Need Research Help?
Chat With A Librarian!
|
Volume 4 |
September 2008 |
Issue 2 |
New Books | Coming Soon | Obituaries | Awards
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.
It may look a little slow this month, but we are starting see
the first titles ordered in this new fiscal year. There are a
lot more coming so stay tuned!
Fiction
There isn't a lot of new fiction this month. The library has,
however, been adding graphic novels to the collection. You
find them by doing a keyword search on the phrase
graphic novels in the catalog. You will retrieve all
titles in this format (plus titles about the format), even those
that are not novels.
The Spirit of the Place (Kent,
OH: Kent State University Press, 2008 –
call number F Sh449s) is the
new novel from Samuel Shem, the author of
The House of God. This one is part of
the
Literature and Medicine series that is edited by our own Carol
Donley and Martin Kohn.
Fire in the Blood (New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007 – call number F N344c)
is by Ukrainian-born Irene Nemirovsky, an author who gained success
in the early 20th century for a number of novels
before being killed at Auschwitz. This is the second of two novels
(Suite Francaise was the other) that have been recently discovered
and published posthumously.
Non-Fiction
Two titles this month deal with water and its
availability. In Keepers of the Spring:
Reclaiming Our Water in an Age of Globalization
(Washington, DC: Island Press, 2004 –
call number 333.91
Pea), Fred Pearce, environmental consultant for New Scientist,
argues that it is the mega-engineering projects designed to allow
better use of water that are, in fact, bringing us to the brink of a
water crisis. Journalist Chris Woods looks at global warming and
the disappearance of lakes, aquifers, and rivers as we consume ever
more water in Dry Spring: The Coming Water
Crisis of North America (Vancouver: Raincoast Books, 2008
– call number
333.91 Woo).
Physics is represented this month with Michio Kaku’s Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel (New York: Doubleday, 2008 – call number 530 Kak), in which the theoretical physicist at CCNY uses science fiction to examine the fundamentals and limits of physics as we currently know them.
Two books deal with animals. Douglas W. Smith and Gary Ferguson look at the Yellowstone Wolf Project that released 31 Canadian gray wolves into Yellowstone National Park in Decade of the Wolf: Returning the Wild to Yellowstone (New York: Lyons, 2006 – call number 599.7730978 Smi). Half a world away, Christopher Dickman and Rosemary Woodford Ganf give a detailed look at Australian marsupials and their environment in A Fragile Balance: The Extraordinary Story of Australian Marsupials (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007 – call number Q 599.20994 Dic), which also includes beautiful color illustrations.
Anti-poverty policies is the subject of Charles Karelis’s The Persistence of Poverty: Why the Economics of the Well-Off Can’t Help the Poor (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007 – call number 339.46 Kar), in which the George Washington University philosopher looks at the fallacies behind the assumptions that current guide anti-poverty polices and explains why they are destined to fail.
Policy and health care is the theme of two books, supposedly for nurses, but which might be useful for a more general audience. Safety in Numbers: Nurse-to-Patient Ratios and the Future of Health Care (Ithaca, NY: ILR Press/Cornell University Press, 2008 – call number 362.1730683 Gor), by Suzanne Gordon, John Buchanan, and Tanya Bretherton, looks at the issue of nurse-to-patient ratios and whether they are essential for quality health care of simply an addition to the cost. Health Policy and Politics: A Nurse’s Guide (3rd ed.) (Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett, 2008 – call number 362.1730973 Hea) , edited by Jerri A. Milstead, looks at the relationship between politics and health care policy, especially as it applies to nurses, even in their day-to-day work.
Four books fall under the general theme of looking at illness and injury. In I’ve Heard the Vultures Singing: Field Notes on Poetry, Illness, and Nature (San Antonio, TX: Trinity University Press, 2007 – call number 811.54 Per), award-winning poet Lucia Perillo confronts her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Emily R. Transue’s Patient by Patient: Lessons in Love, Loss, Hope, and Healing from a Doctor’s Practice (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2008 – call number 610.696092 Tra) is the memoir of a new doctor, just out of residency, learning the difference between being an MD and a doctor. Journalist Richard M. Cohen tells the stories of five people caught in the world of serious chronic illness in Strong at the Broken Places: Voices of Illness, a Chorus of Hope (New York: Harper, 2008 – call number 616.044 Coh). In The Sun Farmer: The Story of a Shocking Accident, a Medical Miracle, and a Family’s Life-and-Death Decision (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2007 – call number 362.19711 Mcc), journalist Michael McCarthy tells the story of Ted Fink, severely burned with third-degree burns over 93% of his body, and the questions and choices faced by his wife and two sons.
Poetry takes the stage in Southern Appalachian Poetry: An Anthology of Works by 37 Poets (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2008 – call number 811.0080327 Sou), a collection of 225 poems edited by Marita Garlin and featuring contemporary poets.
In a timely book for a year in which one woman made a serious run for a Presidential nomination and another was nominated for vice president, Davidson College history professor Sally G. McMillen looks at fifty years of the women’s rights movement and four key figures – Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Susan B. Anthony – in Seneca Falls and the Origins of the Women’s Rights Movement (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008 – call number 305.420973 Mcm).
September 27–October 4, 2008 is Banned Books Week, making Thomas R. Murray’s book What Schools Ban and Why (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2008 – call number 371.51 Tho) particularly timely. Murray looks at books, but also cell phones, clothing, and other items banned by schools.
Finally, Aaron K. Ketchell looks at the blend of religion and recreation in the popular tourist destination of Branson, Missouri in Holy Hills of the Ozarks: Religion and Tourism in Branson, Missouri (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007 – call number 277.78797 Ket).
Juvenile
Most of the what is new to us this month isn’t really
all that new. But, the featured titles do reflect a growing
non-fiction collection, particularly in the area of science.
Leading off are two titles that deal with turtles. Brenda Z. Guiberson’s Into the Sea (New York: Scholastic, 1996 – call number J 597.92 Gui) tells the life story of the sea turtle, while The Journey of a Turtle (New York: Franklin Watts, 2000 – call number J 597.92 Fra), by Carolyn Scarce, looks at the migration journey of the green turtle.
In Gorillas (New York: Scholastic, 2001 – call number J 599.884 Sim), Seymour Simon looks at the characteristics and behaviors of a number of gorilla species.
Anne Ake’s Everglades: An Ecosystem Facing Choices and Challenges (Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 2008 – call number J 577.6809759 Ake) looks at the Everglades and the effort to restore them, primarily through the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan or CERP.
The one story book this month is Melissa Sweet’s Tupelo Rides the Rails (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008 – call number JF Sw364t), the story of an abandoned dog who joins with others to hop a freight train in search of a new home and passing the time with stories of dog heroes.
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.
Simon Winchester's The Man Who Loved China is the story of
Joseph Needham and his love of China.
My Sister, My Love is the latest novel from Joyce Carol
Oates.
Paul Pasles focuses on Benjamin Franklin's mathematical genius and
his fascination with magic squares in Benjamin Franklin's
Numbers: An Unsung Mathematical Odyssey.
Josh Ozersky's The Hamburger: A History is just what the
title suggests. But, are the
Menches Brothers
in it?
For those who like something with their hamburger, there is
Crunch!: A History of the Great American Potato Chip by Dirk
Burhans.
Finally, for those interested in more local history there is Craig
R. Semsel's Built to Move Millions: Street Car Building in Ohio.
Jeanette Eyerly on August 18 at age 100. Eyerly was
among the first (in the 1960s and 1970s) to write for young adults,
particularly girls, with themes such as unwanted pregnancy, drug
use, abortion, and other serious topics. Among her books were
More Than a Summer Love, Drop-out, The Girl Inside,
Bonnie Jo, Go Home, Someone to Love Me, and Angel
Baker, Thief.
Laurence Urdang on August 21 at age 81. A
lexicographer, Urdang is best known for the more than 100
dictionaries and other reference works he edited, most notably the
first edition of the
Random House
Dictionary of the English Language, for which he was
managing editor.
Ahmed Faraz on August 25 at age 77. Faraz, a Pakistani
poet, was considered a leader in modern Urdu poetry.
Edgardo Vega Yunque on August 26 at age 72. Yunque, who
wrote novels based on the Puerto Rican experience in New York, is
probably best known for the novel No Matter how Much You Promise
to cook or Pay the Rent You Blew it Cauza Bill Bailey Ain't Never
Coming Home Again (which also has to be one of the best book
titles ever).
Gregory Mcdonald on September 7 at age 71. Mcdonald was
best known for his humor and breezy novels featuring sleuth I. M.
Fletcher, known as Fletch. There were nine Fletch
novels in all,
two of which won Edgars, and Fletch, played by Chevy Chase appeared
in two movies,
Fletch and Fletch Lives.
Rob Levandoski on September 8 at age 59. A Medina
resident, Levandoski, who wrote under the pen name C. R. Corwin, is
probably best known for the novel Fresh Eggs, which was nominated
for the Pulitzer.
David Foster Wallace on September 12 at age 46. A novelist,
essayist, short story writer, and a writing professor at Pomona
College, Wallace is probably best known for his novel Infinite
Jest.
On August 22, Louis Sachar won the Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young
Readers' Literature sponsored by the Tulsa Library Trust.
Sachar is probably best known for his young adult novel
Holes.
The James Tait Black memorial prize, one of Britain's oldest
book awards, having been established in 1919, was awarded to
Rosalind Belben for Our Horses in Egypt (Fiction category)
and to Rosemary Hill for God's Architect: Pugin and the Building
of Romantic Britain (Biography category).