
authors, that protray them in Black History
in the Pages of Children's Literature (Lanham, MD:
Scarecrow, 2008 -
call number 810.9352996 Cas).
The environment and policy come together in
Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water
(Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2008 -
call number
333.9113097 Bar), in which Cynthia Bennett issues a wake-up call
to the coming freshwater shortage in Florida and attempts to place
the crisis in historical and national context.
Everyone is probably aware that television
goes all digital in February 2009. If you want to know more
about the history of television broadcasting, check out
The Columbia History of American Television
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2007 -
call number
791.450973 Edg), in which Gary R. Edgerton (communications, Old
Dominion) provides an in-depth study of American TV broadcasting
from its "pre-history" (before 1947) to the present.
Cultural history is the broad topic for
Frankenstein: A Cultural History
(New York: W. W. Norton, 2007 -
call number 821.77
Hit) as Susan Tyler Hitchcock chronicles the two century history
of the Frankenstein story.
Housing policy is addressed in
Chasing the American Dream: New
Perspectives on Affordable Homeownership (Ithaca, NY:
Cornell University Press, 2007 -
call number
333.3380973 Cha), a collection of essays, edited by William M.
Rohe and Harry L. Watson, that look at the historical, social,
political, and economic ways to create more affordable housing in
the United States.
Juvenile
There is not a lot new here since most of what came
through this summer was series related. We added the entire
set of
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, the
entire set of
The Spiderwick Chronicles, began the new series
Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles, and added pieces of
other series such as The
Magic Tree House series.
One of the recent trends in juvenile literature has been
the re-telling of folk stories or fairy tales, but placing them in a
different setting. In The Princess
and the Pea (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2007 -
call number JF
I817p), Rachel Isadora takes the Hans Christian Andersen fairy
tale and places it in Africa.
Amanda Lumry and Laura Hurwitz continue their Adventures of Riley
series as Riley and his uncle, aunt, and cousin visit the South Pole
to determine if global warming is changing the penguin's diet in
South Pole Penguins (Bellvue,
WA: Eaglemont Press, 2007 -
call number JF
L9713s).
In Jamie Gilson's Chess! I Love It I Love
It I Love It! (New York: Clarion Books, 2008 -
call number JF
G428c) the members of the Sumac School Chess Club compete in
their first chess tournament and learn about themselves, teamwork,
and concentration.
The following titles are about to be published,
on-order, or are in process. Keep an eye out for them on the
New Book Shelf in the library.
Separate from the World is the sixth Ohio Amish mystery from
College of Wooster chemistry professor P. L. Gaus.
Frances Wood's China's First Emperor and His Terracotta Warriors
is just in time for those whose interest in China has been piqued by
the Olympics.
The subtitle pretty much says it all for The Sun Farmer: The
Story of a Shocking Accident, a Medical Miracle, and a Family's
Life-and-Death Decisions by Michael McCarthy.
The Spirit of the Place is the latest novel from Samuel Shem,
the author of House of God. The new novel is part of
the Literature and Medicine series published by Kent State
University Press and edited by Martin Kohn and Carol Donley.
Molly O'Neill has edited American Food Writing: An Anthology with
Classic Recipes.
Holy Hills of the Ozarks: Religion and Tourism in Branson,
Missouri by Aaron K. Ketchell.
George Garrett on May 26 at age 78. Garrett, who
received much critical acclaim, but little fame, was probably best
known for a trilogy of novels set in Elizabethan England:
Death of the Fox,
The Succession,
and Entered from the Sun.
Matthew J. Bruccoli on June 4 at age 76.
Bruccoli was known for his scholarly works on F. Scott
Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway and is probably best known for his
biography of Fitzgerald - Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of
F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Eliot Asinof on June 10 at age 88. Eliot, a novelist
who also wrote for television and the movies and was blacklisted in
the 1950s, is best known for his recreation of the 1919 Black Sox
scandal Eight Men Out, which was published in 1963 and made
into a movie in 1988.
Chingiz Aitmatov on June 10 at age 79.
Aitmatov, who wrote novels and plays during the rule of the
Soviet Union, used his work to give voice to the people of Kyrgyz.
Tim Russert on June 13 at age 58. Russert, best known
as a television journalist and political pundit, also wrote two
bestsellers,
Big Russ and Me and Wisdom of Our Fathers.
Henry Chadwick on June 17 at age 87.
Chadwick, an Anglican priest and scholar, was best known for his
works that explored early Christianity.
Jozef Szajna on June 24 at age 86. Szajna, a Polish
playwright, was known for plays with little dialogue that focused on
the oppressiveness of dictatorship that gained acclaim even in
Communist Poland.
Thomas Disch on July 4 at age 68.
Disch, a science fiction writer, is likely best known for his
The Brave Little Toaster: A Bedtime Story for Small Appliances.
David H. Green on July 7 at age 94.
Greene, a scholar of Irish literature, is probably best-known
for his authorized
biography of playwright J. M. Synge (co-authored with Edward M.
Stephens).
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn on August 3 at age 89.
Solzhenitsyn, whose work reflected the harsh life of totalitarian
rule, is best known for such novels as
The First Circle,
The Cancer Ward,
One Day in the
Life of Ivan Denisovich, as well as the historical work
The Gulag Archipelago.
Simon Gray on August 6 at age 71. Gray, a British
playwright, is probably best known for his plays Butley,
Otherwise Engaged,
and
Quartermaine's Terms.
Mahmoud Darwish on August 9 at age 67. Darwish, a
Palestinian, was considered one of the greatest contemporary Arab
poets.
Allan R. Millett received the 2008 Pritzker Military Library
Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing.
The 2008 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing went to
Jür Schubiger of Switzerland, while the 2008 Hans Christian
Andersen Award for Illustration went to
Roberto Innocenti
of Italy.
The 36th Annual Irma S. and James H. Black Award for Excellence
in Children's Literature, which recognizes an innovative and
exceptional picture book, went to The Wicked Big Toddlah,
written and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. Named as honor books
were Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale
(written by Carmen Agra Deedy and illustrated by Michael Austin),
The Chicken
Chasing Queen of Lamar County (written by Janice N.
Harrington and illustrated by Shelley Jackson), Some Dog
(written by Mary Casanova with illustrations by Ard Hoyd), and
Nic Bishop Spiders
(written and illustrated by Nic Bishop).
The Newton Marasco Foundation has announced the winners of the
Green Earth Book Award for 2008:
Children's Fiction Category - Winston of Churchill:
One Bear's Battle Against Global Warming
Young Adult Fiction Category - The
Light-Bearer's Daughter
Nonfiction Category - The Down to Earth Guide to
Global Warming
The 2008 W. Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military
Fiction went to Robert N. Macomber's novel A Different Kind
of Honor.
The 2008 Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award, presented by the
Intellectual Freedom Round Table of the American Library
Association, was given to Christopher M. Finan for his book
From the Palmer
Raids to the Patriot Act: A History of the Fight for Free Speech in
America.
Kay Ryan
was named the 16th poet laureate of the United States.