Booklist articles from December 2004

Booklist archives from December 2004

Brown, James. I Feel Good: a Memoir of a Life of Soul.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Brown, James. I Feel Good: A Memoir of a Life of Soul. Jan. 2005. 320p. illus. NAL, $24.95 (0-451-21393-9). 782.421644. It's likely that R & B singer Brown is better known to today's audiences for his lurid run-ins with the law--he served...

Peck, M. Scott. Glimpses of the Devil: a Psychiatrist's Personal Accounts of Possession, Exorcism, and Redemption.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Peck, M. Scott. Glimpses of the Devil: A Psychiatrist's Personal Accounts of Possession, Exorcism, and Redemption. Jan. 2005. 261p. Free Press, $26 (0-7432-5467-8). 133.4. When famous-name, prepublication endorsements were solicited for...

Hambly, Barbara. The Emancipator's Wife.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Hambly, Barbara. The Emancipator's Wife. Feb. 2005. 624p. Bantam, $25 (0-553-80301-8). Hambly has painted a compelling fictional portrait of one of the most maligned and misunderstood First Ladies in American history. Born into a prominent...

Iles, Greg. Blood Memory.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Iles, Greg. Blood Memory. Feb. 2005. 512p. Scribner, $24.95 (0-7432-3470-7). In his ninth book, Iles returns to the Deep South, an old Natchez mansion to be exact, where 31-year-old Catherine Ferry, a forensic specialist, retreats after...

Morris, Mary McGarry. The Lost Mother.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Morris, Mary McGarry. The Lost Mother. Feb. 2005. 276p. Viking, $23.95 (0-670-03389-8). In her sixth novel, Morris, an Oprah author (Songs in Ordinary Time, 1995), mines the turf she knows so well, small-town New England, and travels back...

Prose, Francine. A Changed Man.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... * Prose, Francine. A Changed Man. Mar. 2005. 416p. HarperCollins, $24.95 (0-06-019674-2). The changed man in Prose's riotously funny new novel is Vincent Nolan, a neo-Nazi who walks into a human rights foundation and announces that he...

Rabb, Jonathan. Rosa.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... * Rabb, Jonathan. Rosa. Mar. 2005. 416p. Crown, $24.95 (1-4000-4921-0). Rabb (author of the critically acclaimed Overseer, 1998) writes a wonderfully evocative novel about Berlin immediately after World War I. At its center is a historical...

Rankin, Ian. Fleshmarket Alley.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... * Rankin, Ian. Fleshmarket Alley. Feb. 2005. 464p. Little, Brown, $22.95 (0-316-09565-6). Edinburgh copper John Rebus has spent his life mucking about among the city's lowlifes, so much so that he often feels more kinship with the crooks...

Wideman, John Edgar. God's Gym.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Wideman, John Edgar. God's Gym. Feb. 2005. 192p. Houghton, $23 (0-618-51525-9). Technical virtuosity, without showiness or gimmickry, is Wideman's hallmark, and obviously one of the factors contributing to his receiving the prestigious Rea...

Winegardner, Mark. The Godfather Returns.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... * Winegardner, Mark. The Godfather Returns. Dec. 2004. 456p. Random, $26.95 (1-4000-6101-6). Winegardner's sequel to The Godfather is a fitting tribute to Puzo's darkly comic, bravura storytelling, paying due respect to the mythic grandeur...

Dirda, Michael. Bound to Please: an Extraordinary One-Volume Literary Education.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Dirda, Michael. Bound to Please: An Extraordinary One-Volume Literary Education. Dec. 2004. 608p. Norton, $29.95 (0-393-05757-1). 081. Week by week, year after year, Dirda has shared his love for books and literary expertise in a column...

Bloland, Sue Erikson. In the Shadow of Fame: a Memoir by the Daughter of Erik H. Erikson.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Bloland, Sue Erikson. In the Shadow of Fame: A Memoir by the Daughter of Erik H. Erikson. Feb. 2005. 230p. Viking, $24.95 (0-670-03374-X). 150.19. As Bloland probes her feelings about her parents in this memoir, she must deal with an added...

Iacuzzo, Terry. Small Mediums at Large: the True Tale of a Family of Psychics.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Iacuzzo, Terry. Small Mediums at Large: The True Tale of a Family of Psychics. Jan. 2005. 368p. Putnam, $22.95 (0-399-15235-0). 130. Iacuzzo, a well-known psychic with a high-profile (albeit secret) client list, writes engagingly about...

Kidder, Rushworth M. Moral Courage: Ethics in Action.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Kidder, Rushworth M. Moral Courage: Ethics in Action. Jan. 2005. 320p. illus. index. Morrow, $24.95 (0-06-059154-4). 179. Former Christian Science Monitor editor and author of Good People Make Tough Choices (1994), Kidder makes an eloquent,...

Liu, Eric. Guiding Lights: the People Who Lead Us toward Our Purpose in Life.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Liu, Eric. Guiding Lights: The People Who Lead Us toward Our Purpose in Life. Jan. 2005. 288p. Random, $19.95 (0-375-50863-5). 158. This book documents the stories of 15 mentors as well as the very personal journey of a former Clinton...

The Manley Arts: 15 Minutes.(Column)
December 1, 2004... Without a doubt, Andy Warhol was the most visionary person to live and die in twentieth-century America. His ability to peer into and understand the soul of America was unequaled by anyone else. Was he a great artist? My sense is that, from a...

Guest, Tim. My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... * Guest, Tim. My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru. Feb. 2005. 320p. Harcourt, paper, $14.95 (0-15-603106-X). 299. "Sannyasins gathered together to abandon weight, to surrender themselves to levity.... The children of Bhagwan's...

Bunche, Ralph J. A Brief and Tentative Analysis of Negro Leadership.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Bunche, Ralph J. A Brief and Tentative Analysis of Negro Leadership. Feb. 2005. 256p. illus. index. New York Univ., $30 (0-8147-3664-5). 324. In a memo prepared to assist Gunnar Myrdal's study on American Negroes, Bunche offered biting...

Heath, Joseph and Potter, Andrew. Nation of Rebels: Why Counterculture Became Consumer Culture.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Heath, Joseph and Potter, Andrew. Nation of Rebels: Why Counter Culture Became Consumer Culture. Jan. 2005. 368p. index. HarperCollins, paper, $14.95 (0-06-074586-X). 306. Although a more fitting title for this book might be Why Counter...

Marcus, David L. What It Takes to Pull Me Through: Why Teeenagers Get in Trouble and How Four of Them Got Out.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Marcus, David L. What It Takes to Pull Me Through: Why Teenagers Get in Trouble and How Four of Them Got Out. Jan. 2005. 352p. Houghton, $25 (0-618-14545-1). 362.7. Marcus, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, was granted full access to...

Moore, Judith. Fat Girl.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Moore, Judith. Fat Girl. Mar. 2005. 208p. Penguin/Hudson Street, $21.95 (1-59463-009-7). 362.196. Moore's memoir focuses on the "curse" of obesity that has plagued her throughout her life. Given a father who overate and deserted her when...

Pollack, Kenneth M. The Persian Puzzle: the Conflict between Iran and America.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Pollack, Kenneth M. The Persian Puzzle: The Conflict between Iran and America. 2004. 576p. index. Random, $26.95 (1-4000-6315-9). 327.730. The U.S. is understandably fixated on nation building in Afghanistan and Iraq. Meanwhile, Iran, with...

Shaffer, Susan Morris and Gordon, Linda Perlman. Why Boys Don't Talk--and Why It Matters: a Parent's Survival Guide to Connecting with Your Teen.(Shaffer, Susan Morris and Gordon, Linda Perlman. Why Girls Talk--and What They're Really Saying: A Parent's Survival Guide to Connecting with Your Teen)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Shaffer, Susan Morris and Gordon, Linda Perlman. Why Boys Don't Talk--and Why It Matters: A Parent's Survival Guide to Connecting with Your Teen. Jan. 2005. 220p. McGraw-Hill, paper, $14.95 (0-07-141787-7). 305.235. Shaffer, Susan Morris...

Barrera, Rick. Overpromise and Overdeliver: the Secrets of Unshakable Customer Loyalty.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Barrera, Rick. Overpromise and Overdeliver: The Secrets of Unshakable Customer Loyalty. Jan. 2005. 256p. index. Portfolio, $25.95 (1-59184-061-9). 658.8. Barrera, a marketing consultant, showcases remarkable businesses that have succeeded...

Kizny, Tomasz. Gulag: Life and Death inside the Soviet Concentration Camps 1917-1990.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... * Kizny, Tomasz. Gulag: Life and Death inside the Soviet Concentration Camps 1917-1990. Dec. 2004. 496p. illus. Firefly, $69.95 (1-55297-964-4). 365. Kizny, a Polish photographer and journalist, spent 15 years researching this amazing...

Gray, Farrah and Harris, Fran. Reallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich from the Inside Out.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Gray, Farrah and Harris, Fran. Reallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich from the Inside Out. Jan. 2005. 228p. Health Communications, paper, $12.95 (0-7573-0224-6). 338.04. Nineteen-year-old Gray grew up in the projects in Chicago and...

Peabody, Bo. Lucky or Smart? Secrets to an Entrepreneurial Life.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Peabody, Bo. Lucky or Smart? Secrets to an Entrepreneurial Life. Jan. 2005. 80p. Random, $13.95 (1-4000-6290-X). 658.4. Peabody, a successful entrepreneur, offers a guide to those thinking of starting their own business. We learn that while...

MacNeil, Robert and Cran, William. Do You Speak American?(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... MacNeil, Robert and Cran, William. Do You Speak American? Dec. 2004. 304p. index. Doubleday/Nan A. Talese, $24.95 (0-385-51198-1). 427. This is a companion volume to a PBS television series of the same name as well as a sequel to The Story...

Lerner, Claire and Dombro, Amy Laura. Bringing Up Baby: Three Steps to Making Good Decisions in Your Child's First Years.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Lerner, Claire and Dombro, Amy Laura. Bringing Up Baby: Three Steps to Making Good Decisions in Your Child's First Years. Jan. 2005. 110p. illus. Zero To Three, paper, $14.95 (0-943657-78-4). 649. At last, here is a parenting book that...

Stimpson, Jeff. Alex: the Fathering of a Preemie.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Stimpson, Jeff. Alex: The Fathering of a Preemie. Dec. 2004. 288p. Academy Chicago, $23.50 (0-89733-528-7). 649. When Alex was born prematurely in 1998, he weighed only 21 ounces. He spent only four days of the first tentative year of his...

Polis, Ben. Only a Mother Could Love Him: My Life with and Triumph over ADD.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Polis, Ben. Only a Mother Could Love Him: My Life with and Triumph over ADD. Dec. 2004. 208p. Ballantine, $22.95 (0-345-47188-1). 618.92. The title conjures grandmothers whispering together, for it suggests being born in an era when such...

Beginner's Guide to Gardening: Creating a Beautiful Yard from the Ground Up.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Beginner's Guide to Gardening: Creating a Beautiful Yard from the Ground Up. Feb. 2005. 256p. illus. index. Reader's Digest, $32.95 (0-7621-0498-8). 635. The art of gardening encompasses certain fundamentals. As set forth in this...

Le Toquin, Alain. The Most Beautiful Gardens in the World.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Le Toquin, Alain. The Most Beautiful Gardens in the World. Dec. 2004. 260p. illus. index. Abrams, $60 (0-8109-5584-9). 712. Throwing down the horticultural gauntlet, photographer Le Toquin makes good on his promise of an armchair traveler's...

Collins, Michael J. Hot Lights, Cold Steel: Life, Death and Sleepless Nights in a Surgeon's First Years.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... * Collins, Michael J. Hot Lights, Cold Steel: Life, Death and Sleepless Nights in a Surgeon's First Years. Feb. 2005. 320p. St. Martin's, $24.95 (0-312-33778-7). 617.4. If he didn't feel overwhelmed before the Mayo Clinic senior orthopedic...

Brown, Jane. The Garden at Buckingham Palace: an Illustrated History.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... * Brown, Jane. The Garden at Buckingham Palace: An Illustrated History. 2004. 224p. index. Antique Collectors Club, $55 (1-902163-82-6). 635.9. This oversize, spectacularly lovely book will rind its audience among garden enthusiasts and...

Guiliano, Mireille. French Women Don't Get Fat: the Secret of Eating for Pleasure.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Guiliano, Mireille. French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure. Jan. 2005. 224p. illus. index. Knopf, $22 (1-4000-4212-7). 613.2. To the apparent great envy of all other women on the planet, French women seem eternally...

Rushin, Steve. The Caddie Was a Reindeer and Other Tales of Extreme Recreation.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Rushin, Steve. The Caddie Was a Reindeer and Other Tales of Extreme Recreation. Dec. 2004. 272p. Atlantic Monthly, $24 (0-87113-878-6). 796. Three years out of college in 1991, Rushin became Sports Illustrated's youngest senior writer. His...

Broth, Ed. Stories from a Moron: Real Stories Rejected by Real Magazines.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Broth, Ed. Stories from a Moron: Real Stories Rejected by Real Magazines. Dec. 2004. 256p. St. Martin's, $18.95 (0-312-32676-9). 818. A poor man's John Updike (albeit less prolific) wrapped in the sardonic cloak of Seinfeld creator Larry...

D'Ambrosio, Charles. Orphans.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... D'Ambrosio, Charles. Orphans. Dec. 2004. 238p. Clear Cut, paper, $12.95 (0-97232345-7). 814. As a verb, essay means to put to the test, and this element of inquiry is unusually conspicuous in D'Ambrosio's zesty and piercing essays, finely...

Davidson, Ian. Voltaire in Exile.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Davidson, Jan. Voltaire in Exile. Feb. 2005. 356p. illus. index. Grove, $24.95 (0-8021-1791-0). 848. A probing and careful biographer, Davidson recognizes that the transforming event of Voltaire's life came when he was banished from...

Wilbur, Richard. Collected Poems, 1943-2004.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... * Wilbur, Richard. Collected Poems, 1943-2004. Dec. 2004. 608p. illus. index. Harcourt, $30 (0-15-101105-2). 811. Ever wonder why many poets present their collected poems in reverse chronological order? In Wilbur's case, it is clearly a...

Berton, Pierre. Prisoners of the North.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Berton, Pierre. Prisoners of the North. Jan. 2005. 336p. illus. index. Carroll & Graf, $25 (0-7867-1507-3). 911.1. The five "prisoners" of the Arctic were Joe Boyle, Vihjalmur Stefansson, Lady Jane Franklin, John Hornby, and Robert...

The Best American Political Writing 2004.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... The Best American Political Writing, 2004. Ed. by Royce Flippin. Dec. 2004. 432p. Thunder's Mouth, paper, $16.95 (1-56858-613-3). 973.931. Even though the presidential election is over, this third title in an annual series devoted to...

The Travel Book: a Journey through Every Country in the World.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... * The Travel Book: A Journey through Every Country in the World. Ed by Roz Hopkins. 2004. 448p. Lonely Planet, $39.99 (1-74104-451-0). 910. Even the most avid readers of travel guides and travel literature will not have encountered a book...

Dick, Ron and Patterson, Dan. Aviation Century: the Golden Age.(Dick, Ron and Patterson, Dan. Aviation Century: World War II)(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Dick, Ron and Patterson, Dan. Aviation Century: The Golden Age. Dec. 2004. 288p. illus. index. Firefly, $39.95 (1-55046-409-4). 940.54. Dick, Ron and Patterson, Dan. Aviation Century: World War II. Dec. 2004.352p. illus. index. Firefly,...

Lamb, Christina. The Africa House: the True Story of an English Gentleman and His African Dream.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Lamb, Christina. The Africa House: The True Story of an English Gentleman and His African Dream. Jan. 2005. 400p. illus. HarperCollins, $25.95 (0-06-073587-2). 968.94. In what is now Zambia but what was then Northern Rhodesia, Sir Stewart...

Moore, Christopher Paul. Fighting for America: Black Soldiers--the Unsung Heroes of World War II.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Moore, Christopher Paul. Fighting for America: Black Soldiers--the Unsung Heroes of World War II. Dec. 2004. 384p. illus. index. Ballantine/One World, $27.95 (0-345-45960-1). 940.541. Moore's painstaking research and personal history (his...

Reich, Bernard. A Brief History of Israel.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Reich, Bernard. A Brief History of Israel. Dec. 2004. 368p. illus. index~ Facts On File, $45 (0-8160-5118-6); paper, $19.95 (0-8160-5793-1). 956.940 Reich's preface indicates that his purpose is to seek to encompass a complex and...

Turner, Barry. Countdown to Victory: the Final European Campaigns of World War II.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Turner, Barry. Countdown to Victory: The Final European Campaigns of World War II. 2004. 494p. index. Morrow, $27.95 (0-06-074067-1). 940.54. Contrary to popular misconceptions, some of the bitterest, bloodiest fighting on the western...

Unger, Irwin and Unger, Debi. The Guggenheims: a Family History.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Unger, Irwin and Unger, Debi. The Guggenheims: A Family History. Jan. 2005. 560p. illus. index. HarperCollins, $29.95 (0-06-018807-3). 929. Researched from the ground up, this profile of the Guggenheims depends little on its numerous...

Widmer, Ted. Martin Van Buren.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Widmer, Ted. Martin Van Buren. Jan. 2005. 192p. index. Holt/Times, $20 (0-8050-6922-4). 973.5. Clinton administration speechwriter Widmer sparks his assessment of the eighth president with the contemporary allusions, color, and humor of a...

Baker, Christopher P. Cuba Classics: a Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Baker, Christopher P. Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles. Dec. 2004. 209p. Interlink, $29.95 (1-56656-546-4). 629.2 Travel writer Baker has been to Cuba 20 times to research books, and one of the more fascinating...

Campbell, Christy. The Botanist and the Vintner: How Wine Was Saved for the World.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Campbell, Christy. The Botanist and the Vintner: How Wine Was Saved for the World. Mar. 2005. 352p. illus. index. Algonquin, $24.95 (1-56512-460-X). 634.8. Cognoscenti of the vine come in many varieties: snobs of taste, down-to-earth...

Cathcart, Brian. The Fly in the Cathedral: How a Group of Cambridge Scientists Won the International Race to Split the Atom.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... * Cathcart, Brian. The Fly in the Cathedral: How a Group of Cambridge Scientists Won the International Race to Split the Atom. Jan. 2005. 308p. illus. index. Farrar, $25 (0-374-15716-2). 539.7. A stereotypical scenario has the theorists of...

Couturier, Lisa. The Hopes of Snakes and Other Tales from the Urban Landscape.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Couturier, Lisa. The Hopes of Snakes and Other Tales from the Urban Landscape. Feb. 2005. 160p. Beacon, $23 (0-8070-8564-2). 591.75. It is hard to imagine there is Nature (with a capitol N) in the urban megalopolis exemplified by Manhattan...

Harrison, Ian. The Book of Inventions.(The Seventy Great Inventions of the Ancient World.)(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Harrison, Ian. The Book of Inventions. 2004. 288p. illus. index. National Geographic, $30 (0-7922-8296-5). 609. The Seventy Great Inventions of the Ancient World. Ed. by Brian M. Fagan. Dec, 2004.304p. illus. index. Thames & Hudson, $40...

Johnston, Andrew K. Earth from Space: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Johnston, Andrew K. Earth from Space: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Dec. 2004. 272p. illus. index. Firefly, $49.95 (1-55297-820-6). 525. Containing several hundred color images sorted among the subjects of weather, biota,...

Goldsmith, Barbara. Obsessive Genius: the Inner World of Marie Curie.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... * Goldsmith, Barbara. Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie. Dec. 2004. 320p. illus. Norton/Atlas, $23.95 (0-393-05137-4). 540. Best-selling historian Goldsmith incisively chronicles the intensely dramatic life of the first...

Lightman, Alan. A Sense of the Mysterious: Science and the Human Spirit.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Lightman, Alan. A Sense of the Mysterious: Science and the Human Spirit. Jan. 2005. 224p. Pantheon, $23 (0-375-42320-6). 501. Science infuses physicist Lightman's distinctive novels, from Einstein's Dreams (1993) to Reunion (2003), just as...

Gould, Carol Grant. The Remarkable Life of William Beebe: Explorer and Naturalist.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... * Gould, Carol Grant. The Remarkable Life of William Beebe: Explorer and Naturalist. Dec. 2004. 416p. illus. index. Island, $30 (1-55963-858-3). 508. A born naturalist with a literary bent, William Beebe (1877-1962) was also a crack shot,...

Malone, Robert. Ultimate Robot.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Malone, Robert. Ultimate Robot. 2004. 192p. illus. index. DK, $30 (0-7566-0270-X). 629.892. This volume examines the uses of robots in popular culture and is presented in DK's signature design--posing a colorful central object against a...

Moran, Bruce T. Distilling Knowledge: Alchemy, Chemistry, and the Scientific Revolution.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Moran, Bruce T. Distilling Knowledge: Alchemy, Chemistry, and the Scientific Revolution. Jan. 2005. 208p. illus. index. Harvard, $2495 (0-674-0149%2). 540. Reacting to the perception that the break, early on in the scientific revolution,...

Rigden, John S. Einstein, 1905: the Standard of Greatness.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Rigden, John S. Einstein, 1905: The Standard of Greatness. Jan. 2005. 192p. illus. index. Harvard, $21.95 (0-674-01544-4). 530.11. In 1905, Einstein, then a clerk in the patent office in Bern, Switzerland, wrote four scientific papers and a...

Kaku, Michio. Parallel Worlds: a Journey through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... * Kaku, Michio. Parallel Worlds: A Journey through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos. Dec. 2004. 320p. illus. Doubleday, $27.50 (0-385- 50986-3). 523.1. The success of physicist Brian Greene's books (e.g., The...

Hamilton, James. A Life of Discovery: Michael Faraday, Giant of the Scientific Revolution.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... * Hamilton, James. A Life of Discovery: Michael Faraday, Giant of the Scientific Revolution. Dec. 2004. 480p. illus. index. Random, $35 (1-4000-6016-8). 530. When his experiments went explosively awry, Michael Faraday repeatedly found his...

Shermer, Michael. Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Shermer, Michael. Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown. Jan. 2005. 320p. illus. index. Holt/Times, $26 (0-8050-7708-1). 501. The author of several books and a columnist for Scientific American, Shermer here gathers a dozen...

Singh, Simon. Big Bang: the Origin of the Universe.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Singh, Simon. Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe. Jan. 2005. 544p. illus. index. HarperCollins/Fourth Estate, $26.95 (0-00-716220-0). 523.1 When physicists of the 1920s calculated Einstein's equations, a few bold souls discovered they...

Top 10 Sci-Tech books.(Spotlight On Sci-Tech)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... This year's best science and technology books (reviewed in Booklist from December 1, 2003, through November 15, 2004) bring readers to places that have become virtual geological shrines and present a heady vision of an 11-dimension cosmos....

Smith, Craig B. How the Great Pyramid Was Built.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Smith, Craig B. How the Great Pyramid Was Built. Dec. 2004. 288p. illus. index. Smithsonian, $27.95 (1-58834-200-X). 932. Although how the Egyptian pyramids were constructed is unknown, there are technological and physical constraints that...

Spotila, James R. Sea Turtles: a Complete Guide to Their Biology, Behavior, and Conservation.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Spotila, James R. Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to Their Biology, Behavior, and Conservation. 2004. 224p. illus. index. Johns Hopkins, paper, $24.95 (0-8018-8007-6). 597.92. Sea turtles are among the planet's most ancient inhabitants,...

Lord, M. G. Astro Turf: the Private Life of Rocket Science.(Pendle, George. Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons.)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... * Lord, M. G. Astro Turf: The Private Life of Rocket Science. Jan. 2005. 253p. Walker, $24 (0-8027-1427-7). 629.4. * Pendle, George. Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons. Feb. 2005. 368p. illus....

Rocketing into space.(Spotlight On Sci-Tech)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Books about astronauts and space missions abound, but there would be no John Glenn, no space shuttles, no Hubble telescope, and no Mars rovers without rockets, and no lift scientists. In light of the fresh perspectives expressed by M.G. Lord...

Arkin, Frieda. Hedwig and Berti.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Arkin, Frieda. Hedwig and Berti. Jan. 2005. 272p. St. Martin's, $23.95 (0-312-33354-4). With its endearingly odd characters and lively blend of light and dark humor, Arkin's second novel (published more than three decades after her...

Bank, Zsuzsa. The Swimmer.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Bank, Zsuzsa. The Swimmer. Tr. by Margot Bettauer Dembo. Feb. 2005. 288p. Harcourt, $23 (0-15-100932-5). When their mother suddenly leaves the family, Kata and her younger brother, Isti, accompany their father, Kalman, in leaving the family...

Boyd, William. Fascination.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Boyd, William. Fascination. Jan. 2005. 288p. Knopf, $24 (1-4000-4320-4). Prizewinning author Boyd follows up his acclaimed novel Any Human Heart [BKL Ja 1 & 15 03] with a collection of 14 short stories, many of which feature artists,...

Cadwalladr, Carole. The Family Tree.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Cadwalladr, Carole. The Family Tree. Jan. 2005. 400p. Dutton, $23.95 (0-525-94842-2). First-novelist Cadwalladr introduces Rebecca Monroe, an academic and a child of 1970s Britain who is studying her own upbringing through the pop culture...

Canty, Kevin. Winslow in Love.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Canty, Kevin. Winslow in Love. Feb 2005. 272p. Doubleday/Nan A. Talese, $23,95 (0-385-51366-6) Long ago Richard Winslow decided that there was something wrong with him, something that could not be cured. Nothing physical, just an awareness...

Darrell, Elizabeth. Shadows over the Sun.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Darrell, Elizabeth. Shadows over the Sun. Jan. 2005. 352p. Severn, $28.95 (0-7278-6170-0). When SAS pilot Nick Hawkwood is assigned to pick up two agents at a secret rendezvous in the Iraq desert, he knows the mission will be dangerous. He...

Durrant, Sabine. The Great Indoors.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Durrant, Sabine. The Great Indoors. Jan. 2005. 320p. Riverhead, $23.95 (1-57322-295-X). Antique-shop owner Martha Bone finds pleasure in orderliness, but her stepfather's death threatens to disrupt her harmonious life. First, her sisters...

Holden, Craig. The Narcissist's Daughter.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Holden, Craig. The Narcissist's Daughter. Feb. 2005. 224p. Simon & Schuster, $23 (0-7432-1297-5). Pathology, in every sense of the word, is at the core of Holden's fifth novel. Not only is it the chosen profession of narrator Syd Redding,...

Reading to escape.(At Leisure)(Bibliography)(Column)
December 1, 2004... Each of us turns to a particular type of book or genre when life's demands begin to seem overwhelming, as generally happens at this time of year, as holidays loom. For me, it's historical romances, particularly those set during the Regency...

King, Dave. The Ha-Ha.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... King, Dave. The Ha-Ha. Jan. 2005. 368p. Little, Brown, $23.95 (0-316-15610-8). King's compelling, compassionate debut revolves around Howie, who suffered a head injury in Vietnam and now can neither speak nor write. When Sylvia, an old...

Laurent, Patricia. Santiago's Way.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Laurent, Patricia. Santiago's Way. Tr. by Geoff Hargreaves. Dec. 2004. 112p. Peter Owen; dist. by Dufour, $29.95 (0-7206-1190-3). Laurent's unnamed narrator's life slowly develops, like a picture in the novel's "darkroom" of ideas that...

Miller, Susan Beth. Indigo Rose.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Miller, Susan Beth. Indigo Rose. Dec. 2004. 292p. Bantam, paper, $13 (0-553-80396-4). Indigo Rosemartin is lured to America by the prospect of earning money to send home to Jamaica and provide advantages to her daughter, Louisa. So Indigo...