Library Journal articles from April 2008

Library Journal archives from April 2008

Xpress reviews first look at new books.(ON THE WEB: www.libraryjournal.com)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... "VERDICT: This self-described 'humor memoir' provides a mostly enjoyable glimpse into the sometimes maddening world of public librarianship. Footnotes, asides, and other McSweeney's-esque touches can be grating; acknowledgement that 'many...

Student affairs library student blog.(ON THE WEB: www.libraryjournal.com)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "The library was huge for New York City, and the children's room had just been renovated. I could hear birds singing outside, and the grounds even had a couple of trees. The new furniture and bright colors were...

Roy Tennant's digital libraries.(ON THE WEB: www.libraryjournal.com)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] After ten years in the pages of LJ, Digital Libraries columnist Roy Tennant is now exclusively on the web. He's still bringing you the digital potential and pitfalls that prompted his first column in the November...

Format free: new technology means content any way, anywhere, any time.(Editorial)
April 15, 2008... WE SHOULD HAVE CALLED the April 15 LJ simply "format free," because in one way or another that's the theme of so much in this issue, as well as of the netConnect supplement--"Content Your Way"--mailed along with it. The phrase format free...

More than "information": our professional vision is trapped in the 1992 Standards.(blatant berry)
April 15, 2008... INFORMATION IS ONLY ONE OF THE MANY THINGS found in a library. While many people view and use the public library as an information agency, its original mandate, many more now come to it to learn, to interact, to explore, and, of course, to be...

Tagging new directions at Berkeley.(front desk)(University of California-Berkeley )(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... The library at the University of California-Berkeley has embarked on a "New Directions" initiative and is tracking it on a blog. And that blog has produced a useful "tag cloud," ad LJ Digital Libraries blogger Roy Tennant observes. For more,...

Heard.(front desk)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... "My personal experience helping students and parents, and being the mom of my own students at home, is that teachers up through high school do not consider the electronic format an acceptable substitute for print. I'm very computer-literate...

Kensington acquires Street Lit publisher.(front desk)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... "Holloway House has not allowed any publishing house to mess with it for over 40 years. An amazing developments." --LJ's The Word on Street Lit columnist Vanessa Morris, on the In the Bookroom blog, March 18, 2008; see...

The ever-innovative Darien Library, CT, run by Louise Berry.(front desk)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The ever-innovative Darien Library, CT, run by Louise Berry (spouse of LJ Editor-at-Large John Berry), has been posting on YouTube speeded-up webcam videos of construction progress on its new library, as well as a...

Chicago reads Chandler.(front desk)(Chicago Public Library chooses Raymond Chandler's work)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... For the first time, Chicago Public Library (CPL) has opted for a work of crime fiction for its "One Book, One Chicago" program. Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye is the 14th choice. "It's a departure from the other books we've selected,"...

Indiana tax cuts hurt PLs: fewer hours, less service, as libraries respond to lowered revenues.(lj news)(public library )
April 15, 2008... Indiana has joined Florida (see News, LJ 3/1/08, p. 16) in approving lower property taxes, which hurts public library budgets. The Indiana General Assembly March 14 overwhelmingly passed state property tax reform legislation that lowers the...

Memphis mayor: close 5 libraries consultants recommend closings, but only as part of revamp.(lj news)(Tennessee, Willie Herenton)
April 15, 2008... Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton wants to close five of 19 branches of the Memphis Public Library and Information Center, telling the City Council that the move--along with closings of four community centers--would save $1.5 million to $2...

ACRL Excellence Awards announced.(lj news)(Association of College and Research Libraries, Carleton College, Pasadena City College)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) has announced the recipients of the 2008 Excellence in Academic Libraries Award. McMaster University Libraries (Hamilton, Ontario) took the honor in the university category, selected...

Was staffer fired for calling cops? Child porn report at issue; Tulare County PL to revamp guidance.(lj news)(public library, Brenda Biesterfeld)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... A newly hired library assistant still on six-month probation who went around official channels to report a man viewing child pornography to the police has been fired; local residents and officials have jumped to her defense. Brenda...

Brooklyn drops outpost plan: smaller, techie service points become victim of city cuts.(lj news)(Brooklyn Public Library )(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL), up against city budget constraints, has dropped a promising plan for storefront libraries. All three libraries in New York City, including the Queens Library and the New York Public Library (NYPL), face 5...

First tax-supported library hits 175.(lj news)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... Founded in 1833, the Peterborough Town Library, NH, is not the oldest publicly accessible library, but it is, the town states, the first supported by public taxation, establishing the important civic principle that libraries should depend on...

Two libraries get gifts of $2m.(lj news)(Allerton Public Library and West Hartford Public Library)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... Former patron, former staffer leave surprising bequests in IL, CT Some 20 years ago, Lisa Winters, a librarian at the Allerton Public Library, Monticello, IL, helped former resident Max Hency research family history. That interaction may...

Hidden collections to be cataloged.(lj news)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded the Council on Library and Information Resources $4.27 million for "a national competition" to identify and catalog hidden special collections and archives. The awards will go to institutions...

WY establishes endowment for PLs.(lj news)(Wyoming )(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... The Wyoming State Legislature passed the Public Library Endowment Challenge Program, which provides an endowment of $9.1 million to the foundations of the state's 23 county-based public library systems. Funds earned as interest from the...

MIT, SAE end standoff over DRM.(lj news)(Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Society for Automotive Engineers Digital Library on Digital Rights Management)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... One year after the Massachustts Institute of Technology (MIT) libraries, with the support of the university's faculty, dropped the Society for Automotive Engineers (SAE) Digital Library over the publisher's plan to employ restrictive Digital...

Detroit first PL to earn I&R honor.(lj news)(Detroit Public Library accredited for information and referral program)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... The Detroit Public Library (DPL) says it is the nation's first public library to earn accreditation from the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (AIRS. org) for its community information and referral (I&R) program. To earn...

Small libraries start using Netflix.(lj news)(video rentals)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... Though Netflix, the popular service that delivers DVD rentals to millions of customers, is limited to personal and noncommercial use, a few small libraries have tried it as an interlibrary loan substitute. At Sanbornton Public Library, NH,...

OpenCourseWare's Elsevier agreement.(lj news)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... MIT's OpenCourseWare (OCW) has reached a landmark agreement with publisher Elsevier that will allow MIT faculty to include Elsevier content within MIT's open access OCW database to be freely downloaded, used, and shared under a Creative...

NJ's Knowledge Initiative closes.(lj news)(New Jersey)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... New Jersey's Knowledge Initiative (NJKI), featured in a profile of Library Journal's 2008 Librarian of the Year, NJ State Librarian Norma Blake (see News, LJ 1/08, p. 36-38), ended service on February 28. NJKI funded access to 12 databases...

Penn State gets Hemingway archive.(lj news)(Penn State University Libraries' Ernest Hemingway collectibles)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... Penn State University Libraries announced last month that it has acquired a large archive of correspondence between Nobel laureate Ernest Hemingway and his family. The archive of letters, telegrams, and notes spanning the years 1917 to 1957,...

Author rights fight: physicists vs. APS.(lj news)(American Physical Society)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... In March, just a week after the trade group STM (the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers) released a statement calling author rights addenda "needless bureaucracy," a group of 38 scientists were at odds...

Calendar.(lj news)(libraries)(Calendar)
April 15, 2008... APRIL 29-May 1--New Jersey Library Assn., Long Branch www.njla.org 29-May 2--Utah Library Assn./ Mountain Plains Library Assn., Salt Lake City www.ula.org MAY 6-9--Massachusetts Library Assn., Falmouth www.masslib.org ...

Columbus Metropolitan Library.(people)(new manager Michael Blackwell)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... Michael Blackwell has joined Columbus Metropolitan Library, OH, as Dublin Branch Manager. He was Technical Services Manager at Worthington Libraries, OH.

Karen DeAngelo.(people)(new Ballston Community Library director )(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... Karen DeAngelo is the Director of Town of Ballston Community Library (TBCL), Burnt Hills, NY, not the Ballston Spa Public Library, NY, as reported in the February 1 LJ. She previously was the Children's Librarian at TBCL.

Tonawanda Public Library.(people)(new director Beverly Federspiel)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... Beverly Federspiel has become Director of the Tonawanda Public Library, NY. She succeeds the retiring Chris Moesch. Federspiel most recently headed the children's department of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library's Central Library.

University of South Florida.(appointment of William Garrison as Dean of Libraries )(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... William Garrison has been named Dean of Libraries at the University of South Florida, Tampa. Garrison recently served as Deputy University Librarian and Associate Dean of Libraries at Syracuse University, NY.

Prince George's County Memorial Library System: Elizabeth Haskett.(people)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... Elizabeth Haskett has been named Bladensburg Branch Manager at Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Hyattsville, MD. She most recently was Assistant Director, Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System, NM.

Concordia University.(appointment of Philip Hendrickson as director)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... Philip Hendrickson has been appointed Director of Library Services at Concordia University, Seward, NE. He received his MLS in December 2007 from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Colorado State Library.(Sharon Morris as library director )(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... Sharon Morris has been named Library Development Director for the Colorado State Library (CSL), Colorado Department of Education. Most recently, she was CSL's Technology and Digital Initiatives Consultant. Morris was a 2005 Library Journal...

State University of New York.(appointment of Cyril Oberlander as associate library director)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... Cyril Oberlander, former Director of Interlibrary Services at the University of Virginia's Alderman Library, Charlottesville, has been hired as Associate Library Director at the State University of New York at Geneseo.

Prince George's County Memorial Library System: Kelley Perkins.(promotion of Kelley Perkins as manager)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... Kelley Perkins has been promoted to Spauldings Branch Manager at Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Hyattsville, MD. She was previously Children's Age-Level Specialist at the Hyattsville Branch.

Lancaster Public Library.(appointment of James Stelzle as director )(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... James Stelzle has been named Director of Lancaster Public Library, NY. He succeeds William Sutton, who retired last year. Stelzle was a Subject Librarian in the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library's Central Library.

OverDrive offering downloadable MP3s sans DRM: more than 3000 titles to be iPod compatible; cuts huge ebook deal with Random House.(OverDrive Inc.)
April 15, 2008... OverDrive has hit the mother load of e-texts: the company in late March answered the prayers of librarians and patrons by announcing it will begin offering MP3-compatible audio downloads (yes, that means iPods), as well as cutting a massive...

EBSCO debuts NoveList plus.(EBSCO Information Services)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... A good thing is now better: EBSCO March 26 announced the premiere of NoveList Plus, which includes "everything in NoveList, as well as additional coverage for nonfiction titles." Nonfiction genres include Adventure, Arts & Entertainment,...

Innovative signs NYPL/Art Libs.(New York Public Library's contract with Innovative Interfaces Inc.)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... Innovative Interfaces is in a New York state of mind: the vendor March 19 announced that it had signed a contract with the New York Public Library (NYPL) for a suite of Millennium products. The vendor additionally inked similar deals with the...

Ex Libris adds Google features.(Ex Libris Inc.)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... As part of Google's growing encroachment into the library arena, Ex Libris has incorporated Google Book Search's "About this Book" info into its stable of products. "Using a new 'viewability' application programming interface (API), library...

Refworks offering RefAware service.(infotech)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... RefWorks, the web-based research management firm, has added a new twist to its software through the debut of a new service dubbed RefAware, which the company describes as an "online personal research assistant and monitoring service."...

Credo adds more Harvard titles.(infotech)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... Credo Reference is expanding its Ivy League status. The online reference outfit has extended its deal with Harvard University Press (HUP) to add seven more of the publisher's titles to its Credo General Reference collection. The new...

Measuring progress.(THE TRANSPARENT LIBRARY)
April 15, 2008... THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF 2.0 librarianship is not the creation of new services nor even the job of convincing those in charge to let you try those new ideas. No, the hardest part is often the reexamination of ideas. It's a key factor of any...

What if you ran your bookstore like a library? The troubled book business can learn from libraries' willingness to share.(INFOTECH FEATURE)
April 15, 2008... Ten years ago, stories like "B&N: The New College Library" (LJ 2/1/98) and "What If You Ran Your Library Like a Bookstore?" (American Libraries, 3/98) kicked up a controversy about the viability of libraries. Ironically, these days it's the...

The sound of crime fiction: mystery finds new homes in audio and large print; foreign thrillers, breakout authors still make a splash.(GENRE SPOTLIGHT: MYSTERY)
April 15, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This June, mystery authors and fans will flock to England for CRIMEFEST, a new biennial international convention where the first winner of the Audible Sounds of Crime Award for best crime audiobook, sponsored by...

A star on the rise.(Q&A: MEG GARDINER)(Interview)
April 15, 2008... What are the elements that make a good thriller? A gripping plot where lives are at stake, featuring sympathetic characters pushed to their limits against a relentless antagonist. The story should be exciting, tense, and surprising. I...

Chopin makes noise.(International Thriller Writers)
April 15, 2008... One of the mission statements in the International Thriller Writers (ITW) bylaws is to devise new and exciting ways to increase the visibility of writers in their genre. In the wake of the phenomenal success of ITW's first offering, last...

Best reference 2007: from careers and money to dieting and sex, the year in reference found its way into all aspects of our lives, in print and electronically.
April 15, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It seemed that in 2007, everyone was talking about the "subprime" mortgage crisis, which negatively impacted first the U.S. and then the world economy. No one wanted to talk about the "R" word since it would be...

Web sites.(BEST REFERENCE 2007)(Website list)
April 15, 2008... The Center for Media Research, citing the Internet Activity Index, reported in May 2007 that the time Internet users spent consuming content increased 37 percent and time spent searching increased 67 percent in the four years since 2003....

Embracing openness: global initiatives and startling successes hint at the profound implications of open access on journal publishing.(PERIODICALS PRICE SURVEY 2008)(Essay)
April 15, 2008... They have argued about it for years. It's been touted as the liberator of information that wants to be free, the arbiter of shared intellectual property rights, and an engine that can drive discovery, invention, cures, and economies. It has...

Why I went parapro.(NEXTGEN)(paraprofessional librarian)
April 15, 2008... AFTER RECENTLY COMPLETING my MLIS through the online program at San Jose State University, CA, I realized that my ideal career would be in an academic library. I was an intern at the Sonoma State University Library, and, not wanting to uproot...

Prepub alert.
April 15, 2008... FICTION Boyden, Amanda. Babylon Rolling. Pantheon. Aug. 2008. 304p. ISBN 978-0-375-425332. $23.95. Boyden follows up a successful debut, Pretty Little Dirty, with the story of five families--black, white, and Asian--who live on the...

Romance.(Buyers guide)
April 15, 2008... OLD, NEW, BORROWED, BLUE... It's approaching that time of year when marriage and weddings take center stage. Despite recent statistics heralding August as the most popular period for Americans to tie the knot (National Vital Statistics...

Abbott, Jeff. Collision.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... * Abbott, Jeff. Collision. Dutton. Jul. 2008. c.320p. ISBN 978-0-525-95028-8. $24.95. F Quentin Tarantino meets Die Hard as the lives of two men literally collide in Abbott's (Panic) latest riveting action thriller. Ben Forsberg sees his...

Abrahams, Peter. Delusion.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * Abrahams, Peter. Delusion. Morrow. Apr. 2008. c.304p. ISBN 978-0-06-113799-0. $24.95. F While a young, pregnant graduate student, Nell Jarreau witnessed her boyfriend's murder, helping convict and send the...

Adams, Poppy. The Sister.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... * Adams, Poppy. The Sister. Knopf. Jun. 2008. c.275p. ISBN 978-0-307-26816-7. $23.95. F Ginny's beloved sister, Vivien, whom she hasn't seen for nearly 50 years, is finally coming home, and she's eager to tell Vivi about all the great...

Block, Lawrence. Hit and Run.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... * Block, Lawrence. Hit and Run. Morrow. Jul. 2008. c.304p. ISBN 978-0-06-0840907. $24.95. F He leads a sedate life--bounded by his own apartment with its state-of-the-art TV and TiVo, the newsstand with the Times every morning, and his...

Enger, Lin. Undiscovered Country.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... Enger, Lin. Undiscovered Country. Little, Brown. Jul. 2008. c.320p. ISBN 978-0-31600694-1. $23.99. F In his debut novel, Enger, director of the MFA in creative writing program at Minnestoa State University, Moorhead, tells a modern-day...

Galloway, Steven. The Cellist of Sarajevo.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... Galloway, Steven. The Cellist of Sarajevo. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). May 2008. c.256p. ISBN 978-1-59448-986-0. $21.95. F A bread line in besieged Sarajevo. A mortar lobbed by Serb soldiers on the hill. Death for 22 people. A cellist...

Gardiner, Meg. The Dirty Secrets Club.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... * Gardiner, Meg. The Dirty Secrets Club. Dutton. Jun. 2008. c.304p. ISBN 978-0-52595066-0. $24.95. F As a forensic psychiatrist, Jo Beckett determines whether murder or suicide has been committed in questionable deaths. The San Francisco...

Giffin, Emily. Love the One You're With.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... Giffin, Emily. Love the One You're With. St. Martin's. May 2008. c.352p. ISBN 978-0312-34867-0. $24.95. F New York City-based photographer Ellen Graham is a happy newlywed--until a chance meeting with an old boyfriend leads her to...

Gunning, Sally. Bound.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Gunning, Sally. Bound. Morrow. Apr. 2008. 320p. ISBN 978-0-06-124025-6. $24.95. F Gunning reprises many of the characters from her 2006 novel, The Widow's War, in this suspenseful and engaging look at the New...

Hackman, Gene & Daniel Lenihan. Escape from Andersonville.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... Hackman, Gene & Daniel Lenihan. Escape from Andersonville. St. Martin's. May 2008. c.352p. ISBN 978-0-312-36373-4. $25.95. F Nathan Parker is a Union officer who escapes from the notorious Confederate prison at Andersonville with the...

Harington, Donald. Farther Along.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... Harington, Donald. Farther Along. Toby. (Stay More). May 2008. c.220p. ISBN 978-159264-217-5. $24.95. F In this latest installment of his "Stay More" saga, Harington offers meditations on wisdom, love, death, sex, and hope. The nameless...

Hearst, Dorothy. Promise of the Wolves.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... Hearst, Dorothy. Promise of the Wolves. S. & S. (Wolf Chronicle). Jun. 2008. c.352p. ISBN 978-1-4165-6998-5. $25. F For anyone who ever wanted to run with the wolves, this debut novel (and the first in the author's "The Wolf Chronicle"...

Hickman, Katie. The Aviary Gate.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... Hickman, Katie. The Aviary Gate. Bloomsbury, dist. by Macmillan. Jun. 2008. c.352p. ISBN 978-1-59691-475-9. $25.95. F In 16th-century Constantinople, the Aviary Gate separated the harem of Topkapi from the palace courtyard, where a large...

Hubbard, Susan. The Year of Disappearances.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... Hubbard, Susan. The Year of Disappearances. S. & S. May 2008. c.304p. ISBN 978-1-4165-5271-0. $22.95. F Though quotes from Hubbard's first book in this vampire series, The Society of S, suggest her writing might appeal to fans of...

Why not more: Wyatt? www.libraryjournal.com.(ON THE WEB)(Neal Wyatt)(Brief article)
April 15, 2008... You know Neal Wyatt as the editor of The Reader's Shelf and Wyatt's World, but she's taking her speciality to a whole other level with her new online-only endeavor RA Crossroads, "where books, movies, music, and other media converge" for edgy...

Jenoff, Pam. The Diplomat's Wife.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Jenoff, Pam. The Diplomat's Wife. Mira: Harlequin. May 2008. c.352p. ISBN 978-07783-2512-3. pap. $13.95. F In this successful and satisfying second novel (after The Kommandant's Girl), Marta Nedermann is...

Kureishi, Hanif. Something To Tell You.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... Kureishi, Hanif. Something To Tell You. Scribner. Aug. 2008. c.352p. ISBN 978-14165-7210-7. $25. F Kureishi (The Buddha of Suburbia) may not be well known as a novelist in the States, but cinema buffs will recognize him for his numerous...

Leonard, Peter. Quiver.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... Leonard, Peter. Quiver. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. May 2008. c.288p. ISBN 978-0312-37902-5. $23.95. F In his debut novel, Leonard (son of crime fiction master Elmore) shows more than a little promise. Katie McCall is a still-grieving...

Liebmann-Smith, Richard. The James Boys: A Novel Account of Four Desperate Brothers.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... Liebmann-Smith, Richard. The James Boys: A Novel Account of Four Desperate Brothers. Random. Jun. 2008. c.288p. ISBN 978-0345-47078-2. $25. F Liebmann-Smith is an accomplished comedy writer with numerous scripts, magazine articles, and...

Montefiore, Santa. The Sea of Lost Love.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... Montefiore, Santa. The Sea of Lost Love. Touchstone: S. & S. May 2008. c.448p. ISBN 978-1-4165-4373-2. pap. $15. F At one point in Montefiore's latest work (after The Gypsy Madonna), a character is reading John Galsworthy's The Forsyte...

Peebles, Frances de Pontes. The Seamstress.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... * Peebles, Frances de Pontes. The Seamstress. Harper: HarperCollins. Aug. 2008. c.656p. ISBN 978-0-06-073887-7. $25.95. F This engrossing historical saga of Brazil in the 1920s and 1930s follows sisters Emilia and Luzia dos Santos from...

Rosenfelt, David. Don't Tell a Soul.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... * Rosenfelt, David. Don't Tell a Soul. Minotaur: St. Martin's. Jul. 2008. c.320p. ISBN 978-0-312-37395-5. $24.95. F Rosenfelt's first stand-alone novel (after six Andy Carpenter mysteries, including Play Dead and Dead Center) is a...

Samarasan, Preeta. Evening Is the Whole Day.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... * Samarasan, Preeta. Evening Is the Whole Day. Houghton. May 2008. c.352p. ISBN 978-0-618-87447-7. $24. F This beautifully written debut novel revolves around a wealthy Indian family living in modern-day Malaysia. What seems like a simple...

Silver, Marisa. The God of War.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... Silver, Marisa. The God of War. S. & S. Apr. 2008. c.288p. ISBN 978-1-4165-6316-7. $23. F Twelve-year-old Ares Ramirez has a life as unique as his name. His mother, who has a taste for men who don't stick around, raises Ares and his...

Stanisic, Sasa. How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... * Stanisic, Sasa. How the Soldier Repairs the Gramaphone. Grove. Jun. 2008. c.268p. ISBN 978-0-8021-1866-0. $24. F It's the early 1990s in Visegrad, and young Aleksandar Krsmanovid is devastated by the death of his grandfather, who taught...

Unger, Lisa. Black Out.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... Unger, Lisa. Black Out. Shaye Areheart: Harmony. May 2008. c.368p. ISBN 978-0-307-33848-8. $23. F Annie Powers is the picture of respectability, with a devoted husband and darling baby daughter. She is hiding a terrible secret, though:...

Baker, R.A.: Rayna of Nightwind: The First of the Taren Novels.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... Baker, R.A. Rayna of Nightwind: The First of the Taren Novels. Apollo House. May 2008. c.328p. ISBN 978-0-9787518-7-6. $29.99. FANTASY When Rayna Powell seeks to avoid running into a woman standing in the middle of the road on a rainy...

Butcher, Jim. Small Favor: A Novel of the Dresden Files.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... * Butcher, Jim. Small Favor: A Novel of the Dresden Files. ROC: NAL. Apr. 2008. c.432p. ISBN 978-0-451-46189-6. $23.95. FANTASY The disappearance of criminal magnate Gentleman Johnnie Marcone and the suspected involvement of the Sidhe...

The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Del Rey: Ballantine. Apr. 2008. c.416p, ed. by Ellen Datlow. ISBN 978-0-345-49632-4. pap. $16. SF From Jason Stoddard's unusual alternate history featuring elephants and a search for...

Drinkard, William H.: Elom.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 15, 2008... Drinkard, William H. Elom. Tor. Apr. 2008. c.544p. ISBN 978-0-7653-1785-8. $25.95. FANTASY Geerna, a young Ice Age woman, is transported by a bright light during her womanhood ceremony to a strange world called Elom. That is the result...